A Great Cloud of Witnesses: Faith-Living vs. Me Centered Life

Faith is a mystery to the world. It seems crazy. It seems stupid. But I’ll tell ya what’s stupid. I’ll ya what’s dumb. What’s dumb is trying to control my own life and manipulate events to make things I want happen.

It just doesn’t work. And even if it does work, I’m not happy. I get exactly what I wanted, and it’s just twice as bad because I realize it didn’t make me happy.

There are only two ways to live in this world, by faith, or by me.

Living by faith is kind of like following a GPS, but here’s the twist, you don’t know where it’s taking you.

You trust that God is moving you in the right direction. Make a left here, go straight, now make a right, one more right, now go straight for a long time. And I like to get in there and tell God where I need to turn next. God, I’m pretty sure this is the road. God says that isn’t the road, keep going. But we’ve been going straight for like 2 hours we gotta turn.

How in the world am I going to get to where God wants me if I keep trying to change the route?

Faith is like following that GPS each day. What does God want me to do? What does God have next? What is His plan and purpose?

Now if it were my uncle calling and telling me where to turn, well I’m not gonna trust it, how does he know where I’m supposed to go?

But this is God. And faith is trusting that God is giving me the right path to take. Even when it seems odd or even crazy.

We’ve all been at that point of decision: You know God is telling you to leave this job and take a new one. You know God is telling you to move there. You know God is telling you to do something that is risky.

Many times it’s just God saying go talk to that person about my son Jesus.

And I’ve gone both ways at times. Sometimes I draw back, well no God I’m not gonna do that. And I move on. And I miss the blessing. I miss something special.

How do I know that?

Because there have been so many times when God called me to step out and by a miracle I did step out, and my goodness, it was exactly right. I couldn’t tell before. But I could tell after.

Let me say that again, we can’t tell before we jump in, but we find out after. We find a blessing we didn’t expect.

I have these supernatural stories, where I was just doing something boring, going to the store or whatever, and God interrupts me, and then I make a friend, I get to pray with someone, I get to see God do something. And it’s amazing.

The miracle of faith is when we say yes to the crazy thing God calls us to do.



So I want to tell you about some people who did the crazy thing, and it opened up a portal, to a God-moment that changed their lives forever.

You can sense it in the moment, the portal is open in front of you, will you jump in? These people of faith stepped forward boldly into the unknown.

It says in Hebrews 11:8-12, “By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.”

The land that Abraham was walking on was his inheritance. As he walked those hills and valleys, do you think he ever dreamed that his people would inherit it?

God called Abraham to step out in faith, leave the land you are in and come to a place you’ve never heard of. Live your life in tents. Leave it all behind. And he does.

Abraham was looking forward. We too have to learn to look forward. Human beings we focus on the next paycheck, the next party, the next movie, but we’ve got to look beyond all that, to beyond the grave. What comes next? A New City of God.

Set your life around that hope. It sounds crazy. But it’s true.

Yet here’s the thing, it seemed impossible. God does that. It can’t be done. Abraham’s and Sarah have no child. They are too old to have a child. It can’t be done.

God does that time and again. He does the impossible to show us His glory. The hard part is to have faith that God can and will do it.

What is God calling you right now to stay in faith about?

It is a family member or child who is lost in addiction? Is it an unsaved parent or grandparent? Is it a sickness you’ve had for many years? Is it tough finances? Is it not giving up in times of depression? God is faithful.

But God will test you. He will test you and make you wait on the promise.

Are you really going to trust Him?

From a man and woman who were near 100 years old, came a miracle child, and from that, untold descendants, an entire nation.

That’s walking by faith, which is very practical, day by day, trusting God, living different, denying the flesh, refusing sin, loving our enemies, praying for people who persecute us, that is faith living. And it’s radically different from the world.

What about a me-centered life? I used to live that life, for many years before Jesus changed my life.

It’s doing the next thing that I want to do. It’s indulging the flesh. It’s getting high. It’s trashing someone’s on social media. It’s cheating on that girlfriend or boyfriend just to be bad. It’s cheating on that test. It’s waging a quiet war against a coworker whose job you want. It’s cheating on your taxes. It’s spending all my money on me, me, me. It’s building my life around getting what I want.

