Some time ago, I had the opportunity to speak to a youth group — something that creates more anxiety than speaking to the smartest, most distinguished adults in the world! Whenever I talk to kids, I try to latch on to the one thing (hopefully there’s one!) that grabbed their interest.

They could care less about my discipleship and spiritual formation interests; news that I had pastored for nearly two decades almost put them to sleep. Eventually, when someone else was talking about obstacle course races, I mentioned that we did those in boot camp all the time. I said something like, “Before the Spartan and Tough Mudder were a thing, we did that in boot camp a couple times a week!”

“You were a Marine?!” they said, with emphasis placed on the “You…”

After alleviating their doubts by telling them it was a long time ago, their questions shifted to how hard boot camp was, how many people quit, if I shot anybody, and so on.

One who was considering a career in the military asked how I made it and if I had advice. I told him that the thing that kept me going when I wanted to quit was thinking about seeing my parents at boot camp graduation.

It sounds cheesy, but the thought of their beaming faces really helped me endure the especially grueling moments of training. So, I encouraged the young man to discover the thing — Simon Sinek would call it the “the Why” — that would keep him going.

This is true for life in general, and we typically apply it to other arenas of life that we consider more “practical.” But it’s especially important to remember the importance of vision or purpose when it comes to our lives as disciples of Jesus.

Too often, our commitment to God is based on oughts, shoulds, and guilt — catholic or otherwise. And this keeps us going, but often aimlessly. Like Forrest Gump, running… just because.

This makes for a great scene in a movie, but in real life it’s not cute or funny.

Instead, we need a vision so powerful that it will pull us through even the valley of the shadow of death.

John Ortberg understood this. He wrote:

One of my main pastoral concerns around Christian Spiritual Formation (CSF), is that it is often visionless. Too often, it is directly associated with things to do, like fasting, praying, spending time alone. And these disciplines do play an important role in any CSF, but when thoughts of formation immediately turn to what we should do, it may be a sign that we’re running aimlessly.

Instead, we need to focus on the goal of CSF. Which is not to form us into people who are good at fasting, anymore than practicing piano is for the purpose of getting good at practicing piano. The goal is to become like Jesus; therefore, he must also be the governing vision.

To see him — his power, grace, beauty, wisdom and love — clearly is what either evokes strong desire or revulsion. Revulsion from those comfortable in the darkness (see the demonized man in Mark 5:7); positive desire from those desirous of the light (see the delivered man in Mark 5:18).

The New Testament writers understood this from experience. As far as we know, all of them were drawn by a vision of Christ, whether in-person, a vision, or hearing stories of him. Therefore, when they wrote their letters and Gospels, they didn’t give their readers a program, they sought to present the person — Jesus Christ the righteous one. They held him up through life, his words, his death, his resurrection, and his ascension. And trusted that that vision would do what talk of duty cannot.

When that vision takes hold, disciplines will stop feeling like homework assigned on a sunny weekend and start feeling the way Olympic athletes feel about training (1 Timothy 4:7-8). It will no longer be, “I have to” but “I’ll do whatever it takes.”

The goal was never to become good at the practices. The goal was always Christ. And people who have genuinely seen him don’t need to be talked into the work.

Northminster Church Update

Aside from preaching at different churches, the bulk of my work has been with the good people at Northminster Presbyterian Church. Last month I taught a 4 session course called Formation Lab: The Kingdom of God for Everyday Disciples.

The goal of these “labs” was to move beyond informational knowledge (gnosis), towards a more practical/relational knowledge (epignosis). We covered:

• The Kingdom of God

• The Problem Around Formation

• How Transformation Happens

• Intergration and Mission (The Role of the Local Church)

If you’d like to tune in, but prefer video, start here:

Nigerian Greenhouse Update

Harvest time in Nigeria. I’ll let the picture and video speak for themselves, but we are incredibly thankful for the financial support that has made this possible.

Quick Hitters

Shameless Do-Gooders

As you all know, the economy is in the tank! I beseech you, therefore, sisters and brothers, look for opportunities to do good! I guarantee you you won’t have to look too long.

Recall what it says in Psalm 41. “Blessed is the one who considers the poor! In the day of trouble the Lord delivers him; the Lord protects him and keeps him alive; he is called blessed in the land…”

That’s how it works. Because God is our deliverer, it frees us to be intentionally considerate of others.

