Mark 10

The 2nd part of blind-spots of discipleship - based on the 3rd and final time Jesus explains what it means to be the Son of Man.

PA crew were new, so first 5-7 min is missing - text here:

Well we’re looking at part 2 of the blind spots of discipleship this week. I know it’s possibly ever so slightly difficult to remember a two-part sermon series when they are almost 2 months apart. But let me do my best to remind you.

We were essentially asking what does it mean to be a disciple of Christ,– trying to make further sense of Jesus’ statement earlier on in Mark chapter 8:
Mark 8:34 Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

So the last time I was here, we were looking at the 3 statements where Jesus describes what He came to do. (PowerPoint – 3statements). The plain and open statements of Jesus to His close disciples on what it means to be Him, Jesus, the Son of Man – and by extension, what does it mean to be His follower, His disciple. So we remember Him saying:

Mark 9:31 For He taught His disciples and said to them, "The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him. And after He is killed, He will rise the third day."

And so what happened next? Well, Jesus just told them about His suffering and fate, and just like the first time, their response is a desire of personal greatness and glory:

Mark 9:34 34 But they kept silent, for on the road they had disputed among themselves who would be the greatest. (NKJV)

We remember - the disciples were debating on who was the best amongst them, the privileged few that were allowed to follow Jesus so closely. Jesus’ response to them, was that the disciple of Christ, requires humility, literally as we mentioned – it is to become bent over. It means you will become someone who is totally dependent on His Heavenly Father, and not to make the same mistake of Adam, and of Israel who’s desire was to become independent, become Gods even, they became blind in the sense that they no longer recognized that all the power, and good gifts, and talents that they had, had been given to them by God to be used God’s purposes, so that His glory could be shown to others – that they also may come to Him. Jesus used the words “faithless and perverse”, using these resources for their own vain-glory.
So now in Chapter 10, It seems that in the short time since the last incident, not much has been learnt at all. Jesus yet again states in more detail who He is – please follow with me in your Bibles:

Mark 10:32-34 32 Now they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was going before them; and they were amazed. And as they followed they were afraid. Then He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them the things that would happen to Him: 33 "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles; 34 "and they will mock Him, and scourge Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again."

Again, Jesus has just told them about the way of the cross, the way of humility and humiliation, the way of suffering at the hands of others. So what happens next?

Mark 10:35-37 35 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Him, saying, "Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask." 36 And He said to them, "What do you want Me to do for you?" 37 They said to Him, "Grant us that we may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left, in Your glory."

One preacher remarked that this must be the worst prayer in all human history “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask”. A prayer of complete self-centeredness and having no regard for anything that Jesus has said, imagine how he felt - It’s even worse this time, since it is the 3rd time He’s saying it and because this time, Jesus has started to make His way towards Jerusalem. He is now definitively setting off on the events that will lead Him to His being mocked scourged and spat upon, and ultimately death.

Sadly however, this type of prayer has been repeated countless times ever since, by myself included, and many a time, this is the manner in which we pray in our petition to the Living God, our Cosmic ATM machine – that will provide us with whatever we want for our own goals and ambitions in this life, and even in the next, regardless of anything He says about Himself.

The situation gets even worse in Matthew’s gospel, in that one, James and John have gotten their dearest mother to ask Jesus for them. Note the amazing irony, they’ve basically asked to be co-rulers of the universe, and they need mummy go do their dirty work. Mark does not bother with the nuances in Matthew, and cuts to the chase – this is their desire, no matter who has done the asking. They want to be co-regents with Christ when He sits on His glorious throne. Jesus – we want you to grant us power, glory, security and comfort.

remaining audio here:
http://www.mediafire.com/?mnmjygyfyhn

Falling off the horse

Jesus is not 'the middle way' from 2 extremes,

we are walking along a narrow ridge, to fall to the left or the right means to have our foot slip

He is the narrow path and either way is death

when our foot slips, we catch on again to Jesus - or we die

The Insane Grace of God

Read this:

Romans 2:3-5 3 Do you suppose, O man - you who judge those who do such things and yet do them yourself - that you will escape the judgment of God? 4 Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? 5 But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed.

