Pastor – Page 7 – John Markum

Edgewood 2011

Posted on February 15, 2011 by johnmarkum

This past week, in each of our weekend worship services at Edgewood, we unleashed 7 Challenges for every person that calls Edgewood their church home. I wanted to take the time to reiterate these 7 Challenges this week here on the blog, and so I will deal with each one in a separate post this week. In case you didn’t get the bookmark we handed out this week, here are the 7 Challenges.

Read through the Bible in one year.
Pray for the Church one hour a week.
Share Christ: Lead one person to the Lord.
Increase giving by 1%.
Give time to serving in one ministry.
Find one thing to be thankful for daily.
Bring a Bible to church.

Again, these are for people who call Edgewood their church home. We are not asking, nor do we even want any of our guests to give financially to the ministry of Edgewood. But for those who call yourselves members of Edgewood, or consider Edgewood your church home, this is the year to step up to the plate in all 7 Challenges. I truly believe that as we do this together, God is going to show Himself mightily in our lives, and in the life of our church. We are the people of God! Not even the gates of Hell have power against us! Let’s turn the Quad Cities upside down with the Gospel and see God impact our world through our church like never before. Read more about Challenge #1 real soon…

Blessings,

John

What I want to say to The Awakening this morning:

Posted on February 10, 2011 by johnmarkum

Good morning church!

I want to share just a few things with you that were on my heart this morning…

First of all, you are amazingly gifted, loved, and equipped to accomplish everything that God has called you to today. Walk in victory! You are more than a conqueror through Him who loves you! Romans 8:37
We are continuing our series, “Relationships: Mothers, Brothers, and Others” this Saturday by talking about love – just in time for Valentine’s Day. Make it a point to be there this week, and bring a guest with you! We have special gifts for each of our first time guests.
We are having Connecting Point next week, Feb. 19th, immediately after our worship time. Connecting Point is about 30 minutes long, and we provide some food and drinks, and give you an opportunity to learn more about our church family and how you can be a part of what God is doing here.
Take the time to get connected to a ministry! Serve somewhere. Be a part of what God is doing here so that people far from God may be awakened with life in Christ! Mark “Serve somewhere” on the back of your connection card this Saturday and we’ll talk to you about finding a place to serve.
Our website is changing and is a work in progress. It is almost complete, but please be patient as it is under some development. We do still encourage you to check it out, and direct others to the website to learn more about our Saturday night service in the meantime. qcawakening.com
We still have opportunities for some of you to go on a Missions Trip to Wichita, KS with us this summer (June 5-10). If you would like to consider going on this trip, be sure to grab an information packet this Saturday, and ask me any questions about the trip after the service in the foyer. We will need commitments soon!
Be in prayer for what God is doing in our church! This Saturday, I will take a little bit of time to share with you how God has been leading our senior pastor, staff, and myself, and how that affects our church. I’m very excited to bring this to you, and I am praying now that you will be there to hear it first hand.

Your pastor loves you! I pray for you everyday. I hope that today includes God’s greatest blessings, and opportunities for you to experience His faithfulness like never before. I can’t wait to worship with you again on Saturday!

Blessings,

Pastor John

Pastors: Book list

Posted on January 20, 2011 by johnmarkum

I was told in college, “Leaders are readers.” How true I’ve learned that statement to be! I do a substantial amount of reading because I’ve discovered I don’t know it all. Shocking, I know. Whether you are in ministry full time, part time, thinking about pursuing ministry as a career, or simply a devoted lay leader, here is a list of books by people way smarter than me that I suggest you get your hands on. These books each changed my life.

Sun Stand Still by Steven Furtick – When I found out this guy was writing a book, I totally geeked out. As I finished reading the last page, I had goose bumps. Very powerful message. EVERY person in ministry should read it 3 times, seriously!
Courageous Leadership by Bill Hybels – This is a pastor who has withstood the test of time. And this book opened my eyes and challenged me in big ways to the power God has invested in His church. Purely life-giving!
Next Generation Leader by Andy Stanley – Andy Stanley is nothing short of a voice to my entire generation when it comes to leadership. This isn’t 21 things you need to know about leadership (nothing wrong with that either), it’s 5 simple applications that work.
7 Practices of Effective Ministry by Andy Stanley, Reggie Joiner, and Lane Jones – Every church leader/aspiring-church-leader should read this book, and have it easily accessible to reference and re-reference. This book cuts through all of the responsibilities of a pastor and forces us to focus (something we’re bad about doing) on the heartbeat of our calling in the ministry.
Communicating for a Change by Andy Stanley and Lane Jones- Last Stanley book, I swear! I love this one because this simplifies all of the mystery surrounding how to prepare and deliver a message. This book changed the way I preach after doing for over 12 years.
The Purpose Driven Church by Rick Warren – Long before he was making number one best sellers, Rick Warren was simply a pastor leading one of the most dynamic moves of God. His church has lead the way on how to do ministry for countless thousands of pastors. This was probably the first real book on starting a church from someone who did it extremely successfully in the last 40 years.
The Heart of a Great Pastor by H.B. London and Neil Wiseman – These 2 are veteran pastors with a powerful legacy of training ministers to do the same. I think I like this book so much because it made me fall in love with my calling all over again. And it compares our “shepherding” as pastors to the “Good Shepherd,” Jesus. It’s so powerful and encouraging, that I reach for it every time I feel like my burden is getting too great. Every pastor should have it on hand. Don’t know how I got through my first 4 years of ministry without this…
Planting Missional Churches by Ed Stetzer – This book totally changed my approach to ministry here in the states. As a pastor who started a new service, this book is a must-read for anyone beginning a new service/church.
It by Craig Groeschel – Pastor Groeschel is mega-leader! It’s refreshing to see a man with such an expansive ministry that remains pure to the Gospel, and carries himself with humble confidence. You know that feeling you get when you walk into a church whether big or small, new or established, and immediately sense “Oh, yeah this place has it!”? This book is about it and why some churches have it, while other similar ministries do not. Very powerful. If you don’t have it, you can get it. If you do have it, you can lose it. So get It, and read It!
The Minister’s Instruction Manual by Mel Brown – Last, but by no means least! Pastor Brown is my pastor here at Edgewood, and has served our congregation for over 42 years. He has 6 degree including an earned Doctorate of Ministry, and a Doctorate of Counseling Psychology. He has trained over a dozen missionaries and church planters. Over the years, pastors time again kept asking him to make his materials available to train other church leaders. This book is the compilation of all of that. I love it so much because it is all the pragmatic things that no one teaches you how to do in Bible college.