All posts by Mike

Before I begin, I’d like to apologize.  I’ve been terrible about keeping up with this blog.  It’s been weighing on my mind for some time now, but the more I put it off, the more intimidating it became.  And to be honest, I don’t know why.  But I intend to change that pattern starting today.

As I read my Bible last night, I was thinking about opportunity.  I so often pray, “Jesus, use me.”  And then wonder why he hasn’t sent me to Africa or to the inner city of Chicago.  Here I am…in rural South Dakota (soon to be Missouri) where the worst thing that happens (typically) is attempted cow tipping.  And nowhere in the Bible does it say, “Thou shalt not tip over thy neighbor’s cow.”

So last night, I read Acts 3.  I’ll give you the quick version but I recommend reading it when you have a few minutes to really meditate on it.  Peter and John are on their way to the Temple.  As they approach the Temple, a crippled man was sitting by the gate.  He asked them for money…they said they had none, but that they’d give him what they did have.  Pretty soon they reached down, grabbed his hands and picked him up.  Tada!  He could walk.

Here’s what gripped me though. In verse 12, it says, “Peter saw his opportunity and addressed the crowd.”  First, he saw the opportunity.  In order to see something, we have to have our eyes open, to be aware of the possibility and be looking for it.  I ask God to use me, but so often I go about my day focused on me.  How will I ever see the opportunity to help someone else if my eyes are focused inward and not outward?  Second, Peter acted without hesitation.  I humbly admit there have been several times in my life that God has spoken to me, opened my eyes to opportunity and instead of acting, I’ve hesitated and lost what could have been a life-changing moment for someone.  So as I read and re-read and re-read that one simple verse, God spoke to me and changed my heart.

One more thing before I close this long-awaited post.  In verse 6 of Acts 3, Peter tells the crippled man he’d give him what he had.  Although it doesn’t say it, this is a perfect example of Peter seeing an opportunity and acting on faith.  And look at the result.  I encourage you, brothers and sisters, to open your eyes to the world around you.  Look for opportunity to be ambassadors for Christ and then take that step of faith and let God use you to change someone’s life.

Lindsie

As Mike and I face the challenges of moving, finding a new place to live and finding new jobs, this song brought a certain much needed peace to my afternoon.  What a wonderful God we serve.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=301S7NgAkLs]

blessings,

lindsie

As I was browsing the news the other day, I can across an article containing Obama’s official long birth certificate.  As I read the details contained on the document, I began thinking I now know more intimate details about President Obama than I do about some of my closest friends… or even my family.  I now know his birthday down to the exact minute he entered this world.

That thought prompted another thought.  Since Obama was sworn into office, the American public has learned a lot about him and his family.  We know their style preferences, the kind of dog the own, where they go, who they see, what they do…  The list could go on.  But if I showed up at the doors of the White House and said, “Please let me in.  I know the President,” and then showed the guards my hundreds of trivial facts I had accumulated about his life, they’d look at me like I was crazy and kindly (hopefully) ask me to leave.

Common sense, right?

Why then do so many people think God is any different?  You may know about the Bible, the Christmas story and the Easter story, the Creation story… You may know about Moses, Jonah, Paul… But do you KNOW Jesus?  Do you spend time with Him?  Do you have a relationship with Him?  If you showed up at His door, would He recognize you as His friend?

Knowing about a person does not constitute having a relationship with that person.  The same is true with God.  In fact, James 2:19 says that even the demons believe in God.

It seems to me that more and more people today are under the impression that being good will cut it.  This is a lie.  In fact, it’s one of Satan’s favorites.  If he can get you to believe by doing “good” things, you’ll go to heaven, he can most assuredly secure your place in hell.  The Bible also says (Titus 3:5) that it is not because of the righteous things we have done that we are saved, but because of his mercy through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.

So I ask you, do you know Jesus?  Or do you just know about Him?

Lindsie

P.S.  If you’d like to know more about having a relationship with Christ, please contact us at stormingjericho@gmail.com.  We’d love to pray with you and to welcome you to our family.

This is the news coverage on my sister’s health scare.  I’m so proud of her for giving God the credit.  She’s been using this experience as a testimony in some incredible ways.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlBmONarBHU]

(My apologies for the low quality video…)

Sometimes God speaks to us quietly, guiding our thoughts with His careful wisdom. Other times He gives us a revelation that explodes like a stick of dynamite and changes the landscape of our entire state of mind almost instantaneously.  This weekend, He blew me away…

Before I go into that, I should give you some background.  As you may know, this is my first semester back in school since I graduated in 2007.  I’m working toward my Christian Counseling degree, which inevitably means many, many psychology classes.  Although my goal is to end up at a Christian university, my current classes are through a local public university.  As I’m sure you can imagine, faith in God doesn’t always fit into the syllabus at such universities.  As a result, I have been taught that faith is foolish, that we did in fact evolve from monkeys and that human beings have no purpose, only function (that is literally what my textbook said).

