From the desk of Pastor Mike

In May 2020 I stepped down as the president of the college and began to evaluate what God’s next steps were for me. The first thing I did was try to identify what I felt about this next season of ministry. I concluded that my purpose was to fulfill my ministry by imparting to others what God has given me encouraging them to accomplish more than I ever have. From this I founded Not Many Fathers. Through this ministry I mentor emerging Christian leaders in how to make wise decisions, preach dynamically, and boldly initiate their visions so they can reach their God-given potential. As one young leader expressed to me, “Something that keeps sticking out to me concerning my generation is that they have ‘endless information but little wisdom’. We have been left with Google as our guide but virtually no mentors.”

In 1980 we moved back to Lima, NY where I made the Elim campus the BASIC headquarters. During that season I began to be burdened by God for the single adult population. Out of this burden a new ministry was born called Mobilized to Serve. This ministry exploded and for 8 years I traveled around the world, speaking in hundreds of churches, with a message for single adults. I also wrote a book called God’s Call to the Single Adult that sold over 100,000 copies and is still published today under the title The Power and Purpose of Singleness.

When I graduated from high school I decided to attend Elim Bible Institute. The church I attended was pastored by an Elim graduate and many high school students I helped lead to Christ and church volunteers I knew also eventually attended EBI. My time at EBI served as a season of spiritual formation. My first 18 months were all about me dying to myself. I wanted to give up every week. I felt like a mess who could never get anything right. Then during a Week of Prayer event at the school God met me and gave me a life changing revelation of His Grace. It was like I got saved again. I gave up on my effort and found that Jesus was enough, and that God would finish what He had started in me. I will always be deeply in debt to the people at Elim who believed in me.

I am amazed at who God picks to do outstanding things for Him. Just look at the guys Jesus selected as his disciples! In fact, if you look closely at the men and women He used throughout the Bible and church history you’ll discover a bunch of people who were insecure and broken, often with a crazy childhood. I suspect your story isn’t much different, after all He chose you too. Neither is mine.