Transitions

Transitions are never easy; however, they are one of the constants in the human experience. Whether we want them or not, whether we are prepared or unprepared, the seasons of our life move in one direction: forward.

As newborns we become toddlers; we learn to garble and then talk; we learn to stumble, fall and eventually walk. We are taught things by parents and learn things through experience. We have our first day of school, middle school, high-school, etc. We have our first crush, our first date; we marry, have our first child. We get our first job, first car, first paycheck...and the pattern continues. We move from being children to young adults; young adults to middle-aged; middle-aged to early retired; retired to just...tired.

Of course, there are transitions that go far beyond just our human natural maturation. Transitions happen within families at the loss of a loved one, when a child goes to college, when a spouse get's ill; within companies when one is promoted, demoted or when a company downsizes; within a church when it MERGES, calls a new pastor, disciples new leadership, experiences new growth, or finds itself aging. Each transition brings new challenges and new opportunities.

In January The Church of St. Peter and St. Paul will be eight years old. We have been through a lot together; December marks my (and my family's) third year in sharing this journey with you as a family member (s) and shepherd.

I see the Spirit visibly at work in us and as we continue to submit to his Word and leading, and I see bright days ahead in regards to Kingdom of God living and serving. For me this is no small statement; I have rarely been able to say this in many of the other church contexts in which I have served. However, for us to continue to be fertile and receptive in following our Lord's direction, I believe we must embrace the transitions that He is now bringing us through.

The Lord has drawn new members and friends to our body; not only do we desire to continue to love and serve these new people, we will need their gifts and support to continue to be effective as a New Covenant community of Christ. More of our active members have become too ill to serve, or have been drawn home to Lord. Many of us have transitioned into stages of our lives that have forced us to realize that we can no longer do the things we have done in the past. However, we have also experienced a slew of newly retired working professionals who now have more time for discipleship and ministry engagement and this has been a huge “shot in the arm” for us. Thanks be to God.

With me will you open your hearts to the transitions that God is bringing us through as a church? Where might he want to use you? What are some things that he is trying to show you? Where might you need to change your approach, and where might you need to look for another? How does God want to heal you in 2015, and where does he want to stretch you?

As we were reminded this week in our small group study of Hebrews:

Heb 2:14-15

Since, therefore, the children share flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death.

We have nothing to fear. Christmas reminds us that the Christ-child came to take on the form of flesh to represent us and save us by his death on the cross. In this death the evil one (here Satan being the figure-head of all that is in rebellion to God and his Kingdom) has been defeated, and we no longer have anything to fear because we have no punishment or death to be worried about.

The Lord walks with us day by day through our transitions. We are not alone, and we have nothing to fear. Let us EMBRACE our transitions as a church and in our personal lives; it will not be easy, but we do not walk alone.

Thanks be to God.

The Great Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Day is a well known holiday in the United States.  Quite frankly, it is one of my favorite times of the year.  I really like the fall with all of its explosive colors, the crisp air, the festive food, and yes, the focus and feasting that encourages we Americans to be a thankful people for the many blessings that we have been given.

However, what is often lost on most Americans (even American Christians) is that the historic Christian Church celebrates a feast of Thanksgiving every single week.  It is called The Eucharist.  For many, the term Eucharist sounds different, mysterious, maybe even dangerous.  So, let’s take a closer look at this important word. 

 The word Eucharist comes from the Greek word εὐχαριστῶ (eucharisteo) and it is the general word for “thanksgiving”.  Interestingly, it is found in this form in just thirty-eight different scriptures in the New Testament.  Let’s look at a few:

 Mark 8:

⁶ And he commanded the crowd to sit down on the ground; and he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd. ⁷ And they had a few small fish; and having blessed them, he commanded that these also should be set before them. ⁸ And they ate, and were satisfied; and they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full.
 

Mark 14:

²² And as they were eating, he took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” ²³ And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. ²⁴ And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.

As you might know, the record of Jesus and his Disciples sharing Passover together, thus, establishing the Eucharistic Feast of Holy Communion, is recorded in all three of the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke).  It is at this first Eucharistic meal that Jesus gives us our “words of institution” so we may set apart the bread and wine to be a blessing to us, and a source of great thanksgiving, indeed.

I Corinthians 10:

¹⁶ Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? ¹⁷ Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.
³⁰ If I take part in the meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of something I thank God for?

The attentive eye will notice that I did not highlight the word “thankgiving” or “give thanks” in verse sixteen above.  The Greek word used here is the normal word for “blessing” not “thanksgiving”, but the NIV has captured well here the idea implied in the text itself.  The blessing and thanksgiving at the table of our Lord work in conjunction with each other.  I challenge you to go back now to the verses in Mark 8 and 14 and see how Jesus uses the terms “thanks” and “bless” correspondingly as he does his miracle in the feeding of the four-thousand.

Each week when we come to celebrate Holy Communion, we are engaging and celebrating the Great Thanksgiving, i.e., The Eucharist.  We come to receive a blessing from God and to be a blessing to him as we honor him with thankful and moldable hearts.  We are there to worship and thank him for the love he has poured out on us through Jesus Christ on the Cross, through the power of the resurrection we experience through the Holy Spirit, and through the hope of our final glorification living eternally in the unhindered presence of the Father.

We have much to be thankful for, and we have the opportunity to give thanks to God every day.  However, the pinnacle of our individual and communal thanksgiving finds it’s fulfillment in our communion with the Lord and one another as we gather around The Table of the Lord Jesus Christ.

O Lord, enable us to be a people of constant thanksgiving!

Prayer

From Father Andrew, S.D.C - "Meditations for Every Day"

"Prayer does not mean getting God to do things, but co-operating with Him in doing things. It is not reminding God of things He has forgotten, but reminding oneself that God is remembering, and the way in which God is remembering somebody may be by giving us prevenient grace which made us set about praying. It was because God remembered first that we began to pray. It was because God was there first that we came pray".

Submitting to Death

Last chapter and last paragraph of Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis:


"Submit to death, death of your ambitions and favorite wishes every day and death of your whole body in the end: submit with every fiber of your being, and you will find eternal life.  Keep back nothing.  Nothing that you have not given away will be really yours.  Nothing in you that has not died will ever be raised from the dead.  Look for yourself, and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin, and decay.  But look for Christ and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in."

K.I.S.S.?

Might I suggest to all of us a more complex, deep, and trusting Christianity in the Triune God who is the reason of all life and hope? Might I suggest that the simple easy to control God that we often seek to create, is a god of our own choosing and making?

C.S. from Mere Christianity, chapter on the Trinity:

"I warned you that Theology is practical. The whole purpose for which we exist is to be thus taken into the Life of God. Wrong Ideas about what that life is will make it harder....It is the simple religions that are the made up ones..."

C.S. reflecting on the historic Christian community:

 "...the one really adequate instrument for learning about God is the whole Christian community, waiting for Him together...that is why all these people who turn up every few years with some patent simplified religion of their own as a substitute for the Christian tradition are really wasting their time...if Christianity was something we were making up, of course we could make it easier. But it is NOT... anyone can be simple if he has no facts to bother about"

Trying to Love the Lord with "...all your mind"?

Below is a very poignant article regarding the whole "Creation vs Evolution" culture war debate.

