Practical Theology

The problem that we often have with our “theology” about God, life, and the church, isn’t that our beliefs from Holy Scripture are so impractical or unrelated to life, but that they are so practical that God’s greatness reminds us how small and needy we truly are. Instead of being grateful for his love and mercy, we become threatened that this God so above us might be trying to take something from us; that if we follow Him completely, we may end up losing something essential that we must have to be happy.

We do not merit our salvation; we cannot earn it, nor should we even try. However, God has made our redemption a gift, and a responsibility. To grow in Him means a lot of work, discomfort, and change. When we are motivated by unholy fear, guilt, and unbelief an “earned approach” appears. When we are motivated by love and gratitude, a trusting, joyous, and passionate sanctification occurs. However, our growth in holiness, while not meriting our position with God, IS still a part of our salvation as we turn from sin and self-rule to faithfulness and obedience to our Lord and His ways. This desire and these actions on our part take discipline, patience, and the acceptance of God’s mercy. This is our theology of sanctification, and it is God’s path to our final redemption.

In Genesis, the Lord reveals himself to Moses with the name “Yahweh”. Literally in Hebrew, it means “I AM”. God is not just the Lord of Creation – matter, time, and space – he is above it and removed from it. God is not “was” or “will be”. For Him there is no past, present, and future; there is only NOW. Not only does our wonderful God know the future He has for us, He actually lives in that future. We have nothing to fear.

When we consider the greatness and love of our God, let us remember that He is calling us into a salvation history for His Covenant people that is already completed, but not yet. This is a mystery and one we will never completely understand. May this encourage us that His greatness can be trusted and may this help us to embrace that our Lord calls us to be faithful. 


Father Tom

Preparing for Family at Christmas

In the least, the COVID virus has caused most of us some everyday challenges, irritations, and general anxiety. However, it is amazing to what we can grow accustomed. While I still walk halfway between my car and the grocery store before I realize I have no mask on, I expect the reality of masks in public places. I have yet to receive my tax return from 2020. Our new couch which we bought in August is now due to arrive in April. Yes, these things are frustrating, but they are becoming much more normal every day.

There are things for which we can also become accustomed in our families, work, and church family. Some of this is fine, reasonable, and needed. However, there are other things that we accept and even support that Jesus did not and would not. This is because of His consistent and clear understanding in regards to true love. When it came to certain values and priorities, Jesus kept the will of His Father and His calling as His foundation, even with those He loved the most.

Mark 3:
Then he went home; 20 and the crowd came together again, so that they could not even eat. 21 When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, “He has gone out of his mind.”
31 Then his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to him and called him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you.” 33 And he replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 And looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”

While Jesus loved his family, He did not allow them to dictate His behavior. We have lost our way a bit as the church when it comes to the Christmas Season. A wonderful benefit of the Feast of the Nativity is that we have some blessed time to spend with family. However, Western culture has turned Christmas into “it’s all about family”. As the disciples of Jesus, it is the worship of Him that comes first, and this in turn is a blessing to us and our families. Feasting is God’s idea, and when we enjoy His blessings, this brings Him Joy as well. That said, it is easy to lose our focus and priorities as we interact and engage those that we love the most.

As we know quite well, being around family during the holidays also poses some great challenges and tensions. What temptations might that be for you? Can we draw boundaries with others without trying to punish them for past harms? Can we lovingly engage those we love without enabling their influence on our emotions or actions? Do we bring forgiveness and peace to our gatherings, or do we add to the chaos and tensions by our own self-service? Can we still feast and worship the Lord without being lost in the overwhelming business of this season?

The answer is most certainly, “Yes”, but we must prepare our hearts and open ourselves to the Christ-child’s gentle and powerful touch. May Advent prepare us for our Holidays and for faithfulness to our God throughout the entirety of the New Year.


Father Tom

Choking the Transformation

In our November 12th newsletter we talked a bit about how the Lord wants to use all of us in the body of Christ to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with others. We observed some things that often discourage Christians from taking their part in being “light and salt” in the world.


To recap: One, we have been taught that “evangelism” is a method used to get results. Secondly, we are tempted to think that only those with a special gifting can be used to see others find Jesus as their Lord. Lastly, many of us struggle with deep spiritual “insecurities”: "God wouldn't use me to see someone come to find eternal redemption in Christ!". 


The truth is that the season of Advent helps us find the genuine starting places for effective outreach to the world; a world that so desperately needs to know the saving love of Jesus. Although humanity was given over to selfishness, pride, and emptiness, the Father sent His son to break into our world shrouded in guilt, shame, and self-destruction. He did not wait in His heavenly court for us to somehow figure it out ourselves (we were incapable of this). He in His mercy and love sent His willing and loving Son to break into our world that we might have hope.


Thus, as we will investigate in the future from Holy Scripture, the starting places for a grounded and lasting form of church growth does NOT start with our desire to see our institution survive that we might not suffer loss (this is about US).


The below two questions can reveal if we truly desire a future taught by Jesus about the Kingdom of God in our own hearts: Do we truly want to love our neighbor (whether they join our church or not), and do we truly want to love one another with the authentic love of Jesus? Without these two foundational pillars, any evangelism, outreach, and “do-gooding” in which we involve ourselves will be extremely limited in nature. Why? Because when we choose our own ways and machinations, we limit the power of the Holy Spirit among us and hinder the transformation that our Savior wants to accomplish in us...and through us.


