Category Archives: Christianity Today

Godly weirdness

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If you’re going to be Godly, you may end up having to be weird. It’s just the way the world is now. It’s not really that the Godly are weird, it’s that the world is weird and contorted against the ways of God. So if you follow God, then you are going to look twisted to the majority.

I come from a weird family. What do I mean by that? It was weird when I was growing up not to use “the N word”. (Google it if you don’t know what that means.) Out of 500 kids in my school in central Texas, I was the only one that didn’t regularly use that word. Of course back then everyone in my school was white; no brown or black kids at all. This was before integration of the schools.

So I got mocked by everyone for saying “Negro”, which was the accepted non-racist word that was used back then. I was a little weird. But my folks told me how that hating people because of the color of their skin was wrong and evil, even though most of my friends who did were all Christians and went to church while my family were not Christians.

I grew up being just a little bit proud of being from a weird family. I realized that the modern majority may not hold the moral, ethical high ground; in fact they often don’t. Then in university I experienced the shocking event of nearly dying and finding out that there is a spiritual world, an eternity that we pass into, ready or not. It was the biggest shock of my life and it put me on the path to becoming a radical Christian some months later.

You could think, “OK, now he won’t be weird anymore. He’s going to be a nice, normal Christian, settle into society and be like everyone else.”

Nope, not at all. I actually found that, if you look to the Bible and history, Christianity is full of weirdoes! “Peculiar people” (I Peter 2:9), as the Bible actually says we are to be. Jesus, (was He the greatest weirdo of all?), said to His motley crew of followers, “Because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” (John 15:19) What? Christians are called by Jesus to be “out of the world”?! We are not of this world?!

My experience up to that time was that the Christians I knew were usually the most worldly, conformist, bland people I ever met! But here in the Bible I’m finding other weirdoes like myself! People who went against the status quo of their day when the majority were proponents of hatred, unbelief, injustice and utter Godlessness.

I learned about some pretty weird people in the Bible and church history, people who were rejected and mocked by the majorities of their generation and who often ended up paying for their Godly weirdness with their lives. No greater example can be found than Jesus Himself. His flesh and blood brothers thought He was weird and they tried to straighten Him out. But Jesus said to them, “The world cannot hate you but Me it hates, because I testify of it that the works thereof are evil.” (John 7:7)

So I guess all my life, running in the background has been that little awareness that I’m weird. But I’ve been ok with it because I have felt that it’s more important to stand on the side of truth, justice, love and the cause of righteousness than it is to be accepted by “this present evil world”. (Galatians 1:4)

But not everyone looks at it this way and it’s a tremendous struggle for many Christians to rise above their desire to be accepted and thought well of by their surrounding worldly neighbors.

This is what happed to Lot in Sodom and Gomorrah. Here’s what Peter the Apostle said about Lot. “But that righteous man, dwelling among them [the people of Sodom], in seeing and hearing, did vex his righteous soul from day to day with their ungodly deeds.” (II Peter 2:8)

Lot and his family probably seemed weird to the people of Sodom. But it sounds like Lot, although he didn’t partake in their sins, was pretty much compromised where he was, like so very many Christians are becoming more and more in our times. Finally, in Lot’s case, the angels had to come down and just forcibly take his family out of Sodom before its utter destruction at the hand of God.

And maybe I need to add a little something for balance. We all should know that there is “good weirdness” and “bad weirdness”. Just being constantly anti-social, contrary, freaky and difficult to be around is certainly not what I am talking about here. It’s about holding truths, values and deeds that reflect the ways of God, which are so often thought of as weird when any of us dare to be different and go against the status quo.

Are you weird? Are your values at odds with the values and deeds of our present world? Are you compromised with the world because you don’t want to stand out and be different from others? Or are you like the heroes and heroines of faith in the Bible and history who were not “conformed to this world”? (Romans 12:2)

If you’re willing to buck the tide and stand up for the ways of God, you’ll be blessed in this life and the one to come. It can be lonely at times but then the Lord can bring you into contact with other weirdoes like yourself, “sheep in the midst of wolves” (Matthew 10:16), as the Lord said. It’s way better to flock together with the sheep than to run with the wolves and snakes of this world when you actually aren’t one of them.

If this be weirdness, make the most of it.

Stay weird, my friends.

 

Being Led of God

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God is neither deaf, mute or inert. He’s not dead or even sick. God yearns to speak to our hearts personally every day and be the main factor in our lives. But it’s pitiful how few people really know this, take it to heart and take action about it. And, yes, I certainly mean most Christians.

The Bible says, “As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the children of God.” (Romans 8:14) But how many believers are really led of God? How many even know what that means? It means that God, through the Holy Spirit can give you downright, upright personal directions for your life, daily and hourly.

Now that probably sounds “out there” to many if not most reading this. But it’s not. It’s New Testament Christianity and there are loads and loads of examples of this in the New Testament as well as the Old. In Acts 8 Philip was going down to Joppa and on the road he saw the Ethiopian eunuch who was in his chariot. Somehow Philip heard the eunuch reading Isaiah 53. Then what happened? Take note! The Spirit told Philip to “Go, join yourself to this charioit”. (Acts 8:29) Philip was led of God. He heard the voice of God telling him something to do right then.

Often it’s a matter of doing what the Holy Spirit is telling you go do, right then. Philip obeyed the voice of God, went and witnessed to that man and it changed the course of history in Ethiopia. But God had to find a person willing to obey Him in that split second of the golden opportunity, made by the Holy Spirit.

Now I know some will be growing skeptical here. “Mark, are you advocating ‘hearing voices?’ What about the Word of God, Mark?!”

Of course I agree. The first way to know the will of God is through His written Word. This is the irrefutable, unmistakable and final way to know the will of God. As Isaiah 8:20 says, “If they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” In Phiip’s case, he already was fully versed in the Word of God from what he had been learning in Jerusalem, at the beginnings of the early Church. But in his case, it took the sudden, supernatural prompting of the Holy Spirit to lead him and point him at that moment into the high will of God.