It is my belief that much of popular American "Christian" thinking on this subject is unwittingly dictated not first of all by the context and understanding of Scripture but by a polarizing post-enlightenment, modernistic discussion between those given over to current cultural ways of thinking.  A thoughtful, historic, and orthodox (i.e., what Christians historically have always believed about the Church and revelation) Christianity needs to discern the culture from a truthful and thoughtful perspective.

My hope is that the article below will prod some of us (who have ears to hear) along this path.

Creationism Is Materialism’s Creation

2/8/14

www.patheos.com/blogs/badcatholic/2014/02/creationism-is-materialisms-creation.html 1/17

I take Frederich Nietzsche quite seriously when he says, “when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you,” and thus I did not, nor ever will watch the recent debate between Bill Nye The Science Guy and Ken Ham The Creation Man. There are things in this world too depressing for people desperate to maintain some sense of hope regarding humanity, its direction, and capacity for truth.

Nevertheless, I want to take this opportunity to point out that, far sooner than any creationist vs. scientist debate amounts to a debate between a Christian and an atheist, it amounts to a debate between atheists. Neither side defends or attacks the Christian tradition. Both argue about a laughably boring god, a strange phenomenon of modernity — not the God of philosophy, theology or Scripture in any meaningful sense.

Fundamentalism, which includes creationism, is a modern phenomenon. The Middle Ages, though rife with scientific illiteracy in comparison with our age, never bred such a beast. It is a 20th century frenzy, not the product of ignorance as much as a by-product of materialism, and I daily blame — in an odd, bitter ritual that usually involves throwing pretzels at a cut-out of Richard Dawkins — the propagators of this selfsame materialism for cursing the world with the idiocies of devil-buried fossils and 6-day literalism. For evolution is only ever a threat to the idea of God if your idea of God has been hopelessly manhandled by materialistic assumptions. That’s right kids. Creationism is materialism’s inescapable, obnoxious spouse.

“What?” protest the protestors. “Creationists believe in angels, demons, and a whole host of immaterial realities, while materialists believe in no such thing!” But the point is not that creationism and materialism are in secret cahoots. The point is that materialism has provided the metaphysical framework for mainstream modern thought, a framework within which the creationist operates, from whence — along with a typically materialistic incapacity to distinguish poetry from a science textbook — comes his creationism.

The materialistic assumption is this: The universe is a closed, material system, and that all there ever is or was can be reduced to matter and material processes. The materialist flatly denies the possibility of the spiritual. The creationist concedes to a closed, purely material universe as the prejudice of the age. Unlike the materialist, however, he holds on to the idea of spiritual things. Now, however — and thanks to the materialist assumption — these spiritual things cannot be in harmony with the material. They — whether God, angels, or demons — must exist apart from it — opposed to it, even.

Consider it this way: If the universe is reducible to matter and material processes, but is nevertheless created by God — for people will always believe in God — then God, who himself is not reducible to matter or material processes, must be “outside” and “apart” from the universe he creates. He is utterly estranged from the universe. In short, the rise of the materialistic worldview meant that — if there was to be a belief in God — this god must be the god of Deism.

This is the god the creationist unwittingly and inconsistently defends, a god who creates the universe at a single point, a god whose creative action must be defended as a particular point in time (6 days of time, to be exact) now long past — a god who already made the closed, material universe and is now done, dwelling outside of it like “an old man peering from the sky.” Such a relationship between God and the universe necessarily makes any forces that determine our physical existence “competitors” of his work. He created the material universe. He served as its origin, a 6-day origin now over. Thus any apparent “creation” within the material order is creation apart from God, and a threat to his sovereignty. The only creation possible must either have already happened, at one point, or it must be magical.

I mean this quite seriously. If by the world we mean a purely physical system, than God — who is not
physical — can only be encountered in an inexplicable “break” in the same system. If God is to be active in a purely material universe, it must be as a Cosmic Magician popping into the world over and against all physical processes and laws — utterly at odds with his own creation.

God is evidenced by that which is “utterly apart” from the universe “breaking into” the universe. And so the creationist, having conceded the materialistic assumption, must “prove” the existence of God by way of things “science can’t explain.” The complex cell, the fossil record — God is real because there are inexplicable things, materials that look as if something has broken into the material system and left its immaterial and thereby inexplicable mark.

Evolution, which posits a natural process of change in successive generations of living things, is a threat precisely because it works against the Cosmic Magician, the God of one-time creation who now busts into the universe here and there. It says, quite reasonably, that living things as we know them today were not always so, and that man in his material consistency did not spontaneously pop into existence as the bipedal we know and sometimes manage to love today. Evolution is an affront to a god who “finished” his work of creation some 6000 years ago. It is an affront to a God who made the material universe in one now-past action, a god who now only associates with his creation through the miraculous breaking of the spiritual into what is purely material. It is, in short, a rival god.

But now we’ve stared into the abyss long enough. God is not simply the Creator of the material order, and the theistic tradition has never made such laughable claims. The concept of God as Creator has always been the source of existence as such. This means that God does not just answer the material question of “Where came this rock, that plant, or the entire conglomerate of material thing mabobs we call the universe?” He answers the ontological question: “Why is there something rather than nothing?”

Evolution cannot answer the question of why there is something rather and nothing, and no scientist outside of the self-titled, 8th-grader/athesim variety would ever embarrass themselves with such a claim. Evolution presupposes something which evolves. Existence — the fact that something is — is prior to any evolution. Again, God is first and foremost the source of existence, the fact that there is something rather than nothing.  For not a single thing in this entire marvelous universe contains the source of its own existence. Each depends on an innumerable multitude of factors for the fact of its being here. The most obvious example of this is in our origins — there is not a single thing in the universe that brought itself into being. The less obvious but even more important example of this is in our current existence — there is not a single thing in the universe that “holds itself in being.” There is nothing that causes itself to continuously exist. 

To quote David Bentley Hart again: If one considers the terms of one’s own existence, for instance, one sees that there is no sense in which one is ever self-existent; one is dependent on an incalculable number of ever greater and ever smaller finite conditions, some of which are temporal, and some of which are definitely not, and all of which are dependent on yet further conditions. One is composed of
parts, and those of smaller parts, and so on down to the subatomic level, which itself is a realm
of contingently substituent realities that flicker in and out of actuality, that have no ontological
ground in themselves, and that are all embraced within a quantum field that contains no more of
an essential rationale for its own existence than does any other physical reality. One also
belongs to a wider world, upon all of whose physical systems one is also dependent in every
moment, while that world is itself dependent upon an immense range of greater physical
realities, and upon abstract mathematical and logical laws, and upon the whole contingent
history of our quite unnecessary universe…In short, all finite things are always, in the present,
being sustained in existence by conditions which they cannot have supplied for themselves, and
that together compose a universe that, as a physical reality, lacks the obviously supernatural
power to exist on its own. Nowhere in any of that is a source of existence as such.

If the materialistic assumption is true, and the universe is entirely reducible to matter and material processes, then the universe is an inexplicable oddity. All things exist in their present-moment existence by depending upon other things, which in turn exist in their present-moment existence by depending on other things, and so on unto infinite regress. If this were true, nothing would ever come into or persist in being. 

The theistic position, properly understood, is that our universe is not an inexplicable infinite regress, but that all things exist in their present-moment existence because all things are upheld by an absolute existence, a being that is the source of its own existence (snipping short the infinite regress), supplying all contingent things with a non-contingent “ground” which renders their existence possible.

