Mark 8

Welcome to Mark 8! Chapter 8 is the halfway point in the gospel. There are lots of great things to comment on in the chapter. I look forward to reading your thoughts. I especially love the opening interaction between Jesus and the disciples. After feeding the 5000, and then 4000, the disciples seem perplexed at how to stretch one loaf of bread between them. As much as I would like to mock the disciples, I think we often do the same thing. The Lord will bless us with a great financial gift for our ministry, yet moments later it seems we will worry about support. This is true of our personal finances as well. I'm sure there are times Jesus looks at us and says, "Don't you understand yet?" (Mark 8:21)

Mark 7

The first reading for this week is actually associated with Mark 6. I had too many good things related to Mark 6 to fit into a week, so I figured we could simply run into this week. Day two's reading finally gets us to Mark 7. The chapter starts with some good teaching about the dangers of tradition. Can anyone relate to that? I know our church is young, but these problems can take hold quickly if we are not careful. I pray our hearts will always pursue the will of the Lord alone.

Mark 6

I don't have power yet...but Jesus does! I don't know if or when I'll be able to get back to the blog (thanks Joe and Vicky for access to a computer!), but I wanted to open up a Mark 6 stream. Feel free to leave your thoughts. It's more good stuff!

Mark 5

Great teaching Sunday J! What a great message. I should note that the next four weeks of readings are posted on the church website if you need them. I will be on vacation this week, but am hopeful that I will be able to check in from time to time. As we move into our second month, I want to encourage everyone to keep up with the reading. I agree with Carl who has mentioned several times that this is better when done together!

Have a great and blessed week!

Mark 4

Mark 4 is primarily a collection of parables, or stories Jesus used to teach and illustrate. The chapter closes with a narrative telling of the disciples fear in the midst of a storm. As I read Mark 4 this morning, my mind was drawn to Hurricane Gustav. I imagined the disciples riding out the storm in some house or hotel on the Gulf, perhaps even on one of those oil rigs. Understandably, they are afraid. Where is Jesus? Asleep. Maybe that's not an exact parallel, but my mind couldn't help going there.

What are your impressions of this chapter? Do any of the parables really resonate with you?