Everything I Learned About Christianity I Learned From My Dogs

By Wesley Marks

What does it look like to have faith? For many that is a difficult question because everyone has seen people who claim to have faith but do not. Everything I Know About Christianity I Learned From My Dogs is a light hearted look at a serious issue, Faith. I takes a look at what it really means to be a person of faith using examples from dogs. It looks at what characteristics Christians should have that many dogs exhibit freely. It uses humorous stories of dogs to help describe what the Bible says about faithful living on a daily basis and even answers some questions about faith that people ask. Most of all it is a discipleship tool to help individuals grow in their faith, no matter where they are in their walk.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wesley Marks
• Release date: Jul 15, 2018
• ISBN: 9780999267349

Wesley Marks

My daughters thought I was born when dinosaurs roamed the earth, but I am not quite that old. I am old enough to remember televisions being black and white and having only one phone in the house and it was attached to the wall with a rotary dial.I was born and raised in Texas in 1961 and much of that time was spent in a small town outside of Fort Worth named Cleburne. I was raised by a single mom who later married a wonderful man. As a student I made good grades, played sports and was on the debate team. While in High School I fell in love and later married Amy, who I am still married to after 38 years. We have two daughters who have given us three wonderful grandchildren.My family will tell you that my resume says I have done it all, which is not completely true. I was raised working in our flower shops, then went to work for a Funeral Home, a freight company, driving a limo, a photographer and anything else that could provide a living and get me through college.I was a pastor for ten years, after graduating from Seminary, and then started a ministry taking people overseas on mission trips. I have remained active in my church and in ministry.Then I owned a construction company specializing in rebuilding apartments and homes destroyed by fire. When not rebuilding from fires, we built homes and did commercial and residential remodeling. After much consideration I closed my company and I returned to a school environment as a teacher. I have always had a passion to help young people be successful and I currently teach 8th Grade Honors English and High School business classes in a school in Garland, TX.I have always enjoyed reading and every year set a goal of reading fifty books, unfortunately I end up reading only around forty. I also love to travel. I have been blessed enough to have traveled in Europe, South America, Central America and Asia. Cooking and sailing are the last of my passions, consuming the time that I am not writing.

Book preview

Chapter 1

Knows His Master’s Voice

Everyone’s voice is different, and those who are closest to you know your voice. Over the years, I have known people with unique voices. When I was a kid, there was a woman who came into our family business and who spoke with a distinct nasal voice due to a cleft palate. Another woman who dressed and acted very quirky had a loud, ringing voice. There was even a family from Wisconsin with a funny-sounding last name that spoke in a high-pitched strained sound. Every voice has its own pitch, tone, and diction allowing you to recognize that person in the dark or on the phone. Voices can be recognized even years later, as soon as you hear it again you know whom is speaking. In my family, we’ve had a great many laughs over the years squeaking out different people’s voices, from Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, Foghorn Leghorn to even some of these people mentioned above.

Do you remember playing the game Guess Who when you were a kid? Someone would come up behind you, put their hands over your eyes, and tell you to guess who they are. Some people you can guess quickly, but others you cannot because they mask their voice. At times, the game was easy; other times, it seemed near impossible as people disguised their voices. Hearing and knowing the person is the goal, but confusion reigns when you cannot recognize it.

A person and their voice can have a great impact on you and what you do. Today many people listen to voices that do not have their best interest in mind. They listen to the world and its messages, often buying into its standards. They hear such things as success is measured by your bank account or success is measured by the amount of things you own. They listen to the voice that tells them that the only thing that is important is what benefits them, no matter what it does to other people. Still others listen to the voice telling them they cannot do anything because they are not good enough. The infinite voices being heard seem to be coming from all directions, and at all times of the day or night with no clear direction. It is no wonder people are constantly confused.

In a recreational camp I attended, we played a game where a person was blindfolded and then sent into a maze of chairs. One person was there to give you the right directions through the maze, but other participants, including friends, were to give wrong directions. Most people failed the maze because they could not focus in on the right voice to follow.

I have a very distinct voice and a distinct whistle. My dogs have always known it was me speaking to them or calling them even when others were distracting them. They knew my voice, because I had spoken to them often, had shown them love, and had spent time with them. I also have a very distinct whistle that gets their attention. I could whistle and no matter what they were doing they would stop, turn, and come back. Why? Because they were familiar with my whistle and they knew I was the one calling them. Okay, I have to admit, in a crowd or a store, my kids and wife will also stop and look up if I whistle. Yes, it makes them feel like a dog, but that is not a bad thing in my house, with a whistle comes a treat.

So how do you hear God’s voice and respond? That is one of the great questions people pose. Because there are so many people saying God told me to do this and God told me to do that, it is difficult to make a true distinction. The first thing I do is to make sure that I have a relationship with God. I know that sounds like a given, but it is not. Many people today claim to be Christians because they have said a prayer that was repeated to them and have been dipped in water. Please don’t get ruffled, listen to the reasoning. As a child, I walked to the front of the church, prayed the prayer, and was baptized. I have a certificate to prove it. Salvation is not about an action we have done; it is about an action that He has done for us. My part is recognizing my sinfulness and allowing God to forgive me and cleanse me of that sin. If the only difference in your life is what you have said and when you got wet or what your parents did when you were a baby then that is not the salvation that the Bible speaks of. Paul said to declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart (Romans 10:9), which means not just saying but admitting to all the sin you have committed. It means recognizing what God already knows about you, that you are a sinner. It means believing without a doubt that God has the ability to forgive you. Too many people see faith as an action that you do just once, but this is not the case, it is not an action but a lifestyle. The Greek language has a form in it called the Aorist tense and it means from now on, or from this moment forward and that is what the word believe is to be. Belief is what puts us on our knees daily, in His Word daily and at His feet constantly, seeking truth and striving to live a Christ-centered life. So salvation is not going to church, saying a prayer, or being baptized, it is a changed life that continues to be transformed to being more like Christ every