Guitar Priest

She Said ... Yes.

2011-12-19T13:28:00.001-05:00

Every year during the last week of Advent I remember the story of the Annunciation: that few minutes when the angel Gabriel met with a teen girl to inform her that God - the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob - was about to deliver Israel. To get that done, God was finally sending the Messiah. The catch was that God intended to use Mary to bring him into the world.

Mary's response - what we call the Magnificat - could only have come from the lips of a person deeply imbibed in the story of Israel and expectantly waiting for the Messiah to come. Mary was hoping for the Messiah. Mary prayed for the Messiah. Mary longed for the Messiah. Now her hopes, prayers and longings were to be fulfilled.

But NOT in the way Mary planned.

It doesn't take much imagination to recognize that Mary wasn't thinking God would deliver Israel by making her pregnant out of wedlock. We do not know exactly what Mary's expectations were about how the Messiah would come, but it seems plain that her expectations about her hope and the way God intended to fulfill her hope did not match up.

And so, what did Mary do? She said ... yes.

Think what Mary could have done. She could have stalled in confusion because God's way of fulfilling his promise did not match her preconceived notions. She could have actively fought God because God's way of doing things did not matter to her. Instead, Mary said yes. She said yes because she was able to keep her hopes and expectations separated.

This fourth week in Advent always reminds me to be unmoving with my hopes and nimble with my expectations. All of us are looking for God to show up in our lives. But we need to heed Mary's model. By all means, hope in God; trust God fully! But at the same time we must be careful to not tie our hopes to closely to expectations. In doing that we might miss God and we might find ourselves, in the midst of our hope, saying no to God.

Why Do We Baptize Babies? 4

2011-10-12T08:20:00.000-04:00

I apologize for the time gap since my last post.

I am continuing with thoughts about why Anglicans believe children of believers are proper candidates for baptism. A text that is important to our thinking about this is the story of Jesus blessing the children. Mark 10:13-16 states,

¹³ And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. ¹⁴But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, "Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. ¹⁵ Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it." ¹⁶And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.

This text says nothing about baptism. However, it does say that little children ought to be brought to Jesus because the Kingdom belongs to them. All by itself, this statement does not justify baptizing babies. So why do Anglicans look to this text as a basis for baptizing babies? Because baptism is a rite of entrance and a sign of belonging in the Kingdom of God. Since the Kingdom can belong to little ones, it seems appropriate to give the sign of Kingdom belonging to them.

Again, all by itself, this text does not teach nor justify the practice of baptizing babies. What it does do is add to a cumulative case for the practice. The coming posts will add more biblical data to the case for baptizing babies.

Why Do We Baptize Babies? 3

2011-09-21T16:24:00.000-04:00

Virtually all Christian traditions agree that converts to Christianity ought to be baptized. Disagreement comes between those who believe only converts should be baptized and those who believe the children of believers may also be baptized. Anglican's are in the second group. This raises a question, why do Anglican's believe children are also proper candidates for baptism?

Let me begin my answer in this post and complete it in the next few to come.

The first thing to note is the inconclusiveness of the New Testament. There is no text in the New Testament that identifies the proper candidate for baptism - believer or child of believer. The New Testament is just plain silent. Second, while there are a number of examples of believers receiving baptism in Acts, there are also examples of whole households receiving baptism. The only person in these texts professing faith is the head of the household. All we are told about the other members is that they were baptized as well. The household texts don't claim children of believers were baptized, but they do create ambiguity. We simply do not know for sure who was in that household. And we do not know if every member of the household professed faith before being baptized.

Since we cannot answer the question from New Testament resources, Anglicans believe the next place to go is to the Old Testament. While we do not find baptism in the Old Testament we do find a rite of initiation into life in God and the people of God: circumcision. Circumcision is not the same thing as baptism, but there are similarities. Like baptism, it is a rite of initiation into life in God and his people. But notice, the rite was not only for adults who joined Israel, but for the sons of Israelites. Here's the point: circumcision was for believers and for children of believers. Circumcision functioned as sign of faith (Romans 4:11). Therefore, circumcision makes clear there is nothing inherently problematic in God's economy for the sign of faith to proceed the profession of faith. There is much more that can be said about this than a blog post gives room for. However, the basic point is that Anglicans see in the Old Testament rite of circumcision part of the basis for offering the New Testament rite of baptism to converts and to children of believers.

More needs to be said. Stay tuned.

Why Do We Baptize Babies? 2

2011-09-19T09:46:00.000-04:00

In my first post I wrote, "Anglicans believe infant Baptism is ... an authentic expression of the meaning of Christian baptism and salvation as taught in scripture."

So ... what is the meaning of baptism?

The Book of Acts gives a number of examples of people being baptized in water. In every case, this ritual is tied with them following Jesus and joining the Church. It's a kind of threshold; a kind of doorway into life in Jesus and life in the church.

With that in mind, I will define baptism as a rite of entrance - entrance into life in Christ and entrance into life in the Church.

How does infant baptism express this? Anglicans believe that baptism is the beginning of a journey. And so when parents bring their children to be baptized they are bringing them to Jesus and bringing them to the church. Baptism is a ritual that marks their entrance into life in Christ and life in the Church. I realize that raises questions about the inability of a baby to profess faith in Christ. That is a very important question and I will address it in a later post. Right now, the key idea I want to stress is that we do not understand baptism as a once and for all event. It's not some magical act that gives a kid eternal life no matter what happens subsequently to baptism. It is a beginning. It is an inauguration. It's a threshold. When mom and dad bring their seven month old daughter and have her baptized, they are beginning a journey that they will take with their kid to raise her into the fullness of life in Christ and the church.

The next question, is why do we believe little kids can be brought for baptism apart from their own profession of faith. I will answer that in the next post.

