Mark 10:23-31 - This passage, well, at least these words of Jesus have been on my mine lately. That and Jesus inability to work any miracles in his hometown because of their lack of faith. (Matthew 13, Mark 6, Luke 4, John 4)

The people of Nazareth knew Jesus too well, that was their problem. He was the carpenter's son, that kid who used to hang at the synagogue. They knew who he was, you see, there was no way he was capable of anything special.

I contend that we have much the same problem in the America. I think that Jesus is far too familiar to us, so much so that he can do no miracles in our midst either. We hear his name on the radio and in church, we see him proclaimed on TV and see his fish on our cars. He's everywhere, well, at least people are using his name everywhere. He's common place.

In addition we are wealthy and self reliant. We know the answers to so much now, we have great banking and manufacturing systems. We know how the world works.

Frankly, we no longer need Jesus.

We have too much and have accomplished too much and have heard too much empty Jesus talk so that we no longer can see Him being able to transform us. We've learned that the world just doesn't work that way, so Jesus has no power for us. He has no honor here.

Several weeks ago, when I read about the faith of the bleeding woman who was healed, I wondered why I didn't have such faith. Why can't I simply know that by being in the presence of Jesus, I could be changed?

Erik, a friend who once had a blog called Virusdoc, asked me a couple of years ago if I thought real transformation was still possible. In his view, even religious people simply weren't transformed. Did it still happen? I wanted to answer yes, but the evidence was on his side. Religious folk talked a lot about living with their sin, but there weren't many stories of real transformation. Certainly not in proportion to the number of professed believers. I wondered why.

Go dig up stories, however, from China or India or Iraq and you'll find transformations and miracles left and right. It's amazing. This week, the leaders of the church we support in Indonesia will be here to share what God's doing there. They've done it before, and it's astounding what happens with their faith, and a bit humbling and scary. Frankly, Jesus simply isn't doing here in America what he is in Indonesia. The difference? They are poor and know they are in need, we are wealthy and think we are set. As a result, I think their Jesus is still huge and amazing, while ours, like those in Nazareth, is too familiar and routine.

I realize that my Jesus is too small, or rather, my faith in myself is far too big. I want to be amazed be Jesus again. I want to know that he is able, no matter how big the odds. I want to reach out and touch his cloak, knowing that a simple brush of the fabric has the power to transform. And hearing his words here in Mark 10, I'm more than a little frightened to be so wealthy. But I take comfort in verse 27:

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.”

I haven't posted much lately. Frankly, posting here has been sporadic at best for a long time. I wish I could say that it was because I was too busy living. You know, spending time with he kids, working around the house, getting projects done and stuff like that. No, mostly I've been distracted by a lot of stuff.

I sit down at my laptop every night and most days (like now) at lunch, but mostly I browse around the web looking at stuff. Some good stuff, like Codepoke's blog or Jared's blog (two you ought to read), but sometimes it's just time killers. The online equivalent of reruns of M*A*S*H, something you do to have something to do.

It's interesting or entertaining to a point and I learn some stuff and talk to some folks, but it's immensely unsatisfying most of the time. I want to blog, but look, Bloglines says there are 18 new posts on my favorite blogs and I have 4 emails to return. Those things are easier, so I go there and the thoughts in my head that I wanted to share or the Bible study that I wanted to do don't get done.

Of course this applies to more than being online. Before we had the Internet, there was TV to watch. Even before we had a bazillion channels and DVDs and pay per view, we'd sink into the fantasy world of whatever show was on that night rather than doing something productive. before that there were books and gossip and a million other things.

I blog partly because I enjoy writing, but partly (maybe even mostly) because in putting these thoughts to the screen, I'm forced to flesh them out. I have to do the research, get the facts straight, see if there's any meat to hang on those bones. In doing so, what God has put in me becomes more real and in turn becomes useful to someone else (hopefully). But too often, I'm satisfied with the skeleton of an idea or the happy thought in my head. I'm convinced, however, that God put them there for more and through blogging that's what they become.

In order to do that, I have to decide. I have to intentionally ignore my feed list in Bloglines, my Inbox in Outlook and the call of mt Pup up camper club and Thunderbird forum and intentionally sit down to read my Bible and write out my comments or put that thought from Sundays message to the keyboard. It's intentionally pursuing what God has, in part, created me to do.

