How crazy is your faith? The illogical thinking and belief.

Our God has a wonderful sense of humor when it comes to faith. Even in the darkest times, He often shares jokes that might make you laugh in a different way, especially if you can relate to the situation. It's as if you're thinking, "Are you kidding, God?!" He truly is the master of satire and it all, turning unexpected circumstances into extraordinary moments and living testimonies.

I will share two Bible stories and two stories from this century with you:

Two Rebellions  

My favorite story is about Moses, a wanted criminal and murderer who, along with his brother, was tasked with challenging the most powerful person in the country—a Pharaoh with the best military, technology, knowledge, personnel, and resources. This duo of brothers must start a rebellion against the Pharaoh to free the Israelites using only what they have at hand—a shepherd's staff!  

Are you kidding, God?! No, He is not. It seems illogical! Your mind cannot comprehend it. Your calculations will not add up. All your wisdom, knowledge, and reasoning will fail because none of this will make sense to you. But when God Almighty asks you to do something, would you trust Him?

"Now faith is the assurance (the title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed) and the evidence of things not seen—the conviction of their reality. Faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses." (Hebrews 11:1 AMP)  

Throughout history, many people have accomplished seemingly illogical tasks by faith, and the evidence shows that God is with them, allowing impossible things to happen.

Okay, next one.

Unwanted trouble

The disciples found themselves in unwanted trouble because people somehow knew their next designation—in a remote area—where they wanted to rest alone with Jesus. Remember, this is not a social media era, but people still got the rumor so fast. People were too excited to see Jesus, and it was getting late. That night, they got into problems with more than 5,000 hungry people far from anywhere. And if the disciples needed to pay for the food, it would cost them a lot!

"Philip answered, "Well, I suppose if we were to give everyone only a snack, it would cost thousands of dollars to buy enough food!"

It's around eight months' average salary. If you calculate this for 2024 in the Netherlands, it will cost them €29,000 just for snacks!

But just then, Andrew, Peter's brother, spoke up and said, "Look! Here's a young person with five barley loaves and two small fish . . . but how far would that go with this huge crowd?" John‬ ‭6‬:‭7‬-‭9‬ ‭TPT

If you are a Christian, you know the rest of the story. Five loaves and two fish miraculously fed all the people, and they still had a leftover!

The question is: Who would ever think a meal packed by a young boy could feed more than 5000 people? And what about the other adults—how come they didn't bring any food? Or are they too stingy and don't want to share their meals? What's on Andrew's mind?! Is he crazy to even bring this boy to Jesus? You may take that part lightly because you are getting used to or too familiar with the story.

Let's think about it together. How would a typical leader respond if this situation occurred today? Phillip's reaction seems quite normal; he looks like a Dutch—filled with logic, calculation, pragmatism, and directness. "It costs a fortune; who's gonna pay for it? Where do you get the money from?" It will deplete your bank account because you don't plan to have this event. It's logical thinking, right?

Do you ever see this kind of scenario happen in your workplace/organization/family where someone from your team or colleague brings a crazy idea, like Andrew? "Hei, I know we have a big problem, but we have something small and insignificant. Can we use it? (hoping to solve the problem)." Do you or your boss shut it down without skipping a heartbeat? Do you or someone else laugh and mock those ideas? Because it's also a normal reaction. Who is fool enough to think that "five bread and two fishes" could solve a problem of this magnitude? It doesn't make sense.

Can you see the humor now?

Jesus still loves both Phillips (with all the logic and directness) and Andrew (who dares to ask crazy questions). Even Jesus annoyed his disciples by teasing them with a serious task.

"Jesus said, "You do it. Fix supper for them." They replied, "Are you serious? You want us to go spend a fortune on food for their supper?" But he was quite serious. "How many loaves of bread do you have? Take an inventory." That didn't take long. "Five," they said, "plus two fish." ‭‭Mark‬ ‭6‬:‭37‬-‭38‬ ‭MSG‬‬

How many of you ever had to deal with this kind of adamant boss who seems crazy enough to ask things to be done in such an impossible way? So annoying and frustrating, right?