That being said, this semester has provoked more God-related conversations than psychological conversations, particularly those related to evolution.  Then on Saturday, during one of those completely ordinary moments, God revealed to me a fantastic illustration as to why it takes more faith to believe in the theory of evolution than it does to believe in God and the truth found in His Word.

[UPDATE: Unfortunately, the video we originally embedded/linked to has been removed from YouTube, but if it ever gets re-posted, we’ll add the link back in here. Sorry for the confusion.]

Assuming you did watch the clip, I must ask, have you ever seen something like that happen in real life?  Have you ever seen a catastrophic accident lead to organization?  Have you ever seen a car leave the scene of a crash looking better than it did before?  That makes no sense.  Destruction does not create order.

Now consider the human body in all its complexities.  I’m no scientist and don’t even claim to being to know the intricate miracles our bodies participate in every day, and yet, even from my elementary knowledge, I know something this amazingly sophisticated could not have “just happened”.  Do you see how it takes more faith to believe that than it does to believe God created us?

We were no accident.  We were created with a purpose.  We are God’s masterpiece.

-lindsie

Happy Easter season, Brothers  & Sisters!  I absolutely love this time of year.  It’s a time of new beginnings as flowers begin to fill the air with their alluring aroma and chirping bird sing their sweet melodies as they busily fly to and fro, equally as joyful that spring is upon us.

But there’s another reason I love this time of year.  It’s a time to remember what Jesus did for each of us.  As our dance company prepares for our annual Easter show, I’m astounded by His love for us.  The suffering He endured so we could be free breaks my heart, yet fills me with an overwhelming sense of joy and gratitude…all at the same time.

The fact of the matter is, He died for you.  Even if you had been the only person in the whole world, throughout all history who needed saving, He still would have endured every moment of that suffering… because He loves you that much.

As Easter approaches, take a moment to thank Jesus for giving His life as a ransom for your heart.

Isaiah 53:4-12 [He did it for you…take a moment to make it personal.]

⁴ Yet it was ______ weaknesses he carried;
it was ______ sorrows that weighed him down.
And ______ thought his troubles were a punishment from God,
a punishment for his own sins!
⁵ But he was pierced for ______ rebellion,
crushed for ______ sins.
He was beaten so ______ could be whole.
He was whipped so ______ could be healed.
⁶ All of us (including ______), like sheep, have strayed away.
______ have left God’s paths to follow ______ own.
Yet the Lord laid on him
the sins of us all (including ______).

⁷ He was oppressed and treated harshly,
yet he never said a word.
He was led like a lamb to the slaughter.
And as a sheep is silent before the shearers,
he did not open his mouth.
⁸ Unjustly condemned,
he was led away.
No one cared that he died without descendants,
that his life was cut short in midstream.
But he was struck down
for the rebellion of ______.
⁹ He had done no wrong
and had never deceived anyone.
But he was buried like a criminal;
he was put in a rich man’s grave.

¹⁰ But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him
and cause him grief.
Yet when his life is made an offering for sin,
he will have many descendants.
He will enjoy a long life,
and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands.
¹¹ When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish,
he will be satisfied.
And because of his experience,
my righteous servant will make it possible
for many (including ______) to be counted righteous,
for he will bear all ______ sins.
¹² ______ will give him the honors of a victorious soldier,
because he exposed himself to death.
He was counted among the rebels.
He bore the sins of many (including ______) and interceded for rebels.

Rejoice, friends!  Jesus is alive and His power is MIGHTY to save!

-Lindsie

P.S. I’d also like to extend an invitation to anyone who may wish to join us this year for Once Upon a Tree.  The concert will be held Palm Sunday weekend (Saturday, April 16^th and Sunday, April 17^th at 7pm) at the Brookings United Methodist church.  Proceeds from the concert will go to benefit Mark Winquist and his family as they stand on the promises of God in their battle against cancer.

It is our goal to share with you not only our testimonies, but the testimonies of friends and family.  As I’ve said before, we believe wholeheartedly that our testimonies are one of the biggest threats we have against the kingdom of darkness.  And it is our ardent mission to be as threatening as possible.

That being said…

I was touched this morning by this story of God’s healing.  Please take a moment to read about God’s amazing power.

Thank you, Jesus!