MARK 8:27-30
Jesus and his disciples left Galilee and went up to the villages near Caesarea Philippi. As they were walking along, he asked them, “Who do people say I am?”

“Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say you are one of the other prophets.”

Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?”

Peter replied, “You are the Messiah.”

But Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.

Who do you say I am?
Scholars point out Peter’s confession is the turning point of the Gospel of Mark. From here on in, Jesus begins explaining who the Christ really is. The Christ is the savior of the world, the one who will take on death and win.

Mark 1:1 told us readers of Mark who Jesus is: the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. We have known who Jesus is the whole time. We knew he was casting out demons, feeding five thousand, healing blind people, and walking on water because he is the Son of God. The disciples now know what we know. Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, the Messiah.

Understanding who Jesus is comes easy when we read the Gospel. It comes much harder when we have to live that understanding out in real life. This is what makes Peter’s declaration so amazing. He has come to this realization through his experiences with Jesus on a day by day basis.

Just as Jesus was more concerned with who the disciples understood him to be than who others thought he was, so he is more interested in who I understand him to be than in who people who write books I read say he is. Jesus wants to know who I say he is based on his revelation to me through Scripture, life, and the Holy Spirit. He wants to know the same thing from us all.

Jesus, you are the Christ, the lord of all creation, heaven and earth. You are Lord of my life, my Savior and God. I believe you are the Son of God who came to save the world. I believe. - Dan Jones

Faith and Risk
The cultural air was ripe with expectation. Young and pregnant wives prayed that their wombs held the long promised Messiah. Isaiah’s prophecy about a Deliverer who would occupy King David’s throne might come try anytime. Desperate hope filled the air and conversations throughout first century Palestine.

So when One with amazing authority over truth, nature, demons, and human diseases walks among them, of course they declare, “The long awaited…Elijah has come!” Huh!?

I wonder how I would have understood Jesus. Had I listened to his teaching and sat among 5,000 plus people eating a few loaves of bread and baked fish – to their fill – and witnessed a blind man healed by Jesus’ spit, would I have seen anything more than an amazing prophet?

Would I have risked the death of my hope by daring to believe this man just might be the One every one of my people had yearned for, for generations? I know a bit about what it is like to fear letting hope get carried away. It’s always risky. I want to believe, but I am afraid of what would happen if I do, and I’m wrong. Splat.

Great risk always accompanies great opportunity. And no opportunity is greater than filling the hole in my soul with the only Person that fits its shape, God. To believe that God has actually come into my world seeking for me, inviting me to trust and follow him, embrace his death, and revel in his resurrection – this kind of faith cannot be mine except that I’m will to risk everything.

God of Love, I recommit myself to live a life of risky faith, radical trust. I will put my hopes and dreams on the line again today and embrace Jesus as my Messiah, and the worlds Deliverer. - Mike Leamon

MARK 8:22-26
When they arrived at Bethsaida, some people brought a blind man to Jesus, and they begged him to touch the man and heal him. Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. Then, spitting on the man’s eyes, he laid his hands on him and asked, “Can you see anything now?”

The man looked around. “Yes,” he said, “I see people, but I can’t see them very clearly. They look like trees walking around.”

Then Jesus placed his hands on the man’s eyes again, and his eyes were opened. His sight was completely restored, and he could see everything clearly. Jesus sent him away, saying, “Don’t go back into the village on your way home.”

2nd Blessing
Second blessing people may want to this text to talk about sanctification. Jesus touches your life and you are saved, but your view on life is still like trees walking around: messed up. Jesus touches you a second time, and your eyes are opened and now you can see.

The text is not speaking about sanctification anymore than Song of Songs is describing our relationship with Christ. Taking this metaphorically, as many people read Song of Songs as well, is to misunderstand the meaning of the text. So don’t use this text for second blessing sanctification proof texting.

I do think the passage today is a God-send for pastors. Jesus even uses two tries to make things right. I believe Jesus could have healed him on take number one, but he did not. He heals slowly and with two distinct actions. Sometimes healing comes that way, slowly. I don’t like to wait; I want the whole thing now. But Jesus takes his time here. He works with the man in small steps. In ministry this seems like the more natural way; the more permanent way. I appreciate this miracle, it give me space to not always have it perfect the first try.

Thank you God for showing me that it is OK to take things slow at times. I am such a perfectionist; I get angry when things don’t work the first time. Help me to slow down and be patient as you work in people’s lives enabling them to see. - Dan Jones

Strange Medicine
Jesus heals people in many fashions. His actions vary - speaking, touching, being touched, spitting, making mud with spit. His timing changes - immediate healing, delayed, and staged healings. Today he used the spit thing. Strange. Stranger still, if we understand the historical context.

Many in Jesus’ day considered spit to contain magical properties. In fact, ancient Romans spat in places like their right shoes every morning or after urination, etc. as a defense against evil. Spit (spittle) has been associated with magic through time and diverse cultures. Why would Jesus offer, what could be interpreted as a nod toward contemporary magic in his own healing practice?

Jesus risks others thinking of him as a magician in order to declare an important truth. What others consider a magic elixir, Jesus insists he is lord and master over. I think his actions declare, “You consider this spit or spit and mud mix to hold magical properties, but this material belongs to me. I am the Creator of it and I will use as I see fit.” It’s an issue of authority over everything, one that Mark repeatedly emphasis.

Devoted Christians become susceptible the same mentality most have. Things are good or bad in, and of, themselves. If contemporary or ancient people considered something to be magical or demonic or sacred in some way, we fall into the trap of thinking the same way about that object or action. Jesus wasn’t worried, however. After all, the earth is the Lord’s and everything in it (Psalm 24:1)!

Lord God, You have reminded me today, that everything belongs to you. I will not be afraid of any thing, however other use it or define it. I will use everything to your honor. - Mike Leamon

MARK 8:14-21
(So he got back into the boat and left them, and he crossed to the other side of the lake.) But the disciples had forgotten to bring any food. They had only one loaf of bread with them in the boat. As they were crossing the lake, Jesus warned them, “Watch out! Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod.”

At this they began to argue with each other because they hadn’t brought any bread. Jesus knew what they were saying, so he said, “Why are you arguing about having no bread? Don’t you know or understand even yet? Are your hearts too hard to take it in? ‘You have eyes—can’t you see? You have ears—can’t you hear?’ Don’t you remember anything at all? When I fed the 5,000 with five loaves of bread, how many baskets of leftovers did you pick up afterward?”

“Twelve,” they said.

“And when I fed the 4,000 with seven loaves, how many large baskets of leftovers did you pick up?”

“Seven,” they said.

“Don’t you understand yet?” he asked them.

Eyes and Ears testing
Remember back in elementary school when they tested your eyes and ears. Once a year, you were marched down to the nurse’s office with 4 or 5 other victims and forced to undergo beep listening and reading faded eye charts. This was traumatic for me every year. I received my first pair of glasses in first grade which made life much clearer for me. During the eye test, however, I was forced to remove my glasses and read without the help of prescription lenses.