The logic of God defies all human understanding...
yet it is something very clearly revealed to us in creation...

I was thinking about prayer
what happens when we don't pray according to His will?
i.e. people pray for selfish riches etc
you'd think the answer would be no...

but according to this verse, the answer is yes!
take the errant child in the parable of the wayward son
he is granted all the riches of his father's wealth
eventhough his father knows he will squander it

yet why does he give it?
in the hope that he will see the father's great love
and come to repentance!
how insane is that

and yet any 'good father' does that with his own errant children
he continues to shower grace and to try every form of blessing on his child
so that he/she turns and rejoins the family!!

what an insane love this is..
Our Father pouring out grace for us

and yet.. how terrifying
on judgement day when they see the tremendous blessings our God has given to them
how many times he has said yes
and yet how we abuse it again, and again, and again
what a 'store of wrath' that will be!!

the sign of sonship is discipline
Hebrews 12:6-8 6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives." 7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.

to those the Father wants to 'groom' to be disciples
He is strict - the more that person wants to be a disciple,
the stricter and the more difficult the circumstances the Father throws him into
just like a coach training a champion athlete
only the strictest regimes are allowed
- the goal is perfection

Jesus had the most vicious of training circuits
indeed He was perfected in suffering - unto death on a cross

Look at the good gifts your Father in heaven has given you
is not it time to give all to Him?!

Project Abraham

Check out what's happening at Farm Fellowship!

http://www.thewayofjesus.com/

Read these:

http://web.me.com/paulblackham/The_Way_of_Jesus/Plant_life.html

http://web.me.com/paulblackham/The_Way_of_Jesus/Abraham_Project/Entries/2009/4/8_Why_bother_helping_others_and_living_in_tents_for_a_month.html

The glory of being wasted on Christ..

From 'The Normal Christian Life - Watchman Nee'
talking about being 'useful for Christ'

Now the breaking of the alabaster box and the anointing of the Lord filled the house with the odor, with the sweetest odor. Everyone could smell it. Whenever you meet someone who has really suffered; been limited, gone through things for the Lord, willing to be imprisoned by the Lord, just being satisfied with Him and nothing else, immediately you scent the fragrance.

There is a savor of the Lord. Something has been crushed, something has been broken, and there is a resulting odor of sweetness. The odor which filled the house that day still fills the Church; Mary's fragrance never passes away.

Friends, we cannot produce impressions of God upon others, impart the sense of the presence of God, without the breaking of everything, even the most precious things, at the feet of the Lord Jesus.

The Lord would have us here, not first of all to preach or to do work for Him, but to create hunger in others. No true work will begin in any life apart from a sense of need. We cannot inject that into others, we cannot drive people to be hungry for God. Such hunger can be created only by those whose lives convey vital impressions of Him.

Oh, to be wasted! It is a blessed thing to be wasted for the Lord. So many of us who have been prominent in the Christian world know nothing of this. Many of us have been used to the full--have been used, I would say, too much--but we do know what it means to be wasted on God.

We like to be always "on the go": the Lord would sometimes prefer to have us in prison. We think in terms of apostolic journeys: God dares to put His greatest ambassadors in chains. "But thanks be unto God, which always leadeth us in triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest through us the savor of his knowledge in every place" (2 Corinthians 2:14)

The 'Practicality' of Sonship

In these uncertain times (which Jesus promised) we can very often turn gospel living into a very, what we call, practical lifestyle

Make sure we have a stable job, steady income, homes to live in etc..
The argument is that the gospel of Jesus Christ involves being 'practical'

While the statement is true, practicality in Jesus's eyes is far from worldly
As He says 'Do not worry what to eat or what to wear - your Father provides these things'

Imagine your own children keeping raw ingredients from your fridge under their beds - telling you that they want to store it up because their not sure where their next meal is coming from
or 10 year olds going to get a job because they don't know if you can provide for them
other than having no 'faith' in you, it is an act of mistrust

The practical child simply turns up for breakfast every morning
the practical child always trusts that his good parents will provide all his needs
The practical child is at peace because of this

the 'storing-working' child - is nothing but an orphan

We have a Father in heaven
Christ has shown us how to be His children
We glorify Christ by living the God-Child life
Since He then becomes the First of many brothers and sisters - with one heavenly Father

Hallelujah! not as orphans
Are we left in sorrow now
...
Shall our hearts forget His promise
'I am with you ever more'?

