Mark Ballenger | AGW MINISTRIES

How to Listen to a Sermon

February 8, 2016 by Mark Ballenger

If you are a Christian, you probably have listened to a lot of sermons. For God has ordained that his message found in the Bible should be regularly and publicly communicated through preaching sermons.

It’s truly amazing when you think that even in an entertainment saturated culture such as the America, every Sunday masses of God’s people gather together to listen to a preacher give a sermon out of God’s word. From the moment of the churches birth in Acts 2, all the way up the present time, sermons have been God’s first choice in communicating (besides the Bible) to his people. If sermons are so important, every Christian should take the time to learn how to listen to a sermon.

What Is the Difference Between King David and King Saul?

May 28, 2018February 4, 2016 by Mark Ballenger

Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. -Psalm 51:11

Have you ever seen a leader fall from a high position? King David did. By witnessing what happened to King Saul, he saw firsthand what would occur if the Holy Spirit’s anointing left a man. King David had to have been thinking of King Saul when he penned those famous words in Psalm 51:11.

In Psalm 51 David is repenting over a massive sin he committed with Bathsheba. Just like King Saul, King David rebelled against God at certain times in his life. The Holy Spirit’s anointing, however, left King Saul and remained on King David. Why was one able to recover from rebellion while the other couldn’t? What’s the difference between King David and King Saul?

How to Use Discernment

January 17, 2019January 30, 2016 by Mark Ballenger

Key Bible Verses: Matthew 18:15-17, Galatians 6:1, Romans 16:17, Romans 14:4

One of the defining marks of a true Christian is a disdain and discernment for sin. When the Holy Spirit enters our hearts and as we grow in our walk with Jesus, we become more discerning to the sins both in us and in others. This is a great gift that benefits a heart seeking after God, but with each gift we receive comes a temptation to use it wrongly. So how do we use our discernment according to the Bible?

How to Use Discernment the Right Way

Discernment over sin should, of course, primarily be used to aid the believer in confessing and repenting of their own rebellion. For how are we to help others see clearly if we ourselves still have planks of sin in our own eyes (Matthew 7:1-5).

Intertwined: God’s Glory and Our Good

January 29, 2016 by Mark Ballenger

Sexual Purity: How the Church Often Get’s It Wrong

February 25, 2018January 26, 2016 by Mark Ballenger

Psalm 51:10
“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

The American Church has gotten the issue of sexual purity backwards. The idea is presented to youth groups across the country that it is utterly crucial for them to “remain pure.” When they are virgins, they have their purity. If they have premarital sex, however, they will lose their purity.

True Sexual Purity Is Given By Jesus Christ Alone

While there are certainly worse things you could tell a teenager, this logic simply does not translate to our spiritual reality explained in the Bible. We most certainly should teach abstinence, but the motivation behind abstinence is often neglected.

Biblical Problem Solving

January 30, 2016January 25, 2016 by Mark Ballenger

Biblical problem solving revolves around our relationship with God. The bigger your view of God, the smaller your problems become. Problems are produced not in what happens to us, but in on our unmet human expectations.

Biblical Problem Solving: Problems Are Different than Sins

Biblically, problems are different than sins. Problems are things like mistakes, issues, annoyances, or external complications needing to be solved. Sins are offenses against God and people by breaking commands found in the Bible.

Worldly Wisdom vs. Biblical Wisdom

January 22, 2016 by Mark Ballenger

Every day life presents us with an unquantifiable amount of questions. Where you go for answers will make all the difference. Christians will always have to make the choice, will we seek worldly wisdom or biblical wisdom?

What Does Hyssop Represent in the Bible?

January 22, 2016January 21, 2016 by Mark Ballenger

hyssop bible meaning represent psalm 51_7 — Key Bible Verse: Psalm 51:7,“Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.”

Psalm 51 is David’s prayer of repentance after he sins with Bathsheba. Within this prayer, David expresses his supreme confidence in the the faithfulness of God to forgive. However, when we come to Psalm 51:7, David mentions a plant called “hyssop.” It seems like an odd request to ask God to use a hyssop plant to wipe away David’s sin. So it raises a question worth asking, “What does the hyssop represent in the Bible?”

How to Find a Christian Mentor

March 18, 2018January 18, 2016 by Mark Ballenger

In every Christian, whether they would admit it or not, there is a desire to have a strong, wise mentor who is willing to invest in them. Few, however, find a wiser Christian mentor who is willing to help guide them through life, relationships, and ministry as a good mentor should. So how do you find a Christian mentor?

How to Find a Christian Mentor: Don’t Be Self-Centered

“Where are all the mentors?” is often posed as a question but it is really meant to be an accusation against the generation above us. But perhaps the blame does not always lie in the lack of mentors available but also in the demands and expectations of those desiring to be mentored.

Part 4: How to Overcome Sexual Sin

January 20, 2016January 16, 2016 by Mark Ballenger

“Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.”-Psalm 51:5-6

Our external sins are an expression of our internal condition. God has made humans with the tendency to sexualize their feelings. Intercourse, at its purest form, is the love of a husband and wife sexualized. The love and commitment they have in their hearts towards one another was designed by God to be expressed physically through the joining of one flesh.