A War Cry and A Love Story
His ministry lasted three years – that’s over 1,000 days of life-giving, soul-saving, absolutely perfect divine truths pouring out of His mouth – yet we have only four relatively short gospel accounts of His life. You could read them in one day if you wanted to. The last sentence of John’s Gospel says that if …read more →
Enduring Golgotha: Considerations As We Run
“…let’s run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking only at Jesus, the originator and perfecter of the faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such …read more →
The Rich Young Ruler: Could He Be You?
I imagine the crowds looking on with eager anticipation. Finally, someone ready to get to the point. Someone willing to stop wasting everyone’s time and ask the question they all want to know the answer to. “Teacher, what good thing shall I do so that I may obtain eternal life?” (Mathew 19:16) Immediately, a hush …read more →
A Journey From Self-Absorption to Self-Forgetfulness: My Personal Awakening!
“You’re the most selfish person I have ever met,” said Tiffany, once or twice a week, for about the first 10 years of our marriage. She wasn’t the only one. My sister in Christ who worked for me uttered very similar words of encouragement around that same season… “Mike, you’re the most self-absorbed person I’ve …read more →
Numb to Reality: Christian’s Voyage on the Cosmic Battlefield
Hey, Christian, May I remind you of the current reality of your situation? Right now, as you read these words, you are sitting – or standing – at some minuscule dot on a massive globe of dirt, and lava, and water, that is somehow suspended in a vast expanse of nothingness we call space. But …read more →
“A BEAUTIFUL OBSCURITY: Your Calling Isn’t What You Think It Is”
Who do you think of when you think of the “greats” of the Christian faith? If someone had asked me, for most of my Christian life, I would have rattled off names like Charles Spurgeon, C.S. Lewis, or Mother Theresa. I would have immediately thought of men and women who have written great books, preached …read more →
A CHRISTMAS CONFESSION – A CHRISTMAS REBELLION
Last year, sometime in early December, as I was reflecting on the upcoming Christmas season, a very radical idea crossed my mind. It was a bold and sacrificial idea. Something very spiritual. Being the great saint that I am, I knew I would have to take action on it as soon as it hit me. …read more →
Looking in the Mirror: Ten Words to Wake Up the American Church
I was watching the recording on the other side of a computer screen, twenty years later, when I heard those ten words. I couldn’t believe what I had just heard come out of the preacher’s mouth. Although I wasn’t there, I felt everything in that room change. The entire atmosphere had shifted. You could feel …read more →
“The Shocking Message” by Paul Washer
Before delving into Paul Washer’s message, I highly recommend watching this short background video which clarifies the context and intent behind his powerful words. https://youtu.be/PrCvO8Elsis?si=MrrEQZwn-OqxDpUu Paul Washer’s “The Shocking Message” Full Length Sermon https://youtu.be/uuabITeO4l8?si=Yg8HFh-XqLrYfUE_
A LIST TO BE “ENDURED”
“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate unto themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires” (2Timothy 4:3) The following is a list of teachers and teaching that have remained faithful to sound biblical doctrine! I have created the following …read more →
BEYOND THE NOD?… A Tale of Two Gratitudes
“Doesn’t it just make you so grateful?” That was the question asked to me countless times after coming home from last year’s mission trip to Kenya. As I shared stories of extreme poverty and sickness, of horrific living conditions, and the countless orphaned children, there was always one question that would conclude the discussion. It …read more →
FROM SHEPHERDS TO CLOWNS: The peril of the modern church!
“I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure …read more →
AWAKENING THE SOLDIER: A plea to the modern believer!
AWAKENING THE SOLDIER: A plea to the modern believer! I have heard men say, “I don’t think about Hell that much, because I am not going there.” I don’t think they mean much by it. They usually say it in a trivial sort of way, with a bit of a witty tone in their voice, …read more →
A Reflection on Alcohol After 12 years of Sobriety
SLUMMING IT “If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, It would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition, when infinite joy is offered us, like …read more →
A LOVE THAT IS FIERCE – Gods message to Mothers
THE CREATOR REVEALS HIMSELF! What if I told you there was somewhere you could go to see God? I’m not talking about Heaven. I’m talking about somewhere you can see Him right now, today. What if I told you that likely, wherever you are, it would take you less than five minutes to get to …read more →
Taking the Exam and the Defeat of the American Dream!
