Welcome to the GMAF Newsletter! We pray it will encourage you in your Martial Arts and Outreach for Christ.
"Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come to me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven."
Jesus Christ
"But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned, and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; and that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus."
The Apostle Paul
We are pleased to bring you the fourth installment of the testimony of Dr. Karl Marx, Grand Master of Keichu-Do Karate of Santa Maria, California. If you would like to write Dr. Marx, you may do so at the following address: Keichu-Do Outreach Ministry, 3530 Orcutt Rd., Santa Maria, California 93455. You may also e-mail Soke Marx. I'm sure he would enjoy hearing from other Christian martial artists. You may visit Dr. Marx's web site at http://www.oakknolls.com/keichumain.htm .
"I wish I had the ability to express how much God has proven His love for me. I want every one on this earth to know and understand that Jesus Christ gave His physical life up to save our eternal lives. God's love for us is so tremendous that if we only understood, we could love Him back in return. Not as much as He does for us, but at least a million times more than we do now. How would you feel if the most beautiful girl, or if you're a girl, the most handsome man in the universe was madly in love with you but you didn't know it. Let's say for example that you won the lottery of 10 million dollars and no one ever told you until you were 7 seconds from death. Would you not be disappointed? Well, missing out on the Blessings God wants to give you just because you refuse to accept Jesus Christ as your Savior is going to be a much larger disappointment.
Losing being in Heaven is a lot more costly than not receiving ten million dollars. Not knowing how much Christ Loves you is a much greater loss than never having the love of the most beautiful man or woman on earth. Words may never be enough to really explain or express how necessary the love of Christ is to all of us. Without food one might live a month or two, without water we might live a week or so. In both cases doing without something causes death. But please allow me to point out to you that doing without Jesus Christ causes you to Live throughout eternity in pain and anguish. Christ is like the air we breath. We can use artificial support systems, but in the end we all die without air to breathe. Jesus Christ IS THE BREATHING LIFE SUPPORT of all creation.
Without Him You die the death of the "trillion plus deaths, " for all eternity (forever and ever ), eons and all that cosmic mumbo jumbo certain Religious Cults teach. It's All the Time, Baby, never stopping, on and on, dude. Do you know how long forever and ever is? Well, think about it. Do YOU want to spend All that Time alone, in the Dark, and in pain you can't even imagine how much it hurts? You will hurt in places you never even knew you had places. Don't push it, buddy! The cost is too high. But let's talk about something nicer. You don't have to take my word for it. Try it yourself. The Lord has told us to just knock, and the door will be opened for us. Christ will come to us and eat dinner at our house. Wow! Talk about a house guest.
When you're sick to the point of dying, in fact you might be dying, what do you want? Who do you call? Not Ghost Busters, that's for sure. Most people call 9-1-1. They want medical assistance right away. If you were a victim of a crime, you would call the police. In both cases usually the first words out of our mouth is, 'Oh God'! or 'Sweet Jesus'! Sometimes it's 'God help me'. We are always calling on God to help us even before calling anyone else. Why is this? A lot of people who are not even Christians call on God to help them. What do they expect? I do not understand why they call on the Father if they are not His children?. God is there for all of us, but we must first come to Him for forgiveness for our sins.
What is the deal? I am amazed that every one on earth is not a Christ Loving Christian. Man, if someone saved my life, I would spend the rest of my life in debt to him. We owe Him the respect due Him for His sacrifice for us. Yet He did it for no charge. He paid our debt for us with His life, with His Blood. And the way some people treat Him is sad. They stupidly call His name when they are angry and cursing. That's like saying bad about someone's mother. When I hear some bumble brain take the Lord's name in vain I just add a prayer to it. Some guy might swear using a lot of curse words, and somewhere in there he'll say " Jesus Christ " and I'll add " have mercy on us". Sometimes the cursing fellow will apologize, and it gives me a chance to speak to him about what Christ means to me.
I tell people that the name of Jesus Christ is sacred to me. I explain that His Name is Holy and that it hurts me when someone uses His Name or God's name in a cursing manner. I let them know that it is the same as if someone said something bad about their mother, or her honor. I do not threaten to beat them to a pulp. I just explain how it affects me. I admit to them that sometimes I become angry. I am a sinner, no better than anyone else, but God isn't finished working all the kinks out of me yet. Thank God. I do admit to my weakness and that sometimes I lose control of my very bad temper. That is usually enough of a hint for most intelligent men. There is an old saying about me that is kind of funny. "Don't make Soke Mad" is still good advice.
