The Gospel of Mark records two miraculous feedings of multitudes. The first was mainly a Jewish crowd of about 5,000 in Mark 6:30-44; the second was a mainly Gentile group of about 4,000 in Mark 8:1-9. These two stories are very well known, but if you read on Mark adds this about Jesus’ disciples in 8:14 – “Now they had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat.”
On this verse Warren Wiersbe remarks: “It must have grieved Jesus that His hand-picked helpers were so spiritually obtuse. The fact that He had multiplied bread on two occasions and fed over ten thousand people had apparently made little impression on them! Why worry and argue over one loaf of bread when you have Jesus in the boat with you?”[1]
When well-known Bible stories have little impact on us, remember that these disciples knew the story even better than we do – they were there! Jesus did not give up on them and will not give up on us.
Have you forgotten to trust Jesus with something today? He desires to be “in the boat with you” in constant fellowship. Ask Him to take your anxiety and to supply your daily bread. He never forgets.
[1] Wiersbe, Warren. Be Diligent (Mark) (1987). P. 97.
We all know the phrase “practice what you preach.” It’s a way to call someone a hypocrite, and at the same time tear down what the other person claims to believe in. These beliefs may be political or moral philosophies, but they may also be religious beliefs like denominations or theological systems. For this post, I’ll call all of these “isms.”
The history of Christianity has been a constant conflict between and competition among different “isms.” Catholicism, Lutheranism, Calvinism, Methodism, and others. Even the ones that don’t use the actual letters “ism” at the end are still “isms.” So much of being a Christian involves figuring out which “ism” we belong to, and also figuring out what’s wrong with the other “isms.” I see this no more clearly than on social media, where the competing camps are so clearly identified, and people write others off for being in the wrong camp.
We put a lot of time and effort into being as good at our chosen “ism” as we can. If we can go with the flow according to that “ism,” we can feel like we are pretty good Christians. We may be able to do a decent job at following the “ism” that we preach, and in many cases following our “isms” isn’t a bad thing. All denominations have their pros and cons, and they often attract people with similar strengths and weaknesses.
In God’s eyes there aren’t different types of Christianity.
But as we seek to be the best at our “ism” that we can be, are we practicing Christianity? Jesus confronts us with this in Matthew 19:17 – “And he said to him, ‘Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.’”
We may think of our “isms” as varieties or types of Christianity, and in a cultural way they are. However, in God’s eyes there aren’t different types of Christianity. There is only one Christianity – the life that Christ lived is the only practice of Christianity that will ever be good enough. Even if I perfectly practice what I preach as a Presbyterian or Baptist, for instance, I’ll still fall far short of God’s standard for “good.”
“Isms” are unavoidable in this world, and they often point us in the right direction, but they don’t get us all of the way there. We seek to please God as we best know how, but none of our “isms” are enough. They aren’t enough to save us, and they’re also too much for us to perfectly practice what we preach. We can’t meet our own, lowered, standards.
This is why the apostle Paul wrote “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” in 1 Corinthians 2:2.
Preaching Christ crucified is the only thing we can preach that was ever practiced perfectly, because it wasn’t practiced by us. It was practiced by the only One who was ever perfect, and it’s better than all of our “isms.”
“For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.” – 1 Corinthians 13:12
Here is another “Quint of Quotes” from my collection. These quints are five quotes somewhat related to each other, but not exactly in agreement. These deal with the importance of forgiveness. Hope you find them interesting and thought-provoking. Enjoy!
“You can have vengeance, or peace, but you can’t have both” – Herbert Hoover, after World War II
“Resentment is like taking poison and waiting for the other person to die.” -Malachy McCourt, Irish-American actor, writer and politician
“Forgiveness is the greatest miracle that Jesus ever performs. It meets the greatest need; it costs the greatest price; and it brings the greatest blessing and the most lasting results.” – Warren Wiersbe
“In taking revenge, a man is but even with his enemy; but in passing it over, he is superior.” – Francis Bacon
“If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.” – Jesus, in Luke 6:32-33
Regular readers will know that I am a fan of Douglas Adams’ science fiction comedy novel The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Adams makes a comic art form of extreme absurdity, and one such creation is the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal. In the book, intergalactic hitchhikers are urged to always travel with a towel, and among the reasons is that a towel is handy to wrap around your head to “avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (such a mind-boggingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can’t see it, it can’t see you)”[1] By simply covering your eyes, you can escape being devoured by this Beast, one of the least intelligent creatures in existence.
