Advent!

Today is the first day of Advent! This time of year is my favorite church season I think. In it we relive the waiting of God's elect for the coming of Christ, by remembering the story of God's salvation throughout the Old Testament. We also remember God's promise to return and make all things new. So during this season we also watch and pray for the eschatological reality of the Kingdom of God to be fulfilled.

This year it is extra special for me because my Son is getting baptized today!! I thought I would post a link to the daily prayer book my church made for this season. It's called Hope is Rising and the E-Book is FREE

DOWNLOAD IT HERE

Ephesians: Sharing in the Divine life

I read through Ephesians today, and I was struck by it in a new way. It seems to be that Ephesians in many ways is laying out what it means to participate in the Divine nature, a idea explicitly mentioned in 1 Peter 1:4. It seems the author wishes to convey that God invites us to participate in the trinitarian life of unity, by living in the same unity of love that God has in the trinitarian economy. In other words the Missio Dei draws people into an economy of divine love.

Look at chapter one, which emphasizes the thee persons of the Trinity, and our place in relation to them. The amazing thing it the way that the author shows how we relate in ways that Christ relates:

• The Father (verses 3-6) is said to relate to us through Adoption (verse 6), so he becomes our father just as he is the father of Christ, the eternally begotten son. 
• The Son (verses 7-12) is said to gather us together into himself. The term "inheritance (verse 11)" is then used to describe the result of being in Christ, which is a term which strengthens the familial bounds and once again places us with Christ in the life of the Trinity
• The Holy Spirit (Verses 13-14) is said to seal us as a guarantee that we will receive the inheritance. Just as the spirit came on Jesus in the waters of baptism (Luke 3:22). Interestingly this passage goes on say we (the church) are made into the Body of Christ (verse 23). Even this shows the way we are invited into the Divine economy; after all it was the Holy Spirit that created Jesus' fleshly body (Luke 1:35).

This theme continues throughout the book.

• Christ reconciles us to God (2:16)
• Makes Jew and Gentile part of the same Household (more family language, 2:19)
• Makes us (the church) a dwelling of God (2:22)
• Through the Holy Spirit Christ is made to dwell in our hearts (3:17)
• We are even called members of one another (4:25) Which emphasizes the Trinitarian economy of self-giving love. 
• The Author even goes so far as to call us the flesh and bones of Christ  (5:30)

The list could go on and on.

The idea that we are participants through Christ in the very life and nature of God humbles me, and amazes me. God's mission in this world is not just to manage our sin, but to bring us into God's very life. 

How can we participate with this facet of the Missio Dei?

Saint of the Week: Agnes of Assisi

Most people know about St. Francis of Assisi, the man who started the Franciscans and devoted himself to a life of poverty to rebuild the church, and many people know about St. Clare of Assisi, who followed his example and founded the her own monastic community based on Francis' own.

However not too many people talk about Agnes of Assisi.

This week the Church remembers Agnes, who followed her sister into the monastic life. After loosing two daughters to this religious fervor Clare and Agnes' father sent their uncle to remove Agnes. Purportedly he was stopped from removing them miraculously. When he tried to strike Agnes his arm went limp, and then when he tried to carry agnes off she become so heavy to no one could lift her.

She is the patroness of:
•affianced couples
•betrothed couples
•bodily purity
•chastity
•Children of Mary
•Colegio Capranica of Rome
•crops
•engaged couples
•gardeners
•Girl Scouts
•girls
•Manresa, Spain
•rape victims
•Rockville Centre, New York, diocese of
•virgins

Is the Church important?

  

An Apostolic Arrangement

One of the things I have found amazing about Jesus' ministry is the calling of the 12 disciples. If Jesus was God then why would he need a group of guys to help him do his ministry. One would think Jesus could do it on His own.

The fact that Jesus didn't just do it on his own reveals one of the most amazing things about the way God initiates his mission in the world today. God chooses people to partner with him in the Missio Dei.

There is arguably no book in the Bible that demonstrates this axiom as powerfully then the Acts of the Apostles. The word apostle (ἀπόστολος) means "one who is sent." The book of Actsis a powerful account of how the ministry of the few that Jesus called became a movement that spanned much of the known world at the time. Through it all there is a powerful message that God has chosen a people to connect to his work in the world.

