A Personal Note

By in Northland

For today’s post, I wanted to write a personal note of thanks to our friends. Normally I don’t do this on my site, but I am finding it difficult to adequately respond to the many texts, calls, and emails. The last two and a half weeks have been some of the most challenging yet grace-filled days of our lives. Diane and I want to say thank you to so many of you who have prayed for us and for Northland’s extended family.

On April 25, 2013, several members of our board of directors made a decision to have me step down from my role as president. While the board did not state the reason, I knew the tension points were over cash flow and direction. This was an undesired and unexpected decision, but I took it as from the Lord. I trust in His sovereignty and goodness. The board members have been and continue to be my personal friends.

From April 25 to May 8, I did my best to assist the board in accomplishing their desires. When faculty, staff, students, alumni, and friends asked about what they should do if they disagreed with the decision, I encouraged them to respond prayerfully, respectfully, and full of grace. I believe this was done.

On the evening of May 8, the chairman of the board, Howard Patz, clarified for the rest of the board the history of Northland, as well as the direction he believed it should now take. After some discussion, four members of the board graciously and respectfully resigned. Nothing was forced, and it was a grace-filled meeting.

The remaining board then asked if I would return as president. After a discussion over our present challenges as well as our future plans, I agreed to step back in. The works of God convinced us that our assignment remains at Northland.

Over the past seventeen days I have constantly prayed, “God, your will be done.” Here are a few of the things the Lord has been doing:

  1. Through brokenness He is driving us to greater levels of dependence.
  2. He is strengthening and blessing our marriage.
  3. He is reconnecting Northland with its alumni.
  4. He is moving in spiritual ways among our student body.
  5. He is unifying our faculty and staff.
  6. He is bringing to us some incredible new friends.
  7. He is raising up leaders who want to help.
  8. He is raising up donors who want to give.
  9. He has allowed us to connect with many of Paul Patz’s grandchildren.
  10. He has confirmed the direction we are taking.
  11. Through our critics He has helped us to see our faults, the things we need to change, and the areas we need to improve.

And the list could go on.

Over 20 years ago I was drawn to Northland by the lives and teaching of Les Ollila and Doug McLachlan. In 1993 “Dr. Mac’s” book, Reclaiming Authentic Fundamentalism, articulated what many of my generation felt. While not all of our mentors would agree with every present day application, we continue to build on the heart and soul of what we saw and what we were taught. We love these men. And we love Paul Patz – all that he was and stood for. Our prayer is that we will continue to produce future generations of young people whose hearts are touched by God and fueled with the gospel message.

I would love to connect with you! If you have any questions or would like to connect please use the contact page.

Overwhelmed

By in Grace

“Overwhelmed” is not a word that I use very often to describe how I feel, but the events of the last ten days have certainly been one of those times.

Usually when I feel this way it is because of a certain set of challenges or circumstances I am presently facing. Physical, mental, and emotional strength begin to wain and it becomes difficult to breathe. You’ve been there—we have all been there.

Recently I listened to a song titled “Overwhelmed” by Mike Weaver. When I first saw the title, I thought, “that’s me, I’m overwhelmed.” After listening, I realized the song writer was talking about being overwhelmed with God. Wow, what a rebuke! Then I discovered that the more I became overwhelmed with Him the less I was overwhelmed with life.

I see the work of Your Hands
Galaxies spin in a Heavenly dance oh God
All that You are is so overwhelming

I hear the sound of Your Voice
All at once it’s a gentle and thundering noise oh God
All that You are is so overwhelming

I delight myself in You
Captivated by Your beauty
I’m overwhelmed, I’m overwhelmed by You

God, I run into Your arms
Unashamed because of mercy
I’m overwhelmed, I’m overwhelmed by You

I know the power of Your Cross
Forgiven and free forever You’ll be my God

All that You’ve done is so overwhelming
I delight myself in You
In the Glory of Your Presence
I’m overwhelmed, I’m overwhelmed by You”

Praise God for letting me be overwhelmed with life so I could become overwhelmed with Him.

