I don’t know where all of you stand spiritually. I trust you’re not letting others do your thinking for you. All of my students are brilliant and capable of thinking through things themselves. Remember, even Abraham “reasoned” that God could raise the dead when there was no evidence that it had ever happened before. Consider Who will love you unconditionally, when you can’t even love yourself. Consider Who you can trust unswervingly, even when you are in control of nothing and nothing makes any sense in life.

     First, though, a little review.

     Nothing has changed.

     I have never, nor will I ever, lie to you.

     I will always love you … no matter what choices you make in life.

     Nothing I write to you is new … I’m not that intelligent.

     I am available to you at any time at my email above or (803) 608-3261.

1.      Jesus saves … and only Jesus:  The Way, The Truth, and The Life. There is no other way to Heaven.

2.      When the Gospel came to the Gentiles, the barriers/the definitions of race, color, etc changed. There are only two races in the world today: the Saved and the Lost. Both races comprise the great “whosoever” of John 3:16. It is their response to that Gospel that raises the barrier of “race”. We are not commanded to avoid being “unequally yoked” in the sense of black-and-white, or yellow-and-purple. We are commanded, as the Saved, not to marry the Lost.

3.      If our passion is not first devoted to the One who saved us, and the desire of His Will found through the study of His Word, then our passions are misdirected.

4.      Were you to place all of the laws of God, which were given to Israel, in a pot and boil them down until it was as if all of the liquid was boiled away, there would only be two laws remaining: Love God with all that you are and love your neighbor as yourself. We are commanded to love everyone … period. We cannot obey either law without obeying both of them … period.  Must we agree with all of their lifestyles, choices, politics, behavior?  No. Must we love them in spite of the areas we disagree with? Absolutely. There is no room in the life of a child of God for hatred or vitriol … period. (“Vitriol” comes from Old French and Latin for sulfuric acid.)

5.      We, as children of God, are commanded to forgive. If we do not forgive, the Father will not forgive us … period. You must stop to consider how serious a command this is.  (Remember the stories I told you about my mama.) The Lord is faithful and just to forgive us, but we have responsibilities beyond simple confession. He said that if we approach the altar and have anything against anyone else, leave the altar, take care of the problem, and then return.

Where is all of this going, Mr Prescott?

6.      If you are not a Child of God, you will not understand (or will not agree with) anything written here. You are entitled to disagree with my ideas. You are entitled to disagree with Jesus … but only in this life.

7.       If the fact that all of your sins have been forgiven by the King of the Universe is not the most important thing in your life … then your theology is all wrong.  (Bless you, Mr Schreur.)

8.      The essence of life is choice.  (Bless you, Bro Shaw.)

9.      We ought to know more about Grace than we do about sin.  (Bless you, again, Bro Shaw.)

1       We are to be reflectors of the light of Christ.  We can only shine in so far as our reflector is clean and clear.  When we smudge it with the filth of this world (perhaps, even with the things the Lost are passionate about), it cannot reflect the Light.  (This is much like the reflector on the back of a bicycle, needing to be clean to catch the headlight of the car behind you so that you can be seen.)

1      Blamelessness is encouraged and lauded throughout the Bible.  (Nathanael was commended by Jesus as an Israelite with no deceit, no guile.)  It is not that we are sinless, but that we should live a life in such a way that people must tell lies about us to accuse us. In this kind of life there is no room for hatred, bitterness, or vitriol. Although we may encounter only a handful of these people in our lives, we are expected to be these people ourselves.

1      The Holy Spirit is the great force of change in this world.  The Holy Spirit does not block highway traffic further enraging the Lost who cannot get to work or catch their flight home. The Holy Spirit is not glorified through the use of hatred, bitterness, unseemly hashtags, the desire to blow things up, or the desire to see the demise of a president. To assist in evoking change, prayer is the proper beginning. It is much more powerful than marching, protesting, screaming, slandering, or losing your temper.  Do you, as an American citizen, have the right to do these things (free speech)? Of course ... well, mostly.  As a citizen of Heaven, should you? No.

1       The Lord places rulers and kings in their positions … and He removes them.  For you Americans, only time will tell if this one was someone we needed (positive) … or someone we deserved (negative).

