"The Mighty Pulpit"

I have this fear. Well, several fears. But we will connect the dots in a second.

I have been considering the church, and what is often glorified in the church. And I may be wrong, but I believe that often times, we glorify the Lecrae's, Piper's, and Chan's. We glorify the platform. As if becoming a pastor or preacher is to have "made it" in the Christian world. Is this not true?
We praise the pulpit, and the sermon, and especially the messenger. Don't mistake me, I love all three men mentioned before. They have impacted me more than you will ever know. And I am grateful for them and their work. But we glorify the positions they hold far too often. We aspire to reach those platforms not because we want to build up believers, or that we are called, rather we chase after it out of ego.
We envy them. This is not good.

I heard a quote, and I don't remember who by, but it said something along the lines of "It is an interesting thing to find that, Christ taught more about servant-hood then He did leadership."
Read the gospels, read His teachings. The constant call to decrease, as God increases. To serve. To consider ourselves less important than everyone around us. The example Christ gave when He washed the disciples feet.
But, we don't like to do those things. And when we glorify the pulpit, and we make it a position to "acquire", we breed pride and hurt our churches. This causes the older and "more mature" believers to become puffed up in their knowledge and position. It also causes the newer believers to want that same position, so overtime they begin to think they have outgrown discipleship and discipline. Which grows more pride.

In Matthew 23 Christ warns the pharisees because they "travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are."

When we make these positions glorious, and we esteem them, we are perverting our converts. We are leaving an example of pride and self establishment, and not a pattern of service.

I see it again in missions. We glorify young people going to World Changers, and other good mission trips. Beyond that, we celebrate and cheer on when someone wants to be a foreign missionary. And we scream and shout when people want to go to a city like ATL, LA, NYC, the Chi, to become "church planters." We glorify those mission fields. But we often neglect the local area. The small towns.

Don't get me wrong, it is not a bad thing to be a pastor. Or to wish to teach. Or to desire to go over seas, or to a city for missions. But we have got to stop glorifying the pulpit, and start encouraging the kitchen sink.

Thanks for reading,

John Mark,

Are You Worth Being Pitied?

In 1st Corinthians 15:12-19, Paul says something which I love. It's very thought provoking. He is writing to the Church in Corinth about the resurrection of Christ. Some people are claiming that Christ was not raised from the dead. Which would mean that we also would not be raised from the dead.
Paul explains that first off, if Jesus didn't come back to life. We are all doomed. Literally.

But then Paul makes another statement. He says that if the gospel is not true, then Christians should be most pitied among men. Why? Well look at Paul's life. The dude was beat up pretty much on a daily basis. People hated him. He was nearly killed several times. He gave up a prestigious title for that type of life. He could have literally had the world.
According to the gospel, if it is true, then in losing everything we gain everything. But if it is not true, then in losing everything... we lose everything.

Paul later in verses 30-32 adds on to this saying that he "dies daily" and that his (and the other believers) "lives are in danger every day."
But in verse 32 he says "What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with the beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, "let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!"

Now, I don't believe Paul was saying YOLO. But let's say he was; if the gospel is not true, we literally have no hope at all, so live it up while you can, right??

I believe he was saying, essentially, "If the gospel is not true, then we might as well chase 'the american dream.' "
John Piper was preaching on this passage, and he said that he believed when Paul wrote that; the lifestyle he was describing was one more like our modern day american dream. Live your life. Enjoy it. Make the most of it. Progress yourself as far as possible. Get what you can, just be happy. Live, love laugh. This is the only life you have, so make it last.
That is what I believe Paul meant.
Here's the crazy thing, and John Piper pointed this out in his sermon. Paul said that if the gospel was not true, then this is the best alternative. But modern day Christians are living that EXACT lifestyle, and they are calling it Christianity! How does that make any sense?

I don't understand American Christianity, or "cute Christianity," or (my personal favorite) Evangellyfish Churchianity. It does not make sense. Jesus said that we are to forsake this world and what is has to offer in order to follow Him. He promised that if we follow Him, the possibility of being homeless is great. That we would endure much suffering. That we would have to be selfless. There are a lot of things which Jesus Christ said to describe following Him, that not only is there a lack of that in American Churches, it is often rebuked.
Francis Chan told a story once, of how he explained American Christianity to a group of persecuted Chinese Christians, and upon hearing our religion, they bursted in to laughter asking "how did you get that from the Bible?"

