Bible Connection Podcast: Unleashing Ordinary Christians with Mark Mittelberg

Bible Connection Podcast: Unleashing Ordinary Christians with Mark Mittelberg

Mark Mittelberg has been following where Christ leads for over 40 years. He’s developed a passion and a calling to equip and unleash ordinary Christians to make a difference for the Kingdom of God. Mark shares his story, how the Lord has worked in his life, and, through his partnership with Lee Strobel, how he’s able to help teach practical apologetics to the next generation.

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Mark Mittelberg

Mark Mittelberg and his long-time ministry partner Lee Strobel have recently partnered with Colorado Christian University to launch the Lee Strobel Center for Evangelism and Applied Apologetics. He talks about the heart behind that ministry and how he wants to train the younger generation on how to incorporate practical apologetics into their lives. These courses that are aimed to equip the next generation are all available online.

No matter who you are or where the Lord has placed you in society, Mark wants to equip you to define and defend the gospel in practical ways. He mentions his core calling to unleash ordinary Christians. Mark prioritizes reaching the spiritually wayward people who need to be introduced to Jesus.

Mark shares his story and how he was raised in the church but rebelled in high school. He shares how the Lord used influences in his life to wake him up to the truth of the gospel. That change, when he was 19 years old, awakened him to a passion and a calling for sharing the gospel with others. He talks about how paramount the Bible was when he was transformed and began to share his faith with others.

Recently, Mark released a book called Contagious Faith. He talks about what that means and what that looks like to have a faith that is truly contagious. If you know Christ and read the Bible, then Mark says you have all you need to be in ministry and share the gospel with others.

Excerpts from This Episode

4:12 – 4:37 “I think there’s a wake-up call for the church. We can’t just keep maintaining our programs and kind of chugging along, we need to get radical about knowing Scripture, about knowing theology, but also knowing how to communicate the gospel and how to define and defend the gospel.”

6:04 – 6:49 “We’re here on a mission. I try to remind people that Jesus didn’t have to leave us here. Most of what we do here and do in the church we’re going to do for eternity in Heaven. We’re going to worship God for eternity. We’re going to have fellowship for eternity.

11:50 – 12:34 “There’s nothing as exciting, nothing as rewarding, as following Christ. God has us on a mission that is going to matter. When you get to be a catalyst of the Holy Spirit to get to bring light and become friends with them, the mission we’re here for is the gospel of Jesus Christ.

15:40 – 16:05 “This is part of what I love about evangelism, you pray more fervently, you study the Bible more diligently and regularly, you glorify God and worship Him with more of a heart-felt passion because you sense this life and death thing that’s happening in the world. Especially when you have a friend come to Christ. There’s nothing better.

19:29 – 20:00 “If you know Christ, first of all you have salvation, you have the Holy Spirit inside you, you’re gradually getting the mind of Christ, and you read God’s Word, you’ve got almost everything you need to get in on ministry.”

20:44 – 21:15 “I’ve had this experience, where all of the sudden you’re thinking the God of the universe told me what to say there. And I don’t say that very often, but there are times where I said more than I knew.”

22:41 – 23:03 “Scripture is living and active, as it says in Hebrews, and it knows how to penetrate our souls but it also knows how to open our eyes.”

Recommended Bible Resource

Evangelical Study Bible

The Evangelical Study Bible offers a refreshing way to study God’s Word focused on the unchanging truth of the gospel. Verse-by-verse commentary and interesting sidebars dig into the historical and contextual background of Scripture helping you grow in your understanding and appreciation of the life-changing truths of the Christian faith. Also included are more than fifty articles that help you better understand your faith and effectively share it with others.

The Evangelical Study Bible is published by HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc., the parent company of Bible Gateway.

Quoted Scripture

“that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man”

Ephesians 3:16, NKJV

“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”

John 15:4-5, NKJV

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

Ephesians 6:12, NKJV