I always tried to memorize at least two or three lines of the smaller letters and numbers, but somehow, when I stepped up to the masking tape line 15 feet away from the chart of sight, I could not remember the sequence and was forced to read the top two lines, E and F P.

Poor disciples with myopia, the same condition I suffer from. They cannot see beyond their own belly (a growing condition for us all as we age I believe, but back to my point.) The disciples think food when Jesus thinks acting agency or motivations. Yeast for bread: OK. Yeast “acting agency or motivation” of the Pharisees: Dangerous.

Another eye test failed for the disciples. They will catch on, but not until after the resurrection and more completely at Pentecost. The gift of the Spirit is like eyeglasses for us. The Spirit helps us to see things as God sees them instead of the way our warped perceptions view them. Thank God for the Holy Spirit or we all would be trapped in myopia with no escape.

Father, thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit who opens my eyes to see life as you see it. Thank you for enabling me to understand your will and Word through the work of the Holy Spirit in my life. You are an awesome God. - Dan Jones

Eyes Wide Shut
Wikipedia summarizes the 1999 movie, “Eyes Wide Shut” as repeated and surreal sexually charged encounters for New York doctor, Bill Hartford. By the end of the movie the viewer is left wondering if it was all a dream; thus the title.

Sex didn’t consume the disciples’ minds as they sailed across the lake. The other fundamental human drive did – food. As the viewer does with the movie, Jesus watched and listened to them wondering if they had been sleeping through the first year or so of their ministry together.

He’d multiplied loaves of bread twice. So he wasn’t concerned when, picking at the one measly loaf the disciples had thoughtlessly brought for the boat trip, Jesus takes the opportunity to teach. He uses bread baking, and the yeast that gives it fullness, as a metaphor for the danger religious and political leaders often pose to an authentic relationship with God. And his followers think he’s scolding them for not bringing more bread!

That’s me, and, well, you too! We interpret spiritual truth through the lens of what we are thinking at the moment, through what our years in a particular culture have taught us to think, along with our egos and prejudices. These realities dull our ability to hear profound and life giving truth outside our own experience. So we hear the words of that truth, but just don’t get it.

This is why the searching and questioning life is so important for those who want to break out of the shadows into God’s amazing and radically different reality – the one he originally designed all creation to experience. People aware of their own assumptions, prejudices, ego struggles – self-aware people – are the only ones able to experience the glorious freedom Jesus’ truth brings.

Light of the World, shine into every region of my mind and motives. Help me walk in this light and grow increasing self-aware so I can see your reality with my eyes wide open. - Mike Leamon

MARK 8:11-13
When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had arrived, they came and started to argue with him. Testing him, they demanded that he show them a miraculous sign from heaven to prove his authority.

When he heard this, he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, “Why do these people keep demanding a miraculous sign? I tell you the truth, I will not give this generation any such sign.” So he got back into the boat and left them, and he crossed to the other side of the lake.

Litmus Test Faith
I have come to be wary of people who accept me solely on the basis of one statement I make or one sermon they hear. Often these people are very vocal in their support and it is tempting to gravitate towards them. They pick you up and make you feel good. The end result of growing close to these people is always disappointment, for sooner or later, they will discover something they disagree with you on and then they cannot criticize you enough.

People like this are very rigid in their thinking and make others who disagree with them feel inferior or irrelevant. Unfortunately you can find these people in the church as well: people who have a litmus test for Christianity. Are you opposed to gay rights? What is your stance on abortion? How do feel about women in the workplace? What version of the Bible do you use? Can a Catholic be saved? What about the use of alcohol? The list could go on and on.

I think Christians who construct such rigid criteria for others miss the point. Certainly, the Bible gives us insight in the issues we face in the church and society, but often our fanaticism moves far beyond the confines of Scripture. This type of behavior is how the Pharisees lived. They wanted Jesus to prove he fit the criteria for being the Messiah based on their approved list of messianic musts. Jesus will have nothing to do with our boxed set of proofs. In fact, he is so frustrated by this narrow understanding of faith he cannot even stay there. He leaves as soon as he arrives.

I understand. It is hard to stay in a place where people are trying to squeeze you into their “pastoral” mold. There are enough pressures without others defining who you are. For me it is reassuring to see Jesus refusing to let others define his work or his identity.

Jesus, I am so often tempted to let others define me, to try and please them by meeting their expectations. I want you to define my life and to set the parameters of my ministry and identity. - Dan Jones

Prove It!
High School geometry demanded I prove theorems. Government class helped me experience the judicial branch by giving me courtroom exposure and the importance of legal proofs through testimony and cross examination. Science class asked me to prove hypotheses by conducting replicable experiments. I received a solid 1970’s public school education in Richmond, Indiana.

But proofs don’t do much good in life’s spiritual arena. Experience makes all the difference. Sure, my examination of the historical evidence has sufficiently demonstrated the reliability of New Testament testimony to Jesus. For example, I think there is enough legal proof to convince any open minded jury that Jesus returned bodily from the dead.

But Jesus isn’t so much interested in proving his claims by turning himself in a science lab beaker, replicating miracle after miracle. Fact is, he could never provide enough miraculous demonstrations to satisfy those who do not want to believe.

Instead, Jesus demonstrates the reality of his claims by inviting people to test them through personal experience with himself. King David reflected the evidential power of personal experience when he put his life in God’s hands in times of great peril. Reflecting on one of those times he wrote, “Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!” (Psalm 34)

Becoming personally acquainted with Jesus as leader and friend provides the kind of evidence Jesus is willing to give. Demand only some impersonal proof, and, in all probability, Jesus will climb in a boat and sail away, leaving us to our own self-satisfied, but lacking any authentic experience, conclusion, “See, he really isn’t anything special!”

Jesus, I’ve trusted, and tested, and tried you, and have found you true – not an easy truth, but fully and authentically true. I accept you as my spiritual Leader again today. - Mike Leamon

MARK 8:1-10
About this time another large crowd had gathered, and the people ran out of food again. Jesus called his disciples and told them, “I feel sorry for these people. They have been here with me for three days, and they have nothing left to eat. If I send them home hungry, they will faint along the way. For some of them have come a long distance.”

His disciples replied, “How are we supposed to find enough food to feed them out here in the wilderness?”

Jesus asked, “How much bread do you have?”

“Seven loaves,” they replied.

So Jesus told all the people to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves, thanked God for them, and broke them into pieces. He gave them to his disciples, who distributed the bread to the crowd. A few small fish were found, too, so Jesus also blessed these and told the disciples to distribute them.

They ate as much as they wanted. Afterward, the disciples picked up seven large baskets of leftover food. There were about 4,000 people in the crowd that day, and Jesus sent them home after they had eaten. Immediately after this, he got into a boat with his disciples and crossed over to the region of Dalmanutha.

