Leading with Faith: A Mayor's Journey of Love, Service, and Kingdom Purpose

Leading with Faith: A Mayor's Journey of Love, Service, and Kingdom Purpose

This conversation with Mayor Stephen Kepley of Kentwood, Michigan, reveals how authentic Christian faith can transform public service. Mayor Kepley shares his journey from engineer to four-term mayor, emphasizing that his identity is rooted in Christ rather than his position. He demonstrates that effective Christian leadership in the public sphere requires three core virtues: loving God, fearing God, and loving people. Throughout his testimony, he illustrates how seeking God's reality and kingdom first, maintaining integrity, and genuinely caring for all people—regardless of their religious or cultural background—can create lasting impact. His approach challenges the assumption that bold Christian faith is incompatible with political office, showing instead that authenticity, servant leadership, and dependence on God's guidance can be the very qualities that enable effective governance in a pluralistic society.

Pray Like This: The Lord's Prayer - Who Do You Think You're Talking To?

This powerful exploration of the Lord's Prayer begins with a question that stops us in our tracks: Who do we think we're talking to when we pray? We often rush past the opening words 'Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy' to get to what we consider the 'real' prayer—the requests for daily bread, forgiveness, and deliverance. But what if this first line is actually the key to everything else? By diving deep into what it means for God's name to be holy—separate, incomparable, majestic, and perfectly distinct from sin—we discover that our understanding of God's holiness fundamentally shapes how we approach Him in prayer. Through the honest struggles of Asaph in Psalm 73, we see ourselves reflected: wrestling with why the wicked seem to prosper while we face trials, questioning whether following God is truly worth it, and battling the temptation to air our doubts publicly rather than bringing them to God's throne. The journey from doubt to declaration that Asaph takes reminds us that God is big enough to handle our questions, wise enough to guide us through confusion, and loving enough to meet us with grace rather than condemnation. When we truly grasp God's holiness, our prayers transform from hesitant whispers to bold declarations, rooted not in our own strength but in the unchanging character of the One we're addressing.

Revival and the Next Generation: Empowering Youth to Transform the World

In this powerful exploration of revival and the next generation, we discover why young people hold such a unique place in God's plan for spiritual awakening. Drawing from Jesus's own words when He welcomed children and declared that the kingdom of God belongs to those like them, we're reminded that there's something distinctive about youth that enables God to work in extraordinary ways. Young people possess a moldability and hunger for authenticity that makes them uniquely receptive to the Holy Spirit's movement. They haven't yet hardened into fixed patterns of thinking or become cynical about what God can do. Throughout history, revival has often been carried by teenagers and young adults who possess that childlike faith Jesus spoke of - a willingness to take God at His word without endless questions or skepticism. Today's younger generations face unprecedented challenges through technology and social media, yet these very struggles are creating a hunger for something real and authentic. They're searching for genuine connection and truth in a world of digital facades. This isn't a weakness but an opportunity - what the enemy meant for destruction, God is turning into fertile ground for revival. We're challenged to recognize that the same generation we sometimes label as entitled or distracted may actually become the most devout and equipped generation since the beginning of the church, potentially ushering in the return of Jesus. The call is clear: we must disciple them properly, teach them Scripture, challenge them to serve rather than simply entertaining them, and believe that God wants to use them powerfully right now, not someday in the distant future.

Tea Time with Mick | 06.29.2026

Spiritual Warfare - Overcoming and Enduring in Jesus

This powerful message concludes a series on spiritual warfare by declaring a transformative truth: we are not called merely to survive, but to be victorious conquerors through Christ. Drawing from Romans 8 and Revelation 12, we're reminded that absolutely nothing can separate us from God's love—not death, not life, not our failures, not our darkest moments. The message challenges a common misconception in our spiritual lives: we must stop fighting for victory and start fighting from victory. The battle was already won at the cross, meaning every attack from the enemy comes from a defeated position. We're given practical tools for endurance through five memorable words: surrender, fill, circle, worship, and grit. Each morning begins with surrendering our day to God, being filled with the Holy Spirit, circling ourselves with safe community, worshiping through every aspect of life, and then having the grit to persevere. The message powerfully addresses church hurt and isolation, reminding us that the enemy magnifies our negative experiences to keep us away from the very community we need. We overcome through two weapons: the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. When we share what God has done in our lives, we extend hope to others and remind ourselves where true victory lies. This isn't just theological truth—it's meant to be our daily reality.