Wednesday -Mark 10:13-16

"Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." -James 1:22

This week we were trying different reading methods to change our perspective. How many different methods did you try? Did you try any not on the list? Did you find any of the methods hard or weird? Did you discover any new methods you might use again in the future?

What reading method will you use on the last day for this reading challenge?

Here are six ways you can read this passage:

1) Read Mark 10:13-16 out loud and slowly. What did you hear?
2) Read Mark 10:13-16 silently and slowly. What did you see?
3) Write out a portion of the passage. What did you feel?
4) Listen to Mark 10. What did you hear?
5) Read Mark 10:13-16 in NIV? What did you see?
6) Read Mark 10:13-16 in NLT? What did you see? 

Questions about your reading:

What main insight do you have about this passage after reading it different ways?
After reading different ways, which method did you prefer? Why?
What are some other ways you could read Scripture this week?

Mark 10:13-16The Message (MSG)

13-16 The people brought children to Jesus, hoping he might touch them. The disciples shooed them off. But Jesus was irate and let them know it: “Don’t push these children away. Don’t ever get between them and me. These children are at the very center of life in the kingdom. Mark this: Unless you accept God’s kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you’ll never get in.” Then, gathering the children up in his arms, he laid his hands of blessing on them.

Tuesday -Mark 10:1-12

"Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." -James 1:22

We are working at changing our perspective this week. By trying different methods of Scripture reading, we are giving ourselves the opportunity to see if we can pick up insights we would have missed. The challenge is to use at least three different reading methods.

Here are six ways you can read this passage:

1) Read Mark Mark 10:1-12 out loud and slowly. What did you hear?
2) Read Mark 10:1-12 silently and slowly. What did you see?
3) Write out a portion of the passage. What did you feel?
4) Listen to Mark 10. What did you hear?
5) Read Mark 10:1-12 in NIV? What did you see?
6) Read Mark 10:1-12 in NLT? What did you see? 

Questions about your reading:

What main insight do you have about this passage after reading it different ways?
After reading different ways, which method did you prefer? Why?
What are some other ways you could read Scripture this week?

Mark 10:1-12The Message (MSG)

10 1-2 From there he went to the area of Judea across the Jordan. A crowd of people, as was so often the case, went along, and he, as he so often did, taught them. Pharisees came up, intending to give him a hard time. They asked, “Is it legal for a man to divorce his wife?”

3 Jesus said, “What did Moses command?”

4 They answered, “Moses gave permission to fill out a certificate of dismissal and divorce her.”

5-9 Jesus said, “Moses wrote this command only as a concession to your hardhearted ways. In the original creation, God made male and female to be together. Because of this, a man leaves father and mother, and in marriage he becomes one flesh with a woman—no longer two individuals, but forming a new unity. Because God created this organic union of the two sexes, no one should desecrate his art by cutting them apart.”

10-12 When they were back home, the disciples brought it up again. Jesus gave it to them straight: “A man who divorces his wife so he can marry someone else commits adultery against her. And a woman who divorces her husband so she can marry someone else commits adultery.”

Monday -Mark 9:42-50

"Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." -James 1:22

We are working at changing our perspective this week. By trying different methods of Scripture reading, we are giving ourselves the opportunity to see if we can pick up insights we would have missed. The challenge is to use at least three different reading methods.

Here are six ways you can read this passage:

1) Read Mark 9:42-50 out loud and slowly. What did you hear?
2) Read Mark 9:42-50 silently and slowly. What did you see?
3) Write out a portion of the passage. What did you feel?
4) Listen to Mark 9. What did you hear?
5) Read Mark 9:42-50 in NIV? What did you see?
6) Read Mark 9:42-50 in NLT? What did you see? 

Questions about your reading:

What main insight do you have about this passage after reading it different ways?
After reading different ways, which method did you prefer? Why?
What are some other ways you could read Scripture this week?

