by Matthew Borgstrom | Jul 7, 2016 | Following Christ, Humility, Obedience, Sanctification
Hearing But Not Listening We have discovered in Mark 4:1-20, that understanding the Lord’s teaching is a gift from the Lord as indicated in v.11, so if someone concludes that they are one of the bad soils or have some of those tendencies, is there anything they can do...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Jun 29, 2016 | Discipleship, Following Christ, Holiness, Obedience
Determining Christ’s Family How does Christ determine who is in his family? Jesus could have mentioned any stipulation here in Mark 3:35–consistently coming to hear his words taught or finding him likable to the point of not thinking he’s a lunatic...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Jun 23, 2016 | Discipleship, Following Christ, Holiness, Obedience
True Discipleship So unlike the crowds, these true disciples in Mark 3:13-19 experienced absolute temporal loss in that they left everything to follow him and this ended up costing them their lives. They became apostles; the foundation of the church, and the Lord used...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Jun 20, 2016 | Following Christ, Heart Motives
Identifying Improper Motives for Seeking Christ Seeking Jesus with skewed motives is not only applicable before conversion. True Christians have to constantly check themselves in this category. You know you are seeking Jesus for the wrong reasons when something goes...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Jun 9, 2016 | Compassion, Hypocrisy, Mercy, Righteous Anger
The Perfect Anger of Christ What appears next in Mark 3:5 is unrivaled anywhere else in the gospels in terms of a vivid description of how Christ views sin–v.5–He looks around at them with anger, which is the same word for wrath. This response from Christ...
by Matthew Borgstrom | May 29, 2016 | Humility, Poor In Spirit
Poor In Spirit We discussed extensively about how Mark 2:17 relates to conversion, but is this statement by Christ only applicable to those who are unconverted? Not at all. Professing and even genuine Christians can get to a point where they are tempted to think...
by Matthew Borgstrom | May 22, 2016 | Obedience, Perseverance
Persevering in Obedience How quickly do we let obstacles prevent us from believing in and obeying Christ? Sadly, doesn’t the slightest resistance easily get us off track? “He did this” or “She said that” or “I just can’t get over how I was mistreated” or...
