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Category: Mark (Page 14 of 15)

Plunder Taken, Captives Rescued

August 28, 2008 / / 3 Comments

“Can plunder be taken from warriors, or captives rescued from the fierce?
This is what the Lord says:
‘Yes, captives will be taken from the warriors,
and plunder retrieved from the fierce;
I will contend with those who contend with you,
and your children I will save.'” ~Isaiah 49:24-25

“No one can enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can rob his house.” ~Mark 3:27

PlunderTakenCaptivesRescuedAs Jesus teaches and loves and heals and drives out demons in Mark 3, he’s accused by religious leaders and his own family of being possessed by Satan. But Jesus makes it clear: what’s happening is not the result of some civil war within Satan’s ranks. This is a direct frontal assault from the outside. The strong man is Satan. His house, his domain, is this world which he’s trying desperately to secure and hold on to. His possessions are his victims, these people he’s taken captive. He’s trapped these victims. He’s imprisoned them with sin and fear and death and disease and demons. He’s holding them with divorce and crime and addiction and unemployment and cancer. He’s got ’em. But then along comes the stronger one, Jesus. He comes from God, empowered by the Holy Spirit, to cross the barriers of time and space, to smash through the walls of the devil’s house, to tie Satan up and carry off his precious possessions. To free the captives. To rescue the prisoners.

God himself overcomes the mighty one. He destroys forever the destroyer.

Satan uses our fears of the awful things we see all around us. Hebrews 2 says Satan holds the power of death and holds us in slavery, keeps us paralyzed, holds us in prison, by our fear of it. And then God himself breaks through, as the divine Son of Man. Jesus comes to earth, right into the middle of Satan’s house. He walks our streets. He teaches our people. He hugs our kids. He eats with us. He touches us. And he brings with him the eternal Kingdom of God! He wages war—not against the petty tyrants and selfish leaders and evil empires. He comes here intent on destroying THE Kingdom of Satan which has enslaved all of humanity. Christ Jesus, by his birth and life and teachings and ministry and death and burial and resurrection and exaltation, takes Satan’s plunder and rescues Satan’s captives and he ties Satan up and makes him watch.

We are that plunder taken. We are the captives rescued. This is us. We were the ones imprisoned by Satan. We were the ones held in slavery by our sins and paralyzed by our fears. We were the ones stuck, doomed, distressed, condemned. We were the hostages. We were the sentenced prisoners. We were headed to an eternity of death and despair. Damned by our own selfishness and sin. We were hopeless. We were already given up for gone.

But now we are rescued. We’re freed. We’re liberated.

We’re not just rescued from ourselves and our sins, we’re snatched from the life-choking clutches of Satan himself! We’re freed from the Kingdom of Darkness to walk eternally in newness of life.

“For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the Kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” ~Colossians 1:13-14.

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Several of you have been asking about Debbie Miller, the wife of one of the Four Horsemen, one of my dearest friends. Her surgery was yesterday. And it couldn’t have been more successful. It couldn’t have gone any better. And our Father couldn’t have answered our prayers in any more of an amazing way. All the cancer is totally gone! 100% gone! There wasn’t any in her muscle tissue. There’s not any in her lymph nodes. It was all contained in the tumors and the tumors are gone! Praise God!

I talked to Dan last night. He told me it was the greatest and happiest day he’s had since….and then he said it’s the greatest and happiest day of his entire life. Our God is great. He answers prayer. And he delivers his people. And we rejoice today with Dan and Debbie.

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We’re leaving Friday for Searcy, Arkansas to spend about 24 hours with my brother, Keith, and his wonderful family. And then it’s off to Benton, Arkansas to hook up with Jimmy Mitchell and the Benton Church of Christ. Jimmy was our Youth Minister in Marble Falls when we were there from ’05-’07. I’ll be preaching for them in Benton on Sunday. Please keep our family in your prayers. And ask God to bless our time with great family and great friends.

