Posts by Pastor John Mark

Posts by Pastor John Mark

When To Cut Someone Off

When do you say enough is enough? When do you cut a person out of your life? When do you decide that a bridge needs to burn to the ground?  “Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” The psalmist identifies with our struggle when he wrote, “For it is not an enemy who taunts me—  then I could bear it; it is not an adversary who deals insolently with me—  then I could hide from him. But it is you, a…

Is God A Monster?

Have you ever read anything in the Bible that made you question God or the Bible? In Genesis 22, we are told that God tested Abraham’s faith. “Abraham!” God called. “Yes,” he replied. “Here I am.” “Take your son, your only son—yes, Isaac, whom you love so much—and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.” Wait, did God just tell Abraham to sacrifice…

Is Jesus the Only Way to God?

With all of the pressures for everyone to be accepting and inclusive of others’ beliefs, and even with the Pope now saying that “All religions are paths to God.” Where do we, as Christians, stand on this issue? Do all religions lead to God, or is Christianity the only one true path to God? To reach a conclusion on this matter, we must first answer this question. Who or what is the final authority on this? In other words, do…

A shipwrecked faith

We all want the type of faith that can move mountains, but are we willing to work for it? I saw a quote the other day and it rings true, “Don’t be upset by the results you didn’t get with the work you didn’t do.” There is a whole chapter in the book of Hebrews dedicated to people who “by faith” accomplished great things for God. Without faith, Noah would have never built the ark, or Moses would have never…

What does it mean to take up your cross?

Was Jesus speaking to us when he said, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”? This was only for those who wanted to take their Christianity to the next level right? No this is Jesus’ expectation for everyone who is to believe in him for salvation, in fact, this is the gospel message in a nutshell, that we give up our old life for the new life that Jesus offers. …

What does it mean to be a Christian?

What does a Christian look like? What does it mean to be a Christian? What does it mean to be a follower of God? Do we look to a pastor or the church for these answers? With churches running the gamut from ultra-liberal, where anything goes, to extremely conservative, where the members live simple lives and everything else is immoral. What does the Bible say, how are we supposed to live, are we allowed to watch R-rated movies and consume…

What songs can we sing during worship in church

What Songs Can We Sing At Church? Over the years, there has been much debate about what songs can and can’t be sung at church. Churches have split over this topic and many congregants have left their churches because of a disagreement on song selection. Some argue that you can only sing hymns in church while others take offense if the song is about what God does for his people rather than who God is. While much of this falls…