August 30, 2008 6:32 AM
Tony wrote:
Why would 4 men just stop what they were doing and follow a total stranger? Jesus had not done any miracles yet and He was not being followed by mobs of people yet, so why did they follow? I have no idea, obviously the spirit was with Jesus and the men saw or felt the urgency to follow. How many times have we heard a message and felt the urgency to follow yet we have not, or maybe we have. Where would they disciples be if they had not listened and followed? I don't know. Jesus heals the leper and sends him away with a strong warning not to tell anyone but to go give the offering that Moses commands for leprosy. Instead the man goes and tells all. You would think after having a deadly disease like that you would do as the "doctor" ordered, especially if it was Jesus. I know this man was excited but what if his leprosy returned because he did not do what he was told? We are commanded daily on what to do and what not to do, how often do we follow directions. Commands concerning sin, anger ,greed, envy,lust,we fight these sins and more daily. Jesus has saved us from these sins do we offer the required sacrifices in todays time. Just a thought, have a great day. Reply to this
August 30, 2008 7:52 AM
Sam wrote:
WOW! SO much in such a short chapter. I don't know where to begin. Well, maybe at the beginning: "...the beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God." Gospel--truth. What Mark (or whoever wrote this book) is saying, is that what we are about to read/hear is the TRUTH about someone/something totally unimagineable at the time is was ORGINALLY written. Can you imagine the reaction of the non-believers at the time this book was written? SON OF GOD--ah, cmon! God is God....He is not part human. Of course, these same non-believers, yet totally immersed in religion, could not even understand the scrolls they called Scripture, otherwise they would have seen those Scriptures coming to live, to truth.
Today, let's say someone claims to be from a far away galaxy, say the Andomeda Galaxy, and had the capability to accurately read minds and predict some future events up to a year in advance. And this person gave several examples of his prowess, convincing many people (say 12), that he was indeed a Andromedan and proved to them that he had these capabilities. Then, 'the twelve' set about telling the world about this person, even though they met with persecution at every turn. Then, after the Andromedan 'returned to his home in the sky', some of them wrote books, as did others who may have seen some of his 'miracles', and yet others got revelations from him while he was back in Andromeda-Land, and also wrote books about him. How many of you would believe this was 'gospel'. Not many, I bet, without actually having seen this person and results of his 'talents'. So, why do we, as have millions of others before us and with us today, believe in the gospel of Jesus as outlined here in this book? PROBABLY, because we so desparately fear death and desire a place we recognize as being Heaven, the main topic of Jesus' visit to Earth, and being 'invited' to go to this place upon our deaths. If you look at it WITHOUT FAITH, it is definitely far out there, as would be the Andromeda Galaxy, and any person from there. I believe our desire to WANT to believe is so strong, that we WILL believe. How else can you explain it? "Miracles" happen to us from time to time, which we attribute to God---things we truly believe came about because of 1, God's love for us, 2, our prayers, and/or 3, our 'works' for Him. We so strongly want to believe this is gospel, that the truth for our fortunes (and misfortunes as described by Rich yesterday) is from God, that we finally convinced ourselves (achieved faith) that is is true. I have seen people with 'special' powers, even seen how some have an almost total recall of memory (in the news and on TV) ---Oh, and if it is on TV then it MUST be true ---. Are these capabilites from God? How do we KNOW? I strain (not Adromedan strain) to believe in God. I HAVE to. I so desire to spend eternity in a place of bliss, I have convinced myself to have this faith...to believe what Mark has written is Gospel. Reply to this
August 30, 2008 8:15 AM
Sam wrote:
To Rich (first of all, of course we are all thankful no one was hurt!), BUT.....shame on you! You DOUBTED God. You still doubt God. You worry about insurance, the fine, getting the car fixed. These are NOTHING! You should be ever so grateful to GET a fine, have a higher insurance payment, and no car for awhile. These should be reminders to you all the time, not for inattentive driving (I did the same exact thing a few years ago causing an accidend like yours), but for God's love for you. He prevented, by split seconds which HE orchestrated, serious injuries or death to people. Be ever-so thankful for THAT, not your 24-hour delay to get God back into your life. Can you imagine what God was thinking for those 1000 years (a day to God is...well, you know) while patiently watching your and waiting for you to go to him in prayer? My GOD, how He must have ached. And now, He is probably aching even more.....you DOUBT Him.
