Why We Do What We Do

Upside Down seems like a strange name for a ministry. Well this is how it happened...

I was at a discovery camp in Columbus, Texas with the kids of our church. Anyone who has taken kids to a summer camp can tell you that there are 3 requirements to maintain your sanity: At least 2 hours of sleep per night, plenty of coffee, and as much time alone with the Holy Spirit as possible.  I sat, this particular morning at 6:30 am, in the Breezeway reading my bible, watching the beautiful sunrise, and pondering the amazing goodness of  Jesus. I prayed, "Holy Spirit what would you have me to learn today?" I opened my Bible and it's pages fell to Acts 17. I tried to read the entire chapter, but my eyes repeatedly stopped at verse 6. I have read this story many times but this time the Holy Spirit was opening my ears to hear what He was telling me! The story is this:

Paul and Silas were in Thessalonica. They were staying in the house of a man named Jason. Paul went to the synagogue for three weeks in a row to show the people the proof in the scripture that Jesus is the Messiah. "A great multitude" of the people believed in Jesus because of Paul's words. But there were some of the Jews who did not believe and they were jealous of Paul. They went to the marketplace and gathered together some bad men and created a mob. This mob went to Jason's house but Paul and Silas were not there. They took Jason to the "rulers of the people." THIS IS THE PART THAT I COULD NOT TAKE MY EYES OFF OF. They were crying out, "... THESE WHO HAVE TURNED THE WORLD UPSIDE DOWN HAVE COME HERE TOO."


Paul did not only change the world. He did not merely shake up the world. He turned it UPSIDE DOWN  for Jesus!!! The Holy Spirit spoke to my heart and said that this is what we are called to do in these last days. Unbelievers are so comfortable in their sin that the only way to reach them is to turn everything that they believe to be true UPSIDE DOWN. "But how do we do that?" is what I asked the Holy Spirit. The answer surprised my in it's simplicity. ONLY BELIEVE JESUS!!! We must have a radical belief that the Bible is true, and that the miracles that Jesus did are for today. We need to understand that the disciples were ordinary people, just like us, that chose to believe Jesus. They saw lame people walk, blind people see, deaf people hear, and dead people rise. All of this because Jesus told them that they could and they believed Him!!!

Jesus said in John 14:12-14 "...he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to my Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it."

So the question becomes.... will we believe God? Will we turn the world UPSIDE DOWN for Jesus?