What does the Holy Spirit have to do with righteousness, peace, and joy? The context for this verse is Paul’s discussion regarding how we should use our freedom from legalism. Do we indulge our freedom by doing something we are free to do but which might cause a Christian brother or sister to violate their [...]
Here is my story. Enjoy and let me know what you think. Here is what I know. As far as everyone around me was concerned I was too far gone to ever become a Christian. As far as I was concerned, I was too far gone to become a Christian, even when [...]
So how do we receive from God? How do we expand the boundaries of our influence and spiritual authority? Last week, Dennis McNally taught us that we do not receive because we earned it. All we receive from God comes because of His grace, not our good works. It is always a [...]
Most Western Christians have an aversion to the supernatural power of God. Much of the time when God touches us through His Holy Spirit, it impacts us emotionally. This should not be a surprise to us because we received our emotional nature from Him. We are made in His image [...]
Sin is not the bad things that we do but the deep desire within all of us to be independent from God – to be our own bosses. Man started out as children of God in the Garden of Eden [the garden of pleasure]. Through stepping away from God as Lord and Father man became [...]
The following post is a collection of excerpts from Mark's sermon. Listen to the podcast for the full sermon. The Bible says that Jabez was an honorable man and from this we can deduce that his prayer for blessing and an enlarged territory was not a selfish prayer. He was asking for blessing in order [...]
Mark Cowper-Smith The kingdom of God starts with a spiritual reality. Whether you believe in Him or not, He is present around you. He is in this world waiting for you to interact with Him, here and now. When you enter into the kingdom of God a spiritual change happens and you begin to [...]
We are told that we need to “know” God but rarely are we told HOW to know God. We are told that God wants an intimate relationship of love with us but we are not told what our part is or how to do it. Join Mark on Thursday nights from 6:30-8:30 pm; Jan 22, [...]
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 [...]
Not only has the game changed but two very destructive lies have been injected into the game. Our culture has accepted two huge lies. The first is that if you disagree with someone’s lifestyle, you must fear or hate them. The second is that to love someone means you must agree with everything they believe [...]
As Christians we are to be a truth telling people. We believe in capital "T" truth. We believe that just as there are God designed laws that govern the physical world there are God designed laws that govern the moral world. We believe that there are absolutes that govern moral choices and that these do [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Recently Shell and I were down in Guadalajara doing a conference at a cutting edge church there. The conference was on training the church to recognize communication from God and how to share it effectively. I was ready to teach Sunday morning but I knew I had a prophetic word for the church. I thought [...]
If our faith is about a relationship rather than law, why does the law exist? We were always intended by God to live life with our focus upon Him. He designed our operating system as an intimate relationship of love. Out of that relationship, we will be compelled by His love to do what pleases [...]
Mark Cowper-Smith Let’s be honest, most of us aren’t.We all like to think of ourselves as basically honest people. We believe this because most of the time we don’t leave the house in the morning intending to lie our way through the day. Strangely, neither do we leave the house consciously intending to [...]
Up close and Personal, A practical guide to an intimate relationship with God. We are told that we need to “know” God but rarely are we told HOW to know God. We are told that God wants an intimate relationship of love with us but we are not told what our part is or how [...]
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". [...]
