What’s it to you?

Posted on October 5, 2013 by Mark McMillion

Jesus and Peter-1 flat Have you ever said that to someone, “What’s it to you?” Or maybe someone’s said that to you? It’s usually not considered a real warm, friendly way to talk to someone. But Jesus said that one time to Peter, one of His top disciples. Why would Jesus talk like that to someone? Let’s look at the context and see if we can find out.

This all happened after Jesus’ resurrection. In another blog article, I wrote about “He Said It Three Times” and this is part of the same conversation where Jesus said “What’s it to you?” (John 21:22) to Peter. He’d just told Peter three times to “Feed My sheep” (John 21:16), to teach and minister to the disciples and followers of Jesus.

And the very next thing the Lord said to Peter was, “When you were young, you fastened your belt and went where you wanted. But when you grow old, you’ll stretch forth your hands and another will carry you where you do not wish.” (John 21:18) And the Bible goes on to tell us that the Lord was signifying to Peter that, when he was old, he would “stretch forth his hands”; in other words, Peter would be crucified.

So this was a very important, significant conversation Jesus was having with Peter, all taking place after the Lord’s death on the cross and His resurrection. What was Peter’s reaction? The Bible says that the next thing was that Peter saw John, another of Jesus’ closest disciples, and so he asked Jesus, “What about him?” (John 21:21)

Sometimes you just wonder and marvel at all this. The love and patience of Jesus. The all-too-humanness of some of His disciples, perhaps especially Peter. Peter had just heard some precious, personal words from Jesus for himself. But it doesn’t come across that Peter really relished the moment and its significance. Instead he asked the Lord, “What about John?” In His mercy and longsuffering, the Lord even partially answered Peter’s question but then also added a chiding reproof.

Jesus answered Peter’s question about John this way: “If I will that he remains until I come back, what is that to you? Follow me.” (John 21:22) In that one sentence, Jesus left open the possibility that John the Beloved would remain alive till the return of Jesus at His Second Coming. History tells us that John lived perhaps another 60 years after this time, to extreme old age. And here Jesus was foretelling that John would remain long after the Lord had returned to heaven.

But then Jesus asks Peter directly, “What’s it to you?” “Why should that matter to you, Peter? Just follow Me.” Of course it should be said that there are different ways you can say that. You can say that phrase in a cocky, challenging way or you can say it in a kind but somewhat chiding way. I’m sure the Lord spoke that in a kind way. But why would the Lord talk to Peter like that, even if it was kindly said? Was Jesus finally getting fed up with all the boneheaded things Peter had done and said over the last 3 years? Patience was wearing thin? I think not.

which greatest flat Here are a couple of things that Jesus might have foreseen that He was trying to prevent happening to His disciples as He was about to leave them: comparing and jealousy. Even before His crucifixion, His disciples were coming to Him to ask Him which would be the greatest of them in heaven. (Matthew 18:1)

There’s just an inborn sinful nature of man to “compare ourselves among ourselves and measure ourselves by ourselves” (II Corinthians 10:12), as Paul later warned the Corinthians. Getting our eyes on each other, “which is the greatest?”, “who gets most?”, “do I get enough?”, “will someone get more than me?”, and “is that really fair?” It’s just so ingrained in us but is so contrary to God’s ways.

Basically Jesus was telling Peter to not look too much on how others were doing or what was happening or going to happen in their lives. “Just follow Me”, was Jesus’ bottom line to Peter. And perhaps this reproof hit home for Peter. It seems like Peter and John got along well and were never recorded in the later parts of the Bible as ever having any strife or competitiveness, although I’m certain that Satan would have loved to stir that up.

But what about us? There’s a message there for everyone, not to feel we have to measure everything against our own personal standards of what’s fair and “am I getting what I deserve?” Maybe you’re even in an “unfair” situation right now. Maybe people are treating you unjustly or you’re being taken advantage of. “What is that to you; follow Me.” The Lord said one time, “Vengeance is Mine saith the Lord, I will repay.” (Romans 12:19)

It doesn’t have to be fair right now. The Lord sees it all and we can be utterly sure, “all things work together for good to them that love the Lord.” (Romans 8:28)

To me one of the greatest samples of this in the Bible is Joseph. If ever anyone was mistreated and “it wasn’t fair”, it was Joseph. His brothers actually sold him as a slave! But years later, when he’d been shuffled and reshuffled by God to end up being “second in Egypt” (Genesis 41:43), he met up with his brothers again and they were certain Joseph would now pay them back for the evil they’d done.

But he didn’t. His heart was so right with God that he could say to them about what they’d done, “You meant it for evil. But God meant it for good.” (Genesis 50:20) One of the most amazing examples in the Bible of keeping your eyes on the Lord and not on people and circumstances and conditions. Seems like Joseph had already learned that lesson that Jesus shared with Peter nearly 2000 years later, “What is that to you? Follow me.” Joseph did that. And he ended up saving his family and nation. Lord help us all to keep our eyes on Him and not on anything else.

