Kid's Video Devotion - Lying

1. Watch the Doug episode

       2. Doug trivia
          Give 2 out of 3 of Doug's cousins' names. (real cousins not made up ones)
     
       3. Read Genesis 12:10-20  http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=genesis+12%3A10-20&version=MSG   What lie did Abraham tell?
     Why did he tell it?
     Who all was affected by it?
     Read Genesis 26:7-9   http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=genesis+26%3A7-9&version=MSG   Who else was affected?
     What principles can you learn about lying?

      4. Who all lied in this episode of Doug?
      5. Have you ever told a lie? Did you have to tell more to keep it going? Did other people have to lie for you?
     6. Read John 8:44 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john+8%3A44&version=TLB
   What is so bad about lying?
    7. What should Doug have done when Connie asked him to the dance? Is that what you would have done?

Note to teachers/parents;

   In this episode, Doug lied to Connie because he wanted to go to the dance with Patty. Suddenly he risked being exposed as a liar so he had to bring Porkchop, Skeeter, and Judy into it. Lies take on a life of themselves. Look at the athletes that have denied taking steroids. They have to keep lying over and over and eventually hurt their friends. Better to tell the truth the first time. It is hard because we are embarrassed. afraid, ashamed, etc. but all that shows we care more about what people think than what God thinks. God is the father of truth and satan is the father of lies. Anytime we lie it makes Satan happy. Do you want to make the devil happy or God. Well then, always tell the truth!

What's So Awesome About Jesus? A Chapter by Chapter Study Through Mark - Chapter 13

                                 CHAPTER 13

1. Read Mark 13:1,2. What was Jesus' response to the disciple's comment?


     What point do you think He was making?


     Last week we learned about Jesus being focused. Look at the following passages and tell how Jesus is focused in them:

      Luke 13:1-5

      Luke 10:17,20

      John 3:1-3

    How do they compare to Mark 13:1,2.

     Here is a historical description of Jesus' prophecy being fulfilled in 70 AD although only John would have been alive to hear of this.

     The Jewish zealots, reacting in opposition to Caligula’s campaign began a revolt against Rome, a revolt which led to Roman legion soldiers from Syria destroying the food stocks of the Zealots and the local Jewish population. The inhabitants of the city of Jerusalem died in great numbers via starvation. (Luke 21:20-23) Roman General Titus encircled the city, (later became Caesar) and began the siege of Jerusalem in April, A.D. 70. He posted his 10th legion on the Mount of Olives, directly east of and overlooking the Temple Mount. The 12th and 15th legions were stationed on Mount Scopus, further to the east and commanding all ways to Jerusalem from east to north. On the 10th of August, in A.D. 70 – (the 9th of Av) -- in Jewish calendar reckoning, the very day when the King of Babylon burned the Temple in 586 B.C., the Temple was burned again. Titus took the city and put it to the torch, burning the Temple, leaving not one stone upon another.
Thus, Jerusalem was totally destroyed and as Jesus had predicted, and not one stone was left upon another. When the Temple was set on fire the Roman soldiers tore apart the stone to get the melted gold.

2. Read Matthew 24:3. What question do the disciples ask?

     Who is His audience?

      Is there any significance to the fact that this is a question answered in private?


3. Read Mark 13:5-37 and underline every time deceive, watch out, on guard, alarmed, stand firm, don't worry, and be alert appears. Why do you think He is telling the disciples this information?


   What part of this passage may or will occur in their lifetime? (9-13)


     What promise is given them in that pertinent passage?


     What warning is given to them?

4. Read Revelation 6. List the untoward events that these 2 passages have in common.



      What does this tell you about Jesus?

 
  5. Read Mark 13:14. What is the abomination of desolation? (opinion)


      According to Daniel 9:27 when does it occur?


      Note "let the reader understand". What does this tell you about Jesus?


      Who is Jesus "writing" this for?


       According to your eschatology, who are the readers going to be?


       What does that tell you about Jesus?


6. Read Matt 24:13 and 2 Peter 3:11,12. These verses have inspired multiple churches and organizations to missions. Explain why.


      In context with the tribulation, read Rev. 14:6,7. How might this also explain this Matthew passage?



