First. I am a sinner saved by the grace of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. A Christian who happens to be a Southern Baptist* living in the metro-Atlanta area with my wonderful wife and daughter.
What else? I’m a deacon, men’s ministry co-leader and sometimes Sunday School teacher. I do have a Certificate of Study in Christian Apologetics from Biola University and have been through a Pastoral Theology class. I’ve even spent a short time as a youth minister. Currently, I am working towards an M.Div. (Yeah, I must be crazy!)
What does this mean? I am basically a Bible and theology geek with plenty to learn who has aspirations of pastoral ministry. If for some reason you’d like to hear me you can listen to some devotions I gave at the Sunday evening service or listen to my testimony.
Blog renaming. I’ve renamed the blog to Here I Blog from its previous name Sweet Tea & Theology. You can read about why sweet tea below.
But why Here I Blog? You can read about it in my redesign post. I’ll give the idea here too. When I got hereiblog.com it was in reference to Martin Luther’s speech at the Diet of Worms. In defending his writings and stance against the Roman Catholic Church Luther is alleged to have said, “Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me. Amen.” That’s how I came upon the domain name. This name is easy to remember, especially, using the historical tie in to Luther. As tough as it was I decided to go with the Here I Blog retiring Sweet Tea & Theology.
For past interest in the old title. Concerning the blog title, “Sweet Tea” comes from the South and growing up drinking sweet tea which certainly was attached to southern hospitality as it was the main drink offered when visiting with someone. Georgia actually passed a law that said, “food service establishments which serve iced tea shall serve sweet tea.“ The “Theology” part comes from the understanding, study and application of God as He relates to all areas of life.
The quote. “The question is not…” in the subtitle is an original. I came up with several years ago as a simple description of the Christian life. It basically says that we can never be good enough to save ourselves so we need Jesus Christ and His redemptive work.
Concerning my old nick. The nickname “johnMark” is one I started using online in 2001. I took the name of New Testament writer “John who was also called Mark” and used a small “j” with a capital “M” alluding to my real first name of “Mark.”
My new ID. “johnMark” has not completely gone away. I’ve started using Mark|hereiblog though just to make myself more easily identifiable.
*The contents of this blog express my views and opinions and are not those of my pastors and/or local church. I strive to be gracious though I too am a sinner who falls short at times. Since beginning this blog I have (hopefully) grown in grace as I’ve progressed in my Christian walk. My intent in making observations is not to be personal. It is to make observations and insights that are edifying and may or may not involve constructive criticism and/or correction.
Please fell free to contact me or leave a comment below if you have questions or concerns.
Grace always,
Mark
{ 27 comments… read them below or add one }
This comment is not for posting:
The nickname “johnMark” is one I started using onine in 2001.
Fix this to say “online.” Sorry, I have issues.
OK, no choice about publishing comments. Now for the real comment. Thanks for blogging. I have read several of your posts and find the ones on the doctrines of grace and how they are received in the SBC to be especially interesting.
Keep up the good work.
God Bless,
Pilgrimsarbour
Your testimony truly touched my heart, because I always wanted you to know the love and peace you can have as a true christian. I know that you had to find your own way, which I am thankful you did.
My prayer is that you continue to live, grow and learn.
As all of us should be doing.
love, your mother
“In the metro atlanta area” ?? Where?
I don’t understand anonymous blogging. If it’s worth saying, it’s wroth claiming. BTW, all of your seems to be worth saying. Keep blogging, anonymous or not.
Mike,
Yep, I’m in the metro Atlanta area in Marietta. I wasn’t really trying to be anonymous in the sense of hiding. I’ve just been using the nick “johnMark” for a long time and decided to start blogging with it.
I’ll shoot you an email.
Mark
Well John Mark,
I do not like the cavalier way you approach the Bible and Christian issues.
I am Dawson Morrison Pastor of Mountain Home Baptist Church in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
People like you run around collecting up unholy dust and muses of the devil; you will find a host of friends as you continue down that path of relevance, but you will find no consolation from heavenly host.
Here is an article I want to share with you on my feelings for alcohol. I will plainly state that Jesus NEVER drank fermented wine. I believe in total abstinence. I am certain the Bible teaches total abstinence.
The crowds supporting casual or social drink do so because of their personal desire for alcohol and their interest in compromise.
There are so many little wimp laymen, who have not been called by the Holy Spirit to shepherd churches, yet they are expert theologians.