More to come.


Father Tom

The Lord Wants YOU

 

How do we reach out to the world around us with the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

For many of us, this is an intimidating question. I used to strongly dislike (and was intimidated by) the idea of evangelism, but now I welcome it. “Well, yea, you are a priest! You folks are supposed to like talking to people about Jesus.” Nope, not necessarily true. We clergy are often just as befuddled about how to reach out to non-churched people as most Christians. But in the end, none of us have anything to fear.

I believe that there are several reasons why evangelism – living out and at times sharing verbally the gospel message – seems like such a foreign and intimidating reality. I would like to suggest just a few:

Firstly, we have been taught that evangelism is something that it IS NOT. We Americans are easily lulled into thinking that the things which are best and true come quickly and promise impressive numerical results. I suggest to you that this is NEVER taught in Holy Scripture, as a matter of fact, Jesus teaches exactly the opposite. Being an evangelist is not being a manipulative salesman.

Secondly, there are those in the church who do have a special gifting in evangelism and, thus, will be more effective in reaching people with the Gospel than most. However, in Ephesians 4:11 these “evangelists” are first tasked with aiding each member of the church in their own calling for mission to the world. This means that evangelists (and pastors doing the work of evangelists) are to buildup individual Christians to reach out to others in the context of who they are and how the Holy Spirit has gifted them. I submit to you in the strongest terms possible, that the greatest efforts in evangelism in Christian history (taking the long-view) were attained as the Church was “being the church” together in reaching out to the world around it. At times, God has worked in some “movements” to do some good, but this is not his calling or desire. He has given his Church a wholistic commission. Only the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ has the promise that “the gates of Hell will not prevail against it”.

Thirdly, we Christians struggle with insecurity in accepting the fact that God loves us and that He truly wants to use us as his kingdom witnesses. Sorry, but this is just patently false. Satan (and the forces of evil that he symbolizes) is called the “great accuser of the brethren” and the “father of all lies” in Holy Scripture. God says that he wants to use YOU in his Kingdom. Tell Satan to go back to…well, his home.

I ask you to listen and discern if what I am saying above has any scriptural or historic credibility as we continue to journey together in the upcoming months and years. The Lord has promised to lead us and use us, but we will only have his power if we choose to believe his promises and open ourselves in humility to the power of the Holy Spirit.

Father Tom

When Competition Hurts

 

I Corinthians 12:

⁴ There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. ⁵ There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. ⁶ There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.

Jesus Christ calls his people to be “conformed to his image” and thus, different from the world around us. Nowhere is this tension seen more profoundly than when we are in competition with one another. As hard as we may try not to succumb, we Christians often get pulled into comparing ourselves to the person in the next pew. We want to serve, but we also want to be appreciated for what we do. Sometimes, however, our service becomes too much about us and how we will be perceived. We are often much better at “acting humble” than actually “being humble”. Also, the reality is that if we cannot listen to others around us who love us, we may miss our poor behavior altogether.

But in the end, serving the Lord and the church with our gifts is not firstly about our benefit or the recognition we get from others. Serving our church is about “Loving God with all of who we are, and loving our neighbors as ourselves”. It is about serving the Body of Christ as only one of its very many members. But all the gifts and roles of a local parish matter if Jesus Christ is truly going to be seen by the world around us.

¹² Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. ¹³ For we were all baptized by^[c] one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 

²⁷ Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

In God’s wisdom, he has given different gifts to different people. Some are given more of one gifting or different gifts altogether. This varying of gifts can be seen through our abilities, commitment, servanthood, and the use of our wealth. But as the Gospel of Luke reminds us “to whom much is given, much is required”. Can we revel and delight in the gifting and abundance of another, as well as appreciate the stewardship that to which God has called us? It becomes very hard to love someone that we view as a threat to our prestige.

Let us continue to lay aside our desires for our own self-recognition (which is its own slavery) for it only leads to jealousy, covetousness, and unhappiness. Instead, let us take joy in the gifts God has given everyone in our body no matter how great or small, obvious or subdued, appreciated or unwittingly ignored; when we do, we will be turning our church’s Halogen lights to BRIGHT as we shine the love of Christ to a world shrouded in darkness.

The Spirit of Reconciliation

 

"The whole Gospel of St. Luke is full of the spirit of ·reconciliation, the reconciliation of man with God, of person with person. The spirit of reconciliation is necessary in all ages. We may have perfect organization and perfect machinery, but, unless we have a right spirit behind them, they will not affect much. The forces of coercion on one side and revenge on the other will never do any good. Christ's religion reveals His spirit, and it is a reconciling spirit. Some people, wherever they go, bring trouble, and others bring blessing and healing, as did this great tender doctor who was with St. Paul to the end, and must have had  so sweet a character."

Father Andrew - Meditations, pg. 320

The Word in Liturgy

 

Father Tom has created a new podcast for the homilies that he will be preaching at St. Matthew's Episcopal Church.

His new podcast is The Word in Liturgy.

The peace of the Lord Jesus Christ be yours this week.

To Fear or Not to Fear

 

2 Timothy 1:


7 for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.


8 Do not be ashamed, then, of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God, 9 who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace. This grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, 10 but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.


Fear is not a fruit of the Spirit.


