Can I encourage you as your brother in Christ? Test all things.

[ 1 John 4:1 - Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. ]

Jesus warned us that in the last times there will be many false teachers and false prophets...

Don't just assume that because someone talks "about God" that they are sent from God. Test the "fruit" of their life.

Do they call sin as it is - or do they cleverly excuse it so as not to offend and create a larger crowd? Don't be fooled, God is often not in the crowd.

Do they merchandise "the gospel" and get rich from the house of God? Keep in mind Jesus had no house or any possessions and the disciples that became the apostles (sent ones) that carried the gospel to us the gentiles also were so often penniless.

Remember the statement "Silver and Gold I do not have but what I do have I give to you... In the Name of Jesus - Rise up and walk!" Jesus drove out of the temple those making gain from God's house. Riches and Corruption are so often synonymous.

Do these heralded teachers help set people free and show them the truth? Do they expose the evil that so often exists in us as the demonic entities they are that need to be cast out as Jesus clearly instructed - or do they treat it just like the world does? As emotional or physiological conditions? Do they reveal the true nature of so many diseases that plague us in our 21st century western world? Or are they just popping pills like the world and blatantly ignoring the power of the Name of Jesus to heal?

Do they really see what's going on in this world today or are they the "blind leading the blind" as Jesus called the false leaders of His day?

Do they attack any and all forms of holiness and right living and instead promote corruption and a misunderstood perversion of God's Grace? Remember... Grace enlightens us to live better, not stay the way we are. Do they teach and live transformed lives and show they are the 'New Creations' that Jesus spoke of?

Do they invite the world to come to know Jesus and give them the true message of salvation in all its bloody, gruesome details? Do they tell the full story that Jesus came to save us from our sins? Do they teach about a Jesus that came to destroy the works of the devil? Do they even mention the devil at all?

Have they used "God's love" as a catch-all to include everyone in their thronging congregations? Is the church a place or prayer or is it a rehearsed stage show run by polished actors?

Are they "friends" with the world and do they look, speak and sound just like the world? Or have they "come out and become separate" as God asks and expects us to be as His children? Remember... Jesus said "Be holy as your Heavenly Father is holy"

Look for the money trail my brothers and sisters. The love of money is the root of all evil. Where the money flows the evil grows...

Ask God for wisdom and He will make it very easy to see. He can guide even a little child to avoid the harm of this corruption.

It's now sweeping the globe at an alarming rate. Nearly everywhere I look now in the Church this infestation of corruption has spread like a cancer eating away at the souls of men and women. It always has links. Pray and God will reveal them to you.

This is not an excuse to become cold, cynical, negative, suspecting, harsh Christians who tear down everything - instead it is a call to become wise and discerning. Remember, the Bible says "do everything in Love". Test things for your own sake and for the ones you love so you don't get caught up in this and get hurt.

And if you don't think it's going to hurt - trust me when I say I've seen where this leads and what it let's into your life and your home. These things won't stop with just you, they'll keep destroying until there's nothing left to destroy. Your finances, your relationships, your children, your future, your peace, your sanity and even your lives.

I dont write these things to scare you, I write them because even though I've never met you I care about you in the love of Christ. I want no gain from you and I get nothing for writing this. I am simply a servant of God and I obey when He asks me to write to you.

I want no one to suffer the things I have seen presently and things to come.

Ask God to open up your spiritual eyes and He will.

Trust in Him alone as so many of the Psalms tell us.

God loves you.

Hey brothers and sisters, Just want to share with you a Psalm that really encouraged me. Last week I was really struggling with some unanswered questions and unresolved scenarios and I prayed before bed for God to help me. It wasn't a long eloquent prayer - just a simple cry to my Father in Heaven for help.

I was woken up by His voice at around 3am and was clearly told to read Psalm 86. I immediately did so and it was precisely the answer I needed from Him. My mind was put at ease, my heart was still and my body became at peace.

We serve an amazing God who loves and hears us. If you need Him... Call out to Him.

He wont give you the same answer He gave me - instead He will give you the answer that's perfect for you.

God loves you.  

Be still... And know I AM God. 

