Pastor Mike - Blog

I have heard this bizarre little acronym starting to catch on around here. And for that I am glad.

It is, if you haven’t heard, my abbreviated and colloquial way of referring to what Jesus was getting at when he addressed his would-be disciples. It is my attempt of encapsulating the challenge in Christ’s refrain: “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Mt.10:39; 16:25; Mk.8:35; Lk.9:24; et al.).

Jesus clearly calls us to exchange our priorities and goals for God’s.  He commands us to “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness” allowing our agenda to take a backseat (Mt.6:33). We must then, with all true followers of Christ, be quick to say, “Any thing, any place, any time” – ATAPAT!  We must do any thing he says, go any place he sends, and begin any time he asks.

May the Holy Spirit enable us to live that ATAPAT lifestyle for the honor of Christ and the glory of God.

– Pastor Mike

While the world works desperately to bolster our sense of personal significance and individual importance, biblical truth drives us in the opposite direction. A hallmark of biblical humility is the realization that we are infinitesimally small, juxtaposed with a growing appreciation for the magnitude of God’s love to stoop to care for creatures like us.

Our need is not for an amplified “self-esteem” (that has been the source of immeasurable trouble in the cosmos since the inflated self-perception of a certain angelic being – Is.14:13-14).  Instead, the real challenge is to get ourselves in perspective as we seek to know the transcendent and majestic God who made us and chose to redeem us.

David sang: “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?” (Ps.8:3-4). When we are able to see our fleeting lives against the backdrop of our immutable and eternal God, our hearts find their dependent and appropriate place in God’s world – a prerequisite for fruitful living.

Again David typifies this godly perspective when he wrote, “He is my loving God and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer… O Lord, what is man that you care for him, the son of man that you think of him?  Man is like a breath; his days are like a fleeting shadow” (Ps.144:2-3).

May we learn to esteem our great God as we recognize our smallness.

– Pastor Mike

As sinful and fallen people we hate the feeling of weakness. On the other hand, we love feelings of strength, dominance, control, power and independence.

But the reality is, that as creatures of the One who “gives all men life, breath and everything else” (Ac.17:25) all of our perceived experiences of strength and power are derived and not autonomous. As Nebuchadnezzar poignantly learned, God “does what he pleases with the powers of heaven” (Dan.4:35).

The truth is we have and are nothing without the active and gracious involvement of God, for he “sustains all things by his powerful word” (Heb.1:3). He freely chooses to “bring one down and exalt another” (Ps.75:7). In other words, we are all inherently weak!

We have no independent power or intrinsic strength. And in the normal course of life we periodically get a taste of that reality. There are times when we painfully feel the reality of our weakness. The Bible says it is then when we are prepared to experience the transcendent strength of our God. For when we recognize and ask the true source of power, then he “gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak” (Is.40:29).

As Paul learned in his episodes of palpable weakness, “when I am weak, I am strong” for God grants strength to those who trust him for it (2Cor.12:10). So let’s get honest and be willing to “boast all the more gladly about [our] weakness so that Christ’s power may rest on [us]” (2Cor.12:9).

– Pastor Mike

In a world that rarely rewards truly good behavior, it is not a surprise that God’s people would be tempted to grow weary in doing what is right. But don’t. The Bible calls us to constantly renew our perspective and our strength, remembering that doing the right thing is always the right thing.

After reminding us that “sowing and reaping” is an unwavering reality (even if the sprouts of consequence are long in coming), Paul calls the Galatian churches to “not become weary in doing good, for in the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Gal.6:9). We must not forget that God is on the throne and he will inevitably reward righteous behavior.

Don’t give up. Don’t despair. Keep faithfully following his path and upholding his precepts. In the end he will vindicate every good deed. In the meantime, look to him for strength. He can give you the perseverance you need. “The Lord gives strength to his people” (Ps.29:11) and God “increases the power of the weak” (Is.40:29).

