by Jessica Coblentz

There is something about sitting down to write that is like collapsing onto a pew kneeler.

When I was a teenager—an era marked by the interrogation of the Catholic tradition I’d grown up with—someone pointed out to me the correlation between the position of our kneeling bodies in genuflection and the simultaneous orientation of our hearts in relation to God. The ritual of surrendering our bodies onto the stiff kneelers somehow deepens, or enriches, or enables the surrendering of our hearts to God in the sacred space of the sanctuary.

I think the regular practice of sitting attentively before a blank page or an open computer screen has a similar effect on me. Even before I pick up a pen or tap the keypad, I feel something inside me shift when I sit down to write. The words in my head take on a different voice as I lower my body into the desk chair. In situating myself in relation to the bare page, my heart, too, becomes open and vulnerable. My interior voice speaks slower, more honestly.

At my desk and at a sanctuary pew, there is something about the positioning and orientation of my body that affects my heart. If my body can kneel in humility, maybe my heart can too. If I attend to the open page, perhaps I, too, can open my heart. My ritual bodily movement assists me in imagining new possibilities for my interior life.
Then, from that kneeler I begin to pray, and at my desk I begin to write. Both acts are outpourings of my body and my heart’s simultaneous vulnerability. I am trying to express outwardly the interior possibilities that have sprung from ritual—that I might actually be honest, humble, and authentic before God. Few moments in life are as integrated and honest as these.

I keep returning to the pew kneelers for the same reason I keep returning to the blank page: these bodily rituals foster the interior possibility of greater personal authenticity—before God and before others. From the deepening of my interior life springs prayers and written words that, I hope, might bring all of us into richer relationality—God, the reader, and me.

Join me in kneeling and sitting, praying and writing. Do these with all that you are.

Jessica Coblentz is currently pursing her Master of Theological Studies degree at Harvard Divinity School. Follower her writing on the Web at www.jessicacoblentz.com.

James 1:4 says that “perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” 

I wonder if I am lacking anything because I sure have been through an awful lot…..I have had children chronically ill…..then, by the grace of God…they just pulled out of it……   After doctors telling me I will have to live with an immune deficient condition that….before they were even teenagers,…they had numerous surgeries (over a dozen each)  and over 20 hospitalizations each…..then all of a sudden…..  Healed.  Answer to unending prayer.  My wife and I just…..hung in there and prayed. We never stopped.

So, I thought I was through all this…..then my oldest daughter has a son with some seizure problems…….will have them all his life….according to the doctors….then…all of a sudden…..he has them no more…and the doctors are baffled…..now,…another grandson who has challenges, fibromytosis, extreme bundling of muscles in the neck, reflux so bad he can not keep anything down, bending of the back, neck and now hearing challenged…in only a few months of life……………..I see some maturity not lacking anything….some perserverence wanting to finish its work…yet again in my family. 

I used to fear this sort of thing.  I dreaded it.  Now, I realize that my God is so much bigger than 2 immunosupressed children that I spent every penny I had to keep them alive….. I now realize that my God is bigger than any seizures that can come against my first grandchild…..and after a few sleepless nights and a multiple hour hike…..I saw tonight that my God is bigger than fibromytosis on my other grandson….and I got this impression after seeing my mother in a hospital after having heart issues…..Tonight!!

It is just so amazing how God can reveal Himself.  A mother in the  hospital, a set of grandsons in turmoil and a healing, loving, soothing God to tell me that He has this in control. 

Perseverance maybe is not a load of fun…..but it must finish its work…..then….maturity….   Let it finish its work….so me and you can be mature.

louie

from neueresources.com
by Jesse Medina

What do you want?

Suppose at this moment, God asked you that question. What would you ask for? I’ve heard this question posed rhetorically to many a congregation and oftentimes the answers are far too simplistic. The pastor will generally say, “Would you ask for money and fame? Or would you ask for peace, an end to world hunger, or (like Solomon) wisdom?” I always hate it when the pastor presumes to know what I’d say and then makes me feel guilty for wanting something I didn’t even ask for—suggesting that if I were really spiritual, I’d ask for one of the other things.
I won’t do that to you. But I’ll bet that you wouldn’t ask for money or fame. I’ll bet your desires and your commitment to Christlikeness run deeper than that. For some of us, it’s health and strength to continue down the hard road of ministry that we are on. For some, it’s protection for our families, that they wouldn’t become one of the statistics of families that find themselves as collateral damage to full-time ministry. For others it might be prayers for those we minister to, that they would grasp their own belovedness and become increasingly Christlike. If you’re not in ministry, you might ask for courage to be a better witness for Christ in your workplace, or a more loving attitude. You might ask that God open up more doors for you to share your faith or on how to be a better father, daughter, boss or employee.

The answer to the question will vary and—more often than not—the Christ follower doesn’t simply ask for materialism. Nevertheless, perhaps we’re still asking for secondary things. By secondary, I don’t mean bad or even self-centered, I just mean … secondary.

There is a prayer I recently began praying, and I have a sort of love-hate relationship with it. I love it because I’m convinced that God honors it. He loves to honor it because it fulfills what is perhaps His answer to the same question. On the other hand, I hate it. I hate it because it works. I hate it because I know that God loves to honor it and sometimes I really don’t want Him to. Regularly, I’ll pray to God while driving and I’ll tell Him how much I want something, and then I’ll remember this prayer. Also regularly, I remember praying this prayer and asking God to ignore it because I was obviously high or drunk when I prayed it. At the end of the day, though, when I’m not so upset about whatever circumstance I happen to find myself in, I’ll pray it again. I even tell God that I’ll have those outbursts when I want Him not to honor the prayer and to just ignore them because they are not what I really want.

Truth be told, the prayer is dangerous. It takes courage to pray it. Really. It’s like continually asking others to critique your sermons: You know you’re going to value what they say and it will make you a better preacher, but that doesn’t mean the process isn’t painful. There will be times when the prayer becomes so burdensome and scary that you’ll wish you’d never prayed it in the first place.

The fear of this prayer is actually rooted somewhere deep inside of us, at our core. We fear it because we’re not sure if God is going to be there to catch us. We fear that if we pray it, He’ll push us too far and give us too much to handle. But at the end of the day, we each need to decide whether we actually believe that God has our best interests in mind … always. And if we are convinced that He does, then any fear that we may have about this prayer must be faced head-on in the interest of becoming like Christ.

Are you ready to hear the prayer?

It’s simply: “God, before giving me the things I want, make me into the kind of person that You want me to be.”

That’s it.

Simply ask God to make you into who He wants you to be before giving you any of the things you want, no matter how good and holy those desires might be. Trust me when I say that it’s a hard prayer to pray, especially when things are rough. And by rough, I don’t just mean you could use a little extra cash or you have a long meeting tomorrow that you’d rather not be in. I mean those times when you don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel, when life’s circumstances send you into depression, when your family seems to be falling apart and you feel like you’re failing at life and you’re not sure if you can go another day without ending it all.

When you’re there and even when you’re not, pray it. Bank on the fact that God will always be there and that whatever you’re going through, God can and will use it all for good, no matter how dark it may seem now. If you’re convinced that becoming like Christ is the best possible life you can live, then you must pray it.

It’s kind of like jumping off of a high bridge into a lake or river: scary, but when you come up out of the water, you’re glad you did it.

Last Sunday was Stir-up Sunday, when the traditional collect is “Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people; that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works, may of thee be plenteously rewarded; through Jesus Christ our Lord.” It is the last Sunday before Advent, almost the end of the church year.