Summary
     A lot of Christians really get into prophecy. My family is one of them. Growing up in the 60's and 70's I was exposed to the furor with Israel becoming a nation in 1948 or 1967 officially. Therefore passages like "this generation (is that 40 or 100 years?) will not pass away until this is accomplished..." took on meaning it hadn't since the Bible's completion. We were convinced since the fig tree (Israel) had blossomed, Jesus would come back at least by 2007! Here we are in 2014 and we see how difficult it is to understand prophecy. There was even a book 88 reasons why Jesus will come back in '88 which you can see from 1948 + 40 year generation how people bought into this. My parents, my dad passed away in 2013, moved to a retirement community in Boca Raton Florida called Bibletown, which no longer exists, and they were treated to weekly conferences of speakers 50% of whom talked about prophecy. With this sub population of 70+ year olds, all of which wanted to avoid death and be raptured, you can understand the interest. The Jesus movement of the 60's and 70's was spurred on by Hal Lindsay's book, The Late Great Planet Earth and one of the hallmarks of the Jesus movement was the teaching of the immenent return of Christ.
    Although prophecy is something to study as seen by the fact that Jesus spent a whole chapter of His 16 chapter book of Mark discussing it, in a book that has very little teaching and mainly action, it is one of those topics that we need to be careful about. First of all, it isn't meant for unbelievers; there are much more important things to share with them. Notice Jesus takes the disciples aside and gives Mark 13 in private. Secondly, it can divide us and Jesus' high priestly prayer in John 17 pleaded with the Father to make us one. The common thread has to be to live as if He is coming back tomorrow and live urgently and keep the Kingdom of Heaven in mind at all times to live effectively here and please the Lord. (Heb. 11:14-16) Anything more than that is not to be argued about because "the Lord's servant is not quarrelsome". Lastly, as seen in Chapter 12, what's so awesome about Jesus is that He was focused. People tried to get Him off track with political, social, theological arguments and He kept coming back to what really mattered. Throughout the gospels we see this; Nicodemus said, "We know You are a teacher sent from God..." Jesus response -"You must be born again" When asked about natural disasters in Luke 13 His response was basically, "If that happened to you do you know where you will go?" When the 72 came back and said "Even the demons submit to us" Jesus response - "Rejoice rather that you are going to Heaven". And in this passage we see the disciples rightfully marveling at the splendor of the temple and Jesus basically says,"It's all going to burn" (which btw it did in 70AD) The point is that we need not get sidetracked but focus on loving God and loving people until He comes back which might be soon so we better get busy.
      With all that in mind, we approach this passage and realize that it really wasn't written to the 12. Like John 17:20 where Jesus is praying not only for the 12 but future believers, he comes right out in Mark 13:14 (and Matt. 24:15) and says "Let the reader understand". As Jesus is talking to the disciples, He is also writing the Bible! He knows what He is saying will be written down and read by us. Now certainly the part about standing before authorities in persecution related to the disciples and encouraging them that this is to be expected, not feared, and don't fall away - but most of the rest won't happen in their lifetime. In fact, if my eschatology is right, it won't happen in my lifetime either. I believe these signs begun in Revelation 6 will be during the tribulation and we will be raptured. I believe this for 7 reasons
    1. Biblical examples of Lot, Noah, Rahab, even Joseph removing his family from famine. These were all people taken out before judgment occurred.
    2. We are told we don't know the day of His return. Actually if we are here it will be 1260 days from when the antichrist sits in the temple and declares himself to be god. (Rev. 12:6)
    3. we are told to live urgently as it will come unaware. If we will be here we will have plenty of signs to watch for so we can slack off
    4. We are the salt of the earth - we are the preservative. When we leave the restrainer - the holy Spirit - will be taken out of the way (2 Thes. 2:6-8) and make way for the tribulation
    5. God's people are not appointed for wrath 1Thes. 5:9
    6. Jewish weddings last a week. When the bridegroom comes and takes us away to the wedding feast (Rev.19) it will last 7 years and then we will come back with Him to face Armegeddon
    7. Rev. 1-4 mentions the church but it is missing chapters 6-18 during the tribulation.

  Anyway, if that is true, not only is Jesus not writing this for the 12 or us who believe, but rather He is thinking of those who rejected Him until it was too late, so He gave them one more chance and wrote them a tribulation playbook so they wouldn't lose their faith. He is writing Revelations before John! What's so awesome about Jesus? While He should be the one needing consoling about His upcoming crucifixion that He is willingly walking into, He is consoling and warning those who will deny Him, flee from Him, fall asleep on Him, and reject Him. What amazing love. Normally we extrapolate His love for us by seeing how He loved Biblical people but here we see Him directly loving us out of the Bible times people and this during His last days on earth. Love outside of time. That is what is so awesome about Jesus!

What's So Awesome About Jesus? A Chapter by Chapter Study Through Mark - Chapter 11

   Last week we looked at what was so awesome about Jesus and it was serving. He didn't come to be waited on but to wait on mankind, and the ultimate act of serving was giving His life. Skeptics of Christianity would say that Jesus was a prophet or a good teacher and that His death was an inspirational example of how we too should be willing to give our lives sacrificially out of love for others i.e. Mother Teresa. Tim Keller gives an illustration of how nonsensical this view is. "Suppose I was walking along the banks of the Hudson River with some of my congregation and suddenly I say to you, 'You know how much I love you? I'll show you.' and I proceed to jump into the freezing cold river and drown. Would you say, 'Wow, I never really knew the extent of his love' or would you rather say, 'Wow, I never knew how deranged he was'. You see, giving my life to show the extent of my love only makes sense if you were in the river drowning and I jumped in to save you and drowned in my attempt." Thus, Mark 10:45 says that He served us by giving His life as a ransom for us.
   Our whole premise of our race through Mark has been that by finding out what is so awesome about Jesus we will fall deeper in love with Him and find that living the Christian life with this motivation makes it fun, easy, less stressful, less draining, a case of wanting to not having to. All the other character traits of Jesus have seemed attainable but why is this serving one so hard? As I think about the marriage illustration compared to the Christian walk it works in so many areas. I love my wife so I call her all day long and love to talk to her - prayer. I love to show her picture to everyone and have it displayed prominently in many places in my office - witnessing. She texts me, sends me emails, writes me cards and notes and I can't wait to read them - reading the Bible. She tells me to clean the gutters, take the dog for a walk, mow the lawn, backwash the pool, pick up my clothes, take out the trash - serving the Lord by serving others, GRRRR. This isn't as easy. There is something deep inside me that needs to be undone and serving, more than anything reveals that our love needs to deepen and challenges us in our spiritual complacency of thinking that we have arrived.

                                     CHAPTER 11

  Up until this time we have seen Jesus avoiding conflict.
1.Read Mark 8:8-13 and John 7:1-10 and explain how these 2 illustrations indicate the avoidance.



2.  Read the following "near misses" and speculate why God didn't allow these to happen
      John 7:30


      John 8:58,59


     Luke 4:28-30


3. Read Exodus 12:1-23 and 43-49 and give 7 reasons why Jesus had to die on the Passover feast
     A.

     B.

     C.

     D.

     E.

     F.

     G.