Isn't Christianity like that too? We are bombarded every day with interesting things, TV shows, newspaper and magazine articles, movies, conversations, shopping, radio shows, music and on and on. Jesus calls us to turn our eyes to Him and follow, despite all the calls of the world. Some of those things will flow through the path that we take as we follow him, but we are not to turn our eyes from Him and follow them.

We are called to live intentionally, deliberately on a course that runs counter to the culture around us. It's like trying to travel straight across a fast moving river to a point directly on the other side, The current want s to push you down stream, it takes determination to stay the course and not be pushed off track.

Too often I live accidentally, doing whatever falls in front of me instead of intentionally following a course toward Him.

I think, though, that he wants us to imitate their innocence and faith. My kids listen and I teach them about God an Jesus. When I tell them what God thinks is important and how God wants us to view the world, they take it in, absorbing it as fact. They don't analyze and scrutinize (for the most part), the simply accept it. That's how we ought to approach Jesus. We don't need explanations of how it all works before we believe. I think we seek that too much, and it holds us back.

Mark 10:17-22 - The price of following Jesus is high. He demands all of us, just as he did this man. It's all too easy to shake our heads at him and his unwillingness to go all the way, but are we much different? What lines have we drawn that we won't cross for Jesus? Have we marked out a nice, comfortable boundary to practice our faith in and we aren't' willing to step outside of it?

Jesus demanded all of this man, he demands it from us too. That's his call, all or nothing. It sounds harsh, and for me, it can send my mind reeling on this fools errand of determining if I'm doing enough or not. It gets me worked up and worried about where I stand. That's not Jesus' point, I know, but it's hard to separate full commitment from working for approval from God. Approval is not tied to performance, but that's how we are conditioned to see it. It's true in our jobs and school and in too many of our relationships, so we think that it's true of God too.

Actually, like so many things of God, it's the opposite. God's approval is not tied to our performance, rather our performance is tied to God's approval. What I mean is, we ought not to seek to perform better, rather we ought to simple seek God. As we see him and His holiness and as we see that we are not like him but yet he loves us and, through Jesus, approves of us in spite of our shortcomings, we ought to be motivated to live as he expects. We have it backwards. We seek to be good so God will be pleased, but God is already pleased so we are free to be good.

2007 brought a lot of change in our lives. I have told parts of this story to several of [the family] and it has been requested that I post the whole story. So I will.

When I graduated high school, I went to one job interview. I got the job. That was June 15, 1995. Between then and mid 2007, I had been in four different positions for the company. In 2006, I had reached the top of the ladder. I was the supervisor over all the areas that I had worked during my career there. I had several good employees under me. I was making good money, which would have only gotten better over the next several years. I was put in charge of a 3 million dollar project to build a new facility. I had arrived. I thought.

Our faith and church have always been very important to us. We had changed churches in 2006 and feeling very comfortable in the new church. We were given the opportunity to run the youth department. That had been something we had done at our old church, so we were pleased that the ministry JUST HAPPENED to become open at the right time. By the way, I don't believe in accidents, coincidence, or just happened. The Bible says "All things work together for good to them that love God and are called according to His purpose" It did not just happen, it was God's Will.

In August 2007, our church held their annual preacher's meeting called "Fishers Of Men Fellowship" Pastors from all over the state and surrounding states come to our church to hold three days of meetings. A day consists of breakfast, four different pastors preaching, lunch, four different pastors preaching, a two-hour break, supper, and a revival type service in the evening where two more pastors preach. It is a marathon of preaching, but one that I will never miss. On Thursday of the week, a preacher named Ray Ditch was asked to preach. He had recently had a stroke and was still suffering from some of the effects of that, but when he started any and all aliments were gone and he was able to preach. The sermon was 21 minutes long. In those 20 minutes, my life was forever changed. He preached on James 1:22. It says, "Be ye doer of the work and not hearers only" He said that standing idle was not acceptable. God has a will and a purpose for each of our lives and that if God is calling you to do something then you should just do it. He kept saying that just do it, just do it. He was not finished but after about 20 minutes he said the Lord was telling him to sit down and that was what he was going to do. He sat down and over the next 2 1/2 hours three other preachers spoke about "something". I don't know what they spoke about because Just Do It, Just Do It kept ringing in my mind. When the meeting broke for lunch, I went down to the altar at the front of the church and asked God a question. "Just Do What, LORD??" Over course he didn't answer but while I was still kneeling there I told the LORD something that I meant then and that I still mean now. "Whatever it is LORD that you would have me to do LORD I will do it. Whatever it is, I'm in." I literally felt something, a weight, lifted off of my shoulders. The day continued. I went to lunch and then we had four more preachers speak.

