Category Archives: Basic Christianity

Tossed About

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We’re not just supposed to “watch our tongue”, we’re to watch our ears too. Jesus said so. “Take heed what you hear”, He said (Mark 4:24). And you may wonder how you can do that. But that verse came to me very strongly in relation to what I’m experiencing with so many Christians nowadays.

Maybe a better way it is expressed or explained is where Paul said, “That we no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine.” (Ephesians 4:14) So very many believers today are very much “tossed to and fro”.

In this case, it’s not like some specific Biblical doctrine. But, boy, they are carried about with every wind of political hearsay and rumor. Millions are just enthralled and entangled with political hearsay, as long as it has a little sprinkled sugar coating of what passes for Scripture glazing it.

Solomon said, “The simple believes every word but the prudent man looks well to his going.” (Proverbs 14:15) Most of the time it’s good to be simple. But in this Bible verse, “simple” has the connotation of the naïve and gullible. We’re supposed to be harmless as doves but also wise as serpents. (Matthew 10:16) I’m so often grieved when I see how very many Christians are sucked in to modern political quarreling and think they are doing God service this way.

Christians are just getting sucker punched by the enemy in the way of listening to secular, worldly diatribes which seek to allure Christians into their orbit by having a veneer of Christianity to them. But in actuality it’s just another Godless temptation to pull Christians away from our foundations in the Word and out into the latest concoction of the enemy to get us off the wall of God’s will.

In Job it says, “The ear tries words as the mouth tastes meat” (Job 34:3). Christians so much need to exercise discernment in what they allow themselves to hear. It doesn’t happen by just isolating yourself away from everything, I’m not talking about that. Jesus said we are to be “in the world but not of the world”.  (See John 17:15 & 16)

But I think it does come down to discernment in what we hear, recognizing when some broadcast or publication is just the devil’s slop, dressed up in a Christian costume. Jesus warned of false prophets that come unto you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly they are ravening wolves. So then we get all vigilant about some pastor or Christian teacher that we’re told is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

But we spend a couple of hours a day online on sensationalist, provocateur sites and channels that are nothing but political propaganda to indoctrinate you into a set of beliefs and actions that are not Scriptural and are not in truth leading you to true Christian service.

I’ve been making videos recently that go into the details of how things will be in the final days before the coming of the Lord and some places there have stood out to me so much. Here’s what the angel told Daniel it would be like in the very last days, how the people and servants of God will be in those times. “The people who do know their God shall be strong and do exploits.” (Daniel 11:32) Do you think that those are political exploits? Military or militia exploits? Or will it be like the exploits that happened in the book of Acts and the early church?

Another verse from Daniel, “And they that understand among the people shall instruct many.” (Daniel 11:33) Is that going to be understanding conspiracy theory and correct political stands? Or will it be in understanding the foundational truths of the endtime that will be playing out then? Are we going to be leading the believers and seekers of those times to a knowledge of the Lord and His soon coming? Or every wind of doctrine and confusion that will be blowing about in those times?

So this is something of a heart cry for me and from me. It just grieves me how many are actually falling away to fringe secular teachers and I’m talking about brethren who were before strongly on the wall of Christian service, even some who I knew on the mission field.

Take heed how you hear. We need to not only keep our mouth and our tongue, we need to keep our ears. “Go from the presence of a foolish man when you don’t perceive in him the lips of knowledge.” (Proverbs 14:7) We need a lot more discernment in what we’re spending our time listening to, how and where we’re getting out information from and what we are allowing to enter our hearts and minds. Lord help us!

One of the most sobering verses about the prophetic endtime is not found in Daniel or Revelation but in II Timothy. It says this, “And they shall turn away their ears from hearing the truth and shall be turned to fables.” (II Timothy 4:4) My gosh, how much this is happening across Christianity right now. Not fables like some ancient children’s fiction but broadcasts and publications that have just enough smattering of Christianity or the Bible so that they can pose as something of the Lord when it so utterly isn’t.

To me this is one of the greatest dangers facing Christians in these times, not secular governments or other religions but these empty, poisonous falsehoods, posing as truth by having a thin glazed veneer of Christian tinge. Brethren, watch out. Recognize it. Test it and if it is pulling you away from the depths of the truth of God’s Word and His service, the reject it like the plague.

Proponents of the Truth

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If there is anything a Christian should be known for, it should be for their truth. We should be known for our love, certainly. But if we’re weak in truth, it discredits the Lord and all He stood for. Jesus said, “Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice”. (John 18:37) He even said, “I am… the truth…” (John 14:6)

So truth, “speaking the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15) and just loving truth the way we love God and Jesus should be at the core of every true Christian.

And the same way we are to “hate evil” (Psalm 97:10), we should have a disdain and abhorrence for falsehood and even half truths. But if ever there was a time when the shadows of darkness and, frankly, the lies of the devil are running rampant and making inroads into the minds and hearts of the believers, it seems to be now.

There’s an amazing thing that’s to be found in the Book of Revelation about the conditions of the time right before the Lord’s return. It’s somewhat mysterious but I think it speaks plainly about the level of falsehood that saturates our lives today.

Revelation 12 verses 15 & 16 say this  “And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.”