Peripherals

Posted on September 1, 2013 by Mark McMillion

If you’re like me, you probably have a “to do” list. There are so many good things to do and most of us have more to do than we know what to do with. So, what do you do?

This is one place where being a Christian, having faith in God and a personal relationship with Him and His Son really helps. We can know from the Word what the truth is and that clarifies so much. We can know what His will is, what our priorities should be and even just that should simplify our decision making.

But still, there’s just so much to do. If you are a mommy, there’s all that has to do with taking care of the kids and all they need in their lives. If you are a daddy, probably you have to bring home the pay check and not only be diligent with your job but have time for your family and home. If you’re a missionary or a witnessing Christian, you want to do what you can to lead people to the Lord and/or to “feed His sheep” (John 21:16) through classes or personal counseling.

Most of us know we should “major on the majors”. But even to figure that out takes some wisdom at times. Of course if you know the rent has to be paid in two days or you’re going to get kicked out of your apartment, it’s easy to know what your major is for the day.

Just so many of these things all meld together to where, if you really want to have peace in your heart and to know at the end of the day that you’ve done your best, then you usually need to take some time of prayer or deep consideration to try to prioritize what’s most important to get done.

There’s a phrase in English, “running around like a chicken with your head cut off”. That’s kind of graphic. But the idea is that at times, if you don’t watch out, you’ll just be super busy but with no plan, no goal, no direction. This is where for those of us who know the Lord, it helps so very much to have His directions. We are supposed to be “led of the Spirit” (Galatians 5:18). That’s not just some esoteric, spiritual mumbo-jumbo. We can and should really get our orders from the Lord. It’s not only possibly, it’s virtually essential if you want to have any order or meaningful accomplishment in your life.

So let’s say you have got to that place. You know what your priorities are. You know what your goal is and you believe it’s in line with God’s will for your life. Still, there’s a lot to do, right? How much time and resources should I give to this item? Should I take time to do that? How can I use my time the most effectively? Should I take any time to just kick back and relax?

For me, I find I need to really watch out about what could be called peripherals. Those are the little things on your to-do list that you know you need to do but they don’t seem really essential. They aren’t really the major, big things that will really get me moving forward towards what I know are the major goals the Lord has set for me. So it’s easy to keep overlooking the peripherals.

But Jesus said, “He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much. And he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.” (Luke 16:10) In another place He was talking to some people who had been very diligent in some things but utterly unfaithful in other areas. He told them, “These ought you to have done, and not to leave the other undone.” (Matthew 23:23)

It seems impossible. “How could God expect this of us? It’s just too much! I can’t do it! It’s not fair! I’m gonna quit!” But that doesn’t really work either. It’s just the nature of the world as it is that we have to take care of the big things and the little things. Have you heard the story of the king in old times who lost his kingdom because of a nail? The saying goes, “For want of a nail the shoe was lost. For want of the shoe the horse was lost. For want of the horse the king was lost. For want of the king the kingdom was lost.” All because of one little seemingly insignificant horseshoe nail, it set in motion a series of events that lost the kingdom.

How in the world can we be that diligent, that faithful, that wise to know how to take care of everything, even the little things we need to do? Maybe it’s like Jesus said in one place, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For with God, all things are possible.” (Mark 10:27) If we’re “looking unto Jesus” (Hebrews 12:2) if we’re “seeking first His kingdom” (Matthew 6:33), if “our eyes are upon Him“, (II Chronicles 20:12) then we can really expect Him to do the miraculous and even the supernatural, which can sometimes be nothing more than to help us get through our to-do list and to be like the woman Jesus talked about when He said, “She has done what she could.” (Mark 14:8)

Fascination for Evil

Posted on August 19, 2013 by Mark McMillion

I’ve realized that at times I have a fascination for evil. Not that I want to do evil but it’s like people say nowadays, “What were they thinking?” Like, “How could they think like that? How could someone be like that?”

I guess we all have an innate desire to understand. And for me, some things are just so weird, strange and crazy that it’s like I get tempted to wonder how someone could think like that? And I want to pursue it, I want to get into it and understand it. But I know from experience and also God’s Word that it’s not a great idea to really pursue that line of reasoning.

We want to relate to others, we want to understand the world around us, we don’t want to be judgmental, we really want to help others. But there are times where the best choice is just to step back and walk away, as difficult as that may seem to be. It’s a little like what I wrote about in the post about the old story called “The Tar Baby“. And this is taught a number of times in the Bible in verses that may not be really popular or politically correct.

