Make it Transformational: A Blog for Champion Discipleship

Do you expect to encounter Jesus today?

The reason I ask, is that during my devotions I have been caught up in reading the last chapter of each book of the Gospels found in the New Testament. In these chapters, there are men and women who walked daily with Jesus only to be shocked after the crucifixion that what He said came true. A few didn’t even recognize Him even when they did encounter him.

For some reason these individuals must have, down deep inside, lowered their expectations. They believed, but when they couldn’t actually touch and feel Him, they reverted back to living life as if everything was dependent upon them. You see, Mary Magdalene and her friends didn’t go to the tomb expecting to see it empty; they went with spices to anoint a body. Their worry was how to remove the stone and their expectation was to have a tangible item present so they could take of it with their own hands. They didn’t go expecting to see it empty and in no way expected they would ever have an angel speak to them.

For quite some time they had heard Jesus speak about what was going to take place, they knew it, but somehow failed to act (or stand) on their faith.

Today as I ponder what I would have done, I would like to think that I would have behaved differently. That I would have trusted the words Jesus spoke and would have expected to find him alive. After all, He never once failed to be true to his word and show His faithfulness to them in every situation.

However, you and I live in a different time and place. We should know better and should react to all situations with faith and great expectation that Jesus will show up as He promised He would. But we don’t and somehow we lower our expectations too.

When we, as Christian ministries, revert back to working with Champions in our traditional transactional fundraising ways we show the world that we have lowered our expectations of who God is and what we have been taught. We have heard, and we know what He can do, but somehow we fail to act (or stand) on our faith.

MIF’s Transformational Giving Principles 1 and 2 remind us about God’s word to us. He is faithful and has an abundant supply for our needs. Yet, when we are in despair, or times get tough, we revert back to doing things our own way. Ways that don’t show God, our Champions, and the world that we believe what Jesus has said to be true.

Again, my question today for you is…Do you expect to encounter Jesus today? I hope you do and that you will know it when it occurs.

This month our workshops are on the topic of Thanking and Receipting. Not only will you learn about how to better acknowledge the gifts you receive, but we will help you to understand how God is providing for you even when you don’t see it through your own eyes.

I was very much inspired by the following (video) testimony from Matt Chandler.  Matt is the lead pastor of a multi-site church in Dallas called The Village.  On Thanksgiving, Matt had a sudden seizure and tests showed a tumor in his brain.  By all accounts, the operation after Thanksgiving was successful, although it will be weeks before the pathology report comes back. 

Read more...

Read more...

How does it feel to get a thank you from someone for something you did?  Especially when you didn’t expect it.  Do those two little words have much meaning anymore or are they so overused they have lost their impact?We tend to say thank you for everything, even when we are not so happy about what transpired.  When was the last time you said “thanks” in a sarcastic tone after someone criticized you for something?  Do you end your emails or phone calls with a “thanks” in rote fashion...

Read more...

The new Carrie Underwood album, Play On, was released earlier this month and immediately sold 318,000 copies, replacing Michael Jackson’s, This is It, in the top spot. Our family loves Carrie Underwood.  Especially her new song, "Change." 

Read more...