Mark Moore’s mission in life is to make Jesus famous — whether through his preaching at Christ’s Church of the Valley, mentoring young men or his many books, including “The Master Leader,” “Quest52” and “Core52.” As a pastor and author, Mark infuses his teaching and writing with his great love for in-depth Bible study, transparency and, of course, off-the-wall dad jokes.

Below, you’ll discover a behind-the-scenes look at the way Mark approaches life and relationships, how he exercises physically and spiritually every day and the biggest weaknesses that hold him back (plus why he considers his wood shop a sacred place). Read on to take part in a conversation full of honesty, inspiring life lessons and supernatural stories of God moving through ordinary moments.

QUESTION #1: ACQUAINT

The meals we enjoy are about so much more than the food we eat. So how does a “go-to” meal at your favorite hometown restaurant reveal the true you behind your web bio?

Phoenix is a foodie town, so there are a lot of options. I revel in variation, so I don’t really have a go-to restaurant, but if push came to shove, it would either be Tacos Calafia (a little dive off the 101) or Tacos Huicho right off the 51.

OK, my restaurant choice may not be that interesting, but this might be: I don’t order in restaurants. I ask the server to “surprise me.” The only question they’re allowed to ask is whether I have allergies (which I don’t). I thought this through scientifically. There are five reasons this works. 1) Statistically, the server has a much better chance of picking the best meal (and whether I get that or not, I act like it to give everyone else at the table FOMO). 2) I love Christmas. This is a way of making it last year-round. 3) The server is now brought into the table experience, and everyone with me gets better service. 4) I’m far more interested in the conversation at the table than the meal, so this gives me an opportunity to focus on the people I’m with. 5) I don’t hate being the center of attention.

In all seriousness, the Bible shows how sacred meals are. No other animal decorates a table or celebrates events through meals in every community. In fact, the very first thing we’re gonna do in the New Jerusalem is sit down at the marriage supper of the lamb. When Jesus declared all foods clean (see Mark 7), that was the precursor to Gentile inclusion in Acts 10. That’s worth our attention.

QUESTION #2: REVEAL

We’ve all got quirky proclivities and out-of-the-way interests. So what are yours? What so-called “nonspiritual” activity do you love engaging in that also helps you find essential spiritual renewal?

As a teaching pastor, my professional work is never done. There’s always another email to answer, another coffee conversation to have, another sermon to write or another book to read. Moreover, a pastoral role, like that of a physician, tends to cling to you wherever you go. So it’s important to me to just be human for a while.

That’s why my wood shop is a sacred space. On the one hand, it’s a retreat from all the noise and technology. It’s just me, some power tools and a grain that only God has seen until I uncover it. Truly, it is a place of worship because I’m partnering with God in creating beauty and sometimes utility out of his raw world. In this space, I can be creative, meditative and productive. The design in my head flows through my hands. And when it is done, it is complete. That’s a unique experience that I need in my life.

But there’s another beauty in my wood shop. There’s nothing I’ve made that is perfect, and there’s nothing I’ve made that I have not loved. It’s been embarrassing to watch me after I complete a project, show it off to my wife. It’s not so much that I’m needy for affirmation. It is that I’m enamored with my creation. Even though I know every flaw that is in that wood, it doesn’t make me love it less. And that reminds me of how God sees me. My imperfections are not off-putting to him. He knows they’re there, yet he is still giddy with pride over me because I am a product of his masterful hands.

QUESTION #3: CONFESS

Every superhero has a weakness; every human too. We’re just good at faking it. But who are we kidding? We’re all broken and in this thing together. So what’s your kryptonite and how do you confront its power head-on?

My kryptonite went public last November. Everything we do here at Christ’s Church of the Valley is a team sport. So when I prepare a message, I always submit it to about eight different people for critique and improvement at various levels. Dustin, who oversees our Next Gen ministries, is a savant at seeing through the heart of an issue. He can sense what people need to hear. The message I was preaching on was about bragging out of 2 Corinthians 11. He challenged me to share it with our church — the very thing I did not want to share. I wanted to throat-punch him because I knew what I needed to share, and it made me incredibly vulnerable.

Here was my confession to them and to you: over my 22 years of teaching at a Christian college, the primary criticism I got was for being arrogant. I have not been arrogant a day in my life; I’ve been insecure. And my bravado was a thin veil over my feeling of inadequacy. My greatest fear is that you would think about me what I think about myself.

