Meeting Together

Church. The best place In the world to consider how to stir one another up to

• love 
• good works
• not neglect to meet together
• encourage one another

…all the more. (Heb 10.24-25)

Why I Stay: a Response to Kate (and others who might be wondering)

My response to a challenge from Kate on this post where she asks why my "time, talents and money are still with the ACoC."

Time and Talents
Here is my—what? Rationale? Too strong a word, perhaps, it's more a heart-faith thing for me. I'm not sure I can defend it all that well. However, here goes:

• I am not aware that the LORD has given me permission to leave my post
• Radner's observation in Hope Among the Fragments seems to apply to me; i.e., we have two choices: go to Rome, or stay. Further splits are a problem for me. 
• Jeremiah didn't leave…an example there
• Jesus seems to suggest that both wheat and weeds ought to be allowed to grow together for now. I am uncomfortably aware of my own weediness should the weeds be gathered and burned at the moment.
• I'd have to leave too many of the people I love and was called to serve at StB
• to support my Bishop

All that said, I do not like the way in which some ACoC bishops and dioceses treat ANiC folk. The property grab (see my naughty doodle here) and use of secular courts is very unlovely. Do I find it comfortable in the ACoC? No. Do I think my staying will change its course? No. But following Jesus is not as much about my personal tastes and comfort as it is being obedient, nor is it as much about being effective and right as faithful. And this is where I've been put.

I have to confess I rather envy (sin, I know) the folk who have left. It sounds wonderful to be among like-minded people in a growing, tension free (or at least tension free-er) community.

Money
My tithe is due to the LORD through my local church. It seems to me that has little to do with whether I approve of what is done with the money or not. I don't always approve of the way my own congregation uses it. If folk further up the line misuse that money they will have to answer for that.

…and So?
Not very tidy or well reasoned, but that's about it. See here for a previous attempt at answering the same question based on some better reasoned arguments from smarter folk than me.

The Pitfall Of Perfectionism

O yes. A scourge. But…

Jesus plus nothing equals everything.

Wisdom via Tullian Tchividjian.

Click on the post title above to see it all.

Holy Saturday Waiting

The Great Sabbath—God Rests from His Labours.

After Good Friday I find I am tempted to relax and stop my Lenten fast today—even last night. The stress and emotional work of the cross-day is over. Unlike those in Jesus' day, we're blessed to know what's coming next so we can relax. Peace. Waiting. But the Lenten fast is still on until He's up.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad :-)

Christianity Today Gleanings: Conservatism, Leavers, Social Justice and Amish Wisdom

…from the November 2010 issue, the first of my gift subscription from dear daughter Kate. :-)

On Conservative Christianity and Politics

I'm a conservative, but I think the Christian faith stands in judgment of all political ideologies. When it's too closely identified with any of them, it becomes a tool in someone else's power game. (Michael Gerson in "Faithfully and Politically Present," an interview by Sarah Pulliam Bailey). 

I agree. And, from the same interview:

The purpose of Christian social engagement is not to seek a preferred status for Christianity but to pursue a vision of universal human dignity informed by our faith.

On the Departure of Young Adults from the Church

…approximately 70 percent of American youth drop out of church between the age of 18 and 22…80 percent of those reared in the church will be "disengaged" by the time they are 29. (Drew Dyck, "The Leavers")

That's what StB and the Canadian Anglican (and mainline?) scene looks like. Disturbing.

On Evangelicalism and Social Justice


…from an article on Vernon Grounds by Scott Wenig, "A Man for All Evangelicals," in which he quotes Grounds on the essence of the Gospel:

…the gospel brings us under the lordship of the Saviour who measurelessly extends neighbour responsibility. Christ makes our in-group not just the church but the whole family of humanity, refusing to let ethnicity, ancestry, geography, ideology, or even theology limit our responsibility to our neighbour.

Measurelessly. Not even theology. Hmmm.

On Insights into Christianity from the Amish


…Randall L Frame, "Spirituality for the Long Haul: What the Amish Can, and Cannot, Teach Evangelicals."

