Idol Worship

When the book of Haggai was written, the Israelites were in this cycle of: Turn from God, go into captivity, repent, come home and rebuild... restart. And they were in the rebuilding stage. These people were lucky like nothing else! The guy that had captured them, King Darius, this guy would let his prisoners practice their own religion and beliefs. And then, when they were out of captivity, he gave them money and resources to build their temple. But they didn't, they starting building their houses and neglecting God, and God was tired of it. Because they did that for 10 years.
Now, fast forward to us: God's temple is us, we are His church. Are we building our own houses spiritually? Think about the things that take your time: TV, Video Games, Internet, what ever it may be. But do we neglect God? Leave Him out of our lives?? God should have a place in us.

Let's put it this way, imagine a cabinet with several shelves, and each shelf has a certain amount of compartments. Now put a word in each compartment to represent what you devote your time to. TV, Computer, Family, Friends, Phone, Video Games, hey! Let's even put God in one of those. And whatever else you may spend your time on. What do you see wrong with that?

Well, God should not be in a compartment, He should be the entire shelf! Whatever you do in life, should be judged by God's standard, if it does not line up, is it worth it?

Don't get me wrong, I do believe that every Christian should spend time with God. Just them and God, studying God's word. Not just reading, studying. I am not perfect at this. But I have a method to keep me in line. This Blog. I have made a promise to whoever reads this, that I will do my best to have something every week... at least. My deadline is Thursday. I absolutely have to have something up by then, it keeps my accountable. This is why I write this, so that I must read my Bible, because if I don't, then I would probably have an extremely hard time to read consistently. I still do. I don't expect anyone to be perfect in this. But all throughout the Bible it is clear that time spent with God is essential for a Relationship with Him. Read through the Gospels, Jesus went into the Wilderness several times. And when He was tempted, He used verses to fight Satan, do you have a way better than what our Savor used? There are a few others who did the same, I cannot remember who though.

Read Philippians 1:9, it backs me up. That our love may abound more in knowledge and discernment. Our love in and of Christ, may abound more in knowledge and discernment of the word.

So give God some time, and build upon your relationship with God.

We degrade God a lot. We are given Scripture so often, that it has gotten "casual" to us. I hope you don't put something before God. You can correlate that video to so much more than Football.

Well, next week, I am going to start a study in Ephesians.

Thanks for reading,

John Mark,

Christmas Story: Retold...

It was no silent night, that is what I am going to talk about. You see, if you read Revelations 12, it talks about a Spiritual war between the Angels and the "Christmas Dragon" as I have recently heard it referred to as. That is the Spiritual picture of Christmas day. A huge fight, Satan--the Dragon--literally threw stars down from the heavens. What happens after that, kind of confused me. Satan is thrown from heaven. But as I began to think about it, I realized something. You see, the Spiritual world does not perceive time as: Past frozen, Present only to pass, and the future to come, it must be anticipated. Christmas happened for them, at the same moment in time (as we perceive it) when Satan was thrown out, the same time as now. They wanted so badly to stop what they knew was happening. But God stepped in, He cast Satan out. Now you may be saying that physically it was a silent night. Not exactly.
Let's back up a few months ago.
An Angel of God comes to Mary and says: "Hey, you are favored in God's sight. So you are going to give birth to the Son of God." (Paraphrase)
Can you imagine her reaction to that? How she felt? We actually get to read it:
"Whoa, wait, what?? I am going to be pregnant?? How? I have never done something like that with any man." (Paraphrase)
So the Angel reassures her:
"No, don't worry about that. That is part of why you were chosen. This conception is of the Holy Spirit." (Paraphrase)
So she decides to trust God on this. And this, is where the silence ends. I mean, people found out.
"Did you hear?? Mary is pregnant!"
"What? Are you serious! Ugh! What a prostitute, you know what I think! I think she should be stoned. I mean, she is betrothed already to Joseph."
I bet that is the kind of slander that she felt and heard. And that was the law! If someone had been caught in Adultery by law they had to be stoned. (In fact, a woman caught was once brought before Jesus, and the Pharisees questioned Him here.)
But according to the law, she could only be stoned if she was accused by either her father, or husband/fiance. And her being betrothed, the only person who by law, could accuse her, was Joseph. And that puts him in a hard position.

"What do I do? I mean, I love her. But she betrayed me! I cannot believe she did this to me! I could have her stoned. No, no, that is not the right thing. I will not stone her. Okay, here is what I'll do! I will divorce her quietly, I won't make a big deal about it. After that, I guess she will take care of herself."