The problem is, lots of people know that they should put God’s Word first, obey it and promote it above all. But they “leave the other undone.” They’re big on the Bible but not really having a living relationship with the Lord. And inadvertently they fulfill the verse “the letter kills but the Spirit makes alive.” (II Corinthias 3:6) One of the things that Jesus said that has always really spoken to me is this. “He that has my commandments and keeps them, he it is that loves me. And he that loves me shall be loved of my Father and I will love him and will manifest myself unto him.” (John 14:21)

But how many people are really having the Lord manifest Himself unto themselves daily? How many are really being led of the Lord? We need to “pour out our hearts before him” and in turn He has promised repeatedly, “Call unto me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things which you know not.” (Jerimiah 33:3) It’s sad and even ominous that the personal relationship that many believers have with God is pretty distant, often rather stale and tenuous as well.

It doesn’t have to be that way and it really shouldn’t be. Moment by moment  we should be in a living personal relationship with the Lord, our “antennas” up, our spirits “turned on and tuned in” to hear His voice. Yes, He may speak to us through His Word. He may bring to our minds some verse from His Word that applies to our situation. Of course, if you are weak in the Word, if you’ve never really delved into it or even memorized portions of it, then it becomes more difficult for the Holy Spirit to “bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” (John 14:26)

I think even the state of the world in our times can easily be traced back to a lack of real, personal contact with God for most people on a daily basis. “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in the time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16) How many are personally, individually coming in prayer to the throne of grace and then obtaining the help they need? Or the council and direction they need?

So often, God has to put the pressure on. So often, so many of us are content to rock along in our comfort zone, settling down into our routine so that there’s little difference at all between us and the children of this world. Therefore, God in His love puts the pressure on in order to break us out of our lethargy and dullness and get us to seek His face for His grace.

Would to God that more people would “judge themselves so that they wouldn’t have to be judged”. (See Romans 11:32) So many live in spiritual poverty, so many will look back in regret and remorse when they get to heaven for all they could have done and should have done, but didn’t.

Well, thank God. Thank God for the future to come and which in many ways truly is here already. While so many Christians are content with things as they are, Satan and his minions are working overtime to increase the evil and darkness upon this world. And Christians more and more are being swept away or dulled into spiritual death by these things. But some are seeing the rapidly rising tide of darkness and are learning that they have to start praying, hearing from God and obeying him like their lives depended on it.  Oh, that His Spirit will find hearts willing to awaken and get engaged in following God like never before in our times.

Bringing children to Jesus

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Should we teach children about God and Jesus? Many vehemently say no. But what did Jesus say? “And they brought unto Him also infants, that he would touch them. But when His disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them unto Him, and said, ‘Allow the little children to come unto me and forbid them not. For of such is the kingdom of God.’” (Luke 18:15 & 16)

Jesus’ words directly contradict what’s regarded in our times as ethical regarding the spiritual training of children. “But, Mark,” some say, “you take away their choice! You’re forcing them! Innocent little children, Mark!” No, this is where Christians need to stand with Christ. It’s clear throughout the Old and New Testament that the people of God should be teaching their children about Him.

It reminds me of the verse in Revelation, “The dragon stood before the woman to devour the child as soon as it was brought forth.” (Revelation 12:4b) If ever there was a war waged for the souls of men, it’s when they are young. Satan tries to talk us out of our faith and constantly contradicts with direct Satanic boldness the instructions of God.

And certainly this is as true as ever in these present times with the raising of children. Is God against “free choice”? Of course not. He created us and this world with the element of choice in it. “Choose this day whom you will serve”, as He said through Joshua. (Joshua 24:15)

But Satan in our day has worked overtime to convince the world that “children must choose” when actually the meaning that’s behind this is that children are to be like plants in a garden that is totally unkept. We are not to hoe the weeds, we are not to fight the bugs, we are to do nothing but “let the children choose”. How can children choose if they’ve never been taught right from wrong? If they’ve never heard the truths of God and the Words of Jesus?

If you know anything about the ways of the Jews of ancient Israel, you’ll know how strictly they were instructed when it came to how they were to raise their children. Every male child was to be circumcised on the eighth day. Here’s what God said to Israel through Moses about His words and their children. “And these words which I command you this day shall be in your heart. And you shall teach them diligently unto your children. (Deuteronomy 6:6 & 7)

“Brainwashing, Mark! That’s brainwashing!” If a friend of yours, or Satan himself tries to condemn you with that line of modern thought, just plainly call them out for gross hypocrisy of the first order. If we train up our children in the way in which they should go, we are “taking away their choice” and “brainwashing them”.

But those that accuse us of that are almost uniformly enthusiastic when little children are saturated with stories about the occult, casting spells and witchcraft. Or if they are indoctrinated in elementary school by guest visitors espousing “transgender” ethics and morals.

Adolf Hitler was quoted as saying something like, “If you are going to tell a lie, tell a big one.” And that seems to fit today with the depths of insane hypocrisy that is foisted on parents and society when it comes to the raising of children.

Satan and his knowing or unknowing followers have concocted this huge reversal of guilt. Instead of feeling guilt or remorse at how so many children are brought up in our times without the knowledge of God and His ways, Satan and his horde have reversed the polarity and now lay this immense guilt trip on Christians and the people of faith, trying to make us feel guilty for allowing little children to come unto Him, exactly what Jesus said we should be doing.

But the Godless, Christless forces of modern atheism howl out that this is immoral of us and in some cases they’re even able to have laws passed in some countries making it illegal to teach our children the fundamental truths of God. That’s just how bad it has gotten, remarkably.

Sometimes the most effective attacks of Satan are the ones that are like poisonous gas, seeping in under the door. If the forces of ISIS or some foreign power were amassed against us, most are prepared for that kind of attack and would do all to repel it.

But meantime Christians and the people of faith are being successfully disarmed worldwide by nothing more than words aimed at dissuaded us from obeying the commandments of God regarding the raising of our children in the faith of their fathers. Millions of children are being cut off from the nourishment God would provide for them through their parents who should be daily “feeding His sheep”, in this case their own little children, in the ways of the Lord. It’s just pitiful. I can’t do the subject justice.

