"Therefore, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions you were taught,
2 Thessalonians 2:15 (Playdough Version)
This playdough scripture was triggered by Eric's post today: Some Traditions Really Are Helpful.
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Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Playdough Scripture 2 Thessalonians 2:15
"Therefore, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions you were taught,
2 Thessalonians 2:15 (Playdough Version)
This playdough scripture was triggered by Eric's post today: Some Traditions Really Are Helpful.
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Monday, October 10, 2011
Reverse Offering
What would Jesus do today?
Would he collect an offering, or give an offering to others?
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Sunday, October 9, 2011
I am the pizza of life
What Would Jesus Do today? What if the standard meal wasn't boring bread?
Sorry if this seems sacrilegious. Sorry if it offends you.
I want to encourage you to think of who Jesus is beyond the religious traditions you may be used to.
What was He really asking of us here? How should we respond? What was this about?
I'd love to hear your thoughts.
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Saturday, October 8, 2011
Pass the Potatoes for Communion
1 Cor 10:16-17 (NIV)
Communion also speaks of our relationship with one another.
Of course the communion or Lord's supper practice has a deeper meaning that goes along with this strange custom. We remember Christ's body that was sacrificed for us. We remember that we are part of His living body today. It is usually a quiet solemn time of repentance and prayer.
The early church followed Jesus' command and example of coming together and breaking bread together as a time to remember Jesus. It seems it was usually a full meal, and was often called a love feast.
Why Bread? Well bread was the standard food of substance for that culture. Jesus is the bread of life. He is what sustains and gives life to His followers.
So what if Jesus had come to some Asian culture? Would he have shared rice with his followers instead?
What if he came to one of our homes on Thanskgiving weekend? (This weekend for us Canadians eh?) Would Jesus have made a connection between sharing potatoes and turkey as a way to remember our shared life together, and all that He has shared with us?
What do you think? Have we created some religious symbols and traditions but lost some of the context? In what ways do we participate in the body of Christ as we eat together?
When we gather around a meal with potatoes, can we remember Christ's body? Can we remember His body sacrificed for us? Can we remember that we are now all members of His living body and participating together for His work and His kingdom?
What do you think? Am I being too sacrilegious?
What did Jesus really mean with this activity (recorded in 1 Cor 11:23 - 26), and what did he really want us to do to remember him?
I'd love you hear your thoughts.
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"Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf."What is communion? For my tradition one type of communion is where some crackers or wafers are shared together with some grape juice. Just a little nibble of a bread like substance, and a little sip of a wine like substance.
Communion also speaks of our relationship with one another.
Of course the communion or Lord's supper practice has a deeper meaning that goes along with this strange custom. We remember Christ's body that was sacrificed for us. We remember that we are part of His living body today. It is usually a quiet solemn time of repentance and prayer.
The early church followed Jesus' command and example of coming together and breaking bread together as a time to remember Jesus. It seems it was usually a full meal, and was often called a love feast.
Why Bread? Well bread was the standard food of substance for that culture. Jesus is the bread of life. He is what sustains and gives life to His followers.
So what if Jesus had come to some Asian culture? Would he have shared rice with his followers instead?
What if he came to one of our homes on Thanskgiving weekend? (This weekend for us Canadians eh?) Would Jesus have made a connection between sharing potatoes and turkey as a way to remember our shared life together, and all that He has shared with us?
What do you think? Have we created some religious symbols and traditions but lost some of the context? In what ways do we participate in the body of Christ as we eat together?
When we gather around a meal with potatoes, can we remember Christ's body? Can we remember His body sacrificed for us? Can we remember that we are now all members of His living body and participating together for His work and His kingdom?
What do you think? Am I being too sacrilegious?
What did Jesus really mean with this activity (recorded in 1 Cor 11:23 - 26), and what did he really want us to do to remember him?
I'd love you hear your thoughts.
Related Posts:
Kingdom Like Treasure
Matt 13:44 (HCSB)
"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure, buried in a field, that a man found and reburied. Then in his joy he goes and sells everything he has and buys that field."
Continuing my series on the secrets of the kingdom. The secrets of the kingdom of God have been given to us (Matthew 13:11). Jesus came to share this kingdom message (Luke 4:43). So I'm examining different passages related to this kingdom message.
I like this short little parable in Matt 13:44. I think it is an easier one to understand.
The Kingdom of heaven is of greatest worth. It is like a treasure found that a man gives up all he has to acquire it. It is worth giving up everything for.
Seek first the kingdom of God. Are you seeking to live under the reign of God?
To me there is something neat about the line "buried in a field". It's been there all along, but I feel I'm recently discovering it.
