Book Review: Miracles by Tim Stafford
Tim Stafford refreshingly brings his journalistic and objective mind to the table in favor of the miraculous – a topic which is typically discounted and disregarded by others of his profession. As a senior writer for Christianity Today with over twenty books in publication and hundreds of articles on heady topics in various other publications, his careful but positive disposition is a welcome reprieve from the all-knowing brains of academia that would normally posit to discount any working of the supernatural based on its inexplicable nature and often emotionally-driven accounts from the recipients of its benefits.
I think this is an important read for anyone seeking to balance the often flaky and emotional testaments to miracles, signs, and wonders against a total lack of openness to the possibility of God’s power still moving among us today. The book opens with a poignant story of a boy in the author’s church who dealt with an unexplainable excruciating pain in his feet – to the point that he went from being an active athlete to wheelchair bound in a short time. Doctors worked with him and his family on endless solutions using surgery and medicine to no avail. Then one weekend on a whim, he traveled with a friend to a church service at Bethel Church in Redding, CA, and was completely healed in a short moment. He pushed his wheelchair out of the auditorium on his own two feet and even up to today, years later as a grown young man, has never experienced the pain again. The firsthand account of the author and his continued relationship with the young man weaves a thread of credibility throughout the book as he explores other situations and aspects of the miraculous.
The author keeps a balanced approach, evaluating the results and environments of well-known healing ministries from a framework of seeking to believe rather than to disbelieve. Along with successes and powerful stories, he acknowledges the faults, shortcomings, and disappointments as he visits each church or ministry, from personal accounts with John Wimber of the Vineyard Movement to the prayer rooms and teams at Bethel. He evaluates overseas ministries and their approaches, particularly that of Heidi and Rolland Baker and their work in Mozambique. His academic look at the expressions and strategies with which the miraculous, especially in the form of healing ministry, is employed could be considered less than enthusiastic by those who are more passionate about the topic, but I think the distinction is made in the fact that he is honest and real about his experiences in each of these settings without discounting the reality of their effectiveness and even more importantly, the heart of love from which it’s all derived.
Stafford does a great job at looking at miracles from both Old Testament and New Testament perspectives, evaluating the miraculous after the biblical Apostles and setting the discussion comfortably into the overall scope of Church history, with the rebirth of interest in the power of God at the rise of the Pentecostal and Charistmatic movements. He discusses why some people don’t believe, and looks at whether science must necessarily be at odds with the miraculous. It’s a very thorough and objective approach to this topic, and in my opinion does the Church as a whole a great service in opening the conversation with the most possibility for believers, or at least open-hearted seekers, to emerge from reading his writing.
I personally affirm and recommend this book. I’ve been at a place of pondering the miraculous from the perspective of Jesus, when he said that if Sodom and Gomorrah had been shown the power and miracles that Capernaum had, they would have repented. In a time when repentance is a hard sell, the power of God delivered in compassion will be a very important component to our faithfulness in carrying out the Great Commission.
Tim Stafford on the Web:
TimStafford.Wordpress.com
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Bethany House Publishing. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
October 5, 2012 Leave a comment
How My Same Sex Attraction Was Ended
“After sharing my story of overcoming homosexuality with the Prodigal community last month, I have been approached by more people than ever whose stories and struggles are similar to mine asking for more specifics about how I went from being attracted to women to legitimately being attracted to men.
Also interesting, I have been approached by heterosexual people who have never struggled with same sex attraction wanting to know more about the mystery that is homosexuality and seeking to understand its dynamics and how a person can “get there”.
Regardless of the background of those who inquire about my struggle, the conversation that follows both angles of questioning is mostly the same, and I find it to be a place where bridges are being built. Up to now, the inability to understand our differences has given place for anger and hostility to rise between the two perspectives, but I believe a new conversation is unfolding where compassion will take root.”
Today at Prodigal Magazine I am sharing more of my story on how I grew to be attracted to men after overcoming my same sex attraction. It was a twenty-three year journey, and I am sharing a few of the things I learned while I walked the road home.
I would be honored if you would read it and share your thoughts, experiences, and questions. I invite you to ask the kind of questions we’re normally afraid to ask – the kind Truth Himself came to answer. I don’t have all the answers, but I know it’s a conversation we need to be having. So please, jump in the conversation over at Prodigal.
Photo courtesy of Dennis Brekke.