“Loser”
If you can read the Gospels without putting a big “L” up on your forehead, you are better than me. I can’t help it. The disciples just seem so dense sometimes, such “losers” that I want to shout at them to think. I mean really, it is just 2 chapters ago that Jesus has fed 5,000 people with 5 loaves and 2 fish. The crowd is smaller, the disciples have more loaves and some fish, and they still ask the same question. “How are we supposed to feed all these people?”

Granted, the Gospel of Mark is not real sensitive to expressing time, so the amount of time between the two feedings could have been more than 2 chapters, but even so, the incidents are not so far removed the memory of the first feeding was completely forgotten. Come on disciples, get with it.

Then reality sets in. How many times do I cry out to God about the same problem or concern I have seen God handle over and over. I forget what God does in my life way to fast. As soon as trouble hits, I run back, frantic and worried. I guess the big “L” goes on my forehead too.

I am so glad God is patient with me and continues to pour grace into my life even when I panic.

Here again, the compassion of God wins out. He has compassion for the multitude hungry to receive more of Jesus and even compassion for us disciples who sometimes fumble the ball on the handoff.

God of compassion, thank you for being patient with me. I too quickly forget your works of mercy and grace in my life and panic. Help me to live confidently in your love. – Dan Jones

Retreat!
Sometimes you have to retreat in order to move ahead.

When I forget this principle, I wear out. I am no good to my family, those I am called to serve, my God, or myself when life is a constant full press ahead. Like many others, even when I retreat from the demands of work, I can become consumed with the demands of home and family. And vacation time doesn’t offer much deep refreshment when I follow the motto, “work hard, play hard.”

Three days of sitting in a no-man’s-land, listening to Jesus teach – how boring! – or, perhaps, just the cure for exhausted living. Deep refreshment that begins in the soul and percolates through one’s whole being begins with extended time with Jesus.

Deep spiritual refreshment will not come on the heals of doing a church service like a drive through at McDonalds; sing-pray-listen and run. It won’t come with a weekly meditation session with the lotus guru. Religious radio on the way to work, half awake (or full awake if you are a morning person) early morning devotions, or routine prayers – all of this serves its purpose, but none offers the kind of opportunity for deep spiritual refreshment that retreating for an extended period offers.

They’d brought enough food for two days. But they needed a third. “Just one more day with Jesus, and we’ll be ready to go!” By the middle of day three, stomachs growled, but souls were full. It was enough. And in his compassion, Jesus feed their bellies before he sent them home.

Father, I will make sure that I set aside extended days to be with you without the distractions of work, household demands, or entertainment. I’ll listen, reflect, interact, and fill my vision and ears with you and your words. And I’ll do this often enough so that your life energizes mine all the time. - Mike Leamon

(I'm late! We have a snow storm going through this morning. I aim for an 8AM weekday post. Today was a weakday!)

MARK 7:31-37
Jesus left Tyre and went up to Sidon before going back to the Sea of Galilee and the region of the Ten Towns. A deaf man with a speech impediment was brought to him, and the people begged Jesus to lay his hands on the man to heal him.

Jesus led him away from the crowd so they could be alone. He put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then, spitting on his own fingers, he touched the man’s tongue. Looking up to heaven, he sighed and said, “Ephphatha,” which means, “Be opened!” Instantly the man could hear perfectly, and his tongue was freed so he could speak plainly!

Jesus told the crowd not to tell anyone, but the more he told them not to, the more they spread the news. They were completely amazed and said again and again, “Everything he does is wonderful. He even makes the deaf to hear and gives speech to those who cannot speak.”

A Jumble of Contradictions?
Maybe this was a different crowd. The last time Jesus was in the area of the Ten Towns the crowds begged him to leave. He had freed the Cemetery Man from demons and allowed them to possess pigs. This scared and likely angered them. Cemetery Man wanted to leave with Jesus but Jesus insisted he return to tell everyone his story.

Now Jesus is back and, guess what, Cemetery Man did his job (Mark 5). People were ready to flock to Jesus and the begging reversed itself. Heal! Heal! Heal! And Jesus reversed himself. Don’t tell! Don’t tell! Don’t tell! It’s enough to discombobulate a serious Jesus-follower.

Cannot Jesus make up his mind? Or is he amazingly balanced?

We tend to be pendulums – swinging from one extreme to another. But I think Jesus had the unique ability to hold competing, even contradictory truths in perfect balance. He wanted to heal and feed desperate people. He was ultimately committed to have those who experienced him go and tell the world about it. But he was also absolutely committed to the reality that the freedom he came to offer ran far deeper, and would have a more far-reaching impact than only freeing people from physical ailments – even demon possession.

Jesus preached freedom from rebellion against God and a reconciliation of that relationship torn asunder ever since the Garden of Eden. He preached and lived an Eden kind of reality that had become absolutely foreign to a rebel world. He would die and return to life in order to break the power of this rebellion!

Here’s the sad reality. We tend to be awed with surface truth that gives a temporary skin and bones freedom, but shy away from the difficult and painful process of experiencing deep truth and freedom. Jesus knew the more the crowds were enthralled with the physical, the less attuned they would be to the spiritual. So sometimes Jesus insisted, “Don’t tell!” and other times, “Go tell” a tedious balance to maintain, indeed.

Lord God, help me to balance caring about skin and bones issues with heart and soul issues. With your help, I will never succumb to the easier path of being all about only one side of human need. - Mike Leamon

Upping the Ante
It’s like a mad episode of the Jerry Springer Show. Everyone bringing in the most handicapped person they can find to see if Jesus can heal them. There is no sympathy on behalf of the crowd towards those being healed; they are simply props in the magical acts Jesus is performing.

Jesus tries to get away from the crowd so he can connect with the man one on one but the crowd is insistent. They want to be entertained. The show is too good to stop. Jesus responds with a bizarre method of healing. Plugging the man’s ears and dripping spit on the man’s tongue. I’m not sure if this is my kind of healing, but it works. With the words be opened the man is healed and the crowd goes wild. The JESUS chant begins and bell dings for another round.

Mark’s wit and irony is too much sometimes. Here we find Jesus trying to quiet the rowdy crowd by helping a man hear and speak. Would this man catch the real message or just become one more voice in the incessant chant for more. Jesus helps silent voices to be heard and closed ears to listen. The crowd is not concerned about helping the man; they just want to be at the show.

It saddens me that at times I think church, yes even the church I pastor, is like this. We really don’t care about the person’s needs we just want to see Jesus do something cool. We want more hype, more sensationalism. Jesus wants to help people who have been silenced to speak, and those who are speaking to start listening.

God who created ears and tongues, help my ears to listen more than tongue speaks so the voice of those who have been silenced can be lifted in praise to you. - Dan Jones

MARK 7:24-30
Then Jesus left Galilee and went north to the region of Tyre. He didn’t want anyone to know which house he was staying in, but he couldn’t keep it a secret. Right away a woman who had heard about him came and fell at his feet. Her little girl was possessed by an evil spirit, and she begged him to cast out the demon from her daughter.

