Bapticostal?

Posted on July 30, 2015 by Mark McMillion

I was in a conversation about denominations. So one guy said, “I’m Bapticostal.” Everyone laughed, me included. But I thought that, in a sense, that’s deep. And it turns out Bapticostal is a recognized term now; you can read about it in Wikipedia here.

Things just aren’t exactly the way it was decades ago when it comes to Christian denominations. When I was growing up, lines were pretty clearly drawn between various denominations and often there was a measure of animosity between them. It seems, in many ways, that has changed.

When the guy said he was Bapticostal, what he was meaning was that he was somewhere between traditional Southern Baptist beliefs and what’s known as Pentecostalism. In some respects at least I can see myself somewhere in that range. The church I’ve gone to here for the last 3 years calls itself “non denominational”. It seems most non-denominational churches in Texas have come out of the Southern Baptists but, for one reason or the other, they no longer want to retain the name of being Baptist. But much of their fundamental beliefs are founded in those of the Baptists.

For example, they believe in being saved, born again, and in eternal life through the saving work of Jesus on the Cross. They believe that the Bible is the Word of God and most every Sunday you’ll hear in both Baptist and non-denominational churches a sermon preached which is based around the Bible. Another thing both Baptists and most non-denominational churches believe is in sharing their faith with others, “witnessing” as it’s called.

Pentecostal churches usually are more or less in agreement with these things. But the Pentecostals lay a strong emphasis on the presence of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the believers. In fact, the reason it’s called Pentecostal is because of the place in the book of Acts where the presence of the Holy Spirit was first strongly manifested, in Acts chapter 2.

It says there, “When the day of Pentecost was fully come, the disciples were all together with one accord. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.” (Acts 2:1-4) I had a class with some friends about Acts chapter 2. Here is the audio file, and here is the written blog post about it.

So a major difference between Baptists and Pentecostals is in the way they worship. In the nondenominational church I go to, we will all sing some songs together before the sermon. And at the end of a song, everyone will applaud, rather like at a sports event or music event. In Pentecostal churches, they don’t do that; they lift up their hands and praise the Lord.

This is like what Paul said, “I will that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without wrath and without doubting.” (I Thessalonians 2:8) It was very normal to worship this way in Old Testament times. The Psalms are full of things like “Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the Lord.” (Psalm 134:2)

I feel that the freedom and depth of worship that the Pentecostals have is what I need in order to have a closer relationship with the Lord. But I feel the emphasis on the Bible, on winning souls, missionary work and being firmly rooted in the historical body of Christ are all positive, needful things that I’ve found at the nondenominational church I’ve gone to.

But as the spiritual darkness quickly deepens in this country, many Christians are now realizing that rock-along Christianity will not survive the onslaughts it’s being challenged with. So there’s real hope that a vast number of Christians will see that it’s imperative to greatly raise the level of their discipleship if they’re to survive and help their children survive the new Dark Ages we now seem to be in.

But in another sense, “I still haven’t found what I’m looking for”, as someone once said.

Most of my adult life has been spent on the foreign mission field as a full time disciple of the Lord. Much of the time I was working with dedicated brethren who lived and breathed daily the strongest essences of the things of the Lord that they could. Soulful daily devotions of united prayer, singing, Bible study, praise, and worship. And unusual level of honesty and camaraderie, working together daily to find ways to bring the love of God and salvation to the countries we lived in. It was a heady brew and finding a similar Christian atmosphere to that has been difficult.

Turning Points

Posted on July 24, 2015 by Mark McMillion

I guess this is true for everyone. But I know it’s true for a person who’s endeavored to dedicate their life to the Lord. Sometimes you just can’t go on business as usual. You have to keep books with your soul and ask yourself, “Am I still doing what I know and believe is His highest and best?” Not what His best was last year, but is it still His best now?