Let’s make somebody's day. Click this if you’d like to help us do so.

I spent most of April dealing with the congestion that spring time brings. Whenever I have trouble breathing I go back to those time-tested remedies my parents practiced on us — with great success, I might add. They were: ginger tea (with organic ginger, not just a tea bag), pepper soup (the only thing more effective than this is the blood of Jesus), and Vicks VapoRub.

I don’t know how to make the pepper soup, so when I’m congested I quickly make some ginger tea to assault the sickness, then I chase it with Vicks — slathered all over my chest and back.

This time, after applying the Vicks and getting ready for bed, I noticed that it lacked the punch it used to have. I could smell it — Ashanti certainly could! — but I couldn’t feel it. I checked the expiration date and discovered it was a relic from before the pandemic.

Problem solved.

The stuff, while still having the form and essence of Vicks, had lost its umph; or, to use some old language — it had lost its virtue.

If you know me, you know that I will find an illustration in almost everything, so let me connect this to the life of faith.

In 2 Peter 1:5, Peter writes, “[M]ake every effort to supplement your faith with virtue.”

The virtue of a thing is its inherent power to do what it was created to do. A knife’s virtue is in its sharpness. Medicine’s virtue is in its capacity to heal. What is the virtue of faith?

The virtue of faith is the ability to act with confidence in God when such action is required. Scripture is clear that God's heart moves toward the poor, the widow, the stranger — those the world passes over. Knowing this, we may believe that caring for the vulnerable is the right thing to do. But belief alone is not the virtue of faith. The virtue of faith is demonstrated when that belief bursts into action — when we actually do stand with the oppressed, even at personal cost, as the moment demands.

This is the type of faith a watching world wants to see in our churches and from Christians.

There’s a story in the Bible of a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years. She heard that Jesus could heal people with a touch, so she decided to sneak up behind him and brush the hem of his garment. When she did, Jesus responded, “Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me” (Luke 8:46 KJV).

Virtue is what she needed. Virtue is what she found.

Somewhere, perhaps today, you will meet someone the world has passed over. They are not hoping to cross the path of some learned theologian. They are hoping to meet someone with virtuous faith.

Updates: Northminster Church

Last month I had the privilege of preaching at Northminster, where I am temporarily serving as their Formation Director. They were going through a series called “Begin Again.” These were sermons aimed at highlighting people in the bible who didn’t let setbacks have the final word, but saw them as an opportunity to course correct — to begin again.

You can hear my sermon on Naaman in 2 Kings 5, here:

You can also watch below:

In the next month, I’ll be developing a 4-week course for Northminster called, “The Kingdom of God for Everyday Disciples.” We will move from the Gospel of the Kingdom, to how discipleship to Jesus transforms our lives.

The good folks at Northminster will be recording each session, so I am looking forward to posting them on my podcast. Prayers are appreciated.

Greenhouse Project in Nigeria

Last month, I shared the great news that we were tearing down our existing greenhouse to build a larger, more sustainable one. Thanks be to God, that work is now complete!

Now they are preparing the soil and installing a new irrigation system, so the planting can begin.

I’ll let Mary share a little, that way you can also hear her voice.

You should know that we received a few timely donations last month. These donations helped us send money for more equipment, seed, payment for workers, etc. Many of you prayed, some gave; we are grateful to all! Because, although none of you got your hands dirty, your prayers and gifts made this work possible. We bless God for you, and pray that he would continue to bless you, so you can continue to bless others.

Quick Hitters

Second Breakfast: Take Work to Christ

Our second monthly service was fruitful. Our topic was on the importance of taking work to Christ, instead of taking Christ to work. I wrote a reflection on it, too!

My friend Herb, a former FBI agent, shared a bit about his experience endeavoring to obey Jesus on the job. All in all, it was a great time together, and we received some excellent feedback.

Shameless Do-Gooders

Last month we were able to share $1200 from our Shameless Do-Gooders fund.

Folks, I cannot impress upon you more the importance of generosity today. We are all complaining about gas and the cost of groceries, but many of us do so from a place of irritation — it’s an inconvenience for us. But for many it has long since passed the point of irritation, and has become a burden dangling around their necks.

