Mark BocanegraMar 1810 minYou are not the loyal servant, Dear Missionary.Hello again from sunny California! For those who don't know, we have been fundraising since September 2019 in order to start our second phase of ministry. Ma...
Mark BocanegraFeb 207 minSelfish Ambition Is Demonic, Dear Missionary.Since I (Mark) was planning to be assessed as a Team Leader, the sin of 'power' has been something I have been thinking about more. Although the sin of being...
Mark BocanegraDec 15, 20196 minWe do not 'support' missionaries, but joyfully 'co-suffer' with them.Hello again from sunny California! For those who don't know, we have closed our first chapter/term and now transitioning into our second phase of ministry. T...
Mark BocanegraNov 23, 20196 minMissional does not mean 'zealous'Hello again from sunny California! For those who don't know, we have closed our first chapter/term and now transitioning into our second phase of ministry. T...
Mark BocanegraOct 2, 20194 minUnashamedly Presbyterian: MTW and church-centric, church planting.Hello from sunny California! We arrived in Pasadena, CA on September 10. We have closed our first chapter/term and now transitioning into our second phase of...
Mark BocanegraJul 11, 20196 minTabernacle Floor Plan as Evangelistic Tool? Using the OT to reach the UnreachedAs I finished my sermon series on Exodus, the most edifying part for me was the details regarding the structure of the Tabernacle. Not only was it edifying f...
Mark BocanegraJan 8, 20195 minWhat does 'sojourning' have to do with missions?Sarah's Japanese characters are 幸来(さら), which means "The Blessings that are to Come." Background Our three daughters are based on three Biblical covenants...
Mark BocanegraDec 26, 201811 minBaking on human dung for the sake of the Gospel.I was planning to share a little about what kind of team I'm praying for in the future; however, as I was reading through Ezekiel for my personal devotions--w...
Mark BocanegraNov 30, 20184 minDecision to do church planting.My three PhD applications are in and we'll be waiting to hear back from then. I'm expecting that they will respond with their decision in March or April. We ...
Mark BocanegraOct 25, 20183 minAn aging and struggling ChurchThe Presbyterian Church of Japan will be holding its General Assembly on November 23-24. It is the national gathering of all the pastors of the Presbyterian ...
Mark BocanegraSep 25, 20186 minPresbyterian Great Commision: Make Presbyteries of all nationsHigashi Kanto Presbytery is the presbytery where my church resides. It was started on May 3, 1999 by three little house churches that had the the same desire...
Mark BocanegraAug 15, 20187 minWhen contextualization turns into idolatry.Exodus 20:22-26: The fine and dangerous line between biblical contextualization and gross idolatry First of all, my deepest apologies! It's been almost 4 mo...
Mark BocanegraMay 1, 20185 min“Yes, I want to study the word 'Anknüpfungspunkt' for 5 years.There have been some who have asked me what I'd like to study for my PhD and how it would be relevant to the mission field. This month I've attached the intr...
Mark BocanegraMay 1, 20184 min“Wait... the ten plagues as missions?!”(Explanation of first photo: Kate is forcing her non-Christian friend to pray before they 'play eat.' Notice that Kate does not serve her guest food but keep...
Mark BocanegraFeb 18, 20183 min"You just got here. Leaving already?"Thankfully, Oyumino Christ Church has called me to be their pastor with an unanimous vote. It was both humbling and encouraging; however, at the same time, b...
Mark BocanegraJan 18, 20184 min"Pastor, I'm disappointed in you."I guess this is another month where I share my pastoral bloopers. This month, although I still realize I'm still in the 'kiddie pool' of pastoral ministry, I...
Mark BocanegraDec 10, 20173 min“So you're preaching Hosea for your Christmas message?”As many pastors know, the Christmas message is probably one of the hardest messages to preach. You have to preach essentially on the same kinds of passages e...
Mark BocanegraNov 16, 20177 minWhat does the 'rainbow' have to do with missions?(日本語は下にあります！） Our second daughter, Nina Sakura Bocanegra, was born on 11/16 at 1:38am at 3620 grams after 15 hours of labor. Like with Kate Sumire Bocanegra,...
Mark BocanegraNov 1, 20173 minWhat does Luther have to do with Oyumino?When I gently reminded the prayer group that today was the 500th Reformation Anniversary, I was given a surprised look, "Oh! That's right. In Japan, unfortun...
Mark BocanegraSep 30, 20173 min“How would you bring unity in a divided church?”That is the question I got at a session meeting. The KMGC session asked me to speak at their church retreat. They expressed their concern of various church m...