Mark Block

Religious Christian. Family Man. Bi-Vocational Pastor. Pentecostalish.

[SMB Attorney @SMB_Attorney]

The full story here is NUTS 🤯

TLDR dude hikes 6.5 hours to avoid a helicopter medical bill impaled while his friends make kebab jokes…

> 32yo ER nurse named David is day-hiking Montana’s tallest mountain with his boys

> He slips on a rock near the top and full-on impales himself on his own trekking pole that goes clean through his lat with like 8 inches sticking out both sides

> nurse brain kicks in immediately, checks himself, realizes nothing vital got hit and he can still breathe fine
says screw the helicopter bill and just starts hiking the entire 10 miles back down with the pole still stuck in him

> takes SIX AND A HALF hours, friends are spotting him the whole way, one even runs ahead to warn families so kids don’t see this gnarly shit

> about 4 miles from the car they realize they’re actually gonna make it… and start cracking kebab jokes 😂

> dude never complained once, stayed in weirdly high spirits the whole time

> walks himself all the way to the trailhead, gets the pole pulled out later at the hospital, and already says he’s going back next year to finish the summit

[Gospel Quotes @QuotesGospel]

"The future is as bright as the promises of God." -Adoniram Judson.

[Matt Loveless @MattLoveless]

Final Four appearances in the NCAA tournament since the 1985 expansion:

Mid-majors: 18

“Power” teams with losing conference records: 1

[Mark Block @mark_block]

@Big12Conference @asbglassfloor Wood is better.

[Stephen Cox @StephenCox_SC]

You watch a preacher long enough, he will disappoint you.

You attend a church long enough, it will let you down in some way.

You serve in a ministry for some time, you will get hurt.

All of these are true but it does not mean you quit, get bitter or leave.

It does mean that you forgive, stay steadfast and focussed on Jesus.

Pray for your pastor.

Be faithful in your local church.

Serve others.

[The Biblical Man @Biblicalman]

Three years ago, I was the smartest Christian in the room.

Or so I thought.

I'd discovered this teacher, won't name him, but if you're in the "hidden Bible knowledge" corners of X, you know the type. He had charts. Timelines. Greek word studies that made seminary professors look like Sunday school dropouts.

And he had a hook:

"What the modern church won't tell you about [insert doctrine]."

I was hooked.

It started innocently. A YouTube video. Then a book. Then a private Discord where the "serious students" gathered.

Within six months, I couldn't listen to my own pastor anymore.

His sermons felt... basic. Shallow. Like he was feeding us milk while I was feasting on meat.

I'd sit in the pew mentally correcting him. "If he only understood the original Greek here..."

I wasn't being sanctified.

I was being isolated.

And I didn't see it because I felt smarter than I'd ever felt in my Christian life.

My wife asked me a simple question:

"Has all this studying made you love Jesus more, or just made you love being right?"

I got defensive. Angry, even.

Because deep down, I knew the answer.

I could chart the seventy weeks of Daniel. I could debate the Nephilim.

But I hadn't prayed—really prayed—in months.

I'd become a theological collector instead of a disciple.

THE FIVE SYMPTOMS I MISSED (That You're Missing Too)

Looking back, the red flags were neon. If you're in the early stages of what I went through, here's what you're experiencing right now:

1. You're Chasing the "Secret"
The content you consume always promises "What they won't tell you." Hidden knowledge. Lost books.

The trap: God doesn't hide truth from the humble. He hides it from the proud. (Matthew 11:25)

2. You Need Extra Books to Prop It Up
My teacher loved the Book of Enoch. Not as historical context—as required reading.

The trap: "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." (Isaiah 8:20, KJV)

3. You Feel Superior to "Average Christians"
This was the most intoxicating part. I'd scroll through Christian X and think, "These people have no idea."

The trap: "Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth." (1 Corinthians 8:1, KJV)

4. You're Poisoned Against Plain Preaching
I couldn't sit under normal teaching anymore. Expository sermons felt boring.

The trap: The gospel that saves is simple enough for a child. If you need a PhD to understand your teacher's "real" message, you're learning gnosticism.

5. It Produces Charts, Not Holiness
Here's the test I failed: I could draw you a timeline of the end times. But I couldn't tell you the last time I'd wept over my sin.