Waters in Scripture often represent words. Jesus said of His disciples, “Out of their bellies shall flow rivers of living water”, speaking of the Holy Spirit that they would receive. But conversely, the devil also has his “waters”, Satan’s lies and propaganda which evidently will really be poured out in the final days. [And are being poured out already right now!]

And it says that “the earth”, the ungodly of this world, will swallow those waters that the serpent cast out of his mouth. But, significantly, it doesn’t say the woman, the bride of Christ will swallow them.

If ever there was a time when Christians should be diligently focused on finding the truth, holding the truth, speaking the truth and shunning falsehood, it should be in these times. It’s such a poor testimony of the Lord when Christians are easily deceived into some worldly cause or movement that is in fact a pitifully poor substitute for the genuine and truthful cause of Christ and the truth of His Word.

Some people think about purity and they immediately think of something moral or immoral, as they understand it. But simply extolling and embracing truth, while feeling a repulsion to lies and even half truths, can be an even greater need and testimony. It grieves me when I see so many believers get sucked into the affairs of this life and secular political parties, even long time friends I’ve known from the mission field who now view politics as their service to God.

Jesus even in His lifetime talked about those who will “…think they do God service”. But what will they be actually doing? Jesus said in John 16:2, “The time will come that whosoever kills you will think they are doing God service.” As many of you know, there are oodles of Christians who’ve gotten so involved with the affairs of this life that they are convinced that they need to take up physical arms and to be willing to kill others in their service for the Lord!

Isn’t that pitiful?! What a travesty of true Christian discipleship! I wrote something 7 years ago called “A Strong Man, Armed” about when there may be some margin of place where, to physically defend your family, bearing arms may be justified.

But then so many here in the States at least, nominal Christians and sometimes genuinely sincere Christians, are convince that a huge stock of guns is the only alternative for the people of faith. It’s really sad how many believers of our times have veered from the example of the Early Church as well as the pattern and explanation we have in the prophetic Word about the church of the endtime, before the coming of the Lord.

I’m convinced that, just as the Early Church was, the final church of the Endtime before the coming of the Lord will be dependent utterly on Him, His Word and His miraculous intervention and direction. This all just shows us how very far astray much of  Christianity in our times has gone and how much we actually need the cleansing purifying of persecution which, among other things, will sweep away all those who “walk in the counsel of the ungodly and stand in the way of sinners.” (Psalm 1:1) Lord help us!

And He will. He is the Author and Finisher of our faith. The Lord  is going to purify His church, purge out the abundant dross, worldly influences and political entanglements that are so utterly prevalent. He has to. Otherwise the believers of the final Endtime will in no way be prepared in any way for the onslaught that will come against them.

But it starts with truth. The deceptions that have captured so many believers of these times must be destroyed, like the idols the prophets of old had to smash and defy. It’s still the same today. Amen, Lord, do it.

PS   And this morning, as I somewhat hesitated to post this article, I heard verses quoted in a devotional which I know I’ve never noticed before.  “For I rejoiced greatly, when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in you, even as you walk in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.” (III John verses 3 & 4)

Once more, into the breach

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One more time and you feel like it will kill you. You feel you have given your all. But the job is not done. You don’t know if you can take any more. This is what soldiers experience. Or some of those in sports. And even some Christians.

It is said of Jesus, “He poured out His soul unto death.” (Isaiah 53:12) “He went a little further and fell on His face.” (Matthew 26:39) For Jesus, He went all the way, “even the death of the cross.” (Philippians 2:8)

It’s a funny place to be in your life. You believe in what you are doing. But you’ve come to the place where it really costs you something. If you keep going further, there looks to be real loss; personal loss will be the price. Maybe there is physical pain but maybe it’s just emotional and spiritual pain, hopes, plans and possibilities. The results of decisions that you know are going to further the kingdom of God, but really cost you personally.

This is what the quote from Shakespeare is about, “once more, into the breach”. I’ve never read Shakespeare extensively but I do know that his writings are considered to be some of the greatest heights ever reached in the English language. Here’s what he wrote about “into the breach”

“Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;
Or close the wall up with our English dead!
In peace there’s nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility:
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger.”

From Shakespeare’s play “Henry the Fifth”

Maybe you’ve come to a place in your life where your hopes, dreams and possibilities have come together in a unique and golden opportunity that’s before you and you recognize it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. But you also see clearly that there is a price to pay. To reach your goal is going to take everything, all that you have and no one will know about it but you and God.

I’ve never been in a physical war. Never had bullets whizzing by me, never had artillery shells exploding around me. But I think this must be how it is for people in that situation, where their life is on the line from minute to minute.

I like sports for this reason. People in sports have to give their total all if they are going to succeed. Half hearted people are not successful in sports. Actually it is the same in Christianity but it doesn’t show up as easily. Christians are actually supposed to be maintaining many of the attributes of soldiers. “A good soldier of Jesus Christ” (II Timothy 2:3) And also the discipline and commitment of athletes. “Lay aside ever weight and the sins that so easily beset us and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus…”   (Hebrews 12:1 & 2)

Many people cry at the end of a movie. But have you ever cried at the opening scenes of a movie? That happened to me one time. I was just going through a very rough marriage and family breakup and I went to watch “Chariots of Fire”. The opening scene was of these athletes running on a beach and the music was so moving. So the movie had been on a minute or two and I started crying. God was speaking to me that I just had to be like those athletes and to keep going and moving on.

