And when the centurion which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God.
	Mark 15:39
It was in the Lord’s death that the centurion found life. It was in the time of darkness that he saw the light. ‘Lord,’ we cry, ‘if you loved Me enough to die for me, if the veil was rent to open the way for me, then why am I going through this difficulty, this tragedy?’ ‘Because there are centurions watching,’ He declares. ‘And they will see My light in your dark days.’ Dear saint, if you want to be used by God, there is no other way than to go through disappointment, difficulty, and pain in order that people might relate to you, observe you, and see by the reality of Jesus in your life that He truly is the Son of God. People are not convinced of His reality when they see us sailing through easy times and prosperous days. Such times cause only envy and cynicism. When people are truly touched is when they see us navigating adversity and difficulty all the while trusting the Lord (2 Corinthians 1:4). This centurion was won, saved, converted not because he was one of the five thousand eating bread and fish in the sunlight, but because he saw Jesus in the darkness.

For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
	Mark 11:23
Did Jesus tell us to pray that the problem, obstacle, or mountain which looms menacingly before us might be removed? No. Did He tell us to study the Word that it might be removed? No. He said, ‘Say to the mountain Be thou removed, and it will be cast into the sea.’ We often hear that prayer changes things. But that’s not entirely true. Faith changes things. Prayer changes us. Jesus didn’t say, ’If you encounter a mountain, pray that it might be gone.’ No, He said, ‘Have faith in God and then verbally, audibly tell the mountain to be removed. Speak faith.’ Why is verbalization so important? Why did Jesus tell us to speak aloud to the mountain? Why does Paul tell us to confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord (Romans 10:9-10)? Why does the writer of Hebrews tell us that when a promise is given to us we are to boldly speak it out (Hebrews 13:5)? Because that’s when faith kicks in. It’s easy for me to think quietly or pray inwardly for the mountain to be moved because then if it doesn’t move, no one will know I prayed otherwise. There’s no step of faith, no risk involved if I don’t speak. What mountain is it which intimidates you? Fear concerning an unsaved child? Depression over a business about to go under? Worry about a diseased body or a broken heart? Jesus tells you and me to go on record in the ears of our kids, our parents, our peers, our co-workers and to say, ‘Be gone.’ After all, it was as Jesus did so Himself in the ears of His disciples that the stage was set for them to believe (Mark 11:14). Maybe you’re praying intensely and hoping passionately that a certain problem or a certain situation will somehow be solved. But the fact is, Jesus said it’s not enough to simply hope or even to pray. Rather, to whatever mountain intimidates or discourages you, you must say in faith verbally, ‘Be gone. Be removed. Be cast into the sea.’ And then watch what happens.

"The study of money, above all other fields in economics, is one in which complexity is used to disguise truth or to evade truth, not to reveal it. The process by which banks create money is so simple the mind is repelled. With something so important, a deeper mystery seems only decent." 

John Kenneth Galbraith writing in 'Money: Whence it came, where it went' (1975).

"The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness."

"There's no question that this is a time when corporations have taken over the basic process of governing." 

in a PBS television interview on The Newshour shortly before his death.

'Capitalism is nothing but a false religion, with Mammon as its god and Adam Smith as its high priest.'Discuss.

'Communism is nothing but a false religion, with [INSERT] as its god and Karl Marx as its high priest.' Discuss.

'Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it's just the opposite.'
-- John Kenneth Galbraith

And as they sat and did eat, Jesus said, Verily I say unto you, One of you which eateth with me shall betray me. And they began to be sorrowful, and to say unto him one by one, Is it I? and another said, Is it I?

True humility is always the result of true intimacy with Jesus Christ. If I am close to the Lord at any given moment, rather than boasting of my greatness, I’ll be aware of my weakness and His graciousness. 

‘Woe unto you,’ said Isaiah the prophet to all of the nations round about Israel in Chapters 1-5 of the book which bears his name. But when he saw the Lord high and lifted up, he said, ‘Woe is me,’ (Isaiah 6:5).

