Michael Todd - It's Not Safer In The Shallow
Oh, come on! Let’s give God a shout-out! Praise! Is that the best you’ve got? Hey, we made it through 21 days of prayer and fasting—glory to God! Hey, listen, if you are just joining us today, I want to say hi and welcome. My name is Michael, and I have the awesome privilege of serving as the lead pastor here at Transformation Church. If you don’t know, we give the first part of our year to God because we believe that if we give God our first, He blesses it. Everything that comes after will be good. We just finished 21 days of prayer—oh, y’all are not excited like I am! But we just wrapped up those 21 days, and Amber Lee said it, everybody’s already said it. I think this is not the end of something; it is just the beginning!
Somebody say, «This is just the beginning!» Come on, type it in the chat: «This is just the beginning!» I truly believe that our goal this year is to hear and obey. If God asks you to continue fasting like He has asked me, thank you, Lord, I will listen and obey! If He says to give up social media one day a week or one whole week every month, or if you can only be on social media for one week in a month, it doesn’t matter—listen and obey! This is the season where God wants us to be anchored. I believe in my spirit this is not the end of things. Somebody say, «It is just the beginning!» If you are excited to be in the house of God this morning, will you give God glory? Oh, is that the best you’ve got? Glory to God!
At home, on the treadmill, wherever you are, let’s give God praise! Alright, if you are already seated, stay seated. If you are in here, sit down. I have a message today that I thought would come last week, but God wanted to let us know that He is still speaking. I’ve heard so many testimonies this week of God speaking to people in various ways. I believe that today I have a unique, intentional assignment to share with you around this vision series where we are talking about being anchored. I want to give you a really clear definition, so I need everybody to buckle your seatbelt right now. Seriously, this message is going to change everything! It’s been brewing in me for a couple of weeks, and more clarity was given today. I love knowing that God is really speaking something so clearly that it shows up in my life and the lives of others; it’s about to influence your life!
Today we are starting week three of a series we’re calling «Anchor.» Say it one more time, «Anchor!» I need everybody in the chat to drop like 50 anchors right now because we are going to be anchored in 2021. Somebody said, «I will be anchored.» That was the biggest faith statement some of you have made all year because you are used to drifting; you’re used to going along with whatever. I can’t get into that yet, but this is the year of anti-drift! God told us very clearly that whatever tries to take you off course this year, we must be intentional about staying anchored. As we look at that word, I want to give you a working definition of the word «anchored.»
An anchor is a heavy object attached to something to keep the vessel in place. What do you have in your life to keep you in place? Oh, I didn’t say it had an age qualification because some of the older saints think they know everything. «I’m grown,» but you drift; «I’ve got money,» but you’re always drifting. God is saying, «What have you decided will keep your vessel in place?» The way it keeps it in place, watch this, is either by weight or by grip. If you’re going to be anchored to something, you need to be anchored by weight or by grip. Another definition describes an anchor as a source of security or stability. That’s what an anchor does; it holds something in place.
The last definition is to securely and firmly fix. What God is telling us is that I want you to be anchored. There must be a place where God wants us to stay that will allow us to withstand, to endure, and to remain in the same place, no matter what comes or goes. The truth is that many of us, including the one speaking, if I don’t have my faith fixed on something, I get distracted. Oh, are y’all going to leave me up here by myself? Does anybody get distracted? Come on, hands up in the room, hands up in the chat!
Does anybody get distracted? Some of you right now are watching me, and something is distracting you in the room. Somebody’s breath is distracting you because they just sat down—just kidding! But there are things that distract you; it may be a noise, it may be someone’s social media feed, or it may be you comparing where you’re at to where someone else is. Uh-oh! What God is saying is you need to let all the peripheral go—anything that would allow you to drift—and have an anchor to keep your vessel in place. I’m telling you, some of y’all have been moving so much. You go on vacation trying to escape something, or you go to some type of show to avoid reality. God says, «I’m removing everything so you can stay grounded with something that will last.» Somebody shout at me, «Anchored!»
So when I begin to think about this idea of an anchor, my mind works a little bit differently. God showed me something very clearly, and I’m going to reverse engineer my way into an anchor today. This is the first point I want you to write down. When I think about an anchor and why it’s needed and where it’s needed, I think about a boat and a ship, and I think about the sea and the ocean. The thing that came to my mind as soon as I started to study this is God spoke to me and said, «Michael, it’s not safer in the shallow.»
Now, I started to think about this, and God says if I told you the word is «anchored,» you do not need an anchor in shallow waters. So, if I’m saying the word is for you to be anchored, that means your shallow Christianity, your shallow faith, your little bit of obedience is not what I’m calling you to. I would not supply you with a prophetic word like «anchored» if you were supposed to stay in the shallow. Uh-huh! See, the problem right now is that all of us are hanging out in the kiddie pool. Can I show you?
