Introduction
Since childhood, I have never had a doubt that the "Christian God" was real and that the bible was an infallible testament to His story. my parents raised my entire family under the large banner of Christianity. while many would sleep in on Sunday only to awake to their favorite cereal and favorite TV show, I woke up, ate the oatmeal my dad made every Sunday and was off to church.
My Name is Tobin Randall. and this, is "Finding Ekklesia", a blog where I will share my journey of faith with those who are willing to listen. I'll start with the day that changed my mindset and heart:
Sunday morning. I woke up, gazed at the ceiling for a brief moment, only to remember that it was church day! I looked at my phone and realized I had slept through my alarm. the first worship set had already started, and I, the guitarist on the worship team, was still in bed. as anyone would I jumped up as quickly as possible, got my clothes on, desperately hoping my shirt wasn't on backwards. I jumped into my truck and sped to the church, which to my dismay, was a 20 minute drive. upon my arrival I got my guitar from the backseat and bolted for the doors of the church. traditionally speaking, I would never ever wanted to be late to church. an aversion to tardiness is a trait I undoubtedly inherited from my dad. but at this point in my life, I had been growing an unorthodox lack of motivation in my faith. The rituals that I had grown up with had somehow seemed to lose their impact on me. now at this point, the first service had ended. naturally, I sought out the worship pastor so as to apologize for not being responsible in my role of service. "No worries man. try not to do it again, and lets get your guitar sound checked". I was honestly surprised by the lack of frustration he seemed to display in his reaction, though a welcome surprise it was. Okay, at this point I feel as though the stage is set. you understand the situation. a teenage boy who is losing the motivation to develop his faith shows up late to church, and botches his responsibility as a worship team member. its at this moment that I walk past the church's kitchen, where I saw three, maybe four teenagers preparing the communion for the service ahead. A JBL Bluetooth speaker was playing a drake song, the kids preparing the communion seemed happy and careless. upon seeing this seen, my heart sank. I couldn't catch my breath for a few seconds, and I walked quickly to one of the seats in the foyer. to be honest, I don't even know why it broke me down the way it did. but none the less, tears streamed down my face, and that was the breaking point. that was the moment I knew that there had to be something out there, some tradition, some ritual, or some church that satisfied the restlessness in my soul. a place where communion was venerated. my quest to find Ekklesia had begun.
At this point, my plan is to release a new blog post every Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning. if you are reading this, I appreciate you listening to my story! next week I will talk about my experience in studying the eucharist, and even later, how it led me down a large trail of church history. Many thanks for the support, God Bless.
