Doing it wrong

Last Sunday, when we took communion during the service, I did it wrong. Not in the spiritual sense, of taking it in an unworthy manner. But as often as I have heard “the body and the blood” and “the wafer and the juice”, in that order, I still opened the juice first. I realized that I had opened the “wrong” end, and with the juice already opened, I knew that I wasn’t going to turn it upside down to get the wafer. So juice first, then wafer.

But why was it the wrong way? Jesus Himself said “this is My body” before He said “this is My blood”, but He never said they had to be in that order for communion. I think that it’s a tradition, rather than a law. I don’t think it is morally wrong to drink the juice before eating the wafer.

I know that we have freedom in Christ, and I believe that freedom extends to whether we drink the juice first, or eat the wafer first. I’ve even heard of some people, in some circumstances, using cornbread and Coca-cola instead of packaged wafers and juice. Jesus didn’t say anything about whether we should use a communal cup, and the bread He broke was probably some form of unleavened bread.

Here’s what He did say.

The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.

And that’s what we’re doing now, no matter which we do first. Let’s pray.

Father God, the biggest and most important choice we have is whether to follow You and accept the gift of eternal life, which Jesus bought with His body and blood. Help us to remain focused on that, every moment of every day, and not be distracted by things that are not critical. We don’t want to be irreverent about anything, and we know the Holy Spirit will guide us. Thank You for the freedom we have, at many levels, and thank You for the gift of Jesus, whose sacrifice bought those freedoms. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Communion meditation August 16, 2026, at Connections Christian Church

Design decisions

This applies to more than the current situation.

I was behind a truck, and he had his turn signal on.

I was wondering why they didn’t have color-changing LEDs so they could use a single part for all the lights.

Cost of materials might factor into it. Red plus white are probably cheaper than a multi-color light. Maintenance might factor in. Federal standards may mandate specific color bulbs, which also disallows hackers having rainbow brake lights.

The other thing I wondered about is the timing of the mental processing. A human decision once may be simpler than having a microprocessor deciding what color to display. And adding a microprocessor re-ups the part count that eliminating one color took away. Maintenance-wise, I’d trust a random repair guy to replace a light assembly much more than a CPU. So I get it.

The other thing that probably factors in is “we’ve always done it that way”. Inertia is very strong.

Death Day

There have been a lot of birthdays recently. The United States had one yesterday, and I have one tomorrow. Well, it really belongs to Mary, but she’s letting me use it.

Birthdays are fun. Celebrations, cake and ice cream, parties. Everybody likes birthdays. But I’m reminded of the verse from Ecclesiastes that says “the day of one’s death is better than the day of one’s birth”. So why don’t we celebrate people’s death day? At a frivolous level, nobody likes eating black cake and black ice cream. Nobody wants to give presents that will be used for only a few days. And one of the more realistic reasons is that nobody really knows their death day. God has that knowledge, but we don’t.

Except that Jesus knew. He is God, and knows everything, and He knew that the next day He would be put to death. So He arranged His own celebration. Invited His friends. Instead of cake and ice cream, of any color, He had bread and wine. It was the Passover meal, but He took it and made it more.

And it was a celebration, because Jesus knew what Paul writes about later, in 2 Corinthians. “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” Jesus knew the pain and agony, physical and spiritual, that He was going to suffer. He also knew why He was going to go through that, bearing the price for our sins — it was His Father’s will. So He celebrated, and invited us to the journey and the celebration. Let’s pray.

Father God, I don’t deserve to be given life and invited to Your celebration in Heaven, and definitely not when Jesus had to pay the price of admission. But in Your infinite love, that’s what You did, and that’s what Jesus did. As we celebrate Jesus’s death and resurrection with the wafer and the juice, help us to remember the cost, and to remember the love. In Jesus name, amen. 

Communion meditation July 5. 2026, at Connections Christian Church

Flag Day

Today is Flag Day, a holiday that doesn’t get celebrated too much anymore. The US flag itself was created on June 14, 1777 – 249 years ago today. The celebration of that day was created in 1916 – a hundred and ten years ago. But what is it about the flag?

The flag is a symbol. It stands for the United Stages of America, with its thirteen stripes for the original colonies and fifty stars for the individual states.