Stir-Up Sunday is the beginning of the week when we also stir up the Christmas puddings and cakes, those traditional dense fruit-laden sugar, egg and butter bombs so beloved of the British people. The rest of the world does not understand fruitcake and plum pudding, but no true Brit, no son or daughter of British roots, would want to see Christmas pass without the rum soaked and flaming pud carried into the darkened dining room, nor see the New Year rung in without a few slices of brandy flavoured cake.

My last fruitcake of the week is in the oven now, slowly amalgamating into a delectable mass. It will be cooled overnight, wrapped in brandy-saturated cheesecloth, wrapped airtight, and stowed on the top shelf of the refrigerator until the festivities.

It is a lot of work, and it takes a strong arm to fold together the densest fruitcakes. Although we no longer have to candy the fruit, chop it fine, and grind the suet and nuts by hand, it stil takes a while to get a good steamed pudding or fruitcake assembled. We started with a long-distance trip to Bulk Barn to get the ingredients by the pound (or kilo, here.) Then there is the marshalling of pudding bowls, fruitcake pans, steamers and cooling racks, the hunting down of cheesecloth in the store, and the debate over the liquor. (Dark rum or brandy?) All the mysterious and exotic ingredients are laid out along with familiar sugar, butter and eggs.

The plum pudding must be stirred by everyone in the house, and I assembled it on Sunday afternoon. The stirring was enjoyed by the two-year-old, who got to sit on the kitchen counter with a wooden spoon. She had haunted the kitchen while preparation was underway, until I gave her a wooden bowl, a plastic spoon, and a dozen raisins to stir herself. She then showed off her work, stirring raisins around and around, and finally ate the raisins. She was enchanted with being allowed to do big girl work with the real bowl, though. It is her first plum pudding.

Honouring this tradition seemed to be vital to our starting the Nativity season this year. Perhaps it is Nicholas’s stroke and the thought that he almost didn’t see this season; perhaps it is a need to feel rooted in our heritage again, building a little sanctuary of memory and history away from a fast-changing world. Tradition roots us in the year itself, both the natural year of seasons and crops, work and rest as well as in the liturgical year of feasts and fasts, saints’ days and commemorations. “Here we are again,” can be a comforting thought, a home-place found each year.

So we are carefully picking up some traditions stowed away while we sojourned, antique treasures inherited from parents and great-grandparents. At the same time, we are dropping some recent traditions that are counter-productive to our spriritual life.

Christmas shopping is one of them. It was easy for me this year – we have absolutely no money. My gifts will all be prayers this year. I will ask the Lord to bestow His blessings on each of us, according to our needs. I refuse to speak gently of some of the horrors of consumer Christmas – Black Friday shopping (Canadians don’t have this) and Boxing Day sales (Americans don’t have this.) Greed and status-seeking are so far from the message of the Incarnation that it is truly horrible to contemplate this filth in the Season of Light. Please don’t be tempted by “bargains.” You simply do not need that stuff anyway.

Our Advent discipline this year is not fasting. This household is ill-equipped to fast this time; I do not want to set myself apart from the people I nourish daily. Meals are a little eucharist for us here, and we need to continue to share the common loaf and cup. After some thought, I proposed that our discipline would be using our food resources better; specifically, using up the surplus in the pantry and freezer. Generosity put some of that food there, and it would be in gratitude that we prepare and eat it. Rather than buy more, we will use what we have, even if on first glance it is not very appealing. But I have time to cook, read recipes and prepare good food from basic components; that is my gift to the house this season.

Perhaps others are in the same position. Are there goods in your house that need to be lovingly consumed before they spoil? Do you have a hoard or stash of something that you should share? If you do, will it be for the daily nourishment of your family, or in a big party for friends? Or do you need to move the surplus on to those in need this winter, donating to a food bank? Be extravagant in your hospitalityand generosity.

If your surplus is not in the pantry, do you have goods that are not being used – small appliances, clothes, furniture, books,maybe even a stack of firewood you won’t burn this year. Can these be donated to a charity to be given to a family without resources, or to be sold? Even better, have a sale of your own, in the garage or barn, or list the items on craigslist or kijiji, whichever serves your area. Donate the proceeds.

Preparing our loving hearts for Advent and the Festival of the Incarnation (Christmas, nativity) is of greater importance than preparing our homes by filling them with purchased junk.

“Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God.” (Ephesians 2:19)

Why hast thou given up Ramanama?
Thou hast not given up anger or falsehood,
why hast thou given up truthful speech?
Being immersed in this false show,
why hast thou abandoned the original home?
Thou hast treasured a cowrie,
why hast thou neglected the ruby?
Why hast thou given up remembering
that which is the source of all happiness?
Khalus says, Why wilt thou not trust God
and leave body, mind and wealth?

(Mohandas K. Gandhi, collected in Prayers of Gandhi)

Today one of our newest volunteers asked me about how I ended up working in the pregnancy crisis centre.

Yeah, long story, right? One of our mutual friends, who worked for the centre at the time of my employment came in and immediately started picking up on what I’d left out.

Everything in my life has had a purpose that leading up to this point. It’s so obvious looking back now, but it certainly wasn’t always clear at the time.

In 4 hours time I need to be up to drive to the airport and start making the journey to Basingstoke. I can’t sleep.

I was reading Angie Smith’s blog. I wasn’t expecting to see a ultrasound picture taken at 10 weeks gestation.

Yes, that was the stage of pregnancy I was at when I had it terminated.

It was a little bit of a kick in the guts to see that, I’ll admit. Sometimes I wish I could turn back the clock, and bizarrely I don’t want to turn it back to the point before she was conceived to change things in that way. Turning back the clock I wish I would have had the information, support and courage to make a different decision.

You can’t think like that though. Because if it hadn’t been for Sophie being part of my life, I wouldn’t have the wisdom and understanding I have now. The perspective I have when I meet with clients, or abortion providers is different from many of my colleagues. It’s not that I necessarily agree with the people who think it’s all ok, it’s that I get where they’re coming from…because I used to have a totally different viewpoint.

God is doing some crazy things with this work, ministry or whatever you want to call it.

Crazy in the best and in some cases, most unexpected of ways.

He is, as Sarah Chia put it earlier this year, widening my territory.

And yet, I’m not that close to God as I once was. My quiet times are um, yeah, embarrassingly few and far between. My prayer life sucks compared to what it once was. There are lots of things in my life that need sorting.

I feel like I’m just riding this wave of God…He seems to have me along for the ride whether I like or not really!

The majority of the time, I do like it. I love it. The life God has for me is never dull.

But it is sometimes tough.

Um, actually a lot of the time it is tough.

I need to get prepared - physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually – as much as I can for what God has in store for 2010.

How do you do that? Answers on a postcard (or blog comment) please…

i had an absolutely amazin night with all the guys at CU. We went on a prayer walk around the walls of derry which was really great then came back to our house for some food and really good banter! it was just so good to laugh and play games and chat!

so tired now…ready for bed…busy day tomoro!!

night all!! Praise the Lord of good fellowship and friendship!!

x

Have you ever gone through a day where you moan and begroan the pitfalls of your life?   Where you just don’t think there is another thing you can deal with.  Or, why does this bad thing have to happen to me?   Or asked why things can’t be easier.  Or why can’t I have this thing I really need, or okay, maybe I only really want it.   But I really really want it.  I do it almost daily.  If not daily, a lot more than I should.  I read something about praying the other day that really got to me.  I can not remember where I read it.  But it was a comment about how people pray for things to be taken care of, healed, made better, or given to them.  Instead of the grace to deal with what is going on in one’s life.   I paraphrase, maybe it was something Molly wrote?

