September 1, 2008 4:50 AM
Sam wrote:
So commonplace in our lives have been the teachings in this chapter that we probably gloss over a lot of it. Familiarity breeds laziness. How many of you can even name just twelve men---those who first followed Jesus? A simple task in itself, an even simpler one, I would think, for Christians. Yet, I'll wager that not only can you not name all twelve of the original disciples, neither can 99.99% of all so-called (or self-called) Christians. Is this bad? Is it not enough to just know that we are saved and do our 'deeds' for God? Do we HAVE to know things like this? Yes, to all 3 questions. Never mind.....a new thought just flew into my head (I'm barking up the wrong tree anyway on this subject of Christians 'knowing' their background. Forget all above---let's just talk about 'the twelve' Okay, so we can't name them from memory, but we can most certainly refer to them by opening the Bible and finding their names (hopefully most Christians can find these verses in a relatively short period of time). Now, if you look here (Ch 3) or Luke chapter 6 or Matthew chapter 10 or Acts Chapter 1, you will see that not all twelve names match precisely, but don't get hung up on that....just know that there were 12 'original' disciples. Now, the challenge to you is this....for each of those names, pick 12 people in your lives and match them against the 12 disciples. For example--do you know someone who is doubtful of Christ--that person would be matched with Thomas. Do you know someone who would betray someone else for money--well, that of course would be Judas Iscariot. Do this with all 12 and write them down in a list. This will give you an opportunity to talk to those people about Christ by telling them of the qualities you see in them for God. Any takers? Reply to this
A couple of quick things on the personal side. My wife and I went to church together yesterday. In fact, we have been going to church as a family for about a month. We are getting to know people at the church, having discussions, and we are making plans (for the first time in many, many years) to invite some people into our house. It may not sound like much to you, but this is all very big. Also, our daughter is very happy with friends she is making in church. And my wife and I prayed together 2 nights ago about a situation/friend in her life after we talked. Lastly, my son is planning to go to church with us on Sep 21 when Steve Sapp is going to preach. A couple we have known for many years (Dan and Phyllis Clemmons) have a son who knows our son from church camp many years ago. Hopefully the two boys will connect so that my son will get back into church.
Related to that, I realized yesterday that I had lost all hope/faith that my son might become a Christian before leaving for college. He is a senior in high school. I just stop thinking about it. He is a good kid and many, many things in his life are back on track (compared to this time last year). He is doing well in school, happy, maturing, making good decisions, his relationship with my wife is light years better and his/my relationship is close. Yet, until Friday, when a friend planted an idea in my mind about trying to get him involved in church and perhaps baptized before leaving for college, I have to confess that I have not thought about this for many years. I am ashamed that I lost this vision for my son, but very happy that I have it back and that God is moving to make things happen. Much of what has happened between my wife getting better (healthwise, emotionally and spiritually) and my son showing signs of interest in returning to church and most important, my hard and callous heart starting to soften, is beyond coincidence. It is God working and moving in my life. I do not deserve what is happening, but I am very, very grateful to God as well as to all of you for your love, prayers, friendship and most of all for being a part of this blog that helps me stay/remain focused on growing spiritually. Reply to this
September 1, 2008 7:08 AM
Rich wrote:
Mark 3. What are all of the demons that are talked about in the NT? It seems that Jesus encounters demons all the time. Is demon possession a term that describes a common illness of today (i.e., heart disease, cancer, etc) or was it a condition that existed at that time that does not so much exist today? Is demon possession just another term for sin?
I want to say something about Mark 2: 1-12. I was struck when I read this that to Jesus, forgiveness of sin was much more important than simply healing some physical ailment. That is spiritual illness is what really matters. Physical issues are nothing in the big scheme of things.
I know this intellectually. The idea of sin being our main problem is all over the NT. But after seeing this so plainly here, I asked myself if I am completely grateful to God for forgiving my sins. Do I focus my thankfulness of that or do I focus on the physical issues. Earlier I talked about the many changes in my family. These are truly great. But, am I more grateful for these 'physical' changes than I am in knowing that God has forgiven my sins through Jesus? Fact is, I am not. I focus way, way too much on physical things instead of on spiritual facts.