God is a moving God, in a sense. He’s never static; He’s always going, moving and affecting change in every sphere of His creation. His Spirit is in the process of changing lives, changing hearts, changing situations. He’s never static, except for Himself. “I am the Lord, I change not.” (Malachi 3:6)

But, boy, He likes to get things moving and shake things up. One time God said to Moses, “Why are you crying to me? Command the armies of Israel that they go forward.” (Exodus 14:15) And He’s still saying that today, urging the forces of God to go forward in these times as well. Of course I’m not talking about physical armies of worldly nations. I’m talking about the called and faithful few who will follow the Lord and serve Him in these bedarkened times.

But you can’t go on last year’s battle plans. You can’t rest on your laurels or think you’ve arrived. Solomon said, “There’s no discharge in this war” (Ecclesiastes 8:8). Yes, it is a war we are in, not of carnal weapons and vain, worldly nationalism but for the eternal souls of men to be won to Him. Paul told Timonty that he should “war a good warfare” (I Timothy 1:18).

And when an army ceases to attack, it will be defeated. Because the enemy will launch a counterattack. Or even worse, and what more often happens to Christians, the army’s immobility and it lack of vision, faith and initiation will cause it to have a loss of faith in its own values, and to quit and give up without even loosing. In the cause of Christ, this is far more often the cause of defeat than the soldiers of the cross actually being defeated in battle. This is what I wrote about recently in “The Serpent and The Dragon.”

But sometimes we come to a turning point in our ministry. You can just feel it. It’s something that the people of God have experienced almost invariably throughout history. Just like the way God operated with Moses and God’s people in the wilderness, the cloud and pillar lifted from the camp of the saints and moved forward. God’s presence has moved again and it’s up to us as individuals to break camp and follow where He leads, if we still will.

Of course some don’t. They’ve gone as far as they want to go. They want to just stay where they’ve come to and settle down there, enjoy the fruits of their labors and just take it easy for a while. Or the opposition is too strong, the price to great and they “turn back in the day of battle.” (Psalm 78:9) It certainly seems to be a “reasonable” thing to do and who would blame you? “You deserve it”, like people say nowadays. But certainly the battle is not over; the war is not won.

Someone who has always been an inspiration me in the Bible was Caleb, the brother of Joshua. When it finally came time to conquer the land, Caleb by that time was fully 80 years old. It says of Caleb that he led his tribe and people up into the mountains and hills to take his part of the land God had told them to take back then. At 80 years of age, he led his people into battle.

I don’t know very many people who are 80. I’m not really close to that. So I figure I still have a ways to go for the Lord. I need to find out where He’s leading now and the road up ahead. For me, it’s looking like He’s leading me back to foreign lands, after being here in my home country for nearly 6 years. It would be so easy to just settle down here. I like where I am. I like the weather, I like the nature, it’s kind of nice here.

But for me, that just won’t work. I know I have a call of God in my life. I know that I would be miserable and out of God’s will, out of His protection, out of what my life has been about if I don’t keep following the Lord where He is leading me at this time.

For me, the question hasn’t been, “Why are you going?” It’s been, “Why should you stay?”

Every time I’ve put myself into His hands to follow where He leads, there’s been a blessing to it. Often there’s some sacrifice of some kind, often some uncertainty and sometimes even loneliness. But there have been tremendous blessings involved and I’ve been able to be a part of what the Lord is doing and to see His continual hand working in the lives of those who desire Him.

So I’m right at the cusp of some really major moves and changes. It’s challenging, daunting and almost foreboding in some ways. But like someone said one time, “Put your hand into the hand of God, and He shall be more to thee than a light, and better than a known way.”

Freedom and Following

Posted on July 21, 2015 by Mark McMillion

Sometimes there’s a real balance, or even tension, between freedom and just following orders. Neither one is absolutely the best and only way to do things in God’s work. Some folks work better under some conditions and some under others.