This is what our Christianity looks like. It looks like, «God, I want more! I need you to do a great work in me,» and all you’re doing is living in the kiddie pool. It may look like I’m surrounded, and I’m surrounded by you. Oh God, I feel it! But God said you don’t need an anchor here because you’re in control here; you don’t need an anchor because it’s not deep enough for you to need me to be your anchor right here. You still get to make the decisions here; you still get to define your relationships as good for you or not here. You get to decide what city you go to, and I’m being my best self! God said you’re not deep enough; it is not safer in the shallow.
What we do is get into our little Christian clubs, grab all of our Christian toys, and start getting all of our noodles. We come out and get our Bible reading plans and journals, and we come in here saying, «Going deep in God this year.» This is what you look like! I just finished 21 days of prayer and fasting, and God said all you prayed about was your situation. Oh no, but I want to be anchored in God! All my friend groups are in the shallow! «God, do a deep work in me.» He said, «You’re not deep enough; you’re not all in.»
May I submit to you this is what the church looks like? We look goofy asking God to do big things in shallow water! We don’t need an anchor when the water is so shallow. We don’t need an anchor if we can decide how wet we get. «Well, Pastor Mike, you’re up here looking a mess!» This is how you look every day going to work. This is how you do relationships, and you think nobody sees it. You’re toting around your Bible and talking about how great God has been in your life, but God says you’ve been too shallow.
If God told us as a church the word for the year is «anchored,» that means it’s not safer in the shallow. Wherever you’ve been shallow, wherever you haven’t let God take you deeper, wherever you’ve decided—see, the crazy thing is the shallow is all about control. Have you ever met someone who can’t swim but will still go to the pool or the beach? Where do they hang out? In the shallow end. Why? Because in the shallow, I can be around what makes everybody wet without giving up control.
I’m talking to somebody right now who thinks that just coming to church and logging on is enough, but you’re still in the shallow. You won’t give God your tithe; you still want to be in control. You won’t commit to a small group; you still want to be in control. «I don’t want anybody to know all that about me!» God says it’s not safer in the shallow! «Well, they don’t know what I did; they don’t know who I’ve been.» God said, «But I do! I know everything about you! If you would just come out a little deeper, I could take you to a place where you can see things and be things that were never possible!»
Why are you cannonballing into the shallow? I’m sick of this kiddie pool Christianity, and what we want to do is invite our friends into this. What we want to do is build relationships and discover our purpose and calling in the kiddie pool. This does not have the capacity to hold what God has made me to be! The shallow does not have the capacity! I can’t backstroke in the kiddie pool; I can’t reach my purpose in the kiddie pool! I cannot do certain things in the kiddie pool! You think it’s better because you can’t drown in the kiddie pool; that the spirit of fear has gripped you so much that you would rather stay in a place where you feel you can control instead of letting God take you deeper. He told me so clearly, «Michael, it’s not safer in the shallow!»
I’m prophetically telling somebody right now that you are about to move from the shallow. Just doing your Bible reading plans is not going to be enough in 2021. Going to the club on the weekends and dressing provocatively while coming in here and acting all holy is too shallow, baby. Walking around letting everyone think you’re a player while you want to avoid real commitment, but what God desires for you is to be a man of valor, a man of victory, and a man who sets a generational pattern. He’s saying it’s too shallow where you’re at. Every pastor preaching so that people can come back is saying, «It’s too shallow where you’re at!» If everybody leaves this stream and I do what God called me to do, it’s okay; we’ll be alright in the deep!
But 2021, we are leaving the kiddie pool! Somebody needs to type that right now: «We’re leaving the kiddie pool!» Somebody say, «I’m leaving the kiddie pool!» It’s uncomfortable, actually, to have all this water on me right now and still function as if I’ve been submerged. I’m actually just damp right now; there’s squashy stuff in my shoes! It’s crazy because this is what the world sees: they see footprints that look like I’ve been with Him. It appears I’ve been with Him; I mean, the footprints of what’s happening look like I have a real relationship with Him! I posted every 21-day prayer graphic, and so it looks like I’ve been with Him. But to prove that I’ve fully given my life to be submerged, my head has to go under. See, the difference between the kiddie pool and the deep waters is your mind, your head.
Everything you’re dealing with right now starts here. This acts because of this. My hands act according to my head! All my actions align with my head, and if God has your whole body but not your head… If you’ve been in shallow enough water to tiptoe into your own opinions and ideas without any scriptural basis, then this is how I feel. But God is saying this is the year of submission! What a swimmer has to do in water is submit to it! What a boat does in water is submit to it! I’m encouraging you right now; the shallow is overrated. It reminds me of Luke 5:4 when Jesus was preaching. It says He stepped into one of the boats, and then Jesus asked Simon, like He’s going to ask you. He asked the owner—see, God’s not going to do anything.
