I have chosen you

Dear Pastor, please take time to slowly and carefully read through these comments that I wrote down after my devotion time today. I believe these words represent the heart of God as revealed in His Word and His activity in the world. Remember that these words are for you and the flock that you shepherd.

I thank God for you. Remember to celebrate that Christ is with us and Christ is in us!

Mike

I have chosen you

Thus saith the Lord: I have chosen you.

I have chosen you to be my child.

I have chosen you to be my servant. 

I have chosen you, my Beloved, because I love you and desire to be with you.

Remember this: I am for you. 

You are not alone, nor do you have to live only according to what you have.

You will live according to what I give to you. 

And I will give you rest. I will give you mercy. I will give you my Spirit. 

Dear Church, I have given you my Spirit, I have chosen you to be with me and so that you will go and make disciples.

Dear __________ (your name here), I have given you my Spirit, I have chosen you to be with me and so that you will go and make disciples. 

I have chosen you because I know all that I have already planned and prepared for you. 

I have chosen you because I love you and desire to be with you and in you for all eternity. 

I have chosen you because there are people in your life that I desire to share my love and gospel with. You are the conduit through whom I have chosen to flow.

You are mine, I have paid the full price for your rescue.

You are mine, and I now offer to you all that you need to enjoy the fullness of life I intend for you to have.

You are mine, and I now appoint you to go and bear fruit. I designate you as my apostles. 

You are my ekklesia (called out ones) and my ambassadors. Go therefore and make disciples. Go therefore and share my truth by my Spirit within you and bring others from their brokenness and despair and chains into the freedom of life and salvation in me. 

 

Graciously speaking and living truth in a mixed-up world

This world is full of sin. And shame. And sadness. And brokenness.

And the list goes on. 

God took on flesh and stepped into this world. Jesus came and lived a sinless life as a perfect example and demonstration of the holy love of the Father. Jesus died a sinless death, taking our sin and its consequences upon Himself. The decrees against humanity were nailed to the cross. The brokenness of humanity was offered a cure in the person and work of Jesus Christ. 

The children of God who have been born again are the carriers of His Spirit and His gospel into a world that is a mixed-up mess.

And what we bring to the world is to be the eternal truth of God Himself. 

We are to bring God’s eternal truth by how we live and in what we say. We are to embody the love of Christ and we are to declare the Word of the Lord.

This world that is so topsy-turvy and not even aware of its own lostness not only needs a Savior but also needs the church to share Jesus with them. 

This world doesn’t know what is right or wrong nor the consequences for their behaviors (whether in this life or the next). It is our calling from God Himself to manifest His gospel.

Of course, this must be done with grace. The gospel isn’t the gospel without grace. Jesus would not have been faithful to the character and the will of the Father if He hadn’t lived and died with grace. 

But nonetheless Jesus told the world of sin and we must do the same. We cannot shy away from the warnings that sin is real, it is destructive and yet there is hope for all who have sinned. 

So please, Christians, do not call sin something less than sin. Do not call evil good. Do not change the message of sin, grace, and holiness in order for our message to be more palatable. Let us declare fearlessly the full gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Let us declare what we have received from the Lord. Let us live and declare that all people everywhere need to repent and call on the name of the Lord and be saved. Let us live and declare that immorality and idolatry and contentiousness and selfishness will bring destruction. Let us live and declare that God’s grace and mercy and His Holy Spirit make it possible to be forgiven and delivered from any behavior that cannot be taken in the name of the Lord Jesus. Let us graciously live and declare that whatever the Bible declares to be true must be received and obeyed.

There is sadly a trend in western Christianity these days to ignore the Bible in favor of more culturally “appropriate” designations of sin and holiness and yet the Bible remains quite clear that we cannot keep on sinning and yet call ourselves Christians and neither can Christians claim to know Christ and yet hate a brother. The Bible is completely clear that any type of sexual behavior outside of marriage between one man and one woman is sexual immorality but so is lusting after a person sexually. The Bible is clear that we must have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness and that we must leave behind the world and the old self and pursue the Lord and His righteousness.

