Fear them not

Posted on August 15, 2014 by Mark McMillion

Most Christians shun pornography. They know they aren’t supposed to be alcoholics, or steal or kill. But how many Christians are violating a direct commandment of Jesus Christ every day and reveling in it? In Matthew 10:28, Jesus commanded “And fear not them that kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul, but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”

I’m going to be a little blunt and frank. It seems to me there are millions of Christians who are just in love with fear and are obsessed with it. But is that God’s will? For me, I would emphatically say no. I John 4:18 says, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casteth out fear. Because fear has torment. He that fears is not made perfect in love.”

The Bible almost strangely says, “I wisdom dwell with prudence” (Proverbs 8:12) or in another place “Righteousness and peace have kissed each other” (Psalm 85:10). In the same way, fear has companions too. One of fear’s biggest companions is hatred. And sadly you hear a lot of Christians talking about, not only their fears, but their hatreds.

I should be even more plain here. Often the fear and hatred that Christians are encouraged to embrace has to do with Islam and people from the Middle East. A day doesn’t go by that I don’t see some panicked publication with the latest shrieking dread concerning how much we should be afraid of and hate Islamic people. And it seems that basically no one stands up to these things or calls them out. There’s a real thriving market for fear and hatred. And of course confusion and ignorance jump onto the wagon too.

“But Mark, they hate us! Think about 9/11! Think of the atrocities!”

What would I say to you?

“Think about Jesus Christ. Think about the Word of God. Establish your opinions and reactions on the eternal Word of God.”

It’s an outright sin, and a major one, to instigate fear, panic, and the obsessive observance of the most negative elements of anything or anyone. But how many Christians daily tune in to some news outlet or web site that is serving up a big dish of fear, hatred and prejudice, along with a supersized helping of ignorance, sprinkled with confusion? Millions are gulping this down and going right back to the serving line for more. “They love to have it so.” (Jeremiah 5:31)

But the Bible says, “Neither fear ye their fear: sanctify the Lord in your hear and let Him be your tread and let Him be your fear.” (Isiah 8:12b & 13)

“But Mark! What should be our reaction to these things? The dangers are real, Mark!”

If you are a Christian, haven’t you heard of the people of God for the last centuries who loved their enemies, whether those enemies were Godless, Christ-less communists or religious persecution that took place in Europe in past centuries? Have you heard of the ones who won their hellish enemies with the love of God?

Some Christians today are very seriously planning to take up arms against …whoever. I’ve repeatedly been in Sunday school groups where the conversation turned almost totally towards guns and preparations for armed conflict here in the States. And these are Bible believing, consecrated people.

How strongly can I say that I feel and know that this is not the way to go? You’re afraid of Islam and Muslims? How much do you really know about them, really? Not the propaganda, name calling and hyperventilating that you get daily from news channels or web sites.

If you are a Christian, you are actually commissioned by Jesus Christ to witness and win the world for Him. And yes, that includes Muslims. Could you share your faith with them, where they also really felt and knew that you loved them and had something to share with them that could change their lives, as it changed yours? Is your TV network or favorite web site instilling hatred, fear and even terror itself into your heart on this subject? Or is it teaching you how to love and win the World for Jesus through love and the power of His Word and His truth, including how to love, understand and win Muslims to the Lord?

If you’re in love with fear and stoking the fires of hatred in yourself and others, then I suggest you really take time to check out the condition of your heart. Is your hatred and fear “the fruit of the Holy Spirit”? (See Galatians 5:22 & 23). Is your “wisdom from above”? (See James 3:14-18). Our job as Christians is not to incite, promote and guzzle down fear and hatred of anyone. Our job is to love the lost and win the world to Him through His power and His truth. And we can. Because He can.

Get off the fear and hate train. It’s going to hell.

The Course of This World

Posted on August 11, 2014 by Mark McMillion

The other night just a phrase from the Bible was really speaking to me, where it talks about “the course of this world” (Ephesians 2:2). Sometimes God’s Word is like a flash of lightning, illuminating the darkness of the night.

Paul wrote to the Ephesians, “In times past you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience.” (Ephesians 2:2)

Paul was telling the Ephesians that, in their past, they walked according to the ways of this world and the ways of Satan. But he was reiterating something Jesus Himself repeatedly spoke of when He was on the earth: the subject of “the world” and our relation to it. And for most Christians, our relationship to the world is not always something we’re clear about.

But the best and first way to find answers is in the Word of God, especially in the Words of Jesus. Jesus told His own brothers in John 7, “The world cannot hate you, but Me it hates, because I testify of it that the works of it are evil.” (John 7:7) And He even said to His disciples, “If you were of the world, the world would love his own. But because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” (John 15:19)

This all resonates with me because it was those clear distinctions, light in the darkness, absolutes and moral choices, that made the difference between life and death that first brought me to faith in God and later in Jesus.