The greatest thing that God gave you was choice. Everybody say «choice.» He’s not going to violate your choice in this situation. That’s why some of you have been 13 years in the kiddie pool. Some of y’all are great and have kids, and you’ve led them to think that kiddie pool Christianity is the way to do it. What I’m telling you is, yes, your eternity is secure, but your history now has been stifled because you’re just worried about going to heaven. In your Christianity of the kiddie pool, God is saying, «But I want to use you right now in this day and age.» He’s saying to all of us, like He said to Simon Peter, «Push it out into the water—come off the shore.» I just believe that is my mandate today—to ask you in the first month of 2021, will you please push this thing out from the seashore? Will you come out of the shallow?
Verse 4 says, «When He had finished speaking—» this one always messes me up—"so He pushed out, Simon.» Like many of you, even those who did this 21 days of prayer and fasting, or people who have decided to give a tenth to God of every part of your increase, or those who decided to be generous and serve with your time, or those who are deciding, «I’m not going to miss Sunday,» or «when we do small groups, I’m going to get involved"—like those who have pushed out from the shore. But then it challenges us. I always thought it was a push-off, and then they were in the deep. No, no, no! He said, «Push it out into the water.» So, we sat in the boat, and He taught the crowds from there. When He was finished speaking, He said to Simon again, «Now go out where it is deeper.» I thought I did enough. I pushed out, and You spoke. Then He said, «I’ll speak again,» and when I speak again, the only word I’m going to say is «deeper.» Somebody say «deeper!»
I know that scares some people right now because you’re thinking, «What does that mean?» It’s the point when you go deeper; only God can control the circumstances. Today, God is telling us to go—everybody say «deeper.» If you’re taking notes, the title of this message is «It’s Not Safer in the Shallow.» I started looking at all this kiddie pool Christianity that’s going on, and it took me back to Psalms 42 when David made this statement: «Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me.» This is the thing—David was in a place where he was lamenting, and he was thinking about all the crazy things that were going on in his life. David said, «The deep hole in me is calling out for the deep fullness of You.»
Some of y’all have gone to counselor after counselor, you’ve gone to drug after drug, you’ve gone to escape after escape, and the deep cavern that’s in your soul—I’m about to preach this thing—is calling and crying out for the deep fullness of God. But you will not get overwhelmed in the shallow. What are you saying, Pastor Mike? An anchor is only needed in the deep. Don’t yell «anchor» no more, don’t tattoo it, don’t post it, if you’re going to stay in the shallow. If God gave us the word «anchored» at the top of 2021, that means we’ve got to go deeper. Hebrews 6:1 confirms what I’m saying. It says, «Therefore, could we just move beyond the shallow? Could we move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward into maturity? Not laying again the foundations of repentance from acts that lead to death and of faith in God?»
Can I break down what this is saying? The first step to you learning how to go deeper is to get in the kiddie pool. And God says—now this is going to offend some people’s whole theology—God says that literally salvation and faith are kiddie pool Christianity. He’s saying, at some point, we have to acknowledge our eternity is secure; I’ve put my faith in Jesus, and I have faith in Him. This is where most Christians stay their entire life: «I messed up this weekend—uh-oh, but I’m saved again—uh-oh!» I messed this up, and God says, «You are playing in the kiddie pool.»
Could we move past the elementary teachings—the foundational thing? It is necessary; it is a thing—but every Sunday, pulpit after pulpit after pulpit, all we do is pacify people who want to decide this week to get out of the kiddie pool and decide this week that they want to get in. This week, I’m going to post my blessings and do a blessed challenge like this, but this week, I want to be holy, and this week, I want to tell my friends and family to live a certain way. And this week, I want to be all about the money. God is saying, «Could we move past this elementary stuff and go deeper?» Can we push out?
Today, I want to talk to you about going deeper, and this is what I want to say: If you’re going to go deep, you have to drop your anchor low. Some of y’all have been dropping it low all week—I’ve seen the busted challenge; I’ve seen y’all. That’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about dropping the anchor of your life low. I’m talking about— right now, if I had an anchor—where’s that little anchor? I just want to show you something real quick. This is a small depiction of what some of us look like in our lives and how we look in everything we’re doing. When we have an anchor in the shallow end of our life, we cannot drop it low; we can’t bring it to a place—listen, this right here is the anchor. There’s nowhere for it to go in the shallow.
What God has called you to is not supposed to stop at salvation. What God has called you to is not supposed to stop at having faith. What God has called you to is not supposed to stop with you just being safe. What God has called us to is not supposed to just stop at Tulsa, Oklahoma. What God has called us to is not supposed to just stop in my prayer closet. I gotta drop it low. I’m just trying to build the case that the shallow’s not sexier; the shallow’s not safer. Everybody say «into the deep.» Say it again: «into the deep.» Why are you saying that, Pastor Mike? Because the depths of your life need the depths of His love. Every place in me that is still broken—as the pastor of the church, the depths of my life, the places that I don’t want to talk about, the places I don’t even want my counselor to know about, come on, can we be real? The insecurities that have been there sludging around for decades, that depth of my life needs the depths of His love. And the only way you can drop an anchor low is in the deep.
