New Book – Reluctantly Supernatural – coming soon
Science has failed to answer our deepest questions concerning the purpose and significance of human life. As a result, our culture is turning to the supernatural realm for the answers.
The Bible is literally filled with the supernatural power of God intervening into human affairs. Not only does God act supernaturally into the lives of His […]
What did Jesus do with demons?
This is part two of Deliver us from Evil – see Part 1
And this brings us to the central difference between authority and religion.
Jesus began his role as teacher by teaching about the Kingdom of God but he didn’t stop at simply teaching about it. Jesus demonstrated the Kingdom of God by demonstrating His authority […]
What do we do about evil?
We had a very interesting video testimony scheduled for last Sunday about a family set free from years of negative spiritual activity in their home, referred to as “haunting”. I decided that I should take the opportunity to speak on the subject of our Christian authority over evil. There is a very illuminating incident in […]
IS MEGA BETTA? Is big always God’s will?
Today, I suggest we kill a sacred cow. The sacred cow is,
“bigger is better.”
I planted the first church I pastored, and I did it as a church growth disciple. I began with what I took to be a foundational tenet of the church growth movement; “Your church will succeed or fail based on your leadership”. And success […]
What’s the Problem with Religion?
All religions are basically the same. A spiritual, material, eternal reward is offered and a system of behavior is required. When properly applied, the behavior brings the reward.
The rewards differ: Nirvana, 72 Virgins, Cosmic Consciousness, Heaven, etc.
As well, the system of behavior differs: prayer wheels, jihad, religious rituals, moral living, etc. But the rewards and […]
A question you don’t often hear in church?
What are the words that come to mind when you hear the word “Naked?” When I ask this question when I am teaching, I get the following word answers: “shame”, “ugly”, “sin”, “vulnerable”, “exposed”, “embarrassed”. Most of these are negative – fear shame, etc.
Have you ever noticed how you can read a verse and skip […]
What do you make of 1 Corinthians 5:11?
1 Corinthians 5:11 But as it is, I wrote to you not to associate with anyone who is called a brother who is a sexual sinner, or covetous, or an idolater, or a slanderer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner. Don’t even eat with such a person. (see full chapter below from biblegateway.com)
This passage must […]
How do I respond to those who object to modern day prophecy?
I was asked this question recently:
Mark,
I was reading John 6:28-29 & wanted to get your opinion. The people wanted to perform miracles, but Jesus said that God only wanted them to believe. If someone rebuts modern-day prophesy w/this scripture, what should I say?
I responded as follows:
The context for this statement is the feeding of the […]
Attracting God’s Blessing
ATTRACTING GOD’S BLESSING – GUARANTEED!
We have been teaching a sermon series on blessing and focusing on being a blessing. We have defined being a blessing as “passing on to others the blessings of God.” But before we pass them on we have to receive them. So how do we “attract” the blessings of God? I […]
Book of Philippians
The book of Philippians is a letter to a church. To understand the letter we have to understand the church. Churches are just like people; they have a genetic code which they received from their parents. They are formed as well, through the experience of their early formative years. The church of Philippi is the […]
Life of Jesus – Geneologies
Two writers start their stories of Jesus’ life by giving his life line, who fathered who way back to the start. This is not unusual in biographies. What is unusual is that these two writers do not tell the same story. Their records are not the same. Matthew’s list starts at Abraham and Luke’s starts […]