Series: Communion Meditations

The Baby Bears an Apple

By Lee Magness It comes as a surprise in the painting of Jesus” birth by the great contemporary Chinese artist He Qi (pronounced “huh chi”). The baby bears an apple. Most of the features of the painting are to be expected, traditional if not biblical details common to many depictions of the nativity””Mary bending low, Joseph lifting his lantern, animals peering at the peculiar intruders, the manger with its golden straw, and the rosy-cheeked child staring straight into the onlookers” eyes. The painting doubles as an annunciation””an angel soars, shepherds gaze skyward, sheep frolic in the foreground. But there is

November 30, 2012

Proclaim the Savior

By Diane Stortz I”m sure you”ve seen and heard the recent proclamations. Retailers” shelves have overflowed for weeks with wrapping paper, wreaths, and wind-up reindeer. Carols mingle with Christmas pop classics on the radio and in the grocery store. Advertisements abound online, on TV, and in magazines and newspapers. The cultural celebration of Christmas has begun! There”s another Christmas, of course””the reason for Christmas, the birth of Christ””and angels announced the wonderful event. Have you ever seen an angel or talked with one? Their first words are often, “Don”t be afraid!” The angel Gabriel proclaimed to Mary, “Don”t be afraid!”

September 7, 2012

Despite?

By Jackina Stark Mama died on July 4, 2011. We almost lost her earlier that year when she went to the hospital with pneumonia. Her doctor told us pneumonia isn”t called the old person”s friend for nothing, but she was treated and released to a nursing home, where she could get rehabilitation. That didn”t go well. She had spent too many years trying to breathe, and she was tired of it. We brought her home, and almost daily she told Dad, who took such loving care of her, that she couldn”t do it anymore. Even walking across a room was

August 30, 2012

Anxiety & Depression Care & Counseling

The Language of Loneliness

By Daniel Schantz “Then He came to the disciples and found them asleep, and said to Peter, “˜What! Could you not watch with Me one hour?”” (Matthew 26:40*). Thomas Wolfe described loneliness as “the central and inevitable experience of every man,” but when we are lonely, we think no one else on earth understands. Loneliness is everywhere, but it wears many disguises. To the teenage girl, loneliness is an overwhelming pressure to be just like her girlfriends, at any cost. To the college student, it”s going home for the summer to find that home has changed. To the housewife, loneliness

August 29, 2012

Refreshments Are Served

By Daniel Schantz “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:19, New King James Version). A little girl was sitting with her mother in church, swinging her legs out and back in time with the music, and singing, “Some glad morning, when this life is o”er, I”ll fly away. . . .” Then the music slowed, and the tune changed to “Beneath the Cross of Jesus.” Suddenly several men got up out of the audience, gathered at the back of the

August 24, 2012

Culture & Public Square Reconciliation

Something Stronger than Hate

By Daniel Schantz “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do” (Luke 23:34, New King James Version). In William Wyler”s 1959 award-winning movie Ben-Hur, Charlton Heston plays the wealthy prince of Jerusalem who is arrested by the Roman occupiers and thrown into the dark belly of a Roman ship, where he must row his enemies wherever they wish to go. With every pull of the oar, Ben-Hur”s hate of the Romans deepens, especially for Messala, the tribune who made him a galley slave. At last, Ben-Hur escapes his nautical prison, and by a quirk of fate he

August 17, 2012

Blessed Thirst

By Daniel Schantz “O God, you are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You . . . in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water” (Psalm 63:1, New King James Version). August. Dog days, the dry month. The front yard is like a worn-out carpet from lack of rain. Shrubs and trees are motionless, their leaves layered with dust. You carry a bottle of water wherever you go; it seems to be growing to your hand. You park your car in the shade. You walk slowly, trying not to sweat. Every

July 7, 2012

Prayer Worship & Prayer

The Mystery, the Meaning, the Love

By Rick Chromey As a man and woman exchange vows of commitment, to love for better or worse, in sickness or health, for richer or poorer, “until death” separates them, two people become one. In their physical relationship, they are one flesh. In their personal choices, they are one mind-set. In their seasons of loss, trouble, or crisis, they are one spirit. A divine thread is woven within the Christian wedding. What God has joined together, no one on earth can separate. A marriage is rock solid when God ties the knot. The bride”s white dress represents virginal purity. The

June 22, 2012

Holy Spirit Theology & Bible

Endless Summer

By Rick Chromey Few seasons, other than Christmas, have more songs dedicated to them than summer. The soundtrack of our youth is loaded with countless odes to those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer in the city. Even when the summertime blues proved cruel, most boys of summer still favored hot fun in the summertime. After all, who doesn”t enjoy a summer breeze to make you feel fine? Perhaps the reason summer captures our imagination and inspires our soul is we”d love for it to be, as the Beach Boys” album suggested, “endless.” Summer reminds us of childhood and a