Since she was a Gentile, born in Syrian Phoenicia, Jesus told her, “First I should feed the children—my own family, the Jews. It isn’t right to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs.”

She replied, “That’s true, Lord, but even the dogs under the table are allowed to eat the scraps from the children’s plates.”

“Good answer!” he said. “Now go home, for the demon has left your daughter.” And when she arrived home, she found her little girl lying quietly in bed, and the demon was gone.

Bigotry on its Head!
Here you have it, the words every Jewish nationalist was waiting to hear from Jesus. The Jews are the children of God and the rest of the world are dogs. In our politically correct culture the woman would have certainly sued Jesus or at least gone on the talk show circuit decrying his racist bigotry.

I am sure white supremacist and other radically exclusivist groups love these words Jesus utters, but I am shocked. How ignoble, debasing and mean. The woman certainly understood the implied meaning and yet she replies with faith not anger. She had every right to be angry, to stand against the culture of domination and caste systems, but she does not. She responds with a desperate plea for mercy.

While I am still trying to figure out how to justify Jesus’ statement to the woman, Mark has slipped in the punch line. The Pharisees, the people who were the best of the chosen children, were oblivious to the things of God. The woman, despised and called a dog, refuses to leave the presence of God without a blessing. The unclean has become clean. Jesus sends the woman home to a restored and cleansed daughter. Once again the tables have been turned, the last becoming first.

Jesus, help me to live life with the integrity of the woman who refused to stop believing even when persecuted. Having you work in my life is more important to me than labels people affix to me. - Dan Jones

Dogs and Entitlement
How do you excuse Jesus for insulting a desperate woman by insinuating she is a dog!?

This is no modern urban term of endearment, “What’s up, dog?” or classic term of good fortune, “You lucky dog!” This was an insult reserved those considered morally or culturally inferior. Is the Son of God stooping to such prejudice?

Actually, Jesus performed miracles for several non-Jews without batting an eye at their cultural status. And, in fact, his deep compassion for Gentiles partially motivated the one time he turned violent, wrecking havoc among those selling sacrificial animals in the Temple. They had turned the one place in the Temple where non-Jews were allowed to worship, the Court of the Gentiles, into a boisterous market.

So why the insult in this situation?

I think Jesus wants this woman, and all of us, to remember that we cannot come to him with any hint of entitlement! I can never say to Jesus, “You owe me a miracle because you gave that person one.” Entitlement has become so much part of our modern mentality (at least in America) that it easily slips into our relationship with God. We feel he owes us.

I need to be reminded that God doesn’t owe me anything. I cannot come to him demanding that he do something or other for me. God invites me to come to boldly. Like this woman. He invites me to ask. He invites me to persist (like this woman who impressed Jesus with her humble comeback!).

However, God always acts based only on his character as a gracious and righteous God. He cannot be pressured or manipulated into anything. This means, asking and persisting in my requests, I must also trust whatever he chooses to give.

Lavishly Loving God, forgive me when my boldness turns into a demanding, entitlement attitude. In the midst of asking for many things, I reaffirm my trust in whatever answer you sovereignly choose to give. - Mike Leamon

MARK 7:14-23
Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. “All of you listen,” he said, “and try to understand. It’s not what goes into your body that defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart.”

Then Jesus went into a house to get away from the crowd, and his disciples asked him what he meant by the parable he had just used. “Don’t you understand either?” he asked. “Can’t you see that the food you put into your body cannot defile you? Food doesn’t go into your heart, but only passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer.” (By saying this, he declared that every kind of food is acceptable in God’s eyes.)

And then he added, “It is what comes from inside that defiles you. For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.”

Rigid Fundamentalist
Most people use the word “fundamentalist” to mean a religious person with a narrow mind, a judgmental attitude toward others, and who is so extreme as to be completely out of touch with the real world. Since 9/11 many have added “physically violent” to the definition.

Jesus was none of these things. Yet what he said to the crowd, after verbally beating up the religious leaders for their rigid loyalty to tradition, suggests that Jesus was a rigid fundamentalist of his own kind. He refused to budge an inch on moral integrity. What God declares wrong cannot be changed by anyone, anywhere or anytime.

Jesus, acting as God with human skin on, does make one huge change.

Instead of making God’s moral standard less demanding, he takes it to a deeper lever by internalizing it. For example, murder is still wrong, but he calls us to focus on the anger issues inside ourselves.

To the consternation of those who feel self righteous because they have one or two of these sins banished from their actions, Jesus pierces the heart to reveal sin long before it leaps into visibility. No wonder pride is on his hit list. No one dare think him or herself better than anyone else on the planet.

As much as I reject religious fundamentalism, as popularly defined, today I’m forced to confront a “Jesus Fundamentalism.” Rather than refusing to define some things as sin, I must accept both his definition and his focus on the source of all sin. I must seek inward, heart cleansing. In other words, God must define my deepest loves, desires, and thoughts.

Pure and Holy God, I not only give you my body with its actions, but I give you my heart that rules my body by its loves, desires, and thoughts. Reign supremely in all my life that I would increasingly reflect your beauty. - Mike Leamon

Ugly Duckling Reality
I’m not quite so vain as to think I am good looking, but I sure try hard to look good. I think I am at least average in my looks, not ugly by any means, unless you find a receding hairline ugly. All joking aside I have a pretty good self-image when it comes to my looks. I am comfortable with how I look and when I start feeling “fat” or out of shape, I try to do something about it so I can feel good about myself again.

I am constantly running into people who feel the same way about themselves spiritually. They think they are OK because they are not that bad, they don’t have any of those major flaws. In fact they probably feel pretty comfortable about where they stand with God based on what they do or don’t do.

The reality of our situation is completely different. Jesus throws out conventional wisdom. You can no longer judge the pot by how it looks on the outside. What happens under the exterior is where the truth lies. Inside each of us is a cacophony of evil screaming to be released. Evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness all come from within me.

I don’t like this picture of me at all. Thankfully, most of these voices have been muted by the grace of Christ in my life. But if for one minute I think they never existed I am fooling myself. Every one of us possessed these vices, albeit at differing degrees. I am humbled and amazed at God’s work in my life when I realize who I was, and still would be if God’s grace was not active in my life. Reality reveals ugliness on the inside, but God’s grace is transformative. He turns ugly ducklings into beautiful swans.

God of grace that transforms my ugliness into beauty thank you for the work of grace you have done in my life. Thank you for the promise of your continued transformative power in my life muting the voices of pride, envy, lust, anger, foolishness, evil thoughts, immorality, and deceit. I want to live in the power of your transforming grace every day. - Dan Jones

MARK 7:1-13
One day some Pharisees and teachers of religious law arrived from Jerusalem to see Jesus. They noticed that some of his disciples failed to follow the Jewish ritual of hand washing before eating. (The Jews, especially the Pharisees, do not eat until they have poured water over their cupped hands, as required by their ancient traditions. Similarly, they don’t eat anything from the market until they immerse their hands in water. This is but one of many traditions they have clung to—such as their ceremonial washing of cups, pitchers, and kettles.)

