A Haunted Christmas

The last Christmas I was not a believer in Christ was in 1976. It was what I would call a haunted Christmas. To understand why I use that term, I have to go back to the Christmas of 1973.

In the fall of 1973, I went to Europe as a college student to look for “the meaning of life” or something like that. I traveled by myself, dropping in and out of travel companions and also in and out of loneliness. I survived, with lots of adventures to tell. In the wake of this trip, I fully embraced an existential worldview–meaning, if there was any meaning to life, was found in my own self-determined actions. I accepted what had been growing in me, that I was an atheist. My memories of Christmas from that year (I returned from Europe a week before) were that it was all a joke, a hoax for weak people who could not deal with the reality that there is no God. Merry Christmas.

The next three Christmases (’74, ’75, ’76) were not so well defined for me. By the fall of 1974, I had started to become weary of the inner anger it took to hold onto my atheism. I wasn’t sure what was true or false, but I didn’t like who I was becoming. And so began a gradual opening of my mind to the idea of God. The more I opened my mind and heart to him, the more I began to be haunted by him. By haunted, I mean thoughts entered my head like, “I wonder if he is real?” “Why do I feel things like love and hate?” “Does he make demands of people?” and, “Is he personal?” These thoughts grew over those years. Christmas (and Easter) became haunted by questions of, “What if it’s true?” By 1976, I was so haunted that I really wanted to believe, I just didn’t have the occasion to.

That God does not exist I cannot deny. That my whole being cries out for God, I cannot forget. Jean-Paul Sartre

What was going on? Why so haunted? I am not the first person to experience this. One of my existentialist heroes, Jean-Paul Sartre, said, “That God does not exist I cannot deny. That my whole being cries out for God, I cannot forget.” Sartre was haunted by his desire for God and honest enough to admit it. British author, Julian Barnes says, “I don’t believe in God, but I miss him.” Again, the mind won’t allow for what the heart yearns. Blaise Pascal frames the intellectual dilemma by saying that there will never be enough evidence to prove with certainty that God exists or doesn’t exist. That doesn’t mean, however, that there is no evidence. Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor says that secular space is “haunted by transcendence,” which tempts secular people toward belief. Tempted by belief–that is exactly what the Christmas of 1976 did! And as much as I was tempted by belief, I also doubted my doubts.

What wasn’t true had become what might be true had become what is true. Christ was born; he was born in me.

The fall of 1977 was the occasion for faith in my life. I committed all I could of myself to all I knew of Jesus Christ. That Christmas was different. It was not haunted, at least not in the same way. There was something new in the singing of carols and Christmas Eve service. What wasn’t true had become what might be true had become what is true. Christ was born; he was born in me. Merry Christmas!

–Pastor Mark, The Imperfect Pastor

Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men. (Matthew 4:19 NKJV)

Porn is Not a Moral Problem; It’s a Human Problem

I guess if I had a problem with pornography, I wouldn’t admit it. I love being a pastor and I fear it would be too big of a secret to manage in a healthy way. But I have a history with pornography — regarding how I view it. This history has come by walking with men who have been honest with me about their struggles. I have moved from a place of condemnation to compassion for those who are users.

I have moved from a place of condemnation to compassion for those who are users.

I once held the belief that pornography use was a moral failure. Wives would talk to me in tears regarding their husband’s porn use. I would meet with the husband, and as he looked down he would admit his error and promise his wife and me to stop. I began to notice this usually drove the behavior down deeper into his soul, without any real healing or hope for healing. Well, sin does that. It makes us feel bad, but feeling bad does not change us.

Sin makes us feel bad, but feeling bad does not change us.

As I grew in my understanding of the nature of pornography use, I began to see the correlation between this and other addictions. Shaming people, making them feel bad about themselves, gives life to the hidden sin. When we think we are cutting off the oxygen supply to the sin we are part of causing more acting out. I began to see that men need huge doses of compassion, not condemnation.

Here is the truth — pornography hurts people, it robs them of their humanity. It hurts the wife who doesn’t feel loved because she can’t compete with airbrushed babes. How dehumanizing. The one person who God has given her to build up her tender self-image (including body image) is tearing her down.

Here’s the truth–pornography hurts people, it robs them of their humanity.