Fear is the enemy of the Gospel and a life that is free and being freed from anxiety. Fear tells us that:


we are not good enough
something we do or have done will ruin our lives
we must have control to be content
we must control our family, friends, and fellow-members
we must preserve our way of life at all cost
no one else can be trusted but me and those who think like me


Listen to Paul in Gal. 5 as he shares the “siblings” and the outcomes of fear:


19 Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, 21 envy,[e] drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.


This kind of living has no concept or reception for Paul’s words to Timothy that he should not “be ashamed” by those taking shots at a life lived out of the Gospel message. Instead, he welcomes Timothy "to join with me in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God". People who understand that following Jesus means embracing and running into discomfort and suffering (as opposed to a “fight or flight” response) will reflect the following characteristics in their lives:


22 By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, competing against one another, envying one another.


The above is NOT first of all about legitimate theological differences and in “debatable areas” among us. Remember that those who often attacked and maligned Paul saw themselves as “the orthodox” and it was the Jewish “orthodox” leaders who led the Crucifixion of Jesus (NOT firstly the Roman Government).


Because we hold certain beliefs that we believe to be “right” and “just” does not mean that our hearts are soft to the Holy Spirit and obedient to our Lord Jesus Christ. Nor does the “rightness” of our cause justify our uncontrolled passions, unforgiveness, and the poor treatment of others.


What are the patterns of your life related to the above lists? What kind of spirit do the people with whom you spend the most time reveal? What kind of spirit do you support and align with? Do you enable or undermine those given over to envy, power, and wrath? Who are those from whom you learn, get council, and welcome to aid you in your growth in Jesus?


Jesus is patient, loving, and forgiving. However, when it comes to how we treat people, minister with people, and forgive people, well…these things have eternal ramifications.


To repeat Paul's words from Galatians 5 above: I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.


Matthew 6:

14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; 15 but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Let us say “NO” to fear today, and YES to the fruits of the Spirit that only the Holy Spirit can give us as we welcome his work in our lives with obedient, soft, and teachable hearts to Jesus and His ways.


Father Tom

Watchful Versus Complacent

 

Paul has something very curious to say about the unseen powers of darkness who affect our everyday lives, and who are looking to erode the work of the Kingdom of God in our church community:

Eph. 6:

¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. ¹¹ Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. ¹² For our^[b] struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

In the book of Daniel we are told that there are angels assigned by God Himself to the nations of the earth and that these angelic beings war with one another:

Daniel 10:

¹³ But the prince of the kingdom of Persia opposed me twenty-one days. So Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, and I left him there with the prince of the kingdom of Persia,^[a] 14 and have come to help you understand what is to happen to your people at the end of days. For there is a further vision for those days.”

In addition, both the Book of Job and the Psalms talk about a “heavenly court” appearing before Yahweh (the Covenant name of the Lord in Hebrew) likely containing angelic beings (both evil and faithful) with assignments and limitations given to them by the Lord God:

Job 1:

⁶ One day the heavenly beings^[a] came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan^[b] also came among them. ⁷ The Lord said to Satan,^[c] “Where have you come from?” Satan^[d] answered the Lord, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” 

Psalm 82:

¹ God has taken his place in the divine council;

    in the midst of the gods (likely, angelic beings here) he holds judgment:

² “How long will you judge unjustly

    and show partiality to the wicked?

³ Give justice to the weak and the orphan;

    maintain the right of the lowly and the destitute.

⁴ Rescue the weak and the needy;

    deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”

While it is not clear that we each have a “guardian angel”, it is clear that there are angels who are tasked with the aid and protection of God’s Covenant People:

Heb 1:14

¹⁴ Are not all angels^[f] spirits in the divine service, sent to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?

Psalm 34:7

⁷ The angel of the Lord encamps

    around those who fear him, and delivers them

It is easy to react or overreact to the above-mentioned scriptures. Some see the work of the spirit-world with every rustling of fallen leaves, while others take such a rational approach that only what can be proven by the scientific method is worth considering. Neither approach is even slightly Biblical.

The truth is that the physical and visible worlds are interconnected and a part of the created order in which we “live, move and have our being”. Whether we like it or not, “Satan (the symbolic term used for the ruler of all the evil and unseen spirits) is roaming around, seeking who he can devour” - in regards to the world around us and the Covenant People of God, His church. Our political and municipal leaders, the religious and non-religious people we know, and we Christians ourselves are influenced and sometimes directly empowered by unseen forces of which we (or they) are unaware.

We are neither to dwell or fret on this reality NOR are we to ignore or neglect it. What we are to do is to put our hope in the Lord who has called and redeemed us to “pray constantly in the Spirit” putting on the “whole armor of God”. We look to stay “watchful” and “diligent” for our protection and the avoidance of temptation. When we take this approach, we will by definition be engaging the spiritual disciplines of communal-sacramental worship, personal prayer and meditation, and the constant soaking of ourselves in the Holy Scriptures.

In the end, we defeat evil and grow in holiness when we remember the words of Jesus that “greater is He that is in you, than He who is in the world”. In Christ, through the indwelling and empowering of the Holy Spirit, we will truly be “more than conquerors”.

