resolution – Page 2 – John Markum

5 Things you MUST do to make 2012 better than 2011

Posted on January 5, 2012 by johnmarkum

This past week at our Saturday night worship service, I preached on 5 things you must do to make this year better than last year. I thought it would be good to share them with everyone following the blog, so here you are:

Leave the past behind. Phil. 3:12, 13. God cares more about where you are going than where you’ve been.
Do something difficult. Phil. 4:11-13. God is calling you to do things that require Him.
Find yourself in God’s story. Eph. 2:4-7. Start seeing yourself through God’s eyes.
Focus on people. Eph. 4:32. Start seeing other people through God’s eyes.
Start today. 2 Cor. 6:2. Do not hesitate to do what God is calling you to do.

Blessings,

John

B90X: Day 4

Posted on January 4, 2011 by johnmarkum

So after 4 days into reading the entire Bible in 90 days, I have finished reading the book of Genesis. The perspective that you gain from reading larger portions of Scripture at a time is unique. Whereas reading smaller portions enables you to dissect verses in greater detail, reading 11 – 16 chapter in a day tends to reveal trends, plots, and the bigger picture. Here are some of the observations I had to share after getting through the first book of the Bible:

Satan is a liar. In Genesis 3:4, Satan in the form of a snake, says to Eve, “Surely, you will not die!” The next several chapters include the genealogies of the first humans, each ending with the statement, “and then they died.”
Sin is serious. God killed a calf to make tunics for Adam and Eve after they ate the fruit and tried to hide from God. God shed the first blood. It must have been a ghastly sight for Adam and Eve. Some have the same view of the cross. “How terrible! Surely God could forgive mankind in some less drastic way!” As commentator, John Phillips says, “A radical disease, calls for a radical cure.”
God keeps His promises. Even when it may look doubtful from our perspective. One of my favorite lines throughout Genesis, and the whole Old Testament for that matter, is “I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” God is essentially saying, “I know the promises I have made, and I will do good on them.” He doesn’t break His word, and He doesn’t break promises. Embrace it.
God is faithful,… period. Adam and Eve disobeyed – God promised redemption. Cain committed the first murder – God pardoned. Abraham lied (twice) about His wife – God protected her. He later took her bad advice and took a mistress in order to get a son – God still provided the son of promise through Sarah. Jacob committed the first identity theft – God gave Him a new, true identity. Jacob’s sons threw their little brother into slavery and told their father that he died – God used Joseph to save the lives of his brothers and theig families. God’s faithfulness is, likely, the only consistent theme in Scripture… that, and man’s unfaithulness.

Tomorrow I begin digging into Exodus, although I might take the time and get a little ahead tonight… we’ll see. Regardless, if you are looking into reading the Bible this year, you can find a reading plan that fits you here.

Blessings,

John

B90X

Posted on January 4, 2011 by johnmarkum

Ok, I’m totally blaming my friend and fellow pastor, Jason Smith, for getting me to do this… For some reason, I decided that I wasn’t busy enough between ministry, family, and maintaining my own sanity, and I have now begun a Bible reading plan that Jason and I (as well as several others) are fondly reffering to as “B90X”. What is that, you ask? We’re challenging each other, and holding one another accountable, to reading through the entire Bible… in 90 days. Now I’ve attempted some big tasks before, and I’ve read through the Bible multiple times… but this is intense! For one, Jason cheated! He began on New Year’s Day, a Saturday, which means I wasn’t going to get the first day’s reading knocked out until Sunday afternoon since I was elbow-deep in getting ready for a new night, series, and year for The Awakening. But I got caught up (2 days later, but who’s counting) and have been extremely blessed by God’s Word thus far in the reading plan.

I almost didn’t share this on the blog, mostly because I did’t want any of our readers thinking I was trying to flex my “I’m awesome” muscles, and coming off as proud or conceited. But I decided to go ahead with sharing about this experience for 3 reasons:

It’s a lot easier to stay motivated when I have thousands of viewer’s following my progress. Ok,… so maybe dozens, not thousands, but whatever.
I hope this experience will challenge many of you to get into the Word in 2011, and possibly begin a reading plan of your own. Heck, maybe some of you are real Bible-reading juggernauts and will read through it in 60 days.
God has already began overwhelming me with things from His Word in the past 4 days, that I feel compelled to share with you.So I’ll keep the updates down to a weekly basis.

If you are interested in beginning a Bible reading plan, I strongly urge you to go to youversion.com, create a free account, and select a reading plan. You can do anything from through the Bible in a year, 90 days, New Testament in 30 days, and on and on… some of them are pretty intense and require about an hour a day worth of reading, some are easy to follow and will simply keep you honest about staying in the Bible in 2011. I’ve found out that, so far, if I read for one hour, I can typically get through all the reading I need to, to stay on track. And that was while playing catch-up for 2 days. You can read through the entire Bible in one year by reading 4 chapters daily. That equates to about 15 minutes worth of reading for the average 8th grader.

Also, get someone to do a plan with you. Strength in numbers! And if you and your girlfriend want to go through a reading plan together, have other people join you.

I’ll post later about what God’s been doing to me so far in this reading, but go ahead and get started on your own reading plan. Feel free to use the comments on this post to ask questions about reading the Bible, or following a reading plan, or how God has lead you to get into His Word in the new year. Make 2011 different on purpose.

Blessings,

John