Jesus had just gone and cured someone – done something GOOD for a person in need… But, it seems, he did so in such a way that it violated the “religious sensibilities” of those “authorities” around him. Might there be some similar analogues to this in contemporary settings? Maybe helping someone who “doesn’t deserve it”?…
Author: Jim Baker
Marginal Mission Network leader with ReachGlobal Europe, passionate about serving at the margins. We are now living in the woods in VA working on restoring an old grist mill and farmhouse to host a community that will provide, rest, restoration, reflection, training, connections... and lots of good music!
Appomattox and the Power of One: Earn This
We talk about stuff from all around the world here… but today, we can’t help but think local: particularly about high school football. The signs on the road into Appomattox, Virginia read “Where our nation reunited.” The recent content and tone of what passes for dialogue in the US today makes one wonder about the…
Thinking Hard about Hard Things | Roma, Chinese, Mission and Me – Part 8
Melody Wachsmuth, who blogs at Balkan Voices, has studied theology and cross-cultural studies at Fuller, and lives in Croatia, where she teaches at Evangelical Theological Seminary. She has a gift for interacting with people and getting to the heart – both on the individual level and at the “macro” level of demographics. It is in…
Questions Jesus Asked 9 | I would have thought that was obvious…
Do you want to be well? (John 5:6) Jesus has arrived to Jerusalem for a festival and stops off at the pool of Bethesda, the “house of mercy.” There he sees a man who has been bedridden for thirty-eight years. That tells us that he’s no spring chicken – by the standards of the day, he was…
Questions Jesus Asked 8 | The Horizons of Possibility
Do you believe that I am able to do this? Matthew 9.28 A pair of men who are visually impaired see a golden opportunity – a teacher, whose reputation for performing miraculous healings is growing like wildfire, just happens to be passing by. Approaching him, they cry out, “Have mercy on us,” calling out to…
Roma, Chinese, Mission and Me – Part 7 – Is Everybody In?
I was challenged as I listened to the only white North American speaker at the Roma To The Nations consultation (Grover Crosby, the English pastor from a multi-congregational church in Toronto, which sent an extensive delegation from their Chinese congregation). Pastor Grover Crosby’s topic was “the inclusiveness of the Gospel” – it was interesting to…
Questions Jesus Asked 7 | Missing Out on the Good Stuff
Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the Bridegroom is with them? (Matt 9:15) | Can the wedding guests fast while the Bridegroom is with them? (Mark 2.19) | Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? (Luke 5:34) Jesus has been inviting people to follow him. His most recent…
Roma, Chinese, Mission and Me – Part 6 – Big Power
Reflecting on both the content and the significance of the recent Roma to the Nations consultation is like a kaleidoscope: there are more and more angles and pieces that come together and, as we turn to get a better view more beautiful patterns come into view. Just as we need to be clear that the…
Mill Pond Porch 