Paul said, that if the gospel is not true, then he was to be pitied most among men. But for Christians, if it is not true, it seems like it's no big deal. Really think about it. There's not much of a difference between us and the world. We are aren't radical (no matter how much we like to claim it). We are complacent. We neglect the clear teachings of Jesus, saying that we must interpret it correct. Which is an absurd claim, because His commands are, for the most part, crystal clear.

Jesus made several promises about the costs, and the rewards of following Him. It's high time we believed Him.

Is your life one worth pitying? As of right now, mine is not. I hope and pray that it will become one.

Thanks for reading,

John Mark,

Dry Season:

I'll be honest. I don't really always like life. I have some days that I am just sick of it all. Although, it usually lasts longer than a day... more like weeks at a time. And, this is one of those times. Why do I hate these times? Cause I feel dry. Distant from God. Like the bridge between us is broken. Or as if He just gave up on me.

I hate this. I feel numb. I don't feel sad. I'm not depressed. But I don't feel happy. I long for that time when I feel God's presence again. When I read my Bible, and new things are jumping out at me on every page. But now, I don't feel that, at all.
I do my best to get into my Bible every day, not because it is some routine, but because I am hoping that, one day I will open it and be back at that place where I am reading and it is jumping out to me like it did before. I want that so bad. I thrive on that. I love and live for the presence of God. And right now. I don't feel it.

Who knows. Maybe it makes me a terrible Christian. Feeling entirely uninspired to do, or write anything Biblical. I love learning from that beautiful book. I love teaching about that beautiful book.

I really can not wait, until the day when Christ returns in a glorious show unlike my puny mind could imagine. When pain is no more and only comfort remains as we stand beholding His beauty and glowing in light of Him. Being entirely sustained by His self-sustaining power. Every pain, every tear, all will fall away. And all the good things that we enjoy will be brought back to their original perfect form before they were broken by depravity. And we shall be happy, and joyful, forever. I would rather be there then here.

But while I'm not. I will continue, even though I hate the lack of progress. I will continue on. I will keep seeking after God. Because tasting that sweet intimacy with Christ, is worth the dragging on life that I feel without it. God is faithful. He won't leave me like this forever. I know my Savior, and He will return. I eagerly await that day.

Confession: The Path to Healing.

So, it has been a day since I posted "From the hands of a failure." And I feel as though I need to write a follow up. I want to give you all some clairty in the why of my posting such a raw post. It all falls back on my heavy conviction of confession.

I gave you all the gruesome details of my struggle, and my fall, and I kinda left it at that. I am a strong believer in healing--healing that stems from grace alone. But I also believer that in order for healing there is a process that we have to take on. And that process is both confession, and repentence. And I don't believe you can repent without confessing. So let me try to explain my stance of confession.

I believe that confession--true confession--requires no pride. In fact it plays a great deal in destroying pride.
There are two types of confession. One is prideful, and one is not.
A prideful confession is one that seeks out pity. You confess so that people will feel bad for you.
The other kind, is for healing. Where you come humbly, realizing the filth of your actions.

Let's get into this. Whenever I fall--I sin--one of the passages that I first go to is Psalm 51. And if you are struggling with sin, I strongly suggest that you study this chapter. It was written by King David after he committed adultery with Bathsheeba, and killed her husband Uraiah. Wow. Haha, David messed up.
Well, writing was an outlet for David. He released pain, joy, heartache, guilt, anger, everything, through hebrew poetry and songs, many of which are recorded in what we call The Psalms.
And in this Psalm he writes down what he is going through, after this sin of his. And honestly, it describes exactly how I feel when I have fallen into sexual sin.
Since I am covering confession, I will try to stay on Psalm 51 very briefly, cause I have a lot to cover concerning this. My focal point in that Psalm is verse 17:

"The sacrifices of God area broken spirit,
A broken heart,
O God, you will not despise."

This is the heart of true confession. And where we need to start in our confessions. In confession, we first need to realize our filth, what we have done. We need to let conviction--the healthy form of guilt--sink in. We need to be heartbroken over our sins. We need to feel broken over our crime against God. Pride has no place before God. And I fear for the man who thinks so much of himself as to stand pridefully before God.

