Pressing on in Mark’s gospel we have some practical lessons on faith. What is faith?

Faith is Persistence

And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” (Mark 2.3 – 5, ESV)

I love this story, and because the text is so crisp, I think we miss the persistence of these four guys. Nothing stopped them. They’re carrying their friend, and they “can’t get near Jesus because of the crowd.”

“What will we do?” The decision to tear up somebody’s house couldn’t have been instant. They would have had to brainstorm a bit and come up with the idea. “Do you really think we should?” “How hard will it be?” There are a hundred reasons not to tear up the roof. But they do it anyway. “And when they had made an opening they let down the bed…”

“When Jesus saw their faith.” How do you see faith? By action. In this case raw determination and follow through. That’s faith. Then, maybe, as a friend of mine suggested, they dropped the ropes!

So faith is persistence.

Faith is also trust without fear. We’ve seen this before.

Mark 4 ends with the story that starts:

On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side… (Mark 4.35, ESV)

A clear statement: we’re going to the other side. However…

And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” (Mark 4.37 – 40, ESV)

The last time I wrote on this, July 10, we were drowning in a sea of moving boxes. I reminded myself that God didn’t tell us to move into this house so we would be stuck in moving mode.

Now, we’re in the house, and it looks and feels great…but we’re still carrying a loan collateralized by our former house. But it’s the same. Jesus will not leave us in the middle of the sea to drown. We’re in the pit with a live lion, to change the metaphor, but victory will come. In fact, as of last Sunday, our old house is under contract!

In our first story, “When Jesus saw their faith…,” he acted.

The key verse in the second story:

He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” (Mark 4.40, ESV)

The “have no fear” message is reinforced in the following chapter in the story of the raising of Jairus’ daughter:

But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” (Mark 5.36, ESV)

“His heart is secure, he will have no fear…” (Psalm 112)

I publish a blog every day. I don’t write a blog every day. Sometimes, I have to write ahead such as when last Monday’s shoulder surgery was looming. In the process, I got ahead in our readings as well, so I decided to read the Gospel of Mark for a while. Always encouraging.

And I saw something obvious in chapter 1 that I’ve never focused on before:

John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. (Mark 1.4, 5, ESV)

It’s an obviosity, as I said, but I’ve never paid attention before: “all…were going out to him…confessing their sins.”

We could use some of that in the US right now. Confessing sins is not what we do. We like to recite the perceived sins of others, but few of us are rushing to confess our own sin. Gambling, Alcohol abuse, illicit Sex are still the big three, I think, and we’re encouraged to do more, not confess. But there I go, reciting the sins of others. What about me? Lack of persistent prayer and use of time come to mind.

But just as I was thinking about these things, Peggy Noonan was watching the memorial service for Charlie Kirk. She wrote about the experience, opening with:

Halfway through it struck me the memorial might have been the biggest Christian evangelical event since the first visit to America of Pope John Paul II, in October 1979. He was a year into his papacy. “Be not afraid!” he said, and took America by storm.

At the memorial there was an altar call—at a public memorial for a political figure. It was singular, and moving. So was the dignity and peacefulness of the crowd. They didn’t indulge their anger or cry out against the foe. It was as if they understood that would be bad for the country. I couldn’t remember a time a big Trump-aligned group did that, as a corporate act, in the past 10 years. It struck me as a coming of age. They were taking responsibility. – Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal September 25, 2025

So maybe there is some confession going on, and if it starts with Christians, that’s a good thing:

For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? (1 Peter 4.17, ESV)

I heard a pastor/author when I was in college, J. Allen Blair, who quoted this verse and observed that “if judgment begins with believers, the outcome for unbelievers is that they will believe!”

Amen. Let the confession begin.

I won’t write much from Song of Solomon – after all, this is supposed to be a G-rated blog! I recommend you read it for yourself and continue to give thanks that married sex is God’s idea.

My yard work has been completely limited to cutting grass and running the weed eater. (And not even that any more since the move where the grass and landscaping are taken care of.) I have never been into gardening, and I admire those folks with the patience and discipline for it.

That said, there is one kind of gardening I can get into. I offer the text without further comment.

