Pastor Mickey

Centuries ago an agnostic king of France was discussing philosophy and religion with his royal court counselor. After numerous arguments were presented by the Christian advisor in favor of the position that God had revealed Himself in the Holy Scriptures, the king finally demanded that his counselor prove to him that God existed in an argument using only two words. The counselor replied, "The Jews!" In those two words the counselor summed up one of the most miraculous demonstrations of God's supernatural intervention in human history. The survival and prospering of the Jewish people during thousands of years of brutal persecution, pogroms, and the tragedy of six million Jews massacred in Hitler's Holocaust is a mysterious miracle unparalleled in history. Each of the mighty empires of the past - Assyria, Egypt, Babylon, Media-Persia, Greece, and Rome - who conquered Israel and carried her Jewish citizens into slavery have themselves turned to dust. Yet th...

We Are All Trophies of God’s grace! John 11:43, 44 “When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.       Jesus said to them, " Take off the grave clothes and let him go." A great part of Jesus’ earthly ministry was His association with His disciples.  He encouraged them to be involved in ministry... He worked while they watched, then encouraged them to work while He watched.  `Cast your nets on the other side…Prepare the upper room for the Last Supper.  Peter, James and John went to Gethsemane with Him to `watch and pray’… Pass out the loaves and fishes… Peter was invited to walk on the water.’ He invites our participation with Him.  We can’t change the sinful hearts or proud spirits of men, but we are commissioned to proclaim the Gospel message to a lost and dying world.  We are to be Hi...

Five Principles about the Father’s House from Luke 15 -  1.   Forgiveness - Sandals placed on his feet were symbolic of freedom as a son of the Master.  Slaves were forced to live without shoes.  In Christ, we are `no longer slaves, but sons and daughters of God’ 2.   Restoration - Ring on his finger symbolizes royalty.  He was saying, `listen you don’t have to enter the family at some lesser rank, but your position is restored to you as heir in my Kingdom.  Too many Christians have relegated themselves to work in the back forty somewhere, while the King says come and eat at my table, you are my child!  Don’t let the past be a whipping post !  “There is therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.  Romans 8:1 3.   Worship- `Let’s celebrate with a feast’. The angels of Heaven rejoice when one lost sheep comes back to the fold. “We had to celebrate, for your brother who was dead is alive..He was...

If every person really thought about the legacy he or she would leave behind, perhaps his or her life would be lived quite differently. The brevity of life is a humbling thought. Every day people come and people go. This is the drama of the human experience. The people we remember are those who have taken the time and applied the effort to make a contribution that will outlive them. Proverbs 13:22 reads, "A good man leaves an inheritance for his children's children..." (NIV) Far too many men in modern society have been tagged irresponsible, negligent and uncaring. Maybe we need to be taught certain principles that can cause us to change, rather than merely point out where we are inadequate or fall short. In studying this important subject (that is, on the meaning of fatherhood), I found that the word pater (in Greek) translated father is from a root word signifying: "A Nourisher, Protector, and Upholder. " Wait a minute! You mean that the word father ...

The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step ”.  When Neil Armstrong landed on the moon in the historic NASA space project, he declared, “One small step for man; one giant leap for mankind.”  History is filled with stories of adventurers, men and women who dared to dream; who dared to explore and discover.  We love to read of dreamers, navigators, conquerors, who often not knowing what the future held, launched into the unknown to fight battles, slay dragons and win victories! In 1952, Sir Edmund Hillary spoke to an auditorium filled with students and teachers about his failure to climb Mt. Everest.  He stepped to the edge of the platform and pointing at the image of the mountain on a map, said, “You’ve beaten me this time, but next time I’ll beat you because you’ve grown all you’re going to grow, and I’m still growing.”  The next year, 1953, Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first men to conquer Mount Everest after 25 years of failure by ...

One morning as Alfred Nobel was reading the newspaper, he was shocked to find his name listed in the obituary column. It was a mistake, but nonetheless, there it was. He was stunned to see that he was primarily remembered as the man who invented dynamite. At that time in history, dynamite was used in great effect for warfare. It distressed Nobel to think that all he would be known for was inventing dynamite, something that was used to take the lives of others. As a result of reading this mistaken obituary, Nobel decided to change the course of his life. He committed himself to world peace and established what we know today as the Nobel Peace Prize. When the name Alfred Nobel is mentioned today, dynamite is rarely the first thing that comes to mind. Rather, we think of the prize that bears his name. It’s all because Alfred Nobel decided to change the course his life was taking. Another man, living centuries before, also changed the negative course his life was taking. His name was ...

Mark 16:1-3 “When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. 2 Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb 3 and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” These precious women were disciples of Jesus, who had come alone on Sunday, the first day of the week, following the Jewish Sabbath…This one had been the longest Sabbath ever, because Jesus was crucified and laid in a grave…Their hopes and dreams were buried with Him.  They didn’t expect to find a risen savior; they came to anoint a dead man…to finish the work begun on Friday evening when his body was taken down from the tree. They said among themselves...” Who will roll away the stone?”   They knew a massive stone had been set along with the Roman seal which dictated that anyone tampering with the grave would be punished by death....