Can you get away with it? Sure. Can you survive that way? I suppose you could. But you’re gonna be empty. And each day living like that, inside you’re gonna die a little bit more.

If you’re stuck there today, or maybe you’re living a double-life, acting one way in church and another way the rest of the week, talk to God right now, close your eyes, pray and ask God’s forgiveness.

Lord, I’m sorry, I’ve been living a double life. Lord, I’m tired of it. Lord, set me free, make me whole again, I crucify the flesh, get behind me Satan!

No secret sin is too powerful. The enemy has been lying to you saying oh God took away this and that but he can’t touch that porn issue, he can’t do anything with the pride. He can’t deal with the lying or backbiting. Wrong, that devil is a liar, and you can be free!

Start to believe. But stop fighting it. Stop pulling at those chains. You can’t break them. Instead surrender. God I give up. I can’t fight it. Lord, you’ve got to take it away. Take it away today!

Walk by Faith. Trust His promises.

That isn’t easy friends. Leaving my last appointment after five years wasn’t easy. But I knew it was God’s will. It was hard to pack everything up and move to a town where I’ve never been. But I knew it was God’s will. And if God said tomorrow, pack up again and go to the moon, well… I better start packing. God is trustworthy.

We are surrounded saints, by a great cloud of witnesses. Millions and millions of people across human history who have chosen to live by faith. Well, I could never be like them, wrong! You make the choice. I’m going to live by faith. You chase prayer, you chase God, you chase the word, and slowly but surely, you find faith, you grow in faith, and your life more and more becomes defined by faith.

It’s a journey, you get it?

By faith, Abraham was told to kill his own son. Offer him up. Abraham didn’t refuse. He so completely trusted God, he thought to himself, well, if God tells me to sacrifice Isaac, God can raise Isaac from the dead. Wow!

It didn’t make sense, it seemed crazy, but he simply did what God said. And Later he realized, wow, good thing I listened to God on that one.

Remember that friends, do what God says even when it seems odd. Even when I’d much rather chase that relationship, God says it isn’t right. Save yourself some heartache and just say no.

I remember when I came to Owosso my last appointment and the DC said we got this thing called dinner church. I didn’t get it. But God confirmed it and we did it. And it ended up being one of the most blessed ministries I’ve seen. But it meant going against what I thought was best, and trusting what God was doing.

How do I do this? How do I live by faith? You learn to think in way that is connected with God. You hedge every big decision in prayer. I better pray about this one before I take an action here. I better open up my Bible and see what God is going to say about this.

As you do that, you’ll find God’s power surrounds the problem. I’m not kidding you will feel it. As you seek God, as you pray, as you page through the word, as you listen to sermons and podcasts, God begins to reveal the next step on the path ahead.

In this you learn to live a supernatural life. You go from a debased, pleasure-based, empty life, to a supernatural journey, a God-driven adventure.

It says in Hebrews 11:32-38, “And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.”

They went from weakness to strength, because they had trusted in their God. You are part of this great adventure. You are part of this faithful family from all history, if you really walk by faith. If you really let God supernaturally lead your life. Then you will see weakness turn to strength. You’ll also face difficulties, challenges, even death itself, on this journey of faith with Christ. But it’s so worth it!

Lastly, Hebrews 12:1-3, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

Let’s bring it all together now, what hallmarks are part of a real walk of faith?

First, we throw off everything that hinders our walk with Jesus, and the sin that easily entangles. I used to comfort myself that well they are gossiping, so it’s ok for me, they are in lust, so I guess Jesus must be ok with lust, wrong, wrong wrong. Don’t mimic the world around you, even those in the church who live double-lives, instead, look to Jesus himself.

Second, its running with perseverance the race God has for you. It’s different for each of us, what has God called you to? For me its being a corps officer. And that means going here and there, and wherever Jesus wants me. What is the race before you? You know what it is. It’s in front of you. Walk in it.

A Real Christian is known by these two factors:

1, they are radical about dealing with sin in their life. 2, they are radical about following God’s path for their life.

Finally, how do we do all that? By fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, remember what Jesus did? He went to the cross anyway, even though in the garden he had prayed, Father if its possible take this cup away from me. He followed the path anyway. If Jesus was willing to do that, then I can be willing to follow His path too. Fix your eyes on Jesus.

