Crazy Faith #4

Crazy Faith Overview

In this fourth installment of the Crazy Faith series, Pastor William Holman of New Testament Church continues building a biblical foundation for radical, active faith. After recapping the first three principles — thinking of others (Philippians 2:4), embracing small beginnings (Zechariah 4:10), and stepping out with courage (Joshua 1:5-7) — Pastor Holman introduces the fourth essential element: desire. Drawing from Mark 8:34-38 and Philippians 3:12, he explains that desire is not a passive wish but a burning, stretching, all-consuming longing to pursue what God has called you to fulfill. Through vivid personal illustrations — including changing a tire in a Houston downpour, a chaotic church dedication that ended in revival, and learning to lead worship with only one song — Pastor Holman demonstrates that God honors imperfect steps taken with genuine desire. He calls believers to move beyond an entertainment mentality in church life and commit to becoming doers of God’s word. Rooted in Psalm 27:13-14 and the passion translation of Philippians 3:12, this message challenges every listener to let desire fuel courage, and courage fuel a life fully surrendered to Jesus Christ.

Crazy Faith Outline

• 0:00 – Welcome and Opening Worship: The service opens with congregational praise and prayer, setting the atmosphere for the Word with songs centered on the name and power of Jesus.
• 14:00 – Tithes, Offering, and the Challenge of Crazy Faith Giving: Pastor Holman’s associate connects the message series to Malachi’s call to tithe, encouraging believers to exercise crazy faith in their giving as an act of obedience rooted in Isaiah 1:19.
• 24:00 – Recap of Crazy Faith Parts One Through Three: Pastor Holman reviews the first three principles: thinking of others (Philippians 2:4), not despising small beginnings (Zechariah 4:10), and acting with courage by focusing on God’s presence, promises, and commands (Joshua 1:5-7).
• 36:00 – Crazy Faith Part Four: The Power of Desire: Pastor Holman introduces desire as the fourth key, defining it as a burning longing and yearning ambition that stretches a person entirely toward their goal, illustrated by the image of an Olympic runner leaning forward at the finish line.
• 45:00 – Mark 8:34-38 — Desire to Follow Christ: An exposition of Jesus’s call to deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Him, showing that desire determines whether we follow our own plan or God’s eternal purpose for our lives.
• 55:00 – Philippians 3:12 — Pressing On With Passion: Paul’s confession that he has not yet attained perfection but presses on with desire to lay hold of what Christ has laid hold of him for, rendered powerfully in the Passion Translation.
• 1:03:00 – Personal Testimony: Vision, Faithfulness, and 34 Nations: Pastor Holman shares the vision God gave him in 1981, the challenge of people treating it as entertainment, and how decades of desire-driven obedience have produced ministry in 34 nations, hundreds of churches, radio stations, Bible colleges, and free clinics.
• 1:12:00 – Psalm 27:13-14 — Waiting on God Grows Desire: An exposition of David’s declaration that waiting on the Lord — understood in Hebrew as being intertwined with God — strengthens the heart and continuously feeds desire rather than allowing it to fade.
• 1:19:00 – Two Paths to Desire and a Call to Action: Pastor Holman explains that desire is kindled either through desperation (like Naaman dipping in the Jordan) or through softening the heart in God’s presence, and he urges every listener to commit to obedience regardless of imperfection.

Scripture References

Philippians 2:4, Zechariah 4:10, Joshua 1:5-7, Isaiah 1:19, Mark 8:34-38, Philippians 3:12, Psalm 27:13-14, Romans 1:16, Malachi 3:10

Key Takeaways

• Crazy faith requires desire — a burning, all-consuming longing that stretches your entire being toward the purpose God has painted for your life.
• Jesus makes clear in Mark 8:34 that whoever desires to follow Him must deny self, take up their cross, and follow, because saving your own life on your terms means losing the life God intended.
• Paul’s example in Philippians 3:12 shows that perfection is not the prerequisite for pursuit — pressing on with passion is what God rewards.
• Waiting on the Lord, as David describes in Psalm 27:14, is not passive wondering but an active intertwining with God that continuously strengthens and renews desire.
• Small beginnings and imperfect steps taken in genuine desire give God an avenue to move — as proven when an entire congregation of 400 people was born again during a chaotic, unpolished service.
• Desire activates courage, and courage activates faith; without a burning desire for God’s will, there is no need for courage and no fuel for crazy faith.
• God has already painted a picture of the life He destined for you before the foundation of the world — desire and obedience are how you walk into that picture.

Crazy Faith Notes

Desire as the Engine of Crazy Faith

Pastor Holman defines desire not as a casual preference but as a Greek-rooted concept describing a craving, a yearning ambition, and a burning longing that fixes a person so completely on their goal that their whole being stretches toward it. Like an Olympic runner leaning forward at the finish line, a person animated by true desire cannot be satisfied until they reach and obtain what God has called them to. This is the fourth and culminating principle in the Crazy Faith series, without which thinking of others, embracing small beginnings, and acting with courage have no lasting fuel.

Mark 8 and the Cost of Following Christ

In Mark 8:34-38, Jesus speaks directly to the question of desire by presenting two mutually exclusive options: desire to follow Him by denying self and taking up your cross, or desire to save your own life on your own terms. Pastor Holman emphasizes that Jesus was not addressing strangers but His own disciples, making plain that even believers face this daily choice. To choose self-preservation is to lose the God-designed life; to lose your life for Christ and the Gospel is to discover life in its fullest biblical sense, as Paul confirms in Philippians 3:12.

An Imperfect Service That Became a Revival

One of the sermon’s most memorable illustrations involves Pastor Holman being invited to dedicate a brand-new Lutheran church building. Armed with only one three-chord song and no worship background, he led 400 people in singing for thirty minutes, then accidentally knocked a bowl of red food coloring across the pristine sky-blue carpet. Rather than fleeing, he preached for three hours. The entire congregation — including overflow attendees from neighboring Methodist and Presbyterian churches — gave their lives to Christ and was baptized in the Holy Spirit. The story powerfully demonstrates that God rejoices in small, imperfect beginnings offered with desire.

Waiting on God Intertwines You With Him

Drawing from Psalm 27:13-14, Pastor Holman explains that the Hebrew word for waiting — qavah — means to be intertwined, like water poured from one glass into another until the two cannot be separated. This is not passive wondering or anxious questioning of God’s timing. It is extended, intentional time spent in His presence that softens the heart, opens spiritual eyes, and causes desire to well up and overflow. David’s testimony that he would have lost heart unless he believed he would see God’s goodness in the land of the living shows that sustained desire is inseparable from sustained faith.

Moving Beyond the Entertainment Mentality

Pastor Holman issues a direct pastoral challenge: the church is not a performance venue and the pulpit is not a stage. When he first shared his God-given vision with his congregation, many received it like spectators enjoying popcorn — until they realized they were expected to participate. Some left when the call to action came. He urges every believer to reject an entertainment posture and instead commit to being empowered by the Word for action. Everything in the church exists for inspiration and empowerment to fulfill God’s assignments, not for passive consumption.

Failure Is an Event, Not an Identity

Throughout the message, Pastor Holman returns to the theme that imperfection and failure do not disqualify a believer from being used by God. Quoting Proverbs, he reminds listeners that the righteous may fall seven times but simply get up. He echoes the principle that those who try and fail are infinitely better off than those who never try at all. Desire, not flawless execution, is what God is looking for — because desire keeps a person getting back up, pressing forward, and giving God the avenue He needs to produce miracles through ordinary, willing lives.

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