Category Archives: Discipleship and Christianity today

The gospel of John

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If you’re new to believing in Jesus, there can be a lot that’s hard to understand. Maybe you’ve come to know that there really is something to it all and that Jesus was not just a great teacher. But probably there’s just a lot that you don’t understand. If that’s you, don’t worry about it. That’s how it is for basically anyone who’s come out of unbelief and is entering into faith in God and in Jesus.

Maybe the whole thing about the Bible is kind of strange to you too. Perhaps you’ve read a lot of books and are fairly intelligent. So you might find it disturbing how much emphasis is put on just that one book and also it was finished nearly 2000 years ago. On the other hand, possibly you’ve already experienced that what’s written in the Bible effects you very differently from philosophy books or science lectures.

For me at least, the words in the Bible so incredibly boiled complicated things down to very simple but profoundly deep truths. Also, sometimes it can seem like some things in the Bible can almost jump off the page and speak to the deepest parts of your brain and emotions.

That’s how it was for me and I’d just never experienced anything like that. After I came to faith in God and later in Jesus, I found that the truths I was finding in the Bible were more life-giving and truth-giving than anything I’d ever known before. But also I made a big mistake that probably a lot of people make. I figured the Bible is pretty much a normal book and so I figured that, like every other book, the only place to start is at the beginning. Well, that’s better than nothing but actually it’s probably not really the best.

Here’s why. The Bible is actually not just one book like it seems to be but it’s 66 books, written over a period of around 1600 years. I won’t go into all the details here, that’s a fascinating class in itself. But if you’re new in the Lord, new to faith and to the things of Jesus, I can tell you the best place to start in the Bible. Go to the gospel of John and read it.

And of course you’re going to ask why I say that. The reason is that, of all that’s in the Bible, the simple words of Jesus are the easiest to understand. He was talking to all kinds of people and He often really broke things down to the simplest language, many times using little stories and parables to help people understand deep truths. While it’s perhaps more satisfying to our ego to feel we’re intellectual giants because we’ve immersed ourselves in Plato or Voltaire, those guys can never really have the full ring of truth that Jesus did when He was here on earth.

And, of the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, the gospel of John has more of the words of Jesus than any of the others. In fact, it has what’s considered the most famous and important verse in the entire bible, John 3:16. Here’s what that says. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.” It’s been said that John 3:16 more completely encapsulates the essence of the Bible than any other verse.

So if you’re looking for where to start in the Bible, or you know someone who’s in that situation, I suggest you share this thought with them. Don’t let them bogged down in the “begats”. That’s what happened to me. I started at Genesis (which actually I found interesting) but before long I was trudging through things like “And Arphaxad begat Shelah, and Shelah begat Eber.  And Joktan begat Almodad, and Sheleph, and Hazarmaveth, and Jerah, Hadoram also, and Uzal, and Diklah, and Ebal, and Abimael, and Sheba … (etc.) All this is from I Chronicles chapter 1 and it’s just not what you need at the beginning of your life of faith.

But the book of John is just fascinating. So much of it really talks about the realities of the eternal life Jesus said He came to give us. Here’s just one little example of the words of Jesus in the book of John, from the many I could choose from. “Truly, I say unto you, he that hears my word, and believes on him that sent me, has everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation but is passed from death unto life. Truly, truly, I say unto you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God and they that hear shall live.The-truth For as the Father has life in himself, so has he given to the Son to have life in himself.” (John 5:24-26)

We all need this. But perhaps especially those who are new to the things of God and Jesus need to have almost like a daily diet of healthy, wholesome feeding truth from the Bible to strengthen their faith and to build it up to be what we need to live with the mind and vision we need in this present evil world. God bless you as you feed and study the basics of God’s Word!

 

 

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.

He went a little further and fell on His face.

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One thing about Jesus, usually no one faults Him for being half-hearted. He was a sample in so many ways but one of those is the whole hearted, utter commitment He had to His calling. It says that in the Garden of Gethsemane, when He was praying just before Judas came with a band of men that, “He went a little further and fell on His face.” (Matthew 26:39)

And often, that’s what we have to do also. To truly follow Him now in our times in this world as it is, we have to “go a little further” and “fall on our face”. And both of those can be just plain hard to do, in fact, virtually impossible except by His indwelling grace.

We’re all prone to half heartedness, hesitation and just lazy selfishness of the worst kind. And it says of Jesus, “He was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15)  Being a man and human like we are, He was tempted by the sinful potential of the human nature He had, being born into this world like we have been.

But, He went a little further and fell on His face. Imagine. The very Son of God here on earth and praying so desperately that “being in an agony, He prayed more earnestly. And His sweat was as it were great drops of blood, falling down to the ground.”  (Luke 22:44) It’s hard to even talk about it or think about it. How far He went for us, how complete and utter was His love as well as His obedience and commitment to the Father.

