Mark 7:1-23 serves as a powerful hinge between the captivating miracles embedded in Mark 6 and the outreach Jesus puts forward to the Gentiles in Mark 7:24 and following. With the miracles, one finds Jesus offering hope to people who are like sheep without shepherds. With the outreach, one finds Jesus embodying the missionary spirit READ MORE
Cleanliness
Your King is Coming!
Five hundred and forty years before the first Easter a prophet named Zechariah captured the attention of God’s people, speaking directly into their vulnerabilities, fears and brokenness. After seventy years of exile within the high walls of a brutal empire, the Jewish people had been released to return to their ancient homeland and its capital, READ MORE
Do Not Be Afraid
Someone that I have known for many years told me that she felt afraid as she thinks about the future and what the implications of past sin are for the future. The sin issue that she referenced was abortion. Below is part of what I shared with her, without using her name or particulars, of READ MORE
Light of the World
Our world can be very dark. Children will go for generations in many corners of our planet without clean water. Mildly successful businessmen will trade their accomplishments in for alcoholism. On this very night too many women in our own community will wonder—even if for a moment—if they truly get their husbands’ fullest affections. There READ MORE
Grace Does Not Make Sense
Grace simply does not make sense. It is scandalous. It is shocking. It is often appalling. It does not make sense. And yet, it defines the existence of every follower of Jesus Christ. Without grace we have nothing. I often define grace in the following simple terms. You’ll note the acronym that is created from READ MORE
Living Above & Beyond with Extravagant Rejoicing
This post finds us continuing our series and Bethel Church’s special season entitled, “Living Above & Beyond,” an opportunity to mature as followers of Christ, with the goal of becoming the church that lives above and beyond material slavery, spiritual complacency and small-minded eternal vision. We want to raise our spiritual bar; indeed, we must READ MORE