The Rambling Disciple

Our Father Omnipotent, almighty God Name above all names Exalted above the heavens Whose glory has no end Who no man can comprehend We come to you in humility Father of lights Illuminate our weary minds Orient our very being Our heart, soul, mind, and strength To your wisdom and will Fill us with your Spirit That Holy Spirit of power and grace That same Spirit that came upon your Son That Spirit that is truly of you, from you, and one with you We ask that you fill us with his presence Help us to grasp the depths of our own failings Help us to find peace in your mystery Help us to walk in holiness Help us, Lord We ask this of you, oh Father In the name of of your Son The Lord, Christ Jesus To whom we give all honor and devotion Amen

There are many issues that and topics that come up in churches today. The Churches of Christ have their own set of issues and hot button topics just like any other tradition. Some of these are issues we share with the larger Christian world while others are issues all our own. Regardless, these are the things that get people riled up and that everyone wants to talk about.  Unfortunately, we aren't very good at talking about them. Every time a flashy issue arises, so do the polemics. People pick their side and the fight begins. The problem isn't the issues. In fact part of the problem is that we believe that the hot button issues of our time are the real issue. They aren't. The real issue is that we don't seek God anymore. Too often what we want in life isn't God but moral superiority. We want to say "I'm right, you're wrong." By chasing that kind of superiority we lose sight of that which is truly superior; God. In the end it doesn...

This past Sunday was Easter, the single most significant day in history. Many Christians around the world gathered to praise God for the resurrection of Jesus Christ, an event that signaled the end of the old creation and the ushering in of the new. It is the pinnacle of history, when God raised Jesus from the dead. For the first time death had lost its grip on someone forever. Things would never be the same. In 1 Corinthians 15 the apostle Paul writes what is one of the most important passages of all time. He writes that everything hangs on the resurrection; if Christ did not rise from the dead, then Christianity is worthless. It is the linchpin of our entire faith. In this age of skepticism and hunger for evidence, many Christians have engaged the world with arguments and proofs of the reality of the resurrection. This is a good thing and I wholeheartedly encourage people to check out videos and articles that do a credible job of demonstrating the viability and reality of the C...

"Peace in our time." Those admirable words were uttered by Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, on September 30, 1938. He proudly announced that he had ensured a lasting peace between the Britain and Germany, led by Adolf Hitler. It considered one of the biggest blunders in world history, since almost exactly a year later Nazi Germany invaded Poland and initiated the European theater of World War 2. However flawed Chamberlain may have been in his interactions with one of history's most horrific tyrants, one cannot deny that his intentions were admirable. He sought peace for his country. He had witnessed one World War and did not want to see that amount of suffering and destruction inflicted upon his people yet again. Chamberlain wanted peace, but his replacement had a different view. Winston Churchill is one of the most recognizable figures in world history. He heroically led the British people through World War 2, holding off the Nazi forces u...

The birth of the ancient nation of Israel was truly a unique event. Imagine it from the perspective of an ancient Israelite living in Egypt. You are a slave. You have been your entire life, as have your parents and grandparents before going back several generations. You do not have much of a national identity. All you have ever known is servitude to Egypt and the Pharaohs. Your entire life has been spent in fear of the Egyptian gods. Clearly they are powerful, otherwise you wouldn't have been enslaved. Your ancestors worshiped a God too, YHWH his name was, but no one seems to have heard from him in a while. You live in abject terror of the horrors they, embodied by the living god-king Pharaoh, might do to you and your family. Thousands of men, women, and even children have been slaughtered at this tyrant's command. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Moses arrives. This man is a Hebrew like you, but he was raised under very different circumstances. He grew up in the house of ...

Do we really consider what's going on when we partake of the Lord's Supper? Often times it feels like we don't take the Lord's Supper seriously. It's that time on Sunday mornings where we say a few words about Jesus' death, pass come crackers and juice, and sit in silence. While many do use this as a time of prayer and reflection, as a collective it feels like a necessary inconvenience. It's just something we have to do because we are commanded to do it. The highest praise we can offer the one presiding over communion is, often times, that they kept their thoughts brief. The Lord's Supper is best when it is done quickly and efficiently, leaving more time for the sermon. We take it because we must. Again, I know many Christians who use this time to focus on Christ. The problem, I think, lies in the way we treat it as a community. At the heart of this problem is, of course, a theological issue. We don't know what the Lord's Supper is. Tra...

Every week around the world millions of Christians gather together in the name of Jesus. Followers of Christ from hundreds of different traditions meet together to worship God and study Scripture. While they come from every tribe, nation, and tongue there is one thing every week that these Christians celebrate in common; the Lord's Supper. The Lord's Supper, or Eucharist, is one of the great commonalities of the various Christian traditions. While there is some disagreement on what actually happens during the breaking of the bread and taking of the cup, all agree that the Lord's Supper is an indispensable part of the Christian faith. It is one of the great gifts that unites us. I believe that there is a lot to learn from the Lord's Supper. That's why an ongoing series on this blog will be Reflections on the Lord's Supper. This is the first of several posts examining the mystery that is the supper of our Lord. They won't be back to back, but I think th...