I realize that this blog will seem to everyone who does read it as extremely hard, and without heart, but trust me, it is not. I love you as a member of Christ, and the lessons I think you should have learned from this test by God, you have not yet done so. It is not about injury, loss of life, damage to a car, less cash to spend on other things because of needing a new car or higher insurance payments. NO, it is about trusting in God. This reminds me of one of the most dramatic events in my life (besides the murder of my brother, my daughter having Lupus and brain aneurisms, my son being hooked on drugs and now in a drug rehab facility and my elder sister dying of cancer), when our house burned down in the middle of the night on 4 December 2004. I, seriously, did not worry about our losses---no reason, they were gone. I didn't worry about where we were going to live---I knew someone would provide us a place to stay. I didn't worry about replacing 'things', as all 'things' are just 'things' anyway. No, I learned to trust in God....I continually prayed with expectations that He would make things all right. And of course, He didn't. Didn't???? No, of course not, He make things the way HE wants them to be. I STILL have several adversities in my life (my sister died after the fire, my daughter had the brain aneurism surgery after the fire, my mom's arthritis and my dad's memory have become worse SINCE THE FIRE. I will continue to be tested by God, as will YOU. Don't wait a minute (that is 253.4 days on God's 'clock') to go to God in prayer. Both after 'bad' events, as well as 'good' ones. I think it is remarkable that God is working with your family more than he is with you (parable of the lost sheep comes to mind). Yes, be thankful for that, of course, but more importantly, be thankful for everything...pray for everything all the time, at the time of importance. This is Sam speaking, with a loving heart, but desiring to spur you on to greater greatness. I expect the same from you when I doubt our God!!! Reply to this
August 30, 2008 5:57 PM
Rich wrote:
Mac - Thanks, I needed that!!! I see what you are saying and I agree. It is a shame that it has taken me so long to be grateful for the good instead of focusing on the bad. I do that way too much. In the situation with my wife, I have spent so much time over the past 10 years focusing on the bad that I miss the good, miss the lesson, but much, much more importantly, miss seeing that God loves me at ALL times.
I have always struggled with feeling love from God "in good times and in bad." I really appreciate your LOVE - that you would lay our friendship on the line to speak the truth to me. I want to learn and grow. I also want to spend eternity in heaven with God, in the place of bliss. I want to learn to see my "momentary" troubles as reminders from God that my desire is for something much greater than what I have here. I am far from that, but thanks for a very special friend, I learned a lesson today and moved closer to a more full understanding of God. Reply to this
August 30, 2008 6:10 PM
Sam wrote:
To Rich.....REALLY want to get together with you and your wife for an evening of dining, dancing, and games...well, maybe not the dancing part! Would love you have you over soon, some Sat or Sun evening just to fellowship and get to know you better, and your wife. Not to try to drag her to church or anything like that...we just need some friends to spend time with, that's all. Reply to this
August 30, 2008 6:36 PM
Rich wrote:
Why does Mark (or the author) go our of his way to describe John as a complete and total wild man. I imagine that if I met John, I would be immediately turned off to his appearance. I would think he was some sort of beggar or a nut case. I would judge him merely on his appearance. My guess is that people of the time did the same. HOWEVER, note that the Bible says that "The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him." Why? Because he spoke the truth!!! He said what people needed to hear, not what their itching errors wanted to hear.
Much was the same with Jesus. Think about how many times we are told that the people were amazed with Jesus, that Jesus was different from the religious leaders of the time, that Jesus taught as one who had authority and so on.
Speaking the truth is tough. Mac spoke the truth above. I was not happy when I first started reading, but I soon appreciated that he did not just pour some sugar coating on me. He said what I needed to hear, not what I wanted to hear.
I do not speak the truth, say what needs to be said, nearly enough. Not to my wife, my children, my friends, my co-workers, neighbors, or even to myself!!! To do so correctly, I need to pray much more and study/absorb God's word much more. John spoke the words of God, not his own words. I can do the same, but only if I actually know and understand the word of God. What if John would have chosen not to speak the words of truth?
Do you think that we are told about John's appearance (specifically, that he was a wild man that some of us - me for one - would have crossed to the other side of the street to avoid) to specifically teach us that the words we speak are much more powerful than the clothes we wear, the house we live in, the cars we drive, the job or title we have, the success or failures of our children, whether we have hair, or wrinkles, or on and on an on. I think so. In fact, that is why these "things" are all fleeting, momentary, meaningless in the big scheme. When my life is over, none of these will mean anything. The fact that John wore camel skin clothes and ate locusts and wild honey meant nothing after his head was cut off. All that mattered was that he fulfilled God's purpose for his life and he knew, loved and obeyed God.
As for Jesus and why men just dropped everything and followed him, maybe it is the same. Jesus spoke the truth, plain and simple. People with good hearts respond to the truth. The guys who followed Jesus were the right ones because they responded to the truth when it was put before them.
