Mark's Blog

My favorite singer, Chris Tomlin (left) and Mark

"I will sing to the Lord all my life. I will sing praise to my God as long as I live."
Psalm 104:33

Worship Serve Us

2/21/12

I’m not being jaded or cynical, but I’m seeing some people making some foolish decisions about how they claim to follow God and it has made me think. See if you agree with this: Most people claim to believe in God. A lot of people claim to be a Christian. Many people say that they attend church regularly. Some people claim to give a little for the offering. But only a very few serve in their church. I’ll give my $.02 about that. That’s sin.

The Bible teaches that following God means serving Him through His local church - James 2:26 “For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead. “

We don’t work to earn salvation; we work because of the free gift of salvation. It’s the least we could do for a Savior who gave His very life as a ransom for us.

And James 4:17 says “So it is a sin for the person who knows to do what is good and doesn’t do it.” So, following Scripture, it seems to me that churches would be having difficulty finding jobs for people to do! But we know that the opposite is true. In most churches, about 20% of the members do all of the work. Again, that’s sin.

We serve God because we follow Him. If we claim to follow Him, we must serve Him.

If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me. Where I am, there My servant also will be. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him. John 12:26

A “Christian” is an imitator of Christ. Jesus was very clear in how He viewed service to God- it’s not optional. The Son of God Himself did not come to be served, but to serve. If we call ourselves a Christian, and claim to follow Christ, we must serve Him and others as well, or we are lying to ourselves and to God.

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life —a ransom for many. Mark 10:45

Sadly, the majority of church attendees come to a “worship serve-us” every Sunday. But could you imagine if everyone applied the Scripture above to their lives? Could you imagine what could be accomplished by a church where every member served, gave, and ‘considered others better than themselves’? The community would be rocked, and God would be glorified.

And it simply starts with obeying Scripture.

There are so many people I know that are giving and serving enough for 4 or 5 people. And others I know who don’t serve at all, and don’t think a thing about making it to church only once a month. Both groups have heard the same Gospel. But only one group will be honored by God. “If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him. “

I know what group I want to be a part of…

God’s Word is true. God's plan is perfect. Most of the time, it’s His followers that are messing it up.

I pray that Crossroads is never a church that has a worship serve-us mentality.

Mark~

The Resolution
2/7/12

Last night was Manday night. The first Monday of every month, the guys from Crossroads meet together and hang out, make new friends, eat, share good times and bad times, eat more, and have a great time.

Last night, about 50 men watched the movie Courageous. It is an awesome movie that demonstrates what a Godly father should look like. I was talking to two young men after the movie and I told them that being a husband and father that is a Christ follower is one of the toughest things you’ll ever do in this world.

Some people think that following Jesus makes you weaker. I passionately disagree! Only the strongest, toughest men can fully follow Jesus and lead their family in the ways of God. You can’t be an apathetic, weak, fearful, gullible man and lead a family with strength and resolve. So only strong, perfect men can lead a family? Well, wait a second:

It does not take a man of perfection - it takes a man of courage. And the strength I need to lead my family in the ways of God does not come from me. It comes from He who lives in me – Christ Jesus.

Here’s the resolution that we are called to follow (and I plan on teaching this to my son). And by God’s grace and power, I will have the courage to fulfill this resolution for the rest of my life.

Where are you men of courage?!!

This is Sin?

1/25/12

As my Daniel Fast comes to a close Friday, I am looking back at what God has taught me over the last 3 weeks. Before the spiritual lessons, I will shoot straight with you about how I feel.

Do I feel better overall? Absolutely.

Am I sleeping better? Yes, better than I have in 3 or 4 years. Finally sleeping through the night!

Do I have more energy? I still get a little sleepy after lunch, but yes, I have tons more energy, especially in the mornings. I have been running 2 miles every morning on my treadmill, too.

Am I ready to binge on anything? Not really. I haven’t had any huge cravings. When I smell a burger or a steak cooking, it does smell awesome, though! Caffeine was tough to stop, and giving up sugar was a little challenging, but other than that, I have enjoyed all of the fruits and veggies.

What am I going to change permanently through this fast? I think I’m done with caffeine for good. I can tell a huge difference in my sleeping habits now. This is huge for me because I was a major coffee and Diet Mountain Dew addict who never slept through the night.

What is the biggest thing I have learned spiritually? Well, it was a lesson about sin.

I am a very Type A person. I want it done now, my way, and perfectly. When things don’t go my way, I get anxious. Sometimes this leads to mild depression. To make it simple, I have a hard time with contentment. Over the last 3 weeks, God has been dealing with me about that.

God led me to a couple of passages in Scripture that I actually printed off and posted next to my desk at work. I’m still struggling, but I do read these passages often, especially when life doesn’t go my way – and that’s pretty often!

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4:6

…casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7

So God revealed to me, “Mark, these verses aren’t suggestions. They are commands. And when you don’t obey a command, it’s a sin. And Jesus had to die for that sin. He had to die for your anxiety.”

Wow, anxiety? This is sin, God? So this brought me to repentance. So, I guess in summary this fast has made me more sensitive to God’s voice. My worship time has been awesome. I have lost myself more deeply in worship on Sunday mornings. I have nothing but good things to say about this fast, and I plan on doing it again. But I’m not going to lie – I am looking forward to a big medium rare t-bone!

Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning. Joel 2:12

Mark~

One of THOSE People

1/12/12

Just a quick Daniel Fast story. If you are on this fast with us, you know that eating out is incredibly difficult. Tuesday, I had to travel to Cleveland, TN on a work trip. We went out to lunch and I ordered a plain salad with oil and vinegar, a plain baked potato, plain steamed broccoli, and water.

I didn’t tell anyone I was on a fast. I just quietly ordered my food. One of the guys I just met that day looked at me strange while I was ordering. When the waitress walked away, he looked at me and said, “Oh, so you’re one of THOSE people.” I just laughed because I knew what he meant. He assumed I was one of those tree-hugging, bark eating, save the whales type of people who only eats grass and twigs.

Of course, my mind always goes to the spiritual side of things and I was thinking about how so many times our actions speak louder than words. I am learning that people are really watching our lives and basing their opinion of us based on our actions. Words become useless if our actions don’t back them up.

Don’t believe me? I laughed and told him that there was nothing I like more than a big medium rare steak and some good buffalo wings. He answered, “Yeah, right.” Haha. See? Actions speak louder than words.

So, just like that guy associated me with a group of people based on my actions, I was thinking that I hope people see my life and automatically associate me with Jesus. When they see my good deeds, my joyfulness, my generosity – I don’t want them to think highly of me – I want them to think highly of the One I follow. I love this verse in Acts:

Acts 4:12-13

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.

I love that part – “And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.” I want that said of me! What about you?

I want to be one of THOSE people.

Swim deep in God’s blessings and mercy,

Mark~