In Day One of this Christmas blog series, I challenged you to make a Christmas bucket list.  It’s all about “Joining the One,” joining Jesus this Christmas. What do you need to do, experience or ponder this season to gain the greatest soul-satisfaction this Christmas? Today  I want to give you a filter for your bucket list…a filter that will help you select the best bucket list items.  

The filter is humility.  Yep humility.  One of the most slippery of character qualities right?  Because the moment you think you’re humble…you probably aren’t.  On the other hand pride is like bad breath, you never know when you have it!  So what is humility?  It’s not living life with a low self-esteem. It’s not thinking less of yourself, it’s simply thinking of  yourself less often.  C.S. Lewis called it a “blessed self-forgetfulness.” It is a compassionate, heroic focus on others. So how many of the items in your bucket list are all about you? 

The International Justice Mission is a Christian organization dedicated to setting free the people who are trapped by sex trafficking. Gary Haugen the founder writes,

I vividly remember when I finally had to make a decision to abandon my career at the U.S. Department of Justice to become the first employee of a not-for-profit organization that didn’t yet actually exist called International Justice Mission. I had worked for three years with friends on the idea of IJM and was very excited, in theory, about this dream of following Jesus in the work of justice in the world.  But then I had to actually act. I had to walk into the Department of Justice and turn in my badge. I tried to be very brave and very safe. I walked in and asked my bosses for a yearlong leave of absence.  They politely declined.

I was suddenly feeling very nervous, afraid. What was I really afraid of? As I thought about it, I feared humiliation. If my little justice ministry idea didn’t work, no one was going to die. If (it was) a bad idea and collapsed, my kids weren’t going to starve. (But)…the fact is I would be terribly embarrassed. Having told everybody about my great idea, they would know that it was a bad idea or that I was a bad leader.  …I sensed God inviting me to an extraordinary adventure of service, but deep inside I was afraid of looking like a fool and a loser.

What might you step back from this Christmas because you are afraid of how you will look, or what someone will say? The turning point for Gary came when he asked himself, “When I am [older], do I really want to look back and say, ‘Yeah, I sensed that God was calling me to lead a movement to bring rescue to people who desperately need an advocate in the world, but I was afraid of getting embarrassed and so I never even tried?'”

When he realized that he cared more about the people in need of rescue than he cared about himself, he acted with courage for the cause.  In fact courage is simply what humility looks like to others, especially those in need.

Now, I can’t tell you how to gain humility. Often it involves failure, and pain, and even helplessness. But an article by Harry Joiner gave me some thoughts on the signs of a potential lack of humility:

• Thinking that what you do or say is better than what others do or say.
• Being easily offended.
• Hanging onto your rights when giving them up would help others.
• Not being aware that all of the gifts you have are on loan from God.
• Frequently mentioning yourself as an example in conversation.
• Being hurt that others are held in greater esteem than you.
• Refusing to carry out menial tasks.
• Grieving over what you don’t have…and what others do have.

Philippians 2:1-8 tells us that Jesus humbled himself and came as a servant.  Some think Jesus came to earth as a servant to disguise the fact that he was God.  What if he came to earth as a servant because a servant was the closest form of God on the earth. If that’s true we can’t join Jesus for our best Christmas ever, if we don’t get humble!  

Here is my challenge…filter back through the bucket list and humble-ize it a bit.  How will you experience “blessed self-forgetfulness” this season?

Join the One — That’s our call this Christmas season.  Join the One.  For the next 25 days–every day–I’m going to share a thought, a scripture, and a call.  It will be a call to join Christ, in a soul-satisfying experience of Christmas.  I invite you to check back daily and join me. 

Let me start with a question. Have you ever experienced buyer’s remorse? Something catches your attention, some object, some piece of clothing with just the right tags, or the newest technical gadget. You read up on it, go look at it, ask Santa for it, or go into debt to buy it, because you are certain life will be great, if you acquire this particular piece of stuff. You bring it home and you use it.  You show it off to your friends and you bask in the glow of the satisfaction you received from your purchase.

