The Rambling Disciple

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...

Being a minister working with a church I have the distinct honor of being able to talk about faith with many people from generations. I'm always blessed by the wisdom of the older generations and the enthusiasm of the younger. In many ways I think the way we talk about the different generations' differences is overblown and distracts from the fact that we are all simply human working our way through life with God's help. However, this doesn't mean that the differences are non-existent. One big difference I've seen recently talking to different people is how each generation seems to have a different struggle with the faith. Now I am by no means saying that everyone in a particular generation struggles with these same things. Obviously we are all unique individuals with our own questions and doubts. Still, I do some common trends. These are all, of course, anecdotal and only based on what I see and the conversations I've had with people. Let's start with the B...

I've talked on here before that written prayers are actually quite beneficial. Most Christians I know are wary of any sort of prayer that isn't spontaneous and impromptu. That is just a result of our tradition and the way we have always defined prayer.  Today I want to encourage everybody to try praying through the book of Psalms. We often refer to this book as "the song book in the Bible" but it would be more accurate to refer to it as the "prayer book." We mustn't forget that most hymns and songs of praise are simply prayers put to music, at least the best ones are anyway. Praying through the Psalms is a tried and true discipline of the Christian faith. It has been done since the beginning and practiced consistently throughout. The Psalms represent the full range of human experience. There is joy, grief, anger, praise, longing, and thanksgiving. In fact, the book of Psalms is the most quoted Old Testament book in the New Testament.  Try praying one psa...

Hymns and songs of praise are some of the most powerful, transformative, and beautiful things we can experience. There are many that encourage us, motivate us, and help us to encounter Christ in worship and reflection. When our hymns are theologically sound, God centered, and musically pleasing there is almost no better way to learn theology and worship. There is, however, one area in particular where I believe our hymns and songs are lacking. When we look at the book of Psalms we see psalms of praise, thanksgiving, and joy but we also see another type of psalm rather frequently. These are psalms of sadness, grief, and anguish. These are psalms of lament. Out of 150 psalms 42 are psalms of lament, both individual and communal. That is almost one third of all the psalms in the Bible. The reason why is simple; grief, pain, and loss are a constant part of human life. Sadness, depression, and doubt are just as much a part of living as happiness, thanksgiving, and celebration. The book of P...

This post will be a short one today. All I want to do is remind everyone to praise God no matter the circumstance because he is worthy of our praise. Even when things don't go our way, or the storm of life racks us hard God is worthy of praise. I think we say that God is worthy without always contemplating or even attempting to understand what that means. God is worthy of our praise no matter what our situation because God has made us. There wouldn't be a situation in our lives if it weren't for God. The very fact that we draw breath, love fiercely, and have today is because of God.  That is something that is altogether good. Creating and sustaining life is one of the things that God alone can do, and it is good. No matter how dangerous the storm or uncertain the season, you exist. That is a good thing. You existing means that you are loved by one who's love is infinite and eternal. Your very existence is a testament to your incalculable worth.  So praise God no matter ...

Is faith primarily a communal or individual thing? Throughout recent history we would have answered that faith is primarily an individual concern. Though all Christians recognize in some form or fashion a call to gather together, we have treated faith as a primarily private and personal affair. This has led to a very consumeristic version of Christianity. People shop around at different churches like they would test drive cars. They compare features and accessories to see which one fits their "needs" and preferences. This individualistic faith means that everyone's opinions and views on God and the Bible count equally, no matter how outlandish the view. While I think we have often erred on the side of individuality far too often and too strongly over the years, the solution is not to overreact and err on the side of community. If faith is only a communal thing, then there are no unique gifts or insights that can be offered by individuals. There is only what the tradition ...