I've been on a bit of a journey the past few weeks. A journey that's revisited some of the most painful experiences of my life. Not really a journey I wanted to take or one that anyone else would sign up for but now I understand God's purpose in it. You see, He has a plan in everything and has the ability to use everything for our good. It displays His sovereignty over all things - even in chaos. So... This journey has come to a conclusion. I was woken up at 3 am New Years Day and knew I wasn't going to be getting back to sleep because there was a question that needed to be answered. On my phone I have 3 daily Bible verses that I look at every single day the very first thing when I open my eyes in the morning expectantly wanting to hear from God. They are three completely different apps and always three completely different verses... But not today. The first one I looked at really hit me. It was exactly the answer I needed. I checked the second verse and today it's the same as the first. So then lastly I checked the third and... well it different than the others. But then I realized it was displaying yesterdays verse so I hit refresh.

That's right. The third verse was exactly the same. Take what you want from that but I knew in my heart exactly what it meant. Now the question at the end of my journey was this... "Mark, what is the answer to pain?" I knew the answer immediately because of what God's done for me in my life so many times before. It was simple. The answer to pain is... Love. The answer has and always will be Love. It was love that rescued me from all the pain of my life but somehow I'd got lost and overwhelmed in the pain again and forget the way out. The way out isn't a person, it isn't a drug, it isn't money, it isn't sex. The way out isn't down here. The answer is inside you. In your heart. The answer is Love because you are loved by God for who you really are - not what you've done or whats happened to you. It's Gods love that saves us from our pain. Thankyou God for hearing me and helping me out of my pain yet again. Oh and that verse is below. Happy New Year. God loves you.

[ Isaiah 43:19 - Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. ] 

Depending on what part of the world you live in - in the next few days the world celebrates Christmas. Some see it as excuse to overindulge, Some see it as a good reason for a holiday, some as a time to reflect over the past year...

For me though... I celebrate it as a remembrance of when the greatest weapon against darkness was unveiled upon this Earth. For me, it's a reminder that God's immeasurable and insurmountable grace was poured out and somehow contained in a human vessel that we call JESUS.

It's totally absurd that it even happened - that the One called LORD who breathed out suns and stars in a moment became a tiny, vulnerable baby for one single purpose... To die sacrificially to save us.

What a remarkable story of redemption. What amazing love. What a truly awe inspiring God.

This Christmas... Remember The Reason.

His Name is JESUS!  

God put this on my heart to share as something I've walked through especially the past few years. I wasn't sure what to call this process but the words "reflective wisdom" came to mind and pretty much fits the bill I think. What I want to say is this... I believe in life there are two ways to learn wisdom. The first one is through your own experience. What I mean by that is that a certain type of wisdom can be learnt by you going through something in life and then looking back on the events and choosing to approach the same matter differently the next time that set of circumstances presents itself again. I would call that "adaptive wisdom". It's the ability to learn from your mistakes and failures and to move forward gleaning a new perspective on the same problem. If you read the book of Proverbs in the Bible it covers this type of wisdom quite a lot. God often uses things like this in our lives to help us to learn and grow. Think of when you're hammering a nail into wood and you hit your thumb with the hammer. Pain tells you it hurts and to avoid doing the same action of smashing your thumb again. It's a natural process of humans to avoid pain and learn from it.


It might be you getting a huge $400 speeding fine while driving to teach you the value of others lives and to respect the law. The same thing might even be a "wake up call" to help you to grow up, get control of your anger and not treat life and others so recklessly. I know for me that when these types of things happen my first response is to be very upset but later if I choose to submit to the Spirit of God it brings me to a place of thankfulness and repentance. For those of you who are not familiar with the term "repentance" it simply means to turn around and change. Wisdom is gained when repentance is given place in our lives. Put simply, when we get to a place in our mind that we foolishly think "we are always right" then we no longer learn and wisdom begins to die. You see, Wisdom is not a set of trophies on a shelf - a much better way to explain wisdom is that it's organic like a muscle. If it isn't used daily - it starts to weaken and then die. Now, the second way to learn wisdom is even more valuable than the first. Have you ever wondered why in the Bible and especially the Old Testament that there are so many stories of people doing the wrong thing and suffering for it?


