Today’s guest blogger is The Rev’d Chuck Irish. Chuck served as the Rector of St. Luke’s, Bath, Ohio and was a founding member of Episcopal Renewal Ministries serving as Executive Director. As a part of the ministry of ERM Chuck was the editor of the magazine “Acts 29.” He also is the author of the book, Back to the Upper Room. On a personal note, Chuck had more to do with shaping me as a priest and leader than anyone I know.

HOLY SPIRIT?
As you read what follows, see what you think, Did I hear from God or not? Was it the Holy Spirit or was it a mistake? My decision was that it was the Holy Spirit at work. Here is what happened:

While on vacation in California I received a call from a catholic group in Los Angeles asking me to substitute for Agnes Sanford, who, at the last minute, became ill and couldn’t speak at their conference. I quickly said “yes”.

There were over ten thousand people at this conference, including Cardinal Manning, and the Apostolic Delegate from Rome, whose name I can’t remember. I was sure that I was called for this assignment. It was about healing — something I was already doing, and speaking about.

I was doing fine with my talk until I heard a voice in my ear telling me to change my message. A few days before, I had been told that hundreds were leaving the catholic church and joining up with one of the popular faith teachers in that area. I confronted the situation telling them why this was happening to them. Then I suggested how they might take care of the problem. As I made this confrontation, some of the people, became quite agitated. I didn’t realize how profound this agitation was.

When I finished my talk I was told that there was a crowd of angry people wanting to get to me. Their suggestion was that I should escape out of one of the windows in the back. And I did!. It reminded me of some of the experiences that the apostles had. As I drove back to my vacation home, I experienced terrible unease. Did I hear from the Lord or not?

SPIRIT: THIE DOORWAY INTO GOD’S LIFE
The Holy Spirit is the doorway into God’s life, and into a relationship with Jesus Christ. This is God the Father’s plan that Jesus revealed. “But when He, the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth….He will bring glory to me by taking what is mine and making it known to you” [John 16:13]. If anything life-changing is revealed to us, the only source of that revelation will be the Holy Spirit. If we want to know what is true then we must turn to Jesus through the Holy Spirit. If we want to know how to serve God, then, we turn to the Holy Spirit.

Often, as we grow up in mainline churches, we become spiritually deprived. When this happens, we will find it difficult to understand the things that the Holy Spirit reveals. Scripture tells us that “the man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him and, and he cannot understand, them, because they are spiritually discerned”[1 Cor 2:14].

Mainline seminaries generally do not teach students how to discern the things of the Spirit. If the students do discern spiritual things, they must learn how before they get to seminary. It seems strange that this is so when everything that God does is by the work and operation of the Holy Spirit. To be without some understanding of the reality of the Holy Spirit is the same as being without God. It is important for clergy to understand spiritual things since they are called to help others discern the movement and activity of the Spirit.

The work of the Holy Spirit is a very personal one; He knows who we are and seeks us personally. In His personal way He reveals Jesus to our hearts. Although the Church is a corporate body, entry into it is still personal. The Holy Spirit opens the door to the Kingdom of God for each of us by introducing us to Jesus. As we believe in him and receive Him, we become the Father’s children. The fact of this personal relationship with God was promised by the prophet Jeremiah [see Jer 31:34]. Though it was promised, people are often surprised to discover that it is true. They were never taught that a personal relationship with God is not only true, but is essential to full Christian life. It is the Holy Spirit who confirms whether we have this relationship or not [Rom 8:16].

When we took ministry teams to churches seeking renewal, the question about one’s relationship with God was always important. While in small groups, we asked people to answer the question: “On a scale of zero to ten, what is your relationship with Jesus Christ.? Most answered between zero and five. It was a startling discovery to hear Christians declaring their spiritual poverty. They didn’t have a relationship with God!! The ironic part of their poverty was that we were usually the first people to tell them that a relationship with God is possible.

LEARNING TO LISTEN TO GOD
We had a beautiful place in some dense woods that we borrowed from another church. it had room for forty people. This particular retreat was about hearing from God.

“What I want you to do is to go into the woods, sit down someplace, and listen to God. Don’t talk to Him. Just listen. When he talks to you, then write down what He says.

There were uneasy snickers, shocked looks, and disbelief among the forty people present. God talking to them!! The fact that many had been raised in a Christian environment did nothing to minimize their consternation. They just didn’t believe that it was possible for God to talk to them. In their minds, God was like a watchmaker who wound up the universe and then sat back to watch it tick along.

“No, I’m not kidding. When you get to where you are going, tell God you will listen to Him. When He speaks to you, then write it down.”

I sent them off to listen to God.

At the appointed time they wandered in, each seeming to hold on to something precious.

“Who would like to share what God spoke to them?”

There was a long silence as no one seemed willing to be the fool who said he heard God speak. I waited them out, looking at each person. Then as it always seems to happen, someone raised a hand. I nodded and the person began to read from her pad. Once the ice was broken, the rest shared their precious notes from God. Some were shared in tears as God had spoken profound things into their lives. Others received direction for the future. But all had something to share.

