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Jesus. Periold. Nothing more is needed.

Jesus-alone---

A verse that I have tried to align my life and ministry around is John 12:32: “As for me, if I am lifted up from the earth I will draw all men to myself.” I deeply believe and have full confidence in the ability of Jesus to draw people to himself. He doesn’t need my help, but it pleases him to allow me to be a part of the plan. I get to be on the team and I get to show up with all my mess, all my baggage, as well as my weaknesses and brokenness. And I lay my courage and confidence not on what I can do, but what Jesus can do though me.

1When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.[a] 2For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. 4My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, 5so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power. (1 Cor. 2:1-5)

9But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Cor. 12:9-10)


As I try each day to align myself closer to the things that Jesus taught, I try to focus myself on Jesus.

The Real Issue at Hand

The question is not:
How many people take you seriously?
How much are you going to accomplish?
Can you show some results?

But:
Are you in love with Jesus?



Henri Nouwen, In The Name of Jesus
Recommend: http://henrinouwen.org

Playing with Dress-Up Jesus

“As for me, if I am lifted up from the earth I will draw all people to myself."---Jesus

I have coached soccer and softball for little kids and the thing I love so much about it all, is that this age focuses on fundamentals. The point is to ground them into the basics and then as they progress, their own talents and personalities can adapt to the fundamental skills they have learned. As an athlete, you can never forsake the fundamentals. If you do, you are in trouble. It’s a sign of arrogance, saying, “I can do it on my own; my way.”

There are times that a team will begin to play below average with no rhythm and unity leaving behind a losing streak a mile long. As a coach you watch and analyze the team as a whole and think of ways to adapt the talent to the goals of the team. Sometimes it can be fixed with switching up a few positions or playing around with the batting order. However, there are times when the whole sink needs to be pulled out from the wall.

The only option is to return to the basics; the fundamentals. Get your team back to doing what they did at first; go back to the beginning: have them relearn the basics and have them run the fundamental drills of the game over and over until they can once again do it without thinking about it. The basics once again become a natural outflow of what they have learned.

As the church, it’s time for a return to the fundamentals. We’ve played dress-up for far too long and added so many things to Jesus that we can’t even recognize him because of all the additions. He’s in there somewhere. I really believe he is. To add something to Jesus is to lose Jesus all together. Jesus alone is able and worthy of all our attention. He is worthy of our life.

DISTRACTED BY OUR DISTRACTIONS--

Humanity is tired and distracted. We are even to the point of being distracted by the things that distracted us from our other distractions. The result of our distractedness is a loss of sight and hearing. Groping in the darkness and the silence of our mess, we reach out for our shepherds, our pastors and leaders.

Too often they are distracted by all the busyness of Christendom to be able to pay attention or to reach out to those who call out. The shepherds are too busy recording podcasts, making videos, speaking at a conference, or fixing their hair.

(Shepherds! Return to that to which you were called!)

Your people are distracted and need you to help us. Preach the Scriptures to us! Teach us the Bible! Stop trying to entertain us with clever stories. We don't need all the technological illustrations. Teach us what Jesus said. We do not care about what you wear, how you look, or if you have a podcast or have written a book.

Please! Talk to us about Jesus.

We do not need practicals, five steps, or three points. The Holy Spirit will take care of that as we wrestle with the Word of God. Remember, we are to be saved by faith, and faith comes from hearing the Word concerning Christ. (Rom. 10:17---which of course you should know because you studied in our seminaries).

We do not need therapy; do not try to play to our emotions. Don't try to soothe us with your voice inflections. Just speak of Christ. Do not speak to us of your church's vision or 5 year plan. We do not care about all the programs going on within your building. We are out here in the darkness looking for the light of life...Jesus.

Show us Jesus. We are desperate to know and see and hear from Jesus.

Thank you,
the people who sit in your church under your preaching.