Dear reader, please, please, please: hear God’s call to be saved and delivered from your sins. Then seek with all of your might to live a life pleasing to the Lord, allowing Him to sanctify you of all uncleanness and lead you into all of His righteous ways. Then make it your ambition to live out and fearlessly declare with grace His message of love, redemption, and holiness. Stop compromising and letting your sins slide while hammering away on other’s sins. Instead, look at Jesus and look at yourself and then confess the difference. 

If Christians won’t pursue Christ or live holiness and preach holiness, really there is not much reason to call ourselves “Christian”. If we want to keep lying, cheating, stealing, lusting, gossiping, committing sexual immorality, worshiping and serving the gods we pick, treating others as objects or obstacles and deciding that we can do whatever we want, whenever we want and we will just confess it later, we might as well be honest with ourselves that we really don’t want to be a God-honoring Christ-follower, we really just want to have a way to escape the consequences for our behaviors that we really plan on doing anyway.  

Dear reader, please hear this invitation to accept God’s gift of salvation. Dear Christian, please receive this call to pursue holiness. Dear Christian, please fearlessly manifest the gospel in both word and in truth. 

God have mercy, Christ have mercy

The hard part of pastoring

How can we possibly pick which part of pastoring is hard and which part is “easy”? And yet I would like to address just briefly the hard part of not just interacting with people in a casual or conversational way but in an intentional and spiritual way. 

When people come to pastors with their problems it can be overwhelming. We might personally begin to shrink back into ourselves or even have a mini- “panic-attack” inside as we consider the fact that we not only are called by God to be nice to these people and seek to put a smile on their face, but we also are to represent God and speak for God.

It can be a heavy load to consider dealing with their concerns and life issues especially knowing that we have so many times before been “punished” after sharing the truth with people or misunderstood regarding either our motive or what we are saying. When people come to us with their issues it can be easy for us to flash back to a previous interaction with a parishioner or even personal friend or family member and begin thinking that perhaps once again the interaction might go poorly or be insufficient to address their true need. 

And yet we are called by God (and equipped by His Word and His Holy Spirit) to not only interact with them in gentleness and with tenderness and compassion but also speak truth to them and help them to discover the hard revelations from God regarding sin and righteousness. As a matter of fact, if we don’t plan on helping them unpack what the sinful vs righteous responses are in their respective and specific circumstances we don’t really need to be pastors or spend time pastorally with people. 

Finally here is the reality about helping people through their problems: their problems will not just go away because you met and dialogued, the people you meet won’t change all of their behaviors overnight and your remarks no matter how true will not save, heal or deliver them. But if we speak God’s word to them, connect them with Him and remind them that in their connection to Him they will be delivered through all things and if we pray with them and share God’s never-ending, never-failing word with them, then they will have the opportunity to really have a breakthrough and not merely find a band-aid or a simple emotional pick-me-up.

Dear Pastor, thank you for listening to people. Thank you for taking time to dialogue with them. Thank you for connecting them with God. Thank you for helping them to dig into the Word, talk to God in prayer and walk in the streams of God’s grace. And please don’t shy away from this, for this is exactly what people need from their pastor. May God continue to open doors for conversation and may He fill and use you to be a conduit of His gospel and holy love!

Christ is with us, Christ is in us!

Are you living holy?

Isn’t it amazing to know that the Creator God of the universe loves you and i and has made a way for us to be forgiven of our sins, delivered from all guilt and shame and cleansed of all unrighteousness?! 

Various things that I have said to other people have been harsh, unkind, disingenuous, deceitful, prideful and more. And these things have caused pain. Some attitudes that I have had have been self-centered, angry, self-righteous, self-justifying, proud and more. These attitudes have hurt people and communicated messages of untruth. Certain actions and reactions that I have lived out have cheated others, treated people like objects, taken from others and placed myself first and temporal things about eternal things. These unholy words, attitudes, and actions have caused pain, promoted untruth, and resulted in consequences for myself and many others.