If you have 20 minutes, you need to watch this:

Northland Transitions Leadership

By in Northland

Dear Friends,

It has been a great joy for me to serve at Northland for these past eleven years. On Thursday, April 25, 2013, our board of directors determined it to be in the best interest of this ministry to move forward with new leadership. I accept this as a decision from the Lord as he sovereignly works through the authorities placed in my life. I plan to finish this current academic year through to May 11, 2013, doing everything I can to help the board, faculty, staff, and students, toward a healthy transition. I have a great desire to see Northland do well. I would also like to express a very sincere thanks to the Patz family for allowing Diane and me to be a part of what God is doing here in northeast Wisconsin. We look forward to what God has in the future and our hearts continue to burn for God’s glory and the work of the great commission.

Your friend and fellow servant,

Matt Olson
Romans 11:36

UPDATE: The audio from today’s chapel, where I told the students about this transition, can be found on our sermon page.

The Spiritual Life of the Pastor

By in School of Graduate Studies

We are looking forward to our upcoming MMin/DMin module course, “The Spiritual Life of the Pastor.” The course is June 3-7 at Northland’s beautiful campus in Dunbar, WI. We’ve recruited some of the best instructors available for this course. We are very excited that both Mike Bullmore and Shawn Wright will be instructing our men in this course.

mike_bullmoreMike Bullmore is pastor of CrossWay Community Church in Kenosha, WI. Prior to pastoring at CrossWay, Mike was the chairman of the Practical Theology Department at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He has earned degrees from a variety of schools, including a Ph.D from Northwestern University in Rhetorical History & Criticism. Dr. Bullmore is also a council member of The Gospel Coalition.

shawn_wrightShawn Wright is an Associate Professor of Church History at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He has been active in church planting and currently is Pastor for Leadership Development at Clifton Baptist Church in Louisville, KY. Shawn has contributed to numerous journals and co-edited “Believer’s Baptism: Sign of the New Covenant in Christ“ with Tom Schreiner.

If you have never taken a module course in the School of Graduate Studies then we would like to invite you to come and take this course with us tuition free. We want you to experience the camaraderie our students experience on campus, while at the same time learning from some world class pastor-scholars.

Registration is open until May 24; register online to take part in this class. To view the course syllabus or further course details, click here. If you are not currently a student of the Northland School of Graduate Studies, apply today.

I would love to connect with you! If you have any questions or would like to connect please use the contact page.

Pursuing Transparency with Change

By in Controversy, Northland

Many have asked, “Has Northland changed?” That is a fair question, and one that I will gladly answer. Northland has not changed its mission or it’s core values. We are committed to and willing to contend for the fundamentals of the faith—more than ever before. We are growing in our passion for the glory of God, the gospel, the great commission, and the great commandments. We have, however, made a number of changes as we apply these foundational beliefs to our ministry in the 21st century. We have not done this perfectly, but we believe we are headed in a biblical direction that is focused on pursuing God’s pleasure.

Over the past several years we have written and spoken about our changes through our emails, letters, website, chapel messages, vidcasts, and blog sites. I see that these may have been inadequate, and I personally apologize for any unclear communication on my part.

Here are the changes we are talking about:

  1. Northland went from being unaccredited to accredited with TRACS in 2004. Earlier this month Northland’s accreditation was renewed for an additional 10 years.
  2. Northland went from the exclusive use of the King James Version in the pulpit and classrooms to allowing other translations.
  3. Northland went from a standard that did not allow women to wear slacks on or off campus to a policy that would require them to simply dress modestly and appropriately.
  4. Northland went from a demerit system to a discipleship platform for our students. Yes, we still have rules: we still confront, and we still have consequences. We just believe we have a better and more biblical model now. It is built on relationships. We are always looking for better ways to accomplish our mission.
  5. Northland went from practicing some forms of “secondary separation” to what we now understand to be a more biblical separation. Where we would not have had men like John MacArthur, Rick Holland, Ken Ham, Bruce Ware, or Mark Dever, we would now. We see no reason to separate from these men. We would consider them to be in the spirit of historic fundamentalism; they believe in the orthodox faith, will separate over it, and live godly lives.
  6. Northland went from only allowing “traditional” styles of music to accepting more modern styles as well. A blend of traditional and current music is used in our programs and chapel.
  7. We created an overarching name of Northland International University to give our students greater opportunities with the gospel worldwide. The change was driven by our passion to reach every tribe, tongue, people, and nation.

