Thinking out loud

Bible quiz with a purpose

2012-01-26T19:48:00.003Z

The following link (click here) will take you to a website that challenges you to a quiz on the Bible and its teachings. It has two motivations:
First, to encourage you to learn about the Bible. I took it and although I eventually completed it all, I found it challenging, interesting and informative.
And second, if you complete the quizes you are entitled to a free NIV Bible which you can keep or give to someone who is seeking.

So may I encourage you to visit the website and challenge others to do the same.

Lifesprings

2012-01-26T19:22:00.001Z

Just breaking the silence to log a website that looks interesting. It's called Lifesprings and it encourages people to grow in Christlikeness by introducing the work of people like Richard Foster and organisations like Renovare. Here is the link.

Moving house

2012-01-24T12:09:00.003Z

Those who kindly follow my blog will have noticed that there have been no blogs for a while. This is due to the fact that I am in the process of moving house and although the actual move itself will not take place until 14th February, there is so much packing - and sorting - that it has taken up all my spare time. So my apologies for the interruption but "services will be resumed as soon as possible."

By the way the picture - top left - is not an indication of where I am going, but just something to show. I am moving to a parish in the centre of Swansea, which is only two-three miles away. The Parish Church is dedicated to St. James and serves 4,000 people.

Faith stories

2012-01-09T21:10:00.000Z

Evangelism is not rocket science. It is merely "one beggar telling another beggar where to get bread". In other words you have found the Christian faith to be good news for you, so now share what you have found with someone else.

Of course there are other ways in which people come to faith and the following link will take you to an interesting Church of England website which includes stories of those who have found faith in these difficult, unbelieving times. Here it is - click here.

The Feasts of the Church

2012-01-07T13:48:00.000Z

The celebrations of the Events of the life of Jesus Christ - Epiphany, Christmas, Easter etc - were not instituted at the very beginning of the Christian era. They were held by the early Christians "as vivid commemorations without a connection with certain days and hymns, but as a real Event of the Lord Who was present in the Church". (cf Greek Orthodox of America website). But later, when the Church was firmly established, Christianity no longer a persecuted faith and its believers were free to worship, the Church was able to commemorate and observe annually in the calendar year the events of the life of the Church and especially those of the Life and Person of Jesus Christ, whom they worshipped along with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Therefore special prayers, hymns, and readings appropriate for the occasion were compiled and used to emphasis each aspect of Jesus' life and revelation. The reason why the first Christians did not institute these celebrations and observances at the very beginning is mainly because of the persecutions of the Church and its believers.

It was also important - as the Old Testament feasts prove - to have annual aide-de-memoirs to help not only teach the main tenets of the faith but also to remember them.

The Hidden God

2012-01-03T22:48:00.000Z

"The God of Israel, the Saviour,
is sometimes a God who hides Himself
but never a God that is absent;
sometimes in the dark,
but never at a distance."
Matthew Henry

Life, death and God

2012-01-01T19:16:00.001Z

Ben Breedlove (above) has cheated death 3 times as he has struggled with a dangerous and life threatening illness his whole life. It hasn't kept Ben from smiling and focusing on God. In this touching and heartbreaking final video, Ben shares the visions he experienced a few weeks before when he came close to death. Ben went to be with Jesus on Christmas Day...just one week after posting this final video.Knowing God can make all the difference in helping us deal with life and death. Do you know God?

Have a talk with God

2012-01-01T19:04:00.002Z

Here is a song and lyrics by Stevie Wonder that reminds us to always "Have a talk with God":

There are people who have let the problems of today
Lead them to conclude that for them life is not the way
But every problem has an answer and if yours you cannot find
You should talk it over to Him
He'll give you peace of mind
When you feel your life's too hard
Just go have a talk with God

Many of us feel we walk alone without a friend
Never communicating with the One who lives within
Forgetting all about the One who never ever lets you down
And you can talk to him anytime He's always around
When you feel your life's too hard
Just go have a talk with God

Well He's the only free psychiatrist that's known throughout the world
For solving problems of all men, women, little boys and girls
When you feel your life's too hard
Just go have a talk with God
When you feel your life's too hard
Just go have a talk with God
When your load's too much to bear
Just go talk to God He cares
I know he does

When you feel your life's too hard
Just go have a talk with God
thank you
thank you very much.
Stevie Wonder

We don't know what we should pray for

2012-01-01T18:56:00.000Z

When I first became a Christian I was sustained by daily readings from a book called "Streams in the desert" by L.B.Cowman. The readings and comments were so encouraging, and although the Bible readings were from the King James - and a bit old fashioned even then - there was something fresh and thirst-quenching about them that I will never forget. Here is one such excerpt:

“We do not know what we ought to pray for.” Romans 8:26

Often it is simply the answers to our prayers that cause many of the difficulties in the Christian life. We pray for patience, and our Father sends demanding people our way who test us to the limit, “because….suffering produces perseverance” Romans 5:33. We pray for a submissive spirit, and God sends suffering again, for we learn to be obedient in the same way Christ “learned obedience from what he suffered” Heb. 5:8

We pray to be unselfish, and God gives us opportunities to sacrifice by placing other people’s needs first and by laying down our lives for others. We pray for strength and humility, and “a messenger of Satan” 2Cor. 12:7 comes to torment us until we lie on the ground pleading for it to be withdrawn.

We pray to the Lord, as His apostles did, saying, “Increase our faith!” Luke 17:5. Then our money seems to take wings and fly away; our children become critically ill; an employee becomes careless, slow and wasteful; or some other new trial comes upon us, requiring more faith than we have ever before experienced.

We pray for a Christlike life that exhibits the humility of a lamb. Then we are asked to perform some lowly tasks, or we are unjustly accused and given no opportunity to explain, for “he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and…did not open his mouth” Isa. 53:7.

We pray for gentleness and quickly face a storm of temptation to be harsh and irritable. We pray for quietness, and suddenly every nerve is stressed to its limit with tremendous tension so that we may learn that when He sends His peace, no one can disturb it.

We pray for love for others, and God sends unique suffering by sending people our way who are difficult to love and who say things that get on our nerves and tear at our heart. He does this because “love is patient, love is kind…It is not rude,…it is not easily angered..It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.” 1Cor. 13:4-5, 7-8.

Yes, we pray to be like Jesus, and God’s answer is : “I have tested you in the furnace of affliction” Isa. 48:10; “Will your courage endure or your hands be strong?” Ezek. 22:14; “Can you drink the cup?” Matt. 20:22

The way to peace and victory is to accept every circumstance and every trial as being straight from the hand of our loving Father; to live “with him in the heavenly realms” Eph. 2:6, above the clouds, in the very presence of His throne; and to look down from glory on our circumstances as being lovingly and divinely appointed.

Happy New Year?

2012-01-01T16:57:00.001Z

Happy New Year everyone. But will it be happy? It depends. For me there are several threats to that.

First, will the Anglican Church finally pass legislation authorising the consecration of women as bishops? Well it has to really, if it is to be theologically consistent. How can you ordain women as priests and not bishops? It does not make theological or rational sense. Women should be - logically and consistently - consecrated bishops. But do I agree? I have to be honest. No. What gives us the right to act unilaterally without reference to the Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches let alone anyone else? It is, to say the least, rather arrogant and presumptive no matter what the theological arguments. We have no right to make that decision without reference to the larger Church unless, of course, we think that we are the sole recipients and keepers of the truth.

Second, there is the ordination of practising homosexuals (and lesbians) which is inconsistent with biblical and historical revelation. This may well already be going on in some discrete way in the hope of some kind of creeping acceptance. But it is still wrong - if 'practised' sexually - and as the 'gay' agenda gathers momentum, no doubt more and more pressure will be brought to bear.

Third, materialism in all it's various expresssions, is a real danger. People are very tied to the material - which they can see, touch etc and immdeiately benefit from - and view the spiritual as suspect or not 'real'. This attitude may be undermined as people are less able to afford things and have to make do and mend a bit more. But nevertheless it is a mindset that will be difficult to grow out of having taking decades to form. So not huge changes here.

Fourth, the growth of Islam may be another factor although not necessarily because of conviction but rather because of the sheer volume of births and immigrations. This has been counterbalanced by immigration from other countries, not least from Poland etc. But nevertheless the birth rate of muslims is bigger than that of Christians in Britain and that will begin to tell over the next generatio or two.

Fifth, conservatism with a small 'c'. As people become more and more threatened and disenchanted with the numerous changes in society and church, they tend to either compromise or consolidate (See American sociogist Peter Berger), both of which are wrong. But that is what generally happens when you don't listen to the Spirit. That is, at present, the way of the Church, especially in Wales. I hope it will change. I hope the church will be brave and innovate. If innovation is wrong - i.e. church-planting, Fresh Expressions etc - then we must trus God to put us right. Consolidation and compromise is not working so why pursue them? Let's be brave and experiment. Let's try something and take the risk.

Notice I didn't say atheism. Why? Because although it is vociferous and vocal it is no more vital now than it has ever been. True it is more explicit than in previous centuries, but atheism is no more prevalent now than is the past. In latter times it hid itself under a veneer of superficial faith. People were baptized and went through the various religious hoops that society as a whole had to jump through, but what lay beneath? A form of non-confessing atheism. The only difference now is that it has the chance to be more honest than previous centuries. But it is no threat. In fact it's a blessing in disguise as it is the kind of test that the Church needs to challenge and mature it. I find, personally, that the atheists are only asking the questions that most good Christians have always asked - privately. Now they are out in the open we can address and discuss them. So we must be grateful to Hitchens et al for bringing them into the light.

There are other challenges too of course. Youth, the family, marriage and poverty. It's going to be an interesting year. Whether it is 'happy' or not depends on whether you believe, truly believe, in God. If you do you will know that whatever happens He is already there before us waiting for us to join Him in what He is already doing. Knowing that will - should - make us content.

Happy New Year everyone.

Jesus Film

2011-12-23T19:43:00.002Z

If you want to watch an excellent film on the life of Jesus then watch this film. Its from a website www.shockawenow.com which is worth a look for other short films containing debates with well know New Atheist speakers, thinkers and writers.

Funerals - Orthodox Style

2011-12-23T17:42:00.001Z

As someone who takes a lot of funerals - the vast majority of the cremations - I was interested to hear of the Orthodox view on the disposal of the body after death. Although I believe - as I am sure the Orthodox do - that God can raise ashes into a resurrection body, there is something to what Abbot Tryphon says in this article from his blog:

"The first time I ever attended a funeral service where cremation of the body of the deceased had taken place was in Portland, Oregon, many years ago. An Episcopal priest friend had died and had requested his body be cremated. Walking into the church and seeing a small box sitting before the altar was a shock for me. Cremation was always something only non-believers practiced, Christians having always viewed cremation as something of pagan roots. I clearly remember feeling cheated out of that last goodby, unable as I was to view my friend for one last time.

In ancient times pagans always either burned the bodies of their dead, or left them for birds to consume, whereas Jews and Christians placed their dead in tombs, or in the earth, awaiting the bodily resurrection. For Christians the belief that the body was the temple of the Holy Spirit and therefore sacred, made the burning of the body unacceptable. Bodies of our dead were always to be treated with great reverence. From the earliest of times the bodies of the martyrs and saints were buried in the catacombs, their tombs used as altars for the celebration of the Eucharistic offering, catacombs often being the only safe place for believers to worship without threat of arrest.

One of my earliest memories was going to a family plot in Spokane, WA. with my maternal grandmother. She would lay flowers on the graves of her loved ones, family members who were long dead before I was even born. Even though many had been gone from this life for a few generations, to my grandmother they were still alive. She would sit on a tombstone, flowers in hand, and tell me about her sisters, her parents, and other family members. Her shared memories were made all the more real seeing the names of these loved ones chiseled in stone. The ritual of visiting graves was common back in those days, with families keeping alive the memories, while showing their love and respect for their dead relatives by tending to the graves, and leaving flowers. It was even quite common, especially in Western Europe, for friends and families to take picnics to graveyards.

There is also the role cemeteries can play in our own spiritual lives, for they are clear reminders of our own mortality. I have already picked the plot where my own remains will be placed on the grounds of our monastery. Seeing where one will eventually be laid to rest is a good way to remember one's own eventual death, reminding ourselves of our own mortality, and to use our remaining days wisely.

The Orthodox Church forbids the cremated remains of anyone to be brought into the temple for services, or for any other reason, and funeral services over cremated remains is strictly forbidden. The practice is seen as a denial of the bodily resurrection, not because God can't raise the dead from ashes, but because the practice does not reflect the Church's teaching that the body of a believer housed the Holy Spirit. It is also ignoring the fact that believers receive, in their lifetime, the very Body and Blood of Christ, and the body is therefore made holy in preparation for that day when we shall be united in both body and soul, to live forever with God.

My parents converted to Orthodoxy in their mid seventies and are buried in the church yard next to Saint John the Baptist Church in Post Falls, Idaho. Having them in an Orthodox cemetery, side by side, means a lot to me, and I visit their graves whenever I am in Northern Idaho on visits to my family. Having a plot to visit continues that connection and allows me a chance to show my love for them by placing flowers on their graves as I offering prayers for their souls. It saddens me that so many people have deprived themselves of such moments, having spread their loved one's ashes over golf courses or on beaches. The loss of family cemeteries has contributed, I am convinced, to the breakdown of the all important extended families that were at one time so important to the cohesiveness of family values.

For those who would say that cremation is more ecologically sound, I would point out that the particles dispersed in the atmosphere are by no means good for the environment. A new way of burial, known as green burial, is gaining popularity throughout the country and is far more ecologically sound than cremation. Green burials require a simple pine coffin with no metal, nails or glue, using only wooden pegs and natural materials. The body is not embalmed (in keeping with Orthodox tradition), so nothing goes into the earth that is not natural. This is one of the most inexpensive ways of internment and is in keeping with the canons of the Orthodox Church. This is the way my own body will be laid to rest."

Fixed Point Foundation

2011-12-23T10:23:00.002Z

I want to recommend a website called Fixed Point which engages with the New Atheists etc in open and cordial conversation about belief and unbelief. Their website is found here.

In their 'About' section this is what they say about their mission:

"It is our mission to seek innovative ways to defend and proclaim the Gospel and to prepare Christians to do the same. Whether it is our traditional concepts of human dignity and purpose or our understanding of what constitutes right and wrong, Christianity has served as the primary source of inspiration, giving light to law, government, the arts and sciences—indeed, giving light to what Dostoevsky called, “The Eternal Questions.”

That we have gradually lost sight of our Christian heritage is obvious even to the casual observer. In recent decades, however, we have witnessed aggressive efforts to demolish it systematically. Complicating matters is the fact that many Christians have imbibed any number of erroneous assumptions concerning their own faith, such as: Christianity lacks intellectual credibility; the Bible contradicts science; sincerity matters more than truth; Christian ethics cannot cope with the complexities of modern life; Jesus Christ is a way rather than the way; “diversity” is a value and “tolerance” means anything goes; and the list goes on.

Yet the mandate is clear. Jesus said, “And you shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all of your soul and with all of your mind and with all of your strength.” (Mark 12:30) Unfortunately, many in the Church have ceased to love God with their minds. As a consequence, a substantive public Christian response to these trends has been absent to such a degree that one major newspaper asked pointedly, “Won’t anyone stand up for God?”

Fixed Point Foundation was established in 2004 with precisely this end in view and the results have been extraordinary. We have sponsored highly publicized events at universities ranging from Oxford to UAB and our resources are being used in universities, schools, and churches around the world. Fixed Point is an expression of the Church speaking into the culture, challenging the unbelief of skeptics and restoring the Christian’s confidence that the Bible is precisely what it claims to be—True.

The blood of the Martyrs is the seed of the Church

2011-12-22T11:34:00.001Z

The above quote is from an early church Father called Tertullian (160-220 AD). It's a reference to the fact that the persecution of the early church by the Roman Empire, rather than extinguishing the flame of faith, actually ended up making it burn brighter. One example of this is Polycarp one of the early bishops and a disciple of St. John the Divine, the writer of the fourth gospel. Please note that the speaker talks about Polycarp being converted as a child/youngster. That is an attempt to side-step the fact that Polycarp was baptized as a baby - a common practice then - and which all early Christians consider their 'conversion' to Christianity.

Baptism in the Holy Spirit

2011-12-19T21:52:00.001Z

SUMMARY: The Baptism in the Spirit is not a sacrament, but it is related to several sacraments. The Baptism in the Spirit makes real and in a way renews Christian initiation. At the beginning of the Church, Baptism was administered to adults who converted from paganism and who, made on the occasion of Baptism, an act of faith and a free and mature choice. Today it is substituted instead by intermediary parents or godparents. In this situation, rarely, or never, does the baptized person ever reach the stage of proclaiming in the Holy Spirit "Jesus is Lord". And until one reaches this point, everything else in the Christian life remains out of focus and immature. Miracles no longer happen and we experience what Jesus did in Nazareth: "Jesus could not perform many miracles because of their lack of faith" (Mt.13.58). The Baptism in the Spirit's effectiveness in reactivating baptism consists in this: finally man contributes his part -- namely, he makes a choice of faith, prepared in repentance, that allows the that allows the work of God to set itself free and to emanate all its strength. It is as if the plug is pulled and the light is switched on. The gift of God is finally "untied" and the Spirit is allowed to flow like a fragrance in the Christian life.

Before talking about the Baptism in the Spirit, it is important to try and understand what the Renewal in the Spirit is all about. After the Second Vatican Council, many things in the Church's life were renewed - the liturgy, pastoral care, canon law, the constitutions of the religious orders and their dress. Although all these things are important, they are only external things and woe to us if we stop there and think the task is finished, because it is not structures but souls that are important to God. "It is in men's souls that the Church is beautiful," writes St. Ambrose, and therefore it is in men's souls that she must make herself beautiful.

God Is Author and Power
The Renewal is a renewal in which God, not man, is the principle author. "I, not you," says God, "make all things new" (Rev 21:5); "My Spirit -- and He alone -- may renew the face of the earth" (see Psalm 104:30). From the religious point of view, we tend to view things from a ptolemaic perspective: at the foundation there are our efforts -- organization, efficiency, reforms, goodwill -- with the earth here as the center which God comes to strengthen and crown, by His grace and our effort.

We must -- at this point the Word of God cries out -- "give the power back to God" (Psalm 68:35) because "the power belongs to God" (Psalm 62:12). For too long we have usurped this power of His from God, by managing it as if it were ours, as if it was up to us to govern the power of God. We have to totally change our perspective. That is, to acknowledge simply that without the Holy Spirit, we cannot do anything, not even say, "Jesus is Lord!" (I Cor 12:3).

Baptism in the Spirit and the Sacrament of Baptism
The Baptism in the Spirit is not a sacrament, but it is related to a sacrament, to several sacraments in fact -- to the sacraments of Christian initiation. The Baptism in the Spirit makes real and in a way renews Christian initiation. The primary relationship is with the Sacrament of Baptism. In fact, this experience is called the Baptism in the Spirit by English-speaking people.

We believe that the Baptism in the Spirit makes real and revitalizes our baptism. To understand how a sacrament which was received so many years ago, usually immediately after our birth, could suddenly come back to life and emanate so much energy, as often happens through the Baptism in the Spirit, it is important to look at our understanding of sacramental theology.

Catholic theology recognizes the concept of a valid but "tied" sacrament. A sacrament is called tied if the fruit that should accompany it remains bound because of certain blocks that prevent its effectiveness. An extreme example of this is the Sacrament of Matrimony or Holy Orders received in the state of mortal sin. In such circumstances these sacraments cannot grant any grace to people until the obstacle of sin is removed through penance. Once this happens the sacrament is said to live again thanks to the indelible character and irrevocability of the gift of God: God remains faithful even if we are unfaithful because He cannot deny Himself (see Timothy 2:13).

In the case of baptism what is it that causes the fruit of the sacrament to stay tied? The sacraments are not magical rituals that act mechanically, without the person's knowledge or disregarding any response on his part. Their effectiveness is the fruit of a synergy or cooperation between divine omnipotence -- in reality the grace of Christ or the Holy Spirit -- and human freedom, because as St. Augustine said, "The one who created you without your cooperation, will not save without your cooperation."

The opus operatum of baptism, namely, God's part or grace, has several aspects -- forgiveness of sins, the gift of the theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity (these, however, only as a seed), and divine sonship -- all of which are operated through the effective action of the Holy Spirit. But what does the opus operantis in baptism -- namely, man's part, consist of? It consists of faith! Whoever believes and is baptized shall be saved (Mark 16:16). At the side of baptism, therefore, there is another element: the faith of man. "To all who received Him He gave the power to become children of God: to those who believe in His name" (John 1:13).

Baptism is like a divine seal put on the faith of man: having heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation and having believed in it, you have received (of course, in baptism) the seal of the Holy Spirit (see Ephesians 1:13)

Baptism and Confirmation of Faith
At the beginning of the Church, Baptism was such a powerful event and so rich in grace that there was no need normally of a new effusion of the Spirit like we have today. Baptism was ministered to adults who converted from paganism and who, properly instructed, were in the position to make, on the occasion of baptism, an act of faith and a free and mature choice. It is sufficient to read the mistagogic catechesis on baptism attributed to Cyril of Jerusalem to become aware of the depth of faith to which those waiting for baptism were led. In substance, they arrived at baptism through a true and real conversion, and thus for them baptism was a real washing, a personal renewal, and a rebirth in the Holy Spirit.

The favorable circumstances that allowed baptism, at the origins of the Church, to operate with so much power was that the grace of God and man's response met at the same time, and there was a perfect synchronization

Infant Baptism in Non-Christian Environments
But now this synchronization has been broken, as we are baptized as infants, and little by little this aspect of the free and personal act of faith no longer happens. It was substituted instead by a decision by intermediary parents or godparents. When a child grew up in a totally Christian environment, this faith still could flourish, even though at a slower rate. Now, however, this is no longer the case and our spiritual environment is even worse than the one at the time of the Middle Ages. Not that there is no normal Christian life, but this is now the exception rather than the rule.

In this situation, rarely, or never, does the baptized person ever reach the stage of proclaiming in the Holy Spirit, "Jesus is Lord." And until one reaches this point, everything else in the Christian life remains out of focus and immature. Miracles no longer happen, and we experience what Jesus did in Nazareth: "Jesus could not perform many miracles because of their lack of faith." (Mt 13. 58)

God's Will
Here, then, is what I feel is the significance of the Baptism in the Spirit. It is God's answer to this malfunctioning that has grown up in the Christian life in the Sacrament of Baptism.

It is an accepted fact that over the last few years there has been some concern on the part of the Church, among the bishops, that the Christian sacraments, especially baptism, are being administered to people who will not make any use of them in life. As a result, it has even been suggested that baptism should not be administered unless there are some minimum guarantees that it will be cultivated and valued by the child in question. For one should not throw pearls to dogs, as Jesus said, and baptism is a pearl, because it is the fruit of the blood of Christ.

But it seems that God was concerned about this situation even before the Church was, and raised up here and there in the Church movements aimed at renewing Christian initiation in adults. The Charismatic Renewal is one of these movements and in it the principle grace is, without doubt, linked to the Baptism of the Spirit and to what comes before it.

Release and Confirmation of Faith
It's effectiveness in reactivating baptism consists in this: finally man contributes his part -- namely, he makes a choice of faith, prepared in repentance that allows the work of God to set itself free and to emanate all its strength. It is as if the plug is pulled and the light is switched on. The gift of God is finally "untied" and the Spirit is allowed to flow like a fragrance in the Christian life.

In addition to the renewal of the grace of baptism, the Baptism in the Spirit is also a confirmation of one's own baptism, a deliberate "yes" to it, to its fruit and its commitments, and as such it is also similar to Confirmation too. Confirmation being the sacrament that develops, confirms, and brings to completion the work of baptism. From it, too, comes that desire for greater involvement in the apostolic and missionary dimension of the Church that is usually noted in those who receive the Baptism in the Spirit. They feel more inclined to cooperate with the building up of the Church, to put themselves at her service in various ministries both clerical and lay, to witness for Christ -- to do all those things that recall the happening of Pentecost and which are actuated in the Sacrament of Confirmation.

The Baptism of the Spirit is not the only occasion known within the Church for this reviving of the sacraments of initiation. There is, for example, the renewal of the baptismal promises in the Easter vigil, and there are the spiritual exercises, and the religious professions, sometimes called a "second baptism." and at the sacrament level there is Confirmation.

It is also not difficult to discover in the lives of the saints, the presence of a spontaneous effusion, especially on the occasion of their conversion. The difference with the Baptism in the Spirit, however, is that it is open to all the people of God, small and great, and not only to those privileged ones who do the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises or make a religious profession.

The Will of God in History
Where does this extraordinary force that we experienced when we were Baptized in the Spirit come from? What we are talking about is not just some theory, but something that we ourselves have experienced and therefore can say with John, "What we have heard, what we have seen with our own eyes, what our hands have touched, this we also announce to you, so that you too be in communion with us." (see l John 1:1-11). The explanation of this force is in the will of God -- because God was pleased to renew the Church today by this means -- and this is enough.

There are certainly some biblical precedents, like the one told in Acts 8:14-17, when Peter and John, having heard that Samaria welcomed the Word of God, went there, prayed for them, and laid hands on them so that they could receive the Holy Spirit. But these biblical precedents, are not sufficient to explain the vastness and depth of the contemporary manifestation of the effusion of the Spirit.

The explanation therefore is in God's plan. We could say, by paraphrasing a famous saying of the Apostle Paul: Because Christians, with all their organization, were not able to transmit the power of the Spirit, God was pleased to renew the believers through the foolishness of the Baptism in the Spirit. In fact theologians look for an explanation and responsible people for moderation, but simple souls touch with their hands the power of Christ in the Baptism of the Spirit (1 Cor 12:1-24).

We men, and in particular we men of the Church, tend to limit God in His freedom: we tend to insist that He follows a compulsory pattern (the so called channels of grace) and we forget that God is a torrent that breaks loose and creates its own path and that the Spirit blows where and how he wants (notwithstanding the role of the teaching of the Church to discern what actually comes from the Spirit and what does not come from Him). What does the Baptism of the Spirit consist of and how does it work? In the Baptism of the Spirit there is a secret, mysterious move of God that is His way of becoming present, in a way that is different for each one because only He knows us in our inner part and how to act upon our unique personality. There is also the external community part which is the same for everyone and consists mainly of three things: brotherly love, laying on of hands, and prayer. These are non-sacramental but simply ecclesiastic elements.

Holy Spirit Proceeding from the Father and the Son
Where does the grace we experience in the Baptism of the Spirit come from? From those around us? No! From the person who receives it? No! It comes from God! We can only say that such grace is related to baptism, because God acts always with coherence and faithfulness and He does not do and undo. He honors the commitments and institutions of Christ. One thing is certain -- that it is not the brothers who impart the Holy Spirit, but they do invoke the Holy Spirit on the person. The Spirit cannot be given by any man, not even the Pope or a bishop, because no man possesses by himself the Holy Spirit. Only Jesus may give the Holy Spirit; all the others do not possess the Holy Spirit, but rather are possessed by Him. As to the manner of this grace, we may speak of a new coming of the Holy Spirit, of a new mission by the Father through Jesus Christ, or a new anointing corresponding to a new degree of grace.
Fr. Cantalamessa, Papal preacher to Pope John Paul II's Pontifical household. Originally from the (ICCRS) newsletter, this article is apparently based on a talk given to a gathering of religious men.

I believe in prayer

2011-12-19T12:43:00.001Z

I believe in prayer for all kinds of reasons. Personal answers, recurring coincidences after prayer, the testimony of others - saints and people I trust - etc. I also believe because I believe in Jesus and, for me, He is the beginning and end of my faith when it comes to anything as supernatural as prayer.

However there have been lots of scientific studies aimed at proving or disproving the power of prayer. Here is an extract from an article I picked up on the web:

"Does prayer’s power heal the sick, change lives, or fulfill our needs and desires? Should you bury a statue of Saint Joseph, if you want to sell your home, or put Saint Christopher on your dashboard as you travel this holiday season? There’s no definitive way to prove the power of prayer, but it’s not for lack of trying. Humans, including scientists, charlatans, and medical experts, have attempted to prove and disprove the efficacy of prayer since the beginning of intellectual curiosity.

The most surprising thing about these studies is that we’ve learned nothing. Some studies seem to showconcentrated group prayer, whatever that is, has a measurable effect on AIDS patients. A decade ago, Dr. Elisabeth Targ’s famous double-blind research convinced some that AIDS patients who were prayed for lived longer than AIDS patients who were not prayed for by a controlled group of prayer-sayers. How do you control that?

Reading University's studies are interesting, but confusing. Some show cardiac patients who believe in God do better than those who don’t. On the other hand, in a Harvard study, it looks like cardiac patients assured of receiving prayers of intercession didn’t fare as well as others, and Francis Galton, cousin of Charles Darwin, determined that if a king’s subjects prayed for him, the poor guy lived a shorter life than other kings.