But here is the good news! Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was perfect in every way and who never sinned, paid the price for me to be forgiven of these things. Jesus’ death and resurrection have made it possible for me to be delivered from the rightful judgments I deserve and from the consequences I have brought on myself and others as a result of my sin. Praise be to God that Jesus’ sacrifice is sufficient to set me free from my past, my sin, and my deserved judgment!

However, I want to take this one step further. Since we know that Jesus Christ Himself came and died in our place in order that He might make a way for us to be delivered from our past and the various strongholds and broken things in our lives, why do we keep on living the same as before?

If Christians have been forgiven for speaking unkind words, why would we continue to speak unkind words?

If Christians have had to seek the Lord to deliver them from their selfish behaviors, why would we continue to live selfishly and as if the people around us are merely obstacles?

If Christians have asked the Lord to forgive them from their worshiping and serving false gods (such as material possessions, success, and fame) why would we keep running after the same stuff that got us into trouble in the first place?!

The question at this point might be asked: “Were we really sorry in the first place for our sins, or did we only not want to have any consequences for our behaviors?”

And so here is the point of this article: “Are you living holy?”

I know that no one is holy except God alone, however by the death and resurrection of Jesus we are now able to be forgiven of our sins and cleansed of unrighteousness and then receive the Holy Spirit to live in us. In other words, our natural self is not holy, but the Spirit of Jesus who is perfectly good and holy will live in the hearts of those who believe so that by Jesus’ Spirit at work in us we can supernaturally live His holy life or rather He can live His holy life through us.

  • If you have been forgiven and cleansed, are you speaking to others like Jesus would?
  • If you have been forgiven and cleansed, are you exhibiting an attitude like Jesus does?
  • If you have been forgiven and cleansed, are you acting/reacting to people/circumstances as Jesus did?

And if not, why not?

Don’t say it’s not possible. Jesus and the entire Bible cover to cover tells a different story. 

If we aren’t living holy (living like Jesus) what exactly are we doing that Jesus wouldn’t do? And what exactly aren’t we doing that Jesus did? And when are we going to start doing it?

The world can be changed if these see the holiness of God through you and me and therefore come to the Lord in order that He can do the same thing in them.

The world (and even other believers) can become bitter and hardened and distant and further rebel against God is they see us continuing to sin and act selfishly all the while we claim to be disciples of Jesus or “Little Christs” (literal meaning of ‘Christian’)

Are you living holy? If not, I beg of you, let Jesus’ perfect Holy Spirit begin living out His holiness in your words, attitudes and actions. It will bring glory to God and may possibly result in other people drawing near to God because of the holiness they see in you!

 

The hope for the church is as great as the promises of God

hope-1804595_1920There are so many obstacles, hurdles and difficult circumstances facing the church today. It has been easy for many to give up hope for the church. Whether we look at statistics, trends or personal stories it would seem that the church is facing a difficult path. Fear and pessimism are rampant these days and so when you couple this negativity with the situations around and then consider the spiritual warfare being waged against the church and the slow erosion of the church by the constant pounding of culture, it might seem as though what little hope the church might have is fading. And yet, I am here to tell you as a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ that the hope of the church is as great as the promises of God!

Peruse social media, read mass media headlines or listen to someone’s sad story of a declining church and it might be easy to conclude that the church is in such desperate trouble that there may be no digging out of the depths, but I am here to tell you that every single person who knows and believes the promises of God and chooses to come under the authority of the Lord, will quickly find the grace, faith, and hope that is needed to not only prevail but also to become victorious conquerors in Jesus’ name.

