The Beginning of the Journey

As stated in my last post, I've decided to discipline myself for Lent by blogging about various reasons that I became Anglican.  I'm going to start with a few days of briefly sketching out the contours of my life.  I do this to give some context and background because nothing is without some context in life.  

And now I begin....

One of the most formative moments in my life was a night in 1988.  Sadly, I would need to ask my siblings what day it was as I haven't thought about the specific date in a long time, but the event is burned forever into my psyche.  It was the night that my mom had her stroke.

Something for Lent...hopefully

So...I've been quite quiet for a while on here.  I've just struggled with what to say and what to do with this blog.  I used to enjoy writing so much, but have been overwhelmed of late with doing it....

It is a sad state.

I hope to remedy this during Lent and maybe be able to get a habit going for the future.

During Lent, I hope to blog about why I ended up in the Anglican camp.  There are various categories that go into this.  I don't guarantee that everything will be accurate according to the various theological representations within Anglicanism that seem to believe that their particular vision of it is exactly what Anglicanism was 450 years ago.  But this is purely from my perspective, how I have observed and understood Anglicanism through the back drop of a "theological mut," so to speak.  It is true, I am a "mut" of sorts or maybe to put it more nicely, "a bit eclectic" theologically, as I said the other night to a friend.

A shocking blog!

This is something that I ran across that seriously disturbs me!  Read it and find out why, and no, it isn't because an old man sent graphic pictures of an abortion to the hospital administrator!  It is seriously disturbing the retaliation that this man has received for revealing the truth in what happened in an abortion.  He has been struck off of a list to receive a hip replacement by the director of the hospital. Really?!? They can refuse to treat people because they have philosophical differences?  They can pull political punches that limits someone's quality of life?  Aren't those the very things that they are "protecting" by killing innocent babies?  Irony, I say!

http://www.visionandvalues.org/2006/06/in-the-uk-aborting-a-baby-is-legal-but-depicting-it-is-a-crime/

Sin will have no dominion over you

“For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace” (Rom 6:14, ESV). These words from Paul are challenging words for us Christians. Why are they challenging though? It is because of what we are in our natural state. In that state, we are sinners, children of wrath, disobedient people who love sin over the Creator. However, as Christians, we are new creations (2 Cor 5:17) who are seated with Christ in the heavenlies (Eph 2:6). We have been regenerated and called to live a new life that is not characterized as sinners, but as saints. It is this new life and how to live it that raises the question of sanctification. Some sectors of Christianity tend to view anyone who emphasizes sanctification as a legalist or any call to obedience as legalism. And yet, Paul continually exhorts believers to live in certain ways; ways that line up with what the law of God commands for his people to do. The question before us today is if obligatory obedience constitutes legalism in our sanctification. I do not believe that it does. I also believe that those what claim that it is legalism need to consider two major issues.

N.T. Wright

So I am reading Justification by N.T. Wright at the moment.  At times I have wondered what all the fuss was about; at others I understand why people are upset.  I will have to dwell on his thoughts for a while, though at the moment some of his general conclusions I whole heartily agree with.

I will have more to say later.

Advent hymn

This is an Advent hymn that I will be using this Sunday at church.  I heard it while listening to the God Whisperers this week.  I have greatly been enjoying doing music this Advent.  This is really the first Advent that I have done music planning ever.  Rachel and I did some Advent music while at Way of the Cross (a Fellowship of Grace Brethern church) a few years ago, which was really my first foray into the season.  It was only a couple of songs that year since it was a church that did not in any way observe the church year, but Pastor Randy didn't mind the change up in music from us.  However, now that we are in the Anglican church, I'm taking full advantage of the opportunity to play Advent hymns!  It has been fun transposing some onto guitar and then finding others on the internet that others have written out.  I may have to take some time to record some of these hymns after the season is over, especially the couple that I have jazzed up here at the house.