Then Joseph goes to sleep, and an Angel appears to him, and tells him that what Mary said about her conception was true! It was from God.
Mary was probably feeling extremely stressed about it all. Everyone there was gossiping, slandering, giving her looks. Probably refusing to service her at the market, or marking up prices for her. And not to mention! Since he will not stone her, nor divorce her, so he now is losing business!! So, she decides to visit Elizabeth to relax. After awhile, there is a census across the land, each man must take his family to his home town. Now Mary and Joseph have to travel several miles to Bethlehem. And she is several months into the ordeal. Who knows what they had to go through on the way there!
But alas! They get there, and this town probably doesn't know their story. They look around for a place to stay, and they come upon the last inn, and they ask the guy for a room.
He turns them away. But as he is about to shut the door, either he notices, or more likely, his wife notices that Mary is pregnant. So he says; "Hey, this is probably not much, but, I have a place. Where, well, animals stay. If you would like, I guess you could stay there. It might be warmer in there for the night."
Then Mary gives birth, the battle, the Shepherds come, and they cannot believe that they of all people were shown where the Savior was!!
After that, a few more things go on. But that is the event we celebrate! We don't celebrate the same Christmas that is so commercialized that it holds no message, or the one that makes a fictional character the god we worship.
WE CELEBRATE JESUS CHRIST BEING BORN SO THAT HE COULD DIE TO SAVE US FROM OURS SINS. His name was, and is, Immanuel, meaning: GOD WITH US.

And He truly is with us. He is Immanuel.

Mary and Joseph are two great examples of how Christians should live. They followed God when nothing made sense. And Joseph was faced with a huge task. Not only to take care of the mother of Christ, but to take care of the Messiah Himself!

Could you do that? Would God ask you to take care of His Son?

...Well... He did. He said that if we follow Him, He will dwell in us. And He asked us to take care of Him in another sense. To tell about Him, to share the Gospel, to live a life that would shine the love of Christ. Are you taking care of Christ? I truly hope so, I am not where I need to be. But I intend upon trying my absolute best.

Thanks for reading,

John Mark,

Times get tough:

Life is going to be hard, you are going to be brought down. Just as you laugh, so I assure you, you shall cry. It's really hard to go through tough times in life, and it is even harder to keep your head up when you go through them. Lately, I have come across a chapter that is extremely encouraging. But I am only going to write a few verses:


2 Samuel 22:5-20;
5 "When the waves of death surrounded me, The floods of ungodliness made me afraid.6 The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me; The snares of death confronted me. 7 In my distress I called upon the Lord, And cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple, And my cry entered His ears. 8 "Then the earth shook and trembled; The foundations of heaven quaked and were shaken, Because He was angry. 9 Smoke went up from His nostrils, And devouring fire from His mouth; Coals were kindled by it. 10 He bowed the heavens also, and came down With darkness under His feet. 11 He rode upon a cherub, and flew; And He was seen upon the wings of the wind. 12 He made darkness canopies around Him, Dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.13 From the brightness before Him Coals of fire were kindled. 14 "The Lord thundered from heaven, And the Most High uttered His voice. 15 He sent out arrows and scattered them; Lightning bolts, and He vanquished them. 16 Then the channels of the sea were seen, The foundations of the world were uncovered, At the rebuke of the Lord, At the blast of the breath of His nostrils. 17"He sent from above, He took me, He drew me out of many waters. 18 He delivered me from my strong enemy, From those who hated me; For they were too strong for me. 19 They confronted me in the day of my calamity, But the Lord was my support. 20 He also brought me out into a broad place; He delivered me because He delighted in me.


He delivered me, because He delighted in me.
I just really like these verses. I don't really have anything else, sorry. I will have something a bit more thought out next week though.




Thanks for reading,


John Mark,

Are you kidding me?!

I don't know why, but lately I have been listening to a lot of KJ-52's music on youtube, checking the music videos and stuff. (That's, Five Two, by the way.)

And as I listened to some of these songs, out of curiosity, I looked at some of the comments on the video. Because I like to see the impact KJ has on people, some of his lyrics are powerful.

But what I saw has me fired up and disgusted! I would read the comments of people saying how great God is, how He loves us and all that, which I am not condemning. But then, most times without fail, a random atheist had happened to hear the song, and decided to place what he thought of the song. Can you guess the reaction??

"Shut up, dude, you got no idea what you are saying."
And things like that, I cannot believe that! I mean, seriously! Think about it, we could be the only gospel they ever see, hear, or witness! We could change their lives and yet we live like its nothing. They are dying, they will burn for all eternity, they will be separated from God! Does that not stir you?! Does that not make you want to rise up and start a riot in the streets? Not a literal fight, but a spiritual war? I want to make Satan screech, I want him to see me witness, if only with my life. And I want him to see me as a huge threat. Because if I start living my life as that example, then I will start witnessing more, and then Satan is in trouble! We live in a dying, perverted, lost, dark, sinful, hopeless world! Though it is hopeless, that doesn't mean it is helpless! On the contrary, God has helped us!!

Are you seriously going to sit and stand, and laugh and play, joke and rave, about the newest trend. But not tell your friends, where true life begins?! Are you seriously going to put your life under a lamp?? Or are you going to do your absolute best to bring them to God?!

It may seem like I am a bit fired up. Well I am, I am fired up with fear. Fear of death for those who are lost! And you could give them the good news! Where are we at Christians?? Do you not know where they are going?? They are hurting, they need a remedy!!