Consider Jesus who endured such opposition, and didn’t give up. Then you won’t be tempted to grow weary and lose heart.

7 Things I Learned in the Last 5 Years

God has every person who is honestly seeking Him, on the planet on a spiritual journey. He is teaching you something right now. And he’s taught us at this church so many things over the last 5 years. So we’re going to look at the top 7 things that I’ve seen God say to us over this period, and we’ll look at how it changed and transformed this body of believers for the better.

We start at the beginning.

I remember coming here in 2019 and being so afraid. I had never in my life experienced the kind of fear I had when I first came here. I was terrified. I didn’t know anyone. I didn’t know how to manage a staff or administrate or anything.

But God gave me courage, and taught me courage through that initial battle.

It reminds me of what God said to Jeremiah when he called him, “Get yourself ready! Stand up and say to them whatever I command you. Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them.” -Jeremiah 1:17

If I could give advice to any pastor or officer stepping into a new role, it would be this: Don't give up in those first few months. When you're afraid and it seems impossible, keep going. If you can push through that initial phase you'll be alright. It gets better. You'll feel faith and courage begin to replace fear and doubt.

I remember we started dinner church back in 2019 and suddenly we went from just a handful of people to about 30 people coming regularly. It was amazing. I was shocked. And we hadn’t really done that much. Sure we spread the work, talked to people during the week, handed out fliers, did posts on social media, but in the end God simply brought a family together.

If you don’t give up, you find your courage. God builds it in you as you refuse to stop. As you cling to His promises, as you keep showing up, the courage slowly forms.

I saw it in all our people, they slowly learned courage, from hiding their faith to speaking it boldly to the people around them. God taught us courage and it was amazing. We became a body of believers who wasn’t afraid to speak up for Jesus, and try different things, events, groups, and activities outside the box and the norm.

Second, God taught us the fear of the Lord.

Proverbs 1:7 ESV, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

There was this gift I found as a I studied the word, testimonies, near death experiences, the prophets, and as I studied about hell and what it is, I began to fear the Lord. And this changed my whole approach to everything I do in ministry.

I used to treat God’s commands as optional. Do it if you want to. Don’t commit adultery, nice suggestion. Don’t steal, nice suggestion. Isn’t that nice? And it shook me up, the fear of the Lord, to realize our God is a consuming fire, he’s not playing around, he is purifying us for heaven, because he loves us.

If you can accept it, embrace the fear of God, tremble at God, it helped me so much to find freedom.

It drew my wife to me, honestly, she knew many men who were “Christian” but it was all very casual, sort of something on the side, along with the porn and the selfish life, the gossip and the empty life. But Chelsey knew when she met me, that’s a guy who honestly fears and regards God and has a deep sense of, “I need to do what God wants me to do.” It’s not just some option near the bottom of a list, it’s the only thing.

What if you embraced that? What if you feared the God who can send you to hell for sin? How would that change your life?

I fear God. And that has been the greatest gift. Because when a temptation to sin comes into my mind, and they do for all of us, I fear God enough, to say no. Part of the love of God is the fear of God. It helps me stay on the right path when temptations attack. No, I fear the Lord, I know His power and that he’s not messing around.

Things that were going on in the background, in my heart, as a pastor, that didn’t belong there, things with lust, things to do with pride, things to do with showing off my own abilities, one by one they disappeared in the face of the fear of God.

Our church members began to take God’s commands seriously, they began to fear God and repent of sins in their lives. Gossip died down. Addictions faded away. God began delivering us from evils of the flesh. And it has been powerful.

If I could give everyone a gift in the room, it would be that.

Thirdly,

1 Peter 5:6 ESV, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you”

God taught us humility. As we rallied to relaunch the Owosso salvation army I became very excited. I wanted to show how great I was. How much I could do. How valuable I was as an officer.

It was selfish ambition. It wasn’t really about God. And God knew that. And he got to work on humbling me.

It’s common in The Salvation Army, to try to show off how well we can do. That’s for any young pastor I think, show off how dynamic we are, how great a preacher we are, and how hard working we can be, and it can be toxic.

I became very sick for a good two years. Severe stomach problems. But in all this God humbled me.

