John Mark - NCCG.ORG Ning Network Archive 2008-10

JOHN MARK
By Brian Carlisle

Jose sat under the tree and pulled his jacket collar a
little higher so no one would notice who he was. He didn't
want to be seen. He was a nobody, a failure. Jose felt like
he didn't have a friend in the world. And all because of one
mistake last week.

Jose was the starting forward for his neighborhood soccer
team, the Eagles, and the best soccer player that his town
had ever produced. Throughout this past season, Jose had
led his team in scoring and blocking shots, and, by using his
abilities, he had led his team to the final tournament. The
winning team of this tournament would proceed on to the
regional and state tournaments. This accomplishment had
never before been achieved by a team from his hometown.
All his team had to do was win 2 of 3 games against their
opponents, the Warriors, and they would proceed on to the
regional.

In the first game against the Warriors, Jose scored 4 goals
himself and blocked 5 shots by his opponents. This
extraordinary display of talent had earned him the nickname
"The Dominator" and the affection of everyone in his town.
Today though, Jose was in hiding. He was hiding from his
teammates and everyone who knew him. The reason was
because of his terrible play in the final moments of the
second game of the tournament.

With the score tied and less than a minute to play, Jose had
moved the ball down the field and was preparing to kick the
ball, when the other team's goalie fell. With no one between
him and the goal, Jose had an open and straight shot ‹ the
easiest shot that anyone could hope for. Jose had let out a
whoop of joy, then kicked the ball sending it toward the
goal. But instead of going in the goal and winning the game,
the ball hit the railing and bounced right back at him.

"No!" Jose screamed. Then without thinking, Jose, in a
moment of anger, turned and kicked the ball with all his
might. A gasp went up from the crowd as the ball went
sailing back down the field and straight to an opponent, who
wasted no time in taking advantage of everyone's shock and
scoring the winning point for the Warriors. As the buzzer
rang, ending the game, Jose felt like his life had ended.

"Failure!" his teammate screamed at him.

"Why don't you just join the other team?" the fans yelled.

"How much did they pay you to betray your team?" someone
else bellowed from the sidelines.

In shame, Jose had run from the game and had spent the last
week locked up in his house. He didn't want to see anyone or
talk to anyone. Jose had even refused a call from William,
his team captain and best friend. His team would be better
off without him ruining the game.

"Score!" As the announcer shouted, Jose was snapped back to
his present surroundings, the Final Game of the Tournament.
"Warriors 4, Overcomers 1."

As Jose watched his team struggling against their opponents,
he wanted so much to run out onto the field and assist them,
but he couldn't. Jose was ashamed. He had let his team down,
and because of him, they were having to play this final
game. By all indications, they were going to lose this game,
too. Again, Jose was blaming himself. It was his fault that
his team had lost last week and was now losing again.

As Jose watched the game begin again, a story his mother had
told him while he was hidden away in his home began to edge
back into his mind. The story was about a young man in the
Bible by the name of John Mark.

"Very little is written about John Mark," Jose's mother had
began, "but what we do know, relates to us a very
interesting story."

In Acts Chapter 15, verses 35-39, Paul, the apostle of Yah'shua
Christ, and Barnabas had just finished up preaching in the
city of Antioch where they had led many to the Lord. After
they had surveyed their work, Paul had suggested to Barnabas
that they make another round of travel and visit all the
cities where they had started churches in order to see how
all the brethren were doing. Paul was referring to what is
called his first missionary journey where he and Barnabas
had traveled and had taken the Gospel of Yah'shua to many
lands.

"The Bible says that Barnabas agreed to the idea of another
missionary journey. Both men loved to preach the gospel and
Barnabas was eager to go. Barnabas, though, stated that he
wanted to take along with them the young man John, whose
surname was Mark, or as he was known, John Mark. Paul who
was excited about the trip, didn't like the idea about John
Mark and protested."

This last part of the story had puzzled Jose. "I thought
Paul was a very kind man. Why didn't he want John Mark to go
with them?"

"Because on their first missionary journey, John Mark had
started out with them but for some reason John Mark had
decided to go home and leave Paul and Barnabas," his mother
explained.

"So?" Jose had shrugged his shoulders. "Everyone makes a
mistake."

"Right, they do," his mother replied. "But remember,
missionary work is not only hard, but also dangerous. Paul
felt that John Mark would only cause them more grief on the
trip, so Paul refused to allow John Mark to go."

"What did Barnabas say?" Jose asked.

"The Bible says that Barnabas determined to take John Mark
with them," his mother replied. "The Bible goes on to say
that the contention or argument was so great that Paul and
Barnabas split company and went separate ways. Barnabas took
John Mark with him, and Paul took Silas with him."

"What happened to John Mark?" Jose questioned.

"We don't really know. The Bible follows Paul and Silas, not
Barnabas and John Mark," his mother explained. "But we do
know that years later, Paul wrote to Timothy, a young
pastor, and asked him to get John Mark and to bring him to
Paul."

"Did Paul apologize?" Jose grinned with relief.

"I'm sure he did," Jose's mother smiled. "Paul said that
John Mark was profitable to his ministry, or in other words,
Paul was saying, 'Bring John Mark. He has proven to be a
good worker and I need his assistance and help.'"