How could evolution possibly pose a threat to God, properly understood as the Absolute Giver of Being, who at every moment provides the absolute ground for the existence of every contingent thing, every thing which does not contain the source of its own present-moment existence — every particle, every random mutation, every genome strand, every protein, every moment of procreation, every fertilization event, in short, every single material component of the process of evolution?

In fact, I can think of no other view more favorable to the concept of evolution than the view that Creation is now, not an act that happened at one point in time, now long past, but rather the timeless fact of there being something rather than nothing, the present-moment, as-you-sit-reading donation of being which you cannot provide for yourself. God created, creates and is always creating the universe in a singular timeless act by which the entirety of space, time and human history, from beginning to whatever end, is given that existence it cannot provide for itself. God is creating everything now, there is no need for miraculous, inexplicable events to “prove” His existence, no need for him to break in to an already finished work and leave some boggling mark. It is the horrifying and beautiful surprise that anything in this storm of contingencies exists at all that has the theist positing an absolute source of existence, our wonderful God, not a thought that
“everything looks so well-designed,” or that “science cannot explain this or that.”

Creationism only exists as a reaction within the framework of materialism. The Christian ought to reject the evolutionist vs. creationist debate on the level at which it is offered, and question instead the metaphysics of the thing, for if the universe is a contingent reality that requires the eternal and ever-present donation of being by an absolute source of being, then the idea that evolution is an affront to creation is ridiculous at best, manufactured for easy points at worst.

Why Do Anglians Call their Pastors "Father"?

Why in the world do some Anglicans call the priest/pastor, “Father”? Below I am taking several different portions from an article that a fellow Anglican Priest (and good comrade) wrote in regards to this subject. If anyone would ever like to read the article by the Rev. Joe Murphy in it's entirety, I would be pleased to send you a copy.

Jesus reproached the religious leaders of His day with some strong words about being called, "father," that sounds like we shouldn't touch that name in the Church” (to save space I will not be printing most of the scripture texts, but I would challenge you to read them for a better understanding of what is being written. - Fr. Tom - Matthew 23:1-12 ).

Jesus' words to His disciples on not calling anyone else "father" seems to make the catholic practice of addressing a priest as "father" completely unbiblical, and a proud and Pharisaic thing to do. At least, a straightforward reading of the text might lead us to think that, what some would call a "literal" reading. The problem with such a reading of this text is that it would also prevent Christ's followers from calling their earthly male parent, "father." Jesus is pretty explicit: " . . .call no man your father on earth . . ." The same thing applies to teachers, of course. We would have to cease calling all teachers by that name--Jesus doesn't restrict it to religious teaching--if one takes this statement at face value. But, human society and the Church within it still need parenting and teaching. Of course, if we stopped using those terms altogether it would be very problematic, because then we wouldn't even be able to explain Who the heavenly Father is in relation to Jesus, or why Jesus alone is our Teacher, because those words would no longer apply to their earthly counterparts. No, Jesus wasn't teaching His disciples to stop using a name, a label, a way of referring to or addressing someone, whether "father" or "teacher." A literal reading of Jesus' words here just doesn't make sense.”

We run into further problems when we read the Apostle Paul's comments to the Corinthians and Thessalonians (see I Cor 4:14 – 17 and I Thes. 2:11-12)

The early Christians followed Paul's pattern. The Aramaic word "abba" ("father" or many argue, "dad") (e.g., Romans 8:15; Gal. 4:6) is the source of the English word "abbot" which the Celts first used for the head of their monastic communities. The French "Abbe" is similar, common for a parish priest. 

Oddly enough, the Christians that find it offensive to call the priest "father" routinely call their ordained church leader, "pastor." That term, however, is derived from the Latin word for "shepherd." Apparently, in their view, we have only one Father (as Jesus said) and so don't call their leader "father," but we have more than one shepherd. This is odd because Scripture is very clear on this:

The LORD is my shepherd . . . (Psalm 23:1 ESV)

But, its even more specific. At one point during the ministry of the prophet Ezekiel, the Lord rebuked the shepherds of Israel, His flock (Ezekiel 34:2), and later called David (as a type of the Messiah) the shepherd of his people (Ezekiel 34:23 and 37:24).

One Shepherd and yet we call our church leader “pastor” (shepherd)?

But, in fact, calling your church leader "Pastor" isn't wrong. For Christ is our "chief Shepherd" (see I Peter 5:1-4).

Peter commands the leaders of the Church in I Peter 5 to "shepherd" the people of God, yet they have a chief Shepherd. With pastors(shepherds), it isn't that God doesn't use humans to do that work--He does--but they are only obedient and beneficial as God's shepherds if there is a clear understanding of who the Real Shepherd is. 

Isn't this, however, exactly the case with fatherhood? We have a physical father, yet only one heavenly Father. We may have a spiritual father as well, perhaps several, yet understood as utterly insignificant in light of our heavenly Father because such "fathers" are only by analogy.  

So, why did Jesus say, "call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven"? For the same reason He said,

"If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.  And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell."(Matthew 5:29-30 ESV) 

He was making a point, a strong one, about the seriousness of sin. But, if we took it literally we might wind up killing ourselves to keep from sinning! Repentance is what Jesus was getting at, not self-mutilation. 

With giving our church leaders titles, whether "pastor", "teacher", or "father," Jesus' point is clear and driven home by the forceful way He expressed it: don't mistake anyone for the only Real Shepherd, Real Teacher, Real Father that you have. 

I believe the best and first way to see a local church body is as a "family".  Jesus talks of those that do "the will of his Father" as those that are his true family.  We are "adopted" to be heirs with Jesus Christ, the Son of God.   The Apostles in their writings also use family terms constantly: "household of faith", "brothers", "brotherly love",  "sons and daughters" of the Father God, being  "children of God", etc.  In scripture it is also revealed that the biblical communal love that we have is a close and intimate love which reflects that of a close family.  

Thus, i refer to myself mostly as Father Tom (although, I am receptive to Pastor Tom, or just Tom as well).  I am a shepherd, care-giver, and an authority figure in regards to the centrality of Gospel and Christ's teaching regarding the Kingdom of God.  However, in my basic membership in the household of God, I am one family member in a local church of many members.  We are all equal in the eyes of God due to the work of Christ...while we may have differing roles.

Thanks be to God for the body of Christ!

.

Catholic but NOT Roman Catholic: Big "C" and Little "c"

Our ecumenical baptismal creed, the Apostles Creed, states “I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church. . . .” The most widely used ecumenical creed, the Nicene Creed states “We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.” So what does it mean to be catholic?

For the most part, when we hear someone declare “I am a catholic” or if someone uses the word catholic, our thoughts turn first to the Roman Catholic Church. However, while the Roman Catholic church is catholic, they are not the only catholics. The very term Protestant derives its meaning from that time period in the 16th century when many historic, catholic Christians were protesting some of the doctrine and a lot of the practices of the Roman Catholic church. It is important to realize that all Protestants derive their starting place from the medieval Catholic church. Men like Martin Luther and John Calvin were Roman Catholics that were forced to leave the church, and were used over time to help the Roman Church see its need of change in multiple ways. However, John Calvin and Martin Luther always subscribed to the catholicity of the creeds and the importance of those Christians and church fathers that went before them.

