In Mark 4 verse 1 to 20 Jesus tells the parable of the sower and the seed that confuses His disciples so much that He has to sit with them later and explain it a little more clearly to them - and even today it seems we have different ideas of what He was saying or what He could be meaning so i guess it makes sense to wrestle with it and see what makes [...]
this last weekend i got to go away with my three best men - Regan Didloff, Rob Lloyd and Duncan Houston - to this great secluded cottage in Betty's Bay and i picked up this book called 'The Gospel according to Peanuts' by Robert L Short [where old people may know that 'Peanuts' refers to the life and adventures of Charlie Brown and Snoopy and friends] in it, he quoted this verse from psalm 137 [...]
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... [...]
as you will probably know if you have followed my writings for any amount of time, my favourite cartoon strip is called 'Pearls before Swine' by Stephan Pastis [who stubbornly continues to refuse to add a stuffed dolphin called 'No_bob' [because he doesn't] to his series, fearful of the unmanageable rise in book sales i imagine] and every now and then he just completely nails life on the head like in this one: [For a [...]
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