After the second session, I went home and talked with Hannah. She had no knowledge of what had gone on. I walked in and asked her a question. I said, " If the LORD calls me anywhere, are you with me?" She had the "deer in the headlight" look. Her look told me to ask the question again so I did. She said after the second attempt, Yes, she would follow wherever the LORD would call us. Then, she asked, "Why?" I feel this was important because I had committed to God without knowing what I was committing to. Hannah also had to blindly commit to me, her husband, before knowing the circumstances or "the what". God wants us to blindly commit to His calling. That is the faith the Lord wants us to have. I told Hannah what had transpired throughout the day. She asked me, " Do you know what it is?" I told that I did not but when I did I would let her know.

Early the next week I had a feeling, I guess you would call it. I felt the LORD had showed me what was going to happen. As I had promised, I went to Hannah and told her that I thought I knew what was going to happen. This is what I told her. In our church, there are three full time paid positions. One is the pastor. One is the printer at our printing ministry, and one is the principal of our Christian School. All three positions were filled and had been for years. I told Hannah that Ron would step down as printer, Mike would move from Principal to Printer, and I was going to become Principal of the school. My wife, full of faith and spiritually minded said, "Yeah Right!" I thanked her for her support and told her that was what God had showed me. Her response this time was more open-minded. She said, "We'll See."

Two days later, on Wed, Ron stood up and announced that for personal reasons he would be stepping down as printer after many years of service. Hannah looked at me dumbfounded. COINCIDENCE. Over the next month, three men of the church applied for the job of printer. Mike was not one of them.

At work, we were just finishing the building project. The hectic time was beginning to turn into a more normal routine. My job had become easier. The workload was lighter. BUT I was not happy. I had always enjoyed going to work. I took pride in my job. My philosophy was I had to be there so I might as well enjoy it. I could not explain it. I was not happy.

Through the interview process, all of the men who had applied for the printer job had decided that the job was not for them and they were not interested in the position. At the September business meeting, Mike stood up and said that he felt that God was pushing him toward taking the job as the printer. It was a push he was willing to take if the church would allow him to make the move. The church voted then that Mike would become the new printer and now the position of principal was now vacant. COINCIDENCE. Hannah was shocked. After the meeting, I immediately went to the pastor and told him that I was interested in the job of principal. His response shook me. He said, "I know."

After that conversation, I left it in God's hands. I did not ask any questions. I just waited. In November, I was called in to have a meeting with the pastor and the deacons. It was then that I realized that another man had applied for the job. I never considered not getting the job. I figured that God would work it out. At the December business meeting, the deacons recommended that I be voted into the position. The church agreed and I was to start in Jan. The next day, I done something I never thought I would do. I gave my two-week notice to take a job that paid 1/3 less and I was not only happy about it, I was elated. The unhappiness that I had felt since August had also been lifted. It was then that I remembered something that Brother Ray had said. When you are not in God's Will, you are just not happy. I realized that for 12 years, God's will had been for me to work at Orscheln and I loved it. In August 2007, His Will for me changed and I could not be happy again until I was back in His Will.

I started the job of principal on Jan 1, 2008 and I have not had a bad day at work. I love it. It has now been 5 months and the school year is winding down and I still love it. We still run the youth department and love it also. Through the summer I will work at our camps and help Mike in the print work. I will also work on the next year of school. We are remodeling a building that we will use next year for our school. The LORD is going to grow the school and we need to be prepared for that. I will also go to some training during the summer to help better equip me in the new position. Everyday the Lord gives me the strength that I need for that day. He has blessed my family and I in so many ways there is not time to type it all.

The LORD is real and wants us to help Him. We do this by committing ourselves to God before he shows us where or what He would have us to do. If you commit, God will show you things and do things in your life that you would not seem possible.

I DON'T BELIEVE IN COINCIDENCES!!