Wake up, North Wind, get moving, South Wind! Breathe on my garden, fill the air with spice fragrance. Oh, let my lover enter his garden! Yes, let him eat the fine, ripe fruits…I went to my garden, dear friend, best lover! breathed the sweet fragrance. I ate the fruit and honey, I drank the nectar and wine. Celebrate with me, friends! Raise your glasses—“To life! To love!” (SOS 4.16, 5.1, MSG)

Honor marriage, and guard the sacredness of sexual intimacy between wife and husband. (Hebrews 13.4, MSG)

My brother-in-law, Paul, posted something from fall in South Carolina yesterday. Here’s what fall looks like here:

The upper left picture was taken in our new neighborhood, just in front of our house. The two right-hand pictures are at a retreat center in Sedalia, Colorado, and the last we shot in Woodland Park on our way home from a fall colors drive.

We didn’t do the drive that Gazette editor Vince Bzdek writes about in The Greatest Aspen Drive of All Time, published on October 5. Here’s a sample. The article has more. Strongly recommend.

For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. (Isaiah 55.12, ESV)

My brother-in-law Paul Porter, who lives in Piedmont, SC (population 5,786), continues to amaze me. He takes an early morning walk with his German Shepherd, Catfish, and frequently posts pictures and life insights on Facebook after.

Here’s the word from September 28, 2025:

The Serenity of the Millpond

The noisy geese flew off in v’s, headed south, as Catfish and I approached early this morning.  It suited the great blue heron just fine. At last he could fish in peace without a bunch of obnoxious honking and yapping.

Among the comments were these:

I agree with the great blue heron. We could all do with a little less obnoxious honking and yapping.

Thank you for another beautiful moment of serenity. They don’t seem to come around often anymore.

Amen.

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander (honking and yapping?) be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. (Ephesians 4.31, 32, ESV)

This is a bit long but worth it…

My friend Mateen Elass, whom I wrote about recently, has written the book Fairy Tell Islam: Deceptions Masking a Dark Reality. Strongly recommend.

In it, he tells a great story about an exchange with one of his relatives over 25 years ago. She was a devout Muslim, upset that most of their extended family were irreligious. (Mateen says the conversation was real, but he made up the name “Nawal.”)

Feeling that we should “join forces” to make inroads against their metaphysical apathy, she asked me how we could get our relatives to become believers. “Well, Nawal,” I answered, “you and I don’t believe the same things about God, so I don’t think we would make a good team.”

“What do you mean?” this college-educated Muslim responded. “Of course we do. You believe in God and I believe in God. We honor Jesus and love him as one of the great prophets. We both pray and go to worship regularly.”

“Yes, but what you believe about Jesus is vastly different from what Christians believe about him.”

“How? What do you mean?” Nawal asked, with genuine surprise.

“Well, for starters, Christians believe that Jesus is not simply a human being called by God to be a prophet. Instead, we acknowledge him as eternally God, who came to earth two thousand years ago and assumed a human nature to live a fully obedient, sinless life before his Heavenly Father and then offer himself up as a sacrifice for the sins of the human race. That is why he was crucified and died. His resurrection three days later signaled the acceptance of his offering by God the Father and began a new era where human beings who put their trust in Jesus are made members of his eternal Kingdom, having their sins forgiven and being promised eternal salvation in heaven. We believe Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords, before whom all human beings will bow in acknowledgment, even Muhammad.”

Wow. I’m not sure I could rattled off such a succinct description of Jesus’ uniqueness. His relative was stunned.

“You mean, you think that Jesus is God?” “Yes,” I said, “we believe Jesus is the second member of the Trinity, God the Son.”

Then this amazing assertion: Nawal thinks she knows more about what Christians believe than Mateen does.

“Christians don’t believe this,” Nawal declared. “The Qur’an tells us that Jesus was a great prophet, but only human. And that he did not die by crucifixion or any other way, but God took him to heaven. This is the truth. Christians don’t believe what you have just said.”

I love Mateen’s response, said in his usual quiet way, I’m sure:

“Nawal,” I countered, “I have been a Christian now for some twenty-five years. I have two master’s degrees in Christian theology and a PhD in New Testament studies. I can assure you that this is what Christians believe.” (Page 124 – 125)

Then Mateen, humble, as I wrote before, felt compelled to add a footnote that cracks me up:

Nawal already knew something of my academic history, but I highlighted these facts [about his academic degrees] only to assure her that I was not floating some private, hare-brained theories but rather what Christian orthodoxy and scriptures have always affirmed. I understand that academic degrees in religious studies are no guarantee of a person’s orthodoxy, or even sanity, but that’s another subject.