Paul tells a similar story of giving up what he had to follow Christ's Lordship. Paul was an upright religious man who had it all together in the eyes of people in his day. Phil 3:6-10 (HCSB)
"as to zeal, persecuting the church; as to the righteousness that is in the law, blameless. But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ. More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of Him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them filth, so that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ —the righteousness from God based on faith. [My goal] is to know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, "Paul sacrifices a lot. He sacrificed his position and status in society as a devout religious man. He ends up going through many sufferings and persecutions as a result of opposition with the religious folks of his day. But he rejoices that he has given up so much, because he has found Christ. Knowing and following Jesus is the treasure Paul is seeking.
What are some things you may need to give up if you seek to follow the reign of God?
- Your own selfish desires?
- Your pride?
- Religion?
- Wealth?
- Other?
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Monday, September 26, 2011
Plugins Extensions and Add-ons and the Church
"Speed up browsing by disabling add-ons." I keep getting this message when I use Internet Explorer. I just checked Firefox and counted 13 plugins and extensions. I should sort through which ones I need to keep and discard the rest. If you have too many add-ons life slows down. We all know people who fill up every spare minute of their lives with activities and clubs. Its worth taking a moment now and then to sort out our priorities, and disable some add-ons.
From the studies I've done on what church meant in the New Testament here, here and here I believe church is people of God and when they get together. However when I look at church today I see a lot of extra things that have been added over the years. Extra additions are not necessarily bad. Sometimes people get so used to these extra things that they can't imagine church without them. Sometimes these extra things get most of the focus, a lot of resources and time.
I think it is worth recognizing that the way church is now is not the way it has always been, and it is not the way it has to be.
This is a simple summary list of some extras the church has added over the years. I won't attempt to do in-depth research here on any of it. If you have any questions feel free to comment.
Video/Multimedia presentations - a recent addition by our generation
Sound technicians - another fairly recent addition
Worship Band - styles of music have changed throughout the years. There was a time when the only musical instruments were voices.
Youth Groups - YMCA and YWCA were some of the first ministries aimed at young adults and teens. These were founded in the 1850s. Now youth groups are seen as an important part of most church communities.
Sunday School - Started in the 1780s, originally started to teach poor children to read. Now it is hard to imagine a church community without a Sunday School program for children.
VBS - I was surprised at this one. VBS ministries have actually been going for over 100 years. But still in the scope of church history a relatively recent addition.
Bible College - it seems Christian education in the early days was more of an apprenticeship model. Studying Scriptures would have been important to the early church, but there is no mention of Bible Colleges in the New Testament. Christian leaders haven't always had certificates, diplomas, and degrees in Christian education.
Church Libraries - early church gatherings would have been lucky if they had copies of some of the New testament writings. It took a few hundred years to put them together into a collection we call the Bible. Today most church communities have libraries with hundreds of books and audio and video resources.
Pews/Chairs - people sitting in rows of pews were not common until the Reformation 500 years ago, around the same time when the sermons became more of a focus.
Ushers - just a guess here, but I suspect ushers were not needed before the pews.
Sermons as the main part of the gathering - I guess it depends what you call a sermon. There were lengthy speeches or sermons in the NT. And believers obviously spoke and taught each other whenever they got together. However it seems there was usually audience participation during these speeches. When did a 30 minute monolog become the main part of the gatherings?
Church Buildings - the early church met in homes, and in public spaces. Some of these private homes were converted to accommodate growing gatherings. However there were over 3000 believers in the church in Jerusalem with no records of an early mega-church building project.
Staff - some research suggest it wasn't until 300 years after Christ that some introduced the practice of tithing to support a paid clergy. This practice did not become widespread until about 700 AD. It is now common to have multiple staff on a payroll.
Church annual meetings - they make sense if you have buildings, staff, programs and a leadership structure that wants input from a membership. It is unlikely the NT church held annual meeting to vote on a budgets and discuss programs if they didn't have staff, programs and special buildings.
Board meetings - with all the above extras added to the church, it seems there is a need for a group of leaders to make decisions about these things.
Most Christian (in the West at least) value these extras. Many of these extras can help build relationships that build up believers to become more like Christ. It's not all bad.
Take a moment though and try to imagine church without the add-ons.
What would the church be left with? You may find it hard to imagine what the church was like before these things were added. I can imagine a group of believers with a simple focus of loving God and loving others.
I find myself fellowshipping with others who value more plugins and add-ons than I do. But when I can, I am now saying no-thanks to some of the add-ons. I see value in focusing on the church, the people, without the extras. That is the church I am committed to.
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