20 Questions with Pastor Mike (Episode 53) 

Respectfully Brother Mike you do well in many questions but your answers concerning the presence of God and our experience of it are lacking. There is great emphasis in Scripture of people experiencing the presence of God physicality. Daniel and John fainted under God's presence. When the gospel reached some cities in the book of Acts the people were filled with joy and the Holy Ghost. Jesus speaks of "rivers of living water coming out of our hearts." Paul filled with the Holy Ghost looked intently at Bar Jesus the Jewish sorcerer, declared him to be a son of the devil and pronounced blindness upon him. Do we think all these experiences were platonic and without emotion? I will not leave you as orphans I will come unto you Jesus says. When we experience His visit, this is often a physical experience. It's not a mere 'cherry on top' or unnecessary 'icing on the cake' as you put it.

These questions sound good :) I can't wait to hear it.

Thanks Sarah for all you do! God bless you!

@@philiplewandowski2469 You're so welcome, brother Philip! :) God bless you!

Thanks Sarah

Amen, agree. Thank you.

I remember when my mom told me that when I feel really depressed, to take my eyes off me and look to helping others. It works. i've been too concerned and worried about me all the time. Jesus was worried and concerned about us and not him. I have learned to take my eyes off me. it's not about me!

I'm the same. Everytime I feel down and REALLY alone, it is the HOPE God put in my heart that helps me through. The fact that God has enough faith in me, to trust that I can handle this, is VERY overwhelming at my lowest, but it gives me faith to lay my future and life down at His feet

Thank you for your personal and compassionate answer to this dear soul's struggle.

@@andreahl3494 what a blessing that God can use our weaknesses and suffering to teach us how to trust Him. 🥰

I found and read this. Thank you for sharing. God bless and keep you, brother.

So good

@@TheSilverJedi ….Hey man, as someone who has been married for 45 years, I can’t imagine you pain. I just don’t wanna come across as someone who thinks that you could simply read my comment and quickly find relief for all of your anguish. I do think that I’ve learned a lot thru this experience but it has taken years. I tried to drink myself to death. I contemplated every way to kill myself. I’m not proud of the way I got to this point. Again, my heart aches for you. I’ll pray that you can find support from others as well as the truths and strength from God to persevere thru this pain and unto your heavenly reward.

Wow you are truly a man of God! Very inspiring

I pray for your complete healing of all pain. Nothing is impossible with God. God bless you for your testimony

Amen!

Martin Schaus For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

@ Beth: I agree. Feelings AREN'T facts.

True and correct

Amen 🙏!

Amen

Man, I’m so edified by these comments.

Revelation 19:8-10 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints 1 John 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. Luke 18 9 And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: 10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. 12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. 13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

For real, for real. I'm greatly appreciative of his work. God bless him.

SO agree

You are so correct. And you have the best name I’ve ever seen. Thank you for the smile you gave me.

Yes thank you Mike

Amen to that! Think about this my friend: God is eternal and unchanging. His love does not weaken or strengthen for believers. Because He is eternal and unchanging, this means there is never a point God loves you less. While you were yet a sinner, Christ died for the ungodly. Before you were born, He knew you and loved you and planned to save you. So if you ever wonder if God still loves you, remember that he never began to love you. In His eternal nature and His omniscience, he has loved you the same for all eternity. If only our faulty hearts that affect our emotions would line up with our knowledge of who God is. Are hearts are so deceptive. I've struggled with depression too but the Lord does not change and has not moved. He is our arc where we take shelter and comfort even of our hearts say otherwise.

We just went through Romans 8 in our Bible study. Such an encouraging passage.

If this life was easy, so we could flip a switch and change and be "sin-free", what would be the purpose of this life? God helps us to fight sin and hopefully change, as the battle rages on. Through those battles, we learn and experience what life on this earth is and this helps to set up the bliss we will feel when we finally meet Jesus. It's the experience that is important, no matter how unfair this experience on earth may be. We will remember, love, and appreciate when we are with Jesus.

It can be a fine line sometimes! I feel like the way Mike worded it did not resonate with me the way it did for others. (I take things very literally and don’t always get the intended meaning). I’m glad what he said was edifying to you and lots of others. I’m still praying for a clear (to me) explanation of the interplay between grace and obedience that is solidly supported by scripture.

Eyes.. sin awaits at the gates. Be careful what you let your conscious attention focus on. Watch yourself and pray that you may not fall into temptation, for the devil seeks to destroy you.

@@agork right. And if your hand causes you to sin, “cut it off!” I think we need to take our sin seriously.

Estelle B The grace of God has appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lust, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world.