Well, I started out talking about bringing children to Jesus and I’ve ended up talking about the seemingly successful attacks against people of faith in our times who try to bring up their children “in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” (Ephesians 6:4) I guess the only Christianity I have known has been the discipleship, “soldier of Jesus Christ” kind of Christianity. (II Timothy 2:3) I believe that’s what I need to be and we need to be, especially in these rapidly darkening times.

Jude, the Lord’s brother, said that “you should earnestly contend for the faith that was once delivered unto the saints. (Jude 3) But that doesn’t mean getting into heated political arguments with people or just going around acting like you have the call of Jeremiah. I’ll end this with a few verses about how we are supposed to “contend for the faith” in these times.

The fundamental method of standing up for our faith and protecting our sheep and children is that this should be done with wisdom, love and by the Spirit of God. Paul said, “The servant of the Lord must not strive but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves if God will give them repentance unto the acknowledging of the truth.” (II Timothy 2:24 & 25) We are “not to strive” but we are to “contend for the faith”. It can seem to be a thin line between those two at times.

May the Lord help us all to stand up for our convictions and to continue bring those we witness to and our children to Jesus, as He so clearly commanded us.

“And all your children shall be taught of the Lord. And great shall be the peace of your children.” (Isaiah 54:13)

The most controversial chapter in the Bible

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The most controversial chapter in the Bible is I Corinthians 7. Or at least it’s around the top of the list. For those who’ve really studied the Word, they’ll know what I mean. Basically Paul is tackling the subject of marriage, sex, abstinence and the whole gambit of human male/female relationships. And on top of that he was addressing the Corinthian body of believers, the group that’s become known as the most immature, broadly unspiritual group that Paul encountered.

I won’t even quote here what Paul confronted just two chapters before. You can read I Corinthians 5:1-5 to get an idea of how bad things were for the Christians in Corinth. As they post on some videos, pretty much the same can be said for those verses there: “Viewer discretion is advised”. Some would definitely give it an “R”.

But Peter Brown, considered the foremost writer on the Late Antiquities said that I Corinthians 7 did more to shape and form Christian viewpoints on marriage, sex and male/female relationships than any other passage in the Bible. Repeatedly this was the chapter quoted, claimed and exalted by ones like Augustine of Hippo and Jerome, who translated the Bible into Latin, the Vulgate Bible.

Quoting from I Corinthians 7, the early church fathers, especially by 250 AD and onwards, felt that it was clear from I Corinthians 7 that marriage was not really God’s highest and best. After all, hadn’t Paul said that it was better to remain as he was? (I Corinthians 7:7) And everyone assumes he was single, as far as we know.

But then I’ve read some Christians writers, such as F. B. Meyer, who were convinced that at one time Paul must have been married, otherwise he never could have been part of the Sanhedrin. In I Corinthians 7, Paul wrote, “Are you loosed from a wife? Seek not a wife.” (I Corinthians 7:27) Are Paul’s writings here to be taking in the same league as the Ten Commandments of Sinai? Certainly and without question that’s how it became as the Early Church morphed over into the early Catholic Church.

By the 400’s AD it was taken for granted that Christians knew that celibacy was God’s highest will. If you just had to get married, well you still might be able to go to heaven. But you just better not have a nice time with your wife or husband! All that stuff is just only in order to have children! That’s all! Shame! Shame on you if you even think about anything pleasurable! That’s sin!

Well, I jest. But of course it wasn’t really funny. The Jewish idea of a husband and wife (“rejoice with the wife of thy youth” -Proverbs 5:18) was utterly replaced by what became the supposed Christian viewpoint of marriage: that is was this horrible, filthy thing that God will just barely tolerate and won’t necessarily send you to hell for. But you sure better be in complete fear and trembling and be as holy as you possibly can be since all that stuff is absolutely of Satan!

Or so it was taught by around 400 AD. And it was still taught that way when I was a child and teen growing up in the 1960’s. And, very sadly, most of that those people way back then and up to now got it from how they read I Corinthians 7.

Of course Paul repeatedly in that chapter gave rejoinders and caveats to make it clear he was not pronouncing “laws from Sinai” on the subject. He said in I Corinthians 7:12, “This say I, not the Lord.” What does that mean? Did he say that kind of thing in other place in his epistles? Really not much.

He says, “I have received no commandment from the Lord but I speak as one who has obtained mercy…”. (I Corinthians 7:25) That’s how you say that he was giving his personal opinion and experience on the subject, a second place in I Corinthians 7 where he puts a sense of personalization and hesitancy into the passage. And there are other place where he seems to really make it clear that this is his personal opinion as a brother in Christ, one who has obtained grace and is sharing his thoughts and experiences.

Sadly, I Corinthians 7 has passed into history as the most fundamental, dogmatically taught passage on human relationships in the New Testament. Some question if Paul wrote the book of Hebrews but it says there, “Marriage is honorable in all things and the bed undefiled…” (Hebrews 13:4) But it was too late for those who believed that an abstinent, ascetic lifestyle was a fundamental tenet of Christianity.

You may not believe this but much modern scholarship tries to say that Paul didn’t write all the epistles that are attributed to him. If you don’t believe me, Google it. One of the things put forward is that Ephesians 5 and his views on human relationships, marriage and sex in that chapter seem to some to be so opposed to I Corinthians 7. So modern Christian erudition says Paul wrote I Corinthians 7 but not Ephesians. Pitiful. Sad. Infuriating.

Folks, what can I say? If you’ve been taught that I Corinthians 7 is one of the highpoints of the New Testament and that verses cherry picked out of there by ones like Jerome, Augustine and many others prove that the wonderful creation of man and woman and the joy of married love is just something that God will barely tolerate and actually goes against His chosen plan and will, then you’re being fed something that is not the fundamental truth of the New Testament.

Go back and read that chapter again. Notice Paul’s repeated hesitancy to get overly dogmatic. Read Ephesians 5, as well as many passages in the Old Testament which are still completely relevant and show that God has “given us richly all things to enjoy” (I Timothy 6:17). That includes the joy of married love in all its forms, a reflection of our relationship with God.

