They Preached Everywhere

Mark 16:19-20 (ESV)
So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. [20] And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs.]]

The end of Mark. I think I started this blogging trip with Corinthians, which means I have a way to go…
I tell you I started this, and continue it, more as an exercise in making me pay attention to the text then anything. If I have to write something about it, then I notice different things I haven’t noticed before. I’m not sure I ever noticed these last two verses, and I have read them quite a few times. I’ve been a pastor for 8 years and for all 8 years it has been my goal to read through the entire Bible each year. I’ve been pretty successful at that, and that is apart from piecemeal reading for sermons and so on. This year I changed my goal. I’m working on memorizing certain passages in Greek and Hebrew.
Well you have the ascension recorded. Was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. God is everywhere so I assume that is more figurative then literal, especially being God is Spirit. But hey who am I to point out the fallacies of Calvinist and Zwinglian thinking?
The Disciples went out and preached everywhere. That might be a little hyperbolic. It does indicate that this ending is being written late in the career of Peter, perhaps even after his death. All past tense and all. But it also means that all that about the gospel having to be preached everywhere was accomplished a long time ago.
I do like that the Lord accompanied them and confirmed the message with signs. Those don’t seem to be around much any more, though you do hear reports from Africa and so on. I don’t doubt those reports. At least I try not to. My western mind does have problems with it. Bad. Seems I can’t help to be a skeptic. Nonetheless I pray, I believe help thou my unbelief. I have no reason for this unbelief. My unbelief is founded on my incapacity to reason. The unbelief of the west is founded in its lost ability to reason. I’m becoming more convinced of that as I read Dinesh D’souza “What’s So Great About Christianity.”