It's Better That You Don't Know What You Do Not Know

Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built! (1 Kings 8:27 ESV)

But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.” (1 Chronicles 29:14 NIV)

Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name goes all the glory…(Psalm 115:1 NLT)

There is much I do not know and even more that I don’t know that I do not know. Ignorance is bliss. Isn’t that what they say? And do you know the definition of bliss? That famous phrase means to not know what you do not know is paradise, heaven, pleasure, harmony, enjoyment, happiness, pleasure, or delight. This is true; partially, and for me, the more I know or the more I know is out there--the more I am aware of ---- the more stressful life seems to get.

And for some unknown reason I am always trying to learn more, read more, and hear more messages from trendy and hyped up speakers or pastors at mega-gargantuan churches. I do not know why I tend to accumulate more and more knowledge, even when I have not truly learned or applied what I heard or read just last week. What I have learned last week has yet to set and is still only wet cement; a vapor or a mist that is gone by mid-day. Know that I do realize that there are oceans and oceans of knowledge. There is much I do not know and I am humbled to have anything to say at all.

I’m probably not wise or trendy enough to write a book that will make the world bow down at my feet or cause the business executives of the publishing industry to flood my Inbox with pleas and requests for rights to publish my thoughts. (And I’m not sure I really care). I haven’t lived long enough or made enough mistakes; …but I am down to only having one or two sins left that I haven’t conquered. (If you actually believe that…well, I hope you don’t). I have plenty…

Furthermore, I’m not sure I have anything new to say that hasn’t been said better by others. However, it soothes my soul and gives me life to be able to write down what I am thinking and what is going through my mind and heart. Writing enables me to catch up with my life; to slow down and rest in the present moment. For me life tends to move way too fast and offer more noise than I actually need. Writing gives me a chance to get my bearings and to think deeper into life. It allows me to sit more at the feet of Jesus with nothing much to do, but listen.

So, if you are one who has been reading what I write; I am humbled that you would care or take the time to do so. Also, so many of you have written me and shared how you have been encouraged in your walks with Jesus and others how I have totally pissed you off. Whichever, thanks for taking the time to let me know.

I shared the gospel with a bunch of Christian kids last night---

I shared the gospel with a bunch of Christian kids last night.

Their reply?

“We’ve never heard this before.”
“This sounds too good to be true.”

What did I tell them?

I told them that the only thing that God requires of them is to put their faith in what Christ has done to save them; to believe in the One God has sent: Jesus Christ, Son of God.

“That’s all?” one says.
“That’s all,” I reply.

If it were by works or behaving or being nice, then none of us would have a chance. All the ‘rules’ are there to make us realize our sin. The ‘rules’ should make us conscious of sin and how it is impossible to pull them all off. The ‘rules’ cause us to need a Savior; they should make us scream for help—push us towards the cross.

What God requires (perfectly keeping the ‘rules’)—Christ provides.
And our faith in Jesus keeping the ‘rules’ is what saves us.

Read below very carefully---

Ephesians 2:4-10
But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Romans 3:11-12
11there is no one who understands,
no one who seeks God.
12All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one."[c]

Romans 3:19-28
Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. 20Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.

21But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement,[i] through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

27Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of observing the law? No, but on that of faith. 28For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.

An Old Guy and a WAITING Room

Jeremiah 2---
13 "My people have committed two sins:

They have forsaken me, the spring of living water,

and have dug their own cisterns,

broken cisterns that cannot hold water.

25 Do not run until your feet are bare and your throat is dry.

But you said, 'It's no use!

I love foreign gods, and I must go after them.'

The oil change; it comes around every few months; more often on our mini-van because we drive it everywhere. My Montero hasn’t had an oil change in a good stretch—I’m not brave enough to take it out of town to put enough miles on it to demand one. Plus, she’s sort of moody.

I go to the Toyota dealership and order an oil change and they ask me if I am dropping it off or waiting.

“Gonna’ wait here,” I answer.
“Waitin room down the hall,” is the reply, “Be ‘bout thirty minutes.”