I could no longer work in my own strength. My wife experienced something very similar to this, she and I both loved to work from our own strength, pushing and pushing in the flesh. Well, when you get so sick you can barely stand for weeks, for my wife, months, well, you can’t work in the flesh anymore. And I learned, I know she did as well, to work from the Spirit. To put God first, instead of second.

I used to drag God behind my efforts. I didn’t ask Him first. I didn’t work from His strength. Now he’s King and I’m not.

It’s not about me anymore. It’s about Him, and giving Him glory.

Now it’s easy to say that. But it’s amazing and perfect when it’s really true. And it’s really true in me. God did that. I didn’t.

I’ve seen the body of believers embrace humility. Serving each other. Treating the homeless with dignity and respect. Returning love after an insult or slander. That’s holy humility.

Fourthly, holiness.

In the combination of courageousness, which God had taught me, and the fear of God which taught me to hate my own sin, and humility which taught me to reverence God and honestly keep God first, out of this came something called holiness.

1st Peter 1:14-16, “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

I became set apart. Really all in for God. A utensil made for special use. A friend of God.

Old sins passed away. I gave them over to Him. I surrendered things to Him that I’d never surrendered. And that’s an ongoing process, it’s not done right now.

In Fact all these areas are on going.

I’ve seen that happen with so many of our people who attend the church, Randy, Shannon, Danny, Brett, Amber, Destinee, myself, Chelsey, we honestly confess our sins to God, express sorrow at whatever the issue is, and we repent before Him, and turn away from it, and God does a miracle, he takes it away. And then it’s gone. Our part is simply to keep it in check, guard against it. Wear that armor of God each day.

Fifthly, real love.

Out of these things, building on each other, from holiness, came a sincere love for God and my people.

I began to learn to honestly love you. To really care about my people. To love more and more deeply.

1 John 3:18 ESV, “Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.”

Romans 12:9 says, “Let love be genuine…”

This comes very naturally to my wife she honestly and genuinely loves people. And it’s very beautiful, when you feel loved, it changes everything.

God has slowly given me a genuine love for my people. I loved to teach, to speak truth, but here I learned to love people deeply.

That’s rare. I challenge you today, love people genuinely. That is a feeling but it’s matched with action.

When we’ve been hurt deeply it’s harder to give love and receive love. But if we ask God he can heal our broken hearts, so we can learn to give love and receive it.

Churches learn to honestly love each other by doing things like talking on the phone with each other during the week, meeting up for lunch, praying with each other, serving and volunteering together, and visiting each other in the hospital. Our people here do that, and it’s beautiful to see.

Sixth, the presence of God.

Psalm 16:11 ESV You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Exodus 33:14 ESV And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

All of it builds on itself, and more and more this love drew me toward God. I wanted more of God. More and more of God. I grew in my relationship with Him. Grew and grew. And I began to learn to practice the presence of God, really sense God near me, and enjoy God, and know God really is right here with me, in power. The presence of God began to be very clearly with me.

We at The Salvation Army began to pray over our buildings, pray over our homes, pray over each other. We prayed together weekly during kettle seasons. And we began to sense God’s presence with us.

One of my favorite memories over the last five years was hosting the national day of prayer event at Fayette square and at that event we dedicated the city of Owosso to God almighty.

And we felt it ever since, whenever we drove by that God had done something big there.

We had many people come into the facility and simply say, “I felt the Holy Spirit here whenever we came.”

You can experience the presence of God. You can honestly feel God near you. God’s presence isn’t a myth, it’s throughout the whole Bible.

God can be sensed, God can be experienced, God can be felt.

We’ve become so rigid and doctrinal in the body of Christ, we forget the most amazing parts of being a Christian, spiritual gifts, deep prayer, sensing God’s presence, dreams and visions, our faith is supernatural!

It’s as simple as continuously turning our attention toward God in the room with us, over and over, and eventually it becomes a constant throughout the day.

Seventh, in step with the Spirit.

Galatians 5:25 “If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.”

Romans 12:2, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

And in all these things building on each other I began to learn to walk in step with the Holy Spirit.

I knew God was with me. I sensed his presence. And I began to realize, I really can hear the voice of God. I can quiet myself, shut up my own inner voice, and learn to hear from God. And that began small, as hearing from God in prayer or through the word.