How about this one. Jesus, in His most famous “Sermon on the Mount” said at one point, “Don’t give that which is holy to the dogs. Neither cast your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet and turn again and rend you.” (Matthew 7:6) And of course He wasn’t talking about pets and farm animals. He was referring to some individuals, saying they were like dogs and pigs. At other times He called some people snakes, foxes, and wolves. This was Jesus, the most loving and kind Man that ever walked the earth. But He wasn’t naive; He called a spade a spade.

“But Jesus, don’t you want us to love everyone?! How could you be so cold and cruel, Jesus!?”

Because there’s evil in the world and there are people who at this time embrace and choose evil and the works of darkness.

“I thought we were supposed to keep turning the other cheek, let people walk all over us and just be little feeble pushovers like everyone says you were, Lord!”

Nope. Here are a few verses that are unpopular or virtually unknown but are really important. Solomon said, “Go from the presence of a foolish man when you don’t perceive in him the lips of knowledge.” (Proverbs 14:7). In other words, don’t hang around wasting your time with folks who just want to take your time and are not hungering for the truth of God you have to offer. Or this one, one of my favorites, “I will set no wicked thing before my eyes; I hate the work of them that turn aside, it shall not cleave unto me.” (Psalms 101:3).

Don’t set wicked things before your eyes, even the eyes of your mind. We need to hate the works of them that turn away from the Lord. Because those evil works will cleave to us if we don’t resist them. “Cleave” is an old word; think of what it’s like to have old ugly chewing gum stick to you or your clothes. That’s what “cleave” means. That’s what the sins and darkness want to do to your life and mind when you allow evil to fascinate you.

“Oh, Mark! Now you are preaching hate!”

King David said, “You who love the Lord, hate evil.” (Psalms 97:10) Paul said to the Ephesians “Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them”, (Ephesians 5:11). Same idea again: just don’t “give place to the devil” (James 4:7). Don’t give time for the darkness and the evil to fascinate you and make you wonder what it’s all about. Isn’t that what happened to Eve? She saw the fruit was “good to the taste” and one that “made her wise” (Genesis 3:6); so she went for it. Big, big mistake. But it probably all seemed so “reasonable”.

“How could it be wrong?” “Let me just think about this for a minute; let me make sense of it all and figure it out.”

Nope. Walk away. “There is a way that seems right to a man, but the ends thereof are the ways of death.” (Proverbs 14:12) Like I wrote about Nehemiah, in “Can’t Come Down”, it must have really seemed narrow-minded and extreme that Nehemiah wouldn’t just come down from the wall and have a chat with those interesting folks who’d come to talk to him. But he didn’t. He had the grace of God to recognize that “God had not sent them” (Nehemiah 6:12) and he didn’t even want to hear what they had to say. Don’t get trapped, lured or lulled into a fascination for evil. “When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.” (Isaiah 59:19)

Resetting to factory default

Posted on August 16, 2013 by Mark McMillion

In a recent post on my other web site, I wrote about “The Operating System”. Your computer probably runs Windows but maybe it’s a Mac or you run Linux. This is the basic system that operates your computer and is the platform on which all the software you use works from.

But often, everything means something. The same way there’s darkness and light, there’s Darkness and Light. There’s the sun but also there’s the Son and the Bible likens the sun to God’s Son. (Psalms 19:4-6)

So my “Operating System” is the regenerated heart and spirit that I received when I accepted Jesus into my life, as well as all the truth and power that flooded into my life at that time and continually since then. Today’s modern computers in some ways are a reflection of spiritual realities.

And the same way that Windows or Apple send out upgrades from time to time, God can and does sometime send us “new wine” (Luke 5:37) and tweaks and apps with the intention to improve our experience.

Here’s where it gets tricky. Most of us are pretty thankful for our computers as they help us do quite a lot we couldn’t do before. But every time there’s a new upgrade or a new package to install, do you always do it? In fact, not all of them are from the Manufacturer of your Operating System. Many are from vendors and software programs, promising you some great new boost to your experience if you’ll just download their program.

Maybe one time you did that and your computer jammed. There were viruses. It was a scam. Or maybe it was legitimate but so complicated or took so much Ram and hard drive space that it seemed like it just wasn’t worth it. It didn’t improve your experience, no matter what they said.

Maybe somebody liked it but your computer just ran slower and slower. You were confused, a little worried and you just really didn’t like this new thing that you were told was going to be so great. All kinds of things you could do before now didn’t work with the new upgrade.

Well, most computers come with an option that you can “reset to factory default”. You can go back to the original that was working pretty well when you first got it. You may lose some programs but your computer will work again. You may not have the latest and the greatest new thing. But you’ll be back to something that worked well and helped you to get the job done.

That can happen sometimes in your Christian life. You may have a time when you need to go back to the factory default. I’ve had to do that a few times, just to stay alive for the Lord. The latest and the greatest just didn’t work well for me.

