Communion

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I am a part of a new worship gathering called Communion. It is part worship/bible class, part mixer, and part AA meeting. Well, instead of AA it is more like SA.Sinners Anonymous.

Calling it Communion is really an attempt to steal back that word. I say steal back, because many associate communion only with the Lords Supper. But, communion is more than that.

Now, dont hear me saying the Lords Supper is not a big deal or a second rate part of our spiritual life.

Ideally, communion is the Lords Supper and it is our gathering together and sharing each others burdens, being in each others lives, connecting with each other and God and on and on. Communion is about give and take.

Rethinking communion has also caused me to rethink the Lords Supper.

Growing up, my tribe took the Lords Supper every week. The Bible verses read before the bread and cup were either from the Last Supper Jesus had with the apostles or from Pauls writings in Corinthians. Thats fine. There is good stuff there. The only thing beyond those two that was read dealt with Jesus on the cross. The focus was on His anguish and pain.

Im not trying to diminish any of that. It still amazes me what Jesus went through. But sometime I would love to hear about when they went to the tomb and it was empty. When the angel of the Lord said, He is risen! But, I guess that is just for Easter.

Or, read something like Acts 2:44-45.

All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.

I mean, if you can read that and it is true, then you know you are really taking Communion.

I dont like to explain too much of my videos. I like to let each one get whatever they might from it. I do want to point out a couple of things.

Koinonia is a Greek word meaning fellowship or participate.

The picture of the earth is meant to remind us that communion is not just with those in your church, your denomination, but all around the world.

Hallelujah

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I was thinking about the Psalms and started looking over them. At the beginning of many of the Psalms there are liner notes. They talk about things like who the Psalm is attributed to or what tune it is to be sung with or what instrument accompanies, etc.

Then it hit me, David loved music. I mean, I knew that, but then I understood it. He was a musician. He loved to jam. I then pictured David sitting around working out a tune on his harp while other musicians sat with him. Maybe Asaph or Korah's boys where there and they just jammed. How cool would that have been to listen in on those sessions?

I think we are quick to forget that the book of Psalms is incomplete to us. We don't know the tune. Yeah, we have the important stuff, but I think the music is right up there with it. It completes it. Yin-Yang.

Read these next words and try not to 'hear' the tune in your head...

Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you. And many more!

I'm sure that will be stuck in you head now. Sorry.

The point is that music adds another dimension, another level of emotion. It is also easier to remember words when you know the tune.

Hallelujah is a tune written by Leonard Cohen and has been covered by several folks. Most recently K.D. Lang recorded it. This version is sung by Jeff Buckley. The words talk about David but slip to a Samson reference. I don't have a problem with it but some who listen to it do. Besides the obvious references to David, I thought, 'yeah...his life was a hallelujah.'

Membership Has Its Privileges

Something I've been trying to get my mind around recently is the idea of Church Membership. What is that? What does it mean to be a member of a church. Not The Church...the Church Universal. I'm talking about the church on the corner, or down the street, or wherever.

Do you go to church somewhere that you have 'placed your membership' there? I do. I'm not sure why. (I mean, why we have membership, not why do I go there.)

I don't think it is inherently wrong. I do believe it can be problematic at best, and a wedge at worst.

I'm still looking for that scripture that talks about it. The one that encourages us to place our membership in a local congregation. I'm not saying don't participate with a group of believers...with a congregation of 'saints'.

(And just because it isn't in the scriptures doesn't mean it can't be done. Look at all the things we do that aren't validated by the Word of God...buildings, praise teams, youth pastors, flat-screens, and on and on.)

Is it that helpful for the work of the Lord? I realize if you are a group of any size, keeping up with who is there and who didn't show up is a way to seek out those who didn't make it and see what might be going on their lives and if there is anything that can be done to help them. But is that what we do? Or is it all about the numbers?

I guess the problem I have is, who decides which folks can join and how do they decide? Does it create a culture of us vs. them.

I know some denominations/congregations require you to have been baptized in 'their' faith (or being baptized at all, for that matter) before joining in communion.

The funny thing is, folks have left our church and placed membership elsewhere and I never hear of their membership being revoked at the old place. It is usually announced when someone does place membership, but why not when they leave? I guess they are moved to the inactive list...maybe injured/reserved, I don't know.

By now, you may be thinking, so what? I understand, so I'll tell you why.

What if someone wants to work with a local church, they want to place membership, but they confess a sin that is not socially accepted in most churches and are turned away, at the same time, the entire building is 'crawling' with sinners.

Who gets in?

A Few Thousand Links

Some of you may already know about Sites Unseen, but if not, it is the definitive site for "Alternative Christian Links." I'm not kidding. Try 5000 plus links! It is a bit overwhelming at first, but well organized.

Also, the Gathering has begun in New Mexico and goes for the next few days.

Cold Water

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I think I've been burying my talents in the ground. Do you know that story...that parable? There are two versions; I'll direct you to the one in Matthew. A man gave his servants some money to look after and take care of while he is gone. The link can take you to the story so I wont go into too much detail...but I'm like the last guy who was afraid and "lazy", not doing much with what I've been given.

I've always like making God videos. You know, stuff that has a bit of meaning to it. I've neglected it for the past year. I'm working to change that. I'm also changing what I do with them. Before, I tried to sell them. Now I think I'll give them away. (I'm not saying there is anything wrong with other folks, companies who are in business selling God videos. I have no problem with that.)

I don't have anything new to offer yet, but I have something from a series I did called King David's Garage Band. This is a song from Damien Rice. Buy 'O' from which this song is taken. The song is Cold Water and it really is amazing. I framed it against one of the darkest Psalms...Psalm 88.

Growing up, I cannot remember ever hearing a sermon on Psalm 88. It was never talked about. All the other Psalms seem like they are made for TV. You know, they may start out bad, stay bad, but right at the very end there is the clause, but you are the LORD and I will trust in you...fade to black. Not this one. Not 88. It just ends, no explanation, just desperation, and a place in life where all of us have visited at some point in our lives.