Month: April 2021

Morning Musing: Proverbs 14:25

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“A truthful witness rescues lives, but one who utters lies is deceitful.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

What value is there in truth? Do lies really hurt? We live today in a culture in which truth is a bit of a fluid concept. We speak of having “my truth” as if that can be different from your truth or even the truth. Indeed, if there is such a thing as your truth and my truth, can there even be something that is the truth? Perhaps more importantly, does it really even matter? What’s wrong with these fluid concepts of truth? I’ve been watching a show lately that puts on display just why living in the truth matters so much. Let’s talk this morning about the HBO miniseries, Chernobyl.

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Digging in Deeper: Mark 9:36-37

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“He took a child, had him stand among them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them, ‘Whoever welcomes one little child such as this in my name welcomes me. And whoever welcomes me does not welcome me, but him who sent me.'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Are you a humble person? That’s kind of a tough question to answer honestly. I mean, on the one hand, you don’t want to say, “No,” to it because you’ll be outing yourself as prideful. No one wants that. On the other hand, if you say, “Yes,” you’re also outing yourself as prideful because surely no one who was really humble would claim such a mantle for themselves. But, if you say, “No,” and you really are a pretty humble person, you’re lying about it and humble people are fundamentally honest about themselves and so you’re either humblebragging or being dishonest which are neither one marks of true humility. Next question please? Well, how about this one: How can you spot a humble person? That seems like it should be an easier one to answer, but sometimes people who act the most humble in public are the least humble in private. Thankfully, Jesus gives us a pretty good litmus test here.

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Digging in Deeper: Mark 9:33-35

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“They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, ‘What were you arguing about on the way?’ But they were silent, because on the way they had been arguing with one another about who was the greatest. Sitting down, he called the Twelve and said to them, ‘If anyone wants to be first, he must be last and servant of all.'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Is there anything you do that you can say you’re the best in the world at doing? If you’re like me, while you may be good – even really good – at a few things, to say you’re the best in the world is probably not something you can claim honestly. Perhaps, though, you hold a Guinness World Record for doing something. You can search their archives for really obscure records and get them to come and watch you do it in order to claim the title. That would technically make you the best in the world until someone breaks your record. In spite of knowing we’re not the best in the world, though, most of us still want to be the best. We simply opt for a different level of greatness. If we can’t reach the pinnacle of world domination, then we’ll settle for being better than the people around us. This is a natural human tendency. It is a natural human tendency that Jesus here wanted the disciples to understand works very differently in the kingdom of God than it does in this world.

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Morning Musing: Mark 9:31-32

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“For he was teaching his disciples and telling them, ‘The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after he is killed, he will rise three days later.’ But they did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask him.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Have you ever missed something obvious? I mean, glaringly obvious. Like a large box in the middle of an empty room obvious. Sometimes we struggled to see what is right in front of us. The reasons for this are many. It could be we were distracted by something else. It could be we were just not paying attention to our surroundings at all. It could be that we just flat out missed it. Whatever the reason, though, discovering our obliviousness is always a little embarrassing. This is especially true when everyone around us caught what we missed. The feeling is abated a bit when aw hole group of people missed something, but it’s still pretty embarrassing. With this in mind, the disciples had to look back on experiences like this one with absolute mortification. Their ability to miss what seems like it should have been painfully obvious, though, gives us reason for confidence in something very important. Let’s talk about it.

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Digging in Deeper: Mark 9:29

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“And he told them, ‘This kind can come out by nothing but prayer.'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Are you a sudoku fan? I’m a word and numbers puzzle guy. You pick the puzzle. Crossword, sudoku, or something else doesn’t really matter. I don’t get to do them as often as I’d like, but I enjoy doing them. I maintained a USA Today subscription for a few months mostly so I could do the puzzles in them. The thing about these kinds of puzzles, though, is that there’s only one solution to the problem. You can try everything in the world, but if it’s not the right way, it won’t work. Well, sometimes life is a bit like a sudoku puzzle. You can try every way imaginable to overcome some challenge, but there is only one way that will ever positively move you forward. Jesus tells the disciples what it is here. Let’s learn with them.

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