Warsaw Pact forces

Before the fall of Communism I was living in Europe and read a fascinating article on why the West European and US forces of NATO would inevitably win any ground war with Communist East European and Russian Warsaw pact forces in any major battle. The article said it came down to one thing: the Warsaw pact forces were under orders that their moves were to come directly from their headquarters in Moscow. They had no freedom at the tactical level to make decisions within a battle. The NATO forces on the other hand were given authority to make battlefield decisions without needing to wait for clearance from NATO headquarters in some place far off from the battlefield.

This was fascinating for me. I saw an analogy in this of how things can work in Christian’s endeavors to go forward for the Lord. Some Christians, including some missionaries, are pretty much under orders to follow directions from their organization or their mission board which may be thousands of miles away.

The idea of they themselves being responsible to size up the situation and hear from our ultimate Headquarters in Heaven is not a concept that some would feel comfortable with. Missionaries on far off fields can be rendered immobile, like the Warsaw pact forces of old, in that they’re not encouraged to take initiative, hear from heaven themselves and follow our true leadership, Jesus Christ and the instructions of the Holy Spirit.

A few days ago I spoke with a very friendly and engaging Christian who is the head of the missionary department of a large, fruitful church here. I made a short presentation about my work in the past in order to see if this church could in any way help my soon coming departure to my mission field. And I should tell you that the whole time with this man was nothing but warm, friendly and sincere.

There are things about this church that have been eye-openers for. I’ve always been for “David” more than “Goliath”. I feel that God can be limited by large numbers and heavy logistics. But this mega-church in many ways is really rolling and getting things done that I wish at times my friends had been better at in some places.

But when I presented myself to this friendly head of the missionary branch of this church, he was totally encouraging about my missionary efforts. But he said they wouldn’t be able to help. He said they were legal required to give full account of where their funds went, who they went to and how it was all used. Those sent on mission were in close communication and coordination with the church. It did seem that there’s a good deal of supervision of the parameters of the missionaries by the ones who sent them abroad and who support them on the field.

This is all understandable and I don’t mean to fault it. But I did explain to my friend why I’ve felt it best to be a “live by faith” missionary, looking to God to “supply all my needs” (Philippians 4:19) as I “seek first His kingdom” (Matthew 6:33). My experience at times in the past has been that initiative is quenched and even fear is instilled when those on mission are not free to follow God and hear from him fresh every day as to what He would lead them to do. Instead there’s an apprehension against initiative and you come to simply wait for instructions and permission from headquarters which can easily be halfway around the world.

In the history of the Church, at times the most progress has been made with a minimum of organization and supervision. In those circumstance brave pioneers of the faith have forged forward and accomplished amazing feats for the Lord, simply by following the One who’s way out in front and knows what’s going to happen and is able to lead His servants moment by moment to victories in winning the world for Him.

Much of the time in the history of Christianity, His pioneers have gone further under their own steam than they ever would have under the control of some distant administrative board. Instead of a situation where everything is organized and controlled from the top down, some of the most fruitful endeavors in the history of the Church have happened when the only controlling power was God, the only central headquarter, His Spirit.

So I left my meeting slightly sad that my way of operation doesn’t fit with the way this large church supports missionaries. Happily I’ve found friends here who’ve gotten to know me personally and I’m communicating with these ones about helping towards my future plans for Him abroad.

But I feel this insecure liberty of having no organization but His Spirit, no earthly commanders but only His heavenly leadership, no financial support but the faithfulness of His promises and a few good friends, this all can turn out to be His best, for me and for Him. The seeming safety of some agency which regularly supports me can also trim the wings of the Spirit and hinder or detour from the path of following Him first and foremost.

Honestly, it’s a bit of an uncertain stand, if I look at it with the eyes of this world. But in Him it’s steadfast. Thanks for your prayers for me and others like me to get our orders from heaven and our provison from Him and His as well.

Friendly

Posted on July 17, 2015 by Mark McMillion

One of the things I like about living here is that, so often, people are simply friendly. The Bible says, “A man that has friends must show himself friendly, and there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother”. (Proverbs 18:24) Friendliness and friendship are things that are easy to take for granted and not notice much. But for so many people, friendship is really important and often very lacking.

