Rise Children Rise

Ancestors Home

2011-03-07T17:01:00.001-05:00

This canopy hangs above the bed of my 6 year old, Josephine Marie Milner. She lives in a "dream world" most days, so its appropriate that her bed would covered in pink, lace, and beautiful fabric. Follow the link below to my ancestors old homesite. I would love to be more involved in this homestead.

I would love to buy this property and turn it into a retreat center for the emotionally spent, the burdened, and the broken. It could be a new type of place. Rather than focusing on glamore and glitz, Warner Hall could be a celebration of the great history of this nation. Its amazing that our ancestors created the democratic ideal, that they actually had faith to move forward into Democracy. Representative Democracy is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. While the Greeks may have started it, I think the United States is working to perfect it. I long for the day when Warner Hall could be a place to re-connect with roots, when it would be a place to be still and KNOW GOD.

http://www.warnerhall.com/

Josie Marie Milner, future Senator from Wake County

2011-02-18T06:32:00.000-05:00

This picture captures all of my joy. Yes. My 6 year old, in the chamber, doing her thing, beeming her light all over the place.

Below is a letter that I wrote to my wife's uncle, and it captures some of my current feelings as a chaplain in the Senate.

Doesnt that Chaplain Milner have a nice ring? I love it. I like Chaplain so much more than "preacher" or perhaps even "pastor." Chaplain does not fix ones eyes on "getting to a destination," but rather, "trusts the Lord in all things" and therefore can be "silent" or "still" or just "present."

It is liberating to me John because I have always been turned off from the part of the church that wants to strangle ones way into heaven. Its hard for me. While I believe with all my life in Jesus Christ, for sure, I try to remember what he says about "meekness" and "gentleness" and "love."

Without Love, we are a banging gong. So, it is an honor to serve our political system from a non-political, if you will, standpoint. You would love some of these Senators. One lady, Ellie, has served Chapel Hill as their Senator for 20 some odd years and was a mayor before that. She drives to work in her Ford Station wagon, with funny bumper stickers all over and flyers littered throughout the back seat. Her aging hands clasp her pen as she walkes around the Senate Chamber in search of signatures for her latest bill. The blue sheet lined with signatures reveals her dedication to helping with issues of Justice, and issues such as city revitilization. It is one of the most beautiful things I have ever experienced to watch a Bill be made a Law. Its poetic, and I dont even know why I think so. It seems to me that a Bill, is basically a concept, or, a solution to a problem that has come up in someones life. One of my new buddies, Ches, just got a bill passed which will allow his fraternity to make license plates with their insignia on them. It makes sense. While it is not as important as other things, it is simply one slice of reality changing and made more whole.

And this Bill becomes a tangible flag whereby one can re-direct the course of a whole family, or a neighborhood, or a city. This is why we have some bad laws, like the laws that used to forsake women to vote for instance, or, even more insideous laws. But this is why, by and large, we have the greatest country in this world. I am not speaking arrogantly, I am speaking honestly, and being part of this process, as I pray for these Senators, has given me a deeper love for our State and our political "representative democracy." And, its made me want to fight for justice the more. You would not believe the "wolves" and lions that come around that building wanting to lobby and twist and turn and fight. It can be "frustrating." But even that, in all its problems, is driven by a person that is trying to represent another group of people in the way they see best fit.

I could go on all day.

Peter

Here is a quick bio on Ellie Kinniard, my local grandmother....

http://www.elliekinnaird.org/bio.shtml

Peter Milner, Senate Chaplain

2011-02-18T05:58:00.000-05:00

This was a picture I took of myself as I headed from Raleigh, NC to Winston-Salem, NC after my first day of prayer in the Senate. I was going to Winston to support my Executive Director at StepUp Ministry, Steve Swayne. Steve was speaking with my uncle at a local gathering of high school principals. They were talking about leadership. That day I felt like a newborn baby, headed into a world of the unknown, embraced by Christ, and truly bouncing off the walls inside of myself. It was one of those days that I felt I might explode. I was on "cloud 9," in reality. It was such a beautiful day and I am glad that I have this picture that truly captures the radiance of my inner joy in the Lord. And yes, mom, I was driving. And yes, Anna, I was driving. Sorry! I just had to do it. It was worth it.

Jacob and the NC General Assembly

2011-02-09T07:22:00.001-05:00

I started working in the General Assembly of North Carolina two weeks ago. In these two long weeks, I still get goose bumps everytime I climb to the podium to pray. Every time I pray, I feel unworthy. I feel foolish. And yet, I do feel something that I would call, "The presence of the Lord."

How in the world can I bring my experience of God into the most powerful place in North Carolina? Well, to put it bluntly, I cannot. As I have been thinking about this, I came across a podcast of a preacher friend named Thad Barnum. Below are the reflections from him that I find incredibly valid in the context of my own life.

I have wrestled with God, literally. If it were not for the wrestling that I did one night in August of 1997, I would not be in the General Assembly. If it were not for that moment when I wrestled with God, I would not be a new creature, I would not be married to my beautiful bride, nor would I have my two kids. That one night of wrestling was the pivot point of my life. And this is why the story of Jacob really does bring together the intricate fibers of my story into one larger story of my life. The story of Jacob captures this pivot point. And this is where Bishop Thad steps in, and offers me some clarity.

You know you have faught with God. And you have reduced him from His glory in order to wrestle with Him. "If you were really God" you would do such and such, or so and so. Can you hear him saying, "Let me go?" Why has he come in the sound of humility? Why has he let us be stronger? Why has he allowed that moment, when all of a sudden, he was bound by us, and slapped, and mocked, and beaten? Peter does what we all do, in the midst of panic. We take out our sword. And Jesus turns and says to him, "What are you doing?"

Jesus speaks to us. But we don't want to let His power and word to prevail. Let me go. Let me go. In God's power, EL dislocates us. This is what God does with us. In the context of the thigh, it is the source of our strength. The thigh is the place where we give birth, where covenant is made, and even its said "Gird up your loins." El touches that place where we think we can handle all things. God brings us to the place where we wrestle with Him, and then God allows Himself to be overpowered by us. He becomes weak, in order for His strength to ultimately prevail. This is the weirdness of the gospel. And this is our Lord, Jesus Christ.

We bring our thoughts to God, our concerns, our worries. And God says, like He did to Jacob at the Jabak, "I dont care about Essau. I dont care about the 400 men. I care about you." We are overhwlemed. We are fearful, but God wants us to know one thing, that I care about you. All He did was touch, and Jacob knew that power came into his body. I will tell it to you once, before you get blessing, you will find that God first breaks. Before the eternal life comes the cross. Down comes the idol of strength. You who have captured God by your mind, watch it. Watch out. The idol will come down. This is not a God who fits into our image. This is us fitting into His. We put him into a box and put him in the halls of academia. We wrestled with him on our terms. But El says, "Let me go."

That God would become one of us, that he would humble himself, and chose to become one of us, even unto obedience to death, even death on a cross. The humility of the God-man is found in this text. Jacob knows enough to know that he is dealing with a power greater than he is. The lesser always seeks the blessing of the greater. I am the weaker, and I am pinning you down, by my strength, but you are stronger. Welcome to my world. Absolutely this makes sense. It makes sense experientially.

As politicians wrestle with issues, as I wrestle to prepare daily prayers, and as assistants wrestle with email and to-do lists, I pray that I can always remember how God allowed us to wrestle Him to the ground. I pray that I will continue to let the Lord inform all I do in this space. I pray against the powers and principalities, and I pray towards the glory of God's kingdom. There is a place deep inside that is full of fear. We try to get God where we want him. There is a place and a time when we simply must let go of God. Our tendency is to grab ahold of God and strangle Him. But we know that He is bigger than we are, and we hear the sound of His voice saying,"Let me go." In the grand scheme, its not about us wrestling with God. Its about God wrestling with us. Are we going to wrestle, and are we going to ultimately, allow God to rename us and bless us through our wrestling?

A Good Friday Evening of Ice Skating

2011-01-22T09:52:00.000-05:00

All I saw was tears streaming down her face. Then, I saw her soiled pants. Her playful pink jeans were now dark and dirty. Then I looked up. I saw inverted eye brows, major frustration and anger was pouring from my wife's face. And all this happened while I was blissfully putting on Silas' cute ice skates. How dare they enter into my special moment with Silas to interrupt? This is what I thought. What in the world could have happened to create such a mess? Well, it started out as a nice evening of Ice Skating. It was nothing earth shattering. No. It was simple. It took some manouvering. Anna had to meet us for dinner, we had to park her Civic at 18 Seaboard, near the ice arena, and carpool downtown to the rink. But that wasn't much of an obstacle. The man that staggered from Cameron Village to Wachovia , in front of our car, was only a minor obstacle.

Tonight we joined six other families for open air ice skating in downtown Raleigh. The "hopeless romantic" in me bulged with glee as my wife and I, and the two kids, headed to park our car. But simple things often are the catch. Anna and I argued a bit about the parking space. But I let that go. I tried to drop the kids off with my wife, but that didn't happen. I did not communicate well. I said "Would you like me to drop you off here?" Another option might have been, "Anna, I would like to drop you off on the curb so that we do not have to walk the kids all over the streets." But I was my normal indirect self.

The weather was also a challenge. It was only 32 degrees and our 3 year old wanted to be carried everywhere because he was "cold." But, after all, Silas was most excited of us all. His face was riveted and poised as we headed in the direction of the rink. You might think that this would be an occasion for a family photo. Nope. Tonight we certainly didn't get a photo. I thought all my effort would pay off. I had picked Silas up at school, done an hour of work from home, gathered Josie from the bus stop, dressed the kids, and somehow by God's grace sent the neighbors child home, Hartley. Then, the kids and I sprinted to meet Anna at Cameron Village for dinner. We headed left on Six Forks Road. Behind the wheel, I waited in line, internally I was surging with expectations of fun, perfection, and joy. It is becoming all the more rare that Anna and I, and the kids, hang out and do something recreational together. So this was the moment, the climax, the perfect "rose colored" glasses that I always dream of. With Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, parties, school, travel, and all sorts of other opportunities, it seems like the Summer was the last time we went out on the town as a family. But eventually my dreams would be shattered.

I guess its realistic that a 6 year old would be scarred of a porta potty. After all, I am. So in the end, nothing tragic really happened. It was jut different than my expectations. Josie had a terrible evening. Silas had a bad evening, and Anna had a pretty sucky evening as well. And then there was me. I was trapped inside my head, like usual, ready to scream, but hoping to put a good spin on it. I was glad we did what we did. I wish it hadn't happened that way, but then, that would not be realistic. Thankfully I did not let my emotions get the best of me. I have slept through the night, gotten my daily dose of coffee, and have moved on. Silas and I went out for bagels this morning. Anna and I laughed in bed as we talked about our marriage, and we waited for Silas to walk into our room at 6:45 to say, "Is it wake up time?"

A year has flown by

2011-01-08T07:43:00.000-05:00

Like canadian geese flying over head, without warning, I have been ambushed by God's goodness this year. 12 months ago my focus was at home with my kids, and when I was not with my kids, I decided to take up the task of being a local Hospital Chaplain at Duke Raleigh Hospital. In a way, this was the silliest decision I had ever made. I could either have time to myself at home, while Silas and Josie were at school, or, I could volunteer with sick people in a local hospital. Blessing upon blessing came my way. Prayer after prayer was answered. Out of nowhere I was offered a job at StepUp Ministry. I started August 9th, 2010, and little did I know, this job would change my life. I was so completely "sent" into this job, by the strong arm of the Holy Spirit, that there was no credit I could take for it. Ten years prior, I had been the chaplain to the homeless men at the South Wilmington Street Shelter. Ten years ago I was in Duke Divinity School. Just 9 years prior, I had asked my girlfriend to marry me. I remember telling my cousin Benjamin. He knew she was the one. I glowed when I talked about her.

At Piola Pizza, my favorite pizza spot in Raleigh.

Its hard to believe God has choosen me to be His servant, but its looking like I have been tapped to not only work at StepUp Ministry ( a complete honor), but that I am awaiting installation as the next Senate Chaplain to the North Carolina General Assembly. I am overwhelmed by the movement of God. It's time to shout His name to the mountain tops. I did not seek the job out. I did not even ask for the job. It came to me, it saught me out, and it landed in my lap. God does know the desires of our heart.

Peter at work

2010-01-08T22:13:00.000-05:00

This is one of my favorite things to do.

The Memorial Service for Errol Milner Clifford

2009-12-30T22:46:00.001-05:00

I simply cannot get beyond this day. There must have been 700 people to come to Wait Chapel. A little boy truly worked, and is working miracles. As hard as it is for me to see, as his uncle, and as hard as it is for his dad to see, Errol is still working miracles. His first miracle was his first day of life. Every day since, he has pumped joy and life into everyone in his gravity field.

I am tired from an emotional day. I am tired because of all the talking with all the people. And yet, as much as Errol brought us together as community, I once again have fallen back into wondering about the tension between solitude and community. I am so aware of the tension between the large community gathered, and my own solitary experience at this computer terminal. I see, in our country, and, mostly, in me, a total depravity of community. I have never experienced a less "connected" place than the United States. And I see within my own heart, a real yearning towards loneliness. There is something terribly comforting to be alone with your own mind and your own thoughts. In that space we can convince ourselves of anything. That is the danger. In that space, we can imagine anything. That is the danger. In other words, without community, we die.

And I think that is truly captured by today, when my relatives flew in from Boston, Florida, and Tarboro, NC just to bless and be blessed by a little boy. In this time, in this season of Epiphany, My prayer is that I will be willing to allow the commuinty around me to support me and nurture me just as I have supported and nurtured Jonathan, Cary, and Owen on this day. It came to me in a flash once, when I was a pastor doing mission work. Community is like the scaffolding and unseen architecture of a great cathedral. Without the underneath architecture, the structure cannot hold in place. Without friends, without family, and without the "other," I literally cannot and should not function. I think Errol revealed a deep longing within my heart, and the heart of the community in Winston, to be deeply connected to something infinitely larger than the spheres we inhabit. Imagine.

Pandora Radio - Listen to Free Internet Radio, Find New Music

2009-11-23T20:01:00.001-05:00

This is a great program for the computer. I like it so much! I get introduced to new music and I get to listen to music I love!
Since I love music so much I but I often am unable to find new artists, this application allows them to use my own interests to place me in contact to new artists that I might not hear on Paste or hear from my family and friends.

Peace and grace,

Peter Milner

byFaith Magazine - PCA People - Keeping a Passion for Mercy

2009-11-03T19:51:00.001-05:00

byFaith Magazine - PCA People - Keeping a Passion for Mercy: "Starting His earthly ministry, He declared, ‘The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor … to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed’ (Luke 4:18-19)."

2009-09-25T23:25:00.000-04:00

My love for my kids is beyond words. Every day that I live with them, I discover more and more beauty within them, more love within them, and more love within my own heart. It seems that kids awaken the inner world of love with the parent. My own sense of prayer has changed dramatically as I have been a father. I "long" for my children to be well. I "long" for my children to be happy, to meet friends, to speak, to behave, to be silly. In essence, I want them to represent "me." It might sound selfish, but actually, I think you could get this same response from a lot of parents. And this is why I think being a parent deepens prayer. The Father God wants His children to experience His life, His vitality, and His pleasure, which is played out in our own relationships with our children and our families. God always seems to work in families. Even monastics are married to Jesus. They know that at their chore, they are in relationship. Relationship. As I love on my kids I see our relationship develop. I see our trust gel. I see so many things that remind of God and His love for me, and His joy in seeing me pray, in seeing me living the life that is like His.

Christianity

2009-09-25T21:22:00.002-04:00

The resurrection is either the greatest hoax in human history, or the greatest fact, but it is not anything like a half truth! You must pick!

Drinking wine and watching the movie, "Defiance!"

2009-09-25T21:18:00.003-04:00

Wine and "Defiance." It is a good combo!

2009-09-25T20:07:00.000-04:00

This is my boy doing what he loves best.

Hereghty Patisserie, Cafe in Raleigh. Pastries, Desserts and Wedding Cakes

2009-08-23T23:01:00.001-04:00

Hereghty Patisserie, Cafe in Raleigh. Pastries, Desserts and Wedding Cakes

Come visit us. We have the best scones and coffee in Raleigh.

Eroll Milner Clifford

2009-08-23T17:23:00.000-04:00

While I often think ahead, brooding over my future, I then remind myself of Errol, my nephew. Errol has just gone through heart surgery for the third time. His life is not easy. But his life is filled with joy and filled with reminders of the beauty of the day!

Be what you recieve!

2009-08-22T20:38:00.003-04:00

I have recieved the grace of Jesus. God's grace, His "one way love," has spoken over my life in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus has taken me over into the everlasting. And Jesus has shown me of whom I must listen. "The sheep hear my voice." Jesus has given me a new life, a new chance, relief from the slavery of my own encessant autobiography! He has turned water into wine. Jesus is so good. He resisted temptation. How did he do that? How did he go to the cross? I cannot imagine. But he went there didn't he. Or is it something we have made up? Is it something a bunch of religious freaks have branded onto the pages of history? Is it another myth amongst other myths? Is it true, real, and relevant?

My generation wrestles with these questions, and I am a generation X. But I have been changed inside of me. I have ben born from the inside out, cracked on the exterior, and the crack runs down through the middle of everything that I am.

I have been thinking about church order lately. Ecclesia. The church. What does it mean to be church? We talked many months about this while at Duke Divinity, but it never became a truly in-depth discussion. The professor waxed poetic, but I never had the chance to "think out loud" about the issues. As of right now I think I have moved from an individualistic model, to a authoritarian model, and now, to a shared and democratic model of church. I have bridged the gap between my baptist roots, my love of the catholic tradition, and my overwhelming sense that the Presbyterian model is a great juncture and meeting place of the two. In other words, my theology of church, or, my ecclisology has started to shift. In talking with my brother, who is a PCA pastor, and in listening to sermons by a mentor, Rankin Wilbourne, and in reading the word of God, I have started to question my understanding of how to best run a church and how to best describe and be a church.

Over the year I have started to believe in a more democratic, elder run session, over against a more Episcopate run diaconate and heirarchical style of leadership. To be frank, the model of the Anglican church and the Episcopal Church, flies in the face of my own upbringing. I am not saying that my upbringing is perfect. I am saying that I am most comfortable with the system of government found in democracy. I believe that human reason and logic always falls short, and that we are naturally turned towards our own ends, our own goals, and our own selfish desires. Four or five men will do a better job than one.

Theolically I have also shifted. Over this year I have seen God work miracles in my life. My wife was healed of cancer. My wife was taken from her job, which ends up being a mercy, in my opinion. I have been called back into full time ministry. All these things have been of the Lord's doing. I have nothing to do with any of them. I see nothing but the mysterious sovereign hand of Christ all over our life together. My reliance on God's mercy, my reliance on God's sovereignty, and my feeling of an inner and outer (total depravity) have become more and more real. It is a marvel to me that these outcomes have come about not by my efforts, but through God's grace.

On Retreat

2009-08-21T12:07:00.003-04:00

I attended church all my growing up life. Wake Forest Baptist Church was the name of the church that me and my two brothers and I attended with my parents. The seed planted in that place came to full bloom, though, in 1997. It took 24 years for the ripe fruit of Christ to finally birth itself into my spirit. I was born again in 1997, in the summer of that year, at a mountain in Tennessee. I was converted in an instant, baptised in 1999, and, strangely enough, entered into the pursuit of full time ministry the next year at Duke Divinity School. Before Duke I went on a pilgrimage to Spain. It changed me. The seeds planted at church, early in life, and the seed of new birth in Christ, planted in 1997, was watered from a deep well on teh side roads of the hillsides of Spain! The richly Christian traditions tore holes in my soul, and I cannot get them out. I loved the place. I want to go back! I shared my story of pilgrimage with my church at Wake Forest Baptist church. That was the first moment that I felt my love for giving God praise from a pulpit! In 2000 I entered Divinity school at Duke. It was kinda by accident. I applied to Princeton, but I was not able to get in. My brother was there. He was in his 2nd year. But even when I went for a visit I did not like the place. I felt a intellectual coldness there that made me feel uneasy. At Duke, when I visited, I felt more warmth. The reason that I went to Duke was because of Greg Jones and Willie Jennings. The night that I met them at Reynolda House Museum of Art, I had never known Duke to have a school of divinity.

Dr. Jennings lectured on jazz as a rubric for living the Christian life. I liked his lecture because it reminded me of two things. Dr. Jennings was using his own passions to teach him about living as a Christian. And he was waxing poetic about how the Christian life is infused with the elements of the natural world. In his lecture, he described Jazz. He described how Jazz was, at first sight, complex and free flowing, but once understood, based upon years and years of training. One cannot become a Jazz player overnight, just as one cannot become a Christian overnight. This peaked my curiosity,and it made me sense that I had something to learn from this man. In fact, Willie was probably my favorite teacher at Duke. His class on a Theology of Race was profoundly challanging, and it was a wonderful class to take while I was acting as a chaplain to the homeless shelther in Raleigh, NC. I also liked that Willie was a black man, and I liked that he wore a bow tie, and I liked that he was a Baptist. I grew up baptist, and I was most comfortable within that context.

Once at Duke I met Dr. Michael Battle. Dr. Battle was an Episcopalian. Dr. Battle was trained by Desmond Tutu in South Africa, and, because of that, he has many interesting stories to tell, and he was a very wise and grounded man. Unlike most of the professors, Dr. Battle was not just a professor. He was a full time pastor at a church in Raleigh. Dr. Battle was a great blend of preacher/professor. I loved him and took three classes from him. His interest in spirituality dovetailed with my own pilgrimage in spirituality. I was a seeker.

I spent many years trying on different religions. I tried on Buddhism. I tried on Self Realization. I tried on paganism throughout high school and found it unhelpful. By paganism, I mean, simply allowing my own personal experiences and personal drives dictate the choices and decisions I made.

At Duke's end, I was asked by Father Battle to come to England and study at Canterbury Cathedral for the summer, becoming more familiar with the Anglican tradition. When I turned that down, he then asked me to become the director of a small kids camp in Western North Carolina, Camp Kanuga ( Camp Bob). I turned that down as well, and headed West with my beautiful wife to explore Portland, Oregon and its environs. I loved Portland, and I even hope to move back in that direction.