June 8, 2012

Christian Living

A New Meaning to an Old Memorial

By Nancy Karpenske Imagine family and friends around your picnic table at Memorial Day. The head of the family is explaining to the youngsters about the origin and importance of the holiday. But instead of reciting history, as one would expect, he puts himself in the middle of the meaning, as if he is going to leave your family picnic and volunteer to give his life for his country. He even claims that from now on, Memorial Day will focus on his sacrifice more than on the remembrance of previous veterans. You might be glad this imaginary family isn”t yours””or

May 11, 2012

The Privilege I Anticipate

By Bryce Jessup I remember telling my dad at the age of 9 I wanted to become a Christian. I recall my older brother saying, “All he wants to do is be able to take Communion.” There was quite a discussion that ensued between my dad and his two sons! After studying for a number of weeks under my dad”s direction, I went forward to commit my life to Christ and be baptized. It was a wonderful time of celebration and hope for the future. I remember my uncle pouring some water into the baptistery from a vial he filled

May 3, 2012

Backward, Inward, and Forward

By Bryce Jessup Communion points us in three directions. We look backward, inward, and forward. First Corinthians 11:23-29 was written for troubled people who needed repentance, forgiveness, and acceptance in order to go forward with their lives. The same need exists for us today. The backward look is to Jesus when he said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me” (v. 25). Communion is looking back to the cross and seeing the One who died so that we might live. He hung from the cross not because of

April 28, 2012

Born into His Family

By Bryce Jessup One of my most memorable Communion times was sitting with my family circled in our campsite at Yosemite National Park. The day before, a number of us had caught our limits of trout. Half Dome was visible, the morning sun was warming us up, and we were rejoicing in our family vacation time on the Lord”s Day. Before we communed, my father invited each of us to share a verse of Scripture or some event wherein we had felt the touch of a loving God. Each of our children shared briefly, as did my wife and I.

April 21, 2012

The Place of Victory

By Bryce Jessup John Wooden, who died June 4, 2010, attended Shepherd of the Hills Church in the Los Angeles area. He is the only person to make it into the Basketball Hall of Fame as both a player and a coach. He won 10 NCAA Championships. He was named “Coach of the Century.” Few are aware he carried a wooden cross in his pocket. He would hold it in his fingers when things didn”t go well during a game. A reporter asked him if it was a religious ritual for him, and his answer was “no.” He said that

April 14, 2012

Forgiveness, Love, and Hope

By Bryce Jessup As a 20-year-old student in Bible college, I heard a sermon about the cross that I will never forget. The preacher told us the x in our English language was but a tilted t from ancient times. He went on to say that the t was one of the early symbols for the cross. His application was memorable. He said, “Isn”t it interesting that when you make a mistake with a typewriter (this was long before the computer age, but some will remember), you correct it by typing over it with a lot of x“s?” In other

April 7, 2012

The Host of the Table

By William Baker The original Lord”s Supper took place at a table (Luke 22:21, 30). The host was Jesus. He sent Peter and John ahead of the group to make the necessary arrangements with the owner of the house to eat at his large table of his second-floor room. However, the disciples being led to the house by a man carrying a jar of water on his head, as Jesus predicted (Luke 22:10), reveals that Jesus himself had already set this up ahead of them. After arriving at the room, Jesus functioned as the host. As he reclined around a

March 24, 2012

Unwelcome at the Table

By William Baker The original Supper of the Lord took place at a table (Luke 22:21, 30). Devoted disciples ate with Jesus at this Passover meal. One, however, left before the meal was over. Judas ate the wine-soaked bread Jesus offered him but immediately left to do his dirty deed of informing on Jesus to the temple authorities (John 13:26-30). His pact to help them capture Jesus out of the public eye would be honored that night (Luke 22:1-6). In a few hours, Judas would lead the guard to Jesus and betray him with a kiss of death. Jesus

March 17, 2012

The Family Reunion

By William Baker The original Supper of the Lord took place at a table (Luke 22:21, 30). It was a Passover meal. It was Jesus” last supper with his devoted disciples. In a matter of hours he would be arrested, beaten, and crucified. He treasured these last moments with them because they offered a foretaste of the greatest family festival reunion of all time. They would be back together again like this””at another table, at another time. Next time, gathered around the table would not just be this handful of solemn believers. Next time, every tribe, tongue, and nation would

March 16, 2012