Salvation

by Brad on April 29, 2012

Sunrises

by Brad on April 28, 2012

How the Cross Answers the Mundane Life

April 26, 2012

You’re treading water.  The world is moving fast around you but you’re not.  You’re not wallowing in depression or drowning in despair, but you also realize that you’re not swimming towards shore – or swimming towards anything else for that matter. Life is good, sort of.  There are no tragedies to overcome or sufferings to [...]

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How the Cross Answers Your Financial Crisis

April 25, 2012

You’re struggling financially.  You have tens of thousands of dollars in credit card debt and just as much in unpaid student loans.  You have a mortgage too and you owe more on your loan than the worth of your home.  Your income isn’t keeping up with your bills either and you’re facing an increasingly hostile [...]

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Mark 10:46-52 | Understanding Spiritual Blindness

April 13, 2012

The contrasts between Mark 10:46-52 and 10:35-45 are stark.  Following the request made by the sons of Zebedee, a request that was not made from faith but out of ambition, a true request is bellowed from the desperate lips of a blind beggar who cried out in faith and out of need.  Though the two [...]

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Mark 10:35-45 | Jesus Defines Greatness

April 11, 2012

In Mark 10:35-45, the sons of Thunder (James and John) come to Jesus with an audacious request.  They want seats in the highest places of honor to the apparent exclusion of their fellow disciples.  The remaining disciples, of course, are offended at such a bold request and become indignant once Jesus explains to the brothers [...]

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Mark 10:32-34 | Why Jesus Can Be Trusted

April 10, 2012

Having just asked a rich man to go and sell everything he owns and give it to the poor, Jesus again informs his disciples that he is going to give up everything he has so that they might inherit eternal life through him. In reading Mark 10:32-34, it’s important to realize that when Jesus went [...]

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Mark 10:17-29 | Salvation Comes By Faith, Not By Better Rule Keeping

April 9, 2012

Jesus’ encounter with the rich man in Mark 10:17-29 is not about better command keeping.  It’s about seeing yourself for who you truly are and then turning to God.  When the rich man fell at Jesus’ feet he was looking for something to do in order to earn eternal life. But Jesus, meeting the man [...]

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Mark 10:13-16 Commentary & Analysis | Jesus Welcomes the Little Children

February 20, 2012

People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them.  – Mark 10:13 There are deep ironies in the disciple’s restraint of the little children.  The disciples had perpetual access to Jesus, yet they sought to limit access with even those who had limited opportunity [...]

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The Eternal Cross

January 31, 2012

I recently came across a few big thoughts that rarely get a great deal of mention in Christian circles.  The following is a brief excerpt from John Piper from a 2008 sermon titled the Echo and the Insufficiency of Hell that really struck me: I have heard well-schooled preachers and book writers say that all [...]

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