Over and over a pattern emerges... God miraculously shows up, but does so in conjunction or in connection to the Apostles.
Here are just a few examples of the dozens found in Acts:

1. In Acts chapter 8: 26-36 God takes the initiative and connects with an Ethiopian man, but God does this by miraculously transporting Phillip, a man who had been chosen to be a Minister by the Apostles just two chapters prior.
2. In chapter 9 God takes the initiative and reveals himself to Paul, by a revelation. However God also connects Paul to the disciples by sending a member of the church, Ananias, to his through a vision. Paul is then brought to Jerusalem, and meets with the Apostles there.
3. In Chapter 10 a God takes the initiative connecting with a roman soldier through a vision. At the same time he sends Peter, an Apostle, to the man's house. The soldier is Baptized on Peters orders (verse 48).
4. In Chapter 11: 27-30 God takes the initiative in sending a prophecy to the Church in Antioch, and he does it through people from the Church in Jerusalem.
5. In Chapter 12: 5-19 God takes the initiative and frees Peter from prison by miraculously sending an Angel, but the Angel leads Peter down a street where he meets with members of the Church who were praying for him.

The list could go on and on, and not just in Acts, but throughout the whole of Scriptures. In the Old Testament God declares to Abraham that God's plan to bless the whole world will be completed through Abraham's family are

My question for you: How are these two things connected TODAY?

Luke: the Lost the Last and the Least

For those of us who follow the Sunday lectionary cycle Year C is quickly coming to a close. Year C is a time where the church has paid a special attention to the evangelist Luke. When Advent begins on November 28th the lectionary will move on to Year A and to a focus on Matthew. Before we move on though, I thought it might be a good idea to look at one of the major themes that have been highlighted by this years evangelist.  Luke makes a special effort to demonstrate that God's initiative in this world, the Missio Dei, is concerned with the lost the last and the least. This is clear from the first chapters until the end. Luke is always causing drawing attention to the ways in which, as Mary puts it in the magnificat (found in Luke 1), God casts down the proud and lifts up the lowly. Looking over some of the texts we recently read in chapters 15-19 the themes come out strong here are just a few:

• Jesus gives us three parables that point to God seeking the lost (chapter 15)
• The Lost Sheep
• The Lost Coin
• The Prodigal Son
• Jesus turns a poor beggar into the picture of one who dwells with Abraham in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (16:19-31)
• Jesus heals the unclean lepers them (17:11-19)
• Jesus uses a tax collector to show a proper attitude toward God (18:9-14)
• Jesus uses children as the paradigm of those who receive the kingdom (18:15-17)
• He says it is VERY difficult for the rich to enter the kingdom (18:25)
• He saves a tax collector, calling him lost (19:1-10)

The list could go on and on. God is concerned with those of low estate. Elsewhere in Luke, if you recall, Jesus blesses the poor and promises "woe" the rich (6:24).

Luke reminds us over and over that the God we serve is not a God who allows his transcendence to keep him detached, but condescends to become eminent. The movement of God in the person of Jesus Christ is a trajectory of humiliation. God's initiative has always reached out to those in the same trajectory. From the women at the well in John 4, to the widow God sends his prophet to in 2 Kings 4, From the Shepperd king David, to the babe in Bethlehem, God shows up in unexpected places by the worlds standards. Truly we find God moving in the least, the lost, and the last.

Are we going there?

Alaska Worship

I thought I would let you know that there is a new CD out that features some of the live worship I led in Bush Alaska over the summer. It also features my friends Tom Mute, and Phil Cannon . Check out the CD:

Saint of the Week: Martin of Tours

Today the church in the west celebrates the life of an incredible man, Martin of Tours. Born into an era where Christianity was recently legalized, he converted to Christianity against the wishes of his parents at the age of ten. As a teen he was required to join the calvary in the Roman empire.

• As a soldier in the military he once came across a naked beggar, and cut his coat in half, giving the begar the other half of his coat. That night he had a vision of Jesus wearing the other half of his coat. In the dream Jesus told the angels that Martin, who Christ noted had not yet been baptized, had clothed him. On waking Martin found his coat restored to one piece. Martin was baptized shortly after the incident.
• After this incident he was convicted he could not fight any longer, saying "I am a soldier of Christ."
• His superiors charged him with cowardice, because of his refusal to fight. In response Martin offered to go in front of the troops unarmed. This offer was never implemented because peace was reached shortly after.

After his military service Martin became a diciple of Hilary of Poitiers spent time refuting Arianism in the imperial court. He eventually returned to him home land of Italy and became a monastic, and a Bishop

Here are some more things to know about Martin:

1. He founded a monastery known as "The Abbey of Marmoutier"
2. He vigorously fought against the idea that Christians would exicute people for heresy in the matter of the Priscillianists, who were the first heretics executed by Christians in 385.
3. He healed a young girl with consecrated oil
4. He raised three dead men to life. 
5. A sphere of light appeared over his head while he was celebrating holy Mass.
6. Since his feast falls near the grape harvest in many areas his feast is celebrated with "St Martins wine", and feasting on "St. Martin's Goose"
7. In Canada if there is warm weather late in the year it is called: "St. Martin's little summer"