We live in an instant society, and many Christians approach their spiritual lives that way. Many Christians look for quick, easy, painless ways to grow spiritually, and they often end up being disappointed with the growth they see. The Amish point us to the importance of patient practice. They remind us that engaging in everyday—sometimes tedious—practices over long periods of time is the most trustworthy way to foster spiritual depth. 

Patient practice. Everyday. Long periods of time. Therein lies the genius of the daily office.

Good reading. Thanks, Kate!

On Fighting the Good Fight Persuasively: Faithful Discipleship

I'm reading some good stuff by Tullian Tchividjian over at The Gospel Coalition these days. For example, this quote on discipleship:

Our task as faithful disciples is proclaimed by the Welsh poet Ethelwyn Wetherald: 

My orders are to fight;
Then if I bleed, or fail,
Or strongly win, what matters it?
God only doth prevail.
The servant craveth naught
Except to serve with might.
I was not told to win or lose—
My orders are to fight.

…and this by persuasion rather than by coercion.

True of the battle going on in Anglicanism these days, me thinks.

All here.

The Antidote to 666 Problems: Old Time Religion that Works

As my priest, John Torley, used to say, "If you're having problems with 666, turn to page 555 in the prayer book!" Which says this:

Every Christian man or woman should from time to time frame for himself a RULE OF LIFE in accordance with the precepts of the Gospel and the faith and order of the Church; wherein he may consider the following:

The regularity of his attendance at public worship and especially at the holy Communion.

The practice of private prayer, Bible-reading, and self-discipline.

Bringing the teaching and example of Christ into his everyday life.

The boldness of his spoken witness to his faith in Christ.

His personal service to the Church and the community.

The offering of money according to his means for the support of the work of the Church at home and overseas. (The Book of Common Prayer, © The General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada 1962, p555)

Old time religion that works. Just do it.

Hard Discipleship Part II: To Serve Is to Suffer

Further to yesterday's Hard Discipleship sermon notes post below; an insightful essay by Ajith Fernando in Christianity Today in which he concludes: 

In a world where physical health, appearance, and convenience have gained almost idolatrous prominence, God may be calling Christians to demonstrate the glory of the gospel by being joyful and content while enduring pain and hardship. People who are unfulfilled after pursuing things that do not satisfy may be astonished to see Christians who are joyful and content after depriving themselves for the gospel. This may be a new way to demonstrate the glory of the gospel to this hedonistic culture.

I've come to realize I spend a lot of time trying to make worship more convenient for everyone so they will come; keep the service as short as possible, provide the readings in the bulletin so people don't have to go to all the effort of bringing their own Bibles, balance the music styles, avoid too much humour, avoid too little, provide children's ministry (read childcare somewhere other than where the "main" service is being held), and so on. There was nothing convenient in Jesus' description of discipleship in yesterday's gospel (Luke 14.25-33). Jesus, like Aslan, is good, but he is not tame. Following Jesus is not easy. It is slow and messy work. I think we've all got some cowboy-upping to do in our worship and discipleship.

All here: To Serve Is to Suffer | The Global Conversation

Harvey Opens Tonight: on Lines, Invisible Friends, Christianity and Elwood P Dowd's Message

Lines
Harvey opens this evening. I've spent the last few weeks stuffing my lines into my head in the midst of my parish priest life. I've recited them to myself in bed as I've been drifting off to sleep. I said them to myself in the air all the way from Moncton to Calgary. I've declaimed them to the long-suffering Jude. I've spoken them out loud in the car as I've driven to a diocesan executive committee meeting in Calgary and back. Yet there are still a few sticky points I must keep an eye on.

There's a sort of heady risk factor involved. Therein lies part of the rush of performing, I suppose. When I walk on to the stage this evening I won't have all the dialogue neatly laid out in my consciousness. I have to begin, in faith, with the first words, trusting that each line that I deliver thereafter will cue the next one in my memory. I also have to trust that when I finish each of one of my lines or speeches it will properly trigger the next from one of my fellow performers.

