Crazy Faith: It's Only Crazy until It Happens

Summary of Crazy Faith

1. 1

   When Impossible Becomes Normal and Building Your Faith Foundation

   

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   A portable phone in 1979? Delusional. Integrated schools in 1955? Unthinkable. Human flight in 1899? Pure fantasy. Yet here we are, scrolling through smartphones without a second thought, living in a world where yesterday's impossibilities are today's mundane realities. This pattern isn't just historical trivia-it's a blueprint for how God operates in our personal lives. That mountain of debt crushing you? The medical diagnosis stealing your hope? The generational dysfunction that seems unbreakable? They're only "crazy" until they're overcome. Michael Todd's journey from unknown pastor to leading a movement that's captured millions-from Justin Bieber to everyday believers using #CrazyFaith-proves this principle. His message landed during a pandemic and racial upheaval precisely because people needed permission to believe beyond what seemed reasonable. What if your impossible situation is simply waiting for the same transformation? You can't construct a skyscraper-sized vision on fixer-upper faith. Just as buildings require solid foundations, our spiritual lives need proper groundwork. Todd defines Crazy Faith as "having thoughts and actions that lack reason but trusting fully in what you cannot explicitly prove"-a radical stance in our Google-everything culture where belief requires proof. Consider Noah, building an enormous boat on dry land when no one had ever seen rain. Absolutely insane. Until the flood came. What appears crazy in one season becomes counted as faith in another. This principle played out dramatically when Gary and Debbie McIntosh, white pastors, followed God's call to plant a church in North Tulsa's predominantly Black community-the same area devastated by the 1921 race massacre. When Bishop Gary heard God say "reverse the curse in North Tulsa," they obeyed despite overwhelming challenges, transforming forty people into a thriving ministry reaching thousands worldwide. These stories aren't meant merely to inspire but to compel us to become "willing vessels" that God can use.

2. 2

   Starting Small and Embracing 51 Percent Faith

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   Nobody bench-presses 300 pounds on day one. Faith requires starting small and building gradually. These baby steps - opening a "Generosity Fund" with five dollars, enrolling in a single college class, writing to an estranged parent - might seem insignificant, but they're essential for reaching big goals. Crazy Faith develops only after diligently exercising baby faith. Imagination serves as a powerful tool here - not childish fantasy but a divine gift. We're created in God's image with the power to imagine what isn't yet tangible. Through imagination, we see ourselves healed when bedridden, living in beautiful homes while stuck in leaky apartments, enjoying peaceful family gatherings despite current dysfunction. Todd introduces "51 percent faith" - you don't need complete certainty, just enough to tip the scale. Abraham sacrificing Isaac, Joshua circling Jericho, even Jesus in Gethsemane - none had 100 percent certainty. The widow with oil from 2 Kings 4 couldn't be completely sure her small jar would fill many containers, but her 51 percent faith was enough for God. We trust Wi-Fi providers and chair manufacturers without hesitation - why not trust the God who made everything?

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   Between Promise and Provision: The Waiting Game

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   Just 37 days after becoming pastor of the 300-member Transformation Church, Todd received a vision for a new building-despite having just paid off their 33,000-square-foot converted grocery store. His audacious vision: becoming a multiethnic, multigenerational, multiplying, multicampus church when they were none of those things. Even his banker laughed at his plans to purchase the SpiritBank Event Center. Todd compares this waiting period to anticipating his wife Natalie's dinner-impatience leads him to grab snacks, but these empty calories never truly satisfy. We must avoid settling for counterfeit versions of God's promises during waiting periods. King Saul's story in 1 Samuel 13 illustrates the danger of poor timing. Facing the Philistine army and deserting troops, Saul panics and performs a sacrifice only Samuel was authorized to do. Samuel arrives just after Saul finishes and pronounces judgment: Saul has lost his kingdom. The right thing in the wrong timing is a curse. Hasty faith "Forgets Orders and Makes Options" while waiting faith "Follows Orders and Maintains Obedience." The waiting period isn't empty time-it's preparation time where God shapes our character to match our calling.