Why Do We Baptize Babies? 1

2011-09-16T09:29:00.000-04:00

As an Anglican priest I am regularly given the occasion to explain our theology and practice of baptism. The main question I get asked is, "Why do you baptize babies?" In the next series of posts I aim to answer that question the way I do with folks I meet with in my parish. I hope you find it helpful!

On to my answer.

The first reason we baptize babies is we believe it is biblical. Before unpacking that, a word about what I mean by biblical. There are a number of ways something can be Biblical. The most basic is when there is a verse of scripture that makes a statement about the question at hand. For example, is it biblical to lie? Well, no, because in Exodus 20 it says, "You shall not lie." Now, baptizing babies is not Biblical in this first manner. There is no verse that says, "You shall baptize babies." Some stop there and conclude baptizing babies is therefore not Biblical at all. However, there are other ways something can be Biblical - ways we use all the time. Another way we conclude something is Biblical is if it does not contradict the teaching of scripture. The Bible is silent about automobiles. But I would argue that driving a car is perfectly Biblical. Why? Because it does not contradict the teaching of the Bible and there is no prohibition of the activity. Anglicans would argue that baptizing babies is Biblical in this way - we see no prohibition in scripture against this form of baptism. This way of being Biblical is pretty weak though. Thankfully there is another way something can be Biblical. While something may not be explicitly commanded or exemplified, it can be an expression of the teaching of scripture. Anglicans believe infant Baptism is Biblical in this sense. It is an authentic expression of the meaning of Christian baptism and salvation as taught in scripture.

In the next few posts I will explain how Anglicans see baptizing babies as an authentic expression of the teaching of scripture.

So What is Anglicanism Anyway?

2011-03-10T09:24:00.006-05:00

When I explain Anglicanism I typically describe it as a middle way between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism. A combination of the central insights of the reformation with Catholic order, piety and discipline. A shortcut (that I learned from a good friend) is: Anglicanism, at its best, is the best of Protestantism combined with the best of Catholicism.

Of course a church scholar or theologian would want to nuance all those statements. But these are designed to be pithy shortcut tags that capture the heart of the tradition - the kind of thing you say in a three week church introduction class.

But I recently had someone ask me if Anglicanism, in light of this description, is just a set of compromises and not a tradition in its own right. Wow. That was a very good and challenging question. My way of explaining can sure sound that way.

So I have been thinking about a better answer and want to try this one on for size:

Anglicanism, at its heart, is a western (as in western Christianity) expression of the faith, life and worship of the ancient undivided Church. I like this. The ancient Church is a big tent and there is room for different accents and emphasis within it, but I am wondering if this is a better, good and helpful one sentence way to explain Anglicanism.

Any thoughts?

Why You Should Ponder Your Death.

2011-03-09T08:16:00.003-05:00

It used to be said that the job of a pastor was to help people die well. Actually, that's not a bad job description. Death is inevitable - no one get out alive. So being ready for it is essential. And one of the ways we get ready for it is to ponder it regularly.

So, why should you ponder your death?

1. To make living more intentional. It is easy to float through life and let things happen. But if we are accountable for how we live this life (and I believe we are) than remembering that the journey comes to end can motivate us to live each day in a more focused and intentional manner.

2. To be a better person. This dance doesn't go on forever. If I need to work on my character, I need to work on it now. Especially if how I live now makes a difference in the next life.

3. To be ready for what is next. Most of my readers are Christian believers so this makes sense. But even for those of you who are not, I would encourage you to consider that there might actually be more to life than this life and that how one lives this life matters in the next life. Remembering that this life ends is a good motivator to be ready for the next life.

It's Ash Wednesday. Today we remember we come from dust and that we will return to dust. This is good thing to ponder. Ponder it well!

Why You MUST Practice Silence and Solitude

2011-03-07T07:48:00.002-05:00

Contemporary life is noisy and crowded. It just is. The noise and the busyness can be a sign of life and productivity. But it can also be a barrier that crowds out the presence of Christ.

To draw near to Christ one must practice silence and solitude. These tandem practices create space in your heart and soul for the presence of God.

"Okay," you might be thinking,"That sounds good, but how do I find silence and solitude in my noisy and crowded life?" Good question. Here are two ways to do so.

1. Look for little opportunities. In a given day there all sorts of 3 - 5 minute slots where we can be quiet and alone and drink in the presence of Christ. Maybe it is the first five minutes you are in the car when you drive home from work. Maybe it happens by slipping out of bed five minutes early before the daily on-slot begins. Be creative and don't ignore the little opportunities.

2. Silence some of the noise. Noise is habitual. Did you know you don't have to turn on the radio when you are in your car? Did you know the T.V. does not have to be on all evening? Identify some of the noise makers in your life and eliminate them from part of your day.

It's a battle to find silence and solitude, but finding it is worth the fight!

3 Things to Make Lent Great

2011-02-24T10:33:00.007-05:00

Lent starts in two weeks. I want Lent to be a great experience for me and for my parishioners. Here are three things to keep in mind to have a great Lent.

1. Don't Do Lent to Get Brownie Points from God!

Lent is a season of penitence and extra focus one's life in Christ. Usually one adds extra spiritual disciplines during this time. Don't make the mistake of doing this to earn brownie points with God. All we are and all we have in Christ is a gift. We do Lent to grow closer to Jesus.

2. Don't Forget That Lent is About Getting Closer to Jesus!

Lent is NOT about proving that you can go 40 days without chocolate or T.V. Just going without something will not have any long term effect on your life in Christ. The reason we don't do certain things during Lent is to make space to get closer to Jesus. It is Jesus who changes us through the power of the Holy Spirit. Lent is about getting closer to him!