OK, I’m glad I got that off my chest. I virtually swore (although I didn’t actually) that I’d never write about this subject or about a certain modern country in the Middle East which also is so very controversial. But I suppose these things do need to be addressed and the light of Scripture brought upon them. God bless you, I hope this was some help and that no one was offended or shocked by my expressing my thoughts on this (what is for some) sinister subject.

Christians doing their homework

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A lot of Christians haven’t done their homework. And, sadly, that often results in their being made fools of in public discussions. If anyone should have and treasure the truth, it should be Christians. And facts and truth run hand in hand. If you think you are going to make it by just your emotions, how much you love Jesus and therefore are so vehemently right, I’m afraid you may often end up being made a fool of. And that shouldn’t happen.

My early years of being a Christian were often spent on the street, personally witnessing to people in places like Hollywood Boulevard in California or later Trafalgar Square in London and Dam Square in Amsterdam. And I can tell you, it took more than just loving the Lord to be able to do that. I had to do my homework. I had to know what the facts were or I’d be made a fool of by people who would ask me tricky questions that I didn’t know how to answer. Or sometimes sincere questions by “lost sheep” and I didn’t know what the answer was. It was similar to combat or working in an emergency room and I had to learn what to say and what to do or I’d really be failing the Lord, others and even endanger my faith.

But it seems nowadays that if we Christians just have a snappy rejoinder or popular comeback, we think that’s all we need. It’s not. And the enemy of God can again and again make us look like ignoramuses when that really isn’t necessary. I personally don’t feel like I need to retreat into my warm, fuzzy Christian shell and let the atheists take the day and the high ground. But if we don’t do our homework and even be willing to break out of some of our pet doctrines that some Christian leaders expect us to hold, then I think we can really see a continuing defeat for Christian truth in the realm of public discourse. Because so many think that babbling zingers back at people is what God wants us to do, rather than really speaking the truth in Christ.

We’re supposed to “be always ready to give an answer to them that ask of us” (I Peter 3:15). Sometimes those answers can be simple since often God’s truth is simple. But also there are times to “know your stuff” and not be browbeaten and made to look like fools so that we default to simplistic, cream-puff answers. It’s like the Lord said for us to be, “Wise as serpents and harmless as doves.” (Matthew 10:16) Jesus Himself and also the early Christians in the book of Acts were relevant and had the high ground in the battles of dialogue they had in their day. They said of Jesus, “no man ever spoke like this man” (John 7:46). And later it was said of Stephen, “They were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spoke.” (Acts 6:10)

Today someone sent me from Scandinavia a very timely and troubling news article about more and more people having a biometric chip implanted under their skin on their hand. Of course for most Christians, this immediately brings to mind the verses in Revelation 13, having to do with the final days before the return of Jesus, how that “no man might buy or sell save he that had the mark or the number of the beast in his hand or forehead.” (Revelation 13:16)

I found it very interesting that this procedure in Scandinavia is continuing to gain ground where it’s been going on a few years. It’s another sign that things are getting closer and closer to the final days spoken of in the Bible. But then also I felt a sense of sadness. Because I just almost expect that a lot of Christians will immediate pipe up and say that what those folks in Scandinavia and other places in Europe are doing is the literal fulfillment of Revelation 13 and that those individuals who have done this already are now doomed by the Word of God itself to the Lake of Fire.

It’s like watching a chess match or a sport event and you see someone making a move and you just know they are going to suffer for it and be made fools of. Because, as far as I know,

what those people are doing in having that chip implanted in their hand at this time is not specifically, utterly and completely a fulfillment of what is spoken of in Revelation 13.

Is it a major step along the way? Certainly. Is that technology most likely to be what is used for the final Mark of the Beast in the final world government of the endtime? Almost certainly. But the Lord is not going to send people to hell because of some economic step they’ve taken to link them to the commercial system. The Mark of the Beast is certainly going to be that but also much more. Exactly what, we don’t know at this time.

But if Christians now go crazy and start getting irrational about these chip implants that are going on, this is playing exactly into the hand of the enemies of God. They can effortlessly make us look like religious kooks and extremist and the undecided people will be wondering about it since it looks rather innocuous at this time to them.

So, folks, do your homework. This reminds me of another article I wrote a few years back called “Don’t shoot till you see the whites of their eyes”. Or the video I did called “Famous Failures of Prophetic Interpretation.” Don’t go off half cocked. Try a little of that “wise as serpents” thing the Lord spoke of. He also said “The children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light”. (Luke 16:8)

Maybe we ought to remember that in the endtime, “the people who do know thier God shall be strong and do exploits. And they that understand among the people shall instruct many”. (Daniel 11:32 & 33) But we will be made fools of, as has happened many times, when we just run our mouths in emotions without really getting the mind of the Lord and the wisdom of the Lord so as to know what we really ought to be saying in these situations. “If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God…” (James 1:5) “Wisdom is the principle thing”. (Proverbs 4:7

Daily habits

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Daily habits at times can seem to be a pointless routine, a of rut of drudgery that we fall into. But this morning I was struck by how thankful I am that I have some daily spiritual habits that have become a part of my life and that they have been for my good.

Some of us just like spontaneity. We’re skeptical of almost any established thing and we just want to kick over the traditions and have a really good cleansing revolution! But then many find that it’s a whole lot easier to be opposed to something and to find fault than it is to really find something truly better. And then, next, to steadfastly go that better way, building up a better life, a better structure and better system than the one we so vehemently originally opposed.

And often it can start with person daily habits. When we were kids, if we had good parents, they taught us such simple things as brushing our teeth, taking a bath, looking both ways before crossing the street, tiny little seemingly insignificant things. But often it’s those habits that make up our lives for the most part and the importance of little things done daily is so often a theme in the Bible.

For me, having daily devotions is a fundamental part of my life. Spending decades on the mission field, working closely with other Christian disciples, you just find that it’s essential to start the day off with prayer, devotion and some time in God’s Word. And now, although I’m not working as closely as I did with others years ago, I still just don’t have a day go by without a time of morning devotions.