But soon you have a gnawing sense of dissatisfaction in your spirit and you think oh why did I go and do that, this isn’t bringing the pay-off that I thought it would. You look for the receipt, wondering you can bring it back, perhaps trade it in, give it to someone else, so you can have a consumer’s do-over.  Buy one, get one free. That’s buyer’s remorse.

So here’s the Christmas question; “Have you ever experienced Christmas remorse?

Fast forward to the days immediately following Christmas. You’re visiting in the lobby at church or talking in the halls at work, or chatting with your friend during halftime of a bowl game and invariably someone asks the question, “So how was your Christmas? If it’s a casual conversation with someone you barely know, you will probably respond with, “Great how was yours?” If it’s a real conversation with someone you know well, you might find give a shrug of your shoulders and find yourself saying,

“Well you know, it was good…but…it was really busy.  I don’t know.  I wanted… I wanted this Christmas to be one where I/my family could slow down and ponder the wonder of Christmas. I wanted it to be a Christmas where I was more spiritually connected than I’ve ever been. I wanted to spend time, quality time with friends and family. I wanted my gift giving to be more than just a quick stop at the mall on Christmas Eve day. I wanted to take time and put some thought into it.  In fact I wanted to make a difference, isn’t that what Christmas is all about? I wanted this to be the best Christmas ever.

But I think I missed it. Everything seemed rushed. After attending twelve different Christmas events and buying twelve gifts for cousins I don’t even know; after twelve hours of planning and preparing a meal that was eaten in twelve seconds, I don’t think I spent twelve minutes doing what I had hoped to do.  The worst part of it all, I think I feel farther from God than I did at Thanksgiving, before this all started.”

And then like faithful Pittsburgh Pirates fans, we’ll say, “Wait till next year. Next year we’re not going to miss it.” But you know people have been missing Christmas for over 2000 years. 

So here is my day one challenge. Read Luke 2:18-20 and think about what needs to happen in the next 25 days so that those verses will describe your response the day after Christmas.  In other words, what is your Christmas Bucket List?

Nobody here wants to lose heart. Do you believe those words? Pastor Stacy wrote in his blog last week about going from my daughter Katy’s wedding on Saturday to the funeral of 22 month old Tyson. He was born with goldenhar syndrome and lived with more pain than we can imagine. Why do we do weddings and memorial services? I think it’s because we are looking for hope. We hope that a good marriage will come from the wedding and we hope that we can find something beyond the limits of life that will help us keep our hearts in times of tragedy.  

Maybe you are reading this and your marriage is on the rocks, you might be thinking, “my heart’s just not in this anymore.” You’re losing heart. Maybe you’ve gone so long, doing what you want, when you want, to whomever you want and the fallout of filling your life with you is that people look at you and say, “You’re heartless.” You’ve lost your heart.  Maybe it’s a dream that’s disappeared? A hurt that’s turned bitter? An on-going failure or overwhelming fear? Maybe you tried to accomplish something great for Jesus and you failed completely.  Now you are wondering, “Where was God?” You are losing heart.

One of the dangers of the mess of life, whether it’s mess on the inside or the outside is that we can begin to lose heart and no one wants to lose heart. The mother who passes out in front of her children, who seems to love alcohol more than her family; the young man dying from aids, left alone by the man he though would stand by him no matter what; the PSU student who never got her father’s affirmation and now finds it far too easy to get into physical relationships with guys she’s not even sure she likes, none of them want to lose heart.

We want to be renewed, strong on the inside. We know that life is full of ups and downs, glory and mess but we don’t want to lose heart. Paul begins and ends 2 Corinthians 4:1-16 with the words, so we do not lose heart.  And in between he writes these words in vs 7-10, 

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.

If I could summarize his message in a few words, I would simply say, “Don’t you dare quit.”