And actually there can be times in our lives when the Lord allows us to partake at least somewhat and to some degree in the sufferings that He suffered. God spoke through Jeremiah, saying, “And you shall seek me and find me when you shall search for me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13) These seem to be the very words in Scripture that the prophet Daniel read around 70 years later, which compelled him to pray one of the most earnest and desperate prayers in the Bible, found in Daniel chapter 9. And that prayer of Daniel led up to an answer from God which is perhaps the most important prophecy in the Bible, at the end of Daniel chapter 9.

But it was inspired and born in desperate prayer, of going a little further and falling on his face. It seems like most of the time this level and degree of desperation and utter pouring out of one’s heart is not what the Lord requires. He hears our little prayers about our daily affairs and these reach His throne. God’s not deaf. You don’t have to yell at God.

And yet, in the case of Jesus and others also we can find in the Word, there were times of utter and abject desperation in prayer. And it was those which often preceded some of God’s greatest miracles. Like Jacob when he “wrestled with an angel.” (Genesis 32:24)

So it is for all of us. Our “flesh” certainly doesn’t want to go through with this. Our flesh and our worldly nature just want to rock along with things and to get by with as little effort as we can get away with. Only, what we find is that if we’re to not only believe in Jesus but to truly follow Him here in this world, then there do turn out to be times when we too, if we want to hold on to the Lord and to what He is leading us to do, will have to “go a little further and fall on our face.” Fall on our face in desperate prayer, in forsaking our own ideas, our own path and our own lives in order to go on in the life of discipleship that He is leading us in.

It can be really rough. Jesus said, “Whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken, but on whomsoever it shall fall, it shall grind him to powder.”  (Matthew 21:44) Those of us who “fall on the stone” (Christ Jesus Himself, “the chief cornerstone” -Ephesians 2:20) will be broken, but in a good and Godly way. King David said, “A broken and contrite heart oh God, you will not despise.” (Psalm 51:17) But so many cringe at this. Their pride does all it can to hold on to them and keep them back from the humbling and humiliation that is part of that breaking.

But Jesus Himself went through it. And you can read of the saints of God in His Word who were broken until there was virtually nothing left of them. And then God made them into “better vessels” (Jeremiah 18). Something they never could have been if they’d not gone to their own personal cross of loss, forsaking, humiliation and virtual death.

Often this also comes in our lives, and for some it may actually be a recurring process over the years. The -in a sense- ending of one life and beginning of another, even in this world. I’ve had a few of those, where I just sort of ceased being who I was and that nature I had sort of died in a very rough ending which turned out, as I just kept holding on through sometimes months of dire difficulty, into a new age or stage of my existence.

So, if you’re in any kind of place like that, remember what our Lord did. He went a little further and fell on His face. Almost all of us have times like this, our own personal Gethsemanes, followed by what seem to be our own personal crucifixions. But then, as we yield all to Him, also to our own personal resurrections, even all in this life.

And it should go without saying, all this is impossible without Him. He went before us in the most difficult task of all, to die on the cross and “give his life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28). Without Him we can do nothing. But He can be with us and lead us through these most difficult times in our lives into the light of a new day and almost like a resurrection to a new life, even as we are still in this one. God bless you and God help us all.

“When the enemy shall come in like a flood…”

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Years ago there was a popular thing people said, “The Devil made me do it.” It had shock value at the time. But, folks, it’s a LIE. The Devil can’t “make” you do anything. He can tempt you, he can provoke you or try to convince you. But he can’t make you do anything. You do it. And, in our times, the Devil seems to have more and more minions and those who yield to his prompting.

But you don’t have to do what the devil says. You don’t have to yield to your rage, your jealousy, your depression or whatever it is. A tremendous Bible verse on this subject is what Isaiah said, “When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up standard against him.” (Isaiah 59:19b) But sadly, it often seems that many in our times have allowed themselves to get more and more on the channel of the Enemy of God and less and less in tune with the ways of God, His love, His truth and His power.

Truth resisted looses power over the mind. And for some of these horrific things we read about in the news every day, we often find that the perpetrator had been more and more on a negative, hopeless, often violent or evil line of thinking for a long time. And it’s just heartbreaking on so many levels when these things happen. We pity and grieve for the victims of these crimes but also for the families of the perpetrators who often say they had no idea their loved one was getting that way.

