Feb 8 2014
The Right Heart and Right Call
James and John asked for the best positions. Jesus said they were reserved for those with the right heart and right call – Mark 10:35-45
James and John asked Jesus if they could sit on his right and left in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus responded by asking them if they could drink the cup he had to drink. This was the cup of a suffering servant. John and James said they could. But Jesus went on to explain that being willing to drink this cup was not the only criteria required. These positions were reserved for those the Father had called. So Jesus outlines two requirements for disciple promotion: character and calling.
Now the other ten disciples were upset when they heard about James and John’s request. They evidentially wanted the top positions for themselves. So with anger and disunity in the air, Jesus called the group together and told them that whoever wanted to be the greatest needed to be the servant of all. More
May 16 2014
Isaiah’s Messianic Prophecies
People love prophecy; even those who are not religious like to discuss predictions of the future. But it gets much more interesting when the predictions come true. At times it may be coincidence, and at other times the predictions can be weirdly accurate. But when we get to Jesus and the way in which he fulfilled Old Testament prophecy we get to a level of prediction that can only be described as ridiculously accurate.
In this post I focus on the prophecies of the Messiah (the Christ) found in the book of Isaiah. But to do this justice we need to put ourselves in the shoes of someone reading the book before Jesus walked the earth. We must read as one who had no knowledge of him. Doing this helps us to understand why there was such a big expectation of a Messiah in the first place.
In case you have never read through Isaiah, let me just say this; at first glance Isaiah is just a book containing many prophetic warnings given to various kings and nations, but between these warnings emerges prophecy of a mystery person. More