To navigate the deep waters of life and Christian faith, “Whatever It Takes” is a truth that we need worked into the foundation of our beings.

I had been in prayer for several months, “Lord, you know MCA Church is ALL IN!  We are fully into your call on our lives, the spreading of the Gospel to the nations, living holy before you, and walking Biblical lives in the Spirit.  What is our next step?  It seems that there is far more in you, but what does one add to being ALL IN?

It seems that God began to unveil to me a clearer revelation of the ALL IN truth.  I began to realize the one can be ALL IN without going ALL OUT.

• I can be ALL IN for the salvation of my neighbors without doing Whatever It Takes to point them to Christ.
• I can be ALL IN for personal Christian maturity without doing Whatever It Takes to grow to my full potential in Christ.
• I can be ALL IN for meeting the needs of the homeless and hungry without doing Whatever It Takes to meet their needs.
• I can be ALL IN on weekend worship without doing Whatever It Takes to truly worship each weekend.
• I can be ALL IN as a husband and father without doing Whatever It Takes to be a Christ-like husband and father.
• I can be ALL IN on reaching my full potential in Christ without doing Whatever It Takes to do so.

I was immediately moved at the core of my being.  “Lord, we will become a church that is both ALL IN and going ALL OUT.  We will do WHATEVER IT TAKES!”

• Are you ALL IN on the salvation of your family members?  Are you doing Whatever It Takes?
• Are you ALL IN on your personal health?  Are you doing Whatever It Takes?
• Are you ALL IN on breaking that addiction?  Are you doing Whatever It Takes?
• Are you ALL IN on hearing God say, “Well done, good and faithful servant?  Are you doing Whatever It Takes?

The challenge is that ALL IN is cheap but Whatever It Takes costs everything.  Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in his classic work “The Cost of Discipleship” said it this way,

“Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves.  Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession….Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.”

Throughout my life, music and lyrics have powerfully been the voice of God to me.  Five or six songs literally called me to become the Christian man I intend to be.

It was during my high school years that I was struggling with the “Who am I” questions of life.  As a disciple of Jesus, just how far would I go?  Am I willing to take up my cross daily, for the rest of my life, and follow Christ?  Am I willing to pay the price?

At this point in my life, I heard the following song.  Don’t miss the call of the song simply because it is a 1970’s look and sound.

MCA Church, God is calling us to be ALL IN and to do Whatever It Takes.