I sometimes find myself talking about an ache or a pain.  Not with any intention of whining.  But just talk about it because it is there.  I’m dealing with it, or trying to find a way to deal with it.  But it occurs to me, usually too late, that my talking about a pain may sound like a plea for pity or sympathy.  I need to consider that more when I talk about ‘me’.  And then I start thinking, maybe I shouldn’t think so much about ‘me’.  I found myself thinking after I read the comment about prayer.  I thought to myself, God, thank you for not giving me the same kind of pain Jesus had to bare, because I could not have done it.  I could not have carried the weight of his pain for a second, let alone for all that he did.  Thank you, in every respect, for minimizing my pain.

Then I think about the suffering that this world sees on a daily, every second of every day basis.  I have nothing to complain about when I open my eyes to the suffering and loss of others.  I get reminders every where in life, that this world is full of pain that I know I would be crushed under.

And then, I see the lights of love that just seem to flutter around everywhere.  In every place I have seen suffering, I have seen some level of grace.  Of beauty.  How do we become aware of travesties and injustices half way around the world?  It starts with one person seeing it, recognizing it and acting on it.  Even if the only act one person can do is make two more people aware.  For every point of pain, there is a point of sympathy, compassion, and often help.  Sometimes the only help that is available, is compassion and love.  There are some moments, and some situations, that when I become aware of them it leaves a huge sucking hole in my chest.  And sometimes all I can do is hurt for the person, the situation, the tragedy.  But I do hurt.  And if I can do nothing else, I will be aware enough to hurt.

I’ve been thinking about this because of recent tragedies in the news.  Another mother, daughter and wife is taken by cancer.  Another child dies a terrible death.  Another officer has to choose to act or suffer unknown consequences.  Another group of children wait helplessly while their father has surgery with a slim chance of any good prognosis.  A friend grieves the loss of his best friend.

Then I think of prayer.  And I pray that the family who lost their mother, wife, and daughter are surrounded by love of family, friends and community who are grateful for her advocating and selfless search to make life better for women after her.  I pray that the child who died so needlessly is remembered by a community who likely wasn’t even aware of him, but the loss of him will motivate others to protect their neighbor’s child, or at least support those who try to protect other’s children.  I pray that the officer knows his community is safe because he puts himself in the position of having to make a decision many of us could not make.  I pray that the children of the father pull strength from one another and find comfort in not being alone.  I pray that the friend who lost one friend keeps his heart open to the support of all of his friends to help him with his grief.

I hope that the next time I bemoan a problem of my own, I learn to pray for the grace to deal with what is.  Instead of hoping for what it is not, or can not be.  And if I can not pray this for myself, that someone else will pray for me.

November 29 2009 First Sunday of Advent

About the sources used. The readings on this site are not official for the Mass of Roman Rite of the Catholic Church in the USA, but are from sources free from copyright. They are here to present the comparable readings alongside traditional Catholic commentary as published in the Haydock Bible for your own personal study. Readings vary depending on your local calendar.

Official Readings of the Liturgy at – http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/112909.shtml

Jeremiah 33:14-16
Douay-Rheims Challoner

Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will perform the good word that I have spoken to the house of Israel, and to the house of Juda. In those days, and at that time, I will make the bud of justice to spring forth unto David, and he shall do judgment and justice in the earth. In those days shall Juda be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell securely: and this is the name that they shall call him, The Lord our just one.

Responsorial Psalm 24:4-5, 8-10, 14 (Ps 25 NAB)
DR Challoner Text Only

Let all them be confounded that act unjust things without cause.
Shew, O Lord, thy ways to me, and teach me thy paths.
Direct me in thy truth, and teach me; for thou art God my Saviour;
and on thee have I waited all the day long.
The Lord is sweet and righteous:
therefore he will give a law to sinners in the way.
He will guide the mild in judgment:
he will teach the meek his ways.
All the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth,
to them that seek after his covenant and his testimonies.

1 Thessalonians 3:12-4:2
Haydock New Testament

And may the Lord multiply you, and make you abound in charity towards one another, and towards all men: as we do also towards you, To confirm your hearts without blame, in holiness, before God and our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.  Amen.

For the rest therefore, brethren, we pray and beseech you in the Lord Jesus, that as you have received from us, how you ought to walk, and to please God, so also you would walk, that you may abound the more. For you know what commandments I have given to you by the Lord Jesus.

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ According to Saint Luke 21:25-28, 34-36
Haydock New Testament

Jesus said:

And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars: and upon the earth distress of nations, by reason of the confusion of the roaring of the sea and of the waves: Men withering away for fear, and expectation of what shall come upon the whole world.  For the powers of heaven shall be moved. And then they shall see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with great power and majesty. But when these things begin to come to pass, look up, and lift up your heads: because your redemption is at hand.

And take heed to yourselves, lest perhaps your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and the cares of this life: and that day come upon you suddenly. For as a snare it shall come upon all that sit upon the face of the whole earth. Watch ye, therefore, praying at all times, that you may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that are to come, and to stand before the Son of Man.

Haydock Commentary Jeremiah 33:14-16
Notes Copied From Haydock Commentary Site

• Ver. 15. Bud, or orient, Christ, (C.) of whom Zorobabel was a figure.  Theodoret.   All cannot be verified of the latter.  v. 16.  C. — The Jews themselves explain this of the Messias.  Calov. — It evidently refer to him, as he was born of David, whose posterity should continue till Christ, the founder of an eternal kingdom.  W.
• Ver. 16. Him. Sept. Chal. &c.  The Heb. has “her” Jerusalem, or the Church, which receives all its beauty from Christ.  C. — See C. xxiii. 5. where all read him. H.

Haydock Commentary 1 Thessalonians 3:12-4:2

• Ver. 12. And may the Lord multiply you. That is, increase the number of Christians among you.  Wi.
• 1 THESSALONIANS 4
• CHAPTER IV.
• Ver. 1. In this chapter the apostle begins to remind them of their obligation of always striving to increase in virtue.  Though he praises them through the whole epistle, he still thinks it necessary to warn them not to be surprised in uncleanness.  He repeats what he had taught them before; first, that there is vengeance awaiting the workers of evil; and secondly, that the favour of God is the reward of those who deal with the brethren in simplicity, and preserve themselves from the defilements of the Gentiles.  S. Ambrose, Comment. hic.

Haydock Commentary Luke 21:25-28, 34-36

• Ver. 26. The powers of heaven, &c.  Some explain this of the angels, who shall be terrified and tremble at the sight of so many calamities.  Others understand it of the heavenly bodies, the sun, moon, stars, &c. which shall in some sort, likewise, be confused in the general dissolution.  The prophets often make use of such expressions, when speaking of the fall of monarchies, or the ruin of nations.  The heavens shall be astonished and moved, &c.  Ezech. xxxii. 7.  Joel iii. 15.  Calmet.
• Ver. 27. The Jews shall not see him corporally, but at the last judgment.  Then, says the Scripture, (Zach. xii. 10.) They shall see him whom they pierced with nails.  But in the ruin of Jerusalem, all who will compare his predictions with the event, can evidently see that this was the day of his coming, so plainly marked in his words.  Every body could see that this was evidently the hand of God that punished them.  Calmet.