So ask him today for the courage, the power and the perspective to keep doing what’s right regardless of what others may say. In time we will see it was all worth it.

– Pastor Mike

The problem with worldly ambition is that it is misdirected. God is great; we are sinful. God is infinite; we are finite. God is the only sovereign authority that is; we are impotent – so impotent that we are not able to postpone our own demise for a single hour (Mt.6:27). This leaves us finite beings with only one reasonable task:  to be ambitious for the glory and promotion of the infinite One.

Here is where good and acceptable ambition finds its target. Taking mountains, conquering challenges, and putting down the opposition is understandable only when the goal is to promote the glory and agenda of the one true God. When people, dependent on their eternal Creator for the very breath they breathe, ambitiously set their sights on accomplishments that would promote themselves, their pleasure and their own satisfaction, they foolishly forget their rightful position in the cosmos.

Ambition is good, expected and godly. Frankly, the Church doesn’t have enough of it. But God’s people must always be careful that their ambition is unmistakably aimed at the glory of God.

– Pastor Mike

Reading through the Bible, from cover to cover, on a regular basis is a critically important discipline for a healthy Christian life.

With that said, it is important to distinguish this from reading for study (which is also important). When we study a passage of Scripture we go slowly, we read and reread each sentence, we take time to analyze every phrase, we consider each word and ponder the varied implications of every verse. It may take twenty minutes to engage in an introductory study of one verse, which is enough time for most people to thoughtfully read three or four chapters of the Bible.

The advantage of covering large amounts of biblical territory in one sitting can hardly be overstated. When our minds and hearts ingest substantial sections of Scripture at one time we begin to assemble the “big picture” of who God is, how he thinks, what he values and how he acts. And since God does not change (Mal.3:6; Heb.13:8), when we read of his character, his values, his likes and dislikes during the monarchy of Israel, or in the period of the Judges, or when the fledgling Church was just getting off the ground, we can say we accurately understand the God of the twenty-first century. Not that God’s templates, programs and ceremonies haven’t changed – we know that they have – but the character of God is immutable.

When Christians continue to regularly read and reread the Bible from cover to cover they are less apt to be swayed by false teachers who paint portraits of God from a narrow band of proof texts. We can confidently know that the God of John 3:16 is also the God of Nahum 1:2; and the God of Acts 5:9 is also the God of Exodus 22:27.  So keep reading (and studying too). We urgently need the broad and all-inclusive intake of God’s written revelation.

Join us at Compass in reading through the Bible by clicking HERE and be sure and leave an edifying comment.

Pastor Mike

Many Christians assume that if God really loves us, he will fill our lives with good feelings, satisfied desires and things that make us happy. That may be a common assumption, but it certainly isn’t what God told us he’d do. The Bible is clear that for now, because we live in a fallen world, function in fallen bodies and interact with fallen people, we will experience a life of difficulty.

Yes, God loves us (so much so that he was willing to provide for our forgiveness by punishing his Son as though he was the sinner we are), but he has delayed his ultimate blessings until we are done drafting the rest of his yet-to-be enlisted followers. Our goal is to maintain our faith, hope and love until the job is done.

In the meantime Jesus reminds us that “No servant is greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also” (Jn.15:20). Jesus experienced both, and so will we. Unfortunately, more people rejected, disdained and hated Christ than rightly responded to his call to be reconciled to God. But some did obey his teaching, and occasionally with us they do also. There are those choice few who hear us out, repent of their sin and trust in Christ – which makes all the opposition worth it.

So when things in this sinful world make your life hard, know that it was the same for God’s beloved Son. We certainly can’t expect our earthly experience to be any better than the King of kings. But remember that just as Jesus finished his race and entered the perfection of “paradise”, we will too. When our job is done, the love of God will be manifest in uninterrupted good feelings, satisfaction and happiness.  Maranatha!