The kingdom of God is advancing forcefully upon the earth! It is carried forward by the prayers of the saints and by the power of the Holy Spirit. As the Scriptures say, we will overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. Each and every person who listens to the revelation of the Lord and accepts His word as truth will find themselves placed on paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. All who will take the time to receive from the Lord the gracious and bountiful gifts that He is giving will receive the Holy Spirit who breaks the power of canceled sin. Each and every church and believer who takes God at His Word, can receive His love, walk in His promises, become conduits of His holiness and live for His glory. A church full of people who walk by this kind of faith and not by fears or obstacles of this world will discover that they truly are more than conquerors through Jesus Christ. 

Today, if you see something in the news or on social media that paints a picture depicting the certain decline and demise of the church or Christianity, please, choose to ignore this false narrative. These foreboding declarations are built on temporal things and instead, we must stand on the eternal truths of God’s Word that declare that He is building His children into a spiritual house that He can dwell in with power and that the church He is building not even hell itself can stand against. 

If you know that you have been walking in defeat or the local faith community you belong to has been walking in defeat, please read the Word, receive the promises, pray and seek the face of God and allow His sufficient atonement and overwhelming victory to take over. 

Soli Deo Gloria (Glory to God alone)

The hope for the church is as great as the promises of God

hope-1804595_1920There are so many obstacles, hurdles and difficult circumstances facing the church today. It has been easy for many to give up hope for the church. Whether we look at statistics, trends or personal stories it would seem that the church is facing a difficult path. Fear and pessimism are rampant these days and so when you couple this negativity with the situations around and then consider the spiritual warfare being waged against the church and the slow erosion of the church by the constant pounding of culture, it might seem as though what little hope the church might have is fading. And yet, I am here to tell you as a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ that the hope of the church is as great as the promises of God!

Peruse social media, read mass media headlines or listen to someone’s sad story of a declining church and it might be easy to conclude that the church is in such desperate trouble that there may be no digging out of the depths, but I am here to tell you that every single person who knows and believes the promises of God and chooses to come under the authority of the Lord, will quickly find the grace, faith, and hope that is needed to not only prevail but also to become victorious conquerors in Jesus’ name.

The kingdom of God is advancing forcefully upon the earth! It is carried forward by the prayers of the saints and by the power of the Holy Spirit. As the Scriptures say, we will overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. Each and every person who listens to the revelation of the Lord and accepts His word as truth will find themselves placed on paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. All who will take the time to receive from the Lord the gracious and bountiful gifts that He is giving will receive the Holy Spirit who breaks the power of canceled sin. Each and every church and believer who takes God at His Word, can receive His love, walk in His promises, become conduits of His holiness and live for His glory. A church full of people who walk by this kind of faith and not by fears or obstacles of this world will discover that they truly are more than conquerors through Jesus Christ. 

Today, if you see something in the news or on social media that paints a picture depicting the certain decline and demise of the church or Christianity, please, choose to ignore this false narrative. These foreboding declarations are built on temporal things and instead, we must stand on the eternal truths of God’s Word that declare that He is building His children into a spiritual house that He can dwell in with power and that the church He is building not even hell itself can stand against. 

If you know that you have been walking in defeat or the local faith community you belong to has been walking in defeat, please read the Word, receive the promises, pray and seek the face of God and allow His sufficient atonement and overwhelming victory to take over. 

Soli Deo Gloria (Glory to God alone)

The hope for the church is as great as the promises of God

There are so many obstacles, hurdles and difficult circumstances facing the church today. It has been easy for many to give up hope for the church. Whether we look at statistics, trends or personal stories it would seem that the church is facing a difficult path. Fear and pessimism are rampant these days and so when you couple this negativity with the situations around and then consider the spiritual warfare being waged against the church and the slow erosion of the church by the constant pounding of culture, it might seem as though what little hope the church might have is fading. And yet, I am here to tell you as a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ that the hope of the church is as great as the promises of God!

