Take Up My Cross

The virgin birth of Jesus - through His mother Mary - is one statement widely accepted as a key component of Christian doctrine. It is also highly contested by non-Christians, cults and Christian spin-offs. Take a second look at the gospel message. The key focus in the gospel is that God sent His Son, the man Jesus Christ into the world to die on the cross for our sins. The key here is this - that God sent His Son. The method of which He sent His Son is not the priority - it is the act itself. The Blueprint: Chapter 4: Chapter 4 opens up with a short discussion of what is important to Christians - drawing a comparison of the statements of "Jesus is Lord" vs "Jesus lived in Galilee". Where both are irrefutable truths, one is crucial to know and believe, the other is a mere statement with little importance to the overall Gospel truth. Similarly, the virgin birth is true, yet of little importance to the overall gospel message. However, it is one of the cru...

Here is the account of Jesus sending out His twelve disciples to spread His message - to proclaim that people should repent. A few things to note here. 1. Jesus charged them not to take anything except a staff. Why? - It is not to "act" poor, but to be humbled. Not to rely on their own material wealth, but to trust in God to provide. - We see similar traits in many Christian organisations today, when we are expected to raise our own allowances. On one hand it teaches us to trust God's provision, on the other hand it gives others the opportunity to contribute to our ministry. Of course, this system can easily be misused for other purposes... But let's just think of the right and proper use of it. 2. He tells them if they are not received in any place, shake off the dust on their feet as a testimony against them. - This phrase needs to be cross-referenced to Matthew 10. Jesus also tells them (albeit not recorded in Mark), that it will be more bearable for Sodom a...

This accounts Jesus returning to His hometown of Nazareth. When the people heard Him preaching, they were astonished and asked amongst themselves where He learnt all this, and how He does these works - remembering Him as the carpenter (His earthly father's trade), and as Mary's son (in remembrance that the father is not Joseph). Jesus says in reply to their offensive behavior that only in a prophet's own hometown is he without honor. The next sentence is intriguing. "He could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them." Was Jesus really powerless? My belief is that Jesus would not help those who had no faith - thus no mighty works were done. Not that Jesus cannot help them, but more of He will not. And the next sentence as well - "And he marveled because of their unbelief". That is to the extent that we have gone - so far that we cause God Himself to marvel at our unbelief and foolishness. ...

This is the story of the first (seeming) resurrection performed by Jesus. Jairus comes to Jesus in faith, asking Him to lay His hands on her that she may be made well and live. Jesus agrees, and goes with him. On the way there is the woman with the blood disease. After that short episode, some came from Jairus's house that said that his daughter had died. However, Jesus tells Jairus not to fear, but to believe. He allows only Peter, James and John to follow Him into the house of Jairus. There, He tells the people inside that the girl is not dead but sleeping. The people laugh at Him, but He takes the child's parents and His 3 disciples with Him into the place where the girl was, took her hand and told her to get up. The girl obediently got up and started walking - amazing everyone there. Jesus told them not to spread the news. Well, the first obvious question is, was the girl really sleeping or dead? I believe to us normal people, she would be dead. To Jesus, death is n...

I skipped a couple of verses cos this one is sandwiched inside another story. Basically Jesus is just squeezing His way through a crowd when this woman who believes she'll be healed if she just touches His clothes comes along and touches Him. Jesus, knowing that someone had been healed by Him, asks who it was - not because He didn't know who it was, but wanting her to confess her faith. She comes out with fear and trembling, falling down before Him and telling the whole truth. Jesus tells her that her faith has made her well, and go in peace. So what do we learn? Not that faith heals us, but 1. Jesus wants us to confess our faith, and not just hide it away and keep it to ourselves 2. Our faith in Jesus leads to treasure in heaven, not the short-sighted healing that is displayed here. Faith is key in the Christian life - and to be confessed to the world!