We’re called out of the course of this world; we’re not supposed to be a part of that. That’s what happened to me and I’m so thankful for it because I never would have gone along with some kind of namby-pamby, milk-and-water Christianity; I’d seen plenty of that when I was growing up and it just wasn’t inspiring. It was weak and easy to defeat. I was an atheist and I could defeat those kinds of Christians all the time.

But the Christianity I finally found was completely different, a stronger spirit that fulfilled my heart’s desires and my needs. Real Christianity gave me the power to blast off from the gravity and evil of this world, to really break free and break out of the ways of man that are so accepted and exalted in the godless, secular society we all live in, the ways of the devil, the ways of tradition, the ways of defeat, the ways of the system worldly way of looking at things and to break into the beauty, freedom and liberty of God’s Spirit.

But so many Christians are still following the course of this world because they’re taught milk-and-water, compromised, worldly, ungodly Christianity. Their discipleship is weak; their knowledge is weak; their witness is weak and they’re not prepared for the future to come. Jesus said, “The world cannot hate you but me it hates, because I testify of it that the works thereof are evil”. That’s not taught in church. They sort of, kind of, get a little close to that. Maybe they dip their toe in that but not much more.

Christianity is supposed to make a difference, being a “new creature”, being a disciple. Jesus didn’t tell Peter, “Meet me next Sunday for a little sermon.” He said, “Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19). And He did. He called Matthew out of his tax job; He called them out of the course of this world.

That’s what Christian discipleship is; it’s a break with the traditions, the ceremonies and the whole paraphernalia that goes on with the course of this world. The course of this world is not what we are supposed to be a part of. We are supposed to be “transformed” (Romans 12:2), we are supposed to be “delivered from the power of darkness and translated into the kingdom of God”. (Colossians 1:13) It even says of Moses, “By faith he forsook Egypt [the worldly system of his day], for he endured as seeing Him who was invisible.” (Hebrews 11:27)

If anyone in the Bible epitomized discipleship, it was Paul the apostle. Even though he wasn’t with Jesus when He was alive on earth, he seemed to understand it all better than the rest. He was the embodiment of discipleship, went further, did more and seemingly was more of a real sample than even the ones who followed Jesus in His lifetime. It seems from the book of Acts that those ones had a difficult time breaking out of their nationalism, traditions and teachings that they grew up with.

But Paul, he just let it go; he just did it. Once he was knocked off his horse and saw “The Light”, he really stayed true to “the heavenly vision” (Acts 26:19) and followed the Lord, rather than the ways of the world. And so many missionaries in the centuries to come modeled their discipleship, service and lives after the Apostle Paul . “You are not of the world but I have called you out of this world, therefore the world hates you.” That sure was true of Paul.

So if you’re still walking the course of this world, if you have one foot with God and one foot with the course of this world, then you’re “double minded” (James 1:8), you’re a “half baked cake.” (Hosea 7:8)

I am thankful the Lord delivered me out of that, out of the course of this world and into Christian discipleship, a wonderful, wonderful new life of spiritual reality, love and faith, completeness and “a sound mind” (II Timothy 1:7), all the things that God can give.

But if you try to straddle the fence and stay somewhere in between, you may find yourself in some kind of compromiser’s limbo. That’s what most people think they’re supposed to do. They are still people of this world, people of these times, people of the culture and society they live in and then they still say they’re Christians. And when things get really rough, then they find out that this world crumbles and only the things of the Lord remain. So the goal is to not be part of the course of this world but to be a part of the eternal world and the world to come.

That’s what the Lord wants us to have, that’s discipleship, not just Sunday believers, still following the course of this world, still identifying with the beliefs, culture and motivations of this world. But to be delivered, to be disciples, to be prepared for the world to come: that’s real Christianity, not just “Church-ianity” but Christianity.

Acts 15 Live Class Audio

Posted on August 6, 2014 by Mark McMillion

After two chapters of real “action” in Acts, our chapter 15 study showed us another aspect of the Early Church, but such an important one. (You can listen to our live class on Acts 15 here.)

Acts 15 seemed a little bit to be a repeat of what happened back in Acts 11. If you read that chapter and read or listened to our live class on Acts 11, you’ll remember that the Apostle Peter basically kind of got in trouble with the brethren back in Jerusalem after he had obeyed the leading of the Holy Spirit in chapter 10 to go and witness to the large group of Roman gentiles who’d been gathered together to hear him.

From Acts 10 and 11

As Peter spoke to the friends and family of Cornelius the centurion, “the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word” (Acts 10:44) and they had a similar experience to what the first Christians had on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2. But this didn’t go over well with the brethren back in Jerusalem who at that time were still more than a little conflicted about their own identity and how much they were still required to keep their Jewish traditions and customs.

