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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Are You an Example to Anyone?
For you to be an example, people must look, watch, observe and think. They must regard you as an example worth observation. In reality, and reality is a cruel thing, most people are not watching, not because you are not a good example; they are simply not watching you. So, in this regard, you cannot control whether you are an example. You might be; you might not be.
Even though most people are not watching you, that does not mean that no one is watching. It is not uncommon for people to notice another person without acknowledging it. So, you never know when your speech or behavior or attitude is an example. Unless you live in a thick fog that continually shrouds you from everyone and everywhere, people can hear what you say and how you say it, see what you do and how you do it, observe your body language and hear your tone of voice and interpret your attitude. So, you are always a potential example to others.
Indeed, you are most certainly an example to some, perhaps only a few, perhaps many. That said, you are generally unable to control how people interpret your example…unless you are able to say something that provides context.
To be an effective example to others there are two critical ingredients:
- First, you must be intentional in being an example. That means that you are constantly aware that you live as God’s child in a ‘watching world.’ It is God’s intention for the world to see His people and to see Him through His people.
- Second, the most effective example is the one that people observe. For that reason, it is relevant to verbally call attention to your example when appropriate.
Parents should model good attitudes, speech and behavior. However, to be most effective, they must verbally draw their children’s attention to the model they are presenting. Church elders are to model the life of Christ. It would be of great benefit, for example, for an elder to express the need for good attitudes in the wake of calamity or distress. He would go on to explain the kind of attitude that he will model and then encourage others to follow his example. The verbal instruction is meant to draw attention to the example that might otherwise be overlooked. In this way, the effectiveness of the example is increased. The same applies to all who are in positions of leadership, training, and instruction.
These observations are rooted in biblical principles.
On several occasions Jesus said, “Follow me.” He was presenting his life as an example to follow. The result of following His example would be a life of godliness, that is, a life having the same character as God. For that reason, the Apostle Paul and the writer of Hebrews could instructed their readers…
“Walk in love, just as Christ also love you….” (Ephesians 5:2)
“Accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us….” (Romans 15:7)
“Be imitators of God.” (Ephesians 5:1)
“Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 11:1)
Regarding self-discipline, “you ought to follow our example.” (2 Thessalonians 3:7)
Be “imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” (Hebrews 6:12)
Regarding those who speak God’s word, “Imitate their faith.” (Hebrews 13:7)
To be a good example, you must first align your life with Christ. It is not about acting like Christ but being like Christ. Then, “let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” And don’t forget that from time to time you might need to use words to remind those you lead, “Follow me!” Then, when they follow you, they will ideally be following Christ. And in that, God is glorified.
Mark Stinnett
October 11, 2026
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Death Interrupted by Life
You’ve heard it. I’ve heard it. I’ve probably even said it: “Death is just a part of life.”
I don’t believe that anymore, at least, not like it is usually meant.
The reason is simple: When God created the earth, He placed upon it living things. It is true that there were inanimate objects like rocks, but they were not the remains of living things. So, not only is God the creator of life, but He is also not the creator of death. For Adam and Eve, death was conditional. Regarding the fruit on the forbidden tree: God said, “In the day that you eat from it, you will surely die” (Genesis 2:18). Adam and Eve had a choice. Again, death was conditional.
We might think that because of Adam and Eve death is a certainty for the rest of us. Yet, before we begin playing the blame game, we all know that we have sinned and are therefore deserving of death. The Bible tells us that that “there is none righteous, not even one.” and “all have sinned” (Romans 3:10 & 6:23). Yet, even without these declarations, each of us knows our own sin because of guilt feelings sensed in the conscience at some point in time.
What does all this tell us? God created life and God intended life. That is to say that God did not create mankind with the intention for man to die. This thought ought to be as natural to us as breathing. The earth is full of evidence shouting, “Life!”
Just think about weeds as an example. Is there need for further explanation?