Sometimes, that’s how we can make it, with a broken heart. We don’t have the strength in ourselves. We can’t run the race. We can’t measure up to the task before us. We are weak, very much, in ourselves. But then we have to give ourselves over to the Lord. He has to be the one that goes further within us in our lives. It’s only our faith in Him in us that gives us the power and faith to go as far as He calls us to go.

This is the better life He has called us to. A life of purpose, of impact and effect on the world we live, a life that is lived from the heart that He has entered and changed. But sometimes, no one really knows but God. No one sees what you are paying for decisions you are making. Soldiers dying in the battle, athletes giving their utmost and then more. And yes, Christians, like Jesus did in the garden of Gethsemane when “He went a little further and fell on his face.” (Matthew 26:39)

It can be so difficult. But then it also is an incredible blessing of the Lord, to be in a place where you clearly have to decide if you will go that far, if you will die that much, if you will suffer that distance. Paul in the Bible evidently experienced this. In one place he said “I die daily”. (I Corinthians 15:31)

I truly believe that at some point in the future, Christians around the world will be in “a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation”. (Daniel 12:1) Jesus clearly said a time like that would come. For so many, times come that test us very much, where decisions test how far we will go, often the way it is for soldiers in battle or athletes in competition. But then as the Bible says about these warriors and competitors of this world, “They do it to obtain a corruptible crown, be we an incorruptible.” (I Corinthians 9:25)

Often it can be like Shakespeare said in “Henry the Fifth”, like soldiers in the midst of mortal combat, “once more, into the breach”. May the Lord in us help us to go further than we ever could in our own strength and faith. May we press towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Budding… in September

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My trees were dead and are alive again! Some trees (and lives) look truly dead, like what’s been happening here this summer in Texas. The scorching sun and heat have devastated some of the trees and many have totally dried up and turned brown.

Day by day as the drought got worse here, it grieved me to see how so many of the trees in the back lot were wilting and turning brown. At length I hauled out the garden hose to do emergency watering of many of them that make up the far back of the property. But more and more, a lot of them lost all their leaves and looked fully dead. (Like some peoples’ lives, maybe?)

Then, after a grueling July and August with temperatures daily around 105 (38 Centigrade), we ended up getting several days of strong, steady rains. So, so needed. Like the verse, “You, Lord, did send a plentiful rain whereby you did confirm Your inheritance when it was weary.” (Psalm 68:9)

But was it too late to help the trees? Like so many people’s lives, it really does look like it’s too late. Not only is there no fruit in their lives, even their leaves have withered and gone. No joy, no faith, no shine or sign of life is left, even though they’re still alive in the physical.

This morning, a few days after the rains, I was having my morning walk in the back and I could hardly believe my eyes. Many of the “dead” trees were budding! In the second half of September! I was so happy to see that. Like long lost friends you thought were gone forever, they came back. But how? Above ground, all signs of life had been scorched and dried up by the relentless sun and heat.

But underneath, below the surface, the roots had stayed alive. Is this possibly symbolic of anything? Do you think this is possible in the very many lives we all know who seem to have dried up and died even many years ago? Could some of those people still have roots of faith alive below the surface? Could some of those people “bud in September”?

It took an act of God. My feeble efforts to do watering during the worst of the drought may have helped a little. But it took the clouds and storms from heaven to drench the earth and provide the roots the missing elements of water, like faith. Over the next days the few remaining trees that still had some leaves began to perk up. But this morning, like a second spring, about 70% of the trees I’d counted as dead have been showing little green leaves everywhere among the branches.

“This my son was dead and is alive again, was lost and is found.” (Luke 15:24) If God can do this with trees, do you think He can do this with people? Can He send storms and rains that somehow soak the soil of our souls, bringing a renewing of faith and life below the surface and the visible, in the roots of our beings so that life can again appear where it looked as dead as a doornail for a long time?

“With God, nothing shall be impossible.” (Luke 1:37) It’s wonderful when the Lord somehow speaks to you through His creation or His deeds there. A few years ago, I had another lesson out in the back lot, in the depths of December. I wrote a blog article about that, “Green Leaves Hanging On”. It was the cold of winter but a few green leaves in the back were still holding on. That really spoke to my heart.

Paul said, “The invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made.” (Romans 1:20). We all need hope. We all need faith. Jesus said, “He that believes on me shall never thirst.” (John 6:35) But many people, just like our trees in the back, come into a time in their lives when they do thirst. They lose faith. Or they are talked out of it by friends. They “cast away their confidence” (Hebrews 10:35) and like the prodigal son, go off and away from the wellsprings of life to waste their lives. Until a mighty famine comes. Or a mighty drought.

Only the Lord can do it. Only the Lord can somehow allow the unseen roots to still be alive below the surface after all the life seems to have ebbed away in the part we can see. “You renew the face of the earth.” (Psalm 104:30)

It was a beautiful and heartening experience this morning and an unexpected one. The symbolism of it all immediately struck me of the greater meaning of how the Lord can do the same thing in the lives of many we know who’ve withered, wilted and fallen away over the years for whatever reason. Would to God that He will send rains of refreshing and renewal to all those ones as well. Amen

Salvation and rewards

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Is salvation cheap? In some ways it is. In fact it is free because it is a gift of God. This upsets some folks and they just don’t think it’s fair or right. Of course it cost Jesus the ultimate price to give us the gift of salvation. But for us it’s free, it can only be received.

