For the last few weeks, I have been fairly dark on social media on all fronts, especially with Jesus’ Outsider and Freedom Church. There have been a lot of things happening in our lives and the Lord has been speaking to us about serious changes that we are being called to make.
There are two things in my life that I am extremely passionate about. The first is preaching God’s Word, especially the Gospel. No matter what occupation I’ve had over the years to earn a living for my family, those jobs have never gotten me out of bed every morning. They have never filled me with purpose even when I’ve enjoyed the work. In my very marrow, I am a preacher of the Gospel. Nothing else drives me and fills me with purpose like the Lord does. That’s what gets me out of bed. That’s what makes all the trials and difficulties worthwhile.
The other thing I am passionate about is media, all types of media. Jesus’ Outsider is only one expression of that love. All the blogs I write are others. I love to write. I love to create new things. I love reaching out with the power of audio, video, and the written word. I love to use them to help others fulfill their God-designed calling. I have had the privilege of developing those skills with the intent on using them to glorify God.
The time has come to make some major transitions and those passions are the key. The Lord has been convicting me lately about how I’ve been neglecting those skills and gifts. I haven’t written much lately on any front. I have a lot of partially written books, snippets of scripts, and essays that need to be finished as well as much that still needs to be written. They’re there for a reason and need to be finished.
The time has come to focus more on producing media including writing, audio, and video projects. I am also being called to speak at conferences and events on a range of topics. There are things that I have been given to share and I need to share them. Anyone who’s listened to Jesus’ Outsider for the last few years likely has a good idea of topics I’ll be focusing on as a solo speaker and part of conferences. Soon I’ll be adding another Facebook page for my writing and speaking.
It’s time to make a living from my passions. I am working on launching Deep Mystery Studio as a for profit enterprise. I will be making my skills available to clients with a focus on producing media for ministries and churches. I will also be partnering with a friend to help build both of our businesses grow and develop. There’s a lot of work to be done first but that has already begun.
So, what does that mean for Freedom Church? Everything. Without making these transitions, Freedom Church will never happen. While progress has been made, constraints on my time have made recruiting and fundraising almost impossible. Proceeds from speaking engagements will be used primarily as fundraising for the launch. Some additional announcements regarding FC are coming soon.
Although it’s a huge leap of faith that we’re about to take and not without a little bit of fear, it’s very exciting to me that my two passions are integrating in a way that will honor God and provide for my family. Sometimes, going dark isn’t a bad thing.
Mike's Miscellaneous Thoughts 