An Amazing prayer from a victim of Nazism

This prayer was written by Nikolai Velimirovich who was imprisoned by the Nazis for speaking out against them. With the amount of hate that was poured out in the 20th century it is amazing to hear a prayer as powerful as this come from the hand of a man who was the victim of one of the greatest purveyors of evil in human history. It is a sobering reminder to me that the heart of of the Christian perspective is rooted in the theology of the cross.


Bless my Enemies Oh Lord

Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.

Enemies have driven me into your embrace more than friends have.

Friends have bound me to earth, enemies have loosed me from earth and have demolished all my aspirations in the world.

Enemies have made me a stranger in worldly realms and an extraneous inhabitant of the world. Just as a hunted animal finds safer shelter than an unhunted animal does, so have I, persecuted by enemies, found the safest sanctuary, having ensconced myself beneath your tabernacle, where neither friends nor enemies can slay my soul.

Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.

They, rather than I, have confessed my sins before the world.

They have punished me, whenever I have hesitated to punish myself.

They have tormented me, whenever I have tried to flee torments.

They have scolded me, whenever I have flattered myself.

They have spat upon me, whenever I have filled myself with arrogance.

Bless my enemies, O Lord, Even I bless them and do not curse them.

Whenever I have made myself wise, they have called me foolish.

Whenever I have made myself mighty, they have mocked me as though I were a dwarf.

Whenever I have wanted to lead people, they have shoved me into the background.

Whenever I have rushed to enrich myself, they have prevented me with an iron hand.

Whenever I thought that I would sleep peacefully, they have wakened me from sleep.

Whenever I have tried to build a home for a long and tranquil life, they have demolished it and driven me out.

Truly, enemies have cut me loose from the world and have stretched out my hands to the hem of your garment.

Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.

Bless them and multiply them; multiply them and make them even more bitterly against me:

so that my fleeing to You may have no return;

so that all hope in men may be scattered like cobwebs;

so that absolute serenity may begin to reign in my soul;

so that my heart may become the grave of my two evil twins, arrogance and anger;

so that I might amass all my treasure in heaven;

ah, so that I may for once be freed from self-deception, which has entangled me in the dreadful web of illusory life.

Enemies have taught me to know what hardly anyone knows, that a person has no enemies in the world except himself.

One hates his enemies only when he fails to realize that they are not enemies, but cruel friends.

It is truly difficult for me to say who has done me more good and who has done me more evil in the world: friends or enemies.

Therefore bless, O Lord, both my friends and enemies.

A slave curses enemies, for he does not understand. But a son blesses them, for he understands.

For a son knows that his enemies cannot touch his life.

Therefore he freely steps among them and prays to God for them.

A new kind of Social Gospel: The web 2.0 x-mas story

I thought I'd post this just for fun!

Reframing the question "Are you saved?"

A few years ago I was sitting in my car on a summer evening. I had the window rolled down and was listening to the radio enjoying the cooling summer air. Suddenly a man came up to window and asked me a question. “Are you saved?” he inquired. I must admit I was a little startled. I felt I had become the victim of drive by evangelism.  This was not the first time I had been asked a question like this, and it was not the last. I am sure you have probably has a similar experience at one point or another in your life. Sometime the proselytizer will turn it around and ask me another question, “if you died tonight, are you positive you’d go to Heaven?” Whenever I am asked these questions I generally ask them what exactly they mean by are you saved. The most common answer has been “have you accepted Jesus Christ as your own personal Lord and Savior.” 


In the interest of full disclosure, I have to tell you that I have often been the stranger who has asked you this question. I have knocked on doors of people I have never met, stood on milk crates with megaphones, passed out Bible tracks, and held up signs. I have tried to “evangelize” people in every way I could think of. I have argued, yelled, typed, painted, bumper stickered, and dramatically performed the question “are you saved?” I was on a mission to make sure everyone could answer this question with a definitive, “YES!” As I read the scriptures, however, I began to be convicted that I myself had no idea what that question meant.

