Mark T Morgan

About the Author

Mark Morgan was born in Australia and has been deeply involved in religion all of his life, working as a lay preacher, Sunday School teacher and missionary – trying to balance the many demands of spiritual life with those of family and paid employment, first as an engineer and later as a software developer. Happily married and blessed with eight children, he has spent many years reading the Bible and learning to teach its lessons. Writing Bible-based novels now fills much of his time.

Nov 05

The Stewardship of Money

By Mark Morgan | Miscellaneous

Based on a booklet “The Stewardship of Money” written in England during the 1940s by F. Mitchell and revised by Mark Morgan, November 2021.

Chapter 1 – Why Should We Give?

a. Because we ourselves, and all we have, are God’s

The Christian life begins when we receive Jesus Christ as our personal saviour. It was by his coming into our lives that we became Christians at all. No doubt when we first came to him, it was with a sense of frustration or a burden of sin and helplessness, and our conscious need was to receive forgiveness, peace and power. These, we discovered, were available only in Christ, and, receiving him, we enjoyed the gifts he always brings.

Sep 24

How should Christians use money?

By Mark Morgan | Miscellaneous

Money is mentioned more than 200 times in the Bible, starting with God’s requirement that even slaves bought with Abraham’s money had to be circumcised as part of God’s covenant with him (Genesis 17:12-13).

Money in the Old Testament

In the Old Testament we are often told of God blessing those whom he loved by giving them riches: Abraham (Genesis 13:2; 24:35); Isaac (Genesis 26:12-13); Job (Job 42:10); David (1 Chronicles 29:28); Solomon (1 Kings 3:13; 10:23); Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 17:5; 18:1); Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 32:27). In fact, there is frequently a connection between righteousness and the blessing of riches, particularly in Psalms and Proverbs (Proverbs 10:4, 22; 22:4).

Yet in all of them, there is the repeated warning not to set our heart on riches. There is a warning that if riches are too important to us, we will fail (Psalm 62:10; Proverbs 11:4, 28; 27:24).
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May 19

Jehoshaphat’s family tree

By Mark Morgan | Family trees , Jehoshaphat

King David, Solomon, Rehoboam, Abijah, Asa and then Jehoshaphat: this is Jehoshaphat’s family tree.

King Jehoshaphat was a descendant of King David, from the tribe of Judah, and began to reign over Judah about 100 years after the death of King David. He was a righteous and faithful king who would be high on the list of the best kings of Judah – although he had a problem with being too tolerant of evil people.

A family tree centred on King Jehoshaphat is included below. The family tree extends up to King David in simplified form, however the generations around Jehoshaphat include much more detail.
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Jan 28

Washing in Bible times

By Mark Morgan | Jeremiah , Jesus

In the last two years we have all become familiar with calls to wash our hands frequently. With COVID-19 leaving its mark all over the world, we are all encouraged to be vaccinated, but also to use soap, hand sanitiser and disinfectants. How does our response to COVID-19 compare with cleansing and washing in Bible times?

Many people have observed that the Law of Moses concentrates heavily on cleanliness and frequently mentions washing – yet it is not the only part of the Bible where this is true.
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Dec 18

The times of Jehoshaphat

By Mark Morgan | Harmonies , Jehoshaphat

Bible records in the times of Jehoshaphat

Background

King David ruled over a united kingdom of Israel – the 12 tribes that had entered “the Promised Land”. Today, this land is once again called Israel, although parts are now claimed by the Palestinians and Jordan.

After David’s death, his son Solomon became king and expanded the kingdom even further. Sadly, in later life, love for his many foreign wives led him into idolatry. In response, God said that the kingdom would be split in two during the reign of his son, Rehoboam. After Solomon died, Rehoboam became king, but could not hold the kingdom together. As predicted, the nation split in two: Israel, ten tribes ruled by a rebel called Jeroboam; and Judah, two tribes ruled by Rehoboam.

From then on, until Assyria destroyed Israel, the two nations swung pendulum-like between open war and a troubled co-existence. During this period, Jehoshaphat ruled Judah, following in the godly footsteps of his ancestor David (2 Chronicles 17:3).

Yet Jehoshaphat had a problem: he was too tolerant. Throughout his reign he looked for friendship and partnerships with the kingdom of Israel, despite their dedicated idolatry. He even made a marriage alliance with Ahab, king of Israel – Jehoshaphat’s son Jehoram married Ahab’s daughter Athaliah. Within 30 years, this unholy alliance had very nearly destroyed the kingdom of Judah.

This is also the setting for the work of the prophets Elijah and Elisha.

Parallel records from Kings and Chronicles

Jun 18

The book of Jeremiah in chronological order

By Mark Morgan | Jeremiah

The book of Jeremiah in chronological order – a suggestion

The book of Jeremiah includes dates which show us that the text is not in chronological order, as is discussed in the article “Why is Jeremiah out of order?”. While writing the series “Terror on Every Side!” I found it necessary to decide what the chronological order was, as far as possible. Although we can’t have much confidence in the conclusions for some parts, others we can be very sure of. The table below shows a possible chronological order for the book. In a while I hope to make the Book of Jeremiah available in this order – using the text of the World English Bible (or see the article in Wikipedia) which is available in the public domain. Continue reading