EmmDev 2026-07-28 [Wisdom for Every Day Life] Priorities and Balance #1 - The Foundation

Priorities and Balance #1 - The Foundation

After a long winter break, EmmDevs are back.
I've been busy with a sermon series entitled "Wisdom for Everyday Life"
You can watch the sermons on https://bit.ly/WisdomSermonPlaylist
The seven sermons were:

1. Priorities and Finding Balance
2. Time: Rejuvenation and Distraction (Serving Without Burning Out)
3. Faith vs Fear (Anxiety, Ignorance or Sober Faith)
4. Forgiveness vs Bitterness
5. Sober thinking in an opinionated world
6. Seasoned Words (De-escalating in a world that ramps up quickly)
7. Contentment vs Comparison
8. Faithful Witness: Strong Convictions, Gentle Hearts

The plan is to devote 3 or 4 EmmDevs to each theme...

We start with Priorities and Balance

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God -- this is your true and proper worship. (Romans12:1)

In a series that deals with many practical qualities (wisdoms) that should be present in mature believers' lives, it is vital to make sure that the starting point is not human effort.

Paul is crystal clear about that. He spends 11 chapters laying a foundation.
- We were dead in our sins and only Christ could save us.
- By ourselves we can't do good or avoid evil, only the Holy Spirit can do that.
- Even the fates of nations are in God's hands and not a matter of self-determination.

The starting point is not our effort, but God's mercy.
God has rescued us. God has redeemed us, saved us, chosen us.
He loved us first and saved us when we were powerless.

And anything we do is a response.

And the response to which Romans 12 calls us is a life of WORSHIP.
This is life's great priority.
The Westminster Confession (paraphrased) states:
"Humankind's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever."

Worship is not something that we do only on Sundays.
It's offering our bodies as "living sacrifices."
Dead sacrifices cannot climb off the altar. A living sacrifice can - but chooses not to.
A living sacrifice learns to ask "In this situation what would Jesus do? What glorifies God?"

And, strangely enough, counter-intuitively, this worship is not onerous.
We discover that when God is at the centre, we have come home.
And we enjoy God.

Paul uses an interesting word for "proper."
In Greek it is "logikos".
It can mean "reasonable", "logical", "spiritual", "rational", "fitting", "appropriate", or "considered."

Paul is saying:
When you consider the vastness of God's Mercy then worship: is a reasonable, logical, rational and appropriate response and is the most spiritually congruent thing we can do.

We prioritise God because He prioritised us...

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EmmDev 2026-06-03 [Moments with Mark] Concluding Mark #9 The Abrupt Ending points to Resurrection Hope

Concluding Mark #9 The Abrupt Ending points to Resurrection Hope

"Don't be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him. But go, tell His disciples and Peter, 'He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see Him, just as He told you.' " Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid. (Mark16:6-8)

Most scholars agree that this was the original ending to Mark's Gospel.
It is abrupt and a little disturbing because it leaves things hanging in the air.

But think about it for a moment...
We think this account was written around 60AD some 30 years after the Ascension.
By now the gospel has reached Rome, Asia Minor and beyond.

Anyone reading the cliff-hanger ending would know how it actually turned out.
They would know that:
- the women did speak.
- the tomb remained empty,
- Jesus met with Peter
- Jesus met with the disciples
- He ascended and the disciples were filled with the Spirit
- the Church had spread like wildfire, in spite of persecution.

Resurrection had triumphed.
What looked like defeat and a sputtering wick had burst into glorious flame.

In many ways this is typical of Mark.
He portrays human weakness with simple honesty but never hopelessly.

Considering what I have just written, it is then unsurprising and quite ironic that the "footnote" or "longer ending" that was later attached to Mark reflects all these thoughts:
- Fear and unbelief addressed
- Great Commission and the Power of the Holy Spirit affirmed
- The Ascension and the disciples' missionary obedience recorded.

The abrupt ending naturally invites readers to ask what happened next.
The "longer ending" tries to do that for their generation, but I think the abrupt ending invites every reader to respond personally.

