Grains of Sand

Google Images George MacDonald once said: “ Did the fact ever cross your mind that you are here in this world just to understand the Lord Jesus Christ, and for no other reason? ” It was in the spirit of that same truth that Jesus told his followers: “ The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent ” (John 6:29). The statement was made as Jesus spoke to the crowds about the need to focus on the eternal rather than the temporal and it was bracketed by some remarks about miracles (6:26, 30). Some of those who followed Jesus in those early days didn’t really care about the miracles Jesus did as long as they got what they wanted. Others wanted Jesus to do more miracles to prove who He was. In both cases they wanted what would satisfy them, rather than what would satisfy God. When the question was asked: “ What must we do to do the works God requires? ” (6:28), Jesus reduced everything to one simply statement: BELIEVE . Truly believing changes everything. Truly believing leav...

Reading: Mark 6, 7 I catch myself complaining when my plans get interrupted by other people’s agendas. To tell the truth, it isn’t a surprise that I complain. It doesn’t sneak up on me as though it were something alien to me. I choose to complain. There was no one busier than Jesus was during those brief three and a half years that He had to complete His ministry. In the account we have for us in Mark, He had gifted His disciples with the ability to do miracles, divided them into teams, and sent them out to do ministry (6:7-13). When they came back they reported everything that had happened. Now Jesus wasn’t the only “show” in town; His disciples must have also garnered a reputation for themselves. The crowds where so big and came so often that Jesus and His team didn’t have a chance to eat (6:31). It looks like He didn’t pay much attention to His mother’s concerns about His physical and emotional state as reported back in Mark 3:20, 21. But the Lord wasn’t unaware of the nee...

“ Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved ” —Acts 4:12, NIV. Frederick Whitfield said it well: There is a name I love to hear, I love to sing its worth; It sounds like music in my ear, The sweetest name on earth. It tells me of a Savior’s love, Who died to set me free; It tells me of His precious blood, The sinner’s perfect plea. It tells me what my Father hath In store for every day And tho’ I tread a darksome path, Yields sunshine all the way. It tells of One whose loving heart Can feel my deepest woe, Who in each sorrow bears a part That none can bear below. Refrain: O how I love Jesus! O how I love Jesus! O how I love Jesus, Because He first loved me! Embrace that Name. Hold it close to your heart. Place it foremost in your mind. Keep it on the tip of your tongue. Whisper it frequently in reverence and love. Shout it when you can. Sing it with joy. Share it at every opportunit...

Imaginary Jesus Author Matt Mikalatos - view author info Contribution by George Barna - view author info Who hasn't asked the eternal "Why?" question? In our effort to answer our own question when heaven seems silent, we often come up with all the wrong answers or, as in Matt Mikalatos' case, the wrong Jesus to believe in. For me, Imaginary Jesus had the same shock value as The Shack , though the "irreverence," if you can call it that, of Imaginary Jesus is on the comic side rather than the heavier weight of Young's writing. Mikalatos takes us on a chase through the ages in a search for the real Jesus. As we wade through the mind-boggling number of imaginary ones, including: Bargain Jesus, Conservative-Truth-Telling Jesus, Emergent Jesus, Feminist Jesus, and 8-ball Jesus, we are accompanied, among others, by the Apostle Peter, a donkey named Daisy, and a reformed prostitute. Running through the book, like a red cord, is the eternal ...

Every instinct cries out against it. It's not normal or natural—not to this body of flesh. I resist. Surely the stupidest sheep doesn't choose to go to the slaughter? I said that I wanted to be like Jesus. I know that is God's highest, and best, plan for my life. But not this. " Whoever wants to be first must be slave to all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many " —Mark 10:44, 45. No matter how much I rationalize, there is no escape. I have to put myself on the altar: Every ambition, every desire, every possession, every relationship, every piece of who and what I am. To be like Jesus means there is no expectation of a last minute rescue, no army of ten thousand angels to whisk me off the altar at the last minute. It's all the way. It's more than willingness. That would only take me to foot of the altar. It's movement, It's climbing up. It's exposing my breast to the knife if...