Salvation in the Bible

The scriptures do not offer a simple explanation to the question, “are you saved?” Spouses may save each other (1 Cor 7:16). Paul saves some (Romans 11:14, 1 Cor 9:22). Timothy can save those who hear him (1 Timothy 4:16). Baptism saves us (1 Peter 3:21). The word, implanted in us, will save our souls (James 1:21). Prayers of the presbyters save the sick (James 5:15). Jude commands his readers to save others (Jude 1:23). Those who turn sinners from error save them (James 5:20). Women are saved through childbirth  (1 Tim 2:15). Salvation is much bigger than a simple yes or no question.


Now don’t get me wrong I am in no way trying to say that we can be saved without Jesus. In fact I believe God, in Christ, has already, on the Cross, saved everyone and everything. That’s the Gospel, plain and simple. What all these passages about salvation teach us is, that Jesus’ salvation is something that comes to us in many ways. The words for salvation in Greek and Hebrew have a connotation that salvation is in part a process of healing, and rescue. In fact our English word “save” comes from a Latin word salve, which can mean “in good health”. 

A lot of Christians think of salvation as, “you get to go to heaven.” However salvation means much more than that. It means Christ heals us, we have wholeness, health, spiritual life, we are free to be authentic, and are made into the image of Christ himself. When we are saved, we are rescued from ignorance, madness, darkness, death, confusion, brokenness, sin, death, and the Devil. Our salvation is not simply a juridical declaration, but a reconstitution of everything into the shalom of God.

When and where are you saved?
When I am asked are you saved, I don’t have an easy answer. I have been saved in Baptism when I was joined to Christ in his death and resurrection. I am being saved everyday as I am transformed more and more into the icon of Christ, cooperating with the spirit of God in working out, in my own body, and live that healing and freedom won for me in Christ. Finally I hope to be saved at the last judgment when everything is made new, the salvation won by Jesus on the cross is actualized in all of creation, and the harvest of resurrection, of which Christ is the first fruits, is brought into the house of God.

Understanding salvation in this way means that we can no longer see ourselves as passive recipients of a pronouncement, but rather active participants in a palpable substantially. We are called to save people. This is why the Bible records, Paul saving people and Timothy saving people. Presbetors and laity are called save people. Water saves people, and birthing saves people. Turning people from sin saves, and giving away your wealth saves. Here we find the life of the Kingdom of God.

When Jesus describes the kingdom of God he does not talk about juridical declarations on passive recipients. Rather Jesus tells us of workers in vineyards, virgins who light lamps, servants given talents to invest, men who sell all they have to obtain a treasure, builders of towers, and kings who plan for battle. All of these stories involve people who are active, not passive. It seems that the kingdom Jesus is talking about is found though verbs more than though adjectives.


Saved From Sin, Saved For God
Another way to say this is that we are not just saved from something, but that we are saved for something. Jesus calls us to pray that God’s will would be done on earth as it is in heaven. We are called to be ministers of this in-breaking heavenly rule. The question is, “are we living in that rule?” Like I said before, I believe God, in Christ, has already, on the Cross, saved everyone and everything. The everyone and everything of that statement means that, in one sense, the strongest atheist, the harshest despot, the greatest sinner, and the most perverse criminal are all saved already. God saved them, along with the rest of creation, on the cross. However in the ways that they, as well as you and I, are engaged in perverse and sinful actions and attitudes, salvation has not yet come. We are saved for something: a new way of life in the Kingdom of God.

The Way of Love
If there is anything the Bible tells us we are saved for it’s love, after all God is love (1 John 4:8). The way of love is laid out beautifully by Paul in 1 Corinthians 13. There we find that love is something very active, and difficult. Love is patient, and kind. It does not envy, or boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, or easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. It does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, trusts, hopes, and perseveres. It never fails. Paul tells us that anything that we do without love is like an loud and ugly sound. I don’t do much street preaching anymore, I found that I was mostly making a lot of racket, but not bringing any real salvation. I also have stopped passing out tracts and going door to door, for much of the same reasons. I do however still have one bumper sticker on my car. I got it from my brothers church, and really liked what it read. It’s a two white words, on a black background that read, “love wins.”