April 10th is a day I shall not soon forget. Did you ever have one of those days were EVERYTHING went wrong? On April 6th I had a prostate biopsy to check to see if there was a cancer. I think the doctor must have rotor rooted too high and punched a hole in my lung and up into my brain. First, I get lost driving to another town nearby to buy some vitamins, namely Saw Palmetto, Zinc, and other prostate-helping supplements. Missing my turn off the freeway, I had a neat scenic drive about 70 miles out of my way. I have been fighting a really tough cold or the flu for a month and today I had to see my doctor, and found out I have pneumonia. Just great huh? But through it all I know my Lord is with me and good will come from it in the end. If I should last that long, ha! You see that is the real point of all this stuff I am writing about. No matter how hard times are or how bad things appear at any given moment, God is ALWAYS there with you, to pull you out if you need Him. But hey! be realistic. If you want that kind of insurance, the cost is High. But the price has already been paid for by Jesus Christ who has paid the premium. All you have to do is believe in Him, and give your life to God and accept Christ as your Savior. Ask God to forgive your sins, accept Christ, and obey.
This would be a good place to stop, but I'm not going to. I do not think my point is clear yet. If I could just make you all understand that there IS A Living, Loving, Giving, Gracious, Father God who cares about you and me. We, none of us, ever did anything in our lives nor could we ever Do anything of ourselves to earn His love and mercy. No one can ever DO anything themselves to earn Salvation. Except by FAITH can we BELIEVE. No one can really Intellectually accept what the Holy Bible teaches. Faith is believing in something unseen. Just because something appears unrealistic, or even impossible, doesn't mean it is not true. The biggest problem I see with most humans is that we think if we don't agree with a view then it's wrong. Just because You do not believe there is No other way to heaven except through Jesus Christ, doesn't mean that this FACT is incorrect. It just means that YOU refuse to believe the TRUTH. What is true for me is true for you, there is only ONE TRUTH. " JESUS CHRIST IS ". That's Truth. Read it yourself. He said it Himself " I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through ME. " You can find that in the Bible, just read John 14:6.
Some individuals say " WHAT'S true for you may not be true for me". Sorry Charlie. Truth is truth. That excuse opens to many doors for crime. Well, it's true that stealing is unlawful, but since he stole me from it's OK for me to steal something from him. Is that a truth? He committed adultery on me so I can do the same. " If it's good for the goose, it's good for the gander". That kind of rationalization gave Adolph Hitler an attitude about the Jewish people that was felt around the World. Genghis Khan, Fidel Castro, Julius Caesar, Benito Mussolini, Lenin, and many others had that kind of rationalization attitude. They ALL felt justified in their actions. Millions of people were killed, and millions more are still being murdered in this so-called Christian Country we call the United States of America.
Abortion has killed an estimated 35 million children since the Roe vs. Wade so-called Supreme Court decision on January 22, 1973. There is only ONE REAL SUPREME COURT, and that one has as its Chief Justice ALMIGHTY GOD. I can assure you that the other guys will be judged themselves. And there will be no partiality for homosexuality, by homosexuals for homosexuals. Nothing we do here on Earth will be swept under the rug, overlooked, or ignored. EVERYTHING! and I mean EVERYTHING! WILL BE ACCOUNTABLE! TO GOD. Christianity is like Martial Arts. You get out of it what you put in. No study or practice, and you lose in the race of life. Be real! cool is being Christlike. You want to be a tough guy? then try being a real Christian. That is a tough row to hoe. God wants YOU! Real men know how to love in the way Christ loved us."
We thank Soke Marx for allowing us to reprint his personal testimony for GMAF. We thank God for saving Dr. Marx and using him to share the Love of Jesus Christ across the nation and around the world.
A member of GMAF sent me an e-mail a couple months ago about starting a martial arts ministry in his church. I forwarded his note to Master Joseph Lumpkin of the Christian Hapkido Federation, who started a ministry in North Alabama last year. I am reprinting Joseph's response for anyone who is interested in how to begin an MA ministry. I've also included a more recent note from Master Lumpkin at the end of this newsletter about the first anniversary of their ministry.