So, I’m going to give you just four points that you need to know when it comes to having and needing an anchor. The first point I want you to write down: You need an anchor. Somebody say, «I need an anchor.» Ephesians 4:11 says, «So Christ Himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors, and the teachers—everybody on Transformation Church staff—to equip His people.» So, we’re not here to do the work for you; we’re here to give you the tools to do the work. I did a series last year called «Who’s the Minister Here?» And so many people, if I said, «Who’s the minister here?» y’all would point at me if we were all in an arena. But I would dare say, according to this scripture, if we ask, «Who’s the minister here?» everyone say, «I’m the minister!»
Come on, raise your hand, say, «I’m the minister!» Oh my goodness! That means God factored in your craziness; He factored in your experience or lack thereof; He factored in your flaws, and He still said, «Yeah, I’m gonna put them in a church situation, and I’m going to give them Pastor Mike, and I’m going to give them Pastor Debri, and Pastor Barbara, and Pastor Charles, and the team.» And what we’re going to do through the Bible reading plan, through small groups, and through all these different mechanisms is give them the ability to be equipped for the works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son and become—oh, here’s that word again—mature.
Again, the shallow end and that other scripture is for us to know that we have to be maturing; that means we have to come out of the kiddie pool, attaining the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Remember, I just said the depths of our life need the fullness, the depths of His love. Until we experience that—look at verse 14: bring special attention to this. Then we will no longer be infants tossed back and forth by the waves and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.
Can I tell you something that really, really, really kind of bothers me today? Because right now, everybody’s a prophet of God; everybody has a platform. As long as you’ve got a camera and you’ve got a YouTube connection, someone’s watching; someone’s hearing you. You have no validity; we don’t know what you’re anchored to; we don’t know anything. But what ends up happening—and that creates a difficulty for people who are not anchored to something sure—because then you can get tossed to and fro. You can listen to me and then scroll up and see somebody who does Hinduism or Buddhism and think that it’s the same thing, and you’re tossed to and fro from a motivational speaker to a mogul, and you think it’s the same thing as God’s word, and you’re being tossed to and fro. God gives you a word to be anchored, and your favorite celebrity says «grind, hustle, do I,» and you’re tossed to and fro.
What God told me was write this point down: The anti-anchor is immaturity. He’s literally telling us we’ve got to come out of the kiddie pool; we’ve got to go into the deep; we have to mature, and we cannot rely on our immature thinking, our immature responses, our immature feelings. You’re going to know that you’re not being anchored when you act like a kid this year when God tells you to do something; when somebody talks about you, and you go right back to talking about them. «An eye for an eye?» I’m going to smack Day on the cheek, and God said, «Oh, that’s what immature people do; that’s what people who aren’t anchored in Me do.»
See, the reason that people are tossed back and forth is because they are not tied to something that has enough weight. The crazy thing about this is I’m going to give you our anchor scripture. We were in Hebrews at the top, but I’m going to drop you down to verse 19. Look at Hebrews 6:19. This is our anchor scripture! This is the first scripture God took me to when He gave me the word that we were supposed to be anchored. He said, «We have this hope as believers as an anchor for our soul.» Do you know what your soul is? God says, «I will give you an anchor for your mind, your will, and your emotions; that is firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain where our forerunner—here’s our anchor—Jesus has entered on our behalf. He has become our high priest or our anchor forever in the order of Melchizedek.» What I’m trying to tell you is what you are anchored to is not about the intention; it’s all about the integrity!
Okay, the great thing about everybody and this word «anchored» is all of you are already anchored to something. Some of us are anchored to television; some of us are anchored to success; others of us are anchored to what our idea is of the future; some of us are anchored to what we desire and what we want. And what God is saying is if you don’t realize and understand that it doesn’t matter if the intention was good, if it does not have the weight to hold you up, it does not have the integrity to be your anchor. It’s hard to really get you to understand this without showing you. So, I’m going to show you right now; I’m about to get anchored to something. I’m a married man that wants to put my faith in the relationship that I have, but the crazy thing about any relationship we have on this earth is it does not have the integrity to hold me up.
So, it doesn’t matter if I met that person when we were both in the same place and didn’t know God, and we grew together, and we were firm believers, and then we got married. It doesn’t matter; the intention is everybody wants their relationship to hold them up. The problem is when the weight of life comes into my life, and when I have to put tension on the relationship, what ends up happening is I get disappointed because that did not have the integrity to hold me up. I’ll give you another example: some of y’all have put your worth in your dreams; you have put success as the thing that you’re going to be anchored to… as long as I make this much money by this time, have this house, and have this car. That’s why people who have millions of dollars will put a gun to their head and put pills in their mouth—because what they are tied to and have told everybody they wanted since they were seven is inadequate.