The Experience Meeting

Update:

this is the book:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Experience-Meeting-Introduction-Societies-Evangelical/dp/1573830437/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1219755234&sr=1-2

IF you are a minister/pastor/any form of leader requiring you to be heavily pastoral - I strongly recommend this as a fantastic starting point!

____________________________________________________________

The experimental or experiential aspect of the Christian life has been seriously neglected during the present century. Certain factors and tendencies have led to this unfortunate condition. Chief among these has been a superficial evangelism which has neglected real conviction of sin and repentance and encouraged an easy believism. Secondly, there has been a theory of sanctification, more psychological than spiritual and scriptural, which has discouraged self-examination and taught that we have only to 'leave it to the Lord.' Thirdly, and more recently, has been an unbalanced emphasis on intellectual understanding of Truth, the social application of Truth, and the manifestation of particular spiritual gifts. All this has greatly impoverished the spiritual life of both the individual Christian and the churches, and led to coldness, barrenness, and loss of power. The greatest need of the hour is a return to the emphases of the Evangelical Awakening. It is in the belief that this classic of the spiritual life and warfare can greatly stimulate and hasten that return that I encouraged my wife to translate it, and am now happy to commend it, and to advise all Christians to read it.I would particularly urge ministers and pastors to read it, not only because it will prove to be an invaluable help in what is now called counselling of individuals, but also because I would press upon them the importance of introducing such meetings into the life of their churches.

Much untold blessing would follow. - Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones

___________________________________________________________________________________

10 questions based on that - which I recommend you get at least 1 other Christian to ask you every single week. (This is something like what they do at Farm Fellowship)

1. How is our daily Bible reading going? How are we putting the Bible into practise?
2. How is our prayer life going? How long are we spending in prayer? What are we praying for? How have our prayers been answered?
3. How is our holiness coming along? What sins are we aware of and how are we dealing with them? Have we confessed and forsaken them?
4. Have we built new relationships?
5. How have we served and loved others this week? What practical help have we given to those in need?
6. Have we shared our story with anyone this week?
7. Have we shared the story of Jesus with anyone this week?
8. Who have we invited to church this week?
9. How are we praying for the people on our Impact List? What have we done to reach the key person on our Impact List?
10. How are we developing our particular style of reaching out to others? Are we learning new ways to serve others, explain the Bible, tell our story?

John 14:21 "Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him."

How to Spend the Day with God - Richard Baxter

A holy life is inclined to be made easier when we know the usual sequence and method of our duties - with everything falling into its proper place. Therefore, I shall give some brief directions for spending the day in a holy manner.

Sleep

Measure the time of your sleep appropriately so that you do not waste your precious morning hours sluggishly in your bed. Let the time of your sleep be matched to your health and labour, and not to slothful pleasure.

First Thoughts

Let God have your first awaking thoughts; lift up your hearts to Him reverently and thankfully for the rest enjoyed the night before and cast yourself upon Him for the day which follows.

Familiarise yourself so consistently to this that your conscience may check you when common thoughts shall first intrude. Think of the mercy of a night's rest and of how many that have spent that night in Hell; how many in prison; how many in cold, hard lodgings; how many suffering from agonising pains and sickness, weary of their beds and of their lives.

Think of how many souls were that night called from their bodies terrifyingly to appear before God and think how quickly days and nights are rolling on! How speedily your last night and day will come! Observe that which is lacking in the preparedness of your soul for such a time and seek it without delay.

Prayer

Let prayer by yourself alone (or with your partner) take place before the collective prayer of the family. If possible let it be first, before any work of the day.

Family Worship

Let family worship be performed consistently and at a time when it is most likely for the family to be free of interruptions.

Ultimate Purpose

Remember your ultimate purpose, and when you set yourself to your day's work or approach any activity in the world, let HOLINESS TO THE LORD be written upon your hearts in all that you do. Do no activity which you cannot entitle God to, and truly say that he set you about it, and do nothing in the world for any other ultimate purpose than to please, glorify and enjoy Him. "Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." - 1 Corinthians 10:31.

