I do believe in miracles…

Yea, I believe Jesus walked on water, healed the blind, turned water to wine, raised the dead, etc.  Absolutely believe it!  But I also believe that God still performs miracles.  We just don’t walk with Jesus enough to recognize them.  True!

Recently I’ve seen people survive the scares of the economy, losses of jobs, marriages healed, kids revitalized and energized for truth, lives transformed, new life all around and blessings galore!  I believe that Jeremy Vangnses being alive is a miracle.  I believe that Adri Patterson’s health is a miracle.  I believe that Gracie Knight (5 year old with Cerebral Palsy) and her healing will be a miracle.  I believe Bryce Caison’s life and legacy is a miracle.  I believe that Marlee Hardman (heart surgery at birth) is a miracle.  Yea, I BELIEVE!

Just this week – Kara, in one day received a call from someone who wanted to sublease her apartment (miracle 1).  Then she got a call from Hawaii offering her a job (miracle 2).  And lastly, her boyfriend flew in to attend her graduation (miracle 3).  #3 is a miracle in that he lives in Hawaii but happened to be in California with his mom during this time which enabled him to come south for her graduation.

Yea, blessings, miracles…you can define them any way you want to but I believe in the power of God to do things that we have no other way to explain them other than to say He intervened.

Why does God still perform miracles?

1) To point people to Himself! Yea, that’s reason number 1 and He really needs no other reason.  He loves us all (John 3:16) and everything He has done in the past, present and will do in the future has that main objective.  And we ought to know Him well enough to remind people, encourage people and simply point people to Him.  We are His hands, His feet, His mouthpieces by the way.  We’re supposed to be anyway.  Come on, lets get busy!

2) To encourage His own! We’re human and yes we get discouraged.  I absolutely believe God still performs miracles today to encourage us to be strong, to persevere and endure this life.  He has a purpose for us here and we ought to be willing to fight the good fight and love His mission for us and be encouragers ourselves.

3) To validate His Sovereignty! He doesn’t have to do this one either because He is God and He doesn’t have to prove anything.   That’s why I say validate instead of prove.  All we have to do is testify to folks about our own changed life as evidence.  I’m glad I am part of a church (http://www.newspring.cc) that experiences life change every week.  Literally every week God shows up and someone (usually many) get saved.  That validates it for me…not that I needed it, but it sure encourages me!

So, yes, I believe in miracles, I believe in God’s Word, I believe in God’s Sovereignty and I believe that it requires FAITH/BELIEF, CONFESSION, REPENTANCE and LOVE to experience them as we should.  They are all around us – heck, just go to the internet and google the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls or anything else amazing in creation!

Love ya and keep on CAUSING GOD JOY!

Continue praying for Jeremy Vangnses!

These are four VERY special young men – on mission with the North American Mission Board this past summer…

Jeremy, Dan and Ryan Vangnses and Scott Minear in Montana

Our daughter Kara was on the Spartanburg Methodist College Cross Country team with Jeremy and he used to come by the house occasionally.  We love Jeremy so much – he is a special kid.  I was perusing through Facebook and Caringbridge.org tonight and I checked up on Jeremy and wow, I cried!  There were so many questions I still had about the accident, why did it have to happen to 4 guys so young who were on a mission trip, what is God’s will for Jeremy. After listening to his brothers Dan and Ryan, I know this entire family is special.   This is the Vangnses family today as Jeremy is now home and he and his family need our prayers.

Tonight, I watched this video.  Folks, you gotta watch it and I know most of you don’t even know Jeremy…but you’ve got to watch this…

http://www.fbs.org/vangnses-brothers-at-crossfire

Our God is STILL a God of miracles.  I am in AWE over what God is doing through Dan and Ryan and Scott Minear (Jeremy’s best friend who was also in the accident)…and especially what He is doing through Jeremy.  Jeremy is home now and WE ALL NEED to continue praying for him and ALL his family who are caring for him.  In Jeremy’s situation it is not easy to do what his family is doing.  But in Galatians 6:17, Paul says “let no one cause us trouble because we bear on our bodies the very brandmarks of Jesus.” And folks, Dan, Ryan, Scott and Jeremy (and their families) need to be prayed for that as they live through this, they will have STRENGTH and COURAGE to fight the good fight and recognize that they bear on their bodies the very brandmarks of Jesus and He is and will always be faithful to them as they continue to proclaim Jesus through this tough time.