  4. Although this is not easily intuited, Daniel 9:24-27 gives us a divine timetable of these events that determined the precise time Jesus needed to arrive in Jerusalem and why He avoided conflict and death until this point
     Read Nehemiah 2:1-8. What is Nehemiah requesting that correlates with Daniel 9:25?


     Sixty nine sevens of weeks occurs until the anointed one, Jesus enters into town and is cut-off. If the issuing of the decree, according to historians is  3/14/445BC  and the Jewish calendar is 360 days/year, we have Jesus arriving 69x360x7 or 173,880 days later which comes out to 4/6/32 AD and we know from history that good Friday that year is 4/11/32. Thus, Jesus entered on Palm Sunday and the people recited Ps. 118:24-27a  and acted out 27b with boughs in hand (NIV 84)

    Read Ps. 118:24 and Luke 19:41 and 42. In light of the Daniel prophecy, how does that give you new insight into the word "day" in both these passages.



5. Back to Mark 11:1-11, how did Jesus enter the city?


      Why on a baby donkey.(Zech 9:9)


       Read Rev.19:11-20. How will He be arriving next time?

       How does this scene from Shrek relate?

    


6. Read Mark 11:12-21.
      This fulfilled these 3 prophecies. Read them and explain
      Isa. 56:7

     Jer. 7:11

     Ps. 69:9

    Is this the first team He cleared out the temple? (See John 2:13-16)

    Read Luke 13:6-9. In light of the 2 clearing out of the temples and the parable, how is Jesus' apparent impatience with the fig tree in Mark 11 explained.


     If you look at Jesus' only destructive miracle in the Bible, how is this actually a parable of what he is to see in verses 15-18 of Mark 11?


  Summary

 The word for the day is King. We see that Jesus came as the meek king this time. Instead of paved roads he came on roads smoothened by cloaks. Instead of a fine steed he had a donkey and a baby donkey at that! I wonder if His feet were dragging? Instead of a coronation celebration He went back to Bethany and made an early night of it. Isaiah 53:1-3 says

  Who has believed our message
    and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
² He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
    and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
    nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
³ He was despised and rejected by mankind,
    a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
    he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

This is the kind of king that He came as the first time. The next time according to Revelation He will come back flying in on a White Horse with His heavenly army and just with the word of His mouth His foes gathered against Him will melt. These years between the meek king and the conquering king are described in 2 Peter 3:8-10


   But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. ⁹ The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
¹⁰ But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare

Just like the parable of the unproductive fruit tree getting some extra pruning time before destruction and the three years between the cleansing of the temples with the judgment on the fig tree the second time, God is patient wanting to give people chances to repent. The time between the two comings no one knows. However since God is very mathematical as seen by the day literally predicted of His entry by the Daniel prophecy, my guess would be somewhere around 2232/2233 AD which believe me depresses me tremendously. I get this from the fact according to The Feasts of the Lord by Marvin Rosenthal who discusses the Jewish dating system. He states that creation, according to tradition, happened 3761BC in the fall. If the calendar starts there, that would make this year, 2014, actually year 5774/5775. that leaves roughly 225 years until year 6000. What's so special about 6000? Well, if a day is like a thousand years, God worked 6 days and on the seventh He rested - The Millennium! Then subtract 7 years from the millennium which would be the rapture and you get 2232/2233 AD. For more thoughts on this see  http://thoughtsfromtherightbrain.blogspot.com/2011/04/im-going-to-predict-day-of-rapture.html  . Anyway, I'm pretty sure I'm right on the Feast of trumpets being the rapture but the year thing is just a guess and I hope He comes this year and we need to live that way, too!

   Look at Romans 15:8

⁸ For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth, so that the promises made to the patriarchs might be confirmed

  Remember Mark 10 where we discussed Jesus the servant or Diakoneo? This verse in Romans discusses another way Jesus was a servant that we haven't discussed yet. Jesus was a servant to all the prophecies! He had a divine timetable calculated from Daniel 9. He came in on a donkey from Zech.9. He had to clear the temple according to Jer. 7. He had to die on the Passover from Exodus 12 and be our Passover lamb and these are just prophecies from this chapter. Below is a picture of a chart in my Bible on how Christ fulfilled the Passover. (I got tired of typing)

   

Do you know anyone famous? Does anyone famous know you? I think the most famous person I know is the AA pitching coach for the Toronto Blue Jays! Scratch that; I know the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and He knows me!! In fact I am His brother!! (Mark 3) And if I interpret Revelations somewhat correctly, I am mentioned in Rev. 19:14,19! That's a lot of exclamation marks!!

     Thank you Father that you sent Your Son, the King, to be my friend, my Brother, my Savior. I am so unworthy to be included in His family, His army, His wedding feast. His fame is unmatched in history yet He walks with me day by day. May I be cognizant of that as I go through my days here on Earth and realize He is so much more worthy than anything/anyone else I desire.

What's So Awesome About Jesus? A Chapter by Chapter Study Through Mark - Chapter 12

         My wife confessed , as she taught this chapter in Sunday School to loving the show "The Bachelor". She gave this clip as an illustration that I thought was awesome.

      
       How can we say we love Jesus if we don't want to spend time with Him and when we do, all we talk about is ourself? How can we say we love Him and we never read the Bible? The other way to look at this also goes along with what we have been emphasizing in this jaunt through Mark is that if we love someone, which Juan Pablo obviously didn't, we want to spend time with them, get to know them, listen to them, etc. If we fall in love with Jesus, the Christian life becomes a great adventure rather than a huge chore. So lets look at what's so awesome about Jesus in Mark 12 so we can fall deeper in love with Him this week.


               CHAPTER 12

1. Read Mark 12:28-34. What are the two most important commands and why?


     When the man agreed with Jesus, what did Jesus say to the expert in the law?