Taste of the wonder

Here are the things: When you ever see the miracles and wonder of faith, no one can take that experience away from you. When you ever taste the impossible, you will remember how it feels. So, have you ever tasted God's goodness and crazy blessings?

When I was a kid, my dad became a pastor. He is serving alongside his cousin Alex (the founding pastor). I grew up and saw how my uncle had great vision and faith that someday, the church would grow to a thousand campuses. I was just a kid who accompanied my dad whenever he served and played music. That church began from a small aula next to my uncle's house. And then he built a more extensive campus next to it. But my uncle's vision keeps expanding. There's a big empty land behind my house. I used to run, bike, and play kytes there. My uncle saw this land as an opportunity to further his vision. He built another campus on that land 9 minutes away by car (3,6km from the previous main campus) and had a capacity of twenty thousand seats. The diameter of that building was as big as a football field. That's crazy big.

I had a chance to be part of the first singer team to sing at the first service at the new main campus, Nginden. There was only a view row in front and in the middle, less than 10% of the capacity. So, it seems that the building is too big. But not for long; it became a full pack.

That building witnesses how faith and God open the way. Often, during his preaching, he jokes, "Duite sopo?" "Who's money?" (to build all these facilities). But yet it happens. It took courage and faith to do that, not just because of my uncle's faith but also because of thousands of people from the congregation who believed and supported him. It results from a collective faith - not just by one man.  

Do it again!

Now, once again, I am honored to witness another God's sense of humor: how He made a small church in Haarlem, Netherlands, take a step of faith to buy a building—an old church in the center of Haarlem called Nieuwe Groenmarkt. The price tag and the church's money are not a match. Haarlem is well known as an expensive area. A building in the city's center even makes the price higher. So it seems unbelievable and illogical, but that is the faith of my home church, Re:connect.

Oh yes! God does it again! At the end of November 2024, Gilbert Thera and Liesbeth signed the purchase contract. So, how do we get the funds? It's crowdfunding!!! It's a lot of money for us, but it's just a peanut for God. You can see the progress of the funding on this page. How God moved people's hearts and funds to support this project is a wonder. People from outside our church, from different churches across the globe - the CHURCH - with the capital C - are helping and donating to this vision. You could be part of this story too.

For your information, Christianity was declining in the Netherlands and Europe. Many churches were closed, sold, or converted to other facilities. But, hey, God still creates wonder! You want a miracles? It requires us to trust in Him and be willing to do things differently. That thing may be so small and often overlooked by many, but it is what you have. Don't underestimate the small things in your hands.  

God still creates wonder, You want a miracles? It requires us to trust in Him and be willing to do things differently.

Like what?

Faith's Resilience

We have used this building since November 2023, one year before the official signage to buy it. Preparing the paperwork takes a long time. It's a beautiful old church decorated with astonishing artwork. However, that building was far from a comfortable or ideal place to build a community church (yet). It will take a big budget to renovate and create a convenient situation.

No heather

We haven't had any heating inside for the past year, so we wear our winter jackets, complete with hats and gloves, during the service. If it's 5 degrees outside, it feels even colder inside. Despite this, people keep showing up! We'll need more electricity if we want heat, which means we need a budget. Soon, we will have additional electricity and a heater. But until then, let's make sure to dress warmly to keep comfortable. People can easily watch from home (online church), but that's not the case. The coldness is not stopping people from going to physical church!

Kids Sunday School

In the beginning, we didn't have a proper kid's room for Sunday school classes. But we keep on making it happen even though it is far from ideal—the mandatory requirement of what looks like a modern church. Almost a year later, we have two to three rooms for kids. Sometimes, we don't even have enough teachers, so the kids stay with the parents and play bingo words during the preaching. When they hear all the words, the kids will shout BINGO!!! And they get candy. We keep on doing the best we can.  