The Gospel according to Coffee

Here is a recently recorded video I made that explains how I use explain the Gospel to people using coffee.

I'd love feedback

Enjoy

My Son likes to play in the Ocean!

Here is a video of my son Liam enjoying a little play mat. I just hope it doesn't give him any ambitions to pull a Jonah. I think he's just about the cutest kid in the world.

He was born in October and is already getting SO BIG!\

Saint of the Week: Ambrose of Milan

The church is filled with stories of unlikely, and sometimes unwilling leaders. Many times leaders are called into leadership against their own will. If you remember the Story of Gregory the Great a few months ago this was the case with his appointment into the papacy. Few stories of ordination and vocation can compare with the strang story of Ambrose of Milan (who was honored by the church this week). 

Saint Ambrose was raised in a Christian home, but had not been baptised when some trouble arose in the diocese of Milan. At this time (the late 4th century) there was a struggle for power going on in the Christian Church. A group called the Arians were fighting against the Catholic / Orthodox Christians. Arians followed after a priest named Arius who belived the Jesus was a created being, not fully God.

The trouble in Milan arose when the bishop of diocese Milan, Auxentius, died. He had been an Arian and those sympathetic to the Arian cause were arguing with the Catholics about who would succeed Auxentius. Ambrose was in Milan as a governor, and went to the Church durring the time they were debating who would replace Auxentius. He began to address the Christians, but as Ambrose was speaking the crowd began to cry out that he should be Bishop. Although Ambrose was a member of the "catholic" party in this debate, he was perceived as someone acceptable to the Arians. Ambrose went into hiding to avoid becoming Bishop. However he was given up by his friend and within a week, Ambrose was baptized, ordained and duly consecrated bishop of Milan.

Here is what you should know about Ambrose:

• In his disputes with the Emperor Auxentius, he coined the principle: “The emperor is in the Church, not above the Church.
• Augustine was converted by Ambrose
• He fought for consecrated virginity (something that many Protestants have sadly lost)
• He used many non-christian sources to illustrate his theological points, calling it “gold of the Egyptians.”
• He is credited for stopping Arianism in Milan
• He was Anti-Semitic in some of his writings, refusing to condemn the violent distraction of a synagogue, This was a common flaw in many of the Fathers. (Ambrose sometimes spoke positively of Jews as well.)
• At one point, while the people of Milan were suffering, he melted the offering plate in order to assist in helping the needy.
• He threatened Theodosius with excommunication for the massacre of 7,000 persons at Thessalonica in 390. Theodosius repented.
• He was able to read silently, something rare in his day when people always read aloud.
• Ambrose's body may still be viewed in the church of S. Ambrogio in Milan. It is one of the oldest bodies of a historical person that has been preserved (outside of egypt, at least. They have some pretty old mummies)

Here is a quote from Ambrose:

“Women and men are not mistaken when they regard themselves as superior to mere bodily creatures and as more than mere particles of nature or nameless units in modern society. For by their power to know themselves in the depths of their being they rise above the entire universe of mere objects.... Endowed with wisdom, women and men are led through visible realities to those which are invisible” (Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, 14–15, Austin Flannery translation).

Is Social Justice a liberal thing?

Social justice is a sticky topic, because it goes beyond helping people and focuses on fixing systems. It doesn't just feed people, it's asks the question "why are poeple hungry" Because of this it's frequently been accused of having a "liberal agenda."

