Do you know the story of how the author of the gospel of Mark died?
It is really an amazing story.
It is a story of incredible courage.
The following description of the end of John Mark's life is originally from a book entitled "Extreme Devotion"....
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After writing the gospel of Mark, John Mark traveled, sowing the seeds of the faith throughout Northern Africa and Egypt, and finally settled in Alexandria and established a church there.
On April 21, A.D. 64, Mark preached a sermon remembering the suffering and death of Christ as part of Passover. He had been at odds with the local heathen priests, and they took this day to incite the general population to rise up against him.
The rebels stormed the church and seized John Mark. Using hooks and ropes, they dragged him out through the congregation, into the streets, and out of the city. He left a trail of blood and flesh that stained the rocks over which they dragged him. Blood flowed from virtually every spot on his body as the mob jeered and mocked him. With his last words, he commended his spirit into the hands of his Savior and died.
Even with Mark's death, the crowd's thirst for violence was not satisfied, and the priests called for his body to be burned instead of buried. Suddenly, a storm erupted, scattering the mob in every direction, and Mark's body was left where he had died. A group of Christians then came and took the body and gave Mark a proper burial.
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The truth is that all of the apostles and early leaders of the church faced the constant threat of torture and death.
But none of them ever turned away.
None of them ever denied Christ.
Why?
Because they knew it was true.
They had seen the risen Christ.
If Christ had not risen, they would have known that to be a rock solid fact, and so it would have been insanity to continue to insist that Christ was risen from the dead in the face of torture and death.
But Christ did rise from the dead and the apostles had firsthand knowledge of this fact.
That is why they held on to their faith - even unto the death.
Even someone stuck in solitary confinement in a prison cell.
The following story of amazing courage is originally from a book entitled "Extreme Devotion" which you can find in the Amazon widget in the sidebar of this blog.
My hope is that we can all remember this story the next time we think that we are in a position where God cannot use us.....
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Even when Romanian pastor Richard Wurmbrand was placed in a solitary prison cell devoid of light and sound, he continued to preach to an unseen audience.
After his miraculous release from prison and his eventual migration to the United States, Pastor Wurmbrand wrote several books describing his prison experience and the sermons that he composed and memorized while in solitary confinement. After a few years, he received this letter:
Dear Pastor Wurmbrand,
I was raised in a godly home, but I strayed and eventually ended up in a prison here in Canada. I wanted to return to God but didn't know how, so I prayed, "God, if somewhere in the world there is another lonely prisoner who knows you, please bring me his thoughts." I heard an inner voice telling me to sit quietly and confidently and that God would reach me.
Miraculously, night after night I began hearing a kind of sermon that seemed to come from far away. I repented, and after my release from prison, I ran across your book, Sermons in Solitary Confinement, in a Christian bookstore. I immediately recognized these sermons as the same ones I had heard in prison. Thank you for delivering them!
Pastor Wurmbrand received two other letters from different countries that contained nearly identical stories. Truly, angels had carried the sermons to others crying out to God.
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Have you ever wondered where the word Christmas comes from?
It is actually not found anywhere in the Bible.
In fact, the word "Christmas" was not invented until the Middle Ages.
The Catholic Encyclopedia makes this absolutely shocking admission: "The word for Christmas in late Old English is Cristes Maesse, the Mass of Christ, first found in 1038."
That is more than a thousand years after the death of Christ.
Most Americans will gather around "the Christmas tree" on December 25th without having any idea why we practice this tradition or where it came from. The truth is that the Christmas tree and the decorations we put on the tree have ancient roots in pagan fertility traditions.
In ancient times, the goddess Asherah was known the "Queen of Heaven". She was worshipped by many civilizations in the Middle East.
One of the symbols most closely associated with Asherah was a tree. The ancient Canaanites and Phoenicians viewed the tree as a symbol of fertility.
A symbol of male fertility.
This is not a joke.
The purpose of the fertility tree in ancient times was to display the symbols of fertility.
The pole, balls, and tinsel (phallus, testes, semen) represented various aspects of male fertility, while wreaths were always made in a circle to represent female fertility.
But isn't the Christmas tree a Christian thing?
Actually the Bible doesn't say anything about a "Christmas tree", but it does warn God's people against putting up trees like the other pagan nations were doing.
Jeremiah 10:1-4.....
Hear what the LORD says to you, O house of Israel. This is what the LORD says: "Do not learn the ways of the nations or be terrified by signs in the sky, though the nations are terrified by them. For the customs of the peoples are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest, and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel. They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not totter."
The truth is shocking, eh?
According to ancient Babylonian tradition, Semiramis (who eventually became known as the goddess Asherah/Ishtar/Easter after she died) claimed that her son Nimrod had been reincarnated in the form of a full grown evergreen tree that sprang up overnight from a dead tree stump.
She also claimed that Nimrod would visit the evergreen tree and leave gifts on each anniversary of his birth, which just happens to be on December 25th.
Does that story sound familiar?
This original tradition became the source for many of the future pagan celebrations of December 25th.
Most people think that December 25th first became a holiday when Catholics decided to make that day the celebration of the birth of Christ. But that is just not true. Before Christmas was ever invented, December 25th was known as "the birthday of the unconquered sun" and it was celebrated as the birthday of pagan gods such as Mithras, Attis, Sol, Jupiter, Dionysus and others.
Most people also do not realize that Yule is the name of a major pagan holiday that is celebrated today by thousands upon thousands of people around the world.
Yule was celebrated by the pagans of northern Europe from late December to early January for centuries. When you offer "yuletide" greetings you are acknowledging this celebration. Yule logs were traditionally lit to honor the god "Thor". The holiday would continue until the Yule log burned out, which could take as many as twelve days. Thus this is where we get the "12 days of Christmas". Even an early form of Santa Claus can all be traced back to ancient Yule celebrations.
