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PLEASE NOTE: Always use the Scriptures themselves to verify what I and others have written before accepting as true what we may say or write. -Bro. MarkCopyright Information
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Good morning! Just tripped onto your site while doing some research. I have enjoyed what I’ve read thus far. When you have time, no rush, what are your thoughts on the following:
Once saved, always saved
The current changes in the SBC
Calvinism
Thank you, and God bless!
Thank you for your comments. Here is my reply:
I support once saved always saved. Here is why. If I am not saved by my works but by my faith in Christ, how can I lose my salvation by my works? I could only lose it if Christ took it from me and He said “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out” (Joh 6:37). And “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand” (John 10:28).
I applaud any change that will investigate allegations of sexual abuse among churches affiliated with the SBC. Realize, though, that the only courses of action that he SBC can take in sexual abuse cases are to report the alleged perpetrator to the local authorities and disfellowship with the church involved if that church fails to take action on its own. The SBC has no ruling authority over its affiliated churches other than disfellowship because all SBC churches are independent, autonomous churches.
I cannot accept the doctrine of predestination that some Calvinists believe.
I do not believe in the five points of Calvinism (TULIP). However, since I agree with some of the beliefs in each point, I would have to write you an essay on each point to explain. The fact that I do not believe in predestination is the simplest way to explain that.
Hi Brother Mark,
I just came upon your website as I did a search on the word Memra after watching a utube video of Peter Theil’s 2019 interview with Peter Robinson of the Hoover Institute and their mention of Pope Benedict’s comment regarding “logos”. My understanding of memra is based upon Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum’s teaching of the meaning and your explanation is in line with what he taught. My reaching out to you is because I’m hoping you are still in ministry as your website seems to be somewhat old except for a delayed comment you made on December 3, 2021. I pray that you are healthy and that the Lord has sustained you through these past two difficult years. I’m glad to have found your website and will spend some time going forward studying your insights of the Scriptures. I just wanted to say hello and thank you.
Maureen,
Well, here is another delayed reply; my apologies.
Yes, I am still in ministry. I have retired from the pastorate and now I am the music minister at New Life Baptist church in Milton, Florida. My website is also my ministry.
I still write and post to my website but not as often as before. I am currently working on my Revelation Commentary and have been doing so for the past 4 years. My first chapter was posted in 2018. It is my magnum opus and it is slow-going. It has been taking most of my time. That is why I have slowed my posting.
Yes, I am still healthy. At age 73, I still exercise daily; I walk 2 miles briskly, and I am not overweight. The only heath problem I have is high blood pressure controlled by medication. I did have covid during the first year. I was sick at home for about five days then I recovered. I did test positive.
I am posting the Revelation study in chapters as I finish them.
I am familiar with Dr. Fruchtenbaum, but have not read his teaching on the Memra. I gleaned the information for my study from the Jews for Jesus website.
Thank you for your concern, and I am glad to be able to continue with the studies, and you are most welcome.
I have been reading through the Bible and came to a conclusion about what it meant when the Bible said Ham “saw the nakedness of his father” that no one had ever taught me before. I searched online to see if anyone else had come to the same conclusion and found your article “What Was Ham’s Sin?”. I agree with you 100%. It seems obvious now, but I never understood that scripture until now.
Thank you for making these teachings available online.
Thank you Julius. I agree. That is a plausible conclusion based on the laws of Moses.
I realize your time is limited, so I picked a very abbreviated little explanation of the subject. This is only a seven minute video, concerning Genesis 1 and I believe you will find it edifying.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osWMvZlDJMk
Debra, thank you for your kind comments. I did view the video in the link you provided. I have addressed the issue of three earth ages in two studies: Genesis Chapter One, and in The Gap Theory.
brother Mark, thank you for all the work you obviously have put into this endeavor. I am very impressed you are able to reach out to everyone, no matter what level of study they are on, from babes in Christ to the mature scholar. Blessings to you and yours and thank you so much for the obviously hard work you have put into this teaching. I am assured you have greatly edified many in your robes will be very glorious.
brother Mark, your introduction is quite succinct and very precisely lovely. It seems to me many years ago I came across your website and if I remember correctly I was quite impressed. You do such a superb job of reaching out to everyone, no matter what their background religiously or their level of learning is. I just want to congratulate you and encourage you to keep up the good work. I myself am a student of Shepherds Chapel and Arnold Murray. I have been studying many hours daily for 25 years with this gentleman and he has edified me so greatly. But he is like you are, always saying check me out because no one ever knows the word 100% and I stand to be corrected. Blessings to you and yours and thank you for all the work you have OBVIOUSLY put into this website. Your robes will be beautiful!