     

        Finally, Jesus is coming back!  Today!  And if you wake up tomorrow morning, He is STILL coming back today! (How else can we live our lives.) And when He returns, He will set everything right.  His right ... not yours.

     

       Therefore:

1      Focus on those things which:

a.       have eternal consequences,

b.      spark joy in your life,

c.       enable you to have a clear conscience toward God,

d.      makes you attractive to all other people because of your heart for Him ... not your looks, your intellect, your talents, your position, or your agreement with them.

     Well, after what appears to be 5-1/2 years, I'm going to post a little something ... mainly to see if anyone is paying attention.  I have no idea if this will register with anyone.

     Yesterday, Sunday, May 1st, Marilyn and I drove 99 miles to North Spartanburg (here in South Carolina) to see Bill and Kathy Gandy.  They had been attending a missionary conference at First Baptist in that town. We were able to spend about three hours with them at lunch.  I love seeing old friends from China.

     Seeing messages and comments in various social media sites this week, I had many memories about what the month of May meant to me as a teacher at TIS. 
          In another week or two, Cory and I would be leading 7th grade Spring Trip to Shandong province ... with Molly.  (Amazing how easily the three of us worked together.)
          Prepping the 8th graders for their final exam.  (Hebrews 11:1-12:2)
          Preparing and delivering the annual cards of encouragement for the Senior class. In the old school building, I'd go on Saturday or Sunday and post them all around the Senior Lounge so that Monday would start with, what I hoped were, pleasant surprises.  At the new school I had to deliver them to a high school teacher who may/may not distribute them as I requested.  No one does that at all now.
     Part of this was prompted by Lisa's question:  would I be interested in being the commencement speaker this year?

If anyone sees this, let me know. 
In His Name,
Mark

19 January 2011

Sitting in the international departure terminal at San Francisco International waiting for the United counter people to show up. Long flight back 12-1/2 hours in the air from here to Beijing.
It's been a short difficult time. Arrived late Saturday night. Went to church in Antioch with Dan and his family for both services on Sunday. I spent time with the Mauldins in the afternoon. A very enjoyable day.
Monday was odd. Tim wasn't well enough to accompany me to the Neptune Society to arrange for Mom's cremation. He and Mom's sister and her family didn't come to the memorial service. Tim wasn't well and it appears Aunt Carolyn's family went out and released a couple of white balloons in Mom's memory.
It was a very small, 40 minute service. Bro Gurnett did the eulogy and I spoke. I saw people I really loved and missed. The church and Bro Gurnett were very kind and gracious.
I spent yesterday with Danielle and the kids. It was a good time and I enjoyed myself. I was much more relaxed having completed everything I needed to.
Dan and I talked about the changes in our family. Craig back east, Dan and Uncle Jeff and Uncle Tim in California, me in China, Candi's dad in Oregon. The others haven't had a role in our lives in ages. Dan was remembering when Candi, Dad and Mom, and Joy were alive and things were so different. Now, there is this sense of being all alone. I think Craig felt it when I talked to him yesterday. It is one of the life experiences we learn to deal with as we grow older.
But I also have this peace that fills my heart. So many decisions of others I cannot change or control. Some are heartbreaking, some frustrating ... none worth getting angry about.
I am proud of my sons, all 6 of them. I love them with all my heart. Their wives and children provide a base for a strong Christian family that lifts my heart.
Marilyn is the joy of my life. She is strong, capable, loving and a marvelous mother and grandmother.
It is a fact that there are really different stages in our lives. Sometimes it is difficult to adjust. But He is faithful. Your outlook on life, your relationship with God, and a desire to maintain a clear conscience with God and man make it doable.
I'm soon to be 61. It ain't no big deal. Life is sweet now, even when considering the heartbreaks and tears we shed.
Later y'all!

Sunday, 20 June 2010

Today is Father's Day. I miss my dad, Joe Prescott, and Marilyn's dad, Jerry Stowers, and seeing Candi's dad, Howard Eddings. I miss my Grandpas Ted Prescott and Sherman Grissom also.

Had a very, nice quiet day today. I didn't go to fellowship because I really didn't want to climb the six sets of stairs to the auditorium. We watched an old Gaither video. Marilyn made lunch and babied me all day.
Murphy and Nicole came over for dinner and we talked for a while and looked at Romans 6.

