Have you ever asked if there was a god? If so, Have you ever asked who is god? I have asked these two questions and I've come to the conclusion that there is a god. I've read, heard and seen stories that convince me that there must be a god. I was intrigued enough to ask who this god is. Because, I'd like to know. That started me on a journey to collect the stories about people who have encountered god. I'm gathering first h ...
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What would it look like if you followed the vision God gave you for your life and ministry? Join me for this Dynamite story. As Tom and Lori share how, “Work Hard. Pray Hard. Trust God." became a mantra on the wall in their home. Early on in his adult life, Tom followed the plan God had for him. He felt his role was to hold God’s hand and let God lead him. From a radio job waiting for him out of college, to a job in the Investment business, to a calling, he and his wife received, to start a Ministry/Business in Financial Services. Tom shares what it was like to follow God. They faced some trials right away that led them to let go of the business and trust God to manage it as Tom had to step away and tend to family issues. When he came back, the company was still there. This led Tom to continue to Trust God more and more. Listening to the story of a missionary agency that was having to shut down because of poor investment decisions, led them to see a need for consulting in financial decisions. They saw a vision that was “so clear and so real,” there was no doubt that we had to follow the vision God was giving them. It wasn’t a prayer of should we do this, but ‘What do you want us to do next?’ Once they committed to pursue God’s vision, they immediately saw that God had laid the groundwork for their vision to take place. They saw how God had already put things in place for them to succeed. The first five years starting the Ministry/Business were some of the most difficult years of their life. But it led them to recognize that God could see the beginning from the end, and the end from the beginning and everything in between. "The best thing you can do is immerse yourself in the word of God." Tom would get up early, before anyone else, to spend time with God. Learning to look at things from God’s perspective, led Tom to trust God more and more. Having spent hours and days and years immersed in God’s word and in Prayer with God, the fifth year of setting up their Ministry/Business was the greatest, most wonderful, most blessed year of spiritual growth that Tom has known in his life. “I wouldn’t trade the struggles of that year for anything.” God led them to use the platform of their Financial Services Ministry/Business to focus on four things… Use the platform of money to introduce people to Christ who don’t know him as their Lord and Savior. Make disciples of those who had made that commitment and now want to follow God in financial matters. Impact families by strengthening marriages, helping parents to train children to be faithful stewards, so that money is not a problem in marriages and families. Reproduce themselves in the lives of others so they could go out and do the same in others. The risk in life became: not in going forward and doing it, but in pulling the plug and not going forward. Because they would have missed being a part of what God was doing and using them as missionaries in the financial field. All this in the first 20 minutes. You’ll definitely want to hear the rest.
Success = Love and Safety, Right? - Randy Ralston Is the safety we find in our performance and success truly safe? Randy learned at an early age that Grace existed… but in a performance based environment. He excelled in everything he did, and that led to a sense of safety. The stress of continued performance led him to finally break, learning in the process that God would continue to use him to lead others to healing even though he was broken and resisted letting God heal some of his deepest wounds. This podcast could also be called, Finding Fulfillment apart from God. My guest is longtime friend and co-sojourner Randy Ralston. At age 10 Randy’s impression of God was that he was Angry, Capricious, Pernicious and demanded obedience, led with fear and shame. Randy's understanding of God’s personality was influenced by his relationship with his parents. These relationships led to a perspective of God that was centered around fear. The fear that “If you don’t perform, or worse yet, you disobey, are disrespectful or dishonor your parents,” there would be punishment and ultimately rejection. Randy opens up and shares how one, seemingly insignificant moment, defined the relationship with his mom and impacted his personality and his perception of God. This moment of perceived rejection, led Randy to a deep pursuit of acceptance and significance. Randy shares how his identity became what he did and what happened to him. This reinforced his perception that performing was the only way to find significance, and importance in the lives of those around him. Over the years, it appears that Randy transformed this performance personality into a mission to make things better for everyone around him. This led to the idea that, not only could Randy perform enough to find a stable, safe place in the relationships around him, but he could provide that for others as well. He tried to be the hero in the lives of his family. Often saving them when they hadn’t asked to be saved. Eventually, all these efforts to continually perform and save himself and others from the pain of punishment and the ultimate punishment, rejection, became too much of a burden to shoulder. Randy had found his breaking point. He responded