I have announced and asked for prayers in too many places for me to pretend it is still a secret, at least a secret from anyone to whom It would matter. I am actively exploring the possibility of leaving my church of the last dozen or so years for another, yet to be discovered. And I hate the process. Continue reading
Tag Archives: religion
Church Shopping – and why I hate it!
Thoughts on the beginning of Advent; “O Come O Come Emmanuel!”
O come, O come, Emmanuel and ransom captive Israel;
that mourns in lonely exile here until the Son of God appear
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free Thine own from Satan’s tyranny.
From depths of Hell Thy people save, and give them victory o’er the grave
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer our spirits by Thine advent here.
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night and death’s dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, Thou Key of David, come, and open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high, and close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, O come, Thou Lord of might, who to Thy tribes, on Sinai’s height,
In ancient times did’st give the Law, in cloud, and majesty and awe.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel.
My favorite song of this season, Advent, and one I am full ready to proclaim this this year. I need the awareness of Emmanuel (“God with us”) now, as proclaimed in the third verse, to
“Disperse the gloomy clouds of night, and death dark shadows put to flight.” Continue reading
Filed under ALL, Bible, Christianity, Church, Music, Uncategorized
Why Should Christians Study?
Last weekend I had the very great joy of participating on the leadership team of a retreat weekend. The purpose of this “little course in Christianity” was to give people a taste of an intentional walk with God in Community. Particularly, it teaches a path embracing worship (or piety), study, and action.
One of my functions was to talk about the role of study in Christian life. I thought I would like to share my address on that subject here. Continue reading
Filed under ALL, Bible, Christianity, Marriage
The “Roman Road” – there is more than one.
There are any number of mnemonic devices for remembering Bible verses, and for remembering and communicating the central points of Christianity. The “Apostles’ Creed” is about the earliest, and I think still about the best. “The Four Spiritual Laws” is one I remember from my teens and early twenties.
Many of us, perhaps most of us who seriously entered an Evangelical understanding of Christianity 40 or 50 years ago will remember “The Roman Road” as it lays out the work of God in Jesus through six verses in the Epistle to the Romans.
Romans 3:10 “As it is written: ‘There is no one righteous, not even one…’ “
Romans 3:23 “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…”
Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 10:9 “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Romans 10:13, “for, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ “
I think, though, that there is another “Roman Road” spelled out. I have often seen the journey described as the road humanity takes/has taken when we refuse to look to God. But I have discovered that here, as in most warnings, they are not only for “those OTHER people” … Christians, too, are vulnerable. This “Roman Road” leads to deception, self-deception. I know very closely at least two, who think themselves devout Christians yet have fallen into this road. I am one of them. Continue reading
Filed under ALL, Bible, Christianity
“For I know the plans I have for you…”
“In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the heart of Egypt, and a monument to the Lord at its border. It will be a sign and witness to the Lord Almighty in the land of Egypt. When they cry out to the Lord because of their oppressors, he will send them a savior and defender, and he will rescue them. So the Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians, and in that day they will acknowledge the Lord. They will worship with sacrifices and grain offerings; they will make vows to the Lord and keep them. The Lord will strike Egypt with a plague; he will strike them and heal them. They will turn to the Lord, and he will respond to their pleas and heal them.
In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. In that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on the earth. The Lord Almighty will bless them, saying, ‘Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance.’ “
Isaiah 19:19-25
This passage from the prophet Isaiah came up this morning. It raises so many thoughts relative to the news of the day that one’s mind flies from one idea to the next, trying to capture it all. But among all the thoughts of great prophetic deeds done thousands of miles away, there is one thought supremely close at hand. I want to stick with that. Continue reading
Filed under ALL, Bible, Christianity
Book Review: “Unabashedly Episcopalian” by Andy Doyle
Well, I just finished my weekend reading, a new little book
entitled
“Unabashedly Episcopalian”
written by the Rt. Rev. C. Andrew Doyle,
9th Bishop of the Diocese of Texas (Episcopal)
Before a review, something of a disclaimer:
First, Bp. Doyle is my bishop.
Those who know me well will know what an amazing statement that is.
Continue reading
Filed under ALL, Book Reviews, Christianity, Church
A Visiting Preacher, Esau, and looking forward to Romans
This morning, we had a guest preacher, the Rev. John Newton, Canon for Life-Long Spiritual Formation for the Episcopal Diocese of Texas. He preached mainly from the Epistle reading for the day, from first chapter of Ephesians. He started in what I thought was headed for a standard corporate-church theme of God’s blessings (“we need to realize that God has already blessed us, yadda, yadda, yadda …”) Yes, he went there, and I can’t totally fault him for that; he has an excuse in that the point is correct.
But then he went somewhere more interesting. Continue reading
Filed under ALL, Bible, Christianity, preaching, Theology
On Questions and Mirrors, Truth and Images
“Would it possible to be tempted, in such a way that we miss God’s desire for us, by being part of a church that is almost perfect?”
As an answer to the question, I will suggest that part of the reason for the story of the nation of Israel in the Old Testament is to answer a related question. It is one I have sometimes heard from skeptics. It goes something like this:
“If God is real, why doesn’t he just “show up” and prove himself? Then people would believe in him! Instead, all we get are some writings in a book (and those kind of hard to understand), and the word of people like you who tell us just to ‘have faith and trust him.’
I’m sorry, but if he is real, and expects to be acknowledged, he needs to say so, directly. Then we would all see the truth, and could all believe. Until then…”
I think there is some merit to the question. Continue reading
Filed under ALL, Bible, Christianity, Church, Theology
Thinking about Dirt
Over the last several weeks I have run into what is often called “The Parable of the Sower” from the Gospel According to Mark (It’s also in Matthew and Luke, but this month, it always seemed to come up in Mark). If you ever had any exposure at all to stories from the Bible, you probably remember this one; on its simplest level, it tells of a man sowing seed, somewhat randomly. The seed falls on four different kinds of dirt, and the story explores what happens to that seed in each. The link to the story is here: Mark 4:2-9. But what does it all mean? And why did Jesus say it that way at all? Well, as our good fortune would have it, Jesus’ followers asked those questions too, and He told them. We can read it right there in Mark. No need for fancy interpretation, “…move along, nothing to see here, it’s all been explained….”
However some of us can’t leave well enough alone. Here’s my addition… Continue reading
Filed under ALL, Bible, Christianity, Church
The Last Post of This Story
“You give and take away, blessed be the name” Popular worship song by Matt Redman (Listen here)
“ …The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” Job 1:21
“…Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil (or disaster)? Job 2:10
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One of the more difficult things in theology is how we are to understand the existence of evil; particularly, since we Christians affirm that God is all good, all loving, and all powerful – that God is One, and has no rival equal but opposite dark force who fights for evil while our God fights for good. No, we are forced to wrestle with Isaiah 45:7 “I make light and create darkness. I make blessings and create disasters. I, the LORD, do all these things.”
I say it is difficult, but it is not beyond our depth. At least, it is not beyond our depth when we are just talking in the abstract, in the absence of the screaming pain of real, fresh loss. But that is when we must talk of these things, so that we may be equipped when the waves threaten to overwhelm us. If we avoid wrestling with the problem until the day of trouble, we will be like a swordsman who avoids learning about his sword and shield until the enemy is upon him. Here on the Gulf coast, we are in the early days of Hurricane season. If we wait to prepare, to think about what must be done, until the wind is howling around our doors, how shall we stand? The time of need is too late.
I long to write more exploring the idea; but today, that is a diversion and a temptation. I need to be more personal.
Random Musings 