Here’s a simple lesson after a familiar story. Jesus returns to Nazareth.

He went away from there and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. (Mark 6.1, ESV)

But his hometown friends rejected him…

And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. And he marveled because of their unbelief. (Mark 6.5, 6a, ESV)

In a discipleship class a while back someone observed, “Maybe he healed only a few because only a few asked.” Unbelief among everyone else.

BUT, he kept going. It’s easy to skip over the last sentence in the story:

And he went about among the villages teaching. (Mark 6.6b, ESV)

That last sentence may be among the most important. What do you do after rejection? Jesus kept doing what he was doing.

He gave essentially the same counsel to the 12 when he sent them out a few verses later:

And he said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” (Mark 6.10, 11, ESV)

Shake the dust off and keep going. Not a bad word.

There’s a lesson early in Mark’s gospel that reinforces the same message embedded in two disparate articles. First, from Mark, what’s one of the first things Jesus does?

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him.

And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him. (Mark 1.14 – 20, ESV)

Jesus calls men to follow him, and we would do well to remember that in most events following, Jesus is accompanied by his men.

Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen…And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching. (Mark 1.16…21, ESV)

“He saw Simon…” “They went into Capernaum…” Jesus ministers with his guys alongside.

Now the articles. The first is a news item that the Roman Catholic Church is experiencing a shortage of priests. There are several contributing factors, which you can read for yourself. I want to highlight a simple story from deep into the article. If there’s a shortage of professional manpower, what do you do? Engage the amateurs!

At St. Patrick’s church in Belfast, Northern Ireland, the Rev. Eugene O’Neill is now the lone priest—the first time the parish has had just one priest in the past two centuries. The diocese is also dwindling. When O’Neill became a priest in the early 1990s, there were more than 200 priests in the Down and Connor diocese. Now, there are 97, a figure expected to decline to 27 in two decades’ time, O’Neill said.

The lack of manpower means less time for pastoral care. When he first arrived nine years ago, O’Neill and three other priests continued a tradition of visiting housebound parishioners—usually 80 or so people—at least once a month. That soon changed to once every two months, then just once a quarter. 

“Now, even that’s not possible for me anymore,” said O’Neill, a talkative 57-year-old with an athletic build and trim beard. 

He’s increasingly focused on training lay ministers to take communion to the sick, visit grieving families and participate in the school boards of parochial schools—all duties O’Neill no longer has time for. 

“I’ve moved from seeing myself as the doer of everything to more as a convener or enabler of the priestly ministry of all baptized,” he said. – Wall Street Journal, September 22, 2025

Duh! Look to your founder. “Training lay ministers” is the first thing Jesus did! “Enabling the priestly ministry of all baptized” was the strategy that the Apostle Paul passed on to Timothy:

And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. (2 Timothy 2.2, NIV)

The second article makes the same point from the perspective of counseling: Bearing One Another’s Burdens Means More Than Therapy Referrals, Christianity Today, June 1, 2025. The article’s authors have written a book, When Hurting People Come to Church, that makes this point:

The key is that laypeople within the church can be trained to listen and walk alongside those with basic needs.  – emphasis theirs

Again, we need to be following Jesus’ example of training laypeople. It’s encouraging that people are discovering the basic truth that ministry doesn’t have to be done by paid professionals. Indeed, relying on paid professionals has slowed down ministry and the spread of the gospel.

It’s discouraging that Jesus spoke to this a long time ago, and some are just now discovering this principle:

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” (Matthew 9.36 – 38, NIV)

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)