Thank you for your kind comments. I do try to keep the essays at this site as Biblically accurate as possible. I appreciate that you appreciate that.
I enjoyed your presentation on Genesis 9. I have a comment or question regarding the slavery commentary. I am not looking to defend slavery. If Noah’s curse on Canaan is slavery unto his brethren (Shem & Japheth), and if Canaan’s descendants were the Canaanites whom God told the Israelites to utterly destroy, how can they be both slaves to Shem & Japheth and utterly destroyed. And while the curse was put upon Canaan from the mouth of Noah, God himself has a serious issue with any man who discovers his father’s nakedness, or in this case has sexual relations with his fathers wife. Ham was therefore essentially cursed by God himself. Lev 18:8 The nakedness of thy father’s wife shalt thou not uncover: it is thy father’s nakedness. Lev 20:11 And the man that lieth with his father’s wife hath uncovered his father’s nakedness: both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them. Death is a curse in itself, and the price all humanity pay from the fall of Adam. Death is part & parcel to the original curse. The law of Moses was not yet a law, and Ham was not immediately put to death for his sin against his father. The law of sewing & reaping would infer that Ham would have to bare his own recompense for his own actions. This would even effect the children of Ham. Exo 34:7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. The seed of all of these individuals are still in the world today.
Thank you, Michael, for your comments. I did not write that Canaan and his descendants were slaves. I believe the term “servant of servants” was a metaphor to show that Canaan and his descendants would never live up to the standard of Shem and Japheth. We don’t see any place in Scripture that shows the Canaanites as a whole nation to be slaves to Shem and Japheth. Slavery did occur in their day. Usually slaves were the spoils of war. So there probably were Canaanites that were slaves. The metaphor likely indicates that Canaan would not be able to stand up to the others. Shem’s descendants utterly defeated the Canaanites, but did not follow God’s order to destroy them all. Thus they forever after had trouble with them. The Hivites deceived Joshua into allowing them to live. They then became bondmen, hewers of wood, and drawers of water for the house of God. They were then slaves of a sort. They were still with Israel in David’s day and Nehemiah’s day. But that was not all of the Canaanites. I appreciate you comments and insight into the Scripture.
Dear Pastor,
Your commentary on Genesis 9:18ff regarding Noah and Canaan is the best I’ve seen on the web. Do you have a PO Box where I can send you a booklet? I would like to share a discovery which ties early Genesis to late Revelation. I am a member of Pasadena United Reformed church in California. Thank you
David, sorry about the delay in responding to your comment. Thank you for commenting on Genesis 9:18 and following. I do not have a PO Box. You may send me a link to your booklet or you may email me a synopsis which I will not publish without your consent. Thanks again.
I was studying about righteousness and looked up Isaiah 64:6 on the internet and consequently found your site. What a wonderful article you wrote on why our “righteousness is as filthy rags”! I already knew the basics of the fact that we cannot save ourselves due to our good deeds simply not being good enough…they cannot undo even one sin; and were we able to save ourselves, then Jesus (the only One worthy to stand in our place and die for our sins) would not have had to die. However, Pastor Mark, what you wrote concerning the original Hebrew…the explanation concerning what “filthy rags” means in the sight of God…what an eye-opener! The example you gave of someone loving us so much they sold their jewelry store and in our attempt to feel worthy of the sacrifice we, in return, give them a bag filled with menstral pads and tampons!…that this is how God sees our good works that we make in an attempt to possibly earn our salvation….Wow! This example made this Truth all the more understandable and clear! I was SO amazed at the clarity of this example that I copied/pasted it to my facebook, siting your web site as the source of this incredible insight. And I just listened to the video here on the Ten Commandments…filled with God’s truth and wisdom. Thank you for clarifying that statues and pictures are ok…as long as they are not worshiped. I have tried to explain this distinction for years to those who misunderstand this particular commandment. Anywho, thank you, my brother, for your wonderful teaching. May God bless you as He has blessed the many (including myself!) THROUGH your work on this website…By the way, have you finished the study on Revelation yet? I noticed you made a comment about this (the date of your comment was April 2016)…. Take good care, Bro Mark. Thank you for your work and your commitment to our Lord.