The Bible, as we've discussed many times, is a complex and wondrous book. It is full of different types of literature that serve different functions but still manage to form one, cohesive narrative. It was written over the span of nearly 2,000 years yet remains remarkably consistent. As Christians we believe that the entire Bible is a gift from God given in order to instruct, train, and mold us to be more like Jesus. We believe that every part of the Bible is God-breathed and relevant for us today in some way, or at least that's what we say. In practice we gravitate towards certain parts of the Bible while leaving other parts pretty much untouched. If I had to guess at which part of the Bible is the most ignored, most skipped, and least understood it would have to be the Torah. Now when I say Torah I am not referring to the first five books of the Bible, because Genesis and Exodus (at least most of Exodus) are certainly not ignored. When I say Torah I am referring to what we no...

The Christian faith is one that is full of mystery. We are called to live both distinct from the world yet also bound up and involved in redeeming it. Jesus Christ, the founder and perfecter of our faith, is both completely God and completely human. We see these mysteries all the time in our faith, and at times it can be difficult to know what to make of them. Often times are reaction to a mystery of the faith is to double down on one side or the other. Many Christians live their lives in constant fear of the world, working tirelessly to separate themselves from our culture and times. They take the call to be distinct from the world seriously but ignore the call to be bound up and involved with it. Still others do the opposite, becoming so bound up with the world that they are no longer distinct in any meaningful way. This reaction is understandable because we don't like the unknown and uncertainty. We prefer to know where things stand, have a clear understanding of what to do, and...

Abraham is easily one of the most important figures in all of the Bible. If you exclude all divine persons, the only other people you could even consider being as important are Moses, David, and Paul. He is one of the most referenced figures throughout scripture, and the covenant made between him and God possibly the most important. Although it may seem hard to believe, the story of Abraham is simply more inspiring than we normally think it is. One of the pictures we have of Abraham is the first monotheist in a world of polytheists. While the Canaanites, Egyptians, and Babylonians had their plethora of gods Abraham served YHWH God alone. While this is more true towards the end of his story, the truth is that isn't how it starts. It is almost a certainty that Abraham, back before God called him, was a run of the mill polytheist like everyone else. This doesn't in any way diminish his character or example. If anything, this only serves to make the story of Abraham and how God wor...

It's safe to say that these days most of us live inside an echo chamber. Most of the time our friends hold similar views to our own and we choose our communities often based on how alike we are on certain issues. Social media doesn't help this at all as the algorithms continually feed back to us things we already agree with. The echo chamber isn't a new phenomenon, but it has gotten increasingly worse in my opinion. As mentioned social media has played a big part in that, but so have things like cable news. There isn't a handful of common news sources that we must all share and therefore must at least try to be balanced. Now we can simply choose to watch the one that we like and already agree with. I know people who honestly can say they don't really know anybody that has significantly different political, social, or religious views than they do. Those that do often are at odds with their own family members, but their friend groups are largely homogenous in this res...

One of the greatest resources we have as Christians is the two millennia of faithful Christians that have gone before us. They span countless languages, come from many nations, and have lived on almost every continent (Antarctica being the obvious exception). These people have lived through persecutions, natural disasters, and cultural breaking points many times over and through it all their witness to Christ remained strong. Many Christians today don't have even the simplest understanding or appreciation of the history of their own faith. This leads to many negative things. History helps us see that Christianity and the Church are far larger than our own particular nation, culture, and time. We often get so caught up in our own particular culture war that we forget that the Church of Jesus Christ is not limited to America. In fact, most Christians in the world do not live in the USA! The question is how do we get over this hurdle? How can we better engage our own history in a way ...

Human beings seem to just love a good argument. We love to argue about politics, religion, entertainment, and everything else under the sun. I actually don't think this is automatically a bad thing. Arguing is, at its core, an act of refining ideas and understanding by bringing your views into contrast with someone else's. If done correctly this results in growth and increased wisdom. Unfortunately, as with all things, we tend not to argue correctly. Instead of evaluating ideas objectively we get angry, allow bias to cloud our thoughts, and commit many mistakes that don't just prevent conversations but actively set them back. Often times we don't even realize that we are doing any of these things when we argue or engage in a discussion of ideas. As a result so many of what could be productive discussions or healthy arguments, especially on social media, devolve into shouting matches and name calling. Today I want to talk briefly about three common mistakes, or logical f...