Today I was out at my favorite bench where I often go to get away from things a little. And also to have a little prayer time. Some people walked by that I didn’t know and they smiled and we exchanged a few words. What’s so unusually about that? Well I can tell you that doesn’t happen just everywhere. Some places people don’t greet each other on the street and there’s just a good deal less open friendliness in some parts.

But friendship is actually a big deal. Jesus told His disciples, “I have not called you servants but friends” (John 15:15). The Lord wasn’t some austere, ascetic, hyper-spiritual guru. Evidently Jesus was an exceptionally warm and kind man. And still He was the Son of God. So that whole thing of warmth, friendliness, being approachable, being “without guile” has always seemed to me to really be important.

I’m all for spirituality. “To be carnally minded is death but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” (Romans 8:6) But there’s a temptation there for some to get really “spiritual” and somehow this can turn into a lofty, cold aloofness or spiritual attainment. Inadvertently it can leave behind the simplicity of friendship, spontaneous kindness and inclusiveness.

I heard someone say onetime about how they loved someone but they didn’t like them. And then I heard another man who said, “We not only loved you, we really liked you.” I thought about that. Have you ever had someone who you felt “loved” you but they actually didn’t like you? It’s a funny feeling. It almost seemed like they were fulfilling some kind of religious obligation they felt to love you. But personally they didn’t like you. It’s uncomfortable to be in situations like that and it’s happened to me as a Christian.

Paul in the Bible was not only a towering spiritual presence, it seems like he was a genuinely warm and friendly person. He said to the Thessalonians, “So being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted to you not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because you were dear to us.” (I Thessalonians 2:8) Paul really liked them. It wasn’t just a religious duty that drove him.

For me, friends are important. I just hate to lose friends, for whatever reason. Sadly that kind of thing does happen. Solomon said, “A brother offended is harder to be won that a strong city, and their contentions are like the bars of a castle.” (Proverbs 18:19) Friendship is such a precious thing and I think therefor the devil just loves to throw a monkey wrench into the city of our fellowship and our friendships, sowing misunderstands, contention and just the division that is Satan’s specialty.

But friendship is of God; it’s important and very precious. It even says of Abraham, that he was “the friend of God” (James 2:23). Imagine that, to be God’s friend. That’s actually a good way to look at God. We need to fear, respect and reverence the Lord and treat him like the king He is. But also, for me at least, I often just need to talk to God as my best friend, someone I can be honest with and real.

I think that for many in this world, simple warmth, friendliness and friendship are getting harder and harder to find. Of course you can say that friendships like that can be sometimes shallow and trivial. Well, we need both kinds. We need just simple friendliness like I encountered in the park today. But we need the kind that Solomon spoke of, “the friend that sticks closer than a brother”. (Proverbs 18:24)

Maybe it’s because we live in the endtime. Jesus said of those times, before His return, “Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” (Matthew 24:12) It sure seems like that’s how it is in many places today, the love of many has grown cold. And friendliness also is just less present than in the past.

What to do? Be friendly, “show yourself friendly”, don’t drop or forget your friends who may need you more than you realize and be deeply hurt if you stop communicating with them. I heard someone say one time something so simple, but so true, “What everybody needs is love. If they don’t find it here, where are they going to find it?” And certainly the same can be said for friends and friendliness. It’s in decline. Lord help us to be warm, loving and friendly.

Forgive?

