In Mark 3 verse 31 to 35 we see a very interesting dialogue take place as Jesus is informed that His family is waiting outside for Him... what does this mean for us? check it out here. to move to the next story of the sower and the seed, click here.
so probably close to 15 years ago i wrote a challenging email to a couple of friends of mine about some aspect of following Jesus... a week later i did the same... at some point i told someone about it and they asked to be added and so i added them... pretty soon i started spam-inviting people from the typical cheesy group Christian emails that used to hit my inbox and some of them decided [...]
As we look at Mark chapter 3 verse 20-27 i take a bit of a reverse glimpse of it by looking at denominations vs denominationalism [or as i sometimes refer to them in talks as demonisations which is what we make of denominations when we start worshipping them or who they are] and encourage each of us, whether we belong to a denomination or not [don't get me started on "non-denominational"], to be keeping the [...]
next up, we see Jesus select the 12 who He designates as apostles and makes some very interesting choices... so take a look at Mark 3 verse 13 to 19 to see the next post on unity, not denominationalism go here.
this is a short psalm with a big focus on praising God: 'Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy. For the Lord Most High is awesome, the great King over all the earth.' [verse 1-2] which is a great thing to be reminded of. especially when times are tough and we feel more at home reading how God is with us even when we are walking through the valley [...]
ah, Psalm 46 - if you come for a visit to the Simple Way, chances are good you will be faced by it in some form or other, and particularly verse 10 [a great one to set to memory] which says: He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” So give yourself a minute now if you have time... [...]
'My heart is stirred by a noble theme as I recite my verses for the king; my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer.' (verse 1) this psalm is billed as a wedding song and so that poetic opening feels like a suitable way to get things started - and a good reminder to those of us who get caught up in the lifeness of life to be reminded that we serve a stunningly [...]
i have no idea why i start this in my cartoon voice, but if you can get past that [i do, quickly] then it is a continuation of the gospel of Mark, and a look at the first 6 verses of Mark chapter 3. Jesus does a really great thing. And the 'christians' respond in anger because He didn't do it 'the right way' - wow, this one took my by surprise a little - [...]
Moving on to Mark 2 verse 23 to 28 and the tricky question of whether we obey the biblical law to the absolute letter or whether by sometimes doing that we can perhaps miss out on the heart of the law and the foundational message of 'Love God, Love people' message that Jesus spoke. to continue on to 'Jesus has a death wish?' click here
continuing with Mark chapter 2 we read about how Jesus calls Levi to follow Him and then is part of a very much frowned-upon party gathering... these are the thoughts i had on it... to see the next passage looking at the letter of the law against the spirit of the law check this out