Apprentice 2 Jesus

Common English Bible

  • The Standard of Measure

    24 He said to them, “Listen carefully! God will evaluate you with the same standard you use to evaluate others. Indeed, you will receive even more. 25 Those who have will receive more, but as for those who don’t have, even what they don’t have will be taken away from them.” (Mark 4:24-25, CEB) 24… Read more

  • How to Be Labeled Insane

       We carry labels in our lives. We like to slap labels on others. Jesus had some labels of his own. They weren’t ones he necessarily put on voluntarily. “Insane” was one of those labels. 20 Jesus entered a house. A crowd gathered again so that it was impossible for him and his followers even… Read more

  • To My Pastor Friends

    13 Jesus went up on a mountain and called those he wanted, and they came to him. 14 He appointed twelve and called them apostles. He appointed them to be with him, to be sent out to preach, 15 and to have authority to throw out demons. (Mark 3:13-15, CEB) There is a sacredness to… Read more

  • The Freedom of Form

    27Then he said, “The Sabbath was created for humans; humans weren’t created for the Sabbath. 28 This is why the Human One[b] is Lord even over the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:27-28, CEB) As western Christians who happen to be evangelical… Pentecostal… Charismatic… cutting edge… emergent… umm… I know I’m forgetting some label… (We struggle with forms.… Read more

  • Disciples vs. Followers

    13 Jesus went out beside the lake again. The whole crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. 14 As he continued along, he saw Levi, Alphaeus’ son, sitting at a kiosk for collecting taxes. Jesus said to him, “Follow me.” Levi got up and followed him. (Mark 2:13-14, CEB) My wife takes Tai Chi classes. For the… Read more

  • Translation Process for the Common English Bible

    David Peterson – CEB Translator Luncheon SBL 2011 from Common English Bible on Vimeo. Read more

  • The Spirit, Forms, Ritual, and New Things

    I was in Mark 2 for my preaching text this past Sunday. The subject was new wine and new wineskins. When the Kingdom of God is bursting on the scene, we need to be able to move with what the Kingdom is doing. I was able to walk through vv. 1-17, but didn’t get to… Read more

  • It May Not Be the “Form” That is Dead

    In my particular tribe of Christianity, “cutting edge” is the deal. If the “form” is dead… change the form. That may not be it. It may be US. Jesus encountered opposition from the religious leaders in Mark 2 over “forms.” Jesus doesn’t toss out the forms. He recognizes how the religious leader weren’t understanding the… Read more

  • Where Healing Dwells

    Mark Chapter 2 has a series of stories that I think are summed up in Jesus’ little story of wineskins and new cloths: 21 “No one sews a piece of new, unshrunk cloth on old clothes; otherwise, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and makes a worse tear. 22 No… Read more

  • Give Up Reputation for Lent

    1 After a few days, Jesus went back to Capernaum, and people heard that he was at home. 2 So many gathered that there was no longer space, not even near the door. Jesus was speaking the word to them. 3 Some people arrived, and four of them were bringing to him a man who… Read more