What are you grateful for? Do you understand the importance of forgiveness of sin? Is it merely some stroke of a pen that God made or do you see/realize that this gift that we have from God cost him the life of his son? Fact is, curing illness, fixing a family, providing us with jobs so that we have a place to live, food to eat and clothes to wear, are the simple 'stroke of a pen' to God. Those are easy for him. He made the entire world with a few breathes and a few spoken words. But forgiveness of sin, that cost God much, much more? We need to thank God each and every day for the incredible gift he has given to us. Reply to this
So commonplace in our lives have been the teachings in this chapter that we probably gloss over a lot of it. Familiarity breeds laziness. How many of you can even name just twelve men---those who first followed Jesus? A simple task in itself, an even simpler one, I would think, for Christians. Yet, I'll wager that not only can you not name all twelve of the original disciples, neither can 99.99% of all so-called (or self-called) Christians. Is this bad? Is it not enough to just know that we are saved and do our 'deeds' for God? Do we HAVE to know things like this? Yes, to all 3 questions. Never mind.....a new thought just flew into my head (I'm barking up the wrong tree anyway on this subject of Christians 'knowing' their background. Forget all above---let's just talk about 'the twelve' Okay, so we can't name them from memory, but we can most certainly refer to them by opening the Bible and finding their names (hopefully most Christians can find these verses in a relatively short period of time). Now, if you look here (Ch 3) or Luke chapter 6 or Matthew chapter 10 or Acts Chapter 1, you will see that not all twelve names match precisely, but don't get hung up on that....just know that there were 12 'original' disciples. Now, the challenge to you is this....for each of those names, pick 12 people in your lives and match them against the 12 disciples. For example--do you know someone who is doubtful of Christ--that person would be matched with Thomas. Do you know someone who would betray someone else for money--well, that of course would be Judas Iscariot. Do this with all 12 and write them down in a list. This will give you an opportunity to talk to those people about Christ by telling them of the qualities you see in them for God. Any takers?
Reply to this
Mac - interesting challenge. I am going to give it a try.
A couple of quick things on the personal side. My wife and I went to church together yesterday. In fact, we have been going to church as a family for about a month. We are getting to know people at the church, having discussions, and we are making plans (for the first time in many, many years) to invite some people into our house. It may not sound like much to you, but this is all very big. Also, our daughter is very happy with friends she is making in church. And my wife and I prayed together 2 nights ago about a situation/friend in her life after we talked. Lastly, my son is planning to go to church with us on Sep 21 when Steve Sapp is going to preach. A couple we have known for many years (Dan and Phyllis Clemmons) have a son who knows our son from church camp many years ago. Hopefully the two boys will connect so that my son will get back into church.
Related to that, I realized yesterday that I had lost all hope/faith that my son might become a Christian before leaving for college. He is a senior in high school. I just stop thinking about it. He is a good kid and many, many things in his life are back on track (compared to this time last year). He is doing well in school, happy, maturing, making good decisions, his relationship with my wife is light years better and his/my relationship is close. Yet, until Friday, when a friend planted an idea in my mind about trying to get him involved in church and perhaps baptized before leaving for college, I have to confess that I have not thought about this for many years. I am ashamed that I lost this vision for my son, but very happy that I have it back and that God is moving to make things happen. Much of what has happened between my wife getting better (healthwise, emotionally and spiritually) and my son showing signs of interest in returning to church and most important, my hard and callous heart starting to soften, is beyond coincidence. It is God working and moving in my life. I do not deserve what is happening, but I am very, very grateful to God as well as to all of you for your love, prayers, friendship and most of all for being a part of this blog that helps me stay/remain focused on growing spiritually.
Reply to this
Mark 3. What are all of the demons that are talked about in the NT? It seems that Jesus encounters demons all the time. Is demon possession a term that describes a common illness of today (i.e., heart disease, cancer, etc) or was it a condition that existed at that time that does not so much exist today? Is demon possession just another term for sin?
I want to say something about Mark 2: 1-12. I was struck when I read this that to Jesus, forgiveness of sin was much more important than simply healing some physical ailment. That is spiritual illness is what really matters. Physical issues are nothing in the big scheme of things.
I know this intellectually. The idea of sin being our main problem is all over the NT. But after seeing this so plainly here, I asked myself if I am completely grateful to God for forgiving my sins. Do I focus my thankfulness of that or do I focus on the physical issues. Earlier I talked about the many changes in my family. These are truly great. But, am I more grateful for these 'physical' changes than I am in knowing that God has forgiven my sins through Jesus? Fact is, I am not. I focus way, way too much on physical things instead of on spiritual facts.
What are you grateful for? Do you understand the importance of forgiveness of sin? Is it merely some stroke of a pen that God made or do you see/realize that this gift that we have from God cost him the life of his son? Fact is, curing illness, fixing a family, providing us with jobs so that we have a place to live, food to eat and clothes to wear, are the simple 'stroke of a pen' to God. Those are easy for him. He made the entire world with a few breathes and a few spoken words. But forgiveness of sin, that cost God much, much more? We need to thank God each and every day for the incredible gift he has given to us.
Reply to this