Covenant Pastor, Dr. Mae Cannon, knows a lot about Social Justice. She wrote the book on it, Literally. Social Justice Handbook: Small Steps for a Better World (IV Press, 2009). The book is, according to Shane Claiborne, "a cookbook for plotting goodness and stirring up holy mischief. Take a look and find a recipe for revolution. Then let us take it to the streets--interrupting injustice with grace, surprising the world with joy and whispering God's love to a broken world."

Before you can get to cooking it's important to talk about what Social justice is and is not. The first two chapters of her book are devoted first: to setting the concept of Social Justice in a biblical frame work; and Second: To helping define what social justice is and is not. I think they are a great place to start the conversation

Interview with the Author
I had the honor of corresponding with Dr. Cannon recently and we talked a little bit about this whole issue.

Orant: Mae, The concept of Social Justice is controversial today. Pundits like Glen Beck have become notorious for their rhetoric against Social Justice and many are left wondering if the concept is more Socialist then Christian. It's because of this that books like yours are important to publish, and I'm glad this one is here, not only to promote social justice, but to help define it. I have often had trouble articulating a way forward in social Justice to conservative friends and family members. Is Social Justice something "liberal?" 

Dr. Cannon: Thank you for your post, and comments. I must confess, when I first saw your title, I thought "oh, no!"... But I was deeply encouraged and intrigued by the questions you pose. Your mention of Glen Beck and asking the question of where social justice fits in the context of our current political climate is a wonderful question!

To answer your question [about social justice]: I do not think that social justice is a "liberal" thing - although historically, it has been understood as such. All of Chapter 3 in my book is about the history of "social justice in the Americas" and talks about the division between the fundamentalist and social gospel movements in the early 20th century. At the start of the 1900s... fundamentalists and evangelicals largely viewed engaging in society as contradictory to their theological emphasis on righteous living. Some Christians held the belief that creation is fallen and broken (and thus beyond redemption)... thus emphasis should be placed on pursuing purity and enduring time on this earth in anticipation of the kingdom coming. Eschatological emphasis was very significant in dispensationalism and other theological frameworks. However, the latter half of the 20th century showed an emerging "new evangelicalism" where the pursuit of justice and reengagement with society became less bifurcated and more readily acceptable within the conservative theological framework of evangelicals and other Christians who had historically been ambivalent (at best) and hostile (at worst) to issues of justice.

Orant: Does the social justice framework rely on turning governments into agents of Morality?

Dr. Cannon: Governments as agents of morality - that's a great question. Regardless of one's views on social justice - governments (even if only in a limited respect) are agents of morality. In the US government system, for example, the Bill of Rights were established based on the ideals of liberalism (in the classic sense of the word, not speaking politically) - e.g. John Locke, Treatise on Government. Morality was imposed in the guarantee (and protection) of the "Rights of Man" (which of course were exclusive to white men through much of the history of the U.S.).

Orant: Where would a conservative, or Libertarian find there place in a Social Justice movement?

Dr. Cannon: A conservative's place in the movement... I think that has been part of the problem. Organizations like Jim Wallis' Call to Renewal/Sojourners has been less accessible to conservatives. I would suggest, however, that conservatives have been less willing to work ecumenically and pursue/advocate for justice alongside of others with differing theological beliefs. I hope that my book might make ideas about social justice more accessible to evangelicals (e.g. Christian conservatives).

Orant: Thank you, Mae

I'd love to hear reader's opinions on this issue!
Please comment below!

I loved this video!

I just had to share it with you all.... Thanks to S_P for telling me about it!

What's new about the new Calvinists?

I am not a Calvinist, I'm far from it in many ways. I did word for a Reform church for about a year once. There is a new movement called "new calvinists" that have gained a great amount of energy among many young Christians burned out on evangelicalism. Here is a video about it.

1. Are any of our readers Calvinists?
2. I would like to know why. What draws you to this tradition?
3. What's New about the new Calvinists?

DeYoung, Duncan, Mohler: What's New About the New Calvinism from The Gospel Coalition on Vimeo.

Cyprian: “Hold what you have, lest another receive thy crown.”

