What my daughter has gone through is a common challenge, a second or third generation Christian faces. My wife and I are first generation Christians and we had faced some opposition from our non-Christian families when we became Christians. Our faith and belief in Christ have always been clear-cut and firm. But not so for our children. Often, they are not sure whether they are Christians because their parents are Christians or because they really personally believed in the Lord Jesus. Hence, they are reluctant to go to Church or join in the activities of the Church because they are confused and do not want to be hypocritical. They feel that they are going to Church and are Christians because their parents forced them to do so or be so. Trying to please their parents, they just merely fulfill a routine every Sunday or Saturday. They are not sure whether they are really saved. When they open up their hearts to us about their doubt, we quickly assure them by asking “ Have you prayed the sinner’s prayer? If you have, then you are saved. The Bible says in Rom10:9 that if you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, then, you are saved.” Is this true in their case, I wonder ? Our soteriology determines our assurance or non-assurance of salvation. Do they really understand what salvation is all about and the reason why they need to be saved? I mean, generally most Christians take salvation for granted because it is something in the future. Some may say, “ I have not finished coping with all the problems in this life, why trouble myself with the next life ???” If we consider that the SPM or STPM or the University exams are critical (very important) for the future success or failure in our children’s lives, then their salvation is even more serious in the long run … eternity! Our life on earth is short, we may live up to 80 or the most 100 years but what happens after we die? Our children’s souls will continue to live for endless years. Where will their souls be if they are not saved and what will happen to them ? How can we make sure that our children’s souls will be with us in Christ in heaven forever? If there is something a parent can do to help their children, I am sure, they will especially with regards to their children’s eternity.

What then is Salvation and why does God need to save us and to save us from what?

When the Bible talks about salvation, it can refer to something physical like the people of Israel being delivered by God from the charging chariots of Pharoah ( Moses loudly proclaimed “ See the Salvation of the LORD!” Exodus 14:13) or the saving of our souls from eternal condemnation in Hell. The Gospels tell us how Jesus and His disciples went about “fishing for the souls of men.” (Matt 4:19). Why do the souls of men and women need to be saved?

What is the soul? Our soul is our inner true self. It gives us our self-consciousness of who we really are. I was really amazed when I visited someone in hospital recently and he was so conscious of his surrounding even though he had just come out of a massive surgery. The body was in a wreck but the soul was so alert. The soul of man was formed when God first breathed into Adam ( Gen 2:7). Every human being is born with a soul since that day. When a person dies, the physical body is left behind to decay but the soul continues into the next realm of existence ( the spiritual realm). The problem is that because of Adam’s disobedience to God’s commandment, he sinned and all of mankind inherited this Original Sin from Adam. (Rom 5:12 – Therefore as sin came into the world through one man (Adam) and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all men sinned.) This sinful nature dwells in every man and woman and causes us to commit more sins. The Bible refers to the root of sin as the evil desires within a man. “ Let no one say when he is tempted, “ I am tempted by God”, for God cannot be tempted with evil and He Himself tempts no one; but each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin (sinful actions); and sin when it is full-grown brings forth death.” ( James 1:13-15). Sin not only leads us to die physically but also to a second death to our souls. Jesus warned us in Matt 10:28 “ And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” But Paul said, “ For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” ( Rom 6:23). Our souls can be saved from the judgment of God and eternal suffering in the fires of hell. Our souls can live forever in Jesus free from all suffering, pain , sickness and sorrows.

What must we do to be saved? Paul told us in Eph 2:8-9 “ For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God – not because of works, lest any man should boast.” We can be saved by having faith in Jesus and on what He has achieved when He died on the cross. This is the Gospel that God loves us and wants to save our souls from eternal condemnation. By sending Christ His Beloved Son to die on the cross shedding His blood on our behalf ( atonement) He broke the power of sin and death over us and enables us to come back to God forgiven. Paul said in Rom 10:9-10 “if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For man believes with his heart and so is justified, and he confesses with his lips and so is saved.” To believe that Christ has died for all your sins requires an inner resolve within your heart i.e. you have thought this over many times and finally reached a firm decision that you accept this as truth and you trust in what God has said. Faith is the assurance of things unseen ( Heb 11:1). Because you have believed, you now asked Jesus to be Lord in your life and become a true Christian.

