WHAT GOD CAN DO
A friend and mentor of mine is Pastor Jim Cymbala of the Brooklyn Tabernacle. Though he has been in high demand for conferences and events around the world for decades, he routinely hosts small gatherings of 25-50 pastors and leaders at their location on Smith Street.
On a couple of occasions he invited me and some of my pastor friends to come and spend a day with him where we would talk about life and ministry, eat lunch together and pray for one another. At these all day gatherings, he left time open for us to ask him questions. Those were some memorable times!
He told story after story, some funny, some sad. Many of those stories were about how God answered the prayers of their church family.
They’ve seen God do things only God can do. They’ve seen addicts made clean, people who are terminally ill rise and walk, and families that were ravaged by dysfunction restored.
For those who want to remain safe in the camp that no longer believes God does the miraculous, I would tell them don’t ever go to BT or you will have to change camps! I’d encourage you to go, see what God has done and is doing in Brooklyn. If He can do it there, He can do it anywhere.
One of Pastor Cymbala’s influences has been EM Bounds. I sign off this week’s blog with some of his great quotes – I hope they encourage you in prayer.
The Church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men. The Holy Ghost does not flow through methods, but through men. He does not come on machinery, but on men. He does not anoint plans, but men…Men of prayer. A holy life does not live in the closet, but it cannot live without the closet. What the church needs today is not more machinery or better, not new organizations or more novel methods, but men whom the Holy Ghost can use – men of prayer, men mighty in prayer.
The story of every great Christian achievement is the history of answered prayer. God’s cause is committed to men; God commits Himself to men. Praying men are the vice-regents of God; they do His work and carry out His plans.
Eddie is Lead Pastor of Life Point Hampton Roads. He was previously the Executive Vice President of National Ministries for the EFCA and before that the EFCA East District Superintendent. Regardless of role, with a desire to share the Gospel in word and deed, Eddie’s calling is to come alongside pastors and leaders helping them live well, lead well and multiply their ministries with vision and passion.