You have a treasure in your jar of clay. There is an unsurpassable power at work within you that you cannot even begin to fathom. You may be on the verge of the finishing the greatest race you have ever run. You may be on the verge of a celebration with friends that you never could have imagined. You may be on the verge of an experience that could develop your heart into the heart of a hero. Don’t you dare quit.

Sometimes life isn’t easy, but you have a treasure.  Don’t you dare quit. The life Jesus offers, the identity you can receive because of his work, is worth the battle. Some times all it takes is getting up…one more time.

I was going to title this post — “Today I Marry My Daughter” — but that would be too easy to confuse.  I’m a pastor and today I have the privilege of being the officiant at the wedding of my daughter and her fiance Josiah.   The countdown has moved from months to weeks, and now from days to hours.

Lynn gave me strict orders that I must have everything ready, wedding sermon done, by Thursday…so now I have an hour or two to finish it up.  Every time I came to work on the message, I had such a welling up of emotion that I could barely even work on it. So I would doodle for a bit and then stop.  Last night most of the words came but still with a great deal of emotion.  As I was praying and pondering, I just kept asking why all this emotion? I’m not sad that Katy is getting married. I’m glad.  Josiah is a great guy. She has chosen well and this is God’s next step for her journey.  It’s not even that I grieve a chapter ending…that is happening, but it’s been happening ever since she went away to Bethel.

So why this intensity of emotion?  It’s just because I love her. Duh. No great revelation there right? I have loved watching God grow her.  I’ve loved watching her play with kids in Myanmar.  I’ve loved watching her work her way through difficult relationships growing in her ability to be a good friend. I’ve loved watching her relationship with Josiah grow. I’ve loved seeing the ways in which God has shaped her come even more into the light.

But even more than all of that…without all of that.  I just love her.  Nothing she could do would make me love her more and nothing she could do would make me love her less. She’s my daughter and I love her. 

As I was thinking about that, the thought hit me…that’s just a small glimpse into the heart that Father God has for each of us.  I know He is smiling today as well…His heart is filled with love for you…maybe even a bit emotional.

I’m pretty sure that I won’t make it through this wedding ceremony without a few tears… actually I’m just praying that I can speak the words without blubbering.  :)

It’s going to be a good day.

I am a preacher, have been for a bit over 20 years.  Counting weddings and funerals, I’m probably approaching 1000 preaching events. That doesn’t even include the times that one of my kids said, “Dad stop preaching at me!”

I love preaching, but it’s not always an easy task. Sometimes preaching is a difficult task.  “What’s difficult about preaching?” you might ask.  Well… sometimes it’s difficult coming up with new ideas for a new sermon series.  Finding good stories and sharing good stories, sometimes that’s difficult.  You don’t always know how people are responding, you just have to preach and have faith that God is at work.  I find that it’s often difficult to keep that balance between working hard at crafting a sermon and relying on the Holy Spirit for something good to happen.  And of course the most difficult thing is when people don’t laugh at my jokes!  :) 

This past week, Matt Woodley (the editor of a preaching journal I receive) asked Archbishop Ben Kwashi (a Christian leader from Nigeria) about the preaching challenges in his country. He mentioned typical stuff we all face—helping our people grow as disciples, learning the craft of preaching, relying on the Spirit, preparing solid expository sermons. But then he mentioned one difficulty that Matt didn’t expect…and I rarely consider.  He said,

“Our preachers in Nigeria, know that they might get killed for preaching the gospel. In Northern Nigeria the Muslim extremists keep killing off our preachers, but God keeps calling new preachers. For some reason, they keep coming to our seminary. Sometimes I don’t understand it, but these young Christians are so courageous and committed.”

Wow. That matter-of-fact statement moves me to prayer.  This week I am praying for other preachers around the world, who put their life and livelihood on the line to preach the gospel.  I am praying that God would anoint them with unusual effectiveness and give them more fruit than they can imagine.  But I am also praying for myself, for the pastors in our community, that we would so treasure the gospel, and so rest in His strength, that we would preach with the same courage and conviction.  Join me.