The user himself (I know women also use porn, but stats show it is still mostly men) is dehumanized, as with any addiction, he has become enslaved to a master that is never satisfied. Self-deceit is always present. The recent Time Magazine cover story on porn reports that pornography causes erectile dysfunction in young men who overuse. According to research, men who use are often less able to enjoy sexual intimacy with their wives. Normal sexual expression becomes boring compared with image interaction.

It hurts the women who allow their bodies to be photographed and are objectified and dehumanized. And the mainstream body image “pornification” we see in ads of men and women selling whatever has the effect of dehumanizing men and women in general. We find ourselves rating people simply on their bodies without considering their stories and value as humans.

Research is still in process regarding porn and will be for years to come. We don’t know what will be revealed — and that should make us pause. We do know there is a link between viewing porn and treating people like objects, particularly men treating women in less than fully human ways.

Compassion, not condemnation, is the right response.

Compassion, not condemnation, is the right response. Jesus had compassion when people were dehumanized either by sin or by human rules. Porn is a sin, not primarily because the user breaks a rule but because he breaks God’s heart. God loves human beings and is against anything that dehumanizes them.

–Pastor Mark, the Imperfect Pastor

Editor’s Note: For help with pornography addiction, visit New Life.com to connect with counselors, workshops, and life recovery groups. New Life also hosts workshops for spouses. Celebrate Recovery offers Christian 12-step support groups across the nation.

Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men. (Matthew 4:19 NKJV)

We Need to Talk

In general, when someone says, “we need to talk,” it sounds threatening. My summer reading has led me to a book called Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age, by Sherry Turkle. For those who love to communicate by text and email, we need to talk–more, and if we fail to do so, the best of our humanity is being threatened.

Let me come clean. I am not the first to embrace new technology. I have a suspicion that’s combined with the fear that I won’t be able to “get it,” so I tend to ignore it. I am a slow embracer, always wondering if there isn’t a hidden cost. I still don’t have a Kindle, preferring the feel and smell of real paper. So Turkle’s book confirms my suspicions. There, I’m clean.

Technology is atrophying the best of what makes us human.

Sherry Turkle is not a Luddite evader of all things technological. She has spent the last thirty years studying the relationship surrounding technology and human relationships. She teaches at MIT sociology and psychology. What she is discovering is not encouraging. Overall, her point is technology, especially as applied to social media (smart phones, texting, email) is atrophying the best of what makes us human. In particular, she highlights research which shows a dramatic drop in empathy within young people who use social media instead of face-to-face communication. A decrease in empathy, the capacity to understand how someone else feels, and a rise in anxiety.

Research shows that deep down, social media makes people feel more isolated.

There are many ironies around this. Research shows that deep down, social media makes people feel more isolated (there is growing evidence how Facebook also contributes to unhappiness). It’s a way of trying to have more control and less anxiety around conversations, only to be checked by a device we can’t live without and which, research says, increases our anxiety with feelings of, “am I missing out on something?” and “do people like me?” People want cleaner, less risky, and less demanding conversations because of anxiety, but they end up, by overusing technology, in more anxious places.

Anecdotally, she notes how Steve Jobs would not allow tablets or smartphones at the family dinner table, encouraging his family instead in having real conversations about life, books, and history. How ironic. Other research shows that one of the greatest indicators of health in family relationships is time spent at the dinner table–in real conversation. We do in fact need to talk to be our best selves.

Every so often I remind myself and others that control is more elusive than we think. In fact, control is an illusion. Wake up to reality. It is something we strive for, but the more we strive, the more disillusioned we will ultimately become–and, I would add along with Sherry Turkle– the less human. The pursuit of control just doesn’t work in human relationships. Instead, we have to go through the clumsy and messy face-to-face encounters with others who are as needy and unpredictable as we are.

God came in the person of Jesus Christ to have face-to-face conversations.

Think of it this way. God gave Israel what we now call the Old Testament. But when that got twisted into a book of rules some used to control others, or just ignored, he came in person, to have a prolonged conversation, in the person of Jesus Christ, face-to-face. Sending a text message would not do. We need to talk.

–Pastor Mark, the Imperfect Pastor

Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men. (Matthew 4:19 NKJV)

Celebrating the American Dream?