Time to man up, Casey. Following Jesus isn't for wimps. REPENT means turn around. God has granted you repentance. Just do it.

Blessings to you Corey. Keep chasing Jesus. I think it’s something most or all of us struggle with in some way or at some time.

That's the thing, if God had Mike answer the question for you, then He actually _did_ do something to change you. It took the work of you listening and processing what Mike said, but He guided you here.

The fathers of the Church were not Calvinists of course which is just a modern rehashed heresy known as Monoenergism, where the human and divine are competing for the same space. You are not totally deprived, humanity is not totally deprived, you have a will, the Church Fathers were synergistic along with Paul who referred to himself and a Coworker with God. YOU can do all things through Christ who strengthens YOU, not all things can be done by Christ making you do them weather your want to or not. I hope this helps and please do some research on Monoenergism and Monothelitism with respect to Calvinism. It’s heresy and has already been condemned centuries ago. God Bless.

@@rdubyatjr just curious; how do you differentiate between a heresy and a false/inaccurate teaching? And do you still believe our Calvinist friends are still brothers and sisters Christ?

@@ElleeZee289 This is a good question… I know you are asking rdubyatjr and he or she can reply as well. I will say that while I don’t think this is a primary issue in the sense of making Calvinism a cult, it is right on the edge. The reason I say that is because the very understanding of who God is fundamentally changes when you come from a Calvinistic perspective. God is no longer Agape. God is no longer wholly self-less, wholly Holy, and makes God a liar when He says multiple times things like: Ezekiel 33:11 “Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?” Calvinism itself creates a fundamental problem: God must be lying in this verse. After all, the TULIP doctrines lead to this conclusion inevitably. After all, Total Depravity says that no person has the desire or ability to repent, unless and until God directly intervenes to change their hearts through regeneration to then empower them to repent and believe and be saved. Given that premise, then God’s command to turn back and be saved itself is meaningless and almost taunting. It’s like a life guard seeing a drowning person clearly unable to save themselves telling them “I have no pleasure in the drowning of anyone, so start swimming and save yourself!” Worse, though, if God REALLY wants everyone to repent and be saved, but DOESN’T CHOOSE to empower everyone to repent and be saved, then He cannot REALLY want everyone to repent and be saved. Which is why the Limited Atonement doctrine in Calvinism exists, but again, that makes God a liar in Ezekiel and other verses. Calvinism’s view of God’s grace is deeply, deeply flawed and un-Biblical, and paints a picture of a God who really does NOT love or care for everyone, only a few random lucky people. And so while I think well intended Christians who haven’t really thought through all the implications are indeed saved, and this is not a salvation issue, it does completely distort a person’s understanding of who God really, truly is.

@@robertpreisser3547 I agree that it is a secondary issue but that can have a profound impact.

@@ElleeZee289 I have been trying to get an answer to this question for months about how can Calvinists be our brother or sister when it’s teachings are clearly wrong….still waiting for that answer unfortunately 😒

I think its healthy to know things. You never know when someone will ask you a question similar to these and you would be ready to answer

If you look at the pinned comment in every single video, there is a timestamp with all the questions to skip to only the "useful" questions you'd like to hear the answer to

@@apracity7672 I know and that is what I do, I just read the questions and click in the ones I like, but I see many videos in case I find something. But my point is do I need to open every single video of 53 and couting just to see if I find a good question when I myself dont have one in mind? I am wasting time that I could be talking to God Himself and building a relationship with Him not with youtube for 2 hours every day. Plus even when I find a question that meet one of my needs 15 minutes later I forget about it. I am from Brazil so my English is not good. I maybe type all wrong.

@@denumhanson yes it is healthy but too much of anything is not that nice. And maybe it is a excuse to not pray in my case at least (cause we tend to think that learning about God is as important as speding time with Him... but I think God prefer praying time)

@@CanalRosanaRibeiro I understand what you are saying, Rosana. We are told to pray and read our Bible. Teachers like Mike can certainly help us to understand what we have read. I am very thankful for their work for Christ and for us. Prayer and reading God’s word should be done first in the precious study time we have in our day, then learning from teachers. I surely need to work on that myself!

I understand Becky. I used to smoke 40 cigarettes in a day. The Lord lead me to read Allen Carr's 'Easy Way to Quit Smoking' and after reading it I just dropped it and didn't have had any cravings since. It's been now more than a year. I'm so happy! Try that book.

My brother and my friend also read it and quit.

