Great song and nice Video. Skeleton Bones.

John Mark McMillan – Skeleton Bones from john mark mcmillan on Vimeo.

Filmed at Bright City Studios. Directed by the Calnin Brothers. View more of the Calnin’s work at: www.vimeo.com/calninmedia

Credits:
Nathaniel and Chris Calnin – video direction
John Mark McMillan – acoustic guitar/lead vocals
James Duke – electric guitar
Andrew Williams – electric piano/backing vocals
Lee Worely – percussion
Shae Wooten – bass guitar
Sarah McMillan, David Valier, Austin Forbes – backing vocals
Joel Willis – sound engineer

Sharing the Suffering. Health Insurance.

Galatians 6.2

Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

1st John 3.16

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.

Matthew 27.32

As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross.

2 Corinthians 1.6

If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer.

2nd Timothy 1.8

So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God

Mark 8.34

Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

Permeating all of scripture is a theme of suffering. Over and over again suffering is brought up, eventually coming to a pinnacle in Jesus. Who even though he was equal with God, took on flesh and suffered with us. Even suffering death. Sharing in our suffering for our sake. On our behalf he suffered with us and eventually for us. Paul continues the them in many of the scripture above. Compelling us to share in each others suffering, and even saying that our suffering will bring comfort and even salvation to others (2nd Corinthians 1.6). Are we not called to these excellent examples? Are we not called to have Christ living in us? To have his life multiplied and magnified by our own.

I just finished reading a book called “Legacy of Love” by Arun Ghandi, aka Ghandi’s grandson. In it he talks about the lifestyle of non-violence that he attempts to live and that Ghandi lived when he was alive. A huge part of Ghandi’s philosophy was this idea of sharing in the sufferings of his brothers, and being truly communal, not on in the good but in the bad. I think its often easy for us to be communal when we feast and celebrate together, but are we really being communal if we do not also share in the mourning and the suffering. Ghandi’s lifestyle and philosophy lead him to some radical principles. For example when a child was disobedient, instead of just punishing the child, the whole community was punished together. It seems unfair, but it taught the child that their actions did not only affect them but everyone, and it also taught the community what it really meant to be one. This principle became even more radical in his life through fasting, serving with the poor, and fighting for the lost and underprivileged.

What I am trying to get at here is that we are called to be this radical, and even more so. Jesus is the best and brightest example we have of someone who embraced this kind of lifestyle. Where he didn’t look at the world as himself and then everyone else but instead he just saw the world as us, including both us and him. He didn’t suffer for one or some but for all. I can’t even really put into words what he has done, but its huge.

So recently with the whole health care debate raging on and on. This idea of shared suffering has struck me. Currently my wife and I do not have health insurance and have not had insurance since we got married and even before that. The reason was that we simply could not afford it. However recently we have had some great work opportunities that are going to allow us to buy some health insurance, which we were really excited about. But then during some time reading scripture I was struck with a thought. What if instead of getting health insurance, I remained uninsured until the estimated 57 million (and rising) Americans with out health insurance get it also. What kind of impact could I have in the effort to get them covered? What kind of impact could I have on their hearts for the kingdom? It may have a serious effect on us, we may have to feel what its like to get a medical bill that we have no hope of being able paying for. We may experience what it is like to see a small health issue grow into a big one because we can not get help until the situation is dire. We may experience what its like to have to choose between food and medicine. We may experience what it is like to be in need. We may actually share in the suffering of another. We may actually gain some humility. We may learn how to relate to people. We may gain a heart for the poor. We may gain something that doesn’t rust, fade, ware, or get eaten by moths. We may actually grow to be like Christ.

Praying about it.

2nd Timothy 3:

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.

When I read this passage today it got me a little riled up. I started thinking about the small but significant number (significant enough that I run into them) of Christians whom I would call radically political.

This term does not just mean conservative or liberal Christians, because I know a lot of people and friends who are conservative and many who are liberal, and on both sides they can explain their views and I understand them. I understand why they are taking their stand where they take it and I can be ok with that. I can even agree with them at times because I think they really are considering God.

What I mean by radically political is this group that has given up trying to explain why they feel the way they feel. Instead they have turned to rash, brutal, and slanderous talk about everyone not on their side.

In an effort to serve the Lord, they have begun to serve a new master, who will do anything to get his view across. They have traded God for the god of politics. In many areas I think they are trying to accomplish goals of the Kingdom, but they are going about them in a totally contradictory way. Derek Webb makes the point clearly in a song: “Tell me since when, do the means justify the ends, and you build the Kingdom using the devil’s tools, can time be so short?” Do they think that the Lord can not accomplish his goals in the ways he has set out to do it? through love, humility, mercy and righteousness? They have the form of godliness but deny its power. They have become a crashing symbol and a resounding gong.

Home

my soul yearns, even faints
for the love of a father who won’t leave
cause he yearns, even faints
for the love of a child like me

he calls me his son
and he shakes my young soul
to his home I will run
yes his home is my goal
cause its better that way
cause life’s a burden alone
so just give me one day
in my fathers, warm, home

I am dancing into his house
I can’t help but swing wide these doors
I am dancing into your house
I can’t help but swing wide these doors

home

Psalms for Today

38.17
For I am about to Fall,
and my pain is ever with me.
I confess my iniquity;
I am troubled by my sin.

38.21
O Lord, do not forsake me;
be not far from me, O my God.
Come quickly to help me,
O Lord my savior.

39.12
Hear my prayer, O Lord
listen to mt cry for help;
be not deaf to my weeping.
For I dwell with you as an alien,
a stranger as all my fathers were.

