"Good morning?"... and so it began....

I went into the Knox County Jail last night with Justin Humes for ministry in the Saturday night service. This time is such a blessing to me in many ways, and yet a struggle in which I find myself not knowing what to say. It is a struggle in that, though I spent a little time in jail, it was many years ago and I don't relate as well as I used to in this context. It was also a blessing in that I don't relate as well because I am a new creation in Christ and the old man is dead. Now a new man has been made in the image of Christ Jesus. Every time I step foot in the jail for ministry, I find myself confronted with my past and last night was no exception.

Justin prayed before going in that all the distractions and worries that we have would be put away from our minds as we came to proclaim the Gospel and the truth of God's Word to those who may have never heard it before. What a freedom I have found when laying my burdens down at the feet of Jesus! I am reminded of some of the most precious times I have had in prayer, many of which are standing or kneeling beside my friend Justin Humes. The power of prayer, the humility it brings to come before the Lord in weakness and brokenness is humbling and a necessary place for us all to be when we consider the importance of the task that lies before us. We bear the Word of God, the words of eternal life, the very oracles of God to mankind. This is a sobering task, but one that we are called to do by God's grace, for His glory!

In regard to the practical aspect of this ministry, last night I learned a bit more about myself and wanted to share that with you all. I find myself often referring to "you guys" when talking to a group. While sharing the message of the Gospel with the women at the jail, I corrected myself mid-sentence and asked the ladies to forgive me for saying "you guys" rather than referring to them as "ladies". I was amazed as they all responded to this gesture with gratitude, and paid close attention the rest of the time as we looked at 1 John 1.

We considered together how we need to approach God in humility and honesty about our sinful condition. We know that God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble, therefore when we approach God's Word for study or when praying, we ought to first humble ourselves and be reminded of the grace and mercy poured out on us that we could know God's mind and approach the throne of grace like this. There is no room for pride, nor can we honestly approach God to say that we are good, but rather if we say we have no sin, we are calling God a liar. Talk about a sobering thought!

As we talked, the ladies opened up and had some good questions from the passage of Scripture we were reading. For the first time in my experience they expressed appreciation for our coming out, especially for inviting them to come out before the men.

Some weeks there is only one man ministering and the ladies cannot come out to meet with just one man. We often take men in the first of multiple groups, so the women may not get a chance to come out every week in this way.

We knew of this situation a few days ago, and when speaking to Kevan Fortier (the chaplain who schedules ministry) he asked that we be sure to take the women's group. If only these ladies knew how much they were prayed for, how much they were loved, how much we long to minister to them. I pray that they would  comprehend how much God loves them and how desperately we long to see them come to Christ in faith and repentance.

I prayed this week at length about what to say and how to approach the women. I prayed about what passage of God's Word to share, and I believe the Lord revealed His plan for the night. It was the Lord who opened the door for us to go in. He gave us favor with the ladies, and His Word was proclaimed in truth. What a blessing to know that God is in control and that He orchestrates all these things for His glory and the benefit of those who will receive His Word in truth!

As Justin and I were praying in the lobby, the guard came out to let us into the jail. As often happens, I said "Good morning!" Often people ask why I say this no matter the time of day, but I have found it to be a conversation starter on dozens of occasions, thus I keep doing it, LOL. Here is the conversation we had:

Mark: "Good morning!"
Guard: "Morning? I guess it is my morning."
Mark: "It has actually been a long day for us already. Our morning started at 2:15am"
Guard: "You must be pretty tired. You should be home in bed. Why are you here doing this if you have been up since 2:15?"
Mark: "This is more important than sleep."
Guard: "You are better men than I am. I would have stayed home and slept."
Mark: "We have the chance to share the words of eternal life with those who come out tonight. I can't think of anything I would rather do than be here to do this."
Guard: [awkward silence] "Wow! I guess you're right."

He then opened the door to Room 256. I asked that since the ladies have not been able to come out in a few weeks if we could meet with them first. The first guard asked the other guard to change his plans from having the men out first to bringing out the women. The look on the second guard's face was confused, so I told the second guard also that we wanted to make sure that the women had a chance to hear God's Word tonight, that we didn't want them neglected. I didn't plan to say these things, but it was certainly what was on my heart. May God use this conversation for His glory!