The trap: "By their fruits ye shall know them." (Matthew 7:20, KJV)

THE WAY OUT

I didn't leave because I got smarter.

I left because I got desperate.

One night, after another argument with my wife about my "studies," I broke.

I prayed the most honest prayer of my life:

"God, if I'm wrong, show me. Even if it humiliates me. I don't want to be right. I want to be Yours."

Within a week, the scales fell.

I deleted the Discord. Unsubscribed from the channels. Threw out the books.

And I went back to my church and wept through an entire sermon on the prodigal son.

If you're reading this and feeling defensive, you're where I was.

Run this test: Fail two of the symptoms above, and walk away before you lose three years like I did.

I'm not writing this from a high horse. I'm writing this from the ditch.

Here's what I came back to:

Jesus. Crucified. Risen. Coming again.

Repent. Believe. Be baptized. Make disciples.

Love God. Love neighbor. Die to self.

That's it.

No secret knowledge required. No hidden books. No elite club.

Just a bloody cross and an empty tomb.

And if that feels too simple, you're already in the trap

[Mark Block @mark_block]

@NickQuient Just said a prayer for him.

[Mark Block @mark_block]

@Protestia It seems you lied in your statement above. The elders of the church presumably know. It is wrong to say "no one has any idea." Jesus taught in Matthew 18, there is a process to discipline. If repentance is determined to have been enacted, you don't continue on in the process.

[Mark Block @mark_block]

@NickQuient No way! It starts a week before Christmas and promptly ends on Dec. 26th.

[Owen Strachan @ostrachan]

A super-quick theology of governmental justice from Romans 13:

1) It is right to want justice when evildoers do wicked things.

2) You need not be an ethno-nationalist, furthermore, to desire your government to punish evil.

3) Romans 13:3 could not be clearer. Rulers are "a terror" to "bad" conduct.

4) Romans 13:4 indicates that government "does not bear the sword in vain."

5) Public leaders are called "the servant of God" and they are called to be "an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer."

6) This means that Christians should WANT and PRAY FOR the sword to crack down on evildoers.

7) For particularly heinous crimes like the slaughter of Iryna Zaruska, I believe that the death penalty is warranted.

8) All this shows us: a government that does not punish evil is not functioning correctly--not at all.

9) I will repeat myself: the view I have just lined out is *in no way* connected to ethno-nationalism. This is basic biblical Christianity.

10) Christians should want justice, support the justice system, pray for justice, and be a public voice that opposes evil, honors good, and holds the wicked to full and terrifying account.

11) There is zero tension between loving the gospel and standing for justice--in fact, the gospel of grace is what fully awakens our conscience and ignites our ethics, charging us to be "salt and light" in the public (Matthew 5:13-14), a people who speak for the voiceless and defend the defenseless.

[Lost Temples™ @LostTemple7]

15 Pictures with Deep meaning :

1.

[Mark Block @mark_block]

@MoStateMBB Do you want people to attend home games or what? What a boring home schedule.

[Mark Chironna @markchironna]

One of the quietest enemies of truth-telling is assumption. Critical thinkers separate what they know from what they suppose. Before speaking, pause and ask: Do I have evidence, or am I filling in the gaps with my own narrative? Truth is not strengthened by guesswork.

[Mark Block @mark_block]

@AndyStanley @petergoeman_ @shekenahglory How do you know?

[Fox News @FoxNews]

"The connection between cannabis and severe mental illness, including the psychotic disorder schizophrenia, comes as no surprise to me."

@AlexBerenson discusses how a growing body of research reveals the alarming negative health impacts of marijuana use.

[Josh Barzon @JoshuaBarzon]

🧵The NKJV: How a 1980’s Bible Translation is Becoming the Bible of Choice for a New Generation

It was criticized by the left & right.

Overlooked for decades.

But now the NKJV is experiencing a surprising revival!

[a 🧵 on the history & impact of the NKJV 👇]

[CCG BRYSON @BrysonGray]

Make this nationwide

[Creeds & Confessions @CreedConfession]

Don't waste so much time.

[Mark Block @mark_block]

@JoshuaBarzon Not a fan of any of them.

[Mark Block @mark_block]

@JoshuaBarzon Number 2