Peace,

Allan

Tell Them How Much The Lord Has Done For You

June 25, 2008 / / 0 Comments

“Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” ~Mark 5:19

WhistleBlowerI’ve been convinced for a while now that the reason we are not particularly evangelistic is that we’ve tried to convert people to the Church instead of to Jesus. We think people should be taught how to be members of the Church instead of being taught how to be followers of the Christ. And we’re so bogged down with all the rules and regulations and details of the faith that our story has become so complicated—DISTORTED—that we’re too afraid to tell it.

I can’t talk to my neighbor about Jesus or about my faith. What if he asks me a question I can’t answer? What is our church’s stand on this issue or that? What are we saying now about that topic that’s a little different from we were saying about it ten years ago? What are the reasons again we do or don’t do these certain things differently from everyone else? How do those Scriptures work that get me from Point A to Point B in those arguments we’re always having? I can’t remember all that. I might get something wrong.

So we don’t evangelize. We’ve made it so complicated—you can be a Christian, but I have to teach you how to be the right kind of Christian—that we’d rather not bother. Better to keep my mouth shut than to risk not knowing all the right arguments.

Terry Rush has articulated these thoughts so much better in his blog post from yesterday:

Loaded down with multiple and conflicting proof-texts while being well-warned of all those many false prophets, our people have become convinced we will not remember how it goes and most likely will get it wrong if we dare try. Therefore, the general population of the church lives frozen and mute; unable to move with confidence to extend their faith to another. We have concluded that refusing to share the life in Christ with others is a better option than taking a stab at sharing and getting it fouled up.

Please click here to read Terry’s wonderful little article on this problem. (His portrait of Barney Fife as the church cop who nervously paces with his whistle and badge, looking to bust somebody for getting part of the arguments wrong is classic.) And be encouraged to forget all the anxieties of the arguments and the details and just share with people what our God through Jesus is doing with you.

Peace,

Allan

Chutzpa as Faith

January 28, 2008 / / 2 Comments

Jesus tells the Phoenician woman in Mark 7 “No.” Flat out. Right to her face. “No.” She’s coming to Jesus for healing. Her daughter is demon-possessed. She’s desperate. She begs. And Jesus says, “No.”

But she keeps coming.

Her gender as a woman in this male-dominated society with very little, if any, rights is pressing against her. But she won’t give up. Her nationality as a pagan, idol-worshipping Gentile from the very center of the Ba’al cult works against her in this situation. But she doesn’t quit. Satan is battling her. His demons have taken over her daughter. But she persists. Her timing is awful. Jesus walked 40 miles from Capernaum to be left alone. He didn’t come here to teach or heal. He came here to chill out. But she keeps coming. In an effort to protect their rabbi from the crowds the apostles oppose her. “Shoo! Scram! Beat it!” But she begs even more loudly. Jesus tells her, “It’s not your turn. Get back in line.” But this woman will not stop.

In preaching this story here at Legacy yesterday, I compared this woman coming to Jesus with Earl Campbell running to the end zone. Remember Earl Campbell? Nothing ever stopped him. It always took six or seven guys to bring him down. For those of you who don’t remember him, he ran like Marion Barber. Only Campbell was much bigger, must stronger, much faster, and without all the attitude.

This woman is not the Tyler Rose. She’s the Tyre-and-Sidon Rose. And she will not be stopped.

The Hebrews call that “chutzpa.” Intense persistence. Determination. Gust. I will not quit. I will not give up. I will not let go. There’s more of a negative connotation linked to the word now. We hear ‘chutzpa’ and we might think assertive, pushy, or bossy. But when a Jew sees ‘chutzpa,’ he thinks tenacity. Singleness of mind and purpose. It’s a synonym for Biblical faith.

See, faith in the Bible is never, “Oh, I understand that so I can believe it.” Biblical faith is never, “Yes, that makes sense to me so I’m going to trust it.” No. Faith in the Bible is, “I’m gonna latch onto this thing with everything I have and I’m not going to let go no matter what.” The way Abraham grabbed the promises of God and was forever reminding God of those promises. The way Moses and Joshua hold on with God through thick and thin, victory and defeat.