I urge you once more to prioritize doing good intentionally. Seek out the opportunities to be a blessing. They are all over the place, we just need to look with a virtuous faith!

If you’d like to help us continue doing good, you can find ways to give here.

March was a month of gratitude and generosity at the Mark43 Institute. As I’ve been sharing ad nauseam, we allocate 25% of all donations we receive for benevolence. After tallying two months’ worth of donations, we set out to do some good.

Thanks to your generous support, we were able to donate $2,700 to people around the Cincinnati area. Some of these people came through our Shameless Do-gooders initiative, where people submit the name of a person who could use a blessing. Through this, we helped a family that had just experienced the loss of a wife and mother, and a woman caring for a hospitalized family member.

We also went out seeking opportunities. It was great to go to our local grocery store, pray about whom to bless, and hand out envelopes with $300 and Bible verses on the inside.

Since we value the dignity of the recipients, we do not record any of these engagements, but we provide a way for them to share our story. Whether they do or choose not to, we are grateful for how your generosity has enabled us to be generous to other people.

As we let our benevolence fund add up again, we encourage you to go out and do good deliberately. As I write this, the economic condition in the US continues to deteriorate. The other day I spent $35 for a little over a half tank of gas! Whenever I do so, I thank God for all the ways I am provided for, then I remember that many people are not as fortunate or connected as I am. In times like these, Paul’s words to Timothy sound like the bells of Notre Dame to all of our ears:

Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others. By doing this they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may experience true life. — 1 Timothy 6:17-19

Greenhouse Farming in Nigeria

As I’ve written elsewhere, we are asking God to provide the resources needed to purchase the property our greenhouse is built on right now in Nigeria.

As an act of faith, and in response to the success we’ve experienced already, we have torn down the first greenhouse and are building a larger, more sustainable one.

While the old greenhouse was the size of a large garage, the new one will be two-thirds the size of an NBA basketball court. It will also come with improved irrigation and material that will allow a higher degree of sunlight to filter through.

What is not conveyed in these pictures is the elation from people on our board in Nigeria. To have the support of sisters and brothers who don’t even know them means everything. They are eager to get the new greenhouse finished, put some seed in fertile soil, and send pictures of the progress we are all making.

Meanwhile, continue praying for the property on which it is built. Right now we are renters, grateful to the owner for allowing us to expand, but our goal is to own. Owning will enable us to grow not only vegetables, but people — souls who simply need the right space and opportunity to pursue the dreams God has planted within them.

Second Breakfast: Ordinary Faithfulness

Last month we had our first of two trial monthly services. About 15 men gathered to discuss what it meant to be faithful in the ordinary things of life and how this sort of faithfulness is what makes the biggest difference.

My friend Tony Cole shared a powerful story of how he was forced to answer this question — What is life requiring of me? — after an injury that permanently altered his son’s life, and his and his wife Linda’s lives.

Our example from the Bible was a man who doesn’t feature prominently when discussing faithfulness. Indeed, when I mentioned his name, a few of the guys thought I was referring to the famous character from the Old Testament. But it wasn’t Joseph, who God used to deliver Egypt from a famine, but Joseph — Jesus’s earthly father — who was our subject.

Joseph has no spoken lines in the Bible; he is outshined by his wife and son in terms of the impact they made; yet his example of listening to God and responding with obedience is what makes him the example for all of us who pursue faithfulness in the ordinary.

I was able to capture the audio from this event and will post it to the Mark43 podcast in the next few weeks.

On April 11th, we will have our second trial event. Our subject will be “following Jesus at work.” Your prayers are appreciated.

Christian Spiritual Formation at Northminster Church

For the last 15 years, Christian Spiritual Formation has figured prominently in my life. Through the ministry of Dallas Willard and others, I have studied to follow Jesus into the kind of life that transforms the entire person into Christlikeness. I have recently begun working with Northminster Church in Finneytown, OH, as their Formation Director. Together, we will develop the practices, structures, and culture needed to form people into the likeness of Christ — not just in belief, but in the whole of life.

This is early and exciting work, and I plan to share updates along the way. If you’re curious about what formation-centered ministry looks like inside a local church, stay tuned.

