When Pastor Jim asked Tom and Heather to describe Mark. The
one word that immediately came out of Heather’s mouth was
“REBEL.” A rebel is someone who adamantly stands up & follows
their way of life despite what anyone else says. That was Mark.
Honestly, having a rebel in your life is not always easy-really
little Mark put PBJ sandwich into Gary and Dodi’s brand
new VCR! BUT we are all thankful= Mark was a part of our lives.
Amen?
It seems that he was here one-day and; he was gone the next! His
death was unexpected. That’s never easy to deal with. It’s not
easy because we often take on the could-a, would-a, should-a
mentality.
We think things like, “If I only had a little more time, I could
have, would have, or should have done this.” That inaction often
leaves us with feelings of sadness, anger, frustration, &
disappointment.
I want to help save you from experiencing that by looking at
Proverbs 3: 5-6 In NLT- Repeat after me . . .Trust in the Lord-
with all your heart; -do not depend on your own understanding.
Seek his will in all you do-, and he will show you which path to
take. Proverbs 3:5,6 NLT
Trust
Trust in the Lord . . .Notice, in dealing with Mark’s untimely
death, we need to trust God. Often Tragedies cause people to
hide from God. Instead, we need to lean into God at this time.
Motorcycles turn by leaning, you make a motorcycle lean by
pressing on the grip in the direction you want to go. Press the
left grip – lean left – turn left, press the right grip – lean right
– turn right. Rebel’s lean into God, during the scary s curves of
life.
Trusting the Lord was something God blessed Mark with and
modeled by his family. Mark’s parents Tom, Heather and Gary &
Doddi, life was a faith Journey-centered around God’s people.
Mark loved His Grandparents and their prayers, words, and
deeds, helped him learn to trust God.
God blessed Mark with a magical childhood, summers playing
outside with his brothers and cousins.
Grampa Warren who seldom raised his voice, yelling at Mark for
tearing up His driveway, with his go-cart. Every broken bone
and a scraped knee was a seed of faith. Every tear and every
laugh a nudge by the Holy Spirit.
Trust is what made Mark such a good fisherman. He could catch
a fish where no one else could. Kate and Mark were fishing on
the drainage creek at Rampart. Kate made the remark.
There are no fish here-short time later Mark had caught a
brookie. Trusts enable us to see fish where others see moss.
Trust enabled Mark to take a hunk of junk and turn it into a
work of art. Trust in God, is what made Mark into a child of God.
For you are all children of God through faith (another word for
trust.) in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with
Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new
clothes. Galatians 3:26,27
Heart
Trust in the Lord- with all your heart; another constant about
Mark, was how big his heart was!
1 Samuel 16 is about how God chose David, and it defines what
the word "heart" means. But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t
judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him.
The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People
judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.
1 Samuel 16:7
When people judge by outward appearance, they may overlook
quality individuals who lack the particular physical qualities
society currently admires.
Appearance doesn’t reveal what people are really like or what
their true value is. Although, I love the picture of Mark with his
Fox hat, and it does give us a glimpse of him, it’s not the full
story. As Dodi rightly said, "Mark had a special place in many
people’s hearts". Thank God. God judges by faith and character,
not appearances. And because only God can see on the inside,
only he can accurately judge people. Some judged Mark too
quickly in School and sports. For too long I am sure Mark felt
like a square peg trying to fit in around. hole. Mark found his
way at Job Core and eventually at RS. Some were quick to judge
Mark’s relationship with his son Tobin. Some in the family of
God would raise their eyebrows at Mark’s love for Coors Banquet and
bible studies in a bar. What we think does not mean a thing.
What mattered to God was Mark’s trust in Jesus and his
Character. Well, what was that? His friend states; "Mark's
the character was like this; Mark was a man who found God walking
with nature. Mark was very, very quiet, but when you got him to
open up and be comfortable. He would just light up the whole
room with how he cared how people where and he ever saw
anyone struggling on the side of the road or something he would
always ask to see if there was anything he could do.
Rebels for Jesus, live 1 John 3:18 Dear children, let’s not
merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by
our actions.
Self
Trust in the Lord- with all your heart; -do not depend on your
own understanding
Why would God tell us to not trust our understanding?