Jose sat silently for a moment before speaking. "So what
does that have to do with me?"

"Jose." His mother wrapped her arms around her son and
looked lovingly into his eyes. "We all make mistakes.
Sometimes we fail ourselves or our teammates, and even
sometimes we fail God... but Yahweh always forgives and so
should we.

"Jose, you failed your team last week, but you are not a
failure. You are human. There is no need for you to hide
from yourself, from your friends, or from God. Get back out
there and use the abilities that Yahweh gave you to bring glory
to His name. Had John Mark quit when Paul, the great
apostle, felt he was a failure, who knows what would have
happened to him. But he didn't quit, even when the one he
admired most had no faith in him. And eventually, John Mark
proved himself to be valuable to the ministry and even Paul
requested his help."

Jose looked down at the ground and plucked a few blades of
grass from the soil. "What mom told me is right. I just wish
that I could forgive myself. But I guess it's too late for
me now."

"Score!" the announcer yelled as the crowd cheered for the
Warriors.

"Oh, no!" Jose groaned. "There's no way my team could win
now, not with the game already half over and the score 5 to
1."

"Time!" the Referee called.

"Time has been called by William, team captain of the
Overcomers!" the announcer called over the speakers.

Jose looked up and his heart quit beating. Heading right
toward him was his team captain and best friend, William.
Jose wanted to run, but he was frozen with fear.

"What are you doing?" William screamed. "We need you out
there!"

"I was..." Jose stammered.

"You deserted us when we needed you the most!" William
raged. "You're our best player! We can't win without you out
there on the field with us!"

"Right!" Jose felt his anger begin to boil. "Like you needed
me last week when I lost the game for our team by missing
that easy shot at the last second! Then because of my
temper, I helped the Warriors beat us!"

"So you missed a shot! So you let us down!" William looked
down and instantly the truth began to dawn on him. Jose was
not playing because of the way he had been treated.

As everyone on both teams and all the fans looked on,
William extended his hand down to his friend. "I'm sorry.
Will you forgive me?"

"What?" Jose was shocked by William's words. "What do you
mean?"

"Jose, you are my friend and my teammate. You made a mistake
last week, but that doesn't make you a rotten player or my
enemy." William felt the heat of the tears on his cheeks. "I
know that the game is too far gone for our team to win, but
would you play with us... as my friend?"

For a few short moments, the world stood still as Jose
looked at William and his tears. Jose was stunned.

"Well?" William stretched out his hand a little further.

"Let's do it!" Jose grinned.

As the two boys ran side by side onto the field, Jose's
teammates ran to greet him amidst the boos from the
opponents and the mixed emotions of the Overcomers' fans.

The second half of the soccer game was breathtaking as the
Overcomers mounted a team effort and narrowed the score to
Warriors 6, Overcomers 5, with less than two minutes to
go. Then on a fast press down the field, William, to the
delight of everyone, scored the tying goal. This sent the
game into an overtime period as both teams, tied at 6
goals, fought for the title of division champs and a
chance to advance to the regional and state tournaments.

The overtime period was exhausting to players and fans alike
as both teams battled desperately to score and to prevent
their opponents from scoring. With very little time left
in the overtime period, the score remained Warriors 6,
Overcomers 6. Then it happened....

A deflected ball bounced near Jose. The crowd began counting
down the seconds on the clock. "Ten... Nine...."

Jose saw the ball coming and glanced toward the goal.

"Eight... Seven..."

Two Warriors plus the goalie were between Jose and the goal.

"Six... Five..."

Jose faked a kick and skidded the ball to his right, but the
ball rolled a little too far!

"Ugh!" Jose grunted as he slid and stretched to his fullest.

"Four... Three..."

"Not for me! Not for my team! But for Your Glory!" Jose
shouted as he awkwardly stretched and kicked the ball with
his last remaining ounce of strength.

"Two... One..."

Jose couldn't see if the ball went in the goal because he
had over stretched and had fallen to the ground. But Jose
didn't need to see the ball. As he lay on his back and
looked heavenward, he heard the fans of both teams go wild
with shouts of delight.

"Score!" the announcer screamed above the roar of the fans.
"Overcomers win in extended play over the Warriors, 7 goals
to 6!"

So remember, like both Jose and John Mark learned, even
though you make some very serious mistakes, Yahweh is willing
to take you back into His arms and love you once again.

THINK!

Why did Paul and Barnabas have an argument?
Who did Paul take with him on his next trip?
Who did Barnabas take on his next trip?
How do we know Paul apologized?
Why did Paul contact Timothy?

REMEMBER!

Even though you make some very serious mistakes, Yahweh is
willing to take you back into His arms and love you once
again.

A VERSE TO LEARN

"...To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of
life, which is in the midst of the paradise of Yahweh"
(Revelation 2:7b).

LET'S PRAY
****************************************************
Dear Heavenly Father, Thank You for loving us
so much and caring about every part of our lives.
Thank You for forgiving us when we make mistakes.
Help us to be kind and remember to forgive
others. In Yah'shua's Name, amen.
****************************************************

CAN YOU FIND THIS STORY IN THE BIBLE?
Acts 15:35-41; 2 Timothy 4:11

You can view this Bible story in full color with pictures and
resources to go along with the story at
http://www.childrenschapel.org/biblestories/johnmark.html

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