Unfortunately, many groups have decided in their own thinking, and in their brief history, that THEY now are the true church (as if they were starting the church from scratch). The implication is that the church before them has been getting things wrong, that they are above the corruption or blind-spots that others have had, and that they are in little need of the help offered by those Christians who have lived before them. Not only is this historically dishonest, it is thoroughly unscriptural. The reality is that the Feast of Pentecost in the first century was the beginning of the church (as recorded in Acts). The Reformation, Pilgrims landing on Plymouth Rock, Great Awakenings, Azusa Street Revival, etc., were NOT the beginning of the church. In addition, of
all the informing events that may be meaningful for us, we should be open to discernment and an honest evaluation of these same events through the lenses of scripture and those who have gone before us. History teaches us (if we will listen) that hindsight is 20/20. Why do we always believe that our generation is somehow removed from this reality; that we will avoid the blind-spots that no generation has ever eluded?

All churches that name Christ as Lord today owe a great debt to the church councils and leaders that helped settle the debates and truth regarding the Trinity, the incarnation of Christ, and many more basic core doctrines that we take for granted today. In other words, our debt to those who have gone before us is pronounced whether we want to admit it or not.

So what does it mean when we declare every Sunday that we are catholic?

First of all, it means that we have an ancient faith. We, by very definition, are a people dependent on those who have come before us. We are dependent on God's work now among us, but God's work among us does not negate or lay aside the work that he has always been doing among his covenant people. From the creation of humanity to today, we owe a debt of gratitude to those who have faithfully served the Lord and handed down a living faith to our generation. If we desire the scriptural and historic honesty that the Lord requires of us, we will embrace that we build on the shoulders of those who have come before us. There is a core teaching and interpretation of Scripture that has been and is being passed down from generation to generation. It is appropriate to question what belongs in this “core” and we are still in the process as the “church universal” of taking the good and leaving the bad. However, there is that which we believe will not change from the past regarding the Gospel, the Kingdom of God, and the character of our God. This is our catholic faith, and the creeds are our starting place in any discussion of our central beliefs.

Secondly, it means that we have an apostolic faith. As Christians we read the Old Testament through apostolic “lenses;” and we are guided by the apostolic perspective, especially as recorded in the Holy Scriptures. The catholic perspective is that any authority we have as a church is derived from Jesus Christ who is the head of the church. However, we also believe that we learn of this Jesus through the perspective of the apostles who lived, listened, and walked with Him. Their teaching and their writings in the Holy Scriptures now guide and shape our thinking, being, and living. In Acts 2 we are told that the church gathered together in part to hear “the apostles’ teaching”. We believe that the truth and authority that we have today as God's faithful people is derived and handed down to us from the apostles. Outside of their Holy Spirit-led perspective, Christian truth does not exist.

Thirdly, we are a global church. Our catholicity, while derived from the Jewish people and
based on the salvific work of a Palestinian Jew who was also God, has always been intended for ALL the peoples of the world. WE ARE AN INCLUSIVE FAITH; although, not in a politically correct way. Every nation and tribe is offered the good news regarding the Messiah, Jesus Christ. The Abrahamic Covenant makes it clear that the Lord was going to bless all nations through Abraham's family. This has come to pass with the coming of Jesus Christ in obedience to His Father through the power of the Holy Spirit. Now the church is spread across the globe. There is a strength and a unity that Christians gain from these global relationships, challenges, and differing perspectives. Christ's desire is that we all be one, so that the nations of the world may see our love and unity and “believe that you (the Father) have sent me (Jesus)” (John 17).

So are we catholics? YES! We are local bodies of believers with our own distinct location, culture, strengths and weaknesses. However, we are also an ancient, apostolic, and global people interconnected and dependent on those faithful believers throughout space and time. Thanks be to God!

The Anglican Tradition

In a nutshell, what is the Anglican Tradition?

"Sane, wise, ancient, modern, sound, and simple," as Martin Thornton calls it, the Anglican tradition is rooted in the witness of the Holy Scriptures and the Early Fathers, and is often described as a via media (middle way) between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism.  Sometimes called "reformed Catholicism," Anglicanism gives equal weight to Word and Sacrament in its worship, and secures its polity in the Apostolic Succession of bishops.  With Holy Scripture as its rule of faith, Anglicanism reserves a place for Reason and Tradition in its theological discourse, and has always made a strong association between what the Church believes and what the Church prays.  Lex orandi, lex credendi - "the law of prayer is the law of belief" - well expresses the close correspondence in classical Anglicanism between doctrine and doxology.

(taken off of the Nashotah House Seminary website in 2013)

It's Complicated

Last Sunday in our Christian Education class, my children and I looked at the story of Joseph, son of Jacob. It is actually a very interesting story involving a lot of different characters, twists, motives, tragedy and hope. And like many other Bible stories that as children seemed very basic with “good guys” and “bad guys”, it is actually quite complicated and confusing throughout.


Jacob has three wives, and he favors one of them: Rachael. THIS is actually where the story of Joseph begins. In Genesis chapter 37 we see Joseph as a young man, his father's favorite. Joseph is young with many older adult brothers. These brothers hate Joseph and what he stands for in their minds. Joseph is the favorite son, of the favorite wife. They are second class citizens who long for their Father's approval and affection (as is poignantly seen when they seek to console their father in the coming tragedy). Joseph, being young and dealing with normal naive pride, doesn't always help his own situation. Let's look at verse 2 of chapter 37:


Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was tending the flocks with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives, and he brought their father a bad report about them.


Joseph in his prized position is a “tattle-tale”. Jacob in the next verse gives Joseph a beautiful and likely very expensive coat which physically and visibly screamed to his older brothers: “I am better and more important to my father than you”. In addition to this, Joseph has several dreams (sent to him from the Lord) that he shares with his family. The point of the dreams is unmistakable to his brothers: “I am going to rule you, and you will bow down to me”. If you listen closely, even NOW you can hear the brother's blood boiling!!!! Even Jacob proclaims when he hears Joseph talk to him of the second dream:


When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, “What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?”


However, the verse goes on to reveal that even in Jacob's incredulity, he heard something that rang true. He filed the dream and it's potential importance into the back of his mind.


The rest of the story, many of us remember: Joseph is sold into slavery, goes through many trials, is used providentially by God to protect and bless the people of Israel, and rules Egypt and his family with great wisdom and forgiveness.


What is interesting and revealing, is that the “problems” that led to the above reality and blessing of the family (and, thus the Nation of Israel) are complex and multi-faceted. In the midst of the struggle, neither Joseph, Jacob, or the brothers would have felt “blessed” by God in how things were playing out. Present were the sins of pride, hate, unforgiveness, favoritism, and deception. In addition, Jacob showed a great lack of wisdom and foresight in understanding the implication of his favoritism, and Joseph a great naivety in the way he approached his position and dreams.


So who caused the problems that led to Joseph's initial slavery? I submit that the problems were caused by everyone involved...including the Lord. The Lord did no evil, but in his providence stirred up jealous hearts that reacted to the revelation of Joseph's dreams. The Lord gave the truth of these dreams to a young, haughty, well meaning adolescent. Who among us would not have struggled with what Joseph struggled with in his position? Yet, Joseph later reveals that he has a real, enduring faith in God, and a tender heart to God's teaching and moving.