I hate to say it. And some might censor me for it. But it almost seems like Peter’s following of the Holy Spirit in Acts 10 led to a case of “Old Bottle-ism” with the brethren in Jerusalem, somewhat like what I wrote about in the blog post “New Wine and Old Bottles”. God at times can be a radical God. Following Him can “break your bottle” and shake your foundations, if they are rooted in traditions of man, rather that really being founded on the Rock.

This seemed to have all gotten worked out in Acts 11. But in Acts 15 it all comes up again. This time, instead of the question being, “Do the Jewish followers of Jesus have to stay away from the Gentiles?”, the question is, “If they are to be saved and be Christians, do the Gentiles who come to Jesus have to convert to Judaism? ”

Here’s where you could think, “Who cares?! This is all just ancient history stuff and theological arguments!”

Ah, but some of you, perhaps many, know how much this whole question is still right on the front burner of millions of Christians’ hearts and minds, 2000 YEARS LATER! That’s why, in our live class, we had a major discussion about the significance of this chapter and what was disputed and discussed within the Early Church. Because, to this day, these things are disputed and millions of fundamentalist evangelical Christians are taught that their diligent observance of Jewish laws and customs will be pleasing to God.

Is it all really by grace? Don’t we have to keep the laws of Moses also? This is not ancient history; this is an acrimonious discussion that goes on daily among Christians in our times. But the answer is still the same as it was in Acts 15. Here to me are the two most important verses in Acts 15, where again the Apostle Peter is having the last word and laying down for the Early Church the facts and reality of what they had learned in Christ, regardless of how well it was received by their Jewish countrymen.

In Acts 15, verses 10 and 11 Peter said,

“Now therefore, why do you tempt God to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples which neither we nor our fathers were able to bear. But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved, even as they.”

Can it be clearer than that? Do we need to find a more trustworthy source than the Apostle Peter? This should be the end of it. Here in Acts, it was the end of it, at least for a few chapters. But it’s back; and it goes on still to this day.

Well, I could share the whole chapter here in this post but maybe that’s not necessary. The live class on Acts 15 can be heard here. You can listen to it there or download it so you can listen to it later or share it with others. Acts 15 is one of my favorite chapters in Acts. I love it when you can see brethren “earnestly contending for the faith” (Jude 3) and hearts united in really trying to “search the Scriptures” (John 5:39) and find the truth in them. I hope you enjoy the class and that you’ll find in it the things we did when we studied this chapter. God bless you.

Chastening and Judgment

Posted on July 20, 2014 by Mark McMillion

Chastening and judgment? Who wants to read about that?! Most of us would rather go eat a cookie. But… but that’s where quite a lot of things suddenly come into play. It turns out that, in life, most of us find that we end up more enhanced and matured through the experiences we learn, often from chastening and judgments, than we do from the fleeting pleasures of eating cookies.

This morning I was sitting on that park bench again. And I was thinking about a slightly complex couple of Bible verses that say, “For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.” (I Corinthians 11:31 & 32)

What does it mean, “If we would judge ourselves…”? The idea is, I think, that if we listened to the voice of our conscience (and for those of us who are Christians, the voice of God through the Holy Spirit), quite often those still, small voices will lead and guide us to make the right decisions. Now, we may not always like the way they are leading and it’s often a real battle inside of us to obey what we know is right.

But, like the verse says, “If we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.” We can escape quite a lot of suffering in this world if we take heed to those voices of our conscience, voices of the Holy Spirit and Bible verses that come to mind which tell us something we should or shouldn’t do. This isn’t rocket science; basically everybody knows this, even if they don’t always like it or sometimes make light of it.

OK, sometimes you don’t listen to those voices and you seem to get away with it, don’t you? Ha! But then, like Moses of old said, “Be sure your sin will find you out.” (Numbers 32:23) Some people don’t like Moses and the word “sin” so they opt to “karma”. I read somewhere the other day,

“Karma is only a bitch if you are.”

And that verse I was thinking about this morning also gave the alternative to the times when we properly “judge ourselves”. When we don’t, sooner or later, through one means or the other, it says “but when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.” (I Corinthians 11:32)

Oh, how some people hate this concept! They love to make God out as some giant cruel monster Who’s always ready to crush us poor little righteous people. I wrote about folks how believe that recently in “God is a Monster!” he said. But we often don’t even obey our consciences, what we already know in our heart is right, much less any admonition from the Holy Spirit which tries to punch through and provide direction in our lives.

So through one means or the other, sooner or later there’s some form of suffering for our “sins”. Here are another set of very famous verses on the subject from Hebrews 12:5-11

“And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaks unto you as unto children, ‘My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord, or faint when you art rebuked by Him. For whom the Lord loves, He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.’ If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father doesn’t chasten? But if you be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are you bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they truly for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but He for our profit, that we might be partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening for the present seems to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to them which are exercised thereby.”

