On the Road...

A Thought on Hebrews 12 and Suffering

Sat, 9 Feb 2008 15:52:01 -0600

Last night, I read an article in which the author asserted the notion that all suffering in the world has a divine purpose. This is not in the sense that God works good in all things (Rom. 8:28), but that God specifically plans and ordains all evil events as good, so far as to say that God is “behind Satan.” The Scripture used to validate this idea was Hebrews 12:7 (plus the surrounding verses): “You must endure [your trials] as [divine] discipline, God is treating you as sons.1 The fir

Two Short Prayers for Lent

Fri, 8 Feb 2008 03:52:36 -0600

Holy God, our lives are laid open before you; rescue us from the chaos of sin and through the death of your Son bring us healing and make us whole in Jesus Christ our Lord Amen. Almighty Father, we languish as lost children in a world forlorn, finding it hard to trust anything or anyone. By your tender compassion open our hearts again to your love, that we might follow in the way of the cross and in returning and rest be saved through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen.

Remember that you are dust...

Wed, 6 Feb 2008 07:28:06 -0600

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the six-and-a-half week season of Lent. The part we all know about Ash Wednesday is that people get ashes smudged on their foreheads and walk around looking somewhat goofy for the rest of the day. The part that is less well known is what the whole ritual of the ashes means. Most simply, it is an approximation of the ancient practice of placing ashes one’s head as a sign of mourning (together with wearing sackcloth). Interestingly enough, as the as

Liturgical Explorations - A Prefatory Autobiographical Rumination - (Part 4 - The Last)

Fri, 1 Feb 2008 19:26:52 -0600

In the course of this now lengthy “autobiographical rumination,” I have traced bits of my personal history and it seems to me that several patterns have emerged: Observation 1 -- A progression of immersion and incorporation of the major streams of Christian tradition, beginning with the evangelical tradition (the Word-centered life) I grew up in, to the charismatic (the Spirit-empowered life), holiness (the virtuous life), contemplative (the prayer-filled life) and finally a rediscovery of

Calling Not the Clean but the Unclean - Thoughts and Prayer for Epiphany Week 3

Sun, 27 Jan 2008 09:45:28 -0600

The Gospel reading for today (in the Revised Common Lectionary) centers on Jesus calling his first four disciples. It is noteworthy for several reasons that these initial disciples were fishermen. One reason will suffice for now. Early Rabbinic literature specifically mentions two professions in which it was virtually impossible to follow the Torah’s purity laws. The first was that of fishermen, because by virtue needing to sort mixed catches of aquatic creatures, they were constantly touching u

Liturgical Explorations - A Prefatory Autobiographical Rumination (Part 3)

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 21:16:28 -0600

About a year later, ( the most startling thing happened. Through some well meaning but misguided teaching from a few friends at school, I had grown in a somewhat anti-intellectual mindset. I learned to not trust the “wisdom of the world” (understood by me as anything intellectual). Though required to take Bible classes at school I loathed them. I could not find any redemptive value in text-critical study, the Documentary-hypothesis theory, historical-grammatical exegesis, etc. I desperat

Behold the Lamb of God - Prayer for Epiphany 2

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 15:48:19 -0600

In a few posts I’ve included prayers for the current season that have been taken from established liturgies. The following is my first hand at writing my own prayers in a liturgical style. It is based on the readings that are in the Revised Common Lectionary (a three year cycle of scheduled readings which is followed by dozens of denominations) for this week (Epiphany 2 year A) including Isaiah 49 and John 1:29-42. The Lord be with you (All) and also with you. Lift up your hearts. (All) We l

Liturgical Explorations - A Prefatory Autobiographical Rumination (Part 2)

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 03:00:04 -0600

(continuing from the last entry...) Several years later, I enrolled at Houghton College, a Christian (Wesleyan) college in Western New York. During the first week of classes, we had nightly services which were a vestigial form of revival services. On the first evening, the preacher gave a strong call for repentance and total commitment to Christ. I had always loved God and perceived myself to be more committed to God than most of my friends and the people in my youth group, but that nigh

Prayer for The Baptism of our Lord

Sun, 13 Jan 2008 23:07:49 -0600

From the Liturgy of the Church of England: The Lord be with you (All) and also with you. Lift up your hearts. (All) We lift them to the Lord. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. (All) It is right to give thanks and praise. It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation, always and everywhere to give you thanks, holy Father, almighty and eternal God. You celebrated your new gift of baptism in signs and wonders at the Jordan. Your voice was heard from heaven to awaken faith in

