PURSUING NEW TESTAMENT CHRISTIANITY BY PURSUING
JESUS CHRIST AS THE GOSPEL.
2025 Annual Report & Holiday Greetings
Dear Valued Friends,
Can you believe another year has passed? What a blessing to know that we are one year closer to the glory we seek in Christ our Lord. I want to share a brief account of the ministry the Lord has commissioned me to carry out. I do so because, whether through prayer or support, you have played a significant role in this ministry and in any fruit that may have been witnessed.
Transparency matters deeply to me, as I desire to be a faithful steward of the Gospel before both God and His people. Please do not read this testimony as a report touting success, but rather as an opportunity to give God the praise He alone deserves for using someone as weak and broken as me. Whatever has been accomplished is owing entirely to His marvelous grace, and any failures, limitations, or setbacks encountered this year have served as constant reminders of my desperate dependence upon God.
Reflections on the Ministry of Preaching
Regarding the preaching ministry, this has been a particularly busy year, including several international trips and extensive preaching throughout the United States. On multiple occasions, I watched the Lord manifest Himself—sometimes to my astonishment, sometimes to my deepened trust, and sometimes to my humbling—in ways only He could orchestrate. More than once, I saw the Lord break out in great mercy upon a church or conference gathering. In those moments, all human endeavor gave way to the power of God as He poured out His Spirit, softening hearts, bringing repentance without coercion, and strengthening faith not by manipulation, but by the quiet authority of the Holy Spirit.
In one church, this proved to be a turning point that brought healing to a deeply divided congregation. For nearly an hour, I watched in almost unbelief as people prayed, confessed sin, and sought reconciliation with one another. As one of the pastors said to me during this move of God, “Brother Michael, this is a miracle!”
In another place, at the conclusion of a conference, after I had preached and the benediction was given by the moderator, no one stirred. Not a soul stood, spoke, or moved to leave. The congregation sat in silent awe as the presence of God settled over the room. Eventually, the moderator returned to the podium and gently encouraged people to pray as they felt led. One by one, broken and contrite believers stood and offered prayers of repentance, many with tears, crying out for personal and corporate revival. Later, two different people said nearly the same thing to me, almost word for word: “I didn’t want to leave and return to my world. I was caught up in the presence of God, and it was so sweet.”
I recall one particular sermon when I felt as though I was fighting hell itself. I walked to the pulpit at a very large conference confident that I had heard from the Lord. Yet almost immediately after beginning the message, I experienced intense internal opposition. It became so overwhelming that I considered closing my Bible and sitting down. As I continued to preach, I cried out to the Lord in my heart. By His mercy, He sustained me through the message, and I finished the sermon. It had been many years since I had encountered such resistance while preaching. In the aftermath, I felt that I had failed the Lord and that my faith had shattered into a thousand pieces.
Yet the Lord was teaching me once again that I am to preach the same way I was saved—by grace through faith. Regardless of the struggle, even in the face of resistance, the preacher is to proclaim Christ in faith. Later, I learned that at least one individual placed their faith in Christ that night and was later baptized in their home church. I also heard reports of others who came under deep conviction of sin.
There are many more accounts I could share, but I will move on to update you on the podcast ministry.
Reflections on the Podcast Ministry
This year’s season focused on the Person and Ministry of the Holy Spirit, consisting of forty episodes. Recently, I was informed that the Real Truth Matters Podcast was named one of the top one hundred Christian podcasts. I do not know how such distinctions are determined, but we are grateful. We also launched a second podcast, The Essential Podcast, with Nate Freeman. The next season begins on January 20, 2026. If you have not yet listened, you can find both podcasts on your preferred platform. Please consider subscribing and enabling notifications for new episodes.
Reflections on Ministry to the Persecuted
My ministry among a persecuted group of Christians—whose identity must remain undisclosed—also continued this year. Weekly, through methods I cannot share, I preach to approximately four hundred individuals who then distribute the sermons to others. I am told that the reach of this ministry extends to tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands. Every two weeks, I also meet with a group of pastors for teaching and extended question-and-answer sessions. I am currently preaching through the Epistle to the Ephesians and recently delivered my 155th sermon in the series, completing chapter four. The consistent report is that this ministry—of which I am only one small part among many—is strengthening churches in this region of the world. I remain deeply grateful to the Lord and to those who have entrusted me with participation in this work.
Reflections on the Ministry of Writing
In addition to preaching and teaching, this year required sustained attention to writing projects aimed at serving the church through clarity and instruction. I began work on a book I have desired to write for over twenty-five years, currently titled The Doctrine of Desperate Dependency: An Exposition on the Allegory of the Vine and the Branches. This profound illustration reveals what normal Christianity is meant to be. Sadly, many believers live beneath the dynamic life and provision available to us through our Vine, the Lord Jesus Christ. This book seeks to explain the life of Christ within us and how we are called to live in continual, desperate dependence upon Him.
Over the past month, I have also sensed a growing burden to expand my small booklet, Hearing Heaven: How to Hear God When Reading Your Bible, into a full-length book and accompanying group study guide. As the year has progressed, writing has shifted from being a useful tool to carrying a weightier sense of obedience. I feel an increasing responsibility to steward the opportunity to write and publish while strength, clarity, and opportunity remain. Whether the fruit is immediate or unseen, this burden has become increasingly difficult to ignore. At the same time, I continue to seek the Lord’s wisdom regarding balance, timing, and restraint. Any increase in writing and publication will be pursued thoughtfully, under accountability, and with the sincere aim of serving the church rather than adding to noise.
Reflections on Weakness
This year has also sharpened my understanding of the limits of my faith, perhaps more than in previous years. There were seasons when resources felt uncertain and the margin we were accustomed to simply was not there. These moments exposed how easily the heart can be tempted toward self-reliance, overthinking, or quiet anxiety.
Yet it was precisely in this weakness that the Lord pressed us into deeper dependence upon Him. There were times when prayer was no longer a discipline but a necessity—when provision was not assumed but earnestly sought. Again and again, the Lord proved faithful, meeting our needs in ways that left little room for explanation other than His care. Provision often came at the last moment—not early enough to remove dependence, but always timely enough to confirm His sufficiency.
Warm Holiday Wishes
This season has deepened our gratitude for those God has used as instruments of provision and encouragement. Above all, it has reinforced a lesson the Lord seems intent on teaching me repeatedly: that His work is sustained not by security or surplus, nor by power or personality, nor even by talent or technique, but by faith—and that His grace is truly manifested in weakness.
On behalf of Real Truth Matters, Karen and I extend to you our warmest wishes for a very Merry Christmas and the hope of a glorious New Year. Please continue to keep us in your prayers and remember us for good.
Heartily yours,
Michael Durham