Consider this: Studies aside, nearly everyone has stories of friends, family, and acquaintances that lived a miracle brought about by prayer or devotion. A widow accidentally drops her keepsake wedding ring in the ocean. She prays daily that she will find it. Years later, it turns up in the local fisherman’s catch. A missing child is inexplicably recovered when his whole community gathers to pray.

My husband was diagnosed with a terminal illness ten years ago. We prepared ourselves. We prayed a lot. He’s still around, and his medical team is astounded. He should not have had a positive outcome. There are thousands of stories of humans visited by angels – some of them seem inarguable. We can’t get enough of George’s angel in It’s a Wonderful Life, and books about causing change through prayer fill the bookstores’ shelves.

You can drive yourself to distraction Googling for answers on whether prayer has power or can effect change. The Online Surgical Technicians Course has a comprehensive list of formal, rigorous, scientific studies. You can find first-hand prayer testimonials on the Experience Project Web site and, I dare say, all over the Web.

Maybe the most rational conclusion was drawn by Wendy Cadge from the sociology department of Brandeis University, Massachusetts. An expert on how religion and medicine impact each other in today’s American culture, Cage remarked, “With double-blind clinical trials, scientists tried their best to study something that may be beyond their best tools; and [this] reflects more about them and their assumptions than about whether prayer works.”

In other words looking to science to help us with regards to the efficacy of prayer is probably not the best place to start (or finish). The best way to go about testing prayer is to do it, but to do it with a copy of the Bible in your hand and with the advice of a priest or a seasoned Christian ready to guide you. Also it almost goes without saying - and this is where everything unravels for the wannabe pray-er - a relationship with God through Jesus is not only indispensible but pretty fundamental. The disciples quickly discovered this early on and asked Him to teach them how to pray (they had probably been trying and failing or saw in Jesus someone who had the authority to teach them). His response - known as the Lord's Prayer - takes it for granted that prayer is fundamental to their relationship with Him and His Father, and on that basis answers are assumed and expected.

I would also add one other thing which is often inferred but not always explicit. Being part of a Church - or The Church - is very important. Why? It is there that the New Testament assumes all progress in the Christian walk - plus th walk itself - is made. It is there that you can pray and learn with others. THere that you can find advice and encouragement. There you will discover a tradition of prayer and praying that goes back to the beginning. There that you can best keep to the straight and narrow because there is nothing more debilitating to your prayer life than disobedience, pride and sin. Over and over the Israelites discovered that when they disobeyed God His voice would fall silent.

So get into a relationship with Christ, His Church and His cause. Read His book which contains not only His teaching and guidelines but also examples of how prayer works. And you too will discover that prayer really does work. And with not a science textbook or study in sight!

The Archbishop on Advent

2011-12-16T20:01:00.000Z

David Cameron on the King James Bible

2011-12-16T19:53:00.001Z

Today, at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, the Prime Minister did God. He delivered this sermon on the importance of Christianity and of the King James Bible in particular (His Grace will forgive the lower case 'p' in 'Protestants'):

It's great to be here and to have this opportunity to come together today to mark the end of this very special 400th anniversary year for the King James Bible.

I know there are some who will question why I am giving this speech.

And if they happen to know that I'm setting out my views today in a former home of the current Archbishop of Canterbury...

...and in front of many great theologians and church leaders...

...they really will think I have entered the lions' den.

But I am proud to stand here and celebrate the achievements of the King James Bible.

Not as some great Christian on a mission to convert the world.

But because, as Prime Minister, it is right to recognise the impact of a translation that is, I believe, one of this country's greatest achievements.

The Bible is a book that has not just shaped our country, but shaped the world.

And with 3 Bibles sold or given away every second...

...a book that is not just important in understanding our past, but which will continue to have a profound impact in shaping our collective future.

In making this speech I claim no religious authority whatsoever.

I am a committed - but I have to say vaguely practising - Church of England Christian, who will stand up for the values and principles of my faith...

...but who is full of doubts and, like many, constantly grappling with the difficult questions when it comes to some of the big theological issues.

But what I do believe is this.

The King James Bible is as relevant today as at any point in its 400 year history.

And none of us should be frightened of recognising this.

Why?

Put simply, three reasons.

First, the King James Bible has bequeathed a body of language that permeates every aspect of our culture and heritage...

....from everyday phrases to our greatest works of literature, music and art.

We live and breathe the language of the King James Bible, sometimes without even realising it.

And it is right that we should acknowledge this - particularly in this anniversary year.

Second, just as our language and culture is steeped in the Bible, so too is our politics.

From human rights and equality to our constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy...

...from the role of the church in the first forms of welfare provision, to the many modern day faith-led social action projects...

...the Bible has been a spur to action for people of faith throughout history, and it remains so today.

Third, we are a Christian country.

And we should not be afraid to say so.

Let me be clear: I am not in any way saying that to have another faith - or no faith - is somehow wrong.

I know and fully respect that many people in this country do not have a religion.

And I am also incredibly proud that Britain is home to many different faith communities, who do so much to make our country stronger.

But what I am saying is that the Bible has helped to give Britain a set of values and morals which make Britain what it is today.

Values and morals we should actively stand up and defend.

The alternative of moral neutrality should not be an option.

You can't fight something with nothing.

Because if we don't stand for something, we can't stand against anything.

Let me take each of these points in turn.

First, language and culture.

Powerful language is incredibly evocative.

It crystallises profound, sometimes complex, thoughts and suggests a depth of meaning far beyond the words on the page...

...giving us something to share, to cherish, to celebrate.

Part of the glue that can help to bind us together.

Along with Shakespeare, the King James Bible is a high point of the English language...

...creating arresting phrases that move, challenge and inspire.

One of my favourites is the line "For now we see through a glass, darkly."

It is a brilliant summation of the profound sense that there is more to life, that we are imperfect, that we get things wrong, that we should strive to see beyond our own perspective.

The key word is darkly - profoundly loaded, with many shades of meaning.

I feel the power is lost in some more literal translations.

The New International Version says: "Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror"

The Good News Bible: "What we see now is like a dim image in a mirror"

They feel not just a bit less special but dry and cold, and don't quite have the same magic and meaning.

Like Shakespeare, the King James translation dates from a period when the written word was intended to be read aloud.

And this helps to give it a poetic power and sheer resonance that in my view is not matched by any subsequent translation.

It has also contributed immensely to the spread of spoken English around the world.

Indeed, the language of the King James Bible is very much alive today.

I've already mentioned the lions' den.

Just think about some of the other things we all say.

Phrases like strength to strength...

...how the mighty are fallen...

...the skin of my teeth...

...the salt of the earth.

... nothing new under the sun.

According to one recent study there are 257 of these phrases and idioms that come from the Bible.

These phrases are all around us...

...from court cases to TV sitcoms...

...and from recipe books to pop music lyrics.

Of course, there is a healthy debate about the extent to which it was the King James version that originated the many phrases in our language today.

And it's right to recognise the impact of earlier versions like Tyndale, Wycliffe, Douai-Rheims, the Bishops and Geneva Bibles too.

The King James Bible does exactly that...

...setting out with the stated aim of making a good translation better, or out of many good ones, to make "one principall good one"

But what is clear is that the King James version gave the Bible's many expressions a much more widespread public presence.

Much of that dissemination has come through our literature, through the great speeches we remember and the art and music we still enjoy today.

From Milton to Morrison...

...and Coleridge to Cormac McCarthy...

...the Bible supports the plot, context, language and sometimes even the characters in some of our greatest literature.

Tennyson makes over 400 Biblical references in his poems.

...and makes allusions to 42 different books of the Bible.

The Bible has infused some of the greatest speeches...

...from Martin Luther King's dream that Isaiah's prophecy would be fulfilled and that one day "every valley shall be exalted...

...to Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg address which employed not just Biblical words but cadence and rhythms borrowed from the King James Bible as well.

When Lincoln said that his forefathers "brought forth" a new nation, he was imitating the way in which the Bible announced the birth of Jesus.

The Bible also runs through our art.

From Giotto to El Greco...

...and Michelangelo to Stanley Spencer.

The paintings in Sandham Memorial Chapel in Berkshire are some of my favourite works of art.

Those who died in Salonika rising to heaven is religious art in the modern age and, in my view, as powerful as some of what has come before.

And the Bible runs through our music too.

From the great oratorios like J S Bach's Matthew and John Passions and Handel's Messiah...

...to the wealth of music written across the ages for mass and evensong in great cathedrals like this one.

The Biblical settings of composers from Tallis to Taverner are regularly celebrated here in this great cathedral...

...and will sustain our great British tradition of choral music for generations to come.

It's impossible to do justice in a short speech to the full scale of the cultural impact of the King James Bible.

But what is clear is that four hundred years on, this book is still absolutely pivotal to our language and culture.

And that's one very good reason for us all to recognise it today.

A second reason is this.

Just as our language and culture is steeped in the Bible, so too is our politics.

The Bible runs through our political history in a way that is often not properly recognised.

The history and existence of a constitutional monarchy owes much to a Bible in which Kings were anointed and sanctified with the authority of God...

....and in which there was a clear emphasis on the respect for Royal Power and the need to maintain political order.

Jesus said: "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."

And yet at the same time, the Judeo-Christian roots of the Bible also provide the foundations for protest and for the evolution of our freedom and democracy.

The Torah placed the first limits on Royal Power.

And the knowledge that God created man in his own image was, if you like, a game changer for the cause of human dignity and equality.

In the ancient world this equity was inconceivable.

In Athens for example, full and equal rights were the preserve of adult, free born men.

But when each and every individual is related to a power above all of us...

...and when every human being is of equal and infinite importance, created in the very image of God...

...we get the irrepressible foundation for equality and human rights...

...a foundation that has seen the Bible at the forefront of the emergence of democracy, the abolition of slavery...

...and the emancipation of women - even if not every church has always got the point!

Crucially the translation of the Bible into English made all this accessible to many who had previously been unable to comprehend the Latin versions.

And this created an unrelenting desire for change.

The Putney debates in the Church of St Mary the Virgin in 1647 saw the first call for One Man, One vote...

...and the demand that authority be invested in the House of Commons rather than the King.

Reading the Bible in English gave people equality with each other through God.

And this led them to seek equality with each other through government.

In a similar way, the Bible provides a defining influence on the formation of the first welfare state.

In Matthew's Gospel, Jesus says that whatever people have done "unto one of the least of these my brethren"...

... they have done unto him.

Just as in the past it was the influence of the church that enabled hospitals to be built, charities created, the hungry fed, the sick nursed and the poor given shelter...

...so today faith based groups are at the heart of modern social action.

Organisations like the Church Urban Fund which has supported over 5,000 faith based projects in England's poorest communities...

...including the Near Neighbours Programme which Eric Pickles helped to launch last month.

And St Ethelburga's Centre for Reconciliation and Peace in London's Bishopsgate...

...a building once destroyed by an IRA bomb...

...but now a centre where people divided by conflict, culture or religion can meet and listen to each other's perspective.

In total, there are almost 30 thousand faith based charities in this country...

...not to mention the thousands of people who step forward as individuals, as families, as communities, as organisations and yes, as churches....

...and do extraordinary things to help build a bigger, richer, stronger, more prosperous and more generous society.

And when it comes to the great humanitarian crises - like the famine in Horn of Africa - again you can count on faith-based organisations...

...like Christian Aid, Tearfund, CAFOD, Jewish Care, Islamic Relief, and Muslim Aid...

...to be at the forefront of the action to save lives.

So it's right to recognise the huge contribution our faith communities make to our politics.

...and to recognise the role of the Bible in inspiring many of their works.

People often say that politicians shouldn't "do God."

If by that they mean we shouldn't try to claim a direct line to God for one particular political party...

...they could not be more right.

But we shouldn't let our caution about that stand in the way of recognising both what our faith communities bring to our country...

...and also just how incredibly important faith is to so many people in Britain.

The Economist may have published the obituary of God in their Millennium issue.

But in the past century, the proportion of people in the world who adhere to the four biggest religions has actually increased from around two-thirds to nearly three quarters...

...and is forecast to continue rising.

For example, it is now thought there are at least 65 million protestants in China and 12 million Catholics - more Christians than there are members of the communist party.

Official numbers indicate China has about 20 million Muslims - almost as many as in Saudi Arabia - and nearly twice as many as in the whole of the EU.

And by 2050, some people think China could well be both the world's biggest Christian nation and its biggest Muslim one too.

Here in Britain we only have to look at the reaction to the Pope's visit last year...

...this year's Royal Wedding...

...or of course the festival of Christmas next week, to see that Christianity is alive and well in our country.

The key point is this.

Societies do not necessarily become more secular with modernity but rather more plural, with a wider range of beliefs and commitments.

And that brings me to my third point.

The Bible has helped to shape the values which define our country.

Indeed, as Margaret Thatcher once said, "we are a nation whose ideals are founded on the Bible."

Responsibility, hard work, charity, compassion, humility, self-sacrifice, love...

...pride in working for the common good and honouring the social obligations we have to one another, to our families and our communities...

...these are the values we treasure.

Yes, they are Christian values.

And we should not be afraid to acknowledge that.

But they are also values that speak to us all - to people of every faith and none.

And I believe we should all stand up and defend them.

Those who oppose this usually make the case for secular neutrality.

They argue that by saying we are a Christian country and standing up for Christian values we are somehow doing down other faiths.

And that the only way not to offend people is not to pass judgement on their behaviour.

I think these arguments are profoundly wrong.

And being clear on this is absolutely fundamental to who we are as a people...

...what we stand for...

...and the kind of society we want to build.

First, those who say being a Christian country is doing down other faiths...

...simply don't understand that it is easier for people to believe and practise other faiths when Britain has confidence in its Christian identity.

Many people tell me it is much easier to be Jewish or Muslim here in Britain than it is in a secular country like France.

Why?

Because the tolerance that Christianity demands of our society provides greater space for other religious faiths too.

And because many of the values of a Christian country are shared by people of all faiths and indeed by people of no faith at all.

Second, those who advocate secular neutrality in order to avoid passing judgement on the behaviour of others...

...fail to grasp the consequences of that neutrality...

...or the role that faith can play in helping people to have a moral code.

Let's be clear.

Faith is neither a necessary nor sufficient condition for morality.

There are Christians who don't live by a moral code.

And there are atheists and agnostics who do.

But for people who do have a faith, their faith can be a helpful prod in the right direction.

And whether inspired by faith or not - that direction, that moral code, matters.

Whether you look at the riots last summer...

...the financial crash and the expenses scandal...

...or the on-going terrorist threat from Islamist extremists around the world...

...one thing is clear: moral neutrality or passive tolerance just isn't going to cut it anymore.

Shying away from speaking the truth about behaviour, about morality...

...has actually helped to cause some of the social problems that lie at the heart of the lawlessness we saw with the riots.

The absence of any real accountability, or moral code...

...allowed some bankers and politicians to behave with scant regard for the rest of society.

And when it comes to fighting violent extremism, the almost fearful passive tolerance of religious extremism that has allowed segregated communities to behave in ways that run completely counter to our values...

... has not contained that extremism but allowed it to grow and prosper...

...in the process blackening the good name of the great religions that these extremists abuse for their own purposes.

Put simply, for too long we have been unwilling to distinguish right from wrong.

"Live and let live" has too often become "do what you please".

Bad choices have too often been defended as just different lifestyles.

To be confident in saying something is wrong...

...is not a sign of weakness, it's a strength.

But we can't fight something with nothing.

As I've said if we don't stand for something, we can't stand against anything.

One of the biggest lessons of the riots last Summer is that we've got stand up for our values if we are to confront the slow-motion moral collapse that has taken place in parts of our country these past few generations.

The same is true of religious extremism.

As President Obama wrote in the Audacity of Hope:

"...in reaction to religious overreach we equate tolerance with secularism, and forfeit the moral language that would help infuse our politics with larger meaning."

Frankly, we need a lot less of the passive tolerance of recent years and a much more active, muscular liberalism.

A passively tolerant society says to its citizens, as long as you obey the law we will just leave you alone.

It stands neutral between different values.

But I believe a genuinely liberal country does much more; it believes in certain values and actively promotes them.

We need to stand up for these values.

To have the confidence to say to people - this is what defines us as a society...

...and that to belong here is to believe in these things.

I believe the church - and indeed all our religious leaders and their communities in Britain - have a vital role to play in helping to achieve this.

I have never really understood the argument some people make about the church not getting involved in politics.

To me, Christianity, faith, religion, the Church and the Bible are all inherently involved in politics because so many political questions are moral questions.

So I don't think we should be shy or frightened of this.

I certainly don't object to the Archbishop of Canterbury expressing his views on politics.

Religion has a moral basis and if he doesn't agree with something he's right to say so.

But just as it is legitimate for religious leaders to make political comments, he shouldn't be surprised when I respond.

Also it's legitimate for political leaders to say something about religious institutions as they see them affecting our society, not least in the vital areas of equality and tolerance.

I believe the Church of England has a unique opportunity to help shape the future of our communities.

But to do so it must keep on the agenda that speaks to the whole country.

The future of our country is at a pivotal moment.

The values we draw from the Bible go to the heart of what it means to belong in this country...

...and you, as the Church of England, can help ensure that it stays that way.

Facing your darkness

2011-12-16T15:58:00.001Z

Peter Rollins honestly addresses the doubts we all have - priests and people - and challenges us to not only face but articulate those doubts in what we say, speak, write and worship. He is well worth a listen and although I can't go all the way with him - in the sense that I don't really know where it's leading - I think he has some really important things to say to the Church today.

How should we pray?

2011-12-16T13:20:00.000Z

They asked Abba Macarius, "How should we pray?" And the old man replied, "There is no need to speak much in prayer; often stretch out your hands and say, "Lord, as you will and as you know, have mercy on me." But if there is war in your soul, add, "Help me!" and because he knows what we need, he shows mercy on us."

Relevant Magazine

2011-12-16T13:16:00.001Z

Just a quick recommendation of a website that may/may not be interesting to Christians who want to think or read about how their faith relates to the culture of today. You may not agree with everything written there - I don't - but there is a lot of thought-provoking material there to get you thinking and talking about the various issues that challeneg us today.

Here is the link: http://www.relevantmagazine.com/

The Importance of Being Obedient

2011-12-14T03:32:00.000Z

The following is from the Sayings of the Desert Fathers and it is a wonderful illustration of the importance of obedience (and faith):

It was said of Abba John the Short that he withdrew and lived in the desert at Scetis with an old man of Thebes. His abba, taking a piece of dry wood, planted it and said to him, "Water it every day with a bottle of water, until it bears fruit." Now the water was so far away that he had to leave in the evening and return the following morning. At the end of three years the wood came to life and bore fruit. The old man took some of the fruit and carried it to the church saying to the brethren, "Take and eat the fruit of obedience."

The consequences of not praying

2011-12-14T03:17:00.000Z

"Let him who does not pray expect nothing whatsoever from God- neither salvation nor renewal no direction nor grace. Rather, he is consigned to the whims and fancy of his own mind, the will of his own ego, and the direction of his own thinking. He is like one who has rejected the intervention of the Lord Jesus in his life, like one who hides himself from the Spirit of God. A man who does not pray is one who is content with his own condition. He wishes to remain as he is and not be changed, renewed or saved. His life unconsciously changes from bad to worse. He recedes spiritually day after day. The ties that bind him to the earth and to the flesh increase without his awareness. His ego remains the source of all his desires and ambitions.

As for his relationship with Christ, it remains only superficial and outward. It has no power to change or amend anything. The possibility to even deny Christ at times of danger, temptation, illness, or poverty becomes imminent.

So if man does not pray, he can never be changed or renewed, and he who is not changed or renewed can have no genuine or effective relationship with Christ. His worship, however active, is nothing but an outward protrusion or a superficial growth. In the end it breaks off, bearing no fruit."
From “Orthodox Prayer Life: The Interior Way” by Fr. Matthew the Poor

Paying attention to the readings in Church

2011-12-09T16:08:00.001Z

“If a man should come here with earnestness – even though he does not read the Scriptures at home – and if he pays attention to what is said here, within the space of even one year he will be able to obtain a considerable acquaintance with them. For we do not read these Scriptures today, and tomorrow others that are quite different, but always the same section and consecutively. However, in spite of this, many have such an apathetic attitude that after such reading they do not even know the names of the books. And they are not ashamed, nor do they shudder with dread, because they have come so carelessly to the hearing of the word of God. On the other hand, if a musician, or a dancer, or anyone else connected with the theater should summon them to the city, they all hurry eagerly, and thank the one who invited them, and spend an entire half-day with their attention fixed on the performer exclusively. Yet when God addresses us through the prophets and apostles, we yawn, we are bored, we become drowsy.”
St. John Chrysostom: Homily 58 from the Gospel of John

The lost house of me

2011-12-06T10:38:00.001Z

“We find that, more and more nowadays, people say to us that life is too individualistic, that their life is too materialistic, that there’s consumerism everywhere and that they’ve got more superficial pleasures in life and yet at a deeper level they are not happy.” Those are the words with which Abbot Christopher Jamison began each episode of the television series The Monastery, a fly on the wall documentary which followed a dozen men around as they spent 40 days in silence, prayer and contemplation at Worth Abbey.

Looking at that description of life in modern Britain today it is easy, as a Christian, to apply it to the many men and women who have no real discernible belief in the good news of Jesus Christ. As a preacher I have used similar words in many sermons outlining people's need to discover their joy and happinness in Christ. But reading them now in the "cold light of day", so to speak, the scary thing is that the Abbot's words actually hit much, much closer to home and apply to me, and I suspect, to large sections of the Christian Church.

How materialistic am I? Looking around my house as I prepare to move I note just how much 'stuff' I have accumulated over the years in books, dvds, cds, gadgets, etc.. And am I really immune from the consumerism that gives shape to our western society and which promises Nirvana when we buy that car or that 3D television? How superficial is my faith? If I am honest, when I move the camera closer and take a deeper look at the real state of my heart, what I see are layers and layers of pretence, falsehood and a rather polished 'Christian' gloss covering the corruption beneath. And am I really happy or does my happiness wax and wane depending on external factors like money, good days and fine weather?

Abbot Jamison has put his finger on a lot more than the ills of society. He has poked me in the chest too and I see that unless, and until, I apply them to me first, then my ministry - let alone my Christian walk - is going to remain crucially flawed. Before ever I say a word or offer an opinion I will already have been disqualified. Jesus once said that he came first for the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matthew 15:24). What about the lost house of the Church? What about the lost house of me?

Contemplative Prayer and following Jesus

2011-12-05T18:23:00.001Z

"We have been taught as Christians, and presumably have believed, that "we are created for union with God" - but in practice we seem not to dare to accept the full implications of this on a subjective level, to really embrace is as the central truth of our lives. least of all, perhaps, are we prepared to trust that this is god's passionate desire for us. (How frustrating, for the Lover!)

At best, perhaps we vaguely accept that somehow, somewhere, "in heaven," we will come to this union of love. But Jesus' life and teachings concern our lives here and now: "The kingdom of heaven is within you"....Repent, and believe the good news": you are beloved of God! His message is that we love Him in loving one another, and that that love is the love of God, living and loving through us in this world, as its source, meaning and end.

It is this love which becomes experiential in contemplative prayer, and gradually in-forms our lives to become more and more a presence of God's love in the world. That love is not confined to time and space, and exerts a creative power which is the one true source of hope in a world tempted to hopelessness in the face of threatened extinction. It has been bluntly stated, "If you do not believe that evil will be overcome by good" - (or hatred by love) - "you are an atheist." Nevertheless that "overcoming" will not take its course without us, but through our active engagement with God's love and our surrender to it as the only power that will save the world.

Contemplative prayer is consent to that love. It is not "pie in the sky by-and-by when you die," but part of a lifetime process - often costly and painful - of self-emptying and reorientation to selfless love, i.e., a serious following of Jesus. It is, therefore, vitally important today."
Thelma Hall: "Too Deep for Words." pp2-3

RE Quest

2011-11-28T15:11:00.001Z

As an Anglican Christian one of the challenges I face is explaining to people what Confirmation is and how it fits into the Christian life. The website RE Quest is a good simple introduction to this and other aspects of the Christian life.

If you want to take a look or maybe use it to help others think about the Christian Faith then click here and it will take you to the site.

The E100 Challenge

2011-11-28T11:36:00.001Z

What is the E100 Bible Reading Challenge?

The E100 Bible Reading Challenge is based around 100 carefully selected Bible readings (50 from the Old Testament and 50 from the New Testament) designed to give participants a good understanding of the overall Bible story from Genesis to Revelation. The 'E' stands for Essential and each of the Essential 100 readings ranges from a few verses to a few chapters.

The programme is very flexible and can be used by individuals but it is even more powerful when adapted to the context of the local church. Through completing the challenge, participants are encouraged to build a regular habit of spending time with God through Bible reading and prayer.
Who is behind the challenge?

The programme was pioneered by Scripture Union in the USA where it is now a joint project with American Bible Society. Australia, New Zealand, Germany and Argentina are implementing or planning nationwide E100 campaigns.

As part of the Biblefresh initiative, a consortium comprising the national Bible Societies and the Scripture Union movements of England and Wales, Ireland Northern Ireland and Scotland, along with Wycliffe Bible Translators has been formed to promote the programme throughout Britain and Ireland.

The Devout Man

2011-11-28T09:57:00.001Z

Devotion is neither private nor public prayer; but prayers, whether private or public, are particular parts or instances of devotion. Devotion signifies a life given, or devoted, to God.

He, therefore, is the devout man, who lives no longer to his own will, or the way and spirit of the world, but to the sole will of God; who considers God in everything, who serves God in everything, who makes all the parts of his common life parts of piety, by doing everything in the Name of God, and under such rules as are comfortableto His glory.
"A Serious call to a Devout and Holy life: William Law." Chapter 1

Prayer and praying

2011-11-25T21:47:00.001Z

Prayer at it's simplest is speaking to God, but different traditions approach this in different ways. So it is fascinating, and stimulating, to see how others pray. Here are some guidelines taken from Eastern Orthodoxy:

Prayer is a conscious, intentional and purposeful act of uniting with God one's mind, heart, soul and body, with every thought, feeling, word and deed, in every time, place, and circumstance. The sole purpose of prayer is to glorify God by discovering and doing His will.

Prayer is also directed to Christ Himself, as God's divine Son, in the Holy Spirit. Prayer is also addressed to the Holy Spirit, especially when one begins to pray to God the Father and to His Son, Jesus Christ. Prayers are also made to the Holy Trinity -- the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, One in essence and undivided. And prayers are also made to Christ's Mother, Mary, and to the saints, asking them to pray and intercede for us with God.

Three Ways of Prayer

Christians are taught to pray in three ways. These three ways enable and empower each other. When prayer is an honest and real dialogue with God, they are always held together; they are not separated. In truth, if any of these three ways is missing, a person'a prayer is at best superficial, weak, and one-sided. At worst it is deformed and distorted to the point where it ceases to be prayer at all. This is especially true when any of the three ways is willfully suppressed or rejected.

In long, fancy words the three essential ways of prayer for a Christian are:

(1) The corporate liturgical and sacramental worship of the Christian ecclesial community whereby the baptized believer enters into the ceaseless and eternal glorification of God the Father by His divine Son and Word, Jesus Christ, in and through the power and operation of the Holy Spirit, together with the bodiless hosts of heaven and the assembly of saints;

(2) The maintenance of a set rule (kanon, regula, pravilo) of prayer done in secret at specific times of the day and week within one's room, the door being shut, according to texts (or memozied words, especially if the person is illiterate) prescribed and guided by a pastor and/or spiritual elder, which rule always includes "O Heavenly King" and the Trisagion prayers concluding with the Lord's Prayer. It may also include psalmody, the Creed, scripture reading, silence and intercession; and

(3) The practice of continuous and unceasing spritual prayer of the mind united with the heart usually accomplished, at least at first, by the verbal repetition of a short line of a psalm, or a short prayer, most often a form of the Jesus Prayer such as the shorter "Lord have mercy," or the longer, "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner."

My parents, like all devoted Christians without much formal religious education, knew these three forms of prayer. Without any theological training, they practiced them and taught them to their children in three short rules which were never to be broken. These rules were:

1. Go to church,

2. Say your prayers,

3. Remember God.

Saying Set Prayers

Christians always begin praying by using set prayers. They begin with words provided by God in the Bible and liturgy. The central set prayers for Christians are the Psalms, the Trisagion (Holy! Holy! Holy!), the Alleluia (Praise the Lord!), the Kyrie eleison (Lord have mercy), the Lord's Prayer (Our Father...), the Doxology to the Holy Trinity (Glory to the Father ...), and the acclamation to the Theotokos (Rejoice, O Virgin...)

The "Our Father" is the paradigmatic and quintessential prayer for Christians (see Matthew 6:7-13 and Luke 11:1-4). It is, to use a biblical way of speaking, the prayer of prayers. All other prayers are either abbreviations or elaborations of the Lord's Prayer. If they are not, then they are not acceptable prayers for Christians. The saints teach us that we should be very careful if we pray something that is not specifically contained in the Lord's Prayer. They warn us as well never to pray anyting contrary to it.