So the Pharisees and teachers of religious law asked him, “Why don’t your disciples follow our age-old tradition? They eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony.”
Jesus replied, “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote,

‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship is a farce,
for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’

For you ignore God’s law and substitute your own tradition.”

Then he said, “You skillfully sidestep God’s law in order to hold on to your own tradition. For instance, Moses gave you this law from God: ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and ‘Anyone who speaks disrespectfully of father or mother must be put to death.’ But you say it is all right for people to say to their parents, ‘Sorry, I can’t help you. For I have vowed to give to God what I would have given to you.’ In this way, you let them disregard their needy parents. And so you cancel the word of God in order to hand down your own tradition. And this is only one example among many others.”

Age Old Tradition Are Addictive
Too bad Jesus didn’t have a little more compassion on the Pharisees. Age old traditions and the sincerely spiritual are like two powerful magnets gripping each other with a force almost impossible to break!

The Pharisee sect had been around hundreds of years by the time Jesus came on the scene – long enough to build very meaningful traditions. The Christian church has been around 2000 years – long enough for the same reality to become true of Christians. We have many meaningful traditions.

From organs and “Sunday-go-to-meeting” dress, to the use of bronze crosses and closing our eyes for prayer, traditions of all kinds have shaped our expressions of spiritual values.

Age-old traditions are not in and of themselves bad. But the way Jesus bites into the spiritual leaders of his day, suggests that traditions can be as equally dangerous to spiritual wellbeing as they can be helpful. Like them, most of us, never really stop to critically assess our traditions.

We must, though, if we are to faithfully reflect Jesus’ conflict with tradition. We must critically evaluate tradition in light of scripture. We must ask if our traditions overshadow Jesus Christ so that our culture only sees them rather than him. Without flinching, we must examine our hearts to discover if we have unwittingly compromised our love for Christ by clinging to our traditions.
The older I get, the better I understand how hard it is to keep traditions in their proper place, to replace them when they begin to get in the way of an authentic relationship with Jesus, or to modify them when they begin to hinder our ministry to society. But I cannot escape the reality that Jesus came down hardest on those for whom tradition was the most meaningful.

Perhaps organized Christianity should re-examine this aspect of Jesus’ ministry and what it means for our many traditions, especially with the growing perception that the church is so wrapped up in itself, to have become totally irrelevant.

Jesus, examine my loyalty to the traditions I find meaningful. Speak the hard truth I need to hear. - Mike Leamon

Tradition
Our desire to do something because we have always done it that way is a powerful motivating force. There is comfort and peace in knowing something is going to work out OK since it always has. Following our traditions does not require rethinking why we are doing something; we just do it because we always have.

Most traditions we engage in are harmless, but some are good. I have found that when it comes to tradition we react like a wildly swinging pendulum, either defending all our traditions as though they were sacred, or abandoning them for something new and improved without thinking. Jesus calls the Pharisees to something much deeper here.

To me the central criticism Jesus makes is that the Pharisees have not been honest with their thoughts surrounding the “why” question. The traditions have kept them from thinking about what they are doing. We in the church are no less culpable today. How often do we stop to ask why we do something and think if there might be a better way to help people experience God’s grace. Instead of being critical with the people who ask “Why” we should embrace the discussion. Thinking about what we do and why we do it is as important as doing it.

Father, help me to think about what I do and why I do it. Help me not to over-react against tradition, but also to avoid the easy way out when others challenge my traditions. - Dan Jones

MARK 6:45-56
Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray.

When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land. He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. About the fourth watch of the night he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them, but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, because they all saw him and were terrified.

Immediately he spoke to them and said, "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed, for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.

When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there. As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus. They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. And wherever he went—into villages, towns or countryside—they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched him were healed.

Dreadlocks
I was recently on a mission trip to Guatemala with eight other people from our church. While there we stayed in a town that has become an international “haven” for young people and hippie throwbacks to hang out in. These “hippies” primarily spent their time hanging out in the streets smoking pot and getting drunk in the evening at licentious parties.

I passed several groups of “hippies” each day while walking between the hotel where we slept and the hotel where we ate. Each time there was never a comment, never a word exchanged until the last day. This day, we had taken a boat ride across the lake to visit an area devastated by a mud slide. While there we did some souvenir shopping and one member of our group bought me a dreadlock hat. Upon our return to the hotel, no less than three of the “hippies” spoke to me about my awesome looking hair. I was visible to them for the first time.

In our text today the disciples, who have been with Jesus his entire ministry do not recognize him walking on the water. The people in the towns, who have never seen Jesus at all, immediately know him. What makes the ones who saw Jesus repeatedly fail to recognize him, while those who had never seen Jesus before immediately recognize him?

I think it is the same thing that made me visible to the “hippies.” No, not the hair, it was the vibe. Put the dreadlock hat on and I start walking and talking like I am cool. Put Jesus in a city full of desperate people and he starts exuding love and compassion. No one else has compassion and love like Jesus does. The disciples missed it, as Mark says, because their hearts were too hard to take it in. The pressures of ministry, the constant nagging of the people, the ho-hum attitude of being in the presence of Jesus had hardened their senses to the compassion and love of Jesus so much they failed to recognize him. Too bad, for being with Jesus is totally cool and new for eternity.

God of compassion and love, help me to never take you for granted. Keep my love for you fresh everyday. I want to always see you as though I am looking at you for the first time. - Dan Jones

Socializing and Solitude
Everywhere we turn people lay in wait. And we help it happen so inbred is our urge for human connection. Or fear of aloneness.

Technology helps fill our moments with people, from old fashion television to new fangled cell phone texting, and from silent faces calling from roadside billboards to digitized voices announcing updates on our computers. If we aren’t physically around people, we at least have their faces and voices, almost, for many, 24/7.

True aloneness is difficult and scary. No human interaction leaves us alone with our own minds. The silence brings our own thoughts front and center, thoughts we often drown out in the human hubbub because they unnerve us. The lack of other faces forces us to confront the face of our own souls, the hidden self lurking beneath the visible one we project to the world.

Truth is, we cannot know ourselves and the truth about our spiritual health without adequate and genuine solitude. True self awareness always precedes spiritual health. Inward health allows us to live authentic lives in which the person people see is really the person we are. This is the kind of life Jesus lived. No duplicity. To use computer language, WYSIWYG – What you see is what you get, really. How refreshing. How unusual.

Most of us have much to hide from others. And from ourselves. Consequently relationships become complex, tricky, unhealthy. Solitude opens the door to spiritual health which opens the door to healthy relationships. So Jesus dismissed the people, even his disciples, and went off to be alone.