     What do you think was keeping the man from the kingdom of God? (Matt.7:21-23, 1Cor.8:2,3)


     Let's look at the 4 descriptions of how we are to love God
       1. With all our heart. The greek for heart is Kardia which means the middle. What does it mean to love God with your middle?


       2. Soul is that immaterial part inside us that communicates with God and is essentially who I am. What do you think it means to love God with all your soul?



       3. Mind basically means intelligence. What do you think it means to love God with all your mind?



        4. Strength means physical power. What do you think it means to love God with all your power?


    How is your Love for Jesus doing?


Throughout this chapter 12 which marks Tuesday and Wednesday of the Passover week, Jesus is teaching in the temple. Meanwhile, the enemies of Jesus, who normally were enemies of each other, joined together to get Him arrested, discredited, exposed as a fraud or whatever they could do to end His popularity. Let's look at how focused Jesus is in these passages on teaching loving and believing in Him in the midst of questions meant to get Him sidetracked. He kept bringing the discussion back to what really matters.

  Read Mark 12:1-12

   How does the following video relate?

        

The first meaning behind the parable is obvious. Read Isa. 5:1-7

    1. Who is the vineyard?

    2. Who is the owner?

    3. Who are the tenants?

     4. Who are the messengers?

     5. Who is the son?

          How does this answer the question they never got an answer to in 11:28?

     6. Who are the new tenants?

The second meaning is more personal. Read Acts 17:24-31

     1. Who is the vineyard?

     2. Who is the owner?

     3. What did the tenants do? (see Rom. 1:18 - 25)

     4. What is their punishment?

  With this interpretation in mind, Read Mark 12:38-44. When it says that the widow says "she gave all she had to live on". The greek word for that is bios which means she gave her life. She entrusted her life to the owner of the vineyard to take care of her.

      According to this passage, who does it appear the Pharisees are living for?


   Read Mark 12:35-37. Who had their hero David surrendered to?


    Read Mark 12:13-17?  According to verse 17, what should they give Caesar?

    What should they give God according to what we have learned?



Summary

      When the teacher of the law repeats Jesus' answer (vs. 29-31) in verses 32-33, he leaves out one thing that is easily glanced over - Jesus says "love the Lord your God..." and the teacher, who is close but no cigar leaves that out. All the knowledge, good deeds, saying the right words doesn't get you to Heaven. It is surrendering your life to the owner of your life and living in a love relationship with Him. I went fishing in Canada once and we drove all the way to the northernmost part of Minnesota but we still weren't in Canada. We had to cross through a narrow gate, humble ourselves to the border guards, and then live under the rules of Canada such as if it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown flush it down. (I got yelled at at the first filling station in Canada we stopped at) Although this illustration has flaws because I didn't love Canada nor did they love me, you get the point. This teacher was close but yet he missed the narrow way which is a personal love relationship with Jesus attained by surrendering Lordship of our life to the one who deserves it and demands it.
      The Pharisees, Saducees, Herodians also missed it because they weren't looking for the truth they were looking for a way to get rid of the Truth. In the end of Chapter 11, when Jesus asks them about "John's baptism - was it from Heaven or men?" -  they didn't even ask themselves "what is true"? They were just concerned with their own reputation and saving face. The Pharisees who heard his parable missed the most crucial part of the parable - that Jesus was the vineyard owner's Son - and just looked for a way to kill Him because He told the parable about them. The tax question was a hot potato because the Romans instituted a census in order to tax all the Jews, in addition to all their other taxes, one Denarius for the pleasure of and in deference to the honor of living under Cesaer  and the coin's inscription said that he was king and God. People had revolted against this and been executed (Acts 5:37) and the Pharisees, with Herod and Cesaer in town were hoping for a wrong answer and a quick execution. Jesus, without being distracted kept focused on the point - Give God your life!
     The Saducees then tried to make up a nonsensical question like who was Cain's wife or could God make a stone so big He can't move it? - but Jesus focused on God is the God of the dead and living. Since you are living, is He your God? Even their hero David called Him Lord and the widow surrendered her whole life to Him and was publically praised by Jesus.
      The word for this week is focused. Jesus didn't get distracted by secondary issues but focused on the Lordship of Jesus Christ and our need to surrender fully and completely to Him and to love Him with our whole being. The important questions in life aren't your eschatology, predestination, which day to worship on, contemporary vs. traditional worship, but rather what have you done with Jesus? What is your relationship with Him like. That's the eternal question that even the rich young ruler missed. He said what must I do to receive eternal life and Jesus recognized this and told him what it costs to follow Him. He was looking for heaven rather than Jesus! Do you love Jesus?

What's So Awesome About Jesus? A Chapter by Chapter Study Through Mark - Chapter 10

   There is no CCM song that better represents the concept of the Christian life "motor" being run on the "gasoline" of love for Jesus than this song by Jason Gray...

Let's look at Mark 10 to find out what's so awesome about Jesus

      

                                       CHAPTER 10

1. Read Mark 10:35 -45. Many people say Mark 10:45 is the key verse of the book of Mark. We are going to focus on what's so awesome about Jesus is that He was a servant or the greek word diakoneo. Jesus came to be a servant and we, as His disciples, who have taken up our cross and died to self and now live for Christ can be nothing less than servants also.
   Read Phil. 2:5-8. In what ways  did Christ become a servant?


          According to Mark 10:45, why did He become a servant?