Please note: The following was originally published as part of a mandatory annual white paper in the Christian Economic Forum. I have chosen to re-purpose it here on my blog for your benefit. STRUNG OUT AND RE-BORN It was a typical humid afternoon in south Florida. I was 19 years old. There were only …read more →
DOES GOD SEND TRIALS? – The things we don’t want to see!
Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. The Lord said to Satan, “From where do you come?” Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.” The Lord said to …read more →
What to do when you’re feeling BLAH!!
Some days the last thing I “feel” like doing is reading His word OR praying!! I just feel spiritually lethargic. It’s not that I want to go plunge into sin…it’s just that I don’t feel anything….just BLAH!!! For me, one of the things that has helped me on those days is to write out the …read more →
What does it mean to believe?
Warning: There is a good chance you will not like what you are getting ready to read. But I believe in my heart that if you read this post to the end and give honest and prayerful consideration to the words I have written, and the scriptures presented, it could very well save your soul. …read more →
Wars and Love Stories
There is a question that looms deep in the heart of every man. It is the question that, as young boys, drew us to toy guns and action figures. It is the question that as men draws us to those epic movies. Movies like Gladiator, Rocky, The Patriot, and Braveheart. The women tend to think …read more →
THE CONVERSATION THAT SENDS MEN TO HELL
Johnny knocked on the door of Pastor Kenny’s office. “Come on in,” responded the pastor. He knew who it was before the door opened. Johnny had called him the day before and said he wanted to sit down with him because he had some “spiritual questions” he was wrestling with. “How have you been, Buddy?” …read more →
“He that has ears to hear! Let him hear”
“He that has ears to hear, let him hear!” That was the phrase Jesus so often used as He taught His great parables. Although many were gathered around listening…only some were hearing! Two groups of people. Some had ears to hear, and some did not! Both would listen to the same message – from the same Man – at …read more →
A Season of Examination!
**This post was originally published in “Living Magazine” in early 2022 under the title “Whose Kingdom am I Building” and references my 2021 trip to Kenya. It was almost midnight as I lay in my bed that night praying. With tears in my eyes, I finally committed to God and myself to do something I …read more →
The Journal- Time With God, Eden, and The Power of Wondering!
Entry #1 – (11-7-18)…ON TIME WITH GOD Im learning that I must expand my thinking on what is considered to be “Time With God”. I have gotten locked into the thinking that the only thing that qualifies as “time with God” is if I am reading my Bible or Praying or one of the other …read more →
The Journal- ” I LOVE YOU” and The Order of Nakedness
Entry #1 – (10-23-18)…ON “I LOVE YOU” I have experienced much power in worship and personal prayer lately in simply telling Him… “I love You”…. I’m becoming more and more aware that He loves to hear those words! I can almost feel them edifying me as I speak them to Him! Entry #2 – (11-6-18)… ON …read more →
The Journal- Being Present, Owner Vs. Employee, and Giving!
Entry #1 – (10-8-18)…ON BEING PRESENT I tend to dwell 90% in the future and 10% in the present. I need to flip this. The future never arrives! I only have the present! Right now! Entry #2 – (11-6-18)… ON BEING PRESENT…AGAIN (As you can see from the date this is out of order but it …read more →
The Journal–The Insignificant, Judgment Day, and Encouraging Reports!
10-8-18 Entry #1- On the insignificance of this life I am reminded today that all of the things on my to-do list and all of the things of this world…are worthless and insignificant in light of Him. Many people may think that would be a depressing or discouraging thought but I have found the opposite …read more →
The Journal- 2’s and 3’s, The Watchmen and Worship
10-2-18 Entry #1- on the blood of the watchmen Revisited Ezekiel 33 last night. Probably one of the more powerful passages of scripture in which God states that if a city appointments a watchmen and the watchmen sees the sword coming….but fails to sound the trumpet and warn the people! The blood of the people …read more →
The Journal- On red and blue oceans, the fear of man, and other stuff!