October 1, 2012 Comments Off
How I Nearly Missed Out on Love
I already had my sad little blog post written: Six Reasons You Should Never Use eHarmony – each of the reasons a fella’s name. Changed to protect their identities, of course!
I was angry, disappointed, and tired of trying.
Following the advice of folks who love me, a year prior to this I had signed up on the dating site so I could “keep a line in the water”. Only one way to catch a fish! Gotta be fishing at all times!
Annoying as it was, they were right.
It was an exercise in hoping against hope. I could be alone in this, but having a profile on a dating site is a risky and vulnerable feeling. At any time, anyone – including the six aforementioned fellas – can be looking at you. Like, while you sleep. So it was a big stretch for me just to keep myself from deleting the thing on a daily basis.
It’s not like I was staking it all on eHarmony. I had met a few men in person as well, but none of that was clicking either.
I kept my heart open… My line thrown. But in nearly a year’s time on the site, all I had caught were creeps!
“Would you consider growing your hair out? I like to lay on the couch and stroke hair while I watch movies.” (You need a Lhasa Apso, not a wife.)
“I’ll be at the gym while God works out my jobless situation for me!” (Does your landlord accept MuscleCard? K, great! We’ll be fine!)
“I’m going to need you to meet my friends at John Hagee’s church before I can be sure you’re right for me.” (I’m going to go ahead and assume we’re wrong for each other.)
I could go on. Really. I could.
Many of you know my whole story now, so you know it had been a long journey and the disappointment was pretty raw.
Again, with fighting the sweeping statements…
New statements, but sweeping ones, nonetheless. The kind that shut God out and stop His hand. Like, “Maybe I’ll just resign myself to intentional singlehood for the rest of my life since this is so painful.”
It was a year ago right about this time – September 9 to be exact – when I was driving home from work ready to post this article on my blog. But as I was driving, there was this tiny –
I mean, let me clarify… how tiny.
Teeny weenie. Itty bitty. Yellow polka dot. Microscopic. Whispery. Negligible. Maybe-I’m-Pretending-You-Are-Speaking. Ultra-hidden. God-must-be-SO-SHY…tiny. sized. voice.
And it said to me,
“Well, there was that one guy. Daniel. You didn’t really give him a chance.”
As if to argue with my pending post! As if to resurrect hope to a hopeless heart! Presumption!
Is that you, God, or you, Devil??
I drove in silence.
It was true. I hadn’t given “Daniel” a chance. We’d started talking, but I’d gotten frustrated with the other guys and just disappeared on him mid-conversation.
My heart began to pound.
He really did seem perfect. But anyone can look good on paper. And I’d let it go for a while, not talking to him. We met a month ago or something. He’s probably moved on.
Everything in me wanted to blow this off. I was so numb, anyway, how could I be hearing God?
I could hear the tires on the pavement, the whoosh of cars passing me by in rush hour traffic on MoPac. It was quiet otherwise.
My stomach turned as the knowing increased – Yeah. This was God talking.
And a chance might have to be taken.
I reasoned with myself. Why would the Devil want to hook me up with anyone? He’d be more likely to talk me into permanent singlehood and depression, given my history.
Preparing for obedience, I began to steady myself somewhere in the tension between hope and hopelessness where I’d learned to live exist.
“Ok. What harm could there be in one more email? If he even responds, and later it doesn’t work, he can just be Reason Number Seven, and round out the post.”
I got home and laid down for a while, staring at the ceiling. Maybe I just had a case of the Friday-afternoons-with-nothing-to-do. Or the after-work lonelies.
Nope. My heart wouldn’t quit pounding.
I fired off the following –
- and left immediately to go pick up some Chinese food. I had to get out.
Two hours later, I nearly choked on my orange chicken when his name popped up in my inbox.
Our romance began with his gracious reply.
Eight days after this email was sent, we met face to face for the first time, and our two hour date turned into eight full hours of conversation and intrigue. I’ll spare the details for now. But for those who don’t know, and can do the math, our wedding anniversary is approaching in six weeks.
{ As irony would have it, Aretha’s At Last plays as I write this post at Starbucks. Our song. I love that song. }
I can’t help but wonder what my story would look like if I had turned away from the voice of God on my fateful drive home from work that fragile September afternoon.
Obedience is a curious thing.