Or, do you even care?? I just got thinking about this, do we care enough about those we call our "friends" that we don't even tell them about our Savior??
I will tell you, I struggle with that. I know that there are a few that I care for, in fact, all the people I know personally that are lost, I do care about them. I'd go as far as to say that I love them. Why? Because Christ loves them, and they are not nasty people. They are just lost, they are God's perfect creation. They are sick, and we have the remedy. We listen to messages like this from guys behind pulpits, we write blogs like this, and we let it slide off our shoulders like, so so. No, this is enough, it is about time we make Satan scream. It is high time we throw away the things that cover out light. It is time that we start a riot and share God's word. We could change the world!! So, are you with me??

I challenge you, to fully examine your life, every aspect, if you don't think you are pleasing God, change whatever makes you feel like that.
To put a target on somebody's back. What I mean by that, is pick a friend of yours, that you know is not saved, and help them. Witness to them, do something. Just because you target one person doesn't mean that you are limited. Go after as many as you can.
But as you take this challenge--which I pray you do--I want you to commit yourself to spending time with God. You got to remember that, before you can impact somebody's life for Christ, you first must be impacted.

So, take with you the words of my Savior, go therefore and make disciples of all nations. And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

I read a quote on Facebook, someone had on there; "You cannot bring everyone you meet to Christ, but, you can bring Christ to everyone you meet."

Thanks for reading,

John Mark,

Are we missing the point?

In reply to a comment on my last post, I made this statement; “Sometimes I think that people miss the point of Christianity.”

But as I have begun to contemplate that statement, I am beginning to understand how truthful that statement is. Also realizing that it was not my own, it could not have been. I had gotten it from somewhere, and that is what I am going to talk about.

Monday night, I lay awake staring at the bunk bed above me, about 12 at night. I can’t explain to you why exactly, but I could not go to sleep, my dad and I believe that my sister accidentally spiked our hot chocolate with some form of caffeine. But as I lay there, my mind began to wonder, as I often let it do. As I contemplated subject after subject, somehow or another I came to the subject of Matthew 7, verses 22 and 23 in particular. I played these words in my mind over and over again giving a commentary to myself;

“And in that day many shall say to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ some will even say ‘We have cast out demons in Your name, and done many great things.’ But I shall say to them; ‘depart from Me you who practice lawlessness, I never knew you.’ ”

Then something clicked in me, what it was I cannot accredit it to anything or anyone except God, even if I wanted to take credit for this one, it would not be practical as I look back at it. Read over that, these guys had done some AMAZING things, cast out demons for crying out loud!! And Jesus says; “I never knew you.” This is one of the scariest verses for me, not the scariest, but one of the scariest; because as I read it I realize a lot about me. You who are reading this may not know this, but never in my life have I ever cast out a demon, the greatest cure I have found is for hiccups. Imagine this scene, I walk to the throne of God and say;

“Lord, Lord! Have I not cast out hiccups in Your name??” I am laughing as I type that. These guys were something else, now, if they truly did cast out demons I do not know. My point is, not in fact what they said to God, but one single word that Jesus replies; KNEW.

I never knew you. I want you to point some personal questions at yourself, and answer them absolutely honestly to yourself.

Do you know God?

Or do you only know about God?

Paul said in 2 Corinthians 13:5;

“Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.”

I claim all the time that Christianity is not a religion; it is a relationship with Christ: Because the actual definition of Religion is; Man trying through works to bind themselves to God.

I honestly believe that, so, let us examine relationship then, if Christianity is truly that.

You see, I can say, that I know someone that I met at a summer camp or a leader at my church. But the reality is that when I compare knowing them to my family, I only know about them, whereas I know my family. See the difference? With a leader at my church, I may speak to him on Wednesdays and Sundays, but other than that I don’t spend time with him. With my family, I spend all the time with them; sometimes it is just me and them. I know them, I know their character, I know their personality; I know them.

So, by that we see that a relationship with anyone requires time spent with them, for a deeper relationship you need time with each other alone. Just there, together. Do you ever spend time with God? Not because you have to, but because you want to?

Some people—including myself—have referred to the Bible as “God’s love letter to us.” Why? Well, because the relationship between a married man and woman is supposed to reflect the relationship of Christ with His church, His bride. And is the church the building?? No! The church is the people, we are Christ’ temple. So, let us go over this, though I have never been married (It’s true.) nor am I old enough to consider that at this point.

I will claim that many relationships, marital or otherwise, crumble because of a lack communication. Would that be a fair statement? I believe so, now consider this;

“If you spoke to your wife/boyfriend/girlfriend/best friend/husband, as much as you speak to God, would your relationship with them be as good as it is now?”

What about with how much time you spend with that person?? No, of course not. If Christianity is a relationship it is time that we start treating it like that. I mean, do you ever take advantage of your good friends? You shouldn’t, I don’t suspect that you do.

But a lot of people take advantage of God. They say; “I prayed my prayer, I made my profession, and yes I do believe. I’m done.”

Jesus says that we are to be His servants. In that day and age servants were not like slaves, where as slaves had no choice, most times in that culture slavery was a punishment. Servants served by choice. Either to marry the daughter of their employer, or in some other service. In fact, if someone was a slave, when his ‘term’ was up, he could choose to continue serving as a servant. Servants were friends of their master, who talked to them about things a slave would not hear. And obeyed out of loyalty, not out of ‘I have to do this or else I die’ attitude.