I was at a seminar a few days ago and a couple admitted in public to a large audience that they were still using Windows XP. They were a little ashamed but probably everyone understood. XP was the operating system Windows released in 2001. It was perhaps the best since Windows 95. Most people found it just very rarely crashed.

But then the next one that was released was Windows Vista in 2006. Many people, myself included, found it to be difficult, slow, and a consumer of vast amounts of Ram and hard drive space. So those folks were still using what is considered a very old operating system. But it works well for them.

The main thing isn’t that you get the latest upgrade or program. The main thing is that you can use what you’ve got to interact with God and man and to serve God and man as well. Are you having trouble with your operating system? Have you had so many upgrades and packages installed that it hardly even works for you anymore? Maybe you need to reset to the factory default.

Was there a time when it really worked great and you were really getting something done with it? Maybe those settings are better for you, even if the company is telling you that you’re really behind the times. Old isn’t always bad and new isn’t always good. Or like Jesus said, “The operating system was made for man and not man for the operating system.” (Mark 2:27) That wasn’t quite the way He phrased it but I think the idea was similar.

Find what works for you within the packages of God. Upgrades are great. But some upgrades may be over your head, not totally essential or even from untrustworthy vendors. That’s why it says in Hebrews 13:9 “Don’t be carried about with different and strange doctrines, for it is good for the heart to be established with grace, not with foods, in which those who have walked in them were not helped.”

And don’t throw your computer out with the malware. Don’t through the baby out with the bathwater either. Hit “reset to factory default” and keep going for the Lord in a mode you find works for you and helps you to stay alive and fruitful for Him.

Was David a failure?

Posted on July 3, 2013 by Mark McMillion

Sometimes if you go to church, it’s like the verse that talks about, “choose the good and refuse the evil” (Isaiah 7:16), ha! I sure better explain that. The church I’ve gone to for the past months is pretty good and I’ve gotten a lot out of what I have heard there much of the time. And maybe I haven’t really heard anything that most folks would call “evil”.

Last Sunday was a good sermon and then the preacher started talking about King David. Immediately after mentioning King David the preacher started talking about David’s experience with Bathsheba and adultery. Well, that did happen. But it got me thinking about how many times I’ve heard King David mentioned and then in the next breath the conversion goes off on his relationship with Bathsheba.

In some ways that’s both sad, very imbalanced and a disservice to people who are trying to learn about the Lord. Essentially David is considered Israel’s greatest king. When Samuel told Saul the type of man who would replace him as the king of Israel, he said “the Lord has sought him a man after His own heart” (I Samuel 13:14). In other words, God called David a man after His own heart, a pretty strong commendation and very rare within the Bible.

David was not just some kind of warrior hero, a brutish macho tribal leader. Have you ever read the Psalms in the Bible? They are mostly written by David and they contain some of the most intimate personal prayers and contact with God that can be found anywhere in the Bible. David’s prayers, and the sometimes immediate answers he would get, have been often the most read material in the Bible. David’s pouring out his heart to God, his expressions of love for and devotion to God are unsurpassed and indescribable in their tenderness, sincerity and humility. And the people of his times knew this about David and recognized his special relationship with God and his love for Him.

When David was getting old, he still wanted to go out to battle with his troops, as he had always done. But it got to where they told him that he needed to stay back from the battle, “that he quench not the light of Israel.” (II Samuel 21:17) His troops and officers literally called him “the light of Israel”, in his lifetime. I don’t know of any other person in the history of ancient Israel that this was said of. So for us modern folk to first think of adultery when we think of king David is just really far off from the way God’s Word depicts him. It might almost say something more about us and our ways of looking at things than it does about David. Usually most people are quicker to find fault than they are to value virtue, don’t you think?

“David, the adultery”? How about David, “the sweet psalmist of Israel“? (II Samuel 23:1) How about the fact that Jesus was called “the Son of David”? (Matthew 21:9) Which He was. Both Mary, the mother of Jesus, and Joseph, her husband traced their lineage directly back to King David.

I wonder what the results are of preachers who always immediately feel they have to dwell on David’s relationship with Bathsheba like that. Does it turn away people from reading the words of David? Does it make them think less of what are priceless words of admonishment and instruction in how to keep a clean heart and to worship the Lord? That would be devastating to influence the faithful to turn away from the words God gave King David and which are published in the Bible, simply because at one point in his life David made that major mistake and sin with Bathsheba.