I believe the lesson for us is that our lives and the moving of God is more complicated than we will often admit to ourselves and others. It is a constant challenge for us to look for simplistic answers to our many inter-personal problems, sins, and blind spots and seek someone or something to blame...the whole time giving ourselves a free pass. Similarly, mistakes can be made by the insecure and over-sensitive; instead of seeing the multi-faceted nature in the conflict and tensions of having relationships in this life, and God's gracious work in the midst of the conflict, the spiritually fearful “take all the blame” for the sake of peace. But neither approach gets us closer to the truth, nor does it put us in line with the perspective and moving our our Lord.


The reality is that God is moving and working in His own way and time. There are many people that are often a part of our problems (starting with us!), and God is one of them. He is moving to stir up our messiness and heart attitudes that he is already aware of. He does it for his purposes, and for our blessing. Let us all open our hearts to the reality that our limited individual perspectives are just that...very limited. Let us seek God; his truth, his leading, his timing. Let us open our hearts to where he constantly wants to draw us to repentance, grace and hope knowing he is good, forgiving and in control


Thanks be to God.

Looking at Life and Death

Philippians 2: 21-24

21 For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain. 22 If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which I prefer. 23 I am hard pressed between the two: my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better; 24 but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you (NRSV).

 
In writing to the Philippians, Paul finds himself in a tough predicament. He is under house arrest due to his preaching the gospel and is now getting word that other “pastors” are maligning him for it. There are those that are standing by him, and he is writing to the Philippians to help them keep their faith and perspective regarding their own situation.


Paul is torn in his view of the future. He knows that his execution is a real possibility, yet he believes that if he is set free, he will have a continuing fruitful ministry (especially in relation to the Philippian church). However, Paul settles on the fact that his execution would be far better. No, I do not believe that Paul is a masochist, or that he would not have had great trepidation about the whole execution process. What Paul relates to us is a mature understanding of what really matters: Jesus Christ and the hope that we have in Him.


Paul is not more mature than us in his perspective because God loves him more, or because He is more impressed with Paul ministry than with ours (I mean, come on, his story made it into the Bible!!!). Paul is not more mature because he had built up more good works than us, and therefore had an elevated status. No, I believe that Paul's maturity was found in his clear perspective of this life and the life to come; in his desire to live within a “redemptive reality” not caught up thinking that this life is what life is really all about. He saw Christ at work in both realms, but preferred to be in the unhindered presence of the Lord.


Also, please notice that his desire to stay with the Philippians was not because he still wanted to try skydiving, reach a few more milestones, or see his favorite vacation spot one more time. No, his desire to stay in the temporal realm was in relation to his love for the Philippians and their growth in the Lord.


As a church we have been through quite a time in the last six months. Illnesses that have come to a head, unexpected surgeries (in all age groups), lingering sickness, and the unexpected deaths of loved-ones. While we want to pray to the Lord in regards to His protection, and know that He will bring us through this time as a church committed to Him, some of what we are facing can help us focus on what really matters...IF we see it as an opportunity for such. Please don't misunderstand me. I am not minimizing our pain, the grief, and the stress that we have all been dealing with. What I am suggesting is that in the midst of it, the Lord is working and “growing” us as a people of God...IF we receive it as such through the power of the Holy Spirit. An eternal perspective does not see our limited engagement with the presence of Jesus in this life to be “the new heavens and the new earth”, but finds the true “new heavens and new earth” in the eternal unhindered presence of God. In this life, we “see through a glass darkly” and only experience the presence of God in limited (although, glorious) ways. His presence through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is a “down-payment” not the whole inheritance.


Our God is with us, so we have hope. His Spirit indwells us, so we have the strength to carry on. Let us seek Him and hunger after righteousness, praying and meditating on His precepts so that we may truly know his peace. Grant us this gift as you have promised us, Oh, Lord.

A Brief Statement Regarding Political Affiliations

Statement Regarding Political Affiliations

Two or three issues should not dictate to us the entirety of our vote. As Christians we should work for justice and thoughtfulness in all areas of politics, government and society.  Our focus as children of the Kingdom of God should be on being salt and light. When we give into this world's view of manipulation, power, and pragmatism to get our way politically, we hinder the Kingdom of God power and influence that is available to us only through the Holy Spirit. An honest grasp of context and complexity in a fallen world should aid us in avoiding blind and simplistic approaches when it comes political and moral solutions.

As Christians, our scriptural call to civic responsibility is about stewardship, faithfulness and influence NOT power and control.  The temptation to trust in the forces and kingdom of this world to the neglect of the priority of Gospel and Kingdom-of-God-living is pronounced.  We have nothing to fear, even if the "mountains fall into the heart of the sea".

In Regards to Discerning the Working of God in a Person's Life, the Church, or a Movement as a Whole: A Declaration

I went to a Christian College where we were continually reminded that we were attending "The Miracle College".  Of course, there were stories of sacrifice and God's leading, but I always got the feeling that they seemed to have a need to bring this fact up...a lot.  The idea communicated was: "God is blessing us, so watch, listen and learn...we have the answers....we are the miracle college, you know". 

The reality is that God does work and move in and through us, and this should be a source of joy for us.  It is a blessed thing when we see people respond to the gospel message, experience healing in their lives, or be blessed with a financial wind-fall.  However, it is easy to see God's moving because we want to see it, and it takes disciplined hard work to "wait on the Lord" and "be still" after the emotion of a service or "movement of the Spirit" has passed.  If in time the "converted drop away", those healed get worse, or those financially blessed seem unconcerned with their poor stewardship, one must question whether the witnessed occurence was, indeed, the moving of the Spirit.

When the dust settles we will see the lasting fruit of our spiritual labors as God's people.  I submit that a hopeful, discerning, and patient approach to evaluating God's moving in a church or organization should be the norm.

Below is a statement that I have crafted to remind myself what I believe.  I am also hopeful to use it as a tool to explain to others why I may not seem ecstatic or giddy at the declaration of a supposed miracle, conversion or moving of God.  In the end, I want to have joy when I see the Spirit move in his world and among his people, but I also know that I might not gain the Lord's insight instantaneously.  In the end, this might mean that I have to leave the giddiness to others.

In Regards to Discerning the Working of God in a Person's Life, the Church, or a Movement as a Whole: A Declaration

Father Tom Reeves, Summer 2012

Something being reported as the Lord's moving, blessing or judgment should not be fully (spiritually, emotionally, intellectually) supported if it cannot be qualitatively evaluated. Any discernment of God's lasting work in his church requires that we have the time, relationships, and exposure to wisely and accurately discern the work of the Spirit of God as understood by his Word and the historic church. If we are looking to find “what we want to find”, we will find it. The route of wisdom, however, is often a slow, messy, and relational road.

The notion prevalent in some Christian groups at home and abroad that short-term “decisions for Christ” are lasting and real because they occur in a certain place and time, seems short-sighted at best and manipulative at worst. An honest reading of Holy Scripture teaches (as a pattern) that commitment to Christ will be followed by “real depth” (parable of the sower), lasting growth (Jesus as the True Vine), and perseverance (Hebrews and Revelation among other books).

The numerical and monetary success of a certain church or movement (whether, local, regional, or global) should not automatically precipitate a following of similar methods for the discerning, Spirit-led believer. A church that is growing through the direction of the Word and Spirit, the Gospel, and Kingdom of God teaching, will desire to see not only converts but disciples that are constantly growing to be conformed to the image of the Son. It is a neglect of Spirit-led discernment (and the teaching of discernment to Christ's church) that talks of “success” without qualifications, brushing aside the reality of those who fall away and neglecting real problems and failures that often comes with much of “church success”.

