Dear Family,
Chance.
Chance is indeed an excellent name for a dog.
But please give me a chance! Not a dog but just a few minutes of your time. Because I think there is a chance.
No one really knows. There are no guarantees but there just may be a chance.
“Chance” is the thing we dread being stuck with. Yet, it is the thing we want just one more of. Just give me one more chance. Please?
Desperation is cruel to the bone. It is what we feel when we believe our chances are up or when we’re aware there is a chance we will suffer loss.
“There is no chance” are dreaded words to a lover, from a doctor, a preacher, a parent, the lady behind the ticket counter, even from your mechanic.
However, what if we were to accept the secure perimeters of “chance”?
The human mind can deal with the accurate realities of chance. When chance is misplaced or ill defined, the mind warps and bends in noticeably awkward ways to accommodate the misleading reality of chance. When we are deceived about chance, we struggle to make sense of life.
If we accurately define what chance actually is, we can survive. We can even thrive.
Let us find the true dimensions of the perimeters of chance. It may have never been done before, but what the hay, let’s go for it.
Seven years ago I lost all of my family except for Hazel and my baby girl Audrey. It was a horrendous life tragedy. Before it happened I would have said there was NO chance anything like this could ever happen to me and my family. One of the points I used to make in my “testimony” of having been delivered from homosexuality was, “I now know I will not be alone when I turn 60 as other homosexual men are. No matter what happens, I will always have my children and grandchildren.”
But, here I am, as alone as can be in a way I never thought I would be.
We have truly become uncomfortable with chance when we allow ourselves or others to turn into “little prophets”. Some of my best friends have tried to guarantee me that my children and/or grandchildren will come back to me one day. They’ve told me, “Mike, I KNOW they will come back!” Now, please do no think I am referring to you, I’m not. You have no clue just how many have said that to me. It is very uncomfortable to be around someone who has suffered a grievous loss. Our words of “hope” (or little prophecies) are often our way of trying to bring comfort. It is way too uncomfortable to say, “You know what? Even God does not know what will happen?”
But here is the reality: there is a chance. There is always a chance!
There is a chance you will be rich. There is a chance to be poor. There is a chance nobody will ever love you the way you want and need. There is a chance the person you thought loved you will abandon you on a seeming whim. There is a chance you will meet someone today that will never leave your side.
Chance is what keeps the fertile soil of life turned and ready for seed. By giving our souls a secure place for chance to take place, God has opened virtually ever vista to the human race. What is that secure place you may ask? It is here on Earth where ALL things eternal have been resolved. And here on Earth, all things temporal are left to chance and our effort. One can increase one’s chances. One can reduce one’s chances. But no one will ever be outside or beyond the realm of chance in this life.
We can navigate chance in the here and now. We are NOT equipped to handle chance on eternal or spiritual matters (especially in light of the fact that ALL things eternal have already been handled by God).
To mix-up these two pivotal perimeters of chance in one’s thinking is to guarantee a life of instability.
While chance rules the day for we humans, there is NO chance you are not loved by God!
There is no chance you will ever be punished by God.
There is no chance you will ever become unrighteous.
According to Scripture, there is NO chance the sun will not rise tomorrow.
There is no chance your life will ever truly be over.
Please let these perimeters of chance comfort you. Be confident in what there is no chance of happening. And please know that come what may, with all the issues of chance in this temporary existence, you have all it takes to succeed, and to suffer, endure, and recover from loss.
God separated the perimeters of eternal and temporal chance 2,000 years ago. God has now equipped us through the Holy Spirit’s presence in each heart with wisdom, righteousness sanctification, and redemption. He removed chance from the eternal equation. And God released into the temporal “the chance of a life time”. You are equipped “to the teeth”! You now have all it takes to traverse this temporal world of chance. And hopefully by now you know you have eternal security where nothing has been left to chance.
In reality, in this articulated accurate reality, I am never alone and never will be. Either will you. For you and I and God are One!
On August 16th I will turn 60 years old and there is NO chance I will be alone! When things of the temporal “fail”, the security of the eternal can give us a perimeter in which to have quietness and assurance in our soul, forever!
As my birthday approaches this summer there is something very exciting on the horizon. There is “a chance”, and a very good one, that my new book “ONE: The Gospel According to Mike” will be in your hands by the time the calendar says 8-16-12!
We have waited for so long for this to come to fruition. Many of us know there is a chance the publishing of this book has the potential to impact the planet in an amazingly positive way.
In its final editing stage, “ONE: The Gospel According to Mike”, is nearing some 270 pages. Among other vital perspectives, the book methodically and directly helps the reader separate the two distinct perimeters of chance—the eternal and the temporal.
The Gospel gives full breath to Louis Armstrong’s classic song, “What a Wonderful World!”
Now I have a question for YOU. Is there a chance you will help with the expenses of publishing and distribution?
“ONE” could soon be available at Barnes and Nobles, on Amazon, through Kindle, all e-book outlets and more.
We honestly have a chance to touch the world with the truth that has transformed life as you and I know it.
Please help me do this. Knowing what we have learned about this wonderful Good News, we now have the chance to share the “Power of God” with so many more people needing to know of their chance in this life and that there is no chance that their lives will be judged by God because of the finished work of Christ.
By mid-week you will receive another “Good NewsLetter” detailing the funds we’re going to need to get this job done.
Please be thinking about the chance you have to help out and about what you can do.
Much Love,
Michael