One thing I'll add that he shared with me, but didn't include here. When me met with the church leaders, they asked him if he'd been praying about this decision. His reply was "No, not at all. God told me this was what was going to happen, there didn't seem to be a point in praying about it."

First, go read the incredible story of a man who's mother was murdered by the next door neighbor's son. What's incredible isn't the murder, it's the grace offered by the family of the victim.

Yesterday at her funeral, her son offered to pay for the defense of her killer. ... He said that he was following Jesus' teachings: loving his enemies, forgiving others, and doing unto the "least of these" as he would to Jesus. The radio host said, "Jesus is my Lord and Savior too, but all I would want is 5 minutes alone with the guy." "Yeah," Mr. Barrios said, "but you'd be doing it to Jesus."

The harsh responses to the story prompted Jared to share this post on the audacity of grace which he originally wrote in the midst of a particularly hard time in his former congregation, when their popular minister was let go.

Imagine you are one of the early church's first members. You are sitting in a home with a few other believers, sharing a meal. You pray together. You sing a few Psalms. Someone recites a bit he's heard of Jesus' biography. Then someone gets up to read a letter to you from some guy named Paul.

Paul is a guy who used to go by the name Saul. It's possible he is responsible for the murder of someone you know, perhaps even your parents or one of your children. Now you have to sit and listen to someone read not just words from this guy, but instructions from this guy. Since his conversion from Christ-hating enforcer of the Law to card-carrying Jesus freak, he's not just one of your fellow Christians. He's an authority over all Christians recognized by nearly everyone.

It is possible this arrangement would not have sit well with you.

Grace is what makes Christianity different. It's what makes us whole. It's what makes everything OK when it absolutely shouldn't be OK. It's exactly what we need and exactly what we could never expect to receive. It's a ridiculous solution to a tragic and insurmountable problem. When all seemed absolutely lost, grace saved the day. Grace puts all the crazy endings to all action adventure movies to shame, both in it's efficacy and it's audaciousness.

We need reminded. We think too much that Christianity is a nice, straight forward religion. It's not because at its core is a God who took the audacious step of suffering Himself to redeem those who had wounded Him. It's even more scandalous than the victim's family paying the legal fees of the murderer. In our trial it's the prosecutor who dies for the defendant.

Paul did, just about 13 hours ago, and he captured it beautifully in a poem. A snippet:

as we get older
before our eyesight fails us
let us make a pact
to glance upon each other's faces
from time to time
and to invite the memory
to sear

Mark 10:1-12 - Jesus in this passage gives no acceptable reason for divorce. None. Luke 16 agrees, but both Matthew 5 & Matthew 19 show Jesus making an exception for sexual immorality. Paul in 1 Corinthians 7 seems to broaden this slightly by allowing at least separation if an unbelieving spouse desires to leave the believer. Paul says the believer is no longer bound in such cases, which seems to imply that divorce is appropriate.

Today, of course, divorce happens for far more trivial reasons. Of course, there are reasons that aren't so trivial such as abuse. Was there no spousal abuse in Jesus' or Paul's day that they did not feel compelled to address it? I hardly think that's possible. So why didn't they? It seems that the abused wife would be one whom Jesus would want to protect and address, yet he did not. So we are left to search our own souls and dig through he old and new testaments to determine for ourselves what is best.

Of course then there are situations where folks divorce and then become believers. Are they given a fresh start? Does it become like they were married? A lot of questions but not many definitive answers. The new testament only covers a couple of the many scenarios we might encounter. It seems that God is content to simply state that he hold marriage in high regard and we ought to as well. We must keep that in mind as we ponder these things and sort them out as we need to.

This reminds me that Codepoke has written some good, thought provoking stuff last year on divorce. This post in particular speaks to a way to interpret Jesus' words that handles the seemingly glaring omission of abuse. The big question being - What if the recorded words of Jesus weren't his only convictions on the topic? Codepoke's post was inspired by this compelling Christianity Today article by David Instone-Brewer. He makes the argument that Jesus wasn't answering a universal 'when is divorce OK' question but rather a specific question on a specific controversial kind of divorce popular in Jesus' day called the 'any cause' divorce.

