SOAP on Mark 3

By Pastor Dan Haffey

Scripture:  Mark 3: 1 – 6

Observation:  Jesus chose to confront the hardness of the Pharisees hearts by showing healing compassion to the man with the “shriveled hand”.  He was not afraid of their condemnation for breaking the Sabbath law.  He was hurt and distressed by their “stubborn hearts”.

Application:  I need to ask God to help me put love, compassion and healing before my personal preferences or manmade “laws”.  I need to see the needs of the hurting people around me and respond boldly to those needs as Jesus did.  I want to be distressed, as Jesus was, with the callousness of my own legalism and stubbornness of heart.

Prayer:  Lord, help me to be compassionate and bold in my love for others and to not be swayed by the preferences or approval of men.  I want to respond with a tender yet bold heart to the needs around me by following your example.  Forgive me for making up my own “rules” and blocking out the needs of others.  May I be a conduit of your healing love.   

Discipleship and Sacrifice

By Pastor Dan Haffey

Our Fall spiritual journey in the Book of Acts is recounting God’s plan for the unleashing of the Gospel under the power of the Holy Spirit. It also lays out the call to be a disciple, that is, a follower of Jesus Christ. The principal actors in Acts, having encountered God, were 100% sold out to the Mission. They gave up everything to follow Christ by telling the great story of redemption. They sacrificed all to be a follower of Christ. Luke 14:33 says that “any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple”. What have you (or would you) give up to follow Christ? Have you given up anything? If your relationship with Christ was measured by your sacrifice, how strong would that relationship be?

So what are the other qualities needed to be a disciple? First, a personal and vital relationship with Christ. The power to overcome all the natural and unnatural obstacles to bold in Christian living comes from the Spirit of God within the believer. Next, a love for others. John 13:35 tells us that it is our LOVE that will be the proof of our discipleship. Since that kind of love is not natural we need the power of the Spirit to supernaturally love others, even the most unlovable! Third, an obedient heart toward God’s teaching. Jesus says clearly in John 8:31 “if you hold to my teaching you are really my disciples”. Last, a fruitfilled life. Just as we are to known by our love of others, our lives as disciples are to bear good fruit, the fruit of the Spirit in our own lives and good fruit in the lives of those we encounter.

The first century church was unique in some ways BUT their commitment to Christ is the pattern we are to follow in our own path of discipleship. Are YOU a true disciple of Christ? Do you evidence the qualities of a disciple?

Ask God to show you where you need to grow as a disciple…..He will bring the truth about yourself to you if you ask with a sincere heart.

Where the GodWind Blows

By Dr. Dan Haffey

Scott Brown’s message last Sunday on God’s love and plan for the Israeli people left me with a couple of burning thoughts.  First, I felt the immense love of God that he would allow me, a Gentile,  to be adopted into the family of his Chosen People, the Israelites.  In his sovereignty,  he could’ve only chosen Israel and rejected the rest of us but He didn’t.   Now I, and all other Gentile believers, have been grafted into the Tree of Salvation. Thank you Father God!

The second thought that I had was how God’s Spirit blows where He wants to go without limitation.  John 3:8 says  “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”  The Spirit of God leads us where he wants us to go,  where he is working.  For Scott Brown, God called him to New Zealand (Where is that?) because God is at work in New Zealand.  God’s love for His people, the Jews,  sent Scott Brown to New Zealand to give them the Good News their Messiah.  

Where is the Spirit of God blowing around you?  Where and what is He calling you to?  Are you willing to respond?  Will you pray for Scott Brown and his work with Israeli tourists in New Zealand?   

Who’s on First?

By Dr. Dan Haffey

We are all competitive by nature (some more than others). I feel this competitive urge when I’m playing basketball or trying to get that last open parking spot at Wal-Mart. There is something in us that wants to be first.


The first chapter of the book of Colossians makes it clear who is, in fact, the First…Christ. He is #1, the firstborn, the creator and sustainer of all things, He is “before all things and in Him all things hold together.” God made Christ the First and the Reconciler of men to God through his shed blood.

It strikes me that all the wars, wrangling, elbow-throwing and striving to be first is meaningless in light of the supremacy of Christ. Ultimately all knees will bow and acknowledge His Rule. He is large and in charge!

He also is the Maker of all created beings….that’s everything. Not only does did He make us He continues to provide the Power that hold us together and allows us to continue to exist. He’s the Power and the Glue!

So what should be our response to the reality of Christ’s position as Supreme Head of All Things? I think some Humility would make sense, and then some Worship would be called for and then a lot of Obedience would fit this reality. God has given Christ the Supremacy….have you?

Just another day at the office?

By Dr. Dan Haffey

During Pastor R’s sermon on Sunday, my thoughts turned to the soldiers and the Cross. The soldiers were totally unaware of the cosmic event of redemption that was unfolding above them in the person of the dying Christ. For them, it was “another day at the office” and they continued without awareness to do what they naturally did….give expression to their flesh in gambling for Christ’s clothes.  So near, yet so far from the reality of salvation…they didn’t get it.

Before I cluck my tongue at these pagans, I wonder how aware are we of the spiritual realities going on around us as we have “another day at the office.”  The cosmic battle for the souls of men continue, the war between the flesh and the Spirit wages on, and the voice of God is speaking to us but is unheard over the din of our daily business.

Maybe we need to look up daily and see the Cross and see the struggle as God unwraps His redemption in our lives……just some thoughts.