Beginning with set prayers in words given to us by God, we may then move on to prayers in our own words, inspired by God, or to prayers beyond words and thoughts, in the silence of God's Holy Spirit in a realm too high and too deep for words or thoughts of any kind at all. But we never begin in our own words. To do so is disobedient, dangerous, and foolish. If we begin to pray in our own words, and certainly if we try exclusively to pray in our own words, we will almost surely end up making prayers that are insulting to God and contrary to His holy will.

Protopresbyter Thomas Hopko, St. Vladimir's Seminary, 2002

Praying for God's will

2011-11-25T21:39:00.001Z

O Lord, grant me to greet the coming day in peace, help me in all things to rely upon Your holy will. In every hour of the day reveal Your will to me. Bless my dealings with all who surround me. Teach me to treat all that comes to me throughout the day with peace of soul and with firm conviction that Your will governs all. In all my words and deeds, guide my thoughts and feelings. In unforeseen events, let me not forget that all are sent by You. Teach me to act firmly and wisely, without embittering and embarrassing others. Give me strength to bear the fatigue of the coming day with all that it shall bring. Direct my will, teach me to pray. And, Yourself, pray in me. Amen.
Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow

Blessed is he whose hand Wisdom holds

2011-11-25T10:21:00.001Z

Jesus took the girl’s hand, healed her, and ordered that she should be given something to eat. This is evidence of life, so that not an apparition but the truth may be believed. Blessed is he whose hand Wisdom holds. I wish that righteousness held my acts and my hands. I want the Word of God to hold me, bring me into his closet, turn away the spirit of error, replace it with that of salvation, and order that I be given something to eat! The Word of God is the Bread of heaven. The Wisdom that filled the holy altar with the divine body and blood says, “Come, eat of my bread, and drink wine that I have mixed for you.”
Saint Ambrose of Milan, Exposition on the Gospel of Luke 6.63-64, quoted in Arthur A. Just (ed). Luke (Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture) 146.

Civil Partnerships and Religious Buildings

2011-11-21T16:27:00.001Z

The following is a statement issued by the Evangelical Fellowship in the Church in Wales (EFCW) with regard to the use of religious buildings for registration of Civil Partnerships:

"EFCW notes with concern the intention of the Westminster government, signalled in a speech by the Home Secretary (March 2011), to implement Section 202 of the Equality Act 2010. This would have the effect of permitting the registration of civil partnerships in religious premises.

It is encouraging that the Home Secretary, in the same speech, also said, “No religious group will be forced to host a civil-partnership registration”. In a statement of March 31st 2011, the Minister for Equalities said that as a first step towards registration “faith groups must agree whether to permit civil partnership registrations on their premises to enable individual religious premises to apply to host them”. EFCW believes that the Church in Wales should not take that first step of agreeing to permit registration, and that it should not do so for the sake of its witness to authentic marriage.

EFCW affirms the teaching of scripture which “upholds faithfulness in marriage between a man and a woman in lifelong union” (Lambeth Conference 1998, 1.10b). Civil Partnerships were introduced in 2005 and since then have produced an ambiguity about marriage in English and Welsh law and a degree of confusion about marriage in the public mind.

Despite reassurances at the time that civil partnerships did not affect the institution of marriage, they in fact already do so. The existence of a civil partnership is an impediment to marriage and this state of affairs indicates that civil partnerships were conceived from the start as standing in some relation to marriage. It is therefore not surprising that civil partnerships are commonly referred to as ‘marriages’.

To permit the use of church premises for the registration of civil partnerships will only serve to extend and deepen the existing confusion in society about marriage and its true nature. The church should not collaborate in this confusion concerning God’s purposes for humankind. Rather, it should be saying clearly at this time by word and action that marriage is the lifelong union of man and woman, instituted by God. The church should further make clear by its teaching that the state does not have competence either to alter this God-given institution or to blur its distinctive nature."

Repentance

2011-11-18T20:54:00.001Z

A soldier asked Abba Mius if God accepted repentance. After old Mius had taught the soldier many things, Mius said, "Tell me, my dear, if your cloak is torn, do you throw it away?" The soldier replied, "No, I mend it and use it again." Old Abba Mius said to him, "If you are so careful about your cloak, will not God be equally careful about his creature?" (The Sayings of the Desert Fathers, trans. Benedicta Ward. Kalamazooo, MI, 1984, 150; lightly edited)

Prayer and your enemies

2011-11-18T20:30:00.001Z

I love the Desert Fathers, their sayings are so 'biblical' and come from people who have soaked themselves in the scriptures. Here is one from one called Abba Zeno:

Abba Zeno said, 'If a man wants God to hear his prayer quickly, then before he prays for anything else, even his own soul, when he stands and stretches out his hands towards God, he must pray with all his heart for his enemies. Through this action God will hear everything that he asks.'

Calvin on prayer - part 4

2011-11-18T19:57:00.001Z

50. But although it has been said above, (sec. 7, 27, &c.,) that we ought always to raise our minds upwards towards God, and pray without ceasing, yet such is our weakness, which requires to be supported, such our torpor, which requires to be stimulated, that it is requisite for us to appoint special hours for this exercise, hours which are not to pass away without prayer, and during which the whole affections of our minds are to be completely occupied; namely, when we rise in the morning, before we commence our daily work, when we sit down to food, when by the blessing of God we have taken it, and when we retire to rest. This, however, must not be a superstitious observance of hours, by which, as it were, performing a task to God, we think we are discharged as to other hours; it should rather be considered as a discipline by which our weakness is exercised, and ever and anon stimulated. In particular, it must be our anxious care, whenever we are ourselves pressed, or see others pressed by any strait, instantly to have recourse to him not only with quickened pace, but with quickened minds; and again, we must not in any prosperity of ourselves or others omit to testify our recognition of his hand by praise and thanksgiving. Lastly, we must in all our prayers carefully avoid wishing to confine God to certain circumstances, or prescribe to him the time, place, or mode of action. In like manner, we are taught by this prayer not to fix any law or impose any condition upon him, but leave it entirely to him to adopt whatever course of procedure seems to him best, in respect of method, time, and place. For before we offer up any petition for ourselves, we ask that his will may be done, and by so doing place our will in subordination to his, just as if we had laid a curb upon it, that, instead of presuming to give law to God, it may regard him as the ruler and disposer of all its wishes.

51. If, with minds thus framed to obedience, we allow ourselves to be governed by the laws of Divine Providence, we shall easily learn to persevere in prayer, and suspending our own desires wait patiently for the Lord, certain, however little the appearance of it may be, that he is always present with us, and will in his own time show how very far he was from turning a deaf ear to prayers, though to the eyes of men they may seem to be disregarded. This will be a very present consolation, if at any time God does not grant an immediate answer to our prayers, preventing us from fainting or giving way to despondency, as those are wont to do who, in invoking God, are so borne away by their own fervor, that unless he yield on their first importunity and give present help, they immediately imagine that he is angry and offended with them and abandoning all hope of success cease from prayer. On the contrary, deferring our hope with well tempered equanimity, let us insist with that perseverance which is so strongly recommended to us in Scripture. We may often see in The Psalms how David and other believers, after they are almost weary of praying, and seem to have been beating the air by addressing a God who would not hear, yet cease not to pray because due authority is not given to the word of God, unless the faith placed in it is superior to all events. Again, let us not tempt God, and by wearying him with our importunity provoke his anger against us. Many have a practice of formally bargaining with God on certain conditions, and, as if he were the servant of their lust, binding him to certain stipulations; with which if he do not immediately comply, they are indignant and fretful, murmur, complain, and make a noise. Thus offended, he often in his anger grants to such persons what in mercy he kindly denies to others. Of this we have a proof in the children of Israel, for whom it had been better not to have been heard by the Lord, than to swallow his indignation with their flesh, (Num. 11: 18, 33.)

52. But if our sense is not able till after long expectation to perceive what the result of prayer is, or experience any benefit from it, still our faith will assure us of that which cannot be perceived by sense, viz., that we have obtained what was fit for us, the Lord having so often and so surely engaged to take an interest in all our troubles from the moment they have been deposited in his bosom. In this way we shall possess abundance in poverty, and comfort in affliction. For though all things fail, God will never abandon us, and he cannot frustrate the expectation and patience of his people. He alone will suffice for all, since in himself he comprehends all good, and will at last reveal it to us on the day of judgment, when his kingdom shall be plainly manifested. We may add, that although God complies with our request, he does not always give an answer in the very terms of our prayers but while apparently holding us in suspense, yet in an unknown way, shows that our prayers have not been in vain. This is the meaning of the words of John, "If we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him," (1 John 5: 15.) It might seem that there is here a great superfluity of words, but the declaration is most useful, namely, that God, even when he does not comply with our requests, yet listens and is favourable to our prayers, so that our hope founded on his word is never disappointed. But believers have always need of being supported by this patience, as they could not stand long if they did not lean upon it. For the trials by which the Lord proves and exercises us are severe, nay, he often drives us to extremes, and when driven allows us long to stick fast in the mire before he gives us any taste of his sweetness. As Hannah says, "The Lord killeth, and maketh alive; he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up," (1 Sam. 2: 6.) What could they here do but become dispirited and rush on despair, were they not, when afflicted, desolate, and half dead, comforted with the thought that they are regarded by God, and that there will be an end to their present evils. But however secure their hopes may stand, they in the meantime cease not to pray, since prayer unaccompanied by perseverance leads to no result.

Calvin on prayer - 3

2011-11-18T19:51:00.001Z

11. The fourth rule of prayer is, that notwithstanding of our being thus abased and truly humbled, we should be animated to pray with the sure hope of succeeding. There is, indeed, an appearance of contradiction between the two things, between a sense of the just vengeance of God and firm confidence in his favour, and yet they are perfectly accordant, if it is the mere goodness of God that raises up those who are overwhelmed by their own sins. For, as we have formerly shown (chap. 3: sec. 17 2) that repentance and faith go hand in hand, being united by an indissoluble tie, the one causing terror, the other joy, so in prayer they must both be present. This concurrence David expresses in a few words: "But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy, and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple," (Ps. 5: 7.) Under the goodness of God he comprehends faith, at the same time not excluding fear; for not only does his majesty compel our reverence, but our own unworthiness also divests us of all pride and confidence, and keeps us in fear. The confidence of which I speak is not one which frees the mind from all anxiety, and soothes it with sweet and perfect rest; such rest is peculiar to those who, while all their affairs are flowing to a wish are annoyed by no care, stung with no regret, agitated by no fear. But the best stimulus which the saints have to prayer is when, in consequence of their own necessities, they feel the greatest disquietude, and are all but driven to despair, until faith seasonably comes to their aid; because in such straits the goodness of God so shines upon them, that while they groan, burdened by the weight of present calamities, and tormented with the fear of greater, they yet trust to this goodness, and in this way both lighten the difficulty of endurance, and take comfort in the hope of final deliverance. It is necessary therefore, that the prayer of the believer should be the result of both feelings, and exhibit the influence of both; namely, that while he groans under present and anxiously dreads new evils, he should, at the same times have recourse to God, not at all doubting that God is ready to stretch out a helping hand to him. For it is not easy to say how much God is irritated by our distrust, when we ask what we expect not of his goodness. Hence, nothing is more accordant to the nature of prayer than to lay it down as a fixed rule, that it is not to come forth at random, but is to follow in the footsteps of faith. To this principle Christ directs all of us in these words, "Therefore, I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them," (Mark 11: 24.) The same thing he declares in another passage, "All things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive," (Matth. 21. 22.) In accordance with this are the words of James, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering," (James 1: 5.) He most aptly expresses the power of faith by opposing it to wavering. No less worthy of notice is his additional statement, that those who approach God with a doubting, hesitating mind, without feeling assured whether they are to be heard or not, gain nothing by their prayers. Such persons he compares to a wave of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed. Hence, in another passage he terms genuine prayer "the prayer of faith," (James 5: 15.) Again, since God so often declares that he will give to every man according to his faith he intimates that we cannot obtain any thing without faith. In short, it is faith which obtains every thing that is granted to prayer. This is the meaning of Paul in the well known passage to which dull men give too little heed, "How then shall they call upon him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?" "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God," (Rom. 10: 14,17.) Gradually deducing the origin of prayer from faith, he distinctly maintains that God cannot be invoked sincerely except by those to whom, by the preaching of the Gospel, his mercy and willingness have been made known, nay, familiarly explained.

12. This necessity our opponents do not at all consider. Therefore, when we say that believers ought to feel firmly assured, they think we are saying the absurdest thing in the world. But if they had any experience in true prayer, they would assuredly understand that God cannot be duly invoked without this firm sense of the Divine benevolence. But as no man can well perceive the power of faith, without at the same time feeling it in his heart, what profit is there in disputing with men of this character, who plainly show that they have never had more than a vain imagination? The value and necessity of that assurance for which we contend is learned chiefly from prayer. Every one who does not see this gives proof of a very stupid conscience. Therefore, leaving those who are thus blinded, let us fix our thoughts on the words of Paul, that God can only be invoked by such as have obtained a knowledge of his mercy from the Gospel, and feel firmly assured that that mercy is ready to be bestowed upon them. What kind of prayer would this be? "O Lord, I am indeed doubtful whether or not thou art inclined to hear me; but being oppressed with anxiety I fly to thee that if I am worthy, thou mayest assist me." None of the saints whose prayers are given in Scripture thus supplicated. Nor are we thus taught by the Holy Spirit, who tells us to "come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need," (Heb. 4: 16;) and elsewhere teaches us to "have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of Christ," (Eph. 3: 12.) This confidence of obtaining what we ask, a confidence which the Lord commands, and all the saints teach by their example, we must therefore hold fast with both hands, if we would pray to any advantage. The only prayer acceptable to God is that which springs (if I may so express it) from this presumption of faith, and is founded on the full assurance of hope. He might have been contented to use the simple name of faith, but he adds not only confidence, but liberty or boldness, that by this mark he might distinguish us from unbelievers, who indeed like us pray to God, but pray at random. Hence, the whole Church thus prays "Let thy mercy O Lord, be upon us, according as we hope in thee," (Ps. 33: 22.) The same condition is set down by the Psalmist in another passage, "When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back: this I know, for God is for me," (Ps. 56: 9.) Again, "In the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up," (Ps. 5: 3.) From these words we gather, that prayers are vainly poured out into the air unless accompanied with faith, in which, as from a watchtower, we may quietly wait for God. With this agrees the order of Paul's exhortation. For before urging believers to pray in the Spirit always, with vigilance and assiduity, he enjoins them to take "the shield of faith," "the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God," (Eph. vi. 16-18.) Let the reader here call to mind what I formerly observed, that faith by no means fails though accompanied with a recognition of our wretchedness, poverty, and pollution. How much soever believers may feel that they are oppressed by a heavy load of iniquity, and are not only devoid of every thing which can procure the favour of God for them, but justly burdened with many sins which make him an object of dread, yet they cease not to present themselves, this feeling not deterring them from appearing in his presence, because there is no other access to him. Genuine prayer is not that by which we arrogantly extol ourselves before God, or set a great value on any thing of our own, but that by which, while confessing our guilt, we utter our sorrows before God, just as children familiarly lay their complaints before their parents. Nay, the immense accumulation of our sins should rather spur us on and incite us to prayer. Of this the Psalmist gives us an example, "Heal my soul: for I have sinned against thee," (Ps. 41: 4.) I confess, indeed, that these stings would prove mortal darts, did not God give succour; but our heavenly Father has, in ineffable kindness, added a remedy, by which, calming all perturbation, soothing our cares, and dispelling our fears he condescendingly allures us to himself; nay, removing all doubts, not to say obstacles, makes the way smooth before us.

13. And first, indeed in enjoining us to pray, he by the very injunction convicts us of impious contumacy if we obey not. He could not give a more precise command than that which is contained in the psalms: "Call upon me in the day of trouble," (Ps. 50: 15.) But as there is no office of piety more frequently enjoined by Scripture, there is no occasion for here dwelling longer upon it. "Ask," says our Divine Master, "and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you," (Matth. 7: 7.) Here, indeed, a promise is added to the precept, and this is necessary. For though all confess that we must obey the precept, yet the greater part would shun the invitation of God, did he not promise that he would listen and be ready to answer. These two positions being laid down, it is certain that all who cavillingly allege that they are not to come to God directly, are not only rebellious and disobedient but are also convicted of unbelief, inasmuch as they distrust the promises. There is the more occasion to attend to this, because hypocrites, under a pretense of humility and modesty, proudly contemn the precept, as well as deny all credit to the gracious invitation of God; nay, rob him of a principal part of his worship. For when he rejected sacrifices, in which all holiness seemed then to consist, he declared that the chief thing, that which above all others is precious in his sight, is to be invoked in the day of necessity. Therefore, when he demands that which is his own, and urges us to alacrity in obeying, no pretexts for doubt, how specious soever they may be, can excuse us. Hence, all the passages throughout Scripture in which we are commanded to pray, are set up before our eyes as so many banners, to inspire us with confidence. It were presumption to go forward into the presence of God, did he not anticipate us by his invitation. Accordingly, he opens up the way for us by his own voice, "I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God," (Zech. 13: 9.) We see how he anticipates his worshippers, and desires them to follow, and therefore we cannot fear that the melody which he himself dictates will prove unpleasing. Especially let us call to mind that noble description of the divine character, by trusting to which we shall easily overcome every obstacle: O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come," (Ps. 65: 2.) What can be more lovely or soothing than to see God invested with a title which assures us that nothing is more proper to his nature than to listen to the prayers of suppliants? Hence the Psalmist infers, that free access is given not to a few individuals, but to all men, since God addresses all in these terms, "Call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me," (Ps. 50: 15.) David, accordingly, appeals to the promise thus given in order to obtain what he asks: "Thou, O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, hast revealed to thy servant, saying, I will build thee an house: therefore hath thy servant found in his heart to pray this prayer unto thee" (2 Sam. 7: 27.) Here we infer, that he would have been afraid but for the promise which emboldened him. So in another passage he fortifies himself with the general doctrine, "He will fulfill the desire of them that fear him," (Ps. 145: 19.) Nay, we may observe in The Psalms how the continuity of prayer is broken, and a transition is made at one time to the power of God, at another to his goodness, at another to the faithfulness of his promises. It might seem that David, by introducing these sentiments, unseasonably mutilates his prayers; but believers well know by experience, that their ardor grows languid unless new fuel be added, and, therefore, that meditation as well on the nature as on the word of God during prayer, is by no means superfluous. Let us not decline to imitate the example of David, and introduce thoughts which may reanimate our languid minds with new vigour.

14. It is strange that these delightful promises affect us coldly, or scarcely at all, so that the generality of men prefer to wander up and down, forsaking the fountain of living waters, and hewing out to themselves broken cisterns, rather than embrace the divine liberality voluntarily offered to them (Jer. 2:13). "The name of the Lord," says Solomon, "is a strong tower; the righteous runneth into it, and is safe." (Pr. 18:10) Joel, after predicting the fearful disaster which was at hand, subjoins the following memorable sentence: "And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered." (Joel 2: 32) This we know properly refers to the course of the Gospel. Scarcely one in a hundred is moved to come into the presence of God, though he himself exclaims by Isaiah, "And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear." (Is. 65: 24) This honour he elsewhere bestows upon the whole Church in general, as belonging to all the members of Christ: "He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him." (Ps. 91:15) My intention, however, as I already observed, is not to enumerate all, but only select some admirable passages as a specimen how kindly God allures us to himself, and how extreme our ingratitude must be when with such powerful motives our sluggishness still retards us. Wherefore, let these words always resound in our ears: "The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth," (Ps. 145: 18.) Likewise those passages which we have quoted from Isaiah and Joel, in which God declares that his ear is open to our prayers, and that he is delighted as with a sacrifice of sweet savour when we cast our cares upon him. The special benefit of these promises we receive when we frame our prayer, not timorously or doubtingly, but when trusting to his word whose majesty might otherwise deter us, we are bold to call him Father, he himself deigning to suggest this most delightful name. Fortified by such invitations it remains for us to know that we have therein sufficient materials for prayer, since our prayers depend on no merit of our own, but all their worth and hope of success are founded and depend on the promises of God, so that they need no other support, and require not to look up and down on this hand and on that. It must therefore be fixed in our minds, that though we equal not the lauded sanctity of patriarchs, prophets, and apostles, yet as the command to pray is common to us as well as them, and faith is common, so if we lean on the word of God, we are in respect of this privilege their associates. For God declaring, as has already been seen, that he will listen and be favourable to all, encourages the most wretched to hope that they shall obtain what they ask; and, accordingly, we should attend to the general forms of expression, which, as it is commonly expressed, exclude none from first to last; only let there be sincerity of heart, self- dissatisfaction humility, and faith, that we may not, by the hypocrisy of a deceitful prayer, profane the name of God. Our most merciful Father will not reject those whom he not only encourages to come, but urges in every possible way. Hence David's method of prayer to which I lately referred: "And now, O Lord God, thou art that God, and thy words be true, and thou hast promised this goodness unto thy servant, that it may continue for ever before thee" (2 Sam. 7: 28.) So also, in another passage, "Let, I pray thee, thy merciful kindness be for my comfort, according to thy word unto thy servant," (Psalm 119: 76.) And the whole body of the Israelites, whenever they fortify themselves with the remembrance of the covenant, plainly declare, that since God thus prescribes they are not to pray timorously, (Gen. 32: 13.) In this they imitated the example of the patriarchs, particularly Jacob, who, after confessing that he was unworthy of the many mercies which he had received of the Lord's hand, says, that he is encouraged to make still larger requests, because God had promised that he would grant them. But whatever be the pretexts which unbelievers employ, when they do not flee to God as often as necessity urges, nor seek after him, nor implore his aid, they defraud him of his due honour just as much as if they were fabricating to themselves new gods and idols, since in this way they deny that God is the author of all their blessings. On the contrary, nothing more effectually frees pious minds from every doubt, than to be armed with the thought that no obstacle should impede them while they are obeying the command of God, who declares that nothing is more grateful to him than obedience. Hence, again, what I have previously said becomes still more clear, namely, that a bold spirit in prayer well accords with fear, reverence, and anxiety, and that there is no inconsistency when God raises up those who had fallen prostrate. In this way forms of expression apparently inconsistent admirably harmonize. Jeremiah and David speak of humbly laying their supplications[5] before God (Jer. 42: 9; Dan. 9: 18.) In another passage Jeremiah says "Let, we beseech thee, our supplication be accepted before thee, and pray for us unto the Lord thy God, even for all this remnant." (Jer. 42: 2) On the other hand, believers are often said to _lift up prayer_. Thus Hezekiah speaks, when asking the prophet to undertake the office of interceding (2 Kings 19: 4.) And David says, "Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice." (Ps. 141: 2) The explanation is, that though believers, persuaded of the paternal love of God, cheerfully rely on his faithfulness, and have no hesitation in imploring the aid which he voluntarily offers, they are not elated with supine or presumptuous security; but climbing up by the ladder of the promises, still remain humble and abased suppliants.

15. Here, by way of objection, several questions are raised. Scripture relates that God sometimes complied with certain prayers which had been dictated by minds not duly calmed or regulated. It is true, that the cause for which Jotham imprecated on the inhabitants of Shechem the disaster which afterwards befell them was well founded; but still he was inflamed with anger and revenge, (Judges 9: 20;) and hence God, by complying with the execration, seems to approve of passionate impulses. Similar fervor also seized Samson, when he prayed, "Strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes," (Judges 16: 28.) For although there was some mixture of good zeal, yet his ruling feeling was a fervid, and therefore vicious longing for vengeance. God assents, and hence apparently it might be inferred that prayers are effectual, though not framed in conformity to the rule of the word. But I answer, _first_, that a perpetual law is not abrogated by singular examples; and, _secondly_, that special suggestions have sometimes been made to a few individuals, whose case thus becomes different from that of the generality of men. For we should attend to the answer which our Saviour gave to his disciples when they inconsiderately wished to imitate the example of Elias, "Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of," (Luke ix. 55.) We must, however, go farther and say, that the wishes to which God assents are not always pleasing to him; but he assents, because it is necessary, by way of example, to give clear evidence of the doctrine of Scripture, viz., that he assists the miserable, and hears the groans of those who unjustly afflicted implore his aid: and, accordingly, he executes his judgments when the complaints of the needy, though in themselves unworthy of attention, ascend to him. For how often, in inflicting punishment on the ungodly for cruelty, rapine, violence, lust, and other crimes, in curbing audacity and fury, and also in overthrowing tyrannical power, has he declared that he gives assistance to those who are unworthily oppressed though they by addressing an unknown deity only beat the air? There is one psalm which clearly teaches that prayers are not without effect, though they do not penetrate to heaven by faith, (Ps. 107: 6,13,19.) For it enumerates the prayers which, by natural instinct, necessity extorts from unbelievers not less than from believers, and to which it shows by the event, that God is, notwithstanding, propitious. Is it to testify by such readiness to hear that their prayers are agreeable to him? Nay; it is, first, to magnify or display his mercy by the circumstance, that even the wishes of unbelievers are not denied; and, secondly, to stimulate his true worshippers to more urgent prayer, when they see that sometimes even the wailings of the ungodly are not without avail. This, however, is no reason why believers should deviate from the law divinely imposed upon them, or envy unbelievers, as if they gained much in obtaining what they wished. We have observed, (chap. 3: sec. 25,) that in this way God yielded to the feigned repentance of Ahab, that he might show how ready he is to listen to his elect when, with true contrition, they seek his favour. Accordingly, he upbraids the Jews, that shortly after experiencing his readiness to listen to their prayers, they returned to their own perverse inclinations. It is also plain from the Book of Judges that, whenever they wept, though their tears were deceitful, they were delivered from the hands of their enemies. Therefore, as God sends his sun indiscriminately on the evil and on the good, so he despises not the tears of those who have a good cause, and whose sorrows are deserving of relief. Meanwhile, though he hears them, it has no more to do with salvation than the supply of food which he gives to other despisers of his goodness. There seems to be a more difficult question concerning Abraham and Samuel, the one of whom, without any instruction from the word of God, prayed in behalf of the people of Sodom, and the other, contrary to an express prohibition, prayed in behalf of Saul, (Gen. 18: 23; 1 Sam. 15. 11.) Similar is the case of Jeremiah, who prayed that the city might not be destroyed, (Jer. 32: 16ff.) It is true their prayers were refused, but it seems harsh to affirm that they prayed without faith. Modest readers will, I hope, be satisfied with this solution, viz., that leaning to the general principle on which God enjoins us to be merciful even to the unworthy, they were not altogether devoid of faith, though in this particular instance their wish was disappointed. Augustine shrewdly remarks, "How do the saints pray in faith when they ask from God contrary to what he has decreed? Namely, because they pray according to his will, not his hidden and immutable will, but that which he suggests to them, that he may hear them in another manner; as he wisely distinguishes," (August. de Civit. Dei, Lib. 22: 100: 2.) This is truly said: for, in his incomprehensible counsel, he so regulates events, that the prayers of the saints, though involving a mixture of faith and error, are not in vain. And yet this no more sanctions imitation than it excuses the saints themselves, who I deny not exceeded due bounds. Wherefore, whenever no certain promise exists, our request to God must have a condition annexed to it. Here we may refer to the prayer of David, "Awake for me to the judgment that thou hast commanded," (Ps. vii. 6;) for he reminds us that he had received special instruction to pray for a temporal blessing.[6]

16. It is also of importance to observe, that the four laws of prayer of which I have treated are not so rigorously enforced, as that God rejects the prayers in which he does not find perfect faith or repentance, accompanied with fervent zeal and wishes duly framed. We have said, (sec. 4,) that though prayer is the familiar intercourse of believers with God, yet reverence and modesty must be observed: we must not give loose reins to our wishes, nor long for any thing farther than God permits; and, moreover, lest the majesty of God should be despised, our minds must be elevated to pure and chaste veneration. This no man ever performed with due perfection. For, not to speak of the generality of men, how often do David's complaints savour of intemperance? Not that he actually means to expostulate with God, or murmur at his judgments, but failing, through infirmity, he finds no better solace than to pour his griefs into the bosom of his heavenly Father. Nay, even our stammering is tolerated by God, and pardon is granted to our ignorance as often as any thing rashly escapes us: indeed, without this indulgence, we should have no freedom to pray. But although it was David's intention to submit himself entirely to the will of God, and he prayed with no less patience than fervor, yet irregular emotions appear, nay, sometimes burst forth,-emotions not a little at variance with the first law which we laid down. In particular, we may see in a clause of the thirty-ninth Psalm, how this saint was carried away by the vehemence of his grief, and unable to keep within bounds. "O spare me,[7] that I may recover strength, before I go hence, and be no more," (Ps. 39: 13.) You would call this the language of a desperate man, who had no other desire than that God should withdraw and leave him to relish in his distresses. Not that his devout mind rushes into such intemperance, or that, as the reprobate are wont, he wishes to have done with God; he only complains that the divine anger is more than he can bear. During those trials, wishes often escape which are not in accordance with the rule of the word, and in which the saints do not duly consider what is lawful and expedient. Prayers contaminated by such faults, indeed, deserve to be rejected; yet provided the saints lament, administer self-correction and return to themselves, God pardons. Similar faults are committed in regard to the second law, (as to which, see sec. 6,) for the saints have often to struggle with their own coldness, their want and misery not urging them sufficiently to serious prayer. It often happens, also, that their minds wander, and are almost lost; hence in this matter also there is need of pardon, lest their prayers, from being languid or mutilated, or interrupted and wandering, should meet with a refusal. One of the natural feelings which God has imprinted on our mind is, that prayer is not genuine unless the thoughts are turned upward. Hence the ceremony of raising the hands, to which we have adverted, a ceremony known to all ages and nations, and still in common use. But who, in lifting up his hands, is not conscious of sluggishness, the heart cleaving to the earth? In regard to the petition for remission of sins, (sec. 8,) though no believer omits it, yet all who are truly exercised in prayer feel that they bring scarcely a tenth of the sacrifice of which David speaks, "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise," (Ps. 51: 17.) Thus a twofold pardon is always to be asked; first, because they are conscious of many faults the sense of which, however, does not touch them so as to make them feel dissatisfied with themselves as they ought; and, secondly, in so far as they have been enabled to profit in repentance and the fear of God, they are humbled with just sorrow for their offenses, and pray for the remission of punishment by the judge. The thing which most of all vitiates prayer, did not God indulgently interpose, is weakness or imperfection of faith; but it is not wonderful that this defect is pardoned by God, who often exercises his people with severe trials, as if he actually wished to extinguish their faith. The hardest of such trials is when believers are forced to exclaim, "O Lord God of hosts, how long wilt thou be angry against the prayer of thy people?" (Ps. 80: 4,) as if their very prayers offended him. In like manner, when Jeremiah says "Also when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayers (Lam. 3: 8,) there cannot be a doubt that he was in the greatest perturbation. Innumerable examples of the same kind occur in the Scriptures, from which it is manifest that the faith of the saints was often mingled with doubts and fears, so that while believing and hoping, they, however, betrayed some degree of unbelief, But because they do not come so far as were to be wished, that is only an additional reason for their exerting themselves to correct their faults, that they may daily approach nearer to the perfect law of prayer, and at the same time feel into what an abyss of evils those are plunged, who, in the very cures they use, bring new diseases upon themselves: since there is no prayer which God would not deservedly disdain, did he not overlook the blemishes with which all of them are polluted. I do not mention these things that believers may securely pardon themselves in any faults which they commit, but that they may call themselves to strict account, and thereby endeavour to surmount these obstacles; and though Satan endeavours to block up all the paths in order to prevent them from praying, they may, nevertheless, break through, being firmly persuaded that though not disencumbered of all hindrances, their attempts are pleasing to God, and their wishes are approved, provided they hasten on and keep their aim, though without immediately reaching it.