The Baptism of Our Lord

Sun, 13 Jan 2008 15:17:44 -0600

Today is the First Sunday after Epiphany: The Baptism of Our Lord. Today we commemorate with joy and thanksgiving the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River by John the Baptist. As I am gathering that you may have never even heard of such a holiday or may not have thought of celebrating the baptism of Jesus, I intend to give a few thoughts on the significance of the event. I mentioned in a previous post that a week ago, January sixth was The Epiphany, which in fact begins a season (stunn

A Prayer for Epiphany

Wed, 9 Jan 2008 17:23:57 -0600

From the Liturgy of the Church of England: The Lord be with you (All) and also with you. Lift up your hearts. (All) We lift them to the Lord. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. (All) It is right to give thanks and praise. It is indeed right, it is our duty and our joy, at all times to give you thanks and praise, for today the grace of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove descended upon the waters. Today the sun that never sets has risen and the world is filled with splendor by the

Liturgical Explorations - A Prefatory Autobiographical Rumination (Part 1)

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 02:51:14 -0600

I have already asserted my desirous intention to share an aspect of my life in God that is quite current, that is, my recent experiential investigations into the rich liturgical tradition of the Church. To begin this ongoing series of accounting and reflection, the contextual situation of my present experience is quite in order. Though I certainly did not plan my current near obsession with the Church’s liturgical tradition, it does come as a logical step in what will soon seem like an a

The Epiphany

Sun, 6 Jan 2008 17:27:56 -0600

I know I’m getting ahead of myself, but I cannot help but to comment on the significance of today. As I mentioned yesterday, I plan over the next few months to be sharing from my recent experiences of exploring the Church’s rich liturgical tradition. One dimension of this is the celebration of the Christian year. The Christian year in essence is the annual remembrance of the primary redemptive acts of God in Christ throughout the year. Our normal day-to-day time is punctuated (and then defin

I'm Back...

Sat, 5 Jan 2008 14:28:17 -0600

After a unduly long hiatus from blogging (nearly five months) I figured that it is best time for me to resume writing publicly. Make no mistake, I have not taken a break from writing but have heretofore been occupied with a plethora of private writing endeavors which burgeoned beyond my initial expectations. I am now endeavoring to resume my public course of writing. Beyond the expected raving crusade against gnosticism, the pursuit of integrated personal wholeness and my fanatical obsessions wi

The Person and History of the Holy Spirit Part 2: Trinitarian Ecstasy (cont.)

Sun, 19 Aug 2007 19:01:00 -0500

Previously, we discussed how the Scripture describes the very nature of the Spirit as fellowship or relationship. Not only does fellowship constitute the essential nature of the Holy Spirit, but Scripture seems to indicate that the Holy Spirit himself is indeed love itself. This concept finds its seed and foundation in the fourth chapter of 1 John and was later extensively developed in Augustine’s work on the Trinity. 12: No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us… 16b:

Theology of Creation in Isaiah - The Doctrine of Creation in Theology Today

Sun, 15 Jul 2007 17:00:25 -0500

Discussion of the doctrine of creation in Christian theology often centers around a few loci. In fundamentalist circles, it at times revolves around the creation-evolution or the young-earth/old-earth debates. Others, having reconciled with Darwin, explain the contributions of evolutionary thought to the understanding of God and the world. In much contemporary theology, the doctrine of creation centers on providing a justification for ecological and environmental initiatives, responding to criti

Theology of Creation in Isaiah Part 3 - Isaiah 40.21-24

Thu, 26 Jul 2007 16:52:18 -0500

Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? 22 It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to live in; 23 who brings princes to naught, and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing. 24 Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown, scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth,

Theology of Creation in Isaiah Part 2 - Isaiah 40.12-17

Fri, 20 Jul 2007 16:41:23 -0500

Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance? 13 Who has directed the spirit of the LORD, or as his counselor has instructed him? 14 Whom did he consult for his enlightenment, and who taught him the path of justice? Who taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding? 15 Even the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are

The Person and History of the Holy Spirit Part 2: Trinitarian Ecstasy

Wed, 4 Jul 2007 18:09:03 -0500

Last time I began discussing the need to understand spirituality, the present activity of the Spirit in our lives, through a Biblical understanding of the person of the Holy Spirit as revealed in his primary roles in history. Through looking at the history of the Holy Spirit we hope to learn about the person of the Holy Spirit. By this route we hope to more clearly understand spirituality via pneumatology (the doctrine of the Holy Spirit). Our study of the Holy Spirit’s history must find its in

The Person and History of the Holy Spirit Part 1: The Holy Spirit in Context

Mon, 25 Jun 2007 22:40:14 -0500

In seeking to develop a spirituality that corresponds to the resurrection of Jesus, one that avoids the gnostic and schizoid tendencies of spiritualities that split life in two and quench its vitality, we will take some time to discuss the person of the Holy Spirit specifically related to its history as revealed in the Scripture. This will be done in four stages: pre-existence, creation, redemption and consummation. In unfolding a doctrine of the Holy Spirit and specifically its presence in our

