Mark: Consider the Sower
Farming today, where we live, is high-tech with GPS-guided machines that place each seed exactly where it belongs. Those changes in agriculture have separated us a bit from one of…
Author: Dale Heinold
Mark – Family Matters
In our previous article, Jesus’ family heard news of his doings and thought he might have gone crazy. “Jesus entered a house, and the crowd gathered again so that they…
Mark: A House Divided
C. S. Lewis proposed a formula for considering Jesus. He is either a liar, a lunatic, or the Lord. There are no other options. If the whole thing was a…
Mark: Crowds and Apostles
Jesus’ fame spread. People seeking healing, spiritual goose bumps, or those curious followed Him everywhere. Mark records, “Jesus departed with his disciples to the sea, and a large crowd followed…
Mark: Lord of the Sabbath
It is possible to perfectly follow the rules and be completely wrong. That is what the Pharisees encountered in today’s section of Mark. Like many rules and laws, it is…
Mark: Old and New
Religious practice tends towards blueprints. Do this and that and the other thing, and you will be okay. Or to put it into religious terms, you’ll be pious. In the…
A Prepared Place
My wife and I recently walked a trail. This particular hike was on private property on Kauai, Hawaii. Following our GPS, we made it to the trailhead. And that is…
Mark – Them?
Some things never change. Even today, a letter from the Internal Revenue Service causes anxiety. No one likes the annual ritual of filing their income tax docs, except maybe those…
Mark: Three Signs
I remember the first time I heard the story of our next step in Mark’s Gospel. It was Sunday School at the rural church we attended growing up. The teacher…
Mark – If You Are Willing
One of the most compelling healings of Jesus is the focus of today’s walk in the Gospel of Mark. Before we go too far, let’s read the Word. “He went…
Mark: Healing, Prayer, and Preaching
News spreads fast in a small town. Soon, the town is buzzing about Jesus and what happened at the synagogue. Mark reports that Jesus with Simon, Andrew, James, and John,…
Mark: With Authority
There’s a difference between complaining about something and having the authority to do something about it. We see that in the news media as opinions fly about what should be…