The past several weeks I have featured posts on Unchained here, here, here, and here. Happily, they have become some of the most popular posts on “The Spin.” Unfortunately, I haven’t had any new ones step forward to offer their story, so you are relegated to hearing from me. 🙁 I thought I would highlight some blogs that I have read this past week that said some “good stuff.” But before I do that I would like to share an email I received. In this post, I asked prayer for several families going through, shall we say, interesting times. If you go to the end of that post you will see I had asked prayer for Jason & Andrea, a fellow pastor and blogger who pastors Breakthrough Church in Alaska. He, Andrea and their three children went to Japan to adopt a young boy. I had emailed Jason my post on Miracles, because their story of making it to Japan is truly one in itself. This is the email I received from him.
I forget you’re not on Facebook–we’ve been updating every step of the way there. On Saturday in the rush of getting off a train, we lost our bag. That bag had between $600-$700, our prepaid rail passes to get us back to Tokyo, and OUR PASSPORTS (including the one for our new son that we had received the day before). Amazingly, that morning we gathered in prayer as a family and I led us. The word I kept coming back to was ‘peace.’ From Saturday to Monday, I had a sense that God had his hand on the bag and we would get it back. When Monday morning came, we had to start contacting the Embassy and figuring out steps to take if the bag didn’t return. The hardest one was my wife calling the social services about replacing our son’s Japanese passport, but while she was on the phone with the social worker, we got the call that they had found the bag! We weren’t sure exactly how much was in my wife’s wallet, but if someone took some, they didn’t take it all. The main thing was those passports! Replacing those and the rail passes would have been thousands of dollars (we didn’t have), but God turned it around and we celebrated thoroughly! Thought you might enjoy hearing that. Besides those here, you’re the first one to hear the whole story. 🙂
Is that not insane how God came through? I got chills when I read that…and I’m not a chilly-kind of guy. I know there will be skeptics who will pooh-pooh the whole thing, but that will not change the story. 🙂
*****************************
My word count is getting high so let me just give you a post or two I think you ought to check out.
Two on the money! Here and here. One word about the latter one: BAM!
For your funny bone: here.
Made me think: here.
More? Sure. But enough for now. The title came from my favorite movie, Back to the Future, where Biff knocks on George’s forehead and says, “Think McFly. Think.” I believe that many of us have stopped thinking. Enjoy. Any you particularly liked? Any links you would like to share for me and other readers?
Do you have an Unchained story you would like to share. Email me: pastor (at) ovcf.org.
I never get tired of hearing the great things and the great ways that God is working! Thanks for sharing Bill!
I don’t either Jim. That is why I wanted to share their story. Thanks for coming by.
I liked your posts on prayer, probably because that series paralleled a lot of things that God was teaching me at the same time. Posts tend to be funny like that – there’s rarely a universally accepted standard of what’s good or not. It’s what impacts you which is based on what you’re going through at the time.
It never ceases to amaze me how God does things Loren. Things we think might not touch someone, do. Glad you liked the posts on prayer. I tend to be an example of your last sentence. I know some have their posts planned out for weeks in advance. I tend to be more of a day to day kind of guy. Thanks for your input.
Awesome story!!
shows that God is in control no matter what. I just read today when Jesus told the disciples that if you have faith, you can move mountains.
but we filter that through our American “we are in control” minds and the faith gets watered down.
it’s time we read the Bible and accept it as truth without having to “figure” it out.
I am trying to live this out myself. But just because something doesn’t work out the way I think it should doesn’t mean that God isn’t working.
It is a good story and what is really cool about it is that they were not control but God was. It is a testimony to their trust in God. I would like to think I would have taken the same action. Thanks Craig for a good comment.
That’s a great story of Jason and Andrea! To have peace in that scenario is all a miracle unto itself, but then to have come through is beyond explainable.
I’ve written one for you to share, sorry I haven’t got around to typing it yet. I’ll try to get it done this week.
Thanks for sharing BIll.
“To have peace in that scenario is a miracle in itself” is so true! I would love to say I would have. Looking forward to hearing your story floyd. Thanks for coming by.
Wow, what a wonderful and powerful God. He knows what He’s doing even when we don’t see it. It’s cool to see your friend’s faith in this story, how He immediately took to prayer, and how God brought him peace through that. Very cool! Thanks for letting us in on a piece of His glory.
you’re welcome Stephen. That is what it is all about: His glory. Thanks
I’m so happy for jason and andrea…they do got an amazing story!…everything that could go wrong…went wrong…from hotel reservations being lost to passports…or everything…BUT, God was in control…
love it…
That is exactly how I felt Arny. God was in control.
Hi Bill,
It’s easy for me to believe the bag returned to Jason and Andrea. I’ve left my purse in many places, especially in my past days, and it has always returned to me intact.
I’ve left it in restaurants and drove 150 miles away, on top of the car roof in a neighboring town and drove off, sitting on the pavement in a busy parking lot for several hours until I got home and discovered I didn’t have my purse. I left it on the patio of an outdoor coffeehouse downtown in a city on a Saturday for a couple of hours and it still came back to me. Money intact.