I'm struggling to quit myself Becky. I have been able to get down to about 4 cigs a day from 2 packs. The few things that have helped are nicotine patches ( I keep one on at all time) and I also have a vape pen for when I have bad cravings. You can get one without nicotine so that it doesn't add to the addiction. Both of those help me a lot but the thing that is most helpful is the girl in dating. Without that support I wouldn't have been able to get where I'm at. Hopefully you will find something that will work for you, from what I've seen and read it helps to defeat the actual smoking part before the nicotine addiction. God bless

Any addiction has to be quit progressively unless God literally zaps you with the "no beam" so your progress is all that's needed. God doesnt need us to be perfect. He just needs us to try to be good. May the Lord bless you in your struggles

In and of itself, smoking is not a sin. It's just not very smart. I quit after smoking for 50 years. 3 days of body dts but look at it like having the flu for a short time. The rest is simply mental changes like after a meal or other time's. God bless, just keep on keeping on and pushing forward one day at a time.

Agree so much!

“A really thorough Bible nerd!!!”Hahahahaha! That’s funny, Mike!

Many families with a mother and father wouldn't lead them to God, and the rampant abuse in foster care is also likely to lead them away from God. Should we also not adopt to atheists, or people of other religions? And in the current culture, even most children in Christian families are being actively, intentionally exposed to every crackpot idea out there. I agree that Christian adoption agencies should have discretionary freedom, and probably should only facilitate adoptions they approve of. I also think they should be eligible for funding for the adoptions they do facilitate. However, I think the government itself should not be able to discriminate on the basis of religion.

You are correct. I've unsubscribed to him. He is putting human wisdom before God's

@@vmelo40 And yet, here you are.

You're assuming that the kid is immediately set up for hell or that a kid in a Christian home is immediately set up to follow God. Neither of these things are true.

I don’t believe God has rules about how you pray to Him; I think He’d prefer you to ask and commune with Him than condemn yourself about asking and not ask at all. Don’t be bound up in these things you just don’t get🙏

Amen, Hallelujah, Praise the Lord :)

💯

Anthony Duhamel Isn’t Galatians 3:3 referring to the works of the law? It would indeed be foolish to think that salvation came through the works of the law. But it would be equally as foolish to think that the grace of God does not teach us to do some works.

You become perfect through God. Also you apply the Word of God in your life. Obeying Him does bring you closer to Him. Deny your Flesh.

Amen.

Yeah..that was a shocker!

wow, this was beautifully said. i'm surely gonna check the ERV. Thank you so much for sharing! God bless you always

But God did create your internal organs

Love this! Thank you & Thank the Lord! 🙏🏼💕

I've had that thought for a while, thank you for putting it into words. Also remember how emotional king david was. God loves you for your meek nature. God loves you for your many natures but he especially blesses the meek (king david, moses ect.) So dont change. Showing your weaknesses is the biggest sign of strength. God knows you and he loves you for YOU not who they want you to be

Amen Psalm 19 12 Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults. 13 Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. 14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.

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My interpretation of Mike's words was ...when one is waiting for God to change their laziness, gluttony( which is my case), bitterness, resentment and anything akin to those vices, then , no, we shouldn't wait. We should do something about it , for we have been already given the power. Your case, in my view, is entirely different. Psalms 34:18: The Lord is near to the broken hearted and saves the crushed in spirit." Take all your worries to His throne and just hang in there . Our God is faithful. Praise Him and pray to Him no matter how it hurts. I hope your late wife is in Heaven having a blast. Be blessed ❤🙏❤🙏❤

Wow, Isaac, I wish I could really help but I'm no pastor. I think we should look at what God can and will do through our prayers and after all, isn't that what you are talking about in the short and long term----unanswered prayers, prayers to be "changed"? I feel that there are three answers to our prayers when we talk to God and yes, He will answer. #1 is a direct and definite answer to our prayers. #2, God answering but in His own time. And #3, God answering your prayer for help by saying, "Wait on Me, for I have better plans for you". He has better plans that will bless you and bring understanding, through Him. You may strongly feel that what you are asking should be answered by your perceptions of what is needed but God has your ultimate well-being in mind even though you probably can't and won't understand that, in this life. God bless and take comfort in the fact that you will be with your wife when God calls----for eternal bliss. God bless.

