We Need Jesus II

Posted on June 2, 2010 by Mark

I started my last blog with the question, ” Is there something deep in your life that when it surfaces makes you wonder, Am I really a Christ follower?”

Did you come up with an answer?

I confessed to you that my morning drive ranting and raving was something I did not like about myself, especially in light of the fact that my daughter had a front row seat to my sinful behaviors. I feel sick even thinking about it. This week I have done better. After I wrote part one of this blog I really began to ask Jesus to deal with me and help me end my irrational behavior behind the wheel. Jesus took me back to Paul’s own struggle and frustration over hidden sin. Remember what Paul said himself in Romans.

It happens so regularly that it’s predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God’s commands, but it’s pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge. Romans 7:23

I know exactly what Paul means here. I blow it every day and I feel disqualified as a Christ witness. Why didn’t it take Paul out? How could he go on to write such letters of encouragement, correction, and love to all those people who looked up to him? Paul sought Jesus and instead of crippling guilt Christ gave him revelation.

I’ve tried everything and nothing helps. I’m at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn’t that the real question?
The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different. Romans 7:24-25

Read Romans 7:23 again in the NIV.
but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.

God give Paul a picture of a war within. A war between sin habits and his new heart’s desire to do what was right. In other words a fight between the old man and the new.

Paul continues to pour out his joy and encouragement in Romans 24.

But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness.
And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.
Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation–but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it.
For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the  body, you will live, Romans 24:10-14 NIV

Paul share his revelation with excitement. Christ in me can put to death my old nature and inhabit every part of me. Resurrection!!!

This is Good News. You and I do not have to be slaves to our sin habits.

We need Jesus though. There can be no doubt. This is a war we can’t win without Him.

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Mark Folk

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We Need Jesus

Posted on May 28, 2010 by Mark

Is there something deep in your life that when it surfaces makes you wonder ” Am I really a Christ follower?”

For me it is impatience on the road. I’m not proud of the fact that I rant and rave at slow drivers in the left lane or hit my steering wheel when someone decides to make a turn at the very last second. It is not a Holy thing I assure you and I am under conviction about as I write this. Unfortunately this ugliness rises up most mornings as I rush to get my fifteen year old daughter to school.

For some of us that ugliness could be lust, rage, cynicism or laziness. Fear and insecurity plague many of us daily as we look at what is happening in our country and our on home towns. Still some may not be able to articulate what it is that festers deep in their thoughts that they just wish would go away.

I have noticed that whenever my impatience on the road surfaces or my fears about money inhabit my thoughts I feel bad. Not just bad about my myself but bad about life and frustrated that I can’t seem to be or do better.

Paul himself looked into his own life and found that there were attitudes, responses and behaviors that he just wised he didn’t have. Take a look at his struggle here in Romans.

I can anticipate the response that is coming: “I know that all God’s commands are spiritual, but I’m not. Isn’t this also your experience?” Yes. I’m full of myself—after all, I’ve spent a long time in sin’s prison. What I don’t understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So if I can’t be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God’s command is necessary.

But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can’t keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don’t have what it takes. I can will it, but I can’t do it. I decide to do good, but I don’t really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don’t result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time.

It happens so regularly that it’s predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God’s commands, but it’s pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.

Romans 7:14-23 The Message

Paul nails it. He was frustrated and humbled by his own struggle with sin that seemed to come from somewhere deep inside himself despite his desire to do what was Christlike. He recognizes that parts of him secretly rebelled against his own desire.

I don’t want to rant and rave at little old ladies doing 50 in the passing lane. I certainly don’t believe that is my heart but unfortunately like Paul my fleshly response seems much closer to the surface than Christ sometimes.

Can you relate to any of this? Can you point to a behavior or attitude in your life that you know is not from the heart of Christ within you? Do you want to be free from it?

In my next blog we will take a look at Paul and see how God moved him beyond his frustrations and moved deep in his heart to wash away sins hidden in his flesh.

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Mark Folk

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God Cares Enough To Grow Us Up

Posted on May 25, 2010 by Mark

It was Thirty-eight degrees, gray and drizzling rain. The last thing I wanted to do was stand waist deep in fast moving forty-two degree water but I needed to work on improving my abilities as a fly-fishing guide if I was going to be ready my first season working for my friend Rod Champion. Rod and his son Matt own a fly-fishing shop on the South Holston river in Tennessee and had offered to let me do some guiding to earn extra money to help pay for braces for my daughter. As I stepped off the riverbank the water felt colder than usual through my waders and my fingers were numb from tying two gnat-sized lures onto my fly line in the cold wet air. As I was making my first cast into the current a cold drenching rain started the instant my fly line landed on the water. It felt like a bad omen. I let my lure drift in the current hoping for a quick strike, but no luck. Over the next hour as it continued to rain I made at least a hundred casts, none of them finding fish. I became frustrated and angry with myself for thinking that I could actually be a fly fishing guide. I was wasting my time, Rod’s time and precious time with my family. The thought occurred that I should just get in my car and back to North Carolina. I’d call Rod to tell him thanks for the job offer but no thanks. As I let that thought rattle around in my mind I felt like a failure and I felt very tired. I got out the water went to my car, broke down my fly rod and prepared to head back home.

