Take Up My Cross

Been talking a lot to one of my church youth group leaders recently because of a lot of work that needs to be done. Here's a little something I noticed from her that really caught my attention. She begins/ends like 99% of her messages with a thankyou note for something I've done well - and it's a pattern consistent with her messages to other people as well! From a secular perspective, yeah, of course, you want someone to listen to you, you've gotta appeal to their "I like this" side. How bout a Gospel perspective? Paul in Romans 1:8 - First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world. Paul in 1 Cor 1:4 - I always thank God for you because of His grace given you in Christ Jesus 2 Cor 1-2 expresses the same idea of thanksgiving and appreciation of the Corinthians but it has to be read as a whole. Won't write here, it's too much to copy and paste. Just a few examples! Paul re...

Well, this verse belongs in the previous passage. The downsides of using a digital Bible that shows chapter by chapter. Jesus tells His disciples, "Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power." An interesting statement again. "Truly I say to you" is kind of like Jesus's trademark statement. He uses it when He speaks a truth that is important. Most commonly it is seen in the Gospel of John, which is (in my opinion at least) the most thickly theologically packed gospel account. The other thing Jesus says is that some will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power. What does Jesus mean? Every single person present at that point of time (except Jesus, and even Jesus has "tasted" death by dying on the cross) is now dead. Has the kingdom of God come with power already? Clearly the answer is yes, or Jesus was a liar ...

Today was tough. Can't deny it. Started the day seemingly fine. Prepared for the announcement I was going to make, etc. Went to church, made the announcement... No issues. Problem is, we inserted a piece of paper into the church bulletin. Printed on the paper happened to be a rather controversial quote. We quoted from Ralph Winter, saying "The Bible is not the basis for missions, missions is the basis of the Bible." On first glance when I printed these papers yesterday, I thought it was weird. Wrong teaching. Idolizing missions over the Word of God. It can be read that way if we don't really know what it means. What it means, however, is that the entirety of the Bible points to God's salvation plan, and God's mission - to select a people for Himself. In that light, we do see that missions is indeed the basis of the Bible - God gave us the Bible to call us to Him, and we should be calling others to Him as well! Of course, not everyone saw it tha...

Jesus begins to teach His disciples that He must suffer many things, be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after 3 days rise again. And He said this plainly to them. Peter, however, took Jesus aside and rebuked Him. From a plain man's view, the Messiah was not the one meant to die. He was the one to restore Israel, to save them. To Peter, Jesus's death would make this impossible. Furthermore, it would likely have been discouraging to the disciples to hear this. Jesus rebukes Peter instead, telling him to get behind Him, for Peter set his eyes on the things of man and not of God. He then tells the crowd - if anyone is to follow Him, he must first deny himself and take up his cross and follow Him. For whoever loses his life for Jesus's sake will save it - and what good is it for a man to gain the whole world but forfeit his soul? Jesus tells them that our soul is most important, and to follow Him, we need to give up many things ...

This is a curious case. Of the four gospel books, only Mark records this incident. It is also the only incident of an incomplete healing; the only incident when Jesus asks His "patient" if he is healed. Jesus does heal the man fully at the end. However, why the initial partial healing? There are 2 explanations for it that are more common. The first, and more traditional one, was that this man had no faith in the beginning. He did not come to Jesus on his own accord, others brought him to see Jesus. Thus, Jesus, sensing the man's little faith, partially healed him. Upon receiving partial sight, he then believed, and Jesus healed him fully. The second explanation is this - that it is another parable as an example to the disciples. Although there is no strong proof for this in the passage itself, it does fall into the context of the previous passages. Jesus points out that we were once blind. He gives us partial vision, that we know some things of what God re...

Jesus asks His disciples who they think He is. Peter answers - You are the Christ. From here, the direction of Mark changes. No longer does Mark focus on Jesus's ministry, but instead on His theology. The curious thing is this - if Peter knows Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah they've been waiting for... Why did they always seem to doubt Him? Well. Do we know Jesus is the Christ? Do we still doubt Him?