Calvin on prayer - 2

2011-11-18T19:49:00.001Z

6. Another rule of prayer is, that in asking we must always truly feel our wants, and seriously considering that we need all the things which we ask, accompany the prayer with a sincere, nay, ardent desire of obtaining them. Many repeat prayers in a perfunctory manner from a set form, as if they were performing a task to God, and though they confess that this is a necessary remedy for the evils of their condition, because it were fatal to be left without the divine aid which they implore, it still appears that they perform the duty from custom, because their minds are meanwhile cold, and they ponder not what they ask. A general and confused feeling of their necessity leads them to pray, but it does not make them solicitous as in a matter of present consequence, that they may obtain the supply of their need. Moreover, can we suppose anything more hateful or even more execrable to God than this fiction of asking the pardon of sins, while he who asks at the very time either thinks that he is not a sinner, or, at least, is not thinking that he is a sinner; in other words, a fiction by which God is plainly held in derision? But mankind, as I have lately said, are full of depravity, so that in the way of perfunctory service they often ask many things of God which they think come to them without his beneficence, or from some other quarter, or are already certainly in their possession. There is another fault which seems less heinous, but is not to be tolerated. Some murmur out prayers without meditation, their only principle being that God is to be propitiated by prayer. Believers ought to be specially on their guard never to appear in the presence of God with the intention of presenting a request unless they are under some serious impression, and are, at the same time, desirous to obtain it. Nay, although in these things which we ask only for the glory of God, we seem not at first sight to consult for our necessity, yet we ought not to ask with less fervor and vehemence of desire. For instance, when we pray that his name be hallowed--that hallowing must, so to speak, be earnestly hungered and thirsted after.

7. If it is objected, that the necessity which urges us to pray is not always equal, I admit it, and this distinction is profitably taught us by James: "Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms," (James 5: 13.) Therefore, common sense itself dictates, that as we are too sluggish, we must be stimulated by God to pray earnestly whenever the occasion requires. This David calls a time when God "may be found," (a seasonable time;) because, as he declares in several other passages, that the more hardly grievances, annoyances, fears, and other kinds of trial press us, the freer is our access to God, as if he were inviting us to himself. Still not less true is the injunction of Paul to pray "always," (Eph. 6: 18;) because, however prosperously according to our view, things proceed, and however we may be surrounded on all sides with grounds of joy, there is not an instant of time during which our want does not exhort us to prayer. A man abounds in wheat and wine; but as he cannot enjoy a morsel of bread, unless by the continual bounty of God, his granaries or cellars will not prevent him from asking for daily bread. Then, if we consider how many dangers impend every moment, fear itself will teach us that no time ought to be without prayer. This, however, may be better known in spiritual matters. For when will the many sins of which we are conscious allow us to sit secure without suppliantly entreating freedom from guilt and punishment? When will temptation give us a truce, making it unnecessary to hasten for help? Moreover, zeal for the kingdom and glory of God ought not to seize us by starts, but urge us without intermission, so that every time should appear seasonable. It is not without cause, therefore, that assiduity in prayer is so often enjoined. I am not now speaking of perseverance, which shall afterwards be considered; but Scripture, by reminding us of the necessity of constant prayer, charges us with sloth, because we feel not how much we stand in need of this care and assiduity. By this rule hypocrisy and the device of lying to God are restrained, nay, altogether banished from prayer. God promises that he will be near to those who call upon him in truth, and declares that those who seek him with their whole heart will find him: those, therefore, who delight in their own pollution cannot surely aspire to him. One of the requisites of legitimate prayer is repentance. Hence the common declaration of Scripture, that God does not listen to the wicked; that their prayers, as well as their sacrifices, are an abomination to him. For it is right that those who seal up their hearts should find the ears of God closed against them, that those who, by their hardheartedness, provoke his severity should find him inflexible. In Isaiah he thus threatens: "When ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood," (Isaiah 1: 15.) In like manner, in Jeremiah, "Though they shall cry unto me, I will not hearken unto them," (Jer. 11: 7, 8, 11;) because he regards it as the highest insult for the wicked to boast of his covenant while profaning his sacred name by their whole lives. Hence he complains in Isaiah: "This people draw near to me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me; but have removed their heart far from men" (Isaiah 29: 13.) Indeed, he does not confine this to prayers alone, but declares that he abominates pretense in every part of his service. Hence the words of James, "Ye ask and receive note because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts," (James iv. 3.) It is true, indeed, (as we shall again see in a little,) that the pious, in the prayers which they utter, trust not to their own worth; still the admonition of John is not superfluous: "Whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments," (1 John 3: 22;) an evil conscience shuts the door against us. Hence it follows, that none but the sincere worshippers of God pray aright, or are listened to. Let every one, therefore, who prepares to pray feel dissatisfied with what is wrong in his condition, and assume, which he cannot do without repentance, the character and feelings of a poor suppliant.

8. The third rule to be added is: that he who comes into the presence of God to pray must divest himself of all vainglorious thoughts, lay aside all idea of worth; in short, discard all self- confidence, humbly giving God the whole glory, lest by arrogating any thing, however little, to himself, vain pride cause him to turn away his face. Of this submission, which casts down all haughtiness, we have numerous examples in the servants of God. The holier they are, the more humbly they prostrate themselves when they come into the presence of the Lord. Thus Daniel, on whom the Lord himself bestowed such high commendation, says, "We do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousness but for thy great mercies. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name." This he does not indirectly in the usual manner, as if he were one of the individuals in a crowd: he rather confesses his guilt apart, and as a suppliant betaking himself to the asylum of pardon, he distinctly declares that he was confessing his own sin, and the sin of his people Israel, (Dan. 9: 18-20.) David also sets us an example of this humility: "Enter not into judgment with thy servant: for in thy sight shall no man living be justified," (Psalm 143: 2.) In like manner, Isaiah prays, "Behold, thou art wroth; for we have sinned: in those is continuance, and we shall be saved. But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities. But now, O Lord, thou art our Father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand. Be not wroth very sore, O Lord, neither remember iniquity for ever: Behold, see, we beseech thee, we are all thy people." (Isa. 64: 5-9.) You see how they put no confidence in any thing but this: considering that they are the Lord's, they despair not of being the objects of his care. In the same way, Jeremiah says, "O Lord, though our iniquities testify against us, do thou it for thy name's sake," (Jer. 14: 7.) For it was most truly and piously written by the uncertain author (whoever he may have been) that wrote the book which is attributed to the prophet Baruch,[2] "But the soul that is greatly vexed, which goeth stooping and feeble, and the eyes that fail, and the hungry soul, will give thee praise and righteousness, O Lord. Therefore, we do not make our humble supplication before thee, O Lord our God, for the righteousness of our fathers, and of our kings." "Hear, O Lord, and have mercy; for thou art merciful: and have pity upon us, because we have sinned before thee," (Baruch 2: 18, 19; 3: 2.)

9. In fine, supplication for pardon, with humble and ingenuous confession of guilt, forms both the preparation and commencement of right prayer. For the holiest of men cannot hope to obtain any thing from God until he has been freely reconciled to him. God cannot be propitious to any but those whom he pardons. Hence it is not strange that this is the key by which believers open the door of prayer, as we learn from several passages in The Psalms. David, when presenting a request on a different subject, says, "Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions; according to thy mercy remember me, for thy goodness sake, O Lord," (Psalm 25: 7.) Again, "Look upon my affliction and my pain, and forgive my sins," (Psalm 25: 18.) Here also we see that it is not sufficient to call ourselves to account for the sins of each passing day; we must also call to mind those which might seem to have been long before buried in oblivion. For in another passage the same prophet, confessing one grievous crime, takes occasion to go back to his very birth, "I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me," (Psalm 51: 5;) not to extenuate the fault by the corruption of his nature, but as it were to accumulate the sins of his whole life, that the stricter he was in condemning himself, the more placable God might be. But although the saints do not always in express terms ask forgiveness of sins, yet if we carefully ponder those prayers as given in Scripture, the truth of what I say will readily appear; namely, that their courage to pray was derived solely from the mercy of God, and that they always began with appeasing him. For when a man interrogates his conscience, so far is he from presuming to lay his cares familiarly before God, that if he did not trust to mercy and pardon, he would tremble at the very thought of approaching him. There is, indeed, another special confession. When believers long for deliverance from punishment, they at the same time pray that their sins may be pardoned;[3] for it were absurd to wish that the effect should be taken away while the cause remains. For we must beware of imitating foolish patients who, anxious only about curing accidental symptoms, neglect the root of the disease.[4] Nay, our endeavour must be to have God propitious even before he attests his favour by external signs, both because this is the order which he himself chooses, and it were of little avail to experience his kindness, did not conscience feel that he is appeased, and thus enable us to regard him as altogether lovely. Of this we are even reminded by our Savior's reply. Having determined to cure the paralytic, he says, "Thy sins are forgiven thee;" in other words, he raises our thoughts to the object which is especially to be desired, viz. admission into the favour of God, and then gives the fruit of reconciliation by bringing assistance to us. But besides that special confession of present guilt which believers employ, in supplicating for pardon of every fault and punishment, that general introduction which procures favour for our prayers must never be omitted, because prayers will never reach God unless they are founded on free mercy. To this we may refer the words of John, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness," (1 John 1: 9.) Hence, under the law it was necessary to consecrate prayers by the expiation of blood, both that they might be accepted, and that the people might be warned that they were unworthy of the high privilege until, being purged from their defilements, they founded their confidence in prayer entirely on the mercy of God.

10. Sometimes, however, the saints in supplicating God, seem to appeal to their own righteousness, as when David says, "Preserve my soul; for I am holy," (Ps. 86: 2.) Also Hezekiah, "Remember now, O Lord, I beseech thee how I have walked before thee in truth, and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight," (Is. 38. 2.) All they mean by such expressions is, that regeneration declares them to be among the servants and children to whom God engages that he will show favour. We have already seen how he declares by the Psalmist that his eyes "are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry," (Ps. 34: 16:) and again by the apostle, that "whatsoever we ask of him we obtain, because we keep his commandments," (John 3: 22.) In these passages he does not fix a value on prayer as a meritorious work, but designs to establish the confidence of those who are conscious of an unfeigned integrity and innocence, such as all believers should possess. For the saying of the blind man who had received his sight is in perfect accordance with divine truth, And God heareth not sinners (John 9: 31;) provided we take the term sinners in the sense commonly used by Scripture to mean those who, without any desire for righteousness, are sleeping secure in their sins; since no heart will ever rise to genuine prayer that does not at the same time long for holiness. Those supplications in which the saints allude to their purity and integrity correspond to such promises, that they may thus have, in their own experience, a manifestation of that which all the servants of God are made to expect. Thus they almost always use this mode of prayer when before God they compare themselves with their enemies, from whose injustice they long to be delivered by his hand. When making such comparisons, there is no wonder that they bring forward their integrity and simplicity of heart, that thus, by the justice of their cause, the Lord may be the more disposed to give them succour. We rob not the pious breast of the privilege of enjoying a consciousness of purity before the Lord, and thus feeling assured of the promises with which he comforts and supports his true worshippers, but we would have them to lay aside all thought of their own merits and found their confidence of success in prayer solely on the divine mercy.

Calvin on prayer - part 1

2011-11-18T19:42:00.001Z

1. From the previous part of the work we clearly see how completely destitute man is of all good, how devoid of every means of procuring his own salvation. Hence, if he would obtain succour in his necessity, he must go beyond himself, and procure it in some other quarter. It has farther been shown that the Lord kindly and spontaneously manifests himself in Christ, in whom he offers all happiness for our misery, all abundance for our want, opening up the treasures of heaven to us, so that we may turn with full faith to his beloved Son, depend upon him with full expectation, rest in him, and cleave to him with full hope. This, indeed, is that secret and hidden philosophy which cannot be learned by syllogisms: a philosophy thoroughly understood by those whose eyes God has so opened as to see light in his light (Ps. 36: 9.) But after we have learned by faith to know that whatever is necessary for us or defective in us is supplied in God and in our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom it hath pleased the Father that all fulness should dwell, that we may thence draw as from an inexhaustible fountain, it remains for us to seek and in prayer implore of him what we have learned to be in him. To know God as the sovereign disposer of all good, inviting us to present our requests, and yet not to approach or ask of him, were so far from availing us, that it were just as if one told of a treasure were to allow it to remain buried in the ground. Hence the Apostle, to show that a faith unaccompanied with prayer to God cannot be genuine, states this to be the order: As faith springs from the Gospel, so by faith our hearts are framed to call upon the name of God, (Rom. 10: 14.) And this is the very thing which he had expressed some time before, viz., that the _Spirit of adoption_, which seals the testimony of the Gospel on our hearts, gives us courage to make our requests known unto God, calls forth groanings which cannot be uttered, and enables us to cry, Abba, Father, (Rom. 8: 26.) This last point, as we have hitherto only touched upon it slightly in passing, must now be treated more fully.

2. To _prayer_, then, are we indebted for penetrating to those riches which are treasured up for us with our heavenly Father. For there is a kind of intercourse between God and men, by which, having entered the upper sanctuary, they appear before Him and appeal to his promises, that when necessity requires they may learn by experiences that what they believed merely on the authority of his word was not in vain. Accordingly, we see that nothing is set before us as an object of expectation from the Lord which we are not enjoined to ask of Him in prayer, so true it is that prayer digs up those treasures which the Gospel of our Lord discovers to the eye of faith. The necessity and utility of this exercise of prayer no words can sufficiently express. Assuredly it is not without cause our heavenly Father declares that our only safety is in calling upon his name, since by it we invoke the presence of his providence to watch over our interests, of his power to sustain us when weak and almost fainting, of his goodness to receive us into favour, though miserably loaded with sin; in fine, call upon him to manifest himself to us in all his perfections. Hence, admirable peace and tranquillity are given to our consciences; for the straits by which we were pressed being laid before the Lord, we rest fully satisfied with the assurance that none of our evils are unknown to him, and that he is both able and willing to make the best provision for us.

3. But some one will say, Does he not know without a monitor both what our difficulties are, and what is meet for our interest, so that it seems in some measure superfluous to solicit him by our prayers, as if he were winking, or even sleeping, until aroused by the sound of our voice?[1] Those who argue thus attend not to the end for which the Lord taught us to pray. It was not so much for his sake as for ours. He wills indeed, as is just, that due honour be paid him by acknowledging that all which men desire or feel to be useful, and pray to obtain, is derived from him. But even the benefit of the homage which we thus pay him redounds to ourselves. Hence the holy patriarchs, the more confidently they proclaimed the mercies of God to themselves and others felt the stronger incitement to prayer. It will be sufficient to refer to the example of Elijah, who being assured of the purpose of God had good ground for the promise of rain which he gives to Ahab, and yet prays anxiously upon his knees, and sends his servant seven times to inquire, (1 Kings 18: 42;) not that he discredits the oracle, but because he knows it to be his duty to lay his desires before God, lest his faith should become drowsy or torpid. Wherefore, although it is true that while we are listless or insensible to our wretchedness, he wakes and watches for use and sometimes even assists us unasked; it is very much for our interest to be constantly supplicating him; first, that our heart may always be inflamed with a serious and ardent desire of seeking, loving and serving him, while we accustom ourselves to have recourse to him as a sacred anchor in every necessity; secondly, that no desires, no longing whatever, of which we are ashamed to make him the witness, may enter our minds, while we learn to place all our wishes in his sight, and thus pour out our heart before him; and, lastly, that we may be prepared to receive all his benefits with true gratitude and thanksgiving, while our prayers remind us that they proceed from his hand. Moreover, having obtained what we asked, being persuaded that he has answered our prayers, we are led to long more earnestly for his favour, and at the same time have greater pleasure in welcoming the blessings which we perceive to have been obtained by our prayers. Lastly, use and experience confirm the thought of his providence in our minds in a manner adapted to our weakness, when we understand that he not only promises that he will never fail us, and spontaneously gives us access to approach him in every time of need, but has his hand always stretched out to assist his people, not amusing them with words, but proving himself to be a present aid. For these reasons, though our most merciful Father never slumbers nor sleeps, he very often seems to do so, that thus he may exercise us, when we might otherwise be listless and slothful, in asking, entreating, and earnestly beseeching him to our great good. It is very absurd, therefore, to dissuade men from prayer, by pretending that Divine Providence, which is always watching over the government of the universes is in vain importuned by our supplications, when, on the contrary, the Lord himself declares, that he is "nigh unto all that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth, (Ps. 145: 18.) No better is the frivolous allegation of others, that it is superfluous to pray for things which the Lord is ready of his own accord to bestow; since it is his pleasure that those very things which flow from his spontaneous liberality should be acknowledged as conceded to our prayers. This is testified by that memorable sentence in the psalms to which many others corresponds: "The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry," (Ps. 34: 15.) This passage, while extolling the care which Divine Providence spontaneously exercises over the safety of believers, omits not the exercise of faith by which the mind is aroused from sloth. The eyes of God are awake to assist the blind in their necessity, but he is likewise pleased to listen to our groans, that he may give us the better proof of his love. And thus both things are true, "He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep," (Ps. 121: 4;) and yet whenever he sees us dumb and torpid, he withdraws as if he had forgotten us.

4. Let the first rule of right prayer then be, to have our heart and mind framed as becomes those who are entering into converse with God. This we shall accomplish in regard to the mind, if, laying aside carnal thoughts and cares which might interfere with the direct and pure contemplation of God, it not only be wholly intent on prayer, but also, as far as possible, be borne and raised above itself. I do not here insist on a mind so disengaged as to feel none of the gnawings of anxiety; on the contrary, it is by much anxiety that the fervor of prayer is inflamed. Thus we see that the holy servants of God betray great anguish, not to say solicitude, when they cause the voice of complaint to ascend to the Lord from the deep abyss and the jaws of death. What I say is, that all foreign and extraneous cares must be dispelled by which the mind might be driven to and fro in vague suspense, be drawn down from heaven, and kept groveling on the earth. When I say it must be raised above itself, I mean that it must not bring into the presence of God any of those things which our blind and stupid reason is wont to devise, nor keep itself confined within the little measure of its own vanity, but rise to a purity worthy of God.

5. Both things are specially worthy of notice. First, let every one in professing to pray turn thither all his thoughts and feelings, and be not (as is usual) distracted by wandering thoughts; because nothing is more contrary to the reverence due to God than that levity which bespeaks a mind too much given to license and devoid of fear. In this matter we ought to labour the more earnestly the more difficult we experience it to be; for no man is so intent on prayer as not to feel many thoughts creeping in, and either breaking off the tenor of his prayer, or retarding it by some turning or digression. Here let us consider how unbecoming it is when God admits us to familiar intercourse to abuse his great condescension by mingling things sacred and profane, reverence for him not keeping our minds under restraint; but just as if in prayer we were conversing with one like ourselves forgetting him, and allowing our thoughts to run to and fro. Let us know, then, that none duly prepare themselves for prayer but those who are so impressed with the majesty of God that they engage in it free from all earthly cares and affections. The ceremony of lifting up our hands in prayer is designed to remind us that we are far removed from God, unless our thoughts rise upward: as it is said in the psalm, "Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul," (Psalm 25: 1.) And Scripture repeatedly uses the expression to _raise our prayers_ meaning that those who would be heard by God must not grovel in the mire. The sum is, that the more liberally God deals with us, condescendingly inviting us to disburden our cares into his bosom, the less excusable we are if this admirable and incomparable blessing does not in our estimation outweigh all other things, and win our affection, that prayer may seriously engage our every thought and feeling. This cannot be unless our mind, strenuously exerting itself against all impediments, rise upward. Our second proposition was, that we are to ask only in so far as God permits. For though he bids us pour out our hearts, (Ps. 62: 8) he does not indiscriminately give loose reins to foolish and depraved affections; and when he promises that he will grant believers their wish, his indulgence does not proceed so far as to submit to their caprice. In both matters grievous delinquencies are everywhere committed. For not only do many without modesty, without reverence, presume to invoke God concerning their frivolities, but impudently bring forward their dreams, whatever they may be, before the tribunal of God. Such is the folly or stupidity under which they labour, that they have the hardihood to obtrude upon God desires so vile, that they would blush exceedingly to impart them to their fellow men. Profane writers have derided and even expressed their detestation of this presumption, and yet the vice has always prevailed. Hence, as the ambitious adopted Jupiter as their patron; the avaricious, Mercury; the literary aspirants, Apollo and Minerva; the warlike, Mars; the licentious, Venus: so in the present day, as I lately observed, men in prayer give greater license to their unlawful desires than if they were telling jocular tales among their equals. God does not suffer his condescension to be thus mocked, but vindicating his own light, places our wishes under the restraint of his authority. We must, therefore, attend to the observation of John: "This is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us," (1 John 5: 14.) But as our faculties are far from being able to attain to such high perfection, we must seek for some means to assist them. As the eye of our mind should be intent upon God, so the affection of our heart ought to follow in the same course. But both fall far beneath this, or rather, they faint and fail, and are carried in a contrary direction. To assist this weakness, God gives us the guidance of the Spirit in our prayers to dictate what is right, and regulate our affections. For seeing "we know not what we should pray for as we ought," "the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered," (Rom. 8: 26) not that he actually prays or groans, but he excites in us sighs, and wishes, and confidence, which our natural powers are not at all able to conceive. Nor is it without cause Paul gives the name of _groanings which cannot be uttered_ to the prayers which believers send forth under the guidance of the Spirit. For those who are truly exercised in prayer are not unaware that blind anxieties so restrain and perplex them, that they can scarcely find what it becomes them to utter; nay, in attempting to lisp they halt and hesitate. Hence it appears that to pray aright is a special gift. We do not speak thus in indulgence to our sloth, as if we were to leave the office of prayer to the Holy Spirit, and give way to that carelessness to which we are too prone. Thus we sometimes hear the impious expression, that we are to wait in suspense until he take possession of our minds while otherwise occupied. Our meaning is, that, weary of our own heartlessness and sloth, we are to long for the aid of the Spirit. Nor, indeed, does Paul, when he enjoins us to pray _in the Spirit_, (1 Cor. 14: 15,) cease to exhort us to vigilance, intimating, that while the inspiration of the Spirit is effectual to the formation of prayer, it by no means impedes or retards our own endeavours; since in this matter God is pleased to try how efficiently faith influences our hearts.

The conversion of Antony Bloom

2011-11-18T17:01:00.001Z

Antony (Bloom) of Sourozh (19 June 1914 - 4 August 2003) was best known as a writer and broadcaster on prayer and the Christian life. He was a monk and Metropolitan bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church. He was founder and for many years bishop - then archbishop, then metropolitan - of the Diocese of Sourozh, the Patriarchate of Moscow's diocese for Great Britain and Ireland (the name 'Sourozh' is that of the historical episcopal see in Sudak in the Crimea). As a bishop he became well known as a pastor, preacher, spiritual director and writer on prayer and the Christian life. Here is the story of his conversion to the Christian Faith:

"I met Christ as a Person at a moment when I needed him in order to live, andat a moment when I was not in search of him. I was found; I did not find him. Iwas a teenager then. Life had been difficult in the early years and now it hadof a sudden become easier. All the years when life had been hard I had found itnatural, if not easy, to fight; but when life became easy and happy I was facedquite unexpectedly with a problem: I could not accept aimless happiness.Hardships and suffering had to be overcome, there was something beyond them.Happiness seemed to be stale if it had no further meaning. As it often happenswhen you are young and when you act with passion, bent to possess eithereverything or nothing, I decided that I would give myself a year to see whetherlife had a meaning, and if I discovered it had none I would not live beyond theyear.

Months passed and no meaning appeared on the horizon. One day, it was duringLent, and I was then a member of one of the Russian youth organizations inParis, one of our leaders came up to me and said, 'We have invited a priest totalk to you, come'. I answered with violent indignation that I would not. I hadno use for Church. I did not believe in God. I did not want to waste any of mytime. Then my leader explained to me that everyone who belonged to my group hadreacted in exactly the same way, and if no one came we would all be put toshame because the priest had come and we would be disgraced if no one attendedhis talk. My leader was a wise man. He did not try to convince me that I shouldlisten attentively to his words so that I might perhaps find truth in them:'Don't listen,' he said. 'I don't care, but sit and be a physical presence'.That much loyalty I was prepared to give to my youth organization and that muchindifference I was prepared to offer to God and to his minister. So I satthrough the lecture, but it was with increasing indignation and distaste. Theman who spoke to us, as I discovered later, was a great man, but I was then notcapable of perceiving his greatness. I saw only a vision of Christ and ofChristianity that was profoundly repulsive to me. When the lecture was over Ihurried home in order to check the truth of what he had been saying. I asked mymother whether she had a book of the Gospel, because I wanted to know whetherthe Gospel would support the monstrous impression I had derived from this talk.I expected nothing good from my reading, so I counted the chapters of the fourGospels to be sure that I read the shortest, not to waste time unnecessarily.And thus it was the Gospel according to St Mark which I began to read.

I do not know how to tell you of what happened. I will put it quite simplyand those of you who have gone through a similar experience will know what cameto pass. While I was reading the beginning of St Mark's gospel, before Ireached the third chapter, I became aware of a presence. I saw nothing. I heardnothing. It was no hallucination. It was a simple certainty that the Lord wasstanding there and that I was in the presence of him whose life I had begun toread with such revulsion and such ill-will.

