SCRIPTURE: Mark 9:42-50 Sin (evil, injustice, immorality, cruelty, greed, lust, pride, selfishness, murder, rage, etc.) is serious. We all sense that there is ‘good’ and ‘evil’, we just don’t like it when others tell us which is which. We all sense that there ought to be justice, but we don’t want anyone else to Judge us….
Jesus will decide who is on His side!
SCRIPTURE: Mark 9:38-41 Whose team are you on: Christian Reformed, Baptist, Presbyterian, Pentecostal, Lutheran, Associated Gospel? Too often we divide into camps, and treat others as if they are not one of us. Jesus points out that it is not our differences that divide us, but our connection to Jesus that unites us. This reminds me…
Doing good and trusting God!
SCRIPTURE: Psalm 54 The background to this Psalm is 1 Samuel 26, where David has a chance to kill Saul, but doesn’t. David is on the run, and his own neighbours are reporting on his whereabouts, trying to get him killed. Even though God has promised him that he would one day be king, he refuses to kill…
1 Chronicles 17-22
SCRIPTURE: 1 Chronicles 17-22 What do you sense the Lord saying to you? PRAYER
Who does your church celebrate?
SCRIPTURE: Mark 9:33-37 Among chickens, there is a pecking order… among humans too. We are eager to establish ourselves in a good place, to try to rise up in the ranks, to belong and be valued. There is something normal and healthy in this, God created us to belong and be valued. But the curse of…
Ignorance is not bliss
SCRIPTURE: Mark 9:30-32 Were they embarrassed about their lack of understanding, or afraid about the meaning of Jesus’ words? It’s plain to us today, we’ve heard this explained so many times, but this was ‘crazy’ to their minds. Jesus is avoiding the crowds, and trying to get His message through to His disciples. The problem was…
Physical and spiritual healing!
SCRIPTURE: Mark 9:25-29 This kind can only come out by prayer… are their kinds that can come out in other ways? I am not sure what went wrong with the disciples healing attempt, or why they were arguing with the religious leaders. I am not sure why “this kind” of spirit was different, and how “this…
“Everything is possible for the one who believes.”
SCRIPTURE: Mark 9:14-24 “Everything is possible for the one who believes.” Compare the optimist and the pessimist, and you will this verse illustrated. The person who allows doubts to reign in their mind and heart are easily defeated. But the person who allows God-confidence and possibility thinking to reign seem to be undefeatable. It’s not that…
Christian atheists or Atheist christians?
SCRIPTURE: Psalm 53 David is overwhelmed by how many people deny and defy God, how foolish and corrupt so many of them are. While it is true, I believe, that it is foolish to deny God, I do not think that therefore every atheist or agnostic is the worst kind of person morally; in fact I…
Why the world is a dangerous place…
“The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who do nothing about it.” (Albert Einstein)