Village Talks

In this podcast, Pastor Mark interviews Peter de Bos, from Amsterdam. Peter grew up with no Christian background, then was introduced to but rejected the church in his twenties. Twenty years later, after a failed marriage and a move to Spain, a Brazilian soccer player shared the gospel with him and eight years ago, he gave his life to Jesus and his whole outlook on life changed. He is now remarried, has three children and lives in The Netherlands once again where he volunteers as a speaker for International Justice Mission.

Pastor Mark interviews Pastor Josh Kruse, a professqional counsellor, in an “Ask Dr. Josh” style format. They tackle listener submitted questions such as: •Is there hope for marriages where cheating has occurred?•Why does cheating happen and how can couples avoid infidelity in their relationships?•How do you get help with a porn addiction?•How do couples set up appropriate sexual boundaries?•How do you find healing after a traumatic past?

Mark interviews his 94 year old grandfather about growing up, World War II, dating in the 1940's, his marriage of 67 years (how they met and how he kept her), his conversion to Jesus at a Billy Graham crusade in the 1950's, what a devotional life and evangelism looks like for him today.

In this Village Talks episode Pastor Mark opens up the Village Church Mailbag and delves deep into a series of questions with Pastor Cliff and Pastor Eric: •How do we really know that the bible is really God's word and not just what people wrote? •How do you actually hear God speaking to you? •Is it okay to take communion even though I feel like I have doubts and I'm not totally strong in my faith? •Why do we make baptism a big deal? Will I go to hell if I'm not baptized? •Is it wrong to rent a facility from a Seventh Day Adventist Church? •Why doesn't God correct christian leaders when they get out of line? He seems to keep blessing them. What is our role in correcting bad theological teaching?

Pastor Mark interviews Ron Pearce (the head of a global mission organization that works in the spiritual hot spots of the world) and shares stories of amazing things that are happening in the underground church, what to do about ISIS, the persecution of the church all around the world, Israel, terrorism, and more. Ron talks about some of the most dangerous places for Christians in the world today and how God is empowering Christians in these areas with supernatural hope, perseverance and faith.

Pastor Mark and his wife Erin sit down with professional counsellor of 20 years, Julie Beck and talk about a flurry of practical life issues including: when our lives go off the rails, careers, stress, dating tips, sex in marriage, motherhood, how men are like waffles and women are like spaghetti, raising kids in an age of technology, whether sleepovers are okay and much more!

In this episode, Pastor Mark interviews Paul Johnson who lost his first wife to cancer and then his son to murder. Paul discusses how he tried to cope as a single parent and then eventually in a blended family context. He makes a list of the things not to say to someone who is suffering and how difficult it was for him as a pastor to walk through such difficult times while also leading a church. Then Paul calls the prosperity gospel dangerous theology that creates guilt in the sufferer and shares about how his theology of suffering means that God is refining his character. Paul describes the way God built up his strength and faith over years to prepare him to be able to meet face to face with his son's killer. The interview finishes with questions about whether God is a monster for allowing such tragedy to take place and with Paul's own personal advice to anyone facing difficulty in their own life.

In this episode of the Village Church Podcast Show, Pastor Mark sits down with Dave Morgan, a Church Planting Apprentice who is working toward planting a church in the Whalley area of Surrey. Dave discusses his challenging upbringing which led to quitting school, getting addicted to drugs and alcohol, and seeing his family torn apart. They even talk about how Dave turned to gang affiliation in an effort fuel his addiction which resulted in his involvement in a murder plot and escaping his own potential death at gunpoint. Dave then speaks about his miraculous turn around and how God pulled him out of addiction and gangs and brought him to the place of wanting to plant a church in Whalley, where many struggle with addiction, gangs and destructive behaviour.

In this episode of the Village Church Podcast Show, Pastor Jeremy interviews Pastor Mark about his recently released book, Radical Sex. They begin by discussing why Mark decided to publish a book on the topic of sex and then talking about the surprising things Mark has learned from doing classes with newly married couples. He talks about the major issues and obstacles most young couples he works with face that are preventing them from having a great sex life. In the book, Mark describes why he is passionate about orgasms and Jeremy asks him to elaborate what he means by that and why this is such an important issue for married couples. This episode also dives into explaining how the biblical view of sex has been misrepresented both inside and outside of the church and why Christians have a lot to offer culture on this issue. You can get your free copy of Pastor Mark's ebook, Radical Sex at, www.pastormarkclark.com/buythebook

In this episode of the Podcast Show, Pastor Mark continues his interview of the Village Church pastoral team. We open up the Village Church mailbag and answer your questions!We discuss whether we should announce Mark's preaching schedule and whether it's important to worship together as a church.Then we tackle the biggest questions we are asked as pastors: Why is the world in chaos? Why do we experience suffering?Why doesn't God save everyone?How do we know God's will for our lives?One pastor even shares about being told by someone that God's will for his life was that he was going to die on the way home from church.

In this first episode of the Podcast Show, Pastor Mark interviews the Village Church pastoral team. He begins with rapid fire Q and A, asking about their favourite movies, and music to the most influential theologians in their lives, what books they are reading and even what kind of dates they take their wives on. The pastors share stories from the frontlines of church ministry - everything from telling a woman her husband was dead when he wasn't, to being asked to prophesy on a drum kit. One declares his love of "Dumb and Dumber" and another describes what sounds like the lamest concert imaginable. They also discuss some of the biggest mistakes they've made as pastors, and share about the most common issues that they see in marriages such as sex issues and other failed expectations.