After a year of Chaplaincy at Legacy Emanuel Hospital, I felt called to enter into parish ministry. Because of my fascination with the Episcopal tradition, and because of my fascination with the liturgy ( especially the Lord's Supper), I headed back East and became the youth Director of St. Michael's Episcopal Youth Community ( EYC). After three years I was literally burned out. I went to the bishop and asked him if I could go to the Seminary of my choosing, ( such as Duke), to acquire my yera of Anglican studies certificate, in order to become a postulant to the priesthood. When he said no, it was the final nail in the coffin. He suggested that I head to New York for school, and, because I had a wife, and a daughter, I decided that this was too much.

At this point, we left the Episcopal Church and headed to Church of the Apostles. The church was the location of many of our friends, and it was a place that we truly enjoyed and truly felt kinship in our walk with Christ. Underneath all of these experiences, though, I was being drawn back to my "spiritual home." In Portland, Oregon, I met once a month with a Franciscan who focused on the formation of Friars for ordination into the priesthood. Being a Franciscan was the first great thing about him. Robert was a loving soul and was completely renovated by the heart of Christ. Every time I would show up to his home, he would give me a large bear hug. It felt so comfortable, and so loving. In its own way, it was a "Welcome Home" invitation at every turn. Once in his house, there was no rush, no hurry, and no bustle. Instead, there was the stillness of meditation, and the adoration of every day living in a place. Robert gave me two hours of his time. This, within itself, was a blessing. And he said something that will always stay with me, "Be what you recieve." What does that mean?

Be what you recieve?

Eatonton Presbyterian Church

2009-08-19T13:38:00.003-04:00

St. Thomas of disbelief

2009-07-03T08:24:00.002-04:00

A picture speaks ten thousand words. We are all better off thanks to Thomas.

Reconciliation as the Mission of God

2009-06-11T08:05:00.003-04:00

God raises up people of reconciliation from age to age. Gregory of Nazianzus was a man of reconciliation. His relationship with his father pushed him to deeply consider what it meant to be reconciled. His father pushed Gregory to return to his hometown to serve the people in the congregation. Gregory fought between his love of his father and his own personal calling from the Lord. Of all the early church fathers, I relate to Gregory. I find this comforting. I find it wonderful to hear about saints that have come before me, saints that encourage me on the way. Gregory, like me, was married. He was the third son. He was torn between living in solitude and serving the world, and he was deeply devoted to thinking theologically about the incarnation of Jesus Christ.

St. Gregory of Nazianzus

tt=23 Doctor of the Church, born at Arianzus, in Asia Minor, c. 325; died at the same place, 389. He was son -- one of three children -- of Gregory, Bishop of Nazianzus (329-374), in the south-west of Cappadocia, and of Nonna, a daughter of Christian parents. The saint's father was originally a member of the heretical sect of the Hypsistarii, or Hypsistiani, and was converted to Catholicity by the influence of his pious wife. His two sons, who seem to have been born between the dates of their father's priestly ordination and episcopal consecration, were sent to a famous school at Caesarea, capital of Cappadocia, and educated by Carterius, probably the same one who was afterwards tutor of St. John Chrysostom. Here commenced the friendship between Basil and Gregory which intimately affected both their lives, as well as the development of the theology of their age. From Caesarea in Cappadocia Gregory proceeded to Caesarea in Palestine, where he studied rhetoric under Thespesius; and thence to Alexandria, of which Athanasius was then bishop, through at the time in exile. Setting out by sea from Alexandria to Athens, Gregory was all but lost in a great storm, and some of his biographers infer -- though the fact is not certain -- that when in danger of death he and his companions received the rite of baptism. He had certainly not been baptized in infancy, though dedicated to God by his pious mother; but there is some authority for believing that he received the sacrament, not on his voyage to Athens, but on his return to Nazianzus some years later. At Athens Gregory and Basil, who had parted at Caesarea, met again, renewed their youthful friendship, and studied rhetoric together under the famous teachers Himerius and Proaeresius. Among their fellow students was Julian, afterwards known as the Apostate, whose real character Gregory asserts that he had even then discerned and thoroughly distrusted him. The saint's studies at Athens (which Basil left before his friend) extended over some ten years; and when he departed in 356 for his native province, visiting Constantinople on his way home, he was about thirty years of age.
Arrived at Nazianzus, where his parents were now advanced in age, Gregory, who had by this time firmly resolved to devoted his life and talents to God, anxiously considered the plan of his future career. To a young man of his high attainments a distinguished secular career was open, either that of a lawyer or of a professor of rhetoric; but his yearnings were for the monastic or ascetic life, though this did not seem compatible either with the Scripture studies in which he was deeply interested, or with his filial duties at home. As was natural, he consulted his beloved friend Basil in his perplexity as to his future; and he has left us in his own writings an extremely interesting narrative of their intercourse at this time, and of their common resolve (based on somewhat different motives, according to the decided differences in their characters) to quit the world for the service of God alone. Basil retired to Pontus to lead the life of a hermit; but finding that Gregory could not join him there, came and settled first at Tiberina (near Gregory's own home), then at Neocæsarea, in Pontus, where he lived in holy seclusion for some years, and gathered round him a brotherhood of cenobites, among whom his friend Gregory was for a time included. After a sojourn here for two or three years, during which Gregory edited, with Basil some of the exegetical works of Origen, and also helped his friend in the compilation of his famous rules, Gregory returned to Nazianzus, leaving with regret the peaceful hermitage where he and Basil (as he recalled in their subsequent correspondence) had spent such a pleasant time in the labour both of hands and of heads. On his return home Gregory was instrumental in bringing back to orthodoxy his father who, perhaps partly in ignorance, had subscribed the heretical creed of Rimini; and the aged bishop, desiring his son's presence and support, overruled his scrupulous shrinking from the priesthood, and forced him to accept ordination (probably at Christmas, 361). Wounded and grieved at the pressure put upon him, Gregory fled back to his solitude, and to the company of St. Basil; but after some weeks' reflection returned to Nazianzus, where he preached his first sermon on Easter Sunday, and afterward wrote the remarkable apologetic oration, which is really a treatise on the priestly office, the foundation of Chrysostom's "De Sacerdotio", of Gregory the Great's "Cura Pastoris", and of countless subsequent writings on the same subject.
During the next few years Gregory's life at Nazianzus was saddened by the deaths of his brother Caesarius and his sister Gorgonia, at whose funerals he preached two of his most eloquent orations, which are still extant. About this time Basil was made bishop of Caesarea and Metropolitan of Cappadocia, and soon afterwards the Emperor Valens, who was jealous of Basil's influence, divided Cappadocia into two provinces. Basil continued to claim ecclesiastical jurisdiction, as before, over the whole province, but this was disputed by Anthimus, Bishop of Tyana, the chief city of New Cappadocia. To strengthen his position Basil founded a new see at Sasima, resolved to have Gregory as its first bishop, and accordingly had him consecrated, though greatly against his will. Gregory, however, was set against Sasima from the first; he thought himself utterly unsuited to the place, and the place to him; and it was not long before he abandoned his diocese and returned to Nazianzus as coadjutor to his father. This episode in Gregory's life was unhappily the cause of an estrangement between Basil and himself which was never altogether removed; and there is no extant record of any correspondence between them subsequent to Gregory's leaving Sasima. Meanwhile he occupied himself sedulously with his duties as coadjutor to his aged father, who died early in 374, his wife Nonna soon following him to the grave. Gregory, who was now left without family ties, devoted to the poor the large fortune which he had inherited, keeping for himself only a small piece of land at Arianzus. He continued to administer the diocese for about two years, refusing, however, to become the bishop, and continually urging the appointment of a successor to his father. At the end of 375 he withdrew to a monastery at Seleuci, living there in solitude for some three years, and preparing (though he knew it not) for what was to be the crowning work of his life. About the end of this period Basil died. Gregory's own state of health prevented his being present either at the deathbed or funeral; but he wrote a letter of condolence to Basil's brother, Gregory of Nyssa, and composed twelve beautiful memorial poems or epitaphs to his departed friend.

My favorite quote from Gregory goes like this:
"That which was not assumed is not healed; but that which is united to God is saved" (to gar aproslepton, atherapeuton ho de henotai to theu, touto kai sozetai)."

Deep Soul Nourishment

2009-02-23T10:18:00.004-05:00

Very rarely in life do I have time to sit with a friend, take off my shoes, drink coffee, and, speak from my heart. Ironically, I have been doing this lately, with a buddy, and it has meant the world. Even if I have a good friend--which I do--we have to clear out space to meet together. Even when we meet together, we may never get to that place where we resonate. Even if we get to that place of resonation, we are still different people, each that must go back home, and each, with our different perceptions of our time together.

This is the beauty of friendship with God. There are times, places, and parameters that make it hard for God to have a heart to heart with us. Its hard. You cannot just dial up God and lay it all out there. There is either too little time, there is the next traffic light ahead, or, there are kids at home that we have to go put in a new diaper.

But, when I go to the monastery, something different happens. Time takes over, and God starts to come closer and closer. I can try all I want, but I cannot bring myself into the presence of God. God has to admit me. I know that Jesus admits us to God. And yet, rarely am I honest with God. I am only kidding myself. It often takes time at the monastery for me to really get honest. A year of therapy is nothing compared to thirty minutes in silence with Jesus. And even getting to silence is hard. It did not happen for me until Saturday just before lunch. I met with a spiritual director at 9 and he suggested that I spend some time with the blessed sacrament. Now, truly, I did not know what that meant. And yet, I knew that the sacrament was stores in a small chapel in an inner room in the larger sanctuary of the church. So I went there. Around 11 I entered. At 12:00 I headed to lunch. Inside the room, deep spoke to deep. God took me in his arms and did what only God can do for me. He poured himself into me. He opened my eyes to Him. He took my shoes and filled them with His feet. He reminded me that He is with me always. And he is.

Pretty darn good beer

2009-02-10T21:17:00.001-05:00

This is the best stuff I have tasted in a while.

Aventinus, the world's oldest top-fermenting wheat doppelbock, was created in 1907 at the Weisse Brauhaus in Munich using "bottle-conditioning" where fresh yeast and malt are added to the bottle to induce secondary fermentation. Pale, crystal and dark malts are employed for this double-fermented wheat beer.

It was Georg Schneider's creative response to bottom-fermenting doppel-bocks such as Salvator, Kulminator and Animator that developed a strong following during these times. Aventinus has received topmost commendations for its perfect balance of two complex layers of flavors - the fruity spiciness brought in by the top-fermenting yeast and the notes of chocolate created by the use of crystal and dark malts. The label bears a picture of Johannes Aventinus, the historian who first described Bavaria and its people.

Coming back home after Winter Conference

2009-01-31T16:07:00.002-05:00

Winter conference was blissful. I enjoyed running into friends, making new connections, and being reminded of my 1st love--Jesus Christ. As I have returned home I feel very peaceful. The tremndous power of the spirit of God is at work. Some very importrant things happened. I talked with Ben Sharpe about ordination. I met a guy named Ben that has formed a prayer service in Boston, Mass. This prayer service may end up being a church plant in the city of Boston. I also had the chance to hear the teaching of Thad Barnum on Collosians and Dan Claire, and Terry, a prayer warrior from Texas. Every time I come back, I feel refreshed, and re-alligned. I am now in such a better place than I was when I went to the conference. I am more relaxed about everything. Everything. I feel like the emphasis from the whole Conference was on community. Actually, that was what I took from it. Isolation is the great plague of modernity. But the power of the spirit of God wants to awaken and bless the person into the community of the beloved Son, King Jesus, God almighty. MOving from isolation, to community, has been the single largest blessing for me in the Christian life. To experience the power of God, and to allow God's power to rest "inside us." This is a grace.

Since I am tired, I am not making much sense. I do not know if I would make sense even if I was not tired. So, here we are, and here I go.

PCM

None-the 9th hour

2009-01-22T15:06:00.001-05:00

St. Cyprian was born around the beginning of the 3rd century in North Africa, perhaps at Carthage, where he received an excellent classical education. After converting to Christianity, he became a bishop (249) and eventually died a martyr at Carthage.

Cyprian sees in the hours of prayer, Terce, Sext and None, which come after a lapse of three hours, an allusion to the Trinity. He adds that these hours already consecrated to prayer under the Old Dispensation have been sanctified in the New Testament by great mysteries—Terce by the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles; Sext by the prayers of St. Peter, the reception of the Gentiles into the Church, or yet again by the crucifixion of Christ; None by the death of Christ.^[20] St. Basil merely recalls that it was at the ninth hour that the Apostles Peter and John were wont to go to the Temple to pray.^[21] St. John Cassian, who adopts the Cyprian interpretation for Terce and Sext, sees in the Hour of None the descent of Christ into hell.^[22] But, as a rule, it is the death of Christ that is commemorated at the Hour of None.

NONE

Oh God, come to my assistance!

Oh Lord, make hast to help me. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end, Amen.

God, Be Merciful to Me
(Psalm 51)

1. God, be merciful to me;
On Thy grace I rest my plea
Plenteous in compassion Thou,
Blot out my transgressions now;
Wash me, make me pure within;
Cleanse, O cleanse me from my sin.

2. My transgressions I confess;
Grief and guilt my soul oppress.
I have sinned against Thy grace,
And provoked Thee to Thy face.
I confess Thy judgement just;
Speechless, I Thy mercy trust.

3. I am evil, born in sin;
Thou desirest truth within.
Thou alone my Savior art,
Teach Thy wisdom to my heart;
Make me pure, Thy grace bestow,
Wash me whiter than the snow.

4. Broken, humbled to the dust
By Thy wrath and judgment just,
Let my contrite heart rejoice,
And in gladness hear Thy voice;
From my sins O hide Thy face,
Blot them out in boundless grace.

5. Gracious God, my heart renew,
Make my spirit right and true.
Cast me not away from Thee,
Let Thy Spirit dwell in me;
Thy salvation's joy impart,
Steadfast make my willing heart.

6. Sinners then shall learn from me,
And return, O God, to Thee
Savior all my guilt remove,
And my tongue shall sing Thy love
Touch my silent lips, O Lord,
And my mouth shall praise accord

Psalm 126

Restore Our Fortunes, O LORD

A Song of^(A) Ascents.

1When the LORD^(B) restored the fortunes of Zion,
   we were like those who^(C) dream.
2Then our^(D) mouth was filled with laughter,
   and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then they said among the nations,
^(E) "The LORD has done great things for them."
3The LORD has done great things for us;
   we are glad.

4Restore our fortunes, O LORD,
   like streams in the Negeb!
5^(F) Those who sow in tears
   shall reap with shouts of joy!
6He who goes out weeping,
   bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
   bringing his sheaves with him.

Psalm 127 Praise of God's goodness: A pilgrimage son

1Unless the LORD builds the house,
   those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the LORD^(B) watches over the city,
   the watchman stays awake in vain.
2It is in vain that you rise up early
   and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious^(C) toil;
   for he gives to his^(D) beloved^(E) sleep.

3Behold,^(F) children are a heritage from the LORD,
^(G) the fruit of the womb a reward.
4Like arrows in the hand of^(H) a warrior
   are the children^[a] of one’s youth.
5Blessed is the man
   who fills his quiver with them!
He shall not be put to shame
   when he speaks with his enemies^(I) in the gate.^[b]

Psalm 128 The blessings of home: a pilgrimage song

1^(B) Blessed is everyone who fears the LORD,
who^(C) walks in his ways!
2You^(D) shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands;
you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you.

3Your wife will be like^(E) a fruitful vine
   within your house;
your children will be like^(F) olive shoots
   around your table.
4Behold, thus shall the man be blessed
   who fears the LORD.

5^(G) The LORD bless you^(H) from Zion!
May you see^(I) the prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life!
6May you see your^(J) children’s children!
^(K) Peace be upon Israel!

Short Reading ( 1 Corinthians 6:20)

We were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.

Cleanse me from my unknown faults, O Lord

And restrain me your servant from sin.

Prayer: Lord God, grant that through our work we may provide for the needs of this life, while never losing sight of what is of true value, those things which alone remain forever and ever.

Conclusion:

Let us bless the Lord

Thanks be to God

More eggs!

2009-01-22T10:15:00.001-05:00

Two eggs is a plenty for a 19 month old. Three is putting away some serious chickens. Four is outrageous. Five is epic. I feel like a regular Waffle House over here. Silas had two eggs. Now he is on to his third. Oh wait, we have moved onto his 4th. But wait, now Josie wants two eggs, and Silas has taken one from her. That puts the total to 5.

Josie is in the backyard rolling snow balls. She has been up since 7:00, woke me up at 12, 2, and 4 for small favors in the night. "Can you change the song...its too loud," and I have forgotten the last request. I was somewhere hovering between sleep and sanity. "I need help," is a nice phrase, spiritually speaking, but as it relates to Josie, I am sick of it. If God is just a giant version of me, a cosmic grandfather, we got problems. I am thankful that is not that case. And Silas, what will he want next? What will I want next?

The breach is ever before me, the breach between "life as it should be, and life as it is." Another egg please? There is nothing like having my appetites curbed by the appetites of my 19 month old. Nothing is right. The reality of feeding, changing, and feeding him, again and again, over and over, is like nothing. I literally am used. I am a servant. I guess I have advanced. I am married, I have a house, and I have two children. But, if I were Darwin, I would have assumed I had failed. It is very hard. Sometimes I feel like I would rather be cleaning garbage cans than cooking my 19 month old eggs. And that is honest. But here I am, on my third egg, charging forward.

Erroll Clifford

2009-01-20T10:28:00.002-05:00

Moravians at the gate

These words are a direct transcript from my brother Jonathan's blog. I wish I wrote as well or had as much to say. He is at the inaururation right now, and I cannot wait to see what words come spinning out of that. The theme of the post is, "Slow down." There is such wisdom in this.

Old Salem is an 18th century Moravian settlement a ten-minute walk from our house. Much like Colonial Williamsburg and the state of West Virginia, the streets and homes of historic Old Salem are populated by pilgrims in colonial garb. As you enter their world, the ersatz colonists call you “sister” and “brother” to make you feel like you are either back in the eighteenth century or in a Southern Baptist church. And unlike the Moravians of yore, these old-school interlopers get to go home at the end of the day and watch their satellite TVs and flush their toilets. Despite the fact that they had no toaster ovens or microwaves, the Moravians had a pretty good life.

On our tour, we watched a gunsmith work on a rifle that he said would take 125 man-hours to complete. I’ve never spent 125 hours on making anything (unless you count Susie Mandelbaum!) Not only did the gunsmith make the gun by hand, he made the tools that made the gun. “Yeah,” I asked him, “But did you make the tools that made the tools that made the gun?” Slacker! Living in a world of specialization, I image how wonderful it must have been to make something from start to finish, to see it come to life, to engrave your name into it, to use it to shoot a cow.

For all their faults, The Moravians lived life at a very human pace. As we walked through this advertisement for stress-relief, I could feel time slow down (maybe it was the taco I had for dinner). I breathed easily and drank in the pace of this beautiful place.

Errol is retarded, or as people say around here, “a little slow.” Most of us value speed, and when it comes to intelligence, slow is definitely bad. But I think, most of the time, slow is better than fast:

But when you think about it, which would you rather have?

Fast food: slow food
Fast conversation: slow conversation
Fast nap: slow nap

OK, stupid question.

Remember, at the finish line of life is death, so there’s really no rush. We could all use a little more slow in our lives, and Errol helps us quiet our frenetic days. After all, Errol doesn’t have a to do list, he doesn’t have goals to achieve each day, he doesn’t rush from task to task. He enjoys it when I hold him by his legs and run around the house chasing the dogs, “he, he, heh!!!!” He loves it when we take half an hour to eat applesauce. “he, he, heh!!!!” He loves it when we take a long slow bath, “he, he, heh!!!!” Errol enjoys where his is so much that he is in no rush to leave.

Apart from his wheelchair (had those Moravians never heard of handicapped ramps?) Errol fit right into the 18th century. We had a beautiful day at Old Salem, and if we are patient enough, Errol will help keep the best parts of the past and the present right here with us.

Pensive, doubting, fearful heart

2009-01-20T10:21:00.002-05:00

Dereck Webb on see the 100% call to living a counter cultural life

Inauguration of the 44th president

2009-01-20T10:08:00.002-05:00

This is the day, this is the day that the Lord has made.

It is so very exciting what is about to take place.

The first black man in power in the most powerful nation in the world. This is an amazing statistic. Something is happening. This is a real paradigm shirt. It is time for us to pray for the Obama's, praying that they will not try to do more than they in fact can do, and praying that the Lord will have mercy. I have never seen this type of energy.
I wish I was in D.C. My wife is very happy to be here.

It is the first day of the week

2009-01-18T15:58:00.001-05:00

I am heading back to the monastery in February for some time to eat eggs, spend time with my buddies, and get some fresh reflections from Father Christian. It is always refreshing to head south to Mepkin Abbey and feel the love of God.

To sit inside the splendor of God, to sit beneath His tree, to lap up his mist, to lie inside His mystery.

A Tale of Three King- A study in brokenness

2009-01-14T11:27:00.005-05:00

by Gene Edwards

I recommend it highly. I have been broken, over and over, and this book helps with people broken as myself, and possibly as you.

I have a more poetic temperament, so if you are averse to somewhat whimsical, creative, and eliptical writing, this may not be for you. For instance, my wife does not like it as much as I do. I am driven more emotionally, and thus, this book speaks to my pinned up emotion.

It is helping dissolve my frozen heart by the beams of Jesus' love divine. My prayer is that God will continue to warmth impart to my frozen heart.

"All thy love vested is, strange indeed if love like this should not melt the frozen heart.

Thank you Jesus

2009-01-14T10:44:00.004-05:00

Thank you Jesus

Thank you Jesus

Thank you Jesus

for eyes to see the trees, the sun light, the green grass, the dappled grey

Thank you Jesus

for thoughts, for deep thoughts, for a mind that is turned, outward, to the sun

Thank you Jesus

for

Thank you

Jesus

for

Thank you

Jesus

Thank you Jesus

for family, for my wife, for children, for Josie, for Silas, for grandchildren, for grandparents, for parents, for memories of parks, tennis, basketball, and charades at the beach.