Another one of the pagan pre-Christian festivals was called Saturnalia.
Saturnalia was a holiday when the Romans commemorated the dedication of the temple of their god Saturn, which was on the 17th of December and the festival would last for a whole week until the 23rd of December.
Green ivy and holly were common symbols of "Saturn", the Roman deity.
Later on, the Romans also started holding a festival on December 25 called Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, which means "the birthday of the unconquered sun."
In the year 350 A.D., Pope Julius I declared that "Christ’s birth" would be celebrated on December 25th from then on.
Apparently his rationale was that he was trying to make it easier for pagan Romans to convert to Christianity.
But the historical Jesus was not born on December 25th.
It would have been far too cold for shepherds to be out with their sheep at night during that time.
There were times in the gospels when Jesus was not very clear and even today we read some of His sayings and we debate endlessly about what they could mean.
There were other times when Jesus took His time to be exceedingly clear, and we find one of those moments in Matthew 5:17-19.....
"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven."
Now could this be any clearer?
Jesus says that anyone who breaks the commandments and teaches others to do the same "will be called least" in the kingdom of heaven.
Oh, but Paul said not to keep the Law?
When then did he keep it?
Acts 25:8
Then Paul made his defense: "I have done nothing wrong against the law of the Jews or against the temple or against Caesar."
Acts 21:20-24
When they heard this, they praised God. Then they said to Paul: "You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the law. They have been informed that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn away from Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or live according to our customs. What shall we do? They will certainly hear that you have come, so do what we tell you. There are four men with us who have made a vow. Take these men, join in their purification rites and pay their expenses, so that they can have their heads shaved. Then everybody will know there is no truth in these reports about you, but that you yourself are living in obedience to the law.
Romans 3:28-31
For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law. Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.
So was Paul a hypocrite?
No, he lived what he believed.
He preached salvation through Christ alone.
He preached obedience to God's commandments.
He lived them both.
So did all of the early Christians.
Why were we all never taught these things in church?
One of the things that sets Christianity apart from all other religions is the love and forgiveness that Christians are capable of.
The following amazing story is originally from a book called "Extreme Devotion" which you can find in the Amazon.com widget in the sidebar of this blog.
This is a story of love, forgiveness and of a faith that will not yield to anything - even bitterness.....
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Demeter suffered for many years in Communist prisons. He had remained strong in spirit during his confinement, but his body was beginning to wear down. There was a certain prison warden who amused himself by beating on Demeter's spine with a hammer, which permanently paralyzed him. But Demeter's Christlike attitude never wavered, and he was eventually released from prison.
Twenty years later he heard a knock at the front door of his home. He was shocked to see the same prison warden who had so cruelly beat on his spine and paralyzed him years before standing before him. Still, Demeter did not waver in his expression of faith.
Even before Demeter could offer a greeting, the former warden said, "I realize I can never be forgiven for what I have done to you. It was too heinous. But please just listen to my words of apology and then I will leave."
Demeter paused only for a moment as he gazed with compassion and wonder at the man. He replied softly, "For twenty years I have prayed for you daily. I have waited for you. Twenty years ago, I forgave you already." If we are willing to show love and forgiveness to everyone - even those who have hurt us - then the love of Christ can conquer all.
Is there evidence that ancient Israelites brought the Ten Commandments to America centuries before Christopher Columbus was even born?
Such a theory is completely impossible, you say?
Perhaps you should not jump to conclusions so quickly!
Did you know that there is a very large stone near Los Lunas, New Mexico, that has the Ten Commandments inscribed on in ancient paleo-Hebrew script?
Did you know that most scholars who have studied the stone believe that the inscription on the stone was there long before Columbus came to America?
Most Christians have never even heard of this ancient inscription. If you are curious, watch the following YouTube video which we produced and find out the shocking truth:
The incredible story of courage posted below is originally from a devotional called "Extreme Devotion" which you can find in the Amazon carousel in the sidebar of this blog.
We have been reading many stories of Christian martyrs lately, and it strikes us that the courage of modern Christian martyrs is another form of evidence for the Christian faith.
When you have truly met the living God, you know that you have something worth dying for. All throughout history Christians have been tortured and killed, and it is still going on today.
In what other religion will you find beautiful stories such as the one posted below?:
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The young brown-eyed girl looked up at her mother. What would she decide?
Earlier that morning, the young girl's mother, their pastor, and twenty-six others in her North Korean village of GokSan were bound and taken before a screaming crowd of Communists.
One of the guards ordered Pastor Kim and the other Christians, "Deny Christ, or you will die." The words chilled her. How could they ask her to deny Jesus? She knew in her heart he was real. They all quietly refused.
Then the Communist guard shouted directly at the adult Christians, "Deny Christ, or we will hang your children." The young girl looked up at her mother. She gripped her and knowing how much her mom loved her. her mother then leaned down. With confidence and peace she whispered, "Today, my love, I will see you in heaven."
All of the children were hanged.
The remaining believers were then brought out onto the pavement and forced to lie down in front of a huge steamroller. The Communists gave them one last chance. "Deny this Jesus or you will be crushed." The Christians had already given up their children; there was no turning back.
As the driver started the heavy piece of equipment, the singing from the villagers started softly. "More love, O Christ, to thee, more love to thee."
Today atheists, skeptics and opponents of Christianity believe that they have the intellectual high ground when it comes to matters of logic, reason, science and faith. The reality is that the exact opposite is true, but our churches are doing a miserable job of equipping us to defend the faith. Hopefully blogs such as this will change all that. If you like what you see here, then please help spread the word about this site.
Do you know the story of how the author of the gospel of Mark died?
