It was another complaining person. In my head I was complaining about all the complaining I was hearing (ironic, right? :-)). There were no warm fuzzies, and no particularly spiritual vibe, just internal rolls of eyes (am I allowed to be real for a moment – haha). Then it dawned on me – all of this complaining was about physical pain – I know someone who can help with that. Alright, here we go (not knowing if they believe in this), “Can I pray for your pain? . . . Right now?” Their tone softens, “Well . . . sure.” My hand on shoulder, simple prayer, Jesus heals. Everything changes.

Imagine if the supernatural was normal for every believer. If the supernatural were normal for every believer we wouldn’t have enough room in the churches for all the people coming to faith. We wouldn’t feel the need to argue family members into godliness.  We would be able to look people in the eye, love them fully, and then back it up with the raw, authentic power of God. No need for nerves or backing off. What if the supernatural was normal? It was for Jesus, and it was for the early church and it is becoming that way for so many today.

Here are 3 ways to Make the Supernatural Normal . . .

• Normal in Occurrence

For us to mirror New Testament believers the supernatural will happen with consistency through us (Acts 4:29-33). There is a rhythm and atmosphere of supernatural events that occurs in the early church. When we steward the miracle well through testimony, we will be ready for more.

• Normal as in Not Weird

Believers were normal in their approach, normal in the flow of conversation and daily activities on their way to supernatural events. The only thing weird about the encounter was generally the miracle itself. When our approach is friendly and genuine, boldness is easy. It’s hard for people to get angry at you when you care enough to notice their pain. Asking them if you can pray for it is only somewhat shocking, because it’s actually kind.

• Normal as in Outside the Church

80% (104 of 130) of miracle stories in the New Testament happened outside the church. The miracles happened in the market place, on the streets, during travel; at homes, wells, boats, wilderness, mountain, shore of a lake, around a campfire, etc. What if we trained ourselves inside the church to pray for miracles only in the same tone, attitude and manner that would work outside the church? This must be our goal. 98% of conversion stories in the NT were directly tied to miracles. Miracles are still directly tied to winning converts that stick and grow today.

I believe that the supernatural can be normal for every believer. This is the Biblical precedent. Let’s not dumb down our theology to our experience or lack of experience in the supernatural; rather let’s seek to allow our experience to match the Scripture more and more. Play the long game with this. Jesus will win through us.

Sitting on my pillow when I came to my room one night was a note from my wife, “I love you handsome, XOXO.” No special day, or event, or date night, or occasion – it was a note – just because. I kept the note (I cried when I saw it – don’t tell anyone ;-)). It is often the unexpected gestures of love that become viral in our hearts.

Jesus constantly gave love in unexpected ways and times. In John 4:27 the disciples were “surprised” to find him talking with the Samaritan woman. He surprised the Pharisees by forgiving the sins of the paralytic before healing him. After his resurrection he surprised the believers by walking through the wall on multiple occasions – just to highlight a few.

Last night, as I was sitting with so many friends, mourning the tragic loss of a wonderful young man, Jesus showed His ways again. It was easy to sense His presence in the room. One came in with knee pain, after prayer, the brace came off and the knee was healed. Another came in with a severe headache, what 4 Advil couldn’t touch, Jesus completely healed in 90 seconds. Why? Just because. Was He helping to comfort us in the loss? Yes, certainly He was. But mostly for those of us in the room who witnessed these miracles, we simply know that Jesus is good, and He loves us. I’ll keep that love note from Him close to my heart. Let His love become viral in your heart today.

“Stretch your hand out!” Those watching scurry to pull their jaws off the floor as the man’s shriveled hand becomes wholly functional again. Dancing in his head are the sports events he won’t have to miss out on, the earning potential at his job that will increase and the caresses from his wife that he won’t miss. He’s overjoyed, but realizes something is wrong in the room. He tries desperately to wash the smile off his face, but it doesn’t work – goodness is winning inside him.

Yet he sees the shaking heads, hears the murmurs, and feels cold stares – they were outraged – the “important” people – the ones who ran things. When they got like this, people died. This was not good, but yet it was soooo good. He still couldn’t wipe the grin from his face as he hurries out of the room, past “them” and home. Jesus had just been outrageously good to him, now he had to reconcile that with his life – it was going to be so fun!

Why would we settle for just normal good, when we can be outrageously good? What if each of us were not just capable, but committed to blessing others in outrageously good ways? This was Jesus’ M.O., His signature move, His routine recipe. The woman caught in adultery (John 8), healing the paralytic (Matt 9), Lazarus (John 11), the woman who washed his feet (Luke 7), etc. It wasn’t a full day’s work if Jesus hadn’t ticked someone off with His ridiculous levels of goodness. What if we became like Jesus in this way? What if our crazy matched His crazy … goodness? 🙂 This is not just possible, it is the destiny of the body of Christ.

The “sinner” who needs scandalous grace, the stranger who needs an excessive gift, the friend who needs embarrassing praise, the hope for God’s best that needs rekindled in us today. Every day is a chance to be outrageously good. Just like Jesus.