When the weight of life comes, it disappoints because it does not have the integrity to hold me up. The reason you need an anchor is that what you’ve been tied to doesn’t have the integrity to hold you up. I don’t know what it is for you; I know what it was for me. The picture-perfect life, the life where everything was good; I was anchored to the idea of being Michael Todd, whatever that meant. As long as I could be Michael Todd, I would be able to hold myself up through life. You know, the funny thing is I became Michael Todd at the same time I found out my son had autism.
When I was trying to hold on to being Michael Todd, hold my marriage together, and preach for everyone, the weight of life and the storm of life started raging. When I needed something to hold me up, this is how many of us look today—tired, frustrated, broken, hurting, and ready to give up. What we do is let go of the anchor, and now we’re out here in the sea of life drifting. Your marriage is on this boat; your children are on this boat. You used to hear God, but now all you hear is the waves. You’re so sick of worship songs; you’re done with the idea of hope. The problem is that what you were tying yourself to from the very beginning did not have enough weight to hold you up. You need an anchor!
Somebody say, «I need an anchor!» I’ve got good news for you: right down this point—you have an anchor! See, this is the beautiful thing about it: God is the only one who meets supply and demand. He tells you what you need, but then He gives it to you. You need an anchor. Somebody say, «I have an anchor!» Look what Hebrews 12:1 says—I love the Word of God! It says, «Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that easily entangles us.» Y’all thought Jada came up with entanglement? Nope, it was the Bible! And it says to lay that entanglement aside and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
Somebody say, «I have a race!» It has nothing to do with the person next to you; it has nothing to do with your team. I have a race that’s already marked out for me. It says, «fixing our eyes on Jesus.» When I fix my eyes on an anchor that can hold—His name is Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of my faith—my anchor. Somebody say, «my anchor!» For the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross, scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of the Father at the throne of God. Consider Him, our anchor, who endured such opposition from sinners so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. God said if you feel like the person who is just laid out on the bed of life and you’re weary, God said, «I went to the cross just for you. I knew you would need an anchor 2,000 years ago. I saw you in 2021 about to give up. So when they beat me, scourged me, and mocked me, I could have called angels to rescue me, but I saw Aaron, and I saw Jay, and I saw Caleb, and I saw Bree, and I saw Brad.»
God saw—put your name in there! Come on, say it—what’s your name? And God saw—what’s your name? And God saw—what’s your name? When He saw you, He said, «I have to be their anchor so that they will not grow weary and lose heart.» Can I make it so plain? Jesus is our anchor! Oh, we’re anchored not to just anything! If it doesn’t have the integrity to hold me up, I’m going to fall anywhere, but anyway… but somebody say, «I’m anchored to Jesus!» Say it with your chest, «I’m anchored to Jesus!» See, the crazy thing about actually finding an anchor that holds is that when I anchored my life to Jesus, I could live in a manner that didn’t require a safety net. See, when I was anchored to something I wasn’t sure would hold me up, I had to make sure I had something close to me to make me feel better when I failed. That’s what alcohol is for some of you; that’s what being addicted to likes is for.
When I fail in life, if I get enough likes, if I make another deal, if my kids do good, I have to have something to make me feel better about the fall. But when you’re anchored to something that’s sure, something that’s steady, when life comes to me, I can lean all my weight on it. I don’t feel like preaching this Sunday, I don’t feel like being a husband this Sunday. I’m leaning. I want to fall, but something is holding me up. I want to let go, but something is holding on—whoa! When I fall, because things happen, I can get up. Oh, y’all thought that wasn’t planned! The Bible says that the righteous man falls seven times, but he gets back up again. I’m about to preach this thing! So I fail, and I wanted to let go, but it didn’t let go of me. Can somebody thank God that you have an anchor that won’t let go of you? Some of y’all are acting too bougie right now like you got yourself here, but I thank God that Jesus is my anchor.
In 2020, I wanted to give up, but I held onto something that had a hold on me. I don’t know why I’m talking to you right now, but someone’s feeling like they’re about to let go. I’m so tangled up, tied up in this thing that even if I take my hands off of it, even if I’m not holding it anymore, it’s still holding me up. Somebody said, «I have an anchor, and His name is Jesus.» Can we give God a five-second praise right now if He is the anchor that doesn’t let go? Therefore, 1 Corinthians 15:58 says, «Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm.» Oh, not just that I need an anchor, and not just that I have an anchor, and Jesus is my anchor. This says that if I’m in Christ, I should stand firm and let nothing move me—that sounds like an anchor to me. «And always give yourself fully to the work of the Lord because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.»