Do you know God? Or about Him?

If the Bible is our love letter, than why don’t we study it like we would the words of a lover? Why don’t we yearn with our souls to be with Him, to talk to Him, like we do a lover?

God deserves better, far better.

I know that some of you may be thinking;

“You are saying that if I don’t spend time with God, then I will go to hell?”

I am not saying yes or no, I am saying that it is something to consider.

I believe it was C.S. Lewis who said; “I would rather live my life, and believe that there is a God, die and find I was wrong, then to live my life denying a God, and find out that it is true, that there is a God.”

Let me change that a bit; “I would rather live my life believing that I absolutely have to spend time with God, and get to know God, in order to be saved, and find out I was wrong, that I was ‘overly radical.’ Then to live my life as so many American Christians do, with God on Sundays and Wednesdays, believing that it is fine that way, than to die and learn; Jesus never knew me. And I never knew Him.”

I am not suggesting that you can lose your salvation, not at all. Once you are saved, you are saved. I just want you to consider, you entire life judged against how Jesus said His followers would live, and I want you to know, by all accounts, that you know God, and that you are truly saved in the  first place.

God knows of you, but He wants a personal relationship with you. So much that He is willing to send His Son to die if that is what it takes… Oh wait, He did do that.

I am NOT, what so ever, proposing a ‘do’ theology, I know that is grace through faith that we are saved. (Ephesians 2:8-9.)

But Jesus said that if you to be His disciple, you would have to love Him so much that in comparison you would have to hate your family. (Luke 14:26.)

But how can you love someone you do not know?! You may say to me, that Jesus said that we are to love everyone as ourselves, and that is how we love someone we don’t know. You don’t understand then, we are to love humans despite whom they are or have been. We are to love Jesus because of Who He IS. Tell me, can you love someone you do not know? If you look at a man on the street, lo according to the words of Christ you are to love him, though in your heart you may care about him, no, you do not love him. You have never met him! How then can you claim to love Christ if you do not know Him when we love Him because of who He IS?

Don’t think that I am asking these questions to everyone but me, believe me, I have been firing these bullets at myself all week, and as I write this. It is not an easy thing to imagine that our Salvation which we believed we had we never had because the definition of what we claimed to believe we never accepted. Do you KNOW God?

Even if KNOWING God is not a requirement, why wouldn’t you want to??

And if you are unsure about it, why risk it?

Spend time with God because you want to, not because you have to.

Thanks for reading,

John Mark,

Thanksgiving Post: Not exactly Turkeys and pies.

What are you thankful for? You know, I could go on and on, and I have. Someone this past week asked me what I was thankful for, and what did I reply? Well I went on a long tirade of things, all things that I was thankful that God has done for me. In my opinion there is no one else to thank, He has given us everything we have. But, you know, it has hit me today. That we Christians thank God for so much—I am not speaking against this—but honestly, do we even know what we are thanking Him for?

Are you thankful for Jesus dying for you? Honestly, how much do you know about what you really believe?? I mean, there are so many people who only realize what it is that they believe when they hit college or sometimes later. But what really does the cross represent?

I can give a very detailed version of the Crucifixion, but I won’t because even in description it is gory. But if any of you have ever seen the Passion of The Christ, you have a slight idea of what happened.

You see though, too often we say so much about what Jesus did, that we miss the point. So, He died a brutal death, okay, big deal! That was symbolism; it was not the earthly death that has granted us forgiveness! It was the reason that as Jesus sat in the Garden of Gethsemane, that He prayed; “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup from Me.” Do you honestly think that He was afraid to die? No!! When His disciples would be hung on a cross upside down, boiled in oil and so many other things and they thanked the people who killed them! And you think that the God of the Universe was afraid of that?! No, He was afraid of being separated from God, bearing the wrath of God for all sins of all people of ALL TIME. He did not want to go through that; that is why He prayed so earnestly; “Father, if there is another way, please, but if not, I will obey.”

So, this Thanksgiving, give thanks for what God has done. But remember what it is that He truly did! Learn what it is that you believe.

If I were to go to an avid football fan, and ask them how football got started, they could tell me. And who knows, because of that, I may become as devoted as them. Christ, His sacrifice, and His grace is so much more important than football. So, learn what you believe, and share it!

Have a happy Thanksgiving.

And thanks for reading,
John Mark,

I know, I know, I am early on this one:

Death, it is an interesting subject, why? Well, statistics show that, 1 out of 1 people die,—not including Elijah and Enoch—yet so many people try and avoid the subject. But right here, right now, I want to ask you a couple of questions about death.

First; where will you go when you die?

Second; what will you leave behind?

The first question is really tricky to answer, though it may seem easy. I almost guarantee that more than 95% of you who read this answered “Heaven.”

But are you absolutely completely, and totally without a doubt positively sure? I am not trying to judge anyone, not at all. But I want you to consider a few things, some very, very, frightening verses.