"We started a class 11 months ago in a small Methodist church in Alabama out in a small town named Blountsville. To date, we have over 250 on roll and about 50 - 100 active at any given time, depending on the season of the year. There was no reason we would have thought class would have done this well, but God gave the increase. They came from surrounding towns, then from surrounding counties. We got them off of the streets and from other churches. We did it by following certain rules. These rules work here in the rural south. They may or may not be the rules you need to follow. Some are hard and fast and obvious. Some are not. We do not charge for our classes. Some of the people we reach would not be able to spare another dollar. They are poor. We allow people who have had training to wear their belt in our class but we keep an eye on their progress in our style and only award promotions on this basis. We welcome all styles and believe that each has something to offer. We welcome people from all main line denominations and we teach pure, simple doctrine in the classes. Christ, Him crucified for our sins and raised for our salvation, faith in Him our only hope.
- This is a Christian group and we present it as such. We pray at the beginning and end of each class. When we started just the instructors prayed, but by the end of the first month we were asking the students to pray. Now, most of the time, the students will open and close in prayer.
- We substituted the Buddhism part of the teachings in the martial arts with Bible, mostly Psalms and Proverbs. (Keep in mind that there is a difference between doctrine and "lessons". Keep your doctrine simple and clean. The lessons for life you can teach from any part of the Bible.) This means we use techniques to teach Christian principles. When we teach breaking we teach on faith. We teach about how you could have faith to do it but if you don't apply your faith into technique nothing is accomplished. (faith without works is dead.) We teach about the difference in faith in yourself and faith in God and how both are important in the right balance and place. In Judo we teach about turning the other cheek.... with the soft blocks of Hapkido we teach about a soft response turning away wrath...you get the idea.
- We opened the class up to ages 4 - 104. We broke these into 2 classes: 4 - 12 and 12 - up. These classes are run differently. Children get bored with just kicks and punches. You will not be able to hold attention with only karate, so for the little kids' class we do mostly Judo with a little Aikido mixed in. The kids love to throw the teachers and do breakfalls. We do an exercise called "jump the belt" where we hold an obi at the max height the child can jump, (usually at their shoulders or head level), and they will drive over it, turn in the air and land on their backs in a breakfall. There is a great amount of energy in the younger class. They pray with more heart, believe deeper in what they are doing, and have more people in the class in general. This class is only 1 hour long max. For the adult class we used equal parts of all styles. We grapple a lot. The teens love that. This class is 1 1/2 hrs long and would be more if they had their way.
- Be very encouraging in class. Compliment, reward, be a cheerleader. Many of your group will be from very poor and damaged homes and need the love and assurance of an authority figure. This will help them in their life and school. We have seen increases in grade points in many kids due to this. You will find that your ministry will be very much driven by your personality, so be well-defined and consistent. (We want to think as Christians that our churches are motivated by God, but we often select the church by the pastor and his personality. Classes are no different. God is in it but we as people look at the personality of the leader also.)
- Expect more from the students and make them expect more from themselves. Keep a sweet spirit but keep discipline. When they horse around make them do pushups. We even monitor their school work with some teachers and if they cause trouble in school, we make them pay for it with jumping jacks in class. They represent an elite group. The Scriptures tell us of 3 enemies: the world, the flesh, and the Devil. In the world stuff happens and you have to be prepared. In ourselves there is a fight between the spirit and our carnal desires, and we must be disciplined. In these 2 out of 3 areas I believe our training helps, but God gives the victory. In the arena of the Devil, I would say only that if we can resist him he will flee, but I wouldn't want to approach him without Jesus on my side.
- Remember why your are there. Let your art be good and effective, but let it be secondary. They will come for fellowship. They will come because you help them overcome their own fears, and limitations. They will come for the encouragement and because they feel the need for discipline in their lives. They will come to exercise. A few may even come because they want to learn to kick and punch. But you are there to show them Jesus, because in Him they can do all things.
- Do not go down this road alone. Pick out 2 or 3 good men, full of the Spirit, even-tempered, given to encouragement, even if they are not martial artists, you will need them. When the class takes off it will tie you down and burn you out if you don't have some relief from time to time. Most teachers overlook the fact that when taking on a project like this you are also taking on a great amount of baggage from your students. They will come to you with innumerable and sometimes overwhelming problems. You will see abuse, neglect, gangs, and rebellion. In some situations you can do no good, but in many you can. You can provide counseling, prayer, and guidance. This is a church ministry that will reach out beyond the walls to those who would not think of attending otherwise."
