Apostle Paul viewed perseverance as a vital, Holy Spirit-empowered endurance of suffering, fueled by hope, calling, and the promise of eternal glory. He taught that trials develop character and hope (Romans 5:3-4), encouraging believers to not grow weary in doing good and to finish their faith "race".

Key Themes of Paul’s Teaching on Perseverance:Suffering Produces Character: Paul writes in Romans 5:3-4 that suffering leads to endurance (perseverance), which builds character and ultimately produces hope. Empowered by Grace: True perseverance is not self-striving but reliance on God’s power, as Paul notes in 1 Corinthians 15:10 that he labored harder than others, yet it was "the grace of God" within him. The "Race" Metaphor: Paul frequently used athletic metaphors, stating he "fought the good fight" and "finished the race" (2 Timothy 4:7), encouraging believers to remain steadfast to the end. Focus on Eternity: In 2 Corinthians 4:17-18, he encourages believers to look beyond temporary struggles to an "eternal weight of glory".

Joy in Trials: Paul modeled finding joy in suffering (Romans 5:3) and maintaining a mindset that trials are merely temporary, as shown in his letter to the Philippians.Key Verses on Perseverance by Paul:Romans 12:12: "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer."Galatians 6:9: "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. "2 Thessalonians 3:5: "May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance."2 Timothy 4:7:  "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."Pillars of Paul's Own Perseverance:Paul’s endurance was built on a firm conviction of his calling, a reliance on divine strength rather than human ability, and a focus on the reward of Christ, often prioritizing these over his own physical safety.

So I ask you..how you see perseverance in today’s crazy world? Are you willing to take the Sceipturel challenge to suffer in order to build character before the Lord daises you up to even higher levels of service, joy and blessing according to how much you and I can handle without letting success, lower and wealth get the best of us? Think about that-pray about that…

THE DEATH PENALTY FOR CHARLIE KIRK’S MURDER?

Over the past week we have seen a young Ukrainian lady stabbed in the neck - murdered in cold blood by a deranged serial repeat offender who was let out of jail by writing a hand written note stating that he would be a good boy and not do that again. Her crime was simply riding the subway in Charlotte, NC. 

The criminal murderer had been arrested 14 times and let out by a judge that never passed the bar and I believe never even went to law school. She was a DEI activist judge. So what should have been his punishment?

Then there is the assasination of a Charlie Kirk. What should become of him once caught?

The Bible is very clear as to the answer to the question regarding punishment for first degree murder (speaking of humans only). I want to address this issue today for all of mankind, but especially for us as Christians. Before get jump in, I want to make clear that Christians should NEVER defy God’s Word in light of secular of secular thinking or how we feel about taking the life of a human being who pre-meditatively took the innocent life of another human being-who by the way are made in God’s image.

In order to make this not about my opinion, let’s go to what God through His word (the Holy Bible Scriptures) says from the very beginning of time as to what is to be the punishment or response administered to one who commits first degree murder. First degree murder by its very legal definition is to take an innocent life knowingly and premeditated. This is what I want to address in today’s episode. I want to digress for one brief moment in addressing the government authorities who have and continue to fail to do their job by simply incarcerating (putting and keeping criminals in jail) for the safety of the general, innocent public. That’s the more difficult question to answer-but I see it as negligence and possibly an accessory to homicide in many if not most all cases. 

So, the more more difficult question to answer is what ought be the legal and civil liability for judges, governors and other positions of power if those judges (who are acting negligently) results in the loss of human life, meaning the murder of innocent citizens by way of criminals that should have been locked up but were let out uprightly. This is gross neglegence of their part in letting these repetitive law breakers and monsters out of jail with zero cash bond or on things like a written note to behave like a good girl or boy as was the case in the North Carolina man-arrested 14 times, and who ended up murdering a young 23 year old Ukrainian woman on the Charlotte, NC subway simply because he was let out of jail on zero bond for writing a nice promise to the so called non-layer “judge” that he would stop being a bad boy and behave himself as some form of demented bond for his release. That question is yet to be debated but the Bible addresses that question as well when resulting in physical harm or loss or damage to property. Perhaps we will leave that for another day. Let’s get back to the Bible and the death penalty.

The problem with modern Christians is that they see the Bible as an ancient document, somewhat disconnected from biblical truths. In other words, many if not most modern people claiming to Christian don’t see the Bible as the ultimate Standard for right or wrong, but a nice book they can choose and pick from according to how they might feel about a particular subject.

The problem problem with modern “Christianity” is that it’s often distorted and it’s considered extreme by many for Christians to think and act biblically. 

