Ancient Paths Blog

More Meditations For Serving At the Lord's Table

Here are some more meditations I've used to direct the thoughts of God's people at the Lord's Table:

Bread, Wine, and the Obedience of Christ

In the Bible leaven or yeast is often a symbol for sin.  Thus unleavened bread alone was used in the ceremonies of the old testament, particularly Passover, from which the Lord's Supper comes.  Wine is often referred to as "the blood of the grape."  It's no surprise then that Jesus incorporates these things into a ritual to commemorate the redemption under the new covenant.

Some Meditations for Serving at the Lord's Table

Here are some thoughts that I've used on occasion to serve at the Lord's Table:

The Too Familiar Words of Institution - Quite often I struggle with what to say when we gather at the Lord's Table.  Though we only partake of this once a month, we (pastors) often repeat the same lines by way of introduction.  And out of fear of falling into a rut I feel compelled to try to come up with something fresh, some new angle on communion to help you.

Why I Think Tithing is for Christians

One of my least favorite areas of ministry is the business end - the forming of budgets and accounting for funds.  I'm just not a numbers guy.  I don't do spread sheets.  Don't ask me to balance anything.  Our pastoral staff is composed of generalists rather than specialists but one thing our church (wisely) never does is put me in charge of administration.  (Neither does my wife for that matter...).

When It's Ok Not To Enjoy Church

There's a prevailing - and I think unfounded - assumption among American Christians that church should be enjoyable.  Most people approach church involvement as if they were about to attend a dinner theater production: we dress up; we leave in time so as not to be late; we expect to be greeted at the door and escorted to our choice of seating; we hope the music is to our taste and that the pastor's speaking is winsome, engaging, and delightful.  Then, of course, on the way home we review the whole as if we were critics about to write a column for the "Arts & Entertainment" section of the paper.  I say this perspective is unfounded and want to suggest that, sometimes, not enjoying church is an expression of genuine Christian faith.

From the Creed - Almighty...

That God is Father and every good notion of fatherhood flows out of Him provides the setting for the next statement of the creed: that God is almighty.  There is wisdom in the sequence of descriptions of God here.

The American Heresy - "Easy on the Supernatural Please..."

So what would Paul put his finger on if writing an epistle "To the Americans"?  After all each letter he wrote seemed to address at least one issue.  The Galatians had been infiltrated by the Judaizers - those advocating belief in Jesus andcircumcision to be saved.  The Colossians were being influenced by some sort of "hollow and deceptive philosophy" - possibly a mixture of Greek philosophical ideas and Jewish mysticism.

In my last post I suggested he would address our "this worldly perspective" - that Christianity was for maximizing our lives in this world.  But I think he'd also address our materialist perspective.  By this I don't mean we're too much into stuff.  I don't dispute that but what I mean by materialism here is that we're soft on the supernatural. 

A Baptist Baptism You've Probably Never Seen!

A Bapist baptism you've probably never seen - I've heard of immersion but...

 

 

Comments:

1. Yeah - how do you handle a kid who's excited about being baptised!?

2. The pastor's reaction betrays the fact that for Baptists, baptism is sacred and not to be trifled with.  (When it comes to the Lord's Supper, that's another matter.)

The American Heresy - "My Best Life Now!"

A successful study of the book of Colossians requires an awareness of what commentators call the Colossian heresy.  It describes the false teaching that was making its way through the Colossian church leading many astray.  Just exactly what it was is unknown but the general contours of it can be discerned from Paul's comments in the letter itself.

Paul called it a "hollow and deceptive philosophy," 2:8 possibly indicating it involved a somewhat coherent system.  It was a system that "depends on human tradition" 2:8 (compare verse 22) - what kinds of tradition we don't know.  It also depended on what Paul called stoichia, translated by the NIV, NAS, and NKJ as "the basic/elementary principles of this world" or as the ESV and NRS render it "the elemental spirits of the world."  At any rate the false teaching did not depend "on Christ" 2:8.

When Pragmatists Run the Church

I was recently asked by a member of our congregation via Facebook to comment on an article at ChristianityToday.com regarding automated giving in Church.  The article entitled E-giving: Bring the Convenience of Electronic Payments to Church Tithes and Donationsthought this was a good idea principally because "many of your members have been eagerly waiting for the convenience of tithing or donating electronically" already and "giving a tithe or donation using online services is even easier than buying a value-meal."

The bottom line however is the bottom line as "the convenience of electronic giving could lead to increased giving and reduced costs associated with handling cash" and with the set up of automated electronic giving "donations continue to be made even if the congregant is not able to attend."

Here's how I replied:

Bring On the Strippers!

Ok, I'll bite...

Recently posted on the New York Times' website an article on evangelical churches in Brazil entitled Fight Nights and Reggae Pack Brazilian Churches starts off:

SÃO PAULO, Brazil — The atmosphere was electric at Reborn in Christ Church on “Extreme Fight” night. Churchgoers dressed in jeans and sneakers, many with ball caps turned backward, lined a makeshift boxing ring to cheer on bare-chested jujitsu fighters...