But honestly, there but for the grace of God go so many of us. You can think, “Oh, I’d never do anything like that!” But any of us, if we play footsie more and more with the dark, evil side of this world, can be lulled into the delusion of committing some horrific crimes, against others or even our selves.

temptations-and-doubtsThey say, “You can’t keep the birds from flying over your head. But you can keep them from making a nest in your hair.” All of us are susceptible to the voice of evil and Satan from time to time, like birds flying over your head. But you do have the power to shoo them away. Paul said, “Neither give place to the devil.” (Ephesians 4:27) Don’t entertain and give place to evil, Satanic influences in any way.

That’s why we, all of us, every single person, need to desperately have the saving power of the blood of Jesus, Who defeated both sin and Satan on the cross. I know; you mock and smirk at this, some of you. And if that’s you, I can tell you this: “The way of the transgressor is hard.” (Proverbs 13:15) Because I learned this the hard way, by bitter, indescribably pain as the result of my proud, intellectual ways until there was virtually nothing left of me.

It was at that stage, when my self confidence was utterly shattered and my mind almost gone, when I was face to face with my utter ignorance of the things of the heart and the affairs of eternity, that I was able to have the simple realization that there is a spiritual world, there is something called sin that was destroying me and that I desperately needed the help of the God of heaven and, yes, even of Jesus, the one I’d mocked so much.

But from that personal death I came to a new life of truths I’d never known. And one of those is that there is an enemy of our soul who will claim us as his own if we don’t fight him and resist him. It’s horrifying to think how the Devil will also attempt to use us to do his dirty work right here in this world, if we allow it.

James, the Lord’s brother said, “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7) That’s what you have to do when you’re tempted to commit a violent act, against yourself or others. Or bullying, or drug taking or any of the “wild side” of life which can be so alluring but so foolish, vain and deadly. That’s why it’s not true: “The devil made me do it.” No, you just went with the flow of Satan; you yielded to his power and thoughts and persuasion.

When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him. And I can tell you personally, the enemy will come in like a flood, into your mind, into your words that come out of your mouth and into your actions and deeds, unless you allow God to lift up a standard against him.

That’s why it’s so important what we think, what we harbor in our hearts and minds. God’s will is that we fill ourselves with positive, encouraging, faith-building thoughts from His Word and truth. Actually memorizing Bible verses has been one of the most beneficial things I’ve ever done. Or singing songs of the Lord, “making melody in your hearts to the Lord.” (Ephesians 5:19) Music is powerful and you can sometimes sing your way right out of an attack of the devil.

But you have to make that effort, you have to resist the devil, you have to allow in you the Spirit of God to lift up that standard against the darkness when it comes at you. And it will.

Sometimes you have to keep up your resistance. When the devil tempted Jesus in the desert, he actually kept coming back at Jesus, even though Jesus did resist him. Same for you and me. But if you keep up your resistance, the enemy just has to flee. “Greater is he that is in you (Jesus Christ in your heart if you’ve asked Him to be there) than he that is in the world (Satan).” (I John 4:4)

You don’t have to grab that gun or knife. You don’t have to keep shooting up those opioids or taking those drugs. You don’t have to keep getting drunk every day and night until you’re a hopeless alcoholic. “The Lord will deliver me from every evil work.” (II Timothy 4:18) There’s not only eternal salvation in Jesus, there is  –right now–  very real and practical, present, miraculous deliverance from any form of darkness that may be infesting your life. And it can come through the true and mighty name of Jesus.

And I’m not some preacher with a theology degree. I learned what I’m telling you right now on the street, the hard way, through a horrific near death experience.

Fight back. Fight that impulse, that feeling you have to do something you know is wrong. You do have power against it. Through Jesus. I’ve been there and done that. And through Him I’ve lived to tell you that you can come out of it too. Don’t be a victim of Satan, be a victorious victor through the Man who loves you and died for you and rose from the dead, Jesus.

Living by faith that God will supply all your needs

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For those in Christian missionary work, you sometimes hear them speak of “living by faith.” This usually has an economic meaning. The Scriptural principle behind it is that if you’re “seeking first the Kingdom of God” as Jesus said, then “all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33) Another well known verse that’s claimed by those who live by faith is what Paul said, “But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19)

As you might figure, it can be a controversial doctrine. Some would say, “But what if everyone did that?!” Others will quote Paul who said, “Those that shall not work shall not eat.”  (II Thessalonians 3:10) And it should go without saying that “living by faith” and serving God, seeking first the Kingdom of God in no way implies any lack of work. It’s just that it’s work like you see in the four Gospels and the book of Acts. Folks who take this direction have verses that become much more alive to them than when they didn’t live by faith before.

Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” (Matthew 6:24) Those who are “living by faith” and serving the Lord full time feel they’ve come to a full-time service for the Lord which has delivered them from daily serving  Mammon and the systems of this world.