But we need to answer it too.
In the light of the Risen Christ who speaks to His Church and the Peter in you and me.
What will we do?
Will we, like the Early Church, overcome our initial fears and spread the gospel?
Mark leaves us to to add our response...
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That brings us, at long last, to the end of our marathon series on Mark.
I hope you have found it meaningful.
I'll be taking a break from EmmDevs for the rest of June.

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EmmDev 2026-05-29 [Moments with Mark] Concluding Mark #8 The cross is not defeat, but victory.

Concluding Mark #8 The cross is not defeat, but victory.

With a loud cry, Jesus breathed His last. The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, heard His cry and saw how He died, he said, "Surely this man was the Son of God!" (Mark15:37-39)

Mark records numerous moments where Jesus made it clear that He heading for the cross.
In chapter 10 Mark remembers how Jesus was striding ahead of the disciples and how His disciples are astonished and afraid.

Throughout his gospel, Mark paints a picture of Jesus serving, loving, healing and teaching and heading towards a sacrificial destiny.
"For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve,
and to give his life as a ransom for many." (Mark 10:45)

So it is understandable that we might begin to see the cross as a low-point.
A place of tragedy, heartbreak and sacrifice.

But when we get to the cross, Mark surprises us because he writes briefly about the crucifixion (only 17 verses). There's a quiet dignity in his brevity instead of a Hollywood-like morbid fascination with the violence and suffering.

He recounts the criminals and the sign.
He dwells on the insults but this only strengthens the Centurion's response later.
He only notes one of the "seven words", but it is in God-Forsakenness that He atones for our sin.
He describes that wine-vinegar - the drink of the poor
and the crowd's misunderstanding that he was calling Elijah.

And then comes the climax...

• A loud cry and Jesus breathes His last - a clear indication that Jesus was not the victim who's life was taken,
  but the King who gives His life.
• The temple curtain torn in two. The atonement sacrifice was sufficient and our sin-debt was paid in full.
• The gentile Centurion, a man of authority, recognises Him as the Son of God.

This makes the cross a place of VICTORY.
Sometimes preachers and movie-makers use the violence and suffering of the cross to pull at the heart-strings.
Sometimes we tend to preach "BAD Friday" and "Resurrection Sunday"
but it is called "GOOD Friday" for a reason.
The victory was won at the cross - and the resurrection vindicates that victory

Do I hear a HALLELUJAH?

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EmmDev 2026-05-28 [Moments with Mark] Concluding Mark #7 Reaching out to the Broken

Concluding Mark #7 Reaching out to the Broken

A man with leprosy came to Him and begged Him on his knees, "If You are willing, You can make me clean." Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man. "I am willing," He said. "Be clean!" Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured. (Mark1:40-42)

Mark's Gospel is filled with broken people:
- lepers,
- paralytics,
- demoniacs,
- grieving parents,
- outcasts, failures,
- doubters,
- and fearful disciples.

Our passage records the first healing miracle in Mark and it is most certainly not the last!

The man has leprosy. It is highly contagious.
People recoiled from those who had leprosy.
They chased them with literal and verbal sticks and stones.
The man comes and begs from his knees.
The disciples and crowd probably gasped and retreated.
All of a sudden Jesus isn't being mobbed or crowded.
They're all ten steps back.

The man is begging and Jesus is standing there.
"If you are willing... " the man implores
Jesus is filled with compassion. (In Greek the word implies an intense emotion)
Instead of stepping away - Jesus steps in.
Instead of recoiling - Jesus touches - probably embraces.
And the man is immediately clean.

This is what love is.

Throughout Mark Jesus consistently moves toward broken, not away from them.
We see it again and again:
- Jesus touches the untouchable.
- Jesus forgives the guilty.
- Jesus restores the ashamed.
- Jesus calls the unlikely.

Jesus' church needs to be like this too.
Church is not a display cabinet for saints
but a hospital for the broken.