What I’ve found out is that because we have an anchor, we can be an anchor. See, the crazy thing about it is that many of us are the anchor that is going to hold people who are far from Christ until they have the ability to encounter Him. You missed it! You thought this was about you. This is about your coworker that gets on your nerves. This is about that cousin you don’t even want to invite to the family reunion. This is about that uncle. God said the reason I need you to be anchored to Me is that when you’re anchored to Me, then you can become an anchor for somebody else. Somebody say, «I am an anchor!»
See, the crazy thing about it is when I’m in the storm of my life, but I’m connected to Jesus, Charles can come up and be in the storm of his life. Because I’m anchored to something that’s going to hold, he might be dealing with something, but neither one of us is going down. Ah! Because we’re anchored to something that is stronger than both of us! Bella, come here! Come here real quick, baby! I need you—I need you to jump on Daddy’s back. This is what God is calling us to do; just jump on my back. Yes! I have to be an anchor for my family. She’s not old enough to know how to hold onto Jesus for herself, but I can hold onto my anchor and still be an anchor for somebody else. God is saying the reason why you have to be anchored is that generations need somebody to hold onto Jesus. What would happen if I let my daughter out in the sea of life and didn’t show her how to have an anchor in Jesus?
Charles and Arlo and Abby and Natalie, and my child that’s not even here yet, are depending on me to stay anchored to Jesus. My question is, who is depending on you? Thank you, baby! To be anchored so that at a time when their life is wavering—at a time when they, this is real for us, Charles, isn’t it? Like, people—this is not a story. When God put me in Pastor Charles' life, and when Charles decided to shut down Eden and he listened, obeyed, and stepped out of the shallow and did something that nobody his age was doing—he came and put his head under—submitted to the vision, he went to the deep. He served six months with no job, no title, with a family—didn’t get a dollar. God told him to anchor to this.
Come here! And what ended up happening is when he anchored, and because I had made a decision to be anchored to Jesus, what happened was last year the enemy tried to come attack him. You even heard it probably in one of the messages he spoke about, where he was thinking about committing suicide and all of those things that the devil tried to… I hate the devil! Tried to convince him of because of how many people are tied to him. What God did in that moment, because I was anchored to Him—watch this—he was in a deep, dark place a few months ago, and I was able to hold onto Jesus and pull, and at 2 AM I was by his bedside singing and praying over him like he was my child.
Now, he’s doing better than ever because I was anchored, and now he is anchored, and now somebody else can be anchored to him! I’m telling you, when you allow God to be your anchor, then you can be an anchor. Who’s drifting because they’re not tied to the right thing? Who’s drifting because you’re still in the shallow? Who’s drifting because you won’t decide to push off and go into the deep? God told me so clearly, He said, «Michael, you need an anchor. You have an anchor. You are an anchor.»
Write this last point down: Together we can be an anchor as a church. If we could be ones that stayed anchored to Jesus and stayed anchored to each other, we’d be the anchor for the world! See, you missed it; you thought it was about the church being okay. The reason why I believe God shut down all these churches is that He needed us in the world. He didn’t need us in this Christian club of anchored people, thinking we have our official anchored badge—we’re so… I need you! They’re the ones drowning! I came to seek and to save those who are lost—they’re just drowning! What God’s asking us to do, Transformation Church, I don’t know what the mandate is for everybody else’s church, but for this church this year, how we’re going to represent is we’re going to grab ahold of Jesus, our anchor, and we’re going to try to tie as many people as we can to us! Uh-oh! You thought I was going to say to Jesus.
See, the problem is they’re going to meet us before they meet Him. I wish we could bypass people and just get them to Jesus, but He does nothing on this earth without human—I want to say interaction, but it really is interference. He does nothing without human interference. It would be so much easier just to say, «This is Jesus; this is Him,» and step out of the way. But they see how you live, they see how you act, they see how you love, they see if you’re on time for work, and they see if you do what you say. God is saying I need my church—why community? Why small groups? Why come back every week? Why tithe? Why give? —because together, somebody say, «We are the anchor.»
I saw this thing—you know, a lot of black people can’t swim and stay away from water. I rebuke that in the name of Jesus! I’m starting a swimming club for all the African Americans out there. White people, you can chuckle; it’s okay. There are systemic things that go back to that; they didn’t teach us how to swim because if we could have swum, we could have gotten away from plantations. What ended up happening is we were made to be afraid of the water because if we could have conquered it, we would have been closer to our freedom. Generations later—it’s almost Black History Month, so I’ll just give you some education—but generations later, it’s now a systemic thing that people in their mind think like, «black people will go to the pool with socks and sandals on with no plan on getting in the water.» We’ll take our shirts off, buy swimming trunks, do everything, but we stay in the shallow. I’m scared to say that that may be the condition— not just of our physicalism but our spiritual state. What I’ve done is try to break stereotypical barriers in my life.