“What are you wearing?” If you ask your spouse this question before getting ready – you’re safe. If asked while we’re already out, there‘s going to be fight, or at least – awkward embarrassment :-). You know what I’m talking about. You can get in a fight anytime with that question if the emphasis is on the wrong word :-/.

But I’m your Pastor (just think of me as your personal style consultant – haha), because I have to ask you, “Spiritually, what are you wearing?” In other words, what do people see when they look at you? The Bible has a lot to say about our spiritual clothing, from clothing with the armor of God (Eph 6:10-18, Rev 16:15), or with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience (Col 3:12, 1 Pet 5:5), with Jesus Christ (Rom 13:14, Gal 3:27), or with heaven (2 Cor 5:2-4), even with immortality (How awesome is that! 1 Cor 15:54).

Here’s the fun part, “And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and clothes you with power from heaven.” (Lk. 24:49 NLT) What happens when we’re clothed in power? Our world sees it, and is attracted. I see this continually – story after story. As we are aware of Holy Spirit and let Him out to affect our world, they see the power of God ON us. People might randomly start talking to you, or in the course of a conversation with you recognize something different. If those doors open a crack, get in the habit of throwing them wide. Ask people if you can pray for them. God will back you up. Again, there is story after story of God doing exactly that through our people at JLC – even in the last week!

So, what are you wearing? What if we began to wear the power of God more and more?

“THAT’S NOT FAIR!” followed by stomps and a temper tantrum, rolling of eyes, huffs, and running to our room. Does that sound familiar? Let alone what kids will do when they don’t get their way :-). We don’t even have to be taught this – a sense of fairness seems to be innately born into every individual, from the first time we cry for milk or a diaper change :-). This attitude follows us throughout life and manifests in our jobs, our marriages, our political views and even our hopes. Somehow, we think that getting what we deserve is proper, even poetic. Newsflash, karma is NOT in the Bible.

In Matthew 20:1-16 Jesus tells a parable of a man who owned a vineyard. He went to the market to hire workers three times throughout the day, then at the end of the day paid them all the same wages. The attitude of the earliest workers reflects our sense of fairness and entitlement, listen to the owner’s response, “I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? ¹⁴ Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. ¹⁵ Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’” (Matt. 20:1 NIV)

Fairness isn’t king in heaven. Yes, we know that God is just according to the Scripture (Ps 7:6, 11:7, Psalm 33:5, Psalm 36:6, Psalm 45:4, Matt 23:23, Rev 19:11). But there are concepts that hold greater value to God’s character and heart than fairness and justice, and grace is the one that wins here. (Jo 1:14, 17; Acts 15:11, Eph 2:8, 1 Tim 1:2, Titus 2:11; Heb 4:16; Jam 4:6; 2 Jo 1:3, Rev 22:21)

Our Father, like the owner of the vineyard, is not as concerned with fairness as we are. If He were then He never would have sent His pure spotless Son Jesus to die for our sin. I hear people say in situations even as mundane as tipping a waitress well, “But they don’t deserve it.” I always think, “Maybe, but if we get what we deserve, we go to hell.” So, we get the opportunity to look like our Father and offer grace to everyone around us – believers or not. It’s not our job on earth to doll out justice, but it is our job to offer the lavish, unfair, overwhelming grace of our good God!

Truth . . .

• God’s not fair. He’s way better than that – God is good.
• God offers grace – which is the empowering presence of God to become what He sees when He looks at us.
• Because of Holy Spirit inside us, we offer grace to others also.

My father recalls in vivid detail the war protests of the 60’s and 70’s. Being student body president at Olivet Nazarene University in the year 1970, demanded he make public statements to news stations about the nearby Kent State Shootings.

This is the first string of events in my lifetime to hold a candle to those events. Orlando, Baton Rouge, St. Paul and Dallas all point to a nation that is wounded.

Here are a few things I believe. I don’t believe this is the judgment of God. Certainly if God were endeavoring to judge He could do it bigger. Also, it’s very hard to argue that His hand of protection has lifted here -1st Century believers had it way worse and they were completely under God’s protection (we might have a skewed view of God’s protection). Finally, I believe God is mourning with us.

He gave us this command, “Mourn with those who mourn.” (Rom 12:15)

I may not have the perfect comment to make everyone happy on this – but I know how to mourn. I know how to cry, I know how to long for better for my nation, I know how to cry out that our nation would find it’s moorings in God.

The world needs to know what the church is for. We are for healing. Jesus is for healing. Before Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, he stopped to weep. Why? Because He can’t see his children mourning and not join in. But He didn’t stay there – He enacted the change that Lazarus’ family needed. He became healing.

I have talked about how God is a party animal because He rejoices with those who rejoice, and because He mourns with those who mourn that makes Him the most empathetic and understanding. Our God has so much depth. He’s amazing.

So make it personal – Who in my life can I mourn with? Who in my life can I rejoice with? Who in my life can I become healing for? Exercising our emotions for others is healthy and Godly. Maybe it’s been awhile since you cried for someone else.