There was one night when a teacher of the Law, a Pharisee named Nicodemus who secretly came to meet Jesus at a garden. He asked Jesus how he can be saved and enter the Kingdom of God. Jesus told him that he must be born again of the Holy Spirit and water ( baptism). ( John 3:1-15). This is the mystery of God. When you confess your sins and ask Jesus to be your Lord, the Holy Spirit of God will come and cause a new spirit to be created in you; this is the Born Again experience ( Karl Barth – the Holy Spirit and the Christian Life) . This is the beginning of a Christian life. No one can be a Christian if the Holy Spirit has not caused a new spirit to be born in him or her. And this new spirit in you is your assurance that you are saved forever, for heaven awaits you.

Some have said that the reason God wants to save us is because He wants our fellowship. I think this to be untrue both in Scriptures as well as in logic. How can God, with the company of millions of spiritual beings (seraphims, archangels, elders, angels and saints) be lonely? Why does God need a billion souls for fellowship? Isn’t it silly for us to downgrade God? God wants to save us because of who He is. He is love and He loves everyone of us ( John 3:16; I John 4:7-8 ). Because He loves us He desires to save us from eternal suffering, not because of how good or bad we are.

So, if our children are doubtful about their salvation, we need to sit down and have a heart to heart talk with them apart from praying for them. We need to listen to their views. If we don’t, they will stop going to Church, stop reading the Bible, stop praying and finally keep the idea of God totally out of their minds and lives. They will venture into the darkness of the world and be influenced constantly by the things of the world. Their hearts will harden towards the things of God and ultimately they will be totally alienated from God. When that happens, can we honestly say that their salvation is still intact. They will lose their salvation because they have rejected Christ just like those who have committed apostasy. (Heb 6:4-6 - “For it is impossible to restore again to repentance those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come.” By the mercies of God and through constant intercession by the parents, some of these children who have strayed away from God may come to their senses one day just like the prodigal son and repent of their waywardness and return to God. But do we want to take such kind of risks on our children’s salvation if we can do something about it now?

There is a new theory raised by New Testament scholars in recent years on how salvation is attained. For many centuries and even up to today, the Roman Catholic Church has been influenced by the Augustinian doctrine of ‘work righteousness’ in addition to faith for salvation. What it says is that apart from faith, a Christian must carry out good works like penance, charity, adhering to the sacraments and teaching of the Church leadership in order to remain saved. The Evangelical NT scholars went into hot debate when E P Sanders , an authoritative scholar on Second century BC Judaism, raised the issue of ‘covenantal nomism’. According to Sanders, a Jew is required to keep the Laws ( Torah and Rabbical) in order to remain in the Covenant of Promise to Abraham by God. Sanders said that a Christian may need to continue in keeping the teachings of Christ as well as in attendance to the fellowship of the saints in order to maintain one’s salvation. Failure to do so may jeopardize one’s salvation. How true this is, no one has an authoritative answer. But, the point is, to remain in fellowship and keeping the teachings of Christ (John 14:23; John 15:7) are essential qualities emphasized and kept by the early Christians and should apply to us too. Our children need to know this and seriously decide on their walk with God. They need to first have a sincere desire for God. They need to experience God in a personal way. Among evangelical Christians there are some who hold the view that just obeying and believing the Scriptures without experiencing the truths mentioned is sufficient because God’s Word is sovereign and inerrant. This is called ‘a priori’. There is another group who hold the view that experience of the truths mentioned in the Scriptures is important. This is called ‘a posteriori’. I believe in ‘a posteriori’. It is vital for the Christian to experience the power of the Holy Spirit, the power of the Living Word of God, the manifestations of Spiritual gifts, the Presence of God, the love of God, the power of answered prayers and the miracles of God. This is because it is the function of the Holy Spirit and the Joy of God to show us His reality. I believe that when our children genuinely believe in Jesus and say the sinner’s prayer in truth, they will experience a confirmation of the new birth by the Holy Spirit. It may be a peace in his or her heart, a sudden lightness in spirit, a sudden joy in the heart, a new sense of freedom, a trembling in the body or a warmth in the heart just like John Wesley. From then on they should continue to experience the reality of God in their lives and develop their love for God and other Christians. This will provide the undeniable evidence of their salvation

Nevertheless, I was more bothered by the thought that if he was in sin, all the more he needs to participate in the communion! Christ would forgive him of whatever sins he had committed. Christ would want him and welcome him back to the fellowship of His body. God would love him because he was not frivolous with his faith but fears the LORD. He needs the communion more than others so that he can feel forgiven and accepted back into the fellowship with Christ and the brethren. I was so tempted to give my bread and cup to him and tell him all my thoughts but I didn’t. I feel this requires more than just a few words. This thinking of not participating in the Holy Communion has to be addressed more fully and a change of mind or conviction, has to be effected.

