Category Archives: Just Marc

Nothing Left to Give

28 Sunday May 2017

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Yesterday, I went outside to the backyard to find my father-in-law and mother-in-law working in the garden, digging holes to plant tomatoes and other vegetables. As they are in their 80s and don’t get around easily, I approached them and asked if I could play. That’s how children do it, isn’t it when they visit with friends and neighbors? The just walk up and ask to join in. So I thought I’d use a little humor since they didn’t seem to be getting along at the moment. So I was given the shovel and I dug the holes and we all fell into a new formation, one of us digging holes, one of us planting, the other handing the plants and so on. When I finally planted the last squash, or maybe it was zucchini, my father-in-law had moved on to picking apricots off the lawn from under the tree. The apricots did not get big at all before they had all fallen down. So no apricots this year.

My father-in-law was using a telescoping grabber to pick them up from the ground since he can’t bend over so easily and putting them all in a plastic bag. Otherwise, left on the lawn, they would rot and make a mess. Meanwhile, my mother-in-law was now trying to work on watering all the vegetables we had just planted. So I went and connected the hose to the tap on the house and unrolled it all the way to the garden with the wand attachment and helped her get the right spray setting on the nozzle so not too much water pounded the little plants. After I reduced the spray, I handed her the wand and thought I would go back inside to tend to personal matters. I then noticed that my father-in-law was still plucking apricots off the lawn. He could only grab one at a time with his grabber and I knew he’d be out there a long time at the rate he was going. So I decided to join him. I quickly and easily bent down and grabbed a bunch in each hand and kept on grabbing more, dumping them in his bag while he continued picking up one. At. A. Time…

As I worked alongside my in-laws, the Lord taught me a profound lesson. During His mortal ministry, He taught and exemplified going the extra mile. He taught that when someone takes your coat, give him your cloak, too. When someone strikes you, turn the other cheek. When someone compels you to walk with him a mile, walk with him two. With the Law of Moses, one could potentially learn to love God. With the Law of the Gospel, however, one gets to learn to love his fellow man. Not only did Jesus teach us how to love one another, but how to love one another so utterly and completely, that nothing is left to give. While He hung on the cross after having already suffered more than any mortal could suffer without dying, He was mocked.

39 ¶ And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads,
40 And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.
41 Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said,
42 He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him…

At any point in time, Jesus could have called down legions of angels to fight for Him. He didn’t even need an army. The God of all creation, who by mere words could utter, “let there be light,” and bring forth light, or to walk on water or calm the storm or to raise the dead by merely speaking words. There was nothing to stop Him from uttering words and letting the nails simply slip out and fall to the ground while His body healed of all that had been inflicted upon Him before their very eyes. And what a glorious sight it would have been! What a terrible scene it would have been to all who mocked Him. But instead He suffered it. He endured it. He allowed it. The God of heaven and all the earth submitted to every last stripe and insult that humanity had the energy to inflict upon Him. When finally, after hanging six hours on the cross, knowing he was fully spent, and there was nothing left to give, He finally said, “it is finished.” And then He willingly gave up the ghost.

No man took it from Him. He gave it all until there was nothing left to give.

All this was spoken to my mind as I helped my father-in-law pick up all the apricots. There is a vast difference between knowing such things in my brain and having them written in my heart. And this day, it was written in my heart. When he had finished, I asked him what else he wanted to do. He said he finished and he was leaving to take care of an errand. When I was satisfied that there was nothing more I could do to help in the backyard and that my in-laws were getting along again, I went back inside to tend to personal matters.

Anyone who considers himself or herself a disciple of Jesus Christ may learn by experience to give until there is nothing left to give. If you see a homeless person on the side of the road, you can give him your spare change if that is what he is asking for. You can then go on your way or you can ask yourself if there is more you can do. You can get to know him. You can introduce yourself. Ask him if he’d like to join you and eat out together. If you think you can do more, maybe bring him home and cook a meal for him instead. If you think you can do more, let him take a bath and spend the night. Only you know if you can spare enough change, or enough time, or enough space in your home.

