Mark 16: Commentary

 

Mark 16

The last chapter in the book ends with hope and mission for believers.

 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James go to the tomb to put spices on Jesus’ body. They arrive and notice a man with a robe sitting there. “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go tell His disciples—and Peter—that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you.” (6-7)

 Is the man in a white robe an angel send from heaven to deliver the good news? Probably. That’s hardly the most important part of the story though. Jesus is alive and well! He conquered the grave and took the sting of death away for all time. It’s impossible to overstate the significance of that day.

He appeared first to Mary Magdalene and when she told the others they didn’t believe. I don’t think I would either. They had just witnessed a gruesome spectacle when Jesus was beaten and hung on the cross. They probably didn’t want to think about it anymore. But they had seen signs and wonders all while following Him, why did they have such trouble believing? Most of us are this way. We always fall back to natural thinking (doubt) without faith.

We have an assignment called the Great Commission, Jesus gives believers a job to do. “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” (15) It’s the last instruction that Jesus gives us. He lets us know what’s really important and tells us what to expect. “And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents and if they drink anything deadly; it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”(17-18)

There is so much in there to tackle I’m not sure where to start. First, this is a clear explanation of why the gifts of the Spirit are operational today and that tongues are a large part of it. Large parts of the Church don’t believe in it today. But I think that’s because it’s easier not to. Speaking in an unknown tongue is a little weird for sure, but it’s supported in scripture and expected of us. We miss out when we don’t take full advantage of the gifts God gives us.

Second, this is a list of miraculous signs that are to follow ‘those who believe”. We don’t see it much today, as a result we don’t believe it. The reverse is also true. When we see miracles and wonders frequently we don’t have as much trouble believing them. This is along the lines of what Bill Johnson (Bethel) meant when he talked about miracles creating a record. The record multiplies and reaches far and wide.

Somehow we’ve convinced ourselves that science and religion don’t mix and never should. But the model for the future will be rooted in miracles, not only healing but also in lives turned from darkness to light. The old order that rejects God is passing away and it’s time for true believers to stand up and move with God. We’ve been too careful and cautious with those outside the faith.

What started out as a good faith effort to bring in the lost, has softened the gospel into mushy life coaching. We’ve ground down the sharp edges to make the savior more appealing. But it won’t hold up in a world that’s overrun with evil. Christ’s love is deeper than we can imagine. What better way to show that than through His death. But the task is up to Christians now to finish what He started. What better way to show that than through His resurrection.

We’re going to see a return to an authentic and useful faith in the near future. The Great Commission represents the way forward to a church that’s finding its way back to the Jesus path.

 

 

 

Long Gone Summer: Afghanistan and the Fall

School started this week for kids in my area.

No matter how long I’ve been out of high school I still relish thoughts of summers gone by. It’s not just the vacations and lack of school, it’s the easy pace and freedom and long days spent outdoors.

 The season is as short as I remember it even though I’m not in school anymore. It’s odd that even now my giddy, carefree feeling in June is replaced by morose resignation in mid-August.

I think America is going through such a time. Our summer of fun and freedom is giving way to serious reflection--maybe it's just me.

Since the end of World War II the liberal order has been governed by the allies that remade it in their image. It’s mostly been a positive for economics, trade, international law and scientific development. With peace comes prosperity; the world leaders recognized this and set up institutions (like coal unions in Germany and France) to alleviate some of the conflicts that led to wars.

 World War II (and even World War I) destroyed Europe so completely that no one wanted a whiff of conflict after that.

This was the founding theory of international cooperation for what it’s worth. The modern European Union, the Marshall Plan, NATO and countless trade deals are examples of this.

 Less than a week ago the US military beat a hasty retreat out of Afghanistan. What’s frustrating is how ill prepared the whole operation was. I know that Trump was going to do the same thing eventually. He left our allies, the Kurds, in Syria to fend for themselves after ISIS had been routed. I can’t imagine him leaving so many Americans stranded though, or handing over our weapons to the Taliban.

I watched Laura Logan on Tucker’s plaid shirt show. She’s convinced the US didn’t want to mess up our influence in Pakistan. So we let Afghanistan die on the vine by not grabbing Pakistan by the throat. Their intelligence (ISI) funds the Taliban after all. We could have at least made threats to bomb them if they kill civilians. Or cut off their funding. These groups are nothing without access to money.

 As awful as it looks in Kabul it’s the purposeful choice we made to leave in such a reckless manner.

I’m of two minds on the whole thing. We were never going to improve conditions in that country long term. Whether because of our lack of will (as Logan seems to think) or lack of their will (the Afghani’s indifference) it wasn’t going to happen. Twenty years of supporting them was like trying to get water from a rock.

But it’s always been a thornier problem then Logan makes it sound.

It isn’t as complicated as the think tanks in Washington would have you believe either.

