These little piggies went "wee, wee, wii, SPLASH!"

Here is the encounter between Jesus and a demon-possessed man. Chains could not bind this man. He broke them. He lived among the tombs outside the town because of his condition.

No doubt the inhabitants of the town could hear the wailing of this man as he is tortured by the evil spirits within and cutting himself with stones.

Cutting was happening in Jesus' time.

Jesus confronts the man. He's not afraid, he's not turned off, he's willing.

Verse 13, "He gave them [the demons] permission, and the evil spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about 2000 in number, rushed down the steep bank and were drowned."

Jesus gives the demons permission. Who's in control here?

I read this story through the contemporary lens of prayer. Being a Christian for over a decade now I have been in the habit of wrapping up my prayers to God with the routine phrase, "In Jesus' name...amen."

I've heard spiritual men say these words and I emulate their style. But reading this story puts the closing line of our prayers in perspective. I pray, you pray, to God in Jesus' name because He has authority over the demons. He is MORE powerful than our problems, trials, needs, situations.

I've been telling students recently that in order to pray effectively, we must know who we're praying to. We're praying to the Almighty, yet itimate God, who cares about us. (1 Peter 5:7)

May we refresh our prayer life with the honest belief that God is hearing our prayers and we will hear from heaven.

That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, "Let us go over to the other side." Leaving the crowd behind, the took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. the disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?"
He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?"
They were terrified and asked each other, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!"

Do you still have no faith? What a question that Jesus poses to his disciples. Seems like a tough question considering the circumstances. They fear for their life during an intense and here is Jesus sleeping soundly.

Yet, in light of my previous post, and Mark's previous verses...Jesus had just explained everything to them (4:34). So, I suppose the question, "Do you still have no faith?" is applicable. With knowledge comes responsibility.

Responsibility to allow this newness of knowledge yield a change one's manner of conduct.

This is definately played out in the TV show 24. Jack Bauer, Keiffer Sutherland, changes his behavior based on the knowledge he gains as the pain-staking day wares on...

Again he said, "What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground. Yet, when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in the shade.
With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.


I could spend time discussing the mustard seed and the kingdom and the implications of planting the seed of the kingdom and watching it grow. A tremendous parable.

However, the part of this passage that intrigues me the most is the last sentence. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.

Have you ever been on the outside looking in? Have you ever been in a conversation with a group of people and they are talking about something that you have no clue about, and getting them to explain it to you would take hours?

That's how I feel when I read this passage of the gospel. Thanks Jesus for dumbing it down for us. Yeah, the mustard seed growing into the tree. Kingdom is small, but becomes big...or the Kingdom is not what we think.

I long to hear what the other disciples heard. It's like Mark is teasing us here. "I know something you don't know!"

I realize it's probably better that Jesus did things the way He did them, but I would still have liked to have been around that campfire. Judas was there. He heard those things; Jesus explaining everything. Yet, he still betrayed Jesus.

There is SO much more to the kingdom of God than we know. WOW.

That is the paradox of the epidemic: that in order to create one contagious movement, you often have to create many small movements first.

Wow...life has been a whirlwind lately. I know it's been like 5 weeks since my last update, but gaging from the abundant comments...I wasn't missed. HA!

[26]"He also said, This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. [27]Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. [28]All by itself the soil produces grain--first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernal in the head. [29]As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come."

This is what the kingdom of God is like.

This is what the KINGDOM of GOD is like?

The kingdom of God is here and now. It is present and it is advancing. I am totally tracking with the kingdom of God being a reality today and not a far off destination. The seed is being scattered all the time.

God is moving in the hearts of people all the time. Sometimes in BIG ways. Many times in small ways. Reminding us that He is there. He is here.

In the same way the kingdom of God is here, Hell is also a present reality in our world. All over the place.

What if we decide whether we're going to bring heaven or hell on earth?

Consequences. Consequences.

the kingdom is near and the kingdom is here

This is quite a small section of the Gospel, but Jesus says some pretty incredible things. Challenging things. Hard things:


"For whatever is hidden meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open." (22)


It is the Kingdom of God. It is light. It is near, and it is now. The fullness of the Kingdom is not to be hidden, it will be laid bare and all will see God. Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is the Messiah and Lord.


If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.

1::Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water's edge.

This explicitly shows how much Christ's popularity is growing. Jesus, on the boat, teaches in parables (stories of earthly things to describe heavenly things). Among these parables is a story of a farmer that scatters seed and the seed lands in a variety of environments: Path (birds eat it), Rocky places (springs to life, but gets scortched because it has no root), Thorns (prohibited the plants to thrive), Good Soil (grew and multiplied).

I wonder what condition I am in? If the seed (the word) were scattered into my life, what would happen?



I fear that sometimes I am the the "Thorns", which Jesus describes in verse 18-19, "Others...hear the word; but the worried of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful."

Sometimes I am good soil and this my prayer: "May I hear your word, accept it, and be productive so others can hear the good news of who God is, and the love He shows through Jesus Christ."

The thorns pictured above are from the Acacia, which is the same plant that produced the thorns for Christ's crucifixion crown. Check out the size of those things!