Is all this mandatory? Will a person go to hell if they’re not living by faith, fully serving the Lord daily? No. But a deeper look at the New Testament does pretty clearly show that this was the nature of the lives of the early apostles and disciples of Jesus. Let’s face it; so much of our lives is described in what Jesus said,

“Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what you shall eat; neither for the body, what you shall put on. The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment… If then God so clothes the grass, which is to day in the field, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith? And seek not you what you shall eat, or what you shall drink, neither be you of doubtful mind. For all these things do the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you have need of these things.”   (Luke 12:22-30)

Such famous, familiar words from the Lord but how much they’ve been glossed over and set aside by so many believers as having no real message, meaning or promise to us practically in the real world of this day.

But when you are “living by faith” on the mission field and all you have is the Lord (since you’ve forsaken all to go into all the world and win souls), you very much see the promises and provision of God utterly come through for you, even in some of the strangest and most trying times. I wrote about one experience I personally had like that when I first got married in “Foolhardy Faith”, when my former wife and I were in Sweden in our 20’s with our first child and trying to get to the mission field the Lord had laid on our hearts.

“Well, Mark, that’s great but it’s not for me. And not for most of us, as you know. I need to have a normal job and a normal life like the rest of society. I’m a Christian, I go to church. But all this fanatical missionary stuff is just too far out.”

What I’ve found is that God has ways of sifting His people. He’s not trying to be mean to us. It’s just that we have more safety, security and even provision as well as meaning and happiness in serving Him, even full time, than we do in serving Mammon six days a week and then going to church on Sunday. But, admittedly, this is the way virtually all Christians live in these times.

Another simple thing Jesus said about this which is so often overlooked is “Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust do corrupt and thieves break through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth or rust corrupt or thieves break through and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (Matthew 6:19-20) Heard all that before? Certainly. But how many understand it, take it to heart and try to put it into practice?

To end with, here’s some good news. In the final days before the Lord’s return, we’re not really going to be able to serve Mammon the way most Christians do now. The Bible says that “no man will be able to buy or sell” (Revelation 13:17) unless they have the mark of the Beast of the final Anti-Christ government. The sifting will be pretty strong then.

Christians, if they want to remain Christians, will have to trust God then and probably even be serving the Lord much more than they do now. And their economics? God’s got that covered then, just as He already does now. Revelation 12:14 speaks of the believers of those times, “The woman [the believing body of Christ on earth, the bride of Christ] fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there [for 3 ½ years] from the face of the serpent.” This is something I wrote more about when I was in the Bulgarian hinterland a few years ago in “Fleeing into the Wilderness… in Bulgaria“.

In the end, before the Lord’s return, there will be a sifted, separated, fruit-bearing body of believers throughout the earth, living by faith and trusting Him to supply all their needs.

 

 

Be of good cheer and go

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I was looking to the Lord and telling the Lord how I need Him. I told Him I needed His friendship and then I said I needed His cheerfulness. That surprised me a little. But then I thought of when He said to His disciples, “Be of good cheer, it is I; be not afraid.” (Matthew 14:27) I’d never really thought much about the Lord’s cheerfulness but I guess that is one of His attributes.

And it reminded me of how many times the Lord has said something similar like this in my life. Repeatedly, dear brethren have given me verses like “Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice.” (Philippians 4:4) I guess I’m naturally a rather sober person much of the time, serious about life and that in itself is not bad.

But as so many have found, we just can’t make it without the Lord as each of us have major parts of us missing in our makeup, even if there may be a thing or two that might be qualities. I’ve had to let the Lord cultivate happiness and joy in my heart. “The joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10b), as Nehemiah told his countrymen.

But then, later in the morning somehow the whole importance of the simple word “Go” was coming to me. Go-into-all-the-worldHow very often the Lord commanded His people in one fashion or the other to “Go”. He told His disciples at the end of His time on earth that they should “Go into all the world and make known the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15) “Go therefore and teach all nations” (Matthew 28:20) is the last verse in the book of Matthew.

Then at the beginning of the Early Church, when Peter and John had been cast into prison, the angel freed them and then said what? Go on vacation? Go get a good job and settle down? No. He said, “Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life.” (Acts 5:20) Go right back into the fray, right back into the high calling of God, right back to where the danger is but God’s mighty blessing is as well.

He told Peter years later when the Gentiles had come to his door in Caesarea, “Go, doubting nothing.” (Acts 10:20) I’m so thankful that the Christianity I was born into was a discipleship, witnessing, sheep-feeding, cross-bearing Christianity. Before I came to the Lord, I grew up surrounded by the other kind of Christianity, the pew-sitting, self-satisfied, lukewarm kind that was so prevalent when I was a kid.

So I was thinking how sometimes the Lord can just boil it all down to really simple things. I never went to a theology school or seminary. Probably most of you didn’t either. But the Lord can still speak to us if we look to Him, seek His face and try to obey and follow Him. And how often it can be that things boil down to holding on to His cheer that He wants to put into our hearts, plus simply obeying Him in going where He wants us to, to do what He wants us to?

