The Rambling Disciple

Last week I discussed the way we have taken the issue of who Jesus is and made it a very subjective, personal experience. Too often we look at Jesus uncritically and without any real theological purpose. Jesus invites us to come know him. He wants us to continually dig deeper into his nature and character. Jesus wants us to know him because only through him can we know the Father (Matthew 11:27). So having established that we can truly know Jesus and that it is important to do so, this week we begin to dive into a very important aspect of Jesus; his humanity. We are starting with his humanity because it is through this that we are able to come to know God more fully.  The Humanity of Christ Perhaps the most radical claim Christians make is that God, the mighty creator of the world, willingly gave up the privileges of heaven to become a mortal man. We claim that the holy and perfect Judge chose to live in a world of sin. We claim that the source of eternal life experience...

The Christian faith is entirely dependent on one being; Jesus. What we believe and everything we do is predicated on the person, life, and teachings of Jesus. It is through Jesus that the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, find their fullest meaning. It is through Jesus that we truly understand our humanity and the sin that has torn us apart. It is through Jesus that we see the character and nature of God at its fullest. It is through Jesus that salvation is made possible. I could go on, but I think the point is clear; Jesus is the foundation and center of Christianity. Yet here is a troubling notion; many Christians don't really know who Jesus is! Think about it. If I were to ask the question "Who is Jesus?" how would you answer? Then think about if that question were asked during a Bible class full of Christians. How many different  answers would there be? The Subjective Truth Something that has happened, which is reflective of wider cultural change, is t...

Greetings all! For the first true post I have decided to cover what will be one of the defining aspects of this blog; theology. I know that when I was growing up theology wasn't a word that was used in the churches I attended. In fact I don't recall ever hearing the word until I was in high school, and even then it was used negatively like theology was a bad thing. Theology is inseparable from Bible study, Christian living, and being a disciple of Jesus in general. It is an indispensable part of being a Christian. The thing is we haven't always treated it that way. We have allowed our theology to fall by the wayside, believing it to be useless or not appropriate. So what is theology exactly, and why is it so important? What is Theology? The word theology simply means "the study of God." The goal of theology is to reveal who God is, and when we know God we also come to know ourselves, sin, the world, and so on. What we've done in the past (and this may ju...

Greetings all! I've had the idea for this blog in my head for quite some time now. Ever since launching "The Christian Geekly" blog I knew that I wanted to have a blog where I explored the Bible, theology, and contemporary issues directly. Whereas my other blog specifically deals with our culture and how to interact with it in a Christ-like way, the aim of this blog is to interact with God's Word in a way that challenges and informs. So some of you may ask why "The Rambling Disciple" as a title. I aim to be a completely devoted disciple of Jesus. That is the goal to which I strive for in all aspects of my life. The "Rambling" piece of it is pretty self explanatory. This blog will contain the thoughts, ideas, and challenges I encountered while studying and meditating on God's Word. Now that the purpose and title are out of the way, here is a brief biography about me. My name is Ryan Martin. I was born and raised in Spring, TX (which is a sub...