Mark 9:28-35

Dear God in heaven, we’d sure like to have a little bit of power to alter our irrelevance, lighten the burdens of others, and heal the wounds of the broken and despairing. Phil Ware writes out of the context of recent disasters and the loss of a mother and child to remind us that being a servant, offering ourselves in sacrificial love, is never a waste!

"Leaving that region, [Jesus and the disciples] traveled through Galilee. Jesus didn't want anyone to know he was there, for he wanted to spend more..."

"Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, because he was teaching his disciples. He said to them, "The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the..."

"Afterward, when Jesus was alone in the house with his disciples, they asked him, "Why couldn't we cast out that evil spirit?" Jesus replied, "This....."

"Leaving that region, [Jesus and his disciples] traveled through Galilee. Jesus didn't want anyone to know he was there, for he wanted to spend more..."

"After [Jesus and his disciples] arrived at Capernaum and settled in a house, Jesus asked his disciples, "What were you discussing out on the road?"..."

Inspirational illustration of Mark 9:30-31 -- Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, because he was teaching his disciples. He said to them, "The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three day

"[Jesus] sat down, called the twelve disciples over to him, and said, "Whoever wants to be first must take last place and be the servant of everyone..."

"Afterward, when Jesus was alone in the house with his disciples, they asked him, "Why couldn't we cast out that evil spirit?""

"Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.""

Inspirational illustration of Mark 9:35 -- If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.

"When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it: “Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of....."

It's Friday, so how do you really feel about things? Steve Higginbotham shares the insight that Friday is not the end, but the promise of a new beginning.

Unlike the father of the boy with the tormenting spirit, we don’t confess our unbelief and then ask for help in believing more is possible. Phil Ware continues his series of posts from the discipleship section of Mark chapters 8-10, this time focusing on the boy the disciples of Jesus could not heal.

There's a lot the disciples missed about Jesus, I wonder what I am not getting? Phil Ware thinks about the disciples not getting Jesus' repeated statements about going to Jerusalem, being rejected, being crucified, and being raised from the dead.

As much as we don't want to admit it, we often miss the way of the upside down Messiah as badly as his first disciples. James Nored and Phil Ware remind us in word and video how upside down Jesus' values are to the way we often do things in our world and in our churches.

When will it all stop? The comparison game hurts us no matter what side of the game we play on.

Let's pray for our leaders! Bob Sjogren reminds us the importance of fasting and praying for the president.

Let's turn this phrase on its ear! Rubel Shelly talks about the term act of God and turns the phrase around to be a call to action for God's people.

Jesus’ disciples were clueless. Even worse, they were unwilling to accept that the role of exaltation for Jesus and his followers involved the cross of Golgotha! Phil Ware continues his series on the Cruciformed disciple, focusing this week on the power of the small.