It always takes us outside our comfort zone, asks us to hope when it hurts, and leaves us with fruit – either seen or unseen – but always fruit – that lasts. Our God is a faithful God, not slow in keeping His promises and faithful to finish what He starts in us. Usually when we least expect it, but always when we most need it.
These are sweet, feltboard cliches learned in Sunday School until life as you know it is your eternal proof of their reality.
What about you? Do you have an inciting incident that changed the entire course of your life?
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This post is part of a group blogging project celebrating the release of Inciting Incidents (Moody Press), a book featuring the stories of six creatives who share honestly about surviving life’s difficulties while attempting to do great things. You can visit the “Share Your Story” section of IncitingIncidents.Org to check out posts from other synchroblog contributors, or visit the sites of the authors:Sarah Cunningham, Jeff Goins, Dave Hickman, Blaine Hogan, Tracee Persiko, Stephanie Smith, Mandy Thompson and David Wenzel.In addition, you can hear more about the project in this NPR-style interview series by Moody Radio.
Also, if you pick up the book in the first two weeks, Moody will give you a bundle of free resources, including two full-length e-books.
September 11, 2012 10 Comments
On Homosexuality: It’s OK To Fight
“It was 1994. I was 15 years old when the epiphany hit me that times were changing and I was eventually going to have a socially acceptable problem. This sudden awareness started the clock on a grueling battle for my sexuality. I was conscious of the fact that I was different from the other girls at the age of five, and I had lived silently through ten years of gender confusion and attraction to women by age fifteen. I wanted desperately to be “over it” by the time it was going to be acceptable, even normal, to be gay.”
Today at Prodigal Magazine I am sharing my story of fighting and overcoming homosexuality. It was a twenty-three year journey, and I am sharing a few of the things I learned while I walked the road home.
I would be honored if you would read it and share your thoughts, experiences, and questions. I invite you to ask the kind of questions we’re normally afraid to ask – the kind Truth Himself came to answer. I don’t have all the answers, but I know it’s a conversation we need to be having. So please, jump in the conversation over at Prodigal.
August 31, 2012 Comments Off
The King Has Beggars?
Austin is a city where an empty street corner is a rare sight. Homelessness and poverty are big and very sad problems.
This morning as I was driving around town running errands, I came upon an intersection where a group of ladies with white buckets were asking for donations. I have seen these ladies before. They hold out their buckets with crosses on them, asking for money from the citizens of our city so they can run their youth ministry at a local church. On the surface, it’s not like… a completely terrible idea. The firemen do it, too, after all.
And I am sure they mean well.
Without them, perhaps the youth they help would be standing in their place.
But that’s just the problem.
Maybe they haven’t given it much thought, and I don’t mean to judge. But, the contrast between these ladies and the truly needy I have seen on this same street corner is just so stark in my mind’s eye. And with a cross on their buckets, I can’t help but think of the price that has been paid so that we could be empowered in all manner of freedom, including that to gather wealth.
So each time I’ve seen them, I’ve had to ask myself, should the daughters of a King have to become beggars to carry out his mission?
Are they teaching their youth anything about the power or provision of God? Are these leaders instructed, themselves, in the ways of the Proverbs – entrepreneurship, hard work, and the rewards of labor?
“The house of the righteous contains great treasure…” – Proverbs 15:6
Are they raising up a generation of young people who, when they emerge to leadership, will know they’ve arrived when they themselves are on the street corner asking for handouts? Isn’t that kind of backwards thinking?
I’m not trying to be harsh.
These precious women are likely doing the things they know to do to serve. And I’m certain they are touching lives in some very powerful ways. Enlarging the Kingdom, even. Love would believe the best of them: if there were conviction in their spirit about it, they’d reconsider their fundraising methods.
Honestly, they are just a visible example of a deeper issue I believe the church and her workers are being forced to grapple with in this economy.
These women labor in the context of a church culture which is in constant need, and has taught us to stick a hand out when our mission doesn’t fit our budget.
Start-up phases are common. It’s normal to need some investment, and some help. Even the best of businesses have that stage in their growth cycle. But the start-up phase for the church was like… centuries ago. Generational synergy in families, businesses, and churches should have us in a place of strength, viability, and holding financial reserves that have been built up for decades! And when entirely new ventures in ministry need to be launched, funding these ventures from the strength of established ministries should not be a problem! Or require a miracle! Or even stretch our faith that much!
So I just have to question, do we, as the church, ever plan to get established?