I feel your pain brother. I had a similar reaction. If it helps any, keep in mind that these Q & A's are just quick, one-off answers to really serious questions that honestly should not be answered so flippantly. As popular as these live streams are, there are most definitely no replacement for real pastoral care. Mike can't possibly consider everyone's individual situation when answering these questions - something I am frustrated by myself almost to the point of wishing that he would just stop doing these altogether. It can be harmful to try and make these complex situations sound simple and easy to solve. For people like myself that struggle with scrupulosity and suicidal ideation, it can almost push me to the edge. Take comfort in the fact that Jesus understands your individual situation far more than someone on RU-vid can, and He knows what you are going through. He loves you regardless. In my humble opinion, Jesus only had harsh words for the self-righteous, those who felt they were justified before God by their own actions and their own strength. He never gave struggling sinners a hard time. I think the fact that you are so bothered by your struggle means you are still very much alive inside. If you are hurting, you are still feeling, which is more than many people in this numbed world can say for themselves. Hang in there, and trust God that there is grace for your struggle. Read Paul's Epistles, especially Galatians. I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel- which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. Galatians 1:6-7 For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the things written in the book of the law." Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law; for "The one who is righteous will live by faith." But the law does not rest on faith; on the contrary, "Whoever does the works of the law will live by them." Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us - for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree" - in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Galatians 3:10-14

Hey, I suffer from CPTSD, OCD, MDD, and BPD (Honestly I think BPD encompasses all the other issues). Anyway, I got angry too. I hate how my mood is always low and anxious. I try so hard to change my thoughts but the OCD intrusive thoughts and constant dialogue are like arrows being shot at me all day. I've gone back into sleep issues recently (like basically no sleep) which only makes my other symptoms worse. I totally understand your reaction as I am also feeling utterly exhausted and hopeless about my ailments. I try to think about Heaven and God but my symptoms still plague me. I ask God when will this end? When will he heal me, Oh God please! I have to continually ask him for increased faith and help in unbelief. For help with trusting Him and not sinning. Oh please God change me and help me! So yes sir, I understand you. I'll be praying for you too

And then get mold testing done.

God, it is said, is the Sun of righteousness (cf. Mal. 4:2), and the rays of His supernal goodness shine down on all men alike. The soul is wax if it cleaves to God, but clay if it cleaves to matter. Which it does depends upon its own will and purpose. Clay hardens in the sun, while wax grows soft. Similarly, every soul that, despite God’s admonitions, deliberately cleaves to the material world, hardens like clay and drives itself to destruction, just as Pharaoh did (cf. Exod. 7:13). But every soul that cleaves to God is softened like wax and, receiving the impress and stamp of divine realities, it becomes “in spirit the dwelling-place of God” (Eph. 2:22). -St Maximos the Confessor

Eugene Ansah Yes, God’s divine presence and commandments require a willing response. We either receive and grow tender or reject and grow hard. These are both the effects of God.

Hey everyone! I just wanted to share some good news with you all. Let's just put it this way, the Ten Commandments are called the Moral Law. Ask yourself this. How many lies have you told? Have you ever stolen anything? Have you ever used God's name in vein? Have you ever hated someone or ever looked with lust? This is for you to judge yourself, but chances are that you are a lying, thieving, blasphemous, fornicating, adulterer at heart and you HAVE to face God on judgement day. Now ask yourself this. If God judges you on judgement day by these Commandments, will you be innocent or guilty? Of course you'll be guilty because we've all done these things. The truth is that none of us are good people and we NESD God's grace to make it to heaven. We judt simply cannot do it on our own. These Commandments arecalled the Moral Law. You and I broke the law, Jesus payed the fine. So now what we must do to be saved is to repent of our sins and trust alone in Jesus Christ! To repent doesn't mean to just say I'm sorry, but to turn from our sins and let Him truly be our Lord continually. He said that many will say to Him, Lord, Lord I have done all of these things for you. And He will say I never knew you. Depart from Me, ye who work iniquity! And those will be cast into outer darkness and raging hellfire and loneliness for all of eternity!!! Because we broke His law, He is very, very just to send us to hell. If someone had murdered 4 people and said to the judge, I've done nice things too and have tried to treat people nice but it was just one time, the judge would then say, okay but you're going to jail. And the judge is very just to do that. One last thing, if you were 10,000 feet in the air and you had to jump, you wouldn't jump out and flap your arms and try to save yourself. That's ridiculous! You would put on the parachute. It is the same with Jesus. You must trust Him as you trust the parachute. We are not good and we cannot save ourselves with our own goodness. We must trust alone in Him to save us. In just a moment of time you can pass from death to life. Jesus said, "Verily, verily I say unto you, you must be born again." That is how we enter heaven. Through the blood and grace of Jesus Christ!!!!✝️If you ask someone how to enter Heaven, they will most likely say, "Be a good person." Well the Bible says that none is good, no not one. We like to compare ourselves to guys like Hitler and say, "Hey, I'm a pretty good guy compared to him." But when we compare ourselves to God's standard, we realize that the Bible speaks truth when it says that we all sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God!!! When we see this ( our sin in its TRUE light), we see how much trouble we are in and we say, "Well then there's nothing I can do. I'm going to hell for sure then." It's true that there is nothing that WE can do, but there is something that has already been done for you! God sent His One and Only Son to die on a cross as a sacrifice for our sins! So to recieve that eternal sweet sweet forgiveness, all we must do is repent of our sins (meaning to continually turn from them and confess them) and trust alone in Christ as you trust a parachute. If I was to push you out of an airplane, you'd want the parachute for sure! Don't try to flap your arms and save yourself, trust in the parachute! His finished work on the Cross IS ENOUGH!! He is the only way to Heaven, He said it Himself!! These other religions teach that we must he good and do good things and then maybe if we've been good enough, we will enter Heaven. But if that is true then we are all doomed to eternal hell because none of us are good. That's why this makes sense. Look at the Ten Commandments, they are written on your heart right now!!! I promise that you have violated them. And you might still be doing that today. Therefore God is just to poor out His wrath on us because we deserve it!!! But Christ died for us so that we can spend eternity in Heaven with Him!!! Turn to Him today, and He and only He will save your soul "Verily, verily I say unto you, you must be born again ( to go to Heaven)."✝️The true joy of Christ dwells in me! Does it in you? I know where I'm going when I die! Do you? I have an ETERNAL victory! Do you? I have more joy than ever because of what Christ has done. I have been down both roads. The road of the wicked and the road of Christ. Christ is way better and my cup runneth over with true of and salvation. If you do not know the One true God and are not sure of your salvation, I promise He will never fail you. Turn to Him in repentance and faith. Repent means to confess and forsake your sins, never turning back to them. I tried changing on my own but I couldn't. It took the power of Christ on the inside of me to do it for me. He will give you a new and clean heart with new and clean desires and you shall be born again. A new creation in Christ Jesus!! Hallelujah!!!! Jesus said in order to enter the Kingdom of God, you must be born again!!! Thank you Lord Jesus!!!!!✝️

