Posts with the category “pastor-mark”

As we go into the fall, there are many changes and transitions and new things that begin. We anticipate a new start for the academic year. We work hard, we serve, we try to make a difference. Sometimes we are recipients of much of it and take it all in.Again, let us be reminded of our mission statement: Chisholm Baptist Church exists to love God, love others, and make disciples. How does this happ...  Read More

Most of us think of a “Good Samaritan” as a person who did something nice to someone unexpectedly. It could be a person who helped someone in distress or even a person who put their own life at risk in a life-threatening situation. This does carry much of the meaning of the idea of a “Good Samaritan.” However, when we look at the parable (a story with a meaning) in the original account, which Jesu...  Read More

I had the recent joy of being out on a lake and fishing. The weather was beautiful and calm. Okay, the mosquitos were buzzing and infiltrating, but the hats and repellent were staving them off a bit. At one point, my friend tells me to cast my line on the other side of the boat closer to the weeds. Now, I know what you’re thinking. I launched on to a whopper. Well it didn’t happen. But “we”, that ...  Read More

Coming together as a corporate church body of believers on a Sunday or other times for worship is truly important. It brings into focus the larger body of Christ to center on worship and adoration to Him, to learn from the Bible, God’s Word, and to encourage one another in the faith.At the same time, in order to be truly connected to one another and to God and to be growing in our faith, we need m...  Read More

“A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.”  Luke 6:40A woman invited some people over for dinner. At the table she turned to her six-year-old daughter and said, “Would you like to say the blessing?” The girl replied, “I wouldn't know what to say.” “Just say what you heard Mommy say,” the mother answered. The daughter bowed her head and said, ...  Read More

When we look around at our world, things can look pretty dismal. We see countries fighting against countries, one ethnic people fighting against another, neighbors against neighbors, and family members fighting each other. We see bitterness, anger, and unforgiveness growing in so many people’s lives. We won’t forget. We will get even.Many have been brought up in these difficult environments of hat...  Read More

I recently read about a man named David Goggins, a former Navy SEAL, who competed in the 135 Mile Badwater Ultramarathon. The course starts at 282 feet below sea level in the Badwater basin in California's Death Valley and ends at an elevation of 8,360 feet at Whitney portal, the trailhead to Mount Whitney. Goggins decided to do this after finding out it is one of the 10 most difficult feats on th...  Read More

One of our Christmas traditions is to bring in a Christmas tree and put lights on it and decorate it. Now I know this is not unusual for many. Sometimes we will chop down our own tree, drag it in, and set it up. Once in a while, my kids will say, "Dad, that tree is looking pretty sparse." This means that the tree is looking like something that came from Charlie Brown, but we'll fire up the Christm...  Read More

“Let everyone submit to the governing authorities, since there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are instituted by God.” Romans 13:1These words were penned by the New Testament writer, Paul, when Nero Claudius Caesar was ruling as Emperor in Rome. He was known for political murders, scandal, and persecution of Christians, yet Paul had a different insight about governi...  Read More

This fall we are having training about Chisholm Baptist Church and the direction that we are going together. Most of us know our purpose at CBC: Love God. Love others. Make disciples. We have outlined in messages and communication what each of these mean. The next step is to understand where each of us are at on the pathway to grow in these areas and how to serve so we can encourage one another al...  Read More

Our world tells us today that we should have more. We want more. We “need” more. We want more money, more clothes, more technology, more of a house, more to eat, more choices, more things to do, more fun. Now these things are not bad in and of themselves. They simply reveal our priorities. Have you ever seen a hearse with a U-Haul following behind?Jesus flipped this idea on its head. He said to Hi...  Read More

Knowing what disciple is is crucially important. If we profess that we are Christians, then we are also disciples. How do we know this? In Acts 11:26, it says, “The disciples were first called Christians at Antioch.” As you can see, the words “disciple” and “Christian” are synonymous. The word “Christian” simply means “follower of Christ” or “little Christ.” We cannot be a Christian without being ...  Read More

”Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12 (NIV)The name of Jesus is a powerful one. There are many that have different reactions to the name of Jesus today. His name and person both unites and divides. Who is He? What was His purpose? What did He come to do? Was He just a good teacher? The name of Jesus brings...  Read More

As we at Chisholm Baptist continue growing in our purpose to love God, love others, and make disciples, we are on a journey toward a multiplication effort of Jesus followers out of love for God and others. He is our motivation for living and sharing the Good News of Jesus to the world. We are His disciples and are called to be disciple-makers.Being a disciple-maker, in its simplest form, is living...  Read More

See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. Hebrews 12:15 (NIV) Lately I’ve been thinking much about how life is very short. A recent funeral of my uncle reminded me of this. His life was one that was well lived. He was a simple but hard-working man who loved his family dearly.  Several of my cousins were together, and we ...  Read More

“I lift my eyes toward the mountains. Where will my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.” Psalms 121:1-2 (CSB)I don’t know if you have been able to take a trip to the mountains. It is one of my favorite things to do—especially the high mountains with jagged, snow-capped peaks. Often you will see the mountains from far off in a distance, and they look like a l...  Read More

Not that I have already attained this—that is, I have not already been perfected—but I strive to lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus also laid hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself to have attained this. Instead I am single-minded: Forgetting the things that are behind and reaching out for the things that are ahead, with this goal in mind, I strive toward the prize of the ...  Read More

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” James 1:17 (CSB)There is a story of a boy who was in church where they passed an offering plate. He realized he had no money to give. So, when the plate came around, he put the plate on the floor and stood inside of it. The man passing the plate asked the boy what he was do...  Read More

