Zach and I had a great long day one meeting with the pastor and a fellow believer…I got up this morning to go over my talk for the men’s conference which starts tonight into tomorrow and will go over my sermon for Sunday…I preach both services. The men’s conference far exceeded expectations so the even is looking to be packed with me. Seeking God’s will and calling for their life! Please keep us in your prayers. Much love and appreciation.-Steven
When we go to church, let us not take that for granted. Let's keep our eye's, heart and MIND focussed on God, His word and the sermon. Let's be careful to make promises to God we are not willing to keep. And let's enjoy being in God's presence. Let's take our faith and church seriously.
Jesus addresses when God rewards us for our good deeds. To be more specific, Christ discusses three pharisaic practices of piety. They include: 1) GIVING 2) PRAYER and 3) FASTING. Today, we are going to look at the first of these, which is when God rewards or does not reward our “GIVING”.
With the United States and world at a moral cross roads, today, we are looking back to an interview from 2015 whereby Steven was interviewed regarding "Religious Freedom". This is not a critique of any specific issues-but is a look back almost ten years (a full decade) to see where we came from. WHY? Becuase heading into 2026 we can look back to see where we are going. Again, the issue is not a critique on sexual orientation, but about religious freedom. People are people-and all people are sinners. Let's make sure to be compassionate with non-Christians in an effort to reach them for Christ while standing without compromise on the orthodox Word of God. Is that difficult. Yes it is.
GOD BLESS YOU!
I have a couple of friends from old that have gone radio silent over the past years. This has baffled me because I cherish history and friendship like family. On the flip side, I have a couple of other friends that I didn’t spend nearly as much time with back from the 80’s- and we speak weekly. WHY?
I figured it out in that the two friends who call me weekly are growing daily in their biblical faith while the other two are growing away from Christ in their daily life. It’s as simple as that. It’s not an issue of friendship as much as it is about faith. I love my two distant friends and miss them dearly, but God always provides and I’m really cherishing my newer friends of old. THANK YOU GOD FOR YOUR PROVISION OF FRIENDSHIPS. I am greatly blessed in riches of authentic faith in Christ and friends of faith…remember what Jesus said about who are-Jesus’ Mother and Brothers
“46 While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to...
There is nothing like old friends! My daughter Arabel is blessed with godly Christian roommate Alyssa who is the daughter of my friend from Bible study circa 1991! P.J. Holland and his wife Laura (a godly couple). I know both is them from church back in the day. We were all at Virginia Tech last weekend helping our girls settle into their dorm room and college. My wife Heather and I enjoyed two meals, hanging out and a wonderful time of fellowship with them. P.J. And I first met through my life long friend Michael Keating who hosted a Bible study back in the day. The girls are becoming fast friends and it’s beyond words to express my gratitude to God and Michael Keating fie making such a wonderful thing happen.
By Del Potter, M.A.A. August 27, 2025
Opening Remarks
From the outset, this article is NOT contending whether or not the ending of Mark 16 should be included. Although, it is in my humble opinion that some of the strange language in the ending of Mark actually affirms the truthfulness of the events inserted into the ending of Mark. There are several striking words in Mark's longer ending (Mark 16:17–18):
“These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them...”
As a first impression, the imagery suggests a miraculous ability to resist snakes and poison. It is nevertheless important to note that serpents and poison consistently function within Jewish, Biblical, and early Christian thought as symbols of false teaching and spiritual corruption, not simply physical danger.
Serpents in Scripture: Symbols of Deception
From the beginning of Genesis through Revelation, the serpent is never merely zoological—it is the archetype of deceit. In Genesis 3, the serpent slithers into the Garden not to bite with fangs, but to inject Eve with poisonous doubt about God’s word. Later Jewish wisdom literature follows this thread:
This same imagery flows into the New Testament:
Therefore, when Mark refers to "serpents" and "deadly poison," his Jewish-Christian readers would have recognized the metaphor: heresy slithering into the church among the people with its false doctrine poisoning the entire church (2 Peter 2:1).
The Poison Of Heresy: A Dangerous Drink
The early Church frequently described heretical teaching as venom or poison. Ignatius of Antioch warned the Trallians:
“I therefore, yet not I, but the love of Jesus Christ, entreat you that ye use Christian nourishment only, and abstain from herbage of a different kind; I mean heresy. For those [that are given to this] mix up Jesus Christ with their own poison, speaking things which are unworthy of credit, like those who administer a deadly drug in sweet wine, which he who is ignorant of does greedily take, with a fatal pleasure leading to his own death.” (Letter to the Trallians 107 A.D.).
This language reflects the very pattern of Mark 16—poisonous teaching disguised as nourishment. The faithful, however, are promised preservation: “it will not harm them.” The believer, rooted in Christ, can discern and resist corruption.