4. Chapter 4

   Walking on Water and Stepping Out of Safety

   The Bible celebrates risk-takers over the cautious. After feeding thousands, Jesus sent His disciples across a lake while He prayed. During a storm, they mistook Him walking on water for a ghost. Peter recognized His voice and, when invited, walked on water toward Him - defying logic. While eleven disciples stayed in their seemingly safe boat, Peter alone responded to "Come." Many miss adventures fearing they can't save themselves - won't start businesses, be vulnerable, or take risks without backup plans. Peter demonstrates the safest place isn't the boat - it's wherever Jesus is. Every circumstance is either God-used or God-sent. Sometimes storms come not from disobedience but from following God's instructions. Perhaps God deliberately sends us into difficulties to perform miracles through us or prepare us for greater purposes. Before walking on water, Jesus withdrew to pray - spiritually preparing to stand on what others drown in. The boat represents our comfort zones. But miracles happen outside the boat, where human ability ends and divine intervention begins. The question isn't whether the water will hold you - it's whether you'll answer when Jesus says "Come."

   Chapter 5

   From Borrowed Belief to Personal Power and Testimony

   Many believers pursue God's promises enthusiastically yet struggle with complacency. Jesus highlighted this contrast when He found His disciples sleeping in Gethsemane-eager spirit, lazy flesh. The paralyzed man whose friends carried him to Jesus exemplifies persistent faith. When obstacles arose, they removed a roof to reach Him. Active faith perseveres while lazy faith surrenders at the first setback. Yet his friends' faith could only bring him to Jesus's feet. He had to exchange borrowed faith for personal faith. When Jesus tells him to stand and walk, He gives seemingly impossible instructions. When God calls us beyond our limits, it requires trading faith-exchanging the faith that got us here for the Crazy Faith that will get us there. "Pick up your mat" means carrying our testimony. Todd openly shares his decade-long pornography addiction because his story of weakness is his weapon. We must leave the sin but take the mat-our testimony is our secret weapon for staying free. The mat represents struggles overcome through God's power. Your mess becomes your message, your test becomes your testimony, and your trials become your triumph story. Don't hide your mat in shame; carry it proudly as a reminder of God's faithfulness.

   Chapter 6

   Speaking Your Future Into Existence

   God wants us to vocalize our faith through prayer and worship. Though He knows our needs, speaking them aloud matters-it's not Crazy Faith until you start stating faith. Your words carry creative power, the same force God used to form the universe. In Genesis, God spoke "Let there be," and it manifested. Proverbs 18:21 teaches that life and death power resides in the tongue. Jesus demonstrated this when He cursed a fruitless fig tree, and it withered. Blind Bartimaeus showed powerful stating faith by passionately calling out to Jesus, ignoring those who tried to silence him. When Jesus asked what he wanted, Bartimaeus boldly declared "I want to see!"-speaking what he desired even when he couldn't see it. His spoken faith activated his miracle. We must declare our healing while still sick, proclaim our prosperity while still broke, announce our freedom while still bound. This isn't positive thinking-it's biblical faith in action, aligning our words with God's promises and speaking things that are not as though they were.

   Chapter 7

   Your Impossible Made Inevitable

   Mary and Joseph's journey exemplifies Crazy Faith in action. God initiates with a crazy word through dreams, prayer, or unexpected sources. The Enemy counters with crazy worry, flooding minds with "how" questions instead of focusing on "who" God is. After receiving the word and overcoming worry through prayer, we walk the crazy walk - like Mary and Joseph's ninety-mile trek to Bethlehem, walking by faith, not sight. God's crazy way rarely matches expectations. For them, it meant giving birth in a stable. The only response is crazy worship. When God fulfilled His promises for Transformation Church with the SpiritBank Event Center, it wasn't the end - it was an invitation to believe for more. Within fourteen months, God prompted Todd to believe for the entire complex. That too became reality. Something is only crazy until it happens. In a world demanding proof before belief, Crazy Faith dares to believe before seeing. Your impossible situation - that debt, diagnosis, dysfunction - is waiting for its transformation moment. What seems insane today will be your testimony tomorrow. The question isn't whether God can do the impossible - it's whether you're crazy enough to believe He will.

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