Some folks just utterly hate this passage and the concepts within it. But the reality is that for almost every person in their life, even if they hate the whole idea of what’s being talked about here, usually sooner or later they have to admit, if only to themselves and under their breath, that they did do something wrong or stupid or even evil and that they suffered because of it. And for some, they very reluctantly learned a major lesson of life through the “chastening” of their experiences. Or if you don’t like “chastening”, try “karma”

But how much better it is if we could just be like that verse says that we talked about and the many verses in the Bible which teach us to look at things so differently from the way the world does? That’s what that verse in Hebrews 12 is saying, “No chastening for the present seems to be joyous but grievous.”

Who likes chastening? Nobody! But the rest of the verse shows us how we can more wisely look at the thing, “Nevertheless afterwards it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.”

Chastening isn’t the same as being beat up and injured in some abusive circumstances. But in whatever way some form of chastening comes, the wise in heart will ask the Lord, “What can I learn from this?” “Did this happen for some reason?”

There’s so much more to all this and I don’t like to make these long. There’s the whole thing about “justifying ourselves”. (Job 9:20, Luke 10:29) That’s usually our first reaction, even to strike back at the circumstances or the one who’s being used to correct us or even chasten us. But for some wise souls, like King David when he was being exposed by the prophet Nathan, (II Samuel 12) they seem to have the honesty and humility to admit their sins and to not justify themselves. For some of us, we sometimes eventually do that. But first we have to justify ourselves for a while, Lord help us.

What’s the conclusion? “If we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.” It’s like the verse in Proverbs, “A prudent man foresees the evil and hides himself, but the simple pass on and are punished.” (Proverbs 22:3) Sometimes that “evil” a prudent man foresees is some impulse in his heart to do what he knows is wrong. But he sees it, recognizes it and turns from it. On the other hand, “the simple” (meaning in this case the unwise and hardened of heart) “pass on and are punished.” Because they didn’t listen to the voice of their conscience and the voice of the Lord. Or their friends.

Like it even says in Psalm 23, “Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me”. (Psalm 23:4) It happens to all of us. We all experience this. But if you learn from it, you can grow through the mistakes you make and you can learn to have a wiser, chastened heart which can be led by Him into “green pastures” and the “still waters” of life.(Psalm 23:2) God bless you!

“Happy Is That People”

Posted on July 16, 2014 by Mark McMillion

Jesus said, “Your joy no man takes from you.” (John 16:22) But we sure don’t feel that way all the time, do we? Happiness and joy can often seem pretty elusive. Is it confession time here? Maybe. I often have to pray against sadness. It just seems to spring up in me like some besetting sin, some old weed that keeps coming back. But I have learned by years of experiences that I can’t give place to it in the same way that the verse says, “Neither give place to the Devil.” (Ephesians 4:27)

Many would say, “But Mark, it’s not a sin to be sad! Sadness is just part of life, we’re all sad sometimes.”

little foxes Maybe so. The problem is, for someone who is trying to maintain a relationship with the Lord and to sort of keep himself in proper spiritual shape, these little things cannot be allowed to come into my mind and consciousness. There’s an obscure verse that says, “The little foxes spoil the vines”. (Song of Solomon 2:15) And the funny thing is that actually and truly, we’ve had a family of foxes in our neighborhood off and on for the last weeks. Yesterday there were three “teenager” foxes in our backyard and I told my mom about that verse, “the little foxes spoil the vines” but she didn’t understand it.

So I told her it was applied as meaning those “little sins”, things that may not seem like such a big deal. Like tolerating a little sadness to come, sit down beside you in your heart and strike up a conversation. It doesn’t seem so bad at first. There seem to be a few things to be sad about. This happened and that happened and this didn’t work out and someone said something I didn’t like.

But maybe it’s from years of experience, I’ve just come to know that this kind of thing has to be recognized and resisted just as much as if someone offered me drugs. The little foxes spoil the vines. And the rest of the verse says, “For our vines have tender grapes”. (Song of Solomon 2:15) The vines of our lives in this sense are tender. Our relationship with the Lord in some ways is tender, if it is fine tuned and is the way He wants it. And that can make it so that we can have a close relationship with Him. We can hear His voice, we are in line for His blessings, we are seeking to do His will, we are looking to experience Him each day, loving Him, loving others and pretty much abandoned to the freedom and joy of our life in Him.

But maybe it’s like the picture of the Holy Spirit being like a dove; it can be easily shooed away. And one way that can happen is by allowing ourselves to bend to moods and emotions that are not the ones He wants us to have.