Matthew 7:21-23;

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, and cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ ”

That is very unsettling to me, and I hope it is for you. But Jesus gives so many other warnings, just as frightening. For instance; Laodicea:

Revelations 3:14-22;

“And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, ‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth. Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked—I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” ’ “

When I read about Laodicea, I think of America. American Christians, or another way to put it; Comfortable Christians; people who live their lives thinking that they can have Christ and Comfort. That is wrong! If you want comfort, Christianity is not the way to go. Not for earthly comfort anyway. Jesus told His Disciples in Matthew 10:16;

“I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.”

Look through again at the church of Laodicea;

“You are Lukewarm—I will vomit you out of My mouth—you are naked and wretched, yet you do not know it—you say; I am rich.” (That is not in correct order, but just a few things I wanted to point out.)

I do not want to suggest to you a “Do” theology, one where “works get you to heaven.” Because I know that it is by ‘Grace through Faith that we are saved, not by works, so that none may boast.’ (Ephesians 2:8-9)

But as James said in James 2:17-18;

“Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works is dead. But someone will say, ‘You have faith, and I have works.’ Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”

Pretty much, James is saying; “So, you claim to have faith? Prove it.”

Too often we live our lives as if it is nothing. I have just finished the book Radical by David Platt, (I seriously suggest this book to EVERYONE. It is amazing.) And in that book he gave some statistics, you could call them that. But he said; “There are 4.5 billion people, who do not claim Christianity, and about 1 billion of them, have never even heard the gospel.”

That is sad. We claim to be Christians, yet our faith is not present, thus we are lukewarm. As Americans, we are among the richest people IN THE WORLD. Thus we say; I am rich! Yet we do not always realize, we are wretched, filthy, disgusting, vile, and completely unworthy, to stand before God. We are so terrible, God said two things about us; 1: “I would rather you be COLD than to be as you are.” (This is a re-wording of it, not trying to change what it says, just trying to make it easier to grasp.) And 2: “I will vomit you out of my mouth.”

Are we part of the Laodicean church? I hope not.

Why don’t we just speak up? Just this week, I had a perfect opportunity to share God’s word with two people, I wasn’t pressed for time at all, and they literally walked right at me. All I had to do was say; “Hey, can I ask you a couple of questions? About your spiritual beliefs?”

But, I did not. I walked away, in the shallowest of thoughts. I was thinking; “Nah, I look kind of dorky right now; I can’t approach them like this.” And; “It is too late now; I have already started walking the other way.” I wish that I had just talked to them, that I had just spoken to them. Too often I say to myself; “I don’t have time right now.”

Well, here is breaking news for you; “Neither do they. They are not saved; they will die unless you give them the antidote that you hold.”

If I were to die right now, would Jesus say to me; “Depart from Me! You were lukewarm from the start! And you never changed.”

I am determined now, to try my best, to share the gospel more. Sadly, I know, that I will at times give in to excuses, but when I am given such a chance as I was, I should have taken it.

The second question; what you leave behind

If you were to die today, what would people say about you?

What legacy shall you leave for the world?

I wonder, if I were to die today, if people would call me a “good Christian.” Honestly, I don’t want that; because being “good” isn’t what Jesus called us to do, especially when the American definition of “good” is so very inadequate. I want to leave a legacy like Paul did. Don’t get me wrong here; I don’t want fame for myself. When I said a legacy like Paul’s, I meant the impact he had. Through his faith, God used in him in a huge way, but Paul was not simply “good.”

Jesus asked His Disciples, who people thought that He was. Some said a Prophet, some said Elijah—who was supposed to come before Jesus, AKA; John The Baptist—but then Jesus turns the tables and asks; “Who do you say that I am?”

And Peter replied; “The Christ of God.” (Luke 9:18-20.)

When you ask people who Jesus was, in this age they answer such as; “A good man,” or “A great teacher, or religious leader.” Even Muslims say of Him; “He was a good prophet.”

Jesus wasn’t simply, “Good,” Jesus IS.

John 8:58;

“Jesus said to them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.’ ”

Notice how He words that; before Abraham was I AM. That was a direct claim to be God. (Exodus 3:14.)

This is the very claim that got Him killed, why so many people are offended by Christians, why so many Christians throughout all of History were brutally murdered, and why Jesus said that we would be hated for His sake. The same claim we hold.

He said we would suffer many persecutions, and so many other things. (Matthew 10:16-26.)

Let’s look at this, Jesus said that we would be betrayed by our families, we would be like wolves among sheep, delivered up to councils and scourged.

That’s strange though, we in America really haven’t had any of that. I once heard it said; “If you are comfortable in your Christianity, then maybe Satan has you right where he wants you.”

As a closing, I want to go over one last thing.

The Prayer: You know how people say; “Pray this prayer and you will be saved, all you got to do is believe.”

How many of you believe that there is more to it? I sure do, it is not all about believing, the Demons believe, and they tremble! (James 2:19.)

Jesus said that we had to completely give ourselves up for Him! To love Him more than Mothers, Fathers, Sons and Daughters, to daily take up our cross and follow Him.