But more and more it manifested into a lifestyle, where God will nudge me to do something, to talk to someone, to minister to someone, to go pray, to watch a movie, to take a nap, and slowly but surely, I’ve been learning to practically live my life by the leading of God. And yes that’s real, its true, and it’s actual. It’s testing and discerning God’s will (romans 12:1-2), it’s walking in step with the Spirit, and it’s being led by the Spirit, and it’s following the will of God for your life on a daily basis. It’s amazing!

In the church we began to change how we thought. Instead of thinking, “I’d like to start this ministry, or we should do it this way.” We started to ask, “What ministry is God calling us to start?” “How would God want it done?” It feels like such a slight adjustment, but when we let God lead, he will guide us in the right direction.

I got tired of bumping my head up against failure. Let’s let God set the agenda and see what He wants us to do. And that has yielded fruit.

In conclusion, God has done great things at The Salvation Army and he will continue to do great things in the future.

Review of Main Points:
1. Courage
2. The Fear of the Lord
3. Humility
4. Holiness
5. Sincere Love for my people
6. Practicing the Presence of God
7. Being led by the Spirit



We celebrate what God has done.

We give Him all the glory.

We are excited for what God is going to do in the future.

We pray for the leaders who are coming to take over.

We pray for myself and Chelsey as we move to our next appointment.

We love you all. And we know that the seeds God has planted, will continue to grow and flourish, as you continue to seek the Lord. I charge you to continue to walk purely before Him, refusing to allow any open doors to sin in your life. I charge you to continue to spread the word in this community that Jesus is alive, and all may find salvation in Him.

God bless you, and may God bless The Salvation Army in Shiawassee county.

Celebrate What God has Done!

There was once a great and mighty citadel of the faith. It’s members were many, it’s band large, it’s youth growing in the faith, it’s members organized and energized, it’s outreach far and wide, it’s services many and multiplied, and it’s reputation, as one of the premier citadels of the mighty army.

Long it endured in the golden circle of great bastions, led by great heroes of the faith forward and onward. But not so long ago the citadel experienced a mighty fall. It’s leader had done terrible things in secret and the secrets were exposed.

The once mighty citadel fell into disrepair, the doors closed, and the facility was shut. Yet five years later, the citadel rose from the grave, led on by a series of new heroes who attempted valiantly to bring the fallen citadel back to it’s once mighty prestige.

The citadel that had once been dead, rose back to life, though it never did regain the renown and might it once held. Yet the rebirth was secure, and a new day had come, and all would be well.

This is the story of The Salvation Army Owosso.

In many of the most difficult transitions and changes in our lives we eventually come to a point where we realize everything is going to be ok. We’ve walked through the dark feelings, the grief, the depression, and we’ve found a new path.

The disciples of the Lord Jesus have been through an astonishing and difficult journey. They first saw Jesus betrayed and arrested. Peter himself denied he even knew Jesus. They saw their dearest friend their Lord crucified, killed, and buried.

Yet three days later they saw the unthinkable happen, Jesus rose from the dead. Nothing like this had ever happened in human history. Suddenly everything was different.

Jesus helped Peter and the others to repent after having abandoned him during the crucifixion. He encouraged and restored them. And they were shocked.

Have you ever had an experience in your life where you thought it was all over and suddenly, everything changed?

It’s an extremely energizing experience. It fills you with hope. You begin to believe that there is good in the world and that good things can happen.

So Jesus is with the disciples, appearing them again and again over a period of forty days.

Then we see a particular occasion when Jesus gives the disciples special instructions:

“On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” –Acts 1:4-5

In difficult changes in life, traumatic events, sudden shifts, we do experience pain and grief, yet at the other end of the transition we often find a very unexpected and blessed gift.

For the disciples they are told to wait patiently for God the Father to send the Holy Spirit to live within them.

Again we see waiting, patience, trusting God in the waiting. But they’ve just saw Jesus rise from the dead. They’ve seen a dead man alive again and eating with them and teaching them. They’ve seen the impossible happen.

Yet I bet it was still hard to wait for the Spirit. We’ve all seen God do amazing things in our lives and in the lives of those around us. But how quickly we forget and begin to doubt again.