To me, of all the characters in the Old Testament, King David is one of the ones I learn the most from. If there ever was a sinner saved by grace, it was David. If there ever was a man who loved God and who God used and loved and “made something out of nothing”, it was King David. Many if not most of us know we are a mess and are useless and hopeless without God. David is an example of God’s mercy, love, forgiveness and ability to “do above all that we can ask or think”. (Ephesians 3:20) It’s a real shame when preachers turn us away from the example of David and to think of him as a failure. I hope you have gotten to know the specific words of prayer and love that David gave us in the Psalms. They are almost certainly the best sample we will ever find of how to pray, how to worship and how to love and understand God.

Dumbing down

Posted on June 30, 2013 by Mark McMillion

It’s one thing to be simple, but another to be ignorant and lacking understanding. It’s often so shocking, heartbreaking and infuriating for me to see in my home country the level of ignorance concerning the things of the Lord or especially the history of faith.

If I asked 100 Americans who Martin Luther was, I honestly believe over 90% would ask if I meant Dr. Martin Luther King. Here’s another example. I have some friends here with master’s degrees or doctor’s degrees and often I’ll hear from them that “Allah” is a moon god, an idol that the Arabs worship.

My reaction is exasperation and real sadness. Maybe it’s like when God spoke through Hosea to the nation of Israel some 2800 years ago, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you.” (Hosea 4:6)

And I’m not just talking about “taking God out of the schools”. I’m talking about a huge falling away from a knowledge of the significance of spirituality in the civilization of mankind. I was in my third year of university when I personally experienced that the God of Abraham was for real. Among my many emotions at that time was anger at how little I’d learned about anything having to do with the great changers of history who were not politicians, businessmen or scientist but were purely spiritual people.

I myself had no idea who Martin Luther was, the German priest who set in motion the Reformation in the 1500’s and changed the course of European history. Joan of Arc? Never heard of her. But an illiterate girl who herded swine “heard voices” in the 1400’s. And by obeying the voice of God, she ultimately led the armies of France to defeat their invaders at that time, the English.

And there’s so many more. Saint Patrick? “Ha, ha, ha! Let’s all wear green and get drunk”, most would say. But that man virtually alone changed the course of the history of Ireland, starting a wave of faith and devotion in what was a land beyond the edge of civilization at that time. Patrick’s influence continued in his followers for several hundred years, inspiring other missionaries in the next two centuries to go out to places like the darkest … no, not Africa but places like modern Holland, Germany and the rest of Europe to take the light and love of Jesus Christ and to turn those peoples to the Lord during the times called the Dark Ages.

Did you know that? I didn’t until I was way up into my adult years. But it was those spiritual people, people of faith who changed their generations, brought civilization and spiritual enlightenment to their times and neighbors and that’s why we have what has been called “Western Civilization”.

So there’s just this huge irony. We have smart phones, the latest apps, Google glass and every kind of advancement and technical innovation that our hearts could desire. But all the while, the gloom of ignorance and the lack of basic knowledge of the spiritual world increases like the armies of Mordor across the world. Even a knowledge that there is a God is less and less a part of the mentality of hundreds of millions of people in the “advanced” and “civilized” nations of the world.

It’s a sad, ominous, foreboding situation to observe. Hosea also said, “They have sown the wind and they will reap the whirlwind.” (Hosea 8:7) How can there not come a reaping and reward for society’s abandonment of God and our eternal foundations, for ignorance of the reality of the spiritual world?

I experienced it myself. I was brought up in a home that didn’t acknowledge a prayer-answering God. “Maybe there’s a God but He is way off somewhere. Don’t bother Him and He won’t bother you”, seemed to be the idea. So in my greatest time of trial and difficulty, I simply and truly didn’t know there was a God, didn’t know or understand virtually anything about sin, faith, repentance, submission, redemption or grace. These were all utterly unknown to me. It’s an absolute miracle of God that He somehow pulled me through that time.

How many hundreds of millions now are in just as much spiritual darkness and delusion, no matter how advanced the technical gadgets they have? May God help us to do all we can to share His light, spread His truth and to keep our candles burning in this time of billowing darkness that we live in, even though most are blissfully ignorant of their ignorance.

A Strong Man, Armed

Posted on June 15, 2013 by Mark McMillion

After the article I posted “Citizenship in Heaven”, I received a comment on it from a friend. Here are parts of it:

What about taking up arms to protect your wife and children, elderly relatives and friends from roving gangs of hoodlums who’ll laugh in your face as they go through your neighborhoods in the coming rampage in the USA when there are no jobs or money and famine sets in? Do we shoot them? I simply couldn’t stand idly by and watch this happen to my family without fighting back the best way possible. At my age that would be with a shotgun or .45… This is not clear to me in the Bible. The subject is painted with “too broad a brush!” I just can’t see allowing that to happen. But I agree with you on the idea of not taking on the United States government. But there does seem to be a difference here. I just think this is a much more complicated issue than only having two sides to it. I believe we should defend our own. Now a government edict, that’s different. But roving gangs of bloodthirsty mobs…? Sorry… Just my opinion, – God bless you Mark, -John