I wander down the hall and into a small room with about ten chairs; half of them filled up with other ‘waiters.’ The coffee pot has been on for at least eight hours and the smell of burnt-cheap coffee fills the room. On the TV located against the wall, the CNN correspondent proudly announces as much bad news as she can offer; all with a smile on her face and $85 bucks worth of make up to elude the HI-DEF TV.

“Breaking News! Earthquake!”
“Breaking News! Tornados across the mid-west kill one person!”
“Breaking News! Obama plans to raise taxes after all!”
“Breaking News! Bailout money being wasted!”

No wonder over 60 million Americans are on anti-depressant medications. If you watch TV at all, you’ll either become numb to pain and “Breaking News” or you’ll jump off a bridge. But at least it’s better than watching Opra or Judge Judy.

I find a seat and wait in this small square room with my temporary companions…my co-waiters. Picking through the stack of year-old magazines I choose ESPN “the” Magazine and read about the “up-coming” 2008 World Series. There is a college guy sitting next to two men who seem to be in their fifties. A few chairs down is a man in his seventies sitting next to a college girl.

I like to watch people. I study people, partly because it’s fun; but mostly because I spend so much time working with people. The culture is what I try and learn; who, what, why do they do these things; what makes them tick?

Unsurprisingly the college guy and girl spend their entire time texting on their phone; staring down into their laps, oblivious to anyone else in the room and the CNN broadcasts screaming out of the TV are only more ‘wall-paper.’ Noise has become such a constant that it is not even noticed anymore; noise has become our best friend. It’s wall-paper. It ‘s there, but ask someone about it and they never even noticed it; like billboards and signs that completely smother and cover the sides of streets.

So, I conclude that the older a person is, the less they are ‘involved’ in this love affair with text-messaging and social web-site thing. The two fifty year old guys pick through magazines and small talk with each other about golf, the weather, and hunting.

The two young adults in their twenties text-message some virtual someone the entire time I am in there.
However, the older man, the one in his seventies silently and gently sits there in his chair with absolutely nothing to read. He doesn’t watch TV. He doesn’t talk on his cell; doubt he even has one.

What is clear to me is that this older man is content to just sit—to just sit in his chair with nothing to do but be there. Gentleness, calmness, peacefulness, and approachableness drop and ooze off of him. His personality almost makes me want to go hug him because he seems so calm, happy, and content.

Most likely, he is ok with waiting. The two younger people cannot wait. It is agony for them to wait with nothing to do. Their safety companion is the cell phone. It is filler---whenever there is a down moment, it is there so text messages can be sent or received. Waiting is the hardest---and the further we go down this rabbit hole; in a few years, waiting will be a dinosaur that is talked about often but no-body has ever seen it. Waiting—silence—solitude---quiet----??? What is that?

Isaiah 30:15-18
This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says:

"In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.

16 You said, 'No, we will flee on horses.' Therefore you will flee! You said, 'We will ride off on swift horses.' Therefore your pursuers will be swift!

17 A thousand will flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you will all flee away, till you are left like a flagstaff on a mountaintop, like a banner on a hill."

18 Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you;

he rises to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice.

Blessed are all who wait for him!

You are a Slave if...

I’ll throw this at us---

Go a whole day without a computer or cell phone (for social use)---obviously if you need it to perform your career or business, then you might want to still use it.

But, for social reasons, do you think you can go a whole day? A week? ...Without texting, emailing, facebooking, or tweeting? If not, then you are a slave. Technology owns you.

You follow technology; it is your idol and your god. You are addicted…not to good, dark, British beer or crack, but to technology. You are technology addicted. Technology is your pimp and you are a prostitute. Many cannot go thirty minutes without texting, emailing, doing something on the IPhone, etc.

Shackles and Chains---wake up!!! you sleepers!!! You have been boiled to sleep, not knowing that the very water you sit in is rising in temperature and soon you will no longer know how to sit still, be quiet, listen, and solitude will be a word in which we know nothing about. Return!