This was my basic and essential meeting with the Lord. From then I knew thatChrist did exist. I knew that he was thou, in other words that he wasthe Risen Christ. I met with the core of the Christian message, that messagewhich St Paul formulated so sharply and clearly when he said, 'If Christ is notrisen we are the most miserable of all men'. Christ was the Risen Christfor me, because if the One Who had died nearly 2000 years before was therealive, he was the Risen Christ. I discovered then something absolutelyessential to the Christian message — that the Resurrection is the only event ofthe Gospel which belongs to history not only past but also present. Christ roseagain, twenty centuries ago, but he is the Risen Christ as long ashistory continues. Only in the light of the Resurrection did everything elsemake sense to me. Because Christ was alive and I had been in his presence Icould say with certainty that what the Gospel said about the Crucifixion of theprophet of Galilee was true, and the centurion was right when he said, 'Trulyhe is the Son of God'. It was in the light of the Resurrection that I couldread with certainty the story of the Gospel, knowing that everything was truein it because the impossible event of the Resurrection was to me more certainthan any event of history. History I had to believe, the Resurrection I knewfor a fact. I did not discover, as you see, the Gospel beginning with its firstmessage of the Annunciation, and it did not unfold for me as a story which onecan believe or disbelieve. It began as an event that left all problems ofdisbelief because it was direct and personal experience.

Jesus - like a mother

2011-11-17T14:56:00.001Z

Today I took the funeral of Alan a 77 year old with special needs who for years depended on the care of others but who knew, at the end, that heaven was his home and he couldn't wait to get there. In thinking of something to read at his graveside I found this lovely 'canticle' called: "A Song of St. Anselm". It spoke to me of the tenderness of a mother for her child and this lovely image conjured up by Anselm, of Jesus as 'mother' to us and to people like Alan.

Jesus, like a mother you gather your people to you;
you are gentle with us as a mother with her children.
Often you weep over our sins and our pride,
tenderly you draw us from hatred and judgement.
You comfort us in sorrow and bind up our wounds,
in sickness you nurse us, and with pure milk you feed us.
Jesus, by your dying we are born to new life;
by your anguish and labour we come forth in joy.
Despair turns to hope through your sweet goodness;
through your gentleness we find comfort in fear.
Your warmth gives life to the dead,
your touch makes sinners righteous.
Lord Jesus, in your mercy heal us;
in your love and tenderness remake us.
In your compassion bring grace and forgiveness,
for the beauty of heaven may your love prepare us.

PRESS RELEASE Marriage Matters!

2011-11-13T19:47:00.001Z

The Church of England Evangelical Council Initial Statement on Proposals Regarding the Nature of Marriage.

The Church of England Evangelical Council, which speaks on behalf evangelical bodies within the Church of England, notes with concern suggestions being supported by the Prime Minister that would radically redefine the concept of marriage.

The fundamental understanding of marriage enshrined in our laws currently parallels closely the Christian view that marriage is a lifelong, exclusive relationship between one man and one woman, within which they parent any children born to them.

This understanding, however, is not just enforced by our laws. Nor is it confined to religious believers. Rather, it has become an ideal to which our people aspire, reflected in cultural practices, social attitudes, art, literature and the media.

By contrast, it is widely suspected that recent social disorders are a manifestation of, amongst other things, the breakdown of family life established on the basis of this ideal.

The CEEC believes that whilst other social arrangements are clearly possible through which commitment can be expressed and within which children can be raised, the ‘traditional’ marriage has proved to be the best basis for human security and social cohesion, despite various other cultural developments. Any redefinition of marriage will therefore undermine not the position of one particular faith but a basic element of our social fabric.

CEEC will therefore be consulting urgently with other bodies with a view to formulating a concerted response to address what it sees as a questionable move which would potentially cause great damage to individuals and to our society.

Gay Issues in the Church

2011-11-08T13:16:00.002Z

Tony Campolo and Gay Rights

2011-11-08T13:15:00.002Z

Is it possible to live biblically?

2011-11-08T12:44:00.001Z

What is hell like and does it even exist?

2011-11-08T12:09:00.002Z

Christians oppose same-sex marriage

2011-11-08T12:04:00.000Z

83% Christians oppose Conservative proposal to legalize same-sex marriages

And of that 83%, three-quarters were ‘strongly opposed’.

British Religion in Numbers have all the details.

Overall the Conservative Party risks losing 57% of Christian votes, if they go ahead with legalizing gay marriage, and not one respondent claimed this move would predispose them to vote Conservative.

Here are some of the concerns raised:

85% were concerned that the value of marriage would be further undermined
78% that it would be harder to argue against ‘other novel types of relationship’ such as polygamy
88% that schools would be required to teach the equal validity of same-sex and heterosexual relationships
93% that clergy would have to conduct gay marriages against their consciences

Prayer of abandonement

2011-11-07T09:30:00.001Z

The following is a prayer I came across while in Theological College and which has ever since both challenged and alarmed me. I had lost touch with it a few years back but a good friend of mine texted it to me at a time when I needed to pray it again. It is now in my prayer book.

It challenged me because I was - and still am - aware that I have not fully given my all to God. Jesus tells us that the greatest commandment is to love God with all that we are - heart, mind, soul, body - and our neighbour as ourselves (Luke 10:27). Frankly I don't and just a cursory self-examination reveals that I am selfish, mean-hearted, ambitious and self-centred, often maquerading the things I do and decide as serving God when in reality they are my ideas seeking God's confirmation. This prayer strikes at the very heart of my so-called Christian life and asks awkward questions about my real intentions. Whose cross do I carry? If it's mine - fashioned and made to measure - it will sit easily on my shoulders, padded, planed and not too heavy, more of a fashion statement than a means of my death to world and to self. If it is Christ's, it will chaff and bite my shoulders, it's awkward edges wearing marks in my skin and reminding me constantly of the suffering of the one who first bore it.

It alarmed me - and still does - because it offers everything, to God. It relinquishes control and, "without reserve" surrenders, abandons me, into God's hands. It means that I give up being god so that He can be. It means accepting everything that comes my way - the good, the bad and the downright ugly - as His will in some way. It means I must become less so that He may be more (John 3:30) and for someone with an ego as big as mine, that is asking a lot, more than I can manage - on my own.

So challenging and scary as it is I will still pray the prayer in the hope that one day I may truly live it.

But before showing you the prayer let me offer a little background of the person who wrote it, Charles de Foucauld whose picture is above:

Charles de Foucauld was born on September 15, 1858 in France. He lost his faith early in life, but at the age of 28 had a powerful conversion experience. From that moment on, all of his life was fixed on living the Gospel and his love for Jesus.

After a variety of experiences as a Trappist monk and a time spent in the Holy Land, he conceived of a new form of religious life, a life closer to the daily lives of the poor. As Jesus at Nazareth, he wanted to live amidst the people, rooted in a culture, sharing the condition of those who live from day to day by the work of their hands-- of those who have no security at all and who are the poorest of the poor.

He did not envision preaching the Gospel in words as such, but by crying it out with the witness of his whole life; a life lived in shared friendship, silence and prayer. He wanted to go beyond all of the boundaries of religion and race and to become known as a "universal little brother"; the little brother of his beloved Jesus.

Brother Charles hoped to found small fraternities of brothers..."What I dream of is something very plain and few in number, similar to the little communities of the first Christians...living the life of Nazareth, through work and the contemplation of Jesus...a little family, a little home, very small, very plain"... This dream would not be realized until after his death.

Brother Charles of Jesus died on December 1, 1916 at Tamanrasset in the midst of the Sahara. An innocent, defenseless victim of an assassin's bullet he fell to the sand like the grain of wheat which dies so that it can bring forth its fruit... Throughout the world today there are many little groups (religious brothers and sisters) which claim as their spiritual father-- Charles de Foucauld.

Prayer of abandonment

Father,
I abandon myself into your hands; do with me what you will.
Whatever you may do, I thank you:
I am ready for all, I accept all.
Let only your will be done in me, and in all your creatures.
I wish no more than this, O Lord.

Into your hands I commend my soul;
I offer it to you
with all the love of my heart,
for I love you, Lord,
and so need to give myself,
to surrender myself into your hands,
without reserve,
and with boundless confidence,
for you are my Father.
Amen.

Evangelical Website

2011-11-04T16:37:00.001Z

A quick plug for the EFCW website (EFCW standing for the Evangelical Fellowship of the Church in Wales) which can be accessed here. Has some important things to say about current issues etc. Access here.

Tim Keller on Marriage

2011-11-04T10:29:00.000Z

Timothy Keller (born 1950) is one of my favourite speakers and authors today. He is an American author, speaker, and the founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, New York and has written very effectively on some of the important issues facing the church today.

Not least is the subject of his latest book which looks at marriage, an institution under constant attack from both secularists on the one side and the pro-gay lobby - albeit in a different way - on the other. In his book "The Meaning of Marriage" Keller tackles the subject head on with his usual grace and clarity and I would put it as a 'must read' for pastors, priests and all Christians - in fact anyone interested in marriage.

Christianity Today have provided a very helpful interview with Keller on their website which you can access by clicking here.

'Crap' and the will of God

2011-11-04T10:18:00.001Z

If we pray the Lord's Prayer every day - and we should as a minimum (why? Because Jesus said "when you pray say: Our Father... and Christians do pray don't they?) - then we must trust that all that happens subsequently is something to do with that will. Even the bad stuff. Not that the bad stuff is good but that God uses it in some mysterious way to work out His will for us and HIs world. For example when we see poverty in our family or neighbourhood, poverty is not good but how we respond can certainly be good and help us become more like Him. The choices we face can be tough ones but again send us to God and His will which helps steer us along the path He wants us to tread. Not that God causes bad stuff to happen but that it happens anyway, as a result of our free will, and He then uses it for good.

Years ago manufacturers used to throw away the husks of wheat and the fibre because people only wanted refined bread to eat. In time however it was seen that actually all this was good for you. Fibre in the diet helped keep your body healthy and remove impurities from the bowels etc. God uses the 'husks' in our lives - the bad stuff - for good. That's of course if you believe that God is good and that His will is the best for you.

Crap happens to everyone. It's a consequence of the freedoms we enjoy. The difference with a Christian is that we don't tackle it alone, that somehow we believe there is an ultimate purpose to it - life leads somewhere - and that it somehow holds within it some sort of redemptive purpose. Crap is some kind of perfecting tool which God uses expertly and will, if approached with Him by our side, result in good for us and for society. That's why we have in James those rather odd sounding words: "Consider it pure joy, my brothers (and sisters), whenever you face trials of many kinds.." (James 1:2) Not because James is some kind of sado-masachist, but because, as a realist living in a tough and uncompromising world, where life expectancy was around the 30's, disease and famine and violent death were everyday realities and poverty was widespread, who saw that in Jesus there was the hope that, with God's help, it could yet have a good and positive outcome and effect on us. Not that he or anyone in their right mind would seek out "trials of many kinds" but because they come along eventually anyway. So with God's help James sees that "the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." (James 1:3-4) To 'see' this, he says, we need two things:

1. First wisdom "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him." (James 1:5) In other words God will show us how we can see how this works for us; and,
2. faith. We must trust God. "But when he/she asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind." (James 1:6). Over and over God is described by Jesus as "Our Father" (there's that prayer again). We need the faith to see Him as such and not doubt that His purposes are, ultimately, good.

Outside of God it can of course lead in a wholly other and more negative and destructive direction. Crap is seen as just that - crap - and we get bitter and resentful, especially of others who don't have it as tough as us (although we don't see into their lives so we don't really know for sure). This is where I must admit that I admire the atheists in some ways because they take on life and all it throws at them on their own. They are the masters of their own destiny. That's crazy courage but it leads nowhere, although the 'noble atheist' may yet be saved according to some early Christians.

No I am a child in an adult world - we all are. Just because we get older and have lived a bit, learned a bit and experienced a bit, does not make us any less children or more grown up. There is only one grown up - God - and we need His guidance and input to get through life in one piece - more than that - to get INTO life, the life "in all it's fulness" (John 10:10) He has purposed and called us to.

This means dealing with the crap and seeing in it one of God's principle ways of working His will out. God give us the wisdom and faith to see it.

What is Eastern Orthodoxy?

2011-11-03T11:12:00.000Z

I have long beeen utterly fascinated by the Eastern Orthodox Church which is the second largest Church in the world. Below are two links which give a few insights to this ancient church which has remained unchanged for nearly 2000 years.

A simple presentation explaining the Orthodox Church can be accessed by clicking here.

A sample of Orthodox Worship can also be found here.

The Christian Enquiry Agency

2011-11-01T12:53:00.000Z

I would like to recommend another blog/website. This is the Christian Enquiry Agency which providesinformation for people who want to find out about the Christian faith and itsfounder Jesus Christ.

The information is reliable, objective and given confidentially.

It does not just give a version of Christianity adhered to by one particular group of Christians (‘denomination’ or ‘tradition’). Instead it attempts to explain and explore what Christians of all kinds believe.

CEA tries to respond to all enquirers by giving them what they ask for, and only what they ask for. It takes steps to ensure that no one is given information unsolicited. It does not seek to take the place of local churches.

It is an agency of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland and a registered charity (number 297393). CEA works on behalf of all the major UK churches, and in partnership with many Christian organisations.

The work of the Christian Enquiry Agency is entirely dependent on donations and grants.

So if you are interested in taking an anonymous and private look into what Christianity is about, here is as good a place as any to start.

The Big Bible Project

2011-11-01T09:10:00.001Z

I just want to make a quick plug for a new website that encourages the reading of the Bible. The @BigBible Project is a non-denominational project which promotes Bible reading within a community setting, whether online or offline. The Big Bible Project looks to encourage increasing Biblical literacy in the Christian community, highlighting events, good news stories, digital stories, and explorations of the use of the Bible online and offline.

It arose within Biblefresh, a 2011 national initiative encouraging Christians to read and engage with their Bibles more (reading, training, translating and engaging).

You can access it by clicking here.

The patron saint of atheism

2011-11-01T09:05:00.001Z

The new darling of the Atheist cause is a man called Jean Meslier a late 17th early 18th century Roman Catholic priest from the Ardennes. He took Holy Orders and, on January 7, 1689, became priest at Étrépigny, in Champagne. He served in his office for 40 years. He lived like a pauper, and every penny left over was donated to the poor.

However, when Meslier died, there were found in his house three copies of a 633-page octavo manuscript in which the village curate denounces organized religion as "but a castle in the air" and theology as "but ignorance of natural causes reduced to a system".

In his Testament, Meslier repudiated not only the God of conventional Christianity, but even the generic God of the natural religion of the deists. For Meslier, the existence of evil was incompatible with the idea of a good God. In his most famous quote, Meslier refers to a man who "...wished that all the great men in the world and all the nobility could be hanged, and strangled with the guts of the priests."

He also denied the existence of the soul and dismissed the notion of free will. In Chapter V, the priest writes, "If God is incomprehensible to man, it would seem rational never to think of Him at all"; Meslier does think of him, however, for several hundred pages more, in which he calls God "a chimera" and argues that the supposition of God is not prerequisite to morality. In fact, he concludes that "[w]hether there exists a God or not [...] men's moral duties will always be the same so long as they possess their own nature".

Meslier then is the new 'patron saint' of atheists, someone who "de-converted" - to use one of the new atheists favourite new words - and whose example, they hope, will inspire other secret atheists within the clergy ranks, to 'come out' and declare, publicly, their unbelief.

A few reflections:
First, is Meslier such a good example? Having kept up the charade of pretending to be a priest, hearing confessions and preaching the Christian faith, trusted by his faithful congregation and being sustained by the very church he vilified and denied, Meslier demonstrates a character which is somewhat less than good. If this is an example of what an inspiring atheist is meant to look like, then I am glad I am not an atheist. Meslier's dishonesty, lack of scruples and low-level morality makes the Christian case not undermines it.

It must be noted that Meslier did face the threat of death for preaching atheism at the time and so some allowance should perhaps be made for his lack of courage in articulating his unbelief, but set against the numerous Christian Martyrs of every century since Christ - men, women and children - who went to their deaths rather than compromise, Meslier comes out as a man with insufficient conviction to inspire anyone except thosewho already look to him to validate their own convictions.

Second, Meslier's arguments are familiar and constantly re-cycled by those who disagree with people of faith ("there is nothing new under the sun"- Ecclesiastes 1:9). The fact that he was masquerading as a priest and then de-converted does not make those arguments any more credible or persuasive.

Third, what makes his quote (above) such a famous or good one? Wishing the death of all "great men....and.. all nobility" demonstrates his lack of humanity, his simplistic view that generalises that all such people are universally bad, and lacks the compassion which is a feature of the very Christianity he criticises and derides.

Meslier's 'de-conversion' signifies nothing except one man's dishonesty and his ability to masquerade as a man-of-God until his cowardly post-death confession when he was not there to face his critics and detractors. The athiests I know - and admire - at least have the courage of their conviction and are willing to stand up for their beliefs. Meslier is not a good example of a good atheist.

Evangelical "code of conduct".

2011-10-29T14:04:00.000+01:00

Evangelicals have come under sustained attack from all quarters being accused of everything from hate-speech to intolerance and gay-bashing. Some of these accusations are, sadly, all too true, and as an evangelical I have struggled with identifying myself as such as a result.

A recent article on Christianity Today however has lifted my spirits. It talks about a move by Pablo Martinez, of the Spanish Evangelical Alliance, to draw up a code of conduct for European Evangelicals. It was publishedn "to help Christians in Europe engage confidently but respectfully in the public arena".

I include the text below for general perusal and comment. Personally I find it balanced and biblical and am more than happy to identify myself with it. Although it is intended for use in relation to the

Knowing we are called to be Christ’s ambassadors in all of life, being so aware of our inadequacy, and motivated only by a desire to glorify the King of Kings, we ask the Lord to help us engage in the following ways and recommend these guidelines to all Christians involved in the public arena.

Love
• We will speak and act with grace, gentleness and mercy to all.
• We will seek to build genuine relationships with all in the public arena, including with those who disagree with us.
• We will especially love those that society marginalises, care deeply for them and dare to challenge the injustices that oppress.

Humility
• We will pray at all times, knowing that only the Lord can bring about change.
• Knowing that having or being near power can be corrupting, we remember our dependency on the Lord and draw close to Him through prayer.
• It is so easy to react to trouble with foolishness or anger. But we dare not dishonour Christ so we cling to Him in our weakness and ask Him to gently correct us.
• We will be accountable to a politically diverse group of friends who will help us remain faithful to our calling.
• We will adopt an attitude of service towards both the weak and the strong.

Truth
• We will speak and act with truth and integrity at all times.
• Our political ideas and actions must be based on all of Scripture. We must not use the Bible to confirm our pre-formed ideas. Rather, we will study with Christians of different political philosophies to ensure that our ideas are truly biblical. We will work to ensure we reflect the breadth of God’s concerns, not just focusing on one of two issues.
• There are so many distortions of truth in politics and media’s portrayal of it. We will do everything we can to seek the truth by careful monitoring and analysis and to advocate strongly for the truth.

Peace
• Disagreement and confrontation are inevitable but we will disagree with grace.
• As peacemakers, we will build bridges wherever possible. We seek to persuade, not argue.

Courage
• In some countries, engagement can lead to real danger. When trouble comes, we pray God will give us both courage and wisdom to know what He is asking of us. We will always stand with brothers and sisters in danger and ask them to tell us how we can assist.
• Elsewhere, trouble may come in the form of criticism, misrepresentation or legal challenge. Again, we will ask
the Lord for courage and wisdom so that we honour Him in our response. We will help one another in times of difficulty.
• Our first priority must always be faithfulness to Christ. We pray for the courage to hold on to this.

Wisdom
• Politicians do not have to listen to us. Rather, by building good relationships and providing excellent, relevant and wise ideas and information, presented professionally, we trust that some will wish to listen.
• Where possible, Christians should join different political parties. No party, not even a “Christian” one, is perfect, all need salt and light. As Evangelical Alliance, however, we must steer clear of party allegiance as much as possible. The Gospel is for all, we cannot give the impression that the Lord prefers those of a particular party.
• We encourage pastors to play their vital role of supporting and discipling their congregations as they engage in society and in urging prayer for the public arena and biblical reflection on issues.

Hope
• Our hope of change is based on God. He can enable salt and light to make a difference.
• With joy, we wait for Christ’s return and the full establishment of His wonderful Kingdom.
• Meanwhile, we will live in and share the joy of this hope. The hope of the Gospel brings light to the darkest situation.

Who's the master?

2011-10-11T11:32:00.001+01:00

“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.” (Matthew 6:24-34)

Although Jesus gives us an example of what he means when he names ‘mammon’ as an alternative to God (see Luke 16:13 where Jesus sasy 'money' instead of mammon), I think the whole question is more open-ended. Money or wealth can seem the obvious choice here because it has great power to influence and corrupt.
For example as we read the Gospels we see the power that money and wealth holds over people’s lives in the story of the Rich Young Man or Zaccheus the tax-collector. And we don’t have far to look in some of the stories that hit our news about the idolatry of wealth and money in tales of rogue-traders, or corrupt bankers and media moguls, and tax-dodgers, metal thieves and fraudsters. Money and the lure of wealth is a very powerful influence in the lives of many, particularly in the West, but it’s not the only one—the most obvious maybe—but not the only one. Because immediately after Jesus’ reference to wealth he moves on to talk about how we can become anxious about several different things:

First, about life itself. We can we make our own lives, our own selves, an idol. That's why Jesus calls us to deny ourselves if we want to follow him (Mark 8:34ff), and Paul announces in his letter to the Galatians
that since his meeting with Jesus “it is no longer ‘I’ who live, but Christ who lives in me.” (Galatians 2:20). In other words he has replaced the one master—himself, the ‘I’ - with another, Christ, who is the master now. I is that master he will now obey rather than the other.

He also goes on to talk about “what you shall eat”,and we know that food can also become an idol, something which dominates us and enslaves us so that it is difficult sometimes to say ‘no’ to it's temptations and lure. That is why fasting is such an important spiritual discipline because it puts food in it’s place as servant not master.

What about your body? I was watching the TV the other day and an image of a certain former smodel who has gone down the body-building route, and was showing off her new muscular body, talking about her daily regime of diet and exercises needed to create her new shape and appearance. How many are ‘slaves’ to their bodies like this? Is that why Paul talks about "pommeling his body and subduing it" (1 Corinthians 9:24-27)?

And also clothes—how many women (and men) are slaves to clothes. Just listen to any teenager who has to choose between two identical set of trainers and they will always go for the latest ‘name’ even though
it costs three times as much. And how many of us have wardrobes of clothes which we cannot bear to part with just in case we lose those years of weight and revert back to our previous size.

I think it is worth noting that we can make idols of our abilty to deny ourselves of any of thsoe things and develop and unpleasant form of unrighteousness which looks down its nose on those of us who are less spiritual.

There are many such alternative ‘masters’ that we can easily become enslaved to. Jesus warns that you cannot serve both them and God—we have to choose. Why? Because (The Message):
“Loving one god, you'll end up hating the other. Adoration of one feeds contempt for the other.”

You shall have no other gods ‘before me’ says God (Exodus 20:3) i.e. who should take precedence over God. How do we avoid that? It's about priorities says Jesus. “seek FIRST the Kingdom of God and his
righteousness” (Matthew 6:33) and everything else will find it’s proper place in your life.

(Note: in one of the corresponding passage in Luke 12:22-34 Luke places Jesus' teaching about treasures in heaven at the end of his teaching on anxiety. He adds "sell your possessions and give to the poor" which can be understood in several ways. One is to get rid of everything - which in some circumstances may be what God is calling us to. That's how St. Antony of egypt understood what God was saying. The other however I think applies to all of us who accumulate things and allow them to dominate - literally to have the dominus i.e. Lordship - over us. We can combat this by giving away things to the poor and needy via the many charity shops that are springing up everywhere. Why not give away your dvd's, excess clothes etc and disconnect from the particular idol who rules your life.)

Richard Wurmbrand's Testimony

2011-10-10T15:16:00.001+01:00

2011-10-07T21:21:00.001+01:00

I noticed recently an advert drawing attention to the release of a new documentary film about the Brazilian Formula One racing driver Ayrton Senna who died in 1994 aged 34. I recognise the name even though I am not an avid Formula One fan, but intrigued, I checked him out on the net. Amongst the information about his racing achievments I discovered that Senna was a devout Christian. Here is part of the article:

"Senna was a devout Catholic, once saying "Just because I believe in God, just because I have faith in God, it doesn't mean that I'm immune. It doesn't mean that I'm immortal" (1989). He often read the Bible on long flights from São Paulo to Europe. In Senna, a documentary on his life released in 2010, Ayrton's sister, Vivianne, reveals that following, first the horrific accident of his protégé, Rubens Barrichello followed the next day by the tragic death of racer Roland Ratzenberger during that fateful San Marino Grand Prix of 1994, Senna had sought strength from the Bible. "Faced with a night of turmoil, of conflict, no one knew what his decision would be on Sunday morning, on race day ...'On that final morning, he woke and opened his bible and read a text,' explained Viviane 'that he would receive the greatest gift of all which was God, himself.'"

As his profile rose, Senna expressed concern over the widespread poverty in Brazil. After his death it was discovered that he had quietly donated an extremely large portion of his personal fortune (estimated at around $400 million) to aid poor children. Shortly before his death, he created the framework for an organisation dedicated to Brazilian children, which later became Instituto Ayrton Senna."

Not ANOTHER commission!

2011-09-22T11:29:00.000+01:00

Not another commssion and another review! Have we been here before? The following article first appeared in the Church of England newspaper on May 7th 2011 about a commission set up by the Church in Wales to look at halting or "managing the decline" (strange phrase) of the Church in Wales:

"Managing the decline of the Church in Wales calls for a fundamental re-think of its structures and finances, the Archbishop of Wales said last week.

In his presidential address to the April 27-28 meeting of the church’s Governing Body gathered at Swansea University, Dr. Barry Morgan said a three-man review commission led by Lord Harries, the former Bishop of Oxford, and retired London Business School Professor Charles Handy would examine the church’s structures in light of declining revenues, clergy and members.

The commission would be asked to determine whether “the resources available to the Church in Wales are being deployed efficiently and effectively;” whether the “organisation of the Church in Wales is one which enables the Church to be effective in addressing the nation of Wales;” and whether the “organisation should be adapted to enable the Church to live more fully into a model of church life which is theologically and missionally coherent and sustainable in the long term.”

Declining revenues, rising expenses, aging clergy and congregations and an absence of young people were driving the reforms. Dr. Morgan noted that “average attendance had continued to fall by 2 per cent in line with the longer term trend,” while “average attendance among young people had fallen particularly sharply.”
Finances were also a concern, as the “level of total direct giving fell for the first time since the statistics began to be collected in this format in 1990” and “for the first time since 1993, total parish income was less than expenditure.” This was coupled with a rise from 28 per cent to 31 per cent of the proportion of parish funds “spent on buildings.”

Long standing polices, including a presence across all of Wales, would have to be reviewed, the archbishop noted. However, Dr. Morgan stressed the importance of the work of the church’s bishops, who would be “devoting more time at our forthcoming meetings to further defining our vision for a more ‘fit for purpose Church’ and for ensuring that we have in place the right plans and processes for providing and supporting ministry at all levels of the Church to achieve this vision.”

Dr. Morgan said that “in commissioning such a review, we will all have to be prepared to take seriously its findings and to be open to the possibility of significant change in our structures, ministry, use of buildings and other resources if it is seen to be in the best interests of the church and its mission to the people and communities of Wales as we look ahead to the next decade.”

My response is a mixture of hope and scepticism. Scepticism because I have, over 25 years of ministry, seen several such commissions and reviews - provincial and diocesan - which have done nothing to halt the continuing decline of the Church in Wales. I am not sure grand gestures of this sort ever really work because they take very much a top down approach to such issues and I am not sure that this is God's way of doing it. The incarnation is the model for us here when God Himself, in Christ, came and dwelt among us (John 1) and did not set up a comittee or a commssion to sort out the problems the world was facing. Instead he got alongside the people, started a small movement - beginning with a few disciples - and told them to continue to do what he had taught them to do, and to teach others to do the same. Fundamental to this was a faith in God - evidenced in the amount of time they gave to prayer - and the superantural - which included a reliance on the Holy Spirit sent at Pentecost. Commissions etc therefore seem to be a very human way of dealing with the problem and are an expression of the very human way we have been trying to run and grow the church in express contradiction to the way it was set up and meant to function. You get the impression at meetings of the clergy nowadays that God got the ball rolling and retreated back to his heaven to let us get on with it ourselves. "Thanks for the kick start God - now we'll take it from here." Of course there is prayer at such meetings, but generally they are hurried and seen as a box that needs ticking before the real work begins.

But having said all that I must admit to some hope too because something is happening and maybe, just maybe, the commission will trip over God as He bends down to speak to us and catch something of His guidance and inspiration in all this. But will it be a praying commission and will it be a commission that, in John Stott's famous phrase, practice a kind of "double-listening" both to God and the world? There's the nub for me.

Whatever the rights and wrongs we must pray. To pray is light a candle rather than curse the darkness all the time. It is to do something positive. And maybe, just maybe, this will work.

Looking over the fence - part 3

2011-09-21T15:02:00.000+01:00

RTE: Wonderful. Can we go back some centuries and talk about how Wales, as we know it now, came into being?