3. Don't Forget that Easter is Coming!

Lent is about Easter. The reason things tone down, get a bit drab and we get penitential is so we can rejoice! Easter is coming and we will remember that Jesus rose from the dead! We want Easter to be out of this world. Lent gets us ready for that.

How about you? What are you doing to make your Lent great?

Whose glory anyway?

2010-12-22T13:45:00.006-05:00

So, did God become man for God's glory or our glory? The short answer is ... yes.

In a sense, our Lord laid aside his glory to take on human nature. Yet, paradoxically, in this act of self-emptying he revealed the life of the Godhead - the glory of God. How? Because the glory of God is his very life of self-emptying love the exists between the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. So by becoming man, the only begotten Son revealed the glory of God.

At the same time, by becoming man - by forming what theologians call the theandric union - he made all that God has made share in the glory of God. This is our destiny as humans - to be fully united with God so that his glory may become our glory.

What an amazing God! He is glorified; we are glorified and all because of his holy and loving will.

felix dies Nativitatis!

Spiritual Growth is Not Linear

2010-12-14T15:07:00.004-05:00

Spiritual growth is not linear. Many - probably most - programs or processes designed to foster spiritual growth are linear. But spiritual growth itself isn't linear. One reason this is so is life isn't linear. Even when everything is well planned and scheduled the unplanned and the unscheduled still come at us. In the same way, you never know what Holy Spirit wants to address in your life. This doesn't mean one should be unintentional or haphazard in one's Christian life. It just means that our spiritual practices should be about keeping us in tune to the voice of the Holy Spirit so we may follow him wherever he leads us - even if his pathway is a series of zig zags and curves. (HT to Pastor Larry Osbourne for this idea.)

My Rule of Life

2010-10-09T11:40:00.004-04:00

Our parish follows a rule of life called The 4 Practices. The practices are Worship, Community, Formation and Mission. The way we live into the practices is by each of us writing an annual rule of life or spiritual plan that fleshes out key ways we will live out the practices for the coming year. In the fall we renew our commitment to the practices and revise our spiritual plans. My revision for the coming year is below.

Peter Matthews Spiritual Plan 2010-11

Worship is in Christ

2010-10-08T15:04:00.003-04:00

The Christian life is all grace. I have a tendency to forget that. My mistake is that I start by grace and then try to grow by my own effort and power. This is a big mistake.

One place where I have to guard against this happening is in worship. Here's the deal. Christian worship is in Christ. Jesus is at the right hand of the Father and he is constantly offering perfect worship to the Father. His hands and heart are pure. His intention is pure. He always gets it right. I, on the other hand, never seem to get it right. My worship is always tainted by my wrong motives, I am distracted and sometimes I don't want to worship. But worship, you see, is a gospel thing. What makes my worship worthy and acceptable is that I do it in Christ. Because I am clothed in Christ through faith in him, my worship is good enough because I worship in him. You might even say, I hook my worship to Jesus' worship and he makes it pure, good and acceptable.

Isn't this the greatest news? I can come freely and confidently into God's presence and worship in my own weak and feeble manner knowing that Jesus is before the throne of the Father offering perfect worship to him. Thanks be to God!

Jesus is a politician

2010-08-17T07:45:00.003-04:00

I'm serious - he is. Of course his politics - both its ideology and methodology is vastly different than the politics of this age.

When Jesus announced the Kingdom of God he did not announce a platonic, personal, spiritual order - although there is a personal and spiritual dimension to life in the Kingdom between his ascension and return. When Jesus announced the Kingdom, the Kingdom was not merely another word for the Church - although the church is central to the Kingdom of God.

No, when Jesus announced the Kingdom he was announcing a new political order. A monarchy to be exact - with him on the throne. It is a monarchy that was originally set up when all things were created but soon after creation a rebellion happened that attempted to undermine the monarchy of Jesus. Jesus came to earth to take back his throne -- that happened when he was crucified. At his trial and crucifixion he encountered the fallen political order in both the leadership of Israel and the Romans -- both orders being expressed fundamentally by violence -- coercion with the threat and use of death. But Jesus defeated that order by dying and rising again. In doing that he defeated the power that underlies fallen human life and re-established God's reign.

Jesus is a politician - but not a worldly, power driven politician. His politics is cross shaped, love driven and peace shaped. This is the Kingdom of God.

On Lectio Divina

2010-07-15T10:44:00.005-04:00

Lectio Divina (holy reading) is a method of reading scripture that puts the accent on listening to the living voice of the Holy Spirit speak through the text of Sacred Scripture to me. Its focus is not on authorial intent, context, original languages (although it does not plow roughshod over those things). Its goal is to move deeper into the text to hear from God.

I am not much good at this practice yet. I am a learner and am working on engaging it more regularly.

Here is a link to a great explanation of lectio divina.

I'm Grateful for Benedict

2010-07-11T09:15:00.003-04:00

Today is the feast day of Benedict of Nursia. While Monasticism existed before Benedict, under his guidance, insight and wisdom the great tradition of the western monastic life was formed.

Last October I became a monk. I didn't move into a monastery or cloister - I am married, have four kids and have a job after all! Instead I joined a religious community called the Company of Jesus. The Company is made up of folks who follow the way of St. Francis or the way of St. Benedict. I follow Benedict.

Now you might find yourself thinking, "Why doesn't he just follow the way of Christ?" That's a good question. The answer, I think, is as simple as recognizing that all of us who follow Jesus follow him and work out the salvation received from him along the lines of different traditions. The way of Benedict is one way of following Jesus.