I made the same decision at one time in my life (when someone spoke the truth to me - studied the Bible with me). Am I still responding or have I decided that the world that says what my ears want to hear is more interesting than the truth? How about you? Reply to this
Why would 4 men just stop what they were doing and follow a total stranger? Jesus had not done any miracles yet and He was not being followed by mobs of people yet, so why did they follow? I have no idea, obviously the spirit was with Jesus and the men saw or felt the urgency to follow. How many times have we heard a message and felt the urgency to follow yet we have not, or maybe we have. Where would they disciples be if they had not listened and followed? I don't know. Jesus heals the leper and sends him away with a strong warning not to tell anyone but to go give the offering that Moses commands for leprosy. Instead the man goes and tells all. You would think after having a deadly disease like that you would do as the "doctor" ordered, especially if it was Jesus. I know this man was excited but what if his leprosy returned because he did not do what he was told? We are commanded daily on what to do and what not to do, how often do we follow directions. Commands concerning sin, anger ,greed, envy,lust,we fight these sins and more daily. Jesus has saved us from these sins do we offer the required sacrifices in todays time. Just a thought, have a great day.
Reply to this
WOW! SO much in such a short chapter. I don't know where to begin. Well, maybe at the beginning: "...the beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God." Gospel--truth. What Mark (or whoever wrote this book) is saying, is that what we are about to read/hear is the TRUTH about someone/something totally unimagineable at the time is was ORGINALLY written. Can you imagine the reaction of the non-believers at the time this book was written? SON OF GOD--ah, cmon! God is God....He is not part human. Of course, these same non-believers, yet totally immersed in religion, could not even understand the scrolls they called Scripture, otherwise they would have seen those Scriptures coming to live, to truth.
Today, let's say someone claims to be from a far away galaxy, say the Andomeda Galaxy, and had the capability to accurately read minds and predict some future events up to a year in advance. And this person gave several examples of his prowess, convincing many people (say 12), that he was indeed a Andromedan and proved to them that he had these capabilities. Then, 'the twelve' set about telling the world about this person, even though they met with persecution at every turn. Then, after the Andromedan 'returned to his home in the sky', some of them wrote books, as did others who may have seen some of his 'miracles', and yet others got revelations from him while he was back in Andromeda-Land, and also wrote books about him. How many of you would believe this was 'gospel'. Not many, I bet, without actually having seen this person and results of his 'talents'. So, why do we, as have millions of others before us and with us today, believe in the gospel of Jesus as outlined here in this book? PROBABLY, because we so desparately fear death and desire a place we recognize as being Heaven, the main topic of Jesus' visit to Earth, and being 'invited' to go to this place upon our deaths. If you look at it WITHOUT FAITH, it is definitely far out there, as would be the Andromeda Galaxy, and any person from there.
I believe our desire to WANT to believe is so strong, that we WILL believe. How else can you explain it? "Miracles" happen to us from time to time, which we attribute to God---things we truly believe came about because of 1, God's love for us, 2, our prayers, and/or 3, our 'works' for Him. We so strongly want to believe this is gospel, that the truth for our fortunes (and misfortunes as described by Rich yesterday) is from God, that we finally convinced ourselves (achieved faith) that is is true.
I have seen people with 'special' powers, even seen how some have an almost total recall of memory (in the news and on TV) ---Oh, and if it is on TV then it MUST be true
I strain (not Adromedan strain) to believe in God. I HAVE to. I so desire to spend eternity in a place of bliss, I have convinced myself to have this faith...to believe what Mark has written is Gospel.
Reply to this
To Rich (first of all, of course we are all thankful no one was hurt!), BUT.....shame on you! You DOUBTED God. You still doubt God. You worry about insurance, the fine, getting the car fixed. These are NOTHING! You should be ever so grateful to GET a fine, have a higher insurance payment, and no car for awhile. These should be reminders to you all the time, not for inattentive driving (I did the same exact thing a few years ago causing an accidend like yours), but for God's love for you. He prevented, by split seconds which HE orchestrated, serious injuries or death to people. Be ever-so thankful for THAT, not your 24-hour delay to get God back into your life. Can you imagine what God was thinking for those 1000 years (a day to God is...well, you know) while patiently watching your and waiting for you to go to him in prayer? My GOD, how He must have ached. And now, He is probably aching even more.....you DOUBT Him.
I realize that this blog will seem to everyone who does read it as extremely hard, and without heart, but trust me, it is not. I love you as a member of Christ, and the lessons I think you should have learned from this test by God, you have not yet done so. It is not about injury, loss of life, damage to a car, less cash to spend on other things because of needing a new car or higher insurance payments. NO, it is about trusting in God.