Linda,
Thank you for your comments. Apologies for taking so long to get back to you. Unfortunately with my duties at church I do not always have time to check the comments made by visitors to the website very often. The actual Hebrew for “filthy rags” is not a very palatable subject for those in the West, but nonetheless it is true. That is why I placed a warning on the post. I am very happy that it helped you and did not offend you. Unfortunately, most religions and thus most people believe that the way to Heaven is through good works. The Filthy Rags post was written prove that is incorrect.
The Revelation series is coming very slowly. I have had much to learn since I first wrote it and it is in dire need of rewriting. I am currently working on Chapter Eleven.
I am glad you enjoyed the videos. I haven’t done another in the past 4 years. Perhaps I can get to it soon.
I stumbled onto your website. I am enjoying so much of what I am reading, however I am not seeing any new posts for the year. I was just wondering if the page is still live. I will be reading more of your material, but i just wanted to say that i truly appreciate your work on Genesis. it is quite detailed and i am enjoying it so much. Please keep on posting and adding more material.
Thanks for the comments, Nick. At present I am only writing new articles occasionally. I am working full time for a while and cannot spend as much time writing as I used to. That is also why it took so long to reply to your question. I am slowly working on a Revelation series. I may begin posting the chapters I have completed. I am still working on the Romans series. I have posted several new studies this year.
what is position on tithing today in the church
I believe in tithing to my local church.
Dear Bro Mark, in your article on the Memra, you state that the Sopherim (scribes) substituted the tetragrammaton with ‘Adonai’ 134 times and that is indicated in our bibles by the capitalised word ‘LORD’. However the Targumists (who presumably were working from the original Hebrew including the tetragrammaton) replaced the word for God, wherever it was referring to a theophany, with ‘Memra’ – which as believers we would take to refer to Christ as ‘the Word’. How many such substitutions did the Targumists make, and do they correspond to the same 134 substitutions the Sopherim made? The question behind the question is this: Is there some easy way we can tell when the original text was in fact referring to Christ? Should we mentally be translating ‘LORD’ as ‘Christ’ whenever we read it?
Thanks, Andrew for your questions. I wrote that article several years ago and do not have the time to research your questions at present. I did provide a bibliography. Perhaps you can research the questions yourself.
Dear Pastor Mark,
I have just written a book called “A Journey to Faith: Why the World Needs Jesus Christ” and use charts, maps, illustrations, photos and so on to bring the Scriptures to life. In the early part of the book I spend some time explaining the false gods/idols so that people can understand what was done in their name and why God said they were an “abomination”. The illustration/etching that you have used on your website of Molech by Charles Foster is the same one that I would like to use in my book, however, whilst it is in the public domain, my publisher requires me to receive written permission to use it to acknowledge the source of who placed it into the public domain. Can you write an email answer of permission to use this from your website, or can you point me in the right direction as to whom I can contact to ask permission.
I would really appreciate any help you can provide with this.
Thanks so much – kind regards, Paul Brunton.
Paul
Apologies for taking so long. The image of Molech/Moloch came form a public domain book entitled “The Story of the Bible” by Charles Foster. Its latest copyright is 1884 and has not been renewed. I am unable to provide you with written permission for it is not my image. However, the image is available this website: http://www.coolnotions.com/PDImages/PD_StoryOfTheBible_07.htm.
Mark
Amen brother Mark!