I have music that I listen to, songs of faith, that help me start the day. Then, after breakfast, I have several devotional books that have readings for each day of the year that I go through. I have two of the books from “Streams in the Desert” by Mrs. Cowman which have been such a blessing. I read daily from A. B. Simpson’s “Days of Heaven on Earth”. I listen to Spurgen’s “Morning and Evening” thoughts. And a highpoint for me has been to listen to readings of J. C. Ryle’s thoughts on the gospel of Luke.

After this devotion time is finished, I go out to the extended back yard we have on this property on the countryside and take some time in prayer and getting quiet and pouring out my heart before the Lord. Several of the blog articles I’ve written came from thoughts that came to me during this time out in the back. “Green Leaves Hanging On” and “Cardinals in the Winter” are two like that.

And actually, when you read the Bible, you find that this experience of daily habits that the Lord wants us to have has been a constant for thousands of years. Daniel was accustomed to praying 3 times a day and this is what his adversaries used to accuse him to the king of Persia that he was worshiping contrary to the King’s decrees. Of course the whole Law of Moses was full of edicts and guidelines on how the Jews should worship God, in the temple as well as in almost every aspect of their lives.

Can it all turn into tradition and meaningless formalism? It certainly can and sadly often does. The Bible and history is full of that happening. But what’s probably even worse is that, repulsed by empty traditions, many people commit an even greater sin. They “throw the baby out with the bathwater.”

They root out the wheat with the tares, to use the analogy that Jesus shared. Yes, of course: empty, meaningless tradition and formalism is nothing but husks in our teeth. But often there originally were sustaining, invigorating eternal truths that were the basis of the traditions and habits that once had such significance.

So we’ve to come full circle to the beginning again. For me, I have a daily routine that has been good for me. I have daily devotions. I have time in God’s Word. I even review around 40 Bible verses every day of the large number of ones I memorized in my first few years as a Christian. I sing songs of dedication and love for the Lord. I go out in nature and take time with the Lord, probably not very differently from what Isaac did nearly 4000 years ago when he “went out into the field to meditate at eventide.” (Genesis 24:63)

And I hope you have some healthy, sustaining daily habits. We have to not just take care of ourselves physically but we have to cultivate healthy, Godly daily habits as the Lord has been leading His people to do since the beginning. God help us all to not through the baby out with the bathwater. May He help us to maintain Godly “traditions” and routines which keep us on the straight and narrow path of life and His will.

Christmas and prophecy

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No other event from 2000 years ago holds the attention of the world like Christmas and the birth of Jesus does. On the other hand, some might say of Christmas, “Not again!”. Or their words might be, “Some unwed teenager has a baby in some shed and we all go crazy!”

But I can tell you one element that’s almost always left out about the story of Christmas which originally was virtually paramount to those who first heard it in the time of ancient Israel. “What’s that?” you ask? Here’s what: Christmas. Was. Prophesied! It’s that important and now virtually unknown. I’ll attempt to explain.

As much as some castigate Christmas, it’s helped make it so that the events of Jesus’ birth are known far and wide and are celebrated yearly, as they have been for 2000 years. People all over the world, Christian or otherwise, often know that Jesus was born in Bethlehem. You may be a kid in Baluchistan or in a yeshiva in Brooklyn. But if you ask your teacher, “What’s this thing about Christmas?”, they’ll probably be able to tell you what Christmas is.

But almost no one knows why it matters that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, much less the circumstances of His mother, Mary. And that’s because fulfilled Biblical prophecy has become one of the unknown phenomenon of our enlightened times. Has there been a conspiracy or intentional cover-up to remove Bible prophecy from our knowledge? I don’t think it’s actually that. Nevertheless the plain fulfillment of prophecy is one of the greatest proofs of a supernatural God who has a plan for mankind and is steering events toward an ultimate showdown between Light and Darkness.

“Great, Mark; so what was prophesied about Christmas?”

First, Bethlehem itself was predicted specifically by God through the mouth of the prophet Micah to be the birthplace of the coming King of the Jews, over 700 years before Jesus’ birth. It says in Micah 5:2, (God speaking to the town of Bethlehem), “But you Bethlehem, though you be small among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth the one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose going forth is from old, from everlasting.”

The Jews of Jesus’ time knew exactly what this meant and even used it to try to prove Jesus was not the Messiah. Jesus was born in Bethlehem but grew up in Nazareth. So the unbelieving Jews knew Jesus was from Nazareth and said, “Has not Scripture said that Christ shall come from the seed of David and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was?” (John 7:42) But Christ did come from the town of Bethlehem; He was born there although he grew up in Nazareth. I guess those folks who were trying to use this against Him hadn’t done their research.

What does that mean about “the seed of David and the town of Bethlehem, where David was”? Again, it was majorly significant to people 2000 years ago, but virtually not at all to us now. The Messiah to come for the Jews  was to be a direct descendant of King David, Israel’s greatest king. And, like we’ve read, the Messiah was to be from Bethlehem. Now, 2000 years later, folks still know Jesus was born in Bethlehem. But the significance of this has been erased from the story.

It was prophesied, foretold and every Israeli at that time knew it! They also knew the Messiah was to be a descendant of King David. Was Jesus a physical descendant of David? Absolutely. The opening 16 verses of the book of Matthew traces the linage of “the Virgin Mary” directly back to King David. “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” (Matthew 1:1)

And what about that “Virgin Mary” thing? Please, humor me here but… It. Was. Prophesied! It was prophesied of the Messiah to come that He would be born of a virgin. Isaiah 7:14 says, “The Lord himself shall give you a sign; behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel.” And Emmanuel means “God with us.” (Matthew 1:23)

The Messiah that every Jew back then looked for would be born in Bethlehem, born of the linage of David and born of a virgin. That’s why Christmas is so important, because Jesus was not some ordinary little baby born to an unmarried teen. He was and is the Messiah promised to Israel.

