While I’ve got no time to actually write one of my usually long winded ramblings, I thinght I’d post some things I’ve written over the last few years. Cut and paste blogging if you will. This is the first in a series of reports we did in the small group I was in a couple of years ago. I was pretty scared of writing then, kinda ironic now that I’m published for all the world to see (not that they’re all that interested.). The assignement was just to write about communion. The open ended nature of the assignment and my loathing for research gave me no small amount of stress. Looking back, going through with it was probably one of the turning points that ultimately let me to be a blogger.<\/i>
\nWritten 12-01-2001.
\nI’m not very good at reports. In fact, they scare me to death. I don’t know how to study very well and really don’t know where to start. So, to say that I was not fired up about this would be an understatement. I really don’t know what I’m doing, and even after an hour and a half on the Internet, I still don’t. So this is probably written in the wrong format, and without enough references and it’s probably too short as well. I did reach at least a couple of conclusions, though.
\nFrom what I read and have heard anecdotally there is a lot of debate about communion. There is debate about whether to use leavened or unleavened bread, wine or grape juice, whether to do it daily, weekly monthly or annually. I even read an article that claimed that communion was really just a modified Passover and should be celebrated according to the Old Testament rules governing the Passover, except with out the lamb (annually only on the 14th of the first month of the Hebrew calendar, and if you miss it, not until next year!). There is debate over whether the emblems (bread and juice) are symbols of Christ’s body or that they somehow actually become the real body of Christ.
\nI think all of these miss the point of communion. Jesus said “do this in remembrance of me.” (Luke 22:19). I don’t think the most important part of that statement is “this” but “do” and “remembrance”. That the world is so caught up in the particulars, to me, means that they don’t remember. When I take communion I try to use that moment to remember that Jesus was bloodied, beaten and disfigured so that I, a worthless and helpless rebel, could have a relationship with God. I think that if we took communion with Oreos and grape Kool-Aid, but we connected with God and remembered what we have received (and our lives showed it), God would be pleased.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"