“Confession of Christ does not make one immune from the snares of the devil. Nor does it defend one who is still placed in the world with a perpetual security against worldly temptations and dangers and onsets and attacks. Otherwise we should never have seen afterwards among the confessors the deceptions and debaucheries and adulteries that now with groaning and sorrow we see among some. Whoever that confessor is, he is not greater or better or dearer to God than Solomon. As long as he walked in the ways of the Lord, so long he retained the grace he had received from the Lord. After he had abandoned the way of the Lord, he lost also the grace of the Lord. And so it is written, “Hold what you have, lest another receive thy crown.” Surely the Lord would not threaten to deprive of the crown of righteousness unless when righteousness parts, it is necessary that also the crown depart”


— Cyprian, THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH 20.28

William C. Weinrich, Revelation, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture NT 12, 46 (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2005). via cyberlutheran

Music: Without Your Love

Here is a song i wrote three years ago. It's been one close to my heart since I wrote it. I thought I would share it with you the

Em      Am                    C     Em

   With you before my eyes

           B     C             Am  Em

Your very words are lullabies

Em      Am                    C     Em

       That draw me into rest

       B         C             Am       Em

My heart’s ablaze within my chest

B        C        Am           Em

You alone can make me whole

You sing a song of life 

That brings a light into my night

The life I have you gave me

With days ordained before you made me

You alone    make me whole

Em                           B(no 5)/Eb

I can’t live without your love

                                    C                                                         G

I tried and found that all the vain things I sought out we’re killing me

       Am                              Em

It’s you that I adore Lord you and nothing more

           Am                                 B

Come take my life and make it thine.

Teach me of your dreams

To show the world what your love means

Take my life as praise

I want to follow all your ways

You alone     make me whole

Copyright 2007 Billy Kangas

My Son's Baptism

My son was baptized on the first Sunday of Advent this year. This was one of the best moments of my entire life. I thought I would share it with you. Let me know what you think! I know that this is more special to me then to you, but bear with me.

note: My wife's name is Joan, not John. The priest simply pronounced it a little funny. Also if you are viewing this in facebook the video won't show up you will have to go to http://theorant.com to see the video


The God parents are my brother John and my sister-in-law Clare (Joan's sister)

Revelation and Advent: Waiting and Working

Revelation is a book that is troubling to many people. It's filled with images and language that seems very much out of this world. Many people wonder if there is any thing profitable in a book that by all outward appearances has only indecipherably cryptic references to seals, bowels, trumpets, whores, beasts, plagues, sores, and countless other strange things.

I would like to argue that Revelation is more then just profitable, it offers the very paradigm that guides the Christian life. "Revelation" shows us the key pattern that guides God's initiative in the world. The Missio Dei constitutes eternity crashing into history, past, present, and future.

This theme is all over the whole book, but just read the last five chapters and see what I mean.

1. Chapter 18 starts with an Angel coming down from heaven, and illuminates the whole earth with his Glory. Although we are light bearers in this world, our light is from above.
2. Later in chapter 18 babylon is judged by a voice from heaven. God alone has the vantage point and the power to cast down kingdoms in truth and righteousness, as the multitude declare in 19:2, God's eternal position is hope for justice we can't find in the world.
3. Chapter 19 points us to the life of the church in eternity, that is made present for us today. Verse 9 declares that those who are called to the marriage supper of the lamb are blessed. I am reminded that today we live that blessing together as we gather around the table of the Lord's supper. The sacraments are one way that God crashes eternity into our present.
4. Much debate has gone into when and how the Millennium, in chapter 20, will take place. However one thing is sure this passage demonstrates that God is not bound by time, but rather has the keys (verse 1) to bind and loose (verse 7) it.
5. Few images in scripture move me as much as the Bride/City descending to earth in verses 2-3 of chapter 21 and the declaration "Now the Dwelling of God is with Man." Not only does it powerfully show the "endgame," if you will, of all creation, it also shows the nature of the Missio Dei today. The images used for the dwelling of God with man are none other then those used of the church (Heb. 11:10, Ephesians 5:22-33) in fact the city is made up of the Tribes of Israel (verse 12) and the Apostles (verse 14). The church is, in a sense, the way God has chosen to bring his dwelling on earth today too.
6. In chapter 22 we see paradise restored. For me this final image in the scriptures not only gives me hope, but calls me. This is what the Missio Dei is already at work doing. God has come into this world and begun the work of restoration. 