Mark 9:42-50The Message (MSG)

42 “On the other hand, if you give one of these simple, childlike believers a hard time, bullying or taking advantage of their simple trust, you’ll soon wish you hadn’t. You’d be better off dropped in the middle of the lake with a millstone around your neck.

43-48 “If your hand or your foot gets in God’s way, chop it off and throw it away. You’re better off maimed or lame and alive than the proud owner of two hands and two feet, godless in a furnace of eternal fire. And if your eye distracts you from God, pull it out and throw it away. You’re better off one-eyed and alive than exercising your twenty-twenty vision from inside the fire of hell.

49-50 “Everyone’s going through a refining fire sooner or later, but you’ll be well-preserved, protected from the eternal flames. Be preservatives yourselves. Preserve the peace.”

Sunday -Mark 9:38-41

"Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." -James 1:22

How is your reading going this week? Have you found a method you really like? Have you found one you dislike? Have you used the same three every day or have you tried new methods?

Preference for one style or way of reading is good. We often like a specific method because it fits with how our brain is wired. Study and reading methods are tools to helps us listen to God's Word.

Different tools help with different jobs. Different methods help us see Scripture in different ways. We are half way through the week's different perspective challenge. Keep going! You're doing great! What three reading methods will you try today?

Here are six ways you can read this passage:

1) Read Mark 9:38-41 out loud and slowly. What did you hear?
2) Read Mark 9:38-41 silently and slowly. What did you see?
3) Write out a portion of the passage. What did you feel?
4) Listen to Mark 9. What did you hear?
5) Read Mark 9:38-41 in NIV? What did you see?
6) Read Mark 9:38-41 in NLT? What did you see? 

Questions about your reading:

What main insight do you have about this passage after reading it different ways?
After reading different ways, which method did you prefer? Why?
What are some other ways you could read Scripture this week?

Mark 9:38-41The Message (MSG)

38 John spoke up, “Teacher, we saw a man using your name to expel demons and we stopped him because he wasn’t in our group.”

39-41 Jesus wasn’t pleased. “Don’t stop him. No one can use my name to do something good and powerful, and in the next breath cut me down. If he’s not an enemy, he’s an ally. Why, anyone by just giving you a cup of water in my name is on our side. Count on it that God will notice.

Saturday -Mark 9:33-37

"Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." -James 1:22

This week we are using different methods of reading to change our perspective. Different ways of reading gives us the opportunity to notice different details. The challenge is to use at least three different reading methods.

Here are six ways you can read this passage:

1) Read Mark 9:33-37 out loud and slowly. What did you hear?
2) Read Mark 9:33-37 silently and slowly. What did you see?
3) Write out a portion of the passage. What did you feel?
4) Listen to Mark 9. What did you hear?
5) Read Mark 9:33-37 in NIV? What did you see?
6) Read Mark 9:33-37 in NLT? What did you see? 

Questions about your reading:

What main insight do you have about this passage after reading it different ways?
After reading different ways, which method did you prefer? Why?
What are some other ways you could read Scripture this week?

Mark 9:33-37The Message (MSG)

33 They came to Capernaum. When he was safe at home, he asked them, “What were you discussing on the road?”

34 The silence was deafening—they had been arguing with one another over who among them was greatest.

35 He sat down and summoned the Twelve. “So you want first place? Then take the last place. Be the servant of all.”

36-37 He put a child in the middle of the room. Then, cradling the little one in his arms, he said, “Whoever embraces one of these children as I do embraces me, and far more than me—God who sent me.”

Friday -Mark 9:14-32

"Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." -James 1:22

We are working at changing our perspective this week. Just like in the art project I mentioned yesterday. By trying different methods of Scripture reading, we are giving ourselves the opportunity to see if we can pick up insights we would have missed. The challenge is to use at least three different reading methods.

Here are six ways you can read this passage:

1) Read Mark 9:14-32 out loud and slowly. What did you hear?
2) Read Mark 9:14-32 silently and slowly. What did you see?
3) Write out a portion of the passage. What did you feel?
4) Listen to Mark 9. What did you hear?
5) Read Mark 9:14-32 in NIV? What did you see?
6) Read Mark 9:14-32 in NLT? What did you see? 