If we are those who are either overtly or secretly saying, ‘Woe to you; woe to you; woe to you,’ it’s probably because we haven’t seen the Lord as clearly as we should, for once we see Him, we see how sinful and unworthy we are ourselves and find ourselves joining the disciples in asking, ‘Is it I, Lord? Could I be the one who sells You out? Could I be the one who turns my back? Could I be the one who walks away?

And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all. For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
	Mark 10:44-45
The easiest way to know if you’re a servant is by how you react when people treat you like one. All too often, I’m afraid, my heart is, ‘Yes, Lord, I want to be a servant as long as people realize I’m serving. I want to be a slave as long as I become Slave Of The Year.’ If you’re gladly slaving in the nursery, in the kitchen, or in the Sunday School class without being noticed, appreciated, or thanked — yours is the heart of a true servant. Does the Lord want us to be slaves because He likes to see us grovel? No, it’s because He’s preparing us for the Kingdom — for the next billion years — and He knows that the best exercise for strengthening your heart is stooping down to pick up someone else. The best workout you’ll ever have is to serve others because in serving, your heart is strengthened. Others might not acknowledge you. You might not be rewarded presently. But when you move into the Kingdom, when the Lord says, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of the Father,’ — you’ll do so with a large heart and a huge capacity to enjoy eternity.

January 25
	But many that are first shall be last; and the last first.
	Mark 10:31
This statement runs cross-current to that which our culture propagates. Our society is becoming increasingly competitive in its orientation. And yet those who win society’s competition seem to be increasingly disillusioned with the prize. That is, people who get to the top often find the top isn’t what they thought it would be. This explains why top athletes, for example, often find themselves being sucked in to the drug scene. They got the prize — but the prize was too small. Jesus comes on the scene and calls us away from competition. How does this work out practically? In your mind’s eye, travel back two thousand years ago to a place called Bethesda where you see hundreds of people with all sorts of physical ailments positioned around a pool of water. Why are they there? The understanding of the day was that the first one in the water after an angel supposedly stirred it would be healed. Consequently, these blind, lame, hurting people jockeyed for position in order that they might be first in the pool. But what does Jesus do when He arrives at Bethesda? He finds a lame man seemingly at the back of the pack and says, ‘Do you want to be made whole?’ ‘I have no man to help me into the water,’ the man answers. ‘I don’t have a network. I don’t have the skills. My college education is outdated. I don’t have connections. How can I compete in this culture? I have no one to help me.’ This man had no stock options. He wasn’t a member of the health club, not on the city softball team. He wasn’t competitive, yet it was he and he alone who captured Jesus’ attention that day. ‘Arise,’ Jesus said. ‘Take up your bed. I’m freeing you from this pool of competition.’ And the man was healed (John 5:8-9). I believe Jesus says the same thing to us today. Maybe you’ve been jockeying, struggling, planning, conniving, attempting to get the edge, to make it happen, to get ahead financially, relationally, or even in ministry. If so, I encourage you to take a mental trip to Bethesda and be reminded again that the paradox of the Kingdom is that the first shall be last and the last first.

