Jan 18

Spiritual Attention

Mark 4:1-20

We often make our spiritual lives more complicated than they need to be.  It goes back to the time where the sisters Mary and Martha were hosting Jesus in their home.  Martha was in a flurry and bothered by all that needed to be done, but Mary was at the feet of Jesus listening to his teaching.  The passage of the seed and the soils brings our attention to this. 

Jesus tells us “The one that has ears to hear, then hear.”  For me that calls me to where am I giving my attention.  We allow so much to distract us from just hearing what Jesus has to say.  But when his words some puzzling, Jesus comes to the disciples and explains it to us.  Jesus does not want us to miss the secrets of the life he wants to live in us.  He says, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God.”  And that understanding is for those who use their ears to hear his words and pay attention to what he is teaching us.

Listening to what the Spirit is saying is always the key to our spiritual prospering.

Pastor Greg

Jan 11

How to Stop the Legalist

 When I was younger, we had a saying about our “Christian standards,” that I don’t drink, don’t smoke, don’t chew, and don’t go out with girls that do!  Though it was a joking way to say it, it did also reinforce something we discussed in Pub Theology last Monday.  We talked about “legalism.”  Most of the time when we talk about legalism, we are referring to ways and teachings that someone feel makes them a superior Christian or even make the other person a non-Christian.  We also call these things sacred cows.

 Jesus was a destroyer of sacred cows.  He constantly was confronting the misapplication of the religious of his day as to the Sabbath, honoring parents, and marriage.  He was exposing the hypocrisy in the way the holier than thou people judged other people.

 Judgementalism is not just for the conservative or evangelicals; it is an affliction that many of us add to our practice of faith.  We feel we have to be right on a particular topic or attitude and judge those that do not meet our expectations.  What is the solution?  It is only the Holy Spirit that can show us our legalism and judgmentalism.  That only comes with an honest and prayerful laying out of our lives to the teachings and good news of Jesus.

 It is necessary that we constantly look at ourselves in the mirror of Scripture and have the Holy Spirit of God show us what really is going on in us and our church.

Pastor Greg

Jan 04

The Gospel of Mark, Demon Possession and Today

One thing that stands out in the earlier chapters of Mark is what is called “demon possession.”  Many commentators shrink back at this term.  They know the history of the mentally ill being called demon-possessed.  They also know the excess in some parts of the church about exorcisms, coupled with the entertainment industry’s over-the-top use of this in the horror genre.  But the Gospel deals with it as a part of the human condition that the good news of Jesus addresses. 

Mark’s favorite term for this is “unclean spirit.”  What are the factors that make people feel “unclean”?  We as a society are obsessed with the cleaning of our bodies.  Just go to the typical grocery or drug store and look at the long aisle devoted to soaps, shampoo, shower gels, and other personal cleansers.  Couple all this with the equally packed aisle for products to clean our houses, clothes, and pets; maybe the advertising industry has tapped into something.  We seem to obsessed with getting clean.

Then what makes us feel unclean?  Shame, failure, weakness, betrayal, exposure, abuse are just a few examples of us feeling unclean.  A bar of Safeguard will not mitigate these.  The world is filled with people weighed down by “uncleanness.”  And yet is the church or Christians offering nothing more than moralizations and more condemnations?  “Welcoming and Affirming” offers a glimmer of hope to those who feel doomed to always being on the outside.  Are we prepared to offer it?

Don’t succumb to the temptation to sensationalize the condition that Mark calls demon-possession.  But look how each individual is situated, and think what gospel remedy you can offer to them.  As we study the Gospel of Mark, we will encounter many with unclean spirits, pay attention to these people and see the human condition that the compassion of the Savior brings hope and healing.

Pastor Greg

Dec 29

Empowerment

The New Year is filled with opportunity.  Sadly, a disquieted spirit within will cause the opportunities to vanish.  A renewed spirit is needed for the new year. Charles Allen writes of the terrible tortures of the Spanish Inquisition.  The worst of all was to put a man in a jail cell with the ceiling so low he could not stand up fully. He was never able to stand up straight, never able to hold up his head.  This was discovered to break even the strongest man’s spirit.  As we step into the months ahead, may we do so standing on tip-toes, anticipating God’s grand work among us.  As Allen said, “Christian, stand up straight; be a real person.”

                                                                                                                                 —Lee McGlone

Take the New Years Challenge

I am suggesting each person in our church to listen to the Gospel of Mark at least once in January.  I will be preaching from Mark through Easter, and it will allow you to put the events of the sermons in context with the text of Mark.  Often, we get the impression that the Gospels are just a compilation of various teachings and stories.  But when we read or hear them in large sections I think we will be able to understand them as an intentional portrait of Jesus and his ministry.

There are several internet sources to have audio readings of the Bible.  I find www.biblegateway.com as the easiest to use with about 20 different audio Bibles for you to use.  Listen to the Gospel of Mark (or read it) in larger sections and let me know if you were helped with this discipline for the New Year.

Pastor Greg

Watch for closings and delay messages
during the winter months on TV Channels 3, 5 and 8.

Twinsburg First Congregational Church