A man was old and nearing death. His hospital room was filled with relatives saying their final “farewells.” I was called in to offer comfort and prayer. After a couple of hours, I wondered if I should stay or leave and come back later. The attending nurse informed me that the man was minutes away from death, not hours. The old man was unconscious, long pauses between breaths as his body gasped for air. Although he had previously communicated his desire to pass on, his body struggled to live, breath after labored breath until it could struggle no longer. I have looked back on this occasion many times as I observed that as living things, your body and mine desire to live even if we have lost the will to live. That is how God created us.
Jesus Christ stands as a kind of exclamation point to God’s testimony for life. When man destroyed his own life through sin, God interrupted death with the offer of life. So, once again mankind faces a choice. In the Garden of Eden man was alive but chose death through sin. Now, God has given us the choice to live again through Jesus Christ. When we give our allegiance to Jesus, we then find that death is but an interruption on the way to eternal life.
Like most, even though I have the assurance of eternal life in Christ, I do not look forward to the day of my physical death. I think it is the nature of what God has created, the innate desire in every living thing to keep on living. Undoubtedly, that is why most of the writers of the New Testament epistles remind their readers of the hope we have in Christ, that is, the expectation of eternal life.
The promise of eternal life provides the motivation to live each day in God’s kingdom according to God’s way. Our hope of eternal life also refreshes our souls in our later years when it is evident that our bodies are wearing out and death is more visible than ever before. Our hope revises our view of death. Because of God’s promises death is but an interruption along a path to life.
When we died to our sins by being buried with Christ in baptism, God raised us up to walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4-5). That ‘newness of life’ is not a figure of speech, but rather, the beginning of eternal life. Being born again (John 3:5), we receive a new spirit. Death is but an interruption in which the old body is exchanged for a new body; the perishable for an imperishable (1 Corinthians 15:42).
God urges, “Get ready!” Prepare to leave; prepare to go; prepare for arrival.
Gaze heavenward always!
Mark Stinnett
October 4, 2026
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What Are You Chasing?
“The proverbs,” those wise, clever, pithy (and often unrelated) sayings actually begin in chapter ten with an announcement:
The proverbs of Solomon.
A wise son makes a father glad,
But a foolish son is a grief to his mother.
--Proverbs 10:1
I would not press the matter, but the first nine chapters of Proverbs may simply be a lengthy introduction. It is as if Solomon was careful to prepare the mind of his son so that he could listen to wisdom. And how does he prepare him?
If I had to summarize the first nine chapters of Proverbs into one statement…
Chase after the knowledge and discernment of the Lord;
do not chase after women.
Just prior to chapter ten, wisdom is personified as a desirable woman offering wisdom, discretion, and life. In stark contrast is the ‘strange’ woman (adulteress) who is ultimately portrayed as naïve. She doesn’t even realize that she seduces men to their deaths.
How many young men have set their eyes on a good and lofty goal in life; high thoughts of service, generosity, and devotion to God, perhaps even entering into the ministry? But things changed. It was not shifting interests or the demands of career; rather it was the momentary distraction of the sexual lure of a woman.
Foolish!
Even if he is careful/clever enough to escape public notice, the guilt changes him. Lofty goals are smashed.
Changed forever!
It is not that God’s forgiveness cannot heal. But the power of sin and the psychological entanglement are great and all too often defeating.
There is no ‘undo.’
Watch his parents...
Filled with high hopes, his father’s heart is deeply saddened; his mother weeps. There are many ways to act foolishly, but sexual sin is among the most devastating.
Young men! Sexual purity is of greatest importance. Purity of the spirit is the pursuit of wisdom and knowledge and discernment. You will NEVER regret the sin you did not commit!
How many young men have fallen prey to the lure of a girlfriend, the power of pornography, the seduction of another man’s wife? For a moment of sexual pleasure, a life is changed!
Changed forever!!!
The ‘first’ proverb...
A wise son makes a father glad,
But a foolish son is a grief to his mother.
Chase wisely!
Mark Stinnett,
September 27, 2026