There are just oodles of places in the Bible that admonish us about the benefits of cultivating a happy spirit along with warnings against falling prey to sadness and depression. “A merry heart does good like a medicine…” (Proverbs 17:22) “The joy of the Lord is your strength.”(Nehemiah 8:10b) “If you know these things, happy are you if you do them.” (John 13:17)

So the same way a person with a problem with alcohol or cigarettes can’t allow themselves to have even one smoke, some of us need to treat sadness with the same intolerance. It’s like the verse, “When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will raise up a standard against him.” (Isiah 59:19b) That’s the kind of militant spirit and attitude we need to have if we want to “abide under the shadow of the Almighty” (Psalm 91:1), or as Jesus said, to “abide in the Vine”. (John 15:4)

We just have to fight it. We have to pray, we have to quote Scriptures, claiming the promises of God that He will give us joy and peace and happiness. We have to recognize that it’s not some little innocent thing that we deserve and isn’t so bad. We don’t deserve it because we are forgiven and are aiming to walk in the light. And it is bad because it’s one of those little things that seem so innocent. But the next thing you know, you are totally and utterly defeated, bummed out, ready to give up as you are flooded with more and bigger negative thoughts about yourself, others, God or whatever.

“Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life“. (I Timothy 6:10) “Let us lay aside every weight, and the sins that so easily beset us.” (Hebrews 12:2) “I will set no wicked thing before my eyes (like “innocent” sadness), I hate the work of them that turn aside (people or spirits who would cause you to come down from the wall of His will and joy) it shall not cleave unto me.” (Psalm 101:3) Wow. What a statement. It’s a picture of these things almost being like some kind of evil, sticky chewing gum that wants to “cleave unto me”, wants to stick to you. Don’t let it happen. Claim His happiness and joy and walk and live in it today and every day. “Happy is that people that is in such a case, yea happy is that people, whose God is the Lord.” (Psalms 144:15)

Three Fingers

Posted on July 9, 2014 by Mark McMillion

I was in Hyderabad, India, back around 1988, teaching a home schooling class of grade school kids whose parents were doing mission and social service work in the state of Andra Pradesh. Well, like someone said onetime, “Kids say the darndest things.”

One of the boys in my class was probably around the age of 7 or 8. And I’d noticed that he had a habit of making a particular gesture with his hand when he talked. He would spread out his five fingers towards you when he got excited or animated in talking about something. It didn’t look bad, just a little different and slightly strange.

So I asked him why he pointed out his five fingers like that. His answer has strongly stuck with me since then. He said,

“Well, my mommy says that when you point a finger at someone else, you have three fingers pointing back at you!”

Boy, did I laugh at that one. He’d been pointing his 5 fingers out since he didn’t want any of them pointing back at him! Ha! Probably someone else has said that before but I’d never heard it til then.

And to this day, even when I have the live classes I’ve been having here over the last months, that phrase often comes to my mind when I’m teaching something or even exhorting or admonishing someone about something. What that little boy said to me years ago comes back: there are three fingers pointing back at me.

And of course the whole idea is very Scriptural and very Biblical. Paul said, “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of meekness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.” (Galatians 6:1) That “considering yourself” part is another way of saying that we should remember that we have 3 fingers pointing at ourselves when we’re making efforts to restore others to the correct path.

So the idea isn’t that we should never admonish or caution someone who needs it. Actually, we’re our brother’s keeper and we are responsible to speak up when something needs to be said. So many people don’t even do that. But when we speak up, it should be in that “spirit of meekness”, remembering that whatever lessons or point you feel needs to be made is one that is just as much true for you as it is for the person you’re sharing it with.

The book of Hebrews says, “But exhort one another daily… lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.” (Hebrews 3:13) Let’s face it, many people are hardened through the deceitfulness of sin, right? So it is what the Lord wants us to do, to “reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all long suffering and doctrine.” (II Timothy 4:2)

But for the most part, the only way that’s going to be effective is if you keep those three fingers pointing back at you as a part of your mindset and even witness when you’re sharing something that needs to be said with others. People are defensive. They don’t like to be criticized, much less lectured by someone with a self righteous “I am holier than thou” attitude. (Isaiah 65:5)

It’s been a real challenge for me in my life to try to find ways to say things to people when I feel pretty sure that the Lord wants me to say something but I’m not sure I can say it in such a way that it will be effective and bear good fruit. The idea is to help people “see the lightning without feeling the bolt”.

A verse that’s always been a goal for me is where it says, “The Lord God has given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary. He wakens morning by morning; He wakens my ear to hear as the learned.” (Isiah 50:4) That’s what I’ve often really wanted to have, “the tongue of the learned” so that I can say something to someone who needs to hear something. But they’ll probably not receive what I say unless I’m really, really wise in how I say it.

But often it seems a major ingredient in any of this is “a meek and quiet spirit”, (I Peter 3:4) one that is not self righteous and judgmental but acknowledges that those three fingers are right there, pointing at me when I’m sharing something with someone else.

Lose salvation? (Salvation part 3)

Posted on May 20, 2014 by Mark McMillion

Do I really want to write an article about this? Wouldn’t be safer to stick with simpler, less controversial subjects like the second coming of Jesus, abortion rights and if there’s apartheid in the Middle East? Nah, lest go for the big one here; let’s talk about losing your salvation.

