In the Old Testament scriptures there is a powerful story about a man named Joseph. Joseph not only had the audacity to dream, but he also had the remarkable ability to interpret dreams. On one particular occasion Joseph shared two dreams he had with his father and his brothers. The dreams Joseph shared spoke about his future greatness and how, in his dreams, he saw symbols that represented his family bowing down before him.  His brothers and father were enraged at the thought that Joseph may have believed himself to be better than them. One day while Joseph’s brothers were working in the fields, they saw Joseph approaching from a distance. In their anger they thought to themselves that if they killed Joseph then his dreams of greatness would not be realized. The brothers seized Joseph and threw him into a pit as they deliberated what to do next. They eventually decided to sell Joseph into slavery and from that moment it looked grim for Joseph, but the brothers had no idea that their anger and their actions were actually pushing Joseph toward his dreams and his destiny. The course of Joseph’s life led him from the pit, into to slavery, to indentured servitude, and eventually into prison. But it was while Joseph was in prison- for something that he did not do- that his ability to interpret dreams led to his release. The King of Egypt needed someone to interpret his dreams and one of the kings servants, a former prisoner who was in jail with Joseph , told the king that he had met someone  in prison who had the ability to interpret dreams. Joseph interpreted the dreams of the king and Joseph was not only released from prison, but he eventually rose to great power in Egypt and was second only to the king.  The truth is that Joseph’s brothers had no idea that their actions against him were actually participating in the fulfillment of his destiny.

The late Stephen Vincent Benet, a famous poet and author of the twentieth century, once wrote:  “Dreaming men are hunted men.” As long as you dare to dream and aspire to greatness, there will always be persons who will try to hunt you down and attempt to assassinate your dreams, but do not succumb to the attempts of dream killers. Remember, you are chosen for greatness and destined to transcend the boundaries of false limits.

Albert Einstein once said, “Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.”  Too many of us find ourselves dying because we are living in yesterday and the yesterday we are living in is filled with tainted memories. It is easy to get lost in yesterday’s sorrow, but the key to rebelling against regret is remembering that when yesterday gives you a hundred reasons to cry, today can give you a thousand reasons to smile. There will be no hope for tomorrow if you continually try to perform emotional C.P.R on a dead past. Learn from the past, but live for today. One of my favorite movies is The Shawshank Redemption. Andy Dufresne, the main character, spent nineteen years in prison for a murder he did not commit. During those nineteen years Andy had been digging a tunnel to escape. The day before Andy was to make his great escape he told Red, his best friend in prison, that in life “You either get busy living or get busy dying.”  Andy believed that his escape from prison was necessary if he was going to live. Maybe Andy’s words rings true for those who find themselves living in prisons of regret today- get busy living or get busy dying. Living in regret over what has been is death business, but learning to live for today is the greatest investment you can make for tomorrow.  Ernest Hemingway once wrote, “Today is only one day in all the days that will ever be. But what will happen in all the other days that ever come can depend on what you do today. It’s been that way all this year.” Get busy living!

This is the season of awakening: the awakening of the hidden gifts and talents that have been dormant for far too long. This dormancy has devastated our community and has suffocated the hopes and dreams of many. How many people have devalued their inherent greatness because they feel irrelevant? How many people have muzzled their voice because they believed that no one was listening?  How many people have forfeited their uniqueness because of the desire to fit in? How many people have accepted being lost because they stopped believing that anyone was looking for them? In truth, how many gifts and talents have been hiding in plain sight because so many have stopped seeing what is possible? In the Old Testament, the prophet Joel warned that people will perish when there is no vision. There are those in our community who are perishing everyday because no one gave them permission to be visionaries and dreamers.  The fact of the matter is that no one has to give you permission to dream great dreams and to be inculcated with vision. The world is filled with persons who will always try to place a ceiling above your dreams, but part of the responsibility of being awake is recognizing that your dreams can become reality. Today, I dare you to be a visionary! Today, I dare you to dream!

I have known more than a few “know-it-alls” in my life: persons whose lack of humility gives birth to a form of arrogance that reinforces the illusion of their supreme intellect. I have not only known such people, but I have also engaged them in some friendly, and not so friendly, debates. At times these debates turned into mere foolishness because I found out that the “know-it-alls” not only have a hard time admitting defeat, but they also have enormous difficulty uttering those three words that are like kryptonite to their ego: I don’t know.