Sometimes I know what I'm to say next even as one of the other characters begins his or her line. Sometimes I can't remember what's next until the trigger that's lodged in my memory goes off. This is a little nerve wracking, especially when that trigger is the last word in the line. I have to trust that it will come, that I will hear it when it does and that I will remember what I'm to say next. Phew!

It's like we're (the actors) running along the top of a high fence. If one of us stumbles, all of us can fall off. In public. If someone misses a cue, or skips some lines, one has to think quickly; is there a way of reminding him or her? Does the skipped portion include something really important for the narrative? It can be frightening and exciting.

Invisible Friends
Harvey is about Elwood P Dowd and his invisible rabbit friend, Harvey. Elwood's sister, Veta, tries to have him committed because of this friendship. Elwood’s naive and eccentric behaviour is an embarrassment for her and threatens her social standing.

Although Harvey is not a “Christian” play, its message is an interesting one for Christians to think about. They can be considered as simple and eccentric as Elwood for their belief in and commitment to Jesus, who also seems to be invisible and at odds with the standards of the world.

We can all learn much from Elwood P Dowd about how to live life to the full. For example, life is an absolute joy for Elwood. He savours and enjoys it all. Elwood is positive and friendly, and always interested in the people he meets. Elwood refuses to take offense, even when his sister tries to put him away. Elwood never uses Harvey's supernatural powers to hurt anyone or for personal gain.

Some Dowdisms to enjoy:
On availability:

I happen to have a little free time right now and you're welcome to all of it. 

On evangelism:

I want you…to become friends with a very dear friend of mine. 

On reality:

Doctor, I wrestled with reality for forty years, and I am happy to state that I finally won out over it. 

On drinking and driving:

I had just helped Ed Hickey into a taxi. Ed had been mixing his rye with his gin, and I felt he needed conveying.

On conflict (something we Anglicans need to take to heart?):

An element of conflict in any discussion is a good thing. It means that everybody is taking part and nobody is left out. I like that. 

On being content with our lot:

So far I've never been able to think of any place I'd rather be. I always have a wonderful time just where I am, whomever I'm with. 

A mother's advice:

My mother used to say to me, "In this world, Elwood"—she always called me Elwood—she'd say, "In this world, Elwood, you must be oh, so smart or oh, so pleasant." For years I was smart. I recommend pleasant. You may quote me. 

Vanity and Striving After Wind: Thoughts on a 63rd Birthday

Part of a reading that happened to fall on the feast of my nativity this year:

Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all. For man does not know his time. Like fish that are taken in an evil net, and like birds that are caught in a snare, so the children of man are snared at an evil time, when it suddenly falls upon them. (Ecc 9.11-12)

Verses which, I suspect, are not often cited by the Word of Faith and Prosperity Gospel folk. Real though. True. God's Word, living and active. An astringent word for those of us who struggle with ambition and the hunger for success.

I love this guy. He's the Monty Python of the biblical authors. Keeps us grounded.

It's good to have made 63, by God's amazing grace, with exactly the measure of swiftness, strength, wisdom, intelligence and knowledge He ordained for me. No more and no less. Blessed be the Name of the LORD!

On Parish Life: Living Organism or Inanimate Object

I listened to more Resurgence on my last drive to Calgary and one of the speakers reminded me that a defining characteristic of life is reproduction. If a church is to stay alive, it must reproduce. So I looked “life” up in Wikipedia:

Life (cf. biota) is a characteristic that distinguishes objects that have self-sustaining biological processes from those that do not—either because such functions have ceased (death), or else because they lack such functions and are classified as "inanimate."

No processes, no life. No life processes and a parish becomes nothing but an inanimate thing, nothing but a building. Just as a living creature must have self sustaining biological processes at work in it to be alive, so a parish must have self sustaining spiritual processes at work in it to be alive.

In biology, the science of living organisms, "life" is the condition which distinguishes active organisms from inorganic matter, including the capacity for growth, functional activity and the continual change preceding death.

If a parish is a “living organism,” it has the capacity for growth (spiritual and physical), functional activity (ministry) and continual change (from glory to glory). For a parish, however, healthy change leads not to death, but life eternal. Consistent refusal to change, on the other hand, may well lead to death.

