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Any of us involved in ministry and/or public speaking are well aware that no matter how well prepared we are for ‘ministry’, God can have other plans. Sometimes those plans remind us that it really isn’t about us, or our material. It’s about people and relationships.
I had the privilege of ministering at LIFE 24/7 again on Saturday night. Shortly into the service I became aware that the real ministry that night was not going to be the material prepared by Mike Fisk. The real ministry was going to be done by the Holy Spirit of God working through a bunch of ex-cons trying to make a new start in life.
LIFE 24/7, formerly Discipleship House, is a recovery home for men who are overcoming a variety of addictions and either just coming out of prison or landed at LIFE 24/7 instead of going to prison. Either way, these are guys who know the rough side of life and are all about second chances.
I recently listened to the testimonies of a few of these guys and was amazed at the stories of broken relationships, violence and dysfunctional families these guys had come from. These are guys that are living proof that Jesus Christ changes lives and that second chances are a normal part of his working in men.
Tonight’s service was led by Dillon. Dillon has a passion for Jesus and a desire to learn everything he can about the Bible, the Christian faith and how to help others change their lives. He has a passion for God and compassion for people. This was his first time leading the service. He was the fledgling Pastor Randy chose to be pushed out of his comfort zone and into the limelight. He handled it well and I now refer to him as ‘Pastor Dillon’. While he isn’t real comfortable in the position, he has something every minister needs to have in order to be effective. Dillon has passion, and passion beats technique every time.
After our time of Praise and Worship, and before I was to speak on how each of us can live ‘Grace-fully in God’s Silence’, Dillon asked Adah to come forward. He’d told me this was going to happen earlier, so I was expecting it. Adah was going to leave her position of ‘house mom’ at LIFE 24/7. What Dillon didn’t tell me (and he couldn’t know) was how emotional the ‘good byes’ would be.
One by one, each of the eleven guys thanked Adah for being the inspiration all of them needed to believe in themselves. For one man, Adah was the ‘mom I never had’. Another shared that his grandmother had died recently, and Adah was his ‘adopted’ grandma. Still another said thank you to Adah for ‘saving his nephew’s life’. I watched these guys say thank you one by one and there wasn’t a one of them that had a dry eye.
It was a stirring reminder that the real change in lives comes from the people in the background, doing the mundane things in life. We speakers/teachers/ pastors get the ‘upfront’ attention, but life change comes after the curtain falls.
So there I was all ready to speak about how God can seem silent and far away. But before I could get up to share that message, we’d all heard our Heavenly Father loud and clear, and through the life of his faithful servant, Adah, we’d seen His face.
Thanks to the guys of LIFE 24/7 and Adah for your ministry to me on Saturday night. I can’t wait to join with you once again!
He’d been like this since childhood. We aren’t told when the seizures started, but they may have started shortly after birth. What we do know is that the seizures were caused by an evil spirit that would often throw the boy to the ground. We know the spirit never left the boy and would try to kill him by thowing him into fire or water.
Can you imagine the anxiety the parents must have had trying to watch their sons every move. They lived by the sea and cooked and warmed themselves with open fire. Water and fire were the things the demon would use to try to destroy his victim. How much fear was there in going to sleep at night, hearing every sound and wondering if it was another seizure? Was he going to the fire again?
Then there was the spiritual side of things. From all indications, the parents were believers. How many extra sacrifices were made on behalf of the child? There could have been many for the father seemed to be a religious man. But religion had failed. Healers had failed. No one was able to help. As an added burden, demon possession, was considered prime proof of sin. If the child were demon possessed then there were surely questions by the priests that needed to be answered about the family.
One day, the father hears about a holy man that was healing people. Demons were being cast out. The lame were walking. The Blind were seeing. There were rumors that some had even risen from the dead!
With anxious anticipation the father scoops up his son and goes in search of the holy man, the great teacher. It didn’t matter how far he had to go. This was his son and he would take every opportunity to seek healing.
Finally, he finds a great crowd of people. He asks a person standing nearby.
“Have you seen him? The healer, is he here?”
“He was here, but he went up the mountain with three of his followers. Those men over there were with him. Ask them.”
He hurries to the front of the crowd. As he waits for an opening he hears the men tell the crowd of the teacher, and how he had bestowed power on them to heal the sick. This was his chance! The excitement mounts.
“Sir!” He shouts, “Over here! My boy, he has a demon. Can you help me?”
The men move towards the boy. They lay hands on him and command the spirit to leave. Immediately, the boy begins to convulse. He throws himself to the ground and writhes in agony.
Fear grips the crowd. Despair falls upon the disappointed father. Confusion stirs among the followers of the teacher. They begin to discuss among themselves what went wrong. Then a shout rings out.
“There they are! There is the teacher and his men!”
The crowd hurries with the boy and his father to meet them.
“What is the problem?” The teacher asks, looking at the now tired boy.
“Sir, it’s my son. He has a demon. I asked your men to help, but they couldn’t. If you can, please help us.”
“IF you can?” The teacher responded. “Anything is possible if you believe.”
All the years of frustration welled up in the father. He DID believe. At least he wanted to believe. But the seizures hadn’t stopped. The sacrifices hadn’t helped. The prayers were unanswered. The accusations continued to be hurled at him.