Seriously, try it. You’ll find you don’t miss it (or need it) as much as you think.

And remember, the world has done ok for thousands of years without it. It’s only been about ten years or so that technology has had this death grip on us. And if we don’t do something to calm it, then future generations will know nothing about quiet, stillness, listening, and being relational. (face to face relational---I don’t consider emailing, fb’ing, or tweeting to be a brick in the relational house).

What are we teaching younger generations about life? Remember they will only mimic what they see mature, wise, and responsible christian adults doing.

Let technology serve you. Use it to send information that cannot be given in person. Send messages that cannot be given in person or by a phone call. Use it as only a piece of the relational puzzle, and don't sit there for hours putting together a one peice puzzle amazed at how quickly you can do it and how smart and clever you are.

"To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best night and day to make you like everybody else means to fight the hardest battle any human being can fight and never stop fighting." -- E.E. Cummings

response to the defenders of virtual life; ...I am not a heretic---put down your rocks

“But we might remind ourselves that criticism is as inevitable as breathing, and that we should be none the worse for articulating what passes in our minds when we read a book and feel an emotion about it.” TS Eliot

I’m actually having some fun with all this and sort of bewildered (and shocked) by how serious people get about their networking sites. You’d think I hit on their wife.

I have found that most people reacted in the two extremes:
(1) Becoming very irate, extremely defensive, and argumentative or
(2) Applauding what I wrote and glad someone said what they have been thinking all along.
(3) There was however a milder third party—the older and wiser of us.

However I must communicate the facts and reveal that the majority of readers agreed with me; we have taken the virtual thing a little too far. Nearly everyone thinks Twitter is weird, a waste of time, and basically tries to duplicate what you can already do on FB. Sorry all you Tweeters out there; all this chirping may be a flash in the pan; a trendy little path that we follow for a while and fade out. I have a Twitter account, which has helped lead me to this place of virtual burnout.

There was however a middle group; most of them older and wiser. Here’s what they had to say:
1) Facebook is great to keep up with people who are already friends; to share pictures, and stories. BUT, this is the tip of the iceberg and the relationship is mostly a presence or a real voice. FB helps keep people in the loop with major events, but should not replace or take the lead in the relationship.

2) FB is really helps a family share life when they are geographically apart. IE your family lives in Chicago and you live in Alabama. You have a baby and you want to share pics. Great. But if the family never talks or sees each other, then here is where FB replaces real life.

3) Reconnecting with the past. Again, this is a FOOT IN THE DOOR and helps get back to the relationship. For instance, I have had tons of old friends become my ‘friend’ on FB. I got a message from them, said ‘hey’ and what I am doing; they did the same, and haven’t talked to them again. In the first place I haven’t spoken to them in 15 or 20 years. Fun to hear a voice from the past, though.

4) I also find value because I am reconnecting with people I have shared the gospel with; it is fun to hear what is going on in their lives.

5) It gives insight into the life and mind of another person. Here again, only a footbridge into the real relationship. It (FB) gives entrance into real life…to real voices and presence.

The group that went virtually nutzo over what I wrote ...
about virtual relationships got virtually upset and then they….well they FB’d to tell me how much they virtually disagree. They seemed to get very argumentative and defensive as if all of what I wrote was written directly to them…to sort of stir up their little beehive of a virtual life. Readers have become so defensive and have called me names and labeled me a heretic and a hypocrite. It is as if I have said something that has threatened a way of life and of thought.

I do understand why, though, and I think it is because virtual life has become such a major part of their lives.You'd think i said something totally absurd and rediculous or threatening like:

1) The earth if not flat; it is round, or
2) The sun does not revolve around the earth and the earth is not the center of the universe, or
3) Noah, Build a boat; it is going to rain for 40 days and nights, or
4) God became a human and his father was a carpenter and his mother was a virgin when she gave birth to Jesus, or
5) God came to save sinners; those who don't deserve love or forgiveness, or
5) There is no such thing as global warming…etc

We gravitate towards fake life…don’t we?
It is true. It comes in different shades of gray, but it is there all the same. Too often we look for life in too many things other than Jesus, and the relationships we are so HUNGRY and DESPERATE to have seem to elude us; we’ll do anything to have ‘friends’ and tons of them. I hope sex never becomes virtual...but the way things are going, it might become a reality…and I guess it has; it is called ‘internet pornography.’