And as I was studying this further, I was surprised how many times we are commanded to be of good cheer.  Even when Paul was in tremendous distress on his boat journey to Rome, when all seemed lost, he commanded his companions to “be of good cheer” (Acts 27: 22 & 25), for the Lord had shown him that they would not die then.

Yes, we are to fear God. Yes, we are to be sober minded. But “in Thy presence is fullness of joy.” (Psalm 16:11) There are just so many times that joy and cheerfulness are spoken of as the attributes of those in the presence of the Lord.

And, almost equally, how often His presence and will involves taking action, doing something He has commanded us to. It’s true: we’re also at times supposed to “be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10) But I’m afraid so many Christians have gotten the idea that God’s highest will is to be “at ease in Zion” (Amos 6:1), rather than going forward to reach the lost and establish the kingdom of God on earth.

It almost seems too simple. Shouldn’t it be more complicated, more intellectual, more academic? But that’s maybe a stumbling block for those of us who tend to be that way. Because the Lord’s ways are almost simpler than we maybe think they should be, Lord help us.

That was the cry of my heart this morning, almost to my surprise. I asked the Lord to help me have His cheerfulness. It’s an ongoing process but I know He’s doing it. So, for me and for all of us: “be of good cheer”. And “go”.

“By Long Forbearing Is A Prince Persuaded”

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I don’t know of any single verse you can share with a loved one that will bring them to the Lord. Most likely many of these ones have already “heard it all” and some folks can quote Scripture as good or better than you can.  But still they don’t really believe it or take it to heart. So what can we do?

A friend at church asked me if I could give her a verse to share with her husband so he’ll come to the Lord. I said I’d try to write her about it. But when I was looking to the Lord about it, it was a little disheartening. Because personally, on several levels, I know how difficult it is to persuade loved ones to come to Him.

For one, I myself was about as big a “goat” and a “wolf” as there ever was, before I came to the Lord. I laughed and mocked at Christians for years and enjoyed getting in a rousing argument with them since I was convinced I’d always win. I wouldn’t listen to anyone and it took the totally undeserved mercy of God to save me. I was about to depart this life and go to hell before I saw that it was all real and put my will down on the side of the God of love and truth.

But today, when I further looked to the Lord about all this, I actually did get a verse and I think it was from the Lord, about this subject. It’s from Proverbs 25:15: “By long forbearing is a prince persuaded, and a soft tongue breaketh the bone.” My oh my, there’s a challenge. How is she going to persuade her prince? How are any of us going to win our resistant loved ones over to the Lord’s side? Long forbearing. In other words, patience or restraint.

Wouldn’t it be easier if we could just get mad at them? Really tell them off? “How can they be such idiots, no”? It’s as clear as day to us; why in the world don’t they see it?! It’s funny how the Lord throws a lot of this back on us. And it was pretty much the way I was feeling already in response to what this friend asked me, just that this verse confirmed that direction I was thinking this would go.

The best we can to is to try as much as possible to be a living sample of the Word. I think it was Dwight L. Moody who said something like, “The only bible most people read is the one bound in shoe leather.” In other words, you and me, people walking around in leather shoes rather than the printed Scriptures, bound in leather. People will “read” us to see if what they see is true and real.

And the second part of that verse is also poignant, “…and a soft tongue breaketh the bones.” But many would say that this is easier said than done. Paul said, “Charity suffers long and is kind.” (I Corinthians 13:4) James, the Lord’s brother said, “Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak and slow to wrath. For the wrath of man works not the righteousness of God.” (James 1:19 & 20) And if that was ever true, it’s true when you’re trying to win souls and especially loved ones to the Lord.

But it can be difficult. It’s likely you are already “familiar” with them. I wrote about this in “Familiarity”. You know what a rascal they are and they probably think they know what a religious hypocrite we are. And likely both are right. So it ends up that the devil will do all he can to hinder you in your witness from as many angles as he can.

“Oh, Mark, it sounds so hopeless! Come on, isn’t there anything we can do?!”

Sure there is. For one, don’t fail to keep praying for them. Samuel said to the people of Israel, “God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you.” (I Samuel 12:23) Keep praying fervently for your loved ones. But also, really resist the urge to think you are witnessing to them when you may come across as brow-beating, nagging and criticizing them.

The Lord does want you to witness to them, make no mistake about that. But it may be that He wants you to really upgrade your witness by including Him much more in it. If you’re also praying for the Lord’s leadings in how to witness to your loved ones, aim to be more sensitive to the leadings of the Lord, what to say as well as when to say it. The Lord can actually give you a nudge or impulse from Him of what to say and when to say it that will be far better than our sometimes vain wrangling.

