Deep-End Discipleship

 “ But Peter ran to the tomb. When he bent over to look inside, he saw only the linen cloth. Then he returned home, wondering what had happened.” - Luke 24:12 CEB - Often we feel like we need to get it. We need to get it quickly. The pressure is on. The test seems to be in front of us. And yet sometimes it just doesn’t make sense. Often when we talk about God, it feels like we have to have all the answers now. We need to know exactly what God is about, exactly what God is doing now. And yet this is why I love Peter in the Gospel of Luke! Jesus dies, the disciples mourn, and then suddenly something happens that third day when the women go to the tomb. They come back and tell the disciples that Christ is risen but none of them believe them. It feels as if they are talking nonsense. Peter even decides to run to the tomb himself. And even then he returned home wondering. Sometimes I think that at times this is all God wants or needs of us. God just wants...

Peter said, “I really am learning that God doesn’t show partiality to one group of people over another. Rather, in every nation, whoever worships him and does what is right is acceptable to him.” - Acts 10:34-35 CEB – When my brother and I were kids, our parents had us on a routine for each day of the week. For instance, on Sundays we would go to Sunday School, attend service, go to lunch, come home, take a nap, and then have some kind of family game or activity. We all enjoyed this routine because we all love naps.   So we were shocked one day when we got home from Sunday lunch and our parents saw us going to our rooms and said, “What are you doing!? Get back in the car!” We were very perplexed children as we rode into the city and parked next to the Fabulous Fox Theater for a musical in Atlanta. We were shocked and thrilled. Peter received a shock from God in the book of Acts. Through dreams from God, Peter learned that the Gospel was not only for Jews, but for t...