I love stories about people embracing a cause. I collect them.  One of my favorites is the story of William Borden. In 1904 Borden graduated from a Chicago high school and as heir to the Borden Dairy estate, he was already a millionaire. For his high school graduation present, his parents gave him a life-changing, heart-expanding trip around the world. As he traveled through Asia, the Middle East and Europe, he felt a growing burden for the world’s hurting people and the multitudes who didn’t know Jesus.

Near the end of the trip, Borden wrote his mother, “I know God is calling me to be a missionary. I’m going to give my life to
prepare for the mission field.” Knowing what he was giving up, one friend expressed amazement that Williams was throwing his life away to be a missionary. During that season of life, Borden wrote two words in the back of his Bible.

No Reserves.  As in nothing held back, all in.  Total abandon. What are you pursuing with no reserves?

Borden held nothing back. During his college years at Yale, he became a pillar in the Christian community. One entry in his personal journal that defined the source of his spiritual strength simply said: “Say no to self and yes to Jesus every time.”  During his first semester at Yale, Borden started a small prayer group.  This little group gave birth to a movement that transformed the campus and even spread to other campuses. By the end of his freshman year, 150 students were meeting weekly to study the Bible and pray together. By his senior year, 1,000 of Yale’s 1,300 students were meeting in these weekly groups.

He also worked with the homeless on the streets of New Haven. He founded the Yale Hope Mission and Henry Wright, a professor at Yale, said, “It is my firm conviction that the Yale Hope Mission has done more to convince…(students) at Yale of the power and practicability of Christianity…than any other force in the University.”  Borden was often strategizing with others to make sure every student on campus heard about Jesus, but his real passion was missions. He attended a Student Volunteer Movement conference in Nashville where he learned about the great number of Muslims in China.  When he graduated from Yale, Borden wrote two more words in the back of his Bible.

No Retreats. No going back. I don’t care how hard it is or how long it takes or how much it costs.

In keeping with that commitment, Borden turned down several high-paying job offers, including the opportunity to take over the multimillion dollar Borden company. William set sail for China on December 17, 1912. He stopped in Egypt to study Arabic so that he would be better equipped to work with Muslims.  While in Egypt, he contracted spinal meningitis and within a month, he died.

He was 25 years old…years of training, such commitment, so much potential, so many selfless decisions, and William never even made it to China. Charlie Campbell, one of William’s college friends, received his Bible after his death. When he opened it he found the words that William had written in his Bible, 

• “No Reserves” written when God grabbed his heart for the hurting people of the world.
• “No Retreats” written when he graduated from college and had to choose between what others thought he should do and what he though God was asking him to do.
• And two more words, written sometime in the weeks before he died, “No Regrets.”

He never made it to the mission field in China, but through a no reserves, no retreats, no regrets life, he touched hundreds of students at Yale University and Princeton Divinity School who became missionaries and, because the news of his death was published all over the world, many people wrote letters to his family expressing how their lives had been influenced by William’s story of faith and commitment to the cause of Christ.

This weekend we are going to worship on campus, Calvary on Campus. Why? Partially because this is one of the missions that we share as a whole movement. Partially because it is at the heart of our region.  In some way all of us have a connection to Penn State. But even more importantly because I believe that the next move of God in this region will start at the heart of our region. I believe that God is going to raise up scores of William Bordens in our midst; people whose commitment to the cause of Christ will inspire others.

That is a cause worth embracing.

We (Calvary) are in the midst of a 21 Day Season of prayer-walking.  Nope it’s not a new exercise program, though it’s certainly not a bad idea to exercise body and soul both at the same time!  Sometimes we use the phrase, “praying onsite with insight.”  Prayer-walking is taking prayer outside the four walls of the church and into the community.  We are prayer-walking the Penn State Campus.  We are drawing a circle around the campus and asking God to transform what’s inside the circle.  We are prayer-walking 21 days leading up to a Calvary-wide worship gathering on campus — Calvary on Campus, September 15, at Eisenhower Auditorium.