         From all we have read so far in the previous 9 chapters (and 10:46-52), give some illustrations of times when Jesus put his personal needs below someone else's needs to wait on or serve  them




2. The disciples, like us, desperately needed to learn this lesson on serving . Read the following passages and tell how their self centeredness is evident or what principles we can learn  from these passages

        Mark 9:33-35 and John 13:12-16



        Mark 9:36,37 & Mark 10:13-16



        Mark 9:38-41



        Mark 9:42-48



        Mark 10:1-10



        Mark 10:35



       Mark 10:37



3 As we look how we should be serving, I looked up all the times diakoneo - or a form of it - appears in the Bible and saw three areas specifically where we are called to "deacon" people. I say "deacon" because this word comes directly from diakoneo. We now have offices in the church called "deacons" which started in Acts 6 because widows' needs were not being met. I can't help but think that since Acts is a history of the early church complete with it's flaws, the office of deacon was only set up because believers weren't deaconing like they should have been so the position had to be created to make sure it got done. Here is what all of us should be doing so we can put the deacons out of a job.(All these verses will have diakoneo in them)

    A.  Meeting people's physical needs
        1. Read Matt. 25:44   List 4 needs we are to meet and tell how you or the church are meeting these.

           a.

           b.

           c.

           d.

       2. Read 2 Cor. 8:2-4 and Luke 8:1-3. What other needs are met here. (notice it isn't gender specific)

         e.

     B. Meeting society's need

         What non- spiritual job serves as a deacon for God in Rom. 13:1-4?


         Read Jeremiah 29:4-7.(not a diakoneo verse but it relates) What principle does this teach us?


      C. Meeting people's spiritual needs.
          1. Read 1Cor. 3:5,6. Paul and Appollos were planting and watering as God's deacons. How would you relate that to your life?


          2. Read 1 Peter 4:10,11. What spiritual gift has God given you to serve (diakoneo) the church?


            How have you used it/them lately?


On a scale of 1-10, how do you rate yourself as a servant?
What is your plan to take it up a notch?



  Summary:

  WWJD was a popular fad a while back. In Mark 10:45 we see what Jesus would do and it is basically 2 things, one of which we can't do. The one we can't do is to give His life as a ransom. A ransom is a price paid to redeem someone captured. We were slaves to sin and Jesus lived a sinless life to buy us back and free us. The price wasn't paid to Satan but rather to God's justice. Tim Keller gives the illustration of a lamp in your house being broken by some friends you had over who were horsing around. You have three options; make them buy you a new one, tell them not to worry about it and you buy a new one, or go without light. All three of them cost something. You can't just say, "I forgive you" and everything is fine. A price must be paid. Jesus paid the price to make right the debt that sin incurred.
     The one thing we can do is to serve. You might say," wouldn't loving be more important? Aren't the commandments summed up in love God and love others?" I recently read a definition of love by Dr. Tim Kimmel which I thought was great. he says, "Love is the commitment of my will to your needs and best interests regardless of the cost". Therefore if we love God and Love others, serving is how we show it. Diakoneo is the hands and feet of love. Many people think hate is the opposite of love. Actually it is selfishness - serving yourself rather than others. You can see how this is the natural bent of all of us passed down from Lucifer who, rather than be the chief serving angel of God, wanted to be equal. You can even see it in his temptations as he tried to get Jesus to feed himself thus meeting His own needs and get glory by His own means bypassing the cross.
    The disciples illustrated this by arguing who was greater, trying to get Jesus to promise them the best seats in the kingdom (any of your kids ever yell, "shotgun"?), saying, "Jesus, we want you to do what we ask"..., and turning children away because they have nothing to offer. (any mother knows that raising children requires service 24/7) It isn't coincidence that a discussion on marriage is squeezed in here too as marriage requires serving and all marital problems are related to selfishness. Although not mentioned in Mark, a great story on selfishness and serving is found in John 13. It was the Passover dinner and all the disciples were sitting around with dirty sandaled feet because obviously the upper room didn't come equipped with a servant to wash their feet. Because no one wanted to move down the pecking order, no one offered to wash feet. Jesus sees this and gives them a valuable lesson in love and serving by washing their feet Himself causing a greatly awkward moment for the disciples. In fact, if you really want to relate love and serving the NIV1984 (oh how I miss you) in John 13:2 says "Having loved His own who were in the world, He now showed them the full extent of His love." And what did He do? Washed their feet!
      We need to realize that serving isn't something we do and get over with so we can go enjoy ourselves - serving is a way of life that brings ultimate enjoyment. The Bible gives us many ideas on how to serve. One way is to meet people's physical needs. The famous sheep and goats passages talk about food, water, health, prisons and clothing. No wonder Christians are famous for soup kitchens, food pantries, drilling wells, cleaning water, rescue ministries, prison ministries, faith based indigent medical clinics, thrift shops, salvation army, etc. We also give money to those in need. A challenge from Ronald Snider in the book The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience says
 "American Christians live in the richest nation on the Earth and enjoy an average household income of $42,409. The World Bank reports that 1.2 billion people try to survive on just one dollar a day. At least one billion people have never heard the gospel. The Ronsvalles point out that if American Christians just tithed, they would have another $143 billion available to empower the poor and spread the gospel. Studies by the United Nations suggest that just an additional $70 - $80 billion a year would be enough to provide access to essential services like basic health care and education for all the poor on the earth.If they did no more than tithe, American Christians would have the private dollars to foot this entire bill and still have $60 - $70 billion more to do evangelism around the world."

   Is that convicting, or what? We are also to serve one another with our spiritual gifts which God has given to all believers. If you aren't in a church because you aren't getting anything out of it or you can worship God just as well on the lake, you are missing this vital concept that you aren't serving, are depriving the body of your much needed gift, and are following the father of lies by being selfish. If you are being lazy at church, you are missing out on the true enjoyment that being part of the body gives. Use it or lose it!
  Lastly we are called to be good citizens, servant leaders at work, and in general helping our country to be a great place to live subservient to government leaders who are servants of God, whether they bow their knee to Him or not.