Ever present God, with your help, I will discipline myself to regularly step away from people, even the ones I love the most, turn off the voices, and turn away from the faces in order to be truly alone in your presence. Please, God, through these experiences lead me into a spiritual health that transforms me into the kind of person Jesus was. - Mike Leamon

MARK 6:35-44
By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. "This is a remote place," they said, "and it's already very late. Send the people away so they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat."

But he answered, "You give them something to eat." They said to him, "That would take eight months of a man's wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?"

"How many loaves do you have?" he asked. "Go and see." When they found out, they said, "Five—and two fish."

Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.

You feed them “That’s your problem”
My brother shared the story of a situation his pastor encountered on a mission trip in Europe. The team was doing building construction and needed to have some scaffolding moved from one side of the building to the other to continue their work. When the pastor approached the construction manager with the problem he was cryptically informed, “Your problem.”

I can just imagine the shock wave that must have reverberated through the disciples when Jesus looked at them and said, “You feed them.” Jesus has just commanded the disciples to do the impossible. To feed that many people was not a stretch it was madness, delusional. In their own strength, through their own methods, it was an impossible situation.

But the disciples are with Jesus, and Jesus never commands us to do something he can’t do. I constantly see parents challenge their children to do the impossible just so they can help the child with what they have asked them to do. Jesus does the same thing.

Here is an impossible task in life, have faith to say yes to it and believe I can do it. Notice Jesus did not take over he used what the disciples could bring. Certainly 5 loaves and 2 fish were mustard seed size offerings, but Jesus produced 12 baskets of leftovers after everyone ate their fill from them. He can do the same thing in our lives if we will just accept the challenge and obey.

Father, help to say yes to the impossible believing you will work in me to accomplish what I cannot. May you receive the glory and honor for all you do. - Dan Jones

Boundaries and Grace
I am on a life-long quest to learn how to set boundaries in my life. Yesterday, I finished a 30-day leave of absence from leading my church through an extended building program. I desperately needed this leave, in part, because of poorly enforced boundaries. My spiritual, emotional, and leadership energy had simply drained from me like oil leaking from a tired old car, leaving the engine on the verge of seizing up.

I return to my responsibilities today with a newfound sense of God’s calling and a renewed determination for strong boundaries designed to ensure that I spend the necessary time in spiritual development and physical activity to maintain the vigor needed to effectively pastor.

But I face a danger unique to any season of life, when one learns to put into place critical practices that have been largely absent before. Over-reaction. It will be easy to forget that life disciplines are a means and not an end. Firm boundaries are critical, not for their own sake, but in order to better serve others. If I want to reflect Jesus, developing strong boundaries will always equip me to better express an outwardly focused life. This will demand grace.

Grace means undeserved favor toward others. While I will learn the skills of saying “no” to some and “later” to many, in order to create boundaries, I must never forget that there will be times, when it is an appropriate expression of grace, to allow the needs of others to break the wall around time set aside for spiritual and emotional renewal. This is grace.

That’s what Jesus did in this story. He not only canceled his “staff retreat” (see Dan’s Thursday reflection) to serve the crowd. But now, he goes the extra mile and feeds them. Undeserved favor. If I’m not careful, I’ll reflect more the frustrated disciples. “We gave up our day alone with you Jesus, now let them feed themselves!”

Gracious God, forgive me for not setting enough firm boundaries in my life. In the process of putting them into place, help me to remain gracious. Give me the wisdom to know when to allow the needs of people to tear down these important walls. And in those times, grant that I would be as grace-filled as Jesus. - Mike Leamon

MARK 6:30-34
The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest."

So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.

Staff Retreat Cancelled
Imagine the excitement of the disciples upon returning from the mission Jesus sent them on. There had been so many firsts experienced. Demons had been cast out, sick people had been cured, and people had repented of their sins and turned to God.

Upon their arrival back to Jesus they burst forth with good reports from the mission field like a broken dam. Jesus, hardly able to contain the disciples, calls for a staff retreat, a time to debrief, encourage, retool and move into the next phase of ministry.

How exciting to retreat with Jesus when we are on the mountain top of faith. Sure, the disciples are tired; ministry is tiring even when it is enjoyable, but they are also feeling confident and exuberant. Getting away with Jesus now would be a great time of learning and spiritual growth.

Jesus gets sidetracked however. He sees the crowds who are still hungry for his attention and he cancels the staff retreat to go minister to them. If I was a disciple I would have been mad. Can’t Jesus stop paying attention to the multitude just once in a while and pay attention to me? Doesn’t he notice I need his support and affirmation?

Jesus did care about the disciples and he did spend time with them alone (Mark 9). The disciples are currently on the right path, the crowd is not. The crowd is all messed up, confused, and going the wrong direction in life. No celebration rally for the disciples, just more work. Later, when they don’t understand Jesus will take them aside and teach them, today the crowd is the more pressing need.

Ministry is like that. No rest for the jubilant. Get out there and keep ministering. Keep shepherding the lost flock. Celebrate later. Discipleship is not easy if we follow Jesus’ lead. I don’t always like it either. Frankly, I even resent it at times. Those are the times I must pray for the compassion of Jesus to flood my heart. And it does. Goodbye staff retreat, hello shepherd’s staff. - Dan Jones

The Power of A Proper Prefix
Christianity rises and falls on prefixes.

Christians in my country, America, who believe the moral teachings of the Bible apply to all time and all people, have forgotten this reality and, as a result, we have largely sacrificed a transformative role in the culture.

Remember your elementary grammer lessons about prefixes and suffixes. “Fix” means attach. “Pre” comes before and “Suf” suffers because it’s last or comes afterwards (corny but memorable). Both change the meaning of a rootword when we attach them. You see an example in the word “miss – understand – ing,” and also have the right word for how many Christians have miss – understood Jesus.

The prefix 21st century conservative Christians in America are largely known by is “anti.” Anti-abortion. Anti-homosexual [marriage, rights, etc.]. Anti-evolution. Anti- screams what a person or group is against.

Mark reveals a Jesus who invested much, if not most the opening half of his ministry communicating his compassion for people. And they got it. The message that Jesus cared came through so clearly that, as his popularity rises, crowds from all over rush out to a remote place to interupt what Jesus hoped would be a time of rest for his followers.

In just two chapters (Mark 8) Jesus will shift gears and begin talking about his death and the cost of discipleship. Many will abandon him when the subject turns from his compassion to the demands of discipleship. But the seeds will have been sown and the number of disciples will grow exponentially on the heals of his resurrection and return to heaven – even in the face of severe persecution.

Jesus’ first order of business wasn’t the sacrifice of following him, let alone what he was against, but his compassion for people. You could say it was the prefix that shaped the meaning of the root definition of Christianity – “Take up your cross, deny yourself, and follow me.”

I wonder what would happen if Christians who accept the Bible’s teaching, say, about homosexuality, became widely known for their deep love and compassion for those with HIV/AIDS? Do you suppose it would require us to change our perception of those pushing a so-called “pro” homosexual agenda from “enemy combatants” to “sheep without a shepherd”?