I thought it would be appropriate to post the following passage that describes the monastic life Martin lived with other monks:

Many also of the brethren had, in the same manner, fashioned retreats for themselves, but most of them had formed these out of the rock of the overhanging mountain, hollowed into caves. There were altogether eighty disciples, who were being disciplined after the example of the saintly master. No one there had anything which was called his own; all things were possessed in common. It was not allowed either to buy or to sell anything, as is the custom among most monks. No art was practiced there, except that of transcribers, and even this was assigned to the brethren of younger years, while the elders spent their time in prayer. Rarely did any one of them go beyond the cell, unless when they assembled at the place of prayer. They all took their food together, after the hour of fasting was past. No one used wine, except when illness compelled them to do so. Most of them were clothed in garments of camels' hair. Any dress approaching to softness was there deemed criminal, and this must be thought the more remarkable, because many among them were such as are deemed of noble rank. (Sulpicius, Vita, X)

Book Review: The Open Secret

The Open Secret by Lesslie Newbign (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1995) is quite possible the best book on the theology of mission I have ever read. I have always been impressed with Newbigin since being introduced to him through his seminal work The Gospel in a Pluralistic Society. Newbign was a Scottish missionary and Bishop in India, a lecturer and author on culture and missiology, and an active proponent of the ecumenical movement. I can't recommend highly enough his voice in the conversation on missions and evangelism. 

In this book Newbign sets out to express what he believes is essential in the christian faith, namely that the trinitarian life of God is at the center of  the mission of the church.


Newbign first lays the groundwork for his argument by giving a brief look at the history of the church's perspective on mission, and tries to lay out the authority upon which the church even has a right to talk about the Trinitarian life of God.

Then Newbign lays out what he believes the trinitarian life looks like

1. God the Father has the kingdom which the church proclaims
2. Jesus Christ has a life in which the Church shares
3. The Holy Spirit bears witness to both, in which the church shares

The last few chapters of the book look at how this Trinitarian Life is manifest in the missions of the world, and sets a frame work within which the church finds its own election and mission.

I personally really appreciated this book for a number of reasons:

1. It wasn't defensive but took seriously many of the critiques people have about who we are, as christians and westerners. 
2. It created a framework that made concepts like election, liberation, trinitarian economy relevant to the life of the Christian today.
3. The book communicated it's points with clarity and with depth, two essential elements in any great theological writing that are rarely found together. 
4. It challenged me personally while inspiring me
5. It opened up a whole lot of thought and rabbit trails and questions, which I love.

Like I said before this book is fantastic. I got my copy from a library, but am defiantly going to buy my own copy. This is a must have!

Guest writter Sumit Sen: The Fig Tree and the Temple

Today's post comes from Sumit Sen, a pastor in the Evangelical Covenant Church. I think this article brings up a lot of great points and would love to hear your thoughts on it.

When one reads Mark 11:12-17 it may seem that the Lord Jesus woke up on the wrong side of the bed. He curses a fig tree when Mark clearly says in verse thirteen that it was not the season for the tree to bear figs, and then He goes into the temple and overturns tables and seats, and allows nobody to carry anything through the temple (v.16). Many scholars have struggled with this incident concerning the fig tree.

Why would the Lord Jesus cursed the tree for not bearing fruit when Mark clearly states that it was not the season for figs?

One calls it a “gross injustice on a tree which was guilty of no wrong.” Another says, “It is a tale of miraculous power wasted in the service of ill-temper.”  Do these words such as “gross injustice” and “ill temper” really fit the description of the Lord Jesus Christ we know, Jesus who went about using His power to heal and to restore lives of others? I do not think so.

Saint Theophan on Sin and Temptation

I ran into this quote by Saint Theophan a few weeks ago,I liked it quite a bit so I reformatted it a bit. let me know what you think.

1. There are thoughts, desires and passions that come in the form of ambushes and short-lived upsets, 
2. and there are constant ones that go on for days, months and years. 

The first are easy, but should not be disdained. However, we must watch out not only for them but for their order.

The enemy has a law — not to begin suddenly with a passion but with a thought, and to repeat the thought often.

• Though the first one may have been thrown out by wrath, 
• the second or third one may be received with greater condescension, 
• and then a desire is born and a passion; 
• from this point it is one step to agreement and action. 

Continual thoughts are onerous and murderous. To them more than others belongs the name tempting

Concerning them it is necessary to know that they are not from nature — although they are similar to it in character — but are always from the enemy. The Lord allows them with the special intention of purifying us, in order to test and confirm our devotion, faith and constancy, and to more intelligently create our inner man.