(Matthew 10:37)

Are you truly ready to give up everything? Yes, and no, in a literal sense. To literally let God rule what you do or do not do. What you spend your money on, what TV you watch, what websites you go to. The people you hang with, the language and jokes you use. Literally everything you do. Are you truly willing to give up everything? If you are, let me encourage you. You will be hated, you will be beaten, and you will go through so much pain.

Jesus said Himself:

“Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword.”

(Matthew 10:34.)

But the reward, how great it is! So great, that I cannot even begin to imagine. Peace that passes all understanding. To see Jesus in all of His glory, to be counted a trophy of the Lord’s!

To spend all of eternity with Jesus. Sure, they can kill you, big deal, what else are they going to do? Raise you up and do it again? Or perhaps they have the power to destroy your soul? No, only God can do that, and it is He alone who we should fear. (Matthew 10:27-30.)

So, go therefore, and make Disciples of all Nations; ALL of them, all 4.5 billion, especially the 1 billion that have never even heard of Him.

None of us are promised the next day, and thousands upon thousands die daily.

Thanks for reading,

John Mark,

A Call:

On July 8, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was read aloud for the first time in public. And after it was read, there was a riot in the streets, the people wanted to let the British know; “We shall not be trampled on anymore.”

As I think about that, I think about one thing; Declaration of Independence. As I think of this, that phrase is both spot on, and dead wrong. How? Well, one word; Independence. As Christians, the Bible is the greatest declaration of Independence, and Dependence. We are made Independent of Sin, but are shown how dependent of God we have always been. Yet that is not really comforting, think about it. After a document was read, the crowds started a ruckus, yet, when the Bible is read, the closest thing we say to that is; Amen. Why is that?

As Christians, we are all called to witness, not just a few of us. Jesus didn’t say; “Hey, if you feel called, or feel like you would be good at it, then, and only then go.”

On the Contrary; Matthew 28:19-20;

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen.”

Mark 16:15;

“And He said to them. ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.’ ”

It is a command, not a request.

You know what I wish I would see one day? For church to get out, and instead of people saying in hushed tones whatever they say. That the church runs out of the building, shouting to word of God, and preaching His Word. Chances are though, that isn’t going to happen. So, instead, why don’t we start with something, something small at least.

In Romans 1:14-15, Paul talked about being in debt to Gentiles—Unbelievers—because he had a salvation that he owed to them to share. (Thanks to David Platt and his book Radical for pointing this out. It is a really good book.) We are all in debt then. I dare you to try something next time you are in a really crowded building, like a restaurant, school, the mall, so on. I want you to look at everyone in there that to the best of your knowledge has never made a profession of faith, and imagine these words on their heads; “Going to Hell.”

Now, I do not mean for you to judge them, but instead, for you to realize how many people you are surrounded by that you could witness to, but that you don’t always. As a fact, we have no idea when our last breath is, we are not guaranteed the next second. But you see, for the lost, they have less then we do. We have salvation, and they don’t. Who are we to pick and choose who’s to come? Jesus paid much too high a price for us to dare do that. (That is a quote from Casting Crown’s song, If We Are The Body.)

Now you may say that you are not eligible, for many reasons. You may think you are too young, well, I say, “Get over that!”

If you look at it biblically, all of the disciples except Peter were in their teens. Because you only had to pay the Temple Tax when you reached 20 years of age, I may be a few years off, but I am pretty sure that is the right age.

When David killed Goliath, he could have been anywhere from 10 to 15.

King Josiah became King of Israel when he was 8, and began leading the country how God wanted when he was 16.

I don’t know how old Jeremiah was exactly but he was a youth, and guess what! He had the guts to say that to God’s face!

Jeremiah 1:6-9:

“Then said I:

‘Ah, Lord GOD!

Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth!’

But the LORD said to me: ‘do not say, ’I am a youth,’

For you shall go to all whom I send you,

And whatever I command you, you shall speak,

Do not be afraid of their faces,

For I am with you to deliver you,’

Says the LORD.”

Maybe you think that you have fallen to far from God to do anything, well think about this; Rahab was a prostitute, she is in the Blood line of Christ. (Matthew 1:5)

Isaiah had a sailor’s mouth. (Isaiah 6:5)

King David was an Adulterer.

Matthew, also called Levi, the Disciple, was a thief, a tax collector. (Matthew 9:9, Mark 2:14, Luke 5:27.)

Moses killed a man. (Exodus 2:12,)

Eve committed the first sin, yet was the mother of all mankind. (Genesis 3:6,)

And Adam didn’t even try to stop her! He stood right next to her, and then when given the choice to fall as she had done before him, or to stay with God, he chose Eve. (Genesis 3:6,)

Maybe you feel like, you don’t know where God wants you yet.

Well, I dare you to be like Paul. If you notice, Paul said that he had a thorn in his flesh, yet he didn’t stop. Instead of waiting for God to take that away, he kept trying to open doors himself, and trusting that God would help him. And look at the impact he has made!!

So go therefore, and speak the gospel to all nations. This is not a call that God gave to a certain few, He has called everyone.

So, let's start a riot!

Thanks for reading,

John Mark,

What is Prayer?

Now, before you get offended at the video, read what this guy has to say in defense for people attacking him claiming that; "He is making fun of prayer."

