Our preacher, Mark Stinnett, publishes articles for the church bulletin each week. These articles are designed to teach, encourage and challenge the members of our congregation. His latest articles can be found below with the most recent at the beginning of the list. Mark has archived all of his articles on his personal blog 'MicroMarks' which can be accessed at: micromarks.blogspot.com.
Preacher's Blog
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Pick and Choose?
The truth of God’s word is not dependent upon human compliance.
In God’s word are many instructions regarding life and living. Some are more about an individual’s response to God while others lean more to the way we interact with each other. Whatever the instruction, nothing changes in God’s words if you comply or if you rebel. His instruction remains.
Let me show you an example of what I am thinking about with a statement passed around in recent months on social media. I do not know its source although it is attributed to Rev. Benjamin Cremer. I don’t know if this person really exists, and if so, if he actually said/wrote this. Nevertheless, this quotation and ones like it flood the minds of modern readers.
“If you take the Bible extremely literally about human sexuality, but not about feeding the hungry, bringing good news to the poor, liberating the oppressed, forgiving debts, bringing health to the sick, or loving your neighbor, please don’t act like you take the Bible seriously.”
That sounds good, right? It sounds good and right! Surely, anyone who takes the Bible seriously must be serious about those good works. And yet, you might already see the slight of hand the author attempts.
The author of the quotation has isolated two general activities and set them against each other. On the one hand is ’human sexuality,’ which might be placed in the broad category of holiness. It is about one’s moral response to God. We might even say that it is addressed by the first great command, to love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.
On the other hand there are ‘acts of service,’ which might be placed in the broad category of love. It is about one’s love for one’s fellow man, something addressed in the second great command.
One of the reasons this quotation sounds as if it is the moral high ground is because the Bible contains something similar. In 1 John 3:17 we read...
Whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?
However, let’s flip the original quotation upside down:
“If you take the Bible extremely literally about feeding the hungry, bringing good news to the poor, liberating the oppressed, forgiving debts, bringing health to the sick, or loving your neighbor but not about human sexuality, please don’t act like you take the Bible seriously.”
The way the original quotation reads, morality is set against loving service as if service is superior to morality. Yet, in the second modified version, loving service is set against morality as if morality is superior. Reduced down, both versions ultimately present tension between the first great command and the second. In reality, both commands come from God and do not compete. The second command is developed from the first and complements it.
If we look deeper, both commands are rooted in the character of God. God is holy and demands that we live our lives in holiness and purity. At the same time, God is love and He demands that we live our lives in love and service. In God there is no tension between holiness and love. God is holy in all his decisions and actions and, at the same time, He always acts in love.
So, do you need to love others through service? Absolutely.
And also, do you need to maintain holiness through purity in your sexuality and all other aspects of life? Absolutely.
Christianity is not a pick and choose menu.
You are either a disciple of Jesus in every aspect of your life, or you are not a disciple.
Mark Stinnett
April 12, 2026
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All Joked Up!
His lessons were uplifting, a rich sustaining spiritual feast from God’s word. That was the first time I heard him preach. Then, a few years later, something had changed. He didn’t preach, he just entertained. We opened our Bibles, but the ‘lessons’ were filled with jokes and amusing stories.
“Well, that’s like the man who…” (one liner) LOL
“And that reminds me of the little girl who…” (joke) LOL
“On one occasion when my boys were little….” (Illustration or just another funny? Hard to tell.) LOL
A friend’s daughter tallied 15 ‘funnies’ during the first half of the ‘sermon’ and then lost count. (Compare that to a late night talk show host who begins with a 4-5 minute monologue of humor.)
Jesus: jokester??
John: personal anecdotes??
Peter: one-liners??
Where was Paul’s amusing introduction to draw the crowd’s attention!?
“Jesus taught by telling stories,” we have been told. Yet how do the ‘stories’ that Jesus told compare to the stories told by preachers today? I have never once heard a preacher tell anything like the parables of Jesus that contain inexhaustible spiritual riches.
Almost 2,000 years ago Paul described our times:
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires. (2 Timothy 4:3)
Too many times I have heard people remember the jokes and stories that preachers tell, yet forget the sermon content. Illustrations can be meaningful and might be amusing. However, when the humor distracts from God’s word, divine truth becomes secondary and is rendered ineffective.
Consider Peter’s words in 2 Peter 1:12-15
I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them, and have been established in the truth which is present with you. (v. 12)
Read through the first 11 verses to identify “these things.” He was not interested in new or clever or funny. Rather, he was always ready to remind them of things they already knew to establish them in the truth.
I consider it right, as long as I am in this earthly dwelling, to stir you up by way of reminder. (v. 13)
What did Peter use to stir the people up?
He remind them of what they already knew. It was the right thing to do.
And I will also be diligent that at any time after my departure you will be able to call these things to mind. (v. 15)
Peter was not interested in his audience getting all joked up. His goal was that they would remember, remember, remember the divine truth of God’s word after he was gone.
Given the choice of what to remember, choose the truth being taught instead of the illustration. Remember the Bible class lesson better than you remember the teacher’s personal anecdotes. Remember the content of the sermon rooted in God’s word instead of the name of the preacher.
What is your preference: God’s word preached or man’s entertainment?
Mark Stinnett
April 5, 2026
(Illustration made by hotpot.ai/art-generator)
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Searching for What Cannot Be Found
A scoffer seeks wisdom, and finds none,
But knowledge is easy to him who has understanding.
--Proverbs 14:6
Why is this proverb true?
How is it that a person could actually search for the very thing that God wishes for him to have, yet not find it?
The answer is found in these proverbs about the scoffer:
"Proud," "Haughty," "Scoffer," are his names,
Who acts with insolent pride.
--Proverbs 21:24
"How long, O naive ones, will you love simplicity?
And scoffers delight themselves in scoffing,
And fools hate knowledge?
--Proverbs 1:22
He who corrects a scoffer gets dishonor for himself,
And he who reproves a wicked man gets insults for himself.
--Proverbs 9:7
Do not reprove a scoffer, lest he hate you,
Reprove a wise man, and he will love you.
--Proverbs 9:8
A wise son accepts his father's discipline,
But a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.
--Proverbs 13:1
A scoffer does not love one who reproves him,
He will not go to the wise.
--Proverbs 15:12
Do you see the character of the scoffer?
Do you see his character flaws?
The scoffer is filled with pride. He is consumed with himself. He looks down on others. His knowledge is superior or, at least, sufficient. His experience is superior, or, at least, sufficient. His ideas are superior, or, at least, sufficient. You cannot tell the scoffer anything; he needs no counsel, no advice. He does not listen to correction. He cannot be corrected. A term used in our day that may describe the scoffer is ‘narcissist.’
Go back and read the first chapter of the book of Proverbs. The purpose of the book is to impart wisdom. Yet, what is one of the keys to gaining wisdom?
Over and over and over, Solomon begs his son to listen! One who listens, truly listens, must exhibit a level of humility. He must acknowledge that he is not sufficient within himself. He must be open to instruction, criticism, and correction.
The scoffer searches for wisdom but the very thing he needs stands in opposition to his character. He needs humility in order to listen but opposes it by his own pride.
Do you need proof?
Just read this to a scoffer.
Be wise.
Be humble.
Listen.
Mark Stinnett
March 29, 2026