Questions about your reading:

What main insight do you have about this passage after reading it different ways?
After reading different ways, which method did you prefer? Why?
What are some other ways you could read Scripture this week?

Mark 9:14-32The Message (MSG)

14-16 When they came back down the mountain to the other disciples, they saw a huge crowd around them, and the religion scholars cross-examining them. As soon as the people in the crowd saw Jesus, admiring excitement stirred them. They ran and greeted him. He asked, “What’s going on? What’s all the commotion?”

17-18 A man out of the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought my mute son, made speechless by a demon, to you. Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and goes stiff as a board. I told your disciples, hoping they could deliver him, but they couldn’t.”

19-20 Jesus said, “What a generation! No sense of God! How many times do I have to go over these things? How much longer do I have to put up with this? Bring the boy here.” They brought him. When the demon saw Jesus, it threw the boy into a seizure, causing him to writhe on the ground and foam at the mouth.

21-22 He asked the boy’s father, “How long has this been going on?”

“Ever since he was a little boy. Many times it pitches him into fire or the river to do away with him. If you can do anything, do it. Have a heart and help us!”

23 Jesus said, “If? There are no ‘ifs’ among believers. Anything can happen.”

24 No sooner were the words out of his mouth than the father cried, “Then I believe. Help me with my doubts!”

25-27 Seeing that the crowd was forming fast, Jesus gave the vile spirit its marching orders: “Dumb and deaf spirit, I command you—Out of him, and stay out!” Screaming, and with much thrashing about, it left. The boy was pale as a corpse, so people started saying, “He’s dead.” But Jesus, taking his hand, raised him. The boy stood up.

28 After arriving back home, his disciples cornered Jesus and asked, “Why couldn’t we throw the demon out?”

29 He answered, “There is no way to get rid of this kind of demon except by prayer.”

30-32 Leaving there, they went through Galilee. He didn’t want anyone to know their whereabouts, for he wanted to teach his disciples. He told them, “The Son of Man is about to be betrayed to some people who want nothing to do with God. They will murder him. Three days after his murder, he will rise, alive.” They didn’t know what he was talking about, but were afraid to ask him about it.

Week 6: Different Ways to Hear -Mark 9:2-13

"Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." -James 1:22

My high school art teacher had an assignment. She created a tower of things. It had a ladder, boxes, toys, fabric, and small stuff like fruit, flowers, and paint cans. We each sat around the structure and had to draw what we saw. No two pictures were the same because no two artists had the same perspective.

I always thought it would have been interesting if after our first drawing we would have moved over one chair. By moving seats we would have noticed elements of the sculpture we hadn't seen before. The change in location would have given us a new perspective that helped us see more of what had always been in front of us.

What would happen if we changed our Bible reading perspective? We often read the Bible one or two ways. Either we silently read the passage by ourselves or in group settings someone reads to us. Both are good ways to "listen to the word" but they are not the only possibilities. You can read it out loud, you could listen to an audio version, you could read it slowly thinking about each word, you could write out a portion of the passage, or you could change translations. This week I challenge you to read the daily Scripture in at least three different ways.

Here are six ways you can read this passage:

1) Read Mark 9:2-13 out loud and slowly. What did you hear?
2) Read Mark 9:2-13 silently and slowly. What did you see?
3) Write out a portion of the passage. What did you feel?
4) Listen to Mark 9 (you can stop it after verse 13). What did you hear?
5) Read Mark 9:2-13 in NIV? What did you see?
6) Read Mark 9:2-13 in NLT? What did you see? 

Questions about your reading:

What main insight do you have about this passage after reading it different ways?
After reading different ways, which method did you prefer? Why?
What are some other ways you could read Scripture this week?