What are you learning from Jesus this season? Have you ever asked yourself that question? If not, ponder over it. Because he certainly has much to teach each of us.

I am learning how to become the kind of person that is a conduit for God to bless others. The Bible alludes to the fact that God’s people are blessed to be a blessing, but it does not indicate that this happens automatically. Rather, like most things in life with God, we must undergo a process of transformation to become what he’s made us to be.

As usual, the person God used to prompt me in this direction was Dallas Willard. I was listening to an excellent teaching of his on what he calls “The Law of Transmission.” This is the idea that a conversational life with God is for those who are not just thinking about themselves when it comes to hearing God.

Or, as the late E.V. Hill once said about finances, “If God can get it through you, he will get it to you.”

I believe this is generally true. If you look at those who were most used by God, you won’t find people that are always me, me, me, in relation to God. What you’ll find are those who are often looking to serve others — folks like Jesus, who came not to be served, but to serve (Matthew 20:28).

I have been a pastor to several people like this. They are so others-focused that I routinely pray that God would bless them with millions of dollars, because I know that money won’t stop at them, but will flow through them to bless others.

There’s the famous story of the four men with leprosy in 2 Kings 7. While Israel was being starved out by the Aramean army, God miraculously confused the Arameans into thinking a massive force was moving upon them, when it was really just four hungry men hoping for mercy. In terror, the Arameans fled, leaving a camp full of food, clothing, and valuables.

Immediately, these four men start feasting and hiding gold and silver. Then they wisened up: “What we are doing is wrong. This is a day of good news; if we are silent and wait until the morning light, we will be found guilty; therefore let us go and tell the king’s household” (2 Kings 7:9).

God did something miraculous to them, so that the blessing could flow through them.

How do we become such people? It begins with a recognition: this is who God made us to be. Blessing others is not an advanced course in the Christian life reserved for the especially spiritual — it is the baseline. It is our destiny.

From there, the work is one of reorientation. We must gradually, intentionally, shift our posture from self-focused to others-focused. This doesn’t happen in a moment; it happens through practice. Decide to serve someone each day this week. Over time, through these small acts of service, God will reshape your instincts until generosity becomes a reflex. In short, you will become who you already are in the mind of God.

At The Mark43 Institute, this isn’t just a theological conviction — it shapes how we operate. We began with a vision of not being encumbered by too much overhead, so that we can be free to help people. That vision led us to allocate 25% of everything we receive toward benevolence. We’re not trying to save the world, at least not this week. We just want to help as the Lord provides the opportunities.

This month, that looked like providing groceries for a family in need and lunch for a man outside a UDF who simply said he was hungry. Small things. But the small things matter, and we want to do more of them. That’s why we’ve launched the Shameless Do-Gooders Club — a community of people actively pursuing opportunities to do good, together.

There is so much pain and suffering around us, and God wants to do something about it through each of us. Let’s adopt the posture of living before God for the sake of others, and allow God’s blessing to flow through us.

What are you learning from Jesus?

Leave a comment

Monthly Event: Second Breakfast

We are thrilled to host our first of two trial (invite only) monthly services, aptly named Second Breakfast, in March. The first session will dive into the concept of Ordinary Faithfulness. Alongside a teaching session led by me, my good friend Tony Cole will share a story about his journey of cultivating faithfulness in the everyday demands of life.

Twenty men have signed up to help us determine if this program will continue beyond the exploratory phase. Please offer a prayer for everyone who will attend.

Shameless Do-Gooders

Shameless Do-Gooders is our effort to be intentional — and a little creative — about how we put our benevolence fund to work. It’s not only meant for moments of relief, but also for moments of unexpected joy.

Here’s how it works: anyone can recommend someone they believe deserves a blessing by submitting a short form on our website. From there, we’ll prayerfully decide who we can help, connect with the person who made the recommendation to arrange a surprise delivery, and place our gift in an envelope with a handwritten note or scripture inside. (Because of the personal nature of this delivery, we’re currently restricted to the Greater Cincinnati area.)

This is not meant to create any fanfare, just a reminder that someone sees them, and so does God.

We also believe that stories of God’s grace deserve to be told. So we give every recipient the opportunity to share their story or submit a prayer request if they’d like. Occasionally, with their permission, we’ll ask if we can share their story with our community — not to put anyone on display, but because faith grows when we see what God is doing in the lives of real people around us.