9-24-18 Entry # 1- ON WALKING UNDER THE LAW Realized this past weekend that I had slipped back into a mindset of walking under the law. Mainly…feeling like I need to be doing more and living a more radical lifestyle to earn Gods approval. This naturally led me to walking in the flesh and was …read more →
The Journal- The Ups & Downs, Sleep, and Conversation with God
9-20-18 Entry #1- on the ups and downs, depression, and sleep I’m amazed at my ability to be completely on top of the world one day and literally want to throw in the towel, start over and re-build everything the next! I know that some of this is my personality but I’ve also noticed that …read more →
The Journal- On Life, Competition, and Crossfit
9-18-18 Entry #1- On Life Was reminded that the life I have created, whether good or bad, is simply a reflection of who I am internally. The outward circumstances of my life today are the manifestation of who I was internally yesterday. You can’t have a different life unless you become a different person! Entry …read more →
Capacity and Fullness
I have always loved the teaching I read in Randy Alcorn’s book, Heaven. Writing on the topic of rewards in Heaven based on our lives on earth, Randy says that…. Everyone’s cup will be full in Heaven. But some peoples’ cups will be much larger than others’ (paraphrasing).The great theologian, Jonathan Edwards, also shared this …read more →
The Journal- Life and the Fear of Teaching
9-14-18 Entry #1- ON THE FEAR OF TEACHING One of my greatest fears in putting out more content ( blog posts, video, journal entries like these, etc..) is that I will find myself coming to God and immediately being distracted. I fear that the minute He begins to speak I will immediately begin thinking of …read more →
The Journal- Simplicity, Generosity, and Perspective
ENTRY #1- On Simplicity and Generosity It is one thing to live a life of simplicity. It is another thing to life a life of generosity! But it is something entirely different than both of those to life a life of simplicity COMBINED with generosity. Simplicity by itself can be easy….because the simpler I choose …read more →
Trees and Fruit
It was nearly twenty years ago that God came and rescued me out of the darkness I was in. He chose one of the most shameful moments He possibly could to show up and pull the scales off of my eyes. I will never forget sitting on the couch that night while I was …read more →
A FRUSTRATION WITH CHRISTIANITY
I used to serve a different God. I was a surfer, and the ocean was my god. I won’t ever forget the first wave I caught at Folly Beach, South Carolina that summer. I was probably only 11 or 12 years old and that wave was probably only three or four feet. But the …read more →
Snapchat, my daughter, and the risky decision I made
Intagram, Snapchat, Facebook, Music.ly, Twitter…OMG, I feel like my head is getting ready to explode from all of the things I believe I have to monitor and manage to protect my children these days. I feel exhausted at times just trying to keep up with it all! What is safe for them to have and …read more →
Open Letter #3 – The Truth about Porn, Boundaries, and The Standards You Set That Could Make or Break Your Marriage!
Madeline and Pierson, As I write this to you, your mom and I have been married for almost 14 years. I can honestly say that right now we are experiencing the best years of our relationship and we are excited to know that even better years lie ahead. We have gone through difficult seasons, as …read more →
An Acceptable Slavery! – An open letter to my children #2
The following is the second letter in an series of “open letters” to my children. They represent the lessons I’ve learned in life that are most dear to my heart and are inspired by the last words my father wrote to me before he died. To start with Letter #1…CLICK HERE!
Dealing with the tension between work and family! An open letter
The tension between our duties to our family and the requirements to build and grow a successful business are something we continually grapple with as believers in Christ. I don’t believe we will ever figure out a way to eliminate these tensions. I actually believe they are healthy. They force us to listen to the …read more →
An open letter to my Children #1
My father passed away unexpectedly in 2008. He was not a wealthy man and as a result, the possessions he left behind didn’t consist of much. I inherited a small life insurance policy (which barely covered his burial expenses), a coin collection, and a few other small items around his house that I decided to …read more →
Empty Handed
I am reminded this morning that this “walk” with Christ on Earth is not a boring one. It’s not a dull & boring life. It is so easy to look around and see the ways of the world around us and the pursuits of those that don’t believe and begin to think the Christian life …read more →
Hey “Jack”–you need to get FOCUSED!–Here is how!
