History in the Making – Mike Todd (Grand Opening/Church Anniversary)
The ministry has been going 21 years, but it feels like the beginning. How do we bring faith to our present, while honoring the past, but believing and building momentum for the future?
The phrase that encapsulates this is: “History In the Making”
- History: the past
- In: our present
- The Making: Honors the past, fully commits to the present, and know that it’s nothing compared to what will happen in the future
Isaiah 43 – though more than usual, is important to observe. In fact,
- We need to consume the Bible daily
- You can’t expect your sporadic biblical consumption to last the whole month, daily reading is vital, just like eating food daily
Scripture: Isaiah 43:14-20
This is what the Lord says—your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
“For your sakes I will send an army against Babylon,
forcing the Babylonians[a] to flee in those ships they are so proud of.
15 I am the Lord, your Holy One,
Israel’s Creator and King.
16 I am the Lord, who opened a way through the waters,
making a dry path through the sea.
17 I called forth the mighty army of Egypt
with all its chariots and horses.
I drew them beneath the waves, and they drowned,
their lives snuffed out like a smoldering candlewick.
18 “But forget all that—
it is nothing compared to what I am going to do.
19 For I am about to do something new.
See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?
I will make a pathway through the wilderness.
I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.
20 The wild animals in the fields will thank me,
the jackals and owls, too,
for giving them water in the desert.
Yes, I will make rivers in the dry wasteland
so my chosen people can be refreshed.
Our focus will be verse 18. God may be saying, or reminding you that:
- I get all of that, I saved you, I redeemed you
- I put you in a place you didn’t deserve to be in
- I healed you marriage, restored you
- Brought you back from that addiction
- Changed how people view you
- When you left me, I came running after you
- You were able to start the business with a loan that you did not qualify for – But forget all that – because it is nothing compared to what I am going to do.
Verse 18: “But forget all that – it is nothing compared to what I am going to do.”
This is Isaiah talking, but it is God speaking through him. He is speaking to a group of people who have already seen crazy things.
Just like us, we have seen crazy things, including the crazy faith of miracle of Transformation Church securing the Spirit Bank Event Center.
What do you do, when you’ve seen God do some crazy things? How do you process it, and stay on the edge of faith when you’ve already been a part of a move of God, and seen him answer some prayers.
Mike found that this formula is really encapsulated in the phrase, “History In the Making”.
You can’t skip history to build momentum for your present.
What most people try to do, is blaze a new trail without referencing the trail that was already there.
Most of us want to be like, “they never did what we did, we’re about to do something that’s never been done” – this is arrogance.
Though our forefathers may have never achieved, likes, status, or acclaim, it doesn’t negate their trail. We have a higher probability of gaining popularity from idiocy. Our society is very conscious of what’s popping/popular. We don’t consider what had to happen prior to that, the history of it.
Today, if we’re going to be able to go to the thing that God wants for us, we will need to stop and look at history.
- The Arrogance of an Amateur Values the Experience Over the Remembrance
The arrogance of an amateur values the experience that we had, or made, or did, over what God has already done.
This is a place where many of us are at because we forgot where God brought us from and we’re looking for the high in our next experience.
Some of you at the church grand opening were present because of FOMO (fear of missing out). You were chasing the high of where everyone was going to be, and you were looking for a thing that will never fulfill you.
You can get the same amount of energy if you would stop for a second and sit in your room, with no furniture, and think about how broken you were 5 years ago (or even 5 weeks ago).
If you really started to remember the goodness of God, you will be more thankful for the remembrance of what happened for you, than the next experience you’re about to go to.
At this moment in our church history, Mike could theoretically brag excessively about the accomplishments and overflow, however, the Holy Spirit would declare that that kind of behavior is “an amateur move”.
Similarly, you can tell when someone is in a place they’ve never been. One way to avoid looking like a novice, for example in a fancy restaurant, is to follow the person you’re eating with.
The restaurant may provide a lot of cutlery, to accompany a 5-course meal – 4 forks, 7 knives, 13 spoons, and then a soup is presented to you. If you watch what they pick up, watch their pace, then you can wait until they stop eating, and you’re able to remember what they did and execute at a level of proficiency that would have been taken away if you arrogantly walked in and began insulting the volume of cutlery received.