For me, following the way of Benedict has given me an ethos that guides my life in Christ. At the heart of the ethos is that all of life - especially the everyday and mundane - is the grist for Christlikeness. The tag line Benedictines use is "ora et labora" - prayer and work. We see our life in Christ as a simple rhythm of daily prayer whereby - at its heart we listen to God and the work we have for that day offered to God. By work, we mean more than the job we go to. It means cooking supper, cleaning dishes, mowing the lawn, reading to the kids, etc. All the tasks God has given me in the context of my vocation - all these are the place where I follow Christ. These things, then, are animated by prayer - both times of structured prayer through the day and the moment by moment prayer and listening that is the norm for a disciple of Jesus.

Like I said, I am grateful for Benedict. His way is God's way for me to follow Christ.

Almighty God, by whose grace St. Benedict our Father, kindled with the fire of Your love became a burning and shining light in the church, inflame us with the same Spirit of discipline and love, that we may walk before You as children of light through Jesus Christ our Lord. +Amen

Church Planting is Centered in Listening

2010-07-10T10:42:00.002-04:00

There are many great and important tools one needs to have and utilize to plant a church. Things like how to recruit, how to raise funds, how to find meeting space, etc. These concrete and tangible things are very important - we are not Gnostics - real life physical stuff matters.

But all the tools in the world cannot replace the central need to listen. A plant starts with listening to the Holy Spirit as he births a dream in one's heart. It rolls forward as one listens to Holy Spirit as he unfolds strategy and plans. The work of planting a church - like all Kingdom ministry - is not just a human endeavor. There is a God factor. One needs to be in tune with the Lord and one needs to follow the Lord.

The tools available for church planting really only work when they are understood as means for listening. Why have a coach? So the Holy Spirit can speak through the coach as you plant. Why read up on strategies and approaches to church planting? So the Holy Spirit can etch some strategies and plans in one's heart.

Church planting is God's work - it's not something we do for God and not even something we do with God. It is something we follow God into - beginning, middle and end.

I'm Trying out MobileNoter

2010-06-19T11:36:00.002-04:00

MobileNoter is an iPhone app that syncs OneNote with an iPhone. I am loving this app. It is easy to set-up, easy to use and mirrors the look of OneNote.

I am trying a 3o day free trial. If I am happy I will shell out $1.25 per month to subscribe.

Right now I only have my GTD notebook linked to my phone - which is great because one of the keys to GTD (imo) is having the ability to look at one's list anywhere and seize gaps in the day to update items in one's different lists.

If I decide to subscribe I will post a follow-up blog post.

2010-06-18T18:11:00.001-04:00

Testing mobile blog post

I like OneNote

2010-06-18T09:34:00.002-04:00

Okay - I have had this program on computers for years now and simply overlooked it. What a tragedy! Now that I have discovered OneNote I am bemoaning the wasted years of missing out on its delights.

OneNote is a program that enables one to make notebooks, insert tabs and put pages in the tabs. It's intuitive, user friendly and integrates with virtually everything else on the computer.

I have a number of OneNote books but my main notebook has my GTD (that's Getting Things Done for the uninitiated) stuff. Besides that I have a notebook for each of my life and work categories that have tabs and pages for projects and information.

Each OneNote page is like a blank scrapbook page (no lines!!!). One can write on it, paste documents to it, post photos, link websites - you name it.

OneNote is the perfect tool for the right-brained type that needs to sort info for later use. Each page is like a big box that info can dumped into. Combine that ability with a search function and there is no need to have an intricate filing system (icky).

I'm in love with OneNote. Check it out - you might fall in love too!

Twitter and Blogging

2010-06-16T13:13:00.001-04:00

I am posting this to see if it shows up on my Twitter feed.

The Values Are the Organization

2010-04-23T09:26:00.003-04:00

A few years back I read The Starfish and the Spider - a great book on organizational theory. The book is about the rise and growing need for decentralized organizations (the authors call them leaderless organizations, but I think that is a misnomer).

The starfish represents the decentralized organization because a starfish has all it needs to live in each unit of its body. If one cuts the head off a spider it dies. Cut one of the legs off a starfish and it grows a new leg or becomes a whole new starfish.

There is a lot to be said about the book. I just want to identify one idea. In a decentralized organization the values are the organization. What links people together is not activities, or structures or events - all of some of those will exist. What links people together is a shared set of values.

I am wondering to what degree this reality applies to the life of the church and the development of Christian disciples.

Sermons Are Hard

2010-04-14T14:30:00.003-04:00

I really like being a preacher. I mean it - I really do. I also like preparing sermons. Okay, I'll admit it, at one level it is cushy work. I sit at a desk reading, thinking, writing, all the while drinking good coffee with good music in the background. That part of it is enjoyable and even relaxing.

It's coming up with something to say that's hard. I'm an Anglican and we have four texts read in our worship every Sunday. So first I have to pick one of those texts to preach on OR I have to find some common thread in each one of them. I've been to seminary and dutifully learned to work hard at finding the meaning of the text(s). That's all good - but I have more than one commentary on each of the texts I am studying and guess what - they often interpret the text differently. And then this happens - every week that goes by I hit a point where I am in a blank stupor wondering what on earth am I going to say. What is my "one key motif?" What is my "one central point for life change?" What is the "one spiritual growth goal" I want to achieve? Every week, for most of the week -- I GOT NOTHIN'!!! I mean it - nothin'.

But here's the funny thing - the cool thing really. By the time Sunday comes - I got something to say. It may not be profound and it may not be presented in a very artistic or creative manner - but I got something to say. And once again I am reminded that preaching is a God thing. The work, the uncertainty, the confusion - I think that's part of the process. Why? Because preaching is about God and not about me. If it was easy I would depend on myself. This way I am desperate for God's help - and you know what - when I look to him ... he helps.

Testing Video Blogging

2010-01-16T12:59:00.002-05:00

Daily Office -3: Praying in Christ

2010-01-15T00:01:00.000-05:00

All prayer is prayer in Christ. Jesus is at the right hand of the Father in the heavenly places. One of his jobs while there is to pray. His prayers are perfect and always in line with the will of the Father.