This reminds me of one of the most dramatic events in my life (besides the murder of my brother, my daughter having Lupus and brain aneurisms, my son being hooked on drugs and now in a drug rehab facility and my elder sister dying of cancer), when our house burned down in the middle of the night on 4 December 2004. I, seriously, did not worry about our losses---no reason, they were gone. I didn't worry about where we were going to live---I knew someone would provide us a place to stay. I didn't worry about replacing 'things', as all 'things' are just 'things' anyway. No, I learned to trust in God....I continually prayed with expectations that He would make things all right. And of course, He didn't. Didn't???? No, of course not, He make things the way HE wants them to be. I STILL have several adversities in my life (my sister died after the fire, my daughter had the brain aneurism surgery after the fire, my mom's arthritis and my dad's memory have become worse SINCE THE FIRE. I will continue to be tested by God, as will YOU. Don't wait a minute (that is 253.4 days on God's 'clock') to go to God in prayer. Both after 'bad' events, as well as 'good' ones.
I think it is remarkable that God is working with your family more than he is with you (parable of the lost sheep comes to mind). Yes, be thankful for that, of course, but more importantly, be thankful for everything...pray for everything all the time, at the time of importance.
This is Sam speaking, with a loving heart, but desiring to spur you on to greater greatness. I expect the same from you when I doubt our God!!!
Reply to this
Mac - Thanks, I needed that!!! I see what you are saying and I agree. It is a shame that it has taken me so long to be grateful for the good instead of focusing on the bad. I do that way too much. In the situation with my wife, I have spent so much time over the past 10 years focusing on the bad that I miss the good, miss the lesson, but much, much more importantly, miss seeing that God loves me at ALL times.
I have always struggled with feeling love from God "in good times and in bad." I really appreciate your LOVE - that you would lay our friendship on the line to speak the truth to me. I want to learn and grow. I also want to spend eternity in heaven with God, in the place of bliss. I want to learn to see my "momentary" troubles as reminders from God that my desire is for something much greater than what I have here. I am far from that, but thanks for a very special friend, I learned a lesson today and moved closer to a more full understanding of God.
Reply to this
To Rich.....REALLY want to get together with you and your wife for an evening of dining, dancing, and games...well, maybe not the dancing part!
Reply to this
Why does Mark (or the author) go our of his way to describe John as a complete and total wild man. I imagine that if I met John, I would be immediately turned off to his appearance. I would think he was some sort of beggar or a nut case. I would judge him merely on his appearance. My guess is that people of the time did the same. HOWEVER, note that the Bible says that "The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him." Why? Because he spoke the truth!!! He said what people needed to hear, not what their itching errors wanted to hear.
Much was the same with Jesus. Think about how many times we are told that the people were amazed with Jesus, that Jesus was different from the religious leaders of the time, that Jesus taught as one who had authority and so on.
Speaking the truth is tough. Mac spoke the truth above. I was not happy when I first started reading, but I soon appreciated that he did not just pour some sugar coating on me. He said what I needed to hear, not what I wanted to hear.
I do not speak the truth, say what needs to be said, nearly enough. Not to my wife, my children, my friends, my co-workers, neighbors, or even to myself!!! To do so correctly, I need to pray much more and study/absorb God's word much more. John spoke the words of God, not his own words. I can do the same, but only if I actually know and understand the word of God. What if John would have chosen not to speak the words of truth?
Do you think that we are told about John's appearance (specifically, that he was a wild man that some of us - me for one - would have crossed to the other side of the street to avoid) to specifically teach us that the words we speak are much more powerful than the clothes we wear, the house we live in, the cars we drive, the job or title we have, the success or failures of our children, whether we have hair, or wrinkles, or on and on an on. I think so. In fact, that is why these "things" are all fleeting, momentary, meaningless in the big scheme. When my life is over, none of these will mean anything. The fact that John wore camel skin clothes and ate locusts and wild honey meant nothing after his head was cut off. All that mattered was that he fulfilled God's purpose for his life and he knew, loved and obeyed God.
As for Jesus and why men just dropped everything and followed him, maybe it is the same. Jesus spoke the truth, plain and simple. People with good hearts respond to the truth. The guys who followed Jesus were the right ones because they responded to the truth when it was put before them.
I made the same decision at one time in my life (when someone spoke the truth to me - studied the Bible with me). Am I still responding or have I decided that the world that says what my ears want to hear is more interesting than the truth? How about you?
Reply to this