Through the Bible for Skeptics and Seekers

Mark 15 - How Does the Death of Jesus Affect You? On the cross Jesus at 3pm in the afternoon, Jesus says: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” He was not complaining about God, the Father, He was quoting a Messianic Psalm which foretold what the Suffering Servant would experience. Those around him would have known the rest of the words of that Psalm and understood what Jesus was saying. He...

Mark 14 - Do You Give Up Too Easily? Jesus willingly accepted the suffering before Him as He was willing to give His life for the sake of humanity. To the contrast, the disciples could not even stay awake to pray! In fact, as Jesus willingly followed God’s will in spite of all that it required of Him, afte the arrest all of the disciples deserted him and fled. #NewTestament #NewTestament1Year #New...

Mark 13 - How Can We Bring More of Heaven to Earth? The Temple was destroyed but now we are His Temple when we choose to follow Jesus. This passage reminds us we are shouldn’t worry about when Jesus will return and make all things right. We just need to serve faithfully and urgently knowing it could come at any time. And when it does, all those who follow Jesus will come to Him and join Him on His...

Mark 12 - Is Jesus Your Cornerstone or a Stumbling Block? The crowds loved listening to Jesus. The religious leaders did not especially when Jesus called them out for their arrogance and their need for attention. Jesus explains that He is the cornerstone for those who believe, and a stumbling block to those who don't.#NewTestament #NewTestament1Year #NewYear #Jesus #faith #spirituality #decons...

Mark 11 - Do You Trust God With Your Future? Prayer is relational. It’s not just telling God what to do about our past, present, and future. It’s about allowing our relationship with Him to positively affect all of our relationships. Prayer is our way to talk to and listen to God. At times He may say “yes” or other times “wait” or other times “I was going to give this to you later but because you...

Mark 10 - What Does God Want You To Surrender? In my experience, when I surrender everything to God including my sin, my shame, my worst moments, my best moments, all that I love, my hopes, and my dreams He keeps what is not good for me and gives me back only what’s best for me. When I surrender all to Him, I have a new and better perspective that every good thing I have is actually a gift from Go...

Mark 9 - Do You Need Help Believing? Jesus predicts that some would see the Kingdom of God come in it’s full power. Those who experienced this fulfilled were Peter, James, and John who were at the transfiguration. They saw Jesus as He is in the heavenly realm. Whether you are a follower of Jesus or a skeptic, you can ask God for the gift of faith. Ask him to help you believe. Jesus reframes greatn...

Mark 8 - Are You More Concerned with the Things of God or the Things of This World? Sometimes as we read the New Testament, it’s easy to judge the disciples as clueless, but how often do we find ourselves frustrated or fretting over something we know with God’s help we can handle because He’s helped us with it in the past?!The reason they didn’t have the faith to see Jesus was going to feed the 40...

Mark 7 - How's Your Heart? The religious leaders of Jesus’ day were acting like their traditions were from God. Jesus corrects that to say a person cannot get clean from religious rituals that look good on the outside, but actually purity and righteous actions come from the heart. The good news is that the same Jesus who went on to heal the Syrophonecian woman’s daughter and the man who was de...

Mark 6 - Do You Miss the Miraculous Because of the Familiar? Back in his hometown, Jesus was rejected because they knew him as a carpenter and knew his family. The disciples were more frustrated after Jesus fed thousands of people than they were excited. We can miss the miraculous or even miss the joy of a miracle when we take for granted what we have.#NewTestament #NewTestament1Year #NewYear #Jes...

Mark 5 - Have You Experienced the Supernatural? A legion of demons talking…?A woman unable to be healed from doctors healed by Jesus…?A dead girl brought back to life…?We can never be sure when or why or who might be healed, but it can still happen. #NewTestament #NewTestament1Year #NewYear #Jesus #faith #spirituality #deconstructing #reconstructing #deconstructingchristianity #reconstructingfaith...

Mark 4 - Which Soil Are You? Jesus shares how each person is like a type of soil. Some are hard hearted. Some are very open as long as everything goes the way they want. Some are distracted by worries and wealth. Some are fruitful - transformed by God and helping others transform. (Free Assessment and Overview of Fruitful: Becoming Who God Created You To Be at www.ericbryant.org ). Jesus also talk...

Mark 3 - Do You Lean Towards Faith Or Skepticism? Jesus appoints 12 to be his disciples even as he experiences opposition from the religious leaders and rejection from his family. Some are amazed that he healed a man’s shriveled hand during the Sabbath. Others were enraged. #NewTestament #NewTestament1Year #NewYear #Jesus #faith #spirituality #deconstructing #reconstructing #deconstructingchristia...