Catena Aurea Luke 21:25-28, 34-36
From Catechetics Online

• BEDE; The events which were to follow the fulfillment of the times of the Gentiles He explains in regular order, saying, There shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars.
• AMBROSE; All which signs are more clearly described in Matthew, Then shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven.
• EUSEB. For at that time when the end of this perishing life shall be accomplished, and, as the Apostle says, The fashion of this world passes away, then shall succeed a new world in which instead of sensible light, Christ Himself shall shine as a sunbeam, and as the King of the new world, and so mighty and glorious will be His light, that the sun which now dazzles so brightly, and the moon and all the stars, shall be hidden by the coming of a far greater light.
• CHRYS For as in this world the moon and the stars are soon dimmed by the rising of the sun, so at the glorious appearance of Christ shall the sun become dark, and the moon not shed her ray, and the stars shall fall from heaven, stripped of their former attire, that they may put on the robe of a better light.
• EUSEB. What things shall befall the world after the darkening of the orbs of light, and whence shall arise the straitening of nations, He next explains as follows, And of the earth distress of nations, by reason of the confusion of the roaring of the sea. Wherein He seems to teach, that the beginning of the universal change will be owing to the failing of the watery substance. For this being first absorbed or congealed, so that no longer is heard the roaring of the sea, nor do the waves reach the shore because of the exceeding drought, the other parts of the world, ceasing to obtain the usual vapor which came forth from the watery matter, shall undergo a revolution. Accordingly since the appearance of Christ must put down the prodigies which resist God, namely, those of Antichrist, the beginnings of wrath shall take their rise from droughts, such as that neither storm nor roaring of the sea be any more heard.
• And this event shall be succeeded by the distress of the men who survive; as it follows, Men’s hearts being dried up for fear, and looking after those things which shall come upon the whole world. But the things that shall then come upon the world He proceeds to declare, adding, For the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
• THEOPHYL. Or else, When the higher world shall be changed, then also the lower elements shall suffer loss; whence it follows, And on the earth distress of nations, &c. As if He said, the sea shall roar terribly, and its shores shall be shaken with the tempest, so that of the people and nations of the earth there shall be distress, that is, a universal misery, so that they shall pine away from fear and expectation of the evils which are coming upon the world.
• AUG. But you will say, your punishment compels you to confess that the end is now approaching, seeing the fulfillment of that which was foretold. For it is certain there is no country, no place in our time, which is not affected or troubled. But if those evils which mankind now suffer are sure signs that our Lord is now about to come, what means that which the Apostle says, For when they shall say peace and safety. Let us see then if it be not perhaps better to understand the words of prophecy to be not so fulfilled, but rather that they will come to pass when the tribulation of the whole world shall be such that it shall belong to the Church, which shall be troubled by the whole world, not to those who shall trouble it. For they are those who shall say, Peace and safety. But now these evils which are counted the greatest and most immoderate, we see to be common to both the kingdoms of Christ and the Devil. For the good and the evil are alike afflicted with them, and among these great evils is the yet universal resort to licentious feasts. Is not this the being dried up from fear, or rather the being burnt up from lust?
• THEOPHYL. But not only shall men be tossed about when the world shall be changed, but angels even shall stand amazed at the terrible revolutions of the universe. Hence it follows, And the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
• GREG. For whom does He call the powers of heaven, but the angels, dominions, principalities, and powers? which at the coming of the strict Judge shall then appear visibly to our eyes, that they may strictly exact judgment of us, seeing that now our invisible Creator patiently bears with us.
• EUSEB. When also the Son of God shall come in glory, and shall crush the proud empire of the son of sin, the angels of heaven attending Him, the doors of heaven which have been shut from the foundation of the world shall be opened, that the things that are on high may be witnessed.
• CHRYS. Or the heavenly powers shall be shaken, although themselves know it not. For when they see the innumerable multitudes condemned, they shall not stand there without trembling.
• BEDE; Thus it is said in Job, the pillars of heaven tremble and are afraid at his reproof. What then do the boards do, when the pillars tremble? what does the shrub of the desert suffer, when the cedar of Paradise is shaken?
• EUSEB. Or the powers of heaven are those which preside over the sensible parts of the universe, which indeed shall then be shaken that they may attain to a better state. For they shall be discharged from the ministry with which they serve God toward the sensible bodies in their perishing condition.
• AUG. But that the Lord may not seem to have foretold as extraordinary those things concerning His second coming, which were wont to happen to this world even before His first coming, and that we may not be laughed at by those who have read more and greater events than these in the history of nations, I think what has been said may be better understood to apply to the Church. For the Church is the sun, the moon, and the stars, to whom it was said, Fair as the moon, elect as the sun. And she will then not be seen for the unbounded rage of the persecutors.
• AMBROSE; While many also fall away from religion, clear faith will be obscured by the cloud of unbelief, for to me that Sun of righteousness is either diminished or increased according to my faith; and as the moon in its monthly wanings, or when it is opposite the sun by the interposition of the earth, suffers eclipse, so also the holy Church when the sins of the flesh oppose the heavenly light, cannot borrow the brightness of divine light from Christ’s rays. For in persecutions, the love of this world generally shuts out the light of the divine Sun; the stars also fall, that is, men who shine in glory fall when the bitterness of persecution waxes sharp and prevails. And this must be until the multitude of the Church be gathered in, for thus are the good tried and the weak made manifest.
• AUG. But in the words, And upon the earth distress of nations, He would understand by nations, not those which shall be blessed in the seed of Abraham, but those which shall stand on the left hand.
• AMBROSE; So severe then will be the manifold fires of our souls, that with consciences depraved through the multitude of crimes, by reason of our fear of the coming judgment, the dew of the sacred fountain will be dried upon us. But as the Lord’s coming is looked for, in order that His presence may dwell in the whole circle of mankind or the world, which now dwells in each individual who has embraced Christ with his whole heart, so the powers of heaven shall at our Lord’s coming obtain an increase of grace, and shall be moved by the fullness of the Divine nature more closely infusing itself. There are also heavenly powers which proclaim the glory of God, which shall be stirred by a fuller infusion of Christ, that they may see Christ.
• AUG. Or the powers of heaven shall be stirred, because when the ungodly persecute, some of the most stout-hearted believers shall be troubled.
• THEOPHYL. It follows, And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds. Both the believers and unbelievers shall see Him, for He Himself as well as His cross shall glisten brighter than the sun, and so shall be observed of all.
• AUG. But the words, coming in the clouds, may be taken in two ways. Either coming in His Church as it were in a cloud, as He now ceases not to come. But then it shall be with great power and majesty, for far greater will His power and might appear to His saints, to whom He will give great virtue, that they may not be overcome in such a fearful persecution. Or in His body in which He sits at His Father’s right hand He must rightly be supposed to come, and not only in His body, but also in a cloud, for He will come even as He went away, And a cloud received him out of their sight.
• CHRYS. For God ever appears in a cloud, according to the Psalms, clouds and darkness are round about him. Therefore shall the Son of man come in the clouds as God, and the Lord, not secretly, but in glory worthy of God. Therefore He adds, with great power and majesty.
• CYRIL; Great must be understood in like manner. For His first appearance He made in our weakness and lowliness, the second He shall celebrate in all His own power.
• GREG. For in power and majesty will men see Him, whom in lowly stations they refused to hear, that so much the more acutely they may feel His power, as they are now the less willing to bow the necks of their hearts to His sufferings.
• GREG. Having in what has gone before spoken against the reprobate, He now turns His words to the consolation of the elect; for it is added, When these things begin to be, look up, and lift up your heads, for your redemption draws nigh; as if he says, When the buffetings of the world multiply, lift up your heads, that is, rejoice your hearts, for when the world closes whose friends you are not, the redemption is near which you seek. For in holy Scripture the head is often put for the mind, for as the members are ruled by the head, so are the thoughts regulated by the mind. To lift up our heads then, is to raise up our minds to the joys of the heavenly country.
• EUSEB. Or else, To those that have passed through the body and bodily things, shall be present spiritual and heavenly bodies: that is, they will have no more to pass the kingdom of the world, and then to those that are worthy shall be given the promises of salvation. For having received the promises of God which we look for, we who before were crooked shall be made upright, and we shall lift up our heads who were before bent low; because the redemption which we hoped for is at hand; that namely for which the whole creation waits.
• THEOPHYL. That is, perfect liberty of body and soul. For as the first coming of our Lord was for the restoration of our souls, so will the second be manifested to the restoration of our bodies.
• EUSEB. He speaks these things to His disciples, not as to those who would continue in this life to the end of the world, but as if uniting in one body of believers in Christ both themselves and us and our posterity, even to the end of the world.
• THEOPHYL. Our Lord declared above the fearful and sensible signs of the evils which should overtake sinners, against which the only remedy is watching and prayer, as it is said, And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time, &c.
• BASIL; Every animal has within itself certain instincts which it has received from God, for the preservation of its own being. Wherefore Christ has also given us this warning, that what comes to them by nature, may be ours by the aid of reason and prudence: that we may flee from sin as the brute creatures shun deadly food, but that we seek after righteousness, as they wholesome herbs. Therefore said He, Take heed to yourselves, that is, that you may distinguish the noxious from the wholesome. But since there are two ways of taking heed to ourselves, the one with the bodily eyes, the other by the faculties of the soul, and the bodily eye does not reach to virtue; it remains that we speak of the operations of the soul. Take heed, that is, Look around you on all sides, keeping an ever watchful eye to the guardianship of your soul. He says not, Take heed to your own or to the things around, but to yourselves. For you are mind and spirit, your body is only of sense. Around you are riches, arts, and all the appendages of life, you must not mind these, but your soul, of which you must take especial care. The same admonition tends both to the healing of the sick, and the perfecting of those that are well, namely, such as are the guardians of the present, the providers of the future, not judging the actions of others, but strictly searching their own, not suffering the mind to be the slave of their passions but subduing the irrational part of the soul to the rational. But the reason why we should take heed He adds as follows, Lest at any time your hearts be overcharged, &c.
• TIT. BOST. As if He says, Beware lest the eyes of your mind wax heavy. For the cares of this life, and surfeiting, and drunkenness, scare away prudence, shatter and make shipwreck of faith.
• CLEM. ALEX. Drunkenness is an excessive use of wine; crapula is the uneasiness, and nausea attendant on drunkenness, a Greek word so called from the motion of the head. And a little below. As then we must partake of food lest we suffer hunger, so also of drink lest we thirst, but with still greater care to avoid falling into excess. For the indulgence of wine is deceitful, and the soul when free from wine will be the wisest and best, but steeped in the fumes of wine is lost as in a cloud.
• BASIL; But carefulness, or the care of this life, although it seems to have nothing unlawful in it, nevertheless if it conduce not to religion, must be avoided. And the reason why He said this He shows by what comes next, And so that day come upon you unawares.
• THEOPHYL. For that day will not come when men are expecting it, but unlooked for and by stealth, taking as a snare those who are unwary. For as a snare shall it come upon all them that sit upon the face of the earth. But this we may diligently keep far from us. For that day will take those that sit on the face of the earth, as the unthinking and slothful. But as many as are prompt and active in the way of good, not sitting and loitering on the ground, but rising from it, saying to themselves, Rise up, be gone, for here there is no rest for you. To such that day is not as a perilous snare, but a day of rejoicing.
• EUSEB. He taught them therefore to take heed to the things we have just before mentioned, lest they fall into the indolence resulting therefrom. Hence it follows, Watch you therefore, and pray always, that you may be accounted worthy to escape all those things that shall come to pass.
• THEOPHYL. Namely, hunger, pestilence, and such like, which for a time only threaten the elect and others, and those things also which are hereafter the lot of the guilty for ever. For these we can in no wise escape, save by watching and prayer.
• AUG. This is supposed to be that flight which Matthew mentions; which must not be in the winter or on the sabbath day. To the winter belong the cares of this life, which are mournful as the winter, but to the sabbath surfeiting and drunkenness, which drowns and buries the heart in carnal luxury and delight, since on that day the Jews are immersed in worldly pleasure, while they are lost to a spiritual sabbath.
• THEOPHYL. And because a Christian needs not only to flee evil, but to strive to obtain glory, He adds, And to stand before the Son of man. For this is the glory of angels, to stand before the Son of man, our God, and always to behold His face.
• BEDE; Now supposing a physician should bid us beware of the juice of a certain herb, lest a sudden death overtake us, we should most earnestly attend to his command; but when our Savior warns us to shun drunkenness and surfeiting, and the cares of this world, men have no fear of being wounded and destroyed by them; for the faith which they put in the caution of the physician, they disdain to give to the words of God.

