I have been thinking of you, church, so much. I value your prayers as I prepare to preach on Sunday while facing a very long journey home, Lord willing. I am thankful for our body. Even as I regretted not being with you all at our last Church Conference, I trust the Lord’s timing. I know that there is a great opportunity for us at this time. God has blessed us richly, and most richly with the gospel. We must be good stewards of it and unify every effort around it. This is why I am absolutely certain that even differing ideas and views about how and when we do ministry will not cloud our vision to proclaim the gospel and find our deepest satisfaction in Christ.

We are about glorifying God in all things and striving to be satisfied in Christ above all things. I aim to proclaim the Word of God with this passion in mind. Even this morning I was reading 1 John 2 and verses 15-17 speak of not loving the world or anything of it. This will resonate with the passage in John 3:31-36 on Sunday because our salvation is tied to obedience (not that obedience precedes salvation, but assurance is directly associate with obedience). I have evaluated my life once again today and still feel that there is too much of this world in and around me, and I fear that I have loved too much of it (any is too much). I keep thinking, how can we as a church train and exhort one another to love the world less when our homes are so nice, our cars are so new, our clothes so ironed and we fight to keep schedules for recreation rather than prayer and evangelism! The truth is, some of us can’t do it. Some of us need to lose even worldy goods in order to see Christ as our greatest treasure. I’m not saying this is for everyone, but if your “eye causes you to stumble” you must gouge it out! If it’s toys, TV shows, season tickets, whatever! A mark of a true believer is a desire to remove every distraction from treasuring Christ the most.

There is another truth, however. That truth is that some people CAN have these things with great humility and unclinched fists for the glory of God! They are the unique types that are blessed with great material wealth, yet it does not thwart their greatest wealth and treasure, that is Christ!

Honestly, only you know what your heart is. Only you know if you honestly pursue worldly things above Christ. I just ask that we as a church examine our treasure and see where it lies.

I so look forward to being back with you all. Continue to pray for the entire team that God may be exalted in all aspects of their work.

In Christ Alone,
Mike