"This is going to be a bit of a read, but religious or non-religious, I think we all can take something away from it.
Since I released Pre-Blessed Food there’s been a lot of debate about what I was implying through the video. Some people seem to think I was suggesting that prayer and faith in general are a waste of time. Others thought I was simply sharing my perspective on people who claim to have faith but don’t act like it. I even saw some taking the video way out of context and using it as ammo against other people and their beliefs. As someone rooted in their faith and someone who believes that thanking God for the food that you have is an act of gratitude and humility, it’s important to me that I set the record straight.
In response to an email from a concerned viewer this week, I wrote:
“Some of my videos have subtle messages and/or morals in them – though they may be discreet, they’re there. I enjoy leaving it up to the viewer to discover those for themselves. In that light, I hope you can understand that Pre-Blessed Food isn’t poking fun at prayer at all. Instead, it’s pointing out that thing in us that would like to trivialize it from time to time. I think we’ve all, at one point or another, rushed through a prayer when we’re short on time. In my mind, Pre-Blessed Food shows how ridiculous that is without sounding judgmental or preachy. If you’re going to admit prayer is important, make it important.”
If Pre-Blessed Food were a real product, the people who bought it would be admitting that prayer is important, but not important enough to actually do it themselves. And although this is an extreme example, we do this. We do it with our faith, we do it with our relationships, we do it with our own lives. We do this because it’s easier, it’s quicker, and because we’re often distracted by something else.
(UPDATE: A few of you have said that you noticed the video poking fun at the commercialization of religion and faith as well. That was intentional – I think it’s dumb how people today will put a label on anything and try to sell it. It makes me laugh.)
If this rings true with anyone else besides me, share your thoughts below. What are some important things that you’ve skipped out on recently instead of taking the time to appreciate them? Who? What? Why?
If you know of anyone who misunderstood the context of the video, I encourage you to share this with them. Thanks for hearing me out, guys."

Sadly, he is right. We not only commercialize these things, but we disregard what they are completely! What is prayer? Prayer is like a direct phone line, with no dead zones, AMAZING rates, and it specializes in physically long distance calls! Not to mention, it's all free! But it is more than that!
Prayer is a conversation with God! Or at least...that is what it is meant to be. Think about it, when was the last time you heard God speak? Who's fault is this? YOU! If you are talking to your best friend, do you seriously talk like this;

"Hey Ed, how is it going? Well, I have something heavy on my heart, you know what it is. So, take care of it will ya? Alright, bye."

No, of course you don't. In fact, overall, each conversation I have ever had, is in some way or another unique. But what about with God? We look at prayer like it is a tedious chore. No, it is a blessing! Prayer, and the Bible, are like two hands, they lock together perfectly.

No, do I believe that God can speak to you in more than one way? More than just the Bible? Absolutely, but the Bible is God's Word. (John 1:1) The Bible is your direct phone line to God.

But God is more than a friend, or should be. God wants to be close to you, that is why Jesus came.

Let's look at this in another light, the church is to be the Bride of Jesus. (I believe the wedding is described in the book of Revelations.) Tell me then, whenever you meet someone, (considering people my age, casual dating is the casual thing, so this is based mostly towards that age, but indeed can be adapted.) you want to spend every moment you possibly can speaking to them! And when you are on the phone or something, and they say goodbye, your heart seemingly sinks.

But what about God? Is it not more so with Him? He has the greatest love ever, imagine how He feels when you say bye, and don't even listen to Him.
And what about you? Do you truly love God? I am not trying to judge, but from a story writer's point of view, love is more than we make it to be.
For one, you cannot love someone you do not care about, and it is hard to care about someone you don't know.
Now you may say, "Dude, I know God."
But do you? Or do you know about Him? The only way to truly KNOW someone, is to spend time with them, that is when care for the other is brought into the scene, as is love later, sometimes.
Prayer is more than just a ritual, and the Bible is more than a book with wise words.

Prayer is God's prepaid for eternity phone line, only meant for YOU! So, why not call God tonight, and just cry out your concerns to Him. Just talk to Him.

The Bible, it is so amazing! It is no simple book, it is God's love letter to you! Imagine that, His love letter, to you.

So tonight, go somewhere alone, maybe outside surrounded by all of creation. Or in a corner in your room. And just let everything out! All your worries, you pain, your fears, your hopes, your dreams. Everything, He already knows, but He wants to hear it. He wants you to humble yourself--2 Chronicles 7:14--and let go of your pride, admit the things that haunt you most. Just pray to Him, and then just listen. Whether sitting in silence, or just going right ahead and reading His word. Just spend some time with Him, just as you long to speak to one that you may have feelings for, God does too. Except with God, times your desire to speak to that person by the highest number possible, and guess what! It doesn't make a dent on how God is.

Thanks for reading!

John Mark,

Jesus Is Not Meant To Be A Drug.

