Jack Rendel

For Cathy, my wife, without whose loving support, wise suggestions and untiring patience, these studies in the Gospel of Mark would not have been born.

The Gospel According to

Saint Mark

WORKING MESSIAH

"The disciples went everywhere preaching

and the Lord worked with them …" Mark 16:20

New Tools For Studying And

Presenting The Second Gospel

Jack Rendel

MARK: THE WORKING MESSIAH

Version 1.0.4

Foreward

(Pending)

Preface To The English Edition

(First Draft)

Most of this book I wrote first in Spanish, some parts as sermons, and this fact is reflected in the bibliography, as well as in other ways. My life has been given to ministering in the Spanish speaking world. Much of my devotional life has been in Spanish, at least in the reading of and meditating on the Scriptures, if not in prayer. This edition in English is a first draft.

I want to thank Dr. Mary Krieger and Becky Hepworth for their help with these studies. Mary helped type up some of my studies, including some in Spanish. Becky has started the task of editing by working on several of the first chapters of the English version. Much editing has yet to be done and I look forward to feedback from friends who have shown an interest in helping.

Because this book is not a novel or work of art, but a tool to help with the organizing of Bible studies and sermons based on the Gospel of Mark, please receive it as such.

Jack Rendel

Clare, Michigan

August 2004

Preface

I am thrilled that the Lord put on the heart of George Verwer and his colleagues, the founders of Operation Mobilization, the desire to include within the activities of OM a study program. This provided an opportunity for personal study as well as hearing the exposition of the Word of God by George, Dale Rhoton, Greg Livingstone, Peter Maiden, Nigel Lee and other OM speakers, as well as, guest speakers.

My study of the Gospel According to Mark began in Spain. Stuart Park, the director of Operation Mobilization’s work in that country, invited Dr. David Gooding to speak to our team in 1969. After hearing the lectures he gave on Daniel, Luke and the Acts, I began working on the Gospel of Mark trying to implement some of the principles of Bible study I had learned. Of course, the material found here is my own study in Mark’s Gospel, so the personal style of the studies and any errors found here are mine.

However, through OM conferences and invited speakers like Francis Schaeffer, Ralph Shallis, Bakht Singh and David Gooding, what I received were not just new methodologies, but a sense that God was speaking to me through his Word in a fresh way, and that I was experiencing a renewal of the Holy Spirit’s work in me.

The background of these studies in Mark really goes back even further. My parents, George and Betty Rendel, missionaries in northern Nigeria, taught me the Bible in our devotional times as a family. At Kent Academy, a K-9 grade school, founded by the SIM (Formerly the Sudan Interior Mission, now Serving In Missions) I learned the Bible through courses like The Tabernacle and The Life of Christ. During high school I attended a church in New Jersey, USA, whose pastor, Dr. Charles W. Anderson, was a wonderful expositor of the Bible. I invested three years studying at the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago where I enjoyed the Bible exposition under many professors. Besides live preaching I have listened to many messages on cassette tape, George Verwer being one who often supplied us with tapes of his messages. So if I have committed any plagiarism in this book it has not been intentional, but due rather to the amount of material I have been privileged to receive.

I have had the opportunity to give studies on Mark and other books of the Bible in several countries and on board the OM ships. Pastors and church leaders have asked me for more of the materials. This request has been one of my motivations in producing this book.

In these studies I describe a “design” or “map” of the Gospel of Mark, which is something like piecing together a puzzle. Each piece (story or teaching) fits into the overall picture. Each division and section is made up of stories or teachings that are connected by a theme or themes. I explain this focus in the chapter “My Approach To The Gospel Of Mark”. The PowerPoint presentations add a way of presenting these studies. In this book you will discover not only a study on this gospel but also stories which can increase your vision for the unreached peoples of the world. Some of the names and places in the stories are deliberately vague for security reasons. If you have suggestions my e-mail address is jackrendel@charter.net.

Jack Rendel

Clare, Michigan

August 2004

Versions Of The Bible Used In MARK: THE WORKING MESSIAH

ASV …………………………… 1901 American Standard Version (OnLine Bible)

AV/KJV.….……………………. 1769 Authorized Version/King James Version (OnLine Bible)

BBE …………………………….1965 Bible in Basic English (OnLine Bible)

MSG …………………………... 1995 The Message, Eugene H. Peterson (NAVPRESS)

NASB-u ……………………….. 1995 New American Standard Bible update (BibliaMaestra)

NIV ……………………………. 1984 New International Version (Holman Bible Publishers)

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