The Rambling Disciple

At the beginning of last year I preached a sermon, a subsequently posted a blog, about my theme word for the year. Every year I try to have a word or theme to focus on and better understand. Last year's word was grace, and boy was it appropriate. With our society, and sadly many Christians, unable to have meaningful disagreements and conversations anymore it was easy to forget that we need to show people grace and depend upon God's grace and not our own righteousness. This year my word is growth. I want and need to grow. I want to grow closer to Jesus. I want to grow personally in many areas. I want to expand my horizons and push myself to grow as a Christian and as a man. I want my congregation to grow closer to God.  I'm keeping it short this week, but I encourage you to find a theme word for the year. It doesn't mean limiting yourself to just things that directly have to do with that theme, but it does help focus our attention a bit. We can't do everything at onc...

This last Sunday I preached a sermon entitled "Torah, Torah, Torah" which focused on acquiring a new understanding and appreciation for those sections of the Bible we typically call the "Law." A main point that I made was that the word "Law" actually isn't a good translation of the Hebrew word "Torah." Rather the word "Torah" better means "instruction, guidance, or teaching." Now I have written about this before on this blog, so I won't go at length here. Suffice it to say that looking at Leviticus and Deuteronomy through the lens of "instruction" rather than "Law" makes a big difference. It changes our perspective from "Wow, look at all the stuff God made them do" to "Wow, look at all the wisdom God gave his people." It's a change of focus that helps us better approach that part of the Bible. Let's be honest, we say that the whole Bible is inspired and authoritative, but...

This is a sermon I preached on 11/28/2021.   In the beginning God, perfect, almighty, and triune created the cosmos. The universe was a place of beauty and growth, conceived in wisdom and accomplished by divine power. The crown of this new realm was none other than God’s own image, human beings. Given authority to rule as vassals in God’s Kingdom we humans had the responsibility and joy of faithfully cultivating the earth in the name of God. Alas, such perfection did not last. There was a rebellion against the Kingdom of God led by dark, spiritual powers that we human beings, through deception and our own greed, joined. The cosmos, the beautiful tapestry of God’s wisdom and love, was subjected to the futility and pain of Sin. The human race, once the pinnacle of creation, instead of finding some sort of independence from God instead were enslaved by foreign, hostile invaders.              You see, our rebellion resulte...

Right now I am reading a book title The Crucifixion  by Fleming Rutledge and I cannot recommend it enough. One thing that has stood out to me has been the way she unflinchingly stares right into the darkness of sin. I have never read a book that so plainly, thoroughly and expertly examined the true horror of sin.  One of the main quotes she uses is from St. Anselm of Canterbury, who lived from around AD 1033 - 1109. Anselm, in his work Cur Deo Homo  or The God Man , says "You have not yet considered the gravity of sin." It is a work concerning the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. In the book Anselm is writing as if he is having a dialogue with a student named Boso (not a comment on his intelligence but just a name in those days). Boso tends to ask questions which Anselm then answers, and this is his answer to one of Boso's questions concerning why Jesus needed to suffer as he did. I think this is especially true today. We haven't truly considered the gravity of sin. We ar...

The past several months for my Thursday night Bible study group we have been studying the book of Genesis. Originally it started solely as an examination of Genesis 1-11 with specific emphasis on different, orthodox interpretations of those chapters. In other words, we were looking at different Christian views on creation, the fall, the flood, and so on. The goal was to show that you can have a different interpretation of those first few chapters of Genesis and still be well within the theological boundaries of Christianity. One thing I kept mentioning while leading this study was that Genesis 1-11, while important and the part of the book that gets all the attention, isn't the primary focus of Genesis. It is, in a sense, a set up for the story of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. So, when we finished Genesis 11 the group requested that we keep going and pay off all that set up. So we did. Here are some of my reflections on Genesis having just studied it for several months. 1. We desperat...

Right now we are hearing a lot about different things that "threaten Christianity" in our world and culture. It seems that almost daily I see Christians post on Facebook or on Twitter about CRT (critical race theory), the LGBTQ+ agenda, or Democrats' anti-Christian hostility and their attempts to undermine and eradicate churches from America. Still other Christians I know frantically post that actually Donald Trump, bigotry, or a lack of belief in science is the real threat. Are these things, no matter which side you are on, important to discuss? Yes! They are all a part of the culture we inhabit and are called to witness to, so we Christians should engage thoughtfully and graciously with all of it. We desperately need to have the brutal, rigorous, and honest conversations about all of these divisive topics. Still, none of these things are the greatest threat to Christianity. NONE. Not even close. The greatest threat to Christianity is, always has been, and always will be...

As Christians we are commanded to share the Good News of Jesus Christ. We know we need to do this, but the way we have often been taught how to do it is wrong. This problem runs down to our very conception of what the Gospel is and how we should think about responding to it. Most of the ways I've heard of sharing the Gospel is essentially a sales pitch. Whether you start with a corny line such as "Do you have a moment for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ?" or sometimes even if you begin with your own personal testimony, the point is often to try and "sell" the story. Then you need to be prepared for the inevitable questions and objections. You're essentially trying to sell eternal life and convince others that they need it. That's not what the Gospel is. The Gospel isn't something we try to sell or convince others to buy into. The Gospel is something we proclaim. The Good News of Jesus Christ is the announcement of a new world order. It is a fact tha...