These ideas are attractive to me for the same reasons they are attractive to Codepoke. They provide compassion and a path of escape for the victims of abuse and neglect. (Read this older post from Codepoke too on how divorce might be seen, actually, as mercy from God.) Of course, that does not make it true or valid, but it does seem to mesh with our Lord's compassion shown in other areas, like the woman caught in adultery or the good Samaritan as well as the constant drumbeat of the Old Testament about caring for the neglected and outcast. Codepoke points out the same, stating that he's not yet completely comfortable with the position (or at least he wasn't last November), no matter how attractive it may be or how neatly it seems to tie up some unclear loose ends. I'd say that most Christians have found the idea that a woman cannot escape an abusive marriage unless the man cheats a little uncomfortable and frankly have looked the other way when such a woman in fact gets a divorce.

I have to say that I'm more ready than Codepoke was to accept this. It makes too much sense to me for a lot of reasons. Have a read of Codepoke's post (and the thoughtful comments as well) and the CT article and let me know what you think.

When I first met him, he was in his early 60's, so in my mind he was always an older man and grey haired. The picture of this dashing man in his 30's, with the jet black hair and that pencil thin mustache caught me by surprise.

But the Robert Steeves I really wished I had known was the one in the second picture. The man standing in the prison corridor, Bible in hand. This is the minister who ran a prison ministry for 4 or 5 years in the 80's, who had an unrealized dream of a place for prisoner's families to stay when visiting. The man who opened his own home to a few of those families. I see a man with a vision, a passion and a ministry of his own.

But the man I knew didn't go to church regularly anymore. Oh, his faith was still real, I don't question that, but I wonder why the passion that would lead a man to preach in a prison wasn't there any more. He was no longer engaged in ministry the way I see him here.

I wonder what happened to that passion. Was it just the toils of aging that took it away? Was he burned out taking care of those in society who most would rather ignore? Was there no one else to share his passion and hold up his hands as he got weary? I'll never know and I never had, or took I guess, the opportunity to ask.

One thing I did know is his concern for his daughters' welfare. Each and every time we visited, from that first trip when we were either dating or engaged, as we were prepared to leave he'd shake my hand and tell me "You take good care of her now." This was no parting pleasantry, it was said with authority. Maybe it's just a trick of memory, but I remember those first few times before he really knew me, he wasn't about to release my hand until he had an acceptable answer of "I will". It was a serious question and it made an impression on me as a young man. I got the impression that there would be consequences if I failed.

Even as the years passed and he knew me better (and our daughters were born), each parting was still the same. "Take care of those girls" he'd say. The edge of his words were softened, but the seriousness was still there.

Last Wednesday, as we left Moberly MO, I felt a pang of sadness as there was no reminder to take care of these girls. But don't worry Dad, I will.

First, my wife's an accountant and it's been tax time, so her part time job this time of year turns into 40-50 hours per week. Normally she's home when the younger two kids get off the bus, but not now. On top of that, she's back in school pursuing her CPA. This term she only has one on line class, but she still has to log in several times a week, there are homework assignments and case studies to do. Of course it's hardest on Maria, but it does affect the whole family.

Then, Easter weekend, shortly after arriving at my Mom and Dad's Friday night, we got a call from Maria's brother that her Dad was in the hospital. He had emergency hernia surgery and was on a respirator and it didn't look like he was going to be able to come off of it, yet he was demanding they remove the tube. We got Maria a flight out of Detroit to St. Louis where she'd rent car to drive 2.5 hours to Columbia, where he was in the hospital. They removed the tube and he managed to pull through, even though all the docs had said he wouldn't. It was certainly a relief, although his oxygen levels remained dangerously low.

She also learned that her grandmother, who's health (like her Dad's) had been failing for some time, was not doing well either. She had been battling dementia for a year or two and hadn't really been 'grandma' for a while now. She was in hospice and the family was being told it wouldn't be long. Maria returned to Columbus Sunday night, leaving her Mom torn between needing to be with her recovering husband and her dying mother.

Maria's grandmother passed away that Tuesday and we made plans to head to Rushville IL for the funeral that next weekend. It was both sad and yet a bit of a relief as her quality of life had gone down significantly in the past year or so.

That was the weekend of the 30th. A little over a week ago, on Saturday the 12th, we learned that her Dad had apparently had a stroke the night before. Her mom awoke to find him still in his chair, unresponsive. He was taken to the hospital where it was confirmed. There was no indication he recognized anyone at all. He had requested no heroic measures, so it was only a matter of time before his body caught up with where it seemed his mind had already gone. In the early morning hours the following Sunday, he passed away.