Posted on July 14, 2015 by Mark McMillion

A long time friend from Scandinavia wrote me: “Should we as Christians forgive those who’ve hurt us, even when they don’t care and would do it again? I’m familiar with the Scriptures and the standard answer. But is it supportable if you look deeper into the issue? God does not seem to forgive before there’s been an admission of guilt.“

So I wrote him back: Hi and thanks for your note about forgiveness. It’s a huge and deep subject, like an 800 pound onion you just keep peeling back layers of. Like you said, you know the verses, even in the Lord’s Prayer. “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive… “ (Luke 11:4)

But then also, as you said, there are other verses like where Jesus said, “If your brother trespasses against you, rebuke him and if he repents, forgive him.” (Luke 17:3) It seems from that verse that there’s supposed to be a repentance involved. It’s not meant that we can just sweetly let someone walk all over us while we just keep forgiving them and doing nothing. Like I said, it’s deep. Jesus said, “A strong man armed keeps his goods in peace.” (Luke 11:21)

And just on the human level, all those facets from the Word do come into play. I know that forgiveness in general is the first reaction we should have. Holding grudges and bitterness is very human but it’s not the Godly path.

But what happens if someone wants to take advantage of our conviction to forgive? They have no repentance at all or twinge of conscience and they briskly tell us that we should just forgive them as they continue doing real wrong. Well the Lord did say that “if they repent, forgive them.” It’s like another verse, “Godly sorrow works repentance to salvation, not to be repented of.” (II Corinthians 7:10) If folks are genuinely sorry and ask for forgiveness, then of course we’re bound to forgive them; that’s clear.

But I do understand where you’re coming from. Some folks just have no twinge of conscience at all and then they can even have the gall and nerve to tell us that we should just forgive them. Often this just seems to be a ploy or device they try to use to try to get us to drop our guard so they can whack us again with their painful actions or words. What do we do then?

Well, for one, like I wrote in “The Tar Baby”, some things and even some people seem to be nothing but a kind of human “black hole” which just will suck the entire life out of us if we don’t watch out. At times like this, I feel this is where the verse applies, “Go from the presence of a foolish man when you don’t perceive in him the lips of knowledge.” (Proverbs 14:7) Sometime you just have to withdraw yourself from someone’s company or circle when they’re continually doing things that are wrong and hurtful to you and they have no intention of stopping it, repenting and asking for forgiveness.

And on a deeper level, here’s another reason why it’s still good to forgive and move on. Because if you don’t forgive, those folks will not only have messed up your past and present, they’ll have stolen your future too. If you don’t forgive and move on from that situation, you will quiet possibly keep mulling it over in your mind, rehearsing the injury and hurt you received. Then often the next thing that happens is that you’ll be bitter about it. And that way you have that poison working around in your system which can last for years and ruin your future because of the sins against you committed by someone in the past.

So even just for your own sakes, even if you feel they don’t deserve it and haven’t begun to repent at all, it’s still good to forgive and move on, just for your own sakes. I could add here that I wrote (what was for me) a pretty major and personal article on this subject some while back about how that, if you don’t forgive and you carry that unforgiveness with you into the afterlife, it could be pretty bad. The article was called “Ghosts”. It was kind of scary.

But you may say, “They don’t deserve forgiveness!”

Maybe not. But in the final analysis, God is the judge, not us. “Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord, I will repay” (Romans 12:19). If they deserve judgment, God has ways of seeing that this happens, either here or in the hereafter. “Be sure your sin will find you out.” (Number 32:23)

There’re easily another 20 pages that could be written here but perhaps this is a short synopsis. I’ve sure had some folks who have been mean and cruel to me and just plainly didn’t like me. But if I kept all those things in my heart, then that would crowd out the good things the Lord wants to be there so I can continue to live for Him and to go forward in His service. I just don’t want to let those past experiences define my life and thoughts for years to come; that would be a double dastardly deed and I don’t want to let that happen. I hope this is some help. Thanks for writing. Your friend in Him, Mark

The Serpent and the Dragon

Posted on July 10, 2015 by Mark McMillion

So many Christians nowadays are talking about the Dragon, violent physical attacks of the Devil. But it seems the Serpent, with his lies, fears and confusion, is the one who’s really doing the most for the Evil Kingdom.

The book of Nehemiah shows how that works, perhaps more than any other in the Bible. During the entire time of Nehemiah, the Enemy never actually attacked God’s people openly and physically. It was all in words: lies, fears, distractions, threats and whatever else it took to persuade them to stop the work God had called them to.