I recall that in my younger days as a Christian, our Youth leader used to tell us that if we have sinned or have backslided then we should abstain from partaking the Holy Communion. He read this from some Christian magazine. We all believed in this teaching. This may not be wrong but looking back I feel this was incomplete and the emphasis was wrong. The emphasis should be that we must confess our sins and quickly get back into fellowship with the Lord and the brethren and not to abstain from participating in the Holy Communion. The minister should also explain this and lead those feeling guilty to immediately confess their sins and come back into fellowship with God instead of staying away from the fellowship by not participating in the Communion.

I believe that all Christians , not matter what spiritual or physical states they are in, must partake the Eucharist because this was the commandment of Christ. If anyone is not right with God, then, get right with God. Just as what Paul had said in I Cor 11:23-26, each time we partake the Eucharist, we proclaim the death of the Lord Jesus until He returns. It is a spiritual union with Christ in His death as well as Life in His Resurrection!

Starting from 15th Feb 2009, Bible Training School Level 3 (BTS3) at Hope of Glory Centre will commence a series of 4 weekly lessons on David and His Psalms. The notes on these four lessons have been posted under the BTS3 index. You can download them by going to the BTS3 index on the right column of this site.

Outline of Study

DAVID AND HIS PSALMS Session 1 (15/02/09)

1. David’s life and walk with God
2. David’s anointing
3. Introduction to Psalms
4. 73 Davidic Psalms

DAVID AND HIS PSALMS Session 2 (22/02/09)

David’s Prayer Psalms (Mizmor) and laments
His prayer life and prayers

DAVID AND HIS PSALMS Session 3 (01/03/09)

David’s Contemplation Psalms ( Maskil ), Meditation Psalms ( Shiggaion ) and “Golden” Psalms (Miktam)
His meditations and reflections on righteousness and evil.

DAVID AND HIS PSALMS Session 4 (08/03/09)

1. David’s Procession Psalms ( Songs of Accents or Pilgrim songs)
Worship

2. David’s Creation Hymns and Messianic Psalms. Also included the Hallel
Praise and Prophecy

Dr Lester further explained that one of the most destructive forces against the unity in Church is schism. He defined schism as “a division or separation.”

“God does not want a schism in the Church. He does not want us fighting with one another. When a person comes to you grumbling or finding fault with another person, don’t even argue with him. The best way to put a stop to it is by saying ‘Why don’t we pray about that situation ? God will take care of it for you.

It is the beginning of the moving of God’s power among us when we start caring one for another, really caring. There should be a real spiritual relationship among God’s people.

It is so easy to become selfish and isolated, to separate ourselves when God wants us to flow in the Body. You cannot see yourself as a separate entity. You cannot go off into a corner and say, ‘Look at me. I’m really great !’ No, you are not great. God is great. Jesus is great ; the Holy Spirit is great ! You are what you are because of what God did for you through Jesus.”

( The Gifts and Ministries of the Holy Spirit – Dr Lester Sumrall)

I see sincere efforts by pastors to move the Church forward but often, such efforts are undermined by an unconscious current of schism among the members. Many of us are guilty of being involved in schism in Church in one way or another. May the Lord forgive us and help us to change.

It is important for us to be aware of schism and to understand its destructive nature and how it works against God’s purpose for the Church. Schism destroys unity. The Word of God emphasizes and repeats the theme of Love and Unity among the brethren. If we still fail to hear it, we are indeed very deaf in our mind and spirit.

What causes schism in Church? We can see this occurring in the early church. Paul mentioned it in his letters to the Corinthian, Galatian, Ephesian and Colossian churches.