Bad news. We hear about it and see it every day in the news. We are surrounded by it every day. Our world doesn't share much good news either. We can't get what we want. We can't get what we need. We have concerns about health and basic living, work and school, finance, and relationships. All of this has taken a toll on our outlook on life and leads to feelings of stress, anxiety, and loneliness.H...  Read More

Most people want their lives to mean something at the end of life. We want to have that feeling that it was worth it all, even in the most difficult of times. We want to pass something down to friends and family where someone will say, “that person really made an impact on my life” or “this advice or wisdom spoken is something I’ll never forget. It helps to guide my life.”For some, life may seem c...  Read More

I recently heard a man talk about his commute in a large metropolitan area. It would take him two hours to go from one part of the city to where he was working. He decided that it might be best to take the metro transit light rail. He found out it only took him 30 minutes to get to his workplace and he saved 3 hours of time in travel in one day. He also thought it would be a great opportunity to g...  Read More

And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.  2 Timothy 2:2 (NIV)Love God. Love others. Make Disciples. You will be hearing this simple purpose statement in our church more and more as God grants His grace to fulfill what we call “The Great Commandment” and the “Great Commission.” After Jesus was asked...  Read More

I recently had a spiritual conversation with a man and I asked him a series of questions to understand his belief system. He said his spirituality lately was more about going into the woods and feeling close nature. I asked him if he used that time to pray to God or to connect to someone or something bigger than him. He said that he did. So my next question was about what this God was like in his ...  Read More

“For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Those, then, who have fallen asleep in Christ have also perished. If we have put our hope in Christ for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone.” 1 Corinthians 15:16-19The Christian faith hinges on the resurrection of Jesus.  The abo...  Read More

“Plans fail when there is no counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.” Proverbs 15:22 (CSB)In the beginning part of February, we had 14 individuals who participated virtually in the Biblical Counseling Training Conference from Lafayette, Indiana. These trainees spent 40+ hours learning what it means to connect Biblical principles to real life. As Paul tells Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All ...  Read More

Today, many are very concerned and confused about our future. One of the famous quotes by Donald Rumsfeld, who was the Secretary of Defense under Presidents Gerald Ford and President George W. Bush, said, “As we know, there are known knowns—things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns—things we know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns—things we don’t know we don’t k...  Read More

As we go into the Christmas season, it will be different than any other year we have experienced. It will definitely be memorable.Even in our era of internet connections, we may feel less connected than ever before. We have experienced upheaval, strife, and division in our world. There has been widespread loneliness, entering into hospitals alone, and limited in-person contact with family and frie...  Read More

Father Damien, a Catholic priest from Belgium, served 16 years as a pastor and physician to a leper colony in Hawaii. The lepers had been deported to the island of Molokai by the government and seeing the miserable conditions, Father Damien volunteered to minister there. During those years of service, he improved water conditions, started two orphanages, and provided spiritual and physical comfort...  Read More

This election cycle we feel there are high stakes. There is much division. We're very worried about what happens if one candidate or another gets elected or one party or another gets more power. We have 24-hour news media outlets that play worst-case scenarios everyday. Social media and radio are full of opinions and arguments.In a world where we are looking for hope, is it possible that we contin...  Read More

We have had several Connect groups getting together throughout the summer. These are small groups gathering to encourage one another, pray for one another, and are learning together how our faith in Christ works out practically, in our daily lives. We have been going through the book of James, which has been powerful in helping us do just this.One of the topics that has come up in our study has be...  Read More

“First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all those who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good, and it pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”1 Timothy 2:1-4 (CSB)Paul wrote these words to Timo...  Read More

“Saving Mr. Banks” is a delightful film about the story of Walt Disney trying to work with P.L. Travers, the author of “Mary Poppins” to put her story to film. The two clash in every way. Disney is flamboyant and bold and Travers is demanding and persnickety, seemingly without any humor and extremely difficult. The story reveals that “Mary Poppins” was written more about her father than anything e...  Read More

There have been many challenges for the Church in our current situation in the world. Many questions are being asked within the Church as a whole and in our nation. When is it “safe” to get back together as local church bodies? How do we transition? How do we somehow remain connected? How do we care for the hurting or grieving? What risks should we being taking? How should we present ourselves to ...  Read More

In the historical account of Esther recorded in the Bible, King Xerxes, King of Persia, made Esther Queen of his kingdom. She was a Jewess and won favor with the King. She had a very difficult decision to make. A man named Haman, who had a high position in Xerxes’ kingdom, persuaded the King to annihilate the Jewish people in the kingdom because of his hatred for Queen Esther’s Uncle Mordecai and ...  Read More

In our world today, we have been forced to pause. It has obviously had a big effect on businesses and the like, but we, as Americans, have filled our lives up with busyness. The Church is often no different. In our rapid moving world and schedules, we do not take the time to pause. We do not take the time to prioritize and think about what is most important. We just go about our days on the busy-m...  Read More

I shared this story with a men’s group recently but it is worth repeating. It is a true story and one that I saw with my own eyes. An elderly gentleman had a wife with Alzheimer’s disease and when he could no longer take care of her alone, she moved into the nursing home in town. Every day, without fail, the man came in to see his wife. She no longer recognized who he was but nothing ever deterred...  Read More

As we look to another year, many will make new year's resolutions. Most of them won’t last very long. We often lack the desire or willpower to sustain our good intentions. It is part of our human nature.Two programs that are well advertised for the New Year are exercise and weight loss programs. Some of these programs are certainly helpful. There can also be some great benefit to these programs si...  Read More