When I was younger, all my white friends were going to the lake, and I thought, «Black people don’t go to the lake. That’s not something we do.» None of us went to the lake. So, I saw my white friends going to the lake and asked, «Why didn’t you invite me?» They replied, «We didn’t know you did that.» I said, «I don’t, but I will now.» They began taking me to the lake. This past year, I went with my friend John. He wanted to go to the lake for his birthday, and there were about four or five of us.
One thing I observed was all these boats in the water, and I wondered, «What is going on?» They explained, «They’re having a boat party.» I asked, «What is a boat party?» They said, «One boat drops its anchor, and the other boats anchor to that boat. They try to see how many boats can pull up, allowing people to walk from boat to boat, meeting new people, having drinks with people they’ve never met before, and making business deals. This is a picture of what a boat party looks like—a gathering of people who don’t know each other, where there’s an open invitation for any boat in the water.»
Not just the boats that went through this certification, not the religious boats, not the boats that completed seminary, not the boats without tattoos, not the boats who’ve never lived a homosexual life. I hope you hear what I’m saying; read between the lines. Any boat could come and anchor to the next boat, and they would stay there for hours, knowing that no matter if a storm came or whatever happened, they would all stay afloat because they were anchored. May I submit that this is how the body of Christ is supposed to look? In 2021, with waves trying to ravage people—from racial tension to political unrest, God’s saying, «I need my church to drop their anchor and say, no matter what you try to do, we are anchored to something that won’t let us go.»
I think the Bible says it like this: «Whosoever you are, come get tied to me so that you can see this won’t fail, so that you can eventually say, 'I don’t want to just be tied to you; I want to be tied to Jesus.'» This has become a life message for me. I didn’t understand it at the time, but about three years ago, I was holding my daughter Ava. She had just been born, and at that moment, while sitting in my office, I heard my wife crying. We had MJ tested, and we found out he had autism. At that moment, everything I was anchored to failed—the money in the bank didn’t hold me up, the fact that our church had grown didn’t hold me up, and the friends I thought would be there were great, but they didn’t hold me up.
I was crying out to God while sitting at the piano, saying, «God, what are you doing?» He said, «I said, 'Save me.' My wife is hurting. I’m trying to be strong, saying my son would never speak.» I could go into this and that, and God told me so clearly, «Michael, I’m not just the God who wants to save you; I’m the God who will sustain you.» I said, «What?» He said, «Michael, an anchor isn’t just to save you from the storm; an anchor is to sustain you through the storm.» As I sat there, crying and broken, hurting, everything around me had failed, and God said, «But I’m still holding you.»
When I wanted to give up, He said, «I’ll sustain you.» I sat down at the piano and began to play from the depths, like David said, of my emptiness. I needed the depths of His love. How is this going to happen? Is he going to ever go to school? Is he going to get married? Will he have any friends? I said, «God, give me an answer.» He said, «I’ll sustain you.» What happens when God says, «Drop your anchor on me? I’m not going to tell you when the storm ends; I’m not going to tell you what changes are coming, but I promise you I’ll sustain you through the storm.» I began to pen these words: «You sustain, you sustain. In the middle of it all, you remain the same. Through the rain, you still reign, you sustain.»
Over and over, every birthday he’s had, every time the ministry would grow but his speech would deteriorate, I didn’t look at what I saw; I remembered what he said, and I held firmly. Right now, I’m holding firmly to my anchor, and my anchor has a name: He’s the Lion of Judah. He’s the beginning and the end; that means He knows what’s happening in the middle, and He is our anchor who will sustain us. We weren’t supposed to do this for a couple of weeks, but I knew at the end of this message that we needed to sing this song. We needed to release this song into the earth, and we needed to sing this. I wrote this song three years ago in the depths of a pit, but right now, I believe it’s going to be what allows you to tie your hope to this hope I have as an anchor. God, thank you for sustaining us. Hands lifted all over the world:
God, thank you for sustaining me. Whatever it is in the middle of it, no matter how much the storm is raging, no matter what the rain coming down, you still reign; you sustain. Let’s worship together. «Your work is the light in the dark, the hope for my heart. Seasons come; people change. In the middle of it all, you remain the same. Through the rain, you sustain.» I’m not sure, Lord, here’s my life; you remain the same. Through the rain, your promises always come true, so I will trust you. Your promises will judge me. I will trust you. I will trust you, because you are my source. You are my strength. I trust you, faithful and true. In the middle, you are faithful. I will go; I will trust you. I trust you; I’ll give you. You stayed, you remain the same, no matter what it looks like. I trust your tears; I need somebody to say that part. «Your promises always come true.» Your promises always stand because your anchor is safe. I will trust you.