Mike’s fear is that there are many of us walking arrogantly into situations regarding what God has called us to do and haven’t taken a moment to pause, observe, and remember the sacrifice of other people that led to us getting to this place.
Why did God, through Isaiah, use two verses to remind the children of Israel of what happened? They were ready for their next experience, but God took them through remembrance.
I am the Lord – oh I do remember that
Who opened the way – oh you did do that
Making a dry path through the sea – He did do that
Your enemies weren’t able to touch you because God snuffed them out like a candlewick – True
Today as we stand at this amazing moment, it’s important to not rush, and to remember how far we’ve come from.
We need to remember.
This is not the pinnacle of satisfaction. When you get the house, you need to remember the dorm room.
When you’re complaining about the family you prayed for, you need to remember being lonely, single, and frustrated.
Some of us have lost the art of remembering. Take 5 seconds, think about where God has brought you from, and remember the history that changes the way you approach your present.
Mike approaches this moment with faith, because has more than he’s ever had. Many times it happens in reverse. When people have more than they’ve ever had they start protecting what they have. God told Mike that this is the year that he’s not going to play it safe.
Sidenote: it might be worth re-watching Steven Furtick, Flip the Bag (Kingdom Clout Part 4), where he discusses the parable of the servants who received from their masters, and the servant with 1, buried it in the ground instead of multiplying it. Then God rebuked him. – this concept of playing it safe aligns with this.
God asked Mike if he was ready to step out in faith, for which Mike thought he was already doing LOL. Then Mike learned that, you can’t appreciate the value of a victory without remembering the magnitude of the moment.
A lot of people get a victory, then lose the value in it because they forget the moment they were in when God gave them that victory.
Isaiah 43:16 – I am the Lord, who opened a way, through the waters, making a dry path through the sea.
“Opened a way” – yes, that’s a victory. However, you only see the value when you realize the magnitude of the moment. He had to open the way through some water.
The enemy was behind them, they were afraid, then they reached a dead end of vast ocean. Their enemies were trying to kill them, but they could not get past the ocean by themselves. You don’t value what God did if you don’t remember the magnitude of the moment. God literally moved the opposition (the ocean).
Some of us have forgotten the value of the victory and the opposition that God has cleared from our paths!
There is no way you should be here, no way you should have gotten into that school, there’s no way you should have your right mind, but God made a way through a sea for you! Praise him!
If you stop remembering what God did, then you can’t understand the value of the victory because you don’t understand the magnitude of the moment.
When thinking of Bishop and Pastor Debbie, who started a church in 1999. It seemed redundant or invaluable. You could easily miss the magnitude of the moment and not understand the value of that victory. They left something that’s familiar, and walked up to plant a church in the hood, as white people. The only reason you can understand the value of the victory, is because you take time to remember the magnitude of the moment.
They stepped out, looked around North Tulsa, and heard God say, “reverse the curse”. In 1921, one of the worst race massacres happened in Tulsa, OK. It wiped out and depressed a side of the city. God called a man and a woman to look at a sea and said he was about to make a way through the waters.
There would be no Transformation Church if they didn’t step and see God give them victory when the moment was speaking everything against them.
Your next victory isn’t in thinking about what’s yet to come. You don’t need money, or anyone to co-sign you, a cheering committee, or a leader to approve you. If you just sit in a quiet space and remember what God has brought you from, it will begin to give you faith and fuel for what God has called you to do. Remember that the same God that told Bishop and Pastor Debbie to reverse the curse, is the same God in our midst right now!
He’s the same God that stand outside of eternity. He’s the same God.
That’s why we have to look at the path. The same God that told Bishop to reverse the curse, was the same God that, after Mike wrote down on a piece of paper that Transformation Church would be meeting in the Spirit Bank Event Center, is the same God, that Mike’s 3rd call was to Bishop. They came down to the center, broke in, and Bishop, before leaving said, “Mike, this is your building”. You don’t understand the value of the victory because you weren’t in the magnitude of the moment.
