John Mark Ministries

Articles on this site express varying points of view, to encourage mature thinking on serious issues. The assumption is that you will want to study a controversial topic from various angles before you arrive at a conclusion, rather than simply believe what someone told you when you were impressionable! (So some stuff here is ‘hot’. Proceed at your own risk!). See the Statement of Faith for John Mark Ministries' theological stance.

Ex-Pastors: Why do they drop out?

By Rowland Croucher and others ⋅ February 10, 2012 ⋅ Post a comment

Leadership is Influence is Dropout (Part 1) by Thomas Scarborough Dropout among ministers in the USA, by various estimates, lies between 80% and 95%. The second figure is widely accepted, and implies that the number of ministers who remain in ministry halves every ten years. The purpose of this article, and of that which is [...]

25 LISTS OF EVERYTHING INTERESTING/IMPORTANT

By Rowland Croucher and others ⋅ December 30, 2011 ⋅ One comment

Dear friends I’m making 25 lists of 25 important/memorable/helpful items/ideas. Anything missing? We’ll have to factor it in to one of these (watch this article): 25 LISTS OF 25 1 MOST INSPIRING PEOPLE WHO’VE EVER LIVED 2 MOST MEMORABLE PASSAGES IN THE BIBLE 3 GREATEST CHRISTIAN HYMNS/SONGS 4 GREATEST SERMONS EVER PREACHED 5 GREATEST [...]

25 BOOKS EVERY CHRISTIAN SHOULD READ

By Rowland Croucher and others ⋅ December 28, 2011 ⋅ Post a comment

25 BOOKS EVERY CHRISTIAN SHOULD READ (Renovare, 2011) ‘Pray constantly’ (1 Thess. 5:17). The devout Russian peasant-author of The Way of a Pilgrim added: ‘These words made a deep impression on me, and I started thinking of how it could be possible to pray without ceasing when the practical necessities of life demand so much attention’. But a [...]

Homosexuality & Divorce: why not treat them the same?

By Rowland Croucher and others ⋅ December 7, 2011 ⋅ Post a comment

Dr. Smedes, a retired minister in the Christian Reformed Church, was a former ethics professor at Fuller Theological Seminary, and the author of a dozen bestselling Christian books including To Forgive and Forget and All Things Made New. LIKE THE WIDENESS OF THE SEA? Lewis B. Smedes I remember the first time that I watched [...]

A Tale of Toxicity: Winning the Fight for Health in a Toxic World

By Rowland Croucher and others ⋅ November 30, 2011 ⋅ Post a comment

Michael Simms, A Tale of Toxicity: Winning the Fight for Health in a Toxic World, 2011. We have all wondered if the incidence of asthma, autism, diabetes, chronic fatigue, and many other conditions are increasing in the Western world (and elsewhere for that matter) – or whether we are just more accurately diagnosing illnesses [...]

Derek Tidball: Preacher, keep yourself from idols (IVP 2011)

By Rowland Croucher and others ⋅ October 13, 2011 ⋅ 2 comments

For the last half-century every decade has witnessed the publication of a landmark book on the art of preaching. From memory, roughly in chronological order: W E Sangster’s The Craft of the Sermon; James Stewart’s Heralds of God (he was selected by Preaching Magazine as the 20th century’s greatest English-language preacher), John Stott’s I Believe in Preaching, John Claypool’s The Preaching Event (he’s the [...]

HOPE WITHIN DARKNESS (Richard Rohr)

By Rowland Croucher and others ⋅ October 11, 2011 ⋅ Post a comment

Christians indeed have a strange image of God: a naked, bleeding man, dying on a cross. It’s not what you would think the image of God could be or should be. Is God eccentric here, or is it we who have not diagnosed the human situation correctly? Jesus receives our hatred and does not return [...]

Pastors: handing over to others…

By Rowland Croucher and others ⋅ October 10, 2011 ⋅ Post a comment

If indeed it be necessary, O Lord, to bury the workman that my work may be finished by other hands, help me never to think of myself as indispensable. May I be content to die with my work undone, knowing that my task is to work at the fulfilment of your purposes, not to work [...]

Humo[u]r

By Rowland Croucher and others ⋅ October 4, 2011 ⋅ Post a comment

TEACHER: Donald, what is the chemical formula for water?DONALD: H I J K L M N O. TEACHER: What are you talking about? DONALD: Yesterday you said it’s H to O. ============================= There were 3 friends stranded in an island. Exploring the island, the 3 men found a bottle so they opened it. A genie [...]

A time to gain and a time to lose (Richard Rohr)

By Rowland Croucher and others ⋅ September 29, 2011 ⋅ Post a comment

TO EVERYTHING A SEASON: A time to gain and a time to lose On the spiritual path, it is not optional to know ourselves. It’s not optional to be willing to make mistakes. Such qualities are essential. They lead to the gradual growth of a person “to maturity, to the measure of the full stature [...]