Thank you Jesus

Thank you Jesus for music
Thank you Jesus for a 2nd chance
for Errol
for Owen
for Rose
for cooper
for Josie
for Silas
and on and on and on and on

Thank you Jesus for animals

Thank you Jesus

for the people

for the prayers

for the prophets

for the Thomas Mertons, the St. Francis', the Therese of Lisieux,

For Gordon Dalbey's, and the Wassily Kandinsky's of this world

Thank you for beauty

Thank you for beauty

Thank you for giving us a new vision of beauty

Thank you for rising our heads to see the beauty of your Father.

Thank you Jesus

Thank you Jesus for coming down to earth to stay a while with us.

Thank you for abiding with us.

Thank you for the legacy of Rev. Martin Luther King

and C.S. Lewis

and for the monks.

Thank you for helping me fall more and more love with you.

Our destiny is in you.

By faith

2009-01-14T06:53:00.002-05:00

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; 10 for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
11 By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child[b] when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude—innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.
The Heavenly Hope

13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them,[c] embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 14 For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. 15 And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.
The Faith of the Patriarchs

17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 18 of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,”[d] 19 concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.
20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.
21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.
22 By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel, and gave instructions concerning his bones.
The Faith of Moses

23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s command.
24 By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, 26 esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in[e] Egypt; for he looked to the reward.
27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible. 28 By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them.
29 By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned.
By Faith They Overcame

30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days. 31 By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace.
32 And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: 33 who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. 35 Women received their dead raised to life again.
Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. 36 Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted,[f] were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented— 38 of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.
39 And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, 40 God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.

1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Oklahoma will win

2009-01-08T20:18:00.001-05:00

While I have read many folks that think Florida will win, and while it seems that the big 12 may be overrated, based on the bowl outcomes, I still think Oklahoma will win by 3 points.

She walks on thin air.

2009-01-08T16:39:00.001-05:00

Josie is a wonder. She floats. Amazing how she moves and makes magic of every move. It is almost sacramental.

Josie and me-and a little knowledge about our week…

2009-01-07T14:35:00.001-05:00

Lots of times Josie and I sit and watch TV. We do it on Wednesdays. Wednesday's are T.V. day. I feel bad about it. But I also don't. We have instituted certain activities on different days. While she is in school on Monday and Wednesday and Friday at Christ Baptist Preschool, she comes home at 12:30.

Monday— Clean up day (But according to the Judeo-Christian count, Monday is the second day, the first being Sunday.) Monday is named after the MOON.

Tuesday— Donut day (Named after the Nordic God Tyre)

Wednesday—T.V. day (The name comes from the Middle English
Wednes dei, which is from Old English language
Wēdnes dæg, meaning the day of the English god Woden (Wodan) who was a god of the Anglo-Saxons in England until about the 7th century. For the Orthodox, Wednesdays and Fridays throughout the year commemorate the Crucifixion of Christ and the Theotokos (Mother of God), especially as she stood by the foot of the cross. There are hymns in the Octoekhos which reflect this liturgically. These include special Theotokia (hymns to the Mother of God) called Stavrotheotokia ("Cross-Theotokia"). The dismissal at the end of services on Wednesday begins with these words: "May Christ our true God, through the power of the precious and life-giving cross...."

Many Protestant churches also have services or a Bible study on Wednesday. Some U.S. high schools have had a custom of scheduling sporting events on Monday and Thursday for girls' games, Tuesday and Friday for boys' games, and leave Wednesday evenings free partially for this reason.

Thursday—Avery's house day and Ice Cream day.

Friday—Paint day

God's Providence

2009-01-07T11:34:00.003-05:00

Waltzing past the Grave, by Jay Clifford

There's a stranger lying in my bed
a slate-eyed asleep assassin in my head
i keep on dying 'til i finally fall dead
everyday has a way through

there's an ether hanging at my door
a cross-eyed crucifier keeping score
i keep on smiling 'til i can't smile no more
everyday fades to blue

and we go waltzing past the grave
and we go waltzing past the grave
and we go waltzing past the grave
for one more day

there's a danger lying at every turn
a steel-eyed star signing 'to whom it may concern'
i catch my breath before the match starts to burn
everyday lights a fuse

there's a false confession under my skin
a doe-eyed disbeliever, a turned down chin
keep on losing 'til it feels like a win
but it's just a point of view

there's a light shining in my eyes
a show off charlatan shelling out lies
i see clearly 'til the flash starts to die
but it's just a clue

there's a cloud rising from the sea
a modern myth maker coming for me
i see the rain fall like snakes from a tree
and i know it's overdue

there's a stranger lying sound asleep
a slung out stone sinking in the deep
i give my dreams away the darkness i keep
but I'm holding on to you

keep on waltzing past the grave
keep on waltzing past the grave
keep on waltzing past the grave
for one more day

One day some will see how the grave was but the beginning, just the start.

Chuck Longino

2009-01-07T11:18:00.003-05:00

At the death of my good friend, mentor, spiritual advisor, genuinie soul, and teacher extraordinaire, I am heart broken. At the thought of his soul leaving this place I am heart broken. At the drop of another penny I am crushed by loosing him. How do you want to recieve hard news? How do you want it to go? I recieved the hard news in the form of an electronic email from my dad. My dad worked with Chuck for many years at Wake Forest. Chuck was the one professor at Wake Forest to take me seriously. He took me so seriously that he paid my way to present a paper at the National Meeting of Gerontologists in Birmingham, Alabama. He took me so seriously. I remember all of the meals I had with he and his wife Loyce. I pray for her right now. I am sad for her. But Chuck. Where are you dear Chuck? My man, Chuck. He was recognized as possibly the leading expert on the patterns of elder care in America. He was rock solid. I remember the recommendation he wrote for me when I was applying to be a 5th grade teacher in Texas after my graduation. I will always remember Chuck. I will always remember his house. His house was devoted to a life of joy. He and his wife had build a sperate room for meditation. They were both healers. Chuck was a healer. And his time is now over.

Oh death, where is thy sting? I almost feel dirty placing these words on a computer screen. Am I perpatuating the virtual world that denies the horrors of death. I hate death.

And to think, just this past Christmas, the day of his death, I was but several miles from his last breath. Forgive me Lord! Oh dear Lord, help us, for we know not what we do.

In my dads email to me he said these words, haunting from a man of few words
"VERY SAD NEWS: Chuck Longino died on Christmas day. I had no idea he was not healthy. I had seen him once or twice and had always wanted to ask him to eat lunch.
Good intentions need to be acted on.
LOVE
Daddy."

I am torn in two.
Death is a sting. Death is final. Death is horrible. Death is the end of the beginning. The next step, the real beginning, is in the Lord. Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy.

Amen

Velvet Tuberose by Bath and Body Works

2009-01-05T23:06:00.002-05:00

I like this soap.

I am so pumped

2009-01-05T22:17:00.002-05:00

I got my new computer. It is green. It is handy. I can listen to all my music. It is user friendly. Wow. God really is good.

Expectation

2008-12-24T15:32:00.003-05:00

Joy

2008-12-24T15:28:00.000-05:00

Christmas Eve

2008-12-22T22:48:00.001-05:00

Jesus!!!

2008-12-22T15:51:00.002-05:00

As a man, he walked
As God, he walked on water and did not sink

As man he wept over a dead friend
As God by a voice he called him back to life

To hang on the wood, but to make all the elements tremble

He who could not be enclosed in space willed to be enclosed
The God who cannot suffer did not disdain to become a man who could

Who is Jesus to you?

Christmas 2008

2008-12-21T07:46:00.003-05:00

Google has done it again. They have some mighty good elves looking after them.

Todays agenda---church at Redeemer. Brunch with Phil. Say goodbye to Anna. Say goodbye to Nancy. And more and more...

The peace of God

2008-12-14T06:15:00.006-05:00

Prayer creates peace. Prayer is initiated by God and ends not with us, but with God. And so, we have to realize that prayer if actually not about us. Likewise, peace is not about us. There are many images for peace. A dove, a peace sign, open hands, a candle, the lion lying with the lamb. These are all good. But I Would suggest that our very inability to imagine "peace" results from the fact that peace is not something we can even imagine. Like our image of God, we have many important and helpful images. God is a father. God is a shepherd. God is a king. But in the end, all of these images are pale. What I have always wanted is peace. And this morning, after prayer, I had it.

I just spent an hour sitting on my couch, doing nothing. I prayed, I prayed, and then my mind slipped, and then I prayed again. I uttered many words, I thought many thoughts, but it all came back to Jesus. "Yes, Jesus...Yes, Jesus."

The only time I have felt real PEACE in my life has been a direct result of the supernatural. God has been very gracious to offer me many glimpses of His peace. In these moments, I am blessed. I wish I could but give peace to those I love. But I cannot. After having prayed this morning, I feel a large amount of peace. This peace "surpasses all understtanding." In other words, the mind nor soul can contain it. In other words, it is beyond humanity. It is transcendent. It is supernatural. The peace of which I experienced, following prayer, was a PEACE that is the peace of a child in the arms of its father. There is possibly not greater experience than the experience of the PEACE OF CHRIST.

Lord Jesus, would you bring your peace, your kingdom, and your Before I stop writing this entry, I want to look back at the image on the screen above. This image is problematic. It seems unreal. Where are the animals. Where are the cities? Where are the people eating and drinking? Peace, if it is peace, looks a lot like what we see with our own eyes on a day to day basis. As we grow into Christian maturity, I believe we may see even more and more peace through the eyes of Christ.

Church

2008-12-10T11:34:00.001-05:00

( Taken from internetmonk.com)

The centrality and clarity of Lutheranism's emphasis on justification, the sharp distinction of Law and Gospel, the emphasis on the theology of the cross, etc, etc), one stands out above - and in a sense "behind" - all others. That is the Lutheran approach to the Word of God, and in particular the emphasis on the Word's instrumentality and effectiveness, and the way this then carries over into its doctrine of the sacraments.

The point is that, while the benefits of the Gospel are received by faith alone, the effectiveness and truth of the Gospel depend on God's Word, not on human faith. The sacraments are the Gospel wrapped up in physical elements, and likewise depend for their truth and effectiveness not on human faith, but on God's Word of institution (eg, "This is my body"); though the benefits are received only by faith. (Contrast the position of the 39 Articles, in which the Lord's body and blood are received only by those who have faith, and baptism unites to Christ only those who "receive it rightly" - thus making the sacraments' effectiveness conditional on faith).

JAY Z

2008-12-01T22:45:00.003-05:00

Sean Carter. He could be one of the top ten musicians in the world, in my opinion.

JAY Z---

Please check out his new song on redwire.com

Urban Ministry is my passion

2008-12-01T21:40:00.003-05:00

Written by Dean, a ministry coordinator in Denver, Colorado
Read more about Dean at this location:

http://www.youthpartnersnet.org/Dean_Cowles_Bio

Driving through Obama's neighborhood
I flew into Chicago Midway partly to save money on my way to spend a few days with one of our partners in Grand Rapids. I've driven down Cicero and 55th Ave many times on this South Side of Chicago, but never one week after an historic national election.

As you might imagine, dark blue Obama yard signs were everywhere along the city streets. Most of them were next to apartment low income housing that had no grass growing in the postage stamp sized yards. I was driving through the hood that sent a community organizer to the highest office in the country. As we say, "some good came out of the hood"

Along the way I had to reflect that here we have a President who understands the poor and disenfranchised like none other. He walked everyday along these row houses and projects. He sat in hard wooden chairs at countless community meetings in deteriorating schools watching five gallon buckets slowly fill up from leaks in the roof like the ones I was driving by. Everyday he saw the tall poles with blue lights indicating emergency call boxes on nearly every corner. He saw the corner liquor stores and crack houses more numerous than churches. He saw and worked in a part of America that few of us ever see. We talk about "drive by" shootings and it scars us to death so when it comes to the inner city, we just "drive by". (But that's another subject for another blog).

But my point is, we now have a President who didn't just "drive by". He has seen it as few of us have. He grew up in it, single mom, racial diversity, discrimination, never knew his dad, searching for identity. It's been a very long time since any President was forged in that kind of furnace. And I think it will serve him well.

Cause there's one common denominator between the white house and wall street, between capitol hill and Chicago sidewalks, it's the hustle. I think this President has some good "street smarts". He can see and smell a "hustle" a mile away. And let's face it, we've got a bunch of politicians on both sides that have been hustled for too long. Let's hope Obama can break that down and clean it up.

My hope is that he will take what he has seen and experienced on the South Side to the South Lawn of the White House. When he wakes up in that place and palace of power, he will be reminded of all those dark blue yard signs that represent so much hope and dreams. My prayer is that he will not stray from these roots. Some criticized him for his lack of experience. But they haven't driven down Cicero or 55th Ave.

And to my friends who are still struggling to support our President, here's one suggestion. Hop a plane to Midway. Drive around that community for awhile as I did. I think what you see and experience might be an eye opener. In fact, you can do that this summer.

(OK, here's my cheap commercial. We have urban ministry partners on the South Side of Chicago. Bring a group on one of our www.cityconnexx.org custom designed urban missions trips and see what our new President saw. Serve in the City - "Come & See")

I admire a man that can come out of this hood and see a new vision to bring a lot of good to our nation. That's my hope and prayer. Will you join me?

A reflection from Henri Nouwen that relates a lot to me

2008-11-10T15:03:00.002-05:00

From: Intimacy: Essays in Pastoral Psychology

"One of the reasons why a man in the business or academic world is often able to tolerate considerable frustration is exactly related to the fac tthat he does not find his demanding boss back in his private home, that in his interracial committee he can be leader; that if he goes on a vacation with his wife and children he has authority and responsibility which is diffferent from his authority and respomsibility in his profession; that when he goes to the country club he can temporarily forget his conflict with his wife and his problems with his kids. In other words, there are different roofs under which he lives: his home, his office, his cottage, his country club, his church, all representing different realities of life with different authorities and responsibilities...IF you cannot say what you think to your assistant in your office, you at least have a chance to letyour steam of with your friends in the bar. Different places and different places. That can create a healthy balance. The priest often lacks this variation."

But even deeper than this, suggests Nouwen, is the need for self understanding. We must ask the question. "Who am I?...This relates to the need, within each of us, for inner privacy where we can hide from the tyranny of the world. A man who does not have privacy cannot be a part of the community. There must be a place "where nobody can enter, where I am completely by myself, where I can meet God, who by His incarnation has thrown off his otherness...Very often the priest has lost their private life. This is the place that the priest can be himself."

My time at Mepkin Abbey reminds me of Nouwen's wisdom. My deep desire to remain noisy, busy, and always moving around ( a busy body) is created to hide from the most urgent need I have---to be with the Lord and find refuge in HIM. So my prayer is that I can trust that, it is ok to be alone, and it is most important to spend time with Him. Daily. Maybe even twice daily.

Republican National Committee

2008-11-05T21:49:00.002-05:00

Mike Duncan seems to be a very good man. I wish Obama would hire him. He is the chairman of the Republican National Committee. I hope that the Democrats will clean house of some of the more bombasitc and prideful folks in leadership. Just because they now have power, they must be careful not to trip over their own glories.

Get used to him, and start praying for him.

2008-11-04T19:11:00.005-05:00

Please take the time to pray for Barak. He needs it. We all need it.
He will be the highest political authority in our land, and he needs all the help we can give him. I will be so glad when this campaign is over and we can start mending our deep cultural wounds. Pray for him church, he is a great man.

Finally, as I searched the web for a picture of Obama, there were many feeds that said that Obama was the "2nd coming of Christ."

If you believe this, I wonder what kind of Christ you follow. Who is your Jesus? Is Jesus someone that you can manipulate? Friends, Obama is a man. When Jesus comes back, we will know it. Friends, while we would like to domesticate the Lord, and we always have, lets give up on this game. Friends, Obama is a great man, but he is no Jesus. Don't try to out Jesus Jesus!!!

Lastly, for Barak, a prayer.

Lord, Jesus Christ, come down and rest with this gentle giant of a man, heavenly father. Come down, from heaven, and sit with this man. Revive his spirits when he is low, and sift through his thoughts when he is fitigued. We ask, through your son Jesus Christ, that you would guard the heart of Barak mostly dear Lord. Grant his family security and peace. Grant his presidency a clear conscience. While there are many things that I want him to say and do, Lord Jesus, make him an instrument of your peace, not our desires. Mostly, Father, remind him that your Son Jesus has died for His sins. Remind him that your son Jesus is proud of him, not because he is the future president, but because he is your child. Lord, Jesus, remind Barak that he, most of all, is not the 2nd coming. Please Lord, keep away the devil from his mind, his heart, and his ego. Guard him from pride, and guard him, through your Holy Spirit, from all of the deception of the evil one. And it for Christ's sake that we ask all these things.
Amen.

This is something NEW

2008-11-04T18:56:00.003-05:00

Something NEW will happen tonight in America. What does the word NEW mean?
New!!! New!!! We really can't get our heads around that word. We think we know what NEW is. Tomorrow will be a NEW day. And so, what does it mean that "In Christ we are NEW?" Well, I do not know. We are new. A baby is something new. A letter in the mail is something new. The election results will be new. It simply means that it has never existed before. Newness is something new. It was never. Now it is.

But these metaphors only begin to tell the story. Having been in the hospital several times, struggling with this illness here, and that illness there, I know how it feels to be made NEW. Something new is not always just something made from scratch, so to say. Something can be made new, even though it has been around for a while. A house, for instance, can get a serious renovation.

When I was in the hospital once, I had a blood clot in my brain. I could barely walk. I lost my senses. Ten days later, after medicine, and relief, I felt NEW.

Tonight we will elect our first black man into the seat of highest authority.
That is amazing. The highest authority ( in human terms) and just 80 years ago most homes had servants of the same skin color. Wow!!! Are you kidding me?
It is so incredibly exciting. I am thrilled. It will be an easy win for Obama.
Not only that, but it helps me get a picture of the NEW CREATION OF THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH. When Jesus returns, it will make this exciting evening seem like gerbel food. It will make tonight look like a small cloud of smoke underneath the larger fireworks display in the sky. This election, if anything, taps into our deep need to HOPE. Yes, we need to hope. And yes, because I am in CHRIST, I can hope. I have true hope. Obama is an adombration of the future eschatalogical hope. It is so exciting.
And ironically, since Jesus was a political figure, this type of political crowning that will go on is a most clear picture of the future king.
Watch how it goes. Watch it. You will see small pictures, if you are a believer, of the future restoration of all things.
" The lion will lie with the lamb...and a little child shall lead them."
Praise the Lord for this day, and praise the Lord for breaking open the earth and pouring forth His grace upon us, to give us eternal life in Christ. May we all come to know that Jesus, the true King, is the reason to HOPE, the reason to celebrate, and that this win tonight, by Obama ( well, it is not official yet, but, I mean, come on!!!) is a mere foretaste of the joy that we will have when we get to heaven.
Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him all creatured here below. Praise Him above yeah heavenly host, Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.
Now, sing it aloud, and it will bring you joy. Rejoice, rejoice and be glad.

He loves me cause he loves me cause he loves me

2008-10-27T11:17:00.003-04:00

It is so amazing that God loves a wretch like me. I just cannot get over it. Me. Big, fumbling, pathetic, tired, mukked up me. And nothing can change that. Nothing. I did not choose God. He choose me. I did not bring my salvation. He saved me. I did nothing to earn His love, and so I can do nothing to loose his love. I know this because I agree with Jonathan Edwards, "No human being desires to submit their lives under the control of God." He goes on to say that our hearts are hostile to God. I agree with that. While we do have free will, this is not the problem. Our nature is not headed towards the direction of Jesus. Our nature, because of the fall, is for hostility and towards the creation of our own private kingdoms. While God is establishing His kingdom, we always try to establish our kingdom.

Yes, we have free will. Yes, for sure. And, I have been elected to an office, and my free will allows me to live in that office. Blaise Pascal said, "God gives us the dignity of being the means of His will." My office is to live underneath the reign of the King, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

While I was driving up to this library in Wake County, I heard a story, a sermon illustration, by a friend in Los Angeles. He said that he was aware of the hype of this political season. Just the other day, I myself, saw Joe Biden in Winston Salem, NC. The candidates for president are campaigning hard. He said, "What if the president, whether McCain or Obama" spent their first year in office trying to figure out why they got elected?" They spent tireless hours looking over research. They spent hours polling. Well, we would be disappointed. We elected them to "do" something. We elected them for an office, to accomplish a task. Likewise, we as Christians, are elected not to simply be grateful for our admission into the kingdom, but we are called and given incentive by the call of the Lord to go out and reach others for Christ. Ultimately our salvation was not up to us, and so it takes great weight off our shoulders in order to be free to evangelize.
Being elected also gives me assurance that my own tragic life, my own foibles, my own sickness, counts for nothing in God's presence and in His kingdom. Whether I am cranky, tired, intelligent, faithful, humble, or, beautiful, it does not matter. We are elected in Christ, and we are given faith in Christ, not through our own efforts, but from the efforts of Christ and His spirit.

Ultimately, the Biblical doctrine of election leads to peace, and more peace, and more peace. It reminds me that Christ loves me, He choose me, and that despite my broken will, He will always continue to love me and restore me into His image.

Pastoral liturgy

2008-10-14T20:54:00.004-04:00

Taken from www.ritemagazine.org
This resource is a catholic resource for the liturgical pastor.

"A thirst for God is apparent today. While engaging in issues of the day, from local and global violence to homelessness and unemployment, individuals are seeking more of an understanding of their place in the world. This thirst for God comes first as people begin to experience deeper personal prayer. People want God to speak to them. Still many people only "talk" when they pray to God. However, we need to listen to God in times of silence, in both our personal prayer and at the liturgy. Nevertheless, this is not easy to do in our age of continuous, all-pervading sound.

Although still shy in approaching scripture, people want to experience and pray the word of God. It is the inspired word that helps us to lift our prayer in formulas that we cannot express ourselves. The Liturgy of the Hours is thoroughly the word of God in its use of psalms and canticles."

I. HISTORY OF THE LITURGY OF THE HOURS
The Acts of the Apostles (2:46) shows how the early Christian communities lived out the teaching to pray always. Jewish prayer certainly had an influence on the prayer of the early Christians. The Shema, the basic creed of Judaism (Deuteronomy 6:4-9), accompanied by its series of fixed benedictions, was prayed in the morning and the evening. It is important to note that "Christians, like Jews, adopted the custom of praying at fixed times, and that the most important times for public liturgical prayer in both traditions were the beginning and end of each day" (Robert Taft, The Liturgy of the Hours in East and West: The Origins of the Divine Office and Its Meaning for Today, Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, 1986, p.11.). These would be natural times for praying in any tradition.