Father Tom

The Seduction of Production

One of the building blocks of the creation story in the Book of Genesis, (affecting the entire created order) is that God chose to structure His work in creation over a seven “day” period. God “worked” for six “days” and on the seventh “day”, He “rested”. There is a lot of thoughtful, interpretive work to be done here, but for our purposes, let us focus on the Lord’s “resting” and his subsequent command that His people do the same.

In the New Testament, the idea of Covenantal rest for the people of God is fleshed out for us and connected directly to the work of Jesus in His death and resurrection (this is especially clarified for us in the Epistle of Hebrews). For the New Covenant People of God, Jesus is our rest, our shalom, our peace. The idea of Shalom for the baptized points to a salvation that brings wholeness, healing, and restoration both in this life and in the life to come.

BUT, there is a practical reality that is also to be understood here in the context of Genesis 1 that is meant for God’s Covenant People of all ages. God did not rest because He got tired or exhausted (like we humans do). As Jesus modeled repentance and forgiveness in Baptism (when he needed neither), God models something for us in establishing the six-day workweek and “resting” on the Seventh Day: Our lives are not about the tasks we are given by the Creator but are to be focused on Creator Himself.


Whatever good gifts that God has given us can quickly become priorities and idols themselves. This is not to be. So, Israel, and now the New Covenant People, His Church, were called in their resting to remind themselves and re-orient themselves weekly to the source of their lives - knowing, serving, and following the very God who had given them their lives, tasks, and salvation.


May we use and recommit ourselves to the regular Sunday worship of our God in Word and Sacrament. It was the discipline established by the Apostles and Church Fathers: A time of worship in community designed to refresh, strengthen, and reorient us to our true source of lasting REST, Jesus Christ, our Lord.


Father Tom

Holy Scripture Matters - (1st Article - St. Matthew's Episcopal Church)

 Why does Holy Scripture matter? For historic Episcopalians – being both Catholic and Reformational; we believe the Bible to be our highest authority which guides us in both life and salvation. However, we also know that our holy book was developed over thousands of years through a Spirit-led, yet frail community. It is not a completed magic book that dropped from the sky into the hands of the Church Fathers. It has a distinctly mystical, spiritual, and creational history. Thus, we embrace the truth that Holy Scripture is formed by the unique work of the Holy Spirit in the context of good tradition.

But as we will see in the Lectionary readings this Sunday, there is also bad tradition. Jesus calls this false tradition, the “traditions of men”. How do we know when we are following traditions informed by the faithful catholic church with cultural sensitivity, versus when we are being shaped by the machinations and philosophies of the culture around us vying for our attention (and our worship)?

There are three ways that God “bridges” to humanity, revealing himself as a God who longs to redeem us in personal and communal ways. First, He reveals his glory in the natural world around us. Second, through the Spirit in concert with the Holy Scriptures guiding us, and ultimately (and supremely) by the revelation of His son, Jesus Christ.

This Sunday we will start a series focusing on the written revelation of our Triune God to mankind (based only on His holy and unchanging character). The Christian Church of every “stripe” in this world is constantly tempted to treat the Bible condescendingly. Some want to make it a rigid manual which supposedly gives the believer one right answer for every situation. Others fantasize that they are free to ignore the clear, careful, and contextual teaching of God’s Word where only repentance, change, and holy living will do. However, as we journey together in the coming weeks (remembering our callings as baptized disciples of Jesus) we will be reminded that the scriptures, through the power of the Holy Spirit, are a human, divine, and life-giving revelation of our creating and saving Lord Jesus Christ.

Father Tom

(First Article after starting my time as Priest at St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, Bloomington, IL.)

The Innkeeper and the Priest

 

"He brought him to an inn and took care of him" - Luke 10:34

The validity of the orders of the priest and the grace of the Sacrament depends upon the love of God, Who knows what they need whom He brings to His inn. The innkeeper was not necessarily a person of any great merit, but to him was given sufficient to provide for the needs of the man. God has entrusted His Sacraments to His priests, and however much they may fail in their own lives, the gifts they dispense are a perfect provision for our souls, for they are indeed the gifts of God Himself.

- Father Andrew, Meditations, 283

Samaritan Living

 

"When he saw him, he was moved with compassion and came to him" - Luke 10:33

The Samaritan passes by and comes where the man is. In that sentence is told all the deep mystery of our Lord's Incarnation. He came down to be in the poverty of the poor. He did not pass by, He did not come down and look at it, and then go back to heaven. He did not come to tempted men and say, "You ought not to have that temptation,' but He came to where the tempted man was. he came into the place of suffering and willed that His own coronal should be a crown of thorns. The story of the Good Samaritan is the story of the Incarnation. It is the picture of the love of God.

- Father Andrew, Meditations, pg. 282

Review: The Apocalypse of St John: A Revelation of Love and Power

The Apocalypse of St John: A Revelation of Love and Power by Fr Lawrence Farley
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Listened to this over a 2-year period via Podcast (but also bought the written commentary).

Highly Recommended. The author is not only versed exegetically and historically in regards to interpretive issues but does a fantastic job bringing out the need for a deep understanding of the Old Testament if one is to rightly interpret Revelation. It is constantly (and rightly) emphasized that to understand Revelation and its intent, the book must be read and studied from the perspective of a faithful Jew - who is also a Christian. The author illustrates the point repeatedly and thoughtfully.

Highly Recommended.

