IT IS ALMOST 10:00, MONDAY NIGHT. The children are snoozing upstairs. Aside from a few outside noises—a passing car . . . a barking dog . . . a few, faint voices in the distance—all’s quiet on the home front. That wonderful, much-needed presence has again come for a visit—quietness. I recall when our children were little, how valuable times of silence were to both Cynthia and me.
Read MoreTag Archives: Mark
A Servant, Not a Celebrity
Exactly what does our heavenly Father want to develop within us? Well, rather than getting neck-deep in tricky theological waters, I believe the simple answer is found in Christ’s own words.
Read MoreBeing a Miracle
HER VOICE WAS WEAK and fearful as she spoke to me over the phone. It was almost midnight, and she kept apologizing . . . but she was so lonely and wanted someone to listen. I never got her name nor her address nor enough hints about her location to follow up our conversation. Her desperate story broke my heart. I wept after she said “Good-bye—thanks for listening.”
Read MoreYanking the Thorns
WHAT DO THORNS REPRESENT IN SCRIPTURE? Prickly issues that steal our joy, confidence, and progress in our faith. Jesus’ own words describe the menace of thorns to our spiritual vitality. The seed that fell among the thorns represents others who hear God’s word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things, so no fruit is produced.
Read MoreFighting the Fast Fade
As you waved goodbye to your friends at church last Sunday, what mental darts were left stuck in the target of your thinking? Can you remember those pointed challenges from the man who stood before you with Bible in hand? How many hours have passed since you sat there, opening your ears and heart to counsel from God’s always-relevant Book? A few dozen maybe? Ah, it’s starting to fade, isn’t it?
Read MoreWhat Employees Want
A Public Agenda Foundation study, coauthored by Daniel Yankelovich, came up with these top ten qualities that today’s workers want in a job: 1) Work with people who treat me with respect. 2) Interesting work . . .
Read MoreDo What You Can
Centuries ago a little boy found himself in the midst of a vast crowd of people—larger than any group he’d ever seen. He had come out of curiosity, having heard that a man named Jesus was nearby.
Read MoreTo Serve and to Give
God’s true servant is like the Lord Jesus, who came not “to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). To serve and to give. Pride wants strokes—lots of them. It loves to get the credit.
Read MoreThe Sting of the Thorn, Part Two
We’ve been talking about Jesus’s parable in Mark 4:1–20 about the farmer who sows seeds in four different types of soil. As I mentioned in Part One, I’m bothered by the third group because thorns come in and destroy the healthy growth of the Christian. It is interesting that the thorns were already present at the time the seed entered, and that the thorns were never completely out of the picture even though the seeds began to take root (Mark 4:7).
Read MoreThe Sting of the Thorn, Part One
Give the Reverend Dullard Drydust enough time and he will manage to confuse most sections of the Bible. Because we preachers are notorious for getting hung up on Greek tenses and purpose clauses and theological trivia, we often shy away from those passages that appear nontechnical and plain. Like the parables, to be specific. Like Mark 4, to be exact.
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