Hello my friends,

I thought it would be a good idea to spend some time giving you an update on what is happening here at LCMI, and I’ll likely share a couple of inspirational thoughts before I am done. This will be informal and likely not edited so I hope you can make sense of it.

It seems like we are always playing catch up, and while we are making progress in the office, we are still way behind on much of our work. Becky is working feverishly to get everything done, but being understaffed right now makes it difficult. Hence, one thing that suffers is her editing work. We have dozens of Reflections written and waiting to be worked on, but there never seems to be enough time to get it all done. There are a few that she has edited waiting for me to do final revision, but I also have difficulty finding time to work on them. We are not complaining, it is just a fact. We yield the best that we can and move forward whenever possible. But this is why you have not been receiving Reflections on a weekly basis. We are working on it, and I thank you so much for your patience and understanding.

One exciting thing happened just today, we were contacted by a new ministry partner in Nepal. This means that LCMI is now reaching into more than 41 countries through Living Reflections as well as through personal interaction. It’s not that we are into big numbers or big events. But it is exciting to see how the Kingdom of God is advancing and the good news of Jesus is being brought to believers all over the world, the message of Christ in you, the hope of Glory.

Due to many personal issues, including another move for our family, we have cleared our schedule for the next couple weeks. We will resume or normal ministry activities in July, with the upcoming Youth on a Mission 2008. We have a mini Youth on a Mission coming in August as well. September will see us hosting the LCMI Men’s retreat once again. October may find me in Texas, California, Ohio, or who knows where else. We are praying for His direction.

The financial issues seem to have settled out, and even though we have lost a few long time supporters over the past several months, we are actually maintaining a fairly steady level. We still do not have the finances to travel as extensively as we feel called to do, and all international travel is still suspended due to financial constraints, but we rejoice that His will is being done, even though it makes no sense to us many times.

The Lord has given me a powerful message to share this year as I fill pulpits in various places that I travel. I have to admit that it is a bit uncomfortable for me because this message pushes the boundaries, even for me. But I have to preach what He tells me whether I like it, or even agree with it for that matter. But I would appreciate your prayers as I take this bold message to the body over the course of the coming months. May His will be done, may His Son be revealed.

In conclusion, I would like to share a couple thoughts… more and more I see how self centered we as Christians have become. In fact, I recognize that Christianity as a religion breeds this to a large degree. While I agree with the several popular authors today who write, “It’s not about you!” I disagree at the same time. It is all about Jesus, and Him alone. Therefore, because HE made it all about His Fathers will, and the Father willed that none should perish; indirectly it really is about you. For years I have been saying it, “It is about something so much BIGGER than you, it HAS to be about YOU!” We say that is it not about us, but most everything we think about is regarding self and the condition of self – MY condition, MY position, and MY identity in Christ. We want to be sure we are doing the right things to be pleasing to the Father. And unknowingly we end up creating what we hate. We take ourselves and our efforts way too seriously and as a result we feel deficient, lacking, empty, and lost.

We think we are taking God seriously, but in reality we are taking ourselves too seriously, and therefore not taking God seriously enough. Think about most of the teaching you have received? Where does it land, who does it point to, who does it point at? Many Sundays I have sat in various churches listening to preachers. Most always, the message is not pointing at anyone but me. What I am doing, what I am not doing, what I should be doing, what God wants me to be doing. It points to my condition, where I am lacking, where I am deficient, where I need to improve. I challenge all the pastors who are on our Living Reflections mailing list – and there are hundreds of you – “Can you take up the challenge to stop pointing your messages at the people, and start pointing your people to Jesus? We don’t do this by directing the message at what people are doing or not doing. We do this by preaching about what Christ has done, is doing, and will do! It should always build up, encourage, and inspire.” Self centeredness is bred by always pointing things at self. Christ centeredness is bred by pointing people to Jesus. He will take it from there, and He can do more in a person’s life through personal conviction than we could ever do through condemnation.

People often ask me, “is the anti-christ is present in the world today, and if so where is he?” The answer is YES, he is very present today, if you have the eyes to see and the ears to hear. His spirit reigns in religion, yea, especially Christianity. Anti-christ literally means against Christ. Where self is proclaimed, pointed to, pointed at, and pointed out, there the spirit of the anti-christ reigns supreme. Christ should always be proclaimed, pointed to, pointed at, and pointed out.

Read this passage:

But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He shall sit on the throne of His glory. And all nations shall be gathered before Him. And He shall separate them from one another, as a shepherd divides the sheep from the goats. And indeed He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats off the left. Then the King shall say to those on His right hand, Come, blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me food; I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and you took Me in; I was naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me. Then the righteous shall answer Him, saying, Lord, when did we see You hungry, and fed You? Or thirsty, and gave You drink? When did we see You a stranger, and took You in? Or naked, and clothed You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and came to You? And the King shall answer and say to them, Truly I say to you, Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brothers, you have done it to Me. Then He also shall say to those on the left hand, Depart from Me, you cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his angels. For I was hungry, and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty, and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in; I was naked, and you did not clothe Me; I was sick, and in prison, and you did not visit me. Then they will also answer Him, saying, Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister to You? Then He shall answer them, saying, Truly I say to you, Inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into everlasting life. (Mat 25:31-46 MKJV)

The goats are the religious, many of whom we might label good Christian people. But Jesus is not interested in all we have to offer, He is interested in us being intimate with Himself. Works are a natural result, and often happen even unbeknownst to the ones doing them. Likewise, the Father is not looking at what we did, He is looking at what His Son did. He calls us to rely on the work of Christ not only for eternity, but daily as well. This is the true gospel of Jesus that He has called us to proclaim. And Christianity today is a field that is ripe unto the harvest, and the workers are few. Seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness. Everything else will fall into place.

Okay, enough of my ramblings for today.

Thanks for listening, and Shalom!

Mike