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Mercy for Seeking and Knowing Truth

 

I, therefore, cease not to ask of our true Lord and Master that He will design so to teach me, either by the utterances of His Scriptures, or by a discussion with fellow believers, or by the inward and more sweet teaching of His own inspiration, that in those things which I am to put forward or assert I may ever hold fast to the truth; and I ask that from this very Truth, Himself, I may be taught many things and more which I do not know, for from Him I have received the little that I do know. I beseech Him that He will go before me and follow me with His mercy; and that those things which I ought to know to my soul’s health He will teach me; that what I know of truth He will guard me therein; that in those things in which I am humanly mistaken He will correct me, and that from what is false and harmful He will deliver me; and that He will make to go forth from my mouth those things which are the most pleasing in the sight of Truth Himself, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, and Saviour.

Fulgentius of Ruspe (468-533) (Bishop in North Africa and Christian Saint)

Review: Paul for Everyone 2 Corinthians

Paul for Everyone 2 Corinthians by Tom Wright
My rating: 5 of 5 stars



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A Guide to Reading the Bible

 

This is a concise, thoughtful, and extremely helpful article in regards to how a historic and thoughtful Christian should approach Holy Scripture.

https://livingchurch.org/covenant/2015/08/14/top-10-rules-bible-reading/

A Drowsy Half-Waking

 

Two months before his death C.S. Lewis wrote:

"[We are] a seed patiently waiting in the earth: waiting to come up a flower in the Gardener's good time, up into the real world, the real waking. I suppose that our whole present life, looked back on from there, will seem only a drowsy half-waking. We are here in the land of dreams. But cock-crow is coming."

McGrath, pg. 360

Review: C. S. Lewis: A Life: Eccentric Genius, Reluctant Prophet

C. S. Lewis: A Life: Eccentric Genius, Reluctant Prophet by Alister E. McGrath
My rating: 5 of 5 stars



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For Our Country: A Prayer

O God, you have bound us together in a common life. Help us, in the midst of our struggles for justice and truth, to confront one another without hatred or bitterness, and to work together with mutual forbearance and respect; Grant, O God, that your holy and life-giving Spirit may so move every human heart [and especially the hearts of the people of this land], that barriers which divide us may crumble, suspicions disappear, and hatreds cease; that our divisions being healed, we may live in justice and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

-1979 Book of Common Prayer

For Whom the Bell Tolls

 

Wonderful article regarding a pandemic, death, and the hope of Christmas from a bishop in 1623:

For Whom the Bell Tolls

PASTORAL THEOLOGY

A Pastoral Theology

• I believe that popular notions in American Christianity regarding the separation of theology/practice, the past/present, the intellect/emotion, and the personal/communal are artificial, unscriptural, and in contrast with a faithful, historic, and Christian discipleship

• After the love we have for our Triune God, the foundation for a transcendent (thus, lasting) evangelism is the scripturally defined love that Christians are to have in community together. Biblical Community is a gift of the Holy Spirit but must be developed and sought after by God’s people.

• An enduring church worships, loves, and seeks the covenant-making God of the scriptures in both personal and communal ways. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, the faithful church effectively brings a transcendent Gospel to the world around it from a position of humility, authenticity, and depth.

•  A parasitic form of Christianity loves people so that it may get something from them. It fosters selfishness, infighting, and power games within communal family life. While an unhealthy view of the church can survive for many years, in time this kind of Christianity will decline and evaporate. Empire building has no place in the Kingdom of God, and this spirit and approach contribute to an anemic and unhealthy church wherever it is found.

• Biblical discipleship lives and proclaims the Gospel of Jesus Christ to others. However, discipleship is not just an invitation to public conversion through baptism, but following baptism, walks in a relationship with the new convert as their genuine and personal faith grows, a later faith takes root, or an empty faith reveals itself over time. 

Review: The Fate of Communion: The Agony of Anglicanism and the Future of a Global Church

The Fate of Communion: The Agony of Anglicanism and the Future of a Global Church by Ephraim Radner
My rating: 3 of 5 stars



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Nobility or the Status Quo?

 

Are you nobler than those who are quite satisfied with their comfortable beliefs? Read the below before you answer.

Acts 17:
11 Now, these Jews were nobler than those in Thessaloni′ca, for they received the word with all eagerness, examining the scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

When we are challenged by credible sources that we respect regarding the teachings of Holy Scripture, are we noble and do we give honest prayer, thought, and research to their challenges? Or, like anyone else who prefers the comfort of their own presuppositions, the fear of honest assessment, and the need to avoid the unknown, do we brush them off? (or like the Jews in Thessalonica, go on the attack?).

Does the "truth set you free" or are you the warden of your own captivity? The search is for Christ NO MATTER THE COSTS.

"My word is truth, and the truth will set you free" - Jesus (John 8)

Is it the "salvation" that Jesus offers that we truly want?

How We Find Out

 

By their fruits, you will know them Matt. 7:20

We find out what people are really like by the way they take the things that happen to them. One might think a woman very charming, yet find her fail in the day of trouble, or one might be with a man when a fire broke out at a theatre, and find that he was immediately in a panic; or one might see someone, whom one had always regarded as very commonplace, do a very beautiful act. In each case, one would say, 'Well, I never thought he or she was like that! The circumstances of life reveal character.