In Owosso, when I moved here, I was hit very hard by fear and depression, coming here to a place where I knew no one. It would’ve been easy to give up or quit. But I found a family of people that I love. The gift was waiting on the other side of fear and pain.

C.S Lewis after great loss in his life indicated he was surprised by joy suddenly. He said joy bursts into our lives when we stop trying to manipulate events and do the good in front of us God has given us to do.

Next we see the disciples question Jesus:

“Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” – Acts 1:6-8

The disciples expect that now, right now, Jesus will set everything right. Right now. They assume Jesus will take his seat on the throne of Israel and begin overthrowing the roman empire.

But that isn’t what happens at all.

When big changes happen we assume, alright well this must be the end. It’s all over. But it’s actually just one step along the way.

I know every place I’ve been to do ministry, it feels permanent while I’m there, it feels like the end all be all, until I move to the next place God calls me.

Many days it feels like Jesus could return any moment. But time keeps going.

Jesus redirects us away from what we’re expecting, to what he’s actually planning.

So, so, so many times I have expectations about what God is going to do next. Or what God wants me to focus on. Or what God has for me to do that day. And God will completely change my focus, and completely redirect me toward something totally different.

Can you relate? Like C.S. Lewis said, those things we think of as interruptions are actually our life.

“The great thing, if one can, is to stop regarding all the unpleasant things as interruptions of one's 'own,' or 'real' life. The truth is of course that what one calls the interruptions are precisely one's real life -- the life God is sending one day by day.” -C.S. Lewis

God uses change to redirect.

Which is sometimes hard.

Can you imagine how the disciples have longed for the restoration of Israel? Day and night they must’ve longed for it. Their whole lives they had believed a messiah would come who would defeat the romans.

Instead Jesus essentially says actually you’re going to be leaving Israel, I’m not going to restore Israel right now. I’m sending you to the world to preach the gospel. I wonder if they felt disappointed or even angry.

But God redirects us toward His plan, not our own. Our emotions catch up later.

Next, we see the big moment, Jesus is gone.

“After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” –Acts 1:9-11

The disciples have their instructions, wait for the Holy Spirit. Jesus is now gone, back up to heaven, to the right hand of the Father.

Jesus is promised to return one day, by two messengers of God who suddenly appear with the disciples.

Can you imagine seeing Jesus rise up into the sky? That is crazy. He lifts off the ground and launches into heaven. That’s beyond anything we could imagine. And yet two thousand years ago it happened right in front of their eyes.

They were on the mount of olives. Which leads many to believe that when Jesus returns, he will return on the mount of olives.

But the disciples are caught up in the moment. I think sometimes in big changes we freeze up. We’re so traumatized we just stop. We get stuck in trauma. We get stuck in depression. We give up, in the extreme troubles.

Don’t get stuck in the past. Don’t get stuck in the way things used to be. Embrace the new.

It’s a good reminder from the messengers of God, don’t just stand here looking into the sky. Get to work. The victory is won. The Lord has given us good work to do. Now let’s get to it!

Next, we see in verses 12-14: “Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city. When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.” –Acts 1:12-14

What do the disciples do? They keep gathering together. And they engage in constant times of prayer.

When my day is messed up, or I’m feeling depressed or I’m upset, the best thing I can always do and go somewhere quiet and begin praying. Not just a few words, but a good long sustained prayer, telling God exactly how I feel.

Prayer is the answer.

Always remember that. I can’t think of many situations where prayer isn’t the answer.

Early on in recovery I would feel thirsty for a drink, and I would go into the side bedroom at my mom’s old house, and get on my face before God, on my knees, and say, "God help me."

When I was devastated because a romantic relationship didn’t work out, I would find that quiet place, and pray, "God help me."

When work was crazy and I feel so exhausted and empty and stressed, I find that quiet place, and sit down on my chair, and say "Lord, I just can’t right now."

When drama blows up on social media and people are criticizing me, I shut the computer off, lay down in bed, and start talking to God in the darkness.

Get alone and prayer. Better yet, get together with a group of others and pray together. I would say of all the meetings we’ve hosted at The Salvation Army, the ones I loved most were our prayer meetings. Once a month, or once a week during kettle season, we would gather in the morning in the chapel and pray together for a good hour. It was wonderful.