When the women arrived, they came in quiet, not distracted, but sat down and seemed eager to hear what we had to say. We introduced ourselves and asked each one their names. I tried to remember properly and used their names throughout the night as we read God's Word and answered their questions. One of the women seemed especially interested and shared that she had only picked up her Bible yesterday. Since childhood, she went to Sunday School and church but the Word of God had not penetrated her heart or made any sense. I shared the story of my childhood, which was quite similar, and we got into God's Word.

"This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us."

~1 John 1 

The ladies paid close attention and asked a few questions as we walked through these verses, and we told them also that there is nothing we would rather do than proclaim this "message we heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all..." The truth of God's love and mercy, His grace and His payment for sin by the blood of Christ Jesus our Lord, is so precious to me.

Justin spoke to the men from John 11, reading the account of Lazarus's death and resurrection by the power of Jesus Christ. It was a great message and I enjoyed it thoroughly, but the men seemed quite distracted. Justin outlined the fact that Jesus had a purpose in allowing Lazarus to die, that His glory and power would be revealed. The Jews seemed to believe that Jesus could heal a man who was sick, but gave up hope when that man died. They believed to a point, but put limits on what Jesus was able to do. Even Mary and Martha  lost hope once Lazarus died, and could only see hope in the resurrection of the last day.

What power and glory were revealed in the raising of Lazarus from the dead! What hope we have in Christ who has not only raised the dead to life, but triumphed over death and the grave! To hear this story of the power of God and not be changed is beyond my understanding, and yet we know that many reject the fact of Jesus' own resurrection, His miracles, His power and glory! How great the need to proclaim this Light in darkness, Life to those who are dead, and a living Lord who beckons whoever will come to His family through faith! Hallelujah, what a Savior!

While sleep is necessary and time with family is also precious, I can honestly say that as we walked into that jail last night, we honestly couldn't think of a better thing to do with our time than proclaim the Light to those who are in darkness. Time spent serving the Lord, whether in the great cathedrals of Christendom, the local county jail, or the jungle, is time well spent. Pray that this precious truth is accepted by those who have heard. Pray that the true Light will shine in their hearts and make new creatures out of those who will receive the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. All glory to God the Father through His Son,  the Lord Jesus Christ!

The Gospel Van: Goat trails in West Virginia- April 2010

Ah, the good old days revisited. Not much time lately to write, but I thought I would share this blog post for those who have missed it.

The Gospel Van: Goat trails in West Virginia- April 2010: It was a beautiful spring day just south of Atlanta, Georgia. Our family was headed to Hinton, West Virginia and we had been forewarned abou...

Time4learning review

First, I would like to thank www.time4learning.com for the opportunity to review their program for 30 days.  It was a great opportunity for our family and came at a very good time for us as we adjusted to Daddy's new work schedule.  The weather here is still not great most days so it was okay for the kids to be inside.

We set Nathaniel up at 8th grade level to review skills.  Virginia did 3rd grade level for most subjects and I set her for 2nd grade in Math.  This did not matter much as she did not do much math.  Naomi started at 1st grade in all subjects except math which I did K.  I eventually changed Naomi's math level to 1st grade as the K was too easy for her.  She also excelled on certain subjects and moved up to 2nd grade level after completing 1st grade.

This program is a complete curriculum.  Every level we did had Math, Science, Social Studies, and Language Arts.  Virginia loved the Language Arts.  She is a reader and loved learning about point of view, fact versus opinion, and compare and contrast.  Nathaniel focused on Social Studies and Science.  It helped fill in some gaps in his mind of WHEN things occurred.  Naomi hopped back and forth between them all as she really liked the whole program.

It was nice to have this program as it was a good review for certain topics.  Maybe it is just me and the moms I know, but how many people remember off the top of their head what are the definitions for the words palindrome, homophone and simile?  I know I have taught Nathaniel these things and some to Virginia so far but it is always good to review.

Naomi's section started with a lot of review of letter sounds.  While this may seem boring, the activities and games are different enough to keep it fun.  There are review questions throughout the lesson, followed by tests and quizzes.  There is a parent section to review your child's work and you can print off reports for your portfolios.