Isaiah said, “The Lord God has given me the tongue of the learned that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary.” (Isaiah 50:4) Maybe that’s a real key in how to win our loved ones: to have “the tongue of the learned” so we can be led of Him to speak the right thing at the right time. We’re not trying to win an argument or get the best of them. We’re trying to lead them to Him. So, “He must increase” but often “we must decrease.” (John 3:30)

Everyone needs to see an example of a true, real Christian, a humble, loving, kind forgiving person who truly loves them with a love that isn’t found in this world. And this is all not to say that so many aren’t already really trying to do this with their loved ones, perhaps for years.

But that was the verse I got today on this subject, “By long forbearing is a prince persuaded and a soft tongue breaketh the bone.” Sometimes even the toughest nuts are finally won by loving patience and a sample of humility and Godly softness rather than our possibly calloused hearts which have been hurt by the rejection they’ve experienced in standing up for Him. God help us to love people and to stand up for the Lord but with wisdom and by His Spirit.

 

Grudges

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Do you have a grudge? Against someone, something, even against God? Universities don’t have classes on Grudges 101. Politics won’t solve this. It’s another one of those hideous, hellish, often fatal proclivities of human beings worldwide: to be naturally inclined to harbor and hold grudges. A grudge is the opposite of forgiveness and it’s a deadly sin. It’s even more deadly than many since it’s so often accepted and seen to be “just a part of life” by the vast majority of people everywhere.

The exact definition of “grudge” is: “a persistent feeling of ill will or resentment resulting from a past insult or injury.” Sound familiar? Well, it’s one of the most persistent, common maladies of our human condition and it’s damaging in the extreme. You can be a kid and have a grudge against your parents. You can have a grudge against anybody and anything: the way you are made, the family you were born into, mistreatment by your boss, your girlfriend, your teacher or God Himself.

Why is it so bad? Almost invariable it can quickly become the main thing in your heart, what so many of your thoughts revolve around and settle back to. The words of your mouth are tinged with hate and bitterness because of that grudge you’ve allowed to spring up in your heart.

“Mark, give us a break! You’re always saying stuff like this, always hard on people! You expect too much, Mark! Look, friend, the world is full of a– h—s. And I’m not going to let anybody treat me like they do. If I don’t do it to them first, they’ll do it to me! That’s just the way things are, Mark. Get a life!”

Is it safe to say that the majority of the world thinks like that? Probably. So what’s wrong with me? Why don’t I just accept that we live in a jungle where it’s “kill or be killed” and reacting to wrongs by accepting a hateful grudge to take over my soul and mind is just how things work in this world. “Get over it!”, like people say nowadays.

If there was no God, no Satan, no afterlife and no Savior, the man Christ Jesus, then that would I suppose be the only choice we have. But it isn’t. There is a God, there is an afterlife, and there is a judgment both in this world and the world to come for our words and deeds. Keep-your-heartAnd there is a Savior, the Man who went about everywhere doing good, Jesus of Nazareth. And one of the most important lessons He and the other men of God have taught us over the centuries was summed up well by King Solomon when he said, “Keep your heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life.” (Proverbs 4:23) I wrote a blog article on that verse, “Keep your heart.”

Think about it, how many murders are the result of what started out as a grudge? It’s likely the first murder was a result of jealousy and an accompanying grudge. Here’s what the Bible says about Cain killing Abel. “Not as Cain, who was of that evil one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil and his brother’s righteous.” (I John 3:12)

It doesn’t take much sense, if you have an inkling of the Spirit of God, to know that grudges are not the plant that the Lord wants us to let grow in our hearts. This is one of the worst of the “thorns that spring up” that Jesus talked about in Luke 8:7. It’s not just some little thing. It’s not something we can’t control. It’s not something that we need to understand and accept. Grudges bring virtually immediate darkness to your soul and heart. The fruits of the Spirit of God in our lives are “love, joy, peace, longsuffering gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.” (Galatians 5:22 & 23) But a grudge slays all of those very quickly.

“But, Mark, let me interrupt you again. Isn’t this just a case of mental health? Our modern world has moved on from these ancient, primative notions of “sin” and “the heart”. Don’t people just need our sympathy as well as mental health care to solve these things?”

No, it’s not a “mental health” issue. Science, in its place, is a great blessing. But when it tries to explain away the fallen nature of man and sanitize sin into something a doctor should treat, it then fulfills the words spoken about the future endtime to come that mankind would be “…ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth”. (II Timothy 3:7) Or, more bluntly, Paul said in another place, “…because they received not the love of the truth, God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie.” (II Thessalonians 2:10 & 11) Sadly how prevalent we see this happening more and more in our times as people let science supposedly explain away sin and so many other things that are to be spiritually discenred.