Do we have a method by which our missions become self-sustaining in and of themselves? Are the new ministries we’re launching accompanied by businesses we’re building, very intentionally, for the purpose of funding or at least supplementing these ministries?
Dreaming even bigger, what if we, the church, were the job creators that solved America’s (or Europe’s) debt crisis?
And our business profits were the underpinnings of ministry efforts? And the employees we hire are the people we have trained in biblical principles so that our businesses are run by competent, hard-working, ethical people?
And dreaming even bigger, can we get it together, generationally, long enough to build on each others’ successes?
Can we let our mission change as a new generation arises with plans in their hearts? Can we direct some of our funds toward these missions as maturity is proven?
I’ve been on this page in my heart for quite some time. The church, like everyone else, has a budget problem. And that should not be so. I would love to know your thoughts, disagreements, ideas, solutions, and plans. What are you doing to stop the cycle?
For surely the King does not deserve a body which is weak and without treasure.
Photo Courtesy of: Mika Hiironniemi. Creative Commons License 2.0.
August 15, 2012 6 Comments
On Fear
Today I’m sharing an excerpt from my upcoming eBook, First Steps Out. It’s written to parents, family, and friends of people who are seeking help with their sexual orientation. This is a section on fear, and how it can work against us when those we love need our faith the most. It’s not all-encompassing, rather, just a few thoughts on this common relational challenge. I’d love to know what you think!
Fear thrives in situations that present stark and shocking facts.
It creates a fuzz of panic in which we become its slaves. It taps into our adrenal systems and can rule our decisions for hours. That’s all the time it needs to get a foothold on the course of entire relationships.
We’re humans. We are the type of people who like to stick to our guns.
If we make demands while fear is king on the throne of our hearts, pride and its armies are tempted to back it up for a long time to come. When we respond to the things our loved ones trust us with from this place, we lock ourselves and those relationships onto a trajectory of hopelessness and death.
Fear is always about self-preservation.
Fear lies to us about our motives. We see our loved ones venturing off into unfamiliar territories. We worry for their souls. We want to do something to stop it, to save them, to keep them from danger. All this is very natural, and being aware of these realities is powerful fuel for sustaining a prayer life. But, while masking itself to our own hearts as heroic protectionism or extreme love, fear almost always causes us to think about a way to override another person’s will. Fear even hides itself in mercy and hospitality. We’re “afraid for someone”, so we do this, or do that. Without their permission. We hope they take our offering or suggestion, then we get cranky and anxious and loud when they assert their own will. Then we start making demands.
There is a reason the Bible says perfect love drives it out.
Fear brings pressure with its demands. Fear can’t see another option beyond it’s own very forceful solution. It seeks control. It does not trust, it does not believe the best, and it speaks before it thinks. It needs its way, and it needs it now.
Fear reserves no hope for another person to find restoration if left to their own devices, and therefore exerts its will over them, on the premise of saving them, or doing what’s best for them. Even when fear would set up righteous circumstances for another person which would ultimately yield a healthier environment, fear is a wrong motivator because it breaks the free will of another person.
People need their autonomy if any change they make will become their own, and therefore be enduring.
This is true especially when we are trying to overcome sin. Our free will, as humans, is the most effective weapon God equipped us with by which we may guard our own hearts from evil. Love knows this. Where fear would have us create another person’s safe new world, love would have us spur another on to do so for themselves. (Hebrews 10:24). It is our own willful resistance to the devil that drives him away, not the manufactured circumstances set up by those who love us.
James 4:7 tells us, “Submit yourselves to God… Resist the devil, and he will flee from you…”. It does not say, “Let someone submit you to God… hide from the devil and let someone resist him for you.”
Obviously, in rare circumstances, such as life-threatening situations, especially when minors are involved, an intervention may be necessary – and this would truly be the option love would orchestrate. But this is the nuclear option. There is always a season of mistrust after an intervention, until that person comes to see your reasons for themselves, and agrees with them, and aligns their own will with what you decided for them. If you seek long-term restoration, be sure you weigh your options. This can only happen so many times before rebellion takes over. We are innately aware that we must choose righteousness for ourselves, and someone choosing it for us leaves us victim to unrighteousness. It is very hard to make a distinction of your own will when someone is declaring theirs over you.
Fear is a crafty thief; it’ll take what it can, when it can, and it plays for keeps.
