Christianity, when it is true to itself, proclaims the power, healing and transformation which is found in Jesus Christ. The moment that any Christian movement loses its focus on the person of Jesus Christ, it ceases to be fully, wholly Christian. It is the person of Jesus Christ which makes us the people of God. […]
The Indestructibility of Christ (Mark 4:35-41; 13:1,2)
In these two texts from Mark’s gospel we find a stunning contrast. We are met with that which appears to be indestructible, but is, in fact, quite destructible; and that which appears so vulnerable and destructible and which is, in fact, indestructible. In Mark 13 the disciples are walking with Jesus and they are admiring […]
The Extravagant Sower (Mark 4:1-20)
Jesus’ parable of the Sower is often treated as the parable of the Soils. We spend a great deal of time analyzing the different soils in the passage, because after all, the Sower and the seed are always the same; it is the quality of the soils that results in different levels of responsiveness. Jesus […]
The Lord of the Sabbath is Here! (Mark 2:23-3:6)
This passage opens with Jesus simply walking through a field with His disciples. Mark, along with the other gospel writers, takes note of several times when Jesus is just walking along, going from one place to another, and along the way things happen and lives are changed. Recall the time Jesus was walking along on […]
The Temple is Here! (Mark 2:1-12)
We have seen in the first chapter of Mark that Jesus speaks as God speaks, sees as God sees, and touches as God touches. Mark is revealing the character and divine dignity of Jesus Christ at a breathless pace. Jesus is turning the tables on sin and disease and the power of Satan. As this […]
Jesus Sees as God Sees (Mark 1:29-45)
In this passage, we witness Christ’s first public healings. The whole town gathers at Jesus’ door to bring their sick and demon-possessed to Him. The apostles observe this and begin to realize that Jesus has the power to draw a really big crowd. They put themselves forward as managers to help schedule and maximize His […]
Jesus Speaks as God Speaks (Mark 1:14-28)
We have heard Jesus’ identity attested to by John the Baptist, the ancient prophets, the Holy Spirit, even the Father Himself at Christ’s baptism. We have witnessed the emergence of Jesus on the stage of human history, but we have not yet had a single word uttered from the mouth of Jesus Himself until here. […]
The Messiah is Revealed! (Mark 1:1-13)
During the Christmas season, we reflect upon the mystery of the incarnation – God Himself becoming a man. In these next few blog posts, I would like you to reflect with me upon that mystery through the eyes of Mark, the writer of the second Gospel. We will walk together through a few of the […]
Rebuilding the Pulpit
One of the abiding values of God’s Word is that we are privileged to see the true people of God being the people of God in a wide variety of situations. We see them dancing on the shores of the Red Sea with tambourines in their hands… “I will sing unto the Lord for he […]
For Such a Time as This
The following is the my Inauguration Address from Monday, November 9, 2009. You can listen to the address on iTunes by clicking here. __________________________________________________________________________________________ The ancient Greeks had two different words for time, chronos and kairos. The first word, chronos, is where we get our word chronology from. It refers to ordinary “clock time” which is measured […]