As for a parish, so for the individual members of that parish.

Anglicans Must Change or Die

Sobering words by Steve Weatherbe of canadianchristianity.com. His article focuses on the Diocese of British Columbia's development director, the Rev. Dr. Gary Nicolosi, who calls for the Vancouver Island Anglican diocese to encourage growth by requiring

50 percent of rental incomes be spent on evangelization; by rewarding clergy with higher salaries and more holidays; by training those that don’t grow their parishes – and, if necessary, move them to non-leadership positions, or out of the ministry entirely.

It's not just a BC problem. It's an Anglican Church of Canada, Diocese of Calgary, StB and my problem, too. Lord, have mercy.

All here.

Home Again and a Little Crusty Kierkegaard…

…after a refreshing clergy retreat and leading some worship in song at Women's Aglow Medicine Hat Candlelight last night. Faithful women.

Came across the following vintage crusty Kierkegaard a couple of times in the last few days:

The matter is quite simple. The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand, we are obliged to act accordingly. Take any words in the New Testament and forget everything except pledging yourself to act accordingly. My God, you will say, if I do that my whole life will be ruined. How would I ever get on in the world? Herein lies the real place of Christian scholarship. Christian scholarship is the Church’s prodigious invention to defend itself against the Bible, to ensure that we can continue to be good Christians without the Bible coming too close. Oh, priceless scholarship, what would we do without you? Dreadful it is to fall into the hands of the living God. Yes it is even dreadful to be alone with the New Testament.

Ooo, er.

Out of Silence

Rockies Light as Seen Through an iPhone:

Re-entry today, home this afternoon.

Earlier this morning, watching the dawn come up over the Rockies, reading and praying. This caught my attention from Carlos Carretto's I, Francis in A Guide to Prayer Readings for Reflection:

The Gospel taught me to place the emphasis on the mystery of the human being being more than on the duty of the human being. 343

How shall I do that in my baptism preparation?

The middle-class spirit, which is present to every age, and is known as selfishness, arrogance, pride, sensuality, idolatry, and slavery. 344

Bishop Mark: Gospel Based Discipleship

Our authority is the presence of Jesus in our midst (Mt 18.20). Bishop Mark called all groups to begin their meetings with a reading of the Gospel and the answering of three questions:

1. What stands out for you?
2. What do you hear God saying?
3. What is God calling you to do?

The readings are the eucharistic Gospel readings of the day.

When we come together in this way, the authority of Christ in our midst brings blessing and transformation. People have the opportunity to engage with Jesus in a direct, personal, unfiltered way.

Out of the Silence: Resident Aliens

Just outside the main door of the Mount St Francis Retreat Centre:

Bishop Mark is suggesting that we need to get back to the way the early church did its baptism preparation; the Catechumenate, a lengthy process whereby those seeking to be adopted into the church have to live like Christians for a while, so they can learn what it is to be resident aliens.

He recommended a couple of books on the subject by Alan Kreider, The Change of Conversion and the Origin of Christendom (Wipf & Stock Publishers: May 2007) and Worship and Evangelism in Pre-Christendom (Grove Books Ltd: September 1995). I found an article written by Kreider on line in which he quotes this:

Christians cannot be distinguished from the rest of the human race by country or language or customs. They do not live in cities of their own; they do not use a peculiar form of speech; they do not follow an eccentric manner of life . . . Yet, although they live in Greek and barbarian cities alike, as each one's lot has been cast, and follow the customs of the country in clothing and food and other matters of daily living, at the same time they give proof of the remarkable and admittedly extraordinary constitution of their own commonwealth. They live in their own countries, but only as resident aliens (paroikoi). They have a share in everything as citizens, and endure every thing as foreigners. Every foreign land is their fatherland, and yet for them every fatherland is a foreign land. They marry, like everyone else, and they beget children, but they do not cast out their offspring. They share their food with each other, but not their marriage bed . . . They love all people, and by all are persecuted. They are unknown, and still they are condemned; they are put to death, and yet they are brought to life. They are poor, and yet they make many rich . . . They are reviled, and yet they bless; when they are affronted, they still pay due respect . . . To put it simply: What the soul is in the body, that Christians are in the world. (Epistle to Diognetus, 5-6 (mid 2nd century))

In other words, they're different.