But some say, “Well, the devils believe in Jesus”. Someone said that to me yesterday. There’s a verse that says, “You believe in one God? You do well; the devils also believe and tremble.” (James 2:19) It doesn’t say they “believe in Jesus”, there. Certainly the demons in the spiritual world are knowledgeable that there is a God and when Jesus was on earth some of them said to Him, “We know who you are, the Son of God.” (Luke 4:34) But personally I would never say, “the devils believe in Jesus.”

A verse that was priceless to me at the very beginning of my salvation was this one. “But as many as received him, to them he gave power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” (John 1:12)

That’s exactly what happened to me. In my experience of having Jesus dawn in my life, it was “receiving” Him that brought to me a power in my innermost heart and soul that had been so completely missing before that.

Sin had had dominion over me in such a complete and overpowering way. But through some dear young teen-aged Jesus People sharing the Bible with me, I came to know of the path of salvation. So I came to Jesus.

But in my case, “believing” in Him was utterly united and linked to “receiving” Him, as that verse says. Receiving Him by actually verbally inviting Him into my heart and life, after my friends showed me John 1:12 and other verses, like Revelation 3:20, where the Lord said He would come in to us.

Some say, in fact someone said to me yesterday, that this is not enough. But it certainly was for me. It wasn’t some mental thing, a glib recitation of some lines of rhetoric. It was the cry of my heart to the throne of God. And God answered. Jesus did come into my heart. I did become “a new creature in Christ Jesus” (II Corinthians 5:17). I was “born again”. (John 3:3)

But Mark, is that all?!

Well, no, of course not; that’s not all. My life is an example of that in that I’ve gone on from that event (when I was 21) to an incredible life of joy and Christian service that’s still fresh and exhilarating many decades after my original born again experience.

But I think I know what some are concerned about.  I guess it could be called accountability. They’re concerned that someone can just almost trick God, “say the magic words” and then skate home free all the way to heaven, while living the same hellish life that most people do in this world.

No, that’s not how it works. For one, I can tell you that I’ve virtually never run into a person like that who has prayed to receive Jesus. Those who do instinctively come to God with a reverence, already knowing their desperate need and that there is a God and His Son who are there to help and answer.

My life and the life of my friends has been based primarily around witnessing and soul winning. That’s what Jesus called His disciples to 2000 years ago and what the original Jesus Movement of the early 70’s was fundamentally about. So I spent many years witnessing on the streets in places like Hollywood Boulevard, Sunset Strip, Trafalgar Square in London, Dam Square in Amsterdam and later in Vienna, Budapest, India, Indonesia and on from there, endeavoring to lead souls to Christ with the message of salvation.

It’s a spiritual thing. It’s something that the Lord does through you and with you and it’s a very serious time when you’re trying to win people to Him. The Lord gives you enough discernment to know whether the ones you are witnessing to are receiving what you are saying and are receptive or whether they are shallow and playing games. So in my experience, I don’t think I’ve run into almost any people who were just insincerely, nonchalantly reciting a prayer instead of really coming to God in prayer for His help and salvation.

But then, you ask, “What happens next?” Well, for so many I know, they really had an experience with the Lord and were astounded by the change in their lives. Like the apostle Peter wrote, “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word that you may grow thereby.” (I Peter 2:2)

That’s what happened to me; I immediately had a huge appetite to study the Bible and to feed from it spiritually. My friends were there to help me and I just gulped down all I could, day after day and it became the new main source of knowledge and truth for me from that day on.

But I know what some are driving at. What about if someone just tries to go on their merry way, no sign of change, no different from what they were before? Of course I would question them about the depth and reality of the prayer they prayed, if that happened. But, to cut to the chase, let’s say that something like that does happen. Are they saved? Will they go to heaven? Have they sort of “pulled a fast one” on God?

This is where rewards come in. I’m convinced that there will be folks in heaven, perhaps a lot of them, with not a whole lot of rewards. They had saving faith. They believed in God, they believed that Jesus was the Son of God and in the basics of what Christ said and did. Maybe they went to church. Sometimes they prayed or even knew a little from the Bible.

But the vast and main thrust of their lives was for this world, the things of this world, the pleasures of this world, and the goals of this world. Jesus and God were in no way first place. What’s God going to do with people like that? Send them to hell? They were actually believers.

Maybe it’s like Jesus said to one group of believers in the book of Revelation, “You have a name, you live and are dead.” (Revelation 3:1) Some people, probably very many people are like this. For some the Lord in His mercy sends along chastening, bereavement, tribulation, tests and purgings to try to get them to turn to Him and away from their sins. Sometimes this works. He has to smash their idols, just as He did with the people of Israel in ancient times.

If we are truly one of His children but we are not following forward with the path and leading that He is calling us to in this life, then He will very definitely send along chastening to our straying ways. There are oodles of promises in God’s Word about that. But getting back to the original issue, still the bottom line and opening paragraph comes back to “belief”. This is repeated over and over in the Word. That’s the beginning and the requirement. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.” (Acts 16:31)

Strengthen the things that remain

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General George Patton, the flamboyant but successful American general attended ceremonies in Berlin in 1945 of victorious forces who had defeated the Nazis. Generals from the West and Russian generals who led forces who had attacked from the east, met in Berlin to celebrate. But Patton at one point attempted to provoke a major incident with one of the Russian generals there.

