John Markum

Tag: trial

Your Problem is Not the Problem

Posted on by johnmarkum

ProblemThe lesson I’ve had to learn, and relearn, my entire life is frustratingly simple. And yet the Bible speaks to the title principle of this post repeatedly. Where, you ask? Well, for instance:

  • Matthew 17:20, “If you have faith like a grain of a mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, ‘move from here to there,’ and it shall be moved.”
  • Ephesians 6:12, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood… but against spiritual forces…”
  • 1 John 4:4, “You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.”

Here’s the thing… The problems, troubles, and frustrations that you and I deal with are a consistent part of living – especially for the counter-cultural, God-centered value system of a Christ follower. But when we begin to live, think, and behave as though these difficult circumstances are somehow more than external distractions from the greater battle we’re at war with, we’re already losing the real fight.

You see, your problem is not “the” problem – your perspective is. There is no external problem that is greater than the God who promises to indwell every believer. This same indwelling Spirit of God “always leads us in triumph,” in Christ (2 Cor. 2:14). That’s a pretty big claim. And our instinct is often to argue that claim. After all, we don’t always feel as if we are being lead in “triumph” by God. That feeling comes from our focus, though. And as long as we focus on our problem, rather than the God who is greater than our problem, we’ll always feel discouraged.

That is why Jesus tells us in John 16:33, “I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Don’t lose your focus on the One who promises victory over your trials. Following Christ does not mean that your world becomes “problem-free”. It means that you have overwhelming victory over those problems. The only thing better than not having a challenge, is knowing that no challenge can stop you. “If God is for us, than who can stand against us?!” (Rom. 8:31).

Blessings,
Pastor John

3 Leadership Principles I Wish I Could Ignore

Posted on by johnmarkum

Three simple principles have been bugging me lately in regards to being a church leader. Frankly, I wish these three principles were not true. I would like to find some savvy book from another more successful church leader or business person that will coddle my anxiety and tell me I’m wrong about this. Unfortunately, nearly all of my research and experience (not to mention what the Bible teaches) has lead to be even more sure of the following three points:

  1. Nothing grows without change.
  2. All change is painful.
  3. The greater the change, the greater the pain.

Everything that grows changes. If it doesn’t, it becomes stationary and stagnant. And dies. Of course, not all change is good change. Something changing could mean that it is dying. Your heart rate going down, for instance, would be an example of bad change. But when drastic change becomes necessary for survival, we must choose to embrace the pain of change or lose ground:

  • A cancer patient accepts the chemo, or suffers the onslaught of the disease.
  • A businessman adjusts his product and services, or loses his marketability.
  • A married couple seeks counseling, or goes through the bitter agony of divorce.
  • A church shifts from doing ministry “like it’s always been”, or fails to reach a changing world.

I see these principles taking place in every single church I’ve ever known. Churches who have embraced change stay relevant to a shifting culture, but do so with great care and pain. Good people who have always been there still walk away. Internal and external pressures arise. And yet the church grows in number and closer to God at the same time. Marriages are healed. Families restored. People far from God awakened with life in Christ. The church becomes more equipped to reach their full potential in Christ. And they realize that no change they make will ever be the silver bullet. They will always be faced with new opportunities and challenges.

Other churches go to the extreme of imitating the world. Their change is usually a bad change, and they suffer the consequences of compromise. Sure, more people may come, but not usually. Because even the world is looking for something different than the world. And when they do get more people, they simply have a crowd, not a church. It almost never lasts.

Yet others still refusing to accept change have clung to a preference of what church used to be. They produce no new ideas. They focus on preserving their church rather than change their world. Gradually, many fall into complete irrelevance. Their baptismal waters are as stagnant as their vision.

I’ve made an observation that I wish I could ignore. Every season of growth in our church is marked by a season of personal pain for me. When I pray for God to expand our influence, to bring us more people far from God, to see more lives changed by the Gospel, I do so realizing that such a prayer will cost me. Because as much as I would like, I cannot avoid the pain of change. And neither can you.

And yet we should still ask God for it. Because it requires faith to step out into the pain of change. And God has already promised His grace to sustain us through it.

While growth only comes with pain, we get to see God move in new, incredible ways. God is bigger than my comfort zone. And He’s bigger than our greatest obstacles. And He’s bigger than the pain of change.

2 Timothy 2:3 “Endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.”

Blessings,

John

The phrase no pain, no gain has been a mantra for athletes and fitness junkies for years. And what they understand about physical pain needs to be broadened to a much more general use in all of our lives. Pain hurts. That's the whole problem. No one enjoys it, and if someone does, we rightfully

The Premium of Pain