Last Wednesday was Calvary Classic’s day (each of our gatherings is taking a day) to prayer-walk Penn State.  14 of us went out including 5 wonderful kids and I have no doubt that Jesus smiled brightly upon them!  We split up and went to a variety of places like Beaver Stadium and Findlay Commons.  I gave out a list of prayer requests for each spot and we went out to pray. 

I’m sure some of you who are asking questions like, “Why are we doing this?”  What difference does it make to pray?  And if prayer makes a difference, why do I have to go there?  Even if I want to pray why can’t I just pray from home?” All I can say is that something happens when we pray onsite. Something happens in us.  One of the reasons that we pray — of course — is because there are tens of thousands of students on that campus who don’t know and love Jesus.  But one of the reasons we go there to pray is because that fact doesn’t grab our hearts the way it should.

I think of places in the gospels where it says that Jesus saw the crowds and he was filled with compassion.  There is simply something that happens in the seeing that fuels our prayers.  In another place (Luke 10) Jesus sent them out to the villages and as they were going he said, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few so pray…”  But their prayers were fueled as they went onsite.

Today our staff prayed on campus.  I’ll be there again tomorrow.  In fact, if you are reading this, even if you are not part of the Calvar family, I would ask you to go somewhere on campus and pray at least once between now and September 15. God did something in my heart on Wednesday night, some emotion, compassion, brokenness I hadn’t felt in awhile, and that shaped my prayers. I want that for all of us.

For the online version of a prayer-walking guide, you can go to www.calvarysc.org/prayer. If you do go out and pray, I would love to hear about it.  Send me an email…

What thoughts come to mind when you hear the phrase, “Life’s too short?” I have a daughter in Connecticut, making her way and living her life, another daughter getting married in November, a son who just left for his junior year of college, and a son who graduates from high school next year. This summer, sitting around a campfire, I was just wondering, “How did it go so fast? Life’s too short.” Maybe all your kids graduated from college and ended up back home. You were just getting excited about freedom and now you get bonus parenting! You’re thinking, “Man life’s too short for this!” Maybe you’re stuck in a past moment. Someone hurt you and you can’t forgive, but recently someone stopped you and said, “You have to find a way to get past this, because life’s too short to carry that junk around.”

A wise man once wrote these words, (recorded in Psalm 90) “The length of our days is 70 years or 80, if we have the strength. …Filled with trouble and sorrow, they quickly pass. Teach us to number our days, so that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” So what’s your number? As you read this, I’ve lived over 18,640 days and if the averages hold I’ve got about 12,000 days left.

Here’s another way to think about numbering your days. On a piece of paper, write down the year you were born, followed by a dash, and then the numbers 20 and two blanks. For me it looks like this “1962 — 20__.” We usually see this configuration in obituaries and cemeteries. On one side of the dash is the day you were born; on the other side is the day you died. We don’t have much control over those two numbers. Your parents didn’t consult you about your birthday. It was ready or not, here you come. For the most part, we don’t get to choose our death-day. But then there’s your dash, between birthday and death-day is that little dash -.

In the light of eternity, it’s a short dash, but it is your dash. We all get one, only one. It is so unbelievably precious and yet we waste precious moments. We waste moments worrying about things that will never happen and moments scurrying after stuff that will never matter. We even waste moments filled with resentment toward people that will never remember us. We walk through the day with the eyes of our hearts blinded, oblivious to the beauty around us and unaware of God’s embrace. Can I ask you, “What are you doing with your dash?” You can fill your dash with good deeds or evil, passion or apathy, initiative or sloth, envy or grace, laughter or anger, friendships or loneliness. We can fill our dash living and loving, growing and dreaming, courageous moments and generous deeds, best friends and family. The question is simply, “What are you doing with your dash?”