Lo! He Comes with Clouds Descending

Lo! He comes with clouds descending, once for every sinner slain

Thousand thousand saints attending swell the triumph of his train

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia! Christ the Lord returns to reign

Ev'ry eye shall now behold Him, robed in glorious majesty;

Those who set at nought and sold him, pierced and nailed Him to the tree,

Deeply wailing, deeply wailing, deeply wailing, shall their true Messiah see.

Those dear tokens of His Passion still His dazzling body bears,

Cause of endless exultation to His ransomed worshippers.

With what rapture, with what rapture, with what rapture gaze we on those glorious scars!

Yea, amen, let all adore Thee high on Thine eternal throne.

Savior take the pow'r and glory, claim the kingdom as Thine own.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia! Thou shalt reign, and Thou alone!

Blogs on Numbers 20:1-13

Numbers 20:1-13

I recently wrote a paper in my Hebrew class. It was on Numbers 20:1-13. This was my longest paper in seminary thus far! So I will not belabor anyone by simply posting it. I am going to make a few posts out of the paper because I got so much out of it. Please be ready for them to begin in the next few days.

May the grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you always!

When Trials turn to Tempations

James 1:12-15



Trials. They come in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes they are physical, like a sickness. Sometimes, they are inward, maybe a struggle that you don’t want to talk about and you keep it in. But no matter what the trial is, they have one thing in common, God desires our good to come out of them. He desires for us to be successful in coming though them. He uses these trials to stretch and grow our faith in Christ. Yet, where do temptations come from? In a financial struggle, where does the temptation to lie on your taxes or steal some money from a cash drawer originate? Is that God? By no means, God desires our good, but our own sinfulness turns a trial into a temptation. We see this in James words to these early Christians today.
James says, “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial.” Why is such a man blessed? Who would think that a trial is a blessing? These believers that James is writing to were most likely early Jewish Christians that has be driven from Jerusalem during Jewish persecution of the church. James tells these people, “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial.” The reality is that James is continuing and building upon what he said about tests of faith that he talked about in vv 2-4 of this chapter. There he said, in essence, “Be joyful at the testing of your faith because that testing produces steadfastness or perseverance and let that have its full effect because that means you will be perfect and complete and lack nothing.” James has told us that trials produce steadfast faith and now he says we are blessed when we remain steadfast, when we remain faithful and trusting in Christ for what he has done for us. The reason we are blessed is what he says in the rest of the verse. He says, “…for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.” We receive the crown of life when we are steadfast in our faith and trust.

Word and Sign (2 Kings 20:1-11)

For the Scripture passage go to:
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20kings%2020:1-11&version=ESV

Faithfulness. The faithfulness of God is at stake in today’s text. On many levels we struggle with God’s faithfulness. How is God faithful? How do we know that God will be faithful? How do we respond to that faithfulness? We all come to a point in our lives when we have doubts, when the burdens of our selves weigh down on us. What do we do? Do we attempt to look inward for some subjective feeling about our faith? Will we make the claim that our assurance of God’s faithfulness is based on our feelings of his faithfulness? Or will we know God’s faithfulness through His words and His signs that he has given to us through his messengers? I say, we must take seriously these words and signs that God gives through His messengers.

Thoughts on Psalm 135 pt 3

So, I come, I believe to the conclusions of my thoughts on Psalm 135 and it’s relationship to worship.
Previously, I dealt with the form being one of remembrance and anticipation, such that these two things make present the past and future to the worshipper. I also broke down the psalm into its parts and looked at them, I guess, somewhat devotionally and gave comments on the psalm. I reach the final part after some more reflection.

The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths, but do not speak; they have eyes, but do not see; they have ears, but do not hear, nor is there any breath in their mouths. Those who make them become like them, so do all who trust in them!

