Are we guilty of giving up the power of the kingdom and replacing it with rules? Is there a reason Jesus talks so much about the Pharisees? We seem most likely to become like them. We need to examine
Continue reading...Jesus taught us to pray for the kingdom’s coming, to pray for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. But Jesus also taught that with his coming the kingdom of God was at hand.
Continue reading...Do you have to believe that Jesus is God in order to be saved? Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. And after
Continue reading...Are you tired from serving the Lord? Are you burned out? Jesus has many things to teach us about ministry, the ministry he has commissioned us to do. He has taught us that we can do his ministry by
Continue reading...Mark has challenged us with the account of Jesus sending his followers out into the villages to preach the kingdom. We are to do the same if we trust Jesus and are loyal to him. But now he asks us
Continue reading...Jesus had just experienced unbelief in his hometown. Those who were most familiar with him, or so they thought, could not accept that he was being used by God in amazing ways. The corollary of that
Continue reading...We seem to have a problem with accepting our heroes as normal people, with normal family lives and upbringings. Like the Greeks, we prefer to think of our heroes as those who are the offspring of gods
Continue reading...What is the most dire situation you have ever faced? I immediately think of the near death of my son-in-law, my oldest daughter’s husband. In Mark’s Gospel Jesus has been meeting people
Continue reading...I can imagine a tagline, “Jesus is the answer to the demons in your life.” The problem with that sentiment is two-fold: (1) Jesus is not merely an answer for our problems, he is lord of all,
Continue reading...What are you afraid of? I’ve had many nightmares of someone breaking into my house and threatening my family and I was helpless to withstand them. We all have fears of losing relationships we
Continue reading...Are you a shade tree or a weed? Jesus continues describing the kingdom in parables and by doing so exposes our wrong motives and encourages real life. Take a look at yourself in this mirror, he says. He
Continue reading...Is there any danger in hearing the truth? God judges us by how we respond to His light. Jesus has begun teaching in parables because his listeners are not really wanting to understand his message.
Continue reading...How do you know if someone is really a follower of Jesus? A real sea-change has been occurring in Jesus’ ministry. The popularity of it has not waned, in fact, perhaps, it has increased. But
Continue reading...Family is everything. We hear that all the time. But what if your family doesn’t believe what you believe about the biggest issues of life? What if your family is actually against you? What
Continue reading...Will Jesus forgive any and every sin? Or can you go too far? Jesus has been performing feats of power, healing people from diseases that had plagued them with no hope for healing in sight, casting out
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