A grudge and bitterness walk hand in hand. Something has happened, someone did something that you don’t understand, that went against you and hurt your life and heart. And if we then don’t desperately pray and throw our will, mind and thoughts onto the side of the Lord, then we’ll not be able to forgive those who’ve wronged us or be able to “Commit your way unto the Lord, trust also in Him.” (Psalm 37:5)

Is there any hope? Like all sin, yes, there is hope. First, you have to recognize it and often that’s not even very easy since it seems to be so justifiable. God said to Jonah, “Do you do well to be angry?” To which Jonah snapped back to God, “I do well to be angry!” (Jonah 4: 4 & 9) So again, it comes back to being able to discern your own heart first. God’s Spirit is always faithful to convict us and bring the conviction that something is wrong inside us, even if it’s true that someone has wronged us, that our reaction is not right and the best.

But if we can recognize and accept the conviction of the Holy Spirit, we go to the next step which is, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (I John 1:9)

That’s the process by which we’re delivered from grudges. Confess it and pray strongly to be delivered from the deadly sin of grudges which will, and perhaps already has, snuffed out your spiritual life and brought you to utter darkness, though you are still alive.

Recognize it. Hate it. Resist it. Confess it to God and others if needed. And claim deliverance from this sin which is often unto death. God help us all.

Should we forget the past?

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Someone just told me I should write about forgetting the past. Should we? Especially the really sad, rough, ungodly things that others did to us? Let’s face it: it’s easier said than done. Of course forgiveness is the key but it may not be the only one. I guess some folks who don’t have the Lord can “forgive and forget” but I’m sure it’s much easier if we have His grace for it all.

You’d think that with the life I’ve had as a missionary, living for decades on foreign fields, working with dedicated Christians, that it must have just been one big bed of roses and strawberry fields forever. Sometimes it was like that. But there also were some shocking, heartbreaking, soul-stumbling events that transpired between Christian brethren that were just unspeakably pitiful and should have never happened. Talk about “deceiving the elect” (Matthew 24:24), sadly the elect of God can be deceived, tripped off and just led about by their carnal reasoning, selfish lusts and desires for dominion over others, except for the intervention of God. And sometimes it seems like that didn’t even help.

Israel of old was mightily blessed by God but ultimately defeated and destroyed by their enemies but not before they had already been defeated from within by their own sins. And so it can still happen just the same to believers in our times. I’ve been a victim of some things like that in the past and, Lord help and forgive me, I may have not done enough to intervene when I saw things that were wrong where I was.

And there’s a question to be asked, “When is the past not the past?” When are the sins and cruelty of the past still affecting us today, especially in our memories that we carry or the things we’ve heard from others that happened? Are we doomed to carry with us these memories, even decades after some event happened?

Well, thank God there is hope. Thank God for Him, for His Son, Jesus and the unspeakably mighty power they have in our lives. For me, the mightiest force in the universe is the Word of God. I’ve experienced its healing and deliverance in situations where the circumstances were utterly hopeless. But the Bible says, “The Lord will deliver me from every evil work.” (II Timothy 4:18) And that’s the truth.

Maybe you were touched, affected, singed and even damaged by some evil work, some atrocity and it even was from some Christian. I’ve had that happen to me, actually a few times. It was wrong, it was mean, it was personal and it was intentional. So what do I do? What did I do?

The first thing was I had to keep my eyes on Jesus, “looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith“. (Hebrews 12:2) I turned my attention to situations in the Bible where people of God in the past went through similar things. Of course the greatest injustice in history was the crucifixion of Jesus. A righteous and perfect Man condemned to a cruel death.

It’s good to remember that when we are mulling over the horrible things that have happened to us. Or like Joseph in Egypt, sold as a slave by his brothers but he found the grace of God to say to them, “You meant it for evil but God meant it for good.” (Genesis 50:20)

It’s like King David said in Psalm 77, he went over so many bad things that were happened so that it was nearly killing him. But then he said, “But I will remember the years of the right hand of the most high, I will remember…” (Psalm 77: 10 & 11) Actually he said “I will remember” 3 times in a row in that Psalm. Maybe that’s a key and answer. We have to just not let the horror, atrocities and injustice become our fixation. Because that will insure the final victory of those sins against you, that they will permanently defeat you.

We just can’t allow that. I just couldn’t allow those things to snuff out my life, no matter how bad it was. JobI even thought of the book of Job and how evidently righteous he had been and but then some really almost crazy things happened to virtually destroy him. As it turned out, Job actually did have a few things that the Lord was dealing with. And in my experience, during the very worst times that went on actually for close to 2 years, the Lord was dealing with me about a few things, as well as just breaking me and making me into a better vessel, like it says in Jeremiah 18

But, certainly, there comes a time where we can take to heart what Paul said in Philippines 3:13 and 14, “Forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth to the things before, I press towards the mark for the price of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Some things that we still don’t understand just have to be wrapped up in a bundle of faith and put away somewhere till the day that it’s explained to us by the Lord.