Each of us have gone through periods of time when God seemed a thousand miles away. He seemed uninterested, or unable to help. Like the father in the story, each of us, in our own way have uttered the same words.
“I DO believe. Help me in my unbelief!”
From that moment, the father and his child were changed for eternity.
From “When Grace Isn’t Enough: Living Grace-fully in God’s Silence”
It was a hot, dusty Judean day. The old man walked slowly down the path with his son close to his side. As they walked, he described the scenery they passed and issued an occasional warning about a stone in the road, or some obstruction coming up. Most of the shady spots along the way had already been taken by the lame, the crippled and the destitute. Finally, they came to one of the few remaining shady spots along the road. He helped his son to the ground, made him as comfortable as possible and gave him the small box that would hopefully be filled with stray coins by the end of the day.
Then, with a parting hug and kiss to the cheek he left his son and returned home. At the end of the day he would return, help his son home and do the whole thing over again. Each day was a reminder of the dreams the son’s blindness had stolen. He’d never seen the sun, or the flowers, or the hands that had cared for him since birth. His entire world was wrapped up in the sounds, smells and descriptions others would give him.
As the blind man sat along the road, he sensed a crowd coming. He couldn’t tell how many, or who it was, but it must be someone important to travel in such a large group. His spirits lifted. If it was a large crowd it could mean the possibility of many coins landing in his coffer. If only he’d been earlier so that he could have gotten one of the spots further out of town. The first beggars in line often received the best alms.
The conversation grew louder. His spirits began to rise. It sounded like someone in the midst must be a Rabbi, or noble of some sort, for he was fielding questions from his followers.
Someone ran past him hollering something….did he say healed? Then, he sensed the teacher before him. He heard the question that had haunted him his entire life.
“Who sinned, Master? Was it this man, or his parents?
It was a question that he hated to hear. Why did people naturally assume that any sort of adversity in someone’s life was the result of sin? He knew it wasn’t his sin that caused the blindness. He was born this way. He knew his parents. They were Godly, faithful parents who followed the law to the best of their ability.
The teacher gave an answer he didn’t fully understand. It wasn’t the answer he’d heard countless times.
“It was neither,” was the reply, “This was done so God could be glorified.”
What a confusing answer. Yet the sound of the man’s voice and the words he spoke brought a strange sense of peace and comfort to the blind man. While he was still pondering what the words might mean he smelled the scent of wet dirt. Something wet suddenly covered his eyes.
Instinctively he began to raise his hands to wipe whatever is was away, but the person talking told him to stop and go wash in a certain pool. A group of men led him away. Soon the cool waters of the pool of Siloam covered his face.
As he wiped the water away he made a startling, wonderful discovery. HE COULD SEE!! For the first time in his life he saw the blue sky, the flowers, and the people around him. What a marvelous miracle.
But, little did he know, his story had really just begun!
(From ‘When Grace Isn’t Enough: Living in Grace Despite my Past)
A woman contemplates suicide. She’s a hooker, a mom, and addict. She has stooped so low as to sell not only her body, but the body of her three year old daughter to support her habit. At the end of her options, with no where to turn, she seeks out a counselor. He suggests church and she is shocked. “Why,” She asks angrily, “Would I go to church. I already feel bad enough about me. Why would I want to go someplace where I’d only be made to feel worse about myself?
A soldier sinks low in his foxhole. Bullets and rockets fly overhead. He’s been gone from home for two years fighting this war. He opens a bent and crumpled envelope. It’s from his home church. Anticipation rises within him. Expectantly he opens the letter, only to find that he has been dropped from the membership because he has fallen behind in his annual giving. When he returns home he never again darkens the door of a church.
They ‘did all the right things’ as parents. They had family devotions. They were involved in their local church. They took an active part in the social, educational and spiritual lives of their four wonderful children. They were good, Godly, caring parents. Then, within a span of two years, three of their children are taken in tragic, separate accidents. Three young lives taken before they really had a chance to bloom. Mom and Dad were never the same. The lone, remaining child struggled with drugs as he dealt with the tragic turn of his life. Throughout this tragic turn of events in this devastated family, the church remained strangely quiet.
What has happened in 2000 years that has made those who used to cling to the feet of Jesus, run from him in anger and shame? When did the church place the importance of money before the giving of one’s life for his country? How did we lose the compassion of the church in Acts to overlook the pain of our brothers and sisters?
The United States of America has more freedom, and opportunities to show the love of Christ than any country in the world. Yet churches close every week because there are no longer enough people attending to fill the pews. We are a nation of ‘empty pew people’. People who for a variety of reasons have turned their backs on the one person that can give them the fulfillment they seek.
In the book of Galatians, the Apostle Paul writes to a group of people that have fallen into the trap of legalistic thinking. They had become more intent on rules and regulations, and less concerned about living relationally. In Chapter 5, verse one he earnestly pleads with them to remember that we were born to be free.
The body of Christ needs to return to being a living organism of faith and mercy and love. Each of us has the responsibility to show the Grace of our Lord Jesus to those who might make us uneasy, or take us out of our comfort zone. Our Heavenly Father can’t do His work when we confine Him within the walls of ‘church-ianity.’
(From “When Grace Isn’t Enough: Amazingly Graceless”)
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 