I think it’s because, when I think of Mark-I think of a really old
song by Sammy Hagar; “One foot on the brake and one on the gas,
hey Well, there’s too much traffic, I can’t pass, so I tried my
best illegal move A big black and white come and crushed my
groove again on and write me up for 125 Post my face, wanted
dead or alive Take my license, all that jive I can’t drive 55, oh no,
uh.”
But its not just Mark’s story, it everyone’s story. We have all
have a need for speed, to break the rules, to smash through
barriers, stick out our tongue. In short, to rebel and thumb our
nose at God! Its called a Sin Problem. It’s a problem because of God
is sinless and can’t stand sin! God’s answer to our sin problem is
grace! God’s Riches At Christ Expense. Isaiah 53:6 captures this.
". . All of us(How many?), like sheep, have strayed away. We
have left God’s paths to follow our own. (This is Sin) Yet the
Lord laid on him (Jesus) the sins of us all. (This is
the expense Jesus paid to save us). Is 53:6 We need to read the
last two verses of the Isaiah 53 to find God’s riches; "When he
(Jesus) sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he
(Jesus) will be satisfied. And because of his (Jesus)
experience, my righteous servant will make it possible for
many to be counted righteous, (God’s riches) for he will bear
all their sins. I will give him the honors of a victorious
soldier, because he (Jesus) exposed himself to death. He
(Jesus) was counted among the rebels. He bore the sins of many
and interceded for rebels. (God’s Riches)
Seek
Trust in the Lord- with all your heart; -do not depend on your
own understanding. Seek his will in all you do. In the King James
it states... In all thy ways acknowledge him.
To receive God’s guidance, said Solomon, we must acknowledge
God in all our ways. This means turning every area of life over to
him.
Mark’s death reminds us that there is only one God and was not
it. That’s why the verse says,
“do not depend on your own understanding.” The main questions
we deal with in times like this is “WHY?”
• Why did this have to happen?
• Why could it not have been different?
• Why did it have to end like this?
Honestly, we could wrestle with the “whys” for all of eternity and
still not come up with definite answers! It’s better to put our energy
elsewhere than to drain ourselves in a futile attempt to
explain the unexplainable. That’s hard for us to do because of we
want definite answers but there are times when we must accept
the fact that we cannot explain some things.
Here’s what I know! Everything that happens is not always God’s
will. He has given us something that we call “Free Will.” That
means God has allowed us to make our own decisions and
choices. The result of that is sometimes we hurt people &
sometimes they hurt us by the things done or said. Who knows
why some choices are made? Honestly, there are times we
I just don’t know.
Because we’re human, we won’t always understand why things
happen in life! That’s why we must try to find a different way to
deal with it. Steven Furtick put it this way; "In the absence of
answers- faith is born!"
One decision Mark struggled with, is to sign the adoption papers, (The family has rightly
corrected me, not adoption papers, but papers that legally allowed travel.)
corrected me, not adoption papers, but papers that legally allowed travel.)
that allowed Tobin’s mom and stepdad to go to Germany! Out of
love, he made that choice freely-I admire that-at 55 I am sure it
would be a struggle, to acknowledge God in those circumstances!
The point of our doubts, questions, limitations, and failures is to
reach the end of self and begin to seek God! James 1:13-16 put’s
it this way... “Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow
we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We
will do business there and make a profit.” 14 How do you
know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like
the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What
you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and
do this or that.” Otherwise, you are boasting about your own
pretentious plans and all such boasting is evil.
“Yolo” is the acronym for “you only live once”. Life is short,
unexpected, and full of surprise. You do not know what will
happen tomorrow. Most of us want to live life to the utmost
fullest, which means getting everything we can out of life. This is
how those who trust in their own understanding thing. . .
Those who seek God in all they do agree; life is short,
unexpected, and full of surprising hurts.
You do not know what will happen tomorrow.
And those who seek God agree Most of us want to live life to the
utmost fullest, which means (This is the difference). Rebels seek
God’s will in all that they do! You can certainly follow our own
way but it might not get you to where you want to be. That's why
we must follow God’s way! It always leads to peace! That's
exactly what we want in our lives at times like this.
• Always hold on to faith.