The earliest Church order, the Didache, gives us the Matthean "Our Father" with a concluding doxology and the rubric "pray thus three times a day" (William A. Jurgens, The Faith of the Early Fathers, vol. 1, Collegeville, The Liturgical Press, 1970, p. 3). The writings of the early Church tell us that this pattern of prayer was normative, including hymns and psalms, but do not give much information as to form and content. The early Church Fathers, however, give witness to the eschatological character of Christian prayer at night and the themes of Christ as Light of the World and Sun of Justice in the morning.

The development of the Office in the first three centuries originated in the private devotion of the early Christians. Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Tertullian, Cyprian, and Hippolytus all give witness to the practice. The morning and evening Hours were obligatory in the eyes of Tertullian and Clement. Hippolytus "enumerates the morning and evening prayers as well as those of terce, sext, and none" (Juan Mateos, "The Origins of the Divine Office," Worship, 41, 1967, p. 479), and thus he harmonized the three hours during the day with the principal moments of the Lord's Passion.

A shift happens in the fourth century with the Edict of Milan in 313 and the Peace of Constantine. This brought to the Church the freedom of cult, and worship became a public activity. In the fourth century we see a development of the Office, with a monastic model and a cathedral model."

The reformation is mostly a movement that had its soul depth in the monastaic, rather than the cathedral, model. Luther was a monk. Lots of the soul of protestantism, pietism, holiness, and the whole lot of it, was born in the soil of this monastic model of daily prayer.

"

I love this image from Google

2008-10-13T21:05:00.004-04:00

It was not until 2008 that Google began changing their images almost every week.
We are now living in such a transient, image based culture.

A Sermon on Love: St. Bernard

2008-10-13T00:16:00.002-04:00

SAINT BERNARD 2008

Wisdom 8:2-3a, 10-11, 13-15a, 16;
I John 4:7-16; John 15:9-17

The words of today’s Gospel are powerful words, my brothers and sisters. They flow from the deepest center of the heart of the one we call our Lord and our God, our Savior, our way, our truth and our life. For these words are addressed not to the disciples who lived 2000 years ago. They are not a verbatim transcription of words spoken long ago in another culture, another country, and another language. They are not an historical record of what was once true for a select group of people in a specific setting.

The power of the liturgy, the reality of our faith-grounded service, is that these words are spoken here today for each one of us. Father Kevin proclaimed them, but they are not Kevin’s words. He is simply a minister of the Word. Just as shortly Jesus will be really present in the bread and wine as a sign of his being the food and drink that sustains our inner life, so too, Jesus is really present in the very words proclaimed today.

And the words we have heard today are simply amazing, utterly awesome – “words without alloy, silver from the furnace, seven times refined.”

“I call you friends,” Jesus says. No longer slaves, no longer hirelings, but friends. Friends because Jesus has revealed the deepest secrets of his life to us. Friends because he has laid down his life for us. Friends because he has chosen us from the foundation of the world to share his own divine life. Friends because of that most powerful word he spoke to us today:

“As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Remain, abide, dwell, make your home in my love.”

Our Father Saint Bernard heard these words in his own time and made them the very foundation of his personal life and of the doctrine that he taught as abbot to his monks and to all who have fallen under his sphere of influence.

“As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you.”

Do we believe these words, my brothers and sisters? Have we made them our own? Do we remain in them, abide in them, make our home in them?

It is not easy, my brothers and sisters. So much in our lives goes against the truth proclaimed in these words. There is not one of us here that doesn’t suffer, in one degree or another, from a poor self-image, from low self-esteem. Whether that comes from what others have communicated to us blatantly or subtly – or whether it has been strengthened by our own sin, by the guilt we all bear from turning away from God, from the voice of our conscience, and choosing ourselves over others, choosing our own preferences over the desires of others.

But these are the words given us today and I urge each one of us to meditate on them today. To dwell in them, to remain and abide in them and to make our home in them. They are the living words of Jesus and they lay bare his life to us, his desire for intimate union with us. Bring them in your prayer today. Ask Jesus to make them the words of life they were spoken to be.

Perhaps a way we can help to allow this to happen is to recall the long line of tradition in which we find ourselves caught up in. We are not the first ones to hear these words. There are many ways, e.g., to think of Saint Bernard. We can look at him as the great voice of his age; we can see him as this tremendously charismatic Doctor of the Church; we can view him as this larger than life figure: the last of the Fathers, the founder of scores of monasteries, the counselor of kings and popes. But we can also look at him as a simple human person, a man like you and me, acquainted with weakness, his own first of all.

For Bernard did not experience spiritual growth as a matter of pure and unchallenged progress. On the contrary, he knew it as a sustained struggle against weariness and discouragement and a constant effort to resist the allurement of alternative attractions. In one of his last sermons on the Song of Songs, those sermons that describe the height of the mystical life, he writes: “The languor of the soul is very great and so is the difficulty of returning to God.”

Another passage in these sermons reveals the very heart of Bernard, the monk, Bernard the simple human being striving to respond to the words of the Gospel we have heard today.

“O how desirable is that weakness which is made up for by the power of Christ. Who will grant me not only to be weak, but to be totally destitute and to fail completely on my own resources, so that I may be sustained by the power of the Lord of hosts?”

This weakness is our own, is it not, my brothers and sisters? So let us go to Jesus with that weakness so that in that weakness the power of God may take full hold of us and we can make our own the words we have heard today.

“As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Abide in my love,”

Amen.

Quiet

2008-10-13T00:03:00.002-04:00

Stillness is much needed in my heavy bones, my sagging eyes, and my stiff neck.
Stillness is what I need as I lay my head to rest.
Stillness is what I long for.
I drop my head.
I allow the silence to envelope for me.
I open the inner chambers of my heart to the one that begs us to come closer, closer, into the place where only He can hear us and only we can become still.

Tabernacle

2008-10-13T00:00:00.000-04:00

Tabernacle of Moses — what is it?The tabernacle is a visual dwelling

Tabernacle means “tent,” “place of dwelling” or “sanctuary.” It was a sacred place where God chose to meet His people, the Israelites, during the 40 years they wandered in the desert under Moses’ leadership. It was the place where the leaders and people came together to worship and offer sacrifices.

The tabernacle was first erected in the wilderness exactly one year after the Passover when the Israelites were freed from their Egyptian slavery (circa 1450 B.C.). It was a mobile tent with portable furniture that the people traveled with and set up wherever they pitched camp. The tabernacle would be in the center of the camp, and the 12 tribes of Israel would set up their tents around it according to tribe. The instruction on how to build the tabernacle was first given to Moses in the wilderness, who then gave the orders to the Israelites.

“…make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them.” (Exodus 25:8)

“Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God. They will know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out of Egypt so that I might dwell among them.” (Exodus 29:45-46)

And so God dwelled among His people in the tabernacle in the wilderness. He appeared as a pillar of cloud over the tabernacle by day and a pillar of fire by night in the sight of all Israel. The people would not set out on their journey unless the cloud lifted. It was an unmistakably powerful visual statement indicating God’s presence among them.

God knew that the Israelites needed visual evidence of His presence. When Moses went up to Mount Sinai for 40 days and the people did not see or hear from him, they grew impatient and gathered their gold to form a golden calf that they worshipped in place of God. After ten generations of living in Egypt, it was not surprising that the Israelites mimicked the Egyptians in fashioning a visual idol of their own. This act of disobedience demonstrated their need to follow and worship a God who was visually tangible. God’s provision of a tabernacle — itself a splendor to behold — not only allowed the people to sense His presence, but also to see their leader go in to meet with God in a concrete place and not disappear up a mountain.

The tabernacle of Moses is a lesson of unquestionable authority
The tabernacle was more than just a dwelling place. All the components of the tabernacle were part of an intricate visual aid to illustrate God's relationship with His people. One aspect of this relationship was God’s requirement for complete obedience. God told Moses to create the tabernacle exactly the way He commanded. It was not to stray from God’s blueprint.

“Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you.” (Exodus 25:9)

To this end, God gave very specific instructions about the size of each component and the materials the Israelites were to use, as we will see in the following sections of this discussion. These seemingly cumbersome rules were not intended to burden the people, but to show God’s unquestionable authority and holiness, and emphasize that people could only come to God on God’s terms, not on their own. They had to obey reverently not only in the construction of the tabernacle, but also in the way they worshipped. Any irreverence or ritual uncleanness could result from an individual being cut off from his people or in death.

For example, the anointing oil for the tabernacle and the incense for the altar of incense (made from God’s own prescribed formulas of spices) were both declared holy by God and could only be used for the purpose of the tabernacle; anyone else using the same formula for their own consumption would be cut off from Israel (Exodus 30:34-38). The special garments for the priests were holy; if they did not wear the right clothing in serving the Lord, they could die (Exodus 28:2, 43).

The wilderness tabernacle is a projection of God’s redemptive plan
In the New Testament, John writes: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” (John 1:14) This word “dwelling” is the same word for “tabernacle” in the Old Testament. In other words, God came in living flesh to dwell or to tabernacle among His people. As He walked upon the earth and lived among the Jews, Jesus Christ Himself fulfilled the picture of the Old Testament tabernacle. In that and many other ways, as we will see, the tabernacle really was a prophetic projection of the Lord’s redemptive plan for His people.

“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.’” (Rev. 21:3)

A Holy Relationship

2008-10-12T23:10:00.001-04:00

A holy relationship

This post is taken from www.himanintroduction.blogspot.com

What we see in the romance and tragedy of Israel's history is that God loves and is loving, in a committed and jealous way. But the teaching – and ultimately of course the work - of Jesus takes us further into the essence of God himself, such that John can write, 1 John 4, God IS love. This is stronger even than what we have already learnt: not merely that God is loving, or that loves, but that he is, in essence, in his very being, LOVE.

What can this mean? Have a look at Jesus' teaching in John 5:

20For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these.

And in John 14:31

…the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me.

The father loves the son, and the son loves the father. What he reveals is that God is not just one, but is also three persons: and that that unity is made of love. Jesus prayed to the Father:

I pray also for those who will believe in me…that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. John 17:20-21

They are so close they overlap: they live “in” each other. God exists, and has existed from before time began, as a holy relationship – a community of love. Our God, then, we know as the God who is by his nature love.

Hyssop

2008-10-05T20:55:00.002-04:00

According to Nave's Topical Bible, the hyssop is mentioned in these seven books: 1 Kings 4:33; Leviticus 14:4,6,51,52; Hebrews 9:19; Numbers 19:6; John 19:29; Psalms 51:7 and Exodus 12.

22 Drain each lamb's blood into a basin. Then take a cluster of hyssop branches and dip it into the lamb's blood. Strike the hyssop against the top and sides of the doorframe, staining it with the blood. And remember, no one is allowed to leave the house until morning.

23 For the LORD will pass through the land and strike down the Egyptians. But when he sees the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe, the LORD will pass over your home. He will not permit the Destroyer to enter and strike down your firstborn. 24 "Remember, these instructions are permanent and must be observed by you and your descendants forever. 25 When you arrive in the land the LORD has promised to give you, you will continue to celebrate this festival.

26 Then your children will ask, 'What does all this mean? What is this ceremony about?' 27 And you will reply, 'It is the celebration of the LORD's Passover, for he passed over the homes of the Israelites in Egypt. And though he killed the Egyptians, he spared our families and did not destroy us.'" Then all the people bowed their heads and worshiped. 28 So the people of Israel did just as the LORD had commanded through Moses and Aaron.

A plant indigenous to western Asia and northern Africa, it was used in purification rituals and sacrifices of separation and in giving Jesus vinegar on the cross.

Perhaps most importantly, when Christians think of "hyssop" they remember it in conjunction with Passover, the most important of annual Jewish festivals. It is kept in remembrance of the Lord's passing over the homes of the Israelites when the first born of all the Egyptians were killed.

Lost Sheep Outreach Ministry

2008-10-05T20:49:00.002-04:00

I want to thank the Lord for Lost Sheep Outreach Ministry. I want to praise Him for what He has done in and through Lost Sheep Outreach ministry. I want to give Him glory for Lost Sheep Outreach Ministry. And I want to ask the Lord to bless, equip, and supply this ministry with infinitely more than we could imagine or percieve. Praise Him in the heights.Praise Him for what he has done in the city of Raleigh through Lost Sheep Outreach Ministry. To Him be the glory and the honor and the praise.

Restoration of all things

2008-10-05T20:21:00.002-04:00

I am getting kind of fed up with political rhetoric. The political machine starts to bother me around now. It is such a machine. Emails from this candidate. Emails from that candidate. It is all such a big game. We are all so hopeless, and it is so remarkable that we pin our hopes on men. Our hopes can never be restored by men. Our hopes can only be restored in God. God restores our hope. He does this on the cross of calvary. He restores us to joy, to union with Him, and to life in God. Oh how the political season reminds me of the wrath of God. Oh how the political season is so devoid of peace, of God's presence. It will be a blessed thing when we can simply vote, and get into the Christmas season. I am not saying that voting is not important. No! I am saying that the spirit of our age comes out in these elections, and it is depressing. The spirit of our age is so heavy. There is so much despair in the air. The stock market is down. The housing market is down. And sometimes our hopes hang on finances. Wow! This is so sad. Do we not know that there are no Uhauls behind hearses. Let us celebrate what Christ has done and recieve the peace that comes in this celebration.

It is Finished--Red Mountain Music

2008-10-05T16:02:00.002-04:00

It Is Finished - Part II (Hark, the Voice of Love and Mercy)
Taken from the Gadsby Hymnal #93
Words: Attributed to Jonathan Evans, 1784 & Benjamin Francis, 1787.
Music: Jeff Koonce, 2005.

Capo III
D/F# A
Hark, the voice of love and mercy,
D
Sounds aloud from Calvary!
D/F# A
See, it rends the rocks asunder,
D
Shakes the earth and veils the sky!
D/B D/C#

“It is finished, It is finished,”
A D
Hear the dying Savior cry.
“It is finished,” O what pleasure,
Do these charming words afford.

Heavenly blessings, without measure,
Flow to us from Christ the Lord.
“It is finished, it is finished,”
Saints the dying words record.

Finished all the types and shadows,
Of the ceremonial law;
Finished all that God had promised;
Death and hell no more shall awe.
“It is finished, it is finished,”

Saints from hence your comfort draw.
Tune your harps anew, ye seraphs;
Join to sing the pleasing theme;
Saints on earth and all in heaven,
Join to praise Immanuel’s name.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Glory to the bleeding lamb!

© 2006 Red Mountain Music
www.redmountainmusic.com

The Jesus Stroybook Bible

2008-10-05T13:07:00.006-04:00

The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every story whispers his name

I recommend this Bible for children. It is wonderfully colorful and very
insightful. It is by far my favorite of the three that I have for my children.

Dexter Morgan

2008-10-03T23:25:00.004-04:00

"And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)," (Eph. 2:1-5, NKJV).

The following text has been transcribed from a sermon entitled
"But God," by the Rev. Rankin Wilbourne.

Dexter is a very likable guy. But Dexter has a secret. He lives a double life. He fights crimes during the day and he is a serial killer at night. He kills by the code. HE hunts down people who have killed. The interest in this show is revealing. Why do we identify with Dexter? It is not because we are serial killers. We have a shadow side. We have a secret life. It alienates you from others.

In the last scene of season #1----"Sometimes I wonder what it would be like for everything in me to be revealed, but I will never know. I live my life in hiding."

This is what it must feel like, "to walk in full sun light--my darkness revealed, my shadow side revealed."

The director is saying, "Who cannot identify with Dexter?"

Reviewers identify with Dexter. This show seems so cutting edge.

It is so Ephesians 2. This is true. When our most penetrating artists get to the pinnacle of their work, they find King David, Paul, and Jesus waiting for them.

I shot a man in Reno just to watch them die!!!

What is wrong with us?

Ephesians 2 is the text in the Bible where you would take someone to see the Biblical definition of the fall of humanity. We are all "by nature" dead. In other words, there is a parallel between a physically dead person and a living dead person. If you are not alive, to who God has revealed himself to be in Jesus Christ, you are living dead. A corpse is un-responsive to stimuli. It sometimes seems ridiculous. You are dismissive. Corpses are also unable to act. We do not have the strength within us to turn to God.

Paul then concludes in verse 3, "We are children of wrath." We are not simply people that commit sins, it is our inherent condition, but we are actively opposed to God.

Some people say they do not like Paul!!! What does Jesus say, then? The end of the gospel of John in 2nd chapter, Jesus is in Jerusalem. People follow him. Jesus does not put much stock into what people say about him. John 2:25. "He knew what people were really like." Even Jeremiah knows this. "The heart is deceitful and desperately sick. Who can understand it?"

This is paradoxically so liberating, and also intellectually credible.

--A lion wants to eat meat---
--We also want to be self interested---
---We are selfish---
---Among whom we all once lived, in the passions of our flesh---

Flesh. It is almost never talking about the skin pulled over your bones. It does not mean our material body. This has had bad consequences.
"Sexual immorality" is equated with the flesh due to Galatians.
And thus, God hates sex. And so we have a heirarchy of sins.
Porn is worse than envy therefore, or, greed.
We all struggle with that. This view is pervasive.

Flesh is therefore not about our corporeal existence. It means the "whole disposition" of a person against God. You flesh is your desire to be your own God. Your desire to be your own savior. "Autonomy."
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"And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)," (Eph. 2:1-5, NKJV).

Before we knew Christ we were dead.
When you hear about the goodness of God, the particular goodness of God in your own life. We must own our need for the gospel.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Why are we the way we are?
Unless we listen to God's word about "who we are" we are completely confused.
You have three options other than the Bible.

1) Naturally innocent--but this is nieve today given our bloody century
2) Morally nuetral---we are a blank slate. We have a bad situation. You can always choose differently. If it is purely a matter of our environment then why can we never find a culture

Recently the world was shaken by the death of David Foster Wallace.

"Everything in my own immediate experience supports the idea that I am the absolute center of the universe...It is our default setting. It is hard wired into our boards at birth. There is no experience you have had that you are not the absolute center of."

Wallace understood us so well. Where did his insight lead him?

We buy into a Biblical anthroopology without a Biblical remedy.
"The person in whom agony reaches a certain level they will kill themselves in the same way a trapped person will jump from the window of a burning high rise."

This is a life and death matter. People who committ suicide understand half of the gospel completely. Life without God is hopeless. We are ina desperate situation. We have a problem. But we have not the resources to remedy it. No one can cure our loneliness. These people are remarkably clear eyed.

We run hard so that we do not come face to face with this reality. As your pastor I do not want you to spend your life running heedlessly.

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It would be dreadful if Paul left us there.
In the greek there is no period after verse 3.
These are the two most beautiful words in the Bible.
But God.
This is the whole gospel in two words.
WE were dead, but God.
We were objects of wrath, but God.
Only Christianity allows it to be both.
Salvation is of the Lord.
I was dead, but my salvation is completely and utterly by the grace of God.

But God, being rich in mercy.......
We deserved nothing but hell, but God...

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The three most prolific writers in the Bible

David
Paul
Moses

What do they have in common?

Jewish males.

They were all murderers.
Therefore, if God can use them, then he can use anyone.
There is never a period, but always, but God.

The Palin Strategy

2008-10-03T11:17:00.001-04:00

The Palin Strategy
Taken from www.slate.com

Sarah Palin got a tough rap this week for flubbing questions in media interviews. Her solution tonight: not answering them at all.

Gwen Ifill nobly tried to keep both candidates on task. But Palin demonstrated a knack for answering the question she wanted to answer—not the one that was asked. At one point, Ifill asked Palin to respond to a comment by Sen. Biden on health care. “I would like to respond about the tax increases,” Palin pivoted and proceeded to accuse Obama of raising taxes 94 times. A minute later, Ifill prompted Palin to respond about McCain’s record of deregulation. Again, Palin resisted: “I'm still on the tax thing because I want to correct you on that again.” Biden looked exasperated, prompting Palin to say, “I may not answer the questions that either the moderator or you want to hear, but I'm going to talk straight to the American people and let them know my track record also.” In other words, screw your questions, I’ve memorized a message and gosh darn it, I’m going to get it across. She even managed to steer Ifill at one point: “Can we talk about Afghanistan real quick?” “Certainly,” said Ifill.

It wasn’t just Ifill she ignored—Biden got the cold shoulder, too. When Palin said Obama voted to cut off troop funding, Biden pointed out that McCain has voted against troop funding as well, because the legislation contained a timeline for withdrawal. She did not respond. Same when he pointed out that Obama’s tax plan raises taxes only on those who make more than $250,000, not families who make as little as $42,000, as Palin and McCain claimed. She had talking points but few responses to Biden’s rebuttals. One notable exception was the time she corrected Biden on “McClellan’s” argument that counterinsurgency could work in Afghanistan as it has worked in Iraq. Biden conceded the point but didn’t mention that his name is actually Gen. McKiernan.

The strategy worked. Palin kept the conversation on her turf, avoided follow-ups, and came across both forceful and charming. She addressed the camera directly—part of the “straight to the American people” message—instead of addressing Biden (although she did turn his way to inform him, “Your plan is a white flag of surrender in Iraq”). She’s also a master of the tonal pivot, going from beaming smile to sly grin to dead serious all within the same answer. The format helped, too. The two-minute rebuttal periods didn’t produce much cross-chatter, and Ifill didn’t ask many follow-up questions.

In her closing statement, Palin said she liked the debate because “I like to answer these questions without the filter of the mainstream media.” If by “filter” she means Couric-style follow-ups, requests for clarification, and other obstacles to the subjects she came to talk about, she’s right. This debate was a great medium for her.