 They need to justify their existence by writing lengthy papers and giving talks at Universities. I don’t begrudge them their opinions on what, where, when and how’s of war planning. But it’s amazing how quick problems get solved when the US really wants to. We stopped wanting to in Afghanistan. There was nothing more to gain or hope for. The best we could do was hold off the attacks as long as possible.

But even by putting pressure on Pakistan and their intelligence services, how long could this really go on? I do wonder when we finally concluded this whole charade was going to collapse. I guess the Pentagon figured messing up our relationships in Pakistan wasn’t worth it. But everything is about will and we just lost ours.

You think you know what happening in the world and it changes all at once. But did it really change or was everything we ‘knew’ about that country a lie? I’m guessing most of what we think we know about the world is a lie. The position of the United States and our currency and our influence is about to change. China is on the rise and although I doubt they can manage global affairs they’re certainly going to try.

Communist leaders are already looking to get into Afghanistan for mining purposes. They won’t fuss about women in school either. The Chinese are cold realists and they don’t care what international institutions think of them either. The Bretton Woods vision where the US and its allies get to set the rules for the liberal order is dead. It died because it got lazy. It became obsessed with climate change and multicultural nonsense. It thought it a good idea to import the world’s Muslim population to historically Christian cultures.

We turned our attention to critical race theory for toddlers and 'health care' for preteens who want to transition.

Maybe our summer lasted a little too long. We forgot that real threats like communism and authoritarianism presented a real problem to our way of life.

In America we stopped defending our own greatness; “American Exceptionalism” became a byword for racism and exploitation. No wonder we stopped paying attention in Afghanistan; how can anything done by the Americans be worthwhile?

Our giddy reckless feelings about the long summer are turning to regret for the good ol days. Our role now will be significantly reduced without a serious turn around. Whatever lies ahead for us this fall will be very different from the carefree summers of our youth.    

New Boss, Same as the Old Boss

 

The Taliban is on a path to recapture much of the country again. Which country you ask? The one we supposedly kicked them out of back in 2001, Afghanistan. I’ll try not to be too sarcastic about the whole war effort that over 2000 Americans have died in, but it’s been 20 years and it looks like nothing has changed. We’ve spent billions training up their security forces as well.

 I know, I know it’s crass to talk about money but 2 Trillion dollars is the estimate right now.

I’ll admit one thing right up front, I didn’t follow the news particular close after about 2010. Take my comments with an appropriate level of skepticism. There may be some great achievements in the country that I’ve overlooked. I know women were able to vote and go to school. That’s not nothing, but the reason we were there was to punish Al Qaeda and capture Bin Laden. I’m fine with the rebuilding efforts to prevent another Taliban-like group from coming in.

Sadly the next Taliban-like group was. . . the freaking Taliban!

With both the Iraq and Afghanistan our military made a generous attempt to remake the countries and shore up their democratic institutions. It seems like by nearly every measure it has been a failure, for Afghanistan at least. Supposedly Hamid Karzai, the first president since the war, was corrupt and incapable of managing the country. I don’t know anything about his successor Ashraf Ghani, who will probably be shot when the Taliban take Kabul.

 Every war effort is going to go bad at some point. It isn’t realistic to think every outreach, school and economic incentive is going pay off. How many federal programs in this country are overrun with grifters and thieves? Would a bent police captain in Kandahar be less of a fraudster? I’m not making a relativist point here, in a lot of the world bribery and graft are just how business gets done.

I never expected a smooth process but I did think (honestly I did) that the Afghanis would be better off long term--after we left. It’s easy to be cynical about the war. Americans were bombarded with comparisons to Vietnam and the “quagmire” since the first insurgent blew up a convoy in Helmand province.

It was never a fair comparison. But it stuck, in part because Americans who remember it know how the public eventually turned on the war. During the first Gulf War, George Bush Sr. sent troops into Iraq to prevent Saddam Hussein from capturing oil fields in Kuwait. The battle was swift and Saddam’s Republican Guard collapsed within weeks. But we stopped after that. We didn’t go after Saddam. He continued to be a pest at the UN. He kicked out inspectors. He put down a rebellion in the North by the Kurds. We put in place a no fly zone to keep him from moving north. But we didn’t kill or capture him.

Was it the smart play at the time to leave him in power? Who knows. What kind of chaos might have ensued in the region had if we tried to kill him then? In war you’re always deciding between two bad choices. I’ll give the war planners a break. It’s easy to talk about how we shouldn’t be trying to rebuild countries with democracy and strong law enforcement. Just as a control group I’ll suggest Syria. Yes I know we’ve been at least partly helping anti-regime groups in Syria but it’s far from a full war. Russia’s been there too, helping Assad.