King David and his sin of murder and adultery is a good example. King Solomon and the greed that corrupted his heart is another. Cain hating his brother which led to murder is another. The list goes on and on of the people that chose poorly and paid dearly for it. I'll tell you why there are so many stories like this... God wants us to learn from their mistakes. This is the second type of wisdom - reflective wisdom. It's the ability to see the pain and hardship that others have in their lives caused by poor decisions and to choose to avoid that path yourself. Now please understand my heart on this - this is most certainly not an excuse to judge and condemn others - instead its the process of discerning what happens in others lives and deciding to avoid having that happen to you. The book of Proverbs in the Bible talks about this kind of wisdom even more that the first type. It says in Proverbs 7:4 to "Treat wisdom as your sister, and insight as your closest friend." Many think this is just a clever analogy but I completely disagree. Wisdom is not just a collection of knowledge or a string of good decisions.


Wisdom is an entity. It's a Spirit that is given by God. Check out Ephesians1:17 if you don't believe me. So what I'm really wanting to say today for all who want to hear it is this... God wants to give you wisdom for your life to help you, to guide you, to teach you and to keep you. All you have to do is ask. He has no special respect or partiality for anyone down here - He sees us all the same and gives generously to all who ask. Just remember, God's wisdom is not like the wisdom of this world. It will often go contrary to what many others may say and think but the outcome of God's wisdom is always peace. God loves you. 

[ James 1:5 - If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. ]   

Call me weird or whatevs but I'm gonna use skateboarding as a way of explaining Faith. You see, when I first started skating several years ago I was awful. And I'm not just saying awful as in "OK... but not great" I'm talking AWFUL as in faceplant, lose skin and ruin good clothes just about every time I visited the skatepark. I even had kids there tell me I should find another sport. Thing is, God gave me skateboarding as a gift when I suffered really bad with depression. I weighed almost 20kg heavier back then and was as pasty white as wallpaper from doing nothing but watching bad movies, bad TV and playing violent xbox games all day. Skateboarding was God's way of saying "You were made for much more..." Looking at me back then I would have strongly disagreed with Him.. but He was right. Over the next year or so He did some MAJOR renovations to me which turned my life completely upside down. Major "excavations" is probably a better description because it was a case of getting rid of a whole lot of stuff that was bad for me in a very short time period. Why am I saying this? Well, I was pretty convinced that the fat, lazy, unmotivated, addicted and depressed guy I was back then was all I was ever going to be. Thankfully I was so wrong. Faith is a journey. It's an adventure where you learn, grow and change. Don't worry if you don't look anything like what you think you "need to be" to get things happening. God has a habit of unlocking hidden things and bringing them out to the light. After all, He is the God that makes all things new. So step out in Faith - because God loves you and He's got this.

I couldn't sleep last night so I started praying at about 3am to God about some stuff thats been really heavy on my heart for a long time. I was talking to God about some of the things that happened this past year and in the previous years that really hurt and ripped my heart to shreds. Things I'd said and done just trying to help people but instead it all blew up in my face and seemed to only hurt the person and myself more than before I stepped in. The thing is with us humans is that when we fail we naturally give up. Logic dictates that if you failed you weren't fast enough, smart enough, strong enough or just not good enough for what needed to be. But here's where faith comes in... Faith isn't about how good, how strong or how qualified you are... It's about JESUS. Pure faith takes the focus off of you and your deficiencies and instead highlights the majesty, power, authority and love that JESUS has for us. Several things have happened over the years that would easily warrant me giving up trying to help people and sharing God's love and truth. After all, I've tried so many times and failed badly so, so many times.