God honors that kind of faith. God loves that kind of faith.

No matter the sin that’s opposing me. No matter the guilt in my life that’s dragging me down. The broken marriage. The terminal illness. Satan’s grip on somebody in my family. Job status. Financial woes. Peer pressure. Other brothers and sisters in Christ who prevent me from getting closer to Jesus. Even God himself telling me “No!”

I. Will. Not. Let. Go. Of. God. No. Matter. What.

I. Will. Not. Quit.

I. Will. Not. Let. Go.

I. Will. Not. Stop. Coming.

I. Will. Hang. Onto. God. With. Every. Single. Fiber. Of. My. Being. No. Matter. What. Happens. To. Me.

Faith is trusting our God to provide and protect, to heal and forgive, and to carry us into his eternal Kingdom. And not letting go.

Peace,

Allan

Where Your Heart Is…..

January 22, 2008 / / 1 Comment

Religion, to a lot of us, is usually about accepting something intellectually — “That makes sense” or “I understand that.” But there’s a huge difference between information about God and a relationship with God. Do you know about God or do you know God?

We think emotion is suspect. We think religion should not be emotional. Emotion lets you down. It’s not real. It doesn’t last. You have to keep your wits about you. Use your brains. Be calm and collected. Use your intellect. Faith is not emotional.

We in the Church have usually said, “If I can get your head, your heart will follow.” If I can prove it to you with logical arguments, you’re there. And, praise God, sometimes that works.

But my real experience tells me it’s just the opposite. Your head will always be where your heart is. If I can get your heart, your head will always follow. Where your heart is, that’s where I’m going to find your time, your money, your energy, your body, your head, every bit of you.

Think about it: nobody ever loves God with all their heart and not their head. But we have plenty of people in the Church who have God in their heads but their hearts are stone.

The Word of God captures our hearts. What the Lord has done for us grabs our hearts. The starting point is in our emotions. He wants our hearts. I look at the women in Mark 5 and Mark 7 who did not have a full understanding of who Jesus was or what he was all about. They had no clue about his mission to suffer and die and be raised again for the salvation of the world. But they reached out to him. And Jesus praised them for their faith. Faith in what? Faith in him. An imperfect faith. An incomplete faith. But a faith, nontheless, that God honored by bringing physical and spiritual healing to them.

When you were baptized, could the devil have given all the same answers to the questions you were asked? Satan knows that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God. When you were studying before your baptism, could the devil have answered all the questions about God’s plan of salvation and God’s commands and the Lord’s Supper the same way you did?

Even the devil knows all the right answers up in his head.

What makes your relationship with God different than his?

Where’s your heart?

Peace,

Allan

Straining At The Oars

January 21, 2008 / / 6 Comments

“Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat…After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray. When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land. He saw the disciples straining at the oars because the wind was against them.” ~Mark 6:45-48

The disciples are in the deep water. Right where Jesus pushed them. He’s on the mountain. Praying. And he’s watching them.

He’s watching them as they strain at the oars because the wind is against them. They’re struggling. They’re troubled. They’re working, toiling, laboring against the wind. They’re disturbed inside, upset, as they battle the wind that’s keeping them from fulfilling Jesus’ command. Despite their best efforts, they’re actually being blown off course.

I feel that way all the time. Do you?

In my intense desire to follow Jesus’ will for my life, in my best and greatest efforts to obey my God, I feel like sometimes I’m beating my brains out against the wind. I’m rowing and rowing and rowing and not going anywhere. Or worse, I’m being blown off course.

And you feel it. I know you do, because there are so many things that fight against us, so many things that oppose us. Just living in the chaos of life in this godless culture. In this place, this world, where Jesus has set us, in the middle of crime and cancer and illness and death. We fight failure and rejection and ridicule and judgment. We’re distressed by division in the Church. We’re in turmoil over circumstances with our children or our grandchildren. We’re struggling with our jobs. We’re battling with our marriages. Temptation and sin and dishonesty and abuse. Vengeance and greed. Selfishness and lust.

