Deep-End Discipleship

Look, he is coming with the clouds! Every eye will see him, including those who pierced him, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of him. This is so. Amen.   “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “the one who is and was and is coming, the Almighty.” – Revelation 1:7-8 –                Time. We keep track of it in gears on a watch or more likely by turning on our phone screen. When we have fun it seems to go faster and when we’re stuck in that class we dislike it seems to crawl to a slower pace. Sometimes we want to add more time to the day to get more done, have more time with a friend, or to take a longer nap! Whether we wish time was faster or slower, we’re all living within the constraint of time. Since we live within time, it’s hard to imagine anything outside of it. It’s hard to imagine a Being that existed before time or outside of time. Since God created everything that ...

“This is what I’m saying, brothers and sisters: The time has drawn short. From now on, those who have wives should be like people who don’t have them. Those who are sad should be like people who aren’t crying. Those who are happy should be like people who aren’t happy. Those who buy something should be like people who don’t have possessions. Those who use the world should be like people who aren’t preoccupied with it, because this world in its present form is passing away.” - 1 Corinthians 7:29-31 CEB - Amidst all the apostle Paul has to say in the Bible, this is not always one of the favorite verses. It doesn’t sound comfortable to have to suddenly act like something you’re not. You might paraphrase what the apostle says as such, “So you were happy – don’t worry about that anymore. So you were sad – stop crying now. So you are really concerned about the people in your life who care to you – don’t focus too much on them.” This is hard for us to hear as a message of Good New...