A Cup and A Baptism

Mark 10: 32-40 There are three places and times where Jesus foretells his arrest, death and resurrection in the gospel of Mark. We read and heard the third this morning. Over the last several weeks we’ve heard all three. After Jesus prophesied his death and resurrection a second time in chapter nine, the disciples argued…

More Stubborn than Righteous

Mark 10: 2-16 The Pharisees came to Jesus to test him. Students in school have been tested, challenged, quizzed by their teachers since schools first opened. On one occasion a student burst into his professor’s office and said, “Professor Stigler, I don’t believe I deserve this F you’ve given me.” To which Stigler replied, “I…

Teach Me to Hear & See

I’ve heard sounds of things falling and landing recently.  I’d look around to see what fell and find nothing.  I’ve prayed recently for the Lord to teach me to see and hear better in the Spirit, particularly in light of a recent dream. Living in our last parsonage and serving my last appointment in the…

To Follow God 2

Back in April, I read about the rich, young man in Mark’s version of his encounter with Jesus (Mark 10) and wrote this reflection in my journal. “Something still had him.  He asked what he must do to have eternal life.  In Jesus’ day before the resurrection (the young man) was to adhere to the…

A Return

Peter said to him, “We have left everything to follow you!” “I tell you the truth,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes,…