Also another question: my Assembly of God church speaks in tongues and someone usually interprets well it’s the same lady.. anyway a few weeks ago this lady interpreted this message of tongues by saying: Listen to this message God will transform you. Now I originally thought that only Jesus could transform us but His words can too. I’m just confused because I wasn’t transformed by this message or by the laying of hands by those who went up to be transformed. It was really emotional and overwhelming with everyone praying in tongues and surrounding you. The truth is I left more annoyed. Is what my church doing biblical? Because the tongues do have interpretation like scripture says but sometimes I wonder. This was the message my pastor preached on if anyone is wondering: ** Romans 8:28-30** God wants to transform us to be more like Him He wants us to grow in knowledge of Him ## How we can be transformed 1. We need to start with Jesus 2. His word changes our life- Get his word in our life 3. Communication with the Lord will change you- dedicate 10 minutes of your morning with God 4. By the renewing of your mind- thinking - bring every thought captive to the odedice of Christ - Deny ourselves and take up our cross 5. We’re transformed by tragedy or trials 6. We can be transformed by not grieving the Holy Spirit- stop grieving the Holy Spirit

@@Madison2002_ I grew up AG. If you are concerned about spiritual gifts, check out Remnant Radio. I think your pastors message is spot on. Only I would say spending only 10 minutes with God is really just a start if someone is not already doing it. God wants to be the most important thing in our lives. But yeah we should definitely carve out time just for him and make it a spiritual discipline.

@Estelle B Thank you 😊

???

Agreed. He's is attempting to subvert God's wisdom with human understanding. Very disappointed in him. I've unsubscribed

I second! I have a pretty strong position on the subject, but I feel like I don’t know the arguments for any side very well. Really looking forward to his teaching since Mike does a good job of summarizing different arguments regarding a topic.

Grady Shingler, Does God call women to places of leadership? If yes. Deborah, the four virgin daughters of Philip the evangelist, Phebe, Percilla, and Anna. If no. Paul’s writings that he suffered not a woman to teach. If we would say yes to the question, we still must acknowledge that, by far, the greatest amount of God’s chosen leaders have been men. The natural order that God has set in place, requires men to shoulder a benevolent leadership position. At the same time, one can not rightly argue that God has not clearly blessed some women in a leadership role.

Pharoah’s heart was hardened to increase his free will. Pharoah was willing to give up at some point, not from a change of heart, but from exhaustion. When God hardened Pharoah’s heart, God was giving Pharoah the strength to resist God. Pharoah could have stopped and asked himself, why am I doing this? But he didn’t, as soon as he found the energy to resist God, he continued to do so.