E.B. Reames

2008-10-02T23:55:00.003-04:00

This woman is slowly becoming one of my favorite Southern painters.

http://ebreames.com/

Vice Presidential Debate

2008-10-02T23:29:00.002-04:00

When we look back at this debate, if we ever do, I think we will be amazed at what we read on the transcript. When I was a chaplain at a hospital we had to create "verbatims," of our conversations with people, with patients, and with staff members. Our goal was to improve our conversations, our interactions, and our presence with the people who we ministered to and with. I must say, that as I look at the debate tonight, I am struck by the words that came out of their mouths.
Palin may be very appealing to look at, but the words that came from her mouth seemed to be disjointed? Am I the only one that felt this way? I felt as if she was being mechanically operated from an external source. I loved her when she got a bit folksy, but, most of the time I felt like she was one of those 12th graders that comes into school on the morning to take their test and kinda regurgitates everything that they have crammed into their brains. I am afraid Sarah Palin is at a big disadvantage here. She just does not have much information about her topic of discussion. Joe Biden, on the other hand, was somewhat magical in the way he tied together stories, made clear points, and directly answered questions. He was eloguent, at times almost making me want to cry. I would say that Palin was the opposite of eloquent, sort of "rehearsed," more than anything else. It is kind of ironic for a woman that seemed so uncomfortable in her own shoes to be the same candidate that panders to being "like" everyone one else. Who is she like again? I am uncomfortable with her discomfort with herself in this situation. I like her hair, sure, and I like her glasses, and I like her heart even. I think she has a good heart. But I do not like hearing a conglomeration of information coming from her mouth that seems clogged, dismembered, and disjointed. I cannot vote for a person that lacks a connection running between their heart and their head. By this time, at this level, her life and her politics must be more integrated, or else, I am afraid I do not trust it. The thing I noticed most with Gov. Palin was that her answers generally were acceptable, but she acted as though she was reading from a script, i.e. her answers often had nothing to do with the question she was asked, and she just recited talking points.Palin said nothing concrete. She couldn't produce any evidence and avoided answering questions that she struggled with. I think Biden won the debate hands down. Gov. Palin describes herself as a "straight talker." I think she is. She does not talk with people, she talks To people. She did not answer questions. She gave promos. I am discouraged by that tactic. I find it disengenuous and I thikn Joe Biden deserves a big fat cookie for his performance tonight.

John Piper on evil...

2008-10-01T10:30:00.002-04:00

John Piper

From Piper's new book, Spectacular Sins, pp. 50-51:
Eight Things to Do with Evil

On the one hand:

Expect evil. “Do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you” (1 Pet. 4:12).
Endure evil. “Love bears all thing, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Cor. 13:7; cf. Mark 13:13).
Give thanks for the refining effect of evil that comes against you. “Give thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph. 5:20; cf. 1 Thess. 5:18). “We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance . . .” (Rom. 5:3–5).
Hate evil. “Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good” (Rom. 12:9).
Pray for escape from evil. “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (Matt. 6:13).
Expose evil. “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them” (Eph. 5:11).
Overcome evil with good. “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Rom. 12:21).
Resist evil. “Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (Jas. 4:7).
Four Things Never to Do with Evil

But on the other hand:

Never despair that this evil world is out of God’s control. “[He] works all things according to the counsel of his will” (Eph. 1:11).
Never give in to the sense that because of seemingly random evil, life is absurd and meaningless. “How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! . . . For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever” (Rom. 11:33, 36).
Never yield to the thought that God sins or is ever unjust or unrighteous in the way he governs the universe. “The Lord is righteous in all his ways” (Ps. 145:17).
Never doubt that God is totally for you in Christ. If you trust him with your life, you are in Christ. Never doubt that all the evil that befalls you—even if it takes your life—is God’s loving, purifying, saving, fatherly discipline. It is not an expression of his punishment in wrath. That wrath fell on Jesus Christ our substitute (Gal. 3:13; Rom. 8:3). Only mercy comes to us from God, not wrath, if we are his children through faith in Jesus. “The Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives” (Heb. 12:6).

Jesus Christ has tied himself to us

2008-10-01T10:27:00.002-04:00

1So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from(A) love, any(B) participation in the Spirit, any(C) affection and sympathy, 2(D) complete my joy by being(E) of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3Do nothing from(F) rivalry or(G) conceit, but in(H) humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4Let each of you(I) look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5(J) Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,[a] 6(K) who, though he was in(L) the form of God, did not count equality with God(M) a thing to be grasped, 7but(N) made himself nothing, taking the form of a(O) servant,[b](P) being born in the likeness of men. 8And being found in human form, he humbled himself by(Q) becoming obedient to the point of death,(R) even death on a cross. 9(S) Therefore(T) God has(U) highly exalted him and bestowed on him(V) the name that is above every name, 10so that at the name of Jesus(W) every knee should bow,(X) in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11and(Y) every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is(Z) Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Lights in the World
12Therefore, my beloved,(AA) as you have always(AB) obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13for(AC) it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for(AD) his good pleasure.
14Do all things(AE) without grumbling or(AF) questioning, 15that you may be blameless and innocent,(AG) children of God(AH) without blemish(AI) in the midst of(AJ) a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine(AK) as lights in the world, 16holding fast to(AL) the word of life, so that in(AM) the day of Christ(AN) I may be proud that(AO) I did not run in vain or labor in vain.

An apology

2008-10-01T10:26:00.001-04:00

I apologize for getting my facts wrong. The bailout never happened, but, I assume will happen sometime in the coming weeks.

Sorry!!!

Bush pushes through 700 billion economic plan

2008-09-29T11:08:00.008-04:00

I think it is great news. I take my hat off to George Bush in the last ten days. Well done president Bush. I think we are often in danger of "villainizing" people different from us. As a guy that grew up in a very Democratic household I struggle to balance the attacks with some mercy. We all need a little mercy. Rush Limbaugh especially needs mercy. But that is not my point today. What I notice about myself, as a person that follows a Rabbi--Jesus--is that I am often very humbled by the person that has been shunned by our culture. Take for instance the story of Zacchaeus. Jesus asks Zacchaeus if he can come to his house for dinner. What? Zacheus almost fell out of the tree when Jesus said that. Zacchaeus' reputation was so bad around town. Like Zacchaeus, President Bush is also hated around town. He has stolen from us, we say, he has rapped Iraq, we say, and he has done it all while on vacation. This is what the liberals would say. But I think this is an unfortunate take on a man. While the war in Iraq was "wrong" and "backwards" and "illegitimate," it still goes on. I find Bush, as he ends his term, to be more and more endearing. When he leaves the white house, to be replaced by a black man ( praise the Lord), I think I may even cry. I like "human" he is. I like that he reminds me of Zaccheaus. And therefore, he reminds me of God. Well, I am not saying that he is God. I am saying that he reminds me of the gospel when I see him and all of his mistakes. I know this sounds crazy, but I think it is true. Jesus loves us without merit, without being correct, and especially in the midst of our bad decisions.

Bush has been so beaten down by the media, by even his own party, I am not sure how he sleeps at night. And the poor guy looks like he has gained forty years in the last 8. Now, let me be honest. I never voted for him, nor would I. But, the latest bailout is perfect evidence of his struggle. While he has the support of most democrats, his only dissenters are from his own party. Is that not ironic?

I can understand why that are mad. Republicans are for "big business," and a "market driven economy." I do not believe in a strictly based market driven economy. Our nation is way too big for that. What about roads, what about schools, and what about our running water? Do we really want everything to be run by a strictly capitalistic system? I hope the answer is no! But that is a hope, and I think this latest bailout effort is a great example of the importance of oversight, management, and a systemic body that governs the affairs of a nation.

While it seems odd that a Republican would push a $700 billion dollar through, I think he has done it. I congratulate Bush on this effort. It is very "UN-Republican" of him, but that is great. It may be the only possible way to salvage his reputation as one of the worst presidents in the history of our nation. The following article is very interesting and worth heeding as we think about the legacy left behind by George W. Bush. So what is the point of all this? Well, it is two fold. We must be honest about our mistakes. Bush has made many. The article points that out. And as a conservative I need to truly heed them. But, even more importantly, and especially since I have been saved by the mercy of Jesus Christ--I must have mercy, and I must pray for God to have mercy on me.
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History may ultimately hold Bush in the greatest contempt for expanding the powers of the presidency beyond the limits laid down by the U.S. Constitution. There has always been a tension over the constitutional roles of the three branches of the federal government. The Framers intended as much, as part of the system of checks and balances they expected would minimize tyranny. When Andrew Jackson took drastic measures against the nation's banking system, the Whig Senate censured him for conduct "dangerous to the liberties of the people." During the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln's emergency decisions to suspend habeas corpus while Congress was out of session in 1861 and 1862 has led some Americans, to this day, to regard him as a despot. Richard Nixon's conduct of the war in Southeast Asia and his covert domestic-surveillance programs prompted Congress to pass new statutes regulating executive power.

By contrast, the Bush administration -- in seeking to restore what Cheney, a Nixon administration veteran, has called "the legitimate authority of the presidency" -- threatens to overturn the Framers' healthy tension in favor of presidential absolutism. Armed with legal findings by his attorney general (and personal lawyer) Alberto Gonzales, the Bush White House has declared that the president's powers as commander in chief in wartime are limitless. No previous wartime president has come close to making so grandiose a claim. More specifically, this administration has asserted that the president is perfectly free to violate federal laws on such matters as domestic surveillance and the torture of detainees. When Congress has passed legislation to limit those assertions, Bush has resorted to issuing constitutionally dubious "signing statements," which declare, by fiat, how he will interpret and execute the law in question, even when that interpretation flagrantly violates the will of Congress. Earlier presidents, including Jackson, raised hackles by offering their own view of the Constitution in order to justify vetoing congressional acts. Bush doesn't bother with that: He signs the legislation (eliminating any risk that Congress will overturn a veto), and then governs how he pleases -- using the signing statements as if they were line-item vetoes. In those instances when Bush's violations of federal law have come to light, as over domestic surveillance, the White House has devised a novel solution: Stonewall any investigation into the violations and bid a compliant Congress simply to rewrite the laws.

Bush's alarmingly aberrant take on the Constitution is ironic. One need go back in the record less than a decade to find prominent Republicans railing against far more minor presidential legal infractions as precursors to all-out totalitarianism. "I will have no part in the creation of a constitutional double-standard to benefit the president," Sen. Bill Frist declared of Bill Clinton's efforts to conceal an illicit sexual liaison. "No man is above the law, and no man is below the law -- that's the principle that we all hold very dear in this country," Rep. Tom DeLay asserted. "The rule of law protects you and it protects me from the midnight fire on our roof or the 3 a.m. knock on our door," warned Rep. Henry Hyde, one of Clinton's chief accusers. In the face of Bush's more definitive dismissal of federal law, the silence from these quarters is deafening.

The president's defenders stoutly contend that war-time conditions fully justify Bush's actions. And as Lincoln showed during the Civil War, there may be times of military emergency where the executive believes it imperative to take immediate, highly irregular, even unconstitutional steps. "I felt that measures, otherwise unconstitutional, might become lawful," Lincoln wrote in 1864, "by becoming indispensable to the preservation of the Constitution, through the preservation of the nation." Bush seems to think that, since 9/11, he has been placed, by the grace of God, in the same kind of situation Lincoln faced. But Lincoln, under pressure of daily combat on American soil against fellow Americans, did not operate in secret, as Bush has. He did not claim, as Bush has, that his emergency actions were wholly regular and constitutional as well as necessary; Lincoln sought and received Congressional authorization for his suspension of habeas corpus in 1863. Nor did Lincoln act under the amorphous cover of a "war on terror" -- a war against a tactic, not a specific nation or political entity, which could last as long as any president deems the tactic a threat to national security. Lincoln's exceptional measures were intended to survive only as long as the Confederacy was in rebellion. Bush's could be extended indefinitely, as the president sees fit, permanently endangering rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution to the citizenry.

* * * *

Much as Bush still enjoys support from those who believe he can do no wrong, he now suffers opposition from liberals who believe he can do no right. Many of these liberals are in the awkward position of having supported Bush in the past, while offering little coherent as an alternative to Bush's policies now. Yet it is difficult to see how this will benefit Bush's reputation in history.

The president came to office calling himself "a uniter, not a divider" and promising to soften the acrimonious tone in Washington. He has had two enormous opportunities to fulfill those pledges: first, in the noisy aftermath of his controversial election in 2000, and, even more, after the attacks of September 11th, when the nation pulled behind him as it has supported no other president in living memory. Yet under both sets of historically unprecedented circumstances, Bush has chosen to act in ways that have left the country less united and more divided, less conciliatory and more acrimonious -- much like James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson and Herbert Hoover before him. And, like those three predecessors, Bush has done so in the service of a rigid ideology that permits no deviation and refuses to adjust to changing realities. Buchanan failed the test of Southern secession, Johnson failed in the face of Reconstruction, and Hoover failed in the face of the Great Depression. Bush has failed to confront his own failures in both domestic and international affairs, above all in his ill-conceived responses to radical Islamic terrorism. Having confused steely resolve with what Ralph Waldo Emerson called "a foolish consistency . . . adored by little statesmen," Bush has become entangled in tragedies of his own making, compounding those visited upon the country by outside forces.

No historian can responsibly predict the future with absolute certainty. There are too many imponderables still to come in the two and a half years left in Bush's presidency to know exactly how it will look in 2009, let alone in 2059. There have been presidents -- Harry Truman was one -- who have left office in seeming disgrace, only to rebound in the estimates of later scholars. But so far the facts are not shaping up propitiously for George W. Bush. He still does his best to deny it. Having waved away the lessons of history in the making of his decisions, the present-minded Bush doesn't seem to be concerned about his place in history. "History. We won't know," he told the journalist Bob Woodward in 2003. "We'll all be dead."

Another president once explained that the judgments of history cannot be defied or dismissed, even by a president. "Fellow citizens, we cannot escape history," said Abraham Lincoln. "We of this Congress and this administration, will be remembered in spite of ourselves. No personal significance, or insignificance, can spare one or another of us. The fiery trial through which we pass, will light us down, in honor or dishonor, to the latest generation."

SEAN WILENTZ
Posted Apr 21, 2006 12:34 PM

Henri Nouwen, someone I have always loved

2008-09-26T11:47:00.005-04:00

Henri was born into a Dutch family in 1932. Recalling his childhood, he was known to say: “I grew up in a very protected and safe environment and I learned to know that I was Dutch and I was Catholic. It took me quite a long time to discover that there were people, many people, who were neither!” His upbringing was religious and he would remark that he was familiar with two voices growing up: the voice of his mother offering unconditional love and the voice of his father spurring him onward to achievement and effort. For Henri, these voices would serve as constant companions and narrators for his life's actions. At the age of six, he says he first felt a calling to be a priest and servant of God's people. This is a calling that he would follow through school and, eventually, see realized when he as ordained a priest at the age of 25.

Henri's gifts were clearly disposed toward teaching and writing. His writing is--to this day--regarded highly among protestants, orthodox, and roman catholics. The decided difference in Henri's approach was his incredible passion for pastoral theology. This passion led him to study the relatively novel discipline of psychology (a discipline still distrusted by much of the Church) with vigor and apply it to his already considerable theological understanding. In this, Henri began cautiously to plumb the depths of the minds of those he served. He taught psychology and pastoral theology for many years at schools such as the University of Notre Dame and Yale University Divinity School. During this period, he wrote prolifically and magnificently. But, he still felt something was missing and he was haunted by many of his own personal terrors and challenges.

In 1981, Henri moved to Peru to serve the poor and discern if God was calling him to work among the people of the developing South. He left the academic regard and salary to serve among the poor and needy of Peru but, ultimately, found that this didn't feel like where God was calling him even if it was good work that he would continue as he served in other places. This work changed Henri for the better and further deepened his commitment to social justice and ministry to the poor but wasn't the last stop on his journey of calling.

In 1983, he accepted a position at Harvard University Divinity School that many academics would covet--he was required to teach only one semester and was encouraged to write as much as he wanted to. His classes were popular. His influence and fame were notable. Yet, Henri was overcome by the depression that had haunted him for most of his adult life. He found this to be a place of darkness and discomfort. In his journals, he would confess to conflict over his vow of celibacy and his incredible desire for physical and emotional intimacy with another person. This was a place where Henri continued his long struggle with his own sexuality and its implications for his spiritual life. Henri felt that Harvard was a great school but lacking in any feelings of communion. The competition and ambition of its students overtook their calling to love one another and be with each other. Henri resisted this place of darkness and isolation throughout his life--as far as we know--but it was at Harvard where so much of it came to bear upon him and lead to what he alternatively referred to as "burnout" and "spiritual death."

A seeming coincidence brought Henri together with Jean Vanier who told Henri about the communities that he was starting called L'Arche. These communities were meant to be places of intentional communion for people of all varieties. They were noted for taking in many people with intellectual disabilities. In 1986, Henri became the pastor of one of the L'Arche communities--called "Daybreak"--outside of Toronto, Canada. Still deep within his own depression and darkness, this was a challenging time that he relates in his book Adam, God's Beloved. Henri--the famous and influential author, priest, and activist--was asked to take care of a man named Adam who had a severe intellectual disability. Henri felt unappreciated and belittled at first. After all, surely he could be more useful in some other capacity. Yet, Adam became the key to Henri's release from his own darkness. Taking care of Adam--waking him, dressing him, helping him bathe--reminded Henri of the power of love to redeem even the darkest pits. As Henri loved Adam and Adam loved Henri, they were both further converted to life. It was at Daybreak that Henri finally found community and happiness. It was in the simple act of offering unconditional love that Henri found rest and comfort to his soul. Henri died from a heart attack in 1996. He was buried near Daybreak.

The Church and Rowan Williams

2008-09-25T00:36:00.002-04:00

"The Church claims to be the most comprehensive human society there is - the new human race in embryo. And it claims this because of its belief that it is established not by any human process grounded in and limited by events, cultures and so on, but by God's activity."
- Rowan Williams

You never know when you are going to meet someone slightly famous. In my case, I met Rowan Williams when I was at Duke Divinity School studying about Jesus. Likewise, when I was 13 I met and played ball with Micahel Jordan. But neither of them seemed to make much fuss about it. They were just about their business.

It makes sense that the Arbishop of Canterbury would show up at a place where we were talking about Jesus all the time. Rowan was good friends with the man responsible for getting me interested in Duke, Dr. Greg Jones. He was a dear friend and a fine teacher. Greg Jones had us reading a book by Williams in our first semester at Duke, in the fall of 2000, and so he recommended that we hear him speak. Dean Jones was most likely the gentelaman that was able to get Rowan to come to Duke. I remember something great about Rowan. He barely seemed to even be there. He was wearing a button down. When he went by me I thought he was a perspective student of some type. He was wearing messy black pants. I did not even mention him to my wife that night. But looking back he was the sight of a saint. Well, anyway. I like the quote from him above. He actually reminded me a lot of my dad. He was brilliant and a true academic. Do you know what he said to us? He told us, "Semenaries need to be more about PLAYING WITH GOD, than about STUDYING GOD." I loved it. It always stayed with me.

Lyman Beecher

2008-09-25T00:22:00.002-04:00

Lyman Beecher (October 12, 1775 – January 10, 1863)

"Was a Presbyterian clergyman, temperance movement leader, and the father of several noted leaders, including Harriet Beecher Stowe, Henry Ward Beecher, Charles Beecher, Edward Beecher, Isabella Beecher Hooker, and Catharine Beecher, and a leader of the Second Great Awakening of the United States. Becher was born in New Haven, Connecticut to David Beecher, a blacksmith, and Esther Hawley Lyman. He attended Yale, graduating in 1797. He spent 1798 in Yale Divinity School under the tutelage of his mentor Timothy Dwight, and was ordained a year later, in 1799. He began his religious career in Long Island. He gained popular recognition in 1806, after giving a sermon concerning the duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr. He moved to Litchfield, Connecticut, in 1810 and started to preach Calvinism. He was later called to Boston's Hanover Church, he began preaching against Unitarianism, which was then sweeping the area."

He said, "the best thing that ever happened to Connecticut was when we seperated the church from the state...we were then able to rely wholeheartedly on God."

I like this statement. It helps a good Anglican like myself come to peace with the important realization that the church should never be an instrument of the state. It never was, nor will it ever be. And while many conservative Evangelicals want to go back to their "roots" and have everyone be Christians again, that is just not possible.

Why? It was never true. There is probably little difference between Washington and Obama, if you look at them. Each are more privy to talking about a
"grand architect" or "Governor of the universe ( these are two terms Washington used) and each are firmly planted in the soil of their Christian faith. And, ironically, each are placed on a pedestal. I look forward to the day when Obama will stop being adored, and reveered and divinized, and we can simply work together towards the healing process we must go through as a nation.

The 1777 New England Primer

2008-09-24T22:52:00.005-04:00

This is the original alphabet in the New England Primer, a manual for all kids attending school in the year 1777. I find it very interesting.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A In ADAM'S Fall
We sinned all.

B Heaven to find;
The Bible Mind.

C Christ crucify'd
For sinners dy'd.

D The Deluge drown'd
The Earth around.

E ELIJAH hid
By Ravens fed.

F The judgment made
FELIX afraid.

G As runs the Glass,
Our Life doth pass.

H My Book and Heart
Must never part.

J JOB feels the Rod,--
Yet blesses GOD.

K Proud Korah's troop
Was swallowed up

L LOT fled to Zoar,
Saw fiery Shower
On Sodom pour.

M MOSES was he
Who Israel's Host
Led thro' the Sea

N NOAH did view
The old world & new.

O Young OBADIAS,
DAVID, JOSIAS,
All were pious.

P PETER deny'd
His Lord and cry'd.

Q Queen ESTHER sues
And saves the Jews.

R Young pious RUTH,
Left all for Truth.

S Young SAM'L dear,
The Lord did fear.

T Young TIMOTHY
Learnt sin to fly.

V VASHTI for Pride
Was set aside.

W Whales in the Sea,
GOD's Voice obey.

X XERXES did die,
And so must I.

Y While youth do chear
Death may be near.

Z ZACCHEUS he
Did climb the Tree
Our Lord to see.

We may be nervous about our economy, or the next president, but at bottom, we may be even more worried about something else. Are we worried that all things will not be restored? I believe we are. And we have good news. They have been, they are, and they will be.

Will and Holly Garin

2008-09-18T19:47:00.002-04:00

Speaking of a wedding.
This one was absolutely perfect.

I was honored to bless and send them off on their happy road of marraige.
God bless you guys,

Peter

The Wedding at Cana

2008-09-08T22:26:00.002-04:00

I am preaching at my best friends wedding this weekend.
I will not be able to show this picture to everyone at the ceremony, but I would love to.

The following is taken from a weekly web blog about Italian life.

www.ciaophiladelphia.com

When Jesus of Nazareth transformed water into wine at a wedding feast in the city of Cana, it can only be assumed that the wedding was a humble affair. The son of a carpenter and a known associate to some of the poorest people in the land, Jesus of Nazareth wasn’t likely to have been a guest at a formal banquet. And yet that is exactly as the Venetian painter Paolo Veronese depicted the wedding feast at Cana in his masterpiece of the same name.