I looked at the link you gave here in your post today for leadership and the movie Moneyball. One aspect of great leadership that may have missed in the post on Moneyball was the sacrifice. At the end. He chose what was important before what was glorifying, tempting, ego building, financially profitable,etc. His daughter called him ‘a loser’ in her song. I know my kids had tears in their eyes at this part when we watched the movie in a theatre.
I think for the link you gave on looking in the mirror at ourselves first, it seems much easier to see the need for others to do this than it is for us to see the need for ourselves to do this. This is why the imput from others is important in our lives, so we can attend to things that they are seeing about us or making complaints about. I think the topic of Craig’s post about taking time to think about his questions put to us fits in well with this one.
You say,
“I believe that many of us have stopped thinking”. Part of this situation I believe is that we’ve been taught in the church that ‘questions and providing a critical comment” are not wanted or desired. We’ve also been taught that these things are equated with being disobedient to God. They disrupt the ‘unity of believers’ that church leaders are trying to get to…
My husband would notice some teachings at times that were conflicting with doctrine but he wouldn’t say anything to the leader or teacher because he didn’t want to embarass them or cause conflict.
Error just begets more error, I believe.
I think another reason for our lack of thinking as people is our culture. The masses are rocked to sleep by the few. As the world says ‘there’s power in knowledge’, so if the masses can be kept ignorant or unknowlegeable, the better, for the power brokers (mongers)of our world. The easier people in general can be manipulated and controlled. Reason and truth can be skewed by these people to fit the circumstances and situations that negatively arise in their distorted and rebrobate minds.
I enjoyed looking at and reading the links you gave here Bill. Have a good day.
Thanks for the thought-out comments Linda. I am amazed that you took the time to read the other links. I sometimes wonder how many do that. 🙂
About your thinking comments: I believe you are right in your first one for sure. Many don’t think because it might mean challenging the status quo or the self-proclaimed leader. I have often told the folks here that if they have trouble with something I teach or question it, please feel free to come to me and ask. And sadly there are those who manipulate for power. Thanks.
Hi Bill,
I have another little testimony that has occured in the last 2 months. I needed 2 pairs of new jeans. The ones I had bought a couple of years ago or so were fading and I wanted darker jeans that were dressier to wear with my dressy black coat to Calgary.
I made a comment to God in a quick type of prayer about my desire for these jeans, but jeans that I could afford. I started looking in the stores. One day I happened to go into Sears and found 2 pairs of dark blue jeans hanging on a rack by themselves. They were my size, and the price was reduced by 2/3rds. I tried them on and they fit well. I paid 20 dollars for the 2 pairs of new jeans.
Love God and serve Him and he’s our provider.
Very cool. God is interested in something as “little” as jeans. Thanks.
That just made me laugh with joy about Jason & Andrea’s story, with God all things are possible. Cool testimony! And, I liked the blog on Looking at yourself in the mirror by Ron Edmondson……so true. Greg blogs!
Yeah it was one of those kind that can make you laugh or at least smile a big smile.
uhhhhh, I meant GREAT blogs! (haven’t had my pepsi quota today)
I knew what you meant by greg blog but I am glad my mouth was empty when I read your comeback about the pepsi. 😛 Love ya!
I don’t mean to be disrespectful but I am curious if people really believe God was somehow involved in finding lost luggage? Or were the baggage people just doing their job? And if so, then where is God when the luggage doesn’t get found?
Honest question Jeff. And fair. No disrespect taken. God has promised to answer our prayers-from the smallest to the largest. There are some questions that will go unanswered…like your last one. There are times when prayer is not answered like we want it to be. If their luggage had not been found, God would have given them the grace to make it through. In this case, their faith was tested in believing God would come through. How they had no clue. In this case, it came out well. Their “trust factor” raised a notch. But God would not have been any more absent if it hadn’t been found and they would have had to go through the gamut of stuff. He could have led the baggage people to the right place. it was just as amazing to me that nothing was taken. not sure if that answered your question or not. I wanted to shoot off a quick answer before I did some studying. I would love to have others chime in, especially Jason if he gets to see this. Thanks for asking an honest question Jeff.
Thanks for the answer. I guess I just don’t get it.
Jeff, I think you have a great question here. I’m not sure what kind of background you have so I don’t know where to start. Since we believe the Bible and that its words hold guiding principles and life for us, we see there the power of God’s intervention in significant and seemingly insignificant areas and situations of our lives. We are also taught the power of prayer in our relationship with God. We were simply at peace knowing God was not shaken by this and we kept praying that it would be returned. After a few days, we knew we had to start looking into what the next steps were if it weren’t found and then we got the call. As someone facing down that dilemma, I was overwhelmed with thankfulness. God calls me to be thankful either way (and I have plenty reason to be joyful), but without being to fully quantify anything, I knew God’s hand was in it. That may not help much either, but it is an experience that is a bit difficult to explain. Thanks Jeff.
Wow…what an awesome thing. So glad they were able to locate the bag.
I’ve really enjoyed all the posts/series, especially the Unchained ones…just blown away by the stories.
Glad you have enjoyed them Jon. You helped to contribute to it and I so appreciate that. Thanks.
God is certainly great and so gracious to us! Thanks for sharing our story, Bill. Glad it’s blessings others and telling of His glory. I appreciate you, friend!
Glad I could do it jason. I admire what you and Andrea AND YOUR THREE CHILDREN are doing. You all are a testimony to God’s love and grace.