We’d still be controversial. Still illicite accusations of bigotry. Still be accused of hate. But, alas, a whole lot more like Jesus’ approach to people. And just maybe we’d sow the seeds of a that revival in America so many of us pray for, but by our prefix choice work against.

Lord of My Life, Forgive me for being weak on compassion. Show me ways to authically care for hurting people, no matter who they are – or their sexual orientation, and to do so without qualification. I want to be like your son, Jesus. - Mike Leamon

MARK 6:21-29
Finally the opportune time came. On his birthday Herod gave a banquet for his high officials and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. When the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests.

The king said to the girl, "Ask me for anything you want, and I'll give it to you." And he promised her with an oath, "Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom."

She went out and said to her mother, "What shall I ask for?" "The head of John the Baptist," she answered.

At once the girl hurried in to the king with the request: "I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter."

The king was greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her. So he immediately sent an executioner with orders to bring John's head.

The man went, beheaded John in the prison, and brought back his head on a platter. He presented it to the girl, and she gave it to her mother. On hearing of this, John's disciples came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

Read My Lips
It is way too easy to make foolish promises to people. Our emotions overwhelm us and we impulsively give our word. In retrospect we regret what we have promised, but we are forced to go through with the promise or lose face. Herod chose to go through with a promise; George H. W. Bush lost face. Either way, we are manipulated into doing something we don’t want to do by our own impulsiveness.

I think this rush to please others shows up in the church in the way we promise to help out people in need. As a pastor I am often tempted to overextend myself by volunteering to do more than I possibly can. I hear myself saying, “I can drive you to your appointment,” “I can stop by and visit you this week,” or “I can cover your Bible Study on Wednesday night” when my week is already trespassing into my day off.

The foolish choices I make, the promises that over-extend me, hurt others. Other people have to pay, and most often it is my wife. I sacrifice my closest relationship to help others. I rationalize my workaholic attitudes with holy zealousness and mature spirituality. I postulate that I would spend more time at home if others would do their part, but alas I must become a martyr for the Gospel of helps.

I have nothing against helping others, (in fact if you have been following this blog I advocate for actively coming alongside others), but there is a place for limits. Who do I hurt when I ignore my family? What type of example am I giving to others in the church? Am I best able to minister to others when I have no time for rest or enjoying God’s creation?

Pausing to think before making promises is critical. I can trust God to prompt me when to extend myself into the life of others, and also trust him to meet people’s needs through someone else.

God, help me to think before I speak. I desire to be available for those who need my help while not abandoning my family. Give me courage to enforce boundaries in my life. – Dan Jones

A Cocktail of Sorrow
The scene was as tawdry as it was sad.

The beautiful daughter of Queen Herodias does what Queen Vashti in the Old Testament story of Esther would not do, sensuously parade her georgeous body before the leering, drunken, and powerful men of Galilie – and her step father, King Herod. Controlled by his sexual excitement and libation, he rewards her with an offer of anything her heart desires.

Imagine the dungeon scene. Dank and rat infested, a wild looking man in camel hair clothes lays his head on the chopping block because a king, who, strangely enough, feared and respected him, was ruled by his liqueur and his pants.

Alcohol and sexual drive have always combined to create life altering decisions, and sometimes, as in this story, life ending decisions. From date rape, STDs, or unplanned pregnancy to HIV/AIDS or murder, this powerful cocktail affects a vast portion of humanity. The scenes very widely. But beneath the passion and pleasure of the moment, at least for one of the parties –the ruling men in this story - lay the sadness of persons used and debased.

Almost certainly this is one of the reasons why the biblical proverb warns, “Wine and beer make people loud and uncontrolled; it is not wise to get drunk on them.” (Proverbs 20:1 New Century Version). And the Bible places the boundary of life long monogamy around sex. These boundaries do not guarantee that tragedy will be avoided any more than being sexually faithful to a spouse guarantees a healthy marriage. But is goes a very long ways toward accomplishing its purpose.

Combined, these two boundaries provide an increased sense of self-esteem to those who observe them, the likelihood of healthier and happier relationships, not to mention a significant contribution to a longer life with fewer wounds to bear.

Giver of wine and sex, grant that I would enjoy them as you intended and, in doing so, stack to deck toward a fuller life for myself and a being a blessing, rather than a curse, to those around me. I will rely on your strength when these boundaries are difficult to maintain so that I may enjoy life as you intended. - Mike Leamon

MARK 6:14-20
King Herod heard about this, for Jesus' name had become well known. Some were saying, "John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him."

Others said, "He is Elijah." And still others claimed, "He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago."

But when Herod heard this, he said, "John, the man I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!"

For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he had him bound and put in prison. He did this because of Herodias, his brother, Philip's wife, whom he had married. For John had been saying to Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife." So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But she was not able to, because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled; yet he liked to listen to him.

Blind to the Obvious
I’ve searched for misplaced items, only to find them in obvious places! Every once and awhile I enjoy looking at a picture in which the artist has “hidden” several items by making them look like something else. The objects become obvious once they are found - right in front of my face.

Many first century Jews anticipated the appearance of the long hoped for Messiah anytime – a bit like many Christians anticipate Jesus’ second coming anytime today. Yet, when the Messiah appeared and began doing miracles that amazed people, and clearly set him apart from the ordinary person, a lot of people concluded he was everything but the Messiah.

If Herod could believe Jesus was the reincarnation of John the Baptist, how much more difficult would it have been to consider the possibility that he was the Messiah.

Intense hope, surrounded by deep blindness.

I wonder how many times I have been blind to obvious truth, all the while yearning to experience the benefits of the very thing. I seek peace, but the obvious keys to it elude me. I yearn for joy, but I cannot see the path to it, though it lay at my feet.

Many things blind me to the good truth I seek. Assumptions. Preconceived ideas. World view. Thought patterns. Lies I tell myself. No wonder Saint Paul wrote that transformation comes with mind renewal. Finding and experiencing the Truth that is Jesus Christ takes radically reordering the mind.

So my prayer today is a song.

Open my eyes, Lord. I want to see Jesus. To reach out and touch him, and say that I love him. Open my ears, Lord. And help me to listen. Open my eyes, Lord. I want to see Jesus. –Mike Leamon

Opposition ignored
John the Baptist was a real preacher. Jesus called him one of the greatest people ever to live, and I believe it. He defies the opposition with seemingly nothing more than a shrug. There are some people you don’t offend if you now what’s good for you, but John doesn’t seem to know.

I don’t imagine that too many of us will have the chance to offend the First lady, but there are people in our lives and churches who we do worry about offending. The church boss who doesn’t like the message can get a pastor voted out or make life miserable. I wish it was not the case, but the church has more politics than an Iowa caucus. As a pastor I am forced to deal with this because it is reality.

