Recently, my wife wrote about the importance of keeping church uncomplicated (check her blog out here)—and I couldn’t agree with that word any more. I like that word. That’s exactly where I’m at when it comes to church gatherings. I’m drawn to the idea of a simple church. Though I realize now that how I define that term and what Thom Rainer defined that term to mean are far different. I give Rainer credit, though, for directing me towards a... Read more
What’s something you said you’d never do… but then you did? For me, it was attending college. Even though I am in a Doctor of Ministry class, I started on the opposite end of this conversation. In fact, I didn’t think I was a good student growing up—and truth is, I wasn’t. My high school guidance counselor, who claimed to be a Christian, even told me I should look into work-study programs instead of dreaming about college, because my grades... Read more
The Lord’s Table is a powerful opportunity to examine ourselves in a way that moves us towards repentance and confession—and ultimately into greater spiritual transformation and infilling of the Spirit. As we come to the Table, we find ourselves centered again. This post is part of a blog series called This Is the Lord’s Table, exploring how the practice and discipline of communion is not just a church ritual or tradition. It is also a quiet act of resistance and... Read more
We live in a culture that often embraces a “go big or go home” way of thinking, not quiet wins. This phrase, used by many, implies that success is found only when we take bold, often illogical leaps for greatness, visibility, fame, and success. Over the past few years, I’ve seen a rise in people using hashtags to communicate this mentality—#riseandgrind, #hustleharder, and others like them. For too many, value and identity are tied to a nonstop pursuit of work,... Read more
In the commentary introduction to The Two Ways—a volume that pairs the Didache with the Shepherd of Hermas—Rowan Williams notes that by the fifth century, the church looked very different from its early-first-century form in and around Jerusalem. Williams writes that it “steadily became more and more involved with the power of the state and was seen as giving legitimacy to the emperor” (xviii). Sensing the need for something countercultural and prophetically challenging, some followers of Jesus “moved away from... Read more
The Lord’s Table is a powerful opportunity to examine ourselves in a way that moves us towards repentance and confession, and ultimately to greater spiritual transformation and infilling of the Spirit. As we come to the Table, we envision Jesus at the head, inviting us in. There’s a holy pause as we take our seat, like the stillness that falls when we begin to pray, “Our Father.” In that moment, we’re reminded that we’re standing on sacred ground. In those... Read more
Sometimes we pray things we don’t want to mean, and prayers we don’t want to pray, especially when they are prayed in the moments it feels like peace has been taken from us. Though we pray them because we know we need to mean them and need to want to pray them. For the last eight days and seven nights, our family escaped to the Dewey Beach area of Delaware for a much-needed family vacation. The breakaway from normalcy was... Read more
At the Lord’s Table, we are invited into a sacred sacrament—one that offers transformation, holds profound theological meaning, and provides deeply practical reminders. In a previous post, I mentioned that the Table invites us into a promise of trust. It also reminds us of what true victorious living looks like. This is not the kind of victory heralded by the prosperity gospel, which equates faith with on-demand through declarations and blessings with wealth, comfort, and worldly success. Rather, this is... Read more
The New Testament is not just ancient history—it’s an open and living invitation to be part of a story. To read the New Testament rightly is to hear a knock on the door of your own life, calling you to step into the ongoing story of God’s kingdom as it breaks in, sets up God’s rule and reign, and destroys outposts of darkness. The New Testament tells the story of a nucleus of radical followers of Jesus, forming simple yet... Read more
When I was growing up, the Lord’s Table—also called communion, the Eucharist, or the Lord’s Supper—often felt more like a tradition to observe or a ritual to endure than something revolutionary. Even after I returned to the church following a season of spiritual searching, I found beauty in the practice, but I wouldn’t have called it otherworldly. Over the years, I have come to see this simple moment as profoundly significant. The Lord’s Table tethers us—not just to the story... Read more
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