This story here is another interesting one. At the other end of the lake, there were this bunch of tombs where Jesus disembarked His boat. Then this demon-possessed man comes out. This man is feared by the local people - he could not be bound, he could not be subdued, and was known to be violent (even to himself). Yet when he saw Jesus, he ran and fell down before Him - asking what Jesus wanted with Him, and pleading for Jesus not to torment him. The man says - "What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?" Again, Jesus's identity declared by a demon. Jesus, interestingly, asks for the demon's name, and the demon tells Him that it is Legion, for it is many, and begs Jesus to let it go into the pigs. Jesus gives the demon permission, and the pigs commit suicide. The curious thing that happens next is that the people begin to fear Jesus, instead of the ex-possessed man. Where Jesus is shunned and asked to depart, the man is welcomed back and e...

This episode highlights some very important things. It opens with "on that evening" - a day when Jesus spoke many parables and teachings to the people. It goes on to the boat trip - where Jesus slept through the storm. The storm in particular, is a rather rough one. In all my ventures out to sea I've never come across a situation where the waves could actually break the surface of the boat and fill up a boat with water. And Jesus, being fully man, fully exhausted from the day's teachings - slept through the storm. His disciples panicked and woke Him up, asking whether He did not care that they were perishing. These fishermen too, with all their experience in the waters, felt fear in the storm. Jesus, however, told the sea to be still - and it was. This, in turn, demonstrates His divinity - fully God. He then asks a pressing question - Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith? Now the question is posed to us as well. We often hit storms and struggles in...

Jesus tells His next parable - of the mustard seed to describe the kingdom of God again. He says it is the smallest of all seeds when it was sown, yet it grows to be the largest garden plant. What can this short parable mean? The mustard seed sown was Jesus Christ. He alone came to this world, rejected by almost all of mankind - even his blood family. Son to a carpenter, He was nobody, insignificant. But we've seen how His church has grown. Today Christianity is a major religion in the world. Point of note: why garden plants? I think Jesus uses a garden plant as an example because the seed was sown by a gardener - by God - and at the end of the age the gardener will harvest His garden. Just a thought. Verse 33 finishes with the short conclusion of the past few parables - that Jesus spoke more unrecorded parables, but did not explain it to the people, but only to His own disciples. If I'm not mistaken, when Mark writes disciples, he means those who have truly chose...

This parable refers to the kingdom of God. Jesus tells His disciples - that the growth of the kingdom of God is like scattering seed. Our duty, as Christians, is to scatter this seed in people around us. Whether it grows, whether it sprouts, is not up to us - it is up to God. The next thing Jesus says is that when the grain is ripe, God will harvest His kingdom - what we know as the end of the world. This in mind, we have to be very intentional on growing God's kingdom, yet not letting the setbacks disappoint us as they are out of our control anyway. We are to prepare for the harvest. How can we scatter seed in the lives of people around us?

Jesus tells the parable of the lamp. He asks His disciples - whether the lamp is brought in to be hidden away. He tells them nothing will be hidden away - all secrets are to be exposed with the light. Jesus is the light - through Him the truth is revealed, as well as God's plan for salvation for all man - and the lies of the Pharisees and such are exposed as well. The next thing He tells them is that they are to pay attention to what they hear - for those who seek to hear will learn much from Him, but those who are uninterested will learn nothing. This teaching here goes well with the whole idea of divine sovereignty and human responsibility - God gives us the free will to choose, and He seals our choice. Those who reject Him He will harden their hearts, those who love Him He will draw near. So, lesson. Be sure of what we are doing - that we are not trying to hide away our secrets, but be honest - for God's light will one day expose everything anyway. At the same time, be...

Well, I'm due to be baptised on easter. Had my interview a couple of hours ago. First few questions were the expected stuff - what do you believe in, are you sure about your faith... Towards the end, one of the church council members asked this question that left me answer-less. What took you so long? Well I'll talk a bit about this guy. His daughter is 3 years younger than me (i think), and he later explained that growing up in a Christian family, he does expect and hope for her to be sure about her faith, and baptism is clearly one way of expressing that. So he applied it to me as well. Truth be told I dislike the idea of being subject to others' expectations - do my parents even have the right to demand such things from me? On the other hand, it is a thought-provoking and legitimate question. What took me so long? We see examples of people in the Bible who are baptised the moment they believed . Yet it took me 18 years to realise what Christ's death meant, an...

