We need to grapple with the challenging depictions of divine violence in the Hebrew scriptures, contrasted with Jesus' message of grace and love. We wrestle with how these ancient texts can be reinterpreted through the compassionate lens of Jesus' life, steering clear of projecting our biases onto the divine. With insights from Robert Allen Warrior's analysis on the implications of conquest narratives for indigenous peoples, this conversation urges a thoughtful examination of our spiritual evolution and the consequences of our interpretations.

For 8 chapters now, he's been walking around healing people and excising demons. Mark has hinted at references to Hebrew scriptures and divine theophanies. Both crowds and critics all know exactly where the story is going. But thus far no one has put breath behind the hope they hold.

Self-care is one of those phrases that has deeply embedded itself in our cultural consciousness. There's a massive self-care industry trying to sell you on how you can care for yourself well. So what does Jesus think about all this?

In his recounting of Jesus walking on water, Mark uses a curious phrase. He tells us that the disciples hearts were hard. That's a phrase that shows up a few times in the Bible; think of Pharaoh's heart. However, I think Mark is using this in a different way primarily to talk about a lack of imagination. All the ways that disciples miss the truly miraculous that's right in front of them. The Divine shows up in more ways than we know.

At the start of Mark 3, we find Jesus speaking to his distractors, and this time he brings up Sabbath. Here he's back in the synagogue on the Sabbath and in the congregation there's a man with a "shriveled hand", and Jesus asked his detractors this time, which is lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save a life or to kill. But they remained silent. Now, the reason they remain silent is they know what Jesus is going to do, right, but also because Jesus is referring here to a particular teaching of the Pharisees.

When you are spiralling and making bad choices, more negative self-talk is rarely the answer. Often, it’s slowing down, stopping even, reflecting on the narratives you tell yourself about yourself so that you can find a better place to move forward from. What we name as sins are the symptoms of not knowing yourself the way God knows you.

Am I a universalist? That's a question I get a surprising number of times. So let's talk about whether universalism fits with Christianity.

We all know we're saved by grace but the truth is we are also changed by grace. Knowing ourselves as God knows us, as loved and welcomed and forgiven is the only thing that can actually transform us. And not understanding that is the root of all sin.