    Here is a link to a good message by Andy Stanley on this topic  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwHIBCsegWI

       Lord, Help me serve. It doesn't come natural - I want to serve myself. Even though I know the joy found in serving, I still get lazy and think there is greater joy in avoidance. Change me, Please!!

What's So Awesome About Jesus? A Chapter by Chapter Study Through Mark - Chapter 9

We have been studying through Mark chapter by chapter focusing on What's so awesome about Jesus in hopes that by seeing Him either afresh or re-catching a glimpse of Who we fell in love with in the first place, our duty to Christ would turn into acts of love to Him. Our "have to's" would turn into "get-to's". Draining would become energizing. Our word for today is better. Why do we serve Him? Because He is better than anything this world has to offer. In fact He is the best! Watch the following video and see what Ben Stuart from Breakaway Ministries has to say about Him being better.

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER 9

 

1. Read Mark 8:34 - 9:1. This is how Jesus gives an altar call! How do we know it is a call to all believers, not just the apostles?

 

 

What is on the line here?

 

 

What are the three commands here?

 

1.________________________________

 

2._________________________________

 

3._________________________________

 

Read the following accounts and from these verses and tell - in your opinion - what you think it means to deny yourself.. Luke 15:21, Luke 18:9-14, Luke 23:39-43

 

 

 

Read the following verses and tell - in your opinion - what do you think it means to take up your cross? Phil. 1:21, Gal. 2:20, Col. 3:1-4

 

 

 

Look at the following verses. What are some obstacles to following Jesus?

 

John 6:60-66       

 

 

Luke 18:18-25      

 

 

Matt.8:19,20        

 

 

Matt.8:21,22        

 

 

Luke 9:61,62        

 

 

2. Read Mark 9:2-13. Jesus has just loaded them down with some hard teachings. First of all He told the disciples that He was going to Jerusalem to suffer, be rejected, die, and rise again which was so contrary to their plans that Peter actually rebuked Jesus. Secondly Jesus called Peter Satan, followed lastly by teaching that they too must die in order to live. In context, you can see the compassion of Christ that He would take His inner circle up on the mountain to see that He is worth it - or as Ben Stuart would say, "He is better". Watch the following video

 

 

What does this (loosely) have to do with the transfiguration?

 

 

A lot of principles can be learned from the transfiguration. I want to focus on, "He is better". As Peter wanted to build 3 tabernacles for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah - kind of a Christian Hall of Fame to come visit and sell tickets -  God the Father speaks from Heaven and singles out His son as the one to listen to and the other two disappear.

 

How is Jesus better than Moses (the Pharisee's hero) according to the following verses

 

Ex. 34:33-35

 

 

Numbers 20:12

 

 

John 6:30-35

 

 

Heb. 10:1 and John 1:17

 

 

How is Jesus better than the prophets (Elijah) according to the following verses

 

John 1:6-9

 

 

Matt. 13:17

 

 

What portions of the Bible are represented on the mountain? Relate this to Mark 8:37

 

 

 

 

Summary

 

This is how Jesus gives an altar call. He says number 1 - deny yourself. I see this as recognizing that I bring nothing to the table. As the hymn goes "nothing in my hands I bring, simply to the cross I cling." Unlike the Pharisee who boasted of everything he had done versus the publican who beat his chest saying how unworthy he was, the publican was accepted. The thief on the cross said "I deserve the punishment I'm getting. I deserve to die. Please remember me," and he was accepted. The prodigal son came and said, "I no longer deserve to be called your son" while the oldest son told about what a good son he was. The younger son attended the banquet while the older one didn't. Notice who is doing the accepting in these illustrations. We have turned it around in modern Christianity and made it as if we are accepting Christ. We sing songs like "The savior is waiting... why don't you let Him come in"..." to see if you're willing to open the door Oh how He wants to come in". To be honest, Jesus in this passage says that we are unworthy and deserving hell, 9:42-48, because of our sins and our eternal soul weighs in the balance of us falling on our faces before Him and admitting this and then miraculously, He will accept us. If you want more on this, A.W.Tozer writes a good treatise on this that you can find by following this link.  http://www.neve-family.com/books/tozer/AcceptChrist-1.html

 

Number two part of the altar call is - take up your cross. The cross meant death. Jesus says that you must cease to exist. Just as in marriage, those old days are gone. You now have a new identity and that is found in Jesus. Paul says, "For me to live is Christ... I am crucified with Christ and I no longer live but Christ lives in me... For you are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God." We will talk more about what that means in chapter ten as the disciples wrestled with that.

 

Number three is- follow me. We have seen the obstacles to that already. Some wanted comfort and a home and family. Jesus said to them "are you willing to follow me even if you never have those again? If not you can have the world but you have lost your soul" He says to the rich young ruler, "You can't have me and money, choose one or the other" God hasn't become a part of our life or our co-pilot, He is our life. He is our pilot taking us wherever He wants to go. So many people tell me when I ask them if they are Christians, "I wouldn't have made it this far without the Lord." What does that mean anyway? I am afraid it means "Yes, I have "accepted" Christ into my life and as I go about "my" life I occasionally get into bad fixes and He has gotten me out of them time after time." You see, that is not the altar call Jesus is giving.

