Just Continue That Thought...

A thought by Michael Todd, from his book,  Crazy Faith.  (p. 26). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) And we do too, don't we? Michael says, "In Matthew 17, there’s a story about a time when Jesus’s disciples are on crowd-control duty (verse 14). Everything is going fine until this one father asks them to pray for his demon-possessed son. Jesus had given the disciples authority to heal sick people and cast out demons (10:1), so why not? They muster up the courage to lay hands on this boy, and…pause for effect… nothing happens . "The boy’s father does what my dad would do if we were at a restaurant and the server didn’t bring us what we asked for: he asks to speak to their boss. He approaches Jesus, Jesus rebukes the demon, and instantly the boy is healed! That makes the disciples wonder why it didn’t work when they tried." Michael continues, "This reminds me of a time a while back when my oldest

A thought by Michael Todd, from his book,  Crazy Faith.  (p. 24). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.)  So, what is it? Michael continues, "If you can’t figure out what your first step of faith should be, God has given you an amazing tool to walk in baby faith. It’s called your imagination. That’s right, your imagination. Now, I need you to do something that might seem a little crazy, depending on where you’re reading this book. (If you’re on the treadmill, proceed with caution.) Close your eyes. No, seriously; read the next few sentences, and then close your eyes. "Imagine yourself in your favorite vacation spot, sitting next to someone who makes you happy and sipping unlimited refills of your favorite drink. You’ve got ten seconds. Go !" He says, "Ahh…didn’t that feel good? It’s okay if you took longer than ten seconds. I want you to understand the power of your imagination. I’m sitting in my offic

  A thought by Michael Todd, from his book,  Crazy Faith.  (p. 22). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) Okay, then what do we do? Michael continues, "No one walks into a gym for the first time in two years and jumps into bench-pressing three hundred pounds, and nobody in her right mind jumps headfirst into a pool for the first time and expects to perform like an Olympic swimmer." He says, "The night I first met Natalie, I didn’t get down on one knee, profess my undying love, and propose to her. She would have called me desperate! Instead, I took my time to get to know her, cracked a few jokes, spit some game, got the digits…you know, baby steps. Look, baby steps are annoying, but they are absolutely necessary to reach a big goal. Lifting heavier weights calls for gradual conditioning, and managing greater success calls for steady character building. You’ve got to do your reps. "But don’t get it twis

A thought by Michael Todd, from his book,  Crazy Faith.  (p. 12). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) Michael continues, "I’m sure you’d agree that this world we live in is pretty out of whack, and for things to get right, we need miracles taking place far more often. If we really want crazy results, we’ve got to put in a crazy amount of faith—even if it’s hard. So I’ve got one question for you: How badly do you want it? " He says, "Merriam-Webster defines crazy as 'not mentally sound: marked by thought or action that lacks reason.' In other words, if something is crazy, it makes zero sense. There’s no reasonable explanation why it should be happening. Some synonyms for crazy are insane, impractical, erratic, out of the ordinary, and unusual. You can probably think of someone you know who fits that description—and if you can’t…well, then, it might be you! "I’m kidding. But for real, how many

A thought by Michael Todd, from his book,  Crazy Faith.  (p. 7). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) And that's a great place to start. Michael continues, "Sure, the best time to start laying that foundation may have been twenty years ago, but the next-best time is right now . In many translations, Hebrews 11:1 starts off with these two words: 'Now faith.' So I’m encouraging you now, at this moment, that now is not too late. As a matter of fact, now is the perfect time. Right where you are, you can begin tearing down the walls of doubt, pulling out the lies of pessimism, and removing the framework of fear so that God can pour a new faith foundation deep within you." He says, "We each have beliefs, standards, philosophies, and habits, and these are all built on some sort of foundation, whether from family, friends, education, religion, or culture—or a combination of all of the above. I wrote t

A thought by Michael Todd, from his book, Crazy Faith.  (p. 4). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) Michael continues this thought, "(Okay, sometimes more than five minutes. But a lot can change in a very short amount of time.) Once we recognize that, it’s reasonable to acknowledge that many things that seem crazy to us right now could be normal in the future. Your student loan debt erased or your six-figure mortgage paid off seems crazy. Doctors going up to the ICU to tell the uncle you’ve been praying for that he’s cancer free and can go home seems crazy. The thought of your entire family accepting salvation and living for Christ sounds crazy. Getting your ten-year sobriety chip after abusing substances for decades sounds crazy. Leaving an inheritance of wealth for your great-grandchildren after you grew up in poverty seems crazy. Recovering from what seems like an unending downward spiral of depression to wake

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus, from his book,  The Genius of Jesus   (p. 45). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) And that is important to know. Erwin continues, "Genius is a form of stewardship. To unlock your genius, you must choose to bear the weight of great responsibility. When Mary asked Jesus why he had gone to the Temple, his answer reflected a nonnegotiable intention: 'Did you not know that I must be in my father’s house?' He must be there. He must do this. This was not optional. This was his purpose." Erwin says, "There were many things Jesus did not come to do. He did not solve all the world’s problems or remove corrupt leaders from their positions. There were many things, too, that Jesus did, but that were not his purpose. He did heal the sick, but he did not heal all the sick. He came to save humanity from itself. He came to do what no one else could do. In this way, all manifes