One day, some years ago, for example, my family and I were visiting Salt Lake City, Utah. We had pulled into the parking lot of a restaurant where a man was holding a cardboard sign asking for change for food. We had gone inside and while waiting to be served, I walked outside and sat down with the man and began chatting with him. I asked him if he was hungry and invited him to come inside for a meal. He just stared off and said all he really wanted was a cigarette. I didn’t have any cigarettes or cash so I was not able to help him further. He declined the meal and I wished him well and went back inside with my family.

Now I have been accused of being an enabler by people who do not believe Jesus Christ’s teachings. I may have helped a bum get his latest fix or bottle of booze. But I say to them, who of us is not enabled by God every minute of every day while we go about our way walking in pride and vanity? Yet God enables each breath we take, including those moments we are most carnal and sinful. Do the angels accuse God of enabling us sinners who masquerade as Christians? There are opportunities to be helpful wherever we go. We can help a little or a lot, or whenever possible, help and give until there’s nothing left to give. That is what it means to love another as Jesus loved everyone. It is to love so willingly and utterly and so completely that there is nothing left to give. That is how I wish to leave this world. I want to leave knowing I have nothing left to give.

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The Fellowship of the Unashamed

18 Friday Nov 2016

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Despite Google and all of the research available on the internet to us today I cannot vouch for the accuracy of the story or the origin of this note. Here are two:

· Dr. Robert Morehead tells the story a young man from Rwanda, A missionary with Africa Evangelical Fellowship, who was forced by his tribe in 1980 to renounce Christ or face death. He refused to renounce Christ, and he was murdered on the spot. The night before he had written the following commitment which was found in his room:

· The following is often attributed to an anonymous source but its origin can be traced to a Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) retreat in Black Mountain, NC in 1966. This confession, ostensibly authored by several attendees, found wider circulation after it was found in the home of an African pastor who had been martyred for his commitment to Christ some years ago.

The author is unknown, but is believed to be a young pastor in Zimbabwe who was martyred for his faith in Jesus Christ. It was found in his study:

“I’m part of the fellowship of the unashamed. I have the Holy Spirit’s power. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made — I’m a disciple of his. I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, my future is secure. I’m finished and done with low living, sight walking, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, worldly talking, cheap giving, and dwarfed goals.”

“I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don’t have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded. I now live by faith, lean in his presence, walk by patience, am uplifted by prayer, and I labor with power.”

“My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way rough, my companions few, my Guide reliable, my mission clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifices, hesitate in the presence of the enemy, pander at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.”

“I won’t give up, shut up, let up, until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, preached up for the cause of Christ. I am a disciple of Jesus. I must go till he comes, give till I drop, preach till all know, and work till he stops me. And, when he comes for his own, he will have no problem recognizing me … my banner will be clear.”

Hunger Wars

29 Saturday Nov 2014

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So I watched the latest Hunger Games movie today. The first two movies pit children against each other in a dystopian tradition of ruling the masses. Consider the indoctrination of the children in Orwell’s book 1984:

“Nearly all children nowadays were horrible. What was worst of all was that by means of such organizations as the Spies they were systematically turned into ungovernable little savages, and yet this produced in them no tendency whatever to rebel against the discipline of the Party. On the contrary, they adored the Party and everything connected with it… All their ferocity was turned outwards, against the enemies of the State, against foreigners, traitors, saboteurs, thought-criminals. It was almost normal for people over thirty to be frightened of their own children.”

This quote explains the government’s power over the children in the dystopian society depicted in George Orwell’s 1984. Parents have no authority over their children, who are influenced from a very young age by the forces of “Big Brother.” The children join organizations such as the “Spies,” where they dress uniformly in “blue shorts, gray shirts, and red neckerchiefs” and are systematically indoctrinated in the philosophies of the government.

The children are taught to love Big Brother and hate “foreigners, traitors, saboteurs, thought-criminals,” the “enemies of the State;” they are encouraged to attend public hangings, and as such are desensitized to violence. The children will report to the authorities anyone who engages in questionable activities or who criticizes the government, including their parents, and indeed are praised as “child hero[es]” for doing so. Parents have no control over their children, who have been turned into “ungovernable little savages” by their training.