Many thanks to my good friend, Carl Hill,  in Oklahoma City for this simple outline and powerful message!

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TEXT: James 5:13-18

13 Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.
14 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:
15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
17 Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.
18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.

The people of God pray for many reasons, usually out of a particular need or urgency. James is telling us in this passage that we are to pray for those in the church who are sick or afflicted, and not only pray for them but pray with the faith and power of the prophet Elijah. As the example shows, he was a regular person, just like you and me. Yet his prayers had the power to shut up heaven for 3 1/2 years and call down fire from God as he contested the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel (see 1 Kings 18:21-39). The point is that our prayers can possess the same power as we demonstrate our faith in Jesus Christ. Pray for one another, pray often, and pray believing.

WHY DO WE PRAY?

(1) We Pray to Adore and Praise Our Great God

Psalms 150

1 Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.
2 Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.
3 Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.
4 Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.
5 Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.
6 Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord.

This is vital to a full and rewarding prayer life. The simple act of recognizing our great God as the supreme creator and ruler places us in an attitude of worship and reveals to God our desire to commune with Him. He is the One we need. He is the only One who can meet our needs. We should begin praying by focusing on how great and powerful He is and understand our place before Him as loved, forgiven, and redeemed through of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross.

(2) We Pray to Admit Sin and Our Need of Forgiveness

Psalms 86:5

5 For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee.

The admission of sin is an agreement with God that we have violated His holiness. We are all born sinners and are forgiven when we ask Jesus Christ to forgive our sins and save us. Obviously, this doesn’t mean that we stop sinning. In fact, we live in a world surrounded by sin and we still have our “old sin nature” within us. We need to confess sin. We need to be reminded just how much we need God every day. As the verse states, when we confess our sins, God is ready to forgive and restore our fellowship with Him. The same idea is conveyed in 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

(3) We Pray to Acknowledge His Goodness In Our Lives

1 Thessalonians 5:18

18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

How marvelous are the works of our great and loving God in our lives everyday. We should take time, in prayer, to say, “thank you, Lord,” and share with Him how meaningful His provision, protection and care are. As we closely examine our lives, God’s hand will become more and more evident and we’ll soon be thanking Him for things we never truly considered before. This is an important step towards maturing in Christ. Our lives will become a “living testimony” to the goodness of God. Our faith will increase and every day will be a day of thanksgiving in our hearts.

(4) We Pray to Ask For Our Wants and Needs

Matthew 7:7

7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:

Why do we often feel like we’re imposing on God when we ask Him for something? He loves us, much greater than an earthly father or mother could. He wants us to be happy more than we want to be happy. He wants us to succeed more than we want to succeed. He delights in giving His children the desires of their hearts. So don’t be timid, don’t be afraid. Ask God for the things your heart desires.