But here's the thing... It's not about me. It's about JESUS. Im not perfect - but He is. I'm not strong enough - but He is. I'm not clean enough - but He is. I'm not good enough - but He is. So instead of trying to present myself as perfect, qualified and the answer to the World's problems - I'll present JESUS instead. So, where that puts me today is this... I'm getting back up to do what He called me to do. To share God's love and truth to anyone who wants it. To be kind even though I'm sure I'll get my heart run through again and again. To stand up when I know I'm certainly going to fall flat on my face over and over again. So if you need prayer for anything feel free to use the link to my website www.spiritburn.org in my profile and I'll gladly pray for you. Think of it as just a average guy that loves God talking to Him on you behalf. A humble soldier of the cross with a patched up heart from years of bullet holes fighting yet another day - because that's what soldiers do. So even if you don't believe in God - I do. So even if you don't believe in prayer - I do. Even if you're a complete stranger to me - you're most certainly not to God. So if you need prayer... Ask. God will hear you because He loves you.


Need Prayer? Visit www.spiritburn.org and click the 'NEED PRAYER' button and I'll be happy to pray to God for you. God loves you.

Lord, I bring before you my sacrifice...

It's not the best of me... It's not my wealth... It's not my talents... It's not my accomplishments...

I bring before you the thing I guard the most. The thing that is hidden from others but not from you...

I pile up today on the altar of sacrifice all my failure.

All my vain, selfish ambition. All my useless self serving accomplishments. All my failed ventures that I attempted on my own.

I pile them up. Higher and higher the mountain grows until it hides the sun itself.

Then I drench the heap with my bitter tears of vain dissapointment. All my sorrow through self justification and pride I pour on it from top to bottom until it runs into puddles around the sides.

Now, the sacrifice is ready. There is only one thing left for it to be complete...

Fire from God.

And so, as the ancient prophet called on your Name, I too call on the Name of the Most High God to send Holy fire from above.

Send your consuming fire upon my sacrifice so that I can see it burn to a crisp under the sheer magnitude of your power.

I do not fear your purging blaze for I know it heals, cleans and makes pure. It consumes all that is not meant to be.

So, let it burn. Burn until there is nothing left at all but ashes.

For there is only One God that can create beauty from ashes and only One God that can bring life from the dust itself.

Use me. I am at your bidding Lord. 

hey guys, can I share something with you? I'll be honest in saying I'm not perfect. To even insinuate that is such a joke. I have so many flaws its not funny - I've just learned to hide them from others and even from myself. After all, no one puts up horrible pictures of themselves on facebook and instagram - we put our best stuff out there. Well, what I wanna say is this. When we live in such a money driven world - I so easily fall into the trap of being materialistic and unthankful for all the things and the life God has given me. He has honestly given me so, so much. Far more than I ever deserve and He even helps me when I stuff things up. Which believe it or not is quite often. Is my faith in Him perfect...? No way. It's puny and tiny. I'm just glad He loves me and has patience with me. I remember a few years ago I was meeting a few guys to skate in the city skate park. You see before that I used to skate alone a lot in empty parks in the suburbs and was pretty happy just rolling around and with the few tricks I could do. I'd often find that I'd really meet God when I'd be there and He'd speak and teach me so much. I also learned how to have fun skateboarding for what it was and not for all the competitive hype that often comes with it. Just raw skateboarding. Straight up.


Well, after hanging around some "really good" skaters at this city park I ended up starting to feel like I was complete rubbish at skateboarding. You see, these guys were popping treflips and hardfips in their sleep - tricks I could only hope to nail. Truth be told though, these guys were pretty nasty womanising dope-smoking law breaking types who treated each other pretty darn rough but for some reason I got caught in the whole competitive materialistic side of skateboarding just by being there. It's funny how God works though. One day a new guy rocked up and I have to say he was the most remarkable skater I've ever seen. He rolled into the park, popped a kickflip then sat down in the shade. What really hit me wasn't his skate style or his tricks... it was the fact that he had no hands at all. You see, this guy was born deformed yet he didn't let even that stop him. One of his eyes was sunken in his face and I'm sure he probably didn't think he was hot stuff but I have to say that just seeing him skate at all hit me like a 50 carriage freight train at how unthankful I had become in such a short time. It also made me feel really sorry for getting caught in the hype of it all and not just being thankful for just being able to be free to skate. One day I'll share with you why I skate. Put simply it was a gift from God to me. A reawakening but that's for another time. Be careful not to lose perspective and become unthankful like I did guys, it's so easy to have your vision dazzled by the bright lights and all the hype but at the end of the day life itself is such an immense gift. God loves you.