Want to recommend someone? Visit https://www.mark43institute.org/do-good and fill out a short form. It takes two minutes and might just make someone’s day.

Quick Hitters

Nigeria

Last month I shared the exciting news that the property are Greenhouse is on has become available. The total cost is approximately $100,000. Please join us in praying for this.

Podcast Promo

The good people at Church of the Saviour UMC have given me permission to take over the podcast that hosted all the sermons I preached while serving as their pastor. I will slowly be transporting each sermon to the Mark43 Podcast. If you’d like to listen, click the link below.

If you want to search through the archive before I transfer them, you can find them here.

USPS Mail Delays

Remember the old USPS motto — “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.”

Apparently, staff shortages and sorting issues were their unexpected nemesis. For the last three weeks, the only mail we’ve received is of the presorted variety — aka junk mail.

For those who let us know that you were sending a donation, we’ve communicated why you haven’t seen the check cashed, or received a donation receipt. If you’ve sent a donation via USPS and haven’t heard from us, don’t think we are rude. We will send you a donation receipt as soon as we do receive it. Meanwhile, we’ve been advised to encourage donors to use a tracking number if they choose to send a donation via USPS.

Please contact me if there are any concerns.

Each of us could answer in a multitude of ways.

Sometimes we’re grateful they didn’t come true after seeing how time exposed how foolhardy they were. Other times, the dream lingers at the edge of possibility, like a what if that refuses to die. And sometimes they aren’t deferred at all; they just… look different in reality than you imagined. Like the fancy coat you ordered on Temu.

When we started The Mark43 Institute, we had big dreams of revitalizing communities in Nigeria through greenhouse farming communities.

It was going to be great.

A compound housing a dozen people, each responsible for the prosperity of the greenhouse. Over a three-year period, they would receive the training necessary to run a business, with the real stakes of operating the greenhouses themselves, from seed to harvest.

We would select people who had vision but lacked opportunity. In their final year, we would help them develop their own business proposals and connect them with donors willing to invest in them. Some, of course, would help us establish greenhouse communities elsewhere. Because, why not!

Always the visionary, I imagined myself as an old man — an extremely handsome one with good vibes — sitting in a rocking chair, reading an article about Nigeria’s economic explosion.

“The Real Wakanda,” they called it.

In this fantasy, thousands credited The Mark43 Institute with sowing the seeds that made it possible.

Prideful? Maybe. But if you’re going to do a cannonball, you might as well make a huge splash.

I’m not an egomaniac. I’m Nigerian, we dream exorbitantly.

I was raised watching my parents send money “home” for school, clothing, medicine, rent — whenever they could. Their example taught me that the privilege of coming to America came with responsibility; not just to family by blood, but family by heritage.

So we prayed, planned, raised funds, and visited Nigeria in 2019 — my first time returning since I was a baby.

And then the pandemic — that great deferrer of dreams and general killer of vibes — ground everything to a halt.

Mary’s Greenhouse

I’ve written elsewhere about how we handled that disruption. We made the most of it. But if I’m honest, I felt like the man Jesus warned us not to imitate: the one who began building a tower without counting the cost. After laying the foundation, he realized he couldn’t finish, and people laughed at him, saying, “This man began to build and was not able to finish.” (Luke 14:28–30)

Nobody really laughed; not to my face, at least. Besides, the pandemic had us all crying in our masks.

Still, the moves we made because of the pandemic felt less like constructing something and more like having a closeout sale.

What happens to a dream deferred? It gets scaled down and repurposed.

I was grateful we could support some NGOs doing faithful work. I was especially grateful to help Mary, who was building a greenhouse on rented land. Instead of a greenhouse farming community built on land we owned, we had one greenhouse built on land a landlord allowed his tenant to build.

Not bad… I guess.

After that, I scarcely thought of The Mark43 Institute. We remained “open,” like that lone Blockbuster still operating in Bend, Oregon, but the energy was gone. We were on low-power mode.

In the Fullness of Time

Last October, when I began breathing life back into this ministry, I recommitted to supporting the work in Nigeria — small though it was.