I have 42 years on the job as a SBC Pastor; it irks me when I cross the path of such pathetic and futile exercise.
Please go study William Patton’s book, “Bible Wines”.
OPEN LETTER ON ALCOHOL USE
Compiled and written by: Dawson Morrison, Pastor
Mountain Home Baptist Church
“Reassert our truceless and uncompromising hostility to the manufacture, sale, importation and transportation of alcoholic beverages” SBC (1896).
• It appears it does not take much alcohol to impact a person physiologically. Researchers at the University of Washington in Seattle determined among test subjects that even one “strong drink” can cause a “substantial perceptual deficit.” This “inattentional blindness” in those whose blood alcohol level was less than half the legal limit resulted in these individuals being more likely not to notice an object that appeared unexpectedly in their line of sight (Reuters, “One strong drink can make you ‘blind drunk’,” July 4, 2006).
While I believe abstinence has absolute biblical underpinning, sociological indicators persuade me that any use, social or other, is unwise.
An adolescent’s view of alcohol is positively associated with his or her parents’ drinking behavior and attitudes, I suppose in much the same way a child’s view of prayer and personal Bible study is impacted by his or her parents’ behavior.
A study done a few years ago found that in homes where the parents were total abstainers from alcohol, 16 percent of the teenagers in the home experimented with alcohol before adulthood. In homes were the parents were social drinkers, 66 percent of the children experimented with alcohol before adulthood.
And a child who drinks before age 15 is four times more likely to develop alcohol dependence, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism reports. Furthermore, recent studies have shown the alarming extent to which alcohol decimates an adolescent’s still-developing brain and nervous system — far more harshly than it does those of an adult.
In modern American society, the human toll taken by alcohol abuse is staggering. According to a recent USA Today/ 20 percent of Americans indicated they “had an immediate relative who at some point had been addicted to alcohol or drugs.” The article, “In Tim Ryan’s Family, He is the Addict,” in the July 20, 2006, issue of USA Today notes, “That translates into roughly 40 million American adults with a spouse, parent, sibling or child battling addiction.”
You say “While I believe abstinence has absolute biblical underpinning, sociological indicators persuade me that any use, social or other, is unwise.” But then never actually show those “Biblical Underpinnings” Could it be because they are not there and you must resort to secular statistics?
Simply put, it takes a twisting of scripture to come up with a total abstinence position.
Brother Dawson,
I find your comments regarding my friend Mark very troubling, especially since you have 42 years on the job as a SBC pastor.
On another note, you said:
You are just flat wrong here. I don’t drink alcohol because I don’t find it necessary to do so, not because I believe the bible teaches abstinence.
Since we are recommending books, might I encourage you to read Gospel Centered Hermeneutics by Goldsworthy.
Grace and peace to you…
ABClay
Dawson Morrison wrote: “I will plainly state that Jesus NEVER drank fermented wine.”
You sir are anathema. Look it up.
Dear Mark your blog is very intreseting as i found it on my friend's blog Free St Goerges who is a pastorate and who studyed at L.T.S. London. I am in further studies for the pastorate and i look forward to sharing fellowship in the Lord with you.
Yours in his true Grace of our Lord.
William Wilson In further studies for the pastorate Ministry of the Reformed Baptist Ministry.
Interesting that the “Mountain Home Baptist Church” in Tuscaloosa, AL doesn't have a site – and does not pop up on general address listings when doing a Google search.
Keep doing what you're doing, Mark – I have never seen your blog before today but anything that ministers, in a positive way, to those who are seeking, is a good thing. In the end, we all answer to God for what we choose to do… or not do.
tillie2, thanks for the encouragement. I've thought about shutting the blog down from time to time. Comments like yours keep me motivated along with self-examination for my motives.
tillie2, thanks for the encouragement. I've thought about shutting the blog down from time to time. Comments like yours keep me motivated along with self-examination for my motives.
Dawson,
There will be no Welch’s grape juice at the marriage supper of the lamb, so start now building up a tolerance, for the wine will be flowing when Christ comes back!
How sad these comments from Mr. Morrison are. It’s also discouraging because I assume that he would run to proof-texts to show why his ungracious language is appropriate when fighting such issues. The way Christians attack other Christians is saddening.