The Spirit of the Resurrection Part 2: Gnosticism and Schizoid Spirituality

Sat, 23 Jun 2007 14:30:28 -0500

In the first part of this series I discussed my desire to take some time in this Pentecost season to give extended reflection to the person and work of the Holy Spirit. In this post, I would like to back track a little and simply give some general thoughts on the path I would like to follow as well as some of my reasons for desiring to do so. Our goal here is to establish some lines of thought developing a spirituality, an understanding of the life of faith, that corresponds to the central even

The Practicality of Theology

Tue, 19 Jun 2007 17:13:23 -0500

What we believe about God dynamically affects the way we relate to and interact with Him. This is most certainly true about our human relationships. If I believe (explicitly or implicitly, consciously or unconsciously) something about another person I will act and react accordingly regardless of whether or not it is actually true. My belief about that person no matter its level of truth, explicitness, or consciousness will dynamically affect my subjective experience of that person and can even

The Spirit of the Resurrection

Wed, 13 Jun 2007 20:42:14 -0500

Following my last post on concerning Pentecost, I want to spend some of this season following Pentecost offering meditations on the Holy Spirit. Specifically, the direction I want to go is developing a spirituality and an understanding of life in the Spirit that accords with the primary event of Christian faith, the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. In such we will explore the interconnection between the life in the Spirit with our relationship to the earth, our bodies and other humans. “...i

Pentecost - The Coming of the Holy Spirit

Sat, 2 Jun 2007 22:39:43 -0500

This past Sunday was Pentecost, a day on which believers for many, many years have celebrated the coming of the Holy Spirit to dwell with and within the people of God. Even before it was a celebration of the Spirit coming from heaven, it was commemorated by Jews for the coming of God’s law, “from heaven” at Mount Sinai after they were freed from slavery in Egypt. I don’t know about you, but I personally have a hard time believing that the gift of the Spirit “just happened” to be given to that

Jesus the Messiah Has Come in the Flesh

Thu, 26 Apr 2007 17:24:02 -0500

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus the Messiah has come in the flesh is from God; 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the anti-messiah, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.” 1 John 4:1-3 These words from the

He Set My Feet On a Rock

Wed, 18 Apr 2007 15:00:41 -0500

I had a peculiar, yet remarkable experience the other day performing the most simple of actions - shifting my body weight from resting on my heels to the balls of my feet. Modern culture tells us the way to stand is stomach (and rear) in, chest out, shoulders back. This normally happens with locked knees and the weight resting on the heels of the feet. One notable observation of this posture is that while seeming dignified it is absolutely rigid and quite lifeless. That is because when one

The Insanity of Our Time

Sun, 15 Apr 2007 15:59:13 -0500

Narcissim: Denial of the True Self is a fascinating book by Alexander Lowen, a leading psychoanalyst discussing the problem of narcissism. Though commonly thought of as simply the dilemma of an over-inflated ego in which one loves themselves excessively, Lowen contends that narcissism is rooted in emotional numbness. The narcissist does not love themselves excessively, they can hardly love, if at all. This emotional numbness is a defense against overwhelming experiences in life that if expre

The Gladness of God - 551 verses and counting...

Wed, 11 Apr 2007 04:12:47 -0500

For about the past five or six years, one of my passions has been studying the subject of the gladness of God’s heart - that he is not mostly mad or mostly sad, but is indeed mostly glad. He smiles much more than He frowns. In fact, His radiant gladness is inexhaustible, flowing from the infinitely enjoyable relationships He (Father, Son and Spirit) shares in the Fellowship of the Trinity. The reason why I been so passionate about this subject is because I have experienced how powerful it is

Do Not Weep For Me...

Fri, 6 Apr 2007 04:39:38 -0500

In his gospel, Luke tells us that as Jesus was on the way to Golgotha, a number of women followed Jesus mourning and wailing for him. Remarkably, he turns to them, saying “do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children” (Lk. 23.28). I find it amazing that as Jesus experiences the greatest amount of pain in his life and indeed in the entire existence of the world, he turns and tells people to not focus on his pain, but rather on their own. For many of us, thinking about our own

Resurrection and Justifciation Part 2

Thu, 29 Mar 2007 22:36:11 -0500

An excerpt from “Saved By His Life” - a new paper I am working on: Understanding of Paul’s soteriology (doctrine of salvation) has usually focused exclusively or almost exclusively on the crucifixion. In the early church, this was understood primarily in terms of the Messiah’s victory over the powers of darkness, as in Colossians 2:15. In the medieval period, the cross was understood as the satisfaction of the demands of justice, which in the Protestant tradition became the satisfaction of divi