Therefore we must cheerfully endure them, even if they are too grievous for a newly grace-filled heart. These are temptations such as blasphemy, despair, and unbelief. The main thing is to never incline towards them, never adopt them, and to keep the heart free from them, separating them from yourself and your freedom of thought and faith.

Book Review: Israel and the Nations

Here in Chicago James Chukwuma Okoye has been teaching at Catholic Theological Union since the late 1990s. James has been looking deeply at how the Scriptures interact with culture in every way we see the world. One thing I have been really impressed with was his paper that discusses how to make the Eucharist truly african in it's liturgy. Check it out!

I recently had the privilege of reading his 2006 book Israel and the Nations (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books) in which Okoye argues that the Hebrew scriptures have a trajectory through which we can trace God choosing a people out of the world so that he can save all of the world using them.

In it he lays out the "four faces of mission" that can be seen in the Hebrew Bible, and explores passages that demonstrate them. The "four faces of mission" are ways that we can see God revealing God's own self in the Hebrew Scripture (and today).

1. Universality of salvation (ch 3-5) This shows God's purpose in setting up a universal (literally!) reign.
2. Community in mission(ch 6-8)
   This shows how God set apart a community to be a pattern for personal and social life that draws people in.
3. Centripetal mission (ch 10-11)
   This shows how God draws all nations into those who are set apart.
4. Centrifugal Mission (ch 12-14)
   This shows the aspect of mission that goes out and engages in proselytizing.

(Chapters 1,2 and 9 set the historical and theological framework for all of this)

I personally found this book to be useful on a number of levels.

1. It helped me create a framework to better understand the various dimensions of God's own missionary activity. It showed God's universal sovereignty but also demonstrated his scandalous particularity.
2. It gave me a perspective on both the individual and communal face of mission. God has called me but has not called me independent of others.
3. The book is a great resource for Biblical study too. I loved how the chapters were built around the scriptures rather then simply ideas.
4. This book also gives a great history of mission activity in the church in recent years and focuses on the Catholic perspective. For me this was such a great resource to have. My wife is a faithful Catholic woman and I found that this piece really helped me understand her church's perspective on missions a great deal more

Who Were the Church Fathers?

Every week I post a quote from the church fathers, and try to ask a question about it that connects it to the church in the 21st century. However I have never really explained who the church fathers are. I thought this video might help bring some light to who these men (and women) actually were. It's by Jimmy Akin, a popular Catholic apologist.

Feast of The Week: All Saints Day

Today the Church in the west celebrates one of the feasts of the Church year: All Saints day. This is a special day where we remember all the Christians through all time both past and present. It has been celebrated decisively in the West on November First since the early Eight Century, although there was certainly other days where all the saints were remembered before that. In the East the saints are collectively commemorated on the first Sunday after Pentecost. There is a wide range of traditions throughout the world about how to honor this day, but in most places it is seen as a day in which those who have passed are to be honored.

One way I honor this day is by taking time to go through every century and that God for saints who have impacted my life, then I go through each year of my life and thank God for people who had helped me know God more at each of those stages.

How do you honor the Saints?


Finally here is one of my favorite English hymns that honors the saints of  God, it's was written by William W. How in the 19th century.


1. For all thy saints, who from their labours rest,
Who Thee by faith before the world confessed,
Thy Name, O Jesus, be forever blessed.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

2. Thou wast their Rock, their Fortress and their Might;
Thou, Lord, their Captain in the well fought fight;
Thou, in the darkness drear, their one true Light.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

3. For the Apostles’ glorious company,
Who bearing forth the Cross o’er land and sea,
Shook all the mighty world, we sing to Thee:
Alleluia, Alleluia!

4. For the Evangelists, by whose blest word,
Like fourfold streams, the garden of the Lord,
Is fair and fruitful, be Thy Name adored.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

5. For Martyrs, who with rapture kindled eye,
Saw the bright crown descending from the sky,
And seeing, grasped it, Thee we glorify.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

6. O blest communion, fellowship divine!
We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;
All are one in Thee, for all are Thine.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

7. O may Thy soldiers, faithful, true and bold,
Fight as the saints who nobly fought of old,
And win with them the victor’s crown of gold.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

8. And when the strife is fierce, the warfare long,
Steals on the ear the distant triumph song,
And hearts are brave, again, and arms are strong.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

9. The golden evening brightens in the west;
Soon, soon to faithful warriors comes their rest;
Sweet is the calm of paradise the blessed.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

10. But lo! there breaks a yet more glorious day;
The saints triumphant rise in bright array;
The King of glory passes on His way.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

11. From earth’s wide bounds, from ocean’s farthest coast,
Through gates of pearl streams in the countless host,
And singing to Father, Son and Holy Ghost:
Alleluia, Alleluia!