Over a decade ago, I ran across a prayer recorded by A.W. Tozer and I’ve prayed it many times since then.  “Lord make me a man to whom you can entrust your glory.” As I think about finishing my dash well…that’s what I desire.  I want to be someone God can trust. Over and over and over again, we have asked the question, “Can I trust God?”  We have written books encouraging people to trust God.  Perhaps it would be worthwhile to ask the question from the other side?  Can God trust me?

I’m not talking about being perfect, in fact in our attempts to appear perfect, we lose God’s trust.  God does not need my perfection to weave his glory throughout creation.  The journey of becoming someone God trusts has more to do with humility than it does with perfection. I’m talking more about surrender, about opening myself up fully to God, about making his agenda my agenda, his priorities my priorities, his heart my heart.  That’s what I want to do with what’s left of my dash.

I can’t believe I’m posting about Miley, but here goes!

 Chaim Potok; a Jewish man, intensely religious, has written a number of novels which explore and develop the life of faith.  I read “The Chosen” my freshman year in college.  Good book!  In a lecture at John Hopkins University, he once told a story of his journey as a writer. He knew from an early age that he wanted to be a writer, but when he went to college his mother took him aside and said, “Chaim, I know you want to be a writer, but I have a better idea. Why don’t you be a brain surgeon. You’ll keep a lot of people from dying; you’ll make a lot of money.” Chaim replied, “No, Mama, I want to be a writer.”  

When he returned home for vacation, once again his mother cornered him with her encouragement. “Chaim, I know you want to be a writer, but listen to your mama. Be a brain surgeon.  You’ll keep a lot people from dying and you’ll make a lot of money.” Chaim replied, “No mama, I want to be a writer.” 

This conversation was repeated every vacation break, every summer, every meeting: “Chaim, listen to your mama, be a brain surgeon, you’ll keep a lot of people from dying.  You’ll make a lot of money.” “Mama, I want to be a writer.” The pressure intensified as the exchanges accumulated.  The explosion finally came. “Chaim, YOU’RE WASTING YOUR TIME.  Be a brain surgeon.  You’ll keep a lot of people from dying and you’ll make a lot of money.Counter-explosion. “MAMA, I DON’T WANT TO KEEP A LOT OF PEOPLE FROM DYING. I want to show them how to live.”

Chaim Potok sensed a calling to write. It wasn’t enough to make money, he wanted to show people how to live. We talk about calling a lot at Calvary.  We believe that God is in the process of shaping us for life.  He is shaping us to be like Jesus and to do good in the world, to make a difference.  I thought of that story and the idea of calling this week as I heard about Miley Cyrus’ VMA performance.

I didn’t watch the VMA’s show.  I don’t watch music videos so I’m not all that passionate about who wins the awards. While I could probably sing, “Achy Breaky Heart,” by heart, I probably couldn’t pick Lady Gaga out of lineup.  And even though I know a few young men who might have had a long-distance crush on Hannah Montana…I haven’t really followed the career of Miley Cyrus. So it was interesting to wake to the blogosphere full of Miley’s twerking. (And I know this will firmly box me in as a culturally unaware prude but I had to google twerking.  Kind of wish I hadn’t.) I didn’t read the blogs but judging from the titles her performance was racist, sexual, anti-feminine, shocking, tongue-wagging and bad.  So why am I posting about Miley?

I’m posting about Miley because she’s 20 and her father Billy Ray is 52.  She’s my kids age and her father is a year older than me. All I can do is think about my own kids. As I’ve prayed for my kids and asked God to shape them for life, I’ve dreamed about their future. I long for them to follow Christ, and live life and do good.  I pray that God will so work in them and through them that they will show people how to live.