 

So why would we want to give up our lives and unconditionally follow Him? Because He is worth it. He is the Pearl of great price. He is Better than anything else, and He shows this on the mountain. He takes off His human shell for just an instant and they see His glory. Unlike Numbers 4:20 and 1Sam. 6:19 (and Raiders of the Lost Ark) Peter, James, and John looked on the glory of God and lived. Even Moses could only see the backside of His glory and live. Jesus came to bridge the gap between sin and God's glory and that was seen on the mount. Peter wanted to build tabernacles for Jesus, Elijah, and Moses but God quickly removed them from the picture and said that Jesus was superior to them. Moses glowed like the moon, Jesus glowed like the sun. Moses brought the law which brought death. Jesus brought grace which brings life. Moses sinned, Jesus didn't. Moses couldn't bring them into the promised land, Jesus could. Elijah was one of many prophets with miraculous power given to them by God. Jesus was the source of the power. Elijah was one of many prophets pointing to Christ - Jesus was the one all the prophets were pointing to.

 

Imagine you were at Ruth Chris' steak house dumpster diving late one night and the owner came out and saw you and asked, "What are you doing"? You said, "I'm broke and my family needs food so I'm bringing some home." The owner says, "Come eat inside from now on and bring your family" For a week you do that but soon you don't show up any more because you prefer eating out of the garbage! Crazy, huh? Well that is what Jesus is warning about here. He is saying," you are eating out of the dumpster and at my cost I am offering you something so much better. Sure you might have to take a bath and change your clothes but those inconveniences are miniscule to the blessings available to you and your family." Let me encourage you, Stop dumpster diving!

 

Father, Thank you for rescuing me from a life eating out of the garbage. Help me continue to discern between what is from your hand and what Satan is using to suck me back in. Help me not to long for this world because frankly there is something inside of me wanting to pull me back in and think I am missing something by following You. Thank You for Your Spirit inside me that aligns itself with You. Help me to listen to Him. Amen

 

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

             

 

      

What's So Awesome About Jesus? A Chapter by Chapter Study Through Mark - Chapter 8

     Sacrifice and offering You did not desire;
My ears You have pierced.
Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require.
⁷ Then I said, “Behold, I come;
In the scroll of the book it is written of me.
⁸ I delight to do Your will, O my God,
And Your law is within my heart.”  Ps. 40:6-8

     I highlighted the word pierced there because it is a Hebrew word Kara which means to open by hollowing out. Therefore this passage is translated "My ears You have opened" in every other version I looked up except my NIV 1984. Did they get it wrong? I suppose it is possible but the same word is used in Psalms 22:16 when the Psalmist prophesies of the crucifixion when He says, "They pierced my hands and feet..."
    Why am I making a big deal about this? Look at the passage below...
   
² “If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free, without paying anything. ³ If he comes alone, he is to go free alone; but if he has a wife when he comes, she is to go with him. ⁴ If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the woman and her children shall belong to her master, and only the man shall go free.
⁵ “But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,’ ⁶ then his master must take him before the judges. He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life.

What I have been focusing on throughout our race through Mark is what Psalms and Exodus are saying here. A lot of people are working for Christ as slaves and frankly, not enjoying it. It is their duty, they know, but they look forward to the day of Jubilee when they will be freed from this difficult Christian life and rest forever in Heaven with Jesus ... their... ex-taskmaster? What if we were able to get a new paradigm where Jesus is such an amazing master that we fall in love with Him and given the chance we would rather serve Him than have our freedom. Wouldn't that make the Christian life "whistling while we work"? Wouldn't that make our reunion in Heaven with Jesus a little more to look forward to - i.e. A wedding feast? David says in Psalm 40 basically that all that duty stuff isn't what Jesus really desires. What He wants is us to say, "I know You own me because I had a debt I couldn't pay so I gave myself to the only one who could pay it. But now that I am here at your service, I find there is nothing better in this life than serving You because I found out what is so awesome about Jesus. So I am yours and I delight to do your will. "

                     CHAPTER 8

The word for today is patience or if you want longsuffering as we see Jesus putting up with the disciples lack of "getting it" time and time again.

1. Read Mark 8:1-10
     Name 5 things that were different between this feeding and the one we saw in Mark 6:30-46

     A.
     B.
     C.
     D.
     E.

   Talk about the significance of any one of these differences.




  Why might Jesus have had to exercise patience with the disciples in these verses?



  2. Read Mark 8:11-13 and Matthew 16:1-4. This is the same account but Matthew expounds on it a little more. What actually is the sign that Jesus will give the Pharisees?


      What is the sign of Jonah? (Matt. 12:40)


      Read Matthew 27:62 - 64 and 28:12 - 15. How did they respond to that sign when it was given?



  3. Read Mark 8:14-21

    From what we have seen so far, what do you think is the yeast of the Pharisees?


     Read Luke 23:8 and Jesus' response to Herod in Luke 13:32. Why might he have been grouped with the Pharisees on Jesus' comment about yeast?


    How did Jesus once again have to exercise patience with the disciples?


   4. Read Mark 8:22-26.
       Did Jesus mess up the first time and have to redo it?

       What do you think is the purpose for the 2 step healing?


       5. Read Mark 8:27 - 33, 9:30-32, and 10:32-34. This may explain the above healing if you see it as a parable within a healing. How was Peter's vision of Christ blurry?


        How was Peter's vision of Christ clear?


        Read Matt. 16:17. How was his vision temporarily made clear?


        Read Luke 24:19-27. Even after the death and resurrection of Christ tell about the irony of verse 21.


        Read Acts 1: 6. Even after Jesus' death, resurrection, appearances and teachings for 40 days, what question did the disciples ask?


       Why was their vision blurry? (see Acts 1:4-5)


      Getting back to Mark, a normally patient Jesus calls Peter "Satan" in  8:33. Read Luke 4:9-13. What was the temptation behind this last temptation?


     How did Peter's rebuking of Jesus or advice to Him compare with Satan's? (Could this have been "an opportune time"?)