Why should we confess? Several reasons. The primary purpose of confession is healing. Jeremiah 3 records God talking to Israel about there sins, and concerning them He says in verses 12-13:

“‘Return, faithless Israel,’ declares the Lord,
    ‘I will frown on you no longer,
    for I am faithful,’ declares the Lord,
    ‘I will not be angry forever.
    Only acknowledge your guilt—
    you have rebelled against the Lord your God,
    you have scattered your favors to foreign gods
    under every spreading tree,
    and have not obeyed me,’”
    declares the Lord.

All that God requires of us is that we realize and admitt our wrong, and He will forgive us. And as time goes on, He will heal us. This is what God requires. Why? Because God gives grace to the humble, but He brings low those who are prideful. (James 4:6, and all throughout the proverbs). He requires no act on our parts, but merely us to humble ourselves, and turn to Him. This is the beauty of God and His grace. 2 Chronicles 7:14 would back me up on this too.
God is full of grace, but first requires humility.

True confession has no pride. Because it is confession that seeks out nothing for itself except healing. It is humble enought to admit that it is wrong, that it needs help.

Confession is a sign of conviction. John 3:


19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

Confession is coming to the light. If you refuse to come into the light, it is because you hate the light, because the light will expose you. But the exposure of our sins shouldn't be an issue. It clearly states in the last verse that God sees our sins plainly, even though they are done in the dark. So, therefore, confession is a sign of conviction, coming into the light, confessiong to God and man what God already knows.

For me personally, I would much rather come out and expose my own sins then to have God expose me before all men (Matthew 10:26). Or far worse, that I would have to take on the punishment for my deeds that I kept hidden (Hebrews 10:31).

And then there is confession before men. I normally refer back to James 5:14-16 when on this subject, where it specifically says to confess in order to be healed. And that you will be healed.

Now am I saying that in order for healing that you must write a blog and post it on the interwebs for all to see? No. I wish I hadn't. I did so only under conviction. And in doing so, Christ is using that to humble me. That my filth is known.

Let me give you what I did personally. During the entire time that I was in this sin, I was constantly praying for help. I hated my sin. I still hate it. The weekend came around, and I started to struggle, slightly less. But still struggling a lot. I constantly came before God acknowledging my guilt and my crimes. And I believe, according to what the Bible says, that forgiveness was given, and healing began. But in order for healing to be complete, the process must continue. So, Sunday night, I grabbed two of the guys from my youth group, two that I trust immensely and that have helped me grow in my faith tremendously. And I told them everything. I asked them to pray for me (which they did immediately, I praise God for them), and I asked them to hold me accountable. And I had them take measures to keep me from falling.

And then I wrote the blog. I wrote it as a personal note. I get that confession is hard. Especially after you confess once, and then you sin right after, so you have to confess again. It's embarressing, it's humiliating. I know. But it is worth it, if we come to a place of healing. This is the way God has given for us to be healed. One that requires humility.

So, if you are struggling with sin, I beg of you, humble yourself before God. Confess to Him the deeds that He already knows. And also confess to Christians around you who keep you strong. God is a Lover, and a Healer. He is faithful. Seek Him.

He is greater than i

From the hand of a failure:

I don't really know how to start this. But I guess the only fair way to start this is with a warning.

For any and all who know me, you know that writing is my outlet. I get stuff out by writing it. I am extremely expressive. I have always been in love with words. So I bleed on to paper. Pen and paper knows more about me than any one or anything; save Christ. When I am angry, depressed, sad, happy, or whatever, I can only accurately express it through words. And so here I am, once again cutting a vein, and bleeding out what's in. As I proceed, I don't believe, or intend this, to in any way, be something that that will boost my reputation. On the contrary, I intend this entirely to destroy me. To destroy my reputation, every rumor or thought, that John Mark Allen is a great man. Or that he is any good representation of Christ or Christianity.

