This is part 12 of a multi-part series on the book of Mark. Today, we’re in Mark 12:13-17. The Pharisees are desperate. Religiously pure people, their goal was to obey – and get all God’s people to obey – all 613 OT laws so that they could avoid...
James 2:18 in The Message reads “Faith and works, works and faith, fit together hand in glove.” If you read James 2, the emphasis is “doing good works, especially to the needy” AND integrating that with our faith in Jesus. You cannot have one without the other. The...
The leaders of OPEN have been discussing building a culture of prayer throughout the network. So, what is a “Culture of Prayer”? I would define culture as a community that embraces the same values and practices. What does that look like? Some see a...
In Mark 2:27, Jesus says, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” The principle from Jesus is brilliant and applies to so many other things where we miss the point of something entirely and reverse the focus. We are religious about obsessing over the...
The Truth of Life Suffering, loss, affliction, pain. Job is a man who as much as any experienced the depths of loss and pain. Though a man of God, Job, experienced many losses, including the death of his 7 sons and 3 daughters, a large number of his slaves, the death...
But when the teachers of religious law who were Pharisees saw him eating with tax collectors and other sinners, they asked his disciples, “Why does he eat with such scum?” Mark 2:16 (LB) I once remarked mostly to myself, “Why would Jesus eat with scum?” My friend who...
There are few closed doors to doing business. The opportunities are as wide as a man's ingenuity, as deep as his character, and as high as his faith in God.