There’s more. The Roman world of that day knew already that a King was about to be born to the Jews because the knowledge of the prophecies of Daniel was known to some degree throughout the world of that day. In ancient Roman writings can be found places where they knew that Rome was “the fourth kingdom” (Daniel 2:40 & 7:23) and that at that time God would “set up a kingdom that would never be destroyed”. (Daniel 2:44)

If your Christmas has been whittled down to some quick meal like at a fast food joint, if the ingredient of fulfilled prophecy has been eliminated from your spiritual meal, then you surely aren’t getting what was originally there. I just get incensed at how spiritually weak, depleted and malnourished the people of this world have become because they’ve lost the knowledge of God’s mighty power and willingness to foretell the key events of our existence and future here in this world. Christmas was not only a historical event; it was one of the most prophesied events in the history of mankind. But that’s been virtually lost to us.

I hope you have a merry Christmas. But I also hope you “grow in grace and knowledge” (II Peter 3:18)  and are “strengthened in the inner man” (Ephesians 3:16) by the power of the truth and Word of God, so much of which is so distant and foreign to the vast majority of those of us in these times. God help us all! Merry Christmas.

Intimacy in Cyberspace ?

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Intimacy. Let’s admit it: we all want that. Physically, yes; but even as much or more that union of heart with heart with another kindred soul. Jesus prayed to His Father, “That they all may be one, as You, Father are in me and I in you.” (John 17:21) Some have it in their families, mothers and fathers, husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, the special feeling you have with your grandparents.

Intimacy is one of the most desired, sought and even most needed things we have in our lives. And now in our times we have the internet and cyberspace which has made it possible to be in contact basically with nearly anyone anywhere in the world. It’s certainly been a huge thing in my life to where much of my time is based around the material I post on line and communications I have all over the world with people I work with or with ones who’ve viewed or read my material

But am I enjoying intimacy in these settings? Is cyberspace satisfying the deepest desires of my soul and heart? In one sense I can definitely say no. On the other hand, equally I also have to say that some of my interactions with this vast assembly of friends and acquaintances have definitely been very satisfying and encouraging.

Maybe it comes down to what it takes to really satisfy each individual. Some know what real intimacy is like. It can be pinnacle experiences you’ve had in your relationship with God and Christ. It can be those incredible moments of bonding and unity with your mate, where you know you are truly loving that person and are being loved. Even times with your best friend, sharing your heart, being listened to and understood, even that can be a form of intimacy. And of course the interactions we have with our families, when things are going really well, is also a degree of intimacy that can sometimes be sustained over many years.

So how does cyberspace work as being an avenue of intimacy? While it’s been truly fantastic for me personally in being able to reach out across continents to where I’m getting to know folks in places like Rwanda, Dagestan, Nagaland and even remote towns where there are no roads to those places, it still doesn’t beat the real thing.

Real time. Face time. Human to human, right-in-front-of-you where you can see their face, hold their hand, hear their voice. That still is the benchmark of intimacy. We’re not cyborgs. We’re flesh and blood human beings who know the true and full reality when we see it. Cyberspace has been an incredible blessing. But for me it’s not been able to replace the need for traditional reality that humanity has known for millennia.

So, like for probably millions of people, “I still haven’t found what I’m looking for.” In the Lord I certainly have. “You are complete in Him.” (Colossians 2:10) But it’s also true that, “It is not good for man to be alone.” (Genesis 2:18) Even when Adam had God with him in the Garden in a closeness most of us can’t even imagine, God still knew that Adam needed someone like himself beside him. And it’s still the same today.

While I’m thankful for the mass of friends and acquaintances I’ve come to have through the internet, I have to be honest and say that this other aspect of my life, real-time, face-time traditional reality intimacy with others is still pretty lacking in some respects and I feel it a lot.

I can imagine that very many people have turned to cyberspace to try to satisfy the aching void so many feel of the need for real closeness, even true intimacy. I don’t know if you could compare it to those who turn to alcohol or drugs to relieve their heartache but maybe there’s a comparison. But on the internet, you’re mostly interacting with someone real, an actual individual at the other end of a Facebook chat or your email message. So it’s not like alcohol really in that sense. But it can only go so far.

Does intimacy imply ecstasy? No. Solomon said, “Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart, so does the sweetness of a man’s friend by hearty council.” (Proverbs 27:9) It’s like what I wrote about in “Jonathan, son of Saul”. Evidently King David and Saul’s son Jonathan had a very deep and strong friendship. But there never was any hint of anything physical about it.

Every person needs real, deep intimacy. That’s what we have with God through Jesus. “There is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” (I Timothy 2:5) We are restored, we are reconciled to God in Christ. And those things can bring joys and emotions that words sometimes can’t really reach.

And yet…, and yet we who are still here in this world most of the time still need others. We also need human love. Unity, contact, oneness. It says in the Bible, “Now we know in part, but then shall we know, even as we are known.” (I Corinthians 13:12)

It sounds like, in heaven, intimacy will be the coinage of the realm, intimacy with Christ and God but also with an incredible oneness with each other. But here…? Well, thank God for the internet and the good that has come of it. Still, for me at least I yet yearn and long for intimacy in this world and I know that is not really going to come through cyberspace.

It’s going to have to happen in real time, traditional reality. “The greatest of these is love.” (I Corinthians 13:13) God help us to continue in Him and His love. And, if it be His will, love with another human being, even real time intimacy.

Follow God and miracles will follow you

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There are so many promises in the Bible for those who follow God, who not only believe in but also actually obey the Lord, that He will manifest Himself unto them. Jesus said in John 14:21, “He that has my commandments and keeps them, he is it that loves me. And he that loves me will be loved of my father, and I will love him and will manifest myself unto him.”

[This is the text to a talk I gave last week at a Christian retreat in India  to about 85 people.]

That was the kind of Christianity that was presented to me by some young “Jesus people” when I was 21 years old. A few months before this I’d had a series of miraculous experiences, including a very traumatic one where I nearly died and was about to leave my body, unfortunately heading in the wrong direction from what most of us hope will be our final destiny. But this was what it took to wake me up and shake me up enough to fathom that there is a spiritual world and that it is more real and important than the physical world we’re so often enmeshed in.