Over the past week or two. I have been in a dry spot in life. I felt extremely distant from God. I couldn't feel Him, my prayers hit the ceiling and then fell back, and my Bible felt empty and lifeless. And this, for me, was terribly frustrating.
In this time, I began to fall. You see, whenever I begin to feel depressed, the biggest struggle I have is with lust. So first my thoughts fell. And this eventually led to porn.
Oh if mere words could express how much I abhor my existance. This, would indeed deem me a hypocrite due to all that I have taught. To all that I have told and taught that lust is equivalent to rape, to all the times I have claimed to respect and treasure women. All the times I have claimed that they are worth more than a tool for man's lust (which indeed they are, my actions do not take away from their worth, merely my view of it). I hate it. I hate not just my actions, but my being. I, of all people, knew better.
Then, to my humiliation, I recall back several months ago, where in words of anger I expressed with my brother, that I would not fall in that temptation. Ha.

Anger. I claim it to be my enemy but I call on him frequently as if he were a friend.
Recently, I have been entirely too quick to get angry and to snap off at my family. I became easily frustrated, annoyed and irritable to any and all around me. This had been going on for several weeks.

I honestly believe that anger, and lust even, are rooted by pride. Pride that says, I am good enough, I have the right, to be angry. I have the right to be angry because they had the audacity to oppose me. I have the right because I am me. Anger is selfcentered about what I want. It is rooted by pride.
Lust is as well. In that the entire time that I was falling into the hands of that temptation, I never stopped it in order to consider how degrading it was to women in general. My thoughts fell soley onto me. Getting momentary pleasure for me. Not considering that this would affect the way I view all women, and how it could affect the way I treat them. No, it all revolved around me.

Pride. I am an extremely prideful and self absorbed individual. If the above does not convince you, let me continue.
I love looking at myself. Seriously. My family can attest to the fact, that even if I was blind, I could locate a mirror in order to admire myself.
I love attention. Goodness, I know how to draw attention to myself. And I do it at times. I have even used my beliefs at times, in subtle ways, to get attention to myself. To impress people.
The Bible would describe this as robbing God of His glory.
Glorifying myself. Seeking praise for myself. Seeking to have my name known. Seeking fame for myself.

Oh goodness. I am a mess. I don't know what else to write, in this confession. I have written all that I can rememeber.
Please do not read this and assume that I am trying, in any way, to build myself up (though honestly, if you think that, I have no idea how or why). There is no pride in what I have done. Nothing noble or praiseworthy. It is all filthy and disgusting. And I thoroughly hate it. And would much rather not to have written this. But I am bound by conviction, as will be explained.

My entire point in writing this out, was not to glorify myself as a great Christian, because I have the guts to confess this on the internet. I don't want any of you to know any of this about me. I would rather you think that I have never fallen to these sins. I would rather be esteemed well.

My point was to have each and all who read this, to be thoroughly disgusted with me. To be appalled that John Mark would sin like this. Because I know my reputation among you, it is a good one. I want you to see me as a failure. As a waste. As Filth. And then I Want you to look at Christ. I know that it is hard to believe in all of this that Christ loved me enough to save me. He didn't suddenly decide to love me when I cleaned up. Or else He would obviously hate me. Rather, He knew about all this junk. He knew about all of my sins, and when I was His enemy He died for me. He saved me. He loved me. I want you to see His grace! I want you to see Him! I want to be disgusting to you, so that Christ will be shown so much more glorious to you all! Because in this, He becomes greater, and I become less. Look to Jesus. Not to me. Because I am worthy of wrath. He alone is good in me.

I honestly believe that God led me into that temptation in order that I may fall. So that I would realize my worthlessness, in order to lead me to be humble before my God, and not proud. God was very gracious to me, in that, this sin was all that He required I go through, in order to bring me low.

I apologize to you all, for how I have failed you as one trying to lead.


He MUST become greater, and I MUST become less.

I really can't stand

Going to "church'.
Go ahead, throw your stones if you will. But I'm just gonna be honest with you, as always.

I seriously walk into this building I attend, and each time, I feel empty. I am made extremely uncomfortable. Because it's so fake. Seriously, if my church is a perfect picture of Christianity, I want out.
It literally looks more like a Pagan religious ritual then it does brotherly fellowship that is described in the book of Acts. The Worship is a Doldrum, Missions are nearly absent. Discipleship is pretty much unheard of. And hardly anyone knows anything of what they believe. Some of them believe so basic, it's not even basic, it's John 3:16 without the rest of the chapter, much less the rest of the book.