And, yes, he’s right. In one place Jesus even said, “A strong man, armed, keeps his goods in peace.” (Luke 11:21) But He went on to say, “When a stronger than him comes, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and he spoils all his goods.” (Luke 11:22) And the favorite one of the gun lobby here in America is where Jesus, towards the end of His ministry, told his disciples “He that has no sword, let him buy one”. (Luke 22:36) Then when the high priest and his men came to take Jesus, it says Peter drew his sword and cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant.(John 18:10) Whereupon Jesus told Peter, “Put up your sword, for they that live by the sword shall die by the sword.” (Matthew 26:52) And then Jesus replaced the ear of the high priest’s servant.

What does that have to do with us 2000 years later? First, I can tell the ones of you who are reading this outside the US that this is a very serious question for many here. The USA currently has one gun for every man, woman and child in the country. There’s a vast gun culture here and they’re used in crimes of all kinds every day.

This is an enormous subject. I suppose I agree with what John wrote that, as Jesus said, “The good shepherd gives his life for his sheep.” (John 10:11) If someone is in a situation where intruders or mobs come to your house to take your family and your lives, then I think there’s Scriptural evidence enough to say that you’re within your rights to defend your life and your family.

But here’s the problem with saying that. From this particular example of an exceptional situation can grow the justification for keeping huge arsenals of weapons in the homes of Christians with the excuse that it’s all there to defend their family. And the culture of guns, self defense, militias and all that grows until it becomes the totally predominate philosophy of that house, or neighborhood or culture.

In the history of Christianity, that’s not been the hallmark of great Christian individuals or nations. By leaning on the arm of the flesh and physical means, Christians are turned away from the true armor of God and the protection He would have us hold dearest. There are so many historic examples of families, individuals, societies and nations who cultivated their spiritual weapons and their relationship with the Lord and the Lord delivered them from marauders, mobs or invasions.

I’m sure many of you know these verses from the Bible but I’ll share just a few here. “The weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the tearing down of strongholds” (II Corinthians 10:3). Or perhaps the most famous, “We wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” (Ephesians 6:12) If a Christian family is truly strong in spirit, depending on the Lord and even getting their instructions directly from the Lord, then He can protect and even lead them out of danger before it happens, or “give them a mouth and wisdom that none of your adversaries can refute or resist”. (Luke 21:15)

By putting our first trust in weapons, rather than the power of the Spirit, we actually weaken ourselves in the spiritual and that’s actually where it’s all really happening. Admittedly, millions of American Christians may have already made that decision and turned to carnal weapons as their default choice in the battles that may come in times ahead. So this is a struggle between the flesh and the spirit, spiritual armor or carnal armor. I’m not saying not to defend your flocks if you’re in a situation like that. But if building up weapons stocks and boasting in your arsenal weakens you in the spirit, then you’re not really and truly prepared for the dark ages that may soon come. That’s how it seems to me. “According to your faith be it unto you.” (Matthew 9:29)

Citizenship in heaven

Posted on June 9, 2013 by Mark McMillion

Paul said, “Our citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20). For some, this may be a strange concept. For others, it may strike a raw nerve. For many people, their nationality is perhaps their most cherished identity. Yet, they also identify as Christians, Jews, Muslims, or followers of other faiths. For most, or at least many, there’s little perceived conflict between their faith in God and their national identity.

Patriotism is a powerful force in the United States, possibly stronger here than in many other countries. Over the last six months, I’ve made a number of friends who are deeply patriotic, yet equally committed to their Christian faith. These individuals are acutely aware of current events, many of them believing that the U.S. is heading toward a totalitarian state. They feel that the freedoms and rights upon which the country was founded are being eroded or have already disappeared. There’s talk of taking a stand and fighting for liberty.

This is where the discussion intensifies. What exactly are we fighting for? What is our true identity? Is it simply a matter of supporting a cause—and if so, which one? And for many of us, it comes back to our identity. What are we?

Pilate asked Jesus if He was a king. And Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews. But now is my kingdom not from hence.” (John 18:36) This is the point where my friends and I often focus our discussions.

You don’t have to be a Christian in America to be fiercely patriotic. Many Americans who are not Christians—or whose faith takes a secondary role to their national allegiance—are deeply committed to their country. But what about for a Christian, one whose life is centered around their faith in God and in Jesus?

I’ve written on this topic before. I wrote “Proud to be an American” about my experiences while outside the USA for 36 years as a missionary and some times when I felt proud of my nationality. Another article, “Consumer, Citizen or Disciple” explored the evolution of how people in America and around the world define themselves.