Our Lord willed to come into this world and bring with Him nothing, to start with the poorest and to meet life as it came, and each thing as he met it revealed His character. Hate came to him, and He revealed His love. Success came to Him, and he revealed His humility. Failure came and revealed his faith. All things came to Him, eventually death, and death itself contributed to his royalty, for it revealed that He is alive forevermore.

Life finds us out, and our first discovery may be very like the discovery of St. Peter when he went out and wept bitterly after denying his Lord. But that was not the last word about Simon Peter, nor need our failures ever be the last word about ourselves. We can learn by our mistakes, and, if life finds us out, we can find out our God in our lives, and through its challenge and His grace bring forth the fruit that shall make us known as His children.

Father Andrew - Meditations, pg. 273

Doing Right or Getting the Right Result?

 

James 1:

2 My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; 4 and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing.

The surprising statement no doubt came out of St. James's own experience. The only way in which we can read "trials" is by taking it as being for the testing of the will, and that is surely what the apostle means. It has to be proved that we are doing right from the highest motives; that we are doing right because it is right, and not because it is profitable; that we are doing the true thing because it is true, and not because it is polotic (politically expedient).

... if we do right from thoughts of punishment or reward, we may be doing right things but we are not really doing right.

-Father Andrew, Meditations, pg. 272 

AGAINST SENSIBLE RELIGION

 

"There is nothing new under the sun". -Song of Solomon

"He (St. Athanasius) stood for the Trinitarian doctrine, 'whole and undefiled,' when it looked as if all the civilized world was slipping back from Christianity into the religion of Arius—into one of those “sensible” synthetic religions which are so strongly recommended to-day and which, then as now, included among their devotees many highly cultivated clergymen. It is his glory that he did not move with the times; it is his reward that he now remains when those times, as all times do, have moved away.

-CS Lewis

Hall, C. A. (1998). Reading Scripture with the Church Fathers (p. 61). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

SHORT-CUTS TO IMMATURITY

“The Christian life is not a straight run on a track laid out by a vision statement formulated by a committee. Life meanders much of the time. Unspiritual interruptions, unanticipated people, uncongenial events cannot be pushed aside in our determination to reach the goal unimpeded, undistracted."


“Goal-setting, in the context and on the terms intended by a leadership-obsessed and management programmed business mentality that infiltrates the church far too frequently, is bad spirituality. Too much gets left out. Too many people get brushed aside. Maturity cannot be hurried, programmed, or tinkered with. There are no steroids available for growing up in Christ more quickly. Impatient shortcuts land us in the dead ends of immaturity." 


-Eugene Peterson - “Practice Resurrection,” pg. 133

Review: Following Jesus: Biblical Reflections on Discipleship

Following Jesus: Biblical Reflections on Discipleship by N.T. Wright
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

One of Tom Wright's earliest books. An important basic read for popular Christianity and beyond.

View all my reviews

Review: Simply Jesus: A New Vision of Who He Was, What He Did, and Why He Matters

Simply Jesus: A New Vision of Who He Was, What He Did, and Why He Matters by N.T. Wright
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Those who believe that Jesus is the King and Lord of the world today, accept his kingdom teachings and ways.

Tom Wright helps the reader confront the historical and theological assumptions that so many of the Jews listening to Jesus would have assumed regarding the coming of the Messiah; so many of the modern, western, and American assumptions we make today.

While clearing a path through the confusion of the many looking to shape their own vision of Jesus and a kingdom of their liking, Wright invites us on a journey of accepting the kingly rule of Jesus in all of its subversion, nuance, and complexity. He reveals a Jesus who calls his people to be the worshipping church together, desiring his lordship in every area of their lives and in every category of the created order.

In the end, he calls the church to her true mission: To Worship the triune God of the Bible by receiving her established Lord and King. He tasks the baptized to together open their hearts and lives to the Kingdom work that he longs to do through them. We proclaim the Good News of redemption through Christ and aid people as they begin to live the new creation that has taken and is taking root in the church and in their lives. The kingdoms of this world will not endure, but the powers are unaware of who is truly in control and that they have already been defeated.

It is only our God who builds his eternal kingdom (both now and in completion someday); those building their own kingdoms (while naming them the kingdom of God) will find the life and teachings of Jesus inconvenient, indeed.

View all my reviews

Humility or the Need for Cultural Power?

This is a short article worth reading. If you read it, read all of it to the end.

https://religionnews.com/2020/05/26/aka-jane-roe-and-the-humiliation-of-the-pro-life-movement/

The Model of St. Patrick

As a teenager, Patrick was captured and made a slave by Irish pirates off of the coast of Britain. After six years of labor in Ireland, he escaped with the aid of some fishermen. During his time in Ireland, he became much more devout in his Christian faith. Not only did Patrick forgive those who had enslaved him, but after training and schooling returned to bring them the Gospel as a missionary.

James 1:

2 Count it all joy, my brethren, when you meet various trials, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.  

For the Christian, God can always take that which is evil and turn it into good. But he can only do so for those who "count it all joy" when falling into various trials. When we become imbittered and unthankful to the Lord during the most difficult of times, he is unable to heal, strengthen, and lead us. We shut the door of hope to the power of the Holy Spirit.

Thanks be to God for St. Patrick's wonderful model of accepting God's healing, living, and transforming grace through the most difficult and enduring times. May we be encouraged to walk in his shoes.

The Peace of Christ be yours today!!!!

