The View from the West Mesa

Well, it’s done for another year – the commercial side of Christmas anyway. Now we enter the Octave of Christmas on the religious and spiritual side of things. A chance to savor the coming of God during the period leading up to Epiphany, the day that marks both the baptism of Jesus and serves as a remembrance of His being revealed to the world through the testimony of God Himself. And so, for those attuned to the rhythms of the church year, we moved through Advent as we awaited His coming into the world, and through the Christmas season wherein we celebrate His accomplished in-breaking, to Epiphany when we celebrate His revealing to the world through His ministry, and then into Lent, anticipating His death as well as ours, and so into Easter, another and perhaps His most powerful revealing in power as Savior of the world, and as our hope of living with Him forever. And so we travel seasons with our focus repeatedly on Jesus, His coming to save us, and His acceptance of us to participat...

Most Christians would agree that the writers of Scripture were inspired by God when they wrote the autographs. While we may argue whether the Holy Spirit dictated the actual words, or the thoughts and ideas, inspiration in some form is usually not debated. Inspiration is a critical aspect of Scripture, imbuing it with a divinely-appointed importance for the church. We know what God has said because we believe that what we have received was inspired by our God. Scripture is the very words of God – in some form. But few Christians today would claim to be inspired in their daily lives, or in their church lives. To claim to be inspired is a claim that will receive considerable scrutiny if not out right rejection by the vast majority of Protestant Christendom. While I don’t know that we should claim inspiration for every idea or thought that travels through our minds, I am equally doubtful that we do not receive inspiration as we attempt to live and minister as God would have us. If we beli...

The following is the communion reflection given on the first Sunday of Advent, 2007. Romans 13.11-14 reads like this: “And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.” (NIV) This is an interesting passage for communion but we will get to that a bit later. First let’s read the previous pericope. Verses eight through ten read thusly: “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. The commandments,...