Bible – Page 2 – John Markum

Sermon Recap: Don’t Look Back, week 1

Posted on January 6, 2025January 6, 2025 by johnmarkum

As we kick off 2025 at Life Valley Church, we begin with a new series entitled, Don’t Look Back. Following Jesus demands a radical reorientation of our lives, centered on three fundamental requirements: self-denial, daily cross-bearing, and wholehearted following. This path directly challenges our culture’s emphasis on self-fulfillment and personal autonomy, calling believers instead to submit every area of life to Christ’s leadership. Just as athletes exercise strict self-control to win their prize, disciples must discipline themselves to follow Jesus faithfully. The call to take up our cross daily represents a complete dying to self, allowing Christ to live through us in every aspect of life. In first century Judaism, it was a common blessing to tell a new follower of a Rabbinical teacher, “May you be covered in the dust of your rabbi!” The idea was that disciples would follow their rabbi so closely that they would be covered in the dust from their teacher’s feet. Similarly, authentic discipleship today should be evident in how closely we walk with Jesus, with our lives clearly reflecting His character and priorities. This requires identifying areas we’re still trying to control, examining what influences are shaping us, and taking concrete steps to submit every aspect of our lives to Christ’s leadership.

Read Luke 9:23-25 for further insight from the sermon…

How do we pursue Jesus in 2025:

Deny yourself.
Take up your cross daily.
Follow Him.

You can find the 5-Day Devotional here.

You can find the entire service on our YouTube channel here.

Blessings,
Pastor John

Why is Revelation so Confusing?

Posted on December 17, 2024December 20, 2024 by johnmarkum

I recently finished an End Times series at Life Valley Community Church, called The Last Amen, in which I walked us through the important points of Biblical prophecy yet to be fulfilled. But Revelation – the last book of the Bible – can be very intimidating to read, not to mention confusing.
Here are four reasons why this concluding book of Scripture can be difficult to understand:

Author’s Perspective. Revelation was written from the perspective of a first century writer to a first century audience. For example, Revelation 8;10-11 describes a “star” crashing into earth. It is clearly not a star as we understand the word, but it could mean an asteroid, meteorite, satellite, or an ICMB for all we know. We need to remember that Revelation was written for us, but it was not written to us.
Apocalyptic Symbolism. Revelation is the only book of the whole Bible written almost entirely in a literary genre known as apocalyptic literature. It is replete with symbolism and iconography that is both terrifying and bizarre at times. Various people, creatures, and beasts with seemingly alien descriptions are almost all intended figuratively and are part of this style of writing.
Chronology in Snapshots. Revelation is not a perfectly linear timeline of future events. Rather there are parts of the book which play out like a flashback scene in a movie. This is most evident with chapters 11-14 in the middle of the book, which many theologians refer to as a “Historical Interlude” as it retraces how we got to that specific point in the Tribulation. Additionally, many of the “scenes” of Revelation work as snapshots in time, as if different segments of John’s revelation which are connected, but not necessarily chronological.
Summation of Scripture. So much of Biblical prophecy comes to an apex in Revelation that it is difficult to know what is being cross-referenced and what is simply borrowing language. Matthew 24, 2 Thessalonians 2, Daniel 7 and 9, Psalm 2, Zechariah 4, Genesis 3, 1 Corinthians 15, and many other passages seem to be overlapping and intersecting with Revelation. Nothing interprets Scripture like Scripture. And yet we must be careful not to force interpretations that are not intended by the Holy Spirit.

Revelation is a deeply important piece of inspired Scripture, worth studying and obeying (Revelation 1:3). But like all of Scripture, we must be careful to read and interpret it as it is intended, not as we would make it. God bless you as you spend time in the Word!

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.