Mary’s greenhouse was still producing faithfully. She still had some of the resources we’d given her. The least we could do was continue supporting her with seeds and supplies. So we committed a portion of our benevolence fund to help keep those efforts going.

I didn’t think about the old dream much. It had settled into its proper place — something I believed God had not chosen to do. And I was fine with that. If indeed we did set out to build a tower without counting the cost, I was grateful that God made something out of our efforts.

But then opportunity — that disrupter of stagnancy and reviver of dreams — came knocking!

Mary told us her landlord planned to sell the property later this year, and would give her the first opportunity to buy it. The land we had settled for as a consolation prize was now being offered as a gateway to everything we dreamed and prayed and planned for.

What happens to a dream deferred? Apparently, it can rush up and seize you by the throat. Sheesh!

Everything we hoped for was suddenly back in play.

I felt like portals of hope were opening all around us, but instead of comic book heroes walking through, all the deferred dreams came back — lively and energetic.

We didn’t choose this path, or this land. But it appears it may be choosing us.

How wise was the writer of Proverbs when he wrote, “We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps.”

Vision Renewed

The original dream was good, but this opportunity is better.

Because now we don’t just have plans. We have proof. We have harvest. We have Mary. We have someone who can train others.

God didn’t preserve the dream in theory, where it remains ethereal and hard to grasp, he baked it into reality. Perhaps he needed us on low-power mode, so he could do work without our “help.” But now it seems like he’s ready for us to pitch in.

Since the pandemic, Nigeria’s economic situation has not improved. This brings a lot of frustration, but also opportunity. Opportunity, perhaps not to change everything, but to work in the area God has placed in front of us. That is always the only place to experience God’s blessing.

Purchasing this property would allow us to expand the greenhouses. But, more importantly, it would allow us to build a community where people share in ownership of their work, their future, and their calling. A place where, for three years, they can learn to cultivate the earth and themselves.

The true gift of such a place is not merely income, it is freedom — the freedom to think about tomorrow because today is no longer consuming you.

All this has me daydreaming again!

Someone unlocking a greenhouse at sunrise to check progress. Someone else teaching a new apprentice how deep to plant the seed. A group of people taking produce to a market to sell. Someone, three years from now, leaving that place with keys in their pocket — not to a greenhouse, but to their own future.

Time to Pray

Sometimes, God takes our hopes and dreams from us, only to return them at the opportune moment.

So, we are taking a cue on how to pray from King David in 2 Samuel 7.

Remember, he wanted to build a house for God, but his dream was deferred. He was not the person for the job. Instead, God promised to build a house for him. And David’s response was instructive: he prayed for the very thing God promised.

So that is what we will do, too. It seems like God is placing an opportunity in front of us, so we will pray for him to help us realize it.

The property costs approximately $75,000, with another $25,000 needed for maintenance and preparation. That is a lot of money for a fledgling organization, but it doesn’t even register on the scale for God.

If this is God’s will, he will provide.

And so we will pray and watch with hope. Hope you will join us.

Howdy,

Since relaunching, one of the most frequent questions I’ve received is about how we’re going to raise money if we’re not charging anything. I’ll explain. And since I’m a preacher, it’ll be a story.

Earlier this month, Mark43 owed Squarespace our annual website fee: $297.

Since we hadn’t really been doing much with the organization the last 3 years, I’d left just a couple of dollars in the bank, enough to keep it open. Well, the due date for Squarespace was rapidly approaching. This is where our fundraising methodology comes in.

We’ve adopted an approach used by one of my heroes, a man named George Müller. In short, we tell God our needs and trust him to supply them, without broadcasting them to everyone else through fundraising efforts.

(And before you say it, yes, fundraising can be holy work. There is nothing wrong with it. Moses was a fundraiser extraordinaire (see Exodus 35)! This is just the way we’ve chosen.)

This close to the due date, it was crunch time. The options were to lean in to the Müller method and take the request to God, or fire off a quick letter informing friends, family and supporters of all our upcoming needs with accompanying costs, certain that we would get way more than enough.

I chose to lean in on prayer only.

Two days before the bill was due, we received our first donation.

Go on, guess how much it was. Guess!

$300!!!

What a coincidence, you say.

Nay, lad! What a hilarious God we serve!