Patton said plainly to all that Allied western forces should just keep rolling on from Germany and immediately drive straight at Moscow to defeat Russian Communism while they could. Patton saw Communism to be a great threat to the rest of the world. Of course he was overruled and considered almost crazy at the time. But, looking back, we can wonder.

It was clear to Patton that the threat from the Left was just as grim as the threat from the Right had been. And perhaps we’re facing a very similar moment in our times. Many are sickened and exasperated by the leadership of the USA since 2016. People of all stripes and persuasions have been aghast and heartsick because of the utter lack of empathy or competence the US president has shown, as well as his lack of response to the Covid 19 crisis. Many Americans across the political spectrum have come to feel that this man and his regime have to go.

But then what? The conservative, right wing in America has given us the president we’ve had for the last 4 years. But can we turn to the liberal party of the left? Pardon me but it’s like we have two choices. “Do you want the red devils or the blue devils?” Not dissimilar to what seemed to be the choice facing the world of the 1930’s and 1940’s.

The Democratic Party now is not the party of John Kennedy or Martin Luther King, any more than the Republicans are still the party of Ronald Reagan. Maybe you haven’t been looking but the Democrats, who may end up winning the election here in 4 months, are exceptionally divided between traditional Democratic views, which triumphed the cause of the common man and workers’ rights, and the so-called “Progressives” who, when you scrap the veneer, are actually neo-Marxists in every way.

So people of our times are really stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea. Like Patton saw, there are serious and existential threats from both the Right and the Left, just as it was in earlier times between Nazism on the one hand and Communism on the left.

Solution? I’m not sure there is one. But some famous words of Jesus came to me this morning, “Strengthen the things that remain.” (Revelation 3:2) I have to be honest; I don’t know how much I hold to the idea of praying for God to save America. Maybe He will. It’s like the Australians are known to say, “She’ll come round, mate.” Meaning, “It’ll all work out somehow and stabilize.” Maybe it will; it has at other times when things have been rough.

But also in history there have been innumerable times when it didn’t come round. It finally collapsed and often, looking back, people could see that it was the hand of God, finally withdrawing His protection and allowing the sins of the people and nation to finally get the best of them. Their cup of iniquity was full and collapse came.

God even told the prophet Jeremiah, just before the collapse of his nation around 600 years before Jesus, “Pray not for this people for their good.” (Jeremiah 14:11) In God’s eyes, it had come time for His judgments on Israel and they were taken captive by Babylon shortly afterwards. That may be where the USA has come to now, in spite of the fact that there are still many sincere Christians here.

But it’s always good council to “strengthen the things that remain”. Even now, maybe it’s like the council another prophet of Israel gave a few years after the times of Jeremiah to the king of Babylon, where the Jews had been driven to. Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar, when God had told the king that judgment was coming on him, “O king break from your sins by righteousness and your injustice by showing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of your peaceful times.” (Daniel 4:27) The Democrats in America have traditionally been the party that has stood up for the poor and, my gosh, the poor and middle classes here sure need help now, “red and yellow, black and white.”

But if he gets elected, Biden’s greatest threat won’t be the Republicans. It will be from the neo-Marxists of the left wing of his own party who could work as Lenin and the Bolsheviks did in Moscow after the fall of the Russian Czar. The more moderate Mensheviks were initially leading the changes in 1917, after the fall of the Romanov dynasty. But the moderates and democrats were swept aside by Lenin and the Bolsheviks. And from there, the horrors of the reality of atheist Communism gripped hundreds of millions people over the next 70 years.

As for me and those I fellowship with, we’re going to keep serving the Lord. If those in America still holding on to the principles that existed even 20 or 30 years ago would/could band together and “strengthen the things that remain”, maybe America could weather this storm upon it now. I’m pessimistic but then again, perhaps the Australians are right, “She’ll come round, mate.”  One way or the other, I’m going to be holding on to the Lord and His calling and His will in this time. But I am a little concerned that we may be in for a very rough ride and unprecedented times over the next few months. Lord help us all.

Shedding the blood of war in peace

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Some people crack up very easily. The slightest provocation, a hint of disagreement and they just freak out. For some, they take a dive into depression. Others burst forth with a stream of accusations against the person they felt offended by. Sometimes it even goes beyond words to physically violence and death, all because of some perceived slight, something taken the wrong way that was never meant or should have never been blown up to what it was.

Yes, certainly sometimes it was more than a perceived slight. It was long term oppression and injustice and people are outraged about that. I’ll get to that in a moment.

But, about people freaking out and cracking up very easily, you might be one who says, “Happens all the time”. Yes, it does. And the damage done to friendships, families, lives, children, marriages, societies and even nations is often close to irreparable. Some of this gets personal for me. I’ve had a good life in many ways. But also I have seen this kind of destructive behavior up close and have experienced the long term devastation that is not just hurtful but damages almost beyond redemption the souls, hearts and lives it touches.

