Category Archives: Markus and Jen News

Samuel

Recently I was reading through the book of 1. Samuel. Samuel is a very interesting prophet. Even before he was conceived he was dedicated to God. His mother said that if she will have a son she will give him into the full service of God. When he arrived at the place of worship he was a very little boy but was dedicated to serve God. While being there he hears the voice of God for the first time but he thinks it was his mentor talking to him. After 3 times the mentor knew that it was God talking to Samuel and he started listening. And the first message God gave him is a challenging one where God called out his Mentor. Imagine that, God gives you a strong word for someone that so far just spoke into your life, that must have been scary. But Samuel shared it fully with him and totally obeyed God.

A while later God extended his responsibility after he saw how trustworthy Samuel was. He tried to speak wisdom to Israel  through Samuel when they wanted a King and with that rejected God. But after people didn’t listen to him and he shared all the consequences with them, God used him to anoint the first King of Israel Saul. After Saul disobeyed God, Samuel brought the hard truth from God to him even knowing that it could cost him his life. Saul kept disobeying God but Samuel kept obeying God by sharing Gods words with Saul.

Eventually God used Samuel to anoint David as King which again could have meant his death. Anointing a king while the other king is still in power is not a great idea, especially if the other King is a little bit on the jealous side. But Samuel kept obeying God till the end of his life. He didn’t succeed in every area of his life especially with his sons who didn’t totally follow God well. But that shows even more how this man was human and had his struggles. Succeed in one area in your life doesn’t mean that you are perfect in every area.

So Samuel obeyed God during his life no matter what. That is one of the key things I want to point out. It’s more important to God that we obey him without delay. Even if it is hard at times and it can cost us a lot, it is always worthied. As more as we obey Him as more He can trust us with greater things. Samuel started as a young boy obeying God, but we can start any day doing that.  Let’s start with the things we already know, like loving our neighbor!

Hey our friend

This was a special week for us! We celebrated our 6 year anniversary on May 12th. Its crazy how time flies.  We still remember our wedding as if it was yesterday. Its also amazing how much our love grew for each other in that time through fun and hard times and everything in between. You can only experience certain things if you are in for the longhaul and that is not just true for marriage. We see that in our neighborhood with all the friendships we have with neighbors. As more and as longer you know people as more you invest into each other as closer you get. Very simple and logical, but many times the most simple things are the most effective. So keep working on your long term relationships!!

Remember this week Samuel didn’t succeed in every area of his life but he obeyed and loved God!

God bless you

Markus and Jen

The mosaic

I don’t know if you have ever seen one of those really big and nice mosaic but they are really beautiful. When you look closer you notice that they are put together through little pieces and colors. All of them together create the big picture that you then see.

Lets look at our lives, Days, weeks, months, years sometimes go by so fast and we don’t even remember what we did. We think our week was one of those normal weeks, but when we thought back on it we realized the amount of amazing moments God has given us. Being encouraged in a small group we host, connecting with a neighbor and spending time together, saying hi to a friend and his dog in the morning and bring a smile to the face, going on a date and look each other in the eyes and see how happy we are together. These are just some snippets of one of our weeks and there was a lot more, but those snippets help remember all the little moments God is using to inspire, make us grow and feel encouraged. These little snippets all put together make our life. Its amazing to think about how wonderful that gift of life is God has given us. But sometimes we don’t think about it enough to really appreciate how wonderful it is!

Take a moment to stop and remember the moments you had, the people you met or just little exciting things that happened during your week. Remember those little snippets that create your mosaic. Be inspired by your loving father!

Hey our friend

How are you? Hopefully really well!! Jen and I felt really encouraged after the conference last week. It was a wonderful time to be around a group of people that have a similar heart to love on their direct neighborhoods. We also had a wonderful brunch which was really encouraging too! Our neighborhood art walk was also a fun time since we saw many of four friends form the neighborhood in the neighborhood. Plese keep us in your prayers in this coming season while we have a few things coming up like the writing trip. Thank you!!

Don’t forget this week to look back and remember all those little snippets that made your week!

God bless you

Markus and Jen

99+1=100

99+1=100This weeks blog is a video blog about ninety nine and One. Be inspired and challenged!

Hey our friend

We hope your week was amazing!! Last week we were at a conference about neighborhoods and how we can make an impact by loving them well. It was also about building neighborhood churches for people in the neighborhood. It was a huge blessing. After the conference we got to see some of our closest friends. It was a wonderful week!!

Pray with us that God will show us how to inspire others through the new things we learned!

Ask God this week: Who is the one in my life!

God bless you

Markus and Jen

Live your faith 100%, Paul

Last week we talked about Romans 5.20 were sin abounds grace abounds more. This week I want to look with you at the man who wrote the book of Romans. Be inspired!

Hey our friend

Days, weeks, months, years sometimes go by so fast and we don’t even remember what we did. Let God remind you about those special moments he gave you this week! We had a pretty good week here in SF. We hosted a small group at our house which was encouraging. When you host them you really become a family with the people who come. Its amazing. We also had some wonderful times with people in our community. During the week we worked also on the book. We are going on another writing trip in May. Pray with us that we can keep moving forward. The last few month have been harder in that area since we didn’t get to the book as much as we would have liked. Thank you for praying!

Have a blessed week and let God help you to have your life 100% sold out to Him!!

God bless you

Markus and Jen

Grace is greater then sin

… But where sin increased, Grace increased even more! Romans 5.20

This weeks blog is all about this famous verse above and how it affects us and this world. Be inspired and encouraged!!

Hey our friend

We hope you had a wonderful week! Ours was great. Jen and I got very cheap tickets from our cell phone company for a baseball game which was a lot of fun! We also hold our north beach small group again at our house which was wonderful. Every time we leave encouraged! Its just wonderful to have a group of friends from your own neighborhood so you don’t have to go far to see each other. That is why loving your neighbor and neighborhood is so amazing and wonderful since it really gets you connected on a regular basis in an easy way. Make sure to connect!

Spend some time this week to meditate on Romans 5.20 and see what God wants to say to you through it!!

God bless you

Markus and Jen