And we strain at the oars.

Please take comfort today in the fact that Jesus is watching you strain at the oars. He sees you. And he’s so very proud of you. You’re in the middle of the lake. You’re four miles out. But it’s Jesus who sent you there. And he’s watching you. He knows. He’s aware of every struggle. He’s aware of every battle. He knows the things that are causing you distress and heartache. Be comforted in knowing that Jesus, the Christ, the Savior of the World, is interceding for you right now as he reigns at the right hand of our Father in Heaven. Hebrews 7 says he lives to intercede for those who come to God. It’s what he does.

He watches the apostles and he prays.

He’s watching you. And he’s praying.

Be encouraged by that today.

It’s Jesus’ mission. It’s his deal. And he’s going to make sure nothing stops it. Paul tells us in Philippians 1, “he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion.” Take joy in that.

Have no fear. We do live in a very windy world. But, by the grace of God in Christ, we will reach the shore.

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The thing I like most about sports is the unpredictability. I like the surprises. I like the out-of-nowhere shockers. I enjoy the unexpected. Eli Manning and the Giants going into sub-zero conditions at Lambeau, kicking a field goal in overtime to reach the Super Bowl was not even a possibility three days ago, certainly not three weeks ago. That’s what I love about sports.

And that’s why I’m rooting hard against the Patriots.

I don’t like something to be universally predicted and expected and then for it to happen exactly the way everyone thought. I hate that. Where’s the thrill in that? Where’s the excitement? Why watch?

The national media and most every football fan in the country has been predicting 19-0 for Belichick’s boys since early September. The Patriots were dubbed perfect and the greatest team in the history of the NFL before the season was half over. And now they’re one win away from fulfilling all the predictions and robbing us of any sense of mystery or wonder about this 2007 season.

Admit it. You loved it when the Chargers beat the Colts last week because you didn’t see it coming. It’s why we love the NCAA basketball tournament, because you-didn’t-see-it-coming happens every day.

I understand, I suppose, wanting to see history being made. I get it, I guess, wanting to watch a flawless machine of a team execute at the highest level. That’s all OK. Whatever.

Give me an upset instead. I’ll take a shocker over the favorite winning every time.

I don’t know if the Giants can beat New England. It doesn’t seem likely. I like New York’s run game. Manning’s playing with tons of confidence. And the Giants defense may be capable of pressuring Tom Brady and covering his receivers. Maybe. I’m more concerned with Tom Coughlin’s face. He’s going to need about a jar and a half of Vaseline to take care of that freezer burn.

Happy Birthday, Mom. I love you.

Peace,

Allan

New Beginnings

January 18, 2008 / / 0 Comments

“The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” ~Mark 1:1

Mark begins his gospel by telling us up front it’s a story about a beginning, a starting point. The good news from Mark is that God begins again with his chosen people by sending his Son. At the end of the story, though, things don’t look so great. The women sneak away from the empty tomb, paralyzed by fear. They’re commanded by the angel to tell the good news of Jesus’ resurrection but “they said nothing to anyone because they were afraid” (Mark 16:8)

However — praise God! — failure, fear, and denial are not the end of the story. We know because we have the gospels and because we belong to God’s Church in Christ today that the women did overcome their fear. So did Peter and the disciples. Their failures, detailed over and over in the book of Mark, were not fatal.

And neither are ours.

God is the one who consistently makes something out of nothing; he constantly turns awful things into wonderful things; he continually brings life out of death. What seems like the end is only a new beginning. Today, our God continues to work with and revive his people.

Christianity is not a closed book. The redeeming work of God in Jesus is not done. The gospel story continues today. As members of God’s family, we continue to write sacred history. We are the latest chapters in a continuing story of God’s good news of salvation. The question for us then is, as it was for the early disciples in Mark, “Where do we go from here?”

The next stage is up to us. How will we continue the story? Will we cower in fear or boldly proclaim the glad tidings of Jesus to our world?

 Peace,

Allan

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