When we catch our first glimpse of John Mark, we may have seen all there is to see. Scholars have conjectured that the young man mentioned in Mark 14:51, who fled away naked into the night, was none other than John Mark. Scholars surmise that perhaps John Mark,...
Listen! Jesus says to his hearers. Listen! There once was a sower who went out to sow. However, this sower either had an impossibly high regard for the potency of these seeds, or he didn’t seem to care about what he was doing. This sower seems more like Mr. Magoo than...
The great German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer once wrote, “The physical presence of other Christians is a source of incomparable joy and strength to the believer.” Not long after writing these words, he was arrested by the Nazi Gestapo and discovered amidst great...
When I counsel couples preparing for marriage I make a statement they generally find agreeable. I tell them, “Marriage is a process where you say an extraordinary Yes to each other.” This sounds perfectly reasonable to them. But then I add an observation they find...
“Behold, how good and pleasant it is when people bowl together in unity!” That is not exactly what Psalms 133:1 says, but it is a good paraphrase. What Psalm 133:1 exactly says is, “Behold, how good and pleasant it is when people live together in unity,” but what...
Jesus is baptized by John. Immediately, the Spirit descends upon him like a dove. Immediately the Spirit drives him into the wilderness for forty days of testing and temptation. He returns to walk along the Sea of Galilee and calls two young fishermen to become his...