QUESTION #4: FIRE UP

Tell us about your toil. How are you investing your professional time right now? What’s your current obsession? And why should it be ours?

Actually, I don’t think my obsession has to be yours. But here is mine: when I was 20 years old, I felt called by God to use my ability as a biblical scholar to make the deepest possible truth accessible at the most common possible levels. I continue to do that through both public speaking and writing. My recent book, “Core52,” identified 52 of the most important passages of the Bible that encompass every major important theological and philosophical truth in God’s Word. It continues to be a great joy to see how new believers (and old) are able to access this old book called the Bible as a new revelation.

Currently, I’m working on a follow-up called “Wisdom52,” which catalogs every proverb of Solomon into 52 categories of wisdom and then explores that wisdom through the rest of the Bible to identify specific behaviors that would allow us to live a life that honors God, benefits ourselves and blesses others.

To be honest, however, it’s neither my preaching nor writing that I find most significant in this season of life. Rather, it is mentoring. I have been mentoring young men for over 30 years. I knew I had become wise when I began to revel more in the success of my disciples than in my own. Honestly, there’s nothing more gratifying or significant than seeing others soar. My days of irrelevance are quickly approaching, and my shelf-life will only be extended by the lived lives of others.

QUESTION #5: BOOST

Cashiers, CEOs, contractors or customer service reps, we all need grace flowing into us and back out into the world. How does the Holy Spirit invigorate your work? And how do you know it’s God when it happens?

Last Monday evening, I ran into a man at church. We currently have 18 venues across the Phoenix Metro area and an average weekly attendance of over 50,000, so coming across a specific individual is an anomaly.

Matt told me his story. Two years ago, he had prayed to God: “Please let me run into Mark Moore this evening so he can pray for me to receive a heart.” Matt was 70 years old. So it was not likely that he would receive a heart transplant. Nonetheless, I had prayed over him by name that God would find a heart for him and that, with this heart, he would help others find the heart of God. After I had walked away, Matt turned to his wife, and said, “I never told him my name.” I didn’t realize God had revealed it to me.

Two years later, we met again — just this week, actually — and he shared the story with me of how God said yes to that prayer. He got a new heart, and he has not yet missed an opportunity to share the love of God with any single person he’s met. That is pretty characteristic of how the Holy Spirit uses me — I’m typically ignorant of how and when. What I do know is that the Holy Spirit seldom expands energy where it’s not needed. Where we take control of our own lives, where we have everything handled, where we risk little, the Holy Spirit seldom intervenes. It’s only when we need him most, when we step out in faith, when we risk big that he shows up loud.

QUESTION #6: inspire

Scripture and tradition beckon us into the rich and varied habits that open our hearts to the presence of God. So let us in. Which spiritual practice is working best for you in this season?

Two years ago, Life Time Fitness bought part of our church’s property and built a beautiful facility on the corner of our lot. Our leadership, recognizing the value of physical health for spiritual ministry, ponied up a substantial sum to provide memberships at a reduced rate for our staff. I jumped on that immediately. I’m able to walk to the gym five minutes right across our parking lot. Because I have enough to think about at work, I subscribed to the Fitbod app, which tells me exactly what to do every time I walk into the gym. To add aerobics to my exercise, I bike into work whenever I can, which is a round-trip of about seven miles. Obviously, Phoenix is not the best place to bike between June and September, so during that time, I replace biking with swimming.

This may not sound super spiritual. And perhaps it’s not. But it has improved my prayer life because my aerobic time is a great time to be with the Lord. It has improved my study of the Bible because I’m stress free and focused when I arrive. It has improved my service because I have the strength, energy and agility to travel, work and play appropriately.

I would probably add one more discipline, and it may not sound that spiritual either, but it is the discipline of transparency. I’m fortunate to be part of a church that prioritizes the lost over the found. Part of that secret sauce is that pastors have permission to speak truthfully about their struggles and their failures. It makes us real and really accessible. That has been a beautiful, albeit unnatural, exercise to my soul.

QUESTION #7: FOCUS

Looking backward, considering the full sweep of your unique faith journey and all you encountered along the way, what top three resources stand out to you? What changed reality and your heart?