This passage is slightly easier to read in the NIV. Jesus and His disciples were on a boat, with only one loaf of bread because they had forgotten to bring it. Jesus warns them, saying, beware the yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod. What does Jesus mean? His disciples think He said it because they had no bread. Jesus asks them if they do not yet understand, citing the examples of the two time He fed the crowd with almost nothing. Let us first examine Jesus's response. Jesus responds asking the very questions the previous 2 passages have been pointing out - that the hearts of the disciples are hardened, and have eyes but do not see, have ears but do not hear, and do not remember, do not understand. Obviously He isn't talking about the bread itself. His original message for them was this - Jesus Himself is the Bread of Life. However, to take the bread of the Pharisees and of Herod is to settle for less, to settle for things that are false. The Pharisees, as we se...

Only 3 verses. The Pharisees came and began to argue with Jesus, asking Him for a sign from heaven to test Him. Jesus sighed deeply in His spirit and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation." And He left them. Really. After 7 chapters worth of signs, they still ask for signs? It's kind of similar to the previous passage on Jesus feeding the four thousand. Be it disciple, apostle, Pharisee, or common Jew, even common Gentile - people are stubborn. They refuse to change. That's us. What is one thing you've refused to change? Is your belief in Jesus tied to things that He shows you, or in full faith?

Again, a short episode of Jesus teaching in a desolate place. They were gathered, and Jesus taught them for three days, and the people had nothing to eat. He had compassion on them and said that if He sent them away hungry to their homes, some will faint on the way. Point of note 1: Jesus does care for our human needs. We sometimes think that God is too great, and His plan is too vast to consider our human needs. Let us be reminded that God does care. HOWEVER, our needs are not what we want. We have to be very careful to distinguish the two. His disciples ask Him how they can feed these people. Well, just right after one episode of this... They're still asking the same question. Stubborn? Well, on this end of the Bible it's easy to judge them. Imagine yourself 100 years down the road, in heaven or hell or wherever you end up. Hopefully heaven. And you re-watch your life - watching God prove Himself to you over and over again. Watching Him call you to Him over and ov...

A rather simple story of Jesus again. When He returned to the decapolis, the people brought Him a man that was deaf and mute. Jesus healed the man, and told them to tell no one about this incident. However, the more He told the people this, the more they proclaimed it - proclaiming Him a miracle worker. Spot the mistake? 1. There is no obedience to Christ. Christ is Savior, but Christ is not Lord to these people. They only want Him for His miracles, not His Lordship, and definitely not... 2. There is no repentance, no gospel in the story. No belief in Christ's forgiveness of sin. Who is Jesus to us? Is He Savior AND Lord? Does His "Savior-ness" go beyond a "friend in time of need", to a forgiveness of sin?

This tells of a short story, where Jesus went to the region of Tyre and Sidon. He tried to secretly enter a house, but instead a Gentile woman came and fell at His feet begging Him to heal her daughter, who had a demon. Jesus's answer seems a little shocking. He tells her that it is not right to take the bread of the children and feed it to the dogs. He means that His purpose here is for the Israelites first, and not for the Gentiles. Racism? No. Scripture has many times reiterated that Christ came first for the Israelites first, before the Gentiles. Israel was God's first chosen nation, before He extended His love and grace to the rest of the world. In Romans 1:16, Paul again writes that the gospel is the power of salvation - first for the Jew, then also to the Greek. Favoritism? No. God has extended His grace to all who believe - as unworthy as we are. Why are we complaining? The woman responds to Jesus - that even the dogs wait beneath the table for the leftovers...