My response this is that society and secular thinking in such cases is not moderate but extreme itself in allowing criminals to repeat crime at more extreme levels. Sadly, in some cases, such thinking results in murder and the loss of innocent life. This is what God gave us as to the consequence of shedding innocent blood in murder. Don’t get me wrong, mercy and forgiveness are very important, but we are to show mercy and forgiveness without forgoing God’s commands. We can forgive the person and still hold them to the physical consequence of the death penalty-and we should. Let’s now take a look at what God tells us about the death penalty from the very start of the Bible, starting in the Book of Genesis, chapter 9.

Genesis 9:5-6 (ESV)
“5 And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man. 6 “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.”

In other words, God makes clear in the very beginning of time-in the beginning of the Bible, that homocide (first degree murder) demands a punishment that matches the crime. The justification for capital punishment, here established, is the nobility of human life… “FOR GOD MADE MAN (and woman) IN HIS OWN IMAGE”. Thus murder shows contempt for God Himself as well as for one’s fellow man. What Genesis 9 is not saying is that the death penalty is to applied to a person who accidentally ran a red light and killed another person. That still hold consequences, it not the death penalty. That’s a different discussion for a different episode.

THE POWER TO ADMINISTER THE DEATH PENALTY

To be clear, the power to administer capital punishment does not lie with us as individuals or any entity outside of the authority and power of governmental. Romans 13:3-4 makes clear of that, saying:

“3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer.”

HOW SHOULD CHRISTIANS VIEW THE DEATH PENALTY?

FIRST: We must understand and accept that God has instituted capital punishment (the death penalty, not man.) It would be arrogant and presumptuous to think that we could instituted and/enforce or fail to enforce a higher standard than God commanded. After all, God is perfect and as such, has provided us the highest Standard of any being. And this standard applies not only to us as His created beings but also to God Himself due to the fact that He is all good and perfect.

God is Love as well Infinite in His essence and attributes. As such, He loves to an Infinite degree. We should also understand that God has wrath as an infinite degree, and He maintains this in perfect balance. 

SECOND: As Christians (and all human beings ), we must recognize and accept that God has given us government as the authority as we discussed for administering capital punishment, and determine when the death penalty should be applied according to God’s Word. This better ensures that innocent or people undeserving of the death penalty are not put to death wrongfully (see Genesis 9:6; Romans 13:1-7). 

IN CLOSING

Let’s be clear that it’s unbiblical to clam that God opposes the death penalty in all instances. On the flip side, Christians should not rejoice when the death penalty is employed. We can feel the satisfaction of God’s justice being implemented and upheld but we should not rejoice, meaning we ought not celebrate the death of another human being, despite their terrible crime(s). 

In the end, Christians out not fight against or picket or push back the government’s right to execute the perpetrators of the most terrible crimes, especially when involving first degree murder when it’s deserved.

It’s emotionally nice to want to extend mercy and many Christian’s defy God’s Word regarding the death penalty. In such cases, Christian are not only wrong but in defiance of God’s Word. The only answer I have as to why a Christian would do such a thing is that they have compitulated to culture insted of helping form, influence and change the world according to God’s Word. In closing I want to remind everyone of one simple truth in that God does not move to us as His created creation. Instead, we, mankind (meaning all humans-both man and woman) move to Him. He is unmovable. 

Malachi 3:6
“For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.”

AND SO SHOULD WE AS CHRISTIANS: 1 Corinthians 15:58 (ESV)
“58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain…”

Will you chose to see these verses and the entire Bible as your guide for living and what is right and wrong or will you pick which Scriptures you like or dislike and make yourself the god of the Bible as opposed to God?

Not Serpents of Skin, but From The Falsehood Of Sin: Uncoiling The Ending of Mark’s Gospel

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:

• Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 21:2: “Flee from sin as from the face of a serpent: for if thou comest too near it, it will bite thee.”
• Psalm 140:3: “They make their tongue sharp as a serpent’s, and under their lips is the venom of vipers.”

This same imagery flows into the New Testament:

• Matthew 23:33: Jesus calls the Pharisees a “brood of vipers,” not because of biology, but because of false teaching.
• 2 Corinthians 11:3: Paul warns that, just as the serpent deceived Eve, so false teachers corrupt the simplicity of Christ.
• Revelation 12:9: John describes Satan as a serpent “And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.”

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:

• Heresy “creeps into the church like a scorpion,” injecting spiritual poison.
• The faithful must resist with the antidote of Scripture, wielded like the staff of Moses against the serpents of Egypt.

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:

• Serpents = false teachers.
• Poison = heretical doctrines.
• The promise = Christ’s people, if grounded in truth, will not be overcome.

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.