Communion

Is communion the sharing of a meal between believers who are using the opportunity to commune with one another and remember the body and blood of Jesus? Is is a Holy thing consisting of special bread and special wine that represents or even becomes the body and blood of Jesus?

I have heard the scriptures taught to say both ways. I have not done in depth study, but it seems even when people have they come out of it with whatever it was they presupposed the answer to be.

I know the Lords supper recorded in scripture was the passover meal. It consisted of more than just bread and wine. When Jesus said, "as often as you do this, do it in remembrance of me" did He mean as often as you celebrate passover? Did He mean as often as you eat food together as believers? Did He mean as often as you share this ceremonially special piece of bread and wine?

I would love to know the real answer to this question, but I'm not sure if anyone knows it. Maybe we should do it all.

Maybe we should remember that Jesus is the true passover lamb as we celebrate the passover annually. Maybe we should remember His blood and body every time we gather as believers for a meal. Maybe we should remember Him during the ceremony with the special bread and special wine whenever we do that.

I would guess that the one that makes the least sense would be the special bread and wine celebration. Yet, that seems to be the one that is mostly taking place within the christian body, Protestant and Catholic.

Makes me wonder still....

Palin

You know why everyone likes to make fun of Sarah Palin? Because she is an example of the majority of Americans who get up in the morning and go to work to provide for there family, and raise there kids the best way they know how. We don't care that much about all the rest of the crap that people like McCain and Obama and Biden do because we are busy trying to get by. This is also the reason people get away with making fun of her because we are just those little people that don't make a fus, we just get things done and keep this country going. We don't expect anything from our government except to leave us alone and allow the Military to do there job protecting the sovereignty of this great country, which we love rather than hate by the way. She represents people who have the audacity to think that a human life is worth whatever it takes to care for and keep alive and healthy, regardless of how inconvenienced we may be by it. She is just one of us who has fought her way through the politicians, lawyers, sexism and disdain that the elite of this country has for the people who accually work to make it a better place. I'm sad the see the way people have been treating her. She is our Mr. Smith. I hope that one way or another she will be Madam President Palin by 2012. Then maybe the people will have an advocate in the Whitehouse.

Question

Should a Christian pastor encourage people to pray to there demonic gods? If what we believe is true, the Bible says that the false gods of the world are powered by demons, fallen angels, whatever you want to call them. So, when a Christian person, pastor or not, is in a multi religious setting, leading a prayer is it appropriate to encourage the people to pray to there demon gods?

I have noticed this happening a lot lately. I know some of these people may only be pretending to be a follower of Jesus but some I think are true believers and are swayed by the all inclusive, tolerance based society that the US has become. Opening prayers, closing prayers, joint prayers with Muslim Clerics, Buddhist Monks, Hindu leaders, Etc., it happens more frequently these days. Another point would be too, if you are praying joint, "ecumenical" prayers with these others, what god are you actually praying to? I know each of them would be quick to say that they are not praying to Jesus, the tri-une God. So why is it a problem for Christians to say I am not going to give the demon gods the same due and True God?

Just some thoughts...

Is the sky falling?

I noticed the last two weeks or so I haven't been freaking out about the presidential race and the state of the country like usual. It seems to have happened at the same time that everyone else is going nuts about the "economic crisis". I think it's funny that all of a sudden it doesn't bother me. I'm thinking God took that anxiety from me for a reason right when everyone else would freak. I still think it is a bad idea for the federal government to intervene in private business, but hey they don't seem to care what we think. I think something that has changed for me the last few weeks is that I realized, like very few American Christians have, that our God has been at work long before this country came to existence and will still be in control after it's gone. I don't know if this country will recover, become insignificant in the world or be conquered by another country. What I have decided is that it doesn't matter much to me, God sent pagan empires to conquer the chosen nation of Israel, why would we think that we are more protected than they were. I don't think these things matter much to God. He sees the big picture and the smallest details of His chosen ones all.
I have allowed myself to stress out and become distracted by the things this country has to offer. We need to realize that the USA is not Gods chosen nation, Jesus made His kingdom open to every nation and every person who is willing. We just happen to live here. It is a great place likely the greatest on the planet and it would be sad to see such a good thing end or diminish. If that is what God chooses to do, or more likely if it is what we allow to happen, then who are we to complain. The majority of Christians on the planet and throughout history have lived and dies outside of this country and it's privileges.
So if we really believe what we say we really believe then it shouldn't matter much if the stock market crashes, the mortgage companies go bankrupt, or get bought out by our new socialist government. None of that is our salvation, Jesus is our salvation and there is no substitute. I believe that the people who founded this great country knew the greatness of the Kingdom of God and they tried to set up a reflection of that Kingdom here. That ideal seems so long ago. Just like the Israelites of old, when enough generations pass, they start to forget where they came from, and who it was that brought them out of slavery and into the great land.
So, I'm not gonna stress out, I have my druthers but there are a lot of people in this land that want something different. That may all be part of the plan for all I know, so why worry.
If we really believe what we say we really believe it shouldn't be that big of a problem for anyone else either. Don't you think.