In Resident Aliens: Life in the Christian Colony, Stanley Hauerwas and William Willimon say many of us have bent over so far to accommodate the ways of the world that we've fallen in. The church becomes more and more resident in the culture and less and less alien. We've got to get aliener.

Got to get our feet dirty:

A Thomas a Kempis Day-Starter Prayer

Help me, my Lord Jesus, that I may persevere in good purpose and in your holy service unto my death, and that I may now today perfectly begin, for I have done nothing in time past.

O yes. From The Imitation of Christ.

Anatomy of a Call: Timothy Keller

Tim Keller suggests asking three questions to determine a call:

1. Do you have a passion for it?


2. Do those around you affirm this?


3. Is there an opportunity?

Looks good to me.

125 Years, Hans Küng, New Horizons and Striking Camp

From Roman Catholic priest and theologian, Hans Küng, The Church, via Readings for Reflection in A Guide to Prayer:

If the Church really sees itself as the people of God, it is obvious that it can never be a static and supra-historical phenomenon, which exists undisturbed by earthly space and historical time. The Church is always and everywhere a living people, gathered together from the peoples of this world and journeying through the midst of time. The Church is essentially en route, on a journey, a pilgrimage. A Church which pitches its tents without looking out constantly for new horizons, which does not continually strike camp, is being untrue to its calling.

A challenge for any parish but especially one like ours celebrating its 125th anniversary in a lovely old (by western Canadian standards) building. Our anniversary slogan is, "Founded on Faith, Focussed on the Future."

Looking Out for New Horizons

This is the window over our altar.

Below is my view of it in the chalice as I preside at the Eucharist Sunday by Sunday. I am blessed to do so in such beautiful surroundings and among such a sweet spirited parish family.

Our stained glass portrays the faith upon which we are founded in beautiful, living colour. The danger, I fear, is that if we're not careful, they, and beautiful things things like them, will block our view of any new horizons to which the Lord is calling us and we will be unable to focus on the future.

Striking Camp

St Barnabas, Medicine Hat: the camp site.

The LORD graces us with his presence here. It is a very comfortable camp site. The food, the water and the company are good. It is a camp which many people do not want to strike. And who can blame them?

On Being a Good Loser

It's in the Cards

Between the eyes again this morning from Evelyn Underhill, A Spiritual Life, in Readings for Reflection in A Guide to Prayer:

Osuna says that God plays a game with the soul called "the loser wins;" a game in which the one who holds the poorest cards does best. 

Not sure who Osuna is; a town in Spain a cursory Googling says.

Toil and Suffering

And Fanny Crosby's hymn, Close to Thee, is the hymn for the week:

Not for ease or worldly pleasure,
Not for fame my prayer shall be;
Gladly will I toil and suffer,
Only let me walk with thee.

I may not be praying for it, but the inclination to ease, pleasure and fame is in there. Toiling and suffering! Well…

Winning by Losing

So Kingdom success is winning by losing.

It brings the Stephen Ministry training material to mind: focus on process, not results. So, if we want to be fishers of men and women, we begin by following Jesus (process). Follow me, he said, and I will make you fishers of men (results).

I know, I know. Some folk in our parish (including my wife) will be saying, "See, see! Don't worry about growth. You can't make it happen. God gives the growth. It says so right in the Bible."

I'm trying. I need Jesus to wield more of that mud I mentioned in the previous post.

Underhill on What to Trust When Responding to the Holy Spirit's Call

From Evelyn Underhill, The Spiritual Life, via Readings for Reflection in A Guide to Prayer:

…our own feelings and preferences are very poor guides when it comes to the robust realities and stern demands of the Spirit.

…the spiritual life does not consist in mere individual betterment, or assiduous attention to one's own soul, but in a free and unconditional response to that Spirit's pressure and call, whatever the cost may be. 

So much for "if it feels good and I like it, then God must like it, too."