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About Seth
Seth Markwood is a seminary graduate and is the church planter/ pastor of a yet-to-be-named church in Greensboro, NC which is in the pre-launch phase. He has been married for almost two years to his best friend of 11, Allison Markwood. He also has recently acquired a golden retriever puppy, Snickers, and a beta fish, Commodore Poseidon Nakamura Markwood, The Fish-Hearted. Seth is a self-pronounced nerd.
I read this article a few weeks ago and filed it away to mention here, so if you’ve seen this already it is probably because the story is a little old, but pertinent here none-the-less. According to the article found here, on Gizmodo.com :
“One man drove 12,238 miles and across 30 states in the U.S. to scrawl a message that could only be viewed using Google Earth. His big shoutout: ‘Read Ayn Rand.’”
I find the actions of this man both inspiring and a bit disappointing. Here we have a guy who is willing to spend a month of his life driving back and forth around the country to write a message to, and on the world to read Ayn Rand because he believes the world would be a better place if it took her ideas to heart. That sort of dedication to a cause is truly inspiring to me, though I can’t help but be amazed by the subject of the grand jesture. I have indeed read Ayn Rand, “The Fountainhead” was assigned as a summer reading book and while I enjoyed it (in spite of the sections where it droned on at no end about certain aspects of achitecture), it did not change my life nor can I imagine it making the world a better place.
What I find in this article to be disappointing is the very thing that inspires me. This man has such great devotion and faith in a fiction author and the ability of her words to change the world that he dedicated a month of his life, not to mention how ever much gas was spent driving back and forth across the country, to encourage people to read her books. I can’t help but wonder how many Christians would have the same sense of faith and devotion to One who saved their soul.
If you could write a message to and on the world for all mankind to see, would you write something worth reading?
I struggle sometimes with posting things like this. On the one hand it’s funny and on the other it’s sad and disturbing and it makes me ashamed for being associated with these people. I understand the fact that things like this give Christianity the most horrible name possible and rightly so, seeing things from the outside I totally get it. For that reason I cringe at posting this because I don’t want the Jesus of the Bible, the God who is right, just, loving, and good to be painted in this light. I know that for some this sort of behavior is the very reason they hate what I believe to be truth. But I post it because I want it to be perfectly clear that I do not endorse this type of behavior, I find it as outrageous, silly, stupid, and offensive (yes, his name is Captain Retard) as every one of you who thinks I’m silly for believing in the same God these guys believe in. The thing is, God’s perfect, not us… we do a horrendous job at representing Him and while I find this video sad, I know at the same time that I am guilty of sad behavior that doesn’t represent God well too. But enjoy a little absurdity today and know that not all of us act or think this way. It’s sad really…
The above video is from the 80′s and 90′s show “Fire By Nite” that aired on the Trinity Broadcasting Network. It tried to be the Christian SNL… it did not succeed.
In April Allie and I took a week and went down to Orlando for the Exponential Conference. It was different than any other conference I have attended because instead of putting all of the attention on the big names in the church world it focused on lesser-known pastors and planters who have experienced a much more common level of success. It is always encouraging to see the guys who have reached thousands speak wisdom into my life but it was equally encouraging to see guys who have impacted hundreds, or tens speak wisdom as well. One side effect of being inundated with the “rock stars” of the pastor world is some of the expectations of what planting will be can become unrealistic. Paul’s ministry wasn’t typical but that doesn’t diminish the ministry of anybody else, nor does it mean that it is wrong to pray for and expect to have the impact that Paul had. David hoped to build the Temple for God and although he wasn’t the one to build it in the end he made great progress in making it happen. It was nice to see some of the unsung heroes of the church world getting a voice in a conference, it was a nice encouragement.
There were several things that we both took away but by far the greatest element for me involved a stretching of the vision God has given me. I am still struggling on nailing the vision down in a way that I can share confidently but on this expansion I have no doubt. I attended a break-out session with Ed Stetzer, a statistician, church planter, and pastor, who is pretty darn brilliant. He did this session on viral churches, a session based on his new book of the same name. I won’t bore you with the details but the basics was that many churches make the mistake of planting their one church and becoming a cul-de-sac on the Great Commission highway. Many churches plant and focus on growing but not on giving birth to new churches. His whole speech rocked my world because it made me realize that I should not be content with only planting one church but instead to be a catalyst for the planting of many churches. More churches mean more impact on my city and beyond. So, the new vision is to plant at least one new church every year and more if possible.
There are several avenues I may pursue in making this happen, I have yet to decide which is the most beneficial. One church planting organization that has really piqued my interest is set on planting a church in every city in the US with a population of over 100,000. There are around 250 cities (of which Greensboro is one) and each church plant then works on planting other church in the same city to create a movement in that city. With Allie’s passion for reaching some of the internationals in High Point I would love to be able to help plant a church that focuses on reaching them, just as I would love to plant a hip-hop church in the rough African-American part of town. I honestly wished that I was called to reach them because I see such a great opportunity and I think they are primed to receive some life change. While I don’t believe I have been called, nor equipped to reach them, I can make sure to equip somebody who is called and help them reach that community.
What is amazing is that in stretching the vision of what I am supposed to do God has given me more confidence that He is in control. I think that I could successfully plant one church and have it survive for a time with my own power but to start something that God has put on my heart will require His leadership for any measure of success to be obtained. As I have always said it is incredibly exciting and terrifying at the same time. Prayer is appreciated as always as I move forward in trying to articulate the vision, find a team, and plant the movement God has called me to.
6We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7No, we speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9However, as it is written:
“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him”— 10but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.c]”>[c]14The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man’s judgment: 16“For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
1 cor. 2:6-16
- How cool is that? God has prepared for us things that no mind has ever imagined. How would our daily lives look different if we internalized and really believed this? It says we speak of God’s secret wisdom (vs. 7)… I could use a little secret wisdom in my life, could you?
“Since you call on a Father who judges each man’s work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the EMPTY WAY OF LIFE handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.”
~1 Peter 1:17-21
Two very important messages here:
- we once had an empty way of life
- we have been redeemed from that- why do some Christians live an empty way of life?