Today I will share with you one of the key strategies that allowed me to be able to sell 50 homes my first full year in the business and has also been a key contributing factor to my continued growth today. I was reminded of this strategy recently as I sat down with an agent …read more →
Are you afraid of the competition? –Here is how to respond!
We all know that real estate is a fiercely competitive business. Even as I am projecting to sell over 300 homes this year, I still find myself motivated at times by an intense desire to stay ahead of the competition. The truth is, at times, I am afraid that if I let up on the …read more →
Alcohol- What I Learned and Why I Quit!
Five years ago I drank my last sip of alcohol. Every so often I have found it beneficial to re-visit the reasons why I decided to quit drinking and reflect on the things I learned during my time with alcohol. Over the last several years I have normally done this in my personal journal but I …read more →
Comparison Shopping– and how it impacts your real estate business!
My goal today is to help you better understand how a buying principle that you have all heard of can have an impact on your ability to teach your clients the fundamentals of pricing, take better priced listings, and secure price reductions! I have found that having a solid understanding of how buyers make decisions …read more →
3 STEPS TO CREATING BALANCE BETWEEN WORK AND FAMILY!
Do you experience conflict with your spouse regarding the delicate balance between the amount of time spent working and the amount of time spent with the family? Do you feel like you and your spouse just aren’t “on the same page” when it comes to how much time you are spending at work and the …read more →
How to generate more revenue per client!
I wanted to give you something this week that will generate immediate revenue into your business with zero out of pocket costs (less than a hundred bucks in the example I will use). You won’t need to generate any more leads and you will make more money with the clients you already have! I think …read more →
One Simple Belief about Money Could be Keeping You from Success!
Every year there is a list published by Forbes Magazine of the 400 wealthiest Americans—“The FORBES 400”. Consider this astounding fact for a second. The Jews represent less than 3% of the U.S population. HOWEVER, each year they are estimated to make up between 20-50% of the people featured on the Forbes 400. WOW!! Did …read more →
Overwhelmed by Gods to-do list for you?–Simplify your spiritual life now!
Do you find yourself overwhelmed at times with what you believe the requirements are to be a good Christian? I’m not talking about abstaining from sin. I am talking about that list of spiritual disciplines ( prayer, bible study,etc…) we all have in our heads of what we believe God expects us “to-do” to seek Him …read more →
What does God say about that RISKY business decision your contemplating?
Are you considering making a business decision that is a bit RISKY? What does God tell the Christian real estate agent about taking risks? Are we supposed to be conservative or are we called to be risk-takers? After 11 years of selling real estate and over 1100 homes sold I can tell you I have …read more →
How should the Christian view Risk and Fear?
For those of you who know me personally, or follow me on Facebook, you probably know that I took up Crossfit about a year ago. Now, I’m not writing this post to tell you about how much I enjoy Crossfit and the great things it has done for me. I’m writing because I am consistently …read more →
Generating Past Client and Referral Business: YOU’VE BEEN TAUGHT WRONG!