With that in mind, and while I think Mr. Morrison’s argument is nonsensical and ridiculous, it also saddens me that those in response to him also use such harsh words. Responding to his caustic attacks with our own sardonic and cutting words does not elevate the discussion at all. I’m not naive – I suspect that it is impossible to elevate the discussion with Mr. Morrison. However, that doesn’t mean that we should climb down to his level of attack. I realize that Luther used harsh words but, until one of us does what Luther did, perhaps we should speak a little kinder.
Blessings,
Matt Jacobs
For those not in Alabama, Dawson was/is a longtime caller to various sports talk radio shows in the Birmingham area. While he and I are both diehard fans of the University of Alabama, he was about as gracious a caller as he is a poster. As for his church, I lived in Tuscaloosa for seven years without hearing of it. A quick google search does not reveal such a church in Tuscaloosa, and a look at the websites for varous SBC associations in the state does not bring up the church. Must be some very small independent. Not that it matters, but it’s really hilarious to hear a belligerent guy like this show up on a reformed blog.
I forgot that I did actually reply to Mr. Dawson in Of Cavalier Attitudes.
Eugene, Matt and MRS: Thanks for the comments. I do agree with Matt in general about how we give responses. It is something I’ve been convicted of more and more lately.
MRS, I could never find anything about Dawson either.
Somedays I stop to think about my SBC youth, early adulthood, and why I left it. Pastor Dawson nailed it down for me again. I found peace and grace and the ability to worship in other denominations.
We can not regulate the drinking of alcohol to others especially since Dt 14:26 says “whether we drink wine or strong drink, we are to do so thankfully and to the glory of God”
My dad was an alcoholic
I am an alcoholic
My niece was killed by drunk driver
Yet, I still am not allowed by scripture to tell others that they can not drink.
Grace,
Bill
Romans 5:1
Hi Mark. Saw a comment you made on the World Magazine Blog. I think I may come back here when i have the time to peruse some of your material.
Concerning your original quote in the subtitle, I saw a tract that asked “Are you bad enough to be a Christian?” It talks about how we will never see ourselves needing Christ until we see ourselves as He sees us: wretched, hopeless sinners in need of a savior. I think your quote catches the same sentiment from a different angle.
Keep blogging. I wish I actually had something to post on my little blog, but alas, nothing comes to mind as often as I would like.
Peter,
Thanks for stopping by. I appreciate the encouragement. I like the “Are you bad enough to be a Christian?” line. Blogging/writing is tough. I think we all have something to say. Getting it out is the hard part.
And browse around, but be easy on me!
hmmmmmm……..
bit quick on the trigger perhaps?
Hi Mark,
What seminary do you go to?
- Matthew
Hey brother Mark,
Grace and peace in the Name of the Lord Jesus, bro! Great blog and am also in Men’s Ministry – VP of Springfield, Il. Business Men in Christ (www.businessmeninchrist.com) and I just launched a chapter in Decatur. Il Am also the prayer committee leader of our leg of the national Iron Sharpens Iron Men’s Conference since we started in 2007. Do Seniors and other ministry etc…but love writing. My book just got released from Theocentric Pubs in Dothan, Al. We are all Reformed Theology dudes….but because I do street ministry etc. I don’t wave my Calvinist banner, but preach it on the street level…with some Ray Comfort thrown in!
God bless you and yours, brother and take care! Have a great week!
Bernie
Just stumbled onto your blog today and I’ll definitely be checking back regularly. Great stuff! Someone will need to explain how a discussion on alcohol use got started in the comments section of your “About Me” page. Weird. The only beverage I saw mentioned by you was sweet tea. However, as a Northerner who loves the Lord’s precious gift of unsweet iced tea, I rebuke you as an uncouth heretic…or something like that.
Keep up the great posts!
Ben, thanks, brother. As for the alcohol discussion in this thread..I don’t know. I guess the person who started it didn’t know where else to comment.
Hello, this is Dawson Morrison, pastor of mountain home baptist church near Tuscaloosa Alabama.
hello mark, I left a comment on your site back in 2008 that comment generated a lot of discussion., but I do remember that I must have been rather intense about something you said about alcohol. I guess I may have been a little harsh and yet I still remains the same in my position. upon reflection I do think I could have been a little less abrasive also I am to you did not call me as to be stern. I hope that things are going well with you and I do hope that you realize I was not intending to attack you personally only to attack the thought process.
process. all your faultyou were using