      
Summary

   Do you give up on people quickly. And you don't even have to die for them! Thank goodness Jesus doesn't give up on us. In this passage we see the disciples forgetting about the previous feeding Jesus just did several months ago. This new feeding was done in gentile land where the demoniac Legion had gone to tell everyone about his healing. Jesus was telling and showing the disciples that He had compassion on Gentiles as well as Jews - which in the future they will also forget. Christianity Today's book of the year -God's Forever Family: The Jesus People Movement in America , recounts the following instances...

"Not only was God supplying groceries; many Jesus People believed that at times he was actually multiplying the ingredients on hand. Marlon Finley remembered being at a Christian commune in Paducah, Kentucky, and seeing “one box of beef stroganoff . . . [feed] twelve people to capacity.”  Brad Davis was living at a “discipleship house” run by the Agape Force in Southern California and claimed that more than thirty young people were fed by a single can of tuna.  Kent Philpott recalled an incident at the Soul Inn in San Francisco in which he claimed that a single can of beef stew cooked over a hot plate fed dozens of homeless hippies—an experience that left him reaching for the phone years later to verify with a former coworker that he had not simply dreamed the incident.  Within the ranks of the Shiloh organization, “the PBJ miracle” was a famous story of God’s provision in the group’s early days. One afternoon, Cathy Stewart recounted in a 1977 issue of Shiloh Magazine, she and another sister in the House of Miracles in Fontana, California, made a number of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for their housemates’ lunch. Having planned for two sandwiches per person, they were dismayed to suddenly see “all these people from the Riverside house [charge] in the front door .” They were amazed that, when all was said and done, no one had gone hungry: When we went into the dining room to clean up, a whole bunch of sandwiches were left on the platters. It was like seeing something you knew logically couldn’t exist. Everyone had two [sandwiches] and some brothers had eaten six or seven. It was just like the miracle of the loaves and fishes.  James K. Foley belonged to a communal house ministry in Burlington, Vermont, that reported a similar experience . Foley claimed that “at one meal . . . 24 pieces of chicken were put in front of 20 people; everyone had at least one piece, some as many as four, and there were nine pieces left over. No, you wouldn’t believe it even if you saw it!”
Eskridge, Larry (2013-05-31). God's Forever Family: The Jesus People Movement in America (p. 81). Oxford University Press, USA.

   The Jesus people's instruction manual was the book of Acts. Therefore they lived in communes, shared everything they had, and met daily worshipping and studying the Bible and then sharing Christ during the day. Although there have been pockets of revivals throughout the USA since that time, this was probably the only nationwide revival I have seen in my lifetime. I believe, because they lived totally dependent on God for everything, including their next meal, they saw more of the miraculous happen. I can testify to things happening on the mission field as I stepped out in faith, out of my comfort zone, that I would describe as miraculous. We are just too comfortable here in America to see such things very often.

   Jesus was also patient with the disciples in the boat as they totally misunderstood His yeast comment. As a side note, have you noticed how many times Jesus crosses and recrosses the Sea of Galilee? I think that this may be because this is really the only opportunities for uninterrupted teaching of the disciples that he gets. On land He gets swarmed so much he can't teach, sleep or eat. Anyway, I believe the yeast He is speaking of is outside - in living. The Pharisees were all about attaining righteousness through obeying the laws, those in the Law of Moses and those they added as guardrails to protect the Law of Moses. That is why Jesus calls them whitewashed tombs or cups where the outside looks clean but the inside is dirty. It isn't what touches the outside or what comes in that makes us unclean, it is our sinful hearts. We need a new heart so from the inside, the Holy Spirit inside us, exudes to the outside. This is inside out living. The Pharisees wanted a sign to believe because seeing is believing right? Outside in, right? Wrong. When Jesus gave them the sign of Jonah,three days in the belly of the Earth than bursting out, did this convince them? No way. They posted guards around the tomb so it wouldn't happen and when it did they paid the guards to lie. That's because seeing isn't believing - believing is seeing.

   The two step healing points to the importance of the Holy Spirit to see clearly. We are hard on the disciples but they don't have the Holy Spirit like we do opening their eyes. Even Peter's grand declaration was impossible without the Holy Spirit revealing it to Peter. That is hard to fathom as they have just spent 2 years with Him seeing Him feed thousands miraculously twice, calming storms, walking on water, raising the dead, etc and they still couldn't understand. Even after His death, resurrection, and teaching for 40 risen days, the disciples still wanted to know when He would set up His kingdom on Earth. They still didn't get it. No wonder Jesus said, "Don't leave Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit comes." 1Cor. 2:14 says that spiritual things can't be discerned without the Spirit. They are foolishness to the earthly mind (1Cor.1:18) because Satan has blinded everyone's minds. (2Cor. 4:3,4) Therefore God must open our minds before we can receive Him and understand things. (John 6:44). How much time to we spend crying out for God to open hearts before we share the gospel, preach, and teach. We are unknowingly eating the yeast of outside in thinking our clever words, delivery, arguments can win people. They can't. I actually think the best use of apologetics is to convince believers, not unbelievers.
    Jesus coming to die made no Earthly sense to Peter.Even after telling the disciples 3 times, they didn't get it. How do you become king by dying? How can you redeem Israel by dying. Foolishness. Unwittingly, Peter was a mouthpiece for Satan who also said that Jesus didn't have to rise to power by death - He could just do miracles and wow people. But there is the rub - He would wow them from the outside - in rather than die and set up His kingdom inside them. No wonder Jesus warned them to beware of the yeast of the Pharisees.

    So what is our excuse? We have the Holy Spirit and we still lack faith, forget, and sin! Yet He is patient and longsuffering with us too! What an awesome God! Lord, let me be patient with people like You are patient with me. And please help me to give you less and less opportunities to be patient with me.