Our industry as a whole and nearly every real estate coaching company in the market place has “missed the boat” when it comes to what I am going to share with you today. I want to talk about the most powerful and most overlooked principle when it comes to generating a referral based business in …read more →
“The Crazy Things Real Estate Agents Say”
Every so often I will teach a class to agents on some aspect of building and growing their business. It never fails that as I teach the class someone makes a comment that sounds something like this… “Mike, what your saying is great but honestly I don’t really want to have a business like …read more →
“The #1 Principle that Revolutionized my Business”
Today I am going to share with you what I believe has been the single most influential and powerful business principle that I have relied upon during the last 10+ years of being in business. I think about this one principle nearly every day. It has become a filter to help me focus on what …read more →
“Don’t Touch that Manna”
Real estate is a 24/7 business, right? This is what the instructor taught at a recent continuing education course I attended. “You had better have your phone on you at all times and be ready to set that next appointment. When that offer comes in at 8:30 PM, you had better be ready to negotiate. …read more →
“Why Every Man Should Cheat”
The following is a true story that has stuck with me ever since the first time I heard it and seems to be one that the Holy Spirit continually reminds me of in my personal walk of faith. This is my best recollection of the story as it was told to me by a …read more →
Seeking- Part 2–“All Your Heart”
Most Christians have heard the great verse in Jeremiah that proclaims … “I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for calamity ,to give you a future and a hope” But it is far less often that the 2 verses that follow are recited with it. They …read more →
Seeking- part 1– “Standing in the Road”
I become more and more convinced that most Christians, including myself at many times, find ourselves unhappy and unfulfilled in life because once we have accepted salvation and have His Spirit within us we face a great predicament. We are like a man standing in the middle of the street and he must decide which …read more →
The Opportunity of a Lifetime
WHEN OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS Most men would agree that great opportunities are a rare thing. They have the perception that when opportunity knocks we had better answer. We had better respond. We better be ready. They believe it could be “the opportunity of a lifetime”. And while I do believe there is value in a continual …read more →
The One and Only Thing
If the story of God and man had to be boiled down to one word, what would it be? What is the entire book really about? In my opinion, the word would be LOVE. That word sums up the entire history of man and his story on earth as given to us in the Bible. …read more →
THE BEST REST
I find myself currently entrenched in one of the busiest seasons I have ever encountered in my life. Our business has been very blessed lately and right now I am working very hard to keep up with the blessing that God has been pouring out to us. Thank you Lord!! Here is what I have …read more →
A Powerful Thought
“Mind is the Master power that moulds and makes, And Man is Mind, and evermore he takes The tool of Thought, and, shaping what he wills, Brings forth a thousand joys, a thousand ills: He thinks in secret, and it comes to pass: Environment is but his looking glass.” As a Man Thinketh, by James …read more →
Ripple Effects
I would like to start this post by sharing with you one of the most important and foundational business principles I have learned over the past 13-14 years. I realize this is not a “business blog” but at times there are lessons I have learned in business that I have also found to have …read more →
Be on the alert!!
Tonight I listened to Mark Driscoll’s 3rd message in his current series on Ephesians. I would highly recommend anything by Mark Driscoll but beware that he is not a “tickle your ears” kind of teacher. He preaches the “whole” word of God. As I listened I was reminded of something that I have found to be …read more →
Why we don’t enter His presence- Part 3-” Mud Pie”
Man was built to be in continual pursuit. We are in the pursuit of something at all times. It seems to me that the chief thing we are all pursuing is our own happiness. I believe if we truly ask ourselves why we do the things that we do, the answer that lies at …read more →
Where are you?
In the beginning, shortly after that fatal snack, God came looking for man. He walked through the Garden and He called out to Adam. The question God asked was this….”Where are you?” Adam responded… “I heard the sound of You in the Garden, and I was afraid because I was naked” In the end, as …read more →
Why we don’t enter His presence. Part 2–“My pants are snug”
In this post I will cover the second major reason why most Christians fail to enter into the presence of God and experience the radical and life changing power that is found there. Once again, I am talking about that power that changes lives, marriages, and even businesses. I am talking about entering into …read more →
Why we don’t enter His Presence : Part 1—“A SERIOUS MATTER”
As I thought about my first post and the bold claims that I spoke of that Christianity offers, I felt like many who read that post must be asking themselves some questions about their experience with Christianity. Questions like…Why haven’t I experienced this supernatural presence of God in my life? Why am I depressed? …read more →
Introduction: The Edge
I believe all of us on this earth, who are honest with ourselves, would admit that we go through certain seasons in the midst of our lives. Some of those seasons are filled with joy and happiness and prosperity. Some are not. Some of those seasons are filled with depression, hopelessness, confusion, and weariness. During …read more →