Along with the artists Tiziano and Tintoretto, Paolo Veronese was one of the founders of the Venetian School, a movement in art that occurred as part of the Italian Renaissance. The movement is best known for the sumptuous colors used in many of the paintings. It is the coloring of The Wedding Feast At Cana that most people notice first. Vibrant, bold colors contrast against each other below, while pure white marble thrusts upward into a brilliant azure sky above.

The Wedding Feast At Cana is not considered to be one of the greatest paintings of all time simply because its colors are so beautiful. The talent exhibited by Paolo Veronese in creating the painting isn’t the reason either, though the painting is expertly executed. No, The Wedding Feast At Cana, like so many other paintings, is so well regarded because of its meaning.

In the painting, we see Jesus of Nazareth not as a guest at a wedding feast, but as the host, sitting at the center of the table. Surrounding him are various figures that would be found at a wedding, including guests, entertainers and servers. Above Him, a lamb is butchered, symbolic of the sacrifice Jesus would make in just a few years. But above the butchered lamb is a clear blue sky where three birds fly. Symbolic of Heaven and the Holy Trinity, Veronese shows that eternal life comes above any sacrifice, even the sacrifice of Jesus.

This subtle symbolism gives the painting meaning, a meaning that becomes even clearer when you consider the setting of the painting. From the Renaissance architecture to the costumes and even the musical instruments, this painting is set in the time of Veronese, not the time of Christ.

Why would Veronese depict a traditional story about Jesus of Nazareth in such a contemporary setting? Possibly, he wanted viewers to connect with the life of Christ in a personal way. He wanted them to not view Jesus of Nazareth as a historic figure from a long time ago but as the living God, relevant in the beginning, now and forever.

Paolo Veronese would go on to paint many other beautiful works, some even more beautiful than The Wedding Feast At Cana. However it is The Wedding Feast At Cana that is regarded as his masterpiece, The symbolism and daring retelling of an ancient story in a contemporary setting combine with Veronese’s skill and color choice to make The Wedding Feast At Cana not just his masterpiece, but one of the greatest masterpieces of all time.

Internet Monk

2008-09-07T23:01:00.003-04:00

The following article is taken from Michael Spencer on his blog
internetmonk.com

I love it. It resonates with me. I love expanding the debate rationalism and polemic.
Jesus Christ is Lord, and I pray that this comes through in this wonderful article.
Like this man, I have also been influenced by Merton, Dallas Willard, Eugene Peterson, and many others in the line of spiritual formation.

Who and What are Forming You?
April 21st, 2007 by iMonk

Every time I feel like I have lost my way in the Christian life, I find myself back looking at monasticism, and the lessons I learned in two decades of reading Thomas Merton.

I’m not attracted to Catholicism, but I am very much attracted to the tradition of self-conscious, disciplined spiritual formation into a disciple of Jesus Christ. This is a great failing of our side of the church.

As much as we Protestants talk about being shaped by the Bible alone, most evangelicals are thoroughly formed and shaped by the communities where the Bible is handled, taught and practiced according to a “rule” or accepted authority, and by the media that supports and communicates the values of that community.

It is, without a doubt, one of the most appealing and positive aspects of Catholicism that it is self-conscious about its “rules” and authorities for spiritual formation. (Rule as in “way,” as in The Rule of Benedict.) It surely must be humorous to knowledgeable catholics to look at the various sects, denominations and varieties of evangelicalism and fundamentalism, all claiming to “just read the Bible.”

For a large portion of my recent evangelical journey, I have found myself wandering between three varieties of evangelicalism:

1) Southern Baptist fundamentalism
2) Evangelical Calvinism
3) Generic contemporary evangelical revivalism

All of these communities could be characterized as shaping the spiritualities of believers according to largely unwritten rules and authorities.

The closest thing you get to self-conscious spiritual formation among most evangelicals: Jabez, PDL, or an evangelism course. Or a cruise.

It’s occurred to me that at least two of these streams have done much to shape me in the belief that pursuing polemic argument is a primary expression of discipleship. I have been affected by this kind of spiritual “rule,” and when I step away from it, the effects are very obvious.

Lots of time is taken up in finding error, pointing out error, justifying the seriousness of the error (even if it is in a non-essential area), and responding to the error with the proper arrangement of Biblical material.

It’s amazing how many Christians conceive of almost the entirety of discipleship in terms of argumentation. This is seen in the pastoral models they choose, the books/blogs they write and the spiritual activities they value most (debate and classroom lecture.)

These largely unarticulated forms of spiritual formation can be seen in what is not important. I note with interest that one simply cannot say enough bad about most kinds of contemplative prayer, and any sort of silence among many of the reformed particularly. Any kind of intentional approach to spiritual formation, and any kind of intentional approach to discipleship (Dallas Willard, for example) is undertaken amidst a barrage of criticism. If the imagination is mentioned, all fire alarms are pulled and a search for Oprah Winfrey ensues.

Me thinks the lady doth protest too much.

The “fully formed” Christian in these traditions is not a person of silence, but of much talking, talking and more talking. Worship is lecture, a rally, or an emotion-centered event. The primary encounter with the Bible is exposition and lecture. Correcting theological error, moral error and ecclesiastical error is the main business of the church.

In other forms of evangelicalism spiritual formation is done under the guise of church growth and using ones “gifts” to grow the church. Or perhaps in the cause of righteous, upright living in the culture war. Again, the kinds of prayer, worship, community life and worship that are generated by these priorities are obvious to most observers, but largely invisible to the participants.

In all the years I was reading Merton’s spiritual direction writings, I can’t recall anything I would call polemic of any kind. He simply didn’t waste his life arguing with others. He read scripture constantly, but as the stuff of prayer, liturgy and meditation, not as the raw material for debate. He went through the “political years” when he was critical of his church for not living up to his standards of peacemaking and justice, but in the end it was the ancient life, the deep life of monastic rhythms that sustained Merton and made him a man and a monk. He worked on himself for a lifetime. Some will say because he didn’t believe in the reformation doctrine of justification. Perhaps. Maybe, however, the path of personal spiritual formation isn’t as instant, passive or automatic as we’ve been told.

I’m not holding Merton up as an ideal. Far from it. I’m simply saying that when one’s spirituality is formed by the pronouncements of pastors who are constantly chasing church growth, the culture war or the latest challenge to Calvinism, you are going to get one result, and when you go back to the sources, find the value of the ancient paths of formation, value silence, read, meditate, contemplate and seek to grow in love, you will get another result.

I can’t help but think there is an “internet Christian” spirituality as well. Formed by reading blogs. Expressing itself in writing. Concerned with all the perceptions of reality that run rampant on the net. I’m sure this isn’t a good thing either.

Spiritual formation happens in the real world. It’s not just reading, but it’s discussion and asking questions of those further down the road. It’s having leaders who are humble before the Word, and not leaders who take the word and become the pictures of arrogance. It’s seeing your sin in the light of holiness, not excusing your sin in the light of the latest crisis.

Much evangelical spirituality has become like fantasy baseball. We have our own league, our own team, our own statistics, our own insulated world in which all of this matters. We can give great speeches and write long posts (and I am the chief of sinners here) on what doesn’t matter much at all. These days, we don’t all get our 15 minutes of fame, but we can all worship a pastor, go to a winning church, opine on a blog, imagine our arguments are significant in the world.

Meanwhile, we start to look and act more like a fantasy league junky, and fewer and fewer people have any idea what we are talking about.

Here’s where I have come out on this:

Get the devotional books out. The old ones.

Read Peterson, and Nouwen, and Groeshel, and Bonhoeffer and Whitney. With a group of others who care about the same things.

Turn it all off for a couple of hours every day.

Find the silence.

Chew up, meditate over, digest the scriptures.

Repent of living in the community of unaware evangelicals who devalue spirituality and overvalue polemic, argument and debate.

Look for the sins that grow in this mess, and root them up.

Reconciliation as the mission of God

2008-09-07T09:28:00.005-04:00

This bibical phrase holds together the tension of God's reconciliation.
Paul to the Colossians.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16For by[a] him all things were created,in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning,the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.The STORY of the Reconciliation Network
THE STORY BEHIND THE EMERGING NETWORK

From 2003-2004, 47 Christian leaders from diverse communions partnered in a journey to discern the urgent call to faithful Christian witness in a divided world.

The 47 came together as one of 31 Issue Groups at the September 2004 Forum on World Evangelization in Pattya, Thailand, organized by the Lausanne Committee on World Evangelization. The Issue Group on Reconciliation included Protestant evangelicals, Pentecostals, and denominational leaders, two Catholic priests, and one Orthodox priest.

In Thailand, the group adopted a Pattaya Covenant, pledging to join in on-going mission. This included forming a global Christian network for reconciliation, and inviting others to join them.

Their Thailand journey ended in a dramatic foot washing before the entire 2004 Forum, between Rwandan Hutu and Tutsi; Israeli and Palestinian; male and female; white, black, and Asian; and Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox clergy. This sign of the church on her knees, washing feet across the boundaries of our divided world, is the vision of the kingdom desperately needed in our time.

The need for an on-going network is expressed in the group's Covenant, to "Work humbly together as servants to seek the church's renewal and to help mobilize the global Christian community to be partners in God's reconciling mission."

A transition team is now working to give shape to the network. Our vision is to form a global Christian community both shaped by a theological vision centered in Scripture and open to the kinds of diverse conversations and provisional partnerships that faithful Christian witness in a divided world calls for, while never surrendering our biblical convictions.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego

2008-09-07T09:19:00.002-04:00

I remember singing the song about these guys when I was 5 years old.
This is the first Bible story I remember.
All I remember was that they were thrown in a fire, and they survived.
My sunday school teacher may have forgotten to tell me why they were thrown in!
It was because they would not worship "the golden image" that King Nebuchadnezzar demanded all to worship.
Once in the fire the king demanded the guards to heat up the fire 7 times its normal heat. Well, this must have pleased God, because in the 25th verse of chapter 3 of the book of Daniel, it says, "He made answer and said, Look! I see four men loose, walking in the middle of the fire, and they are not damaged; and the form of the fourth is like a son of the gods."

This seems to suggest Christ as the fourth "son of the God's."

What was your first bible story memory?

The Incarnation means everything

2008-09-05T20:54:00.007-04:00

I would like to echo the words of someone who I deeply respect, Ken Myers. The following are his thoughts.

"Much of modern culture, with its Gnostic undertones, alienates us from creation and its givenness. Theologian Colin Gunton sees the affirmation of the Incarnation as essential to our enthusiastic participation in creation and therefore in cultural life. "A world that owes its origin to a God who makes it with direct reference to one who was to become incarnate -- part of the world -- is a world that is a proper place for human beings to use their senses, minds and imaginations, and to expect that they will not be wholly deceived in doing so."

Christians have the only account of human and natural origins that can give cultural life meaning. But even after 2,000 years of opportunity to reflect on the Incarnation, many contemporary Christians persist in believing in a Gnostic salvation, a salvation that has no cultural consequences. In such a dualistic understanding, our souls are saved, the essential immaterial aspect of our being is made right with God, but the actions of our bodies -- what we actually do in space and time -- are a matter of indifference if not futility. Salvation is an inward matter only. It affects our attitudes and some of our ideas. But insofar as our cultural activities have any Christian significance it is as mere marketing efforts -- things we do to attract others to our essentially Gnostic salvation.

Believing in a gospel that has few earthly consequences is, ironically, just the sort of state our secularist neighbors would wish us to sustain. They, too, are dualists, believing that religion may be a fine thing for people, so long as they keep it private. Their secularism isn't threatened by Christians as long as they aren't too "Incarnational." As long as the cultural lives of Christians aren't significantly different from those of materialists and pagans, secularism is safe. Christians may pray "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven," but as long as they don't actually do anything that demonstrates how such a petition should affect their political, economic, and cultural activities, the Enlightenment legacy is safe."

Myers goes on to pinpoint cell phone usage as a particular practice that we can reflect on.
Myers goes on to make a plea for incarnational cell phone usage:

"Cell phones, for example, make it easier for us to have immediate access to others and to remain perpetually accessible. But certainly there are times when cell phones should be turned off or left at home. Some restaurants now require guests to disable their cell phones while dining. This shows respect for the ambience of their dining rooms and honors the desire of other diners not to be forced into the role of eavesdropper.

I'd like to suggest that Christian people in particular give some attention to cell phone etiquette. A thoughtful set of manners regarding cell phones could be a small but significant way of reducing the sum total of dehumanizing behavior in American culture. Such manners could demonstrate the high value Christians place on embodiment, expressed in our doctrines of Creation, Incarnation, and Resurrection.

What could cell phones possibly have to do with the Incarnation? Both involve the significance of physical, embodied presence before others. The presence of another person before us is a kind of moral claim, asking for the recognition appropriate to a fellow human being. Likewise, when we make ourselves present to others, we are showing respect. Thus when we visit someone in the hospital or in prison (a situation Jesus alludes to in Matthew 25) instead of just phoning or sending flowers, we demonstrate by our presence a higher level of regard for their well-being.

The idea of presence is an important one in Biblical religion. In his second letter, the Apostle John writes, "I have much to write to you, but I do not want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face." The Church is called the ekklesia, the assembly, the place where believers are present to one another to encourage one another to love and good works.

By contrast, holding a telephone conversation while walking down the street or up an aisle at the supermarket pointedly ignores the presence of others. The importance of physical presence is thus de-valued. It also poses a kind of challenge to passers-by."

Thanks for reading
Peter Milner

"

Paul was a Jew and Paul was a Roman

2008-09-05T06:33:00.008-04:00

I went to sleep uneasy.
I have woken uneasy.
I want to make this clear.
I preach Christ crucified. That is the only thing that matters.
The empire falls at the hands of the suversive Jesus.
I do not preach a political candidate. I do not belong to the Empire.
I belong to God alone. He created me in His image.

He created male and female.

Paul joyously says this in his letter to his buddies in Corinth.

2 Corinthians 4 (English Standard Version)
English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.

2 Corinthians 4
The Light of the Gospel

1Therefore, having(A) this ministry(B) by the mercy of God,[a] we do not lose heart. 2But we have renounced(C) disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or(D) to tamper with God’s word, but(E) by the open statement of the truth(F) we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. 3And even(G) if our gospel is veiled,(H) it is veiled only to(I) those who are perishing. 4In their case(J) the god of this world(K) has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing(L) the light of(M) the gospel of the glory of Christ,(N) who is the image of God. 5For what(O) we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with(P) ourselves as your servants[b] for Jesus’ sake. 6For God, who said,(Q) "Let light shine out of darkness,"(R) has shone in our hearts to give(S) the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Treasure in Jars of Clay
7But we have this treasure in(T) jars of clay,(U) to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. 8We are(V) afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9persecuted, but(W) not forsaken;(X) struck down, but not destroyed; 10(Y) always carrying in the body the death of Jesus,(Z) so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 11For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 12So(AA) death is at work in us, but life in you.
13Since we have(AB) the same spirit of faith according to what has been written,(AC) "I believed, and so I spoke," we also believe, and so we also speak, 14knowing that(AD) he who raised the Lord Jesus(AE) will raise us also with Jesus and(AF) bring us with you into his presence. 15For(AG) it is all for your sake, so that as(AH) grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving,(AI) to the glory of God.

16So we do not lose heart.(AJ) Though our outer self[c] is wasting away,(AK) our inner self(AL) is being renewed day by day. 17For(AM) this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18(AN) as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

And yet Paul was two thiings.

Paul was a good Jew.

Paul was a Roman citizen.

We must not stay out of the political arena simply because we preach Christ.
In fact, we must say no to a form of Christianity that assumes that must be silent on anything that enters into the political arena. This seems to be a misreading of the life of Jesus. Jesus was crificied in the public square. Jesus was ridiculed by the judges, the magistrates, the chief religious priests. And Jesus wins us in the larger political arena, the social world, and the city stage; he does not simply win us in private.

I will vote for Obama

2008-09-04T23:10:00.004-04:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kv8eiDvrHJ4&feature=user

The McCain speech just happened and so it will not be up for a bit.
Compare and see which you like.

I will vote for Obama. The above video is one of many reasons.
Obama is a uniter.
McCain is a divider.
Maybe it is because I like that he plays basketball, but, in all the years that I have been able to vote ( since 1992), I am more interested in voting.

Maybe it is his charisma.
Maybe it is becauase Maya Angelou is on his side.
Maybe it is because he is perhaps the funniest politician I have ever known.
Maybe it is because he has a beautiful wife.
I do not know.
It certainly is not because I think he is going to "issue in world peace." No!!!
I think his campaign, as well as McCain's point to a deeper reality that exists in this county. It is the reality of isolation vrs. community!
Which do we want? Do we want isolation? Or, do we want community?

I think that for the first time in many years, possibly since my young years in the 80's, this country is ready to look fear in the face. We are ready to look racism in the face and say "yes." We are ready to come out from hiding.
I think we are ready for that.

The difference between the two candidates is this.

One is a hero.

One is a storyteller.

I want the storyteller as my preseident.
I do not want a hero as a president.
We need fewer hero's and more commoners.
Jesus was not a hero.
He was a common person. It ended up that he was killed for it.
It ended up that he is risen.
It ends up that everything is different now because of his resurrection.
But where is the evidence?
Sometimes we do not see much of that.
I think, in Obama, we see a touch, just a smidge, of that evidence.
I will always know McCain is a hero. But this does not mean he should be my president. He is not common enough to be a president.
I want the storyteller to help me understand my own story in light of the larger story of this land. I want the storyteller to give me courage not by telling his story, but by pointing to how our stories co-mingle.

Ultimately a hero leads lots of individual to be solitary hero's.
A storyteller ultimately leads to lots of individuals coming together to be a group.

Now I am blessed to have come from the upper middle class.
I also was cursed by this fact. I think that I am entitled to an education, a nice car, and a sturdy house. But this is simply not the fact for many Americans.

Jesus Christ was a community organizer.
Obama is a disciple of Jesus Christ, and because he worships Jesus Christ, I pray that his heart will seek the wisdom of the one person leading him.

This election choice is such a simple choice. Chose brotherhood, or chose exclusion. It is simple.
I want brotherhood, and I think that the creator, at bottom, we all know that we were created for community.

I mean, just look at the people in the crowd. It was (normal folks) Obama, verses the folks I hung out growing up with at Forsyth Country Club ( McCain).

To be honest, I want both, because I love both. But, in this case, I am feeling lots more like the common folks than the elites who go out and hit the driving range every day.
"Blessed are the poor in spirit."
"Blessed are the poor in spirit."

As an evangelical Christian, first, ( a member of the city of God) and a citizen of this country, second, (a member of the city of man) I am so very excited and privileged to vote for a man that has been humbled by his roots, and will continue to be humbled from whnce he has come.

As I final digression, I think it is important to notice that McCain, in his statement, "I was not my own man anymore, I was my countries," spells out his personal philosophy of nationalism. Nationalism is something that Christians must grow more and more weary of, for, after all, our primary allegiance is to the Prince of Peace. While McCain's service to America was immense and courageous, it is overstating it to say, "My country saved me." It sounds patriotic, but is patriotism the greatest value in our land? If it is, we will soon be conquered. If the earliest churches first concern was "themselves," never would a gentile have been converted, never would have Constantine converted, and never would the message of the gospel have reached 2.1 billion people.

No, I am not a fan of John Piper

2008-09-03T23:11:00.004-04:00

Disclaimer--I did not write this. These are words from a website of a friend, Justin Moffitt. I appreciate his penmenship, his carefule attitude and inflection, and I appreciate his witness to the power of the gospel.

No, I am *not* a fan of John Piper...

This is an exercise in nuance.

I was asked the other month if I was a 'John Piper fan'.

I said -- "Oh, no -- of course not." And then kept going: "I'm not, insofar that I don't want to be a fan of anyone but Jesus. Like many people, Desiring God really gave me a vision for joy and delight in the glory of God. That book alone shaped much of who I am, and still does. But, put bluntly, I'm not, and will never be, a Piper 'fan'.

I don't think that John Piper wants me to be a John Piper fan".

Then a few days later, I posted this link to a Piper sermon. And my correspondent read my Blog, and then emailed me:

I will enjoy reading your blog. Amazing clip from Piper. I inferred from our conversation that you were not a Piper fan. It appears to be the opposite (at least on this point).

And my response was this:

Re Piper: I think Piper is great and gifted by God. Desiring God really helped. I listen to and read Piper when I get a chance.

But, still, I’m not a fan. ☺

My point is nuanced (but not merely semantic): If someone asks me 'Am I a fan of Piper?' my answer is "No, of course not. I’m a 'fan' of Jesus". (I’m not really a 'fan' of him either. Jesus needs followers, not fans.)

And it's even further nuanced by this: that when we always link to our favorite preacher, and then download, talk about, love, follow, go to conferences to fawn over, get a photo with, compare to, rate, hire because of fame, join a mega-church on the gifts of a single personality, make a Facebook group to express your appreciation for your favorite pastor-teacher, then… it may just be possible, without even realizing it, to 'empty the cross of it power'!

It’s all in 1 Corinthians 1-2. 1:17 in particular. What does it, in this text, mean to 'empty the cross of its power?'

I’m very nervous about the fact that even the good guys are going down the same route, in principle, as the followers of bad televangelists of the ‘80s: running after their favorite preachers. We just do it in style, and with good theology.

In fact, 1 Corinthians 12 asks us to make much of the one who is given less honor, so that the Body of Christ will be united.

Are we not simply being worldly?

And so in the same vein, I am also *not* a fan of Don Carson, Mark Driscoll, C.S. Lewis, Tim Keller, Philip Jensen, Peter Jensen, Ravi Zacharias, Kent Hughes, etc. (As godly and as gifted as these men are.)

I'll listen to them and read, I'll learn from them and respect them, and I'll even obey when it is appropriate.

But I'm not, and will never be, a fan.

And I'm willing to wager that each of these men (since they all honorable men) would wholeheartedly agree. They would, I suspect, be uncomfortable with celebrity status, a 'fan-base' and a Facebook group.

Tell me if that's true.