This section is commonly seen together with the previous - in continuation to what Jesus explains of the tradition of washing of hands not making a person clean, nor any other thing a man does. He goes on to condemn the crowd. He tells them nothing outside a person can go in and defile him, but instead what comes out of a man that defiles him. He later goes on to explain to his disciples - telling them anything that goes into a man goes into his stomach and not his heart, and comes out again. It seems to say that what we eat is not a spiritual affair, but a purely physical one. He then goes on to tell them explicitly, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. A long and non-exhaustive list - but these are the things in the heart of man. Clearly, the first lesson is this - all foods are permissable. There is nothing wrong with eating anything - this act doe...

I heard this from a youth leader in my church recently. She says that being one of the guys in church, or in the Christian community in general, willing to take up responsibilities, there is a demand for our work - as we know the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Especially guys - when we consider the additional responsibilities that God has designated to the men. She then said that because there are so many things to do, and so few of us - it is not good enough to do what is good, or what is beneficial. We have to be selective, and choose what is best . Best meaning we have to give up certain things we want to do, certain things we don't want to do. And to do what is best for everyone.

I thought I should write this down, in case somewhere in the next 2 months I turn around and ask myself why I made this choice. I chose to be part of my church youth group's mission trip. Why? Bible truth #1 Matthew 28:18-20 And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." If all authority in heaven and on earth belongs to Jesus, then He has authority over us (well duh!). Therefore, His command is with ALL authority - and is to obeyed. He tells us to GO  and make disciples of ALL nations. Now we don't get there by sitting in our rooms. We go. And He promises to be with us always. My major concern for this trip was this - that we would be wasting not only our time, but the t...

The Pharisees question Jesus over the breaking of one of their traditions. Jesus replies them with a prophecy of Isaiah - that people honor God with their lips, but not with their hearts, and they abandon the commandments of God for the tradition of men. He accuses them of replacing God's commandments as human tradition, and letting it be so. We've been guilty too. Have we slipped into tradition? The monthly observance of the Lord's Supper merely being a moment for us to consider a little harder on our actions for the past week? Or have we really performed this ordinance in remembrance of Christ, and proclaiming His death until He returns? Our all-so-standard prayers before meals - tradition or true thanksgiving? Where it is not wrong to have habits and traditions - we have to keep in mind - what's important is not the action itself - it's the motive. We don't do things to please man, or to just "go with the flow". We do it because of God...

A short narrative, on Jesus reaching Gennasaret. The moment He and His disciples get off the boat, the people recognized Him and ran about the whole region bringing the sick to Him, and asking Him if they could even touch His clothes to be well again. A short narrative, showing the power of Jesus. Ever written a short story that was so short that you completely missed the point of the story? A second look at this passage shows us this. Mark does not use the words "teach", "repent", "believe" in this passage at all. There is no gospel in this passage. All that's mentioned is healing. All the people cared about was healing. It is centric on human pleasure and human definition of goodness - overlooking the message of Christ. What is the gospel to us? Is it healing and joy and happiness and satisfaction? Or is it "Repent and believe, for the kingdom of God is at hand"?

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." - Matthew 5:6 Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?" Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent." - John 6:28-29 "Therefore go make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." - Matthew 28:19-20a Jesus clearly tells us the direction of our lives. He tells us what we should seek - namely righteousness, to believe in God and His Son Jesus, and to make disciples of all nations. Is this reflected in our lives? Do we seek righteousness the same way we seek lunch and dinner? Is it of equal importance, essential to our lives? Do we love the things God does? Have we gone out to achieve the purposes of God in our lives, or are we seeking our own pleasures, our own lifestyles? ...

"Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." - Matt 6:33 What do we look for in our daily lives? Many of us wander around life rather aimlessly - especially so in Singaporean culture. Culture here dictates this. You grow up, when you hit 7, you enter the schooling system. You follow through to at least 18 (rarely less, mostly more), enter National Service for 2 years (for the guys), continue with studying (for the uni / higher diploma people)... And finally, at the age of 24, graduate. (Assuming a 4 year uni course and all.) It's a fixed, rigid lifestyle. We are brought to appreciate things society dictates as "good". For example, straight As in school. Scholarships. Internships. Job offers. High paying careers. Is that what God says is good? We were designed to live in a good world - Genesis 1:31 - God saw all that He had made, and it was very good. We were created, primarily, for fellowship wi...