Fr. Deiniol: The process was complicated. We first had the Celtic-speaking native British, who were pushed west as the invading Angles, Saxons, and Jutes gained ascendancy. In some places the original population of Britons probably mixed with them, in other places not. In Strathclyde, now in Scotland, for example, the Welsh language was spoken until the twelfth century, and the first Welsh poetry is found in Catterick in northern Yorkshire in England. Even to this day, when we speak in Welsh of the “old North,” we mean the area around Strathclyde.

At a certain point, various of these invading tribes developed kingdoms, such as in Mercia, where a wall was built separating the Brythonic-speaking Britons who had gone west, from the conquering tribes. In about the 7th century, the word “Welsh” began to be used by the English Anglo-Saxons, meaning “foreigners,” and the Welsh called themselves Cymry, which means “the brethren” or “compatriots.” We cannot speak of a separate England, Wales, and Scotland until that point.

So, the original Brythonic-speaking people in the old North, in Devon, Cornwall, and Wales, were now physically separated from one another. The Welsh language was eventually lost from the “old North,” and so it is no longer possible to identify the descendants of the ancient Britons who lived there. The Scots are not their descendants, but descendants of Irish migrants who settled there. That is why Scottish and Irish Gaelic are almost the same language. The Cornish language died in the 18th century. The only descendants of the ancient Britons who can still be identified are the people of Wales, and this is because we have preserved our ancient language. What we now call “the Welsh” is the identifiable remnant of the original people of the British Isles.

RTE: We tend to think of centers of early Romano-British Christianity as being near such places as York. When the Romans pulled out in the fifth century, did Wales also have a fully-established hierarchical church?

Fr. Deiniol: of course. They say that Bangor-in-Arfon in North West Wales was a diocese in the sense that we use the word now, as a territorial area from the sixth century. Bede talks about a monastery in Bangor-on-Dee (another Bangor) with 2,000 monks. Certainly, there were Celtic bishops as well.

Of course, we can’t speak about “The Celtic Church,” as if it was an organized entity that incorporated what we now call Brittany, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland into an identifiable independent body. It was part of the worldwide Church. It was catholic—but not in the contemporary sense of “Roman Catholic”—in faith and doctrine. There was coming and going, and there was much interest on the Continent about what was happening in Britain. Many writers speak of early Christianity here, and early fathers of the Church mention it as well—origen, Lactantius, Tertullian, Eusebius.

They knew of the Christian Church in Britain, and monks used to travel to the East from the Celtic-speaking lands on pilgrimage. There was evangelization along the trade routes, and our monks certainly went to see monastic life in Egypt, the Holy Land, Rome, and Constantinople. Monasticism here seemed to resemble more the Lavra system than the classical coenobitic monasteries that evolved in the West. There is also a tradition that the Celtic bishops St. David, St. Teilo, and St. Padarn were all consecrated by the patriarch of Jerusalem. According to tradition, one was given a sakkos, the bishop’s vestment, another, a portable altar, and the third, a bishop’s staff.

So there were connections with the East, but we don’t have to show a connection with the East to prove that this church of the Celts was Catholic and Orthodox in faith and doctrine. Yes, they had their local customs, such as shaving their head in a certain way for the monastic tonsure, as we find local customs today in various local Orthodox churches. And, as within Orthodoxy today, they had different calendars. After the Synod of Whitby, when the Church of the Celtic peoples adapted its local customs to conform to those of Rome, it came under Canterbury and thereby under Rome. So when the Great Schism came about, it was part of the patriarchate of the West, and went with the western Churches. Canterbury remained the primatial see of Britain.

RTE: How did the 11th-century Norman invasion affect Christian Wales?

Fr. Deiniol: In Wales, the Normans established many monasteries. In fact, all the big abbeys were established by them. The most significant thing about this was that, while previously the monasteries had followed the Orthodox tradition of being independent and generally self-ruling, now each monastery had to belong to one of the Western religious orders. The Welsh often chose the Augustinians, as being perhaps the nearest to the way of life they were accustomed to. There were also many Cistercian foundations in Wales, such as the monastery in Strata Florida. This is where the history of Wales, called “The Chronicles of the Princes,” in Welsh, Brut-y-Tywysogion, was written. The history of Wales begins with the death of St. Cadwaladr, the last Briton—i.e. Celt, to be king of Britain before the Saxons obtained the crown. He is the patron saint of The Wales Orthodox Mission. He was known for his compassion, otherworldliness, and generosity—giving away his possessions to those who had lost theirs and caring for the multitudes who were afflicted by a terrible plague which visited the land in those days.

RTE: With such a rich heritage, what allowed the Welsh and Scots to make such a radical change from traditional Catholicism and a Reformation-imposed Anglicanism, to Calvinism?

Fr. Deiniol: By the 18th century, the Anglican Church in Wales was pretty moribund. It was led by English, non-Welsh-speaking absentee Anglican bishops. Many of the clergy were also absentee and did not speak the language of the people (by no means everyone in Wales could speak English in those days).

When the Methodist Revival broke out in the U.K. and spread to Wales, John Wesley and Whitfield, his colleague, came to an agreement that Wesley would have England as missionary territory and Whitfield would take Wales. Methodism spread in Wales through the efforts of great “revivalists” like Howell Harris, Daniel Rowlands, and especially the magnificent hymnographer, William Williams of Pantycelyn, whose hymns are, by any measure, classics comparable to the great hymnographers of any Christian tradition, East or West. Thus, the people of Wales were offered a vibrant and rich religious life, in their own language.

Methodism became a popular movement—unlike the highly Anglicized Anglican Church in Wales which was essentially the Church of the landowners and to which the ordinary Welsh people may never have been very attached since the Reformation. The ordinary, poor Welsh people now had a form of Christianity of their own which flourished and produced some good fruit.

However, Whitfield was a Calvinist and so the form of Methodism that spread in Wales was Calvinistic Methodisim. When a Welsh person speaks of Methodism, he or she generally means this Calvinistic variety also known as the Presbyterian Church of Wales (the title they prefer these days). Methodism in England followed Wesley’s theology which was based on the teaching of Jacobus Arminius,which emphasizes free will as opposed to Calvin’s predestination.

Later on, Wesleyan Methodism also came to Wales, but it was a minority denomination here and strong only in certain specific areas. However, the Calvinists maintain (and I have heard this point being made by a Calvinist minister in my house a few years ago) that the ‘Wesleyans’ have no right to be in Wales owing to the agreement between Whitfield and Wesley.

I must say that the ethos of each of the two forms of Methodism was very different. They had very different cultures from each other. There was even a ditty about the Calvinists: ‘Nasty, cruel Methodists (i.e. Calvinists) who go to chapel without any grace….’

RTE: Have the Catholic and Anglican Churches returned in any force since?

Fr. Deiniol: The Roman Catholic Church, which was illegal for hundreds of years, only returned in the 19th century, although a few “recusant” families who could afford to pay the fines, remained Catholic. Accordingly, most Roman Catholics in Wales are not Welsh, but are usually partly of Polish or Irish extraction. There are some Welsh Roman Catholics but they aren’t numerous.

After the rise of Protestant Calvinism, the Anglican Church became a minority church compared to the Non-conformist denominations such as Baptists, Congregationalists, and Calvinists. only a small proportion of Welsh-speaking or culturally Welsh people belonged to it. This may still be true to some degree. It was only in the 20th century that the Anglican Church in Wales gained its independence from Canterbury and became disestablished.

So, we can say that this is a good time for Orthodoxy as a continuation of the Undivided Church, to be in Wales. None of the other churches dominate Welsh religious and cultural life, and people are not so sectarian in their mentality—it doesn’t mean as much to them now that they are Baptists or Calvinists. There is a very friendly atmosphere. Also, the prejudices against saints and their veneration (customs such as praying at shrines and holy wells, which reflect the sacramental understanding of life) are now more acceptable. At least we aren’t in the position of confrontation, and that is helpful.

RTE: Are people becoming more interested as they see your attempts to recover their heritage?

Fr. Deiniol: No, I don’t think so. The awareness of the saints is too lost. They are mostly remembered in place-names—for example, a majority of places in Wales begin with the prefix “Llan.” This can mean the church building, but it also means a Christian settlement, usually founded by a Christian saint. In many cases we are talking about the period of the Anglo-Saxon invasion, when the original Celtic-speaking British peoples began moving west. A saint might land on a coastal area, as did St. David, the patron saint of Wales, who went to a place called Vallis Rosina, “Valley of the Roses,” to live as a monk. The pagan tribes are at first hostile to him but eventually people are attracted by the holiness of his life and become Christian; a community forms, and around the community, a village. This is almost identical to what St. Sergei of Radonezh did in Russia, founding new hermitages and monasteries as he moved deeper into the forest.

These new communities that came into being because people were attracted by the saint who lived there, are called Llan, and very often in Welsh place-names, the name that follows Llan is the name of a saint: Llandanwg—the Christian settlement and Church of St. Tanwg, or Llandudno—the Church of St. Tudno.

What is this country that we now call Wales? It is the sum total of the Llans, these places created by saints, communities that didn’t exist before they came. As we travel these roads we go through one Llan after another, and each one is a saint’s name. This is why I use the expression, “Wales is a nation created by saints.”

But, even with such a rich history, we need more to awaken us than an understanding of place names. The young people in Russia, for example, still have a link with their spiritual past after the collapse of Soviet atheism—their grandmothers were still Orthodox Christians—but what we’ve had here was a much longer break. of course, after the Great Schism, I’m sure that very little changed, and much in Roman Catholic practice would have been indistinguishable from Orthodoxy for a very long time afterwards.

Even that break, however, goes back a thousand years, and the Reformation, which was largely destructive of tradition, goes back 400 years.

When we acquired our church, the Metropolitan suggested that we dedicate it to “All the Saints of Wales.” The idea is that when the church is finished with icons and frescoes, a person from any part of Wales will be able to come here and find his saint. This is part of our task, recreating this link with history, and this is done by things like the service to mark the opening of the Welsh Assembly, and the opportunity to give talks and welcome visitors to the church. our mission exists on various levels and different fronts.

RTE: And the interest will not only be local. We come across many interesting accounts of the strong appeal that the Celtic culture has, especially for young people, in many parts of the world.

Fr. Deiniol: of course, wonderful things have survived, such as The Book of Kells and the Lindisfarne Gospels. The art and imagery are amazing. The Christian Celts had developed a profound and deeply Christian culture. It’s not surprising that this should be of interest to people in other countries.

Orthodox youth in former Soviet countries or the emigration often think of their ancestral churches as something rather ethnic or old-fashioned. other things appear more interesting to them. But it’s a little bit like the Trojan Horse isn’t it? If they become interested in Celtic history and culture, they will soon find that inside, at the very core, is their own Christian faith.

The question for us is how we can encourage our own young people to be remotely interested in anything Christian whatsoever. As an old colleague of mine, Archimandrite Barnabas—the first Welsh Orthodox priest—used to say, the cultural legacy of Calvinistic teaching seems to have provided an immunization against all religious search and questions.

RTE: May God give the blessing.

From: Road to Emmaus, Winter 2009, No. 36.

Source

© 2011, Journey To Orthodoxy | The Orthodox Christian 'Welcome Home' Network for Converts. All rights reserved. The website can be found here.

Looking over the fence - part 2

2011-09-21T14:58:00.002+01:00

RTE: Scotland also has many adherents of Calvinism, doesn’t it?

Fr. Deiniol: It does, and Calvinism was also strong in parts of South Africa, but the form of Calvinism there is not as extreme as the form that dominated in Wales, where the belief in ‘Double Predestination’ was adhered to.

RTE: What is ‘Double Predestination’?

Fr. Deiniol: The Calvinist doctrine is that God has predestined people from before the creation of the world for redemption. ‘Double Predestination’ is the belief that God has predetermined and preordained not only who shall go to heaven, but who shall go to hell. In other words, He has brought some human beings into existence, having already determined that they shall go to hell for eternity. They maintain that He has done this in His infinite Wisdom and that the logical contradiction between that and God’s infinite love is not for us to question and understand. So, the God of love becomes, in their theology, a tyrannical and arbitrary monster, whose excesses are far worse than the worst tyrants of human history, who only tormented people for a limited period of time. The God of Calvinism creates some people in order that they should suffer for eternity.

RTE: And this not only severs any notion of free will, but I imagine that you would have to take care to appear “good” to prove that you are one of the saved, or is that too simplistic?

Fr. Deiniol: No, that’s very accurate. “How do we know who is saved?” “Oh, by their fruits you shall know them.” Accordingly, observable behaviour becomes very important, and at a certain stage in the evolution of things, when conviction and faith are no longer so strongly present, this preoccupation with appearances becomes a very distinctive characteristic of these societies. That is certainly what I think happened in Wales. Also it means that people don’t look at the darker side of themselves, and don’t encounter their shadow. Darkness is then projected onto other people, so you have groups that are the scapegoats, the lowest of the low.

Communities are very hierarchical and there are people right at the bottom of the pile. In Wales, this emphasis on behavior also got linked up with the Temperance Movement, which, much as it may have been needed, divided the society into two—those who went to the chapel and those who went to the pub, those who drank and those who didn’t (or at least said they didn’t drink.)

To this very day, many Welsh people who go to the pub will not visit a church or chapel. The two locations are thought to be mutually exclusive locations, and those who frequent one of these places will usually hold the other place and its frequenters in contempt and think they will not be welcomed there! By now almost everybody does visit the pub, but the dichotomy persists and it is almost impossible to persuade people to visit a church. Furthermore, because every family was a ‘member’ of a Non-conformist chapel or of the Anglican parish Church, it means that people are still aware of their family ‘Church allegiance’.

They may still pay an annual fee for their family seat in a particular chapel, but never attend that chapel or any other place of worship, other than for baptisms, weddings, and funerals. However, they will use their ancestral allegiance to a particular denomination as a reason not to attend any other Church. An invitation to attend the Orthodox Church will therefore usually be met with a negative response. Typically, they might say ‘‘my ‘ticket’ (i.e. membership card which they maintain by payment of the rent for their seat in the chapel!) is in such and such a chapel.” Yet they may not have been there for 25 years.

Of course, as you’ve mentioned, Calvinism undermines any doctrine of free will. In fact they don’t believe in free will. Free will and predestination are opposing doctrines. This is perhaps what happens when you eliminate the role of the Mother of God from your theology, because it was of her own free will that she said,

“Be it unto me according to Thy will.”

At that point she was free to say, “No.” The redemption of the human race was in the balance at that moment. She could have said,

“This is too much, I can’t take this on,”

but instead she said,

“Be it unto me…”

So when you remove the Mother of God, and the very pivotal nature of her response, then the door is open to do away with the idea of free will in Christian theology, and the way is open for Calvinism. The Mother of God is our protection against Calvinistic doctrine. The Calvinistic doctrine that some are chosen for heaven, and others for hell, not only makes God seem very arbitrary, but it undermines any idea that God is the God of love and that our response to Him is a free and voluntary response.

RTE: In that case, you couldn’t possibly love Him yourself.

Fr. Deiniol: Yes—love is voluntary, not compulsory. We can only love God if we have free will. We might be frightened of Him, perhaps, or feel duty towards Him, but without free will we cannot love Him. Without free will our relationship with Him is not reciprocal. This attitude has created antipathy, and although people now don’t go to church, they know something—not theology, but the feel of Calvinism that permeates their culture. They keep their distance because they think they know what Christianity is, but it’s often a negative impression. For this reason, it would be easier to undertake a mission in Tibet than in a Calvinistic culture.

I imagine it will take a generation or two for people not only to consciously reject specific Calvinistic perspectives and teachings, but to rid themselves of its influence on their mentality. It has left behind a certain fatalism. These chapels have died very quickly. They are closing at the rate of one a week in Wales, which is a small country, and it’s as if people are glad to shake off the whole thing.

RTE: Do you think that after these generations pass, people will be ready to reconsider Christianity?

Fr. Deiniol: Because people free themselves doesn’t actually mean they will come to church, but that particular obstacle won’t be there. There will be other obstacles then. When people begin asking questions about the meaning of life, about the significance of things, they begin to touch on religious questions, but in general, people are not asking these questions, and I say this as one who has taught religious education for fifteen years here in Wales, and who has lived in this society most of his life.

RTE: Perhaps it’s a recovery period.

Fr. Deiniol: If it acts as a recovery period that would be very good. Of course, this is an attempt to provide some sort of diagnosis or analysis, and I’m not saying that I have answers as to what the strategy of the Orthodox Church in Wales should be. God does things in His way and His time, and it would be foolish of me to say,

“This is what we must do.”

But I think we won’t go far wrong if, for example, as Orthodox people in Wales, we try to demonstrate some care for people in their situations in life. for example, in our town there are high rates of unemployment. If our church can be instrumental in improving people’s lives so that they aren’t plagued by constant problems, this may be a way to show that God loves them and cares about them, and cares about their situations.

RTE: Do you have ideas as to how your parish can participate in that?

Fr. Deiniol: To be honest, although we are not numerous, many of us have been very actively involved in work in the community and for the regeneration of Blaenau Ffestiniog from the inception of our church. Orthodoxy believes not only in life after death, but in life before death. The quality of people’s lives is important. We are incarnate beings, not just souls, and we can’t be happy if we see people hungry or in anguish. We have to be concerned about people’s situations as a whole, in their totality.

RTE: Yes, and this approach has other 20th-century precedents. After World War II and the Greek civil war, there was massive unemployment and many Greeks were depressed and disillusioned with the Church. Fr. Amphilochius Makris, the well-known spiritual father of Patmos, said that the words of preachers and politicians were like throwing turpentine on the fire, and that only love and works of charity would bring them back to Christ.

Fr. Deiniol: Well, the Gospel actually says that, doesn’t it? Why should I consider preaching at people to be the main strategy? Why should they listen to me? For two centuries, they’ve listened to other preachers who didn’t make them feel good. I have no mandate from them. They didn’t ask me to come here and preach to them. On what basis would I assume that these people want to hear what I’ve got to say? That’s the first thing.

The second thing is that people do not go to church in Wales. I remember asking a young person,

“What would it take to get you to go to church?” He said, “A great deal of courage to actually be seen coming into the building by my friends.”

This is very different from many countries, even from the States, as I know from my visits there. But we have to be aware of what things are like in the United Kingdom and what things are like in Wales. And as I’ve tried to explain in giving this Calvinistic background, I’m not surprised that people don’t want to come to church.

This not to say we don’t get any people coming into church. In fact, we get many visitors and my parishioners are a mixture of nationalities. For Christmas we were ten nationalities, and there are also foreign Orthodox students at the universities and colleges where I am chaplain. We conduct our services in a number of languages, according to the need on any particular Sunday. We’ve been very fortunate in the support we receive from our hierarch, Bishop Andriy of Western Europe, who is a member of the Synod of Bishops of the Ukrainian Church of the Diaspora, within the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

We are officially called The Wales Orthodox Mission, of which I am the administrator. In fact, the term “mission” is not used very much in the U.K. by the Orthodox Church, but I think it is very important to state what we are. We are not a chaplaincy looking after a separate ethnic minority, nor are we a well-established church full of people who have become Orthodox (although there are increasing numbers). We are a mission. And I think that any church in Wales, whether Orthodox, Catholic, Anglican or anything else, should at this point call themselves a mission, because that is the nature of the situation.

The Wales Orthodox Mission is the contact point between the Orthodox Church and Welsh institutions. If Welsh organizations wish to be in touch with the Orthodox Church, they contact us, and we get many groups visiting us from churches and societies. I’m often asked to give talks and if subjects such as Eastern Europe or certain theological or social issues are being discussed on the radio or TV, they sometimes ask me for an interview on these topics as well. So our church is present and active, but I hope in a way that corresponds to the needs, realities, and possibilities that exist at this stage in Welsh cultural history.

RTE: We were told that you were invited to lead a prayer at the opening of your national parliament, the Welsh Assembly.

Fr. Deiniol: This is quite an interesting history. Wales lost its independence in government 700 years ago, and approximately six years ago, we received our own government again, not completely independent, but with certain powers. There was an ecumenical service to celebrate the opening of the Welsh Assembly Government, which took place at the Anglican cathedral in Llandaff, Cardiff. The Orthodox Church, amongst other churches, was invited to make a contribution to the format of the service. I prepared two prayers. Each prayer had a response, and as the response I included,

“All you saints of Wales, pray to God for us.”

The ecumenical organizers came back and said that they didn’t think this was acceptable. (Invocation of the saints, of course, had been outlawed during the Protestant period.) My response was,

“If you invite an Orthodox priest, you get an Orthodox response and an Orthodox contribution. If this is not acceptable, why do you ask us in the first place?”

At that point I felt that the ghost of Thomas Cromwell was striding rampantly through Wales. Thomas Cromwell was Henry VIII’s henchman and operator who closed all the monasteries throughout Britain, wrecked the shrines and relics, and destroyed the altars. I thought, “Well, they are still unwilling to invoke the saints,” and was about to write a fax that evening to say words to this effect, but at the moment I was about to send this letter, another fax arrived saying that the prayer was alright. So this prayer was used and the response was used.

Now the interesting part is this. on that occasion, the Queen of England, her husband the Duke of Edinburgh, and her son, Charles, Prince of Wales, were all present at the service. Normally, for security reasons, the three do not travel or appear together. So when that prayer was said, and the whole congregation responded,

“O, all you saints of Wales, pray to God for us!”,

this was the first time such a phrase had been used in that cathedral since the Reformation—with the successor of Henry VIII, the king who had originally made such an invocation illegal, present and taking part in the service. That was not an insignificant event, I think.

Looking over the fence - part 1

2011-09-21T14:50:00.000+01:00

When I used to live with my parents we had a house with a long back garden and running along the left hand side a six foot hedge and along the right hand side a five foot brick wall. We used to know our neighbours on the right very well and my mother would often pop round for a chat and a cup of tea, or she would lean over the wall whilst gardening to talk about the weather or share gardening tips. Sadly the same could not be said of our neighbours on the left. This was in part to do with the fact that the hedge was so high, but also partly because the person next door didn't come into the garden ofetn and even when they did, all we seemed to hear was them complaining about the noise on our side (made, it has to be said, by me and my friends messing around).

But how different would things have been if the hedge were lower, and we could see and speak to the anonymous person the other side. Perhaps we could have struck up a friendship, or at least a greater understanding of one another. After we lived in the same street, shared a common hedge and were, after all, neighbours.

I use this as an introduction to the following 'conversation' which took place between two people, both Eastern Orthodox Christians.The one being interviewed is Hieromonk Deiniol, the sole native Welsh Orthodox priest, the founder of the Wales Orthodox Mission, and pastor of the Church of All Saints in the North Wales mining town of Blaenau Ffestiniog. He travelled with Road to Emmaus magazine in 2009 to ancient and little-known pre-schism shrines of the Welsh countryside. Along the way he talked with the interviewer of early Welsh Christianity, the effects of post-Reformation Calvinism, and the state of the Welsh Church today. It's an interesting insight into Christianity in Wales from an Orthodox perspective, as well as an opportunity to 'talk over the fence' with one of our brothers in Christ and get to know them a bit better.

RTE: father, how did a native Welshman end up as an Orthodox priest in Blaenau Ffestiniog?

Fr. Deiniol: I originate from Anglesey, an island off the coast of North Wales, and I became Orthodox at the age of twenty, when I was living and studying in London. I became a monk in 1977, and was ordained a priest in 1979 by Metropolitan Anthony of Sourouzh, who gave me the task of opening an Orthodox church in North Wales. At that time, the nearest church was in Liverpool, which was very far for people from north-west Wales. After ordination I moved a few miles from where I was living to Blaenau Ffestiniog, where I’ve been for twenty-six years.

RTE: And what can you tell us about this remote and beautiful town?

Fr. Deiniol: The town of Blaenau Ffestiniog is a depressed post-industrial town in the middle of the mountains. It was a very busy town while the slate industry flourished, one of three or four such areas in north Wales, and in the 19th century, it employed many thousands of people. Unlike the other slate-mining areas in north Wales, extraction of the slate in Blaenau Ffestiniog took place underground. In other locations it was above ground, or at least in open pits, but here the slate was mined beneath the earth, and the conditions were terrible. Mines were often full of dust from blasting the slate, and smoke from the explosives.

The men worked in the dark with candles on their helmets. They were answerable to the mine’s steward and if they arrived at work a minute late they were sent home. They worked chained. A chain was fastened around their upper leg, and they were suspended from this chain, which was attached to a rod hammered into the slate face. In other countries, these working conditions are considered penal conditions, for example, in the old salt mines in Siberia. In the winter, the slate miners wouldn’t see the light of day. They started work before dawn and finished after dark.

Nevertheless, there was a sort of vibrant cultural life in those mining towns, partly due to the fact that these miners didn’t want bright young men to have to work in the same conditions. They would save money, for example, and gather pennies and subscriptions to send bright youngsters to the university. Many young men from that time owe a lot to their mining families and friends, who made sure that they didn’t have to go into the mines. In fact, those miners paid to set up the University of Wales.

In just such a way they built their nonconformist chapels, of which at one time there were forty-two in our town which, at its height, had a population of 12,000. Having all of these sectarian chapels was characteristic of Welsh society at the time.

That was the formative period for Blaenau Ffestiniog, but we have to realize that because the town is located very high up in the mountains at the end of a valley, in the normal course of events, no one would have thought of building a town there. It came into being only because of the slate mining industry, and is built in the shape of an inverted horseshoe—so you can be on one side of the town and look across the valley to the other side.

In addition to valuing culture, many people, of course, also valued their religious heritage, but as in most other places in North Wales, this was a very Calvinistic form of Protestantism. In the South Wales valleys, where coal mining was the dominant industry, Calvinism didn’t dominate in the same way. This is something we should return to when we analyze the logistics of what Orthodox mission involves in a post-Calvinist society.

RTE: When did the slate mining stop?

Fr. Deiniol: It hasn’t stopped; it continues, but on a much-reduced scale. People sometimes compare the North Wales slate-mining areas with the South Wales coal-mining valleys. If you go to a place called Tylotrstown in the Small Rhondda Valley, you wonder where does Tylotrstown end and where does the next town, Ferndale, begin?

These villages run into each other in a row, whereas in North Wales slate-mining towns were quite separate communities, particularly Blaenau Ffestiniog, and there is a certain air of isolation here. Also, of course, after the decline of the industry, it became a post-industrial town, which means that this town, which produced an income of millions of pounds from which the local people never benefited, then became a place of unemployment.

We have all the characteristics of the postindustrial communities of north-east England that are one hundred times our size, and the Pennsylvania coal-mining areas in the States: high degrees of social exclusion, substance abuse, family breakup, the break-down of social cohesion.

So this is the town I live in, a very poor town, high levels of unemployment and many people with a sense of hopelessness. Nevertheless, they wouldn’t think of turning to church, because the Calvinist legacy is a very negative one. I’m not saying that everything was bad about the chapels; the Nonconformist tradition produced a genuine Christian spirituality with a real love of Scripture, a real love of God, and very fine hymnography, but it had a shadow side, and this shadow side was Calvinism and its censoriousness, being very judgmental and placing people in categories. It wasn’t known for its compassion for the frail and vulnerable, or for those whose lives took a negative turn.

The Bible and obedience - 1

2011-09-16T16:21:00.003+01:00

The Orthodox Study Bible contains a wonderful article by His Grace Bishop KALLISTOS Ware and I wanted to share it with you as a four-part series. . This article is formative for understanding how the Orthodox Christian reads scripture. I hope you enjoy the article as much as I have.

We believe that the scriptures constitute a coherent whole. They are at once divinely inspired and humanly expressed. They bear authoritative witness to God’s revelation of Himself – in creation, in the Incarnation of the Word, and the whole history of salvation. And as such they express the word of God in human language. We know, receive, and interpret Scripture through the Church and in the Church. Our approach to the Bible is one of obedience.

We may distinguish four key qualities that mark an Orthodox reading of Scripture, namely

our reading should be obedient,

it should be ecclesial, within the Church,

it should be Christ-centered,

it should be personal.

Reading the Bible with Obedience

FIRST OF ALL, when reading Scripture, we are to listen in a spirit of obedience. The Orthodox Church believes in divine inspiration of the Bible. Scripture is a “letter” from God, where Christ Himself is speaking. The Scriptures are God’s authoritative witness of Himself. They express the Word of God in our human language. Since God Himself is speaking to us in the Bible, our response is rightly one of obedience, of receptivity, and listening. As we read, we wait on the Spirit.

But, while divinely inspired, the Bible is also humanly expressed. It is a whole library of different books written at varying times by distinct persons. Each book of the Bible reflects the outlook of the age in which it was written and the particular viewpoint of the author. For God does nothing in isolation, divine grace cooperates with human freedom. God does not abolish our individuality but enhances it. And so it is in the writing of inspired Scripture. The authors were not just a passive instrument, a dictation machine recording a message. Each writer of Scripture contributes his particular personal gifts. Alongside the divine aspect, there is also a human element in Scripture. We are to value both.

