Tag: Following Jesus

Digging in Deeper: Mark 4:39-41

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“He got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Silence! Be still!’ The wind ceased, and there was a great calm. Then he said to them, ‘Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?’ And they were terrified and asked one another, ‘Who then is this? Even the wind and the sea obey him!'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Have you ever had something happen in a relationship with another person that made you completely reevaluate what you thought of the person? Maybe it was a positive reevaluation, maybe it was a negative one, but you couldn’t ever think of the person in the same terms again. After a day of teaching like they had done dozens of times, Jesus and the disciples got in a boat for a little trip. Along the way, something happened that made them completely reevaluate what they thought about Him. Let’s talk about it.

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Digging in Deeper: Mark 4:26-27

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“‘The kingdom of God is like this,’ he said. ‘A man scatters seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day; the seed sprouts and grows, although he doesn’t know how.'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

What role do we play in the process of salvation? How do we actually contribute to the growth of the kingdom? If you would claim the name of Jesus as your Lord and savior, those are perhaps questions that have at least occurred to you. We often hear about evangelism and are chided over its lack in our lives and in our churches. What Jesus says here helps to frame out a bit what evangelism actually entails and what should be our focus in it in a way that may help give us more confidence in doing it. Pay close attention.

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Morning Musing: Mark 4:24-25

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“And he said to them, ‘Pay attention to what you hear. By the measure you use, it will be measured to you–and more will be added to you. For whoever has, more will be given to him, and whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

One of the cynical maxims that is so often true about this life is that the rich get richer. People who have wind up obtaining more. They use their advantages to gain even more advantages for themselves. Eventually your money starts making money for you all by itself. What we see here seems to be Jesus offering legitimacy to this idea. Well, He is. Just not in the way you think. Let’s talk about what He’s really saying.

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How to Vote

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So, we’ve spent the last five weeks talking about how as followers of Jesus we need to engage with politics in our culture. All along the way, I’ve been telling you that in this final installment in our conversation I would tell you how to vote. Well, in this message I’m going to tell you how to vote. I hope your ready for it…

How to Vote

In 1953 Democrat Lyndon Johnson was running for reelection to the Senate from the state of Texas. It was shaping up to be a landslide victory for the incumbent who had recently become the youngest Senator elected to the position of Minority Leader for the party. This was of no doubt great relief as his previous election in 1948 was razor thin and he only won by 87 votes when a box of uncounted ballots was “discovered” at the last minute in a small Texas town. Even though his margin of victory in 1954 was enormous (85-15), there were a number of pastors in the state who had been openly encouraging their members to vote for Republican Carlos Watson. Johnson wasn’t much known for being gracious in defeat or victory. Early on in his new term in the Senate he was able to pass a small update to the federal tax code for 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations making it illegal for them to openly advocate for candidates for public office. This became known as the Johnson Amendment.

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Morning Musing: Mark 4:2-3

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“He taught them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them, ‘Listen! Consider the sower who went out to sow.'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Every teacher has a style. And most teachers have a set of stories they tell over and over and over again. They’re stories they use to make the points they think are the most important to make because they convey the most critical truths they want to communicate. For Jesus, the style was parables, and Mark 4 contains some of the parables that He no doubt told in every little town, village, and hillside He visited. This is a parable we’ve looked at before together, but if Jesus told it a lot, it’s probably worth our time to look at it again.

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