Wherever you are right now, I want you to stand up, lift your hands—this is not for us; this is for God. Tell Him, «I will trust you.» Even when I’m holding the thing I can’t change, somebody declares safe—for I feel the presence of God over your business, over the situation, over the thing inside. Somebody say, «I feel a stirring coming. Somebody’s faith is rising up.» Somebody say, «I will trust you.» Hey! Somebody’s faith is being anchored in Jesus. We’re taking our anchor for everything that won’t last. No matter what it looks like, come on, somebody’s got it. Yes, say, «You sustain!» Everybody, just the voices. Everybody just says, «You remain through the rain.» My anchor—come on, He’s my anchor! «I feel that.» Wow, I’m holding on to you, Jesus! Relying on my anchor, your mercy is new. Hands lifted everywhere:
I declare it. I believe that today we’ve decided it’s not safer in the shallow; we’re going deep. That’s why we need an anchor, and Father God, we need an anchor. We have an anchor—Jesus is our anchor! We are anchored in you. As the church, together we beat that anchor. Father, I declare that whatever people have been anchored to that has been failing them, today they disconnect.
I even hear prophetically that there are some friend groups you have to let go of because you’ve been anchored to your relationships more than your relationship with God. There are some ideas, some plans, some visions you’ll have to take your anchor off of. I know you had a plan at 26: «I’m going to be married at 29.» «I’m going to have my first kid at 32.» «We’re going to be millionaires.» Like you had; take your anchor off that and attach it to Jesus.
I declare that every distraction that has tried to make us drift has been served an eviction notice. Today we are anchored to Jesus! Somebody say, «I am anchored to Jesus, and I will trust you.» That may be the most profound thing you say. Just lift your hands and say, «God, I will trust you.» God, I’ll trust you. Wherever you are in your home watching this on rebroadcast, say, «God, I’ll trust you!» I’ll trust you, God, in the middle. How many of you are in the middle of something right now? Your response is, «God, I trust you.» You know the beginning from the end. You’re my source, you’re my strength, and I will trust you. Say, «I will trust!»
Something’s happening to somebody right now—their faith is increasing right now! Right there in the middle, you’re not going to drown, you’re not going to drift because you’re anchored! Hey, I feel that thing right now! Somebody say, «I will!» Whoa! Y’all better not push me because I feel the presence of God coming into this place. I’m going to stay firm. I’m going to believe in You, God.
If you’re watching right now and you’ve been drifting and haven’t accepted Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, I’m asking you to make the one decision that will change everything in your life. It’s the thing that took me from being a liar and manipulator. I was addicted to pornography; I was addicted to success, and it made me put my faith in something that couldn’t sustain me. Some of you have been drifting; you’ve got money, or you’ve got notoriety, or you’ve got the relationship, or you feel like you don’t have anything at all, and you’ve been drifting. But God is saying today, «Take a hold of me—the anchor that will be steady, the rock of your salvation.»
Today, I want to offer you the greatest gift: to be anchored to Jesus. According to Romans 10:9, it says all you have to do is believe by faith that Jesus Christ went on that cross so that when you are weary, you would not drown. If you believe that He lived, died, and rose again with all power, you are saved. Religion will tell you to confess everything you’ve done, and that you can’t do this or that. Listen, God is saying to you right now, «I’ll take you with your habits, I’ll take you with your hang-ups, I’ll take you with your bad hobbies.» He says, «I’m the only one who, if you give me your heart, will help you change your habits.» Today, I don’t know who this is for, but today is the day of salvation.
If you feel like you’ve been drifting, if you’ve never accepted Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, or if you did a long time ago but have been living contrary, today you need to repent. All that word means is «turn.» You’ve been going this way, and now you need to turn, or you’ve been going that way, and now you need to turn and grab a hold of an anchor that is sure and steady. I’m telling you, this is what your life will look like when you accept Jesus. On the count of three, if that’s you, wherever you are, I want you to lift your hand. While nobody’s around, it doesn’t matter. It’s just an act of faith that God sees even if I don’t see it. Even if somebody’s around you, God wants you to know He wants you to decide for this. He’s not forcing you to do this. Love can’t be love if it’s forced; love has to be a decision.
What God wants from you is a decision. Today is your moment. If you want to make Jesus Christ your anchor or your Lord and Savior, I feel like people are about to get saved from all over this world. I feel that thing! I don’t know where you’re from and I don’t know if you’re watching at 2 a.m. or at 2 p.m., but God said now, today is the day of your salvation. One, you’re making the greatest decision of your life. Two, I’m proud of you, but more than that, your name is going to be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Three, lift your hand up all over this world! Oh, I feel somebody’s getting an anchor—somebody’s getting an anchor now! At Transformation Church, nobody prays alone; nobody prays alone. There are tens of thousands of people about to pray with you. You may be in an apartment, and somebody three apartments down is watching this, and they’re about to be praying with you right there! Oh yeah, that’s how our God works! I want us to all just lift our hands and say this together:
God, thank you for being my anchor today. I give you control of my life. I believe you lived, you died, and you rose again to save my life. So today, take over. I give you the ugly parts of me; I give you the depths of me. Thank you for your love. Change me, renew me, sustain me, transform me. In Jesus' name, amen.