At Corinth, Paul identified it as the following :

a. forming a division due to different thinking ( I Cor 1: 10 )
b. forming a division due to different judgment ( I Cor 1:10 )
c. forming a division due to cultist following of certain leaders ( I Cor 1:12 )
d. causing division by some who claim to be wiser than others ( I Cor 3:18 )
e. causing division by some egoistic (puffed up) persons ( I Cor 4:6 )
f. causing division by some who are sexually immoral ( I Cor 5:1-2 )
g. causing division by some who cannot forgive ( I Cor 6: 1, 6 )

I believe different thinking does not refer to differences in opinion or convictions. Paul was specific in emphasizing that the priority in the Church should be in maintaining unity and love above all differences. He said, “that you all say the same thing, and there be no divisions among you; but you be united in the same mind and in the same judgment” I believe the same thinking is referring to the same values and priority. But there was a group of believers in Corinth who disagreed in maintaining unity and love above their differences. They were not in one mind with the other believers. They were adamant in their views and placed their thinking above the thinking of the others. They refused admonition and correction. As a result, they were causing a schism in the Church. Paul warned them and told them not to hold on to such thinking but to choose unity and love the above their views.

As for differences in judgment, Paul drew a line between judgment in the Kingdom of God and judgment in the court of law in the world ( I Cor 6 ). He told the Corinthians that Christians, the saints , will be judging not only the future world but also the angels. If the believers are unable to judge the affairs of humans on earth, how can they judge the angels in the future? The believers are given divine wisdom and are expected to judge all human affairs on earth in accordance to God’s rules and laws. But, if believers begin to judge human affairs in accordance to the rules and laws of the present world system, then indeed, there would be great differences in the judgment. Those who follow the rules of judgment of the world will cause schism in the Church. They do not follow in the same judgment rules as the other believers. They will be applying worldly rules which can be corrupted and lacking in love. Hence, Paul stressed the importance of oneness and unity in judgment among the believers.

Paul expressed disappointment at how the Corinthians segregated into groups which claimed allegiance to various leaders ( Paul, Apollos, Christ ). This schism is very destructive as seen in Church History. Brethren strove against brethren over their allegiance to partisan leaders.

While there were schisms caused by groups, there could also be schisms caused by individuals. As the wise counselor and close friend of King David, Ahithophel, sided with Absalom in betrayal of David, so also will there be men who are wise but too taken in by their wisdom and self ambition that they fall prey to pride and self centeredness. Jeremiah 9:23-24 tells us “ Thus says the LORD; ‘Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches; But let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,’ says the LORD.” There would also be some men who possess superiority complex and being puffed up with their egos, they become inconsiderate and abusive to others. These men will cause constant conflict and schism in the Church.

Immoral men and sex perverts will cover their secret sins by championing their sexual preferences. This causes confusion and pervert teachings in the Church.

At the churches in Galatia , Ephesus and Colosea, schism was caused by outsiders; Judaisers and false teachers. These outside teachers cast doubts to the teachings of Paul and the believers’ salvation in Christ. They were persuasive and probably very good orators. They were hypocrites who were greedy, lustful and captured the weak with their teachings. They moved the believers to go against one another. Their teachings put fear and a heavy yoke upon the believers. Such men were trouble makers and would normally make wild claims of special revelations received from God or Christ. Some of them became proponents of early Gnostic teachings.

To prevent schism in Church, it requires all the believers to understand schism and agree to be of one mind and one judgment with regards to putting unity and genuine love and concern about each other above all personal views and outside influences. It is the desire of Christ and the working of the Holy Spirit to maintain unity in the Body of Christ. Anyone who participate in schism in the Church is actually working against God and will face the judgment of God in due course.

We who live in Malaysia know what it means to live in a multi-cultural and multi-religion society . For centuries we have tried to live together with our differences in race, religion and values. We come from different ethnic origins ; Malays , Chinese, Indian, Punjabi , Kadazans, Ibans, other minor tribes and the Europeans. We have succeeded so far except for the racial riot of 1969. Yet, we constantly have clashes politically, economically and religiously. But that , I feel is not the main issue. I feel, it is the role played by the people of God which is vital to the nation’s welfare because we hold the key to God’s kingdom. Only when we are able to bring God, the true Creator God, into the heartbeat and life of the nation and its people, that true peace and love can exist in a nation. But cross-cultural communication is not easy due to our many preconceived ideas and reluctance to break our comfort zones. We prefer to stick our the familiar, the orthodox and the permissible. We seldom like to take risk and venture into non-traditional ways

I like to relate an experience on sharing God’s Word to a group of Hindus and some reflections.

