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What Keeps Us Away from Following Christ?
In Mark 10 we have the story of the rich young ruler. He’s done well. He’s worked on. He truly wants to do what is right. Jesus knows it. He looks at him and loves him. He sees this man is on track for the Kingdom. But there is an obstacle. “You are lacking one thing.” I have a feeling if Jesus…
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Why Could We Not Cast It Out?
Mark 9:14-29. The disciples couldn’t cast out the demon from the boy. The father easily confessed his belief and lack of belief and asked for more. Yet… the disciples are baffled. Mark, in his gospel, leaves the disciples baffled more than the other gospel writers. One of the heart-searching things about the Gospel of Mark is how I find myself…
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The Oppressed and Spree Killers
The shootings in Aurora, CO, shock us once again. It is absolutely horrifying that someone plans that much detail just to kill as many people as possible. We will keep asking “Why” and the “why” may never come. We will have conversations about gun control and violence and so many more things. Well, we won’t actually have any real conversations on those…
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The Offer They Couldn’t Refuse
We are in the Gospel of Mark this week. Pay attention to the significant differences between Luke, Matthew, and Mark. Mark starts off like a starter’s pistol in a sprint. He doesn’t seem to slow down for anything in the first few chapters. But I want him to slow it up. I want him to explain to me how Jesus…
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Fixing Our Attention
There are probably many in our world who still erroneously believe that Christianity is for the weak. It is for those who cannot think for themselves. It is for those in need of a “crutch.” Something like that. The claim I have made for years is the exact opposite. Christianity is not for the weak of heart. Have you met…
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True Religion
27 True devotion, the kind that is pure and faultless before God the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their difficulties and to keep the world from contaminating us. (James 1:27, CEB) The current rage on blogs and other online sources this week is the supposed demise of “liberal” Christianity… and then the response of “liberal” Christians…
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A New Series for Group Bible Studies
As our church has been reading through the New Testament this summer, the format for the reading schedule has come from Biblica’s project The Books of the Bible. I have commented before on how this edition is made more for public reading and getting the reader into the full book of the Bible. IVP has now come out with a set of group…
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The Confidence We Need
Hebrews 9-10 lay out the work of Christ. The Old Testament system was in full view. It was a lot of work for very little hope. Christ comes and does this work once for all. This is a huge statement for a people who had to go through a lot of ritual every year. In Christ’s one perfect sacrifice he has…
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Pay Attention and Don’t Drift Away
In all our hand-wringing over the demise of (insert here alternately “liberal” or “conservative”) Christianity, what should be remembered is that while we’re busy yelling at each other, we might be forgetting to listen. This is why it’s necessary for us to pay more attention to what we have heard, or else we may drift away from it. 2 If the message that…
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The Process of Discipleship and the Beauty of Communion
I wrote earlier about the process of discipleship. When it comes to obedience, we so often need to “loop” right back up to faith. Discipleship isn’t “linear.” It’s a cycle. It’s a cycle that grows, but we never “leave” a certain step or stage of the process. We build. That is the beauty of communion. It “loops” us around. We come…
Category: Eat This Book
