The Rambling Disciple

Something I think we often neglect is having an ideal to strive towards. We get wrapped up in the very real limitations, problems, and troubles of our world and adopt a very pragmatic attitude towards life. We focus on what we can do and how to simply keep things from getting worse. We then often dismiss those who put forward an ideal as idealists or naïve. There is nothing wrong with being pragmatic. We need to be aware of the gifts God has given us and the resources we have been blessed with. We need to be humble enough to realize that we cannot do everything we want and can do nothing perfectly. It is good to realize that unbridled idealism is unrealistic and ultimately disappointing. However, pure pragmatism simply keeps one afloat. Without an ideal to strive towards, a standard to reach for, we don't grow. If there is no vision or goal we tend to be aimless. As Christians we are called both to be realistic in our dealings with the world and to strive for the ideal that is Chri...

"Non Nisse Te Domine." - Thomas Aquinas I have the above quote engraved on the bottom of a watch that my father gave me several years ago. It means "Nothing if not you, Lord." Thomas Aquinas, 13th century monk and one of the most influential theologians and philosophers in all of history, said this after having a vision of Jesus. Reportedly Christ appeared to him and said "You have written well of me, Thomas. What what you have as a reward?" "Non nisse te Domine," was the response. After that, even though Thomas had dedicated his life to writing theology and was in the middle of writing his massive Summa Theologia, Thomas stopped writing. He said it was because all he had written, tomes and tomes of brilliant work, were as straw compared to seeing the actual Lord. Whatever you may think about such a mystical event, I personally believe it happened but I understand the more skeptical among us, the response of Thomas is what matters. When asked for...

I was born and raised in the Churches of Christ. I went to college at a Church of Christ university. For the past seven years I have served as a minister at a Church of Christ. I know the lingo, the disputes, the divides, and the tendencies of this tradition extremely well. I have been inexorably shaped by this tradition in so many ways it is probably impossible to accurately quantify.  As we all have been in one form or another, I've been on a years long journey of reevaluating my faith and inheritance. Where am I now is quite different than where I was seven years ago when I first moved to Peoria. There are many areas where I no longer agree with what I grew up with and what is considered typical Church of Christ teaching. There are also many areas where I hold more strongly to what I grew up with, though the reasons are most likely completely different.  Overall I am far more orthodox than I was. I am more deeply rooted in the faith of the early Christians. I am more firmly...