"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,

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

Ephesians 1:15-23

Now, before I begin again, you must know that I do not claim to be some great Bible Scholar, I am not super wise and what not. In all truth, what I write, is just what runs through my head as I read.

I love how Paul begins, and when he talks about the first time he heard of their faith; he doesn't just say: I did give thanks. He says; "I still do! I give thanks and always pray for you."
Then he gets more specific.

When he makes mention of them he asks God to give them wisdom, and revelation in the knowledge of Him.
The eyes of our understanding. When you look at the Scriptures, do you always understand everything?? I do not, I look at it sometimes and it blows me away. I just don't get it sometimes, that is what Paul was praying about. That the Christians in Ephesus would have more understanding, of God and His word.
The Hope of God's calling, the hope that not only is Christ coming back as King of ALL. But also, that He is going to bring us home. To Him in heaven, and not tossed aside, as trash. (If you want, I'll elaborate on this in a later post.)
Not only the hope of His calling, of our reward, but of His power! Exceeding power which He demonstrated, when He raised Christ from the dead. He raised Him from the dead. Jesus had been dead for 3 days, where was He while He was in the grave???? I have no idea. I have heard it said before that during those three days He was in hell, I will not say yes or no to that, for I do not know.

But He raised Him from the dead, and this, this next part is our hope! He placed Christ above all things! Above Satan, above the Demons, above the world, above all that beats us down! God is in control!

How do we know this? The scriptures, that is exactly what Paul prayed, that these people, would understand this, so that they may have hope. But how can they understand, if they don't read?

Here's my prayer, that each of us, would not only read, but that we would understand. And that through reading, and understanding, that we come closer to Christ, and we set our hearts to fulfill His mission!

Ezra 7:10;
"For the Lord had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel."

Pray to God to prepare your heart to seek His law. And when you seek it, do it. After you do it, teach it.

That verse is something I need to work at. Seeking after God. There are somethings I need to do differently, and that is my goal. To grow more in Christ this year than last year. And last year was Spiritually the best year of my life. God can outdo that, He is God.

Thanks for reading,

John Mark,