Series: Communion Meditations

First Memories

By Stuart Powell In the second-last chapter of Deuteronomy, Moses blessed the tribes of Israel. As the old prophet prepared to ascend the mountain to view the Promised Land and then to die, he poured out his heart in prayer. He asked God to continue showing favor to his chosen people. In his prayer, Moses referred to Yahweh God as “him who resided in the burning bush.” Even at the end of his life, Moses was still awed by the memory of his first encounter with the creator God. How often did Moses’ thoughts drift back to that day in

August 6, 2019

Faith of the 21

By Stuart Powell Some images in life are so tragic, we struggle to process what we’ve seen. In early 2015, 21 young Christian Egyptian men clad in orange jumpsuits were marched single file onto a beach in Libya. The men stopped and faced the camera and were forced to their knees. Behind each Christian was a masked radical Islamist holding a knife. We all know what came next, and most of us recoil at the thought. Many people living in Western cultures that developed from Christianity’s influence are tempted to believe martyrs are people we read about only in the

July 30, 2019

On-Time Delivery

By Jon Wren Several years ago, an independent study conducted by a British research firm determined that the most efficient organization in the world was the United State Postal Service. The study found that on average, a typical Postal Service employee handles more than 268,000 pieces of a mail a year. That total amounts to almost 765 packages and letters every day! Yet despite its legendary efficiency, the typical post office still doesn’t deliver all of the mail on time . . . or sometimes at all! A 2018 report found that only 93.8 percent of all first-class mail was

July 23, 2019

Baptism Theology & Bible

Help the Fish

By Jon Wren One Sunday in Texas, when legendary General Sam Houston attended a service at a small country church, he decided to place his faith in Christ. After the service, the pastor and congregation walked with Houston to a nearby creek for his baptism. As the pastor led Houston into the water, the church began to sing a hymn to thank God for his mercy. After the song, the pastor took Houston’s confession, then leaned him into the water and back out again, baptizing the general into Christ. As the crowd began to clap and cheer, the pastor proclaimed,

July 16, 2019

A Moment

By Stuart Powell By definition, a moment is a very short span of time. The swing of a pendulum,a breath,a sigh,a yawn,a statement;all of them take only a moment. We often dismiss the moments of life as insignificant events. But sometimes such dismissals trivialize the impact those moments can have on our lives. _ _ _ A lot can happen in one moment. There was a moment when perfection and beauty were crippled by an act of pride and selfishness. It was the moment Eve stretched out her hand to receive the forbidden fruit. In a moment, the innocence of

July 9, 2019

Godliness

By Stuart Powell Dictionary.com defines godliness as “conforming to the laws and wishes of God.” Those are demanding words. To conform, we must fully understand God’s law. To live up to God’s standards, we must comprehend all of his wishes for us. But who can know what the eternal God wants? Many times, it seems, God’s expectations are much simpler than we anticipate. One action that he made explicitly clear to his followers involves the table before us. Listen to his command: Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to

July 2, 2019

Communion & Lord's Supper Theology & Bible

Unbroken

By Beau Bruton Sometimes people talk about the “broken body” of our Savior, Jesus Christ. As horrible as what Jesus went through, to say his body was “broken” is incorrect when taken literally. The Bible describes specifically what happened shortly after Jesus died: Because the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. But when they came

June 25, 2019

True Glory

By Jason Shreve On July 4, Americans celebrate our independence from Great Britain and the beginning of our country. George Washington was our first president, of course, but did you know he didn’t sign the Declaration of Independence? He was in New York at the time, preparing a defense against the British. As a young man, Washington’s greatest desire was for glory and honor. His father was successful but never got much glory. But glory is exactly what young George wanted, and his best path to achieving it was through military service. So, George set his focus on becoming a

June 18, 2019

Care & Counseling Grief & Suffering

A Reminder We Need

By Jon Wren Larry David is one of the most successful comic writers ever. The creator of TV’s Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm is a household name. Yet several years ago, in a profile in Rolling Stone magazine, a friend shared a poignant story about David’s trip to a baseball game. One night during his stay (in New York), David went to Yankee Stadium to see a game. His image went up on the big screen as Curb Your Enthusiasm’s theme song played over the big speakers. An entire stadium of fans stood and cheered for the hopeless case from