Mark 9:2-13The Message (MSG)

2-4 Six days later, three of them did see it. Jesus took Peter, James, and John and led them up a high mountain. His appearance changed from the inside out, right before their eyes. His clothes shimmered, glistening white, whiter than any bleach could make them. Elijah, along with Moses, came into view, in deep conversation with Jesus.

5-6 Peter interrupted, “Rabbi, this is a great moment! Let’s build three memorials—one for you, one for Moses, one for Elijah.” He blurted this out without thinking, stunned as they all were by what they were seeing.

7 Just then a light-radiant cloud enveloped them, and from deep in the cloud, a voice: “This is my Son, marked by my love. Listen to him.”

8 The next minute the disciples were looking around, rubbing their eyes, seeing nothing but Jesus, only Jesus.

9-10 Coming down the mountain, Jesus swore them to secrecy. “Don’t tell a soul what you saw. After the Son of Man rises from the dead, you’re free to talk.” They puzzled over that, wondering what on earth “rising from the dead” meant.

11 Meanwhile they were asking, “Why do the religion scholars say that Elijah has to come first?”

12-13 Jesus replied, “Elijah does come first and get everything ready for the coming of the Son of Man. They treated this Elijah like dirt, much like they will treat the Son of Man, who will, according to Scripture, suffer terribly and be kicked around contemptibly.”

Wednesday Mark 8:31-9:1

After reading the days session...

1. Write out one or two key sentences (or verses). Write them word for word and as you write consider what the words mean.

2, What phrase or words stand out?

3. Why do you think they matter and how does it connect to life today?

Mark 8:31-9:1The Message (MSG)

30-32 Jesus warned them to keep it quiet, not to breathe a word of it to anyone. He then began explaining things to them: “It is necessary that the Son of Man proceed to an ordeal of suffering, be tried and found guilty by the elders, high priests, and religion scholars, be killed, and after three days rise up alive.” He said this simply and clearly so they couldn’t miss it.

32-33 But Peter grabbed him in protest. Turning and seeing his disciples wavering, wondering what to believe, Jesus confronted Peter. “Peter, get out of my way! Satan, get lost! You have no idea how God works.”

34-37 Calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to saving yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you? What could you ever trade your soul for?

38 “If any of you are embarrassed over me and the way I’m leading you when you get around your fickle and unfocused friends, know that you’ll be an even greater embarrassment to the Son of Man when he arrives in all the splendor of God, his Father, with an army of the holy angels.”

9 Then he drove it home by saying, “This isn’t pie in the sky by and by. Some of you who are standing here are going to see it happen, see the kingdom of God arrive in full force.”

Tuesday -Mark 8:27-30

After reading the days session...

1. Write out one or two key sentences (or verses). Write them word for word and as you write consider what the words mean.

2, What phrase or words stand out?

3. Why do you think they matter and how does it connect to life today?

Mark 8:27-32The Message (MSG)

27 Jesus and his disciples headed out for the villages around Caesarea Philippi. As they walked, he asked, “Who do the people say I am?”

28 “Some say ‘John the Baptizer,’” they said. “Others say ‘Elijah.’ Still others say ‘one of the prophets.’”

29 He then asked, “And you—what are you saying about me? Who am I?”

Peter gave the answer: “You are the Christ, the Messiah.”

30-32 Jesus warned them to keep it quiet, not to breathe a word of it to anyone. He then began explaining things to them: “It is necessary that the Son of Man proceed to an ordeal of suffering, be tried and found guilty by the elders, high priests, and religion scholars, be killed, and after three days rise up alive.” He said this simply and clearly so they couldn’t miss it.

Monday -Mark 8:22-26

After reading the days session...

1. Write out one or two key sentences (or verses). Write them word for word and as you write consider what the words mean.

2, What phrase or words stand out?

3. Why do you think they matter and how does it connect to life today?

Mark 8:22-26The Message (MSG)

22-23 They arrived at Bethsaida. Some people brought a sightless man and begged Jesus to give him a healing touch. Taking him by the hand, he led him out of the village. He put spit in the man’s eyes, laid hands on him, and asked, “Do you see anything?”