This dilemma, this tension, has historically led many believers to make stark, immediate decisions. Early Roman Christians were often forced to choose between pledging allegiance to the Roman emperor or facing death. Countless numbers chose to stand with Jesus Christ and the God of Abraham, rather than with an earthly king or country. It’s easy to think, “That could never happen here. We’re too advanced, too modern, too intelligent for that.”

Personally, over 40 years ago, I had to decide what would come first in my life. I had to choose where my true allegiance lay and understand that my citizenship in heaven and my commitment to Jesus Christ had to be my most treasured identity—one worth living and dying for. Since then, I’ve lived in over 40 countries as an ambassador of the Kingdom of God, and I have no regrets.

For many, though, this is a time of deep soul-searching. Some even question whether they should take up arms to defend what they see as their inalienable rights. But I don’t believe that’s my calling. That’s not the battle I’m meant to fight. I question whether any sincere, consecrated Christian should take up earthly weapons for worldly causes. I believe many American Christians will be sadly surprised if they go down that path, taking up arms against their own country.

Our true calling is to stand for the truth of Scripture, especially using the power of prophecy to share the reality of the world’s condition and the possible impending fulfillment of end-time events. It is there that I believe the Lord is waiting for us, calling us to be His army of faithful witnesses, proclaiming what has been foretold for over 2,000 years—the final events before His return.

That’s a battle worth fighting, one we’re destined to win. True faith in God will lead us to find our strength and calling in the fight of faith—not in earthly political struggles, but in the spiritual battle for truth and lost souls everywhere. As it is written, “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).

He said it 3 times

Posted on June 7, 2013 by Mark McMillion

God doesn’t waste His breath. He just expects, like a good Father, that if He says something, we’ll do it. But on rare occasions, He’s said something three times. So, probably, whatever He said was important. One of those places is in Daniel chapter 8, the chapter I’m making the next video on currently. But let’s start off with what’s probably the most famous example of the Lord saying something three times.

After His resurrection, Jesus was with His disciples beside the Sea of Galilee. They’d just finished a fish supper that Jesus had prepared for them and it says in John 21:15-17, “So after they had dined, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me?’ He said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my lambs’ . He said to him a second time, ‘Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?’ He said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord, You know that I love You.’ He said to him, ‘Feed My sheep’. He said to him the third time, ‘Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?’ Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ And he said to Him, ‘Lord, You know all things. You know that I love You.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed My sheep’”.

That’s an amazing passage in Scripture. Jesus told Peter three times, “Feed My sheep.” It must have been important to the Lord that He did something that emphatic and insistent. Feeding His sheep, teaching, instructing, nourishing and guiding the Lord’s sheep, His flock of believers is obviously just as important as it gets in God’s eyes.

And strangely, another time in the Bible it says that Peter was told something three times from God, in no uncertain terms. In Acts chapter 10 Peter was in Joppa in northern Israel. Peter was the head of the growing group of believers who spread Jesus’ message and truth, after He’d ascended to heaven years before. Peter was on a house top, in prayer, when in a vision he saw a sheet let down from heaven with all kinds of “unclean” animals. The Laws of Moses gave strict rules for the Jews as to what animals were “clean” to eat, permissible, and which ones weren’t.

So Peter sees this sheet coming down with these “unclean” animals and then he hears God’s voice, “Arise, Peter! Kill and eat!” Peter, being a righteous Jew replied, “Not so Lord, for I’ve never eaten anything that’s unclean.” And the voice said to him, “What God has cleansed, you do not call common.” (Acts 10:13-15)

It says, “This happened three times” (Acts 10:16) and then the sheet was let back up to heaven. It sounds like Peter was arguing with God but this seemed so contrary to everything Peter thought was righteous. Then it says that immediately there was a knock at the door downstairs at the house Peter was at. And the Lord told Peter that there were three men there who’d come to see him and that Peter should go with them, “doubting nothing”. (Acts 10:20)

“What’s the big deal with that?” you might say. The big deal is that these men at the door were Romans, “Gentiles”. The Jews weren’t supposed to have anything to do with Gentiles and certainly not go to their house. But Peter went, as the Lord had so firmly told him. The result? Peter preached to a big gathering of Gentiles, telling them about Jesus and they all experienced the infilling of the Holy Spirit, just as the first disciples had in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2.

Nowadays it’s easy for us to not appreciate all this. But it was a very, very big deal at that time. Basically this event was when the Lord opened the door clearly to non-Jews to receive all the blessing and provision of His promises, breaking down the wall between the Jews and the Gentiles, making it possibly for anyone through Jesus to receive salvation through Him. But God had to tell Peter plainly and emphatically, three times, that this was of Him and that Peter should go and flow with it, “doubting nothing.”

