Four Views of the Lord’s Supper

We’re all familiar with the words instituted by Christ on the evening of the First Lord’s Supper. Paul gives these words in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had givenContinue reading “Four Views of the Lord’s Supper”

The Real Presence of Christ in the bread and wine

Most evangelicals underestimate the meaning, power and purpose of the Lord’s Supper. The Apostle Paul calls the Supper, a koinonia in the body and blood of Christ, a communion by intimate participation (1Cor. 10:14-16). Our partaking of Christ is described in the Supper as “eating” and “drinking” so that we’d never think that the lifeContinue reading “The Real Presence of Christ in the bread and wine”

Communion by Intimate Participation

On the Festive Day of Rest, called the Lord’s day there is a standing invitation to all those who love the Lord to share in His Fellowship and Worship. And on this day, He often hosts a spiritual banquet for us to experience a greater intimacy with Him. We call this banquet The Lord’s Supper.Continue reading “Communion by Intimate Participation”

The Christian Sabbath IV: A Gift

I have bemoaned that most of the teaching I have heard on the Sabbath has been unsatisfying to me because it is either viewed as a policy with a list of joyless regulations or as an old-fashioned obsolete shadow of the past. The sabbath policy people imply that God loves the Sabbath and created manContinue reading “The Christian Sabbath IV: A Gift”

Receiving uncomfortable grace

Too often we bury ourselves in the busyness of following Jesus and serving others instead of relaxing and receiving uncomfortable grace from Him. Our hearts are often resistant to love that it poured out on us, a resistance that forces our bodies to tighten up inhibiting us from receiving.  I think about the tender actContinue reading “Receiving uncomfortable grace”

The Unpredictibility of Living with Jesus

With the simplicity of click, drag and drop, Jesus exorcised the demons and sent them into the herd of 2,000 pigs who immediately ran down the steep bank and drowned themselves in the sea.  Upon hearing the breaking news of the miraculous healing along with the bankruptcy of the BBQ industry, the Gadarene townspeople wereContinue reading “The Unpredictibility of Living with Jesus”

Jesus stills the storm and He stills the soul.

Mark 5:1-20 tells the story of a miserable man who was kept in the tombs by a legion of unclean, demonic spirits. The spirits trapped him there to torment him continually with the spectacle of death. They cut him off from society and he lived as a dead man among the dead. The “Gardarene Demoniac,”Continue reading “Jesus stills the storm and He stills the soul.”

Fear constricts the flow of grace while Faith opens its hydrant

I think the tendency of many people, even Christians, is to view God as stingy and holding back the best from us as if God is like a man who is afraid he will run out so he is always thinking about the cost. There is a lot of stinginess to go around in ourContinue reading “Fear constricts the flow of grace while Faith opens its hydrant”

Emotions and Attitudes: Depression

Many of us are effective at ignoring the warning signs of our emotions and attitudes when we should be paying attention to these God-given alerts that something is amiss deep down. Often, if we will look with God’s help, we will see something connected to the emotion or attitude that needs to be confessed, repentedContinue reading “Emotions and Attitudes: Depression”

A life that welcomes sinners will be criticized by the self-righteous establishment

Do you love a good controversy? Well, Jesus was the instigator of several controversies during his 3 years of ministry on the earth including the strong disagreement over the people with whom he chose to eat. The Religiously Serious leaders of the day (the people  who you may have expected to be closer to JesusContinue reading “A life that welcomes sinners will be criticized by the self-righteous establishment”