One of the comments I have heard in this election year is, “There must be a lot of really unhappy people out there,” to explain the phenomenon of Donald Trump. The American dream is not even a hope for them, so it goes. It begs for a closer look at that significant shaping influence we call the American dream. One of the most insightful things I have ever read on the topic is a speech by Andrew Delbanco (Columbia University humanities professor), put into a book by the same name, The Real American Dream: A Meditation on Hope.

Delbanco believes that what Americans long for most isn’t necessarily to own their homes or some view of economic success. Rather, more deep down, they desire a story that they can see themselves in, a story of hope that transcends the futility of life. We have become a nation in need of a myth or symbol that gives meaning and purpose to our lives. He argues that we need a myth, or else we will live in a state of perpetual melancholy.

He gives a broad history of all the ways Americans have, “Tried to save themselves from the melancholy that threatens all reflective beings.” Delbanco tracks that history through the time when God was at the center of the narrative (up to the Civil War) at which point the nation become the focus of the story (up till the 1960’s), then the self became the center. “Hope has narrowed to the vanishing point of the self alone.” It is hard to believe he was writing in the late 90s, before Facebook, one of the great facilitators of self. In my mind, he nails it.

We have become a nation in need of a myth or symbol that gives meaning and purpose to our lives.

Delbanco’s diagnosis of the American dream is much clearer than his prescription. In fact, it’s the American dream that’s at the heart of the dilemma he sees. We live with a huge need for a national story, but we have no means to attain it. Along come politicians. They try to fill this need with slogans like Trump’s “Make America Great Again.” He is not alone. Can that campaign theme, or any other, really fill what we crave in our hearts?

My concern isn’t that America “come back to God.” My concern is that people know there is a story that calls out to that deep craving they have.

Delbanco asks the $64,000 question in the last chapter. “The question we face today is how, or whether, this ‘feeling of being in a wider life [story]’ is still available. Can a nation-state provide it? If not, what can?” writes Delbanco. I don’t think it can. Nor can the self, though I admit, people keep trying. In Delbanco’s perhaps over-simplified scheme, that leaves God. My concern isn’t that America “come back to God.” My concern is that people know there is a story that calls out to that deep craving they have. There is a God, who created the world in love, that we like sheep have gone astray, and that he calls us home in Christ, ultimately to live with him forever.

Now I can say, “Happy Fourth of July.”

–Pastor Mark, the Imperfect Pastor

Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men. (Matthew 4:19 NKJV)

Loving Muslims

This past year I have had several interactions with Muslims. My experience, with one exception, has been very positive (the exception was a case of mental health, I believe). Since I often get asked questions about Islam, on which I am no expert, here are some observations that I am prepared to make.

Westernized Sunnis are concerned Islam has been co-opted by fundamental radicalized Muslims.

The Muslims I have met are well-educated Westernized Sunnis and are concerned that Islam has been co-opted by fundamental radicalized Muslims. They speak against this both to me and publicly. They don’t want Islam to be characterized as a religion of violence but of peace. They are concerned about the public image of their chosen religion.

History is not the final arbiter, God is.

The Muslims I have met are not living in fear of being persecuted. They may be the exception, but they tell me the media has overplayed this. I asked a local imam if he or anyone in his mosque has experienced religious bigotry or discrimination and he said it was clear to him they had not. This came as a surprise to me.

No one but God can ultimately impose their will on history.

They clearly have a deeply held belief that Allah (not Jesus but for whom they have great respect) is in control of history and that one day, the world will be controlled by Muslims, ushering in a new age. I guess that they pray for that day, as Christians pray for “thy kingdom come, thy will be done.” However, some Muslims try to hasten that day through violence. By the way, should that day come, I would hazard to guess that some Muslims will still be fighting against other Muslims (cynical? it’s a comment on humanity, not just Islam).

The ebb and flow of history are part of God’s sovereign mosaic of bigger purposes.

Communism, Marx predicted, would naturally happen over time, it would evolve on its own. It would not need to be politically or militarily imposed. Lenin and Stalin tried to hasten it through the use of violence and coercion. It didn’t naturally evolve, and eventually, it fell apart. History is not the final arbiter, God is. But the ebb and flow of history are part of God’s sovereign mosaic of bigger purposes. I would like to think that Lenin, Stalin, and other dictators have found out you can impose your will on history, but not on God. No one but God can ultimately impose their will on history. Neither can Islam or Christianity.