For know-it-alls, the phrase “I don’t know,” is like an admission of weakness or even some form of defeat. It is the primordial white flag waved on the battlefield of cerebral warfare. But for me, these words have proven to be quite comforting and have alleviated me of any temptation to suggest I know everything. Truthfully, admitting any level of ignorance in our culture can be unsettling when our society seems to be consumed with both “knowing” and unwilling to affirm the necessity of ambiguity and mystery.  Daily advancements in information technology and the accessibility of a plethora of information make it difficult to accept that there are things that are unknowable. In fact, ambiguity and mystery are viewed as intolerable foes for those who place preeminence on certainty and absolutes.

This may be why the idea of God being a mystery is problematic to a “culture of knowers.”  Many believe that God is nothing more than a term to be defined, a concept to be nuanced, or a theory to be tested; but God is none of these things.  The prophet Isaiah declared, “Truly, you are a God who hides himself.” For those who loathe living with complexities and unanswered questions, a hidden God is offensive; and it this offensiveness that pushes us to a place where the only peace experienced comes when we feel like we know and understand God. But God cannot be known by the mechanisms of our human intellect, nor can God be reduced to words that are the constructions of our limited language.

True joy in life does not come from trying to completely understand or know God; true joy comes in the experience of being known by God. The words of Samir Selmanovic ring true, “We are unable to grasp God, even as we are being transformed by God’s grasp.” No matter how grand our attempts are at trying to get a grip on God, we do not grasp God: God grasps us. Perhaps, the best of our energies should be used in experiencing God, rather than trying to thoroughly understand and know God. God is…………………

Peace and Blessings,

Pastor Mike

Faith in God can supply the necessary strength for one’s search for the genuine within. I say this because most of us are fearful of what we may find when we discover our true selves, however, knowing that we are accepted and loved by God transcends the fear we may possess. In 1 John 4:18 we find these liberating words, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear……” God’s love of us and for us is our traveling companion on the journey to find our true selves. We cannot be apprehensive about what we may find because we are loved by God. We cannot be terrified about the darkness we may uncover because we are loved by God. We cannot be horrified by the thought of confronting our true selves because we are loved by God. In his book, The Courage to Be, the late theologian Paul Tillich reminded us that true courage is knowing that we are accepted by God, even when we think we are unacceptable. That is liberating! That is empowering! That is God!

Peace and Blessings,

Pastor Mike

If I asked a believer if he or she believed in God, that individual would probably respond with a resounding yes. If I asked a believer if he or she believed God, that individual might think I was being repetitive. But believing in God and believing God are not the same. Believing in God has to do with accepting the presence and existence of God as a certainty, but believing God has to do with unwavering trust in the promises of God. I am convinced that resolute confidence in the promises of God makes submission possible. For if I believe that God wants the best for me, there should be no problem submitting to God. It’s time to submit to God and move forward in obedience!

Peace and Blessings,

Pastor Mike

I live with a condition (I despise the word disease) known as Sarcoidosis. I have lived with it for the majority of my life. Sarcoidosis has taken a tremendous physical and emotional toll on my life. As a child I was sickly and as an adult I have suffered with chronic pain and unexplainable illnesses. Sarcoidosis is a debilitating condition that can attack any organ in the body and cause inflammation accompanied with pain. The truth of the matter is that I have lived the bulk of my life with some sort of pain. It has not been easy, but I have come to see my condition as “my thorn,” and the only thing that has kept me for these 38 years has been the grace of God.

I share this because for me, pain has been unavoidable. I have not been able to dodge or duck the reality of pain; both physical and emotional. But I have also come to realize that there are persons who spend their lives trying to avoid pain at all costs. Truthfully, who can blame them? If I could avoid pain I think I would, but that is not my lot. I have come to realize that, in my walk as a Christian, God can use pain to draw you closer to Him. I know that for many this does not make sense, but I have found that God has a way of meeting us in our place of pain. I know it sounds strange to some, but I have experienced God’s empowering presence in my life at some of the most painful moments.

When we experience hardships and difficulties we often cry out to God for deliverance; but what happens when God hears our cries and doesn’t deliver us out of our painful predicament? For some, this might be a sign of God’s anger or displeasure with us, but this may not be the case. At times, God uses painful predicaments and experiences to cultivate our character; for there are some lessons that can only be learned in the crucible of pain. I truly believe that. We often think that when we are going through a crisis it is God’s responsibility to work a miracle and pull us out, but what if the real miracle is not divine deliverance but divine presence? What if the real breakthrough is knowing that we don’t suffer alone and because of God’s presence, the crisis won’t overtake us? That’s powerful! It is the presence of God in the midst of our pain that makes the pain bearable. In fact we are strengthened because of God’s empowering presence.