I didn’t make it very far.

Once I warmed up in my car I remembered that I told Rod I would be in the shop to see him today. So when I came to the intersection that either took me home or back to the shop I found myself debating whether I should continue on with my plan or honor my word and go by and see Rod at the fly shop. When I reached the intersection I turned my car left towards the shop. I would just make a quick drop in say Hi, make an excuse about needing to get home, and get out before any discussion about guiding came up.

A few minutes later I was pulling into the small gravel parking lot in front of the shop. I noticed with a little apprehension that there were more cars than usual. I almost backed out but Rod probably had seen my car so I parked and took as much time as I could before entering the shop. I took a breath, reminded myself to get out quickly and opened the door.

“Well there you are. You made it.” Rod said, loudly enough that every one in the shop looked to see who I was.

“Yeah, I made it”

“How are you?”

“I’m frozen. I need to get warm”

Rod went back to helping two customers trying to decide what flies would ensure a successful day of fishing. I quietly moved over to the gas heater on the left side of the shop to warm up. Mercifully was also the least populated spot in the shop. I could warm up and avoid any fishing talk. As I started pulling off my wet wading clothes to get warm Rod asked the question I hoped to avoid.

“You already been in the water?”

“Yeah” I answered with tone that it made clear the topic wasn’t open for discussion.

“How did you do?”

Rod had to ask. It is against the fly-shop owner’s code of ethics not to ask people who come in his shop how they did on the water.

I should have remembered that.

I was suddenly aware that everyone in the shop was listening for my response.

“I didn’t do too good. I couldn’t get to any good spots with the water flow being up.”

I hoped my answer would sound plausible to the experienced fishermen in the room.

“Well you ought to go ahead and take the drift boat down the river. The water is perfect for it.”

“I don’t know Rod, my clothes are soaked and I’m frozen.” I responded hoping he would take the hint.

“You can get some dry clothes from upstairs. Whatever you need.”

“We’ll go with you” came from one of the two men still picking through flies.

I didn’t respond. I really couldn’t take any more discouragement and I had lost all my confidence as a fisherman much less a guide.

“I need to warm up before I can even think about it.”

Rod looked at me sideways getting the hint and dropped the subject.

I stood by the stove making a show of drying my clothes long enough for the two men to leave the shop.

“It’s really a great day to float the river. The water levels today is excellent drifting. Go ahead and take the boat.”

Rod said it in a way that made me feel like a sixteen year old being entrusted with the keys to his dads prized Corvette for a date. Like he knew I could handle it. A twinge of confidence returned.

The front opened suddenly and in walked Buck a regular in the shop. I had met him several times and knew he was a novice fly fisherman.

“Hey Buck” Rod chimed out.

“What you up to”

“I was going fishing but it’s the waters to fast and cold today”

“ Why don’t you go with Mark he’s taking the drift boat down?”

Buck’s face lit up like he had won the lottery.

“Do you mind if I go”

I stood there silently trying to figure how my plan stop in the shop and say Hi, get in my car and head home, then call Rod to tell him that I just didn’t think I was guide material had gone so wrong.  Well it was to late now. I was caught.

“No I don’t mind, but we better get going I have a three hour drive home tonight.”

“OK, I need to got get my gear.” Buck said excitedly.

“OK, I’ll get on some warm gear and we then we can hook up the boat.”

An hour and a half later we were on the water and I was confidently maneuvering the drift boat into position so we could start making some cast. As I worked the oars the my morning vow to give up on being a guide was fast becoming a distant memory and totally forgotten three minutes later when both Buck and I started catching fish.

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Mark Folk

By the way if you are looking for a fly-fishing guide give me a call. I can put you on the fish.

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God In The Details

Posted on May 22, 2010 by Mark

When was the last time you asked God for advice about a business decision or financial purchase?

When was the last time you cried to God for help?

I bet you can answer the second question quicker than the first. I can. Sometimes it seems we live from one crisis to the next. As a matter of fact this seems to be the prevalent theme in our world today. Health Care crisis, oil spill crisis, financial crisis, education crisis, terrorism crisis, environmental crisis, not to mention the debt crisis. If ever there was a time to be crying out to God for his intervention it surely must be now. Right? I believe anyone with just a little bit of reasoning ability could look at our current predicaments and make a valid argument that as a people we just don’t seem to be able to make good choices.