Back in 1977, I was introduced to a book by Josh McDowell titled “Evidence That Demands a Verdict.” As you might know, it is a collection of citations cataloging various apologetic issues. What it taught me was that thinking can be spiritual, and a rational defense of the faith is entirely possible. I remember thinking, I don’t have to hang my brain on the hat rack as I come into church. I am now convinced that apologetics is more valuable to believers than pre-believers in that it confirms the decisions we have already made more than it turns the tide on someone’s unbelief. For me, that was a great gift.

The second great reference for me was NT Wright’s “Jesus and the Victory of God” (or anything else written by NT Wright). His scholarship combines historical and sociological insights in the study of Scripture. This brand of scholarship has marked me deeply in my own quest to know and follow Jesus personally. One could also mention sociologist Rodney Stark in his masterful work “The Rise of Early Christianity.” Paying attention to the cultural values, social systems and psychological principles of humanity helps clarify and amplify the meaning of the Bible.

The third tool for me is Logos Bible Software (largely available free of charge in online programs like Blue Letter Bible). Being able to search for patterns in biblical languages with a click of a few buttons has allowed me to plow through mountains of data in accessible ways to make the Bible truly come alive. Here’s a simple example: God is called Father 276 times in the Bible, 273 of which are in the New Testament and almost all exclusively due to Jesus Christ. This may be, in terms of practical ministry, one of the greatest insights of my life due primarily to digital Boolean searches. (Yes, I know I’m a Bible Geek).

We all have things we cling to to survive or even thrive in our fast-paced, techno-driven world. How have you been successful in harnessing technology to aid in your spiritual growth?

To adequately answer this question, I need to share my own belief that God did not create the world. He created heaven and earth. He then invited humanity to share in his creative act by giving us responsibility over all of the resources animate and inanimate that he had created. We are the ones who created a world through language, architecture, education, art, literature, business and organizations.

I remember a conversation with Rich Mullins, who wrote “Our God Is an Awesome God.” He rightly pointed out that there is no secular music. All music is sacred in that it comes from the nature of God in us. I would say the same thing about dance, exercise, science and medicine. So when it comes to technology, it is a mere tool, manifesting the nature of God in us to harness and improve the resources God gave to us.

Having said that, here are several technologies that have really improved my spiritual growth: 1) The audio Bible the YouVersion Bible app. 2) Sending audio prayers through texts. 3) Paying off all credit cards every month through direct bill pay. 4) Listening to audiobooks. 5) A sophisticated list on the 2Do app. (6) Apple Watch for fitness tracking. 6) Using voice-to-text to write (I’m doing it at this very moment). 7) AI for sermon research and checking email responses for tone and tenderness. 8) Moodle for online teaching. 9) Find My Friends for accountability. 10) Yelp (remember, food is sacred for me). 10) Shared notes for collaboration.

Notice I did not include social media. I’ve been off it for three years and have not missed it — nor the anxiety it generated for me.

QUESTION #8: dream

God’s continually stirring new things in each of us. So give us the scoop! What’s beginning to stir in you but not yet fully awakened? What can we expect from you in the future?

I’m working through this idea right now that has two parts. First, eternal life is knowing God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent (John 17:3). If that is true, then eternal life is now, today, not what we look forward to after we die. Second, “Messiah” and “Christ” are not the same thing. Sure, they have the same denotation, but different connotations for Jews and Gentiles.

As the Gentiles dominated the church, even by the end of the first century, what they heard in the word “Christ” was filtered through their cultural expectations and experiences. That is true for everyone in every culture! We always make Jesus in our own image. In some way, that’s natural and expected — even helpful for relating to him. The problem comes when our view of Jesus is different from who he actually is. To the extent that we misappropriate or misinterpret him, we lack eternal life here and now. I’m not saying we won’t make it to heaven someday. But we will be less capable of bringing heaven to earth today.

That’s why I want to explore the Jewish expectations of Jesus contrasted with his own expressed self-revelation and weighed against our cultural incorporation to see if we can’t come closer to the vision Jesus had of himself. My goal is to increase the extent to which we can experience eternal life right now.

Earlier in his interview, Mark said, “Where we take control of our own lives, where we have everything handled, where we risk little, the Holy Spirit seldom intervenes. It’s only when we need him most, when we step out in faith, when we risk big that he shows up loud.”

This is a truth that the apostle Paul understood well thanks to what he called “a thorn” in his flesh (see 2 Cor. 12:7). He writes:

“Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Cor. 12:8,9, ESV).

What weaknesses in your life does God want to use to display his power? How can you boast in your weaknesses instead of being ashamed of them?

Mark Moore