Take a moment of silence today – invest yourself in the emotions of other human beings in your life, in your nation – as it turns out, it will be good for your soul too – healing even. Become healing for someone today. Be Jesus to someone today.

Some of you saw my post on facebook about my 4 year old’s miraculous healing (see bottom of page for pics and facebook post). Her faith is huge! God loves her so much! Make no mistake he loves you so much too . . .

Matthew 18:10 “See that you do not despise [devalue, de-esteem, dishonor] one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.”

This is not a dire and foreboding statement like most people think – it is directly followed by the parable of the lost sheep where Jesus shows the incredible worth of every individual. It is heart expanding. Our Father has a huge heart for all of his children. He doesn’t want one wandering off.

The angels are looking at Him taking on His heart – they’re passionate like our Father about the preservation of the helpless. Not just preservation of their eternity, but the preservation of their best life now, since the word in verse 14 translated they should not perish is more correctly that they should not be crushed or ruined.

Truth . . .
We are God’s little ones too, don’t devalue or de-esteem yourself, God wants to do miracles through you.

If we’re looking at our father’s face then we know the value of those around us.

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So there’s Jesus, strolling out onto the lake in the middle of a storm (Matt 14:22-36). The disciples are freaking out, calling him a ghost. Then Peter has a light-bulb idea, thinking, “Of course, this is how I’ll know it’s Jesus, I’ll ask the ghost to tell me to come to him, walking on the water.”

Really, Peter???? That’s the litmus test you think of? Why not – what’s my favorite color? Or when’s my birthday? Or what did we eat last night for dinner? We’re going with, tell me to come to you on the lake? Couldn’t a ghost tell you to do that just to watch you die? Come on, man.

But, Peter knew something about the supernatural having watched these things many times – ghosts deal in fear, demons deal in fear. More importantly, Peter knew something about Jesus – Jesus deals in delight – his miracles are firmly and fully founded in delight, joy and the kind of impossibility that brings hope, creativity and clarity.

This is why, “tell me to come to you on the water” was the first logical question in Peter’s mind. Because he knew Jesus. Jesus separated Himself from everyone else by dealing only in delightful impossibilities – this is the kind of person you and I are called to be.

He knew something about Jesus personality that we have to know – Jesus was likely to pick the most fun option. He delights in impossibilities. Do we know that side of His personality? Do we want to become Him in that way?

My inner procrastinator goes into overtime on a certain responsibility, you may or may not relate, but, it’s weeding. For anyone who has trouble motivating yourself to weed – don’t read the rest of this email! Just kidding. There is almost (wink, wink) Scriptural evidence not to pull weeds – haha.

In the parable of the weeds (Matt 13:24-30) the enemy sows weeds (non-belief) among the wheat (believers). The owner of the field (God) was asked by the servants (believing workers) for permission to pull the weeds (root out the non-believers). The owner (God) answered, “No . . . because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them.” (v. 29).

Is God giving us gardening advice? Unfortunately for me, no.

Here’s the insight. How do we root out unbelievers right now? By being critical and judgmental. What’s the problem with doing this? By being critical and judgmental we are hurting true belief that hasn’t fully sprouted yet. We think we’re pointing out weeds and all we’re doing is hurting the wheat.

Truth . . .

• Every seed of belief is worth nurturing, watering & fertilizing.
• The timing for judgment is the end of the age – until then – our command from God is to ignore the weeds (unbelief) and nurture the wheat (belief).
• Nurturing the wheat will cause it to thrive – no matter what’s happening with the weeds.

Our backyard flows directly into a little neighborhood park, which is what enabled us to sell our kids on this house, just over the one with the pool :-). They love the freedom and space and jungle gym – it’s almost too free (you know, for us, as parents – haha). If I sit on the back porch I can watch them play as long as they want to. From time to time I will catch them looking my direction to make sure it’s ok if they . . . jump off the high part of the gym, push their sibling a little harder on the swing, venture out onto the monkey bars, etc.

The key to these actions being “legal” and not secretive is simply – line of sight. As long as they can see me, they can check my reactions and intentions about their play. As soon as they go to that area of the park in which line of sight is broken by the big evergreen – permission to play gets fuzzier, so does my ability to protect them. To be quite honest, my angst level goes up – part of being a father.

Line of sight with our heavenly Father works like this. In order for our awareness of His will, and His smile to be present – line of sight is necessary. His protection is enabled by our staying within line of sight. In my yard, just like in my life, line of sight is blocked by lazy maintenance (trim the evergreen, trim the clutter in my soul). Freedom within His smile will energize our soul – we have to see Him to see His smile. As in any task where vision is required – if we can see it, we can do it. So it is with God’s Spirit – if we can see Him we can do it. We don’t have to wonder what His will is, or whether or not He’s pleased with us, as long as we have cleared the clutter and stay within His line of sight.

2 Chron 16:9 “For the Lord’s eyes scan the whole world to strengthen those who are committed to him with all their hearts.”