There is no love cultivated between children and their parents; through early and constant indoctrination, the children’s devotion is all directed towards Big Brother. Tragically, parents actually fear their own children, because they know that their children’s loyalties lie with Big Brother, and that should they even suspect their parents of deviation from the strict codes of behavior mandated by the government, they will not hesitate to turn them in (Part 1, Chapter 2).

hunger

I can’t decide if the Hunger Games movies glorify the subject matter or perhaps are used as a vehicle to bring about an awareness of the world around us to the youth today. But do they see a strong female hero and idolize her? Furthermore, are today’s youth even aware of the sword of justice that hangs over us all? I am reminded of this scripture:

Mosiah 4:13 And ye will not have a mind to injure one another, but to live peaceably, and to render to every man according to that which is his due.

14 And ye will not suffer your children that they go hungry, or naked; neither will ye suffer that they transgress the laws of God, and fight and quarrel one with another, and serve the devil, who is the master of sin, or who is the evil spirit which hath been spoken of by our fathers, he being an enemy to all righteousness.

15 But ye will teach them to walk in the ways of truth and soberness; ye will teach them to love one another, and to serve one another.

And while children wield deadly weapons in extremist countries today, our own may be all too easily desensitized by the gratuitous sex and violence on TV or in the video games they play, which occupy their attention and take up their free time. Do they sing songs in church, comparing themselves to the army of Helaman, having been taught in their youth? How little they may be aware of the setting and nature of the conversion of the stripling warriors. It was their conversion to Jesus Christ and their faith in Him alone that inspired them to risk their lives in mortal combat on the front lines of some of their bloodiest battles, suffering many wounds unto the loss of consciousness for the cause of liberty.

I wonder if our children are clueless. There was no hero worship or idolatry among those two thousand and sixty Lamanite boys, although they esteemed Helaman as their father, following him into battle, confidently obeying his orders precisely. And it was their faith in the Lord that preserved every last one of them. None were lost. Who will our children look to when the sword of justice falls on this gentile nation and all over the world?

Alma 57:25 And it came to pass that there were two hundred, out of my two thousand and sixty, who had fainted because of the loss of blood; nevertheless, according to the goodness of God, and to our great astonishment, and also the joy of our whole army, there was not one soul of them who did perish; yea, and neither was there one soul among them who had not received many wounds.

26 And now, their preservation was astonishing to our whole army, yea, that they should be spared while there was a thousand of our brethren who were slain. And we do justly ascribe it to the miraculous power of God, because of their exceeding faith in that which they had been taught to believe—that there was a just God, and whosoever did not doubt, that they should be preserved by his marvelous power.

27 Now this was the faith of these of whom I have spoken; they are young, and their minds are firm, and they do put their trust in God continually.

I left the theater with a lot to think about. And it has been a while since I have shared any thoughts on my blog, but I felt the need to do so today.

Sticks and Stones – A Parable

30 Friday May 2014

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There was once a village at the base of a great mountain where beautiful trees grew and where clear waterfalls gave the people of the village life. The branches of the trees on the lower elevation of the mountain provided most of the villagers with sturdy walking sticks, which they enjoyed using. The people happily climbed the mountain to find the finest branches with which to carve their sticks, staffs and canes from the soft green wood of these trees. The shorter staffs made it easier to climb the mountain where these trees grew and while many people enjoyed spending their time climbing up to the trees, most enjoyed hiking around the village with their canes and walking sticks.

There were, of course, some villagers who wanted to climb higher and explore more of the mountain. They found out soon enough that their staffs were not strong enough to rely on as they put their entire weight on their staffs to make the steeper climbs. Some gave up and went back down while some pressed onward. After some time, those villagers who had climbed higher discovered other trees, whose red wood was much denser than the softer green wood of the trees below. When they finally returned to the village, they showed their sturdier staffs to as many as would come and see them. Many laughed and said that the extra climb was not worth the effort and that their own canes were sufficient for their everyday tasks in the village. But some people desired sturdier wood for their daily walks and climbs and so they made the climb to the higher elevation to obtain the sturdier red branches.