The disciples gather together it says “constantly” in prayer. Daily I think this means, they would have set times where they would all gather and talk to God. What if you did that? Outside of church, you invited people over and prayed? How would your life change? How would your church change?

Next we see in verses 15-26 that the disciples gather to find a replacement for Judas, who had betrayed Jesus.

It says in 23-26: “So they nominated two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. Then they prayed, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs.” Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles.” –Acts 1:23-26

This is a good reminder that not everyone who gathers among us in the church are actually of us. Many will come and go.

Many have come to me after services and asked me, “Where is so and so?” And I would often simply say, I have no idea. Many simply stop coming. That’s not always a bad thing either.

They may have moved to a new area, or God called them elsewhere. But, just as often, I think it’s they’ve abandoned the mission.

Often, as we pray God will remove from the body people who are disruptive or dangerous as well. So always pray in those circumstances. Just as much, pray for those who depart, that God would restore them to the fellowship.

Not everyone makes it through a hard transition. Many will give up unfortunately and depart. Pray for them. And if you can, go and visit them, and minister to them. Maybe they need a loving friend to encourage them to come back.

Yet God will often add someone new to take their place, someone who will become a new part of our family. Praise the Lord! 

So the disciples wait and wait, they meet together and pray, they keep the fellowship, and finally, finally, finally the day comes.

Notice how they kept meeting together, they didn’t drift apart. So then it says:

“When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” -Acts 2:1-4

Breakthroughs and victories come when we least expect it.

The power of God descends suddenly, rapidly, unexpectedly.



In the driest seasons of my life, where it feels like God is a million miles away, and the coldness and bitterness of daily life seems to reign supreme, and I’m just trying to hold on the downward trajectory of sorrow and pain, it’s in those moments when it seems least likely that God could ever break through into that dryness, it’s in those times, when I’ve waited patiently, that suddenly God breaks through, and the dry desert turns to a lush blooming forest.

Do you believe He can? You haven’t seen it yet. You’ve tasted the rough sand in your mouth for so long. Do you still believe He can? I still believe.

The Holy Spirit bursts forth into that place where the disciples are gathered and they are shocked and excited, and amazed! Tongues of fire separate and descend into each believer. They are filled with the Spirit. And they begin speaking in new languages. They are empowered by God now, for victory, for service.

Peter preaches a mighty sermon to the crowds who witness this event, and three thousand people get saved. This begins their ministry, empowered by the Spirit of God.

They now do what their Master did. They mimic what Jesus did. They proclaim it bravely. Through the Holy Spirit, the body of believers grows. And they prosper. They achieve victory.

And it brings celebration, devotion, love, unity, and every good thing. That’s what we’ve seen here at the salvation army, and we should celebrate.

It says in Acts 2:42-47: “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”

Celebration. Rejoicing. Praising God. Enjoying the favor of all people. Signs and wonders performed by the apostles. Devotion to the teachings of God, fellowship with one another, and eating together, and to prayer.

These are all hallmarks of the church, the body of Christ, us.

They sold property and possessions and gave to anyone in need. Everyday they met together. They met in each other’s homes. Their hearts were sincere.

And the Lord kept adding to their number daily, those who were being saved. Wow.

Now that’s a reason to celebrate. Celebrate what God has done here, what God is doing, and what God will do in the future friends.

Review of Main Points:

1. In change we often find a surprising gift

2. God uses change to redirect us

3. Trauma causes us to Freeze Up

4. Prayer is the Answer

5. Some will depart during transitions

6. Breakthrough comes when we least expect it

7. Celebrate

He is faithful. He is faithful for the future just as much as he has been in the past. Trust Him for the road ahead. Though it seems so very uncertain, God is trustworthy, our part is to hold on tight as God begins to do a new thing in our lives. The future is bright. Praise the Lord!

What is your True Name? What God Calls You

"To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it." 

-Revelation 2:17

What is your true name? My first thought was of Helen Keller, and how she was originally treated by her family as an invalid. But then someone came into her life, Anne Sullivan, who called her by a different name. Sullivan once said, "We imagine that we want to escape our selfish and commonplace existence, but we cling desperately to our chains." Sullivan helped Helen Keller to find purpose and hope. And she eventually became one of the great heroes of American history. But it took someone coming and calling Helen by a different name.

