Mark 8:1-21

We don't know when each section was specifically written as the chapters and verse numbers were add later on in history. But for at least the section that I am going to be talking about, I don't think that we can have each section without the other ones right around it. This is verses 1-21.

Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand

 In those days, when again a great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat, he called his disciples to him and said to them,  "I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way. And some of them have come from far away."And his disciples answered him, "How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?" And he asked them, "How many loaves do you have?" They said, "Seven." And he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd. And they had a few small fish. And having blessed them, he said that these also should be set before them. And they ate and were satisfied. And they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. And there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away. And immediately he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha.

The Pharisees Demand a Sign

 The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him. And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation." And he left them, got into the boat again, and went to the other side.

The Leaven of the Pharisees and Herod

 Now they had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. And he cautioned them, saying, "Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod." And they began discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread. And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, "Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?"They said to him, "Twelve." "And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?" And they said to him, "Seven." And he said to them, "Do you not yet understand?"

Boom, we start off with a miracle of Jesus feeding 4000 people out of a couple loaves of bread and a few fish. One part that I find interesting is that the disciples almost seemed reluctant to give up the bread that they had. Each one of them would get at least half a loaf of bread. Giving up their bread would mean giving up the food that they needed so that they too would not faint.

Side note: when I think of a loaf of bread way back in the day, I think of it as just enough for each person to have one loaf and have their fill. A loaf was not something that you cut up and share with a bunch of people. I could be completely wrong, but that is the way that I see it.

Now I say that we can't separate these sections because each one talks about a boat that went from here to there or there to here and it just seems like Mark decided to record these events one after another and I think because they happened in that order.

Now onto the pharisees, they want a sign from Jesus. And I can only think, if you had only been there to see him feed 4000 people, then you would have seen a sign but Jesus goes on to say that no sign will be given to them.

It just keeps getting better and better. Now they are back on a boat and Jesus tells his disciples to be careful of the leaven of the pharisees and of Herod. Now they are back to the point that they have no bread again, okay, so one loaf, but to them it must have seemed like none. It almost seems as if Jesus gets irritated with the disciples. He tells them, "Do you not yet understand?" What are they supposed to understand here?

It makes me think that they are worried about their food which brings to mind Matthew 6:25-34 where it tells us not to worry about such things. That if we seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, God will take care of the rest. I want to think that the disciples were not thinking about kingdom matters but about how hungry they were.

I get from all of this that Jesus will take care of us. The disciples seemed to have forgotten that Jesus feed 5000 and 4000 with just a little. I almost also think that they didn't want to ask him for a miracle. With just a little faith, Jesus can do a whole lot. But I think Jesus wants us to bring him lots of faith, because that means there is that much more to work with.

Stay tuned for an update on Zach's life and big things that are happening there.

Mark 8:22-26

And they came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, "Do you see anything?" And he looked up and said, "I see men, but they look like trees, walking." Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. And he sent him to his home, saying, "Do not even enter the village."

 I found this passage very interesting. While I was reading it, the thought that Jesus messed up the first time came into my head. Why did Jesus heal this man's eyes twice? It isn't like Jesus would get it wrong. I mean come on, just read the gospels and you can see him healing all over the place. I just thought this was interesting...

Two messages that have changed my life...

and that I have to remind myself of what they talk about daily.


The first is one is a message that I have posted before but it seems like I get something new out of it every time I listen.


Outreach

This second message talks about prayer and how it is necessary for our life. Check it out.


Prayer

Happy listening :)

My Crazy Summer

Let's see if I can remember most of it.


I started it off in Disney World. That was a blast.


I stayed at a friends house with him and his brothers while their parents were away.


I then moved into a frat house with the rest of the Rock.


I took 16 credits over the summer. By God's grace I got 3 A's and 2 B's.


I co-led a discipleship team with another dude.


I led a Friday service project group.


I worked full time and then part time and then full time again.