Many of you may have heard me say before; "I am high on Christian Crack, it's called Jesus." That is what I say when people ask me if I use drugs anyway. And I got thinking about this, and sadly, in a lot of cases is true. You know how when you go to a camp with your church, like a beach retreat, how you feel completely invincible from Satan? And you have that for about two weeks? But then, it goes away. There is a reason for that.
When you go to a camp they narrow down what you can or can not do. You are not supposed to watch TV, get on the Internet, read magazines about Celeberity gossip, bring Ipods or MP3's, and so on. The ENTIRE focus of a camp like that is Jesus, they set them up not to have any distractions. That is the point of them, to get away from all the things of the world. But, there is a reason that we fall back into our old ways.

Because we lose focus of God, remember those things that the camp doesn't let you have? Yeah, the television and stuff? Well, when we come back home, we start watching them, and the oops! A character on your favorite TV show says a bad word, or says a sexual joke. But it's just your favorite show, you think to yourself. But what we don't always understand is that yes, we were surounded by a GREAT and POWERFUL God, but there is an enemy. And he can bring us down, however slowly he has to. Because what he does, is he finds something that you like, i.e. a TV show, and he convinces you to let it slide...just this one time. And through that he takes one small piece of your mind, and another and another. Until finally you are back at the beginning.

You see, Jesus is not meant to be a drug, Christianity is a life style. So, why aren't we living it like that?

Philipians 1:27-30;
"Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel, and not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that from God. For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, having the same conflit which you saw in me and now hear is in me."

Let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ. You know, too often I hear jokes that shouldn't be said, I'll take that up a notch. Too often, I used to say such jokes. Jokes make fun of those that have chosen Homosexuality, or jokes about sexual immorality. I'll address the one on Homosexuality first;

You see, we as Christians are--or at least should be--offended when people take God's name in vain. But some of us make fun of these people. We have made a choice to follow God, that is our life choice! And they have made theirs. Do I agree with theirs? No, not at all. I hate that they would choose that, because that is not what God wants. But to make fun of them? That, that is not what we should be doing. At all.

In Matthew Jesus talks about what we say; in Matthew 12:34:
"Brood of Vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks."

So, when I hear a joke that is morrally wrong, I think to myself; "What are the things of their heart?" Not to judge them, but only based on what they say. And I ask myself that, because I am trying to figure out how in the world I should respond. Usually, but not always sadly, I will say something to them. If I can do it in private, I try, but if I can only address it in the same public that they said it, then I will. I tell them this determine my next move. Because if they don't stop, I need to leave.

As it says in 1st Corinthians 5:11:
"But you know what I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, , or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner--not even to eat with such a person."

I am not telling you to shun these people, but minister to them, and if they absolutely refuse. Then stay away from them.
As it says in 1st Corinthians 15:33:

“Do not be deceived: Evil Company corrupts good habits.”

Pretty much, be careful who you hang out with, but also, don't be someone that other Christians are uncomfortable around. Also, Jesus is NOT a drug. He is a lifestyle! Not to say that He is a religion, because He is not. He is a relationship.

The literal definition of Religion is; "Man, trying through works, to bind themselves to God."

No works of ours are good enough to do that. And that is why Jesus had to die.

Thanks for reading,

John Mark

Romans 12:2

Romans 12:2 is a really cool verse. If you don't know it by heart this is what is says;
"And do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."

This has kind of been my war cry lately. You probably already know this, but we are in the midst of a war. A big war. It has been going on since the beginning of the world. For all I know, possibly longer. It is a Spiritual war. Humans were first introduced to this war with Adam and Eve. But we fight it now, the fight between good and evil. The fight of the demons and the Angels. Over the souls of men. It is such a war that if I got a 2 second glance at it I would probably run crying. This is the war we fight day to day.

But maybe you didn't know this, we are given weapons to fight back. We have two major weapons in this war. Bible and Prayer.

The Bible; In the verse that I titled this post, it says to be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Believe it or not renewing your mind is a tad simpler than I once thought. It is just reading your Bible. A quiet study of God's word where He speaks to you through the Bible. When you read the Bible with the intention of studying it you renew your mind. If you do a constant study every day maybe you feel a bit of a drudge to it. As is you are reading it but nothing speaks to you. Well, are you looking? When you read your Bible do you have a pen and notebook to write down things that interest you? That confuse you? Or maybe it makes you smile. Write it down, write down what God says to you. Use a notebook as a journal. Documenting your conversations with God. Just look for stuff. If you want a suggestion for a strong reading, study Romans or Acts. Both wonderful books! After that start reading all of Paul's letters. Equip your mind with the knowledge of our Lord. If you look back at when Jesus was tempted, how did He fight Satan? He just quoted scripture. So, pick up your sword and sharpen yourself!!

Prayer; If the Bible is your weapon than prayer is you armor. The things that protect you. Prayer has the power to do anything! As long as what you ask for is meant for the glory of God. But God looks at you and He sees your needs. And He wants so badly to provide for you, so ask. Even though He knows everything you say before you say it, tell Him anyway. For those of you who are married, tell me. If you spoke to your spouse as much as you speak to God, would you be married?


Just a few things to consider, if you have any questions let me know! I would love to try and answer them to the best of my ability. And if you have a topic you want me to speak about then let me know, I would love to try and do my best!

Thanks for reading!

John Mark,