Recently I did a funeral for 3 year old Bryce Caison and he is and will always be one of my heroes.  Jeremy Vangnses is another one of those heroes.  We think we have it hard with the “problems” we face daily at home, work, in relationships, our marriages, our children.  Until you are dealt what the Caisons and Vangnses have been dealt – STOP COMPLAINING and START PROCLAIMING! These families are experiencing miracles already because of their faith and trust in Jesus.  I praise God for these families and pray that God will continue to grant them PEACE and COMFORT and UNDERSTANDING of His PERFECT will.  The Christian life is NOT easy but it does have eternal purpose!  Stop living life for the temporal pleasures and satisfaction that we are all tempted to strive for.  Be willing to SACRIFICE and SERVE and most of all, LOVE as Jesus loved!

None of us are guaranteed tomorrow.  Live today as if it was your last day and MAKE IT COUNT! Stop being lazy and complacent in your…

1) Relationship with Jesus

2) Marriage

3) Raising of your children

4) Living out the life of  a disciple of Christ (if you are one)

5) Wrestling with TRUTH! There is such a thing as absolute truth and we all must come to grips with that.  Some of those truths are…

* What do you believe about the Bible as the inerrent and infallible Word of God?

* Who do you say Jesus is?  The Messiah, Son of God is the only RIGHT answer

* Salvation is NOT just a ticket out of hell card.  Jesus is Savior but He is also LORD!  Have you wrestled enough with that truth?  Are you living as if you have died to self and allowed Him to live in and through you? 2 Corinthians 5:17.

These are some of the messages that the Vangnses brothers (and the Bible) have for us to consider.  Dan and Ryan say it as well as it can be said in the video.  Hope you are as touched as I was!

**************** Now go and CAUSE GOD JOY! ******************

PS – these pictures came from the Caringbridge website and I just hope and pray that these pictures can in some small way help you connect with the family better so you can and will pray for them. To all the family we say – WE LOVE YOU and COMMIT to continually pray for you!

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/vangsnesboys/journal

Update on Jeremy Vangsnes from Caring Bridge…

It looks like Jeremy will be coming back to SC tomorrow.  Please keep him in your prayers!!

Monday, August 24, 2009 9:02 AM, EDT

Dan
Talked to Dan last night and he sounded awesome.  The day before that he told me was his worst day so far as he’s dealing with crazy anxiety and feels delusional at times as he comes off heavy painkillers.

He told me he has lost 45 lbs!  So guys, if we’re going to take “the man” down in arm-wrestling, now might be our only chance.  He said he has really felt your prayers and said GOd has overwhelmed the anxiety with comfort.  But he has a long ways to go and many more days of battling.

Jeremy:
Tomorrow is big!  I don’t have all the details (maybe Steph can update more specifics) but he will be arriving in SC sometime tomorrow afternoon.  The flight will cause a lot of stress on his body and likely will set him back some.  So he will be placed in the ICU again to get checked out and may be back on the ventilator for awhile as they get him stabilized.  The nurses still aren’t seeing anything significant in him showing signs of gaining conciousness.  So join us in praying that Jeremy and mom have a safe medical flight back home to SC and that his body handles it well.  ANd also that he continues to show us little glimpses of “awakening.”

We will have an update after he gets back home on when it’s looking like friends can stop by.  It probably wouldn’t be sooner than a week from tomorrow but we will keep you posted.

incredible prayers… incredible people across the country…and serving a God who knows suffering well as His son suffered for us on the cross…that is hope!

trav

Caring Bridge for Vangsnes boys…

I just found this site out so you can go and read up on Jeremy and his brothers (as well as Scott Minear).   These are great young men.  Especially read the note from Trav explaining the different brothers and their character and how it relates to each of their injuries.  WOW!   Just copy and paste and you’ll be there!