But, thankfully, Nehemiah saw through it all and recognized the hand of his spiritual enemy in those things. “I am doing a great work and cannot come down“, he told his enemies. (Nehemiah 6:3) He and the people of God back then remained persistent and focused in the calling they were given and didn’t get persuaded or scared into coming down from the wall of God’s will and calling.

However, so often in history this hasn’t happened. You can find so many people today who are terrified of some foreign attack on these shores; they are electrified with the vision that “Sheriah law” will be established in the United States. Admittedly, I wouldn’t be surprised if at some point there is some outside attack from Islamic extremists or even extreme American nationalist here, however big or small that might be.

But most of the time, the Devil doesn’t need to send the Dragon if the Serpent will do. And the Serpent seems often to be far more effective, so that the Dragon isn’t necessary.

If the Serpent can keep whispering in your ear his lies, his fears, his prejudices, lifting you up in pride, casting you down in hopelessness and fear, filling your mind with confusion and double-mindedness, then the victory is his. You may be a Christian. But you have become a completely defeated Christian, stopped in your tracks along the path of faith and rendered virtually worthless to the cause of Christ.

Of course he doesn’t only do this to Christians. The Deceiver is active across the land, propagating his bedarkened views which mostly are supposed to be “enlightened” and modern. Jesus said, “If the light that be in you be darkness, how great is that darkness.” (Matthew 6:23) That’s why the Devil is called “the prince of this world” (John 12:31). It even says that the Devil showed Jesus “all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time” and then the Devil told Jesus “all this power I will give you, for it is mine.”(Luke 4:6) How often Christians forget this. They think they’re living in “a Christian nation”. It’s sad. But perhaps more are waking up a little as the darkness rapidly deepens.

“Mark, this sounds pretty hopeless. You’re really being Douglas Downer here.”

My experience is that sometimes you have to be shocked enough to see the spiritual reality around you. And while I see some progress here in American Christianity, I see a lot of people who are still focused on their fears of violent, outside attacks on the USA, the work of the Dragon. But all the while the effects of the Serpent on them and the rest of the country progressively weaken millions from within.

Most students of history have seen that the decline and fall of great empires mostly happens from within, not without. And the same can be said of great people or people who had great possibilities. “It was not an enemy that had done this. But it was you, my familiar friend. The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart. His words were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords.” (Psalm 55:21)

So it is with the workings of the Serpent, “the father of lies” (John 8:44). What’s the solution? Pray sincerely and desperately. Baptize yourself with God’s Word. Obey God’s Word first and foremost. Paul said to “put on the whole armor of God” (Ephesians 6:11). But the only offensive weapon he listed was “the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.” (Ephesians 6:17)

When Satan mightily came against Jesus in a prolonged temptation, Jesus didn’t quote Socrates, He didn’t pull out His pistol. He just quoted the Word of God to Satan. And after doing that a few times, “the devil departed from Him and angels came and ministered to Him.” (Matt. 4:11) Even Jesus Christ Himself knew the power of the written Word of God in battling and defeating the Devil.

How many know how to do that today? How many even know that the Serpent has beguiled them and rendered them useless and a reproach to Christ? ISIS didn’t do that. The government didn’t do that. Our foreign enemies didn’t do that. But millions of Christians struggle with the Serpent while they’re fixated on some distant Dragon. May God, and the dear Lord Jesus, have mercy on us all.

“Justifying Yourself” (Racism part 3)

Posted on July 7, 2015 by Mark McMillion

There’s an incredible Bible verse from the book of Job, check this out. Job said, “If I justify myself, my own mouth shall condemn me. If I say I am perfect, it shall also prove me perverse.” (Job 9:20) About 1800 years later Jesus told one man to love his neighbor. Here’s what it says was the man’s response. “But he, willing to justify himself, said to Jesus, ‘Who is my neighbor?’” (Luke 10:29)

It’s just the hellish, inborn sinful nature of man to “justify himself” and struggle mightily to ever be able to admit guilt and confess sins. Adam did it. “It was the woman that You gave me!” Eve did it. “The serpent beguiled me!” King Saul did it. “The people made me do it!”