These changes have been both welcomed and criticized. It has been our desire to reach out to scripturally solid churches who in the past have not been familiar with Northland as well as continue to serve our current constituents. Some might see a need to return to the way we functioned prior to 2002, observing the changes as a departure from who we were. It has always been our heart’s desire to honor the intent of the Patz family, who built and funded this ministry from the beginning. They continue to be a great encouragement to us all.

Some may ask, “Are you fundamentalists?” If you are talking about believing the fundamentals of the faith, being willing to separate over them, and being committed to living a holy life before God—then the answer is a resolute, “Yes.” If you are talking about our being willing to separate over “cultural fundamentalism” and its demands to separate over Bible translations, music, dress, methods of ministry, secondary associations, etc., the answer is an equally resolute, “No.” We cannot. Our consciences before God will not allow us to draw artificial lines of separation where God Himself has not drawn them.

We understand that it is a natural thing for people to want to assign a motive for everything. We can tell you this—the motive for our change is not to be big, popular, or accepted—but to do the right thing before God. That is it. It is also our desire to do all of this with grace. We have a great passion to continue our mission by preparing this next generation of servant leaders for great commission living—taking the gospel where it isn’t.  The need is greater than ever before. So is the opportunity. May God give us grace and strength to keep serving God and one another!

Your friend and fellow servant,

Matt Olson
Romans 11:36

I would love to connect with you! If you have any questions or would like to connect please use the contact page.

Never Once

By in Encouragement

Thank you to Matt Redman for these lyrics.

Never Once

Standing on this mountaintop
Looking just how far we’ve come
Knowing that for every step
You were with us

Kneeling on this battle ground
Seeing just how much You’ve done
Knowing every victory
Was Your power in us

Scars and struggles on the way
But with joy our hearts can say
Yes, our hearts can say

Never once did we ever walk alone
Never once did You leave us on our own
You are faithful, God, You are faithful

Kneeling on this battle ground
Seeing just how much You’ve done
Knowing every victory
Was Your power in us

Scars and struggles on the way
But with joy our hearts can say
Yes, our hearts can say

Never once did we ever walk alone
Never once did You leave us on our own
You are faithful, God, You are faithful
You are faithful, God, You are faithful

Scars and struggles on the way
But with joy our hearts can say
Never once did we ever walk alone
Carried by Your constant grace
Held within Your perfect peace
Never once, no, we never walk alone

Never once did we ever walk alone
Never once did You leave us on our own
You are faithful, God, You are faithful

Every step we are breathing in Your grace
Evermore we’ll be breathing out Your praise
You are faithful, God, You are faithful
You are faithful, God, You are faithful

You are faithful, God, You are faithful
You are faithful, God, You are faithful

I Want to be a “Yes Man”

By in Leadership, Sermon

Last week Mike Summers, pastor of Countryside Baptist church in Olathe, KS, preached two outstanding messages at Northland. He shared with us a letter he wrote to one of his sons. I asked Mike if I could pass it on.

A Yes Man

I want to be a “Yes Man”– not a stutter-stepping, hesitating, slow-to-respond-man. I want to be a “Yes Man”—a whatever-You-say-Lord kind of man—a just-tell-me-when kind of man—a Your-will-be-done kind of man.

I want to be a “Yes Man”– not a doubting, unsure, insecure, see-if-it-works-first kind of man. I want to be a “Yes Man”– a man whose “Yes” is absolute and resolute, a man whose “Yes” is observable and unchangeable, a man whose “Yes” is from the heart. I want to be a “Yes Man.”

When God says “Go” or “Slow” or “No,” I want my immediate response—my only response—to be “Yes.” Because my purpose is Him and my agenda is His, I want to say “Yes” to any interruption, “Yes” to any inconvenience, “Yes” to any disappointment, and “Yes” to all trials knowing with certainty that my God is behind them all. I want to say “Yes” to His Word, “Yes” to His Spirit, and “Yes” to His call to serve Him humbly, fervently, dependently, and skillfully.