I pray for that to happen for Miley as well.  In fact God has burdened my heart for that to happen in the lives of the 40,000 young men and women who come to Penn State.  So many of them, perhaps like Miley, are just trying to keep from dying.  They are buying into a culture that says your identity is wrapped up in how you look, and your sexuality, and your success…and in the end I think the best we can do with that identity is struggle to keep from dying.

But Christ shows us how to live.  He not only shows us how to live, he gives us life.

When asked about his daughter’s performance, one message Billy Ray gave was this, “She’s still my little girl and I’m still her dad regardless how this circus we call show business plays out,” he continued. “I love her unconditionally and that will never change.” Those words are spoken like a true father.  This week at Calvary we are praywalking the Penn State Campus.  I’ll be praying that students hear the voice of Father God drawing them to the life they can find in his Son Jesus Christ.

In our current Calvary teaching series — Undaunted Faith — we have been making our way through the Old Testament book of Joshua.  How do we develop a faith that is undaunted by difficulty, disappointment and danger?  That’s the question we are asking as we look at Joshua’s faith.  The last few weeks I’ve noticed a pattern, God often calls us to take the first step.

 After we step, He goes to work and the work of God is amazing! But often — not always, but often — He waits for us to take the first step.  Undaunted faith is a first step faith.

In Joshua 3, the people of Israel are led to the river Jordan, at the worst possible time.  Nine months out of the year it’s a sweet little crick (that’s creek for all you easterners) but during the harvest it’s a raging river up to a mile wide.  And of course God brings the people out of the wilderness to the river…during the harvest.  As they are shaking their heads in discouragement, God gives them their instructions in vs 13…

And as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the Lord the Lord of all the earth set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing  downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap. Joshua 3:13

When will God make a way through the river?  They’ve come all this way, here’s the promised land, and there’s the uncrossable river. No way to reach the promise without going through the problem. The only way to go from the problem to the promise was by the bridge of God’s power.  And someone has to be thinking, “NO WAY.  What in the world has Joshua done?” There’s no way we can cross that. And God says, I will make a way through your no way.

But don’t miss the sequence. God says, “I will turn your no-way into a highway, but you have to take the first step.  “When — as in after — the Priests, carrying the ark, step into the raging, uncrossable river…then I’ll make a way.”  Step first — amazing stuff second.  Can’t you see the Priests jockeying for position at the the back of the ark? “Hey I was up front last week, your turn. I’ll follow you!”

God wants to test their faith. Step 1st. Miracle 2nd. This is…First Step Faith. We find it all over the place in the Bible, times when God wants to test and grow our faith all at the same time. “I am sufficient for you,” we hear God whisper. “I will be with you. I will give you my power. I will show you my glory. I will cause others to be amazed by what I do in you and through you. But I’m gonna ask you to take the first step. I’m going to ask you to take a risk. I’m going to ask you to exercise first step faith.”

• The walls of Jericho don’t fall till the people step out to walk around the city.
• Peter you can walk on the water, but first you need to step out of the boat. 
• The crowd of 5000 do not get fed by Jesus until a young man first steps forward to give up his lunch.
• God doesn’t deliver his people till Esther risks her life by stepping forward to the King Xerxes.
• Resurrection doesn’t happen till Jesus sets his face to Jerusalem to walk up Golgatha with a cross on his back.

But God, I’m afraid. What if I fail? What if I step into the river and I drown? What if I do what you ask me to do and you don’t show up? And in that moment…at least sometimes I think we can hear the quiet whisper of God saying something like, “But what if I do” What if I do show up, ready to do something amazing…and you miss it. What do you have to lose?”

Whisper this to yourself a time or two, “I may have to get my feet wet, but God’s power is released after I take the first step.” Now ask yourself, Where Is God Calling Me to Take a Step?

Can I suggest one place where God is calling you to take a step?  Your neighborhood.  Look out the window.  When is the last time your prayed for your neighbors? Or connected with your neighbors? Or even shared the gospel with your neighbors?  But what if I step forward and God doesn’t show up?  But what if He does… you probably won’t know till you take a step.