Paul understood this fact and this is why he declares, “For whenever I am weak, then I am strong.” He understood that when we are experiencing calamities, God’s empowering presence will give us strength to endure. That’s good news!

Peace and Blessings,

Pastor Mike

Job was experiencing what F. Scott Fitzgerald called, “the dark night of the soul.” Despair was seeking to find a foothold in his spirit and misery was searching for a resting place in his conscience. Job had experienced the kind of tragedy that could cause one to lose his or her mind and abandon memory. He had suffered catastrophic loss and what appeared to be an unrelenting personal attack. If enduring the loss of all his possessions and children were not enough, Job also had to withstand sores and boils that ravishing his body. In the midst of it all, he had to also bear an unsympathetic spouse and false friends who were convinced that his misfortune was a result of his sinfulness. Job was truly experiencing grief of the highest order. But from the depths of his desolation Job rebels against the spiritual onslaught. With hopeful tone, he declares, “For I know my Redeemer lives.”

Job refused to relinquish his hope in God. As he experienced the painful inconsistencies of this world, he believed in the constant and consistent presence of a faithful God. There are times when, in the eyes of the non-discerning, hope in God seems irrational and even insane. The real test for a believer is not whether one can be hopeful in times of plenty and prosperity, but can one remain hopeful in times of chaos and calamity? This is the true test! Given the horrors of this world and the unpredictability of life it is easy to question the saneness of hopefulness. But for the believer hopelessness is true insanity. When you find yourself coming under attack and it feels like your back is against the wall, how will you respond? Will you sigh, surrender, and throw in the towel or will you seek to fight the “good fight” of faith? Will you believe, when nothing seems to support your belief? Or will you stand resolutely and confidently, like Job, and declare to the world that your redeemer lives?

Peace and Blessings,

Pastor Mike

The anger of God was kindled against Israel because of King David’s transgression. David did that which was not pleasing in God’s sight: David took a census of Israel and Judah. The scriptures are not clear as to why David’s actions angered God, but what is clear is that David’s deed, in some way, was a violation. David’s indiscretion proved to be tragic for the people of Israel and Judah. God sent a pestilence on Israel and seventy thousand people died, from the territory of Dan to Beersheba. But as the death angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord relented and said to the angel, “It is enough; now stay your hand.”

David was stricken to the heart and overwhelmed with an incredible amount of guilt because he knew that lives were lost because of his recklessness. The prophet Gad approached David and told him that something must be done as restitution for his imprudence. Gad instructed David to, “Go up and erect an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” With haste David approached Araunah in order to purchase Araunah’s threshing floor with the intent of building an altar and making sacrifice to God. Araunah was humbled by the presence of King David and not only offered David the threshing floor, but he also offered David the oxen that would be necessary for the burnt offering. Araunah offered all of this to David at no cost. Although Araunah’s gesture was genuine and heartfelt, David realized that he could not make a sacrifice to God that would cost him nothing.

The Hebrew word sacrifice is qorban; which means, “that which is brought near.” The word was used of anything given or devoted to God. In David’s case, it was as if David understood that one could not draw near to God without costly sacrifice. So often we desire to draw near to God with full hands; unwilling to give up anything in order to experience intimacy with God. We want to draw near to God, but want to do it on our terms. We want closeness with God, but we sometimes refuse to believe that intense familiarity with God comes at a price. Do you desire to draw near to God? If so, then what is your costly sacrifice?

Peace and Blessings,

Pastor Mike

We live this way because we have been seduced by the power of busyness. And busyness is a sweet seducer. Busyness can lead you to believe that life is not valuable if it is not loaded with a hectic schedule. Busyness will convince you that to be daily pushed to your physical, emotional, and mental limits is the only way to really matter in this world. Busyness often encourages you to believe that your own well-being does not matter and that all that matters is ordering your life from task to task. This is the job of busyness; to keep you busy!

Believe me, I know how tempting it is to be busy, but sometimes there is much that is lost in our pursuit of busyness. I want you to consider a few things as you become absorbed with the business of busyness. How much of life has busyness caused you to miss? How many times has busyness robbed you of joy? How many relationships have you been deprived of because of busyness? How much love has been lost in your life because you were focused on busyness? I think Jesus may have even had busyness in mind when he raised the question: “For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life?” Remember, God did not call us to be busy. God called us to be faithful.

Peace and Blessings,

Pastor Mike