When we pray, we do not pray directly to the Father. Because of the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives we pray in Christ to the Father. Our prayers are effectual not because of some inherent quality in them. They are effectual because they are attached to the prayers of Christ.

The Daily Office is built on this premise. Its contents are an answer to the question, "What things does Jesus pray for?" In the Daily Office we pray those things. This aspect of praying the Daily Office takes the pressure of me to produce prayers that God will hear. I no longer have to worry if I am getting the prayer right and I no longer have to worry if there is enough fervency or emotion attached to my praying. I simply pray the office in Christ. Christ is the perfect pray-er. My prayers are in him, so my prayers are perfect. My job is to be faithful to pray the prayers and leave the rest up to God.

Hospitality - 3: St. Benedict and Hospitality

2010-01-13T00:01:00.002-05:00

The Rule of Saint Benedict states,

Let all guests who arrive be received like Christ, for he is going to say "I came as a guest, and you received me.

I call this the providential assumption - the assumption that anyone God brought to the monastery was Christ and needed to be treated as Christ should be treated. Adapted to everyday life the providential assumption is that everyone that God has brought and brings into my life is to be treated like Christ. This assumption is the key to practicing hospitality.

Think about it. What would it like to:
-Treat my co-workers as though they were Christ?
-Treat my neighbors as though they were Christ?
-Treat my family - spouse, children, relatives - as though they were Christ?
-Treat the guy at the convenience store as though he were Christ?
-Treat my server at the local restaurant as though she were Christ?

This is the heartbeat of hospitality. If many of us who name the name of Christ would do this daily it would start a revolution!

Thoughts on Church Planting - 2

2010-01-12T00:01:00.001-05:00

When I first got into the church planting biz the rule of thumb was a church had be self-supporting by three years or the plant was basically a failure. Sorry, but I disagree now. I think it takes longer. Some say six is the new three. I still think it takes longer -- I think a decade. I think that most church planters should plan to invest a decade of their life getting a church off the ground.

We live in post-Christendom times. Church planting used to be about starting a new denominational branch. Three years to a get a church up and running for the long haul made sense in that context. Those days are gone --even in the Bible belt where I live. It's now time for sacrificial, long-term investment for the expansion of the Kingdom through church planting.

Any thoughts?

Introducing the Missional Church - 3: It's not about programs, it's about listening.

2010-01-11T06:12:00.002-05:00

The first impulse of many church practitioners when they are exposed to the idea of missional church is to sculpt strategies, plans and programs about how to take a church from being non-missional to missional. Roxburgh and Boren argue for a different way. The first step into being missional is to listen. I know, that sounds touchy-feely and gushy, but hang with me. By listen they mean, engage the world you/your church is actually connected to - your neighborhood/city/workplace, etc. and listen to the needs, aspirations and yearnings that intersect with Kingdom of God. The next step is to discern what it looks like to come alongside those things and engage the Kingdom of God. What can emerge is something as simple as learning there is a shut-in couple down the street that needs someone to check in on them and befriend them once a week to something as involved as learning about disengaged kids who keep getting themselves in trouble by hanging out at the local Burger King and letting that reality lead to the birth of a community center. Listen, discern and act on what the Lord is doing -- that's how the church steps into being missional.

Today's Prayer

2010-01-10T00:01:00.000-05:00

Collect for the First Sunday after the Epiphany: The Baptism of our Lord from the Book of Common Prayer

Father in heaven, who at the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan proclaimed him your beloved Son and anointed him with the Holy Spirit: Grant that all who are baptized into his Name may keep the covenant they have made, and boldly confess him as Lord and Savior; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

Daily Office 2

2010-01-08T00:01:00.000-05:00

Praying the Daily Office involves using set prayers. I come from a Christian tradition that de-values the use of set or pre-written prayers. Authentic prayers, in this tradition, are spontaneous prayers. Well, this poses a bunch of problems. Let me list them:

1. The Book of Psalms is a book of set prayers. They are in sacred scripture and inspired by God to be used as prayer. Remember, Jesus prayed the Book of Psalms.
2. The idea that the spontaneous is more authentic is a decidedly modern notion rooted in 19th century romanticism and in western culture. The idea that the spontaneous is more authentic is not in scripture, was not part of western thought until roughly 200 years ago and would be puzzling to people from other cultures.
3. We sing pre-set worship songs all the time and never conclude they are inauthentic because someone else wrote them. Has anyone else out there been brought to tears while singing Amazing Grace for 313th time?
4. The idea that the spontaneous is more authentic presumes we all naturally know how to pray. But this isn't true. The disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray and he gave them a set prayer.
5. Lastly, the notion that the spontaneous is more authentic is, frankly, quite narcissistic. It presumes that I know better, in the heat of the moment, what to say to God than Jesus did, the Psalmist did and great prayer writers from Christian history did.

The truth is that most people who regularly pray the Daily Office find set prayers to be quite liberating. It frees them from what N.T. Wright calls the burden of spontaneity and enables them to have a regular practice of prayer.

Hospitality 2

2010-01-06T00:01:00.000-05:00

Christian hospitality is not the same is, "having people over." It might include that, but the Christian concept is bigger.

"Having people over," falls under the domain of entertainment. When we entertain we bring people into our home, usually with it looking nicer than it does on a normal days and we put it on ourselves to make sure the persons we are entertaining have a positive experience. There is nothing wrong with entertaining. It can certainly be a subset of hospitality. My wife and I like to entertain often.