This happened in the bible you know. God’s chosen and favored nation, Israel found themselves enslaved and their nation in ruins over and over again despite a promise from God that if they would humble themselves and follow him they would be blessed above all nations. Then in their bondage and slavery they would call out to God for His rescue. What happened? Israel chose over and over again to not listen to God’s instructions and guidance. In other words they chose to take make their own decisions in regards to their welfare as opposed to God’s.

If you are a Christian you have access to the life guiding wisdom of the wisest being in the universe. Christ is the wisest father, mother, business leader, politician, husband, wife, financial expert etc… In John 10:10 Christ states that He came to earth so that we could have abundant life. Before His ascension into heave He said that He would send his guide, the Holy Spirit to be our personal guide.

Who better to help us navigate in the midst of crisis than Christ, better yet who better than Christ to help us avoid crisis all together.

Take a few moments and ask yourself, Do I want to avoid crisis? If the answer is yes, then talk to God about your next decision no matter how small.

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Mark Folk

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Eternal Choice

Posted on May 8, 2010 by Mark

Good and evil both increase at compound interest. This is why the little decisions you and I make very day are of such infinite importance.

C.S. Lewis from Mere Christianity

Every choice we make has eternal impact. Even the smallest choices we make each day have eternal impact.

Take a snapshot of your life and look at the choices you are making. Are you making every choice as if Jesus were your guide. How did you speak to your children this morning? What did you choose to do with your free time this weekend? How did you respond to the nasty email you received from your boss? We all make small choices that have eternal impact. The question becomes do we think this away about our choices. I can tell you that I don’t always. Just the other day my youngest daughter simply ask me to come and look at something on the computer in our family room. I was plopped down on the couch watching TV and basically told her I was not interested and would look at it later. She asked me again and once again I told her to wait and that I would look at it later. She persisted and I became agitated and stormed into the family room in a foul mood. She recoiled and quickly told me to never-mind but in my anger I made her show me what was so important. She timidly opened up a video we had made together a few days before of us playing, dancing and laughing together. As I watched I felt God’s conviction heavy on my heart. What my daughter had wanted to share with me was joy and I had shattered it with my selfish impatience. At that moment I made the choice to redeem that moment and tell her I was wrong to have been angry and that I loved her and the memory we made together on video.

Yo may question what kind of impact that simple choice could possibly have made on a child. After all children are resilient and get over things. I have used that excuse to make many parenting decisions in the past but God reminded me that he also is called Father and I as Sydnee’s father reflect His character and love. That sobering truth alone is a reminder to me that each choice I make has eternal impact in my families life. If I had ignored God’s admonishment what would Sydnee have been left to think about God’s love and His desire to be intimately in every part of her life?

Is any choice to small to involve God? Any decision unworthy of his time?

Why don’t you ask him.

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Mark Folk

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God, Open Our Eyes

Posted on April 19, 2010 by Mark

Then Elisha prayed, “O God, open his eyes and let him see.” The eyes of the young man were opened and he saw. A wonder! The whole mountainside full of horses and chariots of fire surrounding Elisha!

A matrix. That is actually what our physical lives are. In the book The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis, he tells of a group of people visiting Heaven on a bus from hell. When the bus arrives in Heaven the visitors can hardly stand the brightness there. Some never depart the bus and the few that do complain that the grass is too sharp to stand on. Reality is a veil pulled over our eyes.

How many of us are blinded by religious trappings and never look and see what Elisha saw when he witnessed the armies of the Lord surrounding the enemies of God. It is difficult to live in reality because we only learn to see with our physical eyes. We learn to interpret with our mind and emotions. Jesus tried to show his followers what he saw but they could not grasp the words. Our flesh wants flesh and bone, it settles for food that passes from hand to mouth. Our bodies crave physical comfort, pleasure and an imitation of Heaven on earth. Deep down we know and feel the truth that things are not as they should be. We know there is more, yet we are never satisfied.

What is real? It is beyond our physical reach. To find it we must see with new eyes and new hearts.

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Author Rich Wagner To Speak At NWA Event.

Posted on April 12, 2010 by Mark

I am extremely excited about NWA’s upcoming Fish Fry on May 1st. I am always excited when we can gather with our friends and allies especially when good food (Alfred Price’s fried fish and potatoes) is involved. I am also excited because we just received confirmation that author Rich Wagner author of The Expeditionary Man will be coming to speak to us.In 2007 I was in a local book store looking to see what new books had been written for Christian men when I saw this book cover.
I don’t mind telling you that the cover appealed to me, so I grabbed the one remaining copy on the shelf and immediately began to read the inside cover. As I read, I knew I was going to buy the book and would have it read before the end of the week.

The Expeditionary Man tells the story of the author’s own journey to discover true Godly masculinity and how a Godly husband and father leads his family. Rich Wagner shares openly how he struggled for years trying to balance a career, church, family, and ministry. Rich takes us deep into his personal quest and shares how God led him to to a revelation that would change his life, his career, and his family.

