Randy Wray’s Blog

The ocean, the beach, the breeze and the palm trees. If the Pepperdine lectures were not in Malibu, California the attendance would surely suffer.

Last night the speaker painted a vibrant picture of the church community through the eyes of John, the apostle. He led us on a mental, virtual tour of this church and her unique characteristics.

The first item of note was the absence of bumper stickers on the cars in the parking lot. Specifically the absence of political statements.

The foyer of the church building held painting after painting of the life of Jesus Christ as viewed through the eyes of John. The two principal paintings included the depiction of Peter swinging his sword and the face to face meeting between Pilate and Jesus.

The worship space had no walls and no pews because the church was a place of action.

The pulpit, a large wooden object, was the centerpiece of the worship space. This pulpit was not like a traditional pulpit it was of some significant height with a crossbeam. The speaker of the day was Jesus. His message: “If I be lifted up, I will draw all men to myself.”

Pepperdine is a place of stairs. Perhaps someone has actually counted the number of stairs. If I had to guess I would say in the hundreds of thousands.

This morning as I was walking to a 7:30AM class (we’re both shocked) down a flight of stairs I noticed a young boy (perhaps 3 or 4 years of age) walking down the stairs by himself. I asked him if we was OK and if he was with someone. He kept walking and said, “Yes, I’m with my dad and I’m meeting him at the bottom of the stairs.” Before I could say anything else he continued, “in the morning my dad is slow and grumpy.”

That sounds about right.