The first chapter of Mark’s gospel tells about Jesus finding acceptance in Simon’s village, but choosing to leave for other towns after he spends an early morning in prayer. In our group, we talked about how hard it is to leave comfortable surroundings, how difficult it is to let go of familiar places and relationships [...]
The passage from Mark’s Gospel was about casting out demons. The conversation bounced around as we talked about modern understandings of physical and mental illnesses, and then we settled on what it feels like to be controlled by an external force. One man described the powerlessness he felt when he was on drugs–wanting to resist, [...]
After our Bible study, we go around the circle to allow each man to share any prayer concerns. One man said that important decisions would be made this week about permanent custody of his children. He asked us to pray for God’s will to be done, and he wanted us to pray that if the [...]
The lesson was on the temptation in the wilderness. We talked about prayer, scripture and Christian community as tools to help us resist temptation. One young man told how angry he got when he was disrespected by those in authority. That was when Christian community became real. The other men began to share how they [...]
The story from the Bible was Jesus’ baptism. We read the words that God spoke to Jesus: “You are my beloved son. With you I am well pleased.” I asked, “Has anyone ever said that to you?” What followed in our circle of 14 was more than breath-taking, it was breath(spirit)-giving. Stories were shared—stories of [...]
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