At that time in the church, there were less than 350 people coming consistently, a very low budget, and the church was believing in God to meet their needs, so that people working with the church for 10+ years wouldn’t have to be fired. In the moment it looked like the sea was closed in front of the church. Bishop said stand there Pastor Mike, I want to take a picture of you in the building that you will one day own.
You don’t understand the value of the victory, of Transformation Church being in the building, unless you understand the magnitude of that moment. Somebody else owned the building at that time, somebody else was trying to purchase it. The value of the victory we stand in now, is because in the moment where the picture was taken, Mike had faith.
Know that whatever you’re facing right now, God has already brought you through.
He’s already brought you through so much, why you tripping now? Do you really think that this is where God is going to leave you? He’s the same God.
He’s the same God that brought you from that crazy family, saved you from all kinds of crap. He is Jehovah Jireh! He is the provider and the healer. He is the same God. He is the same God who did it back then, and he is the same God who will do it now. Remember.
The old folks would say, when I think of the goodness of Jesus, and all he’s done for me, my soul cries hallelujah.
Mike is trying to make a commitment today, that no matter what God does in this ministry, no matter how big it gets, we won’t be arrogant and we will remember our history.
Mike can remember when tons of people left the church. As a 26-year-old pastor, he took all of it personally. “You’re called for this, but we won’t be here” – “You have such a bright future, but we’re going to throw shade”. He remembers those who stayed, like the McCorters. You may not know them, but he remembers. It doesn’t take everybody to clap for it to be significant. Everybody can clap, but the question is, are the right ones clapping?
Are the people who saw your sacrifice clapping? That’s why it’s so frustrating to see you getting your validation from IG and Facebook. They weren’t there when you began the work. God says, “I rejoice to see the work begin”. It doesn’t even matter if there were only 50 views. God says, ”I see you”. “I see what you’re doing, I see you being faithful”. That’s why Mike remembers people like Eddie Evans and Calvin Webb.
At the time he went up to preach his first sermon, he didn’t have on a suit, even though it was customary to wear a suit at the time.
The idea was that you didn’t hear from God, wasn’t anointed, and were backsliding if you didn’t wear a suit as a pastor. Mike was called to a meeting because the ushers were pissed because he asked the members to wear TC branded orange shirts for visitors to know who to ask for help. At the time, the men felt like their expensive suits were enough for visitors to recognize them. Today, at 71 years old, Calvin Webb, has on an orange TC shirt saying, “welcome home.” He has stayed, and was faithful to the vision when nobody else saw it.
We get an inheritance through honoring others.
- Remembering Produces Rejoicing
When you really start remembering all that He has done, you start rejoicing for all that he’s about to do. You can rejoice in the middle of it.
You can rejoice in the middle of pain, of frustration, of everything not working out, of loss, of and anything that you’re going through.
You have to praise God when everything looks contrary to what is happening.
This is the weapon that God gives you; God gives you joy in the midst of sorrow. Philippians 4:4 – Always be joyful in the lord; and again I say rejoice.
When you remember, you should start to feel joy on the inside. My situation didn’t change, but my joy is coming back.
My situation is no different, but my joy is coming back. The world didn’t give it, so the world can’t take it away.
Happiness can be stolen, but not my joy. Joy is a fruit of the spirit. The only one that can give me joy is the Holy Spirit! Coworkers, friends, husbands, wives, etc. cannot touch our joy.
When God gives me joy, you can’t touch it. You can only give it away to a person or situation. Joy doesn’t get robbed from you, you can only abdicate it. You let somebody’s attitude take away what God placed on the inside of you.
In 2020, we must declare that nobody gets the joy that they didn’t give me. Then when you start to remember all that God has done, how he saved you and your husband’s marriage, how your daughter is alive, she’s not communicating the way you would like, but she’s alive. When I begin to think of the goodness of Jesus, I get joy.
Don’t be arrogant and not remember what God has brought you from. When you start remembering, you need to get joy on the inside of you.
OMG, in Crazy Faith, we just paid the building off in full!!!!
Don’t tell me what God won’t do!
The same God that did that, he doesn’t do anything for the Transformation Church house that he wouldn’t do for our own homes!