Here the psalmist turns his attention to the idols that are all around Israel. He describes them as being the mere creations of men’s hands. What I find so riveting about these verses is that they follow up all that the psalmist has said about God. He has spoken in detail about God’s actions in the world and His redemption accomplished for the sake of His people Israel. In verse 5, he says that the LORD is above all gods and that the LORD does as He pleases throughout all of creation. God is in absolute control of all of reality, He is beholden to no one! He has also redeemed the people of Israel from the nations. He struck down the firstborn of Egypt(vv8-9) and the kings that were in the land of Canaan (vv 10-11). He has given the land as a heritage or an inheritance to the people. These are the actions of God in the past. They are recalled with joy for they are the mighty deeds of our God and they are just as true for the current psalmist as they were for the generation that saw God doing such great works.
In verses 13-14, the psalmist anticipates God’s renown and His vindication of the people. He is sure of God’s work based on all that God has already done for His people. He has the faith that the writer of Hebrews speaks about in the eleventh chapter of his letter.
Following these words of remembrance and anticipation, the psalmist gives what I referred to as an application of the previous liturgical creed. In a sense, he sets up a comparison between the idols and God. The God of Israel is alive and active in all that He does. He accomplishes His purposes and does all that He pleases. The idols, however, can do nothing. They are created by men, made of the elements that the true God created. They don’t speak, see, or hear. They have no life in them (nor is there any breath (ruach, the word that speaks of the breath of life) in their mouths). They are the exact opposite of the great God of Israel.
The psalmist also says that all who make them will become like them, as will all those who put their trust in them! This is a severe warning and a saddening reality for us to face. Those who follow after idols will become like them. They will have no life in them, they will be left hardened in their hearts as they reject the true God. There is not much else to say in that regard! We are faced with a choice: Seek the true and living God or become like the idols that we create and worship.
This brings the psalmist to his final call to the people of Israel:

O house of Israel, bless the LORD! O house of Aaron, bless the LORD! O house of Levi, bless the LORD! You who fear the LORD, bless the LORD! Blessed be the LORD from Zion, he who dwells in Jerusalem! Praise the LORD!
(Psa 135:19-21)

He calls upon all of the house of Israel to bless the LORD. Some translations translate “bless” as “praise.” However, the word that the psalmist uses is not the same word that he used at the beginning of this psalm. In the first verses he used the Hebrew word halal, which means “praise.” Here, though, he uses barak, which means “bless.” It is a different word, so it doesn’t just mean “praise.” So, what difference does that make? It means that the psalmist is calling for something more than praising the Lord here. He wants them to bless the Lord. But, what does that mean here? The word barak can also mean “kneel.” So, here, he is calling for kneeling and worshipping God, committing oneself wholly to the Lord. This makes sense because of what he said about the idols. The comparison of them to Yahweh should lead one to worship Yahweh alone. It means that we should lay down ourselves to God, give up what we want (which is why we often turn to idols in the first place) and take up what God wants. He is the only one who deserves our kneeling and our worship!
So, what does God want of us? This answer I think comes out of the Gospel text that I read for evening prayer tonight.

Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. (Matt 16:24)

The psalmist is calling on us to follow God. We are called to deny ourselves and take up the cross and follow Christ. That is our duty. Why though? Because Christ died for us. He took our sins upon Himself to redeem us and to give us new life in Him. Our worship is shaped by what Christ has done for us. He has made us free so that we can follow Him and Him alone.
We are called to give up our idols, lest we become like them. If we pursue these idols, we will have no life in us; we will become deaf, dumb, and blind, completely unresponsive to the Gospel call that is given to us! Let this not happen to us! May we ever deny ourselves, bear our crosses and follow Christ, no matter where that may lead!
I close with the two prayers, one from the ‘79 BCP and the other from An Anglican Prayer Book:

O God, the protector of all who trust in you, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy: Increase and multiply upon us your mercy; that, with you as our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we lose not the things eternal; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen
Lord of all power and might, the author and giver of all good things: Graft the love of your Name in our hearts, increase in us true piety and devotion, nourish us with all that is good, and by your great mercy keep us faithful; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.