Jesus touches the leper and then, as a result of the cleansed leper's disobedience to His command, ends up suffering the fate of a leper. Jesus must now remain in unpopulated areas and never publicly enter cities.Though He is clean He suffers as if unclean because He touched one who was unclean and made him clean. It is hard to imagine a more vivid picture of Jesus suffering under the curse that those who deserved the curse might experience a blessing. (p47)The Victory According to Mark
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| The Dudley Llama (Showcase Cinema in background) |
It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feastingwhy? how could that possibly be the case?
because death is the destiny of every man;
and the living should take this to heart. (Ecclesiastes 7:2)And I notice that the BBC have put together a slideshow of some of the famous people for whom 2011 was the year they met this destiny. They are now before the judge of all.
I would advise no-one to send his child where the holy Scriptures are not supreme. Every institution which does not unceasingly pursue the study of God's word becomes corrupt. (Martin Luther) p43
I am much afraid that schools will prove to be the great gates of hell unless they diligently labour in explaining the Holy Scripture, engraving them on the hearts of youth. (Martin Luther) p59
True religion affords government its surest support. the future of this nation depends on the Christian training of the youth. it is impossible to govern without the Bible. (George Washington) p65
I will kill or cure: I will have one or the other, a Christian school, or none at all. (from John Wesley's Journal, 12 March 1766) p91
I preached on the education of children, wherein we are so shamefully wanting. Many were now deeply convoked of this. I hope they will not stifle all that conviction. (from John Wesley's Journal, 30 November 1766) p95
Pay the utmost attention to the schools.I consider schools as one of the most effectual means of spreading the light of the gospel through the world. (William Carey in a letter to Jabez Carey 1815) p103
The philosophy of the classroom is the philosophy of the Government of the next generation. (Abraham Lincoln) p105
Your ministry embraces two things. The establishment of schools and the spread of the gospel. The first of these if it can be secured will I trust be an effectual introduction to the other. (William Carey in a letter to Jabez Carey, 1819) p117
Surely the importance of Kingswood School is apparent, even from the difficulties that attend it. I have spent more money, and time, and care on this, than almost any design I ever had .... But it is worth all the labour. (from John Wesley's Journal, 24 August 1753) p129
The Love of God in the Classroom
The church will never flourish without Christian schools. (John Calvin) p143
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Simeon's 3rd Birthday Cake
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What are fathers called to? Fathers give. Fathers protect. Fathers bestow. Fathers yearn and long for the good of their children. Fathers delight. Fathers sacrifice. Fathers are jovial and open-handed. Fathers create abundance, and if lean times come they take the leanest portion themselves and create a sense of gratitude and abundance for the rest. Fathers love birthdays and Christmas because it provides them with yet another excuse to give some more to the kids. When fathers say no, as good fathers do from time to time, it is only because they are giving a more subtle gift, one that is a bit more complicated than a cookie. They must include among their gifts things like self-control and discipline and a work ethic, but they are giving these things, not taking something else away just for the sake of taking. Fathers are not looking for excuses to say no. Their default mode is not no.
Doug Wilson here
So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.Kenneth Bailey has written an article that is really helpful. It is here and the heart of it is here:
While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
Joseph and Mary arrive in Bethlehem. They find shelter with a family whose separate guest room is full, and are accommodated among the family in acceptable village style. The birth takes place there on the raised terrace of the family home, and the baby is laid in a manger.
(To the tune of "Jingle Bells")
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Colin Buchanan © 2005 Universal Music
35 Angels from the realms of glory [youtube] |
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Give me an abhorrence of all evil,
as a vile monster that defies thy law, casts off thy yoke, defiles my nature, spreads misery.
May I discern the deadly viper in its real malignity [p100 Valley of Vision]
Life in Jesus, however, is restless rest, with the accent on rest. Faith, which is the primary human response to God, means that we trust him and not ourselves. More specifically, faith means, “Jesus, help!”
‘The kingdom of God’ is God in saving action, God taking control in his world, or, to use our title, ‘divine government’.… Mark begins his book with a prologue designed to appeal to Jewish expectations of the fulfilment of the hopes of Israel, and to point to Jesus of Nazareth as the one in whom that fulfilment is to be focused. At the same time he has alerted his readers that the stage on which the drama is to be played is not merely that of human relationships, even of national politics, but of the cosmic encounter of the Son of God with the kingdom of Satan. (Divine Government: God's Kingship in the Gospel of Markp21)
God destroyed Pharaoh through Moses, and Elijah received God's divine protection from Ahab, but God allows John to be imprisoned by Pharoah's and Ahab's successor. This gives us a clue that, though Joshua defeated the Canaanites, and Elisha died in his bed, Jesus may not be spared from His enemies.The Victory According to Mark p36-37.
The Gospel has the flavour of Christ's servanthood throughout, and no one is interested in the ancestry of a servant.
The Bible Panorama: Enjoying the Whole Bible with a Chapter-By-Chapter Guide
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]. Mark the follower of Peter, while Peter was preaching the gospel publicly in Rome in the presence of certain of Caesar's knights ..., being requested by them that they might be able to commit to memory the things which were being spoken, wrote from the things which were spoken by Peter the Gospel which is called According to Mark.The Mark Experiment
“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.” ― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