Jesus tells His disciples to get into the boat and go to the other side, while He dismissed the crowd. He went to the mountain to pray. In the night, He saw they were having trouble sailing and He walked out meaning to pass by them, but they saw Him and were terrified as they thought it was a ghost. Jesus tells them "Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid." He got into the boat and the wind ceased, and they were astounded - for their hearts were hardened. A shocking thing written by Mark - that the hearts of the disciples were hardened. Point of note #1 - He meant to pass by them Mark probably knows this from Peter, who has earlier been shown to be part of Jesus's "inner circle". Point of note #2 - They thought He was a ghost Well, no surprises there. I'd be freaked too if I saw a guy walking on water - and we do know ghosts exist. Well,  demons and stuff. However, there is no need to fear - especially because earlier in the chapter they have al...

This is a miracle of Jesus. The story goes of how Jesus and his disciples wanted to go to a desolate place and take a rest. However, they were spotted and many went there ahead of them. Main story point #1 - Jesus saw them like sheep without a shepherd, had compassion on them and began to teach. Imagine a life without Jesus. A life unchanged. A old Testamental life - following laws because the king says so, or because the high priest says so - without really knowing God. Then Jesus came and changed that. That is us today. Today we know why we serve a God who is not just a great God, but also a good God. We leave behind legalism and forced worship for a life where we choose to follow Him - by His grace. Main story point #2 - It got late, and his disciples urged him to send the people away to the nearby villages to get something to eat. Jesus replied them, "You give them something to eat." Why, this man is crazy. These disciples have given up their trades, their inc...

These verses narrate how John ended up dead, despite being under the protection of Herod. He gave a banquet for all his bigshots and the leading men of Galilee. At this point, his brother's wife (now his)'s daughter came in and danced for  them - leading Herod to tell her he would give her anything she wanted, up to half the kingdom. Note again - Herodias's daughter, not Herod's. Again this insult is used in the book of Mark, probably insinuating the girl's father is unknown. Q: Why does Herod make this promise in front of everyone? A: To demonstrate his "generosity" and appreciation for her dancing, kind of a show-off thing She goes to consult her mother, then returns and asks for the head of John. Herod seems to have no choice but to agree. Q: Does Herod have a choice? A: Yes. We ALWAYS have a choice. The choice Herod makes here is the one that "saves his face", and keeps his reputation rather than disgracing himself and doing the r...

This short story opens with a narrative of Herod's fear of Jesus. He was told, and believed that Jesus was John the Baptist raised from the dead - and Herod was in fear, for he himself had John beheaded. It goes on to recount the story - Herod imprisoned John because John told him it was unlawful to take his brother's wife as his own. Clearly, it is an act of adultery. However, Herod did fear John, and kept him under protection despite his imprisonment. He was perplexed yet glad to hear John's preaching. What could this really mean? Herod obviously acknowledges the God of John the Baptist - to fear this man and to recognise him as a prophet of God. However, he is the passive believer.  He hears the Word of God, yet does not act on it. Don't many of us? We claim to believe in God. Some of us really do. However, we hear but we do not act; we know but we do not obey. What kind of faith is that? Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ wi...

1 Corinthians 15:3-4, 6, 14, 17 ESV For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Paul wrote this regarding Christ's death and resurrection. Firstly, he confirms Christ died for our sins The next thing he does is to accord it with Scripture - thus confirming it as truth. He goes on to state the next fact - that Christ was buried. Then, he makes the claim - that Christ was raised on the 3rd day in accordance with the Scriptures. Despite Old Testamental Scriptures never really explicitly saying this ...