Diligence in Your Calling.

Follow the tasks of your calling carefully and diligently. Thus:

(a) You will show that you are not sluggish and servants to your flesh (as those that cannot deny it ease), and you will further the putting to death of all the fleshly lusts and desires that are fed by ease and idleness.

(b) You will keep out idle thoughts from your mind, that swarm in the minds of idle persons.

(c) You will not lose precious time, something that idle persons are daily guilty of.

(d) You will be in a way of obedience to God when the slothful are in constant sins of omission.

(e) You may have more time to spend in holy duties if you follow your occupation diligently. Idle persons have no time for praying and reading because they lose time by loitering at their work.

(f) You may expect God's blessing and comfortable provision for both yourself and your families.

(g) it may also encourage the health of your body which will increase its competence for the service of your soul.

Temptations and Things That Corrupt

Be thoroughly acquainted with your temptations and the things that may corrupt you - and watch against them all day long. You should watch especially the most dangerous of the things that corrupt, and those temptations that either your company or business will unavoidably lay before you.

Watch against the master sins of unbelief: hypocrisy, selfishness, pride, flesh pleasing and the excessive love of earthly things. Take care against being drawn into earthly mindedness and excessive cares, or covetous designs for rising in the world, under the pretence of diligence in your calling.

If you are to trade or deal with others, be vigilant against selfishness and all that smacks of injustice or uncharitableness. In all your dealings with others, watch against the temptation of empty and idle talking. Watch also against those persons who would tempt you to anger. Maintain that modesty and cleanness of speech that the laws of purity require. If you converse with flatterers, be on your guard against swelling pride.

If you converse with those that despise and injure you, strengthen yourself against impatient, revengeful pride.

At first these things will be very difficult, while sin has any strength in you, but once you have grasped a continual awareness of the poisonous danger of any one of these sins, your heart will readily and easily avoid them.

Meditation

When alone in your occupations, improve the time in practical and beneficial meditations. Meditate upon the infinite goodness and perfections of God; Christ and redemption; Heaven and how unworthy you are of going there and how you deserve eternal misery in Hell.

The Only Motive

Whatever you are doing, in company or alone, do it all to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31). Otherwise, it is unacceptable to God.

Redeeming The Time

Place a high value upon your time, be more careful of not losing it than you would of losing your money. Do not let worthless recreations, idle talk, unprofitable company, or sleep rob you of your precious time.

Be more careful to escape that person, action or course of life that would rob you of your time than you would be to escape thieves and robbers.

Make sure that you are not merely never idle, but rather that you are using your time in the most profitable way that you can and do not prefer a less profitable way before one of greater profit.

Eating and Drinking

Eat and drink with moderation and thankfulness for health, not for unprofitable pleasure. Never please your appetite in food or drink when it is prone to be detrimental to your health.

Remember the sin of Sodom: "Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride, fullness of food and abundance of idleness" - Ezekiel 16:49.

The Apostle Paul wept when he mentioned those "whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame -- who set their minds on earthly things, being enemies to the cross of Christ" - Philippians 3:18-19. O then do not live according to the flesh lest you die (Romans 8:13).

Prevailing Sin

If any temptation prevails against you and you fall into any sins in addition to habitual failures, immediately lament it and confess it to God; repent quickly whatever the cost. It will certainly cost you more if you continue in sin and remain unrepentant.

Do not make light of your habitual failures, but confess them and daily strive against them, taking care not to aggravate them by unrepentance and contempt.

Relationships

Remember every day the special duties of various relationships: whether as husbands, wives, children, masters, servants, pastors, people, magistrates, subjects.

Remember every relationship has its special duty and its advantage for the doing of some good. God requires your faithfulness in this matter as well as in any other duty.

Closing the Day

Before returning to sleep, it is wise and necessary to review the actions and mercies of the day past, so that you may be thankful for all the special mercies and humbled for all your sins.

This is necessary in order that you might renew your repentance as well as your resolve for obedience, and in order that you may examine yourself to see whether your soul grew better or worse, whether sin goes down and grace goes up and whether you are better prepared for suffering, death and eternity.

