Sip #1 – Read Chapter 16 of Mark in the NIV translation
Sip #2 – Read my big takeaway from the day
Sip #3 – Add comments/thoughts/questions in the Comments Box (bottom of page). NOT REQUIRED
Sip #4 – Re-read any parts of Chapter 16 that impacted you
Sip #5 – Come back tomorrow as we start Ecclesiastes in the Old Testament, in the NIV translation. Chapter 1! I will post an updated overview of King Solomon (the author of the book) beforehand!

OK, it’s Sunday and I have the BEST challenge for you EVER! Believe it or not, today is National Do A Grouch A Favor Day! Every year, it is a special call to kindness on February 16th. We probably all know a grouch, and some of us may even be guilty of being one. Well, you can be the one to find the sweeter side of a grouch today, and turn a frown upside down!

It’s time for the last chapter of Mark, Chapter 16… Verse 20 is where we are going to spend some extra time…

“Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.”

Why are we reading and studying the Bible each day? Because…

…a small group of disciples and a supporting cast were part of the following plan:

• They all went out
• They all preached/taught/told the Gospel story wherever they went
• The Lord worked powerfully behind the scenes in and through them
• His supernatural signs and wonders accompanied their efforts

That is why you and I are STILL connected to God. That small group passionately believed, replicated, and multiplied… over and over and over and over again until they reached us. If we could see the actual number over the generations, it would be staggering. The glimpse we get (and it’s just a glimpse of heaven, mind you) is in Revelation, Chapter 7… “After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb of God (Jesus). They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice:

‘Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb.'”

To consider that this is just the tip of the iceberg makes the small group of disciples and their supporting network look, well… not so small.

Consider that when they “went out” and “preached/taught/told the Gospel story there was NOTHING easy about it… We will be reading the Book of Hebrews the second half of 2025, and there is a section in chapter 11 that gives us an idea of just how difficult it was for the faithful few… “There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.

These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised (in this lifetime), since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.”

When you consider how simple the 4-bullet point plan looks and sounds, but then put it in the shadow of the cross and the boulder that rolled ever so quietly on Easter morning… well, nothing worthwhile is easy. A small group made it their life mission to spread the Good News of the wonderful grace of God–a saving grace like none other. And, when I say “life mission,” for most of them it did cost them their lives (as you read in the Hebrews passage). They fulfilled their calling… God came alongside them… moving hearts through the actions of these warriors… and then fulfilled His promise to them (even if it wasn’t in this lifetime).

I urge people all the time to consider their calling. We all have a calling. I don’t think some believe me when I say it, and that’s ok… but it’s true. God made every one of us, and not for our own pleasure or “nowheresville,” but for His great purposes and plans. When we connect the dates on that we will then… go out… preach/teach/tell and live out the Gospel story wherever we go… believe the Lord WILL work powerfully behind the scenes in and through us… and expect His supernatural signs and wonders WILL accompany their efforts.

Bottom line… Let me introduce you to Jack and Allegra McBirney… They became missionaries to Newfoundland in the early 1960s, together with their six children. The McBirney family spent about seven years on the mission field, teaching God’s Word through Bible clubs and home Bible studies. When they had established a Bible-teaching church, they returned to the United States.

Jack was instrumental in founding two Christian schools in the San Francisco area. Meanwhile, Allegra poured her heart into her radio ministry, writing, and speaking, traveling the world in her ministry to military families. Jack also made many trips to Russia (in between treatments for cancer), burdened to lead communist teachers to Christ and introduce a Christian curriculum into former communist schools. When Jack’s health began to decline due to Alzheimer’s, Allegra stopped traveling to care for him. They had been married 61 years when Jack left his temporary home on the earthly plain to enter his permanent heavenly home.

Despite severe cataracts and constant health struggles, Allegra continued her ministry and correspondence from her home–often even from the confines of her bed–until her passing in May, 2020, at the age of 92. She called it her “one-person publishing company” as she continued to oversee the translation and distribution of her books around the world, for the outreach of the Gospel.

There are countless examples of small groups and individuals that rock the generations for the Gospel. It started with the generation of Jesus’ disciples and it is constantly multiplying itself… because that’s God’s plan. And, YOU and I are in that plan. It’s why we were born in this specific era we live. So, remember the plan…

• go out
• preach/teach/tell and live out the Gospel story wherever you go
• believe the Lord WILL work powerfully behind the scenes in and through you
• expect His supernatural signs and wonders WILL accompany your efforts

Simple, right?

Jesus made it clear, though. We must be passionate and aware that the road will be a bit treacherous… “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.”

Still, the best decision I ever made, though.

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