It will be a weak church which values the impressive spiritual gifts to the neglect of those more mundane gifts of Spirit-Word discernment. The importance of a long-term, God-centered approach to church which enables it to persevere (Paul thanked God for the Spirit's work in his church plants, while directly confronting their need to address their weaknesses, cultural influences, and outright sin) is easily lost to that which produces quick, exciting, short-term results.

A short-term success oriented approach to evangelism (and the group-think that only talks of the positive), encourages the development of an anemic and weak church that is unable to weather the storms of trial, disagreements, or cultural appropriation. Such a church can survive indefinitely as an “orthodox institution” with a “revolving door” attendance creating the phenomenon of an American Church described by many as being “a mile wide, and an inch deep”. While there has been much discussion among popular Christian leaders, pollsters, and church growth specialists regarding the decline of the American church over the last 20-50 years, the solutions offered by the aforementioned experts have been largely methodological (as opposed to spiritual, theological, or historical). The focus has seemingly been on short-term¹ fixes instead of addressing the characteristics that have led to long-term problems² systemic to the American way of thinking.

In addition, our theology and methodology of evangelism cannot biblically be separated from our ecclesiology,³ and when it is, an unscriptural form of pietism emerges. Thus, evangelism is not our mission alone as if it is the sine qua non of being the church, but is one “mark”⁴ of a Gospel-centered ecclesiology which sees the “marks” of the church as her complete mission. I submit that these marks primarily include:

• The Worship of God (as a way of life, and in disciplined gatherings)
• The Preached Word of God (thoughtful, disciplined and creative preaching and teaching)
• The Centrality of the Sacraments (it is God who initiates, sustains and empowers on his terms)
• Authentic Passionate Prayer (corporately and personally)
• Biblical Community (we are redeemed together, we live together, we submit to God-given authority together, we are an ancient community together)
• Ministry Training and Support (pastors equipping and discipling - not doing all the work)
• Reaching out with the Gospel of Christ (love without reciprocation, evangelism as the first step of discipleship, the way we live, what we proclaim)

1several decades

2multiple decades or centuries

3Our theology of church

4A term borrowed from Cannon George Kovoor in a discussion regarding ecclesiology

"Blessed While in the Dark"

“Blessed While in the Dark”

September 2011

I have had the privilege over the last three years to work with “at-risk” foster teens. Two of the teens that I meet with are brothers, and although both of them have some cognitive limitations, they both function very well. Over the years these two boys (nineteen and twenty respectively) have shown an interest in the gospel and have often attended worship services with our family. Both boys were baptized when they were young, but had yet to really commit their lives to Christ. As of today, both boys have put their faith in Christ and our able to see God's faithfulness in their lives.

Both of these young men have experienced challenging times in their lives. The boys were removed from their home in early elementary due to neglect, and later lost their father to a heart attack. They have to date been in at least four foster homes, and because of their developmental challenges will likely have to spend the rest of their lives in assisted living. They have had little relational stability in their lives.

While the organization I work for is not of a Christian persuasion, I am able to share my faith if the teens are interested. This offers me an opportunity to do scripture studies with the boys from time to time, and currently we have been reading in Daniel. Last night we discussed and looked over Daniel chapter six. In this chapter is contained the very familiar but poignant story of “Daniel in the Lions Den” (can't you just see the flannel-graph?). This story involves many great elements contained in any good story. You have the hero and the villains; there is jealousy and betrayal; there is power and corruption; and there is a miraculous deliverance. Of course, for us Americans, we are missing a damsel in distress, but as we say in the Chicago area: “What are ya gonna do?”

For me one of the most interesting parts of the story is when Daniel is actually thrown into the lions den. I think it would be naive of us to think that these lions were just kept as pets and were just handy when a good punishment was needed. No, these were most likely lions that were kept hungry and angry for the very purpose of striking fear into those that would defy the orders of King Darius. The lions den would not have been a clean, bright zoo cage but a dark, scary place of death. It would smell of death, and would strike fear into any one that looked into it.

So, Daniel, without any guarantee of escape or release from the Lord is cast into this hellish place. His crime: seeking and knowing his God. He stays there all night. He has only one hope: His God.

I will be meeting with the two teens that I mentor soon. I will be sharing with these two brothers how this story relates to their own lives. Daniel did not have an easy life. He had likely watched as most of his family and friends had been killed in front of him. He was dragged off to a distant land in captivity, asked to risk his life to stay faithful to God's commands, put in other life and death situations, and now at an older age is cast into a place where numerous large ferocious carnivores have been anticipating a visitor. Not only this, he has gone from the pinnacle of career (being second in command of the largest empire on earth) to lion kibble. And yet, with the aid of his God, he chooses to trust this same God anyway. Would you have blamed Daniel if he would have asked God, “Lord, really...haven't I had enough trial?” Yet when Daniel trusted God he knew that there would be great reward. He might have seen his reward as his death and an eternity with the Lord he loved, but in this life it ended up to be a mighty deliverance that gained the Lord's name glory and praise.

21 Daniel answered, "O king, live forever! 22 My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, O king." 23 The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den. And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.

And king Darius goes on to say....

26 "I issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel. "For he is the living God and he endures forever; his kingdom will not be destroyed, his dominion will never end. 27 He rescues and he saves; he performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions."

So the next time I meet with my guys, I think I will have plenty of things to talk with them about. There are no guarantees that things in life will turn out the way we want them to. Challenges and hurts will come; difficulties and frightening situations will present themselves. However, when we trust in the Lord, we know that in the end we will be blessed, and that his name will receive glory. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, people can see in our lives the same kind of real integrity and devotion to our God that Daniel displayed even as we go through brutally difficult situations. The question is: Will we respond in trust?

With his help, we are promised that the answer can be “YES”.

Father Tom

A Very Scary Situation

A Very Scary Situation

October 2011

The fall season is probably my favorite time of the year. The cooling down of temperatures, the changing of the leaves, the wearing of sweatshirts, the eating of homemade donuts (and, of course, good coffee)...and, also, on the negative side (for me)....Halloween.

If the the “celebration” of Halloween disappeared, I would not shed a tear. While we don't have the space to develop it here, Halloween is loosely connected to the earliest of pagan holidays, and focuses on death, fear, and (in America) gore. Now, I don't want to be misunderstood here. I am not “anti-Halloween” completely as we celebrate it in the states either. My children have always gone “trick-or-treating” with an emphasis on fun and a kind of “scary ghost story around the fire” atmosphere. However, whatever one thinks of Halloween, it does highlight a few realities that many people would rather push out of their minds: death is real, fear often permeates our lives, and the Spirit-world...well...exists.

Not surprisingly, the Scriptures contain a story where all three of the above mentioned realities come in to play. It is a scary witch story, which God uses to teach a King (and us) some valuable lessons.

King Saul was given the difficult task of being Israel's first King (the nation of Israel wanted a king “like the other nations”). Unfortunately, for the people, Saul was a lot like them. I Samuel 13 tells us that he was impatient with God's timing and felt that he needed to step in and help God out to make sure he didn't loose too many troops before an important battle. In I Samuel 15, Saul believes that when God says: “Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have; do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey (NRSV), it is just a general command that needed some “tweaking” so as to be more culturally relevant. I mean, hey, any smart king of that day would keep the best of the spoils of war (including the Amalekite King as a trophy), as this helps a king build up his treasury and gives him something more to give to God at worship...so if it is doing some good, it must be OK, right? I mean, God needs our help, doesn't he?