Hi Pastor Oaks, I have a question for you. I am a long time Shepherd’s Chapel student. If memory serves you share many common beliefs and teachings with the chapel. With that in mind I’m hoping that you can give me some insight some I’m working towards a Master of Divinity degree… How have you balanced the deeper and more controversial teachings of the chapel with your “day job”? Are there things that you’ve been unable to teach to your congregation. Generally speaking… if you have any thoughts on how to lead a congregation while keeping that Shepherd’s Chapel student mentality I would appreciate it. Thanks for all of your great work over the years…
Jeremy, thank you for your comments. I apologize for taking so long to reply. Unfortunately, I no longer support Shepherd’s Chapel or their teachings. I took Arnold Murray at his word and checked out what he taught with the Bible. After studying the Bible, I found that I have profound disagreements with the doctrine of Shepherd’s Chapel. I can, however, recommend Andersonville Theological Seminary. Their website is http://www.andersonvilleseminary.com.
Bro. Mark, I would like to get a copy of your article titled ‘Preservation and Psalm 12:6-7’ where you show that the word ‘them’ is speaking of the words of God, not a generation of people. If we cannot prove that God promised to preserve his word unto every generation, then we have no starting point/foundation for why we believe what we believe… so I would like to add your article to my study source for guidance and reference, please. Thank you! God bless you for your faithfulness to the truth. In Christ, Evelyn.
Evelyn, I sent you a copy.
What happened to your revelations studies from the old site and could you make them available
Its still available at, I’ll send it to you. However, it is in need of revision.
The old site is better had more topics and studies why don’t you migrate the old topics over I liked the revelation studies and Daniel
Working on it.
Here is what I, as a Southern Baptist, believe. Galatians 3:28, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” There are no races in the body of true believers in Christ. We are all the same—sinners saved by the blood of Christ. As for Southern Baptist support of slavery, I cannot and do not condone it. Certainly there were those in the SBC that condoned slavery. But that was in the 19th Century. We live in the 21st Century. Slavery was abolished in the 19th century in the USA mainly due to the efforts of true Christians that were vehemently opposed to slavery.
Hi.
What is your position – understanding on the nationof Israel today?
Read “The Relationship Between Israel and the Church“.
what is your insight on the Millenial Temple in Ezekiel
Jesus Christ was the ultimate sacrifice for the atonement of sins (John 14:6; 1 John 5:11-12). His sacrifice on the cross was sufficient to forgive the sins of the whole world (John 1:29; 1 John 2:2). The true temple is the body of Christ, which is the church (1 Cor 3:16). The church is the called out assembly of all true believers (ἐκκλησία, ekklēsia: church, a gathering of believers called out from their homes into a public assembly). There is no need for a sacrificial altar in the next age, therefore I do not believe in a literal millennium temple with animal sacrifices. That would make Christ’s sacrifice insufficient to cover all sins.
The Theme is called “MistyLook.” I have modified it somewhat. It is available at wordpress.com if you want WordPress’ to host your site. If you want to use another host or use your current website host, you can download a starter package at woordpress.org. Go to the dashboard and click Appearance, then Themes, then Install Themes and then type MistyLook into the search box. Alternatively, you can download the theme from wpthemes.info/misty-look/.
Hi Bro Mark,
Wondering if you could possibly send me a link to the Alphabet PDF mentioned in this link (link removed) I couldn’t find the PDF when clicked.
Many thanks,
Phil
Phil,
Those downloads are now available on our Downloads page.
Hey, My name is Cory!
Wow i thought i would never see this site again. I stumbled across it a while ago and checked back almost daily because i was so impressed. To my dissappointment I blanked on the name about a month or two ago. I tried to search for it but i couldnt find it anywhere. Thankfuly i was clearing out my bookmarks today and found that i had bookmarked your homepage.
Im very glad i did and its not lost forever, but you really should consider studying up on your SEO. It would get you alot more traffic and you wont loose all your followers like you almost lost me. WordPress SEO tactics are little bit differant than all the other stuff you will read about on the internet. It can be tricky untill you know what your doing.
Till Next Time My Friend
-Cory
Thank you for your kind comments. This site is still under construction. The original site is no longer operating. The old site contents are still available. If you wish to read one of the old posts, contact me (http://wp.me/p2Qj7u-nm) and I will email the post to you. Be sure to leave your email address. Or, leave a reply at the bottom of this page. As for SEO, I have a system that is working well.