First, a story to illustrate a point. The 30th President of the United States was Calvin Coolidge, affectionately know as “Silent Cal” because he so often said so little. Coming out of church one Sunday the President was surrounded by reporters, looking for a story. “Mr. President, what did the preacher preach about?!” they asked. “Sin”, replied the President in his typical fashion. Not satisfied, the reporters pressed Coolidge, “Well, what did he say about it?” “He was against it,” replied the President.

How do I feel about losing your salvation? I’m against it. In fact, (gulp), I’ll even say that I don’t think you can lose your salvation. And with that, I’m certain that there will be those who let the dogs out at that statement. Because this subject really fires people up.

I feel that if you are saved, you can’t lose your salvation. I’ve never found an example in the Bible where it clearly states that someone has lost his salvation. Let’s take a few examples. King Saul at one point was really a man of God and even got prophecies from Him. When he was “little in his own sight” (I Samuel 15:17), God highly exalted him. But he ended up becoming one of the biggest failures in the Bible. “The spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him.” (I Samuel 16:14)

But did Saul go to hell? The night before Saul’s death on the battle field, he was so distraught that he turned to what must have been a witch or sorcerer in order to try to get back in contact with his old friend and mentor, Samuel. And the Bible says this even happened. But the news wasn’t good. Samuel told Saul, communicating to him from the spiritual world, “tomorrow shall you and your sons be with me”. (I Samuel 28:19) We certainly don’t think that Samuel was in hell. So if Saul was going to be with him the next day, then he would be with him in heaven, not hell. Con-tro-verse-ial!

But there’s more. This is not for delicate ears but we can look in the New Testament and I Corinthians 5. Paul needed to try to deal with a rather detestable subject that had come up with the Corinthians, “that a man should have his father’s wife” (I Corinthians 5:1). Evidently that had happened in the church there. Did Paul say the man had lost his salvation? No. He said they should “deliver such a one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” (I Corinthians 5:5) Again the call is salvation, even for such a sin as that.

Several verses in the book of John or in I John also point this direction of “once saved, always saved”. John 3:36 says, “He that believes on the Son has everlasting life…” It doesn’t say they will have, they may have, they someday might have, it says they have, present tense. If you have eternal life, you can’t lose it, otherwise it wouldn’t be eternal. And in I John 5:13, it says, “These things have I written to you that believe on the name of the son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may believe on the name of the Son of God.”

Not hope, not think, not wonder about. Know. That’s a strong word, much stronger than “believe” is in English nowadays. When you know something, it’s finished, it’s done, it’s certain. And that brings to mind two blog posts I’ve written which might be similar to this, one about “Certainty” and the other which is in many ways about Salvation, “The Seed and The Egg”.

Yes, I know there are a number of verses some people hold on to in their belief that someone can lose there salvation. I just feel there are far more verses that say you can’t lose it, if you have it. You may end up in heaven without much of any reward, you may have squandered your life and the grace of God that was shown you on earth in this life. You may have quite a lot of tears that will need to be wiped away in heaven, you may even be in “everlasting shame and contempt” (Daniel 12:2) on the other side for all that you could have done and said here on earth that you never did. But I don’t believe someone will lose their salvation. They’ll be there in heaven, but like the old farmers in the South used to say, “with a long row to hoe.”

“But Mark…!” (Salvation part 2)

Posted on May 17, 2014 by Mark McMillion

But, Mark! Salvation couldn’t be that easy! Mark, there are millions of people who go to church and aren’t saved! The churches make it so easy for them and tell them they are saved so they just stop any desire for progress in their lives! They live their lives in sin and think it doesn’t matter because of what the churches teach, “once saved, always saved!”

Whew! What do you say to folks who say this? Are they totally wrong on all counts? You know they aren’t. But the solution isn’t to teach that we have to keep struggling throughout our lives to somehow, at the end, to have earned and won salvation. That just isn’t the teaching of the New Testament.

It does go against some element in our nature that salvation could just be a free gift. It just seems like a part of the natural world that we should have to do something to earn God’s grace. But a study of God’s Word in the New Testament shows that this is actually how it is. “It is a gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8 & 9). This is a recurrent theme of the writings of the Apostle Paul in the New Testament.

“But Mark! If it’s free, then they won’t appreciate it. There will be no incentive to do good! What about all the admonitions to live a righteous life? What about the Ten Commandments? So many Christians are just spiritually fat and lazy because of what you are teaching!“

Here’s a big factor in this. While salvation and eternal life are free gifts through the sacrifice of Jesus, our rewards and recompense in that eternal life to come are highly contingent on what we do with the salvation He’s given us. You talk about all those weak, lazy, often stunted Christians you may see in church? I have friends who have told me that they think only 3% of the people that we go to church with are saved. And I go to a pretty strongly Bible-believing church.