Incomplete Band

Sometimes, the worship team doesn't have enough musicians. But once again, it doesn't stop us from giving our best. We keep on going and give our best with what we have. Having a full band is good, but if we only have two players? Is it affecting His presence? No! We also have the technology nowadays. Play with a sequencer! So what?! God's presence is here and real. The goal is not perfection but authenticity.

One Toilet   

We only have one toilet! Sometimes, we can use the extra toilet from the office next door, but not always. There will be more in the future (phase 3), but not now.

The coldness in the room, the unusual kids' class, the incomplete worship team, and the toilet are just a glimpse of faith's resilience (the capacity to fight difficulties). We are doing our best with what we have. We are not waiting until everything is perfect or until the money is all here. And yet God shows his favor and grace upon this church. God chose this imperfect church as an example of how God can make a way again and again.

Collective faith

It's like the story of the young boy who gave his packed meal to Jesus, which became a miracle. Re:connect church is also a story of collective faith, which brings what we have to the altar and makes room for miracles to happen. Let time be the witness of the ripple effect of this obedience.

The miracle stories of the 5000 start with a young boy and Andrew, but the multiplications happen in Jesus' hands and also when the people sit down in groups of fifty each.

"There are nearly five thousand men here, with women and children besides!" He told his disciples, "Have them all sit down in groups of fifty each." After everyone was seated, Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, and gazing into the heavenly realm he gave thanks for the food. Then, in the presence of his disciples, he broke off pieces of bread and fish,and kept giving more to each disciple to give to the crowd. It was multiplying before their eyes!"

‭‭Luke‬ ‭9‬:‭14‬-‭16‬ ‭TPT‬‬

https://bible.com/bible/1849/luk.9.14-16.TPT

Making room for miracles.

I don't know your life situation, but hopefully, this article will remind you that our God has a great sense of humor. There is no growth in the comfort zone. Maybe God shakes your comfort zone and asks you to do things differently and pay attention to insignificant things. He will shake your logic, calculation, and even your culture with illogical thinking and belief.

A leap of faith forces you to leave your comfort zone and go outside the norms. A leap of faith doesn't mean you become reckless and do not use your logic, wisdom, or brain. It's not about to choose one or another. You could use both! As a matter of fact, you need to be diligent, smart-not stupid, and plan and prepare as best as possible. The Bible's filled with wisdom; Faith it's not about neglecting logic, yet faith seems illogical. Faith is about making room for miracles. You have done the best you can and give it to God. All the stories here teach us not to underestimate the small things you have in your hand. For others, it may seem like a fool and insignificant, but remember who your God is. Bring it to God even though it is so small and incomparable. Let Him do the multiply, the wonder, and the unthinkable.

Faith it's not about neglecting logic, yet faith seems illogical. Faith is about making room for miracles

Don't sabotage the miracles with your logical limitations. Before Jesus did this, feeding the thousands, He went to Nazareth. It's his hometown, where he grew up with his family. But He can't perform big miracles.  

"He was unable to do any great miracle in Nazareth, except to heal a few sick people by laying his hands upon them. He was amazed at the depth of their unbelief! Then Jesus went out into the different villages and taught the people."

‭‭Mark‬ ‭6‬:‭5‬-‭6‬ ‭TPT‬‬ https://bible.com/bible/1849/mrk.6.5-6.TPT

Don't limit God with your logical thinking and your wisdom. Sometimes, if you wonder why it seems no great miracle happened, maybe it's because of your own unbelief. Especially for people in the Western world, who are already getting used to comfortable economics and stable things, ot too much logic, sometimes it seems to forget that God can do more beyond your ability. Once again, there's no growth in the comfort zone. Get used to God's sense of humor—to do things differently out of your comfort zone.

Faith will take you to a place beyond your imagination, but you will never know if you didn't take that step. Life is easier if you keep walking based on your knowledge, logic, or culture, but sometimes God calls you to do things outside the box. Perhaps you are looking at your situation and laughing, saying, 'Are you kidding God?' And, He annoyingly said it back, 'I'm not kidding. Trust me!'

Ready to get a laugh with God?! And making rooms for miracles?