Uncategorized – John Markum

The Vision is MUCH Bigger Than Me

Posted on June 20, 2025June 20, 2025 by johnmarkum

You may have recently seen that I am trying to raise financial support, and I would like to explain why…

Last year, I was gently (yet firmly) challenged by a mentor. This dear friend knows my heart, and has seen me pour my guts into the ministry for many years. He’s also been one of my biggest cheerleaders along the way. His challenge to me was that the vision for what God wants to do through my life was much bigger than me. And because of that, I needed to find new and creative ways to propel the vision God had given me, namely by bringing more and more people into the vision. I am writing this to begin sharing that vision with you here…

When I planted a church in Silicon Valley 12 years ago, I knew the risk of failure was high, but I also knew that the San Francisco Bay needed more Gospel-centered churches than just the one I was called to start and pastor myself. Because of this, I didn’t just want to plant a church in the Bay Area – I wanted to be a catalyst for a church planting movement. And yet, the vision is even more than that… As Silicon Valley is the most diverse community in the U.S., with people migrating here from all over the world for work, the opportunities to spread the Gospel globally from this part of the world are enormous. I now have many friends and fellow church leaders all over Kenya, Mexico, the Philippines, Cambodia, Europe, South America, and so on.

So here are the specific vision goals I have, which I believe God has given me to pursue…

To bring about a church multiplication movement here in the Bay Area. Over the next year, I will share more, but I am already in the beginning phases of partnering with others to plant healthy, growing, reproducing churches in San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland, and every city in between. What happens in Silicon Valley changes the world.
Create and deploy a practical Discipleship System any church can use to grow new believers into mature followers of Jesus Christ. My Discipleship primer and Bible Studies are the beginning, and are part of an entire system I am working to create. In total, there will be the Intentional Discipleship primer for seekers and new believers, 12 studies walking through the entire narrative of the Bible, and supporting studies on key passages, theology, and so on.
Create encouraging and useful “Nuts-and-Bolts” tools any church leader can benefit from, tailor to their context, and deploy. This blog is one such resource, with others coming this year and early 2026. I’ll be further developing my YouTube channel, with a possibility to revive my podcast.
Unite, equip, and serve the worldwide move of the Gospel. This is particularly important for me among underreached people groups. My primary task with this currently, is mobilizing our international ministry connections to participating in Baptize All Nations – the global vision that began as Baptize SoCal, then Baptize California, and recently Baptize America.

Develop and deploy many new leaders into the work of ministry. I am partnering with other global organizations to create and unleash Bible college courses at near-free cost to the students to equip the next generation of church leaders internationally. These are the future leaders of the Church across the globe! Additionally, I am continuing to develop in house leadership tools that can be used in other contexts. The vision God has given me is only as possible as we release new leaders with our heart into Kingdom work.

This past Pentecost Sunday (June 8), our small (but growing) church of 200 baptized 18 people on a single day. That is almost 10% of our average weekend attendance! I am captivated by the idea: “What if God did the same thing in every other Gospel-preaching church around the globe?”

If you’re a pastor reading this, what would it look like to see 10% of your average weekly attendance baptized in one weekend? And what if every Bible church in your city or state did the same? How would that change your community?… Now multiply that effect across the country… and across the world.

God has given me two extraordinary opportunities to be a catalyst for such a movement, and I am seeking your support:

This August, I have been invited to be one of 490 international delegates at the Jerusalem II Council, being held in Athens, Greece. This council will be working to discern the direction of God in the church as we close in on the 2,000 birthday of the church. Here, I hope to be a catalytic voice in uniting the global church around the Gospel and calling people into believer’s baptism in the upcoming Pentecost Sunday 2026.
And then in January 2026, I am returning to the Philippines in partnership with Global Surge ministries to cast the vision and equip pastors and leaders from over 30 church located across 7 different countries, coming together in Manila.

