But Moses said (to the Lord), “Here I am among six hundred thousand men on foot and you say, ‘I will give you meat to eat for a whole month.’ “- Numbers 11:21 “Your job is not to crunch numbers and audit the will of God.”- Mark Batterson As Mark Batterson continues Chapter 13 of […]
“Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”- John 6:9 In Chapter 13 (“Two Fish”) of The Grave Robber, Mark Batterson begins his discussion of Jesus’ fourth miracle, feeding the five thousand (John 6:1-13). Pastor Batterson believes that the catalyst for […]
“Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know.”- 1 Corinthians 8:2 Mark Batterson concludes Chapter 12 of The Grave Robber with a discussion of a philosophical science concept known as critical realism. Critical realism is defined as “the recognition that no matter how much we know, we don’t […]
“The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were on when we created them.”- Albert Einstein “Vision starts with visualization.”- Mark Batterson In Chapter 12 (“The Rule Breaker”) of The Grave Robber, Mark Batterson observes that Jesus chose to heal the invalid by the Bethesda pool on the […]
Mark Batterson ends Chapter 11 of The Grave Robber with a section on self-fulfilling prophecies. He notes that it is no insignificant detail that the man by the Bethesda pool is called invalid. The man is synonymous with his sickness. Pastor Batterson states there is a lesson to be learned: don’t let what’s wrong with […]
“Routine is one key to spiritual growth. . . . But when the routine becomes routine, you have to change the routine.”- Mark Batterson As Mark Batterson continues Chapter 11 of The Grave Robber, he asserts that if we want to get well, we need to hear what we’d rather not hear and do what […]
When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”- John 5:6 Mark Batterson begins Chapter 11 (“Self-Fulfilling Prophecies”) of The Grave Robber by reporting that, in November of 2004, a group of elite medical researchers met at […]
“God won’t answer 10o percent of the prayers you don’t pray.”- Mark Batterson As Mark Batterson concludes Chapter 10 of The Grave Robber, he observes that even though miraculous healing is the exception rather than the rule, if we assume God’s answer will be no, we don’t give Him a chance to say yes. Pastor […]
“With God all things are possible.”- Matthew 19:26 “Nothing is impossible with God.”- Luke 1:37 “Whether you think you can or think you can’t- you’re right.”- Henry Ford In Chapter 10 (“Very Superstitious”) of The Grave Robber, Mark Batterson emphasizes that when the Bible says the same thing two ways, it’s doubly important. Yet, we […]
“Grace is not opposed to effort, it is opposed to earning. Earning is an attitude. Effort is an action.”- Dallas Willard Mark Batterson points out in Chapter 9 (“The Seventh Hour”) of The Grave Robber that the distance the royal official traveled between Capernaum and Cana is a twenty-mile uphill climb at a five percent […]
In Chapter 8 (“God Speed”) of The Grave Robber, Mark Batterson states that Jesus’ second miracle- healing the royal official’s son- “redefined reality by defying the four dimensions of space and time. It was a long-distance miracle in real time.” Back in 1964, James Stewart Bell published a groundbreaking paper that disproved the principle of […]
“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”- Matthew 10:29-31 “My concern is not whether God is on our side; […]