God a new computer. A Mac :)


Moved to an apartment at the end of the summer.


Played Ultimate Frisbee every Thursday.


Learned more of what it means to run after Christ. I think I will always be learning this which is not a bad thing.


Okay, now I have to get off because I told myself that I would start shutting things down at 12:15 and now it is 12:18. I wouldn't change any part of my summer if I could do it again. There was much rejoicing at times but there was much sorrow at others. But I know that it was all for my good because of Romans 8:28 because I have been called according to God's purpose and I sure do love him bunches.


Good grace blog readers!

Slowly but surely, I will catch up

I don't think I am going to be able to remember anything about the rest of the trip to disney world. I just have to say that it was a blast to spend time with my family that way on a vacation. Being with the parents, the sister and brother-in-law, and most definitely can't forget about the nephews. They were all over the place all the time. I still don't know two little boys can have so much energy. I think by the end of the day, all of the old people were more tired than they were.


The hotel we were at had swimming and a movie night. So we got pizza from California Pizza Kitchen and it was much good. I think the movie had something to do with rats? mouse/mouses? (I know, I spelled it wrong, deal with it) some sort of animal? I can't remember. But I really like the pizza, maybe that is why I can't remember.


By the way, if I repeat myself from the posts while I was there, I apologize. I didn't care to take the time to reread what I put there.


One of the best parts about the trip was being able to see a space shuttle launch! I knew that I wanted to put something about it in the blog so I wrote a little bit about it on the way to NASA in my itouch.

A spectacular sun rise. The sun was coming up and it kind of looked like the sun rise at the beginning of the Lion King. It seemed like the edges glistened a bit while it was this golden yellow. I would have taken a picture of it but I was too lazy and B had his head on my lap while he took a nap. Plus I was mostly just resting my and took a glance too see how light it was outside by that point. Pretty much awesome.

We had to get up way early to catch the bus to get to NASA and then we drove for a really long time but we finally got there. We went out to the watching sight which was like 6 miles away or so. The craft seemed so small but they really are crazy huge. We then waited for what seemed like forever for the spaceship to blast off. We did get to see a dolphin swim by in the waters that were near by which was pretty awesome. When the shuttle did blast off, it was an amazing sight. It took off crazy fast and the shear amount of energy and thrust and power was...I don't think I have words to explain it. Another thing that made it amazing was that it was the 3rd to last shuttle launch ever and the last launch ever for that shuttle specifically.


The shuttles are 30 some years old and are being decommissioned. NASA's budget has been completely cut essentially and so they are no longer sending shuttles up there anymore. They are working on a new design if they do ever get funding back, but for now, it is like NASA has become no more.


Essentially the trip was awesome and I loved it and hope to do it again some day with my family.

Disney World Day 1, 2, and 3

Well, I am out in Disney World with my family right now and we have been having a blast. So far, we have been to Epcot and the Magic Kingdom and today, we are going to go back to the Magic Kingdom for more magic. I am gonna try and post something on here everyday, kind of give you as much of a running commentary as I can. But we will see how well that goes.

My parents were going to get me an itouch for Christmas but couldn't find one that was a good deal and so they just got one for me before we left. So most of these posts will be from the memo pad from  that. Maybe I will get a Flicker account so that I can put up pictures for all of you to see, but that won't be until I get back.

Day 1
We made it out yesterday. The flights were fine and not very bumpy at all. It was good to just spend time with the rents. We got here first and went to go and get our tickets from the super nice hotel that we are going to be staying at on Monday. We went to get settled in the hotel and then go and pick up Sarah, Willie, Skyler, and Bryce. When Skyler saw us he started to run for us and Bryce was close behind. The sad part is that while we were looking for the car because we forgot where we parked, Skyler biffed it hard. Face first onto the ground. So things started off a bit hard but maybe that will be the only one. We are headed off into Epcot now, should be a pretty good day. Soarin', Test Track, Mexican food, Mission Space,  and fireworks.