by pushing even deeper into helping and serving others while covering the stress fractures that were showing up with alcohol. The harder he pursued success and significance through performance the more alcohol he needed. It started with drinking at the end of each day and led to drinking all day. Now, 30 years later Randy says he can’t come close to understanding who God is, but that his earlier perspective has proven to not be true. While he can’t explain who God is, Randy knows that God is Really Really Good. Randy and I discuss how God is not the Angry God that we perceived him to be. How the older he gets, the more Grace filled Randy learns that God really is. Randy sees that God used him even as broken as he was, to touch and influence the lives of those around him. Even though Randy had not let God into the areas in his own life that he was touching in the lives of others. “God uses the most broken parts of me, the most effectively in healing of others.” #Omnipotence #Alcoholism #Brokenness #Success #Healing #RealGrace #GodIsGood #Family
On today’s episode, I talk with Steve Hawkins about addiction; specifically to Alcohol. For Steve, alcoholism was not the stereotypical journey. His story is not what you normally think of as that of an addict. For years Steve was a highly functioning alcoholic. He was successful at work, in his public life, and even at home. But alcohol still had a grip on his life and eventually it brought him to a breaking point. Steve lived a double life. For years Steve struggled as a living Jekyll and Hyde. Playing the excellent Dr. Jekyll at home and work, all the while hiding his drive to break free from the stress of success and finding relief in times alone as Mr. Hyde with a drink. Yet, God had an eye on Steve. God had a plan for Steve and he walked with Steve until on a business trip, alone in his hotel room, Steve got down on his knees and surrendered completely to God’s will. Join me as I learn what it’s like to be an alcoholic. What are the struggles mentally, emotionally, socially and spiritually for someone who has addiction. Maybe you or your loved ones share some of the trauma of not being a good husband, father or friend. Maybe you’re living the double life. Maybe you're finding success at work, but it's coming at the price. Maybe you've got pain or stress that you're using alcohol or something else to mask to hide or to cover up. There is hope. There is redemption. There is a way to set things right and make amends for your past. There is a brighter future. A beautiful sunrise ahead of you. If you’re reading this, God has his eye on you. He is looking forward to walking you into that brighter future. He loves you and has a plan for you. Join me in this podcast and maybe, just maybe, you'll begin to see that future, that beautiful sunrise that's just ahead of you after the darkness you're in now.
Born and raised in South Korea, for Jung being a Christian was a cultural and family thing. It wasn’t until his family moved to America that in a High School church group, Jung found his hunger and thirst for God. Then he spent a year in the wilderness, as a freshman in college as the only Korean at USD in Vermillion South Dakota. He was a long way from home and without friends or even others that spoke his language. He had to struggle with loneliness as he had to learn to speak English in order to be a successful college student. The summer after his freshman year Jung realized that he had lost his hunger and thirst for God. He decided to take a chance and go to a college student retreat and the last night he heard from God in a miraculous way. The intimate way God spoke to Jung reignited his fire and hunger for walking with God. Jung changed his mind and decided to go back to the small university in the small town in South Dakota. What was a barren wilderness had become a land flowing with milk and honey. Over the course of the next several years Jung quickly became involved in worship ministry for several organizations. He had gone from having no friends on campus to being the guy to know if you needed someone to lead worship. Jung can look back and see how God was there even in the dark times. You’ll want to listen for the details and the rest of the story. #Journey #Wilderness #Lonely #WorshipLeader #Immigrant
This episode could also be titled, “The Broken - Unbroken. When life broke them, Christ held them together.” I laughed. I cried. This story will move you. Farmer Todd grew up knowing that he would happily fulfill his family expectations of being a sugar beet farmer on the family farm outside the little northern Minnesota Town of Climax. But instead of this being the pinnacle of his life, God said it's just the beginning. Today Todd shares how he faced the loss of dreams, letting his parents down when he felt called to something instead of farming, and countless other times in his life of darkness and insecurity of the unknown future. Todd has chosen intentional Faith in God and how God has delighted in blessing him through the trials. One of these big trials of the unknown future was as Todd and his wife Karen fought cancer for 16 years, terminal cancer for 8 of those years. While raising two kids in the middle of their fight, Todd and Karen didn't just talk about a loving God. Their kids saw a loving God show up time and time again. Todd shares an excellent example of how his wife parented children who grew up watching their mom fight cancer and prepare for her departure. Todd shares his struggle as a widower following the loss of half of himself. God doesn't focus on how we're not like him, but instead on how He makes us like Him. #Aloneness #Loneliness #Healed #AnsweredPrayer #Providence