January 24
	And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could not we cast him out? And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.
	Mark 9:28-29
‘This kind of problem will not be solved by sharing pearls of wisdom, trying to be a better dad, or following some family program,’ Jesus told them. ‘This kind of spiritual warfare is won only through fasting and prayer.’ ‘How did we have time to fast and pray?’ the disciples might have wondered. After all, they certainly didn’t know this problem would be laid at their feet that day. But that’s the point. We never know when the moment for miraculous ministry will come our way or be needed in our families. Therefore, we must maintain a life of prayer and fasting because when the demonized boy is before you, it’s too late to start. Why were the disciples not maintaining a habit of prayer and fasting? I wonder if it wasn’t due in part to the fact that they might have been feeling sorry for themselves. ‘Thanks a lot, Lord,’ they could have thought. ‘You take Peter, James, and John — your favorites — up on the mountain. They see You shine. They hear the voice from Heaven. They get to see Elijah and Moses. Us? We’re down here at the bottom, forsaken and forgotten.’ If so, how like us they would have been. So often we think, ‘I never get called to sing or to teach Bible studies. So why should I fast or pray?’ And because we feel we’re not important or useful, we give up. But once a year, once every five years, once in a lifetime an opportunity comes our way which is essential, important — an opportunity to move in the miraculous, to see salvation. Something exceedingly important could take place — but we’re impotent and powerless because we haven’t been praying, fasting, reading the Word, or seeking the Lord. As a father, I have no other recourse than to maintain a life of prayer and fasting because I never know when the enemy will strike one of my kids. He has; he does; he will. And as a believer, I have no other recourse than to maintain a close walk with God because I never know the next conversation which will open up with a neighbor at the grocery store or in the park which will impact them for eternity. ‘But I’ve never been used,’ you say. Ah, but you might have the greatest opportunity for earth-shaking, life-changing ministry in the next moment or the next day. Therefore be ready.

Conversely, you, who, like the woman, have either been going through an endless stream of setbacks or one persistent problem, don’t know what the next hour holds. The next moment might bring you a miracle of astounding proportion.

The Lord is my Shield and my Protector. And if He allows difficulty, setback, or tragedy to come into my life, He will also be my Glory and the Lifter of my head (Psalm 3:3).

"Maturity is not so much gaining wisdom as confidence in one's own judgment, trusting oneself no matter one's limitations. "

"Thou shalt have no other gods before me" is really an order from God to all of us: to take charge of ourselves, think our own thoughts, and feel our own feelings. In other words, to grow up."

For a lot of us, maturity has been realizing that no one knows very much, and there are a lot of unscrupulous, stupid and evil people in the world. 

"Immaturity is really a function of having "idols and "taking guidance from "authorities" like the "experts." "

God is not responsible for evil. Men (and women) are.

Romantic love is idolatry, fueled by lust.

January 14
	Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
	Matthew 22:37-39
The phrase ‘like unto it’ means ‘linked to it’. In other words, the first and second commandments are inextricably linked together. The problem is, most of us separate the two because we have a ‘TV Dinner spirituality’ ... TV dinners have the entrée, peas, mashed potatoes, and the cherry dessert all in separate compartments. And that’s just what we do spiritually. ‘Oh, yes, I love God,’ we say. ‘I’m going to worship Sunday night.’ But on Monday we call our boss an idiot behind his back and on Wednesday we complain about how our neighbor idles his car too early in the morning Yet Sunday finds us worshipping the Lord once again. We compartmentalize our lives, thinking that how we treat people has nothing to do with our relationship with God. Jesus says our walk with God is not a TV Dinner. Rather, if we really love God, we will inevitably love people and our walk will resemble not a TV Dinner, but a Chicken Pot Pie. No longer compartmentalized, the peas, potatoes, and chicken will all be mixed together. Truly, if our love for God is genuine, it cannot help but flow into a love for people.

January 12
	And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart ...
	Matthew 17:1
Scripture records three times when Jesus took Peter, James, and John apart from the others to minister to them in very definite and special ways. Interestingly, each of those occasions dealt with death ... The first time Jesus singled out Peter, James, and John, He took them into the house of Jairus, whose daughter had died. After moving out the mockers, Jesus brought the young girl back to life, and Peter, James, and John saw that He was victorious over death. On a second occasion, Jesus would take them into a garden called Gethsemane. As He prayed, ‘Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me. Nevertheless, not My will but thine be done,’ Peter James, and John would understand that He was submitted to death. And here in Matthew 17, Jesus takes the three up the mountain where they will see Him glorified in death. I believe Peter, James, and John needed these special times of instruction concerning death because these three apostles would each have very unique encounters with death ... Peter would be the first disciple to be told of his death. In John 21, Jesus said, ‘Peter, they’re going to stretch out your hands and carry you where you don’t want to go.’ And that is exactly what happened when Peter was crucified upside down. James was the first disciple put to death — sawed in half lengthwise by his persecutors. John was the last of the disciples to die. Banished to the seemingly God-forsaken island of Patmos, it was a ninety-year-old John who received the Book of Revelation. The Lord uniquely prepared Peter, James, and John for what each of them would face. And He will do the same for you. He will prepare you through Bible studies, radio programs, friends, and books for what lies ahead for you personally. It’s amazing to me how I’ll study something or hear something only to discover a week later that a situation arises in which I need that exact information. Remain sensitive to His voice and then see the Lord’s faithfulness in lovingly preparing you for what lies ahead.