It is my love of Christ that compels me to love Muslims.

Will Islam continue to grow? There is so much I don’t understand, and I know I am over my head, but I am willing to bet on Jesus Christ – with my life. I’ll bet on Christ, not just on Christianity, which, like Islam, is a mixed bag of good and not so good. Christ commands us to love and pray for our enemies. He absorbed the violence done to him out of love. It is my love of Christ that compels me to love Muslims.

–Pastor Mark, The Imperfect Pastor

Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men. (Matthew 4:19 NKJV)

The Myth of “You Can Do Anything You Want”

 

Whatever Americana consists of, the notion that you can do anything you want (usually qualified by something like, “if you just put your mind to it”) is partly myth. I think Ben Franklin first said it. Russell Wilson is just one of many who build their commencement speeches around the myth. Just remember, history is written by the winners. Not everyone can be the Seahawks quarterback, no matter how hard they try or how much they want it. The myth is perpetuated by those for whom it seems true, the winners, and those who want to motivate others to try harder, usually parents and teachers. They mean well.

I don’t want to be the one to tell you Santa isn’t real, but this just isn’t so. Many have found out, and it wasn’t because they didn’t try hard enough. I will admit to a cynical streak that comes out now and then, but nothing brings it out like hearing this myth repeated. However, the true cynic would not allow for the truth that makes the tale so palatable. Every lie needs some truth to make it seem true. In this case, it is true that you can probably do more than you think you can. Focus and hard work can pay huge dividends. I grant that. But that is not the same as the babble about, “the only limit to your future is your capacity to imagine.” Please.

I am fearfully and wonderfully made with limits.

Limits are not bad things. We all have them. We live in a world with gravity; I’m good watching birds fly. I have been training for a half-marathon, pushing myself beyond where I have gone before. Talk about focus and hard work! But now I have shin splints. Focus and hard work will only make it worse. I have limits. I will die one day, a definite limit. I have always wanted to dunk a basketball–and maybe I could have when I was younger with intense focus and hard work. But now, should I call 9-1-1 before or after I even try?

Facing our limits can be the same as grieving a loss. 

In the early 70’s, cultural anthropologist Ernest Becker wrote an amazing book called The Denial of Death. Ironically, he died not long after he wrote it. He has incredible insight into our propensity to try to fool ourselves regarding death as the ultimate limit. One of the things we do is look for heroic figures who don’t seem to have the same limits we do, people who can dazzle us with their abilities, good looks, or self-confidence. They make great commencement speakers. But others have pointed out that this myth can be the cause of depression and mid-life crisis. Facing our limits can be the same as grieving a loss.

I am loved deeply by God with my limits.

I have limits, and it feels good to say it. I am fearfully and wonderfully made with limits. I am loved deeply by God with my limits. And, true, I can do more than I think I can and maybe I need a good pep talk once in a while to remind me. But remember, the first man and woman grasped for “life without limits,” and they ended up in a much worse place.

–Pastor Mark, The Imperfect Pastor

Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men. (Matthew 4:19 NKJV)

What’s Wrong with Being Judgmental?

We all agree that judgmentalism is wrong. We’ve all probably said something like, “The problem with judgmental people is….” Now pause. You are about to make a statement that will qualify as judgmental. You become like the enemy. Do we give ourselves and others a free pass on judging judgmental people? Or is it OK for us, because we have the moral high ground? But isn’t moral high ground the same ground a judgmental person is standing on supposedly? How can we move the conversation forward? There’s such confusion today about what is judgmental and what isn’t.

The problem is not morality. The problem is not pointing out right and wrong; it can’t be. If we live in a society, or even a family, that can’t talk about what is right and what is wrong, from global warming to lying to immigration policy to cheating, we are toast. So being judgmental cannot be reduced to not talking about right and wrong.

It seems so obvious to say this but sometimes I wonder if we are, as a society, able to talk about right and wrong anymore. It dissolves into an amorphous “what’s right for you” and “what’s right for me.” We have taken away judgmentalism, but at what cost? We end up with seemingly profound statements like, “the only thing we don’t tolerate is intolerance.” Really? We tolerate anything wrong but don’t tolerate calling anything wrong? That’s nuts.