I feel like it is so true that despite confessing to know God
despite being called a son by him
that I am, still in my heart, very much an alien to his ways.
I live with him, but I am not like him.

Challenged

Loi and I just got back from 2 weeks in India.

We spent time in a childrens home with 45 truly amazing kids and staff. They love Jesus, and they trust him. We had an unforgettable time there, we learned so much and we had some amazing experiences.

Getting back, I am realizing that one of the biggest things that happened was that I was challenged. Challenged by the story of the home, the faith of the kids, and the way they do life.

Speaking to Tammy-ma, (the kids Mom) listening to her say again that we do not understand Jesus fully in the west.

We don’t really trust him, because we don’t really need to.

In India she says that if she didn’t have Jesus and the Holy spirit she would have died or left a long time ago.

The home is filled with literally thousands of stories of the Lord providing everything from them. Money, Health, Knowledge, Encouragement, Protection etc.. .

In the short time we were there we saw with our own eyes a 7 year old fall from a playground.
Get taken to a hospital with brain swelling and heartbeat lowering.
Prayed.
Saw her back in the home playing again.

When I heard her speaking and telling stories it reminded my of the story in Matthew 7, where scripture says: (28-29)

They had never heard teaching like this. It was apparent that he was living everything he was saying—quite a contrast to their religion teachers! This was the best teaching they had ever heard.

She wasn’t saying anything I had not heard before (besides the stories), but in the context of being there and seeing the kids and seeing India, it became real.

She not only meant what she said, she actually was doing it.

Her prayer was something to the effect of “Lord I need you to give me everything I need to survive, but never give me so much that I stop needing you.”

Her advice for Loi and I in America?

Start praying that we would need him more. That we would really need him. That nothing would meet our needs like he does. Spiritually, Physically, Emotionally, Financially, and every other -lly in the dictionary.

That we would need him.

“It is not enough to say one’s prayers in private, maintain high personal morality, and then go to work to rebuild the tower of Babel. The substance and structure of the different aspects of our world need to be interrogated in the light of the unique achievement of Jesus.” – N.T. Wright

Formula – Video made for Wesley

Check it out on the Wesley Website.

Alright….

So its been 3+ months since my last post…

How do I recover from this.

I am married now. To my wonderful and loving lady Loi. It happend on January 23rd of 2009, and married life has been great. It is not with out it’s challenges, but they have all been good challenges. We really have grown a lot closer since marriage, for obvious reasons and some not as obvious reasons. I am loving it.

Wesley is continuing on as always and we have remained very diligent. I have found out that this summer Loi and I will be going to India with Wesley. It will be Loi’s first time and my second. We are going to stay at the same orphanage as I stayed at last time, which I know will be a blast becuase the kids there are so amazing. I am also going to China again this summer so it will be a very busy summer for me. I am leading (with Katie Nash) a team of college students to do some hiking in the western mountains so it should be another amazing (although a bit frightful) journey into the East.

I am gonna try to get back on the ball with this Blog, but this is all the time I have for now. Peace and Love to you couple of people who read this (Mom and Dad :O).

-Marshall
Also if you have facebook, or if you don’t, check out Wesley’s Page. It has a lot of info about Wesley and Videos!

Wesley Facebook

Wesley Website

Currently

Currently, things are well.

Wesley is beginning to wind down as the semester ends. However we still have a couple of more services, a game night, and leadership interviews happening in the next week or two. Leadership interviews are for our students who are looking to get more involved, go deeper, and grow as leaders. Usually we only do these once a year during summer for the next school year, but this year we are taking on new leaders this winter as well. The interviews, are not really interviews so much as they are a time for us to ask them about themselves and ask them what they are interested in doing. After the interviews, they should feel excited and empowered for next semester. It’s actually a very exciting time because our leadership is going to almost double after these new students join. Which means we will be able to have more Community Group leaders, more on campus leaders, more students discipling other students, and very literally more of Jesus as we all grow together in community.

Also some other exciting happenings happened(…) last week. Wesley reserved the student stage in front of the UCF student union and for 4 hours we were out there talking, discussing, and praying with students on campus. It is amazing and interesting to me the response we got.  In almost all cases people responded positively to us being out and active. What is really great is that I think we are not doing things the way people are used to. I say this because of some of the initial reactions I received. For example, I had one student come up to me and all he said was “Why am I wrong?” I was confused and told him I don’t think he is wrong, not knowing what he was talking about. We talked for a while and what he was getting at was that he is Jewish and he was asking me why I thought he was wrong. It’s amazing to me the negative impression the church has made on so many college students. This student thought that who he was was wrong in my eyes because I was a christian. I told him quickly that of course I don’t think he is wrong, I don’t think anyone is really wrong, I just think we don’t understand who Jesus really is. I told him I was not wrong when I went to church my whole life and didn’t understand God one iota more than an unchurched person. I told him the message is not who is wrong and who is right, but rather God loves us through it all, and he can take our lives and make t something truly new. He was taken aback a little and with a quick, “Well, OK” he asked if I would keep praying for him and he said he would keep praying for me.

This is just one experience out on campus that day, my hope is that by just being gentle, kind, and loving, we can begin to heal the wounds caused by the modern day church and reconcile ourselves back into the community. I can’t wait to get back out there next Wednesday.

Also check out the most recent Announcment video we put together, it is pretty fun I think.

Wesley Website