The woman who gave wasn’t responding to an appeal we made. Indeed, she had no idea a bill was due. She likely didn’t feel like she was being “used by God.”

She just responded to a nudge to be generous.

And in doing so she actually gave us way more than $300, she gave us a booster shot of confidence that God will really supply everything we need. And now she gets the thrill of knowing she was, in fact, used by God.

That’s why we follow the Müller method. Because it keeps us dependent on God, or, as my friend Mark Snyder says, “it keeps us close to the Fire.” And it gives way more than money to both giver and receiver!

This is the kind of dependence we want Mark43 to be built on — not excelling at fundraising, but daily trust in God who provides everything we need.

Which makes me wonder… What if we all took those nudges seriously?

How often have we felt moved to do good, but stopped for fear, shame, not wanting to intrude, or questioning if it’s really God speaking?

Another hero of mine — Gregory the Great — once said, “To fear God is to never pass over any good thing that ought to be done.” That’s because God, being absolute goodness, is involved in every good act. So, when we get the idea to do good, we’re actually getting an invitation to work with God.

Sure, the way we go about doing good matters, but who turns down that offer?!

I am quite certain that one of the primary ways God chooses to answer prayers is by nudging folks like you and me to be the answers to them.

Like Martin Luther reportedly said, “God doesn’t need our good works, but our neighbor does.”

So, today, become what we’re calling a Shameless Do-Gooder (more on this below). Do good deliberately for goodness’ sake.

You may never know what impact your obedience to God will have, obey anyway.

Shameless Do-Gooders

Speaking of doing good. We’ve committed 25% of everything we receive towards benevolence. As we support our partners in Nigeria, and their work developing a greenhouse farming community, part of our benevolence will go there, but a large portion will be for local deeds of righteousness (😮‍💨).

We could use your help with that.

We want to hear about opportunities to do good to others, and we’d like your help connecting us to those opportunities. Not just acts of relief, like buying groceries, car maintenance, rent due, etc., but also acts of surprise, like blessing a kid with a new guitar because he is passionate about playing but cannot afford one!

Next month, we’ll create a form for people to recommend local benevolence opportunities. And if we select yours, we’ll reach out to you to arrange when and how to bless them.

Oh yeah, we’re calling this Shameless Do-Gooders, because we are leaning into the belief that God has called us to this.

Jesus was a shameless do-gooder — THE shameless do-gooder, honestly. It is reported that he “went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him” (Acts 10:38). And these weren’t random acts of kindness, but deliberate acts of goodness.

God is with us, too! So, onward! I hope you can help us be a blessing.

I’ve been thinking about making some merch (this, you’ll have to pay for), because it seems like the thing to do. Everyone can always use a t-shirt, hat, or hoodie, but another coffee mug??? I don’t know. If we do it, we want it to feel like a badge for people who love doing good — not another mug with a logo collecting dust.

If you have a creative merch idea you’d like to share, please hit me up at mkanyion@mark43institute.org.

Monthly Services

In March, we’ll start monthly services called Second Breakfast. Ten points to anyone who can identify the two meanings behind this name.

These sessions will offer opportunities for us to gather for a light meal, connect with others, and gain insights that will enhance our journey of following Jesus. Each session will revolve around a specific theme. For instance, March’s theme will be “ordinary faithfulness,” while April’s theme will focus on “your job as a place of discipleship.”

Imagine these sessions as a group sermon. I’ll deliver the opening lesson, followed by a guest storyteller who will share how the theme has unfolded in their life. Afterward, we’ll engage in a group discussion, followed by prayer for one another and our departure.

In short, Second Breakfast is about building ordinary, faithful Christians who are actually learning to live like apprentices of Jesus.

The first two sessions will be exclusively for men and invite-only. This initial phase will allow us to learn and refine the process before we open it up to anyone interested. The goal of Second Breakfast is not to replace church attendance, but to offer another opportunity to study the life of Jesus and embody his teaching.

Due to the generosity of some of our partners, these events are free to attend. The only expense is your time. We hope to see many of you there.

How You Can Participate

• Pray for Mark43 and our upcoming Second Breakfast gatherings

• Share benevolence opportunities with us (form coming soon)

• Practice being a Shameless Do-Gooder this month — and tell us how it goes

Meet Our Newest Board Members

Patrick heard the vision of Mark43 on countless walks over the last 3 years. He understands and shares our passion to help Christians live as disciples of Jesus.