Beware, however, the pastor who concedes her authority to the church boss. There is something wrong with their understanding of authority. Certainly, many of the lay people in the church do not understand ecclesiastical authority, but that is no excuse for being a weak pastor. Tactful, patient, loving, caring, helping and listening are essential tools for every pastor, but not weakness or fear. Standing firm on the message of the Gospel is a must. There can be no backing down, regardless of who the message offends. Paul said, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel.” John clearly was not, and neither should I be.

American individualism does not belong in the church. There will be people who we need to confront with the truth of the Gospel regardless of what they can do to us. Confrontation of this kind is not easy, it cost John his head. It should not be sought out, but neither can it be avoided. We must not be afraid of people. Fear not the person who can kill the body, fear the one who can condemn the soul. I want to follow John’s example when it comes to courageously presenting the message of the cross. No matter what it costs.

Father, help me to have the courage to confront those in the church who oppose your plans and ways. Help me to love them, but to also be firm. Teach me the difference between stubbornness and standing firm. -Dan Jones

MARK 6:6b-13
Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village. Calling the Twelve to him, he sent them out two by two and gave them authority over evil spirits.

These were his instructions: "Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. Wear sandals but not an extra tunic. Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave, as a testimony against them."

They went out and preached that people should repent. They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.

Package free
Every day we send illegal immigrants back to where they came from, most of them having arrived in the USA with nothing but the clothes on their backs. We don’t like people with nothing. Show me what you have to make your arrival worthwhile. Demonstrate you have something to give to me, then I might allow you stay.

Jesus told his disciples, find a place to stay first then teach them and heal them. Receive before you give. In the places you are refused, give nothing in return. American religion is so different. Give me something then I might give you something. We even expect God to give us something before we will give him our time, talents, money or heart. Give me! Give me. Give me!

Jesus says the Good News is enough. We don’t need to package the Gospel with entertainment. We don’t have to add anything to the Gospel. It stands alone. The less we package with the Gospel, the less confusing it becomes. If we impress people with our fine gifts, buildings, materials etc. we have cheapened the Gospel. Let the Gospel stand alone, take nothing with you but the good news.

Lord, help me to add nothing to your Gospel of salvation. Teach me to use the blessings of buildings, technology, and materials to share your love instead of trying to impress people. Show me the power of the simple story of your love again. -Dan Jones

Arrogant, Ignorant, or Urgent News?
Jesus sent twelve men around Galilee telling everyone that they were heading in the wrong direction and needed to do an about face and follow Jesus. Who were they to tell others the direction their lives should take?

Many would call the notion arrogant that everyone should stop believing the way they do and start believing and living the news that Jesus brought. Might be right for some. But everyone? Likewise, some would accuse these fellows of ignorance. They presume to preach to others while they themselves have big issues, not the least of which was jealousy and fighting among themselves.

Accusations of arrogance and ignorance crumble, however, if the news they preach is right. If Jesus really is the unique enfleshment of the God who designed and made everything and everyone, then he really does have something to say to all creation. The issue isn’t the claim of ancient or modern disciples, the issue is, “Who is Jesus?”

If Jesus really is Immanuel, “God with us,” then the issues his messengers have are irrelevant! Who cares if a firefighter’s life is a mess? I’m not going to worry about her personal life if I am in a burning building and she’s there to save me! Picture that. Flames all around and I’m asking my rescuer about her jealousy issues.

Too many disciples of Jesus, and non-disciples, focus on the non-issues of arrogance and ignorance while the real issue is the authenticity of Jesus.

So if you’re not a believer, have you fully and openly investigated Jesus himself?

And if you are a disciple, if you really believe Jesus is authentic, forget accusations of arrogance and ignorance. They’re a smokescreen masking the real issue. Like those first 12, fill your network of relationships with Jesus’ message, “Repent and believe the Good News!” He has placed you among this group of people for this purpose.

Father of All, give me wisdom, humility, gentleness and much kindness – but also confidence and boldness – as I practice your calling to invite others to turn from their own ways and embrace your way, as it is revealed in your Son, Jesus. -Mike Leamon

MARK 6:1-6
Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed.

"Where did this man get these things?" they asked. "What's this wisdom that has been given him, that he even does miracles! Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren't his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him.

Jesus said to them, "Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor." He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was amazed at their lack of faith.
The Skeptics Lesson
You can learn a lot from skeptics. Those who knew Jesus from childhood just couldn’t get past his utter humanness to accept his teaching authority or his healing power. Though they rejected him, I’m struck that they associate both his words and his actions with wisdom.

The first association is easy to embrace. I enjoy listening to those who can pull together deep knowledge and keen insights in order to offer counsel that transforms my perspectives, and offers a better way of thinking and living. Jesus’ hometown skeptics, however, knew that wisdom moved beyond talk about life to life itself. Preached words became worked miracles.

I am not wise because of my profound coupling of knowledge and insight. I am wise when I go out and live the amazing truths that grow out of that coupling! I am only half wise if I leave those truths as mere words; a half wit – maybe a dim wit.

Jesus lived the truth he spoke and it produced miracles in the lives of those around him. People were helped. Blessed. Many were even transformed by his wisdom. For those who embraced it, daily existence grew increasingly aligned with God and his design for full and whole life. Not even the hardships and turmoil of a violent world could destroy this wisdom.

Wise words usually precede wise living. This produces danger I face daily. The gap between knowing wisdom and living wisely often stretches so far that their intimate connection snaps. Then I become one of those who hears, but doesn’t; one who thinks he’s wise, but isn’t.

All Wise God, forgive me when I divorce head and hands. Do in me whatever it takes to close this gap so that I become truly wise. I recommit myself to hearing your wise words and, in your strength, doing them. -Mike Leamon

Boxed in by words
I cringe when I turn my TV on and there is Benny Hinn slaying people in the Spirit and pushing them to the floor. I also wonder if what is happening is real, and if so, why does God demonstrate his power that way? Where does he get these powers to perform miracles like this? Benny claims the power comes from God. But isn’t Benny just an immigrant from Israel via Canada?

Are the people who go to the crusades Benny hosts really crazy? Do they see something there I struggle to see? Am I too busy mocking him, “Be healed in Juh-ee-sus name” to see the Spirit of God at work?

What we say is very powerful. If we mock the use of Jesus’ name in the mouths of others are we not mocking Jesus himself? The words we use become what we believe. When I use words degrading the use of Jesus name in healing the sick I begin to believe Jesus is not able to heal the sick. When I refuse to recognize God could use a person because of their background I reject the transforming nature of grace.

The power of words is immense. What we say becomes what we believe. Mocking Jesus turned to hating Jesus, and Jesus was unable to do many miracles because of their lack of faith. I know I have been challenged in the past few years to reconsider healing ministry as a genuine form of ministry. Who am I to say God can only work in my paradigm. Jesus was more than the carpenter the Nazarenes saw him as. He is more than the paradigm I understand him through as well. -Dan Jones