We must work to be wise to its ways, and overcome its evil with the greater weapons God has given us: faith, hope, and love.
Photo Courtesy of: Yuliya Libkina. Creative Commons License 2.0.
August 14, 2012 2 Comments
Book Review: Enough by Will Davis Jr.
It’s not often that a book review request turns into a life-changing story.
But this time, Austin pastor Will Davis Jr.’s book arrived in my mailbox at a pivotal point in my husband’s and my journey. We were in the midst of having discussions on whether to buy a home when our lease is up, when to start a family, how to get out of debt so those things didn’t feel irresponsible, you know… the usual “marriage & family & finances” discussion. After evaluating our situation and how much risk we were ok with, we decided we’d need to wait a while for babies and pick up another year of leasing our apartment before it made sense to look at houses. I felt deflated. It was my debt, my bad decisions, my old, old past that was still affecting me today, and it angered me – not just deflated me – because it was holding my husband back now, too.
Enter… Enough: Finding More by Living with Less.
I didn’t think much about it at first. I had just been asked to read and review the book on Twitter. Despite the more than obvious title, I hadn’t given God any credit for orchestrating the timing. But as I began to read, I was challenged. I was humbled by the stories told in this book of encounters with “the least of these”, as Jesus called them, of a wealthy-by-American-standards pastor who begins to undergo a serious change of perspective and heart. Impoverished, happy faces were snuck into his story by his daughter’s request to join her on a mission trip, and his life was forever changed by them.
Far from a call to taking a vow of poverty, this book is a refreshing, balanced approach to living abundantly in multiple dimensions. The book explores the concepts of living with less material possessions so your life has room for more meaning. It argues for the positive aspects of owning a home, having possessions that mean something to you, and being financially successful. But it also posits that there is more to an abundant life than these things can offer, and that the “more” we are often looking for when we accumulate earthly possessions actually resides on a spiritual plane.
Davis successfully paints a picture of balance between having the things you need while also recognizing their limited value when compared to the choice to serve other people with your means.
The ultimate success of this book’s message is to help the reader see the need to bring definition to your stack of stuff so that you are at some point able (and courageous enough) to declare:
“That is Enough. I have enough. I need nothing more. I’m ready for “more” of the stuff that matters.”
This book had a huge impact on me.
Before I even finished reading it, I sold my Toyota 4Runner.
It was pretty. It was a car I had always wanted to own as a teenager. I really, really liked it. But God had asked me while reading this book, “Do you really need your car?”
I live by a train stop, three bus stops, and a Car2Go base. Dan and I go almost everywhere together, anyway. It was a no.
“I don’t really need my car.”
“What if you sold your car, and used that money and the favor I’ll give you to pay off all of your old debt?”
“Really? You could do that?”
I discussed it with Dan, expecting some resistance.
“I think that would be a very adult decision. I’m not going to get in your way.”
So it was settled. That was a Saturday. I sold it on Monday. I took the profit from the sale of my 4Runner ($8000), and negotiated over $35,000 in old debt down to almost nothing – with God’s favor, and some backbone.
A few days later, we realized that we were in a much different position to look at getting a house. We took our favorite realtor-friend to dinner and began our search. Just this weekend, we found a house that is perfect for our needs, fits many of our stylistic desires, will close right about the time our lease is over, and actually cuts our monthly budget by 20%!
The “more” that Enough was promising has certainly been found.
We’ll do without an extra car until we can’t help it anymore, or until it’s not a financial leap. We’ll move into our new home and get it ready for a baby (not on the way yet!). We’ll get stabilized, and Dan will quit his job and build his business from home, beside me, while I’m building mine. One of our first goals of marriage was to spend our days together, even our workdays, and that dream is about to come true.
We’ll get to be parents who raise our kids at home, together.
We’re establishing patterns of contentment that will enable a future of travel, missions, and service which will yield much greater satisfaction than a fancy home with a fancy mortgage.
It is amazing how one book could give me the courage to make one decision, and that decision has opened up a new chapter of freedom in our lives. I am so amazed and grateful for how God has used Will Davis, Jr., and his message of Enough, to meet us right where we were and take us where our hearts really wanted to go.
Isn’t that just like God? To make something from nothing?
Curious: What are some times God has met you where you are and made a huge impact in the course of your life? I’d love to hear your stories!
Follow Will Davis, Jr. on Twitter:
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the author. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
August 13, 2012 Leave a comment