That country is a disaster with hardly any help from the West. Remember Obama’s “Red Line” comment to Assad in 2012 about using chemical weapons? Assad used them, we didn’t stop him. I don’t know if we should have or not. I think we make trade-offs when we go to war. We have one goal in mind and a few secondary ones.

Sometimes the first one is a failure, for a lot of reasons.

The worst part for the United States is our legacy of offering help and then leaving is firmly set. It’s unfair I know. I’ve worked with people who never take chances or step outside their comfort zone to help others. Those who do and fail get heaps of criticism.

What’s to be done? Our soldiers and marines took a lot the territory that’s now being handed back to same thugs that killed our men before. It’s maddening. But does anyone think another 5 years would matter to the readiness of the Afghan security forces? At some point they’ll have to manage their own country. Sadly I don’t think Americans care much anymore. That’s not a slight against them either.

I’m concerned that the lasting image of the war in Afghanistan will be another helicopter—hovering over the American embassy with the last marine climbing up the rope.

Bluetooth blues

 

I’ve been trying to get this speaker to connect to my phone through Bluetooth. It’s not working and I’m finally at the quitting stage. The speaker is a little Sony portable that boosts the sound of my regular phone speaker as much setting it in a coffee mug. The sound isn’t great but it's a little portable.

I don’t mean to sound unhappy with it, but I used to have a much nicer Harmon/Kardon that filled the room with sound. I kept it on my kitchen table for the best reach. My house is small (1000 square feet) so calling a table top speaker “room filling” isn’t probably the best description.

It’s an easy room to fill, unless you’re a Sony apparently. The Harmon/Kardon started dropping connections though. I thought it was a charging issue at first so I borrowed my brother’s cord to see if I could change my fortune. No such luck. There might be a way to fix it but I’ve already lost interest. I’ll just move on to something else as I don’t want to spend more time tinkering with the damn thing.

The Sony is a much bigger issue. Without sending a signal that my phone can pick up it’s table art. At least with the HK it started to lose connectivity. Fine. That happens. But with the Sony it’s never worked. Not with my new Iphone 11 at least. The first thing I did when the phone didn’t find the speaker through Bluetooth was reset both phone and speaker--nothing.

Then I deleted every other connection running off Bluetooth on the phone—nothing. I reset the internet connection to both devices and even did a hard restart of the modem—nothing. I’ve tried putting both of them right next to each other and using the “forget device” selection in settings. The only thing I haven’t done is delete the old connection from my old phone.

This is likely to work, but I can’t charge the old phone. It’s the whole reason I got a new one anyway. And by now I know what you’re thinking about my life. “How does he get up every day, put on a brave face and weather life’s unrelenting storms?” I often survive on only 7.5 hours of sleep but you won’t hear me complaining. That’s just not who I am.

This phone fiasco reminded me that I don’t have patience for tech stuff. Yes I know, I’m throwing a ridiculously wide net calling Bluetooth connectivity “tech stuff” but it needs a category so tech stuff it is. But it isn’t just that. This type of behavior is too much me. It fits the pattern of a lot of home problems that come up, uneven doors, clogged sinks, broken ice machines, dryers that don’t heat, washers that don’t wash.

 I see the issue but hope for the quick fix. When the quick fix doesn’t work I look for a way around it. If no way exists I try to live without it.

I’m not even a big music guy. I might not listen to any music for weeks at a time, an unheard of stretch for some of my friends. My workaround is the phone itself. I just sit it on the table and open the Amazon Music app. The sound isn’t great but it’s better than trying to fix the problem. Why?

Failure maybe? Laziness? I’d rather be doing almost anything else?

It’s not just laziness but avoidance. There’s a discomfort in trying to solve problems and it isn’t just because it means a delay in whatever I was about to do. It’s not a walking around in wet swim trunks discomfort. It’s closer to eating dinner at a 5 star restaurant in those same wet trunks and no shirt, while everyone else is wearing a tie. It’s a constant reminder that you really don’t belong here, doing this--it’s embarrassing.

 Problem solving is the way we prove to ourselves that we’re capable. This can’t be overstated. I do wonder if this is primarily an issue for men. Only in this way, I think men place greater importance on fixing and solving and putting order where none exists. Fair or not, it’s a trait tied to masculinity and leadership. Some guys are great at it. They can build a safe-room out back after fixing their boat motor and still have time to set up a home theatre system. 

They’re a success and I’m a failure. That’s what it feels like.  

It makes me feel better to assume this guy who can do it all likes to torture animals, or maybe steals money from the church offering plate. It's not much but it helps me process.

I’ve gotten better at this. My reactions to problems used to be visceral. I’m slightly more circumspect now. I don’t throw my hammer randomly at the garage wall or kick the work bench and crack the leg in turn. I start with deep breaths.

 I wrote an article a couple weeks ago that summed up my feelings on a successful website upload. You’ll understand my excitement better after reading this. And yes, there is joy in problem solving through perseverance.