We are a people desperate for love; to be loved and to love. We are wired to live in relationship with Jesus and one another. I am glad Jesus came in person (John 1.14; Col. 1:15) and did not just send an email or twitter or fb message. Aren’t you?

“An intriguing entomological experiment shows that a male butterfly will ignore a living female butterfly of his own species in favor of a painted cardboard one, if the cardboard is big. If the cardboard one is bigger than he is, bigger than any female butterfly ever could be he jumps the piece of cardboard. Over and over again, he jumps the piece of cardboard. Nearby, the real, living female butterfly opens and closes her wings in vain.” Annie Dillard The Writing Life, p.18

You let the world, which doesn't know the first thing about living, tell you how to live.
Ephesians 2:1 Msg

I do have a Facebook account. I am a hypocrite. I admit it. I am also thankful for grace. It abounds. Grace exists because we are all hypocrites. Right? Great, glad I’m not the only one; and glad you join me.

Thanks for reading and responding; and even thank you to those who picked up rocks to stone what you think is a heretic….or perhaps a prophet. Didn’t the religious crazies always put to death the prophets? Not that I am a prophet nor would I/do I want to be one.

twitter & facebook---I have to slam you for a second

I wish I could spend more time talking to friends face to face instead of virtually all the time...is the computer becoming a hindrance to face to face relationships? ...of course I already know the answer to the question. i am glad i get to hug my kids in real life instead of only tweet them or facebook them. My opinion....away with all the virtual crap and let's get back to face to face---deep and real friendships

...and really nobody cares as much as you think; and no one is really that interested about the fact that you put on twitter or facebook that you just had lunch with someone or are eating ice-cream .

For some reason we think that people can't wait to get to their computer to see what we have posted or have written...or have tweeted or twirped or whatever....well most people don't care as much as we think they do...like no one will probably read this...and i don't care because i write it for me and not anyone else....

.just another sign of our sinful nature...thinking the whole world revolves around us. Everything seems to always focus on us;

...it is our generations way of shouting "Somebody notice me!" "Does anyone care about me?" "Will someone pay attention to me?"

When all the while the very things we are looking for are found in Christ...and the friendships we want are right in front of our faces and noses; and not inside of the virtual computer black hole

teenage pregnancy

It is obvious that God is not too concerned with appearances; or at least what humans think of what he does and how he acts. If he did, then Jesus shouldn't have been born to an unmarried virgin. He would not have been born in a way that did not bring the chance of a bad reputation among humans.

Mary was discovered to be pregnant and Joseph did not want to see her disgraced, so he planned to break off the engagement quietly. The God of the Universe was entering the world as a human and decides to come under cover of an illegitimate adulterous teenage pregnancy. (And if you recall, Mary could have faced the same thing the woman in John 8:1 faced if caught or found guilty and then the religious people would throw rocks at her; a favorite pastime of the religious professionals.)

How many teenage girls found to be with child before marriage are disgraced? When it happens, the girl and the guy always try to cover it up and keep it a secret. And when the word gets out everyone talks, “Did you hear? So and So are pregnant! Can you believe that?!” “What a tramp.” In reality, and what I find, most people are doing it; only a few get caught. It would be good for some people to take the board out of their eye so they can see.

Yet here with the birth of Jesus, Mary was not married. She was pregnant though, and I am sure there were those who talked. Couldn’t God have found another way for Christ to be born? Could it have been more honorable?

It is clear that God is not concerned with human gossip and what people think. He does what he wants. It is best.

grace abounds

I am thinking about grace. It is a worthy subject to reflect on. It really is. Grace abounds.

