So Great A Cloud

I, Michael Rasmussen, am a sinner saved by faith in Christ and his redemptive work on the cross.  There is nothing good in me that deserves God’s favor.  There is nothing I have done to deserve salvation. In fact, I deserve death and eternal punishment for my sins.  God saved me from my sins through the work of Christ on the cross!

Beginnings (birth through 18)

I was born in a home that regularly attended church.  My earliest memories were going to church.  However, I do not recall my family ever reading the Bible together.  Nor can I recall (except for one time) seeing my father read the Bible at home.  Like many in the United States – church itself was important but something that did not carry on throughout the rest of life.  We were a solid middle-class family that viewed ‘Church’ as important.

Despite a lack of parental focus on the truth of Christianity – God saved me at an early age.  At approximately five to six years old I remember my parents were at an Amway convention (they sold Amway at that time in the mid-1970’s).  As my parents attended this meeting they had an adult couple watching me.  This couple walked me around what I believe was a school building and presented the Gospel to me – that I was a sinner deserving hell but Christ died for my sins if I would put my faith and trust in him.  At that tender young age I repented of my sin and put my faith in Christ.  I do not have many memories from those early years of my life but this is one of the few vivid ones that stand out in my mind. It is at this moment that I feel I was truly justified and thus began God’s lifelong work of sanctification.

The Lord has protected and shielded me from much.  Growing up I made mistakes – but the conviction of the Holy Spirit and faith in Christ kept me growing in the Lord.  I was faced with teenage temptations of partying, immorality, and drinking – but never engaged in these beyond merely courting them a few times.  The Holy Spirit worked growing convictions in my life that kept me separated from the bondage of many sins that my peers and friends fell into.

In high school I felt called to the ministry.  As a junior in high school I remember riding the school bus home:  which was odd because I did not ride the school bus.  In Montana, where I grew up, you could drive at fourteen and a half.  I had my own car and normally drove to school.  It just so happened that my father’s car was broken down and he was using mine.  During this bus trip home I was praying and seeking the Lord for direction in my life as I felt a burden for the ministry.  It just so happened that I was getting off the bus – last person off at the last stop.  My bus driver stopped me.  I knew nothing about him other than he was the bus driver I had since grade school.  He knew my nickname from grade school : Mickey (I did not know his at the time).  He stated, “Mickey, God just told me you are to go into the ministry.” I was floored.  ”He told you what?” It just so happened that it was the very topic I was praying about as I road the bus home in my moment of solitude.  My bus driver, not knowing if I was a Christian, started to present the Gospel to me. I explained to him that I was saved and had just been praying about this.  I discovered that he was a pastor of a very small church and he invited me to preach a few times while in high school (never pushing his church on me).  The Lord continued to work in my life directing me to pursue a college degree in Bible and Pastoral Studies.   The call to ministry was a transitional period as it directed me from my youth to pursuing ministry and Bible college.

Adult Foundations (18 to 22)

Upon graduation from high school, I went to Bible college at North Central Bible College (now North Central University).  I had been attending an Assemblies of God church since the end of grade school and went on to an Assemblies of God Bible college.

There I met the lady of my dreams – Amanda Beth Kupsik.  She claims we met the first day of registration and I ignored her (I do not recall this).  What I remember was picking her up on a street corner two weeks later in Minneapolis (don’t get the wrong idea).  One of her friends had asked that I pick her up from work and drive her back to the college so she did not have to walk home. This came with the encouragement that I take her out on a ‘blind date.‘  I spoke to her on the phone before I picked her up and asked her “Do you love God?” She stated “Of course I do – I am at Bible College.” My experience already was that many at Bible College did not love the Lord – it was reform school for many or another way to get four more years of youth group.  Anyways, she did (and still does) love the Lord. We went on our blind date – I took her for Mexican (her favorite) and spilt water all over her trying to be a gentlemen.  It was love at first sight.  The nickname for the college we went to was North Central BRIDAL College with a motto of “ring by spring or your money back.”  We did not fail – we were engaged over Christmas break 1989 of our freshman year.  However, we had a long engagement and did not get married until November 8, 1991 – my soon to be wife was working through some painful incidents from her past which haunt her to this day.

As we approached our marriage we entered a whirlwind of events that left me dazed. Right before we got married my mother passed away of cancer at age 42 (1991).  We went on with the wedding.  I was in my third year of Bible College and finished my pastoral internship at a small inner city church.  After finishing my internship and getting married we went back to be with my father in Montana – seeking to help him while I finished a few basics at a community college.  As events would have it, I was sought out to start a college ministry on this community college campus.  The churches in the area wanted it – but when it came down to it no one wanted to support it.  We were struggling to make ends meet and provide stability for our new life together.  After less than a year in Montana, newly married, our life seemed to be ripped apart.  Though the Lord used the next stage of my life to deepen the bond between my wife and I while seeking the depths of His truth.

