March 29, 2018

Note from Pastor Kevin Lea:  I have known Mike Walsh for many years and have witnessed his profound love for his Savior, Jesus, and for those he knows (saved and unsaved). I was with Mike when he went into surgery and can testify that he was not anxious about the possibility his body might not survive the procedure.  I am thankful that the Lord has allowed Mike to stay with us and I hope the reader will ponder these words, which a few weeks ago Mike thought would be his last.

Two weeks ago today I had a four way heart bypass. Three weeks ago I was working through a fairly major heart attack and at the end of the day decided to wise up and hit the urgent care and find out what’s up.

I would never have posted this about myself except to hopefully get the attention of a few to read this to the end. Never for a full week prior to the surgery did I have a moment’s anxiety, nor have I had one since I have come out on the other side. “To live is for Christ and to die is to gain” (Philippians 1:21).

This morning was a bad one and feeling uncertain of tomorrow prompted me to write this closing effort on Facebook to reach a few with a reminder of the brevity of life.

While in St. Joseph’s I was allowed opportunity to share the importance of walking with the biblical Jesus with most anyone who crossed my path.  Did I miss some? I have no doubt I did, but it was a pleasure to be able to share life’s most important choice (Jesus) with some at least that appeared to listen.  Like all, what they do with Jesus is up to them.  Our responsibility as genuine followers is to share the gospel whether they listen or not.  That is the great commission left to us from Jesus himself.

Does walking close to Jesus enlarge your friends list……no, but when this life is over I won’t be standing before friends and family to be judged, but in front of God himself and what I hope for is to be able to hear, ‘Well done good and faithful servant, you told them what I was telling you to tell them (for the most part I hope) and not a watered down Jesus that doesn’t save and is not found in the covers of the Bible.”

I know I have a wonderful group of cover-to-cover, bible believing friends, and I am so blessed to call you brothers and sisters.  I also have other groups of friends and family, whom I also love very dearly. The one I suppose I am most concerned about are the ones who say they know Jesus and yet have no desire to: read the word of God, be told what the word says, or to fellowship with Jesus minded believers.  These same ones will tell me they are good with God and everyone has their own road to him.  Yet the word of God teaches opposite. It records Jesus saying, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).

So if there were many roads to heaven, it would have been unnecessary and foolish for the Father to send Jesus (the God man) to leave heavens throne and come to die a brutal death, nailed through the hands and feet to a Roman cross, pierced through the side, beaten and spit upon, scourged with a crown of thorns crammed upon his head, put in a tomb and rose again three days later (beating the curse of death) so I and all who would call upon and put their faith and trust in Him alone might be saved.

Now these same friends might tell me they believe this is true, yet their life is all about partying and a good time working for the weekend. They post things with Jesus one moment and the next is full of the F bombs cursing some politician or another.  They don’t give a rats behind about what God says about marriage, and think it doesn’t apply to them (because they are good in God’s eyes).  I encourage you to read the Bible and see what God says about these things and not some charlatan/false teacher who either has not read the word for himself with a heart to understand, or they just don’t care what it says and are using God’s word for a source of income (woe to them). Jesus said “they praise me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me”

Most of these will argue what the Bible says when it comes in conflict with what they want it to say, so therefore they don’t read it – very sad. Let me add for the record that I know of not one true believer who doesn’t stumble into some things at times – not one.  The difference is they are in agreement that what they (me) thought, said, or did as they stumbles was against God’s word and that they want to do better next time.

Lord knows I what no one to find themselves standing before the Lord saying, “But Lord didn’t we do this and that and all these great things in your name”, only to hear Him say, “Away from me you workers of iniquity, I never knew you” (Matthew 7:23). Please make sure you have had a genuine transaction with the Lord. We must agree with God that we are sinners in need of a savior; we are willing to give up our way of thinking and doing things our way, and instead are willing to follow Jesus and His ways of doing things until He takes us home.

Again if we cut and paste Gods word with no interest to the things He commands, then we have never been saved and are only fooling ourselves!

There are other things I wish we as true believes would put in their proper place. I have read through (and doing so again now) the Bible enough times with a heart to understand.  In prayer, I see no foundation for a great America.  Now with that said, I am very thankful God has put a plug in the drain with a type of king Cyrus, (Pres. Donald Trump)….. very thankful, but the fact is the heart of the people has not changed when it comes to wanting the biblical Jesus to rule and reign in this country; let alone in their individual lives. God has been very gracious to have put a temporary patch in the breech of the dam. Let’s use this time to bring all who will listen into the living ark (JESUS) before the dam bursts. Let’s put the horse before the cart. What they choose is not up to us, ours is to warn them.

As far as gun control goes, as for me I probably more than anyone love the fact that I have at least a half dozen or more neighbors who fire guns from all different directions and I am not sure where exactly they are firing from.  But I know they know where we are, and if I don’t know  who has them, neither do the bad guys, so fire away!  With that said, we know by prophecy that what we see all around us, a push for one world government, will not be stopped and in order for that to happen (and it will) they need to disarm America, the last country to have the freedom to freely bear arms. It’s coming much sooner than I would like, but the false flags will continue until they have accomplished their goal, no better time to put your faith and trust in Jesus….nothing more, nothing less will do.

So to close, and I could go on for days, but am not promised tomorrow, I will end with this: Those of you who knew me from the past know I used to love the limelight and was possibly known as the go-to guy for this or that.  Well, the flesh is still trapped in the flesh and without the Spirit of God I would still care what men thought of me (I am still flesh and do care a little).

But what is most important is to live pleasing (the best I can) to the Lord, and that is always a risk we take as we follow close to Jesus, that most will not follow with us or we may lose friends and family.  Jesus told us this would happen. He said he came to set a man against his entire household! This is not the purpose he came. He knew what happens when you put Him first, it divides because people love darkness over light and don’t want to give up their throne of life.

The song “Jesus is just alright with me” by the Doobie Brothers is how most feel about Jesus.  If you are truly saved, Jesus is so much more than that, and others aren’t comfortable with that for the most part.

Love you all more than you know, but have felt a release from the burden I have felt for some of you. As long as I am able, I will still pray that Jesus becomes more to you than “Just Alright” and for those who continue to reject Him completely, that you will have a change of Heart as others have, like well known scholars such as Author Lee Strobel, I pray that’s you.  Love you all until the last trumpet sounds! Maranatha!