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/vangsnesboys/mystory

Jeremy Vangnses Update

This is an update as of today of Jeremy Vangsnes and his brothers as well as Scott Minear.  I found it at http://www.bcnn1.com.  You can copy and paste this URL to get to it or just read it here.  (http://blackchristiannews.com/news/2009/07/student-missionaries-still-critical-after-crash.html#more)Thanks for praying for these great young men!

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Two “Innovator” student missionaries remain in critical condition at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Billings, Mont., three days after their SUV flipped and rolled over several times, injuring them and two companions.

A dozen of their fellow student missionaries are already using the tragedy to share Christ with tourists at nearby Yellowstone National Park.

North American Mission Board resort missionary Brad Lartigue — a local, full-time resort missionary for NAMB and the four students’ supervisor — said 21-year-old Jeremy Vangsnes is still the most critically injured of the four. Vangsnes underwent a procedure July 23 to relieve pressure on his brain and reduce swelling, Lartigue said.

The driver of the Jeep Cherokee, 21-year-old Scott Minear of Marietta, Ga., also remains in critical condition but an MRI July 23 revealed no significant spinal or neck damage, Lartigue added. Conscious, Minear, a University of Georgia junior, is wearing a “halo” medical device to restrict head movement.

Jeremy Vangsnes’ two brothers — 23-year-old Dan and 19-year-old Ryan — also were in the SUV at the time of the accident. The three brothers, residents of Spartanburg, S.C., were on a 350-mile side trip from Yellowstone to Glacier National Park, also in Montana, for a family reunion. Minear went along for the ride. Prior to moving to Spartanburg, the Vangsnes family lived in North Dakota.

“Dan has had three surgeries since the accident but suffered no significant head injuries,” Lartigue told Baptist Press. “Dan is talkative and lucid — he knows what happened.” Requiring only stitches, Ryan was treated and released from Deaconess Hospital in Bozeman, Mont.

Both the Minear and Vangsnes families immediately flew to Montana and are “strong Christian families who are holding up well,” Lartigue noted.

The Vangsnes brothers were nominated as Innovator missionaries by the North American Mission Board, while Minear’s appointment came through Georgia Baptist Campus Ministries.

The Vangsnes brothers and Minear were four of 17 Innovator missionaries who arrived at Yellowstone Park on Memorial Day Weekend to minister to resort visitors for 10 weeks, Lartigue said. They were slated to return home Aug. 3.

“The other kids are doing fine. … I’m trying to reassure them,” said Lartigue, who acknowledges that his own emotions have been on a rollercoaster since the accident. “I’m strong in my faith and I know God’s in control. But at times over the last few days, I have been overwhelmed.”

Morris H. Chapman, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee, made a surprise visit to the Billings hospital yesterday, Lartigue added. Chapman, who coincidentally was vacationing nearby, said he learned of the accident via his Blackberry and the SBC website.

Dennis Culbreth, senior assistant to NAMB president Geoff Hammond, immediately flew to Montana upon receiving word of the accident.
“The Montana Baptist Convention is doing a great job of making every effort to help these two families,” Culbreth said. “The spirits of the two families are good. They’re praying for a miracle for Jeremy.”

The brothers’ parents, Mark and Kathy Vangsnes, are members of First Baptist Church in Spartanburg, S.C. Minear’s parents, Frank and Tammy Minear, are members of Crosspointe Community Church, a Southern Baptist congregation in Roswell, Ga.

“I told the parents that the entire NAMB family and Southern Baptists everywhere are praying for their sons,” Culbreth said.

Echoing Lartigue, Culbreth said he visited with the other Innovator student missionaries at West Yellowstone Park. “They’re in good spirits and praying for a miracle for Jeremy,” he said.

Culbreth said the dozen remaining Innovator student missionaries crafted posters on Thursday night with photos of Jeremy, Scott and Dan, and displayed them at Yellowstone, asking passersby to pray for their three friends.

“When tourists would come by and ask questions,” Culbreth said, “the students would use the accident to remind people that ‘you don’t know how long you have or what’s coming down the road. Do you know Christ?'”

Innovator missionaries are self-funded student missionaries — assigned by NAMB or a state Baptist Campus Ministry — who are involved in resort ministry at various tourist venues throughout the United States.

Source: Baptist Press