- Pastor Mike

Solomon’s refrain that everything the world has to offer is “utterly meaningless” (Eccl.1:2) becomes easier to affirm the older one gets. It seems that with increasing age comes the increasing realization that the world is truly a rip-off. In time we discover that moths do destroy, rust really does decay and thieves actually do break in and steal (Mt.6:19). Eventually we learn that the world’s promises don’t deliver, its pleasures are short-lived, and its celebrated pursuits are like “chasing after the wind” (Eccl.1:14).

Unfortunately, Solomon could only embrace God’s satisfying solution from a distance (Eccl.12:9-14). We, on the other hand, are privileged to see it up close (Heb.11:39-40; 1Pet.1:12). While the ultimate phase of God’s plans is yet to come, we can say with Peter that Christ has “redeemed us from our empty way of life” (1Pet.1:18). With Christ’s victory secured on the cross, we can anticipate and celebrate an eternity devoid of sin and sadness.

Amid this life’s emptiest days, we can “take heart because Christ has overcome the world” (Jn.16:33). When in this world we feel like “sheep to be slaughtered”, because of Christ’s redemption we can say, “in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Rom.8:36-37). Because we have been “raised with Christ” we can “set our minds on things above, not on earthly things because we have died and our lives are now hidden with Christ in God” (Col.3:2-3). Perhaps Paul put it best when he wrote, “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Gal.6:14).

Yes, the world has nothing of lasting value to offer, but Christ offers you everything. His life, death and resurrection are our victory, our life and our future. So today may we look past this present order and “fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2Cor.4:18).

- Pastor Mike

When the call of God on our lives and the message for us in Scripture is distilled into one line it reads like this: “Love God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength.” This was the central command of Old Testament Judaism (Dt.6:5) and it was the primary imperative of the one whose name we bear (Mt.22:37).

But when that clear and forthright standard is held up for comparison with modern Christianity, it seems that only a few are focused on this goal. It appears to be a paltry and seemingly “fanatical” minority among us, who would even name this central biblical command as a part of their life’s mission or current goals.

But before we call this folk fanatical, remember that the responsibility to love God with all that we are cannot be erased or minimized under the guise of New Covenant grace. When some claim we are unfettered from this calling because we are “not under the law” they fail to realize the promised effects of grace. Jesus said when we have been forgiven much we love much (Lk.7:42-47). Grace doesn’t free us from the obligation to love God with all of our hearts, it is the fuel for doing so. The Apostle John penned an entire New Testament book based on the proposition that loving God is the sign of those who are actual participants in the grace of God (1 John).

Lastly, it is important to note that this supreme love is not meant for the “god” of our choosing. Seeking to fulfill the primary biblical calling must be aimed at the only God who is – the God of the Bible. As John clarifies, this love will be measured by an honesty about our transgressions of his holiness (1Jn.1:8, 10) and our resolve and growing consistency in keeping his commands (1Jn.3). He exhorts his readers, “This is love for God: to obey his commands” (1Jn.5:3).

So the next time someone asks you about the goals for your life or the plans for the year, be sure and respond with the fundamental Christian calling, “I am planning to love God with all of my heart, with all of my soul and with all of my strength!”

- Pastor Mike

The dictionary defines “expletives” as “words with no meaning.” They are those words we blurt out as our impromptu expressions of pain, joy, frustration, or surprise. They are words fueled by our emotions and not our intellect. They may not “have meaning,” in the sense that they don’t intelligently add to the conversation, but they sure do speak volumes about us.

Jesus said, “out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks” (Mt.12:34).  And it’s not hard to see what fills the heart of the average person in our culture. The world’s expletives include a range of foul, degrading, crude and rude verbal belches which, the Bible says, have no place among God’s people (Eph.5:3-4). Clearly in the world “the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart (Lk.6:45), but we are called to not allow “any unwholesome talk [to] come out of our mouths” (Eph.4:29). A new heart makes this possible. For most followers of Christ, the absence of such obscenities is a basic characteristic of repentance and a new spiritual life.

