the thinking church

Jesus sent the disciples out on their first mission trip with very little instruction, yet empowered to carry out pivotal tasks! On episode 2, Pastor Mark reveals how today the opposite can be true, where leadership can be much more heavy-handed and over instructional – leading people to be afraid of making mistakes and stunting their ability to grow in decision making, even to the point of becoming dependent on the leader’s approval instead of having a healthy reliance on God and His Word.

How hard to you find it to keep quiet or control your reactions when you are wronged? Our first impulse can be to seek revenge or call out the injustice. On this 1st episode of Season 4, Pastor Mark explains how opposition and persecution can be one of the greatest assets to our lives: a God-ordained process that can make us aware of our issues and give us wisdom to be better equipped and more like Christ; perhaps even transforming our enemy’s hearts in the process!

Join #thethinkingchurch as we go back to the first episode of Season 3, where Pastor Mark discusses a topic that touches every area of our lives: ‘People Possession’. Whether in ministry, in our relationships or in the workplace, how free we are from people will greatly determine how effective we are. The more free we become from people, the more we can become slaves to Christ, for ‘it is for freedom that Christ set us free’ (Gal 5:1).

As Christians, we can be so driven by feelings and different church models, that we may have missed the very thing that brings us true life in Christ. On this final episode of Season 3 on #thethinkingchurch Pastor Mark candidly shares his heart for the one thing that has revolutionised his life over the last 10 months more than anything else: the Word of God.

Can we tell the difference between persecution and what may simply be our own sensitivity? After all, each of these things can flare up similar emotions. This week on #thethinkingchurch Pastor Mark explains how vital it is to our growth in Christ that we use the mirror of God’s Word to recognise and claim our past issues, before we are too quick to label the root of every stray emotion. Learning to do this can make us more effective and free as we walk with God through life.

How many things do we put down to personality, that may in fact be areas we could grow in? Join Pastor Mark on #thethinkingchurch as he highlights how labelling certain traits as simply being someone’s ‘personality’, can sometimes be a decoy in our life and spiritual walk. We are all created unique, with distinct characteristics, but perhaps an over-focus on ‘personality’ can hinder us as we work towards becoming more like Christ?

‘Pride before the fall’ is a commonly understood statement but do we really grasp the full impact pride can have on our choices and decision making? The temptations and decoys that materialise from it is a manipulation, pain-avoidance, truth-avoidance minefield. On this episode of #thethinkingchurch Pastor Mark explains how pride is an open door for the enemy to work in our lives, making him impossible to resist while we remain prideful.

Money problems, emotional struggles, life situations – wouldn’t it be easy if they could all be resolved with the wave of a magic wand? This week on #thethinkingchurch Pastor Mark describes how people often look for a permanent cure to their problems, only to be discouraged when the issue resurfaces! Finding the right process and gaining an understanding of cause and effect can serve as the best remedy as we navigate life’s issues.

What is the single solution for every one of life’s issues, situations, our growth and health in all areas? In the world and in church today we see a wealth of answers to this questions, with endless programs, motivational speakers and ‘self-help’ books. In this episode of #thethinkingchurch Pastor Mark explains how God gave us His Word as the answer; to benefit and instruct us in every aspect of living, making God’s Word ‘all sufficient’ in every possible way.

If we are honest with ourselves, we often already know what’s not good for our growth, but having the wisdom to know what to replace these things with can be trickier. This week on #thethinkingchurch Pastor Mark looks at how restoration is a process, where what’s being built into us is just as important as what needs removed.