Transformation

I've been teaching a class of older adults (yes, it is appropriate that I am in a class of older adults) the book of Acts on Sunday mornings. One of the recurring themes that continue's to arrest my attention is the numerous signs and wonders referred to by Luke as he recounts the expansion of the Kingdom of God. It makes me wonder...First, are we seeing 'signs and wonders' in our ministry? But more importantly, what are we looking for when we talk about signs and wonders? Sometimes I look for those huge, impossible things- mountains that move, earth shifting, paradigm changing events. I wonder if I'm missing the real 'signs and wonders' as God slowly and quietly changes lives? Like the erosion of a river that is only visible over the period of years and sometimes centuries, is God working to make us more like Himself? The big stuff attracts attention- or much of what passes for Christian television would be off the air! In Ed Stetzer and Philip Nation's recent book, Compelled by Love, they mention Jerry Falwell. "To a vast majority of people, Falwell was either a man to love or a man to loath...However, those who knew him through local ministry saw him found a home for unwed mothers and one for alcoholics in recovery. The amount of work he led for the poor, marginalized, and disenfranchised would amaze many." (pp 84-85). Are those the signs and wonders we need to be looking for? People whose lives are transformed becuase someone shared the love of God in a concrete and tangible way?
May God tranform lives through our church! Not necessarily in ways that grab headlines, but in ways that see people fully formed in the likeness of Christ!