Each of the four Gospels, for example, has its own particular approach. Matthew presents more particularly a Jewish understanding of Christ, with an emphasis on the kingdom of heaven. Mark contains specific, picturesque details of Christ’s ministry not given elsewhere. Luke expresses the universality of Christ’s love, His all-embracing compassion that extends equally to Jew and to Gentile. In John there is a more inward and more mystical approach to Christ, with an emphasis on divine light and divine indwelling. We are to enjoy and explore to the full this life-giving variety within the Bible.

Because Scripture is in this way the word of God expressed in human language, there is room for honest and exacting inquiry when studying the Bible. Exploring the human aspect of the Bible, we are to use to the full our God-given human reason. The Orthodox Church does not exclude scholarly research into the origin, dates, and authorship of books of the Bible.

Alongside this human element, however, we see always the divine element. These are not simply books written by individual human writers. We hear in Scripture not just human words, marked by a greater or lesser skill and perceptiveness, but the eternal, uncreated Word of God Himself, the divine Word of salvation. When we come to the Bible, then, we come not simply out of curiosity, to gain information. We come to the Bible with a specific question, a personal question about ourselves: “How can I be saved?”

As God’s divine word of salvation in human language, Scripture should evoke in us a sense of wonder. Do you ever feel, as you read or listen, that it has all become too familiar? Has the Bible grown rather boring? Continually we need to cleanse the doors of our perception and to look in amazement with new eyes at what the Lord sets before us.

We are to feel toward the Bible with a sense of wonder, and sense of expectation and surprise. There are so many rooms in Scripture that we have yet to enter. There is so much depth and majesty for us to discover. If obedience means wonder, it also means listening.

We are better at talking than listening. We hear the sound of our own voice, but often we don’t pause to hear the voice of the other person who is speaking to us. So the first requirement, as we read Scripture, is to stop talking and to listen – to listen with obedience.

When we enter an Orthodox Church, decorated in the traditional manner, and look up toward the sanctuary at the east end, we see there, in the apse, an icon of the Virgin Mary with her hands raised to heaven – the ancient Scriptural manner of praying that many still use today. This icon symbolizes the attitude we are to assume as we read Scripture – an attitude of receptivity, of hands invisibly raised to heaven. Reading the Bible, we are to model ourselves on the Blessed Virgin Mary, for she is supremely the one who listens. At the Annunciation she listens with obedience and responds to the angel, “Be it unto me according to thy word” (Luke 1:38). She could not have borne the Word of God in her body if she had not first, listened to the Word of God in her heart. After the shepherds have adored the newborn Christ, it is said of her: “Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart” (Luke 2:19). Again, when Mary finds Jesus in the temple, we are told: “His mother kept all these things in her heart” (Luke 2:5l). The same need for listening is emphasized in the last words attributed to the Mother of God in Scripture, at the wedding feast in Cana of Galilee: “Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it” (John 2:5), she says to the servants – and to all of us.

In all this the Blessed Virgin Mary serves as a mirror, as a living icon of the Biblical Christian. We are to be like her as we hear the Word of God: pondering, keeping all these things in our hearts, doing whatever He tells us. We are to listen in obedience as God speaks.

The Bible and the Church - 2

2011-09-16T16:19:00.000+01:00

This is the second of Bishop Kallistos' talks on the Bible. Today we learn the our reading of scripture should be ecclesial, that is, within the life of the Church.

IN THE SECOND PLACE, we should receive and interpret Scripture through the Church and in the Church. Our approach to the Bible is not only obedient but ecclesial.

It is the Church that tells us what is Scripture. A book is not part of Scripture because of any particular theory about its dating and authorship. Even if it could be proved, for example, that the Fourth Gospel was not actually written by John the beloved disciple of Christ, this would not alter the fact that we Orthodox accept the Fourth Gospel as Holy Scripture. Why? Because the Gospel of John is accepted by the Church and in the Church.

It is the Church that tells us what is Scripture, and it is also the Church that tells us how Scripture is to be understood. Coming upon the Ethiopian as he read the Old Testament in his chariot, Philip the Apostle asked him, “Understandest thou what thou readest?” And the Ethiopian answered, “How can I, unless some man should guide me?” (Acts 8:30-31). We are all in the position of the Ethiopian. The words of Scripture are not always self-explanatory. God speaks directly to the heart of each one of us as we read our Bible. Scripture reading is a personal dialogue between each one of us and Christ – but we also need guidance. And our guide is the Church. We make full use of our own personal understanding, assisted by the Spirit, we make full use of the findings of modern Biblical research, but always we submit private opinion – whether our own or that of the scholars – to the total experience of the Church throughout the ages.

The Orthodox standpoint here is summed up in the question asked of a convert at the reception service used by the Russian Church: “Do you acknowledge that the Holy Scripture must be accepted and interpreted in accordance with the belief which has been handed down by the Holy Fathers, and which the Holy Orthodox Church, our Mother, has always held and still does hold?”

We read the Bible personally, but not as isolated individuals. We read as the members of a family, the family of the Orthodox Catholic Church. When reading Scripture, we say not  ”I” but “We.” We read in communion with all the other members of the Body of Christ, in all parts of the world and in all generations of time. The decisive test and criterion for our understanding of what the Scripture means is the mind of the Church. The Bible is the book of the Church.

To discover this “mind of the Church,” where do we begin? Our first step is to see how Scripture is used in worship. How, in particular, are Biblical lessons chosen for reading at the different feasts? We should also consult the writings of the Church Fathers, and consider how they interpret the Bible. Our Orthodox manner of reading Scripture is in this way both liturgical and patristic. And this, as we all realize, is far from easy to do in practice, because we have at our disposal so few Orthodox commentaries on Scripture available in English, and most of the Western commentaries do not employ this liturgical and Patristic approach.

As an example of what it means to interpret Scripture in a liturgical way, guided by the use made of it at Church feasts, let us look at the Old Testament lessons appointed for Vespers on the Feast of the Annunciation. They are three in number: Genesis 28:10-17; Jacob’s dream of a ladder set up from earth to heaven; Ezekiel 43:27-44:4; the prophet’s vision of the Jerusalem sanctuary, with the closed gate through which none but the Prince may pass; Proverbs 9:1-11: one of the great Sophianic passages in the Old Testament, beginning “Wisdom has built her house.”

These texts in the Old Testament, then, as their selection for the feast of the Virgin Mary indicates, are all to be understood as prophecies concerning the Incarnation from the Virgin. Mary is Jacob’s ladder, supplying the flesh that God incarnate takes upon entering our human world. Mary is the closed gate who alone among women bore a child while still remaining inviolate. Mary provides the house which Christ the Wisdom of God (1 Cor. 1:24) takes as his dwelling. Exploring in this manner the choice of lessons for the various feasts, we discover layers of Biblical interpretation that are by no means obvious on a first reading.

Take as another example Vespers on Holy Saturday, the first part of the ancient Paschal Vigil. Here we have no less than fifteen Old Testament lessons. This sequence of lessons sets before us the whole scheme of sacred history, while at the same time underlining the deeper meaning of Christ’s Resurrection. First among the lessons is Genesis 1:1-13, the account of Creation: Christ’s Resurrection is a new Creation. The fourth lesson is the book of Jonah in its entirety, with the prophet’s three days in the belly of the whale foreshadowing Christ’s Resurrection after three days in the tomb (cf. Matthew 12:40). The sixth lesson recounts the crossing of the Red Sea by the Israelites (Exodus 13:20-15:19), which anticipates the new Passover of Pascha whereby Christ passes over from death to life (cf. 1 Corinthians 5:7; 10:1-4). The final lesson is the story of the three Holy Children in the fiery furnace (Daniel 3), once more a “type” or prophecy of Christ’s rising from the tomb.

Such is the effect of reading Scripture ecclesially, in the Church and with the Church. Studying the Old Testament in this liturgical way and using the Fathers to help us, everywhere we uncover signposts pointing forward to the mystery of Christ and of His Mother. Reading the Old Testament in the light of the New, and the New in the light of the, Old – as the Church’s calendar encourages us to do – we discover the unity of Holy Scripture. One of the best ways of identifying correspondences between the Old and New Testaments is to use a good Biblical concordance. This can often tell us more about the meaning of Scripture than any commentary.

In Bible study groups within our parishes, it is helpful to give one person the special task of noting whenever a particular passage in the Old or New Testament is used for a festival or a saint’s day. We can then discuss together the reasons why each specific passage has been so chosen. Others in the group can be assigned to do homework among the Fathers, using for example the Biblical homilies of Saint John Chrysostom (which have been translated into English). Christians need to acquire a patristic mind.

Christ the heart of the Bible - 3

2011-09-16T16:16:00.003+01:00

Okay here is the second part of the four part talk by Bishop: Kallistos

THE THIRD ELEMENT in our reading of Scripture is that it should be Christ-centered. The Scriptures constitute a coherent whole because they all are Christ-centered. Salvation through the Messiah is their central and unifying topic. He is as a “thread” that runs through all of Holy Scripture, from the first sentence to the last. We have already mentioned the way in which Christ may be seen foreshadowed on the pages of the Old Testament.

Much modern critical study of Scripture in the West has adopted an analytical approach, breaking up each book into different sources. The connecting links are unraveled, and the Bible is reduced to a series of bare primary units. There is certainly value in this. But we need to see the unity as well as the diversity of Scripture, the all-embracing end as well as the scattered beginnings. Orthodoxy prefers on the whole a synthetic rather than an analytical approach, seeing Scripture as an integrated whole, with Christ everywhere as the bond of union.

Always we seek for the point of convergence between the Old Testament and the New, and this we find in Jesus Christ. Orthodoxy assigns particular significance to the “typological” method of interpretation, whereby “types” of Christ, signs and symbols of His work, are discerned throughout the Old Testament. A notable example of this is Melchizedek, the priest-king of Salem, who offered bread and wine to Abraham (Genesis 14:18), and who is seen as a type of Christ not only by the Fathers but even in the New Testament itself (Hebrews 5:6; 7:l). Another instance is the way in which, as we have seen, the Old Passover foreshadows the New; Israel’s deliverance from Pharaoh at the Red Sea anticipates our deliverance from sin through the death and Resurrection of the Savior. This is the method of interpretation that we are to apply throughout the Bible. Why, for instance, in the second half of Lent are the Old Testament readings from Genesis dominated by the figure of Joseph? Why in Holy Week do we read from the book of Job? Because Joseph and Job are innocent sufferers, and as such they are types or foreshadowings of Jesus Christ, whose innocent suffering upon the Cross the Church is at the point of celebrating. It all ties up.

A Biblical Christian is the one who, wherever he looks, on every page of Scripture, finds everywhere Christ.

The Bible as Personal - 4

2011-09-16T16:14:00.001+01:00

I came across this excellent article recently by a man I much admire, Bishop Kallistos Ware where he talks about the Bible in very evangelical terms:

"IN THE WORDS of an early ascetic writer in the Christian East, Saint Mark the Monk: “He who is humble in his thoughts and engaged in spiritual work, when he reads the Holy Scriptures, will apply everything to himself and not to his neighbor.” As Orthodox Christians we are to look everywhere in Scripture for a personal application. We are to ask not just “What does it mean?” but “What does it mean to me?” Scripture is a personal dialogue between the Saviour and myself – Christ speaking to me, and me answering. That is the fourth criterion in our Bible reading.

I am to see all the stories in Scripture as part of my own personal story. Who is Adam? The name Adam means “man,” “human,” and so the Genesis account of Adam’s fall is also a story about me. I am Adam. It is to me that God speaks when He says to Adam, “Where art thou?” (Genesis 3:9). “Where is God?” we often ask. But the real question is what God asks the Adam in each of us: “Where art thou?”

When, in the story of Cain and Abel, we read God’s words to Cain, “Where is Abel thy brother?” (Genesis 4:9), these words, too, are addressed to each of us. Who is Cain? It is myself. And God asks the Cain in each of us, “Where is thy brother?” The way to God lies through love of other people, and there is no other way. Disowning my brother, I replace the image of God with the mark of Cain, and deny my own vital humanity.

In reading Scripture, we may take three steps. First, what we have in Scripture is sacred history: the history of the world from the Creation, the history of the chosen people, the history of God Incarnate in Palestine, and the “mighty works” after Pentecost. The Christianity that we find in the Bible is not an ideology, not a philosophical theory, but a historical faith.

Then we are to take a second step. The history presented in the Bible is a personal history. We see God intervening at specific times and in specific places, as He enters into dialogue with individual persons. He addresses each one by name. We see set before us the specific calls issued by God to Abraham, Moses and David, to Rebekah and Ruth, to Isaiah and the prophets, and then to Mary and the Apostles. We see the selectivity of the divine action in history, not as a scandal but as a blessing. God’s love is universal in scope, but He chooses to become Incarnate in a particular comer of the earth, at a particular time and from a particular Mother. We are in this manner to savor all the uniqueness of God’s action as recorded in Scripture. The person who loves the Bible loves details of dating and geography. Orthodoxy has an intense devotion to the Holy Land, to the exact places where Christ lived and taught, died and rose again. An excellent way to enter more deeply into our Scripture reading is to undertake a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and Galilee. Walk where Christ walked. Go down to the Dead Sea, sit alone on the rocks, feel how Christ felt during the forty days of His temptation in the wilderness. Drink from the well where He spoke with the Samaritan woman. Go at night to the Garden of Gethsemane, sit in the dark under the ancient olives and look across the valley to the lights of the city. Experience to the full the reality of the historical setting, and take that experience back with you to your daily Scripture reading.

Then we are to take a third step. Reliving Biblical history in all its particularity, we are to apply it directly to ourselves. We are to say to ourselves, “All these places and events are not just far away and long ago, but are also part of my own personal encounter with Christ. The stories include me.”

Betrayal, for example, is part of the personal story of everyone. Have we not all betrayed others at some time in our life, and have we not all known what it is to be betrayed, and does not the memory of these moments leave continuing scars on our psyche? Reading, then, the account of Saint Peter’s betrayal of Christ and of his restoration after the Resurrection, we can see ourselves as actors in the story. Imagining what both Peter and Jesus must have experienced at the moment immediately after the betrayal, we enter into their feelings and make them our own. I am Peter; in this situation can I also be Christ? Reflecting likewise on the process of reconciliation – seeing how the Risen Christ with a love utterly devoid of sentimentality restored the fallen Peter to fellowship, seeing how Peter on his side had the courage to accept this restoration – we ask ourselves: How Christ-like am I to those who have betrayed me? And, after my own acts of betrayal, am I able to accept the forgiveness of others – am I able to forgive myself? Or am I timid, mean, holding myself back, never ready to give myself fully to anything, either good or bad? As the Desert Fathers say, “Better someone who has sinned, if he knows he has sinned and repents, than a person who has not sinned and thinks of himself as righteous.”

Have I gained the boldness of Saint Mary Magdalene, her constancy and loyalty, when she went out to anoint the body of Christ in the tomb (John 20:l)? Do I hear the Risen Savior call me by name, as He called her, and do I respond Rabboni (Teacher) with her simplicity and completeness (John 20:16)?

Reading Scripture in this way – in obedience, as a member of the Church, finding Christ everywhere, seeing everything as a part of my own personal story – we shall sense something of the variety and depth to be found in the Bible. Yet always we shall feel that in our Biblical exploration we are only at the very beginning. We are like someone launching out in a tiny boat across a limitless ocean.

“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Psalm 118 [119]:105)

Note: You can find access to other teachings about the Bible by Bishop Ware by clicking here.

The Bible in history

2011-09-16T16:09:00.001+01:00

I recently came across the following Biblical history timeline by George Konig and Ray Konig, authors of the book, 100 Prophecies. Scholars vary in the dates that they assign to ancient events. The dates shown below are approximations.

2100 BC (about 4100 years ago)
God promises Abraham many descendants
Abraham lived around 2100 BC in what is now Iraq. God told him to move to Canaan, which later became Israel. Unlike many people, Abraham believed in the one true God. God rewarded Abraham's faith, making him the father of a great nation (Israel), and an ancestor to the Messiah (Jesus Christ).

2000 BC (about 4000 years ago)
Jacob (Israel) is born
Jacob, the son of Isaac, who was the son of Abraham, is born in Canaan. Jacob's name is changed to Israel. (Canaan is later renamed Israel, after Jacob). He has 12 sons, for whom the 12 Tribes of Israel are named.

1900 BC (about 3900 years ago)
Joseph sold into slavery
Joseph, one of the 12 sons of Jacob (Israel), is sold into slavery by his brothers, who are jealous of him. Joseph ends up in Egypt, where he rises to power as a trusted assistant of a pharaoh. His father and his brothers later leave Canaan, because of a famine, and move to Egypt. They are later saved from harm by Joseph.

1446 BC (about 3400 years ago)
Exodus begins
The Hebrews, or Israelites (descendants of Jacob), are enslaved for 400 years in Egypt until Moses leads them out of Egypt. They wander the desert for 40 years. Moses then brings them to the border of Canaan, the land that God had previously promised to their forefather Abraham.

1406 BC (about 3400 years ago)
Israel begins establishing itself as a sovereign country
After Moses dies, Joshua leads the Israelites into Canaan and begins conquering the land, establishing a sovereign country of Israel for the first time in history.

1400 BC (about 3400 years ago)
Israel is ruled by judges, not kings
From about 1400 BC to about 1050 BC, Israel was not ruled by kings. The people think of God as their King. Instead of an earthly king, Israel is led by judges who settled disputes.

1050 BC (about 3000 years ago)
Saul becomes Israel's first king
After about 350 years of being ruled by judges, the people of Israel demand to have a king, like the neighboring countries. By demanding a king, the people are turning away from their faith in God as their king. Saul become king and reigns about 40 years.

1010 BC (about 3000 years ago)
David becomes King of Israel
David becomes king of Israel in about 1010 BC and reigns for 40 years. David, unlike Saul, follows the commands of God. He makes mistakes, but he repents for them. He seeks to please God. He expands the size of Israel and rules over surrounding territories.

970 BC (about 3000 years ago)
Solomon becomes king, builds Temple
Solomon, son of David, becomes king in about 970 BC. He too reigns for about 40 years. Solomon builds the Temple in honor of God. The work is completed in about 960 BC. But, Solomon eventually turns away from God and worships false gods.

926 BC (about 2900 years ago)
Israel becomes a divided kingdom
Shortly after the reign of Solomon, Israel becomes a divided kingdom. The southern kingdom, called Judah, includes the city of Jerusalem and the Temple. The northern kingdom continued to be called Israel. The two often war with each other.

721 BC (about 2700 years ago)
Assyrians conquer northern kingdom of Israel
The Assyrian Empire conquers the northern kingdom of Israel in about 721 BC. The Assyrians torture and decapitate many. They force many Israelites (10 of the 12 Tribes of Israel) out of Israel and bring in foreigners.

612 BC (about 2600 years ago)
Babylon conquers Nineveh (Assyrian Empire)
The Assyrian Empire's capital city - Nineveh - is attacked by coalition of Babylonians and others. As explained by the prophet Nahum in the Bible, Nineveh was to be destroyed because of the Assyrian Empire's treatment of Israelites and other people.

605 BC (about 2600 years ago)
Babylon exerts influence over Judah
The neo-Babylonian Empire, under the reign of king Nebuchadnezzar, begins forcing Judah into submission. Nebuchadnezzar takes many Jews as captives to Babylon to ensure Judah's obedience.

597 BC (about 2600 years ago)
Babylon attacks Judah
Babylonian army attacks Judah and takes more Jews as captives to Babylon. Ezekiel, one of the captives, becomes a prophet of God. Ezekiel explains that God is allowing Babylon to punish Judah because the people have been unfaithful to God.

586 BC (about 2600 years ago)
Babylon destroys Jerusalem and the Temple
Babylon attacks Judah again. This time, the Babylonians destroy Jerusalem and the Temple that Solomon had built. More Jews are taken as captives to Babylon.

586 BC to 573 BC (about 2600 years ago)
King Nebuchadnezzar attacks Tyre mainland
Babylon begins a 13-year siege of the mainland of the Phoenician city of Tyre.

539 BC (about 2500 years ago)
Cyrus the Great conquers Babylon
After the death of Nebuchadnezzar, the neo-Babylonian Empire begins to lose power. Cyrus the Great conquers Babylon in 539 BC, establishing the Medo-Persian Empire.

538 BC (about 2500 years ago)
Cyrus releases Jews from Babylonian Captivity
After conquering Babylon, Cyrus offers the Jews their freedom to leave Babylon and to return to Judah. Cyrus' kingdom rules over Judah and many other parts of the Middle East, but Cyrus allows people more cultural and religious freedom than did the neo-Babylonian Empire.

536 BC (about 2500 years ago)
Work begins to rebuild Temple
Some of the Jews in Babylon return to Judah and begin work in about 536 BC to rebuild the Temple, which had been destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC.

516 BC (about 2500 years ago)
Second Temple is dedicated
The Temple is consecrated for worship, 70 years after the Babylonians had destroyed it in 586 BC.

333 BC (about 2300 years ago)
Greeks begin rule over land of Israel
The Greeks, under the leadership of Alexander the Great, defeat Persian armies in Macedonia in 333 BC. This marks the fall of the Medo-Persian Empire and the rise of the Grecian Empire.

332 BC (about 2300 years ago)
Alexander conquers Tyre (Phoenician Empire)
Alexander wars against the island fortress of the Phoenician city of Tyre. He takes rubble from the mainland of Tyre and builds a walkway to the island. Alexander's forces then conquer the island fortress, bringing an end to the Phoenician Empire.

250 BC (about 2300 years ago)
The Old Testament is translated into Greek
A Greek ruler asks the Jews to translate all or part of the Old Testament into the Greek language. The translation is called the Septuagint.

175 BC (about 2200 years ago)
Greek ruler Antiochus Epiphanes torments the Jews
Greek ruler Antiochus Epiphanes rules Syria from about 175 BC to about 164 BC. He reigns over Judah and tries to destroy the Jewish religion. He also defiles the Temple.

164 BC to 63 BC (about 2200 years ago)
Jews have independence
The Maccabees, a group that fought for Jewish independence, stage a revolt against the Greeks and establish the Hasmonean royal dynasty, as well as sovereignty over all or part of the land of Israel for about 100 years, from about 164 BC to 63 BC.

63 BC (about 2100 years ago)
The Romans take over land of Israel
After the death of Alexander the Great, the empire of the Greeks is divided up and becomes weaker. During this time, the Roman Empire becomes increasingly powerful. The Roman general named Pompey seizes control over the land of Israel.

About 5 BC (about 2000 years ago)
Jesus is born in Bethlehem
Jesus is born in the town of Bethlehem. The Apostle Matthew later points out that Jesus' birth in Bethlehem fulfilled a prophecy delivered by the prophet Micah, about 700 years beforehand. (See Micah 5:2).

About 25 AD (about 2000 years ago)
Jesus begins His ministry
Jesus is about 30 years old when he begins his ministry. He preaches salvation, delivers prophecies and performs miracles. He announces that he is the Messiah (the Christ) who was promised by the prophets of the Old Testament. Jesus promises salvation and eternal life to those who believe in him (See John 3:16, as an example).

About 28 AD (about 2000 years ago)
Jesus is crucified and resurrected
Jesus is falsely accused and is sent to Pontius Pilate, the Roman ruler of the land of the Jews, to be crucified. Jesus is later resurrected, meaning he is brought back to life, and his followers began evangelizing him to others, allowing Christianity to spread very quickly throughout the Roman world and to eventually become the first religion to spread throughout the world.

70 AD (about 1900 years ago)
Romans destroy Jerusalem and Temple
In 70 AD, the Roman Army, under Titus, destroys Jerusalem and the Temple, to suppress an uprising of the Jews. According to the historian Josephus, about 1.1 million Jews were killed. Others were taken as slaves.

First century AD (about 1900 years ago)
The Bible is completed
During the first century of this era, the New Testament, which describes the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, is completed. The writing of the Bible (the Old Testament and the New Testament) comes to an end. It began during the time of Moses, about 3400 years ago. Jesus becomes, and remains, the final subject of the Bible.

Heaven, children, prayer and the Christian life

2011-09-14T11:45:00.001+01:00

In Leonard Bernstein's Mass the following lyrics by Stephen Schwarz are sung at the beginning and have always had a profound effect on me:

Sing God a simple song: Lauda laude;
Make it up as you go along: Lauda laude.
Sing like you like to sing.
God loves all simple things.
For God is the simplest of all.

Those words have resonated in me throughout my Christian walk and pop up every now and again at odd times. First as a snatched melody that somehow gurgles up from the depths of my soul to be whistled out in the shower or as I shave. Then as the words join the melody I find, more often than not, that they bring tears to my eyes as if they belong to some half-forgotten memory of childhood when life was less complex and violent and more innocent and straightforward. And as I find myself reflecting on the words several things come to mind:

First, I think heaven is like that. There is a reason, I believe, that Jesus told us that unless we become like little children we will not enter the kingdom of heaven (Mark10). And that reason is that it will be populated by those who have, through grace and prayer, become childlike once again. In other words it will be full of wonder, worship, play and innocence. All the best that childhood brought us - discovery, new experiences and tastes and smells, adventure and an appreciation of everything as if we are seeing them/it for the first time -these, I believe, will be the features of a heaven (or renewed earth) full of child-like people. We will spend eternity - which won't feel like eternity, because time is only something we become aware of when something is boring or tedious - in the presence of the One who says he will "make all things new" (Revelation 21:5). And so heaven will be full of "oohs" and "ahhs" as we come across seach new discovery, each new aspect of God - Father, Son of Holy Spirit.

Second, I think it gives us an insight into prayer. We human beings are very good at making everything complicated and 'involved' and what's worse we seem to take great pride in doing so as if it impresses anyone. This goes for prayer as much as anything else and I think that the more complicated prayer becomes, the less it is prayer and the more it becomes a means of trying to woo God or persuade Him how serious we are or how He should help us. We - I - need to get back to first principles and see prayer as a conversation with God who is our heavenly Father. Looking, for example, at Matthew 6: 5-15 what impresses me is not so much what Jesus says as what he leaves out! No mention here of what to pray except the Lord's Prayer (verse 9-13) which is so simple and yet so all encompassing and in such stark contrast to the "babbling" of the pagans. No mention of length of prayer-time - how long we should pray; or time - when to pray. No mention of prayer lists or whether you should sit, stand or kneel.

In other words Jesus is not limiting prayer in any way but liberating it, and us, to pray whenever we like and in whatever way we choose whenever there is something to say to God, who as our Father, is always there and ready to speak with us. Of course this can be read to mean that we can pray as little as possible and not feel guilty about it - and of course feeling guilty is one sure fire way of undermining or negating prayer - but if we think like that then God is not really our Father but someone we try and get away from speaking to too much because it is meaningless or He is an ogre and not our Father.

But here again we make things too complex when Jesus is trying to make it simple.

First he simplifies it by freeing it from the restraints of time and wrong motives. Don't pray long meaningless prayers like the hypocrites in order to impress people or God. The 'reward' - surely an ironic word here - is to get what you want and feel important or impressive. But at what cost - boredom and superficiality and a loss of peace or Presence. The Jesus Prayer is one I especially like because it is brief and simple and to the point. Prayed meaningfully it is awesome in it's transparency and power.

Second, he simplifies it by tying prayer into a relationship with a Father who is interested and concerned about us and wants to have a relationship with us that is real and fulfilling. We go to a quiet place to converse with him and receive the reward of knowing that we have done something worthwhile and helpful. WHat is greater and better and more wonderful than engaging with the One who created us out of love?

Third, he simplifies it by showing us that few words, with meaning, are better than many words which strive to give meaning but which too soon run out of steam and quickly become meaningless and frustrating. I don't know about you but I get sick of hearing myself floundering round for the 'right' words to say or the 'right way' to express myself. Jesus rescues us from this by giving us something disarmingly simple and straightforward to say which are right and sufficient.

So keep prayer simple. When you think of someone or something to pray for pray for it/them when you think of it/them. Don't save it up till later. Like food it's always best fresh. Go into your prayer 'room' - a quiet and private place which can be in your head (closing the door (verse 6) can be a metaphor for closing your eyes and "your room" (verse 6) can be a metaphor for your head/mind - and talk to Father.

Third, I think of the Christian life and the need to live it simply in all sorts of ways. Simple living without too many 'things' has a beneficial effect on the planet and the lives of others as well as our own soul. Simple speaking - let your 'yes' be yes etc (Matthew 5:37) - avoids the complexity of lies and what they can lead to.“When words are many, sin is not absent,but he who holds his tongue is wise.” (Proverbs 10:19) "One thing is needful" Jesus told Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38-42) and "Simplicity of life is to will one things" wrote Kierkegaard the philosopher.

"Sing God a simple song - for God is the simplest of all".