I personally think that percentage of saved folks at that church is a lot higher than that. But what are those folks doing with their lives? Are they “laying up treasures in heaven”? (Matthew 6:19) Or just accumulating things in this world? Are they really growing in the Lord? Are they really feeding His sheep? Are they withholding or scattering abroad? “He that withholds, it tends to poverty, but he that scatters abroad it increases.” (Proverbs 11:24) How much time do they spend watching worldly, sickening, foolish, Satanic TV every single day? How much time do they spend witnessing and winning souls, or sharing Bible classes with those who need it? How much are they really supporting missionaries abroad who are winning souls?

Let’s face it, millions of Christians are “living in sin” every day! They think that “living in sin” refers to something sexual. So they may have real pure sexual lives and still be “wasting their substance in riotous living” (luke 15:13) by following “the course of this world” (Ephesians 2:2) and not really a path of discipleship in the Lord.

These are all things that will be part of their reward, or lack thereof in the hereafter. I’ll tell you of a somewhat unknown but extremely significant verse, slightly controversial. In Daniel 12:2, it talks about the resurrection of the saints at the coming of the Lord. Here’s what it says, “…some raised to everlasting life, and some raised to shame, and everlasting contempt.”

I believe some folks are going to be saved and go to heaven. But like it says about “He shall wipe away all tears from their eyes” (Revelatoin 21:4), some are going to have a lot of tears to wipe away when they see all they could have done in this world, but didn’t do, all the love they could have shown, all the witnessing they could have done to share their faith with others. But they didn’t. All the time they spent in frivolous worldly affairs to the neglect of God and His will and His sheep. Some are going to be in heaven but not much more than that. Very little if any reward.

So I personally believe that God “who will have all men to be saved and to come unto the acknowledging of the truth” (I Timothy 2:4) is going to see and recognize faith in His son in many people. “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13) . But sadly, for very many people, very many, they are like folks who never grow in their lives beyond the mental age of perhaps 5 years old. They never grow up spiritual beyond early childhood. They remain children and sometimes little children in their spiritual lives for their entire Christian life. Because they were saved but that’s about as far as they went. This of course is heartbreaking. Some seem to almost never know there is anything else. Their churches and pastors don’t challenge them to discipleship but are content to just let their members drift along in the lowlands of spirituality.

There’s just a vast work to be done to mentor, disciple, teach and admonish the immense numbers of people who say they are Christians, believe they are Christians but so often don’t really know for sure as they just don’t know the Word. Many just are content to stay where they are. Some of these would make progress if they were shown how.

What about salvation?

Posted on May 14, 2014 by Mark McMillion

You can hardly think about or talk about a bigger subject than salvation. If there is anything at the heart of the New Testament, it would be the subject of salvation. And yet it is another of the almost endless things that believers disagree on. And I’ve found, since being back here in the States for the last 4 years or so, that it’s a very divisive issue among Christians here.

When the Jesus Movement folks witnessed to me back in the ‘70’s, they could tell I already believed in God because I hitchhiked across Texas to find them and I had a Bible with me. I believed in God, but I didn’t know who Jesus was. So they simply asked me, “Are you going to heaven?” I said, “Well, if my good is more than my bad, I will. But if my bad is more than my good, I won’t.”

I was really surprised when they didn’t agree and promptly started sharing the plan of salvation with me, something I’d never heard of before. They showed me Ephesians 2:8 & 9. “For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast.” They said that salvation was a gift of God, not something that you could work for.

And of course they showed me the most important verse in the Bible, that sums up the whole thing, John 3:16. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.” And there were other verses, these folks really knew the Word.

They showed me “all have sinned” (Romans 3:23), and “the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ” (Romans 6:23). One verse that really impacted me was John 1:12. “As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.”

So they told me that I needed to receive Jesus and they showed me Revelation 3:20, another classic clincher, “Behold I stand at the door and knock. If any man hears My voice and opens the door, I will come into him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.” They strongly told me that Jesus was knocking at the door of my heart and wanted to come in, that I needed to receive Him. I did and it totally changed my life.

Does everyone have to have the exact same experience as me? Of course not. Many people are brought up in a Christian home and sometimes never remember a time when they didn’t believe in the Lord. But it’s one heck of a big subject as to whether or not some people are saved and if they are saved, if they can then loose their salvation. Some feel that there are millions of people who go to church and go through the motions but that they are not really saved. I’m sure that there are people who go to church who don’t really know what it’s about. I’ve met some who told me that this had happened to them. They said that, after 10 years or more of going to church, they actually got down to business with God and that’s when they got saved.

I think a lot of people just don’t really know what it’s all about and they really waver about their salvation. Some large denominations have become so wishy-washy about their teachings that they hardly even teach or preach salvation anymore. So one thing that all of us who know the Lord and know the Word can do for folks like that is to just go through the plan of salvation with them.