“Academic degrees in religious studies are no guarantee of a person’s orthodoxy, or even sanity.” I love it. But Mateen has those degrees and remains orthodox, sane, and remarkably humble.

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life—the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us—that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. (1 John 1.1 – 3, NKJV)

For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures… (1 Corinthians 15.3, 4, NKJV)

I wrote yesterday that sometimes technology can be a good thing. It can also be used for evil. Here’s a brief article on North Korea that makes the point about technology and also chillingly reinforces my assertion that many government leaders want to be little-g gods. You don’t think so? What does this picture say?

This news article by Elizabeth Russell, World Magazine, September 12, 2005, also contains this paragraph on technology:

The report also found that the government was using more of its citizens for forced labor, and that advances in technology made surveillance of its citizens much more pervasive. (emphasis mine)

It’s not the first time a leader thought of himself as a god:

The word of the LORD came to me: “Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, Thus says the Lord GOD: “Because your heart is proud, and you have said, ‘I am a god, I sit in the seat of the gods..,’ yet you are but a man, and no god, though you make your heart like the heart of a god….” (Ezekiel 28.1, 2, ESV)

And it’s not the first time that government used something benign for evil purposes:

Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.”…Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. (Matthew 2.7, 8, 16, ESV)

Yes, it’s October 4, so what? Regular blog readers might remember that I always recognize October 4…1957, but since we just celebrated our 57th anniversary, I have 57 on the brain. For example, this lovely vehicle was parked at our anniversary celebration hotel:

I’m not a car buff, but I recognize a ’57 Chevrolet when I see one. I remember when it came out, in an era when you could tell one car from another and one car’s model year from another.

However, its license plate gives one pause:

How does it feel when the license plate on a car I remember well is labeled “antique”? I know…old.

I was 10 years old, and in the sixth grade on October 4, 1957, the day the world’s first earth-orbiting satellite was launched by the Soviet Union. It was called, simply, Sputnik, the Russian word for satellite.

Less than twelve years later, July 20, 1969, the United States put a man on the moon. Thirteen years later I was tracking Sputnik’s successors from a radar site in Turkey. Today, we carry in our hand a device that picks up signals from a constellation of satellites and tells us exactly where we are and how to get to where we want to go.

King Solomon was a very wise man, and he was right about a lot of things. I don’t think he was right about this one:

That which has been is what will be, That which is done is what will be done, And there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which it may be said, “See, this is new”? It has already been in ancient times before us. (Ecclesiastes 1.9, 10, NKJV)

Smart people continue God’s work of creation, and in many ways we are better for it. Let’s celebrate technology today. Another day we can bemoan some of the problems.

Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth… (Isaiah 43.18, NKJV)

If you’re following this year’s reading program on the Wisdom books, you’ll know that we’re just starting Song of Solomon. Here’s the first paragraph of Eugene Peterson’s introduction as found in The Message bible:

We don’t read very far in the Song of Songs before we realize two things: one, it contains exquisite love lyrics, and two, it is very explicit sexually. The Song, in other words, makes a connection between conjugal love and sex—a very important and very biblical connection to make. There are some who would eliminate sex when they speak of love, supposing that they are making it more holy. Others, when they think of sex, never think of love. The Song proclaims an integrated wholeness that is at the center of Christian teaching on committed, wedded love for a world that seems to specialize in loveless sex. (Emphasis mine)

So the book begins:

The Song—best of all songs—Solomon’s song!

Kiss me—full on the mouth! Yes! For your love is better than wine, headier than your aromatic oils. (Song of Solomon 1.1, 2, MSG)

And off we go.

How’s this for she stands out to him, and he stands out to her?

The Woman

I’m just a wildflower picked from the plains of Sharon, a lotus blossom from the valley pools.

The Man

A lotus blossoming in a swamp of weeds—that’s my dear friend among the girls in the village. (SOS 2.1, 2, MSG)

The Woman

As an apricot tree stands out in the forest, my lover stands above the young men in town. All I want is to sit in his shade, to taste and savor his delicious love. He took me home with him for a festive meal, but his eyes feasted on me! (SOS 2.3, 4, MSG)

A pastor once explained that “apricots and raisins” was sexually suggestive talk, which, if true, means that she wants to get on it!