• Accept the fact that you don't understand it all
• Allow God to show you a new way.
Show (a New Way)
Say Proverbs 3:5,6 with me;.Trust in the Lord- with all your
heart; -do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will
in all you do-, and he will show you which path to take. Proverbs
3:5,6 NLT
Another words, acknowledge that God will get you through… the
verse said, “and He will show you which path to take.” God has a
definite path for us to take through life. This path of God, it’s not
always easy. There might be some hard steps to take. It might
involve some pain.
Yet, no matter what kind of path it might be, God will get us
through! He’s always at work in our lives! The greatest work
that God has ever done to get us through hardships is to place
others in our lives!
The great work God did in Mark’s life was Lindsay McKillip! All
of Marks, parents talked about how Lindsay lit Mark up like a
Christmas tree. James told me; Anna and I are just like Lindsay
and Mark 2 people that can never get over each other! That
always gets put back into each other's lives! I understand a true
a sign that their love was real, is Lindsay getting Mark to ride
horses again!
We can’t get through life alone! We need others to do so. The best
thing that God has ever done is to create us for relationships! In
the very beginning of the Bible, God said that it was not good for
man to be alone. So God created a helpmate for him so he would
have a companion to assist him through life. That’s what God did
with you all. Every one of you was part of God’s plan to get Mark
and Lindsay home! Little, Bryce and Mark had a special
bond. And yes, Bryce Mark will be your brother forever! Mark
was all about family and he would ask us to be a support to the
family and friends he loves!
He placed you all together! His desire was for you to help,
encourage, & support each other!
It’s no accident that you are all together! It was a strategic plan
of God! He made you a family!
He did it so you could help each other through life & all its
hardships. The loss of Mark is a great hardship, we can only get
through it together!
Paul reminds us of our hope in 1 Thess 4:13,14; “And now, dear
brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen
to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like
people who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus
died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when
Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers
who have died.
Conclusion: The band Mark loved was Metallica...A song of
theirs that sounds dark and morbid, is actually full of hope. I
have asked Kate to bring the blue tooth and play a portion of
this song. “Now that we are dead” is from the album “we are
wired to self destruct”; I have the
lyrics for you. . .
When darkness falls, may it be
That we should see the light
When reaper calls, may it be
That we walk straight and right
When doubt returns, may it be
That faith shall permeate our scars
When we’re seduced, then may it be
That we do not deviate our cause
All sinners, a future
All saints, a past
Beginning, the ending
Return to ash
Now that we’re dead, my dear
We can be together
Now that we’re dead, my dear
We can live, we can live forever
The writer of the song has lost someone he has loved-like we all
have! The singer longs to be with who he love-and now he is-like
we all wish for! The singer belts out That faith shall permeate
our scars When we’re seduced, then may it be That we do not
deviate our cause All sinners, a future All saints, a past. . . again
valid for all of us!
Mark left before we were ready. Mark left us lots of questions.
He also left us with some certainty He died trusting Christ! He
died just like he lived! He died with a smile on his face,
wind in his hair, Lindsay is holding him tight and laughing!
Mark died finding his Peace with God.
I wish the same for you, my friend!
Metaliccs’s last two lines Now that we’re dead, my dear
We can be together Now that we’re dead, my dear
We can live, we can live forever- My faith says are not completely
true-those who die without Christ lives forever in separation.
Those who die in Christ live forever together! I read 1
Corinthians 1513-23 Monday; And if Christ has not been
raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is
useless. 15 And we apostles would all be lying about God—for
we have said that God raised Christ from the grave. But that
can’t be true if there is no resurrection of the dead. 16 And if
there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has
not been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, then
your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins. 18 In
that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost!
And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be
pitied than anyone in the world.
But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the
first of a great harvest of all who have died.
So you see, just as death came into the world through a man,
now the resurrection from the dead has begun through
another man. Just as everyone dies because we all belong to
Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life.
But there is an order to this resurrection: Christ was raised as
the first of the harvest; then all who belong to Christ will be
raised when he comes back.
Trusting in the Lord- with all your heart; -do not depend on your
own understanding. Seek his will in all you do-, and he will show
you which path to take. Proverbs 3:5,6 NL
We will live forever with Jesus and Mark-start the journey today.
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