I walk in, I see people who look more like the same pharisees that hated Jesus then the broken rejects that would cling to Him.
I walk in with shorts and a T, and people look at me like I'm insane... can I get really "Biblical" and wear a Fisherman's garb, girding up my loins? Or be a true Baptist, covered in the dirt of the deserts and clothes of camel hair?
If someone walked into my church, with tatts and piercings, I would bet money that they would feel judged, not loved.
Going to that brick building makes me sick.

We are so caught up in that building. It's more of a club membership then the Church. Ya know? Go there a coupla times a week, participate in the standard events, and then just hang with friends? You got those people near the fence whispering, and you can't help but look over your shoulder wondering what they are saying about you. It's twisted.
We call that building, "the church". We are so wrapped up in it.
Seriously look at your church, and honestly ask yourself, how hindered the worship and ministry would be if the building burned down. Messed up.

I walk in, and I feel empty. I look around baffled, asking "this is it? this is what people have died for? this is why people have been tortured, burned, and brutally, mercilessly murdered? this, is why my Jesus died? this, this can't be it.

Don't get me wrong, I have experienced true church before. Quite often actually. I have a friend in my youth group, and we get together frequently and discuss the Bible. It's amazing. I love it. We are cracking issues that have long baffled me. I am forever grateful for him. I praise God for the time we get together, it has helped me grow so much. In fact, our time studying has led to all this conviction about the church.

You see, the beautiful thing about Christianity is that it fits all cultures. You don't have to go to a culture and change it, because Christianity fits all of them perfectly. But in America, at least as far as I have seen it, our churches have our own culture, and anyone who walks in has to conform to it.
We have to "dress our best for God" rather than come as we are.
Don't get me wrong, if you feel convicted and it is a way that you worship, then so be it! But if I choose to walk in with jeans, a hoodie and a snapback, leave me be, cause I worship by coming as I am.

Our church needs so badly to get seeking the lost. Get into the broken communities. We have so many programs, but we never go and serve like Christ did, and like the Church is supposed to.
It's heartbreaking. It's sickening.

I want to ask you to join me. Join a movement with me, and many others. To break barriers in the culture. To change our churches. Start, by just being you when you worship! Whether you are dressy, or you are messy. Be you! Don't put a mask on, be who you are.
Then, find a way to hit the culture with the gospel, introducing the broken to good news, and not a new culture. Live for God. Don't live a Pagan ritual.

Hope you get something out of this. Thanks for reading.

John Mark,

When walking, Our Feet get dirty.

Something I have struggled with in my life is sin. (no duh).
But I mean sin a bit differently. I struggle with the sins I've already committed. The memory. The guilt. I know good and well that I am forgiven. But it goes beyond that. It goes to thinking about everything God has called us to be and the realization that I don't live up to that. This is my struggle.

Not many people know this, but several months ago I nearly walked away from Christianity because of this. Not that I didn't believe I was saved. I wholeheartedly believed that. It was that I refused to be fake in my life. I want to be real. Especially with God. And looking at my life, I wasn't. And that tore me apart.
So I sat in my room and I prayed, asking God to help me. Because I didn't want to just stop. I love Christianity. I love Christ.

After awhile I began to think about how I would live my life without Christ, because my whole life revolved around Him. And I decided that even if I did walk away I would still hold to my convictions. Because I still believed they were what's right.

And then it hit me. 1st John 2:5 it says, by this we know that we live Him, if we keep His commands. You see, in that moment God showed me that, all we need is the willingness to obey. And He will take it from there.

In the Gospel of John, chapter 13; Jesus goes to wash the Disciples feet. But Peter objects! He tells Christ not to. But when Jesus tells Him that in order to get into the Kingdom he must be cleansed. Peter then tells Jesus, to wash him entirely. But look at Jesus'; you are already cleansed, you need only to wash your feet.

What Jesus said can be taken two ways. That one, yes, we will mess up in this life, but that doesn't mean we are worthless to Christ. We just need to let Him wash our "feet" so to speak.
Second is that, as messengers in this world, our feet will get dirty if we are walking around as we should. But we still need to let Christ wash our feet.

Either way. We need to make sure that we spend time with Christ every day. He will clean our feet, and get us ready to go again. Don't give up. He's got your back.

Thanks for reading,

John Mark,

Culture:

I have been thinking about Culture lately.