Her Mom had remarked a while back as their health was failing that she was afraid that she was going to loose her husband and mother in the same week. Unfortunately, she was too close to being right as in reality, it was not quite three.

So this past week we made another trip west to Missouri to bury Maria's father. Because of his recent suffering, it was once again sad and yet a relief.

Of course, regular life - colds, school, clarinet lessons, choir practice, gymnastics, church, dishes, laundry - goes on in the midst of it all. Ironically, emotionally I think we're all doing OK, but physically we're drained, Maria more so of course. She returns to part time in a week or two, so that's good, but next term she's taking 3 classes instead of 1. She flat amazes me with what she takes on.

Anyway, that's where I've been of late.

I certainly do. I'm not sure if it's the engineering nerd in me or the computer nerd in me, but I think that this is awesome.

did god take my child because i could not give up my cd collection

I normally glance over this list, but that last entry stopped me in my tracks. Maybe it was a whim, but my site (the June 2004 archive page) is somewhere down around 25 on the Google list. That's 3 pages in. That's long way to go for a whim.

There's no way for me to know who that was or why they went searching. I don't know if they will find their way back here or not and I certainly won't presume to answer for God. I'll just ask, if you do come back here again, please, go read the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) and watch Jesus. Watch Jesus raise Jairus' daughter from the dead. Watch him heal the demon possessed boy. Watch him stop a woman's bleeding and with it, remove her shame. Watch him weep with the family over Lazarus' death. And then watch him raise him again. Watch him heal on the Sabbath, knowing it will anger those in charge. Watch him rebuke the leaders for their lack of compassion. Watch him heal the forgotten, the outcast and the unclean, restoring not only their health but their place in society. This is God at work, directly, in the lives of flawed men and women. This is who God is.

God showed up here with us in Jesus to demonstrate his love for us, not only on the cross, but in three years of ministry. A ministry full of compassion, healing and restoration.

I can't begin to imagine the heartache behind a question like that, but God can. Seek him and don't give up until you've found him. I can't promise that you'll find the answer to your question, but God promised you that you will find Him, if you'll seek. I hope that in finding Him, you at least have the comfort that there's love behind whatever the answer is.

Mark 9:10 - Imagine the conversation here - "What did he mean 'rise from the dead'? I mean, if he's going to rise then he's got to ... no way, he's the savior!" :-D

Mark 9:19 - I can imagine Jesus' frustration. He goes up to get some encouragement, from old friends and from his father, leaving the disciples for just a little while. And while he's gone, they haven't learned enough after these years with him to heal one boy. Sheesh, people, come on!

Then again, I've been with Jesus for more than a few years. Could I heal one boy? When will my faith mature?

Mark 9:20-24 - To me, this is one of the funniest scenes in the gospels. Here's this father, brought a boy to be healed and got nowhere with the disciples. But now Jesus is here, and the evil spirit gives them a show, throwing the boy down right there. He's convulsing and foaming at the mouth. While the boy is in the throws of the seizure, Jesus turns and calmly asks "How long has he been like this?" I can see the Dad, turning from his boy, thrashing on he ground, and Jesus. "Uh, from childhood ... " No wonder he says "If you can do anything ..." The disciples couldn't do it and now Jesus seems oblivious.

I wonder if this doesn't' teach us something about Jesus. That he doesn't get freaked out when the situation turns on him. He knows the outcome, who cares if it's out of control for now. He knows it's going to be fine. Perhaps he's testing the father's faith a bit too, revealing the cracks in his convictions. When those cracks come to light, Jesus calls him on it and the father cries out a single statement that proclaims both his faith and his need for help with it at once.

Mark 9:29 - So, if it can only come out by prayer - when in the story did Jesus pray? The time line doesn't show any gaps, certainly no time for "I'm going to the mountain to beseech the father on your behalf. Await patiently for my return and you shall be delivered!" There's a seizure, a conversation with dad, a statement of faith, a command and the spirit comes out. No pauses, but somewhere in there, Jesus prayed. He prayed the prayer that made all the difference, a prayer than could only possibly be a single, maybe two, short sentences.

So, our prayers, even the most critical, need only be a sentence or two to be effective.

Mark 9:38-41 - There's a lesson in there when folks who we think aren't 'of Jesus' are doing good works in his name.