Don’t judge others lest you too be judged.

The essence of judgmentalism is not in calling out right and wrong but in looking down at other people, considering them a lower form of humanity than yourself, or worse, dehumanizing them. And, get ready to be vulnerable, we all do it! I truly don’t believe there is a human being who has not, at one time or another, looked down at someone else. Showing contempt for and labeling other people is “normal” and it’s time we all own up. In owning up, we will become more humble, which brings us down from our place of looking down on others, or at least closing the gap.

The worst form of judgmentalism is when someone looks down at another person without seeing themselves as judgmental. Oh, how proud we feel when we do this – “I am not like them.” Our pride blinds us spilling over into another quagmire called hypocrisy. You just hit the jackpot – a judgmental hypocrite!

Look at the log in your eye, not the speck in someone else’s. 

You know who we can learn from, don’t you? Jesus had this amazing way of talking about right and wrong without being judgmental. Even though he was truly qualified to look down on others, given his resume’ and all, he didn’t come across that way. “Don’t judge others lest you too be judged.” Good advice. “Look at the log in your eye, not the speck in someone else’s.” Don’t judge other simply because they sin differently than you. But above all, let’s admit we are judgmental lest we add hypocrisy to our character as well.

–Pastor Mark, the Imperfect Pastor

Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men. (Matthew 4:19 NKJV)

Shame Is Everywhere

What do North Carolina, Dennis Hastert, Abby Wambach, and Donald Trump have in common? Not much except that they have all been shamed in the media within the last week. There is a lot of good work on the topic of shame and the effect it has on people—Brene’ Brown’s stuff is quite good. You might say that we are learning something about shame as a culture, maybe we’re even maturing. But people who are celebs in a celebrity-driven culture are always at risk of being shamed. And, with the use of social media, which gives everyone a shot at celeb-status (51 percent of millennials purportedly want to be famous), shame is not limited to a few. The wrong photo posted or words tweeted can change your life forever.

The Problem with Shame

Shame is based on the idea that you “lose face” when you do something that culture calls shameful. You are then excluded from the land of looking down on others, and you are now being looked down on. At the very least, you have lost your coolness. Of course, some things, many things are shameful. When a 35-year-old man lures a 12-year-old girl into his desires, we, as a culture, identity shame then as appropriate. When someone does something that is not PC, they are shamed—choose for yourself whether this is good or not. Many people live in fear of shame and in love with whatever culture calls non-shame or honor, sometimes never thinking about whether the standards are goodness or evil. The main thing becomes not wanting to be left out of the group.

Shame on You, Shame on Me

My point is simply to get us to see how much shame surrounds us and how that massive volume shapes our lives. Sometimes, we may feel like saying, “to hell with shame.” The real problem, however, with shame is that it cuts people off from their community by giving the illusion that there are individuals who don’t do shameful things, as opposed to those who do. We’ve all done things that are shameful. In fact, from God’s perspective, our looking down on others is shameful, given our own stuff. For a culture that is big on being non-judgmental, it’s good to realize that when we shame people, we are judgmental. It is looking down on people, taking away their face, no longer counting them as good as we are. Let’s own up.

Is There Any Good News?

God loves the shamed. Remember, in spite of artists attempts to clothe Jesus on the cross, he was most likely totally naked. Just think of the pictures going out instantly today. Mocked, spit on, cut off from the cool, from the land of looking down on others—he did look down—in love and forgiveness for people who live in the land of shame. The naked One takes our shame and covers us so that we won’t be shamed. Good news.

—Pastor Mark, The Imperfect Pastor

 

Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men. (Matthew 4:19 NKJV)

 

By the Skin of My Faith

Job says, “I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth.” (Job 19:20) Since teeth have no skin, what he means is he’s barely escaped death. I sometimes think back with wonder at first few weeks and months I was Christian. I had made a commitment to follow Christ “no matter what.” Sounds strong, doesn’t it? But the reality was that I was very much at risk. I was weak and vulnerable. I felt that a battle for my soul was raging, and I was supposed to be more than an innocent bystander.