The flag is a memorial. It reminds us of where we have come from, and who we are.

The flag is a statement and a call to action. If you remember the photo of the flag being planted on Iwo Jima in World War 2, those soldiers are both declaring that the hill belongs to the United States, and that even if they are killed, as several of them were, that the United States will defend the hill and the flag.

But what does all this have to do with communion? If we think of a song – “His banner over me is love”, which is from the Song of Solomon chapter 2, verse 4 – that banner is from the Hebrew word degel, which is also translated standard – which means “flag”.

And the things I said about the American flag don’t change when talking about God’s banner, or standard, or flag. It is a symbol – that love shows how much God loves us, that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (from Romans 5:8). It is a memorial – 1 Corinthians 11:26 says “ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.” And it is both a statement – God’s love is why we are here – and a call to action. At the end of Matthew, Jesus says “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”. Let’s pray.

Father, as we observe today as Flag Day, we need to remember that every day we commemorate Jesus’ death and resurrection as we live our lives. We take the bread and the juice now, and we are called to be lights, flags, banners to the world. Thank you for loving us so much, and thank you for trusting us with this great responsibility. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Communion token

I was reading a book earlier this month, and I saw something described that I had never heard of. It was a communion token. This was a little piece of metal that allowed you to go into the church and take communion. I thought it was so interesting that I went on eBay and bought one.

The idea behind it is that the minister of the church would examine each person every Sunday, and this man would determine if you were worthy to take communion. If you passed, you would get a communion token and be able to partake in communion. If you didn’t pass, no communion for you.

I’m sure that most of the men doing the examining were Godly, and deciding based on their understanding of scripture. I’m also pretty sure that it wasn’t 100 percent of them, across the hundreds of years and thousands of churches that used this. Somewhere, sometime, somebody was mad at a church member and refused them communion without valid reason. I hope they saw the error of their ways and repented, but that would be after the fact.

Speaking of “the error of their ways”, the whole idea is wrong. It isn’t up to a man at a church to decide who should and shouldn’t take communion. 1 Corinthians 11:28-32 talks about this. “Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.”

I count two judges. One is ourselves, the one considering taking communion. The other is the Lord. No third person, no tokens. You and God. That’s what’s in the Bible. Let’s pray.

Father God, when You sent Jesus to earth to live a sinless life and die an undeserved death, You didn’t have in mind pieces of metal or other men who judge. The bread and the juice, representing Christ’s body and blood, are available to all. “Behold, I stand at the door and knock”, Jesus said. Our response is to open the door and eat with Him. Thank you for the simplicity and universal invitation. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Communion meditation at Connections Christian Church May 31, 2026

Hymn humor

Recently, I have been meditating on glorifying God, what that means, how that happens. And I have been convicted about my speeding, which has been a regular part of driving since the last millennium.

Not focusing on whether the speed limit should be higher. Not thinking of whether the car or the driver are capable of more. Pretty black and white: the law says 35 MPH, or 65,or whatever. Am I obeying the law or not?

I’m trying to. I don’t beat myself up if I go over – I bring it down, and remember to use the cruise control.

Then I thought of a hymn that could justify more right foot action. “Pass me not, O gentle Savior”. Pretty clear I need to go faster. Then I thought about the dangers of being somewhere that Jesus is not leading.

New hymn is “I will follow Jesus”. That’s better, in driving and everywhere else.

Recreation

I’d been doing it wrong. I’ve been thinking about the outdoors, and the weather changing – it was over 70 yesterday! Almost time to get into some recreation. Recreation is about relaxing, getting away from it all. A rec center, a rec room. 

Then I realized that the word wasn’t recreation, it was re-creation, and it has nothing to do with bowling balls, golf clubs, or pool cues. Jesus was the original creator, and He is also the re-creator. In Lamentations, it says “Your mercies are new every morning.” That’s because Jesus is the Creator and the Re-Creator. In Ezekiel, God says “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” That is Jesus being the Re-Creator. That spiritual heart surgery happened to me.

In Revelation, “And the One seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’” That’s re-creation.

And just in case we might have missed it, in that same chapter of Revelation, John says “I saw a new Heaven and a new Earth”. That is a reference to Isaiah 65:17, where God says, not surprisingly, “I am creating new heavens and a new earth; everything of the past will be forgotten.”

