Mark 10:17-31 Dear Partner in Preaching, I am blessed to have far more wonderful things to do each than I can possibly accomplish, so I am running behind on this post yet again. Because the week is quickly running away and my to-do list is still quite long, I’ve simply jotted down a few observations from previous and more recent encounters with this text below, hoping they are minimally helpful. In no particular order, an uneven, but biblically significant :), seven thoughts: 1) On how these stories work: It’s easy to think that this is somehow about a guy who lived a long, long time ago (in a galaxy far, far away?) who loved his...

Dear Partner in Preaching, I don’t know about you, but as I kid I found these verses just terrifying. And, to be honest, my reaction as an adult hasn’t changed all that much. Here they are, just to focus our conversation: “Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, ‘You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ And when he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.” “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is...