Be With Me: 7 Minutes of Biblical Wonder

Do You See Anything? Mark 8:22 Jesus "double-clutches" on the healing of a blind man for the benefit of the disciples and of course, us.  Is Jesus unable? insufficient? Powerless?  No.  These are not good conclusions. He wants to have a middle part:  a plateau that He can ask a question He already knows the answer to.  That is, " Do you see anything ?" Therefore, we today will...

Not TASTING DEATH because of our DEATH TASTER Matt 16:28 We'll swim in the deepest of pools this morning. We find out today why Christians never "TASTE DEATH".  It is one of the greatest advertisements to being a Christian that there is.  I wonder what Death tastes like.  It can't be very good. So there has to be a catch.  If believers don't taste death, then WHO DOES?   L...

DO by being UNDONE Matthew 16:25 Our ACTIONS aren't in the front of the train.  They aren't the "engine" Our ACTIONS are in the back of the train.  They are the Caboose.  They follow everything. What I VALUE...Determines and sets in motion...my DECISIONS...which determines my ACTIONS and my DOING...Which then at the end, God determines whether I made the right choice and the ri...

What is the VALUE of a SOUL? Matt 16:26 Today is all about a trade.  What shall a man give in return for a SOUL?  How much is a soul worth?  What about gaining the whole world?  Would that be worth it? We'll look at some examples of appropriately valuing the worth of sex, freedom, and money.  That is the good news.  Bad news is the mis-valuing the SOUL in trade-off. This all helps to understa...

Setting your MIND on Something. Matt 16:21 Ep 168 Whenever Peter is in a Bible story, you know the events are going to be RELATABLE.  Today is no exception. Peter REBUKES Jesus.  Worse, he takes Jesus ASIDE and REBUKES Jesus.  You just gotta love Peter.  So mostly we throw stones at Peter being the Mayor of the town of Knucklehood until we realize we can be just like him.  We get tricked into the...

Be Careful about IDEAS, not STUFF Matt 16:12 IDEAS vs. STUFF Our beloved disciples are confused again.  Somebody carelessly forgot to bring bread.  They could have FAITHFULLY forgotten bread based on the feeding of the 4000 and 5000, but that is another story. They emphasized and worried about their bellies and the stuff of life, rather than worry about the true, real, dangerous, scary, more unsee...

Nothin but the Sign of Jonah Matt 16:1 To the TESTING Pharisees Jesus says:  All you are going to get today is the SIGN OF JONAH.  What does that mean? Certainly there is the three days in the belly of...Jesus will fulfill that shortly.  An example of one that meets that criteria.  But I think there is more that is particularly offensive to the Pharisees and us. The Assyrians were monsters, and ye...

Spitting + Sighing = Astonishment beyond Measure Mk 8:34 We've got great visuals and audios today.  We have Jesus Spitting and some fingers in the ears of a deaf man.  We have him cooperating with Jesus enough to HAVE HIS TONGUE TOUCHED. Jesus speaks a word of healing to this man's infirmity.  But, before He does, He utters a SIGH as He LOOKS TO HEAVEN.  Something very significant is hap...

A crowd of 4000 men plus all the women and children bring their sick +1's to Jesus.  This goes on for 3 days and no one is eager to leave, apparently.  They perhaps brought snacks this time, but not 3 days worth and they are hungry and even FAINT. The disciples...I cannot say what I want to say about them in polite podcast country... Anyway, I was jealous of the 3 days of wonderment and stori...

B-w-Me +1 = Wonderment Mt 15:30 I was gonna skip these three verses.  Shame on me. The crowds come to participate in the "sit-down" miracles of Jesus.  But they don't come alone.  They bring a "PLUS 1".  They are the Lame, the crippled, the blind, the mute, AND OTHERS.   First they consider who is their PLUS 1.  Then they BRING their PLUS 1.  Then they put them AT JESUS&ap...

Wrong place. Wrong people group. Wrong gender. Right Lord.  Right posture.  Right approach.  Right request.  Right person.  Right wrestling.  Right retort.  Right respect.  Right engagement. Join me as the Canaanite woman bows the the Lordship of Jesus in so many ways.  Watch as she basically says, "If you have just CRUMBS for me, I'LL TAKE CRUMBS!" 

There is something to be OFFENDED by says Jesus.  It is connected to your mouth.  Let's figure it out. So there is a PHYSICAL anatomy.  Your MOUTH is connected to your "EXPELLER" by some tubes.  Yikes.  Yuk?  nope!  You should NOT be offended by this.  So there is a SPIRITUAL anatomy.  Your MOUTH is connected to your HEART by some (spiritual) tubes.  Yikes.  Yuk?  Yup!  You SHOULD b...