Next Month: More insights into starting a Martial Arts Ministry!
QUESTION OF THE MONTH One of our members asked questions about "first strike" and "finishing techniques" in an e-mail last month. We appreciate your responses to the question and will list two of them here.
"I thought the question regarding finishing holds was a good and fair one for us to think about as Christians. I currently study Jeet Kune Do concepts at a secular school and we do practice these so-called "finishing" holds. Most of these techniques are done in the grappling range and fall under the category of either chokes, armbars, kneebars, ankle locks, etc. In my humble opinion, these types of techniques are actually more humane than a lot of the other things that we practice.
Think about it, the real reason for most of these techniques is to force your opponent to submit. Most of the so-called safer techniques that we practice such as punching, kicking, elbows, eye-gouges, head-butts and the like, can really be much more serious as far as the damage and trauma they can inflict. If you have someone in a choke, for example and he refuses to submit, then obviously he must be deranged and is willing to do just about anything to destroy you. If this is the case he can simply be choked out, or temporarily be made unconscious with no lasting damage, providing of course he is cared for and revived afterward. Even if a person is placed in an armbar and has his elbow so hyper-extended that it "pops" out of location, although this is a move that causes excruciating pain at the moment and can appear quite gruesome, in actuality after proper medical care and treatment, the after effects are usually not lasting and minimal at worst. On the other hand, think about the damage that a single eye-gouge can do, and I know that whether everyone is aware of it or not, most traditional karate systems have kata that somewhere or other include some kind of eye-gouge or eye-rake. However, most sane people when experiencing the "discomfort" of a finishing hold, are usually more than happy to call it quits.
As far as the questioner's statement regarding "striking first," I believe he may have possibly misinterpreted something by Mr. Cucci. Forgive me if I err, but Bruce Lee was an acknowledged martial arts genius. Definitely not a Christian by any stretch. But an honest, sincere, genuine person with many good qualities. When Bruce Lee was alive he so seriously pondered personal combat and its many implications and theories that he revolutionized the entire martial arts world. He was also highly gifted and talented from a pysical and skill level standpoint. Guro Inosanto would often say that working out with Bruce was like playing basketball with Michael Jordan, he was so far and away above everyone else. He has even stated that many of the moves that Bruce showed him he just couldn't use or pull off because he didn't have Bruce's attributes. Before I get accused of hero worship my point is just this, Bruce Lee created Jeet Kune Do which means literally, "Way of the intercepting Fist." This idea of intercepting is one that is not present in all styles of martial arts and when misunderstood can be viewed as striking first. In actuality it is a kind of simultaneous defensive-offensive counterattack which when done correctly, has the appearance of striking first. This is a highly developed skill that Bruce had and it is passed down thru his students. Not everyone can pull it off. As I said it requires much skill thru constant practice and a very keen sense of awareness and anticipation. Not everyone has these attributes, but Bruce Lee, and some others, do. So the actual intent of this type of manuever is still fundamentally defensive in nature. I hope this clears things up."
"Regarding this interesting question - for what they're worth here are some thoughts.
I rather think that finishing techniques are good to keep in mind and practiced with the same caveat as any other technique - it may not be necessary, depending on the situation. Being able to instantly read a situation correctly while being open to God's direction should be a part of any serious Christian martial artist. If one is confronted with a physical encounter and getting away without being harmed is not a possibility, then I believe action is warranted, even to a first strike, but only after the attacker has begun his or her attack. As for a finishing technique (which could include a joint lock, broken bone or joint or even death), I don't believe it should be executed unless there are multiple attackers or the situation involves an attacker high on an abused substance or other life threatening context. I would much rather talk to someone about Jesus than punch him or her, even if it means I have the person in a jointlock while awaiting authorities."
FELLOWSHIP NEWS Please let us know if you have moved, changed jobs, received a belt promotion, started studying a new martial art, etc. We want to be sure your listing in the GMAF Online Directory is all you want it to be.
The following are notes to us about Christian Martial Arts ministries. We appreciate your prayers for every GMAF member and their Gospel outreach.