Hospitality is much larger than that. It is opening my life to another -- not just my home to another. It is about seeing everyone who is in my life -- everyone from lifelong friends to the man at the convenience store counter -- as someone God has brought into my life and relate to them with an attitude of welcome. For the convenience store clerk it might mean just stopping for a few seconds to acknowledge that the person behind the counter is a human being and asking her how her day is going.

In these posts I want to move in the direction of a broad conception of hospitality. I want to suggest that any act of welcoming someone into my life -- for one minute or one decade -- can be an act of hospitality.

Thoughts on Church Planting 1

2010-01-05T08:54:00.002-05:00

I'm thinking about church planting. (When do I not think about church planting?) I am pondering what it looks to plant simple and missional Anglican churches.

Usually simple church is another name for home/house church. But I want to expand the definition to mean smaller (under 150 or so - but not excluding home churches) communities that have a minimum of organizational systems, see buildings as optional, are relatively flat in structure and at the same time are rooted in Anglican ethos.

For a definition of missional see my posts on Introducing the Missional Church.

How about creating an open source exchange of ideas on my blog about simple and missional Anglican church planting?

What does simple/missional/Anglican look like?
How is it like church growth movement based Anglican church planting and how is it different?
Does churchmanship (i.e., high, low, evangelical, anglo-catholic, etc.) effect the ability to be simple and missional? Why or why not?
What is necessary for a simple/missional church to still be meaningfully Anglican?

Those are some of my questions, but feel free to raise others that are on your mind. For now let's get talking and see where this conversation goes. I am very interested in creating some images and stories that help those of us interested in this approach to move forward together in the missio dei.

Introducing the Missional Church - 2

2010-01-04T00:01:00.000-05:00

A missional church understands that mission is first a quality of God before it is a quality of the Church. God is a missionary. What does that mean? It means that God is in the process of restoring all he has made to its original blessedness. At the heart of this restoration is the Church -- God's elect people called to be a sign and foretaste of the future Kingdom of God. But the scope of God's mission -- the scope of his restoration process -- is all things. Near the end of Revelation Jesus declares, "Behold I make all things new." Paul wrote in 1st Corinthians, "If anyone is in Christ there is new creation." All of creation is being made new and God is at work on this project all the time.

The Church is both the result and the means of God's restoration process. The Church participates in God's mission - the missio dei -- by being the Church. Additionally, the Church joins the missio dei by looking to see where God is active in his world and joining him on mission. This is key. Mission is something God is always doing. The Church's job is join God in what he is doing in his world.

Today's Prayer

2010-01-03T00:01:00.000-05:00

Collect for Second Sunday after Christmas Day from the Book of Common Prayer:

O God, who wonderfully created, and yet more wonderfully restored, the dignity of human nature: Grant that we may share the divine life of him who humbled himself to share our humanity, you Son Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Daily Office 1

2010-01-01T00:01:00.000-05:00

On Wednesdays I plan to post about practicing the Daily Office. Post number one is an introduction.

The Daily Office is an ancient form of prayer that has its roots in the ancient Jewish synagogue -- the kind of synagogue where Jesus worshiped (i.e., Jesus prayed a form of the Daily Office). It is a way of praying that is structured around a regular praying of the Psalms. Early Christians embraced this practice and it become common in the early centuries of Christianity for believers to gather twice a day for prayer - morning prayer before the work day and evening prayer after the work day. The heart of this prayer time centered around praying the Psalms but in time other prayers were added. Of course, there was always space for free intercessions.

From about the 5th century onward, praying the Daily Office became mostly a practice in monasteries -- some moving from twice a day to seven times a day (taken from Psalm 119:164 - Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous rules).

During the English Reformation of the 16th century this practice was restored in the Church of England through the use of the Book of Common Prayer. Since then, this has been an integral part of the Anglican way of praying.

Next week we will look at the nuts and bolts of the Daily Office. After that, the rationale for this way of praying.

Hospitality 1

2009-12-30T00:01:00.000-05:00

I have been pondering the Christian ethic of hospitality of late and decided to blog about it for a season. Let's begin with a definition. The best is found in a literal translation of the Greek word for hospitality philoxenia. This word combines phileo and xenos - love and stranger to make a word that literally translates love of the stranger. This a great place to start in grasping the Christian ethic of hospitality. God calls us to open our lives to the stranger in our midst and welcome her into our lives. This reflects the way God himself opens his heart and welcomes us into his life. God is a god who loves the stranger - who welcomes the stranger - and asks us to do the same.

Introducing the Missional Church 1

2009-12-28T00:01:00.000-05:00

In their new book Introducing the Missional Church, Alan Roxburgh and Scott Boren offer a guide to apply the ideas from the groundbreaking book Missional Church. Roxburgh points out that over the last decade many pastors and church leaders have told him that Missional Church was too abstract to be easily applied. What was needed was a "part two" that offered a pathway for living into Missional Church. Introducing the Missional Church does just that.

The first thing Roxburgh and Boren do in the book is clarify the meaning of missional. A church that is evangelistic is not missional, although missional churches are evangelistic. A church that serves the poor is not missional, although missional churches will serve the poor. A church that is externally focused is not missional, although a missional church will be externally focused. A missional church is a church that grasps that mission is not first a category of church life but a category of God. God does not have a church that has a mission; God is missionary who has a church. A missional chuch exists to participate in God's mission to redeem all things in Jesus Christ. Mission is NOT a part of church; church is a part of mission.

Missional Church

2009-12-16T06:39:00.002-05:00

Last Week I read Introducing the Missional Church: What It Is, Why It Matters, How to Become One (good book, you should read it).

Scot McKnight on his Jesus Creed Blog gives a good summary of the heart of the book:

Alan Roxburgh and M. Scott Boren are onto something: in their new book called Introducing the Missional Church: What It Is, Why It Matters, How to Become One (Allelon Missional Series) , contend there are three central issues and questions and topics at the center of the missional theology of the Church:

First, understanding that the West is now the mission field.