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EmmDev 2026-05-27 [Moments with Mark] Concluding Mark #6 The Tragic Hardness of Heart

Concluding Mark #6 The Tragic Hardness of Heart

Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, "Stand up in front of everyone." Then Jesus asked them, "Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?" But they remained silent. He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus. (Mark3:3-6)

One of the saddest themes in Mark's Gospel is the ongoing hardness of people's hearts. This passage reveals it powerfully...

It's a Sabbath and the Pharisees are more concerned about observing the Sabbath than about the plight of a fellow human being. If the Law of Moses allowed one to get a cow out of a pit on the Sabbath, surely the healing of the precious human being would matter too?

Throughout Mark's Gospel we see people being helped by Jesus and trusting in Him:

• desperate people come to Him
• broken people trust Him
• outsiders welcome Him
• women follow faithfully
• children respond naturally
• sinners eat at His table

But the Pharisees remained hard and stubborn of heart.
Their hearts are so hard, that the Pharisees and Herodians who were polar opposites theologically and idealogically, begin to plot murder. Strange bedfellows indeed.

What's striking in this passage is that Jesus' response to this hardness was not indignation or antipathy but deep distress. He is grieving with the hot angry grief that one feels when there is a sense of a life wasted. He sees the hardness of their hearts and it vexes Him.

Right into Holy Week Jesus interacts with Pharisees, Saducees, Herodians, Teachers of the Law. They continue to resist Him and He faces them with truth, logic, Scripture and even outright rebuke, but they refuse to see...

May we never harden our hearts in this way.

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EmmDev 2026-05-22 [Moments with Mark] Mark's Pentecost #4 - In our weakness

Mark's Pentecost #4 - In our weakness

Then He returned to His disciples and found them sleeping. "Simon," He said to Peter, "are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak." (Mark14:37-38)

One would think that a Gospel account that formed the basis of the Early Church would attempt to paint the disciples in the best possible light. They were the ones chosen and trained by Jesus and they would have played a key role in the wonderful growth of the church. One might expect that a gospel account would portray them a bit like swashbuckling pioneers of the early church.

But Mark didn't do that. He portrayed them very humanly. They misunderstood Jesus, bickered over who was the greatest; fell asleep in Gethsemane when Jesus needed them; ran away when He was arrested; some even denied knowing Him; and they struggled to believe when faced with an empty tomb.

This doesn't inspire a huge amount of confidence in the first disciples...
But I think this is one of Mark's subtle points.

Jesus comment to Peter says it all. "The spirit is willing, but the body (flesh) is weak."

Jesus isn't talking about the Holy Spirit.
He's talking about the human spirit which, although willing, is hindered by our frailty and humanity.

But the Good News is that Mark starts His Gospel with the promise of the Holy Spirit.
Mark 1:8: "I baptize you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

So Mark's Gospel is a true reflection of what happened.
Jesus, the Son of God, came to earth to "give His life as a ransom for many."
He called disciples, but they were not superheroes, they were everyday people.
They made mistakes, they got it wrong, they were not strong enough by themselves.
But there was a promise - "He will baptise with the Holy Spirit..."

And it was fulfilled at Pentecost!
The church was never built on human strength, but on Spirit-empowered weakness surrendered to Christ.
Pentecost was not God choosing the impressive - it was God empowering the weak.
And that gives you and me hope!

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EmmDev 2026-05-21 [Moments with Mark] Mark's Pentecost #3 Inspiration under Pressure

Mark's Pentecost #3 Inspiration under Pressure

You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them. And the gospel must first be preached to all nations. Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit. (Mark13:9-11)

Today's reading comes from the challenging chapter 13 where Mark unpacks Jesus' teaching on the "end times."

To set the scene, the key points of this chapter are:

• The "end times" extend from Jesus' ascension to the Second Coming.
• The church will experience persecution and hardship cyclically, like the contractions of a woman in labour
• Some parts of the chapter apply to the persecution of the church by Rome, culminating in the fall of Jerusalem in 70AD.
• Other parts of the chapter are applicable any time or anywhere that the church is suffering or is being persecuted.