Jesus said one time, “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God.” (Matthew 5:9) In my life, I’ve seen a lot of “domestic warfare”, I guess it could be called. And from seeing this, I came to where I felt the most important thing in life was the wisdom of the heart rather than the intelligence of the mind. I’d seen a lot of smart people who ruined the lives of others without regrets because they were “so smart” but they didn’t care how much they hurt their loved ones, how much they brought disruption to their families.

I have always been in a family that believed in changing the world , that there are serious problems around us in our societies and in the world, injustices that need to be exposed and addressed, causes worth fighting for, staying stirred up about and sacrificing for.

But then, how do you do that? How do you actually address those things, whether in your personal family or in society at large? How vehement do you get? What “weapons” do you use? Are there any tactics that are not allowed? Is there any need for accuracy and truthfulness in what we say and do?  Or is it more important to just be as raw and visceral as you want to be and then let the chips fall where they may? What sacrifices are worth making in order to reach your goal?

There are so many factors in this, so many tangents that could be gone down and explored. But I’ll use an example from history where this subject and difficulty is highlighted. An ancient king, David, had a most trusted and loyal commander of his armed forces, his own cousin Joab. But ultimately, David said of Joab that he had “shed the blood of war in peace”. (I Kings 2:5) Joab murdered a rival military leader in Israel, Abner, who had been the leader of the forces of King Saul.

But it was uncalled for, unprovoked, unnecessary and unwise. The murder of Abner could have easily brought Israel into full civil war between those still loyal to Saul’s regime and the new one of King David. Joab shed the blood of war in peace. He murdered his rival and ultimately Joab was sentenced to death for his crime. He wasn’t in some battle against those bent on destroying his people; he just committed murder because of jealously and rivalry. He shed the blood of war in peace.

But many today do just what Joab did. They fly off the handle at the drop of the hat and feel utterly justified in doing it. Usually it doesn’t end up as a murder but then sometimes it does. But if they don’t commit murder, their words spoken in haste and without love or wisdom go out as firebrands and stick in the hearts of ones who are often friends or loved ones. David’s son, Solomon, said, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue”. (Proverbs 18:21) Words are real things, they bless or they curse, they lift up or they drag down. Jesus even said that we will give an account one day of every word we have spoken.

Again, to remember the words of an ancient king and poet, “I am for peace. But when I speak, they are for war.” (Psalms 120:6) Today I see a lot of vehement people. I even agree with a lot of what they say and the way they see things. There are things that need to be changed, things that have been tolerated for far too long. A good measure of vehemence and righteous exasperation is needed in order to keep some of these subjects on the boil until changes have been made and corners turned.

But I do fear that behind the words and in the hearts of at least some of these folks there is more than just a call for change and justice. There is hatred and vengeance. And a determination to achieve domination over ones they perceive to be utterly evil. I often feel that nothing short of full capitulation and surrender in a most complete sense by their perceived enemies will satisfy a number of these who have grievances. And again you could say, “What’s new? It’s been going on for thousands of years.”

Well, I am for peace. I am for conflict resolution. I’m for standing up to injustice. I’m also for living peaceable with all men. Sadly, I don’t think we are going to have that level of wisdom, unity and civility in this world we have now. It will only happen at the return of “the Prince of Peace“. (Isaiah 9:6) Meanwhile, I am going to do what I can to live within the peace and wisdom of God as much as I can in my interactions with others. And I hope to persuade all I can to do the same.

Ageism

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In her 70’s, my mom said, “I’m old. But I’m not old-old.” But it’s sad and wrong to discriminate against anyone because of their age. And “ageism” is the relatively new word for this. Discrimination is a hurtful but very common thing, worldwide. You’ve heard of “racism”, I’ve written about that several times. And “sexism” is now a common word, usually meaning discrimination against women. But ageism is just as hurtful and also just not smart or even productive.

Both of my parents made it well into their 90’s. It runs in their families. My mom in particular never “lost it” mentally in any way and hardly lost it physically much at all until the last month of two of her life. In earlier generations it was not uncommon that by the time someone hit 60, they were really considered old and were sometimes at the edge of their families who treated them with detached aloofness at times. And often they died sad and alone. Progress has been made in these things and in more recent times there is more concern in many societies for “the elderly”.

But I have to admit I probably could be considered in that category at times, as are now many of my friends. How’s that working for me? Actually, it’s probably a surprise to younger readers but it’s really not too bad. If I go about things wisely, I’ve felt very little drop off in my physical abilities and vitality compared to twenty or more years ago. I’ve got a host of “irons in the fire” and “pots on the stove” that keep me busier than I almost can keep up with. I’m doing fine, as far as I’m concerned.

But it’s disheartening to run into manifestations of ageism. It seems  some folks think that people in their 60’s and 70’s are unquestionably “over the hill”. There’s that hint of condescension from some who try to be polite but you are left with the feeling that they secretly wish we’d just go away. Or at least we’d go someplace else where we are not seen or where we don’t interfere with the way things should be run and done in these times.