Day 2
Every Person Comes Out Tired (EPCOT) sure is true. I think all of our legs hurt by the end. Test Track sped us around while we flew over California with Kronk from The Emperor's New Groove on Soarin'. Leutant Dan from Forest Gump took us to Mars and we at really yummy Mexican food. Neither of the boys liked the big rides but they did like Turtle Talk with Crush. We traveled the world and saw many different place. I got to really test out my camera today with the firework show at the end of the night. Everyone went to get our spot for the show and I ran around for a while getting pictures for friends and I went on Test Track one last time with fastpasses that we didn't use. I found Germany and looked for a beer that one of my friends wanted me to find for him. I think the boys will like tomorrow better as they will be more adjusted to this time zone and we are going to the magic kingdom.


Day 3
Well, as much as it says that wishes come true at Disney World, it sure doesn't seem like it. So far, everywhere we have gone I can always hear a kid crying. It sure doesn't seem like it is all that magical after that. Today was a blast, I LOVE ROLLER COASTERS! We went on a ride where you drive a car that is on a track but you get to steer it around. Well, I put Bryce in the drivers seat with the steering wheel and all he did was let us bounce around and let the track guide us....never again, never again, never again. I think I have whip lash from it. We went on Space Mountain second and it was sooooooo much fun. The day just seemed to fly buy because by the time it was time to go, it seemed like we just got there. SO after Space Mountain, we went and shot aliens with  Buzz Lightyear and then went to be scared by some ghosts at the haunted Mansion. Then we had a cannon of a time with the Pirates on the Pirates of the Caribbean. Now that was all before Lunch. We left far a bit to  go check into our new, really nice hotel where I have m own room, the rents have there own room, and the sister and family have there own room. Well, the place had a water break the night before and so we couldn't check in but the kids got to go swimming for a while. We had dinner at one of my favorite places, Panerra Bread. Went back to the park and got to go onto the Big Thunder Mountain. When we were going to go onto Splash Mountain, it was broken and so we didn't get to do that but Sarah, Willie, Skyler and I tried to weave our way through the crowd that was trying to watch the light parade to get back to Space Mountain for two more rides, it was much fun.. We watch more fireworks and by this point, the boys were beat. We went home to sleep and when i hit the bed, I was out. The boys were out before we even got home.


Day 4
Soon to come...if I can remember it.

WAR A Word From Steele Croswhite

*This was taken from the The Rock Church Newsletter*

“We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).

Did you know we’re in a war? The war is for our souls, and it takes place in our minds. All day long, the world around us (and even our very flesh) communicates something contrary to the Spirit of God. Each day the devil wages this fight. If he can infiltrate our thoughts and get us to believe a lie, then he can begin to redirect our lives and color the decisions we make. In the end, such decisions lead us further and further from Christ.

Because the war is in our mind, we must take captive every thought — every idea and every motivation — and hold it up to the truth of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:4-6). Does this thought honor God? Is it rebellious toward Him? Is the thought real, or does it contradict the truth of His Word? Does the thought cause me to be secretive or ashamed, or does it draw me closer to God’s Spirit?

We cannot afford to become lazy in our thinking nor in our understanding of biblical truth. To effectively engage in a war, one must be adequately equipped. Only a fool would enter a battle unprepared. Ephesians 6:14-17 gives us a clear picture of what our attire should be: “Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the Gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.”

We need to pray every day: “Lord, I hear lots of voices that are not Yours, directing me away from You. Will You lead me in Your truth? By Your Spirit, will You open my eyes to discern what is real and what is a lie? Will You give me the strength to take every thought captive and make it obedient to You? You are all I want in this life. You are my place of refuge.”

Today, be prepared for the war. Take up your sword, grab your helmet, and with divine power demolish the strongholds that wage war in your mind. Jesus will lead us into victory by leading us to Himself!

See you on the battlefield,

Steele