______________

Miss Josephine Marie's first day back to school

2008-09-03T07:47:00.003-04:00

Josie Marie is headed to school today at Christ Baptist School.
We are so excited, blessed, encouraged, and delighted in this new opportunity to
see her grow.
And she will grow.
She is on pace to be at least 6'1
We love you pearly girl.
Pappa and Mama

Luke 1:68: The Kingdom of Jesus

2008-09-03T06:58:00.005-04:00

Benedictus
The Prophecy of Zechariah

67 Then his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:

68 “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel!

He has taken care of his people and has set them free.

69 He has raised up a mighty Savior[u] for us

from the family of his servant David,

70 just as he promised long ago

through the mouth of his holy prophets

71 that he would save us from our enemies

and from the grip of all who hate us.

72 He has shown mercy to our ancestors

and remembered his holy covenant,

73 the oath that he swore to our ancestor Abraham.

He granted us 74deliverance from our enemies' grip

so that we could serve him without fear

75 and be holy and righteous before him all of our days.

76 And you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High,

because you will go ahead of the Lord to prepare his way

77 and to give his people knowledge of salvation

through forgiveness of their sins.

78 Because of the tender mercy of our God,

his light[v] from on high has visited us,

79 to shine on those who sit in darkness and in death's shadow,

and to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

(section of a sermon by Monte Asbury)

This is the significance of the tearing of the temple curtain. It doesn’t function as a symbol of open access to God in Luke’s narrative. It’s function is to show us that the Holy of Holies is empty! God is not there! God is not in the place kept sterile and uncontaminated. God is in the very place where God has no place being: on Golgotha! And this is Luke’s point. Because of the new kairos in Gethsemane, Jesus on the cross is the priest of the new covenant, dispensing forgiveness and acceptance, and bringing God to where we are – lost and in darkness. Where is God when most needed? God, in grace, is with us, forgiving us, saving us.

The child who is born in the manger is the liberating power of Yahweh incarnate. This is the Messiah – the King. He has come with a mission – the establishment of peace and justice. He has come to dethrone the powers that hold the world hostage to sin, despair and death. This is the beginning of the End – the fulfilment of all that God has promised. To us is born in the City of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord. This is the King of the Universe, in whom the fullness of God dwells bodily. This is the King promised of old. He has come, and nothing will be able ultimately to stand against him. Why? Not because he comes at the head of armies to crush and destroy his enemies, but because he comes in grace, breathing forgiveness, giving hope to the hopeless and the guilty. He comes as Servant, Shepherd, and crucified Lord. Behold your King!

I don’t know who you are praying for; I don’t know how many times you’ve prayed. But I know something about our Jesus: He prays, “Father, forgive him or her - they don’t know what they’re doing.” And I know wherever they are, when the lights go on, Jesus will be close.

Colossians 1:11-20
9-12Be assured that from the first day we heard of you, we haven’t stopped praying for you, asking God to give you wise minds and spirits attuned to his will, and so acquire a thorough understanding of the ways in which God works. We pray that you’ll live well for the Master, making him proud of you as you work hard in his orchard. As you learn more and more how God works, you will learn how to do your work. We pray that you’ll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul—[and can't you feel that here today?] not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strength God gives. It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy, thanking the Father who makes us strong enough to take part in everything bright and beautiful that he has for us.

13-14God rescued us from dead-end alleys and dark dungeons. He’s set us up in the kingdom of the Son he loves so much, the Son who got us out of the pit we were in, got rid of the sins we were doomed to keep repeating.
Christ Holds It All Together

15-18We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son and see God’s original purpose in everything created. For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels—everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment. And when it comes to the church, he organizes and holds it together, like a head does a body.

18-20He was supreme in the beginning and—leading the resurrection parade—he is supreme in the end. From beginning to end he’s there, towering far above everything, everyone. So spacious is he, so roomy, that everything of God finds its proper place in him without crowding. Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe—people and things, animals and atoms—get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of his death, his blood that poured down from the cross.

The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

Morning prayer from the Benedictine Monastery

2008-09-03T06:49:00.003-04:00

Morning Prayer (Lauds)

If this is the first Hour that you are reciting today, you should precede it with the Invitatory Psalm.

Oh Lord, open my lips and my mouth shall proclaim thy praise.

Psalm 95 A call to praise and worship

Come, ring out your joy to the Lord,
a great king above all gos.
In his hands are the depths of the earth;
the heights of the mountains are his.
To him belongs the sea, for he kade it
and the dry land shaped by his hands.

Let us kneel before the Lord who made us

Come in let us bow and bend low;
let us kneel before the God who made us
for he is our God and we
the people who belong to his pasture,
the flock that is led by his hand.

Let us kneel before the Lord who made us

O that today you would listen to his voice!
"Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
as on that day at Massag in the desert
when your forbears put me to the test;
when they tried me, though they saw my work

Let us kneel before the Lord who made us

For forty years I was wearied of these people
and I said: "Their hearts are astray,
these people do know know my ways.'
Then I took an oath in my anger.
"Never shall they enter my rest.'"

Let us kneel before the Lord who made us

Glory be to the Father, and to the son, and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen

O God, come to my assistance.
O Lord, make haste to help me.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen. Alleluia.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A suitable hymn may be inserted at this point.

Psalm 76 (77)
Remembering the works of the Lord
I cried out loud to the Lord,
cried out to God, and he turned to me.
In my time of trouble I sought for God,
my hands stretched out all night long,
tireless in supplication.
My soul will not be consoled:
I think of God, and I sigh;
I meditate, and my spirit fails.

You have kept me awake, my eyes open;
in my distress, I did not speak.
I pondered on the days of old,
thought through the immemorial years.
In the night I meditated in my heart.
I was troubled, and I asked my soul:

Will God reject you for ever,
will he never again take you into his favour?
Has his kindness ended for ever,
his word come to an end for all generations?
Will God forget to show mercy,
will he lock up his mercies in his anger?

And I said, “I am wounded indeed,
that the Most High has changed.”
I will remember the works of the Lord.
I will remember your wonders, from the beginning.
I will ponder on all you have done,
think deeply through all your great deeds.

O God, your ways are holy:
what god is as great as our God?
You are God, you work wonders,
you made known your strength to your people.
By your own action you redeemed your people,
the children of Jacob and of Joseph.

The waters saw you, O God,
the waters saw you and writhed,
stirred up even to their depths.
The clouds poured down water,
the clouds sounded their voice,
your arrows shot forth.
Your voice thundered in the whirlwind,
your lightnings lit up the world,
the earth trembled and shook.

Your way led through the sea,
your paths through the great waters,
your steps left no trace behind them.
You led your people like a flock,
by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Canticle 1 Samuel 2
The song of Hannah, mother of Samuel
My heart rejoices in the Lord,
my strength is raised up in the name of my God.
I cry out in triumph over my enemies
as I rejoice in your deliverance.

No-one is like the Lord, for he is holy;
no-one is like our God, for he is strong.

Do not pile boasting upon boasting:
keep proud words far from your mouth,
for the Lord is the God of all knowledge
and the judge of all actions.

The bow of the mighty is broken,
and the weak are clothed in strength.
Those who fed well must hire themselves out, for bread;
but the hungry are hungry no longer.
The barren woman has given birth to many;
but she who had many sons is left desolate.

The Lord brings death and brings life;
he leads down to the underworld and rescues from it.
The Lord makes poor and makes rich;
he lays low and raises up.
He lifts the needy from the dust and the poor from the dunghill
to sit among princes
to sit on the throne of glory.
To the Lord belong the poles of the earth;
from them he has suspended the world.

He will keep safe the feet of his chosen,
but the impious will be silent in the darkness
– for it is not by his own strength that a man becomes strong.
The Lord grinds down his enemies:
he will thunder on them from the heavens.
The Lord will judge the ends of the earth,
give dominion to his king,
and raise up the standard of his anointed one.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 96 (97)
The glory of God in his judgements
The Lord reigns! Let the earth rejoice,
let the many islands be glad.
Clouds and dark mist surround him,
his throne is founded on law and justice.
Fire precedes him,
burning up his enemies all around.
His lightnings light up the globe;
the earth sees and trembles.
The mountains flow like wax at the sight of the Lord,
at the sight of the Lord the earth dissolves.
The heavens proclaim his justice
and all peoples see his glory.

Let them be dismayed, who worship carved things,
who take pride in the images they make.
All his angels, worship him.
Sion heard and was glad,
the daughters of Judah rejoiced
because of your judgements, O Lord.
For you are the Lord, the Most High over all the earth,
far above all other gods.

You who love the Lord, hate evil!
The Lord protects the lives of his consecrated ones:
he will free them from the hands of sinners.
A light has arisen for the just,
and gladness for the upright in heart.
Rejoice, you just, in the Lord
and proclaim his holiness.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Short reading Romans 8:35 - 37 ©
Nothing can come between us and the love of Christ, even if we are troubled or worried, or being persecuted, or lacking food or clothes, or being threatened or even attacked. These are the trials through which we triumph, by the power of him who loved us.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Canticle Benedictus
The Messiah and his forerunner
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, for he has come to his people and brought about their redemption.
He has raised up the sign of salvation in the house of his servant David,
as he promised through the mouth of the holy ones, his prophets through the ages:
to rescue us from our enemies and all who hate us, to take pity on our fathers,
to remember his holy covenant and the oath he swore to Abraham our father,
that he would give himself to us, that we could serve him without fear – freed from the hands of our enemies –
in uprightness and holiness before him, for all of our days.

And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High: for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare his path,
to let his people know their salvation, so that their sins may be forgiven.
Through the bottomless mercy of our God, one born on high will visit us
to give light to those who walk in darkness, who live in the shadow of death;
to lead our feet in the path of peace.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Prayers and Intercessions ?
Blessed be God our Saviour, who has promised to be with his Church until the end of time. Let us thank him and ask him:
- Lord, remain with us.
Remain with us, Lord, throughout today:
let your grace be a sun that never sets.
We consecrate today as an offering to you:
we promise to do nothing evil today, nor even attempt it.
Lord, may your gift of light shine through us today:
make us the salt of the earth and the light of the world.
May the love of your Holy Spirit guide our hearts and our speech,
so that we may be at one with you in righteousness and praise.

Our Father, who art in Heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come,
thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those that trespass against us,
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.

Lord, send your light to shine in our hearts.
May we always follow the path of your commandments
and never stray from it.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God for ever and ever.
Amen.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
May the Lord bless us and keep us from all harm; and may he lead us to eternal life.
A M E N
September 2008
Mon 1 Monday of week 22 of the year
Tue 2
Wed 3 Saint Gregory the Great, Pope, Doctor

The Camino Bakery

2008-08-30T15:16:00.002-04:00

My brother and sister in law have decided to open a bakery in Winston-Salem.
It is amazing. The muffins are simply the best. Please go visit them at
Krankies Coffee in downtown Winston-Salem. 211 East 3rd street is the locale.
www.krankiescoffee.com

It reminds me of my pilgrimage across Spain. The Camino is the name of the 1000 year old pilgrimage across the land.

A friend, Michael Barham, says it better than I. He, like me, has travelled the road in Spain, and is just heading back from his latest gig over there.

Why "on pilgrimage"

Psalm 84 says "Blessed are those whose hearts are set on the pilgrims' way," and I figure there are different ways to interpret that.

I felt a delicious blessing as I walked across Northern Spain on the medieval pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela along the "camino frances."

However, I have come to see that there is a different kind of blessing for a different kind of "being" on the way. That is the way of the hospitalero.

The person who lives along the "way" and receives the person passing by and passing through. The little old lady who runs after me with a diet coke, the man who invites me into his home and pulls a slab of meat out of his smoke house, and picks fresh vegetables from his garden... the priests who pray the mass at the churches along the camino, and the volunteers who run the refugios. Even those who wave at you as you pass by.

The ministry of hospitality. This is the school I need, I want to learn from. I was given a wonderful suggestion by a mentor: go stay in a Benedictine retreat house, and follow the guest master for a few days. I'll check back in when I've done that, and let you know how it goes.

What are your thoughts on hospitality? What are your thoughts about being on pilgrimage? I want to be on pilgrimage in a way that helps people in their journey.

Guitar priest speaks profoundly again

2008-08-30T11:03:00.002-04:00

This is taken from the blog of a friend, Peter Matthews; pastor of an Anglican Mission church in Lexington, Kentucky.

I like it lots. It was posted in 2006

Willow Creek Moves from Programs to Practices

Something has happened at Willow Creek Community Church that will shake the Church world. Willow Creek has discovered after 3 years of research that programs do not develop fully devoted disciples of Jesus Christ.

Please Note -- I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP!!

Here is what they say:

…increasing levels of participation in these sets of activities [church programs] does NOT predict whether someone’s becoming more of a disciple of Christ.
It does NOT predict whether they love God more or they love people more.

Chuck Warnock at Confessions of a Small Church Pastor writes:

Here’s the backstory: Greg Hawkins, exec pastor at Willow Creek, surveyed Willow Creek members to determine the effectiveness of WC’s programs — small groups, worship, service groups, etc. Participants had four choices to describe their spiritual lives:

Exploring — not yet Christians, but interested.
Growing — new Christians and growing in faith.
Close to Christ.
Centered in Christ.

The survey results produced what Bill Hybels calls “the wake up call of my adult life” –
Survey Says: After a person left Stages 1 & 2, church programs did not help them love God or love people more. And, to make matters worse, people in Stages 3 & 4 said they wanted to “be fed.” Some even left Willow Creek altogether.

Conclusion: Church programs are helpful initially for new and growing Christians, but as people mature in their faith church programs are inadequate and ineffective. (Watch the videos and look at Willow Creek’s new REVEAL website for their next move.)

Watch the entire 13-minute segment with Greg Hawkins here, and Bill Hybels comments here.]

You have got to watch these videos.

BTW -- the key thing Willow Creek is implementing is personal spiritual plans that help each person identify a set of practices that move them forward in their spiritual lives. Hmm...

Again -- I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP!!

We are adopted as children of God

2008-08-24T19:19:00.003-04:00

We went to K and W tonight. It was great.
After dinner we came home and bathed the kids and are presently putting them to bed.
Then I started listening to a sermon about adoption. There was a final story about a mother and her husband that went to Sirre Leone to adopt a girl. Once there they were told that they had to wait 6 months, in the country, to adopt her. And they did. The father went home, but the mother stayed. And one day the little adopted girl will ask, "Mom, how do I know that you love me?" What is that mom gonna say? "Look at what lengths we went to to make you ours?" How could you doubt that we loved you? It is the same with God. Look at what lengths he went to in order to make us his sons and daughters. All we have to offer is our need. Look at the lengths he went to to make you his son, and your daughter. Look at what lengths he went to.
Behold what manor of love that he has given to us. Look at it. You are children of God, and so you are. And so you are.

Adoption into the heart of the trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

2008-08-23T12:27:00.002-04:00

We have been adopted by Jesus Christ, changing not our nature, but, changing our status.
We know inherit all that is Christ's.
No other religion says this, wants to say this, or dares to say this.
This is a very unique doctrine and one that the church talks little about.

Friendship and mercy

2008-08-21T21:34:00.002-04:00

I think about friendship a lot.
I am a friend.
I have had lots of friends.
I have lost some friends.
I wish I could find Clay Rice, for instance, my best friend from high school.
But then I have other friends.
My best friend from college is getting married in four weeks.
I am so damn proud of him.
I just want to rejoice in him, and in his decision to marry.
Praise God for this moment.
Will has always been a blessing in my wife.
He has always been a brother, a father, a witness, a cistern of grace in my life.
He has taught me so much though, and that is what I love about him.
He is one of the greatest teachers I have ever met.
I love him with such a deep love, and I am very proud to call him my friend.
Who do you call friend?
Do you have any friends?
Where are they?
Do you tell them that you love them?
If you do love them, why do you refrain from telling them that?
I am sorry, it is time we get over being American men and start being real men.
American men are so afraid, so overly sexed that they hide behind prison cell walls and internet screens before speaking their heart to a friend.
Break the chains. Free yourself. Enjoy the joy of great friendship.
This post has nothing to do with mercy. Sorry.

The 2008 Beijing Olympics

2008-08-18T21:38:00.002-04:00

All I have to say is, "Michael Phelps."
He is amazing.
It is such a joy to watch great sports all the time.

Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit in Raleigh, NC

2008-08-18T21:35:00.002-04:00

It is important for the church to wrestly with God, or else, we will assume we understand Him while all together forgetting to worship Him. The Dead Sea Scrolls may help us in our southern culture of Christian malaise.

Dead Sea Scrolls at the Museum of Natural Sciences
Scott Redd
Jul 24, 2008
Series: Resources

The Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit currently showing at the Museum of Natural Sciences (June 28-Dec. 28) gives rise to several difficult questions not the least of which are "what are the Dead Sea Scrolls and what is the big deal?" Since their discovery in the mid-twentieth century the Scrolls have been universally lauded as a major development in historical and religious studies, but their significance is still largely misunderstood. The Scrolls are one of those subjects about which people know very much while at the same time knowing very little. If you mention the Dead Sea Scrolls in a conversation, you will be met with knowing nods and hmmm's, yet if you ask why they are important, blank stares emerge. So what are the Scrolls and why do they matter?

What are the Dead Sea Scrolls?
Sometime in late 1946 or early 1947, three Bedouin shepherds came across a cave located on the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea, approximately due south of the ancient city of Jericho. The find would become one of the greatest archeological discoveries of the twentieth century.

Inside the cave, a small library of scrolls had been stored by a community of Jewish ascetics who had sought refuge in the arid desert crags of the Dead Sea coastline. These ascetics, possibly identified with the Essene sect of Judaism, intermittently inhabited a nearby site known as Qumran from the middle of the second century B.C. onward. Their community had withdrawn from the cosmopolitan culture of Jerusalem, thereby distancing themselves from the religious center of the Temple, in order to live what they deemed to be a covenantally faithful life unhindered by the corruption of the city.

The Qumranites saw themselves as living at a particularly poignant time in human history, a time when the "last days" prophesied by the Old Testament prophets would be fulfilled. They found justification for this belief in the Old Testament prophets. The prophet Jeremiah had calculated that Jerusalem would be restored seventy years after being destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. and that this restoration would usher in the messianic age (Jer. 25:11-12; 29:10). It was this calculation that led the prophet Daniel to commit himself to prayer as the end of that seventy-year period drew near (Daniel 9). During his prayer and fasting, Daniel was visited by an angelic messenger named Gabriel who gave him a new figure: seventy weeks of years or 490 years (Dan 9:24) must pass before the coming of the Messiah. If taken literally, with the starting date set at 586 B.C. (the year of the last last deportation of Israelite exiles), this updated calculation sets the end of the judgment of Jerusalem and the coming of the Messiah at 96 B.C., a date that roughly coincides with the early inhabitation of the Qumran settlement. While such a literal reading may not be the best interpretation of Gabriel's numbers, it does explain the religious fervor of the time.

The Dead Sea ascetics saw themselves as an eschatological community (one that was living in the "end times"), and they perceived their times with a sense of wonderment animated by imminent judgment and final salvation. For them the end times were an present reality and a motivation to live a righteous life. One text, a commentary on Habakkuk, describes the end times expectation by which the community lived:

. . . the final age will be extended and go beyond all that the prophets
say, because the mysteries of God are wonderful. Though it might delay,
wait for it; it definitely has to come and will not delay.

Even if the time of God's judgment and salvation had not occurred, it could occur at any time and so the righteous arranged their lives around that expectation.

The impending presence of a messianic age, the time when the mysterious character (or characters) called "Messiah" would come again, lay at the heart of the Qumranite experience. The Qumranites' hope for salvation was based on their faithful membership to this community which was awaiting the coming of the Messiah. They codified what it meant to be a faithful member of the community in the many non-biblical texts found hidden in the hills around their settlement.

One of the first scrolls on display at the Museum of Natural Sciences, called the Rule of the Community, admonishes the members to strictly follow the "counsel of the law . . . until the prophet comes, the Messiahs of Aaron and Israel." While the identity of the prophet is difficult to ascertain, the messiahs have been identified with other figures who emerge in the Dead Sea literature, namely a sage called the Teacher of Righteousness and another figure called the Suffering Messiah. Whatever the identities of these messianic figures, their coming signifies the end of the age and the beginning of a new period in which the Messiah(s) will rule over the faithful and judge the unrighteous.

Texts like the Rule of the Community shows that the people of the Dead Sea communities, particularly Qumran, feared, respected, loved, and followed their Scriptures, and they made sure that their communities were equipped with usable copies of the Old Testament and the theological texts that helped them apply the Scriptures to their lives.

Why Do the Dead Sea Scrolls Matter?
The Scrolls matter for two reasons. Both have to do with the Bible, but they have to do with the Bible in different ways. The Dead Sea Scrolls give us insight into the Biblical text because they offer a very early witness to the books of the Bible found in the Old Testament. Second, the Scrolls give us insight into the religious world in which Jesus and the Apostles were ministering.

First, the Scrolls offer what are by far the earliest copies of biblical texts known to the modern world. Such early witnesses augment biblical scholars' understanding of the Bible and aid in the work of modern translators. It is hard to overstate the importance of the Dead Sea Scrolls in their contribution to modern understanding of the Bible. Not only do they support many of the manuscripts currently used as the basis of our modern translations; they give us very early examples of how the Bible was used by religious people living before and during the time of Jesus and the Apostles. For instance, it seems that most of the Old Testament books were already recognized as authoritative Scripture by the time of the establishment of Qumran community. (Only the book of Esther was excluded as authoritative, probably because the Jewish festival of Purim associated with it conflicted with the unique religious calendar that was observed by the Qumran community.)

Of the twelve scroll fragments on display at the Museum of Natural Sciences, six are biblical texts, including passages from two scrolls of Genesis, two scrolls of Exodus, one from Deuteronomy, and one from Isaiah. The non-biblical scrolls, Jubilees, Some Torah Precepts, the Brachot ("Blessings"), and the Hodayot ("Hymns") draw heavily from the Old Testament
stories and genres. Therefore they provide a glimpse into how the Dead Sea communities understood the Old Testament and how they used it in worship.

Second, the Scrolls offer a glimpse into the religious climate of Jesus' day. No doubt, the sort of "end times" fervor described in the Scrolls would have been felt in varying degrees around the region of Judea. The Scrolls give us insight into the person and work of John the Baptist as well as the some of the teachings of Jesus.