Sad stuff. Of course not everyone is like that. But ageism is just as real in our times and felt by folks just as much as is racism or sexism. It’s a waste of human resources as well as a lack of vision. What some short sighted people don’t get is the wealth of knowledge and experience that “older people” have gained. Certainly some folks who are into their 60’s are not able to do as much physically as they did before. But on the other hand many of them are really doing just fine and have a lot of gas in the tank and fire in the belly. The Bible says, “A grey head is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of righteousness.” (Proverbs 16:31)

But it’s just the inborn sinful nature of mankind to discriminate, to “judge according to the flesh” (John 8:15) and “look on the outward appearance” (I Samuel 16:7), rather than the heart. Also, it must be said that some people “faint in their minds” (Hebrews 12:3), as they grow older. “Where there is no vision the people perish” (Proverb 28:18) and this can happen to people as they age. They give up spiritually and also give up mentally and physically.

However, not everyone does that. In the Bible, Caleb, at the age of 85 famously said, “I’ll take the mountain” (Joshua 14:10-12) and he led his tribe up the mountain in military conquest of the land promised to the Jews in the years after Moses.

It’s cruelty, discrimination and a lack of godly wisdom to let ageism affect your views, especially if you are a Christian who is dealing with and shepherding other Christians. If there is any place in this world where compassion and empathy should triumph, it is in Christian circles. So when there is discrimination and segregation according to age that goes on in Christian fellowships, it is particularly hurtful and unwise as well.

“But Mark, aren’t you creating division here? In saying these things you are dividing the body of Christ and encouraging division.”

I’ve thought about that. But if a person of color experiences racism, is it wrong of him to mention it? Or if a woman experiences sexism, should she remain silent? In the same way, I mean to cause no division by mentioning the fact that ageism exists. Rather, I hope that by talking about these things we can overcome them together and heal any divisions.

It takes a mature, seasoned person to not default to ageism when it comes to Christian shepherding. You just naturally want to hang out with your kind of folks. “Old people” can just seem like a drag if you”re not looking at things with the eyes of the Lord. But this is opposite of the ways of God’s Spirit. Paul said to Timothy, “Let no man despise your youth” (I Timothy 4:12). I think we can certainly say conversely to the ones who are 60 and older, “Let no man despise your age.”

*****

 One final thought: we’re all sinners; we’ve all been guilty of these things. Racism, sexism and ageism are part of the inborn sinful nature of mankind and all of us have been guilty of these things, and more, at one time or the other. So if you’ve been affected by ageism, it’s good to remember that. Jesus said, if someone sins against us, that we are to “go and tell him his fault” (Matthew 18:15) between he and you alone. Getting self righteous, bitter and unforgiving are some of the easy sins that those who’ve been sinned against can easily fall into. Lord help us all to forgive and strive for love and unity.

The Coral snake in the driveway

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Yesterday there was a big Coral snake in the driveway. We killed it. Coral snakes are the most poisonous snakes in my part of the world, more poisonous than rattle snakes. It wouldn’t really have been right at the time to say, “Oh, don’t worry. Don’t be afraid. Everything is going to be alright.”

No, at that moment the danger was real. Waiting until the snake was biting your foot would not have been a good idea. Clear, immediate action was needed to eliminate the danger, and in this case it was to kill the snake. This can all seem so simple and basic that it doesn’t even deserve discussion. But in these times, with very real and deadly danger upon so many nations, it’s an object lesson in how to react to this.

Certainly there are times to say, “Oh, don’t be afraid, don’t worry.” Certainly there are times to “Just trust the Lord.” But somewhere in most people is a modicum of what we nowadays call “common sense”. It’s not right 100% of the time but on the other hand it often is. And just knowing when to go with the simplest and most childlike reaction to things can turn out to really be the wisdom of God in some situations.

But when things get a little more complicated than a Coral snake in the driveway, that’s when it becomes more difficult to discern truth from falsehood and reality from something conjured up in our minds or in the minds of others. It seems to me like the snake yesterday was almost allegorical of the present crisis. That snake was real. It wasn’t a hoax, it wasn’t a conspiracy, it didn’t have an agenda, it didn’t come from the Left or the Right or a foreign power. In was utterly real; it was deadly, alive and on the property.

At times like that, if ever, our most basic being needs to be working properly, our minds clear, our heart in the right place and our practical understanding fully functioning. And, I should add, we’re hearing from God. It’s a matter of life and death. For many if not most of us in these times and in the affluent West, we haven’t almost ever run into situations like this. But we have now. The snake is in the driveway. It doesn’t really matter where it came from. It doesn’t really matter if some neighbor put it there, it doesn’t seem to be the time to really get cerebral about it all.

To me at least there’s a parallel to the greater picture of our present crisis. There’s just real wisdom to, in certain situations, being very practical and not procrastinating. “Hesitate and all is lost” is a saying many of us have heard. Practical common sense yesterday was to just run get a shovel and smash the thing. It was that dangerous. Similarly in these times, those who survive, individuals and societies, are the ones who recognize the danger, recognize also what the needed response should be, and then do it.

Admittedly, every situation may not be as simple and clear as a poisonous snake in front of us. This pandemic is full of unknowns. This disease is primarily new and confronting it is not as simply as running to get the shovel. It is worldwide or becoming so. There are no extremely simply, unarguable methods in how to deal with it. But there are some lessons and parallels.

