John Markum

5 Things you MUST do to make 2012 better than 2011

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:

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

Blessings,

John

“johnmarkum.com” turns ONE!

I can’t believe I’ve been blogging now for a whole year! And I can’t believe you’re still reading!?!?

I started this blog as a means to express my thoughts and to better share my life, family, and ministry with the many people out there who call us “friend” and “family.” Along the way, many more have joined in following everything I’ve had to share from simple thoughts to spiritual insights.

In one year’s time this blog has had over 7,100 hits, averaging over 500 hits per month! I can’t express enough to you how much it means to me to receive the kind of support I’ve gotten from so many of you. People from my church family, community, college and high school, family members nationwide, and brothers and sisters in ministry around the world, thank you – not only for visiting my blog and reading some posts, but for taking interest in my life.

Thank you for the encouraging words. This blog is for you! And I look forward to continuing to share with you for many more years to come.

Blessings,

John

Challenge #1: Read through the Bible

Edgewood Challenge #1:   Read through the Bible in one year.

For many years, Edgewood has maintained a focus on teaching the Word of God. But you shouldn’t take our word for it! You should read it for yourself and see what God says. And so we are unashamedly calling all of our people to begin reading through the entire Bible over the next year.

Let’s break that down… In order to read through the entire Bible in 365 days, you  would need to read on average approximately 4 chapters a day. Which takes the average 8th grader 15 minutes to read. For a mere fifteen minutes a day, you can read through the Bible. You could pull that off during the commercials of your favorite 1 hour TV show!

As many of you know, I am currently in the middle of reading through the entire Bible in 90 days. I am on day 46 and am about 4 days behind. But I was behind almost an entire week, so I’m catching up! When I get completely back on track, I’ll be just over the halfway point. I find that if I can stay focused on reading for 1 hour a day I can stay on track and even get ahead.

Our church has provided 1 year reading plans that split the reading up chronologically – an excellent resource. In addition to that, I want to direct your attention to a great online, Bible reading resource: youversion.com. YouVersion provides several different reading plans so one is bound to fit you. You can also choose to read in almost any translation. I happen to be reading in the New American Standard Bible (NASB) which I would recommend among a few others.

Bottomline: Get in the Bible! Spend some time in God’s Word. Create a regular time of 15 minutes to an hour and get alone with God. This requires you to be intentional about your relationship with God. Nothing worthwhile happens by accident. Including marriage, parenting, school, work,… and our relationship with God!

Imagine the change that we could create if, as a church, we all became faithful to reading God’s word? It would absolutely change the way we live, love, work, and relate to others. Let’s do this church!

Blessings,

John

Click here and check out www.youversion.com for yourself!

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

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