Our Thinking is to Be Turned Inside Out

"Our thinking is to be turned inside out when we realize that the true God raised Jesus from the dead and thereby announced to the whole world that he is the life-giving God, the God of generous love, the God who takes the metaphorical leprosy of the world and deals with it. Let the true God renew your mind as you worship and follow his risen Son."

Wright, N. T. (1994). Following Jesus: Biblical Reflections on Discipleship (p. 67). London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.

Discerning Spiritual Leadership

The writer of Hebrews is concerned with some churches who were struggling and being tempted to walk away from their beliefs about Christ. What these Hebrew Christians didn't realize was that their very spiritual lives were at stake. So why were they vulnerable to some of the false doctrines promising them things that the Gospel never had?

Hebrews 5:12-14

For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of God's word. You need milk, not solid food; for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the world of righteousness, for he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their faculties trained by practice to distinguish good from evil.

Hebrews 6:1
Therefore, let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity...

"You hear it said [these days], with a great air of religious common sense, that it is the man that the modern age demands in the pulpit, and not his doctrine.  It is the man that counts, and not his creed. But this is one of those shallow and plausible underparts which is blandly offered for the arduous whole. No man has any right in the pulpit in virtue of his personality or manhood in itself, but only in virtue of the sacramental value of his personality for his message. We have no business to worship the elements, which means, in this case, to idolize the preacher ... To be ready to accept any kind of message from a magnetic man is to lose the Gospel in mere impressionism.  It is to sacrifice the moral in religion to the aesthetic. And it is fatal to the authority either of the pulpit or the Gospel. The Church does not live by its preachers, but by its Word."

Peter T. Forsyth - a speech in 1907

We live in a society of people who want to remain children. Children think in very simple and concrete terms: yes or no, black or white, good and bad, my group and your group. This is the crowd most ready to latch onto or commit to "dynamic leaders". They want leaders who will make the complex simple, the profound manageable, the painful anesthetized, and consequences inconsequential. But the mature and the discerning, i.e., "those who have their faculties trained by practice to distinguish good from evil" will not tolerate such things. They are mature and live a life of complexity, discipline, and patience.

Instead of using the church as a spiritual crutch, those who are mature will desire both truth and accountability. The mature will stop church shopping when the going gets tough (or uncomfortable) and commit to a messy but grounded covenant family by which to use their gifts for the kingdom of God, They will accept the complexity and transcendence of God's great character, ways, and salvation, and lay aside the facade of personal control and self-preservation.

Or - like most Americans - Christian or not, they will continue to follow the dynamic leaders and churches that promise things they can't deliver and American dreams that God never promised.

Do you want to be a spiritual child or a mature adult?

If "adult" is you answer, then stop following the salesmen, pop stars, and ringleaders, and start following Jesus through those clergy who are more concerned with giving you Christ and His Kingdom rather than their own answers, visions, and empires; who are committed to leading the church by walking with their people through the joy, confusion, pain, grounding, eternal hope, and lasting peace that Jesus Christ came to give us.

True Christian Community

Church Membership and Confirmation

Membership and Confirmation

What is Confirmation? While we do not have the space to delve too deeply into the history and theological ideas behind confirmation in more detail, suffice it to say that in its beginnings, confirmation was an aspect of the Sacrament of Baptism which involved the laying on of hands of a bishop communicating and welcoming the Holy Spirit into the lives of the newly baptized. It was a sign and seal of the mysterious work of God involved in the sacrament of Baptism for those with faith in Jesus Christ (or those being nurtured toward this faith in Christ if infants). 

Confirmation developed in time (in the Western Catholic Church BUT not in the Eastern Church) as a way for the Bishop to still be engaged in the baptism of a child or adult (thus communicating his important place of authority in apostolic succession) after the fact. Thus, pastorally and historically it developed into an aid for the church to encourage those who had been baptized to CONFIRM (both personally and communally) that they understood the Christian faith, were committed to following Jesus as Lord, and were desirous to grow in their learning, obedience, and motivations. In time confirmation especially became the place where those baptized as infants (or those whose baptism coincided with being a citizen of a “Christian” nation), could learn and embrace the Christian faith under the authority and guidance of the “one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church”.

However, in Scriptural, historic, and theological terms, Confirmation serves Baptism, not the other way around. The sacrament of Confirmation does not seek to solve the mystery or importance of responding in faith to the Gospel message in partnership with the place of Baptism in our conversion – releasing and giving us faith, the Holy Spirit, and new birth in Christ. In other words, Confirmation is not the place where we “ask Jesus into our hearts” but where we personally commit and live out our faith in him in more meaningful and communal ways. If confirmation becomes that place where the Holy Spirit enlightens us to understand and internalize the Gospel message, however, we are joyful, indeed!!!! But there is nothing to say that this has not already happened in the life of the baptized as they kneel to be confirmed by their bishop.

Confirmation helps those who are baptized and committed to Christ (or considering this commitment due to a nominal view of their baptism) to then takes steps toward ever-growing discipleship in Christ, embracing a life of continual “repentance and faith” (thus, a continual conversion). Confirmation can aid all of us as we continue to live out the “already” and “not yet” aspects of our redemption.

Father Tom

Moralism is the Enemy of the Gospel

"Moralism is the enemy of purity, integrity, and authenticity. On its surface, moralism looks helpful, but the surface is deceiving. Moralism is very concerned with what it does and how it looks. It is obsessed with public relations and the perceptions of those that it is trying to impress or motivate.""