Mark 2 - How Has Jesus Broken the Mold In Your Life? Jesus is becoming more and more popular as he heals a paralyzed man brought to Jesus through the roof! Jesus is doing something new which doesn’t fit into their current understanding of who God is. He’s even recruiting tax collectors and spending time with his friends.#NewTestament #NewTestament1Year #NewYear #Jesus #faith #spirituality #deconst...

Mark 1 - What Do You Have to Say About Jesus? The Gospel of Mark is based on the firsthand account of Peter, one of the eyewitnesses. It’s very important to Mark that followers of Jesus tell others about Jesus, so you will notice how often he mentions what people are saying about him.#NewTestament #NewTestament1Year #NewYear #Jesus #faith #spirituality #deconstructing #reconstructing #deconstructi...

An Introduction to the Gospel of Mark (From India) Most scholars believe the Mark who wrote the Gospel of Mark was the same one mentioned in the book of Acts who traveled with Paul and Barnabas and then bailed on them creating a disagreement between Paul and Barnabas, who was Mark’s cousin. Mark went from not completing a journey to coming to visit Paul later on in his ministry and became known as...

Matthew 28 - Is Jesus Alive? In Matthew 28 an angel appears to a couple of the women and tells them to share with the others that Jesus rose from the dead! They are the world’s first witnesses of the greatest miracle of all time! Rumors circulated that the disciples had stolen the body, but the disciples traveled far and wide to “make disciples of all nations” and most were killed unwilling to den...

Matthew 27 - Why Did Jesus Have to Die? In Matthew 27, we come to one of the darkest days on planet earth - the day Jesus died. The day the religious leaders and the Roman government crucified God. So who is to blame for this diabolical moment? Was it Judas? Was it the Jewish leaders and the mob there that day? Was it Pilate and the Romans? Jesus willingly gave His life for you and for me. He came...

Matthew 26 - How Do You Pray? Jesus takes Peter, James, and John with him to the Garden of Gethsemane and asks them to pray with him as he was “overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.” (Matthew 26:38) The disciples fell asleep. In contrast, Jesus prayed: “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.” (Matthew 26:42 NIV)#NewTestamen...

Matthew 25 (Part 2) - What About Good Works? Jesus references the final judgment where he will divide up the sheep and the goats where the sheep will go to an eternal reward and the goats will go to an eternal punishment. Jesus explains that when we serve those often overlooked, we are serving Him. These actions don’t give you a relationship with God, but those who have a relationship with God do...

Matthew 25 (Part 1) - Can You Be Trusted With More? Jesus tells a parable about three people entrusted with bags of gold. Two multiply their money. One had the wrong view. Do you view God as a cruel taskmaster or as the One who provides for you, gifts you, and empowers you?#NewTestament #NewTestament1Year #Jesus #faith #spirituality #deconstructing #reconstructing #deconstructingchristianity #reco...

Matthew 24 - Are You Ready for Jesus’ Return? Jesus predicted what would happen after he left the disciples. Some came true. Some come true in every generation. Some have yet to come true. No one Know one knows when Jesus is coming back, so we shouldn’t believe those making predictions. Instead we should live a life of urgency, advancing His kingdom with faith, hope, and love. #NewTestament #NewTe...

Matthew 23 - Do You Practice What You Preach? Hypocrites say one thing and do another and the religious leaders were all about exalting themselves. They looked good on the outside but were not good at all within. Not acknowledging you need help keeps you from getting better.#NewTestament #NewTestament1Year #Jesus #faith #spirituality #deconstructing #reconstructing #deconstructingchristianity #rec...

Matthew 22 - Do You Love God, Your Neighbor, and Yourself? The religious leaders try to trap Jesus with questions about paying taxes and marriage after the resurrection and even about the law. His answers were so challenging and brilliant. They never asked him another question.#NewTestament #NewTestament1Year #NewYear #Jesus #faith #spirituality #deconstructing #reconstructing #deconstructingchris...

Matthew 21 - Are We Threatened By Jesus’ Power? Jesus boldly goes to Jerusalem and is hailed as the Messiah. He turns away the corrupt money changers before healing people who came to the Temple. We are hard on the religious leaders, but we can also get caught up in our career and building our own kingdom that Jesus’ new kingdom threatens us.#NewTestament #NewTestament1Year #NewYear #Jesus #faith...