interviewing disciples

Jesus is awesome. No really...he's awesome. This week we're reading the gospel of Mark. One of the most interesting things to me is how he chooses his disciples. In Mark chapter 1, Jesus walks up to these two ordinary, fisherman brothers (who are fishing w/ their dad) and basically is like: "Hey guys. What's up? Follow me", and just like that, James and John drop what they're doing (here's the key word...) IMMEDIATELY and follow Jesus. These dudes leave their dad in the boat and take off with this complete stranger! They immediately give up everything for Christ. Amazing!

If I was the Son of God, and was trying to choose my disciples, here's how I'd do it: I'd go to the local synagogue and interview all the smartest, most godly men I could find. I'm sure it would be a very intense interview process. However, Jesus chooses ordinary men. Not men that he found in the temple...fishermen and tax collectors and other normal people. What? Seriously?

Also, I think my absolute favorite thing in Mark was at the end of chapter 1, when Jesus heals a leper. The leper is begging Jesus to heal him. And Jesus is "moved to compassion". (Here comes my favorite part....) Now, Jesus could have just spoken "be healed", but Jesus TOUCHES the leper to heal him. Leprosy was a big deal. Lepers couldn't even be around other people. It was a humiliating, horrible disease. And the LORD touches this man to show him that he's just as worthy of receiving grace and healing as any other person. What a moment that must have been for the leper.

By the way, the 4th of July was great. We really had fun and ate way too much good food. It was great though. Pictures posted are from the 4th!

It's freezing cold here. It's supposed to be 12 degrees Celsius tomorrow (I have no idea what that means, other than it's cold). Anyway, I have a lot of homework to get back to. I love and miss you guys!