And it’s probably worse today that it’s ever been. But right now it may be that the Lord is dealing with a lot of people here in America and perhaps around the world with racism, as a result of the mass murder of the 9 African-Americans in South Carolina recently.

If you’re already a Christian, then some of these concepts shouldn’t really be new to you. The Bible says, “He that covers his sins shall not prosper but he that confesses and forsakes them shall have mercy.” (Proverbs 28:13) There may be some right now who know in their hearts they’ve harbored racism and nurtured racism all their lives. They know it’s not of God; but it’s just something some hold on to, for whatever reason.

And here’s what can happen. “But Mark! What about the liberals, Mark! Look at the evil Muslims, Mark!” “I’m actually a really good person! I go to church! I…” This is just the nature of sin and it’s something we all do. We all want to turn the spotlight to someone or something else. We want to say how good we actually are. “Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness.” (Proverbs 20:6) But what does the Bible say? “He that covers his sins shall not prosper but he that confesses and forsakes them shall have mercy.”

But some may say, and I’ll admit I’ve said this, “But I just can’t forsake it. It’s a part of me; it’s who I am and what I am, even if I know it’s wrong!” I even quoted a verse to justify myself, “Can a leopard change his spots?” (Jeremiah 13:23)

I’ve been there and been through that. There was a time in my life when the Lord exposed a deeply-rooted sin and I knew it was true. But I just honesty didn’t know how to get over it. It wasn’t like drinking, drugs or violence. It was a deeper thing and not something I could just stop doing physically or by an act of my will. So the Lord gave me this verse as a promise.

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (I John 1:9)

When the Lord opened my eyes to that verse, it was like a new beginning in my life; it gave me hope when I had none. It was like a contract between me and God. In so many words God said to me through that verse, “If you confess it, I’ll cleanse it.” And that happened. I confessed my sin and the Lord did the work of cleansing me of it. It was a process but I’ve moved on from that very dark period in my life. And I should add that Proverbs 28:13 says, “…he that confesses and forsakes them shall have mercy.” You’ve got to not only confess it, you have to forsake it. You have to hate it and really turn away from it.

And perhaps millions of people today need to do this. They don’t need to justify themselves. They don’t need to tell everyone how wonderful the Confederate flag is. They don’t need to point fingers at all their old enemies on the Left or beyond our shores. Like another Bible verse that many of you know, “Judgment must being at the house of God” (I Peter 4:17). He will start with His own children before He deals with those not His. Jesus told us “to get the beam out” of our own eyes. (Matthew 7:5) And let’s face it, there are a lot of beams in the eyes of many Christians today. Racism and hatred may be near the top of the list for some.

Don’t justify yourself. “The jig is up”, as they say. Confess it, just like you would if it was adultery or some other sin that’s more censured in Christian circles today. Racial hatred has been a blight and a plague on the soul of Christians, especially those from the southern States, for centuries. And I know what I’m talking about because my family lived in Alabama and Mississippi before they migrated to Texas in the 1870’s.

How can God bless hatred of our fellow man? “Ye were sometimes darkness but now are you light in the Lord; walk as children of light.” (Ephesians 5:8) The deliverance is there. But if you go with the prevailing tide of self righteously justifying yourself which is still so common, you’ll never get the deliverance you desperately need. “He that covers his sin shall not prosper.” (Proverbs 28:13) “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (I John 1:9)

We’ve all got something like this. I’ve sure had to do this many times. “The times of this ignorance God winked at but now commands all men everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30) Get right with Him (and with others) today. You’ll be glad you did.

Mark McMillion

Creeds and Deeds, Facts and Acts

Monthly Archives: July 2015