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The Heavy-Duty Mike Podcast
The Heavy-Duty Mike Podcast episodes
- The Indispensability of Scripture in the Life of the Believer – Part 1 - Romans 12:1-2
God's grace has bestowed on us the ability to see the World, the Way (John 14:6), we were originally intended to see it. Through Jesus Christ, we're not only saved from our sinful depravity, but we're also being "set apart" for something that is altogether different. This sounds great, but why is it that I just don't have trust in Him when life turns difficult, or suffering becomes my reality?
I fear that way too many have fallen for a counterfeit version of faith--much like myself, you too may have adopted a Christianity that satisfies some kind of impulse or 'felt need,' but the "true offering" of your mind to Him is not taking place--it's still reserved for you!
The fact is, this reality becomes all the more obvious to us when we do encounter hardship and suffering. I've experienced this firsthand in my own life recently.
The truth is that the biblically "renewed mind" is the only way to know, endure, and overcome suffering. It's also the only way to know and comprehend what Kingdom Living is all about.
The Renewed Mind, in short, is the ability to think like Christ--or biblically. And in this episode, we will look at what it means to follow Jesus Christ Biblically. Paul makes this understanding clear in Romans 12:1-2.
We will look at why, unless our minds are intentionally rewired to think like Christ, we will always conform to a standard that allows for the service of self and not Christ, and maybe, and more importantly, become victims of our own self-deception.
33 min
About The Heavy-Duty Mike Podcast
From the publisher's feed
The Heavy Duty Mike Podcast focuses on helping followers of Jesus cultivate a meaningful and authentic relationship with the Word of God—the Bible. But wait, what about the name—The Heavy Duty Mike podcast? This doesn’t sound very ministry-focused, right?
Well, I’m glad you asked. The name—Heavy Duty Mike—comes from the nearly twenty years I spent working in the heavy-duty diesel and transport refrigeration industry. While the trades were not my initial career pursuit upon graduating from college, that was instead, 10 years of teaching, coaching, and even administrating in various private and public middle and high schools.
But in my 30s, my life took a few detours, and eventually, I found myself in need of a good-paying job. Aside from being a trained teacher, the only other skills I possessed involved turning wrenches. So I found an opportunity in the trades, where I would spend the next twenty-plus years forging a totally new career.
During my time as a diesel technician, I worked with my hands, building, maintaining, troubleshooting, and repairing the trucks and TRU equipment that make up the refrigerated food and pharmaceutical supply chain. Eventually, I found my way into the corporate leadership side of the industry, teaching the tradecraft and professional life skills to younger technicians who were trying to forge a successful career turning wrenches.
One thing has always been true, no matter the job title, from molding young minds in a school classroom or training employees in how to succeed professionally, everything over the past 30 years has been preparing me for this new endeavor with the Heavy-Duty Mike Podcast. This, though, brings me to a serious disclaimer; it’s something I want to be clear about right at the outset, too. In fact, it’s why I still lean into and identify as a diesel mechanic and not a bible teacher.
There is one thing that I hope I never become known for, and it’s the prototypical modern ministry-minded mouthpiece for all things Christian; Not to besmirch good people who preach and teach God’s Word, because there are many, but the new generation of dudes who seem to be about looking in touch with the mainstream. These are people who are complete with feel-good stories, positive energy, good vibes, and have this almost unbelievable charm that captivates and impresses everyone.
Now listen, what angers me isn’t the look or the good vibes, it’s the lack of functional authenticity. What I mean is that, when it comes to pointing people to the biblical truth, bringing to light the message of God's Word, they simply are not doing the job, and too many young Christians are being misled about who God is, and what being a disciple of Christ is all about— this reality is simply destructive. I’ve seen the impact on good people and how it’s even led some to deconstruct their faith in Christ and turn away altogether.
I know, this sounds harsh, and it is, but this needs to be said, and it’s for good reason. I want to offer something different, something grounded in the practical application of biblical truth. Here is what I mean— take this example—When a transport refrigeration trailer unit, responsible for keeping twenty million dollars worth of pharmaceutical product safe in the throes of a mid-summer afternoon heatwave, begins to fail, no one actually cares about anything but the responding repair technician's ability to get on site, identify, diagnose, and repair the problem.
In fact, it’s never about the guy's expensive tools or toolbox, the kind of service truck he drives, his position in the shop, or where he ranks in the hierarchy—instead, it’s about whether or not he possesses the wisdom, work ethic, and problem-solving skills necessary to quickly fix the unit before twenty million dollars is lost forever.
What matters most in these situations as a technician is the same thing that I think matters in following Christ, our ability to be efficient and execute the Word of God. It’s the same attitude that I am going to apply to this podcast— I want to help people cultivate a right relationship with Scripture.
I’ve seen the damage to the character of Christ that seemingly well-intentioned ministry professionals have done in the name of Christ, and it angers me because God has provided us with everything we need for life and godliness through a knowledge of Him—found in His Word—2 Peter 1:3. Yet, there are still people who have somehow managed to make attaining that knowledge of Him in the Word of God something entirely different from what it should be.
In essence, they’ve become the new gatekeepers of truth, restricting access to Scriptural understanding, pushing them away from personal involvement in their conformity to Christ, and making them dependent on a person or ministry for their spiritual development.
God’s Word has been given and preserved for our understanding. Instead, many pastors and spiritual mentors are practicing this new form of enslavement to a man-centered, self-help dependence to perpetually find validation and acceptance. When this kind of emotional connection finally wears off, and the rhetoric is no longer enough to motivate, people abandon Christ, never fully coming to true repentance and faith in Christ.
This is why I’m here in this space—to direct listeners' minds away from this kind of man-centered thinking about biblical truth and spirituality. I want to do what other spiritual mentors have done for me, and that is to challenge people to return to the timeless and transformational thinking found in Scripture alone.
I admit, some of this stuff won’t go down easy—But the fact is, most of what Scripture reveals about following Jesus will quite literally change everything about the way you think and do life… But then, that’s the entire point of our salvation anyway—
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come.”— 2 Corinthians 5:17 (LSB)
Thank you for taking the time to investigate this podcast by reading this. I encourage you to listen often. Also, go visit the site at heavydutymike.com to read the blogs I post; these are like the podcast, only in written form. Lastly, connect with me on Facebook. Admittedly, I’m not a huge social media guy, but it’s an easy way to share new content.