Interestingly, when Samuel rebukes Saul for his wickedness and self-idolatry in I Samuel 15:23, he likens his sin with...wait for it...divination. Divination is used by those who are separated from God and his Kingdom yet still wish to connect with the spirit-world and with those that have died. Instead of a relationship with the Lord, these persons, through witchcraft and “magic”, take short-cuts in the hopes that they will attain great power and knowledge.

In I Samuel 28 we find King Saul in a miserable place emotionally and spiritually. He no longer has the prophet Samuel in his life, and is cut off from gleaning any wisdom or direction from the Lord. In his desperation and fear, King Saul decides that he will try to glean some insight from those who are connected to the dead and the demonic.

In going to the Witch at Endor in I Samuel 28, King Saul continues his pattern of “going his own way” as reflected in I Sam 13 and15. Saul is so desperate and full of fear that he goes to dark magic to try and communicate with Samuel for help. The witch is shocked when she actually does bring Samuel back from the dead, revealing that whatever her connections with the underworld, she has never seen something this graphic! On top of this, God actually allows Samuel to talk with Saul! Saul's attempt to contact Samuel works, but his fear and desperation do not dissipate.

There are several lessons that we can glean from the story of King Saul. One of the most glaring is that we don't know better than the Lord does; as simple as this sounds, we constantly get this wrong. We the people of God, and the greater church in general around us, still think that we have better ideas in regards to what it means to be “successful” or “important” rather than “patient” and “faithful”.

Secondly, just because something seems to work, doesn't mean that God is honored by it or that it is his ideal for our lives or our churches. This is a big one for the American church. We American's are pragmatists at heart: If it works, then it is true. We often worship the successful, large, and the rich. We love assembly line efficiency, and mass production. We are short-term thinkers, giving little thought to long-term results or consequences. As Americans we don't need to be taught these things because they are “in the air” and all around us. We breathe it, hear it, watch it, and accept it.

Before we get too critical of Saul, we should take a hard look at ourselves and our own decision making as believers and as churches. The scary part of this story has little to do with the Witch at Endor. The most frightening part of this story is how easy it is for us to place our plans ahead of the Lord's plans; to rely on our wisdom and cultural assumptions, before relying on the lived-out gospel; to hold on to our own fear instead of embracing a courageous trust in him and his ways.

My desire for St. Peter and St. Paul is not that we become a huge, exciting church that everyone wants to come to, rolling out disciples at a fever pitch. Nor do I want our church to be a safe place to come where everyone gets what they want out of life. My desire for St. Peter and St. Paul is that we love the Lord and others so much that we test everything that we do by a Gospel and Kingdom of God perspective as laid out in the scriptures and handed down to us from the early church. God 's desire is that we live out a patient, long-term faith focused on what he has called the church to be. When we go ahead of God, thinking he needs our help, we will do nothing but hinder what it is that he wants to do in our lives individually and in our church corporately.

Will you join me in praying and seeking to be a people who strive toward these Gospel ideals? The journey will be hard and long, but as we focus on and listen to our Lord, it will be an adventure that we will never regret.

Father Tom

Is Theology a Four-Letter Word?

Is Theology a Four-letter Word?

Thomas D. Reeves

For those who have watched with any regularity that deep theological show The Simpson’s, you will most certainly be familiar with Homer Simpson. In this impetuous and sometimes bawdy satire, Homer often represents that which is shallow and thoughtless in American culture. Homer’s limited attention span displays itself in almost every episode. If someone is conversing with Homer and he loses interest, his eyes glaze over and he begins to day-dream.

As a Christian who has grown up in the church and has pastored for a while, I have often encountered this same glazed-over look. All that I need to do is mention the word theology. With many, this will provide not only a response that Pavlov would have appreciated, but often brings any discussion to a screeching halt.

There are many reasons why the word theology has become an almost obscene word which often produces yawns, clock-watching, and “glazed-over” looks. However, what I would like to suggest is that everyone has a theology (good or bad), and that understanding what you believe is vital to understanding and discerning your own motivations, direction, and interaction with the world around you. In other words, theology is not optional for those who take the importance of the Word of God and the illumination of the Holy Spirit seriously. A sound and growing appreciation of what we believe as Christians is at the heart of the church’s witness, unity, uniqueness, and future in this country.

Is Theology for Everyone?

Much of the thinking at the lay level (and unfortunately, also at the ordained level) is that theology is for those people who don’t have anything better to do with their time. At the very least, it would seem, only scholars and teachers should have to grasp it. Theology is certainly not very helpful to a normal pew-sitting (or theatre chair/ folding chair sitting) person who has no formal Seminary training!

However, theology is not just for the professor, the priest, the bishop, the pastor, or the vicar. Some of the most detailed theological development that we find in the New Testament is contained in letters written to…hold on to your seats…churches. The Apostles where silly enough to send their readers back to what they believed about the character of God and the greatness of their salvation (theology) to in turn deal with their very down-to-earth, often region-wide problems.

For whatever the reason, many pastors and churches alike have decided to avoid “all of that difficult theological stuff”. Thus, many clergy deal with the scriptures in obscure/benign ways or in the so-called “practical” and “down-to-earth” ways which often deal with the symptoms of life without ever dealing with the deeper issues behind the symptoms. Even when the scriptures are read in the service (in some instances and traditions not very much scripture is read at all), there will be little or no mention of them in the sermon/homily. If the scriptures are engaged, often the listener is barraged by cross-referenced verses where the context and the setting of these verses are never developed. Thus the listener is left having to trust that the preacher/teacher has done his/her homework. Is it any wonder then why teaching and preaching such as this often lacks clarity, authority or any kind of enduring quality? Could it be that preaching/teaching that trivializes the depth and breadth of the scriptures contributes to the perception that the scriptures really don’t matter to everyday living?

Is Theology Relevant?

There is much talk among professionals and laity alike about what a sermon or lesson should “look like” or “sound like”. It is often suggested that preaching must be “relevant”, which in the end means that you avoid anything that could ever smack of something “theological”. In seeking to make the Bible become “relevant”, most of the solutions given by the “experts” are methodological. Could it be, however, that the reason the scriptures seem irrelevant has more to do with how we teach, preach, listen and view the Word of God, than some kind of “method” that can somehow make us “relevant”. What if the clergy actually presented the scripture as the inspired literature that it is? This would mean taking seriously the context of the Word first for the original listeners, so we could then more authentically help people understand why this same scripture matters in their own twenty-first century lives. Maybe if people coming to worship every Sunday demanded that the clergy preach the Word of the Lord in its context, God’s voice could more clearly be heard. Could it be that pastors who seek to protect listeners from the text of scripture (hoping they will return to hear happy and palatable words), are contributing greatly to the muffling of God’s voice? Where anymore is the Reformer’s emphasis on the Word and Spirit as vital to our worship? It is God’s voice that is needed and relevant. Our perceptions and creative approaches are supposed to help convey not distract from God’s voice in the midst of a local congregation.

Why Does Theology Get a Bad Name?

