question – John Markum

The Questions You Asked… Part 4

Posted on August 13, 2011 by johnmarkum

Question: “Is it true that there are spirits among us?” Answer: Yes: Angels. Both good and bad (demons). Are there actually dead people’s ghosts walking among us? No. At best, they are demonic impersonations of people who once lived. The Bible refers to people with “familiar spirits” (meaning the demon) and “mediums” who would do this. No, I’m not crazy. Yes, the Bible does talk about it (Leviticus 19:31).
Question: “Exorcism?” Answer: Like, is it a real thing? Oh, yes. I know people who’ve been part of casting a demon from a woman. Horror movies don’t do justice from what eye witnesses tell me. Just know that as a follower of Christ, we are already possessed by the Holy Spirit of God (1 John 4:4). According to Matthew 7:21-23, just because a person casts out a demon from someone in the name of Jesus, doesn’t mean they have a relationship with Jesus.
Question: “Why are there so many religions?” Answer: Because religion is man’s attempt to reach God. It is based on man’s attempts to please deity/deities. Because of that, there are more religious perspectives than there are people on the planet. Jesus did not come to start a religion – He came to replace religion with Himself.
Question: “Why can I not always hear from God?” Answer: Because the teacher is always silent during the test. Your relationship with God is not based on how you feel. Feelings are fickle. Our faith is not in ourselves. Our faith is not even in our faith! Our faith is in the faithfulness of God to love us and guide us even when it feels as though He’s absent.
Question: “What race was Jesus” Answer: Jewish. Thanks for an easy one.
Question: “Where does our sin nature come from?” Answer: James 1:13-15. The real “enemy” is “in-me”. All sin can be narrowed down to one word: “selfishness.” In other words, I sin when I am more interested in what I want rather than what is right, what is good, or what God wants.
Question: “Why do some people struggle with things that others do not (stealing, addictions, homosexuality…)?” Answer: Great question. I suppose the easiest answer is that we are all different. So we all have different strengths and weaknesses. What I struggle with might be no big deal to you, and vice-versa. Notably, most of us struggle over the same 2 or 3 things over and over again. Satan is not extremely creative, he’s just persistent.
Question: “Who was your favorite Power Ranger?” Answer: Green Ranger! He was like this rogue ranger that the other rangers sort of ran into. His Zord was the coolest! It reminded me of Godzilla. Yes, I was a nerd as a kid too…
Question: “How old is the earth?” Answer: By extrapolating the ages of the first humans recorded in the Bible to the point of a known point in time, we estimate the actual age of the earth to be as young as 6,000 years old up to approximately 10,000 years old. “What about carbon dating and stuff?!?” So what? God made a mature earth. He didn’t plant seeds and wait 200 years for it to grow into a massive Sequoia, He just created big, awesome trees. Science strongly favors a young earth concept of creation.
Question: “What happens to your body during the rapture?” Answer: According to 1 Corinthians 15:51-53, we shall be changed into an immortal body like that of Jesus after He rose from the dead.

The Questions You Asked… Part 1

Posted on August 3, 2011 by johnmarkum

Question: “Why doesn’t the church spend all or nearly all of it’s money on missions (local and foreign), providing for those who cannot provide for themselves, etc.?” Answer: We do spend all of our money on missions. That’s all we do. The church is not a country club that occasionally does benevolence. We are not even a church with a mission. We are a mission with a church. Our primary command is to make disciples. So whether it’s paying full time staff to do the work of ministry, sending a missionary overseas, or building an orphanage in the Ukraine (all of which we’ve done recently) everything about how we spend God’s money is part of making a missional impact. It’s just not all for social justice causes.
Question: “Is it ok to have sex before marriage?” Answer: No. But that isn’t a good enough answer. The real question you’re probably wondering is “Why does God not want us to have sex before marriage?” The best, shortest answer I can give is because of the safety and security that marriage provides. Sex is too good and beautiful not to be protected. Because of that, God already knew that sex outside of marriage ruins good relationships, or prolongs bad ones.
Questions: “Why does God cause so many hard roads in life?” Answer: First of all, I’m not sure that God deserves all of the credit for the hard roads in your life. But at the least He’s allowed you to go through the difficult circumstances you’ve endured. We need to remember that God never gives us a test to try to fail us, but to promote us to something better. I don’t know your story, but I know that God uses everything He puts into our lives. God doesn’t even waste pain. Circle yourself with people who will encourage you through these difficulties. We’re the church. We’re in this together.
Question: “If Bigfoot exists, then what is he, like the aftermath of a failed gorilla?!?” Answer: “IF” being the operating word here. And by “failed gorilla” I simply have to say no. That implies that either God failed at something He made, or that science has attempted to create life, with some resemblance of success. IF he exists, God created it, and there could be dozens of exciting explanations. None of which, regrettably, I’ll entertain at this time.
Question: “Is it possible to become apostate?” Answer: Most people who use this language of “apostate” or “reprobate” in a theological sense are referring to Romans 1 where it gives a laundry list of immorality and says that God “gave them up” to an unclean mind. But if you read less than 10 verses into chapter 2 you realize that God was not talking about specific individuals, but all of us. There will one day be a collective falling away from truth and morality on a global scale. But individually, God never forsakes those who are of His family. Period.
Question: “Is gay pride a sin? Or just being gay a sin?” Answer: According to Genesis, Exodus, Matthew, and Romans, homosexuality is sin. I reject the the idea that homosexuality is genetic for a variety of reasons: 1) There’s been no scientific proof. 2) Too many heterosexuals have turned homosexual. 3) Too many homosexuals have turned heterosexual. 4) I have had good friendships with many, many homosexual people. Without exception, they have all had other blatantly obvious relational issues that easily explain their orientation. Truthfully, I hurt for these people. Not because of the lack of acceptance they get, but because of how our culture has told them they are normal to feel the way they do, causing them to repress the real reasons for their orientation. Most of them have counseling issues starting with their childhood. God loves homosexuals and wants to see them come to a relationship with him through Jesus Christ. Yes, it is sin. Yes, God loves them anyway. Just like He loves me.
Question: “Balaam blessed the nation of Israel 3 times when his king commanded him to curse them. So why is he seen as a bad guy in the New Testament?” Answer: If you read Numbers 22, you get the idea that Balaam continues to ask God for permission to curse Israel, which frustrates God though He told him through a variety of means (not the least of which was his donkey) not to go curse the Israelites. Many believed that Balaam intended to curse Israel, but when he opened his mouth to do so, God caused him to only say blessings.

“You Asked For It!” beginning this Saturday

Posted on July 6, 2011 by johnmarkum

Relationships. Faith. The Bible. Church. Culture. You have questions. We have answers… hopefully. Join us for 4 weeks as we deal with the things that YOU asked about. Begins at our Saturday night service this Saturday at 6 pm. But we’re not stopping there. This series is also happening at our youth service, Elevate, every Sunday at 10:45am. Hope to see you this weekend!

If you still have questions you want to ask, submit them here:

Error: Contact form not found.

Blessings,

John