faith – Page 14 – John Markum

The Awakening turns 2!

Posted on May 31, 2011 by johnmarkum

This week, two years ago, Edgewood launched it’s first ever Saturday night worship service, “The Awakening.” We had a ton of ideas and dreams, and the opportunity to add a new worship experience to one of the most exciting churches in the Quad Cities. The leadership of Edgewood stood beside us and gave us the chance to begin something that few other churches are willing to take the risk on.

As a result, we have seen God move in incredible ways. We’ve experienced growth in numbers of people coming to Christ, getting baptized, families joining us, and we’re just getting started. The vision to see people far from God awakened with life in Christ beats strong in our hearts and we commit ourselves again to reaching people in the Quad Cities with the Gospel.

Two years have been amazing! Year three… you’ll just have to stick around and see what God does (although I suspect there are some soon-to-be-released posts that will give some hints)!

Join us at Edgewood this Saturday night, 6 pm, for our two year celebration.

To find out more about our Saturday night service, visit our website at www.qcawakening.com

Blessings,

John

Don’t be spiritually delusional

Posted on May 29, 2011 by johnmarkum

James 1:22, “But be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourself.”

I love when the Bible just comes out and tells it like it is. James is one of the most dense books in the Bible because nearly every single verse is so packed with powerful thoughts, encouragement, doctrine, etc. But one of the dangers that James warns against in the very first chapter of his letter is with the subject of what real discipleship is.

He warns that being a true follower of Jesus is not about how much you know. Don’t misunderstand me: “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” But true faith – saving faith, changing faith – does not end there, and James goes on to deal with that in more detail.

But James specifically warns against misunderstanding discipleship for knowledge. Knowledge can lead to discipleship, but it is not discipleship in and of itself. Because discipleship is not knowledge; discipleship is obedience to what God says. And at the point that you and I begin doing what God says, we’re becoming more like Jesus. We’re not like Jesus just because we can quote the Bible. Or because we know theology and doctrine. Or because we’ve sat through hundreds of sermons.

And James tells us that if we think we are disciples because we have heard the Word but not obeyed the Word, we are “deceiving ourselves.” In other words, a person who knows God’s Word, without doing God’s Word, and thinks God is ok with it, is spiritually delusional.

If I’m honest, I’m guilty. I’ve been there. More than I’m comfortable admitting. And the excuses I make are the same as yours. And I’m a pastor. So I know this is something that we all struggle with on some level. Be doers of the Word, and not hearers only. Listen to God, and do what He says. Don’t be a Christian who marks his Bible but his Bible never marks him. Don’t be settle for being a Bible scholar over being a follower of Jesus. Don’t fool yourself. Don’t be delusional!

What are the areas that you struggle with being completely obedient to God? In what ways have you paid lip service to God, but your actions dictate otherwise? How will you correct that behavior and submit it to Christ? Have a great week!

Blessings,

John

7 Things I Believe about the Next Generation

Posted on May 25, 2011 by johnmarkum

The following is a re-post from the blog of Pastor Perry Noble, the founder and lead pastor of NewSpring Church of Anderson, SC. As a pastor who is concerned about young adults and emerging generations of Christ-followers, I found this post very encouraging. I hope you do as well. Blessings…

I lead a discipleship group of about 10-12 young men and women who are in high school…I’ve done so for the past two years. Here are seven things I believe about the next generation (people who are 20 and younger)…

#1 – The next generation will see one of the greatest awakenings the world has ever seen…I really do believe the Lord is setting them up for it. (Which is why I believe the greatest investment in “missions” that the church can make today is the one to have a dynamic youth and children’s ministry!)

#2 – The way the next generation will view and do church will be different than the way we do it today. They will fully know and comprehend how to reach out to themselves…and our role as a church should be to fund it and not fight it (that line is borrowed from Andy Stanley)!

#3 – The next generation seems to be way more serious about their walk with Jesus than my generation has ever been.

#4 – I believe those of us who are “more mature” (OLDER) should seek out those who are in their teens and listen to their questions and frustrations about life and church without coming down on them. If we will listen and patiently explain things there could be way less tension between generations in the church. Might does not make right. And…the “mature” people should always be the first to step into a relationship with the next generation!

#5 – I fully believe that the next generation has no earthly idea what God wants to do in them and through them…and if we will teach them to be fully surrendered on a daily basis that our children and grandchildren will see God do things we didn’t even think were possible.

#6 – I believe the next generation is not content with borrowing the faith of their parents, they are asking questions and seeking to understand WHAT they believe and WHY they believe it…and them doing that is going to equip them to take the church to the next level (I Peter 3:15).

#7 – I believe the next generation is going to refuse to settle for the way things are…and that as their view of WHO God is begins to increase so will their expectation in regards to what He can do.