It is a reminder of all that has been accomplished by Christ and a solid reflection of the message of the gospel.

Grace. What else is there? Grace abounds. Without grace we are left on the treadmill of performance always trying to earn the love of God or avoid being punished. If that is the extent of the Christian life, I am out a here. If it were up to our performance or what we do, then who can ever stand before a righteous and holy God? No one could! Yet because of Christ, our sin is wiped away and we stand, hidden in the cross of Christ and seen, without sin.

Leaning on a fence, I spoke with two friends about the extent of grace. Does it have boundaries? Where does grace stop? We concluded: it doesn’t--it abounds, there is no limit. Well, won’t humanity take it and run with it; abusing it like a drunken husband abuses his wife every night after coming home from the pub? No, not if they are truly in Christ and believers. A person who has repented of sin abhors sin in the depths of their soul. It does not mean they do not sin, it means that the Spirit of Christ within them has freed them from the slavery of sin. Yet there is still a war waging between the sinful flesh and the new man. Remember though, the old man is now dead, yet he can be heard kicking and screaming within his coffin. What we want to do we often do not and those things we do not want to do, these things we too often find ourselves doing. (Who will rescue us? Thank be to God for the cross!) Then the Spirit of Christ within us causes us to flee to the cross and to the gospel to be reminded that this sin is not accredited to us, but was paid in full on the cross. A true believer abhors and battles against the sinful nature, yet at the same time basks in the freedom that God has given.

“Plant your feet firmly therefore within the freedom that Christ has won for us, and do not let yourselves be caught again in the shackles of slavery. Listen!” Galatians 5:1 JBP

To have freedom and yet be told that you really must not accept it and use it; this is not freedom; it is simply more slavery. There is no freedom at all in this scenario!

Yet while being free, a heart that is truly changed doesn’t run towards freedom so they might sin; so that God’s grace can be bigger. No, they abhor and hate sin.

If Jesus has won for us grace; why do we have such a difficult time accepting it? Is the gift too good? Do we think it is a trick? Do we think we’ll get a rock instead of bread; or a snake instead of a fish?

There is no limit to grace. It abounds. To refuse to accept it is to say that the cross was not sufficient and that the work of Christ was not complete.

time

Time you enjoyed wasting is not wasted time.

---- ts elliot

Away with arrogance & pride!

Be careful that none of you fails to respond to the grace which God gives, for if he does there can very easily spring up in him a bitter spirit which is not only bad in itself but can also poison the lives of many others. Hebrews 12.15 Phillips

When we move from a place of grace and humility to a place of judgment and arrogance we easily become a poison that infects everything we touch. It is arrogance that puts out the fire in the young believers' hearts and stifles the passion of those feeling the calling of God in their lives. Often this is shown through cynicism and sarcasm at others who are excited about Christ. Let us cheer one another on even if they show their love for Jesus in ways that are different than we are accustomed to. Rejoice in the fact that Christ is preached; and in that fact, rejoice.

Let us serve and minister with humility. Let us seek to be the least; the servant of all. And when you have understood these things you will find your true joy in doing them; and you will be more closely associated with Jesus.

Recommend:
John 13

Christ the center

Remember always, as the center of everything, Jesus Christ... 2 Timothy 2:8 (Phillips).

Remind each other and encourage each other towards this goal. Let us not become preoccupied with peripheral activities and thoughts other than those that spring from a love for Christ. Let us flee from religious exercises done merely to satisfy the expectations of the modern day Pharisees and those that hold the law, man-made moral and cultural, over the heads of the church. Protect each other from merely becoming busy with the millions of Christian programs and activities that are offered at every turn.

Ask each other as often as you are able:

• How are you? How can I pray with you? How can I encourage you along?


• Where have you seen Jesus today? Have you looked?


• What has he spoken to you this day? Have you listened?

Recommend:

Pick up the Commentary: Mark, by JC Ryle