Before long there were divisions in the village. The vast majority had green walking sticks from the trees with the softer wood. The minority of the villagers had their red walking and climbing sticks from the denser trees. Some of these people in the minority prided themselves with their sturdier staffs and a few even avoided anyone with sticks made of the softer green wood. They were considered arrogant by the rest of the villagers who owned green walking sticks. The owners of the red sticks resented being considered arrogant for they only wished to share why the sturdier sticks were more desirable. After a time, however, many of those with the red sticks stopped making their regular hikes up the mountain, but stayed home to pursue idle activities. There were some few who still enjoyed their hikes either to the lower elevations or the elevations higher up. Some of those who owned red sticks who stopped climbing occasionally teased those who still enjoyed their daily climbs, considering it an unnecessary use of time. Besides, everyone could enjoy the beautiful scenery, which the mountain provided and enjoy its bounty equally.

One day, a man from the village gazed at the peak, which was rarely visible through the clouds high above. He decided to make the dangerous climb to the top despite the laughter and ridicule of everyone else in the village. Very few in the village’s history had ever made it back with anything to show for it. He took his climbing staff and began his ascent. He encountered many nearly impassable rocky ledges and sheer walls that without his staff, he could not have made it. After a great many days, he returned bruised and beaten from the near impossible journey. On his way home, he encountered some friends. At their request, he described the perilous journey including the path, which had been so overgrown by vegetation from almost never having been used.

The next day, his friends visited him and had brought others to hear about his experience. As they sat listening, he reached for a pouch, which hung from around his neck and rested on his chest. He opened the flap and took out a beautiful small stone, which fit perfectly in the palm of his hand. They had never seen a stone like it and envied him. None existed in or around the village near and far. He explained that there were more just like it but they could only be found at the top of the mountain. In fact, there were more than enough for each villager if anyone wished to climb to the top and obtain one.

One of his friends asked him about the view at the top. Others inquired further about the precious stones and how they had gotten there or if someone had made them and put them there. Some doubted that he ever made it to the top at all and found the stone elsewhere. After their questioning, he invited them all to make the journey themselves and experience what he had experienced. Because he had declined to relate everything that he saw and heard, another accused him of being arrogant, which saddened him. They all agreed that it was not necessary to climb the mountain just to have a stone, regardless of how desirable it was and they departed. The next day, word spread throughout the village about the precious stone, which he carried around his neck near his heart. Thereafter, most of the villagers avoided him. Life in the village continued as before, some resenting others because of their finer staffs and most resenting the man with his precious stone. Once in a great while, a villager would gaze at the peak of the mountain and make the perilous journey and return after a great many days with a precious stone.

 

 

Peace on earth, good will toward men.

24 Tuesday Dec 2013

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This song beautifully tells the story of the reason for this season. Merry Christmas to everyone!

A Hallelujah Christmas by Cloverton.
http://www.clovertonmusic.com
“Hallelujah” originally written by Leonard Cohen

LYRICS

I’ve heard about this baby boy
Who’s come to earth to bring us joy
And I just want to sing this song to you
It goes like this, the fourth, the fifth
The minor fall, the major lift
With every breath I’m singing Hallelujah
Hallelujah

A couple came to Bethlehem
Expecting child, they searched the inn
To find a place for You were coming soon
There was no room for them to stay
So in a manger filled with hay
God’s only Son was born, oh Hallelujah
Hallelujah

The shepherds left their flocks by night
To see this baby wrapped in light
A host of angels led them all to You
It was just as the angels said
You’ll find Him in a manger bed
Immanuel and Savior, Hallelujah
Hallelujah

A star shown bright up in the east
To Bethlehem, the wisemen three
Came many miles and journeyed long for You
And to the place at which You were
Their frankincense and gold and myrrh
They gave to You and cried out Hallelujah
Hallelujah

I know You came to rescue me
This baby boy would grow to be
A man and one day die for me and you
My sins would drive the nails in You
That rugged cross was my cross, too
Still every breath You drew was Hallelujah
Hallelujah