"There is a lady who has contacted the INCMA in an effort to find a Christian martial art instructor in Fort Wayne, Indiana for herself and her son. Do you know of anyone in that area?"
(If you know of a Christian instructor in the Fort Wayne area, please let me know and I'll forward your note.)
"Mark, just wanted to send another quick note of thanks to you and any who are involved with GMAF. I think it's a truly wonderful thing and truly encouraging to all of us Christians who study the martial arts. I'm sure you know that very often we are misunderstood and have disagreements with others within the body that don't approve of what we do, but the testimonies you read in GMAF, and the communications that I have recieved from its members really say so much more about the character and motives of the people. There are very caring people within GMAF that are true to their faith. Thanks again and keep up the great work. God Bless."
"One year ago this October we kicked off the youth outreach, Karate for Christ, at our church. We made arrangements to handle 20 to 30 students, put out fliers and waited. Our thoughts were to try for a year and then see if there was any interest or students left after that time. Numbers began to surge, catching us totally by surprise. We used this last year as a constant learning process. We adapted to numbers that were as high as over 100 active members. We modified schedules and lesson plans to handle the unforeseen number of preteens and 4-7 year olds that arrived. We smiled as students came in from Birmingham, Cullman, and Attalla. We withstood the fluctuations brought about by summer vacations and school sports. Each time we felt that we had reached all of the people interested in what we offered we found new children waiting at the door. As children would drop out new faces continued to appear. As the school year revolved old faces would return for a time of refreshing. All the while, a steadfast core group remained. It is this group that we celebrate with promotions to Green Belt on October 7th.
We have had a very productive year. Earlier this year our class was invited to the Methodist conference at Birmingham Southern and we were well received. Several ministers stopped to talk and ask questions. One month ago we were invited to a national meeting of Christian martial artists held in Indianapolis. There we were met by one of our benefactors, Ron Shivley, head of Karate for Christ. He is the man who bought our new Judo mats for us. Now, we have been asked to start another outreach to be held at Mount Zion Church Of God. Since the year began we have seen approximately 300 people come through our class. We hope to see a repeat of those numbers at the new location at Mount Zion. Danny Morton will be heading the project, which will begin on October 11. Classes will be from 6 to 8 P.M. on Mondays and Thursdays and so will parallel our own times. By the end of our second year I would not be surprised to see a third class spin off in the Douglas or Arab area. I have been so surprised at the ongoing enthusiasm and success that I wonder daily what God has in store for us next.
We owe a large debt of gratitude to those families who have stuck with us and helped us throughout the year. I wish to personally thank the David Neill family and the Bart Blocker family for support, help, prayer and chaos control. Thanks to Lisa Ryan and the Blountcountian for their free advertising. Thanks to Dalton NeSmith for free advice and our consent/release forms. Thanks also to Steve King for his free advice on our nonprofit status.
Let me end by saying that we have had children led to Jesus through this outreach. Children are praying and some demanding to pray at the beginning and end of class so that at times we will have two opening and two closing prayers. Over the last year there has grown a feeling of family and trust within our members and they have blessed the life of this old man. If you want to see Jesus, come and look into the faces of these children."
Please contact jsstrack@smtp.mcis.uchicago.edu if you know of a Christian martial arts instructor in the Chicago area.
NEW MEMBERS Marc England, Karate ministry in South Bend, Indiana
Pastor James Read, American Kenpo in Port St. Lucie, Florida
Jay French Moo Duk Kwan in Pennsylvania
Troy Thorpe Tae Kwon Do and Ju Jutsu in Reynoldsburg, Ohio. Troy is studying for the youth ministry. He is searching for a Christian martial arts teacher near his home.
John Hoyle Shito-ryu Karate-Do in Virginia
Dawn Webb is a Yellow Belt in Karate and lives in Glenville, West Virginia. she recently qualified to join Team America when they go to Ireland for international competition next summer. She is looking for sponsors to help her raise the $2,500 necessary to make the trip. If you are interested in contacting Dawn, please let me know and I will get your message to her.
We appreciate your Fellowship in the Gospel of the Grace of God. We are praying for you and your opportunities to serve Christ. Please let us know about ways GMAF can help you in your service. If you know of anyone who might be interested in receiving this monthly newsletter, please ask them to e-mail Mark McGee. We'll be glad to put them on our monthly mailing list.
You are invited to read previous GMAF Newsletters.
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