May these directions be engraven upon your mind and be made the daily practice of your life

If sincerely adhered to, these will be conducive to the holiness, fruitfulness and quietness of your life and add to you a comfortable and peaceful death.

Real Christianity

Ever seen a group of people actually 'living' like Jesus?

Paul Blackham preaching every week, as long as he needs, & uncut:

http://www.farmfellowship.com/test/resources.html

Go visit them if you can! You will never ever regret it!

Wise Sayings

100 Truths in 30 Years with Christ

Christians suing their teachers?

http://video.yahoo.com/watch/2303288/7241528
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,345274,00.html

Something inherently problematic about Christians suing their teachers? How do you think the Christians will be able to show Christ's love if their teachers lose their job because the Christian wants to be protected by the human rights constitution, rather than God? What happened to good old persecution on Christ's behalf?

1 Peter 1:6-7

"In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith - more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire - may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ".

Come on now Christians, lets not be whiny. We should rejoice that we are suffering for Him, and out of our freedom do we obey and suffer to witness to the Messiah who freely became sin for us, the Messiah who did not retaliate, the Messiah who did not, above all, relied on his Father for true protection!

In the Light...

An email recently received from a friend:

This past week, I was asked by a young man in Zion to be his accountability partner. He was struggling with the lust of the flesh, and knowing that pornography on the internet was just a click away, he chose to subject himself to this online software known as Covenant Eyes. Covenant Eyes required the user to have accountability partners, and what happens is that the programme would send these partners the list of all websites that the user has been visiting (questionable or otherwise). The partners would also be kept updated should the user choose to opt out of the covenant and remove the programme.
I was both impressed and challenged - for Lord knows that I also struggle with these things and have stumbled many times before.

Such willingness to hold oneself accountable to another brethren in Christ is hard to come by. How rare it is in church, and yet how precious it is in the sight of the Lord!

You know how scripture says so much about Christians being in the light - the Lord has saved us out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9), and he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God (see John 3:19-21). We have tended to understand the phrase "being in the light" in various abstract ways - we talk of light as enlightenment, as glory, as refreshment, as bringing growth.
But I suggest that it also carries the very simple meaning of "being known", of being open, having nothing to fear.
Taken further, to be in the light is to be unafraid and unashamed to confess one's own sins, vulnerabilities, anxieties, weaknesses, and the years of chasing up the wrong tree and abiding by a false vine ... to be in the light ALSO means confessing one's strengths, joys, testimonies, giftings and thanksgivings. To God, as well as to fellow believers.

Some other Christians would use the term "being vulnerable" or "being real" to describe this. And it takes great humility... the kind of humility that means thinking BOTH less and lowly about oneself. It leads to the kind of sharing that opens such a wide window into the soul that it is no wonder that such accountability and confession should generally exist between brothers, or between sisters, but not in between. It is intimate. And it opens the door to great healing (James 5:16). Wasn't it so that none of us got saved except that we first got honest with God? Should we not be honest also with the body of Christ? Can the body of Christ be trusted?

We Asians would pride ourselves on modesty, but often we are guilty of a false modesty that spills over into all kinds of falsehood. And Christians are most susceptible to the subtlest and most wicked of them all - spiritual pride.

In Zion's case, I doubt if it is all a matter of pride. But I think we do have a lot of fear - Of condemnation and of accusation (usually in the form of gossip), of victimization, and of further hurt. We also have a lot of inexperience and immaturity - it's hard to be vulnerable and to be open when you've not witnessed it or seen its fruits in the community; or when we've hardly bothered to build real friendships with people; or when we've been hurt. I write as a product of this culture ... and I too need to be set free.

Who amongst us wants to walk in the light? Who would confess his hurt, and need for God? Who would be trustworthy to listen to the deep thoughts and feelings of a friend or stranger? Who would be courageous to love?

Who would take that step to help make Zion a place for rest, refreshing, and restoration?

Who wants to be set free from the past?

Start with prayer.. being honest to God once again.

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. (1 John 4:18)

And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also. (1 John 4:21)