No early Christian expressed this more vividly than Tertullian of Carthage (c. 200 AD). In his treatise Scorpiace, he likens heresy to venomous creatures:
Tertullian believed that the danger was not from reptiles in the marketplace, but rather from false teachers within the church. Similarly, heresy pierces the souls of believers in a quiet and lethal manner, just as the scorpion stings unseen. As a result, he viewed Christ's promise in Mark not as a test of reckless physical stunts, but as a promise that the faithful will not suffer from the venom of falsehood if armed with the truth. As Paul rightly reminds his audience:
"Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil (i.e. snakes & poisons)." - Ephesians 6:11
Mark’s Ending and the beginning of the Early Church
NT writers wrote within a culture steeped in metaphor. The early church never staged snake-handling rituals to “prove” faith. Instead, they testified by enduring persecution, refuting heresy, and preserving sound doctrine.
The apologetic force of Mark 16 is not spectacle—it is survival. The church would face vipers in pulpits, scorpions in councils, and poison in doctrine. Yet Christ promises: “These things will not harm you.”
Just as in the first century, serpents and scorpions creep into the church today—not in the form of reptiles, but in the form of false witnesses, compromised truth, and distorted gospels. The call of Mark 16 is not to chase miracles, but to guard against lies.
In a world full of theological poison, the believer’s protection is not daredevil faith, but faithful discernment: Scripture, the Spirit, and the witness of the saints.
“But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers [i.e. snakes] among you, who will secretly introduce destructive [i.e. poison] heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves.” - 2 Peter 2:1
Closing Remarks
The ending of Mark’s Gospel, far from a literal dare, is a prophetic warning and promise:
Tertullian’s scorpions, Ignatius’ poison, Paul’s vipers, and Jesus’ own words unite: the greatest danger to the church is not fangs and venom in the field, but lies and venom in the pulpit.
In Christ, the Church endures—immune not to biology, but to blasphemy.
The Problem Is With Man's Hiddenness Toward God, Not Vice-Versa
Why Doesn’t God Make His Existence Unmistakably Clear to Everyone?
One of the most common objections to faith is: “If God is real, why doesn’t He just show Himself beyond all doubt?” Skeptics ask why God doesn’t write His name in the sky or make His presence undeniable. But Scripture, reason, and the earliest witnesses of the Church tell us a different story: God has already made Himself known, yet it is humanity that hides.
God’s Self-Revelation in Creation
Scripture consistently teaches that God’s fingerprints are everywhere. The Apostle Paul writes:
“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” (Romans 1:20)
Psalm 19:1 echoes this truth: “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.”
Job reminds us that creation itself—beasts, birds, earth, and sea—all testify to the Creator:
“But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you; or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In His hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.” (Job 12:7–10)
God’s existence, then, is not hidden. It is written into the very structure of reality. As St. Athanasius later argued, creation itself acts as a universal witness, speaking of God’s power to every culture and language without need for words.
Why Does God Seem Hidden?
The real issue is not divine silence but human resistance. Moses records God saying:
“I will surely hide My face in that day, because of all the evil which they shall have wrought, in that they are turned unto other gods.” (Deuteronomy 31:18)
This is not a statement about God being unknowable but about mankind turning its back to Him. God’s “hiddenness” is a moral and relational reality, not an intellectual one. As Isaiah wrote:
“Your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God.” (Isa. 59:2)
Early Christians echoed this. Justin Martyr argued that those who live according to reason (logos) recognize the true God through creation and conscience. Clement of Alexandria explained that ignorance of God is not due to His absence, but due to the blindness of the soul enslaved to passions.
The Attributes of God are Revealed According To His Nature.
If God were to force belief by overwhelming proof, He would violate the very nature of faith and love. Love cannot be compelled; it requires freedom. Blaise Pascal later captured this well: “There is enough light for those who desire to see, and enough darkness for those who do not.”
The early Church understood that God provides evidence sufficient for faith, but not coercion. Origen taught that God “gives signs to those who are willing to see, but hides from those who shut their eyes.” This allows space for genuine seeking, humility, and love—rather than forced acknowledgment.
God Is Not Hidden—We Are
When people ask, “Why doesn’t God make Himself clear?” the biblical answer is: He already has. The problem is not with God’s silence but with our ears. The witness of creation, conscience, Scripture, and Christ Himself leaves us without excuse.
It is not God who hides, but man who hides from God—just as Adam and Eve once hid in the Garden. And yet, even then, God sought them, calling out: “Where are you?” (Gen. 3:9).
The same God still calls today through the beauty of creation, the testimony of Scripture, and the living Christ. The question is not whether God is clear enough but whether we are willing to see Him more clearly!
"For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully, just as I also have been fully known." - 1 Corinthians 13:12