Another aspect the kids really liked is the playground section.  After a predetermined amount of schooling (set by the parent), the kids get time at the playground.  There are online games (I believe mostly educational) that they can play until their time is up.  My kids gravitated to the pbskids.org site.  This was a nice reward built into their day.

If we were going to use the program full time, I would assign each child to one section from each subject every school day.  As we were doing the free trial, I made them try each section a few times and then let them just continue work in their favorite subjects.  This curriculum is self directed, I only needed to help Naomi a handful of times when she did not understand what was being asked.  This could easily be used by a work at home parent who could not supervise much homeschooling.

I only see one negative with the program.  This is not a Christian website so their was some evolutionary theory included in some areas.  There may have been more talk on evolution and stuff, but we only started seeing this at the very end of our trial  period.

The cost is comparable for our family to buying a year's worth of curriculum for the kids.  I would recommend this program to many of my friends.  The cost of membership is $19.95 for the first child and $14.95 for each additional child per month.  That is not bad for a complete curriculum especially if a family's circumstances were such that a parent could not do much for teaching time. I note that for our family, using this curriculum is equal in cost to driving our children daily to the local Christian private school. Add tuition to that list and the fact that we have 3 children in school, and check your circumstances to see if this might be a good fit for you.

If you are considering home school for your family, be sure to check your state guidelines and be sure that you fulfill at least the mandatory minimum requirements for other subjects such as physical education and fine arts, etc. 

Subject to their husbands in everything?

Below are some thoughts gleaned from my own studies along with a message by John Whitten that I recently heard on the family structure in regard to Christ and the church. I appreciate sharing the addition of any Biblical references regarding the topic in the comments section below.

I often lean pretty heavy on the men anyway, as I am a man who takes my role very seriously before the Lord and can see my own failures too often. I wish to lead with love and grace for the protection and edifying of my family, and feel the burden of responsibility on a husband and father may be even greater than I had previously thought. How much we need the Lord's help as we are incapable of accomplishing this or anything else in the flesh!

Ephesians 5:22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. 24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing."


Ephesians 5 says that wives submit to their husbands, 1) as to the Lord, 2) in everything. This command is not worded the same way regarding submitting to one another or to those in authority over us in other passages. Those passages are seemingly more general and in part seem ambiguous as to when we should submit one to another, whereas the husband/wife and Christ/church are specified as "in everything" We ought to obey God rather than man as the apostles did in Acts 5:29 , yet I have been considering whether this is the same with a husband and wife as it would be with other Christians.

The following passage is what got me thinking as it says that the man who is disobedient to the Word should still be obeyed. This passage explains:

1 Peter 3: "1 Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands(not all men); that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives;
2 While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear.
3 Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel;4 But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.
5 For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands:"

Here Peter speaks of a woman respecting and being in subjection to her husband even when he is disobedient to the word, being won without a word. It speaks of trust in God rather than crafting a plan that is wise in human understanding. This mindset does not agree with our culture, not even church culture where women often feel that if their husband is not leading well that they should fill in the role for the men.

First of all, we must recognize that a wife in this situation could be wrong in her assertion of her husband's error. The point is also often missed that the problem could be a disobedient wife. Let us not forget the curse on Eve and her daughters "and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee." The charge is given to the man to rule over his wife, and the responsibility is left on his head if things go wrong. If I don't agree with how our local judge does his job, that does not mean I have the authority to take his place. Much more so, a man who is ordained by God as head of his home cannot be disregarded even if he is wrong, which I fully admit happens often. 

As Paul wrote in Romans 11:22 "Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness!" 

and again in verse 33: "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! Whether or not we understand how and why God has placed this authority in order, we are bound to obey it and see that He is always just and righteous! 

What then can a man do if he has not lived up to his role? He can recognize his fault, agree with God and His Word, and proceed in the power of the Holy Spirit as he has been called to do. It must be understood that if the men will not see their error and take up the lead for their family, it does not fall to the women to take over, it just means the men need to step up! David would not harm God's anointed man in Saul, though Saul sought and attempted many times to kill him, and this serves as an extreme yet appropriate example of trusting the Lord even when people fail.

There are many things a woman may still do for her family that fit within this structure, but examining each decision through the lens of God's Word will yield better results than using human wisdom and logic, which so often is contrary to God's wisdom and commands.