Certainly we professionals have not always contributed positively to the perception of the person in the pew that the scriptures and theology are alive and vital. Taught doctrine in the church which turns the Word of God into a theological textbook (which is then dumped on a congregation without warning) can tempt anyone to run from the more difficult passages and realities of our faith. Also, when the scriptures are preached and taught in a way which communicates simplicity where complexity abounds (whether in interpretation or application), it seems likely that people will struggle to relate.

Even if truth has been perceived by the preacher in the context of the scriptures, there is still work to be done as we help people engage this truth. As we professionals should know, this discipline is called Homiletics. Effective teaching and preaching embraces the difficulty of communicating with audiences within local, cultural, and age specific settings. I suggest that the homiletical task has always been a lot of work, and will always be a lot of work. However, is the starting place placating and amusing, or effectively helping people hear God’s voice? (no matter how difficult or uncomfortable the truth may be to hear at times) It seems to me that the starting place for the congregation and clergy should be on the latter, and this will always require worship to be viewed at least in part as a spiritual discipline for those desirous to hear God’s voice. When the starting place is the adaptation of Word and worship to the audience, the temptation becomes great to let other voices shape or cloud the revelation of our Lord. When this occurs, we can lose much (if not most) of the counter-cultural message and influence of the Gospel.

What Makes Theology Meaningful?

With the church fathers and with communities of faith departed and present, I submit to you that Christian theology is something that matters and is alive (through Word and Spirit). It is not just contained in the books of some of the best minds, nor was it devised to torture people as they pursued Christianity at whatever level! It is my belief that when the truth of God’s Word is put into its context, we can then embrace the reality that people in scripture are “slobs” just like us: people seeking God, struggling, questioning, denying, embracing, showing cowardice, showing great courage, dealing with doubt……If we are not careful we may start to wonder if maybe, just maybe the scriptures (which, are the basis of all good Christian theology) have more to do with life then we first thought. Maybe, just maybe, we don’t have to check our brains at the door. Maybe, just maybe, a laborer, a carpenter, an at-home parent, a doctor, a salesperson, a plumber, a business owner, a teenager, a child, a professor, or whomever, can hear and internalize the truth of the scriptures.

However, if we have decided that the scriptures are largely in need of our rescuing because they are so out-dated and seemingly irrelevant, then should we wonder when our leaders and preachers give us nothing but general palatable truth (often benign Christian morality) or something more related to entertainment or self-help? Should we wonder why what we believe about our Christianity seems almost worthless in those quiet times when we are actually forced to stop and deal with ourselves? What do we turn to when we have to deal with evil, tragedy, corruption, and death in our lives, in the lives of those we love, and in the world around us? If we turn to the Lord, then who is this God that we turn to and why? In other words, what we believe about God (theology) does matter. A Theology centered in a relationship and search for God will have life, and this same theology will impart life to those within the Church of Jesus Christ.

Does our Theology Influence our Outreach?

Many in our culture are nomads in search of spiritual substance and authenticity. These people are ripe to hear the voice of God as it is declared to them through his people. However, if the Christians that these individuals encounter (whether clergy or laity) are themselves “tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine” what is it that is communicated to these wanderers? If we ourselves are unsure of our basic foundations, do we really have anything different to offer others? Is Christianity nothing more than another special interest group or the newest flavor of excitement and belief induced by the culture swirling around us?

I submit that through the responsible teaching/preaching of the Scriptures infused with the resurrection power of the Holy Spirit, it is possible to have a solid, developing, Christian theology that matters. This kind of theology is living and communicates hope. This kind of theology can help the disciples of Jesus Christ find sure footing during the slippery times of life. This kind of theology can help keep our compasses heading due north.

Maybe theology is not such a bad word after all.

"Do a Few Things and Do Them Well" (Part 2)

“Do a Few Things and Do Them Well” (Part 2)

So what are those “few things” right now that God wants St. Peter and St. Paul to be (and DO!)? Well, in part this question still needs to be worked out together in tangible ways, however, I think that there are some things that we all need to think and pray about.

It is my belief that the scriptures teach that there are key characteristics that a healthy church family will exhibit (making the main things, the main things). These identification markers should include:

• the worship of the triune God
• the effective communication of the Holy Scriptures
• the development of Biblical family
• the centrality of prayer
• the training of people in their ministry gifts
• and a life-long approach to reaching out to others with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

God calls the church to engage these things as a gathered “body” of Christ, and as we live as the church individually¹ out in the world.

If you are familiar with the “core values” of our current Vision Statement, you will notice the parallels between the above mentioned truths and the things we as a church say that we value. In the pamphlet entitled “Our Vision”, we state that our foundation is to “Know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord and to Lead Others to Him”. Fantastic! However, the next question is, how does that vision statement help us in our “on the ground” planning and prioritization?

In time we will engage each characteristic or mark of the church listed above, but for today let's look to some local and specific things that we can apply right now. If we as a church body want God to bless, and if we indeed want to encourage a real season of “growth” (spiritually and numerically) then what can we do to prepare for it?

While we are a family together, we are also unique individuals. How does God want to use you? Yes, I am talking to you (insert your name here:___________________________). First of all, do you believe that he wants to use you? I know enough about Father Philip to be quite sure that he has taught our body regarding this, and I will also flesh this out this idea more in upcoming sermons and teaching. However , you are the one who has to believe that God wants to use you right where you are, at your age, your circumstance, in your financial situation. Do you believe it?

Secondly, are you asking him to use you in any way that he chooses? We are not the lords of our own lives, HE is. So are you willing to submit to this? This might mean that you will have to involve yourself in attempting things that you have never attempted before. This may mean that you have to STOP doing other good things in the church so you can do what God is calling you do do FIRST OF ALL. Open your heart to him in regular prayer during the week and ask HIM how he wants to use you.

Thirdly, are you praying for others in our body, that God would use them? Yep, more prayer (grin). Sometimes we are so busy doing, that we don't have time to stop to listen and communicate with our Lord. With the resurrection power of the Spirit, change this. Don't beat yourself up, or put unrealistic expectations on yourself, but make time during the week to pray for yourself and others that we as a body would let HIM lead us. It is his strength and guidance that we must have.

Fourthly, do you love those you know who are unchurched or who are seemingly uninterested in knowing God? Are you praying regularly for these same people? Who are those people in your life? Start (or continue) praying for them, that God would soften their hearts to the Gospel and use our church (starting with you [insert your name here:___________]) to lead them to Jesus Christ.

Lastly, prepare yourself through prayer and meditation for UNCOMFORTABLE CHANGE as our church grows. NO, this does not mean that the pastor has any crazy ideas that he is going to surprise you with...what it means is that if a church is going to choose to love one another and love the world outside, then we must embrace that there is no real love without sacrifice. As a body grows numerically, the dynamics of that body change...the friendships and warmth don't have to change...but you might find God using you (or those you know now) to spend time with other newer people in our church that need to be served...which might mean that you don't see them as much...which means that you might be called to do different things...which means YOU (meaning all of us) will not have control over what God wants to do in our church. He might answer our prayers by bringing “undesirables” to our church (remember Jesus and the Leper?). Embrace this pain, don't run away from it! Through prayer and seeking God with all your heart, prepare yourself now to be what he wants you (and all of us at SP & SP) to be.

Remember, the Lord is already in the future waiting for us. We have nothing to fear.

1Individually, but never on our own...we are always a part of the one church of Jesus Christ