It’s not an emotion, it’s not a ceremony. It’s belief. A great verse about salvation is Romans 10:9 & 10. It’s a little complicated but it says it well. “If you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved. For with the heart man believes to righteousness. And with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

Do they believe that God raised Jesus from the dead? Do they say that? Then according to that verse they are saved. Paul said to his jailors, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved, and your house.” (Acts 16:31) So often with these things, the Bible time and time again boils it down to faith, belief. That’s the essence, the essential of Salvation. But many people don’t have the assurance of salvation because no one has ever really gotten down to business with them and showed them His plan from the Word. I think many people are saved through faith in Him. But they just don’t know it or are certain of it through the Word.

Whew, big subject. I think I may have to write some more on this. But this is a start.

Direct Revelations

Posted on May 10, 2014 by Mark McMillion

If you never hear a voice, if you never see a vision, if you never dream a dream, if you’ll just obey God’s Word, you can have a wonderful life in Him. On the other hand, God often wants to enrich our lives and provide more power from His Spirit to us by using these other means.

I’m thankful that in my life there’ve been a number of manifestations from Him by His Spirit that have completely been supernatural and unexplainable except through an acknowledgment that God is still a God of miracles. I’ve written several blog posts about some of the “little miracles” that have happened in my life, such as “Lights on the Side of the Road”, “the Radio Miracle” and something that happened 18 months ago here in Austin called “God’s Little Miracles”. It’s so inspiring when these things happen and I’m glad I now have this avenue to share these experiences with others.

God is a supernatural God. He’s not a theorem, an equation or “Mother Earth”. He’s not something that theologians are supposed to dissect in post graduate work. He’s the divine Creator and Guiding Power of the Universe. When I was little, the way it was explained to me is that God is way up there and we are down here. So be good, do good and things will be ok. Don’t bother Him and He won’t bother you. Boy, that sure didn’t help or hold up when things got really tough in my life.

But even in many evangelical churches today, it’s not like they really teach that you can get answers from God or that you can even expect miracles. Here’s a verse that I’ve held on to and claimed in prayer many times, John 14:21. Jesus said, “He who has my commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself unto him.” I’ve called out to the Lord many times in prayer to manifest Himself to me. King David of old even prayed to God one time, “Show us a token for good.” (Psalm 86:17) Some might think that’s like “seeking after a sign” (Matthew 12:39), which Jesus chiding the Pharisees for. But the truth is that God loves to manifest Himself to us, if we’re walking in the truth of His Word and following the truth He’s shown us already.

I’ll share a couple of things here where the Lord just totally punched through with something outlandishly supernatural when I really needed it. When I was young in the Lord and had already moved to the mission field of western Europe in the early ’70’s, I ended up in a place where there was a spiritually collapsed situation involving a body of believers I was working with. What should have been a group knit together in His love had been taken over for a while by some cruel, hireling types who were mistreating His flock.

I was in prayer about this as it was very disheartening and suddenly, out of nowhere I got the Bible reference quickened to me, “Jeremiah 10:21”. I had no idea in the world what that verse said but I opened my Bible and read it. It says, “For the pastors have become brutish and have not sought the Lord. Therefore they shall not prosper, and all their flock shall be scattered.”

I was dumbfounded as that verse so encapsulated the situation I was in and also gave a promise that it would be resolved. And it was, by the hand of God. Within two months the “brutish pastors” had been exposed and the ones I was working with were able to find more loving and kind people to shepherd them. But the Lord had just quickened that verse to me out of nowhere, as a comfort and foretelling of what He was going to do.

Another time, even earlier in my Christian life, when I’d only come to the Lord a week or so earlier, I’d been invited to a Christian training camp for those preparing for the mission field and for discipleship. But this was in the States in early 1970 when there was still a very deep divide between the youth culture and the more conservative, establishment side of society. I was beginning to work with the Jesus Movement and at that time it was pretty youth oriented and even radical.

I was told that I would need to cut my somewhat long hair before going to this training camp. It was off in a conservative, cowboy part of the States and it was literally dangerous to be in the area and look like a hippy. But the amazing thing was that the morning before I was told this, the Lord had quickened to me a verse, extremely obscure, Ezekiel 5:1. I’d only been a Christian a few days and I had no idea what that verse said.

But I found it in my Bible and here’s what it says. “Son of man, take a sharp knife, take a barber’s razor and cause it to pass upon your head.” So when a few hours later my friends told me I’d need to have a haircut, I told them that the Lord had already told me that was coming. I was just a babe in Christ and back then I may have figured this was just sort of normal.

It’s not like this kind of thing happens every day. Not at all. The Lord wants us to go by faith and to obey His Word in our daily lives. But also He wants us to know that He can and will do this kind of thing to lead us and guide us and show us what to do. Or sometimes just to rejoice our hearts and/or have a testimony of His love and power that we can share with others. So don’t knock direct revelations. They’re not mandatory. But they are there, they help and He may have one for you.

Mark McMillion

Creeds and Deeds, Facts and Acts

Category Archives: Basic Christianity