GREAT THINGS ENTERPRISE
CLAUDE BLACK
Walking With Mark
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Overview:
While Christians confront many challenges to their faith, they can still say with the Apostle Paul that they can overcome through Christ who gives them strength. The devotions in this book encourage looking in fresh ways at the resources described by biblical writers and practiced by believers throughout generations.
The Gospel of Mark is the most practical of the four gospels. The ordinary people Mark described faced common problems, and the lessons they learned are timeless. Yes, some modern challenges seem unique, but Mark’s people dealt with similar issues: finances, health, opposition, disappointment, temptation, and failures. Their successes, however, show spiritual resources available for anyone who will take time to walk with Mark through their stories.
Contents:
1. Lonely Voices, Bugs, Strange Clothes
2. A Bad Spirit at Church
3. In-Laws, Outlaws, and Other Kinds of Laws
4. He Prayed
5. Miracles and the Modern Mind
6. The Farmer
7. A Crowded Heart
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Overview
One of the things that makes the Gospel of Mark so appealing is the ordinary people the writer describes. They faced issues like those many face today: a man with a debilitating physical condition, someone making a major vocational change, critics and faultfinders, a person with a damaged arm, the pressure of work and time, selecting helpers, and being misunderstood.
Each of Mark’s stories contains lessons for the reader. These devotions focus on one message from each of these stories that will encourage and strengthen Christian life.
Mark’s narrative always pivots on the presence of Jesus, whether as a healer or teacher. Sometimes Jesus’ lessons seem to fly past his audience; but at other times, his followers hear and believe, usually with life changing consequences. That message, too, is in each of these devotions.
Contents:
1. Perils of Skepticism
2. Is There a Doctor in the House
3. Lord of the Sabbath
4. Stretch Out your Hand
5. Many People Came
6. The Call of God
7. Coping with Criticism
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Overview:
While the Gospel of Mark is the shortest of the synoptic gospels, it presents the life of Jesus with such force that when the Apostle Peter saw it, he called for it to be read in all the churches. The people who show up on the pages of Mark’s gospel struggle with archetypal issues that make the gospel timeless.
Most historians do not think Mark was one of Jesus’ early disciples; however, he may have met Jesus at his home in Jerusalem, which seems to have been open to Jesus, his disciples, and other believers. There is no record of his father, but his mother’s name was Mary. The family seems to have been affluent, which may account for Mark’s travels, always an expensive venture.
There is not a lot of detail in Mark’s biography of Jesus, especially when compared with the other evangelists. His frequent use of the word “immediately” represents his haste. He tells one story, and then moves quickly to another. But the people he describes are ordinary, common people whether it’s the privileged religious leaders in Jerusalem or a man driven out of the city and living homelessly in a graveyard—people from whom a reader can draw inspiration and lessons.
A reader finds Mark talking about religious orthodoxy, the importance of family, how precious life is, the explosive growth of the Christian church, religious education, and living by faith. These stories and others form the context for the chapters in this book.
Contents:
1. Designer Religion
2. Standing Outside
3. God’s Sickle, Man’s Cycle
4. Dynamite Comes in Small Packages
5. Mark Hopkins on a Log
6. Come and Dine
7. Fear or Faith
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Overview:
While he was traveling with the apostles, St. Mark listened to them preach, teach, and talk about Jesus. There are some Bible scholars who think Mark may have met Jesus on one of his visits to Jerusalem; St. John describes four visits Jesus made to the city. Mark certainly traveled with the apostles: Peter, Paul, Barnabas, and others. Since Mark’s home was in Jerusalem, he may have had access to other written and oral information about Jesus, which has long since disappeared. The final document, the Gospel of Mark, is crisp and concise.
In this volume, Mark described Jesus’ ministry around the Sea of Galilee, starting at Capernaum, traveling across the sea to Gergesa, and back to Capernaum. Jesus and his disciples were caught in a violent storm as they sailed across the sea. Once they reached the shore, they met a man who had been driven from society and lived among the tombs. The evil spirits cast out of the poor tomb-dwelling man, spooked a huge herd of pigs that ran into the sea and drowned. The pig owners and other neighbors were angry, and they urged Jesus to leave their area.
These stories and others form the background for the meditations in this volume.
Contents:
1. What is $3.30?
2. Get Me Off This Thing
3. Stop ‘Norin’ Me
4. Tables a Walkin’
5. Behold the Man
6. Who Would Want to be in a Place Like This
7. Pigs, Pigs, Pigs
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Overview:
As a young man, Mark traveled with the Apostles Paul, Barnabas, Peter, and others. The Apostle Peter taught him many intimate details of Jesus’ life. During his second imprisonment, Paul wrote to the pastor of the church in Ephesus, Timothy, telling him to bring Mark with him to Rome, “for he is to me useful for the ministry.” (II Tim. 4:11 LT) Mark went to Rome, stayed there even after St. Paul was martyred, and wrote his gospel as a training manual for new believers, based largely on the teaching, training, and sermons of Peter. The mediations in this book grow out of the remarkable Gospel of Mark, which continues to inspire readers.
For earlier books in this series, check out Walking with Mark: Meditations and Prayers to Strengthen and Encourage Christian Life wherever books are sold;
Contents:
1. Oops!
2. Go Home
3. If
4. Cast Them All Out
5. You Can Go Home Again—If You Dare
6. Go
7. Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People
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