CONCLUSION:

Adore, admit, acknowledge, and ask – these are important keys to an intimate commune with Holy God. Open your heart and don’t be afraid to be yourself. Leave out the flowery, church-speak and just talk to Him. He loves each of us so much and desires fellowship (a sit-down and talk) time with us every day.

I saw thick darkness, then a light grew bright until I saw a man’s figure.

President Obama stood behind a podium. He wore a navy blue suit, white shirt and blue tie. Standing straight and tall, he would turn to the left and then to the right. He didn’t speak, but looked pleased as he received approbation from the audience.

As if it were a TV program, the scene went dark.

End of First Scene

~~~~~

The light grew bright again, he stood behind the podium as before. He still wore the same clothing but now his facial expression was one of intense anger. Enraged, he hunched over the podium and stretched his arm as he pointed his finger, first to the people on his left, then to those on his right. Everyone was blasted by the President, his words a torrent of accusations and diatribes, all directed against American and her citizens.

 Then darkness fell.

 End of Second Scene

~~~~~

The lights came up again, the President was terrible in his fury. His figure remained hunched over the podium, pointing his finger accusingly as he continued his harangue. But the suit was gone – he had assumed the garb of an imam. He wore a long, flowing robe – a little round hat of cloth sat perched on his head. He had traded western dress for the costume of his Muslim faith.

 Darkness fell again.

 End of Third Scene

~~~~~

  The lights went up one last time. Still at the podium, he stood straight, his arms uplifted in a “V” as in victory, as the audience venerated him. He had changed his clothing again, but now wore the unmistakable uniform of the KKK. Sill wearing the same white loose robes as before, but now he wore the hood of a Klansman.

 Final darkness.

 End of Fourth Scene

~~~~~

Interpretation:

One term equals four years.

Each scene represents one year of the President’s term.

First year:

The nation applauds enthusiastically for the changes taking place as the result of new policies enacted.

Second Year:

Still the same man, he seethes in anger, furious with the very people who have elected him to the highest office of the land. His demeanor is one of rage. His accusations of wrong-doing flow unceasingly.

Third Year:

Now we see the underlying cause of this rage. The cause of his anger is not racial per se, but religious in nature – it is the anger of a Muslim against the “infidel”, one who does not follow the teachings of Muhammad.

Fourth Year:

The podium is missing. Now he stands with arms upraised, just as a victor in a prizefight would. He receives the adoration of the audience. Why is it that he is so pleased? It would seem that he has achieved his objectives, the infidel has either been forced to accept Islam or removed.