A couple of weeks ago I asked my Facebook friends which English translation of the Bible they preferred. I was reexamining my primary translation choice, as I do from time to time, and was honestly curious to see what other Christians I know used. It was interesting to see the diversity among just the people I know. This whole question got me thinking about what I value in a Bible translation. I admit that I am a bit different than the average Bible reader simply because studying the Bible is a big part of my life's work. The average person, based on my limited survey, tends to seek a balance between translation accuracy and ease of readability. This is why, to no one's surprise, the NIV was by far the most preferred translation put forward. The NIV does a pretty good job of interpreting and making readable the original languages without devolving into a paraphrase. I too look for accuracy with enough readability to, you know, actually read it. In my search for a new main trans...

One of the hardest books to read in all the Bible is the book of Job. It's a massive, epic poem full of repetition, unfamiliar imagery, and difficult questions. It takes an unflinching look at human suffering with all the grief, rage, and questioning that entails. It manages to embody both our complete inability to answer hard questions and our certainty of how we think the world works. I think that one of the issues people have when they come to the book of Job is the wrong expectations. We are often told that Job is a book that answers the question "Why do good people suffer?" We open it during our times of grief and pain looking for answers, searching for God's own answer as to why he allowed such things to happen. The book of Job doesn't answer those questions. Job isn't trying to answer why. In fact, the point of the book is that we often can't know why. Job is a serious, heartfelt examination of suffering and our unsuccessful attempts to make sense o...

Well, it looks like things are finally turning around. Here in Illinois things will soon be largely back to normal as restaurants, businesses, and theaters once again open their doors to full capacity. Movies will start being released again, masks will start becoming a less frequent sight, and people will finally be able to give hugs and shake hands. All this is wonderful news, and on the church front things are looking up as well. No more muffled singing, a resuming of activities, and more in person events are something to look forward to and enjoy. Let us rejoice and be exceedingly glad! There is one thing I hope we don't do, but probably will anyway. With everything going back to normal I hope we don't jump headlong into being ultra-busy like normal. If COVID brought one benefit it was that for many, though not all, it forced us to slow down and appreciate what we have. I appreciate far more than I ever realized how much I value being with fellow Christians in person. I now ...

This last Sunday I was asked to preach and I struggled for a while with what to preach on. It's always difficult when you are filling in and everyone else knows you are filling in. You don't want to overlap too much with the current sermon series, but you also don't want your topic to be so unrelated to what's been going on that it has no impact.  I found inspiration simply from scrolling on Facebook. People, and it seems especially Christians, are mean.  Now of course not all Christians are rude and combative, but there are a shocking number who are. We argue in Facebook comments, send hateful messages, and generally act just like the world. This extends beyond the realm of social media and into our day-to-day interactions with so many. The Sunday lunch crowd at restaurants is infamously the worst tipping and most disrespectful, and these are mostly Christians who have just come from church. We need to be kind. Kindness is a fruit of the Spirit, but it is one we often ...

"Christ above me, Christ beside me, Christ within me ever guiding, Christ behind me, Christ before, Christ my love, my life, my Lord." - Hymn by John Chisum What does it mean that Christ is our mediator? We often talk about how because of what Christ has done for us we now have direct access to the Father, but that isn't what the Bible says. We have access to the Father as his children in the Spirit through Christ. We pray in Jesus' name, after all. We know that Christ is our mediator. The Bible does say that plainly, such as in 1 Timothy 2:5, but this is an aspect of who Christ is and what he does that I think we neglect in our theology and lives. We don't like having to go through someone else for anything, especially the most important things. We Americans prefer to do it ourselves. The very concept of mediation is something we aren't a fan of. Couples struggling with their relationship are often resistant to see a marriage counselor or therapist, aka a med...

During my studies both for my undergraduate and masters degrees I had to take hermeneutics classes. Hermeneutics is the technical term for how we read the Bible. I was trained to examine literary context, investigate the original languages, search out historical details, and generally try to read the text as the original audience would have as best as we can reconstruct. I'm in no way saying that this is a bad method of Bible study. I think that it is a vital tool in our arsenal as we faithfully engage scripture to try and learn about God. Engaging in this historical-critical method, as it is called, keeps us grounded and constantly holds our own cultural biases in check. Working closely with any other culture, past or present, will do this.  The problem I have is not with this method, it is a useful tool after all, but that we have seemingly abandoned all other tools in favor of this one. The only proper way to read any and all texts is to examine its place in history, literature,...

