The Sabbath was God’s gift, God’s blessing for His people. The one thing you do not do, then, is fail to honor and respect the gift. That would dishonor the…
Something called intermittent fasting seems to be a thing. There may be something to it. Humans have been finding value in fasting, especially spiritual value, for a very long time. …
When I began attending church twenty-two years ago, I’m not sure I knew what I was expecting. I just had this inner sense—whispering, nudging—that God wanted me to go to…
No one gets to Jesus in just the same way. Am I going to tell Jesus, “Lord, that’s not how I’d do it”? If people bring someone to Jesus in…
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Those are funeral words, graveside words, goodbye words. I’ve baptized many, marking them with water. Today, I mark you with ashes. Nothing in Scripture…
I’ve been trying to take Mark’s account—what Peter told Mark—in order this year. Today, with our forty-day walk to Easter about to begin, I’m jumping ahead. Today is Transfiguration Sunday. …
“They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach” (1:21). From the shores of Galilee, Jesus and his four new disciples…
Walking along the beach is one of my happiest times. What is it about that meeting place of water and land: the sound of the water? The breeze? The birds? …
In Mark’s telling, it can feel as if things happen rapid-fire: this, then this, then this, sort of breathlessly. It may have been just like that. It may also be…
Not purification but preparation. Jesus didn’t need any purification. His baptism wasn’t for his purification; rather, it was a sign of his dedication, his official consecration, if you will. His…