In this season of Advent we must both be both waiting, and working. God has already begun to make eternity near, through us, his people in Christ.

I need this reminder all the time. I so often get caught up trying to bring people to the kingdom of God that I forget that Jesus' prayer was to have the kingdom come here on earth. This is why I love the traditional liturgies. They look like revelation, incense, saints, alters, and the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. This reminds me that we are truly living the apocalypse now. 

Book review: New Testament and Mission: Historical and Hermeneutical, by Johannes Nissen

New Testament and Mission: Historical and Hermeneutical was written by Associate Professor of New Testament Exegesis at the Department of Biblical Studies, University of Aarhus, Denmark, Johannes Nissen.

Nissen believes that the New Testament's theology of mission is multidimensional, each author and genre emphasis a different perspective, which should be viewed in harmony rather then homogenized together.

To show this Nisssen parses the New Testament canon up into different sections and addresses them individually, rather then presenting an overall theology and proof texting the scripture that agrees with him.

Chapter one helps set the trajectory of the book, you can break the remaining chapters up into the following sections:

• The ways in which the Gospels and Acts present mission (ch. 2-5)
• Matthew looks at discipleship and has articulates his theology in the great commission
• Mark presents a inclusive theology of mission
• Luke has a theology of mission that includes sharing as a core value, which flows out of God sharing his life with us through the Holy Spirit
• John emphasises the sending element of mission, which is shown most powerfully through the incarnation.
• The way Paul presents mission (ch. 6-7) has a strong focus on grace, faith, and justice, and how these things are worked out in the real church in Collossians and Ephesians.
• The way mission is presented in other NT material (Ch 8) particularly in 1 Peter, Revelation has a strong emphasis on hope and

The final chapter focuses on how mission continues to work into the present. Christianity has made is home in many cultures, but the mission has a gravity that is outside of any particular culture. The church has a pilgrim character that is at work wherever the mission finds its métier.

I find all of these themes to be incredibly important, and am glad they are presented in the book in such a way that it allows the thoughts and values of different Biblical authors to be presented rather then simply making a list. For me it gives a context to the material with is much more useful, and helps me read the scriptures, and my own context with a better lens. This book raises more questions in my mind then it answers, but offers some valuable paradigms that I think will help anyone working out a theology of mission immensely.

One thing that I wish had more discussion was the issue of sacraments. I recently spoke with a Lutheran minister in Michigan who argued that any biblical mission must have a sacramental life. in his words, Christians must, "go to the place where Jesus IS; the place where He speaks to us His Holy Word and fills us with His Holy Body and Blood."

I'd like to know how essential the Johannes Nissen finds the sacraments.

Prayer Before Studying

I am in the midst of prepairing for the end of all my classes here at seminary, which is why I havn't been posting nearly as much as I normally do. Please keep me and all the other students here in your prayers.

Here is a traditional Coptic prayer I ran into. I have found it to be beneficial to me.

Take a look:


 Most blessed Lord, send the grace of Your Holy Spirit on me to strengthen me that I may learn well the subject I am about to study and by it become a better person for Your glory, the comfort of my family and the benefit of Your Church and our Nation.
Amen Christ, the true light, who enlightens and sanctifies every person coming into the world, let the light of Your countenance shine upon me (us) that I (we) may see Your unapproachable light; and guide my (our) steps in the way of Your commandments, through the intercessions of Your all-holy Mother and of all the Saints.
Amen.