It reminds me of the John 5:6 when Jesus meets the man by the pool of Bethesda. He asked him first, "Do you want to get well?" (John 5:6). Sometimes we aren't ready for a new name yet. And we have to be encouraged to want to escape our chains.

I recall when I was fourteen or fifteen my family was convinced that there was something wrong with me. I was struggling in school and my parents were approaching a divorce. As they prescribed different medications, one after another to try to make me better, more and more I embraced the idea that there was something wrong with me. It became a new belief within me, that there was something wrong with Justin. And for the next twenty years of my life, it became a belief in me, that I needed some substance, some drug or chemical, to be OK. This manifested as medications, prescriptions, drinking, smoking, vitamins, home remedies, anything to give myself what I needed to be OK. It has taken me years, even after becoming a Christian to reset that false belief, and understand, I don't need a pill to make me right. In Christ, I am OK. God is the only one I need to be right.

I can also share the example of father Marian. Back in 2012, before I was a Christian, I had overdosed, and so many hundreds of people had looked at me with condemnation, I had begun to believe that name, that I didn't matter, that I was a nobody. But father Marian, with a single look in his eyes, of the love of Jesus, spoke a new name over me. That name was "beloved of God" and "brother in Christ." The power of that changed my life, I couldn't ignore that new name spoken over me.

The Lord Jesus has changed my name. My name is Justin which has two meanings, one is justice, the other is justified. Without Christ, I was on my way toward judgment before the throne of God. I would face the justice of God. But, because of the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ, I have been justified before God. I have peace with God. I'm royalty, adopted, beloved, and new in Him. And my future is paradise, if I'll continue to walk in this new name, a city called the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21-22).

"Naming" is such a powerful concept either for good or evil. In the United States sometimes it's used for good, we name a problem and then we can deal with the problem. That's why it's good to have human trafficking awareness events, we've got to name the problem and then solve it. 

But we see it happen in politics a lot, names are changed, words are flipped around, to confuse the issue. So we use clever phrases and words to mask the real issue. And then it can't be dealt with properly, until it's named properly. We also see "naming" used in the battles between the right and left in the United States. The right calls the left woke and crazy, and the left calls the right racist and extreme. The news media encourages the name calling and the false naming. And pretty soon people are convinced that they are enemies. People stop talking to each other because both parties and the news media have created dividing lines by polarizing through false naming. 

If Americans could just talk to each other, without seeing each other as enemies, we could work through this issues. But the news media and politicians demonize, demonize, demonize to the point that we fear and hate each other. There used to be so many talk shows on news media where politicians would debate policies, but less and less do we see debates. Instead people polarize, and refuse to talk to each other, and call each other hateful and bigoted and woke and crazy instead of sitting down and finding common ground.

But humanity has always had a naming problem. It goes all the way back to the garden of Eden. Satan tempted the first humans to believe a lie instead of the truth. And unfortunately they fell for the lie. And ever since then humanity constantly tries to redefine good and evil to fit our desires. 

Adam gave names to the animals (Gen 2:19). But after the fall, humans began to use that power for evil, twisting the meaning of everything to fit what we wanted, to give ourselves permission to do things that we know are wrong. 

To this day we tend to resist what God has said in His word. We can't accept it. We want to be the god. We want to rewrite reality to fit our values. But what God has spoken is true. God has the final word in naming reality, and humanity itself.

Many biblical concepts are difficult to accept. Hard realities are tough to face. But God invites us to enter into something with Him, called "wrestling." God wrestled with Jacob. And Jacob, which means "deceiver" received a new name, that new name was Israel which means, "wrestles with God." If we we enter boldly into seeking God, and wrestling with God, through this process God will help us to accept His truths and reject the lies of the enemy. And God willing, we will receive a new name in all this. A name from the throne of God, for one who has wrestled with God and accepted His truth.

When we allow Jesus in, Jesus speaks life over us and that's the most powerful naming in the universe, it erases every false name spoke in the past, and speaks the truth over us in power. We reject lies, embrace truth, and receive a new name, the true name we were always meant to carry. The name from the throne of God, calling us who we really are. But again, it's also left up to us, if we want to "get well" or stay sick. Choose life and live!