Jesus goes right for the jugular, I mean the heart. He defines, in today's passage, what a "good heart" is and what is a "bad heart"  A good one is NEAR, as evidenced by elevating, and appropriately honoring his Word and commands.  A bad one is a heart that is FAR and elevates what I think, and my traditions think, over the Word. It is a call and a smack if necessary, to s...

The Gospel is Offense.  Many Turned back. Do you want to go away as well?  (I suppose I do a little bit...) Peter does the Math:  To what? To who? To where? Peter puts his stake in the ground:  We have believed and come to know you are the holy one of God!!!! Then he looks up after pounding his stake of belief in the ground, that there is a much bigger, more permanent, more trustworthy, ancient st...

The sub-title of this podcast is, "I don't like the Bible." It is full of hard sayings and sometimes not the best responses in me. But I should take courage, I am in very good company. The disciples felt the same way. We see today the response of Jesus' followers after the very very very hard sayings about feeding on His flesh and drinking His blood.  These are metaphors for be...

Feeding on the DELICIOUS Jesus John 6:58 In the big context of John 6, Jesus reveals Himself as God, then calls His listeners to belief.  Earlier, it was a sweet call to "look on the Son".  Today, not so much.  It is a disturbing call to belief, to trust, to have faith by saying:  Feed on my flesh. Let's start with reactions of confusion, being disturbed, unseating, unsettled, feeli...

Firing All Preachers & Bible Podcasters John 6:45 In John 6, there is a great emphasis on reveling to us how busy God has been in helping us.  Today we get a spotlight on His activity as TEACHER. In the tennis match of the Old Testament-New Testament Jesus recalls a passage in Isaiah 54 saying God is going to be the primary teacher.  That is all well and good. But then, Jesus claims that proph...

Asking Lord to Draw, Drag and Haul John 6:44 Today we use the laughter from yesterday to help us pursue the Lord today.  The greek word Helkuo(my english spelling) is translated here as DRAW. No one can come to me unless the Father DRAW him. but it also can be translated DRAG or HAUL No one can come to me unless the father DRAG him. No one can come to me unless the Father Haul him. We will use thi...

Draw Him. DRAG him if necessary John 6:44 I got a real giggle from today's thought. First, we are in deep deep waters.  How exactly does the good Lord turn stoney hearts of rebellion and foolishness into soft spiritual recepticals of belief?  It isn't just difficult.  It is IMPOSSIBLE.  That is the point.  This is the business that God is in.  Doing the impossible the stoney heart. So, t...

"Look on the SON" John 6:40 Four words today: "Look on the Son" Four words with a big history from Numbers 21.  Same as today.  Sin in action and attitude.  Judgment that is appropriate and timely.  Not wanting that Justice that is for me.  Crying out to God for another way, a way that only He can devise.  Help!  Rescue me! Ok, here's the plan from heaven.  Look to the upl...

Spiritual Food SECURITY w Bread of Life John 6:37 Some people in our world suffer from "food insecurity". He basically tells us that apart from Him nothing will satisfy.  But if we follow Him, and believe in Him, then He won't top us.  We won't be lost, Even better, at some moment we are given by the Father to the Son, who loses none.  His job:  Lose nothing .  Lose no one. Tha...

Believe Better. Believe Harder. John 6:35 God is at work.  Phew!  Without that we'd all be lost. But He also asks us to be doing something HARD, something that He describes as LABOR.   Let us not underestimate the difficulty and the labor of BELIEF. Let us remember that there is a work of God, but there is also a work of man Let us be accurate and believe in the right God, right history, righ...

The Essential EFFORT of Christianity  John 6:29 Do I have to DO something to be in God's Kingdom? What must I DO to become a Christian? Do I have to Do something to walk as a Christian? Is God at work and how? How a m I to be at work as a Christian or as a not-yet-Christian? What is the essence of the EFFORT, the LABOR God would have me do? Great questions.  If you were there, I hope you&apos...

Let Me BE FIRST; navy SEAL Luke 9:61 When Jesus describes what it is like to follow Him, He doesn't exactly LOWER the bar.  No sugar coating.  It is a high call.  In fact, sounds like He wants to be the HIGHEST call, the HIGHEST priority. He promises difficulty, relational reassessment, reprioritizing all the important things, and spiritual homelessness until death.  Yikes!  ok, where do I si...

Set His Face (like a flint) Luke 9:51 Great visual soundbite today:  Jesus SETS HIS FACE towards Jerusalem (and the cross). The concept is current, mentioned twice already even in Luke 9 where he predicts his trip, the suffering, the death and the resurrection.  It is also ancient, where the Suffering Servant prophesy tell us He'll Set his face like a flint way back in Isaiah 50:7 The discipl...