Peruse social media, read mass media headlines or listen to someone’s sad story of a declining church and it might be easy to conclude that the church is in such desperate trouble that there may be no digging out of the depths, but I am here to tell you that every single person who knows and believes the promises of God and chooses to come under the authority of the Lord, will quickly find the grace, faith, and hope that is needed to not only prevail but also to become victorious conquerors in Jesus’ name.

The kingdom of God is advancing forcefully upon the earth! It is carried forward by the prayers of the saints and by the power of the Holy Spirit. As the Scriptures say, we will overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. Each and every person who listens to the revelation of the Lord and accepts His word as truth will find themselves placed on paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. All who will take the time to receive from the Lord the gracious and bountiful gifts that He is giving will receive the Holy Spirit who breaks the power of canceled sin. Each and every church and believer who takes God at His Word, can receive His love, walk in His promises, become conduits of His holiness and live for His glory. A church full of people who walk by this kind of faith and not by fears or obstacles of this world will discover that they truly are more than conquerors through Jesus Christ. 

Today, if you see something in the news or on social media that paints a picture depicting the certain decline and demise of the church or Christianity, please, choose to ignore this false narrative. These foreboding declarations are built on temporal things and instead, we must stand on the eternal truths of God’s Word that declare that He is building His children into a spiritual house that He can dwell in with power and that the church He is building not even hell itself can stand against. 

If you know that you have been walking in defeat or the local faith community you belong to has been walking in defeat, please read the Word, receive the promises, pray and seek the face of God and allow His sufficient atonement and overwhelming victory to take over. 

Soli Deo Gloria (Glory to God alone)

Where God is leading

Dear pastor,

I want to share with you briefly the wonderful destination we are headed for as the church of Jesus Christ, His body, the people of faith whom God is turning into a kingdom and people of priests. 

The church is so much more than an institution or an organization with plans and programs and ministries. The church of Jesus Christ is the light of the world, particularly the light Jesus has chosen to shine in your town and around the world! God has chosen you to be His children, filled with His Spirit, made into a kingdom of priests who intercede for the salvation of the people and pray for the blessing of the Lord on the land we inhabit. 

Dear fellow disciple of Jesus and missionary of God Most High, you and I have the privilege of being a part of God’s divine and eternal work on earth to save lost people, restore marriages, reconcile broken relationships, deliver people from addiction, and see Him pour out His Holy Spirit and awakening into people’s hearts and into the community around us. 

Over the coming years, all who are obedient to God’s holy call to His church will actually walk in greater grace, experience greater joy, see greater miracles and see great numbers of people supernaturally touched by God and His church. In the coming months and years, it is absolutely certain that if you and I fully surrender to God, not only will He make our hearts to be fully alive and unshakeable in Him, but He will also equip, empower and use us to help set captives free and declare the Lord’s favor to those who will believe.

If you will join the Lord in His beautiful mission to seek and save, I can assure you that you will see the goodness of the Lord on display in mighty ways here on earth. Dear disciple of Jesus, there are hurting people, needy people, lonely people right here, and God is supplying you with sufficient grace to bring to them the hope and gospel of Jesus Christ. Let us do whatever we must that we can see God be known and loved by people far and wide. Let us invite people to church, distribute Bibles and tracts, pray with and for people, share our witness of what God has done for us and above all seek the kingdom and glory of God. 

  • God loves you and me. I love Him too, with all of my heart. 
  • God is with and for you and me. I know His Holy Spirit is in my heart because He graciously placed Him there. 
  • God is working in and through you and me. I am anticipating the miracles and salvations we will see by His hand and for His glory!

Christ is with us, Christ is in us,

Mike

What’s so hard about being a pastor?

“What’s so hard about being a pastor?”

That is a loaded question for sure!

There have perhaps been times you have been insulted by someone with this question. I also believe there have probably been times when you have leveled this question against yourself in condemnation. And then again perhaps it is simply an honest question needing to be answered so that our ministry to others in Jesus’ name can be healthy. 

