Will Vaus

One of my first experiences in ministry was teaching a fifth-grade Sunday school class when I was still in high school. On one occasion, I invited the entire class of thirty students to my house for a party. My parents kindly obliged by opening their home for the event. My mother made 80 enchiladas to serve the horde, and then my parents went out for the evening, leaving me in charge. I thought I had enough activities to keep thirty fifth-graders busy for a couple of hours, between games, movies, and food, but apparently, I was wrong. By the end of the evening, they were doing back-flips over the sofa in our living room. When the parents arrived in the middle of this chaos to pick up their children, my parents arrived home as well. Standing in our foyer, looking out over the masses, one of the fifth-grade parents turned to my parents and asked them, “So which one is yours?” My mother replied nonchalantly, “The tall one over there.”   Sometimes feeding and entertaining large groups ...

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 ...