Because of all of these incredible opportunities that God has given me, there will literally thousands, maybe even tens of thousands, of people collectively receiving Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, and becoming baptized into His family on May 24, 2026 next year. This is way bigger than me. And I do not fully understand why God would give me the privilege of leading such a global effort. But I know I cannot do this on my own. I need your help.

In total, I am attempting to raise $9,200 through GoFundMe, to cover the two major trips mentioned above. This will cover me, and one accompanying person on both trips, to maximize these efforts, and see them materialize. I need to raise this money between now and the end of 2025. Perhaps you would make a one-time gift of $100. Others may do $20/month. And perhaps some of you would see the vision with me, and give something truly sacrificial to this effort.

For all of you who have supported my ministry in the past, I hope you can see the fruit we have created (and continue to create) together for God’s glory. 18 baptisms in one day is still just the beginning. There are millions more I want to reach here in the Bay Area. And the world is waiting as well. I am asking you to send me, and I will go see to this work.

To all of you, thank you for your support and vote of confidence. Let’s see a global revival together.

Blessings,
Pastor John

Sermon Recap: Don’t Look Back, week 2

Posted on January 15, 2025January 15, 2025 by johnmarkum

This past Sunday, as we continued our Don’t Look Back series, we cross-examined two seemingly unrelated stories in Jesus’ ministry: the rich young ruler (Luke 18:18-27) and the paralytic man by the pool of Bethesda (John 5:2-9).

From these stories, we learned that our past experiences have the power to shape our identity and restrict God’s work desires to do in our lives, whether those experiences are marked by success or suffering. Through examining the contrasting encounters of the paralytic man and the rich young ruler with Jesus, we discover that both achievement and adversity can become spiritual shackles that prevent us from moving forward. The problem with our past is that it often becomes a matter of identity. Many people define themselves by past trauma or achievements, accepting limiting labels that cage them. The solution lies in agreeing with our heavenly Father about who He says we are – loved, forgiven, and made new in Christ. Breaking free requires total surrender, dying to self, and trusting that God’s way is better than our own. God works in the present as the great “I AM”, not the “I WAS”. He can use anyone regardless of their past and is not limited by our mistakes or successes. The challenge is to identify what parts of our past we need to surrender, what labels we’re clinging to, and whether we’re ready to fully trust God with our future rather than remaining defined by our past.

In summary,

Both success and struggle can become shackles.
The problem with our past is a matter of identity.
Total surrender is required for victory over our past.

You can catch the entire service on our YouTube channel here.
And you can download our 5-Day Devotion based on the message here.

Blessings,
Pastor John

Sermon Recap: The Last Amen, week 3

Posted on December 16, 2024December 16, 2024 by johnmarkum

In the final week of our End Times series, The Last Amen, I led our church through graphs and timelines of what to expect with the approaching end of the age. In this message we sought to understand and answer three common questions:

How do all of the events of the End Times fit together?
When is Jesus coming back for His church?
What happens after the Tribulation?

We considered the timing of our rescue from the judgment to come, the general timeline of the Tribulation, the Millennial Kingdom, the final judgment of Satan and all those who have rejected the grace of God, and the New Heaven and New Earth that awaits. 1 Corinthians 2:9 reminds us, “Eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him.”

As such, the BEST is yet to come! One day God will wipe away every tear from our eyes, and there will no longer be any pain, nor sickness, nor death (Revelation 21:4-5).

You can catch the entire service here, and this week’s 5-day Devotional based on the message. Below, are the two main graphs I made to summarize what the Bible teaches about the End Times. I also shared that I tend to believe in a Mid-Trib Rapture of the church, as this seems to make the most sense of Revelation 14:14-16, when contrasted to other teachings such as 1 Corinthians 15:51-52, and 2 Thessalonians 2:4.

Here is the graph I made, giving a broad overview of the 7-year Tribulation period, along with the key passages of Scripture that we can use to discern the layout of these events, and study each in more detail.