Oh! Give me something refreshing to eat—and quickly!

Apricots, raisins—anything. I’m about to faint with love! His left hand cradles my head, and his right arm encircles my waist! (SOS 2.5, 6, MSG)

The text even spells out one way to lie together. Sex was God’s idea! Give thanks.

Honor marriage, and guard the sacredness of sexual intimacy between wife and husband. God draws a firm line against casual and illicit sex. (Hebrews 13.4, MSG)

Now, getting down to the questions you asked in your letter to me. First, Is it a good thing to have sexual relations? Certainly—but only within a certain context. It’s good for a man to have a wife, and for a woman to have a husband. Sexual drives are strong, but marriage is strong enough to contain them and provide for a balanced and fulfilling sexual life in a world of sexual disorder. (1 Corinthians 7.1 – 3, MSG)

Let’s finish out Psalm 106, where the people of God are doing a fine job (unfortunately) forgetting the works of God. What are the other lowlights from the wilderness journey and after? Psalm 106 seems to capture a lot of those lowlights:

• Envy – Numbers 16

When they envied Moses in the camp, And Aaron the saint of the LORD, The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan, And covered the faction of Abiram. (Psalm 106.16, 17)

• The Golden Calf – Exodus 32

They made a calf in Horeb, And worshiped the molded image. Thus they changed their glory Into the image of an ox that eats grass. They forgot God their Savior, Who had done great things in Egypt, Wondrous works in the land of Ham, Awesome things by the Red Sea. (Psalm 106.19 – 22, NKJV)

• Failure to enter the land – Numbers 13 and 14

Then they despised the pleasant land; They did not believe His word, But complained in their tents, And did not heed the voice of the LORD. Therefore He raised up His hand in an oath against them, To overthrow them in the wilderness, To overthrow their descendants among the nations, And to scatter them in the lands. (Psalm 106.24 – 27, NKJV)

• Orgies – Numbers 25

They joined themselves also to Baal of Peor, And ate sacrifices made to the dead. Thus they provoked Him to anger with their deeds, And the plague broke out among them. Then Phinehas stood up and intervened, And the plague was stopped. And that was accounted to him for righteousness To all generations forevermore. (Psalm 106.28 – 31, NKJV)

• More grumbling and Moses’ disobedience – Numbers 20.2 – 13

They angered Him also at the waters of strife, So that it went ill with Moses on account of them; Because they rebelled against His Spirit, So that he spoke rashly with his lips. (Psalm 107.32, 33, NKJV)

• Conforming to the nations – Judges 2

They did not destroy the peoples, Concerning whom the LORD had commanded them, But they mingled with the Gentiles And learned their works; They served their idols, Which became a snare to them. They even sacrificed their sons And their daughters to demons, And shed innocent blood, The blood of their sons and daughters, Whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; And the land was polluted with blood. Thus they were defiled by their own works, And played the harlot by their own deeds. (Psalm 106.34 – 39, NKJV)

• Judgment! (See the rest of Judges – 2 Chronicles!)

Therefore the wrath of the LORD was kindled against His people, So that He abhorred His own inheritance. And He gave them into the hand of the Gentiles, And those who hated them ruled over them. Their enemies also oppressed them, And they were brought into subjection under their hand. Many times He delivered them; But they rebelled in their counsel, And were brought low for their iniquity. (Psalm 106.40 – 43, NKJV)

Recall that the purpose for God’s miracles as recorded in Psalm 105 was simple:

He gave them the lands of the Gentiles, And they inherited the labor of the nations, That they might observe His statutes And keep His laws. Praise the LORD! (Psalm 105.44, 45, NKJV)

“…that they might observe his statutes…” And they didn’t do it. Psalm 106 documents the failure and the resulting judgment. Yet how does Psalm 106 close? With a prayer and praise:

Save us, O LORD our God, And gather us from among the Gentiles, To give thanks to Your holy name, To triumph in Your praise.

Blessed be the LORD God of Israel From everlasting to everlasting! And let all the people say, “Amen!” Praise the LORD! (Psalm 106.47, 48, NKJV)