24-26 He looked up. “I see men. They look like walking trees.” So Jesus laid hands on his eyes again. The man looked hard and realized that he had recovered perfect sight, saw everything in bright, twenty-twenty focus. Jesus sent him straight home, telling him, “Don’t enter the village.”

Sunday -Mark 8:13-22

After reading the days session...

1. Write out one or two key sentences (or verses). Write them word for word and as you write consider what the words mean.

2, What phrase or words stand out?

3. Why do you think they matter and how does it connect to life today?

Mark 8:13-23The Message (MSG)

13-15 He then left them, got back in the boat, and headed for the other side. But the disciples forgot to pack a lunch. Except for a single loaf of bread, there wasn’t a crumb in the boat. Jesus warned, “Be very careful. Keep a sharp eye out for the contaminating yeast of Pharisees and the followers of Herod.”

16-19 Meanwhile, the disciples were finding fault with each other because they had forgotten to bring bread. Jesus overheard and said, “Why are you fussing because you forgot bread? Don’t you see the point of all this? Don’t you get it at all? Remember the five loaves I broke for the five thousand? How many baskets of leftovers did you pick up?”

They said, “Twelve.”

20 “And the seven loaves for the four thousand—how many bags full of leftovers did you get?”

“Seven.”

21 He said, “Do you still not get it?”

22-23 They arrived at Bethsaida. Some people brought a sightless man and begged Jesus to give him a healing touch. Taking him by the hand, he led him out of the village. He put spit in the man’s eyes, laid hands on him, and asked, “Do you see anything?”

Saturday -Mark 8:1-13

After reading the days session...

1. Write out one or two key sentences (or verses). Write them word for word and as you write consider what the words mean.

2, What phrase or words stand out?

3. Why do you think they matter and how does it connect to life today?

Mark 8:1-12The Message (MSG)

8 1-3 At about this same time he again found himself with a hungry crowd on his hands. He called his disciples together and said, “This crowd is breaking my heart. They have stuck with me for three days, and now they have nothing to eat. If I send them home hungry, they’ll faint along the way—some of them have come a long distance.”

4 His disciples responded, “What do you expect us to do about it? Buy food out here in the desert?”

5 He asked, “How much bread do you have?”

“Seven loaves,” they said.

6-10 So Jesus told the crowd to sit down on the ground. After giving thanks, he took the seven bread loaves, broke them into pieces, and gave them to his disciples so they could hand them out to the crowd. They also had a few fish. He pronounced a blessing over the fish and told his disciples to hand them out as well. The crowd ate its fill. Seven sacks of leftovers were collected. There were well over four thousand at the meal. Then he sent them home. He himself went straight to the boat with his disciples and set out for Dalmanoutha.

11-12 When they arrived, the Pharisees came out and started in on him, badgering him to prove himself, pushing him up against the wall. Provoked, he said, “Why does this generation clamor for miraculous guarantees? If I have anything to say about it, you’ll not get so much as a hint of a guarantee.”

Friday -Mark 7:31-37

After reading the days session...

1. Write out one or two key sentences (or verses). Write them word for word and as you write consider what the words mean.

2, What phrase or words stand out?

3. Why do you think they matter and how does it connect to life today?

Mark 7:31-37The Message (MSG)

31-35 Then he left the region of Tyre, went through Sidon back to Galilee Lake and over to the district of the Ten Towns. Some people brought a man who could neither hear nor speak and asked Jesus to lay a healing hand on him. He took the man off by himself, put his fingers in the man’s ears and some spit on the man’s tongue. Then Jesus looked up in prayer, groaned mightily, and commanded, “Ephphatha!—Open up!” And it happened. The man’s hearing was clear and his speech plain—just like that.

36-37 Jesus urged them to keep it quiet, but they talked it up all the more, beside themselves with excitement. “He’s done it all and done it well. He gives hearing to the deaf, speech to the speechless.”

