subscribe to the RSS Feed

Saturday, July 31, 2010

Thus He Declared All Foods Clean

Posted by Pastor Pat on June 28, 2009

Read Mark 7:1-23

Remember to whom Mark writes.  He is writing to a Roman audience, a Gentile audience.  He is showing how they are included in the redemptive purpose of God to secure for Himself a people who will love Him and worship Him forever.  It is these people who will enjoy the presence of God forever.  Although this truth caused the religious establishment to put Him to death, it caused the larger world to rejoice.

WAIT! There is more to read… read on »

Living the Christ Life

Posted by Pastor Pat on June 24, 2009

But He answered them, “You give them something to eat!” And they said to Him, “Shall we go and spend two hundred denarii on bread and give them something to eat?” (Mark 6:37)

WAIT! There is more to read… read on »

Patriotism, Christianity, and Dissent

Posted by Pastor Pat on June 20, 2009

17 “For Herod himself had sent and had John arrested and bound in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, because he had married her.  18 For John had been saying to Herod, ‘It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife’”(Mark 6:17, 18).

WAIT! There is more to read… read on »

The Authority of Christ Today

Posted by Pastor Pat on June 16, 2009

“And He summoned the twelve and began to send them out in pairs,

and gave them authority over the unclean spirits”(Mark 6:7).

WAIT! There is more to read… read on »

He Marveled Because of Their Unbelief

Posted by Pastor Pat on June 12, 2009

Read Mark 6:1-6

In all of our stories from Mark 4:35 and following, there is consistent thread of faith.  Faith appears throughout as a precondition to the miraculous.  Nonetheless, is faith a precondition to the miraculous or is it a consequence of the miraculous?

WAIT! There is more to read… read on »

Faith, Repentance, Fellowship, and Forgiveness

Posted by Pastor Pat on June 8, 2009

Read Mark 5:25-34

This passage, and those surrounding it, has challenged me to continue thinking of the inter-play between faith, repentance, fellowship, and forgiveness.  Personally, I desire to make each of these elements containable and connected.  I want them “to fit” into a way of thinking that is understandable, tamable, and perhaps controllable.  I want to be in control of what each of these elements look like.  Yet it is impossible to fit the proverbial square peg into the round hole without doing damage to both the peg and the hole.  Unfortunately, what I want and what is biblical are not always the same.  You might wonder how the passages in Mark 4:35-6:6 evoke such thinking?  Faith is “huge” in all of the stories noted in Mark’s gospel.  Repentance is never stated, only assumed.  As a consequence of faith, God works mighty miracles.  In the absence of faith, established boundaries are honored and God chooses not to work.  Much is assumed throughout.  As I have meditated on these things I have tried to honor the biblical text without forcing many of my theological presuppositions into the text (i.e., “exegesis good, eisegesis bad”).  Initially, if my ramblings appear disjointed and unconnected, please dismiss it and forgive me.  However, there is a chance that it might jar you into greater clarity in these areas and thus I press ahead with my delineations.

WAIT! There is more to read… read on »

Fell At His Feet and Implored Him Earnestly

Posted by Pastor Pat on June 4, 2009

22 “One of the synagogue officials named Jairus came up, and on seeing Him,

WAIT! There is more to read… read on »