Pastor Mark's Short Papers
Can God Appoint Women to be Preachers or Elders?
by Mark Koonz on August 23, 2019Can God appoint women to pastoral ministry or is it contrary to God's will at all times? These questions are part of a larger and controversial discussion in our time. This is only a brief examination, a bare outline, which touches on Galatians 3:26-29 (male and female are real gender distinctions but not ultimate in the church); 1st...
Read MoreSermon on Giving to Caesar and Giving to God
by Mark Koonz on October 19, 2014Emmanuel Lutheran Church, Walla Walla. Biblical Text: Matthew 22:15-22
Not too many years ago the Wall Street Journal hired financial and business experts to do an analysis of government...
Read MoreSermon on the Man Kicked Out of the Party
by Mark Koonz on October 12, 2014Emmanuel Lutheran Church, based on the biblical text of Matthew 22:1-14.
When we hear a juicy story we like to hear all the relevant details. They add spice and help us keep track...
Read MoreDisciples in the Grip of Fear
by Mark Koonz on April 23, 2014A mother whose son fell through the ice and drowned does not soon write a song. She does not smile sweetly at a surviving child when her soul is racked with grief. She may reach for her other...
Read MoreMy Will be Done
by Mark Koonz with reference to Robert Passantino on April 2, 2014My life is richer for having known Bob Passantino.* He understood people as well as arguments. When a woman became a Christian her husband mocked her and said she was stupid because “God cannot...
Read MoreThe Cross and the Cosmic Conflict
by Mark Koonz offers summary of James S. Stewart with quote on March 31, 2014There is a little book preachers should read every 5 to 10 years in order to ask, “Does my preaching content include the great doctrines of the biblical faith?” The man who wrote it was himself a...
Read MoreDead or Alive - Telling the Difference
by Mark Koonz on October 31, 2011“Alive at point A & Dead at point B—In Reverse” by Mark Koonz
A few weeks after the death and resurrection of Jesus, Peter told a crowd in Jerusalem: “This Jesus God raised up,...
Read MoreMissionary Lessons
by Mark Koonz on October 31, 2011Christian missionaries are people we think of as going far from home to teach other people about Jesus. Christians who stay
at home think of them as people with a message for the “others,” but I...
Read MoreAnger is No Friend
by Mark Koonz on October 31, 2011ANGER IS NO FRIEND – KISS IT GOODBYE
Every person has spiritual battles. For many their primary battle is with intense anger. Anger enters our lives through many doors. How long...
Read MoreShould Small Children Be Baptized?
by Mark Koonz on August 10, 2011Should Children be Baptized? Seven Reasons to Practice Infant Baptism listed by Michael Green. These reasons are taken largely from Michael Green’s book “Baptism: Its Purpose, Practice, and...
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