In this episode of The Leader’s Notebook (Ep. 301), I walk through Judges 17 and the tragic picture of spiritual confusion. Micah’s story shows how easily people build a self-made religion, mixing truth with error and assuming God must bless whatever they assemble. From false idols to hired priests, it is possible to look religious while being completely disconnected from God’s revealed truth.

I contrast the self-made man, the man-made power system, and the unmade man who is broken before God, and I show how grace still reaches the humbled heart. This message is a clear call to reject spiritual “scrap-heap” faith and stand on the unchanging Word of God, the blood of Jesus Christ, and true repentance. Leaders especially must inspect their label and be sure they are God-made, not culture-made.

- Dr. Mark Rutland

In this episode of The Leader’s Notebook (Ep. 300), I walk through the sweeping biblical story of the Holy Spirit, from Genesis to Pentecost and beyond. We look at the Spirit who brooded over creation, empowered prophets and kings, and was promised in Joel, revealed by Jesus, and poured out in Acts. This is not a new doctrine or a modern movement, but the living Spirit of God at work across all Scripture. From Joel 2, John 20, and Acts 2, we trace the Spirit’s person and power through the Word of God.

I also challenge every believer to understand that life in the Spirit is not optional equipment for a few, but essential for the whole Church. The same Holy Spirit who filled the upper room still fills and empowers believers today. When He moves, our calling is simple: receive. Leaders especially must live and serve in the strength only the Spirit provides.

– Dr. Mark Rutland

In this episode of The Leader’s Notebook (Ep. 299), I invite you to listen as two of the greatest devotional passages in all of Scripture come together—the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6 and the 23rd Psalm. What happens when Jesus’ prayer becomes more than words we recite and David’s psalm becomes more than comfort we quote? In my own darkest season, these Scriptures became medicine to my soul, steady handholds when I felt trapped in a well I could not climb out of. I discovered that the Lord’s Prayer is not dead liturgy, but a living gift from God, meant to be prayed, lived, and trusted.

As we reflect on these passages, you’ll hear how God restores the soul, reshapes the mind, and brings peace into places of fear, weariness, and struggle. This message is an invitation to let Scripture wash over you, to pray what Jesus taught, and to trust the Shepherd who is with you—now and forever.

– Dr. Mark Rutland

In this episode of The Leader’s Notebook (Ep. 298), I open one small word that carries enormous spiritual weight—the word nevertheless. From 2 Timothy 2:15–19, we are reminded that error, deception, and cultural pressure can never weaken the foundation of God. False teaching may spread like gangrene, but truth remains untouched. The Word of God stands sure, regardless of who argues against it, mocks it, or misunderstands it.

Tracing this word through Scripture—from Elisha’s bold faith in 2 Kings 2, to God’s mercy in Psalm 106, and finally to Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane—we discover that nevertheless is the fulcrum of faith. It is how believers stand firm, pray hard prayers, trust God for miracles, and rest their hope fully on the cross. When everything shakes, this word anchors us: God is faithful, Christ has died for us, and His truth will never fail.

– Dr. Mark Rutland

In this episode of The Leader’s Notebook (Ep. 297), I take us to Ephesians 4 and 5 to confront the gap between theoretical Christianity and real life in the Spirit. Too many believers are content to talk about faith without ever stepping into the canoe. Paul reminds us that being filled with the Holy Spirit is not an abstract idea—it shows up in how we speak, forgive, submit, give, and love one another. Spirit-filled living is intensely practical.

This message calls us beyond gifts, experiences, and religious language into holiness expressed in community. Walking in love means allowing the Holy Spirit to probe our lives, heal our relationships, and shape the way we live with family, church, and the people God places around us. Real Christianity is not learned in theory—it is lived in love.

– Dr. Mark Rutland

In this episode of The Leader’s Notebook (Ep. 296), I invite you into one of the most powerful yet often overlooked truths in Scripture—what God is really like. From John 1:16–18, we see that Jesus is the full revelation of the Father, and what He reveals is not distance, anger, or reluctance, but grace upon grace. Moses brought the law, but Jesus came to show us the generous, giving, sacrificial heart of God. The Word became flesh so we could see clearly that God’s nature is grace multiplied by grace.