The Wilderness (22 to 30)

Life brings the unexpected but it is all part of God’s plan.  We got pregnant with our first son in 1992 at the same time we were in Montana starting a successful (in attendance) college ministry while missing support from local churches.  I had no money, no insurance, and now a family to support.  The rug was pulled out from under us – just as I was about to take the exam to be a licensed minister with the Assemblies of God.  Financially and emotionally (as my wife was still working through events in her past) the Lord would not allow us to continue further.  This was a time of depending on God and trusting in Him – Proverbs 3:5-6 became my daily meditation for a decade.

We ended up moving to Milwaukee where my wife grew up.  The next few years years were tough:  I was working on the computers at a local Kinko’s store while making pizzas in the evening (this is 1993).  We had no car so I was riding my bike to interviews and then to work in the snow and freezing midwest until we were able to afford a broken down car.  It literally broke down on our test drive and we sill purchased it – it was all we could afford.  I was taking college classes when I could to complete a bachelors degree, now in business.

God directed my paths – my career in business grew quickly.  In 1994 I started as a graphic designer for a sign and exhibit company and quickly was moved into running their IT department (staff of three).  I then became a senior network security analyst at the Blood Center of Southeastern Wisconsin and then moved into the information risk and compliance consulting world.

While the Lord was doing all of this work – I was searching for God and His plan for my life.  In hindsight it was providence – the Lord did not want me to take a step into the Assemblies of God that I was about to commit myself too in late 1992.  Even in Bible College I was the abnormal student – my leanings were toward Calvinism and Covenant Theology.  This conflicted with the Arminian and Dispensational roots that most in the Assemblies of God had.  The 1990’s were a decade of denominational wandering to find the doctrinal system I believed and could put my faith behind.

I see all this as preparation. The Lord was putting me through his school of research, writing, and public speaking in my professional life to equip me for future service.  The Lord was directing me to different doctrinal convictions than those I would have being aligned with the Assemblies of God.  This all has been a time for the Lord to shape me and deal with me.  It was clearly a phase of ongoing development and maturity in my life.

Roots, Development, & Maturing (30 to Present)

By 2001 the Lord had opened up the doors to a very successful career.  It was at this point that I became an industry analyst and began helping global businesses with governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) management.  I have had the opportunity to sit on US Congressional working groups and write papers for Congress.  I have given commentary on cable news networks on current events and have frequetly appeared in major print media.  In June 2007, Treasury & Risk recognized me as one of the 100 most influential people in finance with specific accolades noting my work in “Governance and Compliance: Saving the Planet and the Corporation.” Most recently, in October 2008, I was recognized as a “Rising Star in Rocky Times: Corporate America’s Outstanding Executives Under the Age of 40.”  My research and presentations have been translated and delivered around the world to International businesses. The Lord took me some place I never intended to go – at the same time developing my research, writing, presentation, negotiation, and organizational skills. It is in this period I completed my Juris Doctorate (law) degree.

Doctrinally – I landed somewhere!  For the past ten years I have balanced between the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith and the Westminster Confession.  It was good to find doctrinal roots that were able to sink deep into my understanding of the Word.  We have been attending a Baptist church for the past 10 years while visiting Presbyterian churches during family and business travel.  In the summer of 2010 we changed to a Presbyterian church which is the first time I can remember feeling fully content and happy with the doctrinal positions of the church and what I myself believed.

The Lord’s development in my life was continuing in my doctrinal maturity as well as my professional skills. However, something was missing . . .

The burden for ministry and seminary has continued to grow over the years.  Particularly at the end of 2008 I felt a burning desire to pursue seminary.  At this time my Pastor had been continuing to direct me to further Seminary studies and expressing God’s giftedness upon me for teaching. The Lord has opened the door for me to attend Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in pursuit of a Master of Divinity (started early in 2010).  My goal is to continue in my theological and church history studies and retire from the business world into some form of ministry and teaching by the time I am 50 (currently 39).  I am at the transition as I put my professional career in maintenance mode to support my family while I focus my passion and energy into pursuing seminary.

Concluding Thoughts . . .

The journey and testimony I have laid out is not my inventing. My salvation is Christ’s work not mine.  My career has been handed to me by the Lord and nothing I chose.  Each step was clearly laid out – though I did not always see it at the time.  God has been so good to me.  He has blessed me with a wonderful wife, and three wonderful boys (all teenagers presently).  Please do not read any prosperity gospel into this – life has been hard with many challenges and trials with more to come.  I am just acknowledging the wonderful blessings the Lord has given me.  His mercies are new every morning.  The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. In the trials he has always been there for me – even when they have been from my own sin and mistakes.