Second, rethinking the gospel itself in terms of what God's dream is and what God is doing in this world instead of the gospel that satisfies my needs and meets my issues.

Third, recasting the church itself as sign, witness and foretaste of God's dream for this world. The church must become a contrast society if it is to become missional.

Read it all

New Phase in the Journey - Benedict

2009-10-04T06:41:00.003-04:00

Last Sunday I stood before the parish where I am rector and made my first profession as a Benedictine. I joined an order called The Company of Jesus. The Company is an ecumenical religous order whose canonical residence is in the AMiA under the episcopal oversight of The Rt. Rev. David Loomis (he is St. Pat's bishop BTW). The Company has members who follow both the way of Benedict and the way of Francis. Because both streams combine I am able to be a third order (Franciscan concept) Benedictine. I am not and will not be cloistered - I am seeking to live the way of Benedict in regular, everyday life.

Pray for me as I seek to live into this charism. I do so under what I believe is the guidance of the Holy Spirit. I think God has led me into the Company so I might live more fully and faithfully in him.

The Politics of Health Care Reform

2009-09-04T17:05:00.003-04:00

If I wasn’t a priest, I would really like to be a pundit or political editor at some news division. I enjoy politics. I like pondering the abstractions of political philosophy, I like political history and I especially like the horse-race of politics; it’s one of my favorite contact sports!

I have been thinking and reading a lot about the health-care reform debate going on right now and have pondered why there has been so little traction in getting a bill put together and passed. Here are some thoughts. Oh, and by the way, this is non-ideological analysis. I am not wanting to or trying to make a point for or against health-care reform in general or any version of that is currently on the table. I am really interested in the politics.

My take is this. The key to understanding why no bill has been crystallized or passed – and likely won’t be until the end of the year – is found in pondering a quote from Will Rogers, “I'm not a member of any organized political party, I'm a Democrat!” Apart from the humor of the statement, there is a nugget of truth here that applies to the current situation. Right now, today, the Democratic Party has 256 members in the house and 59 members in the Senate (60 until Senator Kennedy passed away). In other words, the party holds a strong majority in congress. They would have no problem in passing a bill. They do not need the Republicans to get this done. So, why haven’t they? Bottom line, the Democratic Party is divided on the issue. The leadership is from the left wing of the Party and wants a bill that largely reflects the values of President Obama. But even though the Democratic Party is the natural home of the left liberal, it is not a left liberal party – even in congress. Part of the reason is the last two elections. The Party did a bang up job of regaining seats in both the House and the Senate. It did so by getting moderates to run in traditionally Republican or at least moderate/populist districts. In the face of the disastrous record of the Republicans in Congress and a very, very unpopular President, these folks won handily. It was a masterful strategy.

The problem is there are now a number of Democrats in Congress who are not liberal and who are not excited about the Health-Care reform proposed by the President and the Congressional leadership. If you want to get a feel for this think Jim Webb. Webb is a Democratic senator from Virginia. He is a populist and deeply against the war in Iraq. But he is not a left liberal. He used to be a Republican and worked in the Reagan Administration! Go figure. He is an example of a number of Democrats in the Congress who are moderate and some who are even conservative.

Okay, back to my point. While the “tea-partiers” and “birthers” make great copy on CNN and Fox, I don’t think that they and things like them are the real story here. The story is Democrats who have to go back to voters in their states and districts that, while not hard right wingers, are not left liberals. These Democratic representatives and senators have to get re-elected. They have to be attentive to their constituents. They have to dance with who “brung” them. As Tip O’Neill once said, “All politics is local.”

My prediction: when Congress passes a health-care reform bill it will be a compromise. But it will not be a compromise with Republicans – it will be a compromise within the Democratic Party. This will be a disappointment for ideologues, but this is exactly how the founders envisioned our system working. Everyone gets some of what they want, but no one gets all they want. This creates cross-cutting cleavages across party lines and ideological lines. These cross-cutting cleavages are part of what contributes to the stability of our Republic and the protection of civil rights.

Oh, I am not dismissing voter sentiment. It was Abraham Lincoln who said, “With public sentiment, nothing can fail. Without it, nothing can succeed.” He was right. But one must remember that for the President national sentiment matters. But for members of congress it is the sentiment of districts and states that matter. A Democrat from Rhode Island and a Democrat from Arkansas have very different constituencies. But what must be remembered is that in Congress public sentiment is gauged district by district and state by state.

Thanks for humoring me!

Disciplemaking 3 - St. Benedict

2009-06-27T10:33:00.002-04:00

Again, I am approaching these topics as they come to mind, not any logical order.

When Benedict of Nursia launched his monastic movement he set out to establish schools of discipleship. A couple of key strategic realities characterized these schools. First, was the principle of scripture immersion. Benedict's love for scripture and the need to be reading, meditating and praying it many times during a day makes him sound like and old fashioned Bible loving Southern Baptist! He grasped that the journey of discipleship involves re-making one's imagination. Immersion in scripture is central to this. Second was commitment to community. Simply being in committed relationship to others has the effect of forming one as a disciple. This is an example of the more is caught than is taught principle.

The Rule of Saint Benedict is a great manual for Christian discipleship. Benedict was a strategic, missional thinker. We do well to learn from him.

Disciplemaking and the Liturgy

2009-06-23T10:04:00.003-04:00

Sorry to miss a few days. Now I am back in the saddle.

Disciplemaking is moving someone into a new manner of life or a new manner of being...the way of Jesus Christ. The Jesus pattern is a baptismal and eucharistic pattern. Since I am writing these posts in no particular order, today I write about Eucharist.