Week 5: What's the Big Idea? -Mark 7:24-30

This week we are going keep asking questions. Our questions are going to look at what is the core message of the passage. Or another way to put it, what is the big idea? After reading the days session...

1. Write out one or two key sentences (or verses). Write them word for word and as you write consider what the words mean.

2, What phrase or words stand out?

3. Why do you think they matter and how does it connect to life today?

Mark 7:24-30The Message (MSG)

24-26 From there Jesus set out for the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house there where he didn’t think he would be found, but he couldn’t escape notice. He was barely inside when a woman who had a disturbed daughter heard where he was. She came and knelt at his feet, begging for help. The woman was Greek, Syro-Phoenician by birth. She asked him to cure her daughter.

27 He said, “Stand in line and take your turn. The children get fed first. If there’s any left over, the dogs get it.”

28 She said, “Of course, Master. But don’t dogs under the table get scraps dropped by the children?”

29-30 Jesus was impressed. “You’re right! On your way! Your daughter is no longer disturbed. The demonic affliction is gone.” She went home and found her daughter relaxed on the bed, the torment gone for good.

Wednesday -Mark 7:1-23

The Bible is relevant to our lives today. Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 that Scripture is useful for showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God’s way. This week's challenge to to ask five questions about the day's passage to help us discover what it means for our lives and how we can put that truth into action.

Not every question will fit with every passage. But by asking the questions you are allowing the Bible to strengthen your life and walk with God.

1. What have you learned from today's passage?
2. What behaviour is it asking you to avoid?
3. What promise is it asking you to claim?
4. What command is it asking you to obey?
5. What sin is it asking you to confess?

Mark 7:1-23The Message (MSG)

7 1-4 The Pharisees, along with some religion scholars who had come from Jerusalem, gathered around him. They noticed that some of his disciples weren’t being careful with ritual washings before meals. The Pharisees—Jews in general, in fact—would never eat a meal without going through the motions of a ritual hand-washing, with an especially vigorous scrubbing if they had just come from the market (to say nothing of the scourings they’d give jugs and pots and pans).

5 The Pharisees and religion scholars asked, “Why do your disciples flout the rules, showing up at meals without washing their hands?”

6-8 Jesus answered, “Isaiah was right about frauds like you, hit the bull’s-eye in fact:

These people make a big show of saying the right thing,
    but their heart isn’t in it.
They act like they are worshiping me,
    but they don’t mean it.
They just use me as a cover
    for teaching whatever suits their fancy,
Ditching God’s command
    and taking up the latest fads.”

9-13 He went on, “Well, good for you. You get rid of God’s command so you won’t be inconvenienced in following the religious fashions! Moses said, ‘Respect your father and mother,’ and, ‘Anyone denouncing father or mother should be killed.’ But you weasel out of that by saying that it’s perfectly acceptable to say to father or mother, ‘Gift! What I owed you I’ve given as a gift to God,’ thus relieving yourselves of obligation to father or mother. You scratch out God’s Word and scrawl a whim in its place. You do a lot of things like this.”

14-15 Jesus called the crowd together again and said, “Listen now, all of you—take this to heart. It’s not what you swallow that pollutes your life; it’s what you vomit—that’s the real pollution.”

17 When he was back home after being with the crowd, his disciples said, “We don’t get it. Put it in plain language.”

18-19 Jesus said, “Are you being willfully stupid? Don’t you see that what you swallow can’t contaminate you? It doesn’t enter your heart but your stomach, works its way through the intestines, and is finally flushed.” (That took care of dietary quibbling; Jesus was saying that all foods are fit to eat.)

20-23 He went on: “It’s what comes out of a person that pollutes: obscenities, lusts, thefts, murders, adulteries, greed, depravity, deceptive dealings, carousing, mean looks, slander, arrogance, foolishness—all these are vomit from the heart. There is the source of your pollution.”