Category Archives: Mark

Carry On

Posted on December 28, 2016 | Leave a comment

The observance of Advent and Christmas has served it’s purpose. The darkness of night was lit up with the special lights we hung. We heard the annual music of bells being rung outside many stores. Those once-a-year cookies were both the taste and the aroma of the season.

It’s complete, but it’s not over.

Everything around us in that season was designed [by God] to reawaken our physical senses. Once again we’ve been stimulated by the external celebration to see for ourselves whether the fullness of these words from Mark 12:30 can become real in us: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”

The season is complete, but it’s not over.

These words from I Timothy 3:16 are our challenge now to carry on: “Beyond all question, the mystery from which true godliness springs is great: He appeared in the flesh, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory.”

We’ve moved beyond the external stimulation of this Christmas season and that long-ago story of God’s intervention to restore “our” broken world. Now it’s become personal; can Jesus, the Christ, restore “my” broken world?

It’s not over, it’s just beginning.

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Posted in 1 Timothy, Mark, Wednesday

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Am I Afraid to Have Faith?

Posted on July 13, 2016 | Leave a comment

Matthew 19:26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

I’m afraid of the seemingly endless stream of violence that plagues cities and people and destroys them. I’m afraid of our current political environment. I don’t like being afraid. It forces me to ask myself this question: Am I Afraid to Have Faith in Jesus’ words about how we can be saved?

That question made me realize that’s exactly what’s happening. Then I read this quote from Max Lucado’s book, You’ll Get Through This: Hope and Help for Your Turbulent Times
“We can’t always see what God is doing.
But can’t we assume he is up to something good?”

Why, in this world, would I want to assume anything else, Lord? Mark 9:24b…“I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

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Posted in Mark, Matthew

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What Comes After 12/19/15

Posted on December 19, 2015 | Leave a comment

Mark 1:9-13
9 At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”  12 At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, 14 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

It’s interesting that the Gospel of Mark is all about What Comes After.   After the Advent of that birth in Bethlehem had faded into years of reality.  After  that baby has become a grown-up Jesus.  After the baptism.  After the “voice from heaven” confirms him. After he endures the power of the wilderness.   After “the time has come” to proclaim the “good news of God.”   What Comes After is a new beginning.  After Christmas.

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Posted in Advent, Birth of Jesus, Christmas Bread, Daily Faith, Mark

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The Real Jesus

Posted on November 15, 2015 | Leave a comment

Excerpts from Mark 3 NIV
5 He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts…9 Because of the crowd he told his disciples to have a small boat ready for him, to keep the people from crowding him…21 When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”…

Thoughts:
I’m having a negative reaction to everything I read today.  I don’t like reading that Jesus was angry and distressed.  I don’t like that he made plans to keep himself away from the people.  I don’t like that his own family was ready to haul him away because they thought he was out of his mind.  This is a clear indicator that I’m deeply involved in romanticizing the human Jesus and I don’t like that either.

I read a book “Imaginary Jesus” by Matt Mikalatos.  It’s not a “Christian” book per se, it’s a novel and underlying the humor of it is a very serious reality.  It’s the mistake of seeing Jesus as what we need him to be in any given situation.  Here’s part of the description from Amazon: “When Matt Mikalatos realizes that his longtime buddy in the robe and sandals isn’t the real Jesus at all, but an imaginary one, he embarks on a mission to find the real thing.”

I don’t want to miss The Real Jesus because of my need to make him look and act like I think he should…but…I don’t want him to be angry, or distressed either.  That’s too raw, too human, and too much a mirror of what my reaction might be.  Maybe that’s the point.  The Real Jesus will show me my own humanity despite my creative attempts to mold him into an imaginary image.  Obviously he’s not finished yet.

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Posted in Daily Faith, Growth, Mark, Real Life

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Surprise, It’s Me

Posted on November 4, 2015 | Leave a comment

Mark 6:47-52 NIV  And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he [Jesus] was alone on the land. 48 And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them, 49 but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, 50 for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” 51 And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, 52 for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.

My Thoughts:
This Scripture is a different kind of picture of what “belief” looks like for those closest to Jesus.  It turns out those most intimately connected to Jesus can suffer bouts of what verse 52 calls “hardened” hearts.  I’m pretty sure fatigue, fear, confusion had a lot to do with that. That’s true of us too, but these were his disciples.  That’s a surprise isn’t it?

We can fix those physical conditions with more rest and more knowledge.  Those are surely needed, but the heart problem needs something more.  That fix is being willing to consider Jesus is watching for opportunities to come you.  He may choose unusual circumstances to walk into your life or your circumstances and then climb right into the “boat” with you.

“Take heart” no matter how astounding it seems, his words “Surprise, It’s Me” are his comfort and assurance for your heart and your life.

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Posted in Growth, Mark, Real Life

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