I want to be a “Yes Man”—a “this-one-thing-I-do” man—an “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” man.” I want to be a “Yes Man.” My “Yes” is a “No” to this world, a “No” to myself, and a “No” to anything that competes with my Lord. I want to be a “Yes Man.”

Counting the Cost & Paying the Price

By in Gospel, Suffering

After returning from the Middle East and spending time with believers there, I am more convinced that we know very little of what it means to count the cost and pay the price for Christ. We live very comfortable lives and end up spending a lot of time on things that hardly matter in light of eternity.

Now I begin to be a disciple…. Let fire and cross, flocks of beasts, broken bones, dismemberment,… come upon me so long as I attain to Jesus Christ. —Ignatius of Antioch

Rocky Mountain Youth Conference

By in Conferences, Encouragement, Friends in Ministry

IMG_7078Chris Anderson and I got to share speaking opportunities in Denver at the Rocky Mountain Youth Conference. (Yes, Jack Klem, you can thank me for the free Clearwater advertising in the background of this picture :) I love what you are doing and there is no one I would rather do that for!) Chris recently took the pastorate at Killian Hill Baptist Church in Atlanta—a place where we have a lot of mutual friends. We are so happy for the Andersons and for the folks at Killian Hill.

We shared messages surrounding the theme “In Awe of HIm—the Heart of Worship”. Mike Durrill and Kip Doan did an outstanding job putting on the conference. Paul Ice led the worship time and had the teens singing better than I can ever remember hearing. It was amazing.

The theme was one that Chris and I are very passionate about in our own lives. We see it as core to the purpose of our living. As A.W. Tozer reminds us that our view of God is the most important thing about us. When that is right, everything else will fall into line. It is a simple thought and yet such a profound thought. Young people have so many things that compete for the place of ultimate worship in their hearts.

Whole life worship should be 24/7. My favorite line is from John MacArthur, “True worship is when all that I am responds rightly to all that He is.”

It was great to be out west and renew old friendships—including Steve Hafler who is now pastoring at Highlands Baptist Church. It was also great to get some time with Chris Anderson—another like minded brother. Thank you, Chris!

I would love to connect with you! If you have any questions or would like to connect please use the contact page.

Winning?

By in Jesus

“Winning takes care of everything”. Nike’s new Tiger Woods add.

A lot of us have been watching Tiger Wood’s gradual return to the number one golf ranking in the world. Time has gone on and it appears that Tiger has his “A game” back. This seems good for golf, good for TV, and of course good for Nike. Just the other day I was thinking—as he once again gains his international platform, he could have the opportunity to say some very helpful things to a watching world.

It would be hard to imagine anything worse than Tiger’s fall in 2009. As a result of choices he made and his inability to control the consequences of those choices, his whole life seemed to come crashing down. He lost his wife, his family, his world golf ranking, much of his wealth, and to a great degree his popularity among the masses. While these things didn’t just happen overnight, those of us looking from the outside marveled at how quickly a man could go from the top of the world to the bottom of the pit. Surveys among fans put his respect level on par with Mike Tyson’s. Personally, I felt a great deal of sadness for Tiger Woods and his family.

Nike has recently marketed a rendition of Tiger’s past responses to the media, “Winning takes care of everything.” To a degree that is true. To a much larger degree it is not. If we create a small enough world, we can be at the top of it. We can be successful. Because we draw our box and create our rules and define our success, we can be winners. But we are only deceiving ourselves. Life is not a small box, and we do not define it, nor will we ultimately assess it. Even we as Christians can live like this.

God is creator, sustainer, and ultimate judge of all the earth. There is no success apart from what He declares success to be. “For from Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen.” Romans 11:36.

Winning may take care of a few things, but it does not take care of everything. Really, it does not take care of the most important and eternal things. “What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?” Mark 8:36.

Thank God for the grace He has showered upon us in the person and work of His dear Son. Thank God for the offer of eternal life and for the opportunity that we all have to receive it. I like to play golf. I like to watch Tiger Woods compete. But I also pray that God helps me keep what really matters in perspective.

Winning is not everything. Jesus Christ is everything. And that will always prove to be true.

I would love to connect with you! If you have any questions or would like to connect please use the contact page.

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