I haven't been doing much since we returned from Hong Kong on Thursday evening. I'm only using one crutch around the apartment, exercising my leg, taking my pills, watching live World Cup matches, reading, staying up with fantasy baseball and relaxing.
The staples won't come out for another 2-3 weeks. That slows me down, what with the bandages and all. But, as Dr Kong promised, the knee is not painful ... just the muscles which were detached and reattached. I am very pleased. We go to Beijing on Wednesday to see him and find out what he thinks.

I was thinking some of my brother, David, today. He would have been 59. I wonder ...

I really missed not being able to go to Barbara's memorial service. I reckon it's no big deal to her now. ;-) But I still would have liked to be with family under the circumstances.

Marilyn and I will have our 13th anniversary on Tuesday, the 22d. She is an absolute doll. I love her very much ... more all the time.

If I didn't know who was orchestrating all life events, the things which have happened these last 14-15 years would easily overwhelm me. The news during the past week about a grandson (#14) from Dan and Danielle in November (shopping soon for Christmas flights) and another grandchild (#15) from Tim and Allyson in February are such rich blessings. Other family circumstances, outside of my control, continue to tear at my heart. Yet I will not despair. He has continually proven himself faithful in all things. I trust him.

Later y'all,

Monday, 7 June 2010

Well, last week was ... let's see:
Working with my classes to help them study for final exams;
Proctored two other finals, in addition to giving my own;
Hurrying to grade finals and have all academic grades, behavior grades and comments finished by 1700hrs on Friday evening;
Completely packing up my classroom so that the painters can re-paint without ruining anything;
High school graduation Friday evening (invited to sit at the Pollocks' table for dinner and then the ceremony until 9 or so);
Told my brother, Tim, happy 50th birthday on Skype on Saturday morning;
Talked to my brother-in-law, Jeff, about Barbara, my sister-in-law. The doctors stopped trying to intervene a month ago. Failing rapidly. As she leaned on him, he passed the last thing we would hear from her in this life, one word at a time: "I am living testimony that God's grace is sufficient for all things.";
Passed the good/bad news on to Dan and Craig;
Went to our last faculty meeting until 2pm;
Fellowship Sunday morning, met Nicodemus (you had to be there), watched little girls dance for the Lord, took the Lord's Supper;
Ate lunch at ShaGuoLi (the Rib place) with four of my favorite ladies: Holly Hendricks (college classmate heading back to Texas) and Jodi Chee (Cambodia) have been my two favorite Middle School recruiters (that means 5th grade teachers), Molly Neumann (taking a year away from teaching to study Chinese full-time) is the girl next door (to my classroom) and my beautiful wife, Marilyn (my personal favorite);
Met with two of our local "kids" to talk about important matters relating to assemblying together and seeking wisdom from the Lord;
Woke up this morning to an e-mail that Barbara had entered into Jesus' presence during the night - Praise His Holy Name! ;
Plus odds and ends ...
Got to leave now and pickup tickets for Wednesday's flight to Hong Kong for my knee surgery;
Later ...

Leavers

Marilyn and I attended a ceremony this evening for staff leaving our school. I am always amazed at how fluid the population of staff and students is in an international school. I am even more amazed at how the Lord brings in new staff which almost always melds effectively with the remaining staff. Perhaps He has a plan or something ... you think?

Spring Trip May 2010

27 seventh graders, 6 teachers, 5 cities, 6 days and nights, 4 bus rides (4-6 hours each), 2 ferry rides, one 13-1/2 hr overnight train ... what a blast!
The kids were great. No one was really late for anything. There were no complaints, although it rained for the first two days.
Going up Taishan (allegedly 4,085 steps) a couple of our students saw a very old woman struggling with a large bag. They offered to carry it up the mountain for her. As they waited at the top, they saw her begin the last (and the steepest) 400 steps. They left the bag with me (full of nothing but empty water bottles she was collecting for money) and went down to help her finish her climb. She stopped every 5-10 steps and sat down. They would let her rest for a minute and then help her to her feet ... although she could not stand up straight. When she got to the top, she thanked them and then sat down and started singing. Here's a picture of them on the last few steps.