Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Mark and according to Psalm 37:37 (KJV only) I am the perfect man. In all honestly i think this may be the one erroneous part of Scripture but then again it is the KJV! 😉 Many of the Near Emmaus readers may well know me as the author of Scripture, Ministry and the People of God
As Brian said in the announcement post I currently serve as Minister of the Happy Valley Church of Christ, Adelaide South Australia. I am privileged to serve the greatest congregation in all of Australia. Alongside my ministry vocation I somehow find time to study and hope to begin my Masters dissertation in 2011. I am yet to decide on a research topic however, the Gospel of Matthew or the historical Jesus debates currently head the list or areas I am considering. I am married with two cute and adorable children. When I’m not preparing a sermon, typing an assignment or blog post I enjoy gardening, Cricket and good coffee!
I have been blogging off and on for 3 or 4 years now and appreciate it as both theological discourse and theological community. Although I have an interest in New Testament studies I will bring to Near Emmaus my ministry background and passion as well as a cheeky Australian sense of humour! My own personal ministry story has a large bearing on how I approach and undertake my role as a minister [If you would like to read more about my personal journey you can do so here]. Eugene Peterson is the one who has largely guided this journey in the past few years. Alongside Peterson I enjoy reading Ben Witherington, Karl Barth, Tom Wright (Brian made me put that in here), David Hansen, RT France, Richard Bauckham and, of course, Gordon Fee.
In a recent post I outlined my reasons for choosing to join the team here at Near Emmaus. In short they are; time, quality, community and respect. I need more time to write, more time to write better and I wish to blog with others and with others I respect.
Finally I would like to thank Brian, Ishta, JohnDave, Robert and Joshua for letting me join them as part of their discourse and community. I look forward to spending more time here in 2011.
Peace be with you this Advent season,
Mark Stevens
the archives near Emmaus 
Mark, don’t forget that you bring your sex appeal as well. Don’t want to leave that out. I mean, Brian has to compete with Joel in that area.
Why Mark, why? lol
Welcome Mark! Well done with the reference to Tom Wright!
Mark the perfect man? …. snicker… trying to old back a laugh…. bwahahaha!! Mark, the perfect man, will be a fine addition to the near emmaus blog! 🙂
Mark,
Thanks for the introductory post. We’re all glad to have you and appreciate what you bring to the blogging family. While you might blame the KJV for your perfectness, we’ll have to hold you to it now that you’ve mentioned it. 🙂
Mark, I’m really glad you joined the team. Now we have two pastors blogging 😉 I’ve recently got a renewed passion for pastoring I was pretty burned out last year but I slowed down, and refocused on my calling. Looking forward to the new year and blogging along side with you the rest of the team.