Last week we discussed how the Bible establishes the foundations for our beliefs. The Bible provides clear information about the fundamentals of our faith and practice. There are things that we, as Christians, can be confident about and sure of in our faith. However, the Bible does not provide us with all the information that we would sometimes want. It's clear on what matters most, but outside of those things the Bible often presents us with information without necessarily putting it all together for us. After all the Bible states that the purpose of scripture is to teach, rebuke, correct, build up, and equip. (2 Timothy 3:16) What the Bible does do is establish boundaries for these discussions and topics. The foundations are laid clearly and the Bible then provides boundaries to keep us from straying off the foundation into heresy and error. Within these boundaries, however, there is room for dialogue and even some disagreement. Let's take one of the fundamentals I looked at ...

Last week I introduced the idea that the Bible, while not an answer handbook, does lay the foundations for our beliefs and provide boundaries for our discussions. Today we look at the foundations. This I think is the easy part of the discussion, since most of us would agree with this. The Bible provides us with clear foundations on which our worldview and beliefs are built. The primary question that we have to grapple with is what is considered foundational? Here I think we run into a problem. Often times I think that we have made things that are not foundational to the faith cornerstones. One chief example of this is acapella worship. In the Churches of Christ, which I and most of my readers are a part of, this has been a fight to the death issue for years. This is, in my humble opinion, ridiculous. We have made the style of worship essential to being a Christian. I have seen, with my own eyes, churches get more upset about the mention of guitars than the suggestion from members that ...

The Bible is a magnificent book full of wonder, poetry, and epic stories that doesn't shy away from what the world is really like. It is a complex work written by many different authors over hundreds of years, unified in one overarching narrative and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. It is a gift from God, help in time of trouble, and the chief revelation of Jesus Christ. Everything I just said is true, but the problem is I don't always want it to be true. While at times I can admire the complexity of scripture I would mostly prefer it to be simple and straightforward. I want something that will tell me what to do, believe, and what to avoid. I want a quick moral reference handbook or a systematic theology encyclopedia that I can easily reference on the go.  That isn't what the Bible is. I think many Christians feel the same way I do. It can be nice to admire the Bible's complexity and variety from afar, but when it comes down to it we want something simple. We want a...

Our view of justice is narrow and limited. Typically when we, as Christians, talk about justice we are really only referring to punishing wrongdoers for their crimes. While that is certainly a part of justice that isn't the only thing. In the Bible justice consists of much more. Consider the book of Amos, one of the minor prophets and therefore a book that most Christians barely touch. Amos is announcing judgment against the nation of Israel for their infidelity to their covenant with God. What do you think is the most repeated indictment against Israel? Interestingly it's not idolatry, sexual immorality, or war although these things are mentioned. The primary sin of in Amos is Israel's neglect of the poor and their oppression of the needy. Over and over again Amos declares that judgment is coming to Israel because of their treatment of those less fortunate. The poor are trampled and the needy are crushed. There is no justice in the land. Biblical justice includes both crim...

"God has not called me to be successful; He has called me to be faithful." - Mother Teresa The one thing we prioritize above all else in our culture is effectiveness. If something is not effective at what it's doing we replace it with something that is more effective. This is true with tools, equipment, ads, structures, and even people. It is foolish for a company to continue paying an ineffective employee when they could be replaced with someone far more effective. Everything in our culture revolves around effectiveness. We rarely support political candidates for their ideals anymore, merely their effectiveness at pursuing agendas. We continually upgrade our technology and discard the older and therefore less effective models. We want things to work and work well. This is true even in churches. We want our ministries to be effective. We want our ministers, elders, deacons, and other leaders to be effective. We want our outreach programs, VBS programs, food pantries, and ...