I call it Five Big Dreams. I was involved in a small directors meeting once when someone posed the “Million Dollar Question.” What would happen if someone gave us a million dollars? A number of quick, humorous answers were given. The group was stopped with, “No, I’m serious. What would we do to fulfill our mission?”  No one in the group could offer a reasonable answer. So I made up, on the spot, the challenge for all of us, including me, to come up with Five Big Dreams.

Five is an arbitrary but reasonable number for any challenge. Packaging a series of little ideas into one seems to be less appealing to big donors. But one Big Dream can captivate the imagination of the very many who may not be able to give as much. A Big Dream inspires. Five Big Dreams could change everything. I have been giving deeper thought to this whole idea of big dreams. Inspiration comes through dreams, visions and imagining a better future. The business world understands this with their emphasis on mission statements, as well as goals, which are the steps to make the big dreams come true.

What are the big dreams for your personal life? This past year and a half has altered, and in some cases, forever changed our plans and dreams for the future we had hoped for. This is a time for rebuilding and redreaming our futures.  Let me ask about your dreams for your family, your relationships, your mission, and your retirement.  Add to all of this your big dreams for what you would like to own one day or where you would like to travel, and if you are not careful, you might discover that you have 25 Big Dreams to inspire your life. I believe 25 Big Dreams is overwhelming and may be going a little bit too far. Let’s just stay with Five Big Dreams. Here is your challenge for today: what would your dream be if, as we say we believe, “Nothing is impossible with God”? (Luke 1:37)

Keep healthy. Pray mightily. Enjoy your life today. Dream Big. And let’s experience the love and power of God together.

When most of us think of the Gospel of John chapter 3, we naturally go immediately to verse 16, which Billy Graham often called “The gospel in a nutshell.” Yet there is much more in Jesus’ discussion with Nicodemus than that verse. One overlooked part of the discussion has to do with the wind. The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit. (John 3:8) Jesus uses a play on words here not just about flesh—being born again, but also about the Spirit—when the wind blows. Jesus is teaching us about the power of God’s Spirit in our salvation and daily Christian walk.

We love to name the wind. Tropical storm Henri tore through the northeast recently. Our terms for the wind usually include descriptive words like cool, gentle, harsh, or bitter. We have breezes, storms, gales, cyclones, hurricanes, and tornadoes. There are puffs of wind, whirlwinds, and windswept images around us. Many of us were put to bed with the odd lullaby, Rock a Bye Baby in the Tree Top. Those of us who came of age in the Hootenanny Era of world history remember songs like “Blowin’ in the Wind” and “They Call the Wind Mariah.” Later the group Kansas sang the Ecclesiastes paraphrase “All We Are is Dust in the Wind.”

Our Scriptures are filled with images of refreshing breezes and mighty winds. We call the Breath or the Wind or the Spirit of God Rûach in Hebrew, Pnúema in Greek.  The Bible opens with the Wind of God blowing across the endless deep, signaling the start of creation. I love the passage in Genesis where God breathes, and newly formed Adam’s lungs are filled with air and his body is filled with God’s Spirit (2:7). The passage in 1 Kings when Elijah, depressed and alone, desperately needing to hear a word from God, cannot hear God in the fiery windstorms but only in the still, quiet voice (19:12). Read in Matthew where Jesus rebukes a fierce storm, and the wind obeys (8:27). Or about the day the gathered church was set on fire and the wind of God’s Spirit was so loud people came from everywhere to see what was happening. We named that day Pentecost (Acts 2). 

Keep healthy. Pray mightily. Enjoy your life today. Look where the Wind is blowing. And let’s experience the love and power of God together.

How do you handle your disappointments?  P.T. Barnum (1810-1891) is famous for the phrase “There’s a sucker born every day.” If he really said it, he was talking about himself. I read his autobiography when I was a young teen. He wrote in his book that when he was born, his grandfather deeded to him a piece of property called Ivy Island. He was reminded throughout his childhood that he owned Ivy Island and dreamed of the adventures he would have on his personal island one day. When he was 10, he finally saw Ivy Island. “It was a worthless piece of barren land,” he wrote. The joke was on him. He was 15 when his father died. He became sole provider for his mother and five sisters and brothers. P.T. Barnum understood disappointment and pain, yet somehow discovered the faith and courage to embrace life. 

It is my observation that people tend to undervalue their victories and overrate their disappointments. We undervalue our victories, joys, and successes with words such as, “It was just luck,” “I happened to be in the right place,” or “It’s no big deal.” We overrate our disappointments with words such as, “Things never work out for me,” “No one understands,” or “I always get the raw deal.” If I’m not careful, I can nurse my disappointments as if they are wounds that will never heal. If I’m not careful, I can focus on the circumstances around me rather than on the Spirit that forever holds me.

Around age 30, P. T. Barnum wanted to buy what would be his first museum of curiosities. He was not able to raise much money, so he made a deal. He mortgaged himself to the building’s owner, proposing for collateral: good references, a determination to succeed, and a “valuable and sentimental” piece of property known as Ivy Island. A year later he was out of debt. In his 50’s, Barnum took positions against slavery and the death penalty and for temperance and equal voting rights. He was nearly 70 when he teamed with James Bailey to provide “The Greatest Show on Earth.”  If you read about Barnum’s whole story, you will discover he spent his life overcoming disappointments and severe setbacks with a Christian’s faith and courage.  

Keep healthy. Pray mightily. Enjoy your life today. Be an overcomer. And let’s experience the love and power of God together.