Why are you harboring evil thoughts? (Matt 9:4) | Why are you raising such questions in your heart? (Mark 2:8) | Why are you questioning in your hearts? (Luke 5:22) Already, early in his public ministry, Jesus was becoming increasingly popular. At one point, while inside a home preaching the “good news of the Kingdom” to crowds…
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!
Roma, Chinese, Mission and Me – Part 5 – Stereotypes and Stories
God is moving among Roma, at the periphery of Europe, while churches at the “center” wither. It’s great opportunity to relearn mission.
Questions Jesus Asked 5 | Breaking through by Building Common Language
If I tell you about earthly things and you will not believe, how will you believe when I tell you of heavenly things? (John 3: 12) The night wind was sweeping through the narrow street as Jesus spoke with his interlocutor. Perhaps, during the inevitable pauses in the conversation they watched leaves spiraling around the courtyard…
Roma, Chinese, Mission and Me – Part Four – Changing hearts changes vision
A major goal of the Roma to the Nations consultation was to inspire and motivate leaders in the global Chinese church to reach out to the Roma. This shaped the dialogue in a unique way. During the consultation, Chinese pastors offered meditations on Scripture, which shine a light on the deeper thinking that is emerging…
Questions Jesus Asked 4 | Signal to Noise Ratio…
You are a teacher in Israel and you do not understand this? (John 3: 10) It doesn’t seem like Jesus was implying here that being a “teacher in Israel” was a bad thing. Nor do I think that we was trying to rap his night visitor for being a bad teacher. This was not about…
The Roma, the Chinese, Mission and Me – Part Three – Owning and paying our OWN “gospel debt”
In the last post in this series, we were thinking about the deep feeling expressed by several Chinese believers that they “owed a gospel debt” to the Roma of Europe. Letting that concept percolate, we can think of at least two reasons why we who are Christians of European extraction, who have been involved in…
Questions Jesus Asked 3 | Good Wine and Line of Sight
“How does this concern of yours affect me?” (John 2:4) Yes, this question is asked in the context of the first miracle Jesus is recorded as performing, which, at first glance, seemed to be for the purpose of keeping the party going. But that’s not the point. He had a greater purpose: he realized that…
Questions Jesus Asked | 2: In search of…
“What are you looking for?” (John 1:38) Knowing what was in the heart of people (John 2.24), Jesus was not asking because he didn’t know. “What do you want, expect, require… What are you seeking?” Jesus asks of two young men who, after having had Jesus pointed out to them at a distance, had begun…
Mill Pond Porch 