This is a famous parable of Jesus - the parable of the sower. Here Jesus tells the people of a sower, who sowed his seed on all kinds of ground. Some fell on the path, some fell on rocky ground, some fell among thorns, and others fell on good soil. I don't think there's much to elaborate. The Word of God is given to all men - but we are the soil. The seed is sown in us - whether it grows is up to us. I believe if we truly want it to grow, it will. We control the soil we are - no one who goes to the Father is rejected. What catches my eye in this passage is in verses 11-12. Jesus tells His disciples - that to them has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, so that they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven. Firstly, Jesus reveals that the parables are not simply stories He tells - they contain the secret of the kingdom of God for those who are dis...

Well, back to Jesus's family - the people who thought he was crazy. So they called him, and Jesus uses the opportunity to teach the people something new - by making a seemingly very snide comment - that those who do the will of God are His family. Take it back 2000 years and probably it wouldn't have sounded so rude and snide I guess. But, lesson here! That's the important part, right? Jesus is NOT teaching us to be rude to our parents - please don't ever use this as an example. Jesus teaches this - that we were made to be God's children - along with Jesus as our brother. The relationship we have with God is mirrored in earthly relations to our parents - and Jesus uses this as an example. We've all been rebellious kids at one point or another. We've all rebelled against our parents, refused to do what they tell us to. We all grow out of it someday too. When will we grow out of rebelling against our heavenly Father? When will we start obeying Him? O...

Here comes the next accusation against Jesus. The scribes who came down from Jerusalem said Jesus was possessed by Beelzebul ("prince of demons", or literally "Lord of the flies". Anyone read that book?), and by this demon he casts out other demons. Jesus then tells them a parable. Or at least the Bible calls it a parable, but this is one of the most straightforward. He says Satan cannot cast out Satan, or else it is pointless - the kingdom is divided and it will fall soon. He tells a second short story - that no one can enter a strong man's house unless he first binds the strong man. I would assume that the strong man Jesus speaks of is Satan - that Jesus plans to enter the house of the devil - the world, and to plunder a people chosen for Him, defeating Satan in the process. This would also explain why Jesus is casting out demons. Finally, Jesus says to them that all sins will be forgiven. However, He also warns them that whoever blasphemes against the...

A short 2 lines - with a shocking truth. Mark 3:20-21 Then he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat. And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, "He is out of his mind." Just these 2 lines here, and we see Jesus's return home in a shocking way. Normally when we return home after a long trip, we expect to be welcomed and everyone to be happy.But look at the reaction of Jesus's family! They not only not welcome him, they even call him crazy! Could you imagine your own parents calling you crazy? We see in these short verses the ultimate rejection of Jesus - by even those he was bounded by blood to. This man, God himself in flesh - rejected by not only the nation he came to save, but everyone save his own apostles. What is the significance to us? Many of us reject Jesus and His teaching. We say, "but we're Christian!". What is Christian, really? Are we Christian if we simply be...

Attended SYFC's staff meeting this morning, and the message came from Judges (it's the book they're covering this year) Judges 8:29 comes after the story of Gideon. Basically Gideon is nicknamed Jerub-Baal by the people of Shechem. Jerub-Baal is a name in insult to the false god Baal - that Gideon can challenge it and defeat it. Basically, it opens with Gideon dying and leaving behind his family of... 70 sons. If he had a daughter for every son (50/50 chance, right?)... He'd have 140 kids! Now how on earth did this guy get 140 kids? He had many concubines - some of which even from the people of Shechem. One of these sons bore to him by a Shechem woman was named Abimelech - which means "My father is king". From a judge raised up by God... Heresy indeed. Someone has definitely forgotten what good God has done for him in the past! He wants to be King, no longer under God's rule - and we will see more of this. Not only that, Israel also prostituted ...