How can we find joy in an instrument of death. We wouldn't consider rejoicing about electric chairs, guillotines or the hangman’s noose. But God's dealings with man show us that He uses the weak things of this world to confound the strong- 1 Corinthians 1:26 “Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 So that no one may boast before Him.” Other paradoxical examples- `The first shall be last‘ - `To be great, you must be a servant‘ - `Bless those who persecute you‘ - `Pray for those that despitefully use you’- ‘To him who asks for your coat, give him your cloak, too’ At the Red Sea, with the armies...

Zanzibar is an old city in East Africa. A city with an unfortunate past. It is filled with ornate architecture, and it is the home of the Swahili Institute, the official guardians of the Kiswahili language. But, for nearly 300 years it was the home of something else. It was the home of one of East Africa’s largest slave markets. But, something happened in Zanzibar. About 150 years ago a single man walked out of the interior of Africa with a message of liberation and a determination to announce that message to those who were bound by slavery. That man’s name was David Livingstone. Even today, the name of David Livingstone commands deep respect in East Africa. Today, in Zanzibar, a Christian Church rises on the very site of the former slave market, and the platform holding up the high altar of the church is the very same platform that for 300 years displayed slaves as they were being auctioned off to Arab slave traders. This is a picture of how God wants to redeem your life. He will meet...

Approximately 250 years after Jesus was born in Bethlehem, there was a priest by the name of Valentine who lived in Rome. At that time, Claudius was the Emperor of Rome. Some people called him Claudius the Cruel. St. Valentine didn’t like Emperor Claudius, and he wasn’t the only one! Claudius wanted a large army, and tried to get men to volunteer to join. Many men just did not want to leave home and go off to fight in wars. They did not want to leave their girlfriends and wives, so, not many men volunteered for the Roman army. This made Emperor Claudius very angry. He had a crazy idea that if men were not married, they would be more inclined to join his army. So Claudius decreed that there would be no more marriages. Young people thought his new law was really cruel. Valentine thought it was ridiculous! One of his favorite duties as a priest was to marry people. After Emperor Claudius passed his law, Valentine kept on performing marriage ceremonies in secret. He would whisper the wor...

I. Is God only good when the outcome is? When the cancer is in remission, we say “God is good.” When the pay raise comes, we say “God is good.” When our team wins, we believe “God is good.” When the bank account is in the black…we say, “God is good”. But what about when the circumstances are different? Is God still good when you’re in the cemetery? The ICU? In the unemployment line as well as the grocery line? In days of recession as much as in days of provision? Is God always good? II. God is always good. Joseph, our Old Testament character study in this series was an interpreter of dreams. God gave him dreams as just a child, and from the Prison, he was summoned to tell the meaning of Pharaohs’ dreams…Maybe Joseph’s words to Pharaoh will offer some help here . “But afterward there will be seven years of famine so great that all the prosperity will be forgotten and wiped out. Famine will destroy the land. The famine will be so terrible that even the memory of the good years w...

Life on the bottom… We go through most of life at mid-altitude. Occasionally, we hit a high peak- a wedding, a graduation, the birth of a grandchild, but most of life is at mid level..carpools, recipes, and expense reports… But sometimes the world bottoms out. The housing market crashes, test results comeback positive, or a close friend turns out to be not so close. We all know what the bottom looks like. It’s smelly, cold, lonely. Painful. In Joseph’s case, he discovered what the auction block of Egypt felt like. He had been thrown into a pit, sold into slavery, transported 750 miles from home, and then was poked, examined for fleas, and pushed like an animal onto the auction block.. then an Egyptian officer, Potiphar (head of security for Pharoah) bought him. He didn’t speak the language, couldn’t eat the food, was forced to work hard in a foreign culture. Surely he would turn to addictive behavior, anger or depression, right? WRONG! I. God was with Joseph. "The...

I. The Pit Gen. 37:23-25 NIV “So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the ornate robe he was wearing— and they took him and threw him into the cistern. The cistern was empty; there was no water in it. As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were loaded with spices, balm and myrrh, and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt.” Joseph’s pit came in the form of a cistern. Yours came in the form of a diagnosis, a foster home or a traumatic injury. Joseph was thrown into a hole and despised, through no fault of his own. Maybe you were thrown into an unemployment line & forgotten…a divorce & betrayed, or into a bed & abused. In the pit, life is reduced to one goal- to get out and never get hurt again. But that’s easier said than done. The Pit doesn’t have an easy way out! Maybe like Joseph, you have taken “An Unexpected Tumble”. Then this series is for you! ...

This post was originally posted January 12, 2007 Definition: A Biblical Fast is to abstain from food for a period of time to devote oneself to prayer and consecration to God. How To Begin: Start with a clear goal- Direction, healing, restoration of marriage or family issues, financial answers. Pray daily, read the Bible, listen only to Christian music (preferably worship) and ask the Holy Spirit for direction. Preparing Spiritually: Confess your sins to God. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal areas of weakness in your life. Forgive all who have offended you and ask forgiveness from those you may have offended. Surrender your life fully to Jesus and reject worldly desires that may hinder you. Romans 12:1 "...offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship." Fasting was an expected discipline in both the Old and New Testament eras. For example, Moses fasted at least two recorded forty-day periods. Jesus fasted 40 days and re...