What happened to the mortgage? It’s gone. Won’t he do it!!
We’re worried about the wrong thing. God is looking for faith. He’s looking for crazy faith. Praise him!
Transformation Church has just paid off the loan in the shortest duration of time in history with First Bank of Owasso. The loan was signed off in August and paid by February. History in the Making!
God is saying look at the past, be faithful in the present, cause I’m taking you to the future.
History in the Making!
We could sit here all day singing “history in the making”, but look at verse 18.
Isaiah 43:18 – But forget all that – it is nothing compared to what I am going to do.
Everything he has done up until this point, still does not compare to what he is going to do.
God is not limited. We just burned the mortgage, but at the moment it happens, it becomes history. So, at the moment we burned the mortgage, God says, “I can top that”. At the moment he heals my marriage, he says, “I can top that”. At the moment he saves your kids, he says, “I can top that”. At the moment he gives you the promotion, he says, “I can top that”.
That’s why we have to always honor history, but have crazy faith in the present cause it’s not worth being compared to the “in the making”.
If you’re doubting yourself, know that you are still in the making. Your business, your family, is still in the making. No matter how damaged everything has been, know that you are in the making.
Prophecy for someone: God has wrapped you in a cocoon. You have been a caterpillar crawling everywhere, using a lot of energy. God is saying the cocoon season is coming to an end. When you see things breaking, it’s what’s necessary for the wings to spread. Don’t try to hold onto the relationship or business idea that God’s breaking. He’s breaking it so that you can fly. The only time you’ll ever need to go to a low place again is when you decide to go help somebody else. God says you’re in the making. You haven’t dreamed your greatest dream, you haven’t written your best song, you haven’t taken the picture the world is going to see yet.
The Holy Spirit is saying that some of you have been holding back. Holding back in fear that if you let it go too soon, you won’t have another good one. The Holy Spirit is saying that you’ve been holding things back that I have already given you waiting for the right moment. He’s saying if you don’t release what’s in your hand, then he can’t release the next idea that’s in his hand.
We can find ourselves metaphorically holding on to a bunch of single dollar bills, when God has so much greater in store for us if we would just let it go.
- When You’re Ready To Release, It Tells God You’re Ready For Release
Many times, God will ask you to release something that looks like more, only to put your hands on something that is actually valued at more.
To release celebrity to be a husband.
To release everybody liking you to obey the will of God.
Remember our past, rejoice in our present, and release our future into God’s hands.
Every vision requires revision. Some of us are in a place trying to work a vision that has expired. We don’t release to dishonor the past. We release, to honor the future.
- We Don’t Release To Dishonor The Past. We Release, To Honor The Future.
We have to release it. What God has behind his back for us is not worth being compared to what we have now.
What he has for our house, our lives, our families, is not worth being compared to the past or what we have now.
Stop living in high school trophy days. When you say “the good old days”, it implies that your days today are bad. God sent Jesus so that we would have life to the fullest.
We are releasing, everything that God has done up until this point. What are the next 5 years going to look like? I don’t know, but it’s better than this.
Our best days are in front of us. I declare that we are moving forward. We are not going back. We have faith in the present, because it is nothing compared to what God has in the making for us.
- Don’t Settle For Being Refreshed, When You Can Be Redeemed
God wanted to deliver the children of Israel out of slavery. He announced himself as their redeemer. Accept what Christ has done for you as a redeemer. Don’t settle for being refreshed when you can be redeemed.
Why get a sip, when God can give you a distillery? God will give you the living water that will make you never thirst again.
All of your history doesn’t matter if you make the decision to submit your history in a moment. God has been making you.
The foot of the cross is even. All sin is the same. We all need the grace of God. God throws our historical sins as far as the East is from the West and remembers them no more.
SUMMARY NOTES:
- The Arrogance of an Amateur Values the Experience Over the Remembrance
- Remembering Produces Rejoicing
- When You’re Ready To Release, It Tells God You’re Ready For Release
- We Don’t Release To Dishonor The Past. We Release, To Honor The Future.
- Bonus: Don’t Settle For Being Refreshed, When You Can Be Redeemed
Full link to watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0dueYAHY5M