June 11, 2019

Doug Redford

Disfigured

By Doug Redford Jane Alden Stevens was a professor of fine arts at the University of Cincinnati. During a trip to France several years ago, she noticed a stone obelisk in a small French village that had inscribed on it the names of those who had died during World War I. She later decided to conduct a study of how people in various European countries remembered that war. The result was a book of black and white photos that she entitled Tears of Stone: World War I Remembered. At Brookwood Military Cemetery in England, Stevens photographed a grave with this

June 4, 2019

Memory: Weak Yet Powerful

By Stuart Powell Suffering and sorrow stink! Pain—whether physical, emotional, or spiritual—is seemingly ever present in our lives, and there often is no good way to deal with it. It never passes quickly enough. Some pain never diminishes. The death of a loved one gives birth to intense and enduring pain. Philip Yancey explained that God gave us memories of those who are absent from this life as a gift to help with the pain. The weakness of our memories is the best weapon we have to combat the pain of loss. Memory is limited, but memory also is a

May 28, 2019

More Than Enough

By Jon Wren Many Christ followers observe Communion as a reminder of God’s grace and goodness and as a gift we receive rather than a prize we must earn. But for many Christians and churches, the desire to show others God’s goodness in action can drift into a need to show others our own goodness. And if we are not careful, we can begin to drift toward a well-intentioned but incredibly destructive life in which we are consumed by the need to be busy or at least seem busy on behalf of Christ. Christian author Barbara Brown Taylor wrote of

May 21, 2019

No Contest

By Stuart Powell One Old Testament story is familiar to almost everyone, even those with little exposure to the Bible. A young, diminutive shepherd faced a mammoth, lifelong fighter in mortal combat. Each one carried the tools of his trade. The shepherd carried a staff, sling, stones, and a few years of experience watching over a flock of sheep. The soldier bore a sword, a blood-stained javelin, and the wisdom of countless victories on the field of battle. From their respective sides, each combatant spoke with confidence regarding his presumed victory. The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and

May 14, 2019

Contemplative Steps

By Stuart Powell On the southern end of the temple mount in Jerusalem is a broad staircase that led throngs of first-century worshippers of Israel’s God to the center of the Jewish faith. The steps were built irregularly and uneven, alternating between long and short treads. This pattern seemed intended to slow down the hectic pace of worship, possibly by directing the pilgrims’ attentions away from social interaction surrounding them. Instead, they focused on what it meant to approach the awesome presence of the Creator. The temple entrance was designed to demand contemplative steps, so that the multitudes passing through

May 7, 2019

Marcus: Choosing to Love

By Jon Wren Nobody came to his first birthday party. He spent it alone in a wing designed for medically fragile infants in a hospital room in Northern Indiana. Marcus was born 3 months premature, weighing 1 pound, to a heroin-addicted mother who left him at the hospital as an orphan. He suffered from multiple medical complications, could not breathe on his own, and wasn’t expected to ever learn how to talk. Truth be told, doctors didn’t expect Marcus to live to see his 2nd birthday. But not long after, Marcus had a visitor, a 56-year-old nurse named Kelly. She

April 30, 2019

Care & Counseling

Removing Barriers to Community

By Melinda Gividen A story from Newton, Massachusetts, just outside Boston, is spreading joy across the country. Two-year-old Samantha Savitz lives there with her family; they moved to the neighborhood right before Sam was born. From the start, neighbors have loved on Sam and her family, sharing such things as cookies and casseroles with them. But the story grew more interesting when the family, and then the neighbors, learned that Samantha was born deaf. Over the last two years, Sam has become the most popular girl on the block. She takes daily walks with her parents, waving and smiling at

April 23, 2019

Family & Relationships Parenting

‘Teach Them to Your Children’

By Stuart Powell Teaching children is an important aspect of the Christian faith and obeying the God of creation. In Deuteronomy, for example, Moses repeatedly encouraged and instructed the people of Israel to pass down information to succeeding generations: These words I am commanding you today must be kept in mind, and you must teach them to your children and speak of them as you sit in your house, as you walk along the road, as you lie down, and as you get up. You should tie them as a reminder on your forearm and fasten them as symbols on

April 16, 2019

Remembering Excellence

By Stuart Powell Have you noticed the prevalence of sorrow-filled information that surrounds us? The daily news is laden with violence, and much popular entertainment is dark. Many of our words, even in church, are glum . . . almost heartbreaking. Most of our prayers are petitions for the sick and pleas for God to comfort those who have endured loss. Bible studies and sermons highlight the risks we face from cultural evils. This shouldn’t surprise us, for the brokenness of sin warps the human mind. The effects of sin direct our focus to violence and death. Our culture seems

April 9, 2019