This message from Peter does not sound to me like those men who "ask the boss" permission or fearfully avoid making decisions, but men who value their wives counsel and lead in God's ways even when his wife disagrees. Men will give an account to God for their actions and how they lead their families.Wives will give no such account and should consider how blessed they are not to have that accounting with God.

The notion of husband and wife submitting to one another is an incorrect understanding of Ephesians 5 and is contradictory to Scripture. Placing the general submissive relationship of all saints with the husband and wife scenario could pollute people's perception of God Himself.

1 Corinthians 11: 3 "But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God. (note that God and Christ are one, as husband and wife are one, with different roles but unity)
4 Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head.
5 But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven.
6 For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn: but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered.
7 For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man.
8 For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man.
9 Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man.

o

This is not an issue of worth, value, gifting for service, love, or anything but authority. The wife is co-heir with her husband of Christ, salvation, and righteousness. She is precious, to be honored and loved, but she is not to be placed over her husband in authority for any reason. 

A husband certainly can delegate jobs to his wife as she is able and available, as Christ has given us jobs to do and equipped us by His grace to carry out all things that we are commanded to do. Still the authority and the responsibility will always lie on Him and the husband in kind. What a beautiful picture of Christ and His Bride we have here, that we serve as He gives us ability, but always under His authority. Christ has given Himself for us in death, but more so in life 

[this post mentioned the teaching of John Whitten, who has not read nor approved this post. I mentioned him as he preached a great message on the topic (which may or may not agree with me completely) which can be found HERE ]

God's Word is preserved!

How we approach the interpretation of Scripture is key to applying it in our lives. We must use proper hermeneutics to find what is there rather than what is easy to accept. One recent doctrinal argument from my dear brother in Christ was built solely around the KJV being the only real Bible, saying that the English translation is superior to the original languages and that if the Bible uses a certain English word in the KJV then that is without question exactly what it means. This is errant I believe, and so I wanted to share my thoughts on this topic. Understand my heart is not to divide the body, but to see unity as we come to God's Word as He saw fit to have it written by men of God who spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

Hebrew Bible

Rejecting the original language writings or considering them currently inferior to English  would in my estimation lead to the conclusion that Moses didn't really know what the Law meant, nor did Jesus or Paul, as none of them saw fit to study, speak, or write in English. It is either that or that God chose a different language for this dispensation, which would reject the Jews as having God's Word in the current era if my logic is correct. I don't mean to oversimplify this issue, as I know many dear brothers and sisters are adamant about their position.

If KJV is the only authoritative Word of God, the Jesus even misquoted Isaiah when He read the scroll, as He uses different words comparing those passages in the KJV. Add in the fact that the first edition read in Exodus 20 "Thou shalt commit adultery" (OOPS!!) and you realize quickly that any work of man is fallible, which is why we rely on the inspiration of the Holy Spirit for our Scriptures.

Reading the notes of the translators of the King James edition, they stated the same as fact, that they were not inerrant but did the best a human could do when handling something so important as God's Word. The argument I often get in return to questioning the KJV as the only English Bible was "So you don't really think God is capable of preserving His Word?!!!!" This argument is inflammatory and illogical. I believe the heart of those who have said this to me is pure and their desire is to stand up for God's truth, but nonetheless the argument seems errant to me. I am not saying that any other version is perfect either, but only the original documents which God truly inspired, which agree in all fundamentals though they have been handed down for many centuries through copies and copies of copies, etc.

Chinese Bible

I do believe God has preserved and still preserves His Word in the original languages even if we are not cautious or diligent enough to seek it out, which I believe is why we have thousands of copies in the original languages. I believe that one will find the authentic message of the Gospel in any language (unless perversions are intentionally added by the work of man which has been submitted as a theory) and that we need not know these languages in order to study God's Word. Studying the original languages is surely beneficial as long as it is done accurately, and some scholars have wisely done so in such things as the Strong's concordance and other such tools. 

This is more broad a discussion than we started with, but I am still learning all along the way by God's grace and am so blessed to see His hand guiding me as I learn to listen to the Holy Spirit and the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us. Have I mentioned lately that I am more in love with the Lord today than I have ever been, and that the more I learn the more I see I am nothing without Christ and still yet a child in His wisdom? Just thought I would mention that!

Grace to you and peace through our precious Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.