As a beginning it seemed appropriate to explain myself; that is why I titled this blog Thoughts of a Weak-Kneed Disciple, and why its URL is crackernocheese.

In the introduction to his book The Ragamuffin Gospel, Brennan Manning sets the stage for his elaboration of one of the great truths of the Gospel, Jesus came to save sinners, not the righteous. In Manning’s description, the person who claims to be a Christian thinking that he has attained to the standard of perfection, is righteous in and of himself, has perfected his morality, and to all outward appearances has it all together, has missed the Gospel. The Gospel, the good news of the person and work of Jesus Christ, is that we cannot get back to God with our on effort. The only way to God is to accept His gift of a perfect righteousness found in Christ.

In his intro, Manning describes those who are on the journey of faith -- those living in this world longing for the reality of the Gospel in their lives, yet constantly experiencing distraction and failure as the weak-kneed, wobbly disciples, whose cheese is falling off their cracker.

I see myself as one of these travelers, on a journey that will end when my savior returns or calls me home from this foreign place we call earth. The journey is difficult, the valley of the shadow of death (Psalm 23) seems to loom on the horizon, so I endeavor to pursue Christ, that His will becomes mine, that His affections become mine, that His life becomes mine. Not an easy task, but I know that God is at work in me to transform me into the image of his Son, so my life has hope, not because I will make it but because He is making me.