For one, focus. If there suddenly had been a big discussion and argument about what path to take as the snake slithered towards the house, that would not have been smart. Some could argue for the rights of the snake, the moral implications of whether it should be killed or not. Sides could be taken and more time spend on who was to blame, why this had happened, if we were seeing things the right way, is there an agenda, if the snake was even there or not and who could end up wining the high ground with their viewpoint on the crisis that was there on the ground.

King Solomon said, “The prudent man foresees the evil and hides himself, but the simple pass on and are punish.” (Proverbs 27:12) We could even apply the words of Jesus here when He said, “A strong man armed keeps his goods in peace.” (Luke 11:21) I’m very thankful in these times for the practical-minded scientific and medical communities who are often working around the clock to try to find genuine real solutions to this crisis that can save lives and help make it so that this doesn’t turn into the kind of thing that happened in earlier centuries when 100’s of millions of people died from various kinds of plagues. “Oh, don’t worry! It can’t happen here” is all too easy a thought and reaction to that possibility. But I’m pretty sure it definitely can and in some places and ways it already has gone rather far that direction.

May God help us all to be clear minded, unprejudiced, not too cerebral, political or holding on to old prejudges in this very real time. Lord help us to move fast when we need to, to not procrastinate or overestimate our safety and underestimate the dangers that are about. And may the Lord help us to pull together, to love our neighbors, walk in wisdom and even be led of Him so we can make it through this time that is unprecedented in the lives of almost all of us.

Scapegoat

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A perplexing thing to the modern mind is the idea of animal sacrifice. “How could they do that?!” is the thought of so many in the West. It seems so barbaric, so cruel. If you are Jewish or Islamic, you might have a slightly different perspective. Throughout the Islamic world, the yearly celebration of Eid includes rather abundant animal sacrifices in some places. And in Israel today much is being made about the preparations there to begin again the animal sacrifices that were so essential to Jewish worship for thousands of years.

The word and concept of “the scapegoat” has remained in most languages and it comes from these times and places of animal sacrifice. In ancient Israel, the high priest was to bring the scapegoat, laying his hands upon the goat’s head, confessing the sins of the people that the sins would be laid upon the goat and cease from the people. Then the goat was to be led away into the wilderness, carrying the sins of the people, where it was slaughtered and the sins of the people were not to be found.

How strange this can sound to “the modern mind”. But then, so does sin itself. It seems to not really fit into a scientific viewpoint, nor does any element of life continuing beyond our physical death. Were these ancient peoples just fools, that we in our modern times can look back on with benign amusement?

But, if “the greatest man who ever lived” was anything, He was the ultimate “scapegoat”, ordained to that role by God the Father from the foundation of the world. In what was the opening scene of the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth, His cousin John the Baptist exclaimed to a crowd of followers as he saw Jesus approaching, “Behold, the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) In those times that would have immediately been  much easier to understand than it is for many today. Because the Jewish culture back then had been full of animal sacrifice for at least 2000 years. John was saying that Jesus was “the Lamb”, sent by the Father who would be sacrificed for the sins of the world.

And Jesus said the same thing of Himself. He said, “The son of man did not come to be ministered to but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many”. (Matthew 20:28 and Mark 10:45) This theme of Jesus being the sacrifice for the sins of mankind is found throughout the New Testament.

But was this just some kind of eccentric weirdness of this ancient Jewish teacher and his followers? No, it is utterly in line and in fulfillment of some of the most profound prophecies that can be found in the Old Testament. Isaiah chapter 53 is regarded as perhaps the most significant, insightful chapter in the Bible in its revelation of the Jewish Messiah to come and His role in the plan of God. There we can read of this Messiah to come that He would be “led as a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.” (Isaiah 53:7) And most people know that this is how Jesus famously was before the Roman governor, Pilate, “He answered not a word.” (Matthew 27:14)

Jesus fulfilled the roll of “the scapegoat”, the ultimate sacrifice that God Himself sent into the world to take away sin. Isaiah chapter 53, written 700 years before the birth of Jesus, goes on to predict of the future Messiah, “the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all… he was cut off out of the land of the living, for the transgressions of my people was he stricken… when you shall make His soul an offering for sin, he shall see His seed… he bare the sins of many and made intercession for the transgressors.” (Isaiah 53:6, 8, 10 & 12)

The “scapegoat”. “The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” Jesus was not just a great teacher and a wonderful person, as I was brought up to believe. He was not just a prophet, as millions in the Islamic world are told He was. He literal came to take our sins and to take our place in death, that we can have eternal life through Him. That was His purpose, His calling, His destiny.

Do I have perfect understanding of all this? No, I really don’t. I often admire some preachers and teachers who are able to do such an amazing job of presenting the truth of all this. I even really hesitated to try to write this article here because it is such a deep and somewhat mysterious subject.

But I’m happy that I don’t have to have perfect understanding of it all. Because I do believe it. I found it to be true when I called out to Jesus to take away the power of sin in my life and to give me a new heart and a new spirit. That was when I was barely in my 20’s and it resulted in such a change in my innermost being that has remained and grown for all the time since back then.

I hope you will take to heart what I’ve shared here. Even if you don’t understand it with your mind, you don’t have to. So many people are hindered by feeling they have to understand everything first. Truth is something that quickens your heart and speaks to your soul, even when your head may be lacking full understanding. Jesus was and is “the scapegoat”, sent to take your sins so that you can pass from the death of sin to the everlasting life of renewal in Him.