I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth. (Job 19:20)

I still think following Jesus is the hardest thing I’ve ever done or ever will do. I am currently training for my first half-marathon, but the degree of difficulty of the marathon is not even close to the level of difficulty trying to follow Jesus. I have a date on my calendar when I will run the marathon (June 18th), and I have a training schedule to follow. I have one goal, to run the race one mile at a time to the finish line.

Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count; everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted.

However, following Jesus is way more complicated and arduous. Often, we don’t know where we are in a race. As the idiom goes, “Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count; and everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted.” The layers beneath the surface, the motivations and attitudes of the heart all come into play. On top of that, temptation is truly a strong force.

Barely hanging on to Jesus is infinitely better than not hanging on at all.

In the first six weeks of my Christian life, I faced intense temptation. Somehow, and not perfectly, I escaped–by the skin of my faith. Does faith have skin? Maybe. It can come in the form of other people who, to one degree or another, exhibit faith. Sometimes, even faith that is skin-deep is what is needed. Faith gives you hope that you too might be able to handle temptation without giving in. It so happened that I got connected with other imperfect Christ-followers. And eventually, and this is a bit of a mystery, I became a person who inspired others to live by their faith–or at least by the skin of their faith. Barely hanging on to Jesus is infinitely better than not hanging on at all.

Hang in there, even if it is by the skin of your faith.

Job hung in there by the skin of his faith. His temptation was to curse God, and he comes oh so close–but he never does. Just a few verses after he mentions “by the skin of my teeth,” he says, “After my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh, I will see God.” (Job 19:26) Job utters one of those beautiful Easter longings we find throughout the Old Testament. Job’s faith was more than skin deep. He saw the possibility of a resurrected body that would one day see God. That longing, or vision, is what keeps each of us going. So, in this Easter season, I pray you get a view of the resurrected Christ–and the resurrected you. Hang in there, even if it is by the skin of your faith.

Happy Easter! –Pastor Mark, The Imperfect Pastor

Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men. (Matthew 4:19 NKJV)

Authentic to What?

Valuing Authenticity

We live in an age when authenticity is valued more than almost anything else. No complaints here. The alternatives to authenticity are not good. Forced conformity only leads to a shallow existence or hypocrisy – lots of pretending. To become a more authentic person is a good thing; however, let’s be wary of a few traps we can fall into.

“Constructing” our authenticity can be very tricky. I remember times as a teen when, in the name of being authentic, I would spend an inordinate amount of time in front of the mirror trying to look like I didn’t care how I looked. The plot thickens!

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

Creating a persona—literally  “mask”—for ourselves based on our preferences is not necessarily authenticity. If we want to show ourselves and others we are into non-conformity, it’s ironic that we would endorse a very conforming and pervasive consumerism by going to a store at the  mall and buying a skateboard or tee-shirt covered with all kinds of non-conforming symbols. The plot thickens more. There is nothing today more conforming than being a consumer of authenticity. Through a mix of consumerism and Facebook, we can create our personal brand. Is that real authenticity?

There is nothing today more conforming than being a consumer of authenticity.

How we might ask, is this different from the garden-variety hypocrisy we are trying so hard not to exhibit? Are we not chasing our tails in search of our true selves? Don’t we, in the end, succumb to a false self? The Bible argues we live with a mixture of true selves and false selves. So, if we go with Shakespeare’s famous line (placed in the mouth of the hypocritical fool Polonius) “To thine own self be true,” we might ask, “which self?” My greedy and lustful self? My kind and generous self? My spiteful and judgmental self? My forgiving and humble self? True to what? Authentic to what?

This above all: to thine own self be true

Being immersed in the soil of truth and love comes to us as a gift from God is what brings authenticity to our souls. Discovering our identity or true self in Him is way more authentic than coming up with our own brand based on our consumer preferences. All these choices involve projecting ourselves to others can make one’s soul anxious!

Becoming More Authentic

A couple of things can make us more authentic. First, take off your mask, as I take off mine, and say, “I am a sinner in need of God’s love.” Now that’s being authentic. Secondly, look at Jesus. Has there ever been anyone more authentic? He didn’t have the anxiety that comes with self-branding. He lived his life with deep joy and peace. He was authentic to his given calling. He is the example to us of true authenticity.

—Pastor Mark,  The Imperfect Pastor

Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men. (Matthew 4:19 NKJV)