Homosexuality is a developmental disorder defined by the failure to establish a permanent bond with a member of the opposite sex. Psychologist Richard Cohen, in "Coming Out Straight: Understanding and Healing Homosexuality" (2000) argues it is caused when a male child fails to bond with his father. By having sex with men, the adult gay is trying to compensate for father-love denied in adolescence.

The essence of manhood is to lead and support a family.

Take my yoke upon you ...
	Matthew 11:29
‘Tekton’, the word translated ‘carpenter’ in Matthew 13 to describe Joseph, is the word we use for a finish carpenter rather than a framer. Tradition has it that the carpenter shop where Jesus worked with His father, Joseph, specialized in making yokes. Because there was always a lead ox yoked together with one who would follow, the yoke was designed in such a way that the lead ox would pull the greater weight. Thus, Jesus used an analogy illustrated daily in His trade and clearly understood by those who listened to Him when He said, ‘Yoke with Me. Let Me be the Lead Ox. Don’t try to figure out or change My direction. Let Me lead you.’ A story is told of a battleship cruising the Atlantic off the northern coast of Maine. One stormy evening, the Commander was notified, 'Sir, there’s a light ahead. Oncoming vessel.’ ‘Signal the oncoming vessel to change his course 10 degrees to the west,’ ordered the Commander. The message was sent. But a light flashed back, ‘Change your course 10 degrees to the east.’ ‘Signal again: Change your course 10 degrees to the west. I am an Admiral!’ barked the Commander. The light flashed back: ‘Change your course 10 degrees to the east. I am a Seaman Third Class.’ By this time, the Admiral was incensed as he thundered, ‘Signal again: Change your course 10 degrees to the west. I am a battleship.’ And the Seaman Third Class transmitted the message which would settle the altercation completely and decisively when he said, ‘Change your course 10 degrees to the east. I am a lighthouse.’ As we impudently and impetuously say to the Lord, ‘Lord, let’s go my way,' He answers, ‘No, we’re going My way. I am the Lighthouse. I am the Light of the world, the Rock of your salvation, the Creator and Sustainer of your soul. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the One Who knows the beginning from the end. Trust Me.’

Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink: nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on.
	Matthew 6:25
Does this mean we should live recklessly? No. The word ‘thought’ implies anxious thought or worry. The word ‘worry’ literally means ‘to strangle’. If you’re worried about what you’re wearing or eating — about what you have or don’t have materially — your personality will be tied in knots and strangled. It doesn’t take much to strangle us. Even minor things worry us and sometimes destroy us. I read that it takes sixty trillion droplets of fog to cover seven city blocks. Sixty trillion droplets or seven city blocks worth of fog can close down airports and tie up traffic. Yet if you condensed those sixty trillion fog droplets, you would end up with only half a glass of water. That’s a perfect picture of what worry is all about. You begin with something little — only half a glass of water — but you start thinking about it and wrestling with it, wondering, ‘How is this going to work out? How am I going to do that?’ And pretty soon, you can’t see straight and your airport is shut down. You’re not hearing from the Lord and you’re not soaring with the Lord like you once did because you’re all fogged in. That is why Jesus said, ‘Don’t take any anxious thought whatsoever.’ Don’t let worry strangle you. Don’t end up in a fog.