Re-creation isn’t on the outside, it’s on the inside. And it isn’t something we do, it’s something done for us, to us, through the sacrificial blood of Christ when He hung on the cross and died for our sins. His sinless death, symbolized by the wafer and the juice, is what allows us to be re-created. His resurrection points toward the day when we, too, shall be resurrected in glory. Let’s pray.

Father God, this was all part of Your plan from before time. The creation, the re-creation – You had it all planned. Thank You for that. Thank You for Jesus, whose sacrifice allows us to be re-created. In His name I pray, amen.

Communion meditation at Connections Christian Church, March 8, 2026

The dark side

I have to confess. I did it. I actually purchased an iPhone. I’m sorry. It’s not my fault.

I want to set up a family plan so that Bettie can share my Apple TV account, and that is only possible with an iDevice. No Android path possible. This is cheaper than an iPad or a Mac.

But it’s worth an extra $35 for the benefits. Wifi-only, no cell plan. Use it once and forget it.

I have the Apple TV account so I can watch Formula 1 racing when it starts in a couple weeks. Apple bought out the broadcasting rights from ESPN, moving it from YouTube TV’s regular band to a new streaming service. I watch F1 because it’s real racing, unlike certain NASCAR events that have built-in breaks for the drivers. That really rubs me the wrong way.

Of course, if Tony Stewart was still racing, I think I could put up with that. Before him, my favorite driver was Darrell Waltrip. Before that, the King himself, Richard Petty.

So yes, I blame Richard Petty for making me buy an iPhone.

Jesus never sinned

Jesus never sinned.

We’ve heard the verse from Hebrews 4:15 “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to feel our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way just as we are—yet without sin.”  Easy enough to nod our heads and say “yup”. But what does that mean with shoes on? It means that Jesus never threw a temper tantrum. I’m sure He cried when He was hungry – that was the only language He knew. He never talked back to Mary, never rolled His eyes at Joseph. He didn’t steal fruit from the market, didn’t make fun of the fat boy down the block, didn’t ridicule the girl with acne. He didn’t bully smaller kids. He didn’t draw funny pictures of His teachers. As He got older, He didn’t get drunk on the weekends. As a carpenter, He didn’t charge too much for His work, and didn’t try to pass off inferior work as excellent. When He was with His disciples, He didn’t treat them kindly while inside His head thinking how dense they were. When He was being interrogated by Caesar, He didn’t think “Dude, you deserve to be where I am” while standing silently. And He didn’t curse the Roman soldiers who were hammering thick nails into His hands and feet. And as He was dying on the cross, He didn’t get angry at me and my sins for putting Him in that situation. He felt sorrow, to be sure, and compassion, and love. I can never repay that debt. I can accept the gift of salvation that His death and resurrection provided. Let’s pray.

Father, Jesus was perfect in ways that I can’t imagine. He became the sacrificial Lamb for all of our sins, His body and His blood portrayed by these elements. His perfection covers my imperfection, my sin. Thank You for the plan of salvation. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Communion meditation January 4, 2026, at Connections Christian Church

Cargo cult

Today’s Bible reading includes the whole book of Jonah. He’s an escape artist and a pouter. He is a great foil for God to show His goodness against. What struck me, though, is that the king of Nineveh, who God reached through Jonah’s (eventual) preaching, was apparently of the cargo cult mentality. Cargo cults sprang up after WWII, when Pacific islanders wanted the gifts and benefits that US airplanes brought, to return. The natives enticed the gifts by constructing crude runways, building models of airplanes, even mocked-up control towers. Like begets like, right? Didn’t work so well.

The king of Nineveh heard God’s call and repented. He issued a proclamation that “every person . . . should be covered with a rough cloth”. Not exactly the same as a hair shirt, but the concept is the same. To the wearer, an uncomfortable reminder. To the observer, a sign of repentance. Everybody in Nineveh was repenting and uncomfortable. But the king’s declaration included animals. “Every person and animal should be covered by a rough cloth”. So the cattle were repenting? They had turned against God? No, they were suffering because the people had done wrong, and the king wanted to make it very clear.

But God remembered the “many animals, too”, and didn’t want them destroyed.