Last year, I was invited to an Indian ( Hindu ) engagement ceremony to be a representative of the Christian side of the two families. The bridegroom’s family is Hindu while the bride’s family is Christian. The bride’s parent were sad because their daughter has chosen to marry a non-believer. Their pastor refused to officiate the marriage as most Christian pastors would normally hold the same position. I am not saying that this is wrong. I agree that believers should do their best not to be unevenly yoke with non-believers but, where there are occasions when the young couple have made a firm decision to marry each other, we will have to make the best out of the situation. It is just like Paul’s advice to the wife who has just got converted and still lives with an unbelieving husband. Paul advised her not to divorce her husband but be a blessing and a witness to him and her children.

To continue the story, hence, in view of the absence of the pastor, and I, being a very close friend of the Hindu family, was invited to bless the engagement. I had a similar feeling like the one the Lord Jesus had when He was invited for dinner with the tax collectors and sinners except that the people at the engagement ceremony are good people. Since, I am not a pastor and have no one to really account for, except God, I accepted the invitation without any reservation. The Christian parent were so surprise and thankful that God had provided someone from the Christian side to bless their daughter despite their sadness and tormented conscience. They did the Hindu rites first and then they invited me to speak. I stood and told them that God is love and when a man and a woman falls in love, this is a great mystery and gift from God. I told them that I was going to read from the Bible, God’s Word. Many eyebrows were raised. I read aloud I John 4 : 7 – 9 to more than 200 attentive Hindus seated on the floor. I read “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son ( Jesus Christ ) into the world, that we might live through Him.” I felt elated because I felt it was such a privilege that God had given me to read and share His Word to 200-300 Hindus. If I didn’t take up the challenge, how would these 200-300 Hindus have the opportunity to hear God’s Word and that God is love. Vishnu and the many Hindu gods have never manifested themselves as Love in the pure sense. After the meeting, some came over and told me that what was read to them was beautiful while I noticed a few men looked at me with daggers in their eyes! But, I praise and thank God for giving me a breakthrough. To me, the most important thing was to read God’s Word to any people who are non-believers and who are willing to listen. I am not too concern about their social and religious background. And I believe most Asian people are willing and interested to listen to anyone who would read to them any passage from any holy book. This is the marvel; Asian people have a great openness to spiritual and philosophical matters. It is in our culture and up bringing.

This experience reminded me of our Lord Jesus. What does it really mean to break through racial and religious prejudices? I reflected on whether the Lord Jesus would have done what I have done. He was invited to a wedding at Cana and I believe He would had blessed the couple inspite of whatever their background. He didn’t mind being accused as a friend of the sinners, prostitutes and tax collectors who were the scum of the earth. The Pharisees would have nothing to do with the ‘amme ha-aretz ( the common people )( ps : Please don’t misunderstand me. I am not accusing or implying of any Christian pastor or leader as a Pharisee . I am just quoting a historical fact) In fact, the Pharisees were of the view that none of the ‘amme ha- aretz can ever enter the Kingdom of God because they are illiterate , ignorant and unrighteous. E.P. Sanders in his book “Jesus and Judaism” wrote, “For the Pharisee, ‘dealings with sinners put at risk the purity of the righteous and his membership within the realm of the holy and the divine’. ‘A Pharisee does not dwell with them ( the ‘amme ha-arets ) as a guest, nor does he entertain one of them at home in his garments’… Certainly, Judaism knew that God was merciful and could forgive. But His help was for the righteous; judgment was the destiny of the sinner. Even the sinner could be saved, but only when he had proved the earnestness of his repentance by making good and altering his way of life. Then, and only then, did the Pharisee see Him as the object of the love of God. First he had to become a righteous man.”

We should not just read and teach the Bible to Christians which we do most of the time. I feel we should also read and teach the Word of God more to the non-believers. We have to switch our thinking a little. How to do it? It will depend on opportunities and our imagination. Many people like to listen to stories and telling Bible stories is a fantastic way to introduce God, our Creator and Saviour. If I have the opportunity to read God’s Word to a group of Muslims, Buddhists, Sai Babas, etc I would gladly do it. I believe God’s Word has the power of life and it will fall as seeds into the hearts of men and women who hear it.