Mission accomplished.

~~~~~

We must pray for the President and all of those in government. As Christians we are instructed to pray for the leaders of our nation: I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. (1 Tim 2:1-4)

I believe that the LORD will hear us when we pray according to His will: The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will. (Proverbs 21:1)

If the President were to continue the course of action as shown in the vision, then the LORD has something specific to say to the people of this nation.

 Just four words, simply stated:

“I WILL withstand him!”

Go to Peggy’s site and read about her friend and the friend’s family. An amazing story about the power of love and adoption. Send as many cards as you can to Ryan!

Ryan Huddleston
% DCP – Chad Unit
7200 E. Indiana Street
Evansville, IN, USA 47715

Endless, unbroken lives of prayer are very possible.  Through some searching and with the help of some further reading, this is beginning to be clearer and clearer.

We have such a Western Christianity that we have removed a lot of understanding from original Christianity, which happens to have its roots in the East.  One large difference is in our understanding of heaven and God’s presence.

Western Christianity has this understanding which prays things like, “God, please show up tonight. ” “God, be with us tonight.” “We prayed, and God just showed up that night.”  We have this understanding of God being in heaven somewhere above the clouds awaiting our demand to show up.

Eastern Christianity; historical, Biblical Christianity has a different understanding of heaven and God’s presence.  In Biblical accounts of God’s presence, OT and NT, God calls out of heaven, but heaven is near.  Heaven is “at hand”…this means heaven is present around them somehow.  It was the very presence of God at hand, surrounding them.  God inhabits the space surrounding us.

This means we are constantly in the presence of God.  We do not actually need to ask for (or demand) that God “show up”.  This means we have only to grope out after God, or as Luis of Granada (an old century Christian) once said, “any raising of the heart to God.”

It is possible at all moments of the day to focus our hearts on God and trust that he is always present.  This means we no longer have to be preoccupied with making the sacred time, space, and words in order to really experience the presence of God.  This means that we only need to be aware of God’s presence with our hearts in order to experience God’s presence.  This means it is actually possible to experience god all times of the day, continually.  This means we can experience God even in the mundane tasks of a day.  This means we can join with Brother Lawrence in “Practicing the Presence of God”.  This means prayer for another person can be merely feeling what they feel (as best you are able) while “raising your heart to God”.  This means we may have been praying all along as long as we were placing ourselves before God.

We cannot put God into this pious little space and time and assume these are the only moments we experience the presence of God.  We cannot dissolve God out of our every day experience.  He is always present.  We only hope to grope out for him and raise our heart out to him more continually.

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LISTENING TO: Download binge: Mayer Hawthorne, Shad, One Republic, Switchfoot, Matisyahu, Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson

I feel as someone who lives and ‘ministers’ in the Diocese of Winchester that I need to make some record that, thanks to the Church Times blog (subscribers only I think) I am now aware what form of response my Diocese is making to the fact that it couldn’t meet its budget.

I’m not particularly well informed about this as I’m not on any relevant committee, but I knew we were more than a £1m in the red, and was aware from a collegue in training that there were significant reductions to facilities at our Diocesan centre at Old Alresford Place. From somewhere, and I really can’t remember where, I believe that the cuts came about because the Deaneries were permitted not to meet their parish share this year if they couldn’t afford to, or something like that.

The Church Times Blog reads:

The Diocese of Winchester is proposing huge budget cuts for 2010, which would include cutting their university chaplains, Diocesan newspaper, Comms Officer, Canon Missioner, a Schools Advisor, the number of clergy, and much more besides.

The cuts, which are to be voted on on 28 November, amount to a total £1million saving from an original budget presented in May.

There has been a strong reaction from students at the University of Southampton to the news that they could be losing their chaplain [details include a website petition, facebook group, and protest at Winchester Cathedral]…

Cribbing from the rest of the CT article:

Full details of the cuts can found… posted online here by Winchester Deanery with an explanatory note of the report here by their Deanery Chair of Finance Committee.

The proposed cuts are variously listed but include (and this is I admit a rather personal list reflecting my own training and interests)

• The Communications Officer and the Diocesan Newsletter ‘The Vine’
• The chaplains threatened include the chaplain to the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (currently an excellent chap who I had the privilege of learning from during Reader Training)
• All residential courses at Old Alresford Place (presumably that means my CMD on ’storytelling’ booked for spring 2010 is about to vanish) where the staff have already been made redundant (which confirms the story of a collegue training the year behind me who discovered at her last residential that Ministry Dept staff had to try and work the heating, and do the catering for the w/e)
• Mission grants to parishes (presumably these support bright ideas in ordinary parishes who want to extend the Kingdom of God!)

Some people I know may lose their jobs, others I know have to make the decisions that will cut those jobs and ministries they have encouraged and facilitated. And, all because it would appear from what I know that Deaneries were quite fairly asked to only contribute to the Diocese what they could afford (I hope someone will correct me if I’m wrong).

I can’t help wondering, if perhaps those of us ordinary folk in pews who contribute to the active ministry of the church, with and without formal training, without financial remuneration, may become just a little more valuable (in a non-financial sense) in the months and years to come, even though we must take our share of the results of budget cuts and try and understand the necessity for them along with everyone else.

I shall be praying for what I assume is our Diocesan Synod meeting on Saturday.

Notes from lecture at RZIM by John Lennox

Reasonable Faith.

When he started at Cambridge – someone said to him, ‘Oh you’re Irish, you all believe in God, and fight about him.’

He started to engage more with non believers. Has done so in unusual places. Eg communist atheism.  Russia. More recently debating eg. Hitchens and Dawkins. Comes from the conviction that Christian faith is not only helpful, but TRUE. And if we do not stand up, secularism or atheism will appear to win.

1 Peter 3.13 Can anyone really harm you for being eager to do good deeds? Even if you have to suffer for doing good things, God will bless you. So stop being afraid and don’t worry about what people might do. Honor Christ and let him be the Lord of your life. Always be ready to give an answer when someone asks you about your hope. Give a kind and respectful answer and keep your conscience clear. This way you will make people ashamed for saying bad things about your good conduct as a follower of Christ.  You are better off to obey God and suffer for doing right than to suffer for doing wrong. Christ died once for our sins. An innocent person died for those who are guilty. Christ did this to bring you to God, when his body was put to death and his spirit was made alive.

This passage’s context = FEAR! We all contend with it. Subtle, peer pressure. Looking the odd one out. Not knowing your stuff. PC.

We are told to ALWAYS be ready to give a DEFENSE.

A REASON – a logos…

In the context of fear – nevertheless, get on and do it.

Apologetics is not a subcategory of philosophy. It is just what Christians have always been supposed to be doing. To clear up misrepresentation, misunderstanding. Not just to say WHAT, but WHY. To engage with our society and give REASONS.

Number 1 reason in survey why people don’t come to church = ‘They are not answering the questions we’re asking.’

The precondition for giving a defense is not how many books you’ve read. It’s ‘in your hearts, set apart Christ as Lord.’ That requires WORK.  Sanctify him,’ set him apart.’ Then you get the courage to break through the fear. When we start doing this, we’ll get into trouble. In Acts, the gospel is on trial time and again. The apostles were put on trial. Laws these days from Europe etc are looking to outlaw anything that looks like an exclusive claim, we’ll have to contend that Jesus is THE way.

Paul’s answer when under pressure? He described how he encountered the risen Christ. He was NOT a believer, but then he met Christ. So he stands before Agrippa (who accuses him of being under the God delusion – this is not a new challenge!) and gives his testimony and then says, ‘I’m not insane, what I am saying is TRUE and REASONABLE.’ Our world resembles Paul’s world more than any other age has, politically, philosophically and socially.

FAITH in God is reasonable. Faith in atheism is not. Atheists don’t regard what they have as faith. They think faith is an evil. Dawkins damns it, ‘Faith not based in evidence, is the principle vice of any religion.’ The clamour is for the eradication of religion because it doesn’t want to look at the evidence.

The claim of new atheists goes like this:

Faith = belief nor based on evidence

Science = belief based on evidence.

Many accept that without question. But Faith can be evidence based.

We have to look at terms. Dawkins definition of faith is wrong! Oxford English Dictionary. Faith = from Fides. Trust at its heart. Pistis (Greek) = trust. Faith = “Belief = trust. Confidence. That which produces belief, evidence and trust in it.” And this is how we usually think of the word. People used to believe in banks. But they showed there is not much basis to trust them with your money. If you are going to trust anyone, you have to have evidence or you are a fool.

Faith/trust/ belief. The Question is – what’s the evidence for it?

People say, “I won’t believe anything unless you can prove it.’ But in a mathematical sense? Logical? You’ll have infinite regress. It’s ONLY available in pure maths. Nowhere else is proof in that narrow sense. Not certainty. But in ordinary life, we have trust enough to put our life on it. Cf Flying a plane. Trusting your wife.

When you leave your field of expertise, you must check with the experts. What Dawkins/ Hitchens call and dismiss as faith = what we’d call ‘Blind faith.’ And that is of course dangerous, especially when linked with autocratic religious structures.

Is the faith required by the Christian system unreasonable?

Why was gospel of John written? In order that belief can be BASED on it. These statements are based in historical reality.

Paul at Mars Hill did not offer the resurrections as PRODUCT of faith, but a REASON for it, a basis. The resurrection as a fact is the basis on which the Christian can trust in Christ as the Son of God. Not a leap in the dark, but a step into the light, based on evidence.

It’s useful to notice that we use faith followed by  THAT or IN.

Faith in my wife

Faith that London is the capital of England.

One = faith in a fact. One = in a person. You usually need more evidence to trust a person than a fact.

So as Christians we don’t just have faith in a theory, or a worldview (it is all that) but its faith in a person.  A husband on wedding day has faith enough to trust in his wife, without knowing everything. We don’t know everything about God, but we have enough to get started – and as the relationship develops, so does the trust.  Trusting in relationships is multi levelled. Shared interests, etc – multi-orbed. Faith in God is too. There is evidence of all kinds. Can be built up. So the first thing that’s wrong with thenew atheists view of faith is that wrong.

