[From the original version.]

Peter’s typical reactive behavior snatches away a moment of grace and glory. He has just confessed Jesus as the Christ, but then succumbs to arrogance when he rebukes Jesus for predicting his passion. Christ pounds Peter’s spirit into coming to an awareness of his foolishness by calling him “Satan.” That must have gotten Peter’s deep attention!

The suffering of Jesus implicates all those who follow him. Yet Jesus leads the way. Keep the focus upon the Lord; Jesus will meet the deepest needs of those who have given their lives to him.

If you are one with Jesus, your eternal salvation is secure, a salvation that is beginning right now. Let the question of Jesus in the verse for the day mull around your heart every hour. It will sober your spirit.

Mark 8:27–38

What are “Bible Breaths”? Learn More…

Sundays are dedicated to the Gospels from the Revised Common Lectionary.
In year B, we read from the Gospel of Mark

For all the Firestarters I recommend the ebook.  You will have the entire program of well over a thousand of these introductions with you on your phone or tablet. Check the menu options at the site for more information.

We solemnly and prayerfully remember the sobering tragedy of 9/11.

[This Firestarter is from the original version.]

Here is one of those verses that gather the entire Bible into one, as though seeing all the heavens reflected in the tiny piece of a mirror.

The tradition of the Scribes begins with verse 9, after God commanded Moses to write down the law. The Hebrew word for write is chatab, which means to “inscribe” or “engrave” on some material such as sheepskin. Thus, the scriptures have been preserved for 3,000 years. Remember how Jesus stopped Satan in his tracks when he responded to the temptations in the desert with quotations from Deuteronomy saying: “It is written …” (Cf. Matthew 4:1–11.)

The chapter closes with the “passing of the torch” to Joshua, and the importance of the song of Moses that comes in the next chapter.

Deuteronomy 31:1–30

Learn about Bible Breaths Learn More…

The Saturday passages follow the reading list that Jewish people use in their synagogue worship
throughout the world. They are taken from
“The Torah,” the first five books of the Bible from Genesis to Deuteronomy
that are read each year beginning with autumn.

For all the Firestarters I recommend the ebook.  You will have the entire program of well over a thousand of these introductions with you on your phone or tablet. Check the menu options at the site for more information

[This Firestarter us from the version for families with children.]

Way back in the time of Jesus, blind persons wore a special coat that told others that they could not see.  This meant that when they begged for money and food, they really deserved the help because of their blindness.

You can just image what it must have been like for the blind beggar Bartimaeus, to learn that Jesus was passing by.  He became so excited, saying to himself:  “Here’s my chance to be healed!  Here comes Jesus, the one I’ve heard so much about, but whom I never had a chance to meet and beg for more than money or food.  Now I can beg for my eyesight!”  He really got Jesus’s attention by yelling and screaming.  People from the crowd tried to quiet him down, but he shouted all the louder.

What do you really want from Jesus–wanting it so much that you are willing to think of nothing else and are praying very hard for it?  You don’t need to yell–you already have Jesus’s attention!  Actually, Jesus knows your need even more than you do.  So just go to Jesus and ask him about what you need.  He’ll want to bring you clearer sight in the soul-parts of your life.  The more you see things the way God sees them, the wiser and happier you will be.

Mark  10:46-52

Create your own Bible Breaths Learn More…

Fridays are dedicated to the Gospels. This year, we generally read
from the Gospel of Mark, this season, chapters 10 to 16.

For all the Firestarters in the original version I recommend the ebook.  You will have the entire program of well over a thousand of these introductions with you on your phone or tablet. Check the menu options at the site for more information.