Author Archive for Mark Yoakum

Praying for Lost People

By Mark Yoakum · Comments (0)
Sunday, April 5th, 2020

You are sitting in a church meeting when someone says, “We should pray for the Lost”.  Now I am sure God knows exactly the names of the lost people in the world.   But often we do not as we have not cared enough to get to know them and ask if they have given their heart to Jesus.

This was made even clearer to me when I asked the members of our church to write down the names of unchurched people in our area that we could begin praying for their salvation.  Many members confessed that they did not know of anyone locally.    If we do not know their name, then it is hard to see how God will use us to share with them.

And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’?.”  Mark 11:17

Here are some reasons to pray for lost people by name:

1.       It will require you to get to know them well enough to know whether they are saved or not.

2.       Someone told me not to pray about something unless I was willing for God to use me to be an answer to the prayer.   Praying for them by name will make you consider, does God want me to be the answer to this prayer.

3.       Will you be part of the answer by developing a relationship with them in an effort to share Jesus with them.

Dr. Mark Yoakum is the Director of Church Ministries for the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. He has served as Minister of Youth, Minister of Music, Minister of Education and Executive Pastor in churches in Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Texas.

Written by Dr. Mark Yoakum, Director of Church Ministries, Southern Baptists of Texas Convention

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Categories : Sunday School
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Connect your ONE through Service and Stewardship 2

By Mark Yoakum · Comments (0)
Thursday, August 29th, 2019

It is said that 80% of the work in the church is done by 20% of the members.   If this is true, the problem lies with those who are discipling and connecting their “ONE”.   Sometimes new Christians get the feeling they have done enough when they accept Jesus and are baptized.   That is all that is required to get them into heaven.   While that is true, it is not all that is required of Christians.   Jesus commanded “to teach them to live all that I commanded.” This means they need to live the gospel.   That includes finding their spiritual giftedness and utilizing it in serving others.

10  As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.  1 Peter 4:10 (NASB)

So two things are found: every Christian has a gift and he or she needs to use it to serve one another.

New Christians also need to know the gift of giving.

7  Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.   2 Corinthians 9:7 (NASB)

It is only through serving and giving that a new Christian truly begins to feel a part of the local body of Christ.   Part of their giving is to share with others about Jesus and see them come to know Him.

Dr. Mark Yoakum is the Director of Church Ministries for the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. He has served as Minister of Youth, Minister of Music, Minister of Education and Executive Pastor in churches in Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Texas.

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Categories : Ministry, Outreach/Evangelism

Connect Through Prayer and Bible Study 1: Read Your Bible

By Mark Yoakum · Comments (0)
Monday, August 19th, 2019

 

No one would think of birthing a baby and just leaving it to fend for itself.   So it is with new Christians We cannot afford to leave them alone. We must help them learn how to feed themselves and grow in the love of God.

As new Christians, they need to know that they never “walk” alone but have a Savior who will help them through life’s circumstances.   They have to learn to talk to God just as they talk to friends. Too often they hear people pray flowery prayers in public and think they need to pray in King James to be acceptable to God.

Secondly, they need to learn about God and who He is.  This they do by reading the Bible.  Too many have been hampered in their spiritual growth by starting at Genesis and when they get to Exodus and Leviticus they get discouraged.  It is important to share with them that Bible is not like any other book and it would be best to start at the gospels and learn about Jesus and what he did before going through Levitical law.  I have found that many new Christians relate well to John as he gives some explanation to some of the things happening.   Our goal should not be to make biblical theologians out of them, but people who fall in love with Jesus and the person who saved them.

Dr. Mark Yoakum is the Director of Church Ministries for the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. He has served as Minister of Youth, Minister of Music, Minister of Education and Executive Pastor in churches in Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Texas.

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Categories : Bible Study, Connect, Prayer

Top 25…Selecting Verses to Memorize

By Mark Yoakum · Comments (0)
Monday, August 27th, 2018

There are many ways to select verses to memorize. The Navigators published a scripture memory course that included 60 verses to memorize. Lifeway in the survival kit included 13 passages of scripture to memorize. I have found it is best to memorize scriptures which mean something to you. Most everyone has heard of John 3:16 or Matthew 28:19-20. If you would memorize one verse a month for 10 years, you would have 120 verses in your quiver. Memorizing helps us to meditate on a verse which will, with the Holy Spirit’s help, reveal things, we never saw before. David said:
Psalm 119:9-11 (NASB)
How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your word.
With all my heart I have sought You; Do not let me wander from Your commandments.
Your word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You.

So while memorizing does not guarantee you will treasure the verse in your heart, it is the first step toward it. Not only is memorizing helpful to the person memorizing, it is also helpful to others. One thing that I have found is that every verse that I memorize is like an arrow in my quiver. When the right time comes, I can share it with someone to help in his/her situation. Here are 12 principles in selecting and memorizing verses:

1. Select a translation you read from and memorize in that translation.
2. Select a verse that means something to you personally.
3. Select a verse you have read in context so you do not use it in a wrong way.
4. Read the verse in other translations so you get a better understanding of the verse.
5. Memorize the verse out loud, Hearing you say it will aid the memory process.
6. Emphasize different words in the verse to aid you.
7. Say the verse reference before you say the verse and after. The repetition will aid you in remembering where the verse is located.
8. Write the verse down on paper. Strive to get it word perfect.
9. Some long verses you may want to memorize in sections.
10. Put the scripture on a card in a familiar place so you can review it (bathroom mirror, car dashboard, etc.).
11. Pray through the verse with God, thanking him for its meaning.
12. The most important principle of scripture memory is REVIEW, REVIEW, and REVIEW.

Dr. Mark Yoakum is the Director of Church Ministries for the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention and believes the Great Commission is serious about going and making disciples.

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Categories : Bible Study, Disciplemaking, Learning, Spiritual Disciplines, Sunday School

Who is a Disciple?

By Mark Yoakum · Comments (0)
Monday, August 6th, 2018

As there is a lot of discussion about disciplemaking in today’s church culture, there is probably no bigger discussion that happens than “Who is a Disciple?”. In simple terms, it is someone who is like Jesus. He walks with God, talks to God and has God’s purpose in his heart and mind. Many discipleship programs start with the fact that a person must first accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. The focus then is on baptism and the basic Christian disciplines: reading the Bible, prayer, personal worship, corporate worship, scripture memory and meditating on the Word of God. Few of them focus on finding the person’s spiritual giftedness or finding a place of ministry that correlates to that giftedness.

There was a consensus for many that if someone was a baptized Christian, walked with God in the basic spiritual disciplines and found a spiritual ministry that the person was a full disciple. I contend that many discipleship programs have been short sighted in not going back to the simple terms we discussed earlier, “Be like Jesus”. Jesus did one more thing, He shared the gospel with non-believers and He made disciples. I think that Jesus wants a disciple of His to be like Him. In fact, in one of His last instructions about making disciples, He stated, “Teaching them to observe” found in:

Matthew 28:18-20 (NASB)
And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

So a “Disciple of Jesus” is someone who observes all the teachings of Jesus including the instruction in Matthew 28. A true disciple makes disciples.

The ultimate goal of a peach tree is not to just produce peaches. It is to produce peaches that fall and begin other peach trees that produce peaches that produce other peach trees. The same is true for disciples. A true disciple produces disciples that produce disciples that produce disciples.

“Who is a Disciple?” Look to see the disciples you have produced. If you have not produced any then you are not a disciple.

Dr. Mark Yoakum is the Director of Church Ministries for the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention and believes the Great Commission is serious about going and making disciples.

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Categories : Bible Study, Disciplemaking, Learning, Ministry
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