In Daniel chapter 8 something similar also happened. In a vision, Daniel was by the river Ulai, in what’s now modern Iran, and the angel Gabriel was commanded to explain what Daniel had just seen, a goat and a ram clashing in battle and the goat conquering the ram. But there was more to it, much more, and Daniel tells us he just didn’t understand it. But the angel Gabriel then tells Daniel three times in two verses that “at the time of the end shall be the vision”. (Daniel 8:17-19)

Daniel chapter 8 is a somewhat difficult chapter to understand or even to teach. Prophecy teachers through the years have had some huge debates about parts of it and I’ve been in some of those debates. Some say that it’s all already been fulfilled. But then we can go back to the words of Gabriel, spoken three times to Daniel, “at the time of the end shall be the vision.” At the time of the end. And we’re not there yet. But we may be getting real close.

[Since completing this blog post, I’ve also completed the full video on Daniel chapter 8. That video in English can be seen here.]

When God says something three times, it’s important. Whether it’s to feed the flock of God, or to not call unclean what God has cleansed, or that the prophecies of God are going to have a future, endtime fulfillment, God thought those were important enough to say it three times. Lord help us to get the point, to believe it and act upon it.

The Multitude and the Disciples

Posted on May 30, 2013 by Mark McMillion

Matthew 5:1 says, “And seeing the multitude, He went up into a mountain. And when He had set down, His disciples came to Him.” Now you might say, “There’s no lesson in that verse, is there?” Well, there can be. Why did Jesus leave the multitude when He had all those people there to talk to? Did all those folks follow Him up the mountain to hear the most famous sermon in the world? Why doesn’t it say the multitude came to Him? Is there any significance in that it says the ones who followed Jesus up the mountain were His disciples?

With a brief, superficial reading of that verse, there would seem to be nothing there to learn. But a deeper look reveals a significant message. There have been multitudes who’ve taken a light interest in Jesus, but few who’ve grasped and accepted Him and followed Him up the mountain. It was not just here in Matthew 5, at the beginning of “The Sermon on the Mount”, that there arose a difference between the various concentric circles of the followers of Jesus. Here, only His disciples followed Him up the mountain.

In John chapter 6, Jesus fed the multitude miraculously. We are told “5000 men” were there, so we can assume it was even a lot more people than that. After dividing up 5 loaves and 2 fishes to feed all those people, it says Jesus understood that there were those among the multitude right then who would “take Him by force to make Him a king.” (John 6:15) And the next day a good number of those same folks followed Him to where He’d traveled to overnight.

It doesn’t seem like Jesus was into having vast multitudes of thrill seekers tagging along after Him. He ended up telling those folks who’d come to see Him the next day “Except you eat my flesh and drink My blood, you have no life in you.” (John 6:53) He actually said that. And when it was clear that it was way more than a lot of them could grasp, He kept saying it.

So the Bible says, “From that time many of His disciples went back, and walked no more with Him.” (John 6:66) It seems like He lost close to His entire following at that time, all except His closest 12 disciples and perhaps a few more. And some might say,

“What’s the point? I thought Jesus was a really nice guy that just went everywhere doing nice things and showing love to everyone? Wasn’t He wanting everyone to believe in Him and follow Him?”

Maybe that’s the point. It turns out there can be a real big difference between believing in Jesus and following Him. There seemed to be quite a lot of folks at that time who found Jesus interesting and maybe they even believed in Him to some degree. But to truly follow Him was something very few people ended up doing. After all He did, all He healed and all the miracles His countrymen saw in His 3½ year of ministry, it says there were only 120 disciples in the upper room in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost when God poured out the Holy Spirit. (Acts 1:15)

So, multitudes or disciples. And isn’t it the same today? Thank God that anyone has any faith left at all in this hellish, demonic world we live in now. But, of all the folks who say they believe in God, or who call themselves Christians, how many of those are pretty much like “the multitude” of Jesus’ day and how many are really what can be recognized as “disciples”.

It says in Acts 11 that “the disciples were first called Christians at Antioch.” (Acts 11:26) At the beginning of Christianity, a Christian was a disciple. That means a follower of the teaching. They were followers, not just casual believers. Like Peter in Acts chapter 10, they were obeyers of the leading of God, no matter how almost crazy it sometimes seemed. If there was ever an example of following the Holy Spirit and it resulting in historic change for all the earth, Acts chapter 10 has it.

But the Lord loves the multitude. Many people “follow a far off” (Matthew 26:58), like even Peter did at one point. But I’m sure He wants as many as will and can to follow Him up the mountain, to hear His priceless words, and to leave the valley of our mundane routine. Jesus said “the harvest is plenteous but the laborers are few” (Matthew 9:37). And it’s certainly the same today. The “believers” of the multitude are plenteous, but the “disciples”, the true followers and obeyers seem at times to be few.

Mark McMillion

Creeds and Deeds, Facts and Acts

Category Archives: Discipleship and Christianity today