Let’s open our minds and bring the Word of God to people of all races and religions without fear and reluctance.

As far as we know, there is no certainty as to where he was born. Some believed that he was born in Palestine while others traditionally held that he was born at Pentapolis, North Africa. What is certain is that he grew up in Jerusalem and the early disciples met at his mother’s house after the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. The house was large. This indicates that Mark’s family must be quite wealthy. When Peter was miraculously released from the prison by the angel, he came to Mark’s mother’s house where they were holding prayers for his release ( Acts 12:12-17). Mark was also known as a cousin of Barnabas (Col 4:10). He could have been from the Levitical lineage just like Barnabas. His mother was a prominent member of the early church at Jerusalem. Hence, Mark would have some serious training in the Torah from young. Being in a wealthy family, he could also have been schooled in Greek learning. So, to certain extend, Mark was a learned person, unlike the Peter and the rest of the early disciples. His name John Mark is significant enough for us to guess his background. John is a traditionally Hebrew name which reflects the Hebraic influence on his life while Mark is a Roman name which may reflect the Roman and Hellenistic influence on his life.

The crisis in Mark’s life occurred at Paphos in Asia Minor. Mark was a young man who followed Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey to Asia. Paul and Barnabas decided to push on from Perga into central Asia Minor but Mark could not take it anymore and returned to Jerusalem by himself ( Acts 13:13). As a result, Paul was very angry with Mark and refused to include him in their next missionary journey. This caused a rift between Paul and Barnabas. Barnabas took Mark with him to Cyprus (Acts 15:37-40) while Paul went another direction.

What has happened to Mark at this point ? Humanly speaking, perhaps he was fearful of the trials, hardships, dangers and persecution. He might have become homesick and missed his mother and family. Or perhaps, he was not ready for such a heavy task as a missionary. He panicked and gave up. He failed in his ministry. He had second thoughts. He ran home to his security.

Isn’t the story of Mark the sad story of many failed missionaries and servants of God? We gave up because it has become too difficult. We gave up because the reality of physical needs and the ability to provide for the needs of the family or the ministry became too real and we have become exhausted and discouraged. We missed security and better times. We do not see the future of the ministry as promising and we are tired. God does not seem to hear our cries and nothing is happening. There is a thorn in our hearts. And this thorn remains even when we have quitted the ministry. Will God ever remove this thorn from our hearts and give us a second chance?

In John Mark’s case, He did. Thank God that his return to Jerusalem was not the end of the story for John Mark. Mark’s return to Jerusalem probably occurred in A.D. 49-50. There is no mentioned of John Mark in Acts for the next ten years. He resurfaced in the Epistles of Peter and Paul during the A.D. 59-61 period. Some said that he went to Pentapolis and became the founder the church at the great city of Alexandria in North Africa. Others said that he ministered to Peter and followed him around in Asia minor (I Pet 5:13) and finally landing in Rome. He also ministered to Paul at Rome where Paul was in prison ( Col 4:10, Philemon 24, II Tim 4:11). At Rome, he witnessed the cruel martyrdom of Peter and Paul. John Mark became a changed man during these 10 years. He did not give up on his faith nor his ministry. He became known as St Mark the Evangelist and was the first Bishop of Alexandria. His disciple Anianus succeeded him as Bishop of Alexandria.

It was during his time with Peter and especially at Rome, that Mark recorded down many of the teachings and sayings of the Lord Jesus. He also conversed with Paul and recorded down many theological issues and revelations. With the oral tradition getting adulterated and many false teachings arising, the need of a collective record of the genuine teachings for the church was crucial. As the disciples became martyrs and the first generation believers ( primary sources) slowly passing away, the need of a written Gospel to preserve the Story of the Messiah was urgent. Mark set to task to write such a Gospel.

From a fearful young man who became an Evangelist , founder of the great church at Alexandria and the writer of the Gospel of Mark, John Mark has indeed made a tremendous impact on the Church. He rose up to a second chance in ministry. His final glory was when he was dragged through the streets of Alexandria and died as a martyr in AD 62-63 ( the eighth year of Nero ).