Upon finishing The Expeditionary Man, I felt led to make contact with Rich Wagner and tell him how much the book meant to me personally. I was able to contact him and convince him that he should come and share his insights with our NWA community. Since our initial conversations two years ago we have developed a friendship based on mutual desires to help other men understand God’s will for their lives.

In the last ten years God has been doing some amazing things to reach out to men. I believe we are in the midst of a revival that will change the very landscape of Christianity. I have witnessed first hand how God is transforming men from passive to passionate. Men like Rich Wagner who gave up a successful career as a internet entrepreneur in Silicon Valley to follow God and become a Christian author and family leader. I have observed men such as Alfred Price, a shy brick mason take on a countenance of intense desire to disciple his own employees about the true love of Jesus Christ. I am privileged to be a witness to a great awakening among men all over the country and I am excited about what God is up to as men begin to move back step back into the roles of spiritual leaders in their home and work places.

Let me encourage all of you to come and join NWA on May 1st to hear one passionate man’s story and insights about how God wants a man to lead his family towards God.

-Mark Folk

For more information on this event and others, please go to our website:

www.newwildernessadventures.com

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Victory!

Posted on April 4, 2010 by Mark

How sweet it must have been that Sunday morning. For three days his lungs had been void of air. He had breathed the air before but now things were different. Life had returned to a dying world and He felt the pleasure that God’s plan for mankind was now complete.

He arose victorious!!!

Arise My Love

Rejoice in Christ resurrection!

Have a blessed Easter.

Mark Folk

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Can We Be Better?

Posted on March 24, 2010 by Mark

Can we be better? Can we be more intelligent, better looking, richer, more…

Most of would have to confess to an unhealthy fascination with the pursuit of being better, more precisely better than…

For many of us this need to be better stems from a lifetime of comparing ourselves to others. We look at someone smarter, thinner, richer, more talented and we feel small and inadequate. Envy can set in and harden our hearts towards those who seem to have more than we do. This can drive us to selfishly pursue being better than…

I’ll have to admit being envious of others gifts and abilities quite a few times in my forty-nine years and I know I am not alone. Just a casual stroll into any bookstore or by a magazine rack indicates that a vast majority of us want to be just like someone successful, thin, muscular, beautiful, or rich. The shelves are full of self-help books and magazines promising to reveal the latest secret formula guaranteed to make more than our pitiful selves.

Oh yes we want to be better.

There is nothing wrong with wanting to be better. God created us to grow and develop. The question we must ask ourselves is why do we want to be better?

Is it that we want to lift ourselves above others by being better than they are or is it so we can be better and serving others?

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Mark Folk

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Don’t Miss Your Best Life

Posted on March 16, 2010 by Mark

God wants to give us everything. God intended and designed life as abundance “As it is in heaven”. The sad truth of the betrayal in the garden is that mankind has to live in the midst of decay and death. Now abundance has to be sought and experienced through muddy waters. Satan knew heaven, knew what it was to be close and intimate with God. As an angel he knew what it was to hear the laughter of the trinity. So now as our enemy he knows what a special place we hold in God’s heart and he hates us. In his hate he wants to see us share his fate. Eternal separation from God and a life full of death and decay. But Satan is not God and is no creator so his only hope is to drag us into his filth and to distract us with counterfeit life. He will try to attract us with seemingly shiny objects and hope we respond like a child with ADD. He twist and imitates every good thing so we will be distracted from the blessings of our Father. One of his strategies is to have us become pleasure seekers. He knows the deep yearnings of our hearts for heaven, he has it to. Satan hates God enough to hate us, his look-a likes. And against his image bearers he is making war. Twisted pleasure is his weapon. Envy, selfishness, judgment, lust, addiction and self gratification are his traps to keep us from experiencing God filled lives. Satan would have us scratching and scraping the ground for scraps so as to keep our eyes from seeing the feast God has set for us.Satan is no creator, he is a liar and master manipulator. The truth is that we can become partakers of heaven through Christ’s works of the cross, resurrection and ascension.

Seek God, love God and an ever increasing joy will fill your life and enlarge your vision to see and pursue a life full and overflowing. Don’t be fooled by shiny objects at your feet. Look up and see what God is offering.

The banquet meal is ready to be served: lamb roasted, wine poured out, table set with silver and flowers.
Having dismissed her serving maids, Lady Wisdom goes to town, stands in a prominent place, and invites everyone within sound of her voice: “Are you confused about life, don’t know what’s going on? Come with me, oh come, have dinner with me! I’ve prepared a wonderful spread – fresh-baked bread, roast lamb, carefully selected wines.  Leave your impoverished confusion and live! Walk up the street to a life with meaning.”

Proverbs 9:2-6

Your brother and servant in Christ,
Mark Folk

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