What I've been reading

    July 30, 2010

    Deadly Trends of Popular Christianity

    Consider what has happened in the church over the past decades. The 1970s were an exciting time. We saw an unprecedented rise in conservative evangelicalism, the explosion of Christian broadcasting and publishing, a number of excellent new Bible translations and study aids, the proliferation of small-group Bible studies, and tremendous growth in Bible-believing congregations.

    In the midst of it all, one sensed a sincere desire to exalt the Lord, a love for God's Word, a hunger to understand it, and — within the church, at least — a renewed interest in holiness, combatting the steady moral decay that had gained such a foothold forty years ago.

    Those phenomena could have been harbingers of genuine spiritual revival.

    But the '80s were a decade of decline. Not numerical decline in most of our churches (though I'm concerned that this may happen yet), but a spiritual decline. The church has actually turned away from true revival and pursued instead the popularisation of Christianity.
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    July 28, 2010

    A Man with a Renewed Heart and Mind, for God

    Once again, thank you Jen for allowing me to post this here on my blog.  I know her first message about her father was an encouragement and I know that this one will be too.

    2nd Update on my Dad

    Hello, Everyone.

    As some of you know, my grandmother has fallen ill and so this past Friday, my father and I decided to drive to New Jersey to see her. We left at 4:10am. Within six minutes, my father began listening to sermons. We listened to Ligonier Ministries' 2009 National Conference, "The Holiness of God" for ten hours straight. Somewhere around Raleigh NC or so, my dad turned off the sermons and asked me about being baptized! I asked him why he wanted to be baptized and he wasn't really able to describe why. He said, "Something must be happening to me, because how else can I listen to this stuff for ten hours?" I asked my father if there was a moment he could remember a change taking place, but he couldn't. He just said that he was changing more and more each day. He said he was fascinated by the Bible and that many of the TV shows that he normally watches are no longer interesting to him. In fact, they are a "turn off." He asked me, "Am I a Christian?" I said I didn't know. Maybe he was not a Christian yet, but growing closer and closer to that point. Then again, maybe he was already a Christian, and now growing in sanctification and understanding. I asked him to try to diagnose for himself, but he seemed frustrated because he simply didn't know. So I told him to hold off on the baptism for now. He continued to ask me spiritual questions and we talked until Richmond, VA or so. Then we listened to the conference messages again, all the way to New Jersey. That's approximately 16 hours of R.C. Sproul and friends in a single day!
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    July 25, 2010

    Sunday Sermon: Is Jesus Christ the Only Way to God?

    This morning, I had the great privilege and opportunity to preach from the pulpit at First Assembly of God church, in Brookfield, CT.

    The title of my sermon is - Is Jesus Christ the Only Way to God?

    I hope that this message will be a Reminder to the believer regarding your eternal home, a Refresher regarding the truth of the Gospel and a Revelation to someone that today is the day of salvation of their soul.

    "Why did Jesus say He was the only means to be with God, the only way to heaven? Why did He say that He is the way, the truth and the life? What was so special or unique about those things that pertained to Christ and the lives of the people that would come to hear that about Him and still believe in Him for more than 2,000 years?"



    The sermon can be heard at http://sermon.net/kurtmichaelson


    Faithfully in Christ,

    Kurt
    Posted by Kurt Michaelson 3 comments

    July 21, 2010

    Practical Wisdom For Pastors

    He that is more frequent in his pulpit to his people than he is in his closet for his people is but a sorry watchman.  -John Owen

    While I was on vacation, I read a book that my father gave to me for Christmas and the book is written by Curtis C. Thomas, which is titled, Practical Wisdom For Pastors - Words of encouragement and counsel for a lifetime of ministry.

    I read the paperback and not the Kindle version, since I didn't have one yet at Christmas, but I digress.

    I began reading Practical Wisdom For Pastors on Saturday morning, June 26th during both of our flights from New York to Kansas.  Sunday I did not read, but did finish the book over Monday and Tuesday and I think the total time it took to read 272 pages of this book was approximately 8 hours, which is probably the fastest I've ever read a book too.

    The book is definitely a great read and filled with a lot of great wisdom for a person such as myself that is entering a life of pastoral ministry. 

    Thanks again to my Dad for buying this for me!

    There are several other pastors that have contributed an endorsement of this book, three of whom I greatly respect are: Steven Lawson, John MacArthur and Albert Mohler.  Each of these pastors believe strongly in the exposition of Scripture too, which added to my appreciation for the book.  The author highly recommends regular expository preaching too.

    The book is divided into ten sections with several subheadings of topics within each of the sections.  Those ten sections are:
    1. Personal Life
    2. Family Life
    3. Study Habits
    4. Messages
    5. Church Life
    6. Counseling
    7. Weddings, Divorces, Funerals
    8. Relationships with Others
    9. Dangers
    10. Miscellaneous
    Each section concluded with references for additional study, which is very helpful too.
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    July 19, 2010

    What to Pray for New Believers

    Last night, I was given the opportunity to minister to our congregation at our weekly Sunday evening prayer meeting.  The messages that are normally preached are focused either on encouragement toward stengthening our prayer lives or revival within the local church.

    My message for this evening was titled, What to Pray for New Believers and an audio file has been uploaded, to this post, to listen to the message.  My text for this sermon came from Colossians 1:9-12 and I hope it is an encouragement to you and those whom you pray for.

    If the true church of Jesus Christ, were to follow this example found here in Scripture, there very well could be many great beacons of light throughout the country that could win countless souls to Christ and change the world to the glory of God.

    “We long to see the churches full, 
    That all the chosen race,
    May with one voice, and heart and tongue,
    Sing His redeeming grace.”

    This message can be heard and downloaded it for free at http://sermon.net/kurtmichaelson

    I do apologize that there weren't any new posts over the past few weeks.  My wife and I went on vacation to visit her family for a week in Kansas and then we went to California to surprise my mother at her 60th birthday party.

    Have a blessed week and stay tuned for more new posts.


    Faithfully in Christ,

    Kurt
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