What sells magazines? One only need take a glance at the publications on offer at the checkout counter in the grocery store to answer that question. It seems to me there are three things that sell magazines… Royalty. One can most always see photos of the British royals on display where I shop. Sex. Who was in bed with whom? That is a perennial favorite. Religion. Though this topic is not as popular as the first two, the tabloids do take an interest in the fall of popular preachers, and Jesus makes an appearance in my grocery store at least every Christmas and Easter. Now, if you mix these three topics together (royalty, sex & religion) then you have a bestseller on your hands. And that is precisely what we have in the next story in Mark’s Gospel. Listen for God’s word to you from Mark 6:14-29… King Herod heard about this, for Jesus’ name had become well known. Some were saying, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why mi...
In the town of Stepanavan, Armenia, there is a woman whom everyone calls “Palasan’s Wife”. She has her own name, of course, but townspeople call her by her husband’s name to show her great honor. When the devastating 1988 earthquake struck Armenia, it was nearly noon, and Palasan was at work. He rushed to the elementary school where his son was a student. The façade was already crumbling, but he entered the building and began pushing children outside to safety. After Palasan had managed to help twenty-eight children out, an aftershock hit that completely collapsed the school building and killed him. So, the people of Stapanavan honor his memory and his young widow by calling her Palasan’s wife. Sometimes a person’s greatest honor is not who he or she is but to whom he or she is related . The highest honor of any Christian is to be called a disciple of Jesus Christ, the One who laid down his life for us. [1] Today we are going to examine six ...