This message calls us beyond theoretical faith into a life shaped by generosity, forgiveness, and joyful surrender. Grace is not merely something we receive; it is the very life of God expressed through us. When we understand how completely we are forgiven, loved, and welcomed, we are freed to live boldly, give freely, and follow Christ wherever obedience leads. That is the adventure of real Christianity—and it begins with knowing the Father as He truly is.

– Dr. Mark Rutland

In this episode of The Leader’s Notebook (Ep. 295) from our seven-part series, The Magnificent Seven, and the final message in this series, I turn our attention to Paul the Apostle and the decisive turning points God used to shape the most influential voice of the early church. We begin with his commissioning in Acts 13 and look back to his dramatic conversion, his unmistakable calling, and the costly obedience that followed. Saul of Tarsus emerges as a Roman citizen, an elite rabbinical scholar, and a relentless Pharisee who encountered the risen Christ and was forever changed. From that encounter, Paul became the great theologian of salvation by faith alone, clarifying what it means for Gentiles to be grafted into the body of Christ. His life reminds us that to touch the church is to touch Christ Himself, and that true Kingdom leadership is not formed by ease, reputation, or advantage, but by answering God’s call wherever it leads.

– Dr. Mark Rutland

In this episode of The Leader’s Notebook (Ep. 294) from our seven-part series, The Magnificent Seven, I examine the life, faith, and formation of Simon Peter—introduced in John 1 as a fisherman who meets Jesus and is immediately renamed, redefined, and relentlessly shaped by grace. Peter is bold, impulsive, strong, outspoken, and deeply human: quick to confess Jesus as the Christ, equally quick to resist the cross; first to step out of the boat, first to deny with a curse; yet also first to preach at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit transforms failure into authority. We trace Peter’s journey from natural leadership to spiritual power, from Jewish boundaries to Gentile inclusion, and from rough-edged disciple to apostolic voice whose letters reveal profound theological depth. In the end, Peter himself tells us what mattered most—not miracles, not Pentecost, not even leadership—but seeing Christ in His glory, a vision that steadied his life and clarified his witness.

– Dr. Mark Rutland

In this episode of The Leader’s Notebook (Ep. 293) from our seven-part series, The Magnificent Seven, I walk through the astonishing life and ministry of John the Baptist. He stands as the last Old Testament prophet and the first man to publicly identify Jesus as Messiah. His voice rises out of four centuries of prophetic silence, set against the political brutality of Rome and the corruption of Herod. John does not emerge as a stylist or strategist, but as a singular, God-anointed voice preparing the way. He calls a nation to repentance and redefines the Messianic mission as sacrificial redemption. Standing in the Jordan, he declares Jesus to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world and the One who baptizes with the Holy Spirit and fire. His courage, clarity, and refusal to measure success by comfort or applause confront our modern assumptions about leadership and faithfulness. John’s life reminds us that true success is obedience to God’s call, even when it costs everything, and that the highest aim of any leader is to see Jesus clearly and point others to Him.

– Dr. Mark Rutland

In this episode of The Leader’s Notebook (Ep.292) from our seven-part series, The Magnificent Seven, I walk through the life of King David not as a children’s story hero, but as one of the most complex, gifted, and broken leaders Scripture ever presents, drawing from Psalms 22, 23, and 51 to show how a shepherd, poet, warrior, prophet, outlaw, king, and sinner could still be called a man after God’s own heart. David’s genius was not perfection but pursuit: an uncommon ability to flex with the seasons of life, to rebound from moral collapse and personal tragedy, and to refuse both despair and denial when confronted with his own sin. From prophetic insight that reached the cross of Christ, to public repentance that matched the depth of his failure, David teaches us that leadership is not validated by flawlessness but by repentance, resilience, and an unrelenting chase after the heart of God, even when life is marked by pain, conflict, and unfinished battles.

– Dr. Mark Rutland