But the world has another set of expletives. They are religious. They are words of great importance to the Christian faith which have been hijacked for people’s emotional outbursts. They are weighty words originally designed by God to stir the hearts and minds of his children to worship and service. Of course, when they are used as expletives (expressions “without meaning”) they do just the opposite of what God intended. These words include the title of our Creator, Judge and King – “God.” They also include the name of his Son who suffered and died for our redemption – “Jesus Christ.”  And interestingly, they include one of the fundamental motives for Christian service – “Hell” (cf. 2Cor.5:10-11; Heb.10:30-31).

When the world punctuates their sentences with expressions like “Oh my God!” or “What the Hell?” They are doing far more damage than we might first imagine. Stubbing one’s toe and blurting out the words “Jesus Christ” could hardly be more offensive to our holy God. This “name above every name” (Phil.2:9) is a call to contrite and humble worship (see Phil.2:10-11), and not a colorful way to express one’s pain and anger. So concerned was God that people never heap up the condemnation that will inevitably come with using his name “in vain” (i.e., “without meaning” – the very definition of an “expletive”), that he placed it as “rule #3” on his list of Ten Commandments (Ex.20:7). And consider the use of the word “Hell.” Here is the very thing that should cause every human to stop and soberly evaluate their relationship with their Maker, but instead it has been made trite and inane because you can hear it as the verbal garnish with everything from an ambitious “yes” to a disgusting “no.”

By the way, can you see the spiritual battle against the truth of Christianity in all of this? You’ll be hard pressed to find the words “Buddha,” “Allah,” “Nirvana,” “Muhammad”  or “Joseph Smith” used as expletives. These words are carefully avoided. While the verbal pacesetters in our culture will say “they never gave it any thought” you can be sure it is no coincidence that the favored religious expletives are aimed at Christianity and not some other religious movement. It’s true, “our battle is not against flesh and blood” (Eph.6:12).

While many Christians would be quick to say they don’t use such terms, we would be wise to rethink our use of “sound alike” euphemisms that are so rampant among God’s people. A “euphemism” is defined as “a less offensive synonym.” While we may feel we have sidestepped offending God because we write “OMG” or say “Oh my Gosh” instead of “Oh my God” I suspect our Creator may not be as tolerant as we would hope. With such a concern from God regarding the “without meaning” use of his name, perhaps we should seek to get as far away from such usage, rather than attempt to get as close as possible without actually saying it. What really compels us to say “Oh my Gosh” or to write “OMG”?  Is it our insatiable desire to “fit in” and sound as much like “everybody else” as we can without technically breaking the rules? What’s the point?

Can’t we as God’s people drop the “Jeeezz” and the “Gosh” and thoughtfully consider some entirely different expletives that express our surprise or amazement? It’s understandable when Ty Pennington remodels your house that you want to “ooouuu” and “ahhhh” but wouldn’t we be better off (and avoid every form, mode or appearance of evil – 1Th.5:22), if we chose to blurt out the name of our fourth grade teacher, our tax preparer or our pet Rottweiler? Wouldn’t we do better if, instead of sounding like we are using our God’s name in vain, we were using any of the other thousands of words or sounds that could be used in such a setting?  Do we really have to mindlessly follow the world’s bad and sinful habits in our verbal practices?

For those who say, “I just never thought about it,” maybe it is time we do. There is so much in Scripture about the judgment we will incur regarding the use of our words. Not the least of which is Christ’s poignant reminder: “But I tell you that men will have to give an account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken” (Mt.12:36). I understand it is very difficult to change our verbal patterns (Jms.3:1-12), but I believe we are making a stand for holiness and propriety when we do (1Pt.1:15-16).

So the next time you stub your toe, or find yourself overwhelmed with surprise or disgust, if you must say something, be innovative. It would be better if we blurted out our own names, than spurting forth an obscenity or something that sounds like one of the names of our Triune God!

Pastor Mike