Attended a session on Colossians 1 today. It went on for awhile, then came to this point on Christ reconciling us with God - and this point was made. "We were once God's enemies; we do things against God. But through Christ we are made God's friends." Is God really our friend? I'm not saying that we are unforgiven and Christ's death was pointless. I'm saying that we become overly casual by declaring God our friend. Our relationship with God was meant to be as a parent to a child. Ephesians 1:5 - He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will Do you call your father by His first name, like you do your friends? Do you slap him on the back and make all the jokes in the world, do all kinds of things in the world? Parenthood is a social construct mirroring the relationship between God and man.  If we are confused about our relationship with God, we should only look at the relationship wit...

Back from the Mark hiatus. Here Mark describes the occasion where Jesus chooses His twelve. It happens on a mountain, and He calls them to Him - so that they might be with Him and He might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons. The mountain is probably nothing but a symbolic high place - often used in older cultures. Our first takeaway here is that Jesus calls out His apostles  first . They do not choose to go to Him, neither do they have some form of competition amongst themselves etc. This ties in with the doctrine of election - that God chooses His people. Although we are not chosen to be apostles, we have been chosen to be God's people. It is a choice on which God alone has authority. The next takeaway is that these elected came to Jesus. This then ties in with the doctrine of human responsibility - that given free choice and being elected by Christ's death on the cross, it is our duty to respond faithfully and correctly in all...

Yesterday, I attended a session on Christianity and culture - and in particular, social media. Here's some of the key pointers the speaker made. 1. Culture must be discerned and engaged - Culture is not something we abstain from because it is bad - Culture is from God - when God commanded us to rule over the earth, to subdue it etc, culture comes about. - Behind every culture is a set of beliefs, which drives our purposes and our values. However, due to the corruption of mankind, our culture is also corrupted. He then went into how social media, if not used properly, can be an absolute waste of time - and draws us away from God and into the world. But this is the line that caught me. "This is not to go hard on men, but here are some examples that men or young men may be able to engage in the real world. Men should take responsibility in their homes, churches, workplaces or neighbourhoods. But many young men today are spending hours on their xbox and never really g...

"Sports are the greatest teacher for wrestling with one's faith" http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/ 2011/08/16/ christian-pro-soccer-team-scori ng-souls-not-goals/ Been playing a lot more football than in my army days. I used to volunteer at Singapore Youth for Christ, coaching football at a school I can't name. The aim at the end of it was to build a relationship through sport, for the purpose of sharing Christ with the footballer. But here's the problematic part about this. It is easy to build a relationship with a fellow footballer, but the crunch kicks in when we want to share the gospel. Where does God come into play with football? The article above does have some tips. Not only that, over these few years I've been trying to link my love for football with my faith in Christ. Here are some of the potential gospel links God inspired football - recreation is a gift from God Character values, like shown in the article God gifted talent for football ...

Finally, we see a small episode where Jesus is not rejected - instead made some sort of celebrity. However, in a short moment, we realise how this goes wrong as well. He was followed by people all over Israel, Judea etc... And when the great crowd heard all that He was doing, they came to Him. This is the mistake - the key sentence that shows how wrong the motivations of the crowd was. They were here not to hear the message of repentance and forgiveness - they were here just to get healed, get rid of their demons... God was secondary; man first. Do we make this mistake today as well? Some of our megachurches are megachurches not because they preach God's word well, but because they preach "Jesus will heal you, Jesus will make you rich". Have they not fallen into the same trap as these people here? Have we followed Jesus for reasons other than out of repentance and a desire for forgiveness?