Our reading is a reassurance that Jesus gives the disciples, but it is also applicable to the whole church. It is a powerful reassurance and a comforting promise: "Whenever you're in a tough place, whenever you're being persecuted, whenever you're being threatened, and whenever you might be lost for words, the Holy Spirit will give you the words.

Throughout the history of the Church, there have been "contractions" - times that the whole or part of the church has experienced suffering and persecution. In the book of Acts and in the annals of church history we have story upon story of believers who have responded with love, grace and profound wisdom in the face of trouble.

This is a beautiful gift from God's Spirit.
He will be with us and He will give us the words we need.

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EmmDev 2026-05-20 [Moments with Mark] Mark's Pentecost #2 Misunderstanding the Spirit

Mark's Pentecost #2 Misunderstanding the Spirit

Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that He and His disciples were not even able to eat. When His family heard about this, they went to take charge of Him, for they said, "He is out of His mind." And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, "He is possessed by Beelzebub! By the prince of demons He is driving out demons." So Jesus called them and spoke to them in parables: "How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. In fact, no one can enter a strong man's house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can rob his house. I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin." He said this because they were saying, "He has an evil spirit." (Mark3:20-31)

Today's passage is challenging.

There are two issues at stake here.
1. The Holy Spirit is the powerful One by whom Jesus "binds the strong man".
2. There are consequences to ignoring, resisting and maligning the Spirit's work.

As Mark portrays Jesus as tirelessly proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom in word and action. But the extent and effect of His ministry attracts attention and causes sensation. His family are embarrassed by the attention He is getting and those who are threatened by His popularity criticise and malign.

Their key argument is that His spiritual power has an evil source.
They need to do this, because otherwise they have to admit that "the Spirit of the Lord is upon Him."
This would be tantamount to admitting that He was the Messiah.

Jesus easily exposes their faulty thinking - A house divided against itself cannot stand.

But this leads Him to make a statement about blasphemy against the Spirit that has worried many sincere Christians. Over the years many people have consulted with me, worried that they have committed the unforgivable sin.

To understand what this is all about, we need to remember that one of the main activities of the Holy Spirit is to bring us to the place where we can recognise Christ as Lord. The Spirit is always drawing us closer to Jesus. He reveals, convicts, prompts, illuminates and works in our circumstances to open our eyes to Christ. He wants us to recognise Jesus as Saviour and Lord.

Jesus talks about "blasphemy against the Spirit" in Matthew, Mark and Luke. In each case He is confronting the hard-hearted Pharisees and Sadducees who persistently refuse to recognise who Jesus is:
- In Matthew they argue that Jesus does His miracles by demonic power
- In Mark they say that Jesus has an evil spirit
- In Luke the context is God's provision on the one hand and disowning Christ on the other and Luke puts it into the context of the final judgment.

So "blasphemy against the Spirit" is to reject the Spirit's "core business" which is to help us recognise Jesus for who He is.

Many Theologians understand that this is a process and not an event. We don't commit blasphemy against the Spirit by accident or as a once-off. This is something that is a stubborn hard-heartedness and that we don't care about. To "blaspheme against the Spirit" is to stubbornly resist the "seed-planting" work of the Holy Spirit to the end of our lives or to the point that our hearts are so hard that we will never change. Elsewhere Scripture talks about a "hardened heart" or a "seared conscience."

The point: If we are resisting the working of the Spirit, then we won't care whether this is forgivable or not. And so I say to folk: "If you're worried that you have committed unforgivable blasphemy against the Spirit, then you haven't!"

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EmmDev 2026-05-19 [Moments with Mark] Mark's Pentecost #1 Jesus and the Spirit

Mark's Pentecost #1 Jesus and the Spirit

It's Pentecost Week and so I'm interrupting the conclusion of Mark with four devotions on Mark's view of the Holy Spirit. (Mark just doesn't want to let go of me!)

John wore clothing made of camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. And this was his message: "After me will come One more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. As Jesus was coming up out of the water, He saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on Him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with You I am well pleased." At once the Spirit sent Him out into the desert, and He was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended Him. (Mark1:6-12)

Mark only makes a few specific references to the Holy Spirit, but from these references we get a clear implication of the Spirit's work, effect and influence.