A friend of mine says disciplemaking is forming people who can say amen at the end of the eucharistic prayer. A disciple understands what the Triune God has done for him/her in Jesus and says amen to living into that life in worship and taking that life back into the world for the sake of others.

I suggest a disciple is one who has learned to live the poured out life of Jesus. At our liturgy, a lay catechist sets the table in preparation for Holy Communion. One of the actions involved is to pour wine out of a karafe into the chalice. That movement reminds me that Jesus poured out his life for me and reminds me I am to pour out my life for others. So disciplemaking is about forming people who can say amen to the liturgy; people who can live the poured out life of Jesus.

Disciplemaking 2 - More Is Caught Than Taught

2009-06-17T10:42:00.003-04:00

While in college I was discipled by the director of my campus ministry. He had a stock set of aphorisms he repeated to me during our three year disciplemaking relationship. One of them was, "More is caught than is taught." What he meant by this is that the most important thing a disciplemaker does is model what following the way of Jesus looks like. Also, as in the rest of life, people are most shaped by who they spend time with and tend to pick up habit patterns from those persons whether they be friends, family or co-workers.

Disciplemaking is a life on life process rooted in friendship. It is in the context of friendship that the way of Jesus can modeled and imitated. Time together in the context of everyday life is a huge part of disciplemaking and should be factored into any disciplemaking strategy.

This doesn't mean content is unimportant -- it is important, very important. But content needs to be embedded in a life on life process whereby disciples can model for one another how to follow the way of Jesus. Why? Because...more is caught than is taught.

Disciplemaking 1

2009-06-16T09:43:00.002-04:00

In a month I will travel to Rwanda to teach at a week long pastor's training school in the Anglican Diocese of Kibungo. My job is to teach my fellow priests how to develop discipleship in a local church. Needless to say, I have been thinking about disciplemaking. I need to crystallize my ideas and plan to do so by splashing my thoughts on this blog. Hope some of my readers find these posts helpful.

My first thought is this -- too many churches make disciplemaking way, way, way too complex. The Kingdom of God is a movement. Movements are driven by simple ideologies that are transferred easily and quickly. Highly institutionalized methods of disciplemaking often undermine this reality and end up not acheieveing their intended goal.

In the biological realm the simplest things are often the most dangerous. Think of a virus. It is small, virtually unnoticeable and yet can kill millions in a short time. Biblical disciplemaking is a viral movement. I want to spend some blog posts thinking about how this is so.

Prayer: The Shape of Christian Hope

2009-05-27T22:42:00.003-04:00

This podcast is the third session of Saint Patrick’s Confirmation Preparation Class, Matt Purmort, member of Saint Patrick’s and Director of Cross Anglican Fellowship (a campus ministry at the University of Kentucky), teaches on prayer. In the first half of the session Matt explains the unique Anglican ethos of prayer rooted in the Book of Common Prayer and the praying of the Daily Office. In the second half he walks through the meaning and use of the Lord’s Prayer.

The Priest: A Voice and Icon of Grace

2009-05-26T12:50:00.002-04:00

A central role of priest/pastor is to give pastoral care or spiritual direction. This means helping men, women and children grow deeper in relationship and union with the Lord.

I coming to think that my role as pastoral caregiver/cure of souls/spiritual director is not primarily about helping people do better in the Christian journey. My role is to be at least one, real, concrete, human voice who says, "God loves, forgives and accepts you in Jesus Christ. Rejoice!" My role is to be one, real, concrete human voice that lives this truth -- an icon of grace or what Fr. Paul Zahl calls, "one way love."

I am praying that I will more and more become this kind of priest.

Psalm 2 and the Ascension

2009-05-25T08:24:00.001-04:00

¹⁰Now therefore, O kings, show discernment;
Take warning, O judges of the earth.
¹¹Worship the LORD with reverence
And rejoice with trembling.
¹²Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way,
For His wrath may soon be kindled
How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!

Read in Christ these verses speak to the Ascension. Kyrie Elieson.

Ascension

2009-05-23T07:30:00.002-04:00

I have been thinking about the Ascension (wrote a sermon about it yesterday in fact). There is a cluster of themes regarding the Ascension. This year I am really intrigued by the notion that all of life is the arena for Christian discipleship because Jesus is enthroned in the heavens. There is not a secular/sacred divide. There really is no such thing as "the Christian life." There is just life - created by God, redeemed by God and ruled by God. We either live life under his reign or not. So because of the ascension drinking a cup of coffee is spiritual. Doing yard work is spiritual. Serving at the Rescue Mission is spiritual. Praying is spiritual. Going to work is spiritual. Eating a plate of pulled pork is spiritual. You get the drift.

What meanings of the Ascension capture your imagination?

Communion, Not Merely Transformation

2009-05-17T10:37:00.003-04:00

I have been thinking about the meaning of sanctification lately. I think I tend to overemphasize transformation. While being Christlike in character is part of that process, the ultimate goal is union or communion with God.

By grace I have been given communion in Christ, through person and work of God the Holy Spirit. This means I belong to God the Father (by adoption). But there is also a processive dimension to this. As Paul writes in Ephesians, we are to "make Christ at home in our hearts." More and more of me needs to make room for him. Transformation will come of this, but transformation is not for transformation's sake; it is for the sake of communion.

Spiritual disciplines and working at spiritual growth still have their place. But they are the means by which we draw near to God and the means by which we put off sin that we might come into deeper communion with God.

So, I am wanting to learn how to frame Christian discipleship in terms of communion, not only terms of being a better person.

Blogging Again

2009-05-17T09:13:00.002-04:00

I decided to blog again. My blog is with blogger again so I can retain the old blog look. The address is new however.

Look for posts focusing on Christianity, Anglicanism, patristics, liturgy, sacraments...all the boring stuff I like to think about!!