He also brings the wisdom of running a small organization, as he continues building his company, 513 Baseball. Check it out.

He is a husband and the father of three energetic young boys — so he brings both perspective and endurance to the team.

Drake was invited to serve because he has a knack for keeping the mission central and for spotting when good ideas start turning into mission creep. That kind of clarity is a rare and needed gift as we get started.

He’s also a husband and a father to three — this includes a baby girl that is due at the end of January/beginning of February. Big congratulations to Drake and his wife, Dallas. Welcome to life with less sleep, but more joy.

Visit www.mark43institute.org/our-team to see the entire board.

Thanks for walking with us. May God make you bold in doing good — even when no one sees.

This will be the last Substack post you receive under this name. From here on, I’ll be writing — and doing most of my pastoral work — through my nonprofit, The Mark43 Institute. (So don’t be surprised or wonder, “When did I sign up for this?”)

For those who know me beyond Substack, I want to use this post to bring you up to speed on what’s been happening in my life.

As many of you know, I’ve been searching for work since June. At the start, I assumed I would transition from one pastoral role straight into another. After being turned down for several roles I thought I was perfectly suited for, it slowly dawned on me that this season might last longer than I anticipated.

I made the most of my time: reading, writing, networking, and applying. But by September, after a few more surprising closed doors, I sensed I needed to step back and really pray about what God was doing. That’s why I paused writing here and suspended paid subscriptions.

Each day in October I took time to pray and surrender to God. I began reflecting on my calling, the ways God has allowed me to serve over the years, the passion for ministry that was still simmering within. And, as I’ve been trained, I deliberately paid attention to things that happened during this month of discernment. As William Temple noted, “When I pray, coincidences happen, and when I don't, they don’t.”

And wouldn’t you know it, things started to happen… “coincidental” things.

I was invited to several men’s conferences and faith-based gatherings. While walking with a friend, he told me about a corporate prayer breakfast he’d attended and said, “The whole time I kept thinking—Meshach could do this.” While preaching at Asbury Seminary, I received meaningful affirmations about my calling and a few ministry invitations followed.

I started to wonder what it would look like to serve as a pastor in this way — pastoral ministry that isn’t confined to a single congregation. A ministry focused on spiritual formation, discipleship, and helping people live fully in the Kingdom of God wherever God has placed them.

That sense of vision brought not just excitement, but peace — the kind of peace Isaiah describes when he writes, “Your own ears will hear him. Right behind you a voice will say, ‘This is the way you should go…’” (Isaiah 30:21).

After asking friends to pray about this and receiving their affirmation, I started building.

Interestingly — perhaps providentially — I already had a nonprofit, which meant we wouldn’t have to do the laborious legal work required to start one. I started The Mark43 Institute in 2019 primarily to support agricultural and small mission work in Nigeria and Cincinnati, but I hadn’t been able to devote much energy to it. It had been sitting like an empty vessel, waiting to be filled.

God’s ways are perfect, aren’t they?

I began the work of revamping Mark43’s mission, rebuilding the website, and preparing it for renewed ministry in 2026. From now on, my teaching, writing, speaking, preaching, and pastoral work will happen through The Mark43 Institute. That includes everything you read here.

A quick note, since it’s a question I get repeatedly: While ministering through Mark43, I’ll be serving in a bi-vocational capacity. In other words, I’ll have what people describe as a “real job.” I hope to share more on what that is soon, but won’t say anything until contracts have been signed 😅. I’m actually finishing up a seasonal retail gig right now, and let me tell you… I have SO many thoughts on how the workplace might be one of the best places to practice discipleship. Stay tuned.

I also want to say thank you. Many of you became paid subscribers to this Substack, even though I didn’t have a paywall blocking my articles. Your generosity encouraged me more than you know. I won’t be accepting donations through Substack, but if you’d like to continue supporting my ministry work through Mark43, you can do so through our site.

You can expect me to begin writing again regularly next week. I’ll continue focusing on discipleship, spiritual formation, and life in the Kingdom of God. I will also use this platform to share Mark43 ministry updates.

Thank you for walking with me. I’m grateful for you.

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