Bible literacy is at an all-time low, but DEVOTED Fellowship may be losing out to HANGING OUT Fellowship!    New Testament Christians didn’t just have fellowship, they devoted themselves to fellowship!    Obedient to God’s Word, these early believers made it a priority to meet together with other believers in fellowship with Christ–Koinonia in the Greek: “to share and take...

I’m not proud of it, of course, but it’s true nonetheless.    I had accepted Christ, but did not have a relationship with God. When I heard people proclaim that Jesus is the light of the world, it simply did not register. Without that foundation, I stood no chance of being a light for Christ in a dark and fallen world.    That’s why I walked past the switch to turn on God’s light...

That is exactly how I saw it early in my faith walk. I was immature and naïve.    Looking back on that now makes me sad because it was then, is now, and will always be FALSE for two key reasons: 1) We all will need some kind of breakthrough at some point; and 2) God PROMISES to help us through the barriers standing in the way. That is the TRUTH.    The need for a breakthrough...

I was floating in a slipstream of doubt and fear early in my faith walk and could not make a move toward God’s outstretched and beckoning hand.    I felt like a frightened first-time parachutist who loses their nerve and cowers in the plane’s belly as the pilot screams: “Jump! Jump now!”    So it was with my life. So it was with my lack of spiritual discernment. And so it was with...

Early response in an emergency is important. The earlier the response the better. That’s why we venerate our first responders and respect them so much.    I was thinking today about the application between faith and first responders and realized that God wants to be our very own first responder on call 24/7, 365 days a year…FOREVER.    All we have to do is call his private 911...

I’m convinced that encouragement is one of the most powerful blessings in God’s Kingdom. That’s why I want to share with you today a few thoughts of encouragement that came to me this morning during my quiet time with the Lord. My prayer is that they encourage you and help brighten your day so you can, in turn, lift someone else.    I’M HURTING    When our pain is the greatest,...

I’ll never forget the first time I saw that “crazy” guy in the end-zone at San Francisco 49er football games. I was not a Christian at the time and had no idea what John 3:16 meant. Since there was no Google, I was left wondering–week after week after week—what in the world that guy was all about.    I picked up bits and pieces over time that this guy’s gig was somehow related to Christianity...

I’ve always been uncomfortable around clowns. Ok, I’m afraid of clowns! I have no idea why this aversion exists in my life, but it is definitely there and often becomes a metaphor to tell a story. Like this one here today…    It starts with a plaintive and non-violent voice whispering in my ear, “You failed, Mark…again. You are not a real Christian…and you will never be…”    Have...

Everything Does NOT Happen For A Reason!    I cringe a bit when this line, or some form of it, percolates to the top of a conversation:    “Well, everything happens for a reason…I guess it was just meant to be.”    It’s not Biblical.    Pain and disease and death and loss are inevitable fixtures of life because this is earth and not heaven.    When...

In the early part of my career as a successful CEO, success came lightning fast and served as intoxicating fuel for me to seek ever more “highs.”  But none of that changed anything in my heart for God. It was nothing more than a temporary fix to my carburetor, which before long actually needed to be rebuilt. Like all intoxicants, the effects were temporary…the damage devastating.    “Better...