Ultimately, if we’re to stay alive for the Lord, we have to find and claim healing and forgiveness for whatever happened, whoever sinned against you. This is what I wrote about in “Ghost”.

Rehashing the past, if you feel you just have to, should be done in private with someone strong in the Lord. Otherwise it can easily be an avenue for the enemy to spew out on others all the old horrors you experienced from long ago. Lord help us all, as wounded as many of us are, to cast our cares on Him, to forgive those who’ve sinned against us and to keep our eyes on Jesus and the future He has for us all.

Addictions

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I was a drug addict. It was a long time ago and I got delivered but still, it was a major part of my life. And in these times it seems to be more and more a scourge on society worldwide. I just got word now of a friend whose son died last night of an overdose. He’d been in rehab, been incarcerated and had been revived many times. But last night he passed on, after another overdose.

It’s a sad time for his family and loved ones. But also it can be a time of reflection and even for some of us it can underline the militancy and determination we need to have to do what we can to help our fellow human beings.

I don’t know all the details of what happened but I know this young man had a Godly father who loved him and did all he could to try to help him. But this has caused me to reflect on what happened to me because I very easily could have died on drugs and in fact very nearly did. It was near death experiences before I came to Christ which so fundamentally shook me up that ultimately lead me out of atheism and towards the God of Abraham.

What can any of us do? How can we help someone in the grip of addiction, no matter what its form? In some states in America now the morgues are so full of the overdosed dead that they evidently can’t bury them fast enough or find a place to store bodies until they can be buried.

But if there’s anything I can add that can help in any way, it’s to say again that for me personally there was an escape from addiction. Because, at its root is the explanation the Bible gives for the nature of human beings, that we are fallen creatures who are in thrall to sin, in whatever way it has manifested itself in our lives.

(Did you roll your eyes when you read what I said there?) “Sin”, you said, with perhaps a smirk? You have my sympathies because that’s exactly the way I used to feel but actually the joke is on any of us who “make a mock at sin”. (Proverbs 14:9) Here’s a blog post I wrote specifically on “Sin”.

I never got deliverance from my addiction until I finally accepted what the Spirit of truth was hammering into me, that the explanation from the Bible is the most fundamental, elemental account of human existence that there is. So I’m going to take a few thoughts from the Bible that were absolute revelations to me and share them with you. Actually these truths were what reached into the darkest dungeon of my life and brought me out, even before I knew the actually textual verbalization of these truths that existed in God’s Word.

Here’s what Paul said and perhaps you can think of addiction in relation to this. “The good that I would, I do not. But the evil that I would not, that I do.” (Romans 7:19) That’s a short explanation of how sin works in addiction, whatever the form of addiction it may be.

In another place Paul said to Christians, “Sin shall not have dominion over you…”. (Romans 6:14) But, folks, let me tell you from my excruciating experiences and the bottom of my heart: if you don’t have Jesus Christ, sin will definitely have dominion over you. And drug addiction is just one of the clearest manifestations of that. Sin has dominion over you and as James, the Lord’s brother said, “Sin, when it is finished, brings forth death”. (James 1:15)

I’m convinced I was only hours, days or weeks away from death, insanity or prison when I finally was rescued by God. But how? John the beloved disciple said, “If our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart and knows all things.” (I John 3:20) I certainly deserved death, insanity or prison. The police were literally at my door to arrest me as a teenager and I would have been two years in prison. Here’s the story of how the Lord rescued me out of that. But, ultimately, God in His love gave me an opportunity to see things as they were and to choose Him and His ways. As Joshua told Israel of old, “Chose this day whom you will serve”. (Joshua 24:15)

I just didn’t personally have the power to stop using psychedelic drugs. I’d make a resolution to stop, I had all the intentions but then a few weeks or months later I’d go back to drugs. Sin had dominion over me. But here’s the Bible verse that best sums up the miraculous deliverance I experienced. Perhaps it’s my favorite verse.

From the first chapter of John, verse 12, it says, “But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.” That’s what happened to me. I received Jesus. I asked Jesus to come into my heart and save me from my sins. And He did. And He gave me that “power” spoken of there, power over sin that had so wrecked my life.

That still is the final solution against sin and addiction, in whatever form it may take. Yes, you may not be able to quit. But God is greater than you and your heart and even your flesh and your addictions. You can’t, but He can. It’s a simple as that. That’s what happened to me as an addict.