The Dead Sea Scrolls and John the Baptist

Upon the discovery of the ancient library buried in vicinity of Qumran, biblical scholars were giddy with excitement over what seemed to be a clear connection between the Qumran
ascetics and the figure of John the Baptist. The similarities are compelling. John, the son of a priest, spent a period of time prior to his ministry in the desert (Luke 1:80), and when he does appear, it is on the banks of the Jordan which feeds into the Dead Sea less than ten miles northeast of Qumran itself. John bases his prophetic ministry on the prophecy of Isaiah pertaining to the coming of the Lord (Isa 40:3-5; Luke 3:4-6), seeing himself as the fulfillment of the "one calling in the desert." This is the same prophetic passage cited in the The Rule of the Community scroll as the Qumranites' motivation for withdrawing into their community in the Judean desert.

Much like the community in Qumran, John's message was animated by a present and pressing sense that the end times judgment was at hand. He likewise recognized the importance of communal repentance as a means of hastening the coming of the Lord (Isa 59:20; Hos 11:5). As a result, he was blunt and confrontational with those who came out to hear him preach ("You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?" [Luke 3:7]), and he was more interested in true repentance than simple blood-membership to the
covenant people of Israel: "Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham" (Luke 3:8). In fact, John's call for repentance closely matches the concern for the same amongst the members of the community at Qumran.

Furthermore, much like the Qumranites, John's followers perceived themselves as a subsect within the Jewish people as a whole. John is not concerned with circumcision as a mark of membership in the nation of Israel, but rather he is much more concerned with a person's disposition toward the Lord. Likewise, in Qumran, circumcision is eclipsed by the relative importance of personal commitment to the law and the community. The Dead Sea Scrolls and Jesus' Teaching Jesus stepped into this electrified atmosphere in which there were many diverse beliefs about who the Messiah would be and what he would do. Given this context, it is not hard to understand why Jesus might be extremely careful about how he reveals himself as the true Messiah. This conversation in Mark 8 is particularly revealing:

And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea
Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that I
am?"

And they told him, "John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others,
one of the prophets."

And he asked them, "But who do you say that I am?"

Peter answered him, "You are the Christ." (Mark 8:27-29)

"Christ" is the Greek word for "Messiah." Notice that this is relatively late in Jesus ministry. In other words, Jesus did not burst on to the scene declaring that he is Christ, but he waits until his disciples have developed a relationship with him, seen him work, and become well-versed in his teachings. It is as if Jesus wants to show his disciples what Messiah means before he tells them that he is the Messiah. This approach makes sense given the diversity of beliefs about the Messiah that were present during his ministry.

Second, notice that Jesus lets them come to the conclusion about his "Christ-hood" instead of telling them. Spending time with Jesus meant slowly coming to the conclusion of who the Messiah ought to be. The Messiah ought to be someone like Jesus. Peter recognizes it, he confesses it, and his confession marks the turning point of the Gospel of Mark.

The previous discussion contains only a couple of instances in which the Dead Sea Scrolls shed light on the world of the New Testament. Of the scrolls on display at the Museum of Natural Sciences, The Rule of the Community and the Damascus Document in particular describe the way that the Dead Sea communities saw themselves in relation to the religious world around them.

We should remember that the Dead Sea Scrolls are helpful but not crucial to our understanding of the Bible. This is because God has communicated to us a Word whose message is clear by itself. As a result, we do not depend on external evidence, whether historical, literary, or scientific to give authority or clarity to the Scriptures, but certain resources do help us experience the Scriptures in a deeper, more informed way. When we have such resources available to us, we do well to engage them in a biblically responsible way in order to see what they have to say.

DJ Chaung on Keller vrs. Piper

2008-08-17T23:26:00.002-04:00

Why I like Keller more than Piper
People have their preferences. I like Tim Keller more than John Piper. This isn’t to say that I don’t like Piper, only that I like Keller more in an celebrity deathmatch comparison kind of way. Both are phenomenally great preachers and teachers, gifted and anointed in ways that I’m not, just as I’m gifted in some ways they’re not. Some people and pastors (Sam and Billy) really admire Piper a lot. I won’t make a point-by-point comparison; I’ll simply list my reasons.

Here are some of the reasons I like Keller a lot:

He is unassuming.
Not only is he the real deal, he exudes a tone of voice that is relationally inviting to all who hear him or meet him. Some preachers come across shrill and combative, while Keller comes across plausible, considerate, reasonable, and approachable.
He graciously preaches the Gospel clearly and compellingly.
Every sermon or talk (I’ve heard) points to Christ as the ultimate yearning of our deepest need. Even in a 8-minute sermonette at the 5th anniversary interfaith memorial service [transcript via kellered, mirrored at Reformissionary], he points to Christ, without unnecesssarily offending listeners of different faiths, yet upholding the power of the resurrected Christ.
His preaching is accessible and edifying to both non-Christians and Christians. Preaching and teaching has to answer the “So What?” question (most often used by Lon Solomon) and meet people where they’re at, lest it borders on meaninglessness. A NYTimes’ February 2006 article describes Keller this way:

Observing Dr. Keller’s professorial pose on stage, it is easy to understand his appeal. While he hardly shrinks from difficult Christian truths, he sounds different from many of the shrill evangelical voices in the public sphere. “A big part is he preaches on such an intellectual level,” said Suzanne Perron, 37, a fashion designer who is one of many who had stopped going to church before she discovered Redeemer several years ago. “You can go to Redeemer and you can not be a Christian and listen to that sermon and be completely engaged.”

He allows us to see that the writers of the past and present are both relevant to life and faith today. With the cultural elite and the average person also, there’s a common respect for the wisdom of the ancient sages and the wit of the contemporary. Or to say it more theologically, drawing from both general relevation and special revelation speaks to everyone together all at once. New York Metro noted Keller’s marketing genius to influence the influentials:

Keller has become the most successful Christian Evangelist in the city by recognizing what marketers have known for decades: that young professionals and artists are �disproportionately influential� in creating the country�s culture and that you have to meet this coveted demographic on its own terms. With intellectual, brimstone-free sermons that manage to cite Woody Allen alongside Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John…

Or, in his own words: “When you listen and read one thinker, you become a clone… two thinkers, you become confused… ten thinkers, you’ll begin developing your own voice… two or three hundred thinkers, you become wise and develop your voice.” (at 1:10 of Resurgence session #8.)

He is authoritative without being authoritarian. Many preachers shout down other people and their points of view. Many preachers are overbearingly forceful with their own convictions. In an advertising and marketing saturated world, I sure don’t need another hard sell; not only does it not work in the city, it doesn’t work in the smaller towns either.

An important lesson that Dr. Keller said he had tried to convey to other pastors is that the hard sell rarely works in the city. Becoming a Christian in a place like New York, he said, is more often the product not of one decision but of many little decisions.

He believes that doctrines are important and actually shows how it matters. Of course thelogy, theological training, and theological doctrines are important and valuable. But knowledge alone puffs up, and what people need is not more shouting about how important theology and doctrines are. Let’s see how they make a difference in the way we live, in the way we treat people, in the way we talk to people who have differing convictions and beliefs. See Keller (in his own words) speaking of the importance of doctrine.
He is fair and honest. He readily admits his finitude and frail humanity. He acknowledges his limited knowledge and perspectives, and even if someone might perceive that he’s presumptuous. I think he’s one who actually lives up to the recent notion of “humble orthodoxy.” Plus, he doesn’t have to use guilt just because he’s been seminary-trained. *wink wink*
His passion for the cities of the world reflects the City of God. At the end of the day, it’s about the City of God that comes down from heaven, it’s not the great suburb of God! His joke, not mine; a little unfair, but hilarious! See or hear (begin at 8:00) how he told it at the 2006 Resurgence conference.
He is respectful of other’s convictions, preferences, and callings. He recognizes there is more than one way to do church. Watch this video to hear how he explains it in his own words: Preaching and the missional church.
He encourages people to think out the implications of their faith. Granted, he does not put ideas on the bottom shelf, and allows the listener to wrestle with the complexities of life and faith. Many of his talks are intricately layered that it takes me several listens to just begin to understand its fascinating nuances. It’s commendable for the preacher to teach the Bible to people, or even teach people the Bible. But, as Andy Stanley has also said, go beyond that and help people to actually live out what the Bible commands. Keller would say something more like this: work out the implications of the Gospel in your work and your life!
He speaks to the heart of the matter. He gets at the question behind the question. With surgical precision, he unveils the idols of our hearts, persuades the listener to consider the more beautiful alternative to faith and trust in God’s beauty, freedom, and provision. I’ve found that melting a frozen ice block goes much more smoothly than confrontationally whacking away at it.
He deconstructs and reconstructs. All of us have presuppositions and worldview foundations behind what we believe and why we believe the way we do. Cultures are just another layer of packaging. There’s things in every culture that is good and not so good. Postmodernism gives us some great tools to get at those underlying cognitive notions, and it’s refreshing to see someone put them to use for the good, instead of alarming attacking the latest cultural shifts. Keller is a master at deconstructing defeater beliefs and doubts, subject of a forthcoming book.
He teaches the Bible in a refreshing culturally engaging way. I know this list is getting a bit repetitive and redundant. Is it just me, or does it seem like to you too that so many preachers know the Bible but don’t know it’s 2006 and not 1966?
He reads and comments on blogs. Most (if not all) pastors are very busy with their lives of ministry, and yet Keller is one of the few megachurch pastors who’d take the time to read _and_ to comment in the blogosphere. This shows connectedness with us pajama-wearing bloggers as well as the well-dressed-in-Sunday-best pew sitters.
If you’ve read (scanned) this far, you ought to recognize the sardonic tongue-in-cheek between-the-line comedic tone; please don’t take this so seriously or authoritative. This is only a short list of what I’ve found inspiring whenever I hear Tim talk. He is undoubtedly one of my favorites.

Both Piper and Keller will be hanging out, with Mark Driscoll too at that, at this sold out conference next week, so I’d like to think they’re all on friendly terms and this little remark can provide a chuckle re: the absurdity of publicity and accolades. [are they scalping tickets on eBay or Craigslist, per chance? Conference audio are rumored to be online, for free, after the event.]

Being a church connoisseur, I like all kinds of preachers for different reasons. We need all kinds to speak to all kinds of people, perspectives, and contexts. It’s been my experience that people’s preference for a preacher or church polity often reflects their personality. I’m not one to be overbearing or forceful; I prefer to be human and empathetic.

Liquid Modernity and how it impacts our relationships

2008-08-17T22:02:00.003-04:00

This is a transcription of a conversation inlcuding one of my favorite Sociologist's--Zygmunt Boaman. His book, "Liquid Modernity," is the central conversational thread. It seems to me that Bauman has particularly haunting insights into our political life, our public life, and our religious life. He starts off with a quip about computers.

The most conspicuous case is the photo camera, the car, and the computer. You will probably change your computer every other year simply because there are better computers out there, not because it has gone bad. We want "up to date...state of the art." We speak of liquidity because it is the frame of our life, and our business, and the purposes that we dedicate ourselves to is also liquid. By age 25 we know that our whole life will be a constant chase for a forever elusive horizon. People growing up today expect this to be the case. It is seen as normal. 11 times people will change the nature of their jobs according a prominent sociologist. Today it is considered "great" when we change and move and adapt. We have moved from Rockefeller to Bill Gates. Their relationship to their own creation is very different. Rockefeller wanted to invest in things that last. Ford factory was built with solid walls, huge buildings, big crew, and a mile long assembly line. Bill Gates has no guilty conscience and disposes today of his own invention from a year ago.

Education of the contemporary business leader or managers is not scientific. There are not rules to be followed. Now we educate our managers in knowledge of adaptation, how to have a lively personality, how to be flexible, how to establish a quick relationship in order to face new challanges.

People want to swim freely in this liquid modernity. There is not a stable personality core. Top managers are finding more and more that their life and their job are ONE. As they go on vacation they are finding themselves tied to their phone, their computer, or to their TV. They are all in the job. There is no distinction between working time and time off. YOu take your portable computer, your cell phone, and your entire life. Your life is consumed by your role.

We are encouraged to pursue the transient, the ephemeral, and the short lived. We therefore have a hard time in the political process, according to Zygmout Bouman. The trade union meeting was the prototypical polotical movement just a short fifty years ago. This transpired that they shared problems and they could do something together about their problems. They might go on strike which leads to political activity, which makes someone a citizen and allows leverage for action to be taken.

But today, the prototypical meeting is weight watchers. Rathen than gather authority in community, by concensus, one only gathers authority based out of their own individual resources. They compare their weight, but they do not arrive at any conclusion about what they can do together. There is nothing communal about what they share. There is nothing they can do TOGETHER to help each other become more slim. We leave the meeting not transformed as a political being, but leave the meeting feeling that we are individuals. That is the difference between today and fifty years ago. The new meeting is therapuatic more than political.

This can be seen in how we watch TV. We spend time in confessional on the T.V. rather than in productive political action groups. We do confessions publically. Why? Becaue, under these present cultural conditions of the weakening of an individuals political capital, the individuals have no way to make their issues public. And so we feel more inclined to watch TV than to rally around a political leader. The political leader has been traded in for our "reality TV," and we all get to vote for who is the best. What we do need once we are burdened, is the example of how to live. We desperately hope that someone else, in the chat show, will show the way of coping. Our reality makes us isolated. We are living in the greatest time of isolation in the history of civilization.

We are still individually as minded as before. But we are not citizens. We are re-inforced in our condition as lonely individuals who have to cope with our problems on our own, with our own resources. We need to seek and hopefully find "biographical solutions to systemic problems."

Personally, we also want transience rathen than durability. There is no solidity, or little anyway. The general influence of our experience is the "fear of long term commitment." In a year or two we worry it will be a burden. Long term commitments, such as education, are hard to commit to. It is hard for us to say "till death do us part." We would rather "live together." There is a feeling of insecurity in all modes of life. Episodicity--living life as if we are going from one episode to another. The common denominator is "suspicion," towards long term commitment.

At the end of the day we must return again and again to relationships. Modernity is suspicious of anything outside of personal autonomy. The church, the truth, and anything that is external to the individuals field of experience is called into question. Eckhart Thole, they guy who wrote the book, "The Power of Now," is making lots of money and going around the world speaking about just this problem of modernity. But he does not see it as a prolem. We must never just focus on NOW. Life is not just a bunch of NOW moments. There is sorrow. There is pain. There is laughter. We are children and then we grow up and learn how to ride our bikes. It all comes back to relationships. Where are we grounded? Why are we grounded there? Tholle is a lot like Deepak Chopra. They come from this simliar veign, or, perspective. Each of them desperately wants to contact an ever present stillness beneath all things. And they are onto something. There is an ever present stillness. His name is "I am," and He sent His son to claim us as His friends. We are His friends though. We are not solitary, individual waves floating on the surface of NOW.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

What is a revival?

2008-08-14T23:16:00.003-04:00

I have just been to a revival at the Bethel House of God. It was perfect.
The outpouring of the Holy Spirit was very real, very beautiful, and very joyous.
Having just come from the "revival" it seems odd to describe my experience using another persons words. It seems ludicrous to underscore these written words as a way to relate my experience to you. My experience was, foremost, indescribable. But in the end, words do help accomplish lots of good. Often times God uses someone elses words to most accurately express your own. Martin Lloyd Jones is a better writer than I. I get caught up in emotion. He simply transmits the content and then lets God do the rest of the work. I love him for that. In the end we do need words. And more than that, we need writers to write down these words. While they may be pale, and while they fall short at the end of the day, they are sometimes helpful road maps towards that common destination which is God's glory in Jesus Christ.

What is Revival?
By Martyn-Lloyd Jones

We can define it as a period of unusual blessing and activity in the life of the Christian Church. Revival means awakening, stimulating the life, bringing it to the surface again. It happens primarily in the Church of God, and amongst believing people, and it is only secondly something that affects those that are outside also. Now this is a most important point, because this definition helps us to differentiate, once and for all, between a revival and an evangelistic campaign.

An evangelistic campaign is the Church deciding to do something with respect to those who are outside. A revival is not the Church deciding to do something and doing it. It is something that is done to the Church, something that happens to the Church.

So then, what is it that happens? The best way of answering that question is to say that it is in a sense a repetition of the day of Pentecost. It is something happening to the Church, that inevitably and almost instinctively makes one look back and think again of what happened on the day of Pentecost as recorded in Acts 2.

The essence of a revival is that the Holy Spirit comes down upon a number of people together, upon a whole church, upon a number of churches, districts, or perhaps a whole country. That is what is meant by revival. It is, if you like, a visitation of the Holy Spirit, or another term that has often been used is this--an outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

What the people are conscious of is that it is as if something has suddenly come down upon them. The Spirit of God has descended into their midst, God has come down and is amongst them. A baptism, an outpouring, a visitation. And the effect of that is that they immediately become aware of His presence and of His power in a manner that they have never known before.

I am talking about Christian people, about church members gathered together as they have done so many times before. Suddenly they are aware of His presence, they are aware of the majesty and the awe of God. The Holy Spirit literally seems to be presiding over the meeting and taking charge of it, and manifesting His power and guiding them, and leading them, and directing them. That is the essence of revival.

And what does that mean? Well, there are general characteristics which you will find in every revival that you can ever read about. The immediate effect is that the people present begin to have an awareness of spiritual things such as they have never had before.

They have heard all these things before, they may have heard them a thousand times, but what they testify is this: "You know, the whole thing suddenly became clear to me. I was suddenly illuminated, things that I was so familiar with stood out in letters of gold, as it were. I understood. I saw it all in a way that I had never done in the whole of my life." The Holy Spirit enlightens the mind and the understanding. They begin not only to see these things clearly but to feel their power.

What are these things of which they become so aware? First and foremost, the glory and the holiness of God. Have you ever noticed, as you read your Bibles, the effect on these people as they suddenly realized the presence of God? Like Job, they put their hands on their mouths or like Isaiah they say, "Woe is unto me! For I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips." They have just had a realization of the holi-ness and of the majesty and the glory of God. That always happens in a revival.

There can be a lot of laughing and lightness, and obvious organization in evangelistic campaigns. Not so in a revival, but rather awe, reverence, holy fear, the consciousness of God in His majesty, His glory, His holiness, His utter purity.

And that, as we have seen, leads inevitably to a deep and terrible sense of sin, and an aweful feeling of guilt. It leads men and women to feel that they are vile and unclean and utterly unworthy and, above all, it leads them to realize their utter helplessness face to face with such a God.

Or, like the publican depicted by our Lord in the parable, they are so conscious of all this that they cannot show their faces. They are far back near the door somewhere, beating their breasts and saying, "God, have mercy on me, a sinner."

The holiness of God, their own utter sinfulness and wretchedness, their own unworthiness; they realize they have never done anything good at all. Before, they thought they had done a great deal, now they see that it is nothing--useless. Like Paul they begin to talk about it as dung and filthy rags. In their utter helplessness and hopelessness, they prostrate themselves and cast themselves upon the love and mercy and compassion of God.

This is the convicting work of the Spirit who takes charge of the situation. People may be held in that state for some time--not only for hours but sometimes for days and weeks, and months. They may become almost desperate.

Then they are given a clear view of the love of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ and especially of His death upon the cross. At last they see it. Oh, they had always believed it theoretically, but it had never truly become real for them. They had honestly believed it, yes, but they had never felt its power, they had never known what it was to be melted by it, to be broken by it. They had never known what it was to weep with a sense of unworthiness and then of love and joy as they realized that "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

Suddenly it all becomes real to them, and they are given to know that the Son of God has loved them and has given Himself for them. It becomes an individual and a personal matter: "He died for me, even my sins are forgiven," and peace comes into their hearts; joy enters into them and they are lost in love and in a sense of praise of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

This now becomes the one thing that absorbs them. If they meet anyone they talk about it at once; everybody is talking about it, it is the main topic of conversation, it is the thing that absorbs all their interest. They desire to be together now and to talk about these things and so they get together, and they hold meetings. They meet every night to talk about these things and to praise God and to sing hymns to His glory.

Then they begin to pray, and there they are, hour after hour, night after night, longing to finish work so they might get together with other people who have experienced this movement of the Spirit of God. And that, of course, in turn leads them to have a great concern about others who are outside and who do not know these things.

I am giving you a synopsis of what you read in the books. They begin to get a concern for the members of their own family--husband, wife, father, mother, children, brother, sister--who do not know that they are outside. They tell them about it; they feel they must. There is a constraint that is driving them. They talk about it to people, to friends and to everybody, and they begin to pray for them. Prayer is always a great feature of every revival, great prayer meetings, intercession hour after hour. They pray for these people by name and they plead, and they will not let God go, as it were. They are intent on this with a strange urgency.

Excellence

2008-07-20T13:30:00.005-04:00

This is not a very linear entry, so get ready. I have a lot of things to say, and not much time to say them.

I have been watching the British Open. Greg Norman had a shot at winning it.
But a couple of bogeys knocked him out of the running.
The last time he won a major was over ten years ago.
It would have been miraculous. But it was not meant to be.
Sometimes I pen my hopes on a donkey.
I get excited that the cinderella team wins the NCAA tournament, or I get excited that Greg Norman will win the British Open.
But most of the time my bridges are burnt down and I am disappointed.

As I was sitting eating and watching, my three year old girl popped up after an hour of play in her room. I had forgotten about her. And then there she was.
She seemed almost "unreal" to me. Have you ever had that feeling with one of your little children?
It is a wild feeling. Children bring HOPE in my opinion.
Children bring a fresh perspective.
Children bring LIFE into the routine. They are like God, always a surprise.
Josie is walking around and dancing and giving her friends presents.
Her joy and energy are envious. Where did that come from?

Today I went to lead music at Church of the REZ in the corn fields of Western North Carolina. It was great. There were 40 people. It was a delight to be in such an intimate setting for worship.
"How Great is Our God" was the central song. We played it twice. I had to teach it the first time, but after the first time I could hear their voices lunging out to their Lord.
This was the first time I have led an adult worship service.
I have led many youth events, but no adult services of worship.
It was enjoyable and it was very challanging.
It is hard to keep people on the same key, the same time signature, and the same tone.

Lastly, I am just finishing up a book by a friend,
My year inside Radical Islam--A Memoir.

It is by my friend, Daveed Gartenstein-Ross.
It has opened my eyes.
It also opened my eyes to how God works in unconventional ways.

I recommend it highly. It is written by a man of excellence. Daveed is the national debate champion from around 1996 or 1997. He went to Wake Forest University with me and honestly conveys his spiritual pilgrimage with the readers of the book.