For the Spirit-filled Christian, peace is not a far off abstract but comes from the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Peace is tied to our eternal state rather than where we are during a particular moment of time. Â For the Christian, the Spirit of God indwelling inside of believers is a source of peace in the midst of a chaotic and anxious world.
This week, Danny and Caleb record early so we do our best to have not-dated content (not that there is anything wrong with that) and then miss everything that happened this week. Â Would have been fun to talk about some of it. Â Oh well! Â Instead, we discuss what is important in life; inappropriate children’s movies. Â The movie Show Dogs thought it would be good to include commentary on fondling genitals… in a kids movie. I know! Weird right? Â
For a largely agrarian society, a message of sowing and reaping seed would be immediately understood. As Jesus taught the people while he stood on the lake, he spoke to them the profound mysteries of an eternal and brilliant Kingdom. Yet he did so with the language that the people would understand. The mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven were being revealed to mankind and the word of God was spreading far and wide. This message became the focal point for what Jesus was intending to communicate.Â
The Church is Smyrna was no stranger to suffering. Â The church was in the midsts of profound religious persecution for those who sought to follow Jesus Christ. Â Christians would not following the synagogues who denied the divinity of Jesus Christ and even approved of the martyrdom of some of the earliest church fathers (Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna being the first recorded martyr outside of the bible). Nor would the Christians engage in the type of worship of Caesar that would have been mandatory for Roman worship. Â Beyond that, there was the profound misunderstanding of Christian doctrines. Â As they talked about the body and blood of Jesus Christ, people assumed they were cannibals. Â This is just one of the misunderstandings.
Joy has nothing to do with our situation and everything to do with our standing with God. When our standing with God is absent, happiness is a cheap, counterfeit alternative to joy. We tend to think that our faith is faltering when things are not happy.  Yet, biblically, the cause for our supposed “suffering” could be the refiner’s fire.  It is not necessarily an indication that we are outside of the will of God but rather that God continually pursues us and draws us closer to Himself.Â
From all accounts of scripture, Jesus had just cast out demons from a man with multiple ailments. The man had been blind and unable to speak and had been healed by Jesus miraculously. After all, Jesus is a God who came to heal people and bring them to restoration. Most people would view this as a good thing for a man to have physical ailments be brought to restoration. Others, for whatever reason, viewed this as a threat to themselves and what they were doing.
The church is Ephesus was surrounded by a pluralistic society in which many gods were given temples and places for people to worship. Â As a major trade center, various different religions found a home in Ephesus with no one god being elevated above the other. Â Then there was the issue of the Nicolatians. Â The Nicolatians were marked by their flagrant indulgence of the self. Â They would engage in adulterous worship and commonly participated in religious services to other gods. Â They abandoned their witness and the church is Ephesus stood out as a major opponent of the Nicolatians. Yet, for all of the theological fervor of the church in Ephesus, they had grown increasingly cynical at the world rather than embodying what a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ looks like. Â
The birth of a child is a miraculous blessing in the lives of people. Â It is viewed as a joyous occasion with much celebration that life should continue. Yet, for all of this blessing, the process of pregnancy and child birth is a long arduous process filled with pain. Â For nine months, the mother carries the child, caring for his or her needs as the child is entirely helpless and incredibly needy. Joints ache and fatigue runs rampant. Then, during the birth, the process is painful tonthe point where science has developed everything it can to dull the pain, and it still hurts. For all the problem of children, this is a moment of joy. Despite whatever pain or trials, the outcome and the end are sheer joy. Â
This week Caleb and Danny answer the question that everyone is asking and nobody really cares about; Laurel or Yanny?  We don’t like that we are looking in to that, but hey, why not? Also, Danny dives in to his love of a children’s worship album and discusses the important of theological significance even in the midst of emotional pieces.  props go out to Bethel Kids, now Bright Ones, for a stellar album and for the talented voice of Peyton Allen.  Seriously. Awesome and you should all go check it out.  Finally, we look at the connection between our faith and our works and how the two are connected.  How should the Christian strive to conduct their lives and do our works even matter.
Throughout the Gospels Jesus employed parables, or stories, to communicate the complex truths of the nature of God, the Kingdom of Heaven, and what faith looks like expressed in the world. The parables allowed the complex, unfathomable truths of God to be simplified and understood by all people to bring them closer to God. In understanding the truth, the people could apply it to their lives and grow in their faith. In Mark’s Gospel, many of these parables are recorded as a part of the Gospel record.