Dawkins has said in discussion with Lennox, “Atheists have no faith.” The answer to that? “So you don’t believe it then?”

Hitchens says: “Our principles are not a faith, our beliefs are not a belief.’ Hmmmm….

They put all religions in the same pot, because they are all dangerous aberrations. That’s a failure of scholarship, because it’s obvious that not all religions are the same.

One of the main accusations new atheists make is that God is communicated out of the barrel of a gun, leads to violence etc. How do we answer that?  Look at the stance of Christ. Jesus was accused of terrorism by Pilate. That’s why his trial is so important. And he was exonerated. ‘My kingdom is not of this world, otherwise my followers would fight.’ The message you can’t defend with a gun is the one where you command them to follow the Prince of peace.

They also point out the unreasonableness of Christian faith, and say atheism had nothing to do with the massacres of Stalin, Mao etc., blame everything on God and nothing on atheism. We need to know our history!  Dawkins says he cannot imagine an atheist who would bulldoze a cathedral. Well Stalin used dynamite. Beware revisionist history.

Lennox endorses David Robinson’s book ; The Dawkins letters.

Also http://www.publicchristianity.com/historians response, the new atheists are outside their area and trying to rewrite history.

Dawkins says, “We are all atheists with regard to Odin and Zeus. It’s causing no problem to be A-Woden, what’s the problem with A-theist.’  He says its a negative and so can’t harm anyone. It’s no accident that he concentrates on A-Theism, denial of God, because he has a naturalist agenda.

In terms of the unreasonableness of faith he calls in the psychologists. However, Andrew Sims (President Royal college of Psychiatry) has written, “Is faith delusional?” and states that religion doesn’t damage but greatly helps mental health!

Freud saw faith = projection of your longing for a father.

Manfred Lutz says, ‘If there is no God, the Freudian explanation is spot on. But if there is a God, Freud will also show that there is in atheism a great desire for there NOT to be a God!’  That doesn’t deal in any case with the question, ‘Is there a God or not?’ For that, we have to look at EVIDENCE.

The idea that faith does not appear in science is wrong. All scientists are believers. They have to trust. They are commited to the idea that the universe is rationally intelligible, otherwise science is useless. The one incomprehensible thing about the universe is that it is comprehensible ‘ (Einstein).

So it’s not science vs religion. It’s materialism vs theism. Dawkins wants to argue science must lead to materialism. Not so!

Some say our brains are end product of a mindless process. From that, we get beliefs. Why trust that proposition? Logically incoherent to say that. You can’t do any science until you believe there’s reasonableness. it’s that belief in God which has inspired modern science.

Ford Car or Henry Ford. Which do you believe in? Choose! (that’s what the atheists want to say)

Ford car = laws of combustion.

Ford = designer and maker.

Two different categories!

The old chestnut is, “Who created the creator?” and so on…

Well you are there thinking about a created God, by definition. You are thinking of a created being to start with.

We agree, created Gods are a delusion. (idols). But there is an ETERNAL God.

You can choose to disbelieve that there is an eternal God.

You believe the universe created you? Who created your creator?!

The materialist’s ultimate reality – mass energy created everything. We believe God did it. Look at the evidence.

Did you know that there are 1,400 spiritual practitioners under the auspice of the Church of Christ Scientist? I know that common sense isn’t common at all, but are we allowing our intellectual poise to be diminished by 21st century shaman escapades? The mere suggestion of such a bill is not only repugnant, but horrendously remedial.

It was reason, not fanciful Harry Potterish magical incantations that alleviated us from the dark ages of our existence—it was critical thinking and the development of medicine, not whimsical spells (today’s prayer) that cured mankind of sickness. My, have we regressed to medieval remedies of pain and suffering—what’s next, hunting down us freethinkers to only perpetuate a modern day Salem witch hunt?—ridiculous as it may sound, the conclusion doesn’t miss the mark by much.

If reason is the enemy of ignorance, then we remain safe in the stagnation of its dissolution—I wonder though, do these proponents of spiritual health care realize the motivating factor behind this scam—not the field soldiers on the bottom rung, but the authoritative figures at the top of the pyramid scheme—control doesn’t purport belief; just financial benefit—it always has.

This is clearly another case of the myopic position of lawmakers inability to execute just law.  As Margaret Mead once said:

We will be a better country when each religious group can trust its members to obey the dictates of their own religious faith without assistance from the legal structure of their country.

So yesterday I talked about disunity, probably the biggest factor in our decline. Here are two more.

Lack of Expectation & Prayer

You might say lack of prayer is the problem, but I believe we don’t pray because we don’t expect God to show up. The church was planted as a gathering place for Christians to get good Bible teaching, and it’s never really had a strong vision for the community. Without strong vision there’s no real need for faith and expectation. We don’t actually need God to do anything much, and so we don’t ask him to and he doesn’t. This is seen in an almost total absence of corporate prayer.

That scares me as it’s one of the things God called me to many years ago.

Failure of Leadership

Given our lack of unity at a Board level, this isn’t surprising. And in some ways this hasn’t been an easy church to lead (in many ways it’s an easy church to pastor, but not to lead). The big decisions are congregational and frequently get scuttled at that point. But I also have to own this, I’ve been a reluctant leader. As pastor there’s stuff I’ve avoided that I really needed to engage in. Partly it was lack of confidence and fear, partly lack of real accountability, partly laziness, I suppose.

I’ve come to realise just how important leadership is. Maybe you’re one of those people who thinks leadership is over-emphasised today, but I just don’t see how we can move forward without it.

So tomorrow I’ll talk about how we’re addressing these three issues (disunity, prayerlessness and leadership).

The following is a devotion from one of my favorite writers, Frances J. Roberts. I treasure her book – Come Away My Beloved.  Each devotion is written as if God is speaking directly to the reader.  God used this devotion to speak directly to the empty places in my heart today.  These words satisfy my soul. I pray that they will help you as well.

I Will Bring the Victory

Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  1 Corinthians 15:57

O My child, have I ever failed you? Have I ever turned My back on you, or forsaken you? Have I not been your refuge and strong defense?

I have protected you and kept you in sickness and in health.  Yes, I am with you to help you now.  Fear not.  My purposes will be fulfilled in spite of your weaknesses, if in your need you rely on My strength.

My will shall be done regardless of the flaws in your life, if you count on the power of My righteousness. I do not work only in cases where there are no obstacles; but I glory in overruling the prevailing circumstances, and I take pleasure in bringing victories in those places where no victory is anywhere in sight.

Count on My coming. Know that whenever faith brings Me on the scene, everything is changed. Darkness is turned to light.  Grief is turned to joy.  Sickness to health.  Poverty to My sufficient supply.  Doubt to faith. Anxiety to trust.

No negative force can occupy the same place as My Spirit. When My Spirit comes in, all these things must go.  Yes, they shall go!

Ask for the victory.  I will come and bring it.  Don’t look for the victory – look for Me, and you will see the victory that I will bring with me.  After I have come, you shall behold the miracles I will do.

This prayer by William Barclay is one that I pray almost everyday. His emphasis on God’s sustaining love and power often moves me to tears when I pray it aloud.

O God, you are our refuge.

When we are exhausted by life’s efforts:

When we are bewildered by life’s problems;

When we are wounded by life’s sorrows;

We come to you for refuge.

O God, you are our strength.

When our tasks are beyond our powers;

When our temptations are too strong for us;

When our duty calls us for more than we have to give to it;

We come to your for strength.

O God, it is from you that all goodness comes.

It is from you that our ideals come;

It is from you that there comes to us the spur

Of high desire and the restraint of conscience.

It is from you that there has come the strength

To resist any temptation,

And to do any good thing.

And now as we pray to you,

Help us to believe in your love,

So that we may be certain

That you will hear our prayer;

Help us to believe in your power,

So that we may be certain

That you are able to do for us

Above all that we ask or think;

Help us to believe in your wisdom,

So that we may be certain

That you will answer,

Not as our ignorance asks,

But as your perfect wisdom knows best.

All this we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

I offer in this post a little twist to typical Thanksgiving messages, though it is written to elicit effusive thanks to our wonderful God.  I hope by now you know me well enough to expect nothing standard from me, no matter the season!

As I prayed with some friends recently, we saw something of Jesus’ actions on the cross that caused us all to respond with shouts of thanksgiving and praise.  I don’t know that it was a brand-new, never-heard-before kind of thing, but somehow it became real to us in prayer as it never had before.

Our prayer was for the body of Christ to know the love of God, to experience it the way He gives it – lavishly.  That word, lavishly, was very important.  When I think of a lavish feast, I think not only of top quality foods prepared by the best chefs, but of heaping platter upon heaping platter on table upon table, with nothing running out – ever.  If a parent lavishes gifts upon their child, there are so many presents that the child cannot possibly take advantage of them all.  Even that, however, doesn’t come close to what God has done for us in sending His Son Jesus.

How could Jesus, the Lamb of God shed His blood for us, covering all sins for all time, when the lambs sacrificed for sins as a ritual act year after year never could?  It all had to do with what was in His blood.  Because He knew no sin, the quality of His blood was perfect.  With that being the case, only one drop of that perfect, sinless blood was required to pay for all sin for all time.  Just one drop covered them all.  But Jesus shed all His blood for us.  All!  He gave more than the basic requirement.  When Jesus died on the cross for our sins, He poured His love out for us lavishly.  It was almost as if, in giving it all, in abundance, lavishly, He shouted a shout that continues to this day to those who will hear:  “I love you!  The price for your sin is paid beyond its cost.  You are worth it all and more!  I love you!  I love you!”  It reverberates across the miles, across the centuries, across the cultures, throughout the entire world.  And this message is not for the masses, but for every individual.  It’s for you, too!  Receive the lavish outpouring of His love for you today!

Romans 5:16-17 NIV  ¹⁶ Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. ¹⁷ For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 2:12 AMP  Now we have not received the spirit [that belongs to] the world, but the [Holy] Spirit Who is from God, [given to us] that we might realize and comprehend and appreciate the gifts [of divine favor and blessing so freely and lavishly] bestowed on us by God.