The Great SIn

2011-09-14T10:18:00.001+01:00

I now come to that part of Christian morals where they differ most sharply from all other morals. There is one vice of which no man in the world is free; which every one in the world loathes when he sees it in someone else; and of which hardly any people, except Christians, ever imagine that they are guilty themselves. I have heard people admit that they are bad-tempered, or that they cannot keep their heads about girls or drink, or even that they are cowards. I do not think I have ever heard anyone who was not a Christian accuse himself of this vice. And at the same time I have very seldom met anyone, who was not a Christian, who showed the slightest mercy to it in others. There is no fault which makes a man more unpopular, and no fault which we are more unconscious of in ourselves. And the more we have it ourselves, the more we dislike it in others.

The vice I am talking of is Pride or Self-Conceit: and the virtue opposite to it, in Christian morals, is called Humility. You may remember, when I was talking about sexual morality, I warned you that the centre of Christian morals did not lie there. Well, now, we have come to the centre. According to Christian teachers, the essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride. Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere fleabites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind.

Does this seem to you exaggerated? If so, think it over. I pointed out a moment ago that the more pride one had, the more one disliked pride in others. In fact, if you want to find out how proud you are the easiest way is to ask yourself, 'How much do I dislike it when other people snub me, or refuse to take any notice of me, or shove their oar in, or patronise me, or show off?' The point is that each person's pride is in competition with every one else's pride. It is because I wanted to be the big noise at the party that I am so annoyed at someone else being the big noise. Two of a trade never agree. Now what you want to get clear is that Pride is essentially competitive - is competitive by its very nature - while the other vices are competitive only, so to speak, by accident. Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man. We say that people are proud of being rich, or clever, or good-looking, but they are not. They are proud of being richer, or cleverer, or better-looking than others. If everyone else became equally rich, or clever, or good-looking there would be nothing to be proud about. It is the comparison that makes you proud: the pleasure of being above the rest. Once the element of competition has gone, pride has gone. That is why I say that Pride is essentially competitive in a way the other vices are not. The sexual impulse may drive two men into competition if they both want the same girl. But that is only by accident; they might just as likely have wanted two different girls. But a proud man will take your girl from you, not because he wants her, but just to prove to himself that he is a better man than you. Greed may drive men into competition if there is not enough to go round; but the proud man, even when he has got more than he can possibly want, will try to get still more just to assert his power. Nearly all those evils in the world which people put down to greed or selfishness are really far more the result of Pride.

Take it with money. Greed will certainly make a man want money, for the sake of a better house, better holidays, better things to eat and drink. But only up to a point. What is it that makes a man with œ10,000 a year anxious to get œ20,000 a year? It is not the greed for more pleasure. œ10,000 will give all the luxuries that any man can really enjoy. It is Pride - the wish to be richer than some other rich man, and (still more) the wish for power. For, of course, power is what Pride really enjoys: there is nothing makes a man feel so superior to others as being able to move them about like toy soldiers. What makes a pretty girl spread misery wherever she goes by collecting admirers? Certainly not her sexual instinct: that kind of girl is quite often sexually frigid. It is Pride. What is it that makes a political leader or a whole nation go on and on, demanding more and more? Pride again. Pride is competitive by its very nature: that is why it goes on and on. If I am a proud man, then, as long as there is one man in the whole world more powerful, or richer, or cleverer than I, he is my rival and my enemy.

The Christians are right: it is Pride which has been the chief cause of misery in every nation and every family since the world began. Other vices may sometimes bring people together: you may find good fellowship and jokes and friendliness among drunken people or unchaste people. But pride always means enmity - it is enmity. And not only enmity between man and man, but enmity to God.

In God you come up against something which is in every respect immeasurably superior to yourself. Unless you know God as that - and, therefore, know yourself as nothing in comparison - you do not know God at all. As long as you are proud you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on things and people: and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you.

That raises a terrible question. How is it that people who are quite obviously eaten up with Pride can say they believe in God and appear to themselves very religious? I am afraid it means they are worshipping an imaginary God. They theoretically admit themselves to be nothing in the presence of this phantom God, but are really all the time imagining how He approves of them and thinks them far better than ordinary people: that is, they pay a pennyworth of imaginary humility to Him and get out of it a pound's worth of Pride towards their fellow-men. I suppose it was of those people Christ was thinking when He said that some would preach about Him and cast out devils in His name, only to be told at the end of the world that He had never known them. And any of us may at any moment be in this death-trap. Luckily, we have a test. Whenever we find that our religious life is making us feel that we are good - above all, that we are better than someone else - I think we may be sure that we are being acted on, not by God, but by the devil. The real test of being in the presence of God is, that you either forget about yourself altogether or see yourself as a small, dirty object. It is better to forget about yourself altogether.

It is a terrible thing that the worst of all the vices can smuggle itself into the very centre of our religious life. But you can see why. The other, and less bad, vices come from the devil working on us through our animal nature. But this does not come through our animal nature at all. It comes direct from Hell. It is purely spiritual: consequently it is far more subtle and deadly. For the same reason, Pride can often be used to beat down the simpler vices. Teachers, in fact, often appeal to a boy's Pride, or, as they call it, his self-respect, to make him behave decently: many a man has overcome cowardice, or lust, or ill-temper, by learning to think that they are beneath his dignity - that is, by Pride. The devil laughs. He is perfectly content to see you becoming chaste and brave and self-controlled provided, all the time, he is setting up in you the Dictatorship of Pride - just as he would be quite content to see your chilblains cured if he was allowed, in return, to give you cancer. For Pride is spiritual cancer: it eats up the very possibility of love, or contentment, or even common sense.

Before leaving this subject I must guard against some possible misunderstandings:

(1) Pleasure in being praised is not Pride. The child who is patted on the back for doing a lesson well, the woman whose beauty is praised by her lover, the saved soul to whom Christ says 'Well done,' are pleased and ought to be. For here the pleasure lies not in what you are but in the fact that you have pleased someone you wanted (and rightly wanted) to please. The trouble begins when you pass from thinking, 'I have pleased him; all is well,' to thinking, 'What a fine person I must be to have done it.' The more you delight in yourself and the less you delight in the praise, the worse you are becoming. When you delight wholly in yourself and do not care about the praise at all, you have reached the bottom. That is why vanity, though it is the sort of Pride which shows most on the surface, is really the least bad and most pardonable sort. The vain person wants praise, applause, admiration, too much and is always angling for it. It is a fault, but a child-like and even (in an odd way) a humble fault. It shows that you are not yet completely contented with your own admiration. You value other people enough to want them to look at you. You are, in fact, still human. The real black, diabolical Pride, comes when you look down on others so much that you do not care what they think of you. Of course, it is very right, and often our duty, not to care what people think of us, if we do so for the right reason; namely, because we care so incomparably more what God thinks. But the Proud man has a different reason for not caring. He says 'Why should I care for the applause of that rabble as if their opinion were worth anything? And even if their opinions were of value, am I the sort of man to blush with pleasure at a compliment like some chit of a girl at her first dance? No, I am an integrated, adult personality. All I have done has been done to satisfy my own ideals - or my artistic conscience - or the traditions of my family - or, in a word, because I'm That Kind of Chap. If the mob like it, let them. They're nothing to me.' In this way real thorough-going pride may act as a check on vanity; for, as I said a moment ago, the devil loves 'curing' a small fault by giving you a great one. We must try not to be vain, but we must never call in our Pride to cure our vanity.

(2) We say in English that a man is 'proud' of his son, or his father, or his school, or regiment, and it may be asked whether 'pride' in this sense is a sin. I think it depends on what, exactly, we mean by 'proud of'. Very often, in such sentences, the phrase 'is proud of' means 'has a warm-hearted admiration for'. Such an admiration is, of course, very far from being a sin. But it might, perhaps, mean that the person in question gives himself airs on the ground of his distinguished father, or because he belongs to a famous regiment. This would, clearly, be a fault; but even then, it would be better than being proud simply of himself. To love and admire anything outside yourself is to take one step away from utter spiritual ruin; though we shall not be well so long as we love and admire anything more than we love and admire God.

(3) We must not think Pride is something God forbids because He is offended at it, or that Humility is something He demands as due to His own dignity - as if God Himself was proud. He is not in the least worried about His dignity. The point is, He wants you to know Him: wants to give you Himself. And He and you are two things of such a kind that if you really get into any kind of touch with Him you will, in fact, be humble - delightedly humble, feeling the infinite relief of having for once got rid of all the silly nonsense about your own dignity which has made you restless and unhappy all your life. He is trying to make you humble in order to make this moment possible: trying to take off a lot of silly, ugly, fancy-dress in which we have all got ourselves up and are strutting about like the little idiots we are. I wish I had got a bit further with humility myself: if I had, I could probably tell you more about the relief, the comfort, of taking the fancy-dress off - getting rid of the false self, with all its 'Look at me' and 'Aren't I a good boy?' and all its posing and posturing. To get even near it, even for a moment, is like a drink of cold water to a man in a desert.

(4) Do not imagine that if you meet a really humble man he will be what most people call 'humble' nowadays: he will not be a sort of greasy, smarmy person, who is always telling you that, of course, he is nobody. Probably all you will think about him is that he seemed a cheerful, intelligent chap who took a real interest in what you said to him. If you do dislike him it will be because you feel a little envious of anyone who seems to enjoy life so easily. He will not be thinking about humility: he will not be thinking about himself at all.

If anyone would like to acquire humility, I can, I think, tell him the first step. The first step is to realise that one is proud. And a biggish step, too. At least, nothing whatever can be done before it. If you think you are not conceited, it means you are very conceited indeed.
From Mere Christianity by C S Lewis

St. Cyprian - died September 14th AD 258

2011-09-13T10:19:00.002+01:00

Cyprian was born in Carthage, N. Africa from a wealthy pagan background. Before becoming a Christian he was an orator and a teacher of rhetoric. We don’t know the date of his conversion but two things stand out when we consider his change of heart. First, after his baptism circa 245-8 he gave away a portion of his wealth to the poor in Carthage, and second, he took the additional name of Caecilius in memory of the presbyter to whom he owned his conversion (a presbyter was the ancient and original title of what we now call a priest).

Not long after his baptism he was ordained deacon and soon after presbyter and some time between 248 and 249 he was elected bishop. He was a popular choice among the poor although there was opposition among the church hierarchy.

His election was followed by what has become known as the “Decian persecution” when pressure was put on all bishops and church officers to sacrifice to the emperor. On the face of it, it would have been a simple thing just to do what was expected, make the sacrifice, and get on with it, but to the Christians such as Cyprian, this was unthinkable. There is only one Lord and one God, and to acknowledge the Emperor as God—which was what the sacrifice meant - was to deny God. So rather than do that Cyprian, with others, fled Carthage.

But the persecution divided the church between those who gave in and those who capitulated. Because Cyprian ran away it was seen as cowardice and Cyprian’s enemies in the church accused him at Rome. Cyprian’s defence was that he ran away because he had received various visions and commands from God to tell him to, but I obedience to Rome he returned after 14 months and stayed faithfully serving his people until another persecution flared up under Emperor Valerian and both Pope Stephen 1st and Pope Sixtus 2nd were martyred in Rome.

This time Cyprian stayed and refused to sacrifice to the pagan deities and firmly professed Jesus as Lord. He was banished to Curubis where he continued to encourage his flock through various writings and epistles. In a vision he saw his approaching fate and after a year he was recalled and put under house arrest in his own villa. On September 13th 258 he was imprisoned he returned to his villa where he was cross examined and sentenced to die by the sword. His only answer was “thanks be to God”. The sentence was carried out in an open place near the city in front of a large crowd. After removing his own garments he knelt down and prayed and after blindfolding himself he was beheaded. His remains were buried near the spot and later various churches erected although Charlemagne is said to have had the bones transferred to France.

There are a few lessons we can draw from his life:

1. Although Cyprian later refers back to his baptism as the moment he received grace from God to believe and live the Christian life he also acknoweledges that baptism alone is not enough—there has to be a corresponding change of heart leading to a change of life. God’s grace must be met with man’s—and woman’s—willingness to believe and trust in Him on a daily basis.

Second, Cyprian was known in his lifetime as a defender of the faith. In his writings and in his preaching he vigorously defended Christianity against the pagan world. And even though he was
gifted as a speaker and thinker, he still had to learn about his faith so that he knew enough to “give a reason for the hope that was within (him).” (1 Peter 3:15.) So must we all, now more than ever, be ready to speak for Christ, when the time comes or the opportunity arises.

Lastly, Cyprian was a realist about the world and it’s problems. Listen to this extract from one of his writings to a pagan called Donatus:

"This seems a cheerful world, Donatus, when I view it from this fair garden under the shadow of these vines. But if I climbed some great mountain and looked over the wide lands, you know very well what I would see. Brigands on the high road, pirates on the seas, in the ampitheatres men murdered to please the applauding crowds, under all roofs misery and selfishness. It is a really bad world, Donatus, an incredibly bad world. Yet in the midst of it I have found a quiet and holy people. They have discovered a joy which is a thousand times better than any pleasure of this sinful life. They are despised and persecuted, but they care not. They have overcome the world. These people, Donatus, are the Christians… and I am one of them.

Louis Armstrong was right that this is sometimes a wonderful world but it is not perfect- far from it - and we need to keep on working with God to make it better.

Getting enough

2011-08-26T20:54:00.001+01:00

There are two ways to get enough. One way is to continue to accumulate more and more. The other is to desire less.
G.K. Chesterton

Makes you think

2011-08-26T20:11:00.002+01:00

Quotes on prayer

2011-08-25T20:50:00.000+01:00

In his book on prayer called “Prayer: Does it make a difference” Phillip Yancey makes the following point:

“Newcomers to prayer often worry that they are not doing it right. Perhaps they have heard eloquent prayers from the pulpit or read them in books. They would never pray out loud in a group, and even shy away from private prayers for fear of saying the wrong thing, of offending a perfect God. Meeting a celebrity sends most of us into a tongue-tied state; what can we possibly say that would merit God’s time and attention? I have one word of advice: Relax.” Prayer p181

“The rector at my church suggested that when you pray for someone, envision taking that person by the hand and presenting them to the Lord.” Prayer p181

Martin Luther who averaged two hours a day in prayer, counselled others “The fewer the words, the better the prayer.” Indeed two of the Bible’s shortest prayers, from a tax-collector and a crucified thief, proved most effective.” Prayer p181

“Apart from the requirement that we be authentic before God, there is no prescribed way to pray…. As Roberta Bondi says, ‘If you are praying, you are already doing it right” Prayer p181

“Jesus taught a model prayer, the Lord’s Prayer, but otherwise gave few rules. His teaching reduces down to three general principles: Keep it honest, keep it simple, and keep it up.” Prayer p181

“Pray as you can, not as you can’t.” Dom Chapman

Jesus died for me

2011-08-25T20:41:00.000+01:00

I dreamed I stood at Calvary
And saw three crosses there;
On left and right were nailed two thieves,
The cross between was bare.

A soldier took his sword in hand,
Then pointing it at me;
He said,"You there, prepare to die.
That cross is meant for thee."

I quickly fell upon my knees,
For mercy did I cry;
As strong hands grabbed my hands and feet,
I shouted, "Why, oh why?"

And then a voice both soft and sweet
Was heard above the din;
"Let this one go, take me instead.
I’ll pay his debt of sin."

With his body torn and bleeding,
And thorn marks ’round his head;
With face bruised where they beat him,
He stepped into my stead.

Then Jesus laid upon the cross,
His life to freely give;
That all my sins be washed away,
And through his death, I’d live.

He stretched his arms out open wide,
No struggle did he make;
As they prepared to nail him there,
His life to gladly take.

They drove the spikes in hands and feet
And slammed the cross in place;
His bones were shaken out of joint,
And blood flowed down his face.

"Forgive them, Father"’ was his cry,
They know not what they’ve done.
They do not realize that you,
Have sent your only son."

Deep darkness filled the noonday sky
And trembling shook the ground;
As God, the Father, turned away,
While God, the Son, gazed ’round.

"It’s finished now", the Saviour said.
"The door stands open wide;
Into thy hand’s my spirit comes."
And then they pierced his side.

The graves were bursting open,
And dead men walked around;
The temple veil was rent in twain,
And I fell to the ground.

When I awoke, the night had passed
And sunshine flooded in;
I cried, "Dear Lord, forgive me please,
And cleanse me from my sin.

For you sent down your only son,
A ransom for the lost;
And I see you included me,
When counting out the cost.

Take o’er the reins that guide my life,
Remove my wilful pride;
Sweep clean my heart and enter in,
Forever, there abide."

Yes, I dreamt I stood at Calvary
And saw those crosses three;
Yet no longer do I look with fear
Where Jesus died for me.
Author unknown

Communicating not covering up, the Gospel

2011-08-25T12:12:00.001+01:00

I have always been an advocate of doing all we can to communicate the Gospel as clearly as possible even if it means the risk of offending the traditionalists who are trying, at all costs, to preserve the faith, a bit like butterfly collectors who pin their specimens onto boards for display in glass cases. It was heartening therefore to read C.S.Lewis' reply to the translator and clergyman J.B.Phillips who had sent him a copy of some of earliest attempts. Here is part of that reply which underlines for me the need to avoid the sort of super-spiritual pomposity that puts preservation before propagation:

"Dear Mr Phillips, hank you a hundred times. I thought I knew Colossians pretty well but your paraphrase made it far more significant - it was like seeing a familiar picture after it's been cleaned....I hope very much you will carry on your plan doing all the epistles. Of course you'll be opposed tooth and nail by all the "cultured" asses who say you're spoiling "the beauty" of A.V. (King James) - all the people who objected to Green Pastures and Man Born to be King and who are always waffling about reverence. But we must kill that! I hope you'll add a little plain preface - all popular theology, no gas about St. Paul's "personality" or the wild flowers of Palestine - and a really full analytical index. The index by itself will blow to bits all the modern exaggerations of the difference between Pauline and Johanine theology. Heartiest good wishes, yours sincerely C.S. Lewis. "

C.S. Lewis, as a master communicator, obviously recognised in Phillips a kindred spirit.

Europe to rise from the dead?

2011-08-24T20:28:00.002+01:00

Brother Yun, of "The Heavenly Man", addresses a full-to-capacity audience at the Christian Resources Exhibition, Wednesday 14 May 2008. (Christian Today)

“Europe does not need any brilliant preachers or any more teachers of the Word. There is an abundance of these people available. What Europe needs is that there will be people who will stand at the gap on behalf of the nations and pray in tears and repent on behalf of the land. That’s why I believe that Europe is going to be raised from spiritual death.”

These were the words of Brother Yun, the persecuted Chinese pastor at the heart of autobiography “The Heavenly Man”, to a packed conference room at the Christian Resources Exhibition on Wednesday.

“When I stepped from my airplane and landed in this country my prayer was immediately, ‘God may Your Kingdom come again upon this nation and may Your will be done in this nation and in the lives of the believers of this nation as it is in heaven,’” he told the audience.

The Heavenly Man documents Brother Yun’s miraculous escape from the Zhengzhou maximum security prison in 1997, when the Lord told him to walk out of the prison, and upon obeying, he discovered each door open for him, including the main prison gate. He is believed to be the only inmate to have ever escaped from the prison.

He shared his experience: “Jesus walked into my solitary cell and He said, ‘Brother Yun stand up and walk out…I was so frightened and I said, ‘Jesus this is a top security prison, I have a lot of experience about prisons!’ But when Jesus takes action it is faster than your own thoughts. Immediately Jesus said to me, ‘Your prison is real but I am alive and I am the truth.’”

Brother Yun’s second book, “Living Water” is a collection of the messages he has preached around the world in church meetings, conferences, and during radio and television appearances.

“It brings a challenge to Western Christianity to return to discipleship and truly be disciples of Jesus. To be a believer of Jesus is the world’s simplest thing. Just believe in Jesus and you will receive eternal life. But if you want to follow Jesus as His disciple you have to get ready to pay a high price for that obedience,” he said.

“[You will] receive a lot of opposition, pressure, misunderstandings, complaints and pain into your life. Still, how many of you want to follow Jesus and carry your cross? That is the opportunity for transformation for our nation. It comes from here.”

In 2001, after years of persecution, arrests and numerous spates in prison for his faith, Brother Yun took asylum in Germany, where he continues his ministry. He likened his early years to being in a different kind of prison.

“When I came to this prison it was really hard for me to survive. I don’t know where I got the idea that God’s most powerful church is in the West, because they are the ones who sent the missionaries and the Word of God to my nation.”

Choking back tears, he continued, “When I went to the big cathedrals in Germany on Sunday morning I was surprised, such huge big buildings and only four, five, maximum ten people on Sunday morning worshipping God.

“I didn’t understand a word they were saying at the church but I understood the need. I said, ‘God have mercy upon this nation, Lord do something in this nation.’

He told of how he went to the main railway station and started to shout aloud, calling God’s mercy upon Germany.

“Sometimes I was on my knees in tears shouting, ‘God have mercy and compassion upon this nation, Lord give once again your glory upon this nation, send the presence of Your Kingdom upon this nation.’ I was in tears, so many tears on behalf of Europe and the nation of Germany…The Western world is filled with different kinds of prisoners.”

He exhorted European Christians to go beyond lukewarm Christianity and become streams of living water.

“We visited [Europe’s] empty churches and the churches were having an internal meeting together but the river was not flowing out of the church and I became really worried and concerned in my spirit,” he told.

“And I was speaking in conferences and meetings with tens of thousands of people that were so crowded but there was not even a word that challenged about missions and going out and bringing the world to salvation.

“So once again the Lord started to challenge me and said you have to preach out the message about how to bring the church out from the lukewarm Christianity to become true disciples of Christ.”
He said, however, that European church leaders have lost hope in revival.

“Europe is going to be raised from the dead but many of these leaders can’t believe that. They are shaking their heads.”

He continued: “There is a great need of one thing at the church in Europe. Everything except the presence of the living water and the possibility for the living water to run out of the church – that is the only thing missing from the church.”

“Your church may be the wealthiest church but when God is looking at that church God is saying you are poor, you are naked, you are sick. And I think God is going to call smaller groups of people who start to repent in tears and pray and ask God to have mercy upon our nation and mercy upon our city and they will bring the Kingdom presence back upon that society.”

Brother Yun challenged Europe’s Christians not to remain lying at the pool of Bethesda like the paralysed man for 38 years.

“Jesus is the source of living water. You are still lying there,” he told the audience.
“You have to receive the same faith as the blind man at the Gate of Jericho who cried out, ‘Son of David have mercy on me,’ or the woman who came behind Jesus and touched His cloak and her life was totally changed.

“Your need is to get hold of Jesus, not to get hold of any famous pastor or anybody else. You need Jesus.

“And if a new generation of believers rise in this nation who say we only want to get hold of Jesus, we need Jesus, that is the beginning of resurrection for this country.”

He concluded with the assurance that Europe was on the cusp of revival.
“I see very clearly Europe is going to be raised from the dead and is going to break out a revival. As I have been travelling around Europe and visiting the different denominations and churches I have understood that there is a time right now when the compassion of the Lord is coming upon Europe.
“We need this stream of living water to come into our midst and bring change. Do you have this desire and prayer in your life: ‘May I become one of those who are flooding out the river of god, make my church to be the one where the stream of living water is flooding to the needs of the world.
“Jesus is unchanged. He still says if somebody is thirsty come to Me and drink and anyone who believes in Me as Scriptures say, streams of living water will flow from within them.”

The Furious Longing of God

2011-08-24T20:21:00.001+01:00

Back in the late 1960s, I was teaching at a university in Ohio and there was a student on campus who by society’s standards would've been called ugly. He was short, extremely obese, he had a terrible case of acne, a bad lisp, and his hair was grow¬ing like Lancelot’s horse – in four directions at one time. He wore the uniform of the day: a T-shirt that hadn’t been washed since the Spanish American War, jeans with a butterfly on the back, and of course, no shoes.

In all my days, I have never met anybody with such low self-esteem. He told me that when he looked in the mirror each morning, he spit at it. Of course no campus girl would date him. No fraternity wanted him as a pledge.

He walked into my office one day and said, his lisp evident, ''Ah, you’re a new face on campus. Well, my name is Larry Malaney and I’m an athgnostic."
I said, “You're what?”
He repeated himself and I said, “Wow, congratulations! If you ever become an atheist, I’ll take you to dinner and we'll celebrate your conversion.”

The story I’m about to tell you is what Larry got for Christmas one year.

Christmas came along for Larry Malaney and he found himself back with his parents in Providence, Rhode Island. Larry’s father is a typical lace-curtain Irishman. Now there are lace-curtain Irish and there are shanty Irish. A lace-curtain Irishman, even on the hottest day in summer, will not come to the dining room table without wearing a suit, usually a dark pinstripe, starched white shirt, and a tie swollen at the top. He will never allow his sideburns to grow to the top of his ears and he always speaks in a low, subdued voice.

Well, Larry comes to the dinner table that first night home, smelling like a Billy goat. He and his father have the usual num¬ber of quarrels and reconciliations. And thus begins a typical vacation in the Malaney household. Several nights later, Larry tells his father that he’s got to get back to school the next day.
“What time, son?”
“Six o’clock.”
“Well, I’ll ride the bus with you.”

The next morning, the father and son ride the bus in silence. They get off the bus, as Larry has to catch a second one to get to the airport. Directly across the street are six men standing under an awning, all men who work in the same textile fac¬tory as Larry’s father. They begin making loud and degrading remarks like “Oink, oink, look at that fat pig. I tell you, if that pig was my kid, I’d hide him in the basement, I’d be so embar¬rassed.” Another said, “I wouldn’t. If that slob was my kid, he’d be out the door so fast, he wouldn’t know if he’s on foot or horseback. Hey, pig! Give us your best oink!”

These brutal salvos continued.
Larry Malaney told me that in that moment, for the first time in his life, his father reached out and embraced him, kissed him on the lips, and said, “Larry, if your mother and I live to be two hun¬dred years old, that wouldn’t be long enough to thank God for the gift He gave to us in you. I am so proud that you're my son!”

It would be hard to describe in words the transformation that took place in Larry Malaney, but I’ll try. He came back to school and remained a hippie, but he cleaned up the best he could. Miracle of miracles, Larry began dating a girl. And to top it off, he became the president of one of the fraternities. By the way, he was the first student in the history of our university to graduate with a 4.2 grade point average. Larry Malaney had a brilliant mind.

Larry came to my office one day and said, “Tell me about this man Jesus.” And for the next six weeks, in half-hour increment I shared with Larry what the Holy Spirit had revealed to me about Jesus. At the end of those six weeks, Larry said, “Okay.”

June 14, 1974, Larry Malaney was ordained a priest in the diocese of Providence, Rhode Island. And for the past twenty years, he’s been a missionary in South America, a man totally sold out to Jesus Christ. Do you know why? It wasn’t because of the six weeks of sitting in Brennan Manning’s office while I talked about Jesus. No, it was because of a day, long ago, during a Christmas vacation, standing at a bus stop, when his lace¬-curtain Irish father healed him. Yes, his father healed him. His father had the guts to get out of the foxhole and choose the high road of blessing in the face of cursing and taunts. His father looked deeply into his son’s eyes, saw the good in Larry Malaney that Larry couldn’t see for himself, affirmed him with a furious love, and changed the whole direction of his son's life.

Lodged in your heart is the power to walk into somebody’s life and give him or her what the bright Paul Tillich called "the courage to be.” Can you fathom that? You have the power to give someone the courage to be, simply by the touch of your affirmation. (…)

What did the Lord say the night before He died? If any one of you loves Me, you’ll be true to My word and My Abba will love you, will come to you, and make a home within you. Jesus spoke of the life of Grace, amazing Grace, not as some theological abstraction or concept; for Jesus, Grace was relationship, the presence of Abba Himself in our hearts through the gift of the Holy Spirit.

This is the same healing spirit that dwells in the human soul of Jesus Christ that enables the blind to see, the deaf to hear, and the lame to walk again. That’s the identical healing spirit that dwelt in the great soul of Larry Malaney’s father, empowering him to resurrect his son to newness of life. (…)

There’s only one healer in the New Israel of God and that is Jesus the Christ. The only question is will we allow the healing spirit of the risen Jesus to flow through us; will we reach out, and touch Him?
Brennan Manning: The Furious Longing of God

Longing for God

2011-08-23T12:38:00.000+01:00

There's a story of a young disciple in India who left home and traveled in search of a spiritual master whom he at last found sitting in prayer beside a river. The young man begged the master to teach him. The master rose slowly and suddenly grabbed the younger man and dragged him into the river and under the water. Seconds passed, then a minute, then another minute. The young man struggled and kicked, but still the teacher held him down until at last he drew him coughing and gasping out of the water. "While you were under the water, what was it you wanted?" the teacher asked, when he saw that the other was at last able to speak again. "Air," the young man said, still panting. "And how badly did you want it?" "All . . . it was all I wanted in the world. With my whole soul I longed only for air." "Good," said the teacher. "When you long for God in the same way that you have just now longed for air, come back to me and you will become a disciple."
Told by John A. Huffman, Jr., "Essential Qualities for a 21st Century Faith: Worship," 22 November 2001, St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Newport Beach, California