"Moralism, in its most basic definition, is the doing of good things, the embrace of good behavior, and the measurability of said things in comparison with others. Moralism is self-serving under the guise of serving and sacrificing for others. This is why it is such a dangerous, capricious, and duplicitous enemy. It (and the Evil One’s subtle use of it) often fools us all."

"Moralism produces visible and short-lived behaviors without changing a person’s beliefs and character. In other words, if the “heart” of a person or an organization does not change, a lasting, loving, authentic behavior will not take root. Integrity cannot be faked, and in the end, is seen most clearly when one has something to be gained or lost. Only a “heart of flesh” can be genuine in its intentions and good works."
("Was Jesus An Evangelical", Reeves, Page 167).

True Freedom

It is hard to intimidate or manipulate those who are willing to die


Willing to Die - John 19:1-16 (Audio)

N.T. Wright - Following Jesus

Do You Have the Courage to Make a Pharisee Mad?

"If you follow Jesus, eventually you are going to tick-off some Pharisee. Stop worrying about what people think, and start thinking about obedience to the will of God."

 -The Rev. Dr. Michael Van Horn

There is a Fountain - Audio

True Healing from God

A wonderful sermon which helps us distinguish between God-ordained healing and the rote incantations of individualistic religious magic.


Audio Sermon - Be Thou My Vision; The Rev. Dr. Michael VanHorn

WWJD? or maybe not.

"What was the cause of their relentless hostility to Christ? Neither his messianic claims nor his occasional Jewish unorthodoxies, it seems to me, account for the bitter resentment he aroused in them. There were others at that time in Judea, each of whom claimed to be the Messiah, and for the most part, Christ conducted himself like a strict and pious Jew."

"No, as I see it, Christ's real crime was simply that he spoke the truth, which is intolerable to all forms of authority--but especially ecclesiastical. Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free, Christ said. In the eyes of Caiaphas and his associates, as later in the eyes of Dostoevsky's Grand Inquisitor in The Brothers Karamazov, Christ had to die because the truth he spoke and the freedom he offered undermined the authority other men claimed and exercised."

Malcome Muggeridge (1903-1990), Jesus Rediscovered.

Adam...and Scientific Confusion (N.T. Wright and Others)

Book Review: Failure of Nerve

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1182367834?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1

The Meeting of the Divine Council - Psalm 82 (AUDIO)

https://anchor.fm/fr-thomas-reevess-podcast/episodes/The-Meeting-of-the-Divine-Council---Psalm-82-e4ldfp

Liturgical Anti-intellectualism

https://livingchurch.org/covenant/2014/09/26/liturgical-anti-intellectualism/

An Informing Tradition and the Illumination of the Holy Spirit

To my evangelical, congregational, and non-denominational brothers and sisters in Christ, the suggestion of this book is that every American person and church has an informing tradition. “No Creed but Christ” is and has always been an illusion that cannot be maintained. When believers have laid aside the ecumenical creeds as valid representations of their faith, they have – and always will – replace them with more current and highly informed “statements of beliefs” and other kinds of theologies. No one has, and no one ever will read or understand the scriptures inside an individualistic vacuum. It is impossible for us to act in such a way because we are created and made for community. Like it or not, we humans are always dependent on networks of people regarding the way we think and live.

All Christians read the scriptures with some kind of directing spectacles informed by our church history (or lack of one), church culture, and the society in general that we live in. Can we identify our spectacles, and if we can, are the spectacles worth retaining? The illuminating work of the Holy Spirit will not automatically erase our blind spots or be unhindered by our spiritual, intellectual, and historical laziness.

(WJE, Pages 17-18).

See also the below:

https://livingchurch.org/covenant/2018/06/19/the-optional-bishop/

Wonderful Easter Sermon

Letting Go In Order to Recieve - Rev. Dr. Michael Van Horn

How Do We Carry the Body of Christ's Death in our Bodies?

N.T. Wright commenting on Paul's phrase in 2 Corinthians 4:10 about "carrying the death of Jesus in our bodies": If you want to see resurrection at work here and now, in your own life, you have to be prepared to see crucifixion at work as well. And if the Corinthians want an apostle who is living the gospel he proclaims - Paul isn't sure that they do want this, but they ought to! - then they must look for these signs."

"Don't look in other words, for a showy, flashy rhetorical presentation which leaves the problems and sufferings of the world to someone else. Look for someone who is being given over to death for the sake of Jesus, so that Jesus' life may be revealed even in their mortal humanity.""2nd Corinthians for Everyone", pg. 45

The FIRST THINGS as Grounded by Historic Precedence

The reality is that Protestants can claim no authority for the New Testament as Holy Scripture without Apostolic and Patristic credibility, care, and precedence, yet we feel so free to make up our interpretations of Christianity as we see fit as if the Bible was penned outside of a context.  God breaks into space and time, but he engages it and uses it.  The Holy Scriptures were not written in a Gnostic and esoteric vacuum chamber.

We Anglicans spend so much of our time over-reacting to Roman Catholicism, that we end up throwing out the very foundations of our discernment regarding our history and theology.

https://www.ncronline.org/news/vatican/francis-decision-women-deacons-cannot-be-made-without-historical-foundation?clickSource=email