What is Culture exactly? Well, simply. Culture is the way of life among a group of people.

But how does Culture affect me?

Before I go deeper into that question, let me chase a rabbit. But in chasing this rabbit I will tell you how I came to this question. But before I chase this rabbit, let me say first that, what I am about to go into is not for the purpose of pride on my part. Not to praise myself, but instead to praise God, my Father. And that you may possibly read this and learn something. And even be inspired to gather your own stories.

This is the Story:

For several months now I have been burdened with this great sense of, uselessness. (Refer back to my earlier post No longer Pointless.)
I would read my Bible as it spoke about the Disciples taking action, and serving, and it scared me. The conclusions that I gathered as I thought more and more about these things. The more I thought the more I was convicted, and frightened. Then I would listen to Lyrics of songs, (Primarily by Lecrae) and I was ashamed of the claims that they made, the ones that I don't live up to.

So, as I got thinking more and more about this, I decided to call in a friend. As we got talking about it, we found out that we were thinking the same things. Literally, the same exact thoughts. So under conviction, urgency, we set forth a plan. But in our plan, we hit a barrier, a pretty big one. A cultural barrier. We went into the rough neighborhoods of our town to talk about Jesus. But how do two white guys, relate to a mostly African American population?
I have no idea. But we spent about an hour talking about what we learned. And formulated another plan.

But you see, Culture is a factor in all witnessing. And witnessing is what we are called to. But we just have to learn to bridge the gaps. These barriers that we face in getting this message out, may be fairly large barriers, but Christ is greater than them.
We just have to address the urgency of this calling, we must answer, we must go!

I read Luke 5:30-32, I think about it. And I am convinced that we should be out into a rough crowd full of poor people rather than in a luxurious church with relatively rich people. Not that I think church is bad, but these people need to be reached.

Paul in 1 Corinthians 9 compared this life to a Marathon. Now, you may now know this, but in November I ran a Marathon. So I understand his comparison all too well.

But picture this, this life as a race and Christ is telling you to run! To go hard for the Lord! And all you have to do is trust Him, and move. But far too often we stand still. Why?? Because we are afraid, we are afraid to fall. But in our fear of falling, we don't realize something that is beyond important in this! That as along as we are running, if we fall, we still move forward. But we still are afraid to slip up, not realizing that in falling, we learn to trust God more. It makes us stronger.

People, we have got to go out! I can tell you in all truth, from experience, that a lack of service is the quickest way to kill both Passion and Faith. (James 2:17.)
It is for this reason that I stop asking people what God is doing in their lives. But rather, what is God doing through their lives.
Because it is all too easy a question to ask, what God is doing to change you. But it is so much different when asking, what is God doing through you that is changing others?

This urgency to go, if ignored, is cruelty to the highest form. Far worse than both Stalin and Hitler. Will you stand aside in silence? Or roar like a Warrior of The Most High God?

My mouth is moving, so let's get these feet moving too.

John Mark,

Ephesians 6:5-20;

Verse 5 is where I am going to focus today.

Bond servants, do everything as if for Christ.

How often do we call God "Lord"? The word actually means; Master. So we are slaves to Christ. Bond servants. So, in all our actions do them as if they are for Christ and we were commanded by Christ to do those things.  Not as men pleasers. But as slaves of Christ doing the will of God.

Christianity: Blissful Slavery.

Be strong in the Lord, and the Power of His Might. The Power of His Might... I can hope in that.

Put on the armor of God so as to defend yourself from the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against Spiritual darkness of this age.

Stand with truth, since the truth is what has set us free, we should live by it. Righteousness, Christ has made us righteous in His blood thus we should walk in righteousness. Prepare yourself in the Gospel--the Good news--of peace, though I fail so often, we should start each day in the Gospel, to prepare ourselves against the world. The Shield of Faith, our great defense: Faith. And the helmet of salvation, putting our thoughts on Salvation so that nothing wicked can enter our minds. And the sword of the Spirit, letting the Holy Spirit fight for us, for we cannot stand alone.

Praying always. Pray for me that I speak as I should.

Well, that's it. Ephesians is over. Wow... at times I thought it would never end! I hope you enjoyed it, I am sorry it took so long and that I missed some days here and there.

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,