In the opening verses of the Gospel, Mark highlights the way John the Baptist characterises the ministry of Jesus as Spirit-filled-and-empowered. Then he shows the coming of the Spirit paired with the Father's affirmation of Jesus. Then he shows Jesus being led by the Spirit into the desert for a period of preparation.

There are a couple of insights that come with Mark's descriptions of the Spirit's work and presence in Jesus.

• The presence of the Spirit implies worthiness and power.
  Jesus receives the Spirit by worth - we receive the Spirit by grace.
• The Spirit comes as a dove along with the affirmation of the Father's love.
  This is beautiful and profound: belovedness precedes mission and identity precedes ministry.
• The Spirit guides Jesus in preparation and accompanies Him in temptation and hardship.
  Many who focus on the Spirit's gifts and empowerment neglect the fact that He will sometimes lead us into and through tough spaces.
• Mark uses his signature "at once" and we have a sense of the dynamic and vibrant nature of the Spirit's guidance.

From the very outset it is clear that Mark fully understands that Jesus' vibrant ministry as the "Son of Man who came to serve and not to be served" was guided, empowered, shaped and validated by the presence, indwelling, and work of the Holy Spirit.

The empowering of the Spirit, depicted by a dove and accompanied by an affirmation of love and approval, is significant. Sadly, many people reduce the Spirit to a source of power. The Spirit is more than Popeye's Spinach, Asterix's magic potion or a super-soldier-serum.
The Spirit isn't our power-pack, He's the affirming presence of God with us in Mission.

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EmmDev 2026-05-14 [Treasure Cupboard] Ascension Day

Ascension Day

 

It's Ascension Day today. It used to be recognised as a public holiday, but now the responsibility lies especially with the Church to remember and celebrate it well.

Even in the Old Testament, God's Sovereignty and Majesty were recognised by the Israelites. Psalm 47 was written by the "Sons of Korah" who were a family line of Levites (temple servants) descended from Korah. Although Korah himself rebelled against God in Moses' time and died in judgment, his descendants were spared and later became faithful worship leaders and musicians in Israel.

Psalm 47 sits in the middle of three Psalms that assert God's victory and celebrate God reigning over nations, wars, fear, and every force of chaos. We're most familiar with Psalm 46 which starts off with "God is our refuge and strength - a very present help in trouble" and ends with "Be still and know that I am God." Psalm 48 celebrates Zion - the city of God - as a place of peace and refuge.

Psalm 47 - the psalm in the middle - is marked with great joy and celebration. It starts with "Clap your hands" and "Shout for joy" and continues to celebrate God's victory and our deliverance and inheritance.

The Psalm evokes an Old Testament image: a king riding up to Jerusalem and taking his place on the throne. It would be a time of great joy: "God has ascended amid shouts of joy... sing praises... sing praises."

Today we celebrate Jesus' Ascension.
It is not merely about Christ departing, but of Christ reigning.
- He is the Messiah - God's chosen one - God's only Son.
- He made the ultimate sacrifice - His life for our sin
- The sacrifice was sufficient - and so God raised Him from the dead
- He ascends now - Having conquered Sin, Death and Satan.
- He reigns at the Father's right hand - interceding for us.
- And we have the hope of His return.

We have two tasks or callings to do in the meantime.
1. Celebrate who He is and what He has done through worship.
2. Tell others about His love and victory and doing it in word and deed.

Read the Psalm below and clap your hands, sing praises to God, and proclaim His victory to the world!

For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm. Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy. How awesome is the LORD Most High, the great King over all the earth! He subdued nations under us, peoples under our feet. He chose our inheritance for us, the pride of Jacob, whom He loved. [Selah] God has ascended amid shouts of joy, the LORD amid the sounding of trumpets. Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises. For God is the King of all the earth; sing to Him a psalm of praise. God reigns over the nations; God is seated on His holy throne. The nobles of the nations assemble as the people of the God of Abraham, for the kings of the earth belong to God; He is greatly exalted. (Psalms47:1-9)

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