The voice that I heard when I was speaking at the California conference, was the Holy Spirit telling me what Jesus wanted me to do. He interrupted what I was doing for something more important. Each of us should practice listening to the Holy Spirit, so that when He speaks we won’t miss hearing him.

Today’s guest blogger is The Very Rev’d Kevin Martin. Kevin is currently the Dean of St. Matthew’s Cathedral in Dallas Texas.

LEARNING FROM WESLEY

On a cold January evening in 1975, I knelt in the darkened living room of the Rectory of Emmanuel Church in Stamford, Connecticut and made a total surrender of my life to Jesus Christ. This surrender came in response to an overwhelming sense of God’s presence as I spoke out the desperation and despair that I felt. The details of what happened are not important here because I am writing to share what I learned from John Wesley after my conversion.

The problem was that I was already an ordained priest. It was some time later that I would learn that I shared with Wesley a post theological education conversion to Christ. I say “conversion to Christ” because that is what it was for me. I had felt called to the ministry, and, before seminary at least, I had believed in the Trinity and the creeds of the Church. What happened to me that night was that I experienced a personal sense of forgiveness and total acceptance by a living and real Christ. Jesus Christ became alive for me.

The most immediate result of this was expressed by what I did that night. I took the sermon that I had written that week and burned it in the fire place. I was determined to speak now of the love of Christ I knew personally, and not the ideas about God that I had learned in seminary. Let me be clear on this. I am not proud of the fact that I am a post-theological education Christian. I had outstanding teachers, but none of them ever spoke of a personal relationship with Christ as something to be desired, and most down played any sense of conversion. Conversion, if it existed at all, was a gradual process of growth.

For several years, I struggled to integrate my experience with both my theological education and my experience with Episcopal Church practices. Then on my tenth anniversary of ordination, I took a month’s sabbatical. I spent the month at a seminary following guidance from the Dean. For the next month, I felt that I had found my roots. I discovered an evangelical and conversionist legacy which is thoroughly Anglican. He introduced me to the “Three Ws of Anglicanism; Wesley, Whitfield and Wilberforce. Wesley spoke to me.

Wesley was a high church Anglican who’s “heart was strangely warmed” in the Aldersgate experience, and who had deep commitments to the marginalized and poor of his world. In reading Wesley, I found an Anglican who expressed both what I believed and what I had experienced. I remain a person who believes in both conversion and sanctification. Here are some of the other things that I learned from Wesley:

All the head knowledge in the world cannot substitute for “knowing Christ Jesus in the power of his resurrection.”

Religious experience apart from creedal belief usually ends in shipwreck somewhere.

True conversion leads to passionate love for the poor and to concrete steps to alleviate their poverty.

Social justice and evangelism are both mandates of scripture, to hold one without the other is to diminish Christ’s work.

Holiness of life is the goal of all disciples – we don’t want to be people who do good things – we want to become people who are Christ-like.

Simplicity of life is a Christian virtue.

Nominal Christian life is the greatest enemy to true discipleship.

Innovation for the sake of mission and evangelism is Apostolic and needed in every age.

And when it comes to preaching, “set yourself on fire in the pulpit and the whole world will come to see you burn.”

Today’s guest blogger is The Rev’d Dr. Graham Tomlin. Graham is the Principal of St Paul’s Theological Centre and Dean of St Mellitus College. He was for several years a member of the Theology Faculty of Oxford University. He is the author of numerous articles and several books, including ‘The Power of the Cross: Theology and the Death of Christ in Paul, Luther and Pascal’ (Paternoster 1999), ‘The Provocative Church’ (SPCK 2002), ‘Luther and his World’ (Lion 2002), ‘The Responsive Church (IVP 2005), Spiritual Fitness: Christian Character in a Consumer Culture (Continuum 2006) and most recently ‘The Seven Deadly Sins and How to Overcome Them’ (Lion Hudson 2007).

A PRAGUE GOOSE AND THE FREEDOM OF GOD

I’ve just spent a weekend doing some teaching to a group of very focussed and impressive church leaders in Prague. The Czech Republic is one of the most secular countries in the world today. At the same time, the wonderful Tomas Dittrich who showed me around and the others I met had a deep sense of the Christian history of the country and its role in forming European Christianity. I loved a visit to the Bethlehem Chapel, the place that holds the pulpit where Jan Hus preached in the early C15th. For those who don’t know, Hus was a radical preacher who mounted a rigorous critique of the church of his day, demanded reform and ended up getting burnt for his pains at the Council of Constance in 1415, despite having been guaranteed safe conduct to the Council. Hus in Czech means ‘goose’, and during his trial, he had reportedly said “Today you are burning a goose, but out of my ashes will be born a swan whom you will not burn”. As you might imagine, Luther quite liked that line. I have often mentioned Hus while lecturing on Luther – it was when Luther realized in 1519 that Hus the heretic had been burnt for preaching views similar to the ones he was himself develop, that Luther began to realize he was on a different track to the papal church that was trying to bring him to book. Nearly six centuries later in 1999, Pope John Paul II expressed “deep regret for the cruel death inflicted” on Hus.

Hus identified six problems with the church of his day. They were these:

Priests who boasted of making the body of Jesus Christ in the mass, and of being the creator of their Creator.

The confession exacted of the members of the Church — ‘I believe in