One thing that is so hard about being a pastor is that (at least in the mind of the pastor) everyone expects that the pastor live a “perfect” example, preach eloquently and persuasively, draw people in like the pied piper, make peace amongst the most bitter opponents and somehow do it all with a smile on their face! In a nutshell, being a pastor is hard because of expectations. Sometimes the expectations are unrealistic, other times they are the very difficult and necessary actions that define being a pastor. Expectations are hard to manage, but as pastors, we need to live and serve to glorify God and fulfill His expectations. And here is the things about God: He is gracious, full of love and He offers everything that we need to live out what He asks of us.

Another thing that is so hard about being a pastor is that much of what we do is slow and behind the scenes. We plant seeds and water them. We pray with people and for people. We teach people the Word and wait on people to respond in faith and for God to move in His own way and timing. Ministry is not like manufacturing or construction where there is a start and finish to the project. Ministry takes time, involves a lot of mystery and relies on the eternal and supernatural ways of God. It also relies on the patient perseverance of people living out God’s kingdom ways even when there is no direct visible evidence of “success” or “progress”. And yet we don’t do what we do in order to succeed or because of some philosophical notion like “upward mobility”. Instead, we pastor because God called us to and because people need to hear the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The last difficulty I will mention here (although there are of course hundreds of other difficulties) is that pastoring is hard because of spiritual warfare. Pastor’s have a bullseye on their back and the devil wants to destroy them. The devil wants to destroy, marriages, churches, and pastors. Another difficulty here is that spiritual warfare is often “invisible”. We can feel its effects and consequences and yet we can’t fight it with traditional weapons and many times we are caught of guard by the sneak attacks of the enemy. Dear Pastor, you and I have to put on the full armor of God, we have to stand our ground, we have to let the Lord defend and protect us. We must stand upon the promises of God and persevere through the pain and hardships. Remember that Christ is our Victor and in Him, we are victorious conquerors and as we prevail we will be in a place to help others prevail as well. 

Thank you, Pastor, for pressing on even when it is hard. Please know that more people understand your burden and pain than you might realize and more people are praying for you than you know. Finally, remember that God Himself is able to do infinitely more than we can ask or think or imagine, so keep on, in Jesus’ name and watch as God reveals His power and glory!

Christ is with us, Christ is in us!

Mike J

 

Here is the truth

Here is the truth…

The truth is a beautiful thing.

It is also really hard.

I don’t mind the truth when it confirms that I have been correct in my thinking or approved in my behavior. But the truth hurts when it confronts an error in my thinking, speaking or behaving.

The truth hurts when it confronts pride and selfishness in me.

The truth hurts when it begs the question of whether I will choose to do what is right once I know what is right.

The truth hurts when it uncovers impure motives, evil thoughts, and self-serving behaviors.

Jesus also told us that we had to know the truth so that we could be free. Jesus reminded us that He is the truth and also that we would be sanctified by the truth. The truth is necessary for us to have peace, joy, and freedom. The truth is necessary if I want to be the best version of myself (that which I was created to be).

The truth will cost us something because it reveals what is lacking and what is necessary to receive what is lacking. The truth can be painful because it strips away the lies, blinders, and walls that have been giving us a false sense of comfort and security.

But when the truth is accepted, there is a tremendous blessing of peace and freedom. When the truth is received and committed to, a person’s life will be made new in Christ Jesus and the power of God will be released into the life of the penitent and humble person.

Here is the truth: I need the truth. The truth hurts and is painful; but then the truth sets me free and the truth brings me purpose, meaning, and fulfillment. And the truth is that I have to let Jesus Christ be Lord of my life and my all in all. The truth is that I have to work on some difficult things that God has revealed to me so that I will not stay in a broken place of bondage and darkness.

I am so thankful that Jesus, my Savior, and Lord, is the way, the truth, and the life!