Mark 8:14-21 - They missed Jesus' point about the Pharisees and Herod, thinking he was chastising them because they forgot the bread. Perhaps their failure was on their hearts, maybe they were hoping he hadn't noticed, so when he said 'yeast' they thought of the lack of bread. But Jesus points out that they never need worry about the lack of bread, he has proven himself able to deal with that challenge. This is a more subtle way of saying what he did in Matthew 6 - don't worry about the needs of this world. I know that you need to eat and I will provide. Instead, be focused on heaven and concern yourself with the things that will misdirect you away from there.

Mark 8:22-26 - I wonder, why didn't the first time 'take'? Surely, it wasn't Jesus' failing. Was it the man's lack of faith? Were there two conditions that needed to be healed, and Jesus tackled them one at a time. God decided that we needed to see Jesus taking two steps to heal this man, but decided that we didn't need to know why he did. I wonder what the point we are to take from it is.

Mark 8:32 - I've wondered in the past if the disciples didn't' hear these teachings of Jesus referring to his coming death and dismiss them as a parable that they didn't quite understand. Surely, it couldn't mean what it sounded like? But Peter here clearly understands, but he thinks that Jesus is wrong. No Jesus, that's not how it goes! We are not doing this that way! Peter had forgotten who was the master and who was the disciple.

Mark 8:34-38 - We used to twist this to mean that Jesus was teaching us to share our faith. His purpose was to go to the cross, ours is to make disciples, therefore take up your cross = share your faith. It's pretty easy to use similar logic to read all kids of things into what Jesus was saying here.

Reading it this time, however, I see the broader context. Jesus just spoke of his coming death and rebuked Peter for it. He then clarifies what's to come. He would not be put on the cross, he would take it up himself. He willingly would relinquish his life here on Earth for the joy of the life to come. If we are to follow him, we must do the same. Pick up our own crosses and lay down our Earthly lives. He reinforces the point by saying the best Earthly life we can achieve is worth nothing compared with eternity.

It's not about any one practice or doctrine, it's about changing our minds & hearts to look heavenward. If we do, then our actions will follow.

Dad: I didn't see, did you finnish your sandwich?
Audrey: No, it was time to go.
Dad: OK
Audrey: I don't each sandwiches. Sandwiches are mean and live in sand castles so I have a samich.
Dad: Really? Well that makes sense. Is that spelled S A M M I C H?
Audrey: I think there's only one M

She thinks there's only one M in the word she made up.

I'm convinced that Audrey lives in a parallel universe that we can only see glimpses of. It sure looks like a lot of fun though.

It got me thinking about what Jesus' was after in his teachings. I'm thinking we just might be missing the point.

Was Jesus really teaching to get us to change? Sure, I think he wanted and expected folks to take note and to rethink who they are, but prophet after prophet had come teaching much the same message. The scriptures will filled with much of the same teachings. Why would these same words from this man, even if he was God and man, be any different?

What if the point of Jesus coming to teach was to prove the point that we were helpless to save, powerless to obey and in desperate need of a savior. He knew going in that ll the best teaching in the world wouldn't save us. Only he could do that.

Yet people over and over examine and re-examine his teachings, hoping to expose that nugget that will transform. Some magic nugget that has eluded all the others before. That's why we have Jesus the positive thinker, Jesus the spiritual guru, Jesus who wants you to have your best life now and on and on.

We're missing the point. When we look at Jesus' teaching on marriage and divorce, on generosity, on lust, on loving our enemies, on purity, on holiness, on pride, on anger, his compassion, his restraint, his patience, his sermon on the mount and the beatitudes and we look at who we are in our sin, our response can't possibly be "OK, I can do that." No, when we see who we are in stark contrast to what God expects, we can do nothing but fall on our knees and beg for mercy.

We do not need the self help Jesus for we cannot possibly help ourselves. We need the savior. The reach over the rail of the ship and catch me from the waves savior. The run through the flames and snatch me from the burning building savior. The step out into the firefight to pull you to safety savior.

And after he's taught us who God is, and humbled us because we are not that and cannot hope to be, he goes to the cross and saves us.

And only then can we be transformed into that which was impossible before and only because he makes up the difference. He bridges the gulf and now we are free to acheive that which had been impossible before.

His message is not "you can" but "you can't, but don't worry, I will"