Well, since you're here, I guess you're a little curious about where, who, what I am - and whether I really exist at all.
Well, I was born at an early age in a log cabin which I helped my father build. I'm older than most everyone except my mother and she disputes that point. - At her age, you just don't argue, one breath of wind and *POOF* she might just turn to dust and blow away. ( and if she ever reads this page I'm custard )
Ah well, here's the real story
My name is Mark Burgess. I was
born in 1957, (yeah go on work it out).
I am married to Glenda and we
have two daughters, Katie -12, and Alyce - 9.
We live in Napier, New Zealand - a small city of 50,000 in a small country of 3.6 million.
We have attended for twenty years a local church called the Apostolic church, a pentecostal church, which as a denomination, was born out of the Welsh revival in 1908.
Our church is a smallish one,- but growing, and one of the special works we feel called to do, is to rally the other churches of our city toward unity. Currently, we are blessed to be involved in arranging monthly combined evening services involving
Christian Outreach Centre
Napier Christian Fellowship
St. Marks Methodist
Salvation Army
(how's that for a mixed bag)
Our fellowship working to bridge with other local churches such as the two Assembly of God fellowships, Seventh Day Adventist (yup, you read that right), two Baptist churches and the Vineyard, Nazarene, Restoration Centre, and any others who want to join us. The purpose of this is to provide a local church with the resourse, faith, heart and action plan to reach our city, street by street, suburb by suburb for Christ. We refuse to hold the all to common attitude many Christians have of being an embattled remnant to somehow be rescued from the clutches of satan by the skin of our teeth. Rather, we believe in working out the great commision given by Christ by taking His good news of freedom and eternal life to all who will listen, using every social, technological and moral means at our disposal.
God has seen fit to use Glenda and I over the years as club leaders in Campus Life, in Girls Brigade leadership, as youth leaders at our church, Glenda ran Sunday School for six years, and I stood for a time as an elder. I have just taken up duties as our church treasurer, a duty fitted to the administrative giftings God has given me. We also work on a team running "A Weekend to Remember" marriage conference as part of Family Life Ministries; a division of Campus Crusade for Christ. Oh yeah; and this once sad, insecure kid, is the MC for the conference. I preach at church occasionally, but not as much as I used to, and have been functioning with some prophetic gifting for some nine years, the most humbling gift, and that one which makes me so dependent upon a close walk with my Saviour, of all that which He has blessed me with. To appreciate what a miracle that is, you need to read my story below.
I am no-one famous, never want to be. I would rather wash dishes and cook the food for our cafe services like I was doing a couple of years back, but I remain open to whatever it is my Redeemer Saviour calls me to next.
Much of that life was pretty lonely, and although I had some good friends; I was the smallest kid in class - every year, and pretty sensitive, which just adds up to getting bullied three ways; - hard, fast and continuously. I made it through to high school and set about trying to gain acceptance through my exceeding foul mouth and dirty mind, quit wit and a reasonable measure of athletic ability. A massive growth spurt at 13-14 took me from 95 pounds to 150 pounds in a matter of months and I suddenly found myself - a bully of the kind I used to despise. Popular, but ugly inside.
Then, at age 15 a christian music group from Youth For Christ visited our high school and I attended their evening concert. I sat behind three long haired types with pony tails and headbands. I wasn't sure whether they were Jesus Freaks, hippies or junkies; to me they were all the same thing - you know; - long hair, perpetual smiles and vacant looks of exceeding joy that must be "externally induced". I was drawn again by the good news message of Jesus Christ and at the end of the concert when a call was given for people to accept Christ, I literally ran to the front of the hall.
Again as when seven, a man spoke with me about what it meant to be a Christian. Much of it didn't compute but I knew, just knew that those people had something I didn't and I wanted it!
As I walked home that night some
unknown girl yelled at me from a passing car - JESUS LOVES YOU!
Suddenly it was like I had gained
my sight and senses, like waking from a dream. I KNEW who Jesus was and
I was one of his family. I walked in the house and told my mum, "I became
a Christian tonight"
"That's nice dear", she said.
I was extremely insecure, a manic depressant, violently angry and had the foulest, dirty mouth in our school of 1300 kids. But from that day, God began to change my life. After a week, my "in" friends asked if I was sick 'cause I was quiet and not seeking fights, my ability to create filthy stories had disappeared, and I didn't notice, but they tell me I completely stopped swearing.
It must be something to do with becoming a "Jesus people" last week, I responded.
Actually they were really faithful, they used to wait all lunch hour for me to come out of the campus christian meeting each Wednesday, so they could kick me round the school grounds for a few minutes before class. You see, I had committed the ultimate heresy, I had fought and won acceptance, then rejected their values for "nerd" people and values. I had read Acts though, and so I used to praise Jesus with split lips and closed eyes for being considered worthy to suffer persecution. That angered them more than anything.
But God was gracious, and two faithful men of God became my mentors. Graham Birch, the regional Youth for Christ director, took me under his wing and had me go everywhere with him as he prepared campus meetings, and monthly rally programmes. After a few weeks I realised, that he was the same man who as an 18 year old Christian, had prayed with me as a seven year old, those eight years before. The very Jesus Freaks who sat in front of me the night I accepted Christ, became friends, and introduced me to their youth group at the same brethren church that had run the camp I attended at age seven.
Graham had 92 new Christians the night I was added to the kingdom, and 30 of these bolstered the 15 strong youth group of the church. The leaders, Rex and Betty Smith became like second parents, and as as I had lost my father to a heart attack 18 months previously, I found a father image in Rex, whose oldest son Mark was my age. God gave me a whole new set of friends, many many friends. We were discipled as young Christians, to seek and follow Christ. Matthew 6:33 "But seek first the kingdom of God, and all these (other) things shall be added unto you." was the motto of our group.
Yet some major problems remained. My anger still flared regularly, and my bouts of severe depression and insecurity made me about as stable as a can of nitro rolling down a hill.
At 18, after yet another failed
dating relationship, I went wild, Grahams younger brother and I joined
to become two of the wildest kids on wheels in our small city. I still
attended some youth meetings but my heart was far from God.
A year later I was scarred by
my street experiences, on notice to the Police who had promised "we're
going to hang thse two * * * * * * * * for something decent". A new
girl in my old youth group who had only seen me as a rebel, said sadly
to me "Shelly says you used to be a beautiful person once". I laughed and
pushed her to the ground, walking away laughing and abusing her. - But
time was up, I was like a crumbling snowman. Within two weeks, I had recommited
my life to Christ. Difficulties followed for sure. A few months later I
ran away to live in Auckland our largest city, but God was there before
me and I was invited to live in a flat with two older single Christians.
This was 1977, the year which became the watershed in my life.
Finally I gained some measure of
security in Christ, and my chronic depression, much to my amazement, began
to lift. I returned to my hometown a year later, feeling the call of God
on my life. Upon my return I was offered a job working in my great love,
a Christian record company, based in my home town. A few days later I met
by chance a young lady who attracted me greatly. Rather than run around
looking for dates I somehow managed to wait patiently for some months until
her relationship with another boy ended. I then asked Glenda to go out
with me, and to cut a long story a little shorter, we have now been married
for nearly seventeen years.
This is not a story to make you
think well of me, it is a story of the love of God for the unlovely, the
proud, the stubborn wrongdoer and the lonely.