Again, another story of how the people of Israel rejected Jesus. This one begins in a more sinister way - the people watching to see if Jesus would heal a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath. Here the plot against Jesus is first explicitly declared by Mark. They watched - hoping to accuse Him of further blasphemy. Jesus asks of them this question - whether it is lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill. The people did not reply Him - and Jesus was angry and grieved at their hardness of heart . Jesus of course, heals the man. The Pharisees then exit and immediately held counsel with the Herodians (king's men) against Jesus, and how to destroy (some versions kill) Him. Have we similarly plotted against God's will? Are our hearts hardened against God's calling and teaching? I do realise that I've rejected certain things I'm sure God has been trying to tell me. Many things I've preferred my own way, preferred my own de...

This is another question posed to Jesus as part of the rejection "plan". It ties in well with the previous story - on why Jesus is "above" the law - where they question why Jesus' disciples pick grain on the Sabbath. Jesus here answers that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath, and that the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath. Two answers here again. The first one is that Jesus explains the law of the Sabbath - it was not made as a restriction to man, but instead a aid to us - to help us remember to worship God. It was a day for good rest and good fellowship - but it became ritualistic. We have to be careful how we treat our "Sabbaths" (Sundays). Although we do not practice it ritualistically in church, we do sometimes impose on ourselves this expectation - that church becomes a chore and a tradition. Remember the true purpose of the Sabbath. The second is that Jesus himself is Lord of the Sabbath. What this means is this ...

Yesterday i mentioned about the people not recognising God's Saviour - and asking how we can recognise what is good. After some thought, this is my belief. We recognise what is good in 2 ways. Firstly, we are taught what is good by the coming of Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  (Titus 2:12) Secondly, many things can be discerned by the reading of God's word. In the Bible, Jesus clearly fulfils much of the OT prophecies - and also points people to God the Father. It is a clear indication that He is of God. With this in mind, can we make better decisions in our lives, knowing what is good and bad for us in God's terms instead of our own?

The people of Israel continue to reject Jesus. They asked Him, "Why do John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?" Jesus gives 2 answers. First, He announces His identity to the people - as the "bridegroom" - the Chosen One of Israel. He is the One that all mankind have been waiting for since Creation - as tradition prescribes, the wedding guests will not fast. The Bible does not record down the people's reaction to Jesus' statement. However, it would be safe to assume that from the pattern that has been going on thus far in Mark, they would likely have accused Him of blasphemy again. The next answer He gives is in the form of a parable. Basically the meaning of the parable is this - that what is new cannot be kept within the confines of what is old. It sums up most of Jesus' arguments in this section of Mark - that He is the new law, and they cannot judge Him by the old law because He is the com...

This one I've covered already - read here! http://take-up-my-cross.blogspot.sg/2013/01/my-favorite-bible-story-luke-527-28.html#links It's the same story, but covered in Luke. I'll just focus on the second part - where Jesus reclines at his table with sinners and tax collectors. Here, He is criticized for it - another show of rejection by the world. Jesus displays then His purpose in coming - "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners." His answer is twofold - firstly, He immediately answers the Pharisees - by giving a logical explanation of why He eats with sinners and tax collectors. The second, deeper, layer, however, points out something else - that Jesus came because all of us sinned  - to call each and every one of us who need Him. Acknowledge our need for Him - because this "sickness" is not something we eventually recover from ourselves.

This is another of Jesus's healings. It takes place in Capernaum, when Jesus was "at home". Many gathered to hear Him preach. This story describes these 4 men, who carried a paralytic on a bed. Being unable to reach Him by the main door, they went through the roof - lowering the paralytic down. Jesus, seeing their faith, tells the paralytic that his sins are forgiven. Immediately, He is criticized in the hearts of the scribes in attendance - thinking Jesus is a blasphemer, claiming authority to forgive sins - which only God can do. Jesus, seeing this rejection, tells the paralytic to get up and walk - a feat He claims to be harder to do for a normal person than to claim to forgive sins. So what's the lesson? Again we see the faith of the people in Jesus rewarded by healing. Of course, in this age, we do not experience physical healing so often, but instead spiritual healing - which was always the main point anyway. Again we see Jesus rejected by the people -...