I thought of this Beast when reading Psalm 50:17, which says: “For you hate discipline, and you cast my words behind you.” Why cast words behind us? So we can’t see them, and if we can’t see them, we think we can safely ignore them. Perhaps God will leave us alone, as if He does not exist. But the verse is a warning not to be like the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal. God can’t be swept under a rug and ignored.
There is an episode in the book of Ezekiel that would be comical if it weren’t so tragically similar to this Beast. Ezekiel’s many images, object lessons, and visions are designed to stir God’s people from complacency and turn back to Him. To fully convince Ezekiel that the nation was casting God’s word behind them, Ezekiel was taken in a vision inside the temple in Jerusalem, and this is what he saw:
“So I went in and saw. And there, engraved on the wall all around, was every form of creeping things and loathsome beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel. And before them stood seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan standing among them. Each had his censer in his hand, and the smoke of the cloud of incense went up. Then he said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each in his room of pictures? For they say, ‘The LORD does not see us, the LORD has forsaken the land.’” – Ezekiel 8:10-12
Ezekiel was a prophet to Jews already exiled to Babylon, but Jerusalem itself had not yet fallen, and many Jews thought it was impossible. But inside the temple, the very place symbolizing God’s presence and glorious light, the elders of Israel were worshipping Egyptian-style animal deities and using incense to ward off evil spirits. They sinned, while saying God couldn’t see them because they don’t see evidence of Him in their circumstances: “the LORD has forsaken the land.” How like the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal!
Later, in Ezekiel 9:9, the prophet records:“Then [God] said to me, “The guilt of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great. The land is full of blood, and the city full of injustice. For they say, ‘The LORD has forsaken the land, and the LORD does not see.’”
Sometimes by casting His words behind us, we may think we are forsaken. We interpret His word in light of our circumstances, instead of interpreting our circumstances in light of His word. It is when the church acts like God doesn’t see that we should be fearful. When the church claims Jesus as Savior but not as Lord. When the church trusts in worldly power, not God’s power. When the church struggles to see how their very Maker and King is, as they say, “relevant.”
In Ezekiel chapter 10, the glory of Lord departs the Jerusalem temple entirely, and all of Judah was exiled, but Ezekiel’s message wasn’t finished. He also proclaims hope, most dramatically in chapter 37, the “Valley of Dry Bones” vision. Ezekiel sees dry bones scattered everywhere across a valley, symbolizing how spiritually dead God’s own people appear. The vision is a test for Ezekiel: would he look at the valley and assume, based on the immediate circumstances, that “The LORD has forsaken the land, and the LORD does not see”? In verse 3, he writes: “And he said to me, ‘Son of man, can these bones live?’” Ezekiel doesn’t jump to conclusions but trusts that God knows best: “And I answered, ‘O Lord GOD, you know.’” Symbolizing new life in Christ, even from death, God re-assembles the dry bones, adds sinew and flesh and skin, then breathes life into them, “and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.”[2]
In the Valley of Dry Bones, Ezekiel learned that God does see our dire situation, and He has a plan, even if we choose to look the other way. This plan is infinitely and eternally more “relevant” than any present (and temporary) circumstances.
In the New Testament the plan continues with an Ebenezer[3] moment, as the apostle Paul wrote: “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved – and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:4-6)
[1] Adams, Douglas. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. (1980). [2] Ezekiel 37:10b [3] Ebenezer, the ‘But God…’ Squirrel, is the blog’s mascot and a reminder that, no matter the situation, God can overcome it, and the words “But God…” in the Bible are often moments where that happens.
For those looking for a Bible reading plan, each week I post 2 chapters to read per day as a main reading plan, and for anyone who wants to read the whole Bible in 2026, I’ll post the extra chapters to read that week. The main readings will include nearly all of the New Testament, plus Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, the Prophets, and a few other Old Testament books.
Reading 3 chapters a day on weekdays and 4 on weekends almost exactly covers the 1,189 chapters of the Bible, so the “extra” readings will be about 9 chapters per week. These readings will cover the Pentateuch, the OT histories, a few other OT books, plus Jude and Revelation from the NT.
Regardless, I hope this schedule encourages others to read and study their Bible more, whatever parts they decide to read. Follow along (or not) any way you choose!
2 chapter a day plan: Monday, September 14: Galatians 5 – 6 Tuesday, September 15: Philippians 1 – 2 Wednesday, September 16: Philippians 3 – 4 Thursday, September 17: Nahum 1 – 2 Friday, September 18: Nahum 3, Zephaniah 1 Saturday, September 19: Zephaniah 2 – 3 Sunday, September 20: Ephesians 1 – 2
Extra chapters for those reading the whole Bible in 2026: 2 Kings 20 – 25, 1 Chronicles 1 – 2