But I didn’t know who Jesus was. I’d come to know that God was real, I now knew the spiritual world was real and I’d even come to know that the devil was real. But I didn’t know who Jesus was or is. And those teenage, Bible-sharing “Jesus people” showed me through the Bible who Jesus was. So I received Him in prayer as they led me to do.

And as I continued to hang around these new friends, they eventually challenged me to do as the early followers of Jesus had done. Jesus said to some, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” (Matthew 4:19) To others He said, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it. But whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same will save it.” (Luke 9:23)

Having already experienced so much of the froth, frivolity and poison of this world, I had an easy time in making that decision. I decided to take them up on their challenge and to commit my life to Christian service, following the Lord and His Word as best as I could.

“So how’s that working for you?” you might ask. My answer would be, “Really, really well.” And that’s what I want to talk to you about this morning. I know that, for most of you here, we’re on the same page when it comes to Christian discipleship. That’s why you’re here at this retreat. Yesterday we talked about Bible prophecy and that can in some ways be a rather long and sometimes steep learning curve. But Christian discipleship can and should be something you are born into when you receive the Lord, like what happened to me.

We could start off talking about salvation in the Lord, like we did yesterday. That’s where it all starts. I assume and believe that all of you here are saved. You’ve received the Lord as your personal savior, you understand the basics of Salvation and you have a personal relationship with the Lord.

And I assume that you’ve all received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I know that’s your shared belief and you understand the importance of the Holy Spirit. Not all churches and Christians do. Some churches teach that receiving Jesus and being filled with the Holy Spirit is the same thing. But in Acts 19:2 the disciples said to ones they met , “Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed?” Those ones answered, “We haven’t even heard of the Holy Spirit.” So the Apostle Paul went on and led those folks in Ephesus to be baptized with the Holy Ghost.

These are all basics. It won’t help to talk about following God if you aren’t yet saved and then have received the power that Jesus promised us in the Holy Spirit. But if you have come that far, what’s next? Just go now to heaven? “We’re ok now, we’re saved and filled. What else is there but to go to be with the Lord, right?”

Well, as I’m sure you know, that’s not right. Jesus gave what’s called “the great commission” in Mark 16:15 when He said to the disciples, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” And, as the phrase goes, this is often what separates the men from the boys. Or, much more accurately, this is what has come to differentiate between what has been called “churchianity” and the original Christianity of the book of Acts and the early church.

We’re called and commissioned to “preach the gospel”. Those words sound  slightly funny in our times because we can envision that we are suppose to ascend some pulpit somewhere and “preach”, which nowadays is a word almost only used in a religious sense. Even the word “witness” is pretty much only thought of in a religious sense. But if those words are maybe uncomfortable to you or sound out of style with the times we live in, you could think of it in the way of sharing. Most folks understand and even approve of sharing.

Here’s something in Isaiah that maybe puts the great commission in another framework that is perhaps easier to see yourself in. “If you draw out your soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light shall rise in obscurity and your darkness shall be as the noonday. And the Lord shall guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought and you shall be like a watered garden and like springs of waters whose waters fail not.”  (Isaiah 58:10 & 11)

Or as Jesus taught when He was on earth, “Give and it shall be given unto you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over. For with the same measure that you give, it shall be given unto you.” (Luke 6:38) That’s an integral ingredient of what our present life should be as disciples of Christ while we are still here on earth.

“But, Mark! I thought you were going to talk about miracles! When are you going to talk about miracles?”

The good answer to that is found just a few short verses after Jesus’ famous ringing words of Mark 16:15. He told them to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” Then, five verses later, at the end of the book of Mark, it says, “And they went forth and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming His word with signs following.” (Mark 16:20)

“Signs following”. As they began to obey and get out and do what the Lord told them to do, witness and win souls and share all they had, the Lord was right there with them (since He’s always way out in front anyway), and He “confirmed His word with signs following.” Miracles. The book of Acts is just almost one continual testimony of this, with the disciples, in fits and starts, obeying the Lord and following the leading of the Holy Spirit. If you want to read about miracles happening to disciples, you should read the book of Acts. That’s the blueprint and plan for Christianity yet so few churches really take it seriously for our times.

One of my favorite chapters in the Bible is Acts chapter 10. Talk about following God. Talk about “going” and pioneering. Peter was already “going”. He was up in Joppa, up the coast from the home church in Jerusalem. So he was already obeying and the Lord “gives the Holy Spirit to them that obey Him.” (Acts 5.32) And Peter was even taking things to the Lord in prayer, alone with God on a housetop.

And then the action starts, when the Lord seems to just go completely contrary to what Peter was expecting. God shows him a sheet full of unclean animals and the Lord says to him, “Arise Peter, kill and eat.” What does Peter respond? “Yes sir, Lord! Anything you say, Lord!”? Nope, that’s not what Peter said. In fact Peter directly disagrees with and says no to the Lord, as he had been prone to do from time to time in the past.

The gentle, loving son of God was patient and kind, telling Peter that there were three men downstairs, “unclean” and that Peter should immediately go with them, “doubting nothing”. As you know, sometimes just the “follow God” part of our contract with Him can get to be a little challenging, as it was for Peter here.

But Peter knew the Lord enough, loved the Lord enough and had gone through so many breakings and remakings that he somehow here obeyed, probably with some trepidation since good Jews were not supposed to hang out with Romans, which evidently those folks at the door were.

The result? Cornelius the Roman centurion, leader of 100 Roman troops, got gloriously saved and filled with the Holy Ghost, as did his family and friends who’d come to hear Peter.

“So what?”, you could say. But this was the monumental moment in the history of God’s relationship with man when His Spirit and you could even say His focus turned towards “the gentiles” rather than the Jewish nation within which the Lord had been almost exclusively working till then. (Here’s the link to a blog article I wrote on Acts chapter 10, as well as a recording of a live class on Acts 10 which the article was based on.)

But God had to find a man. God had to have someone yielded enough to obey Him, to physically get up and go, “doubting nothing”. The miracles didn’t precede the obedience. But in this case, it wasn’t just a showy miracle for those folks right there but it involved a major change of direction in the history of mankind, the beginnings of the early church as the Lord got Peter, the leader of the early church at that time to truly go even further into all the world than their Jewish heritage would allow them to go, except by the almost forceful leading of the Holy Spirit.

What does it mean to us in our times? The conditions of discipleship are pretty much still the same today. We still have to do the going. “As they went, they were healed.” (Luke 17:14) But we have to do the “wenting”. The Lord raised the dead. But they had to roll away the stone.

Many of you here understand the fundamental link between obedience and blessings. We are not our own, we are bought with a price. We may not understand but all we have to do is obey. If you can accept those conditions, like the Lord laid out for His first disciples, then there’s still that cup of discipleship to be drunk in our times. There’s a poor sin-sick world that needs his love and truth. The harvest is still plenteous but the true laborers are still few.

But the good news is, the Lord has already spoken in prophecy of these very times we live in. And somebody, maybe you, is going to fulfill those prophecies. It says of the very last days “the people who do know their God shall be strong and do exploits.” (Daniel 11:32)  It says, “They that understand amoung the people shall instruct many.” (Daniel 11:33) It says in Revelation, talking about the ones who are here at the time of the worst of the Antichrist and his forces, “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives unto the death.” (Revelation 12:11)

It is written. It is ordained. It’s already happened in the eyes of God. There are going to be victors in these final days, a called-out, separated-from-the-world discipleship church of the endtime who will be shining brightly, “doing exploits” and “instructing many” in the last days before the return of Jesus. They’ll be truly following God and the Lord will be working mightily with them, performing miracles on their behalf. I believe that’s the calling and heritage that is there for every person in this room. May the mighty God of Abraham and His Son Jesus help us to be what He has called us to be.

Ignorance and Prejudice or Truth and Integrity

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Ignorance and prejudice or truth and integrity? These things know no boundaries or borders. Are “They” ignorant and prejudice while “We” are innocent of those things? Nope. No one group anywhere has a monopoly on any of these, regardless of what you hear almost everywhere nowadays.

I’ve had some fascinating experiences recently on Facebook. I “boost” (as Facebook calls it) my blog posts and videos via Facebook to many countries and I receive some pretty interesting responses. I’ve lived in Islamic countries off and on for years and I guess I have a special interest in people in that part of the world. So when I’ve been able to boost the videos to Islamic countries, in languages spoken in those places, I’ve been interested to know what the response will be.

Recently one situation in particular has been special for me. A local language video I’ve done was going out to an Islamic country and I was getting feedback through Facebook. Yes, some of it could be called negative but I could tell that most of those responding had just never heard of the prophet Daniel. Some commented that this was just a Jewish myth. Others were taking an accepted Islamic response that there were only 25 prophets recognized in Islam and that Daniel was not listed as one of them.

But then Facebook responses started coming from a man from that country, trying to edify and correct what he could see were uneducated and often prejudiced comments that were being made. He is Islamic, not a Christian. But he was reproving his countrymen to not so quickly dismiss things they knew very little about.

The prophet Daniel’s tomb in Tarsus, Turkey

He told them that the prophet Daniel is not mentioned in the Koran but that he’s definitely mentioned in Islamic writings as being an ancient, genuine prophet of the Jews. He went on to tell them that the tomb of Daniel is said to be in Tarsus, Turkey.  He also found and shared in the chat discussion an Islamic website that has extensive information on Daniel chapter 2 from the Bible, the subject of the video I’d posted on line in their language.

And I was like, “Wow, God bless that guy. He’s not Christian but he’s standing up to the ignorance and some prejudice he’s seeing and is trying to rectify it, going against the wind and the trend in order to try to help his countrymen have a more educated, nuanced view of these things, even if he doesn’t actually fully agree with what I’ve shared in the video.”

I don’t know about you but I’m pained and grieved every single day by the prejudice and ignorance I see… everywhere. It seems to be one of the greatest banes of our times and it increases by the day. They say, “It’s not who’s right but what’s right.” So it should be, doubtless. But is that working where you are? Or does it seem that society is in some kind of centrifugal spin, separating into tribes, factions, movements and divisions with nothing but yawning gaps of hatred, ignorance and prejudice between them?

As they say, “Truth is the first causality of any war.” And finding those who’ll stand up for truth, particularly if it goes against their clan or interest group, is very rare indeed, at least as far as I know. So it was fascinating to see this Islamic man going against the wind where he lives, setting straight the uninformed and even prejudiced majority of commentators on my video postings. And actually this has happened with posts of mine to other Islamic countries in other parts of the world and in other languages, where local Islamic ones there also spoke up to set the record straight and inform those commenting that Daniel was in fact recognized in Islamic writings.

How about that? As far as I’m concerned, anyone in these times who stands up for truth and integrity, against prejudice and ignorance, deserves recognition and acclaim. Jesus said, “Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice.” (John 18:37) So you may be part of my clan, living in my state here in America, look like me, talk like me and seemingly we’re really on the same page and in the same category. But if you’re prejudiced and ignorant, if you’re pulsing with hate and spewing out animosity, falsehood and slander against those you oppose, then I’m obliged as a Christian to stand up to your ignorance and prejudice, even if we’re the same in so many other ways.

And if I find “foreigners”, folks of a different religion, race and background from me who are opposing falsehood, ignorance and prejudice, then I strangely will end up feeling affinity with those folks, whoever they may be, who are fighting the same fight I am, for truth, love and righteousness. Jesus said “I am… the truth.” (John 14:6) And some people, even though they may not have all the truth that others of us have, if they’re doing the best they can to live and stand up for the truth they do have, I feel they deserve acclamation and encouragement.

Actually of course, all Christians should abhor and resist ignorance and prejudice. All of us should stand and fight for integrity and the holiness of truth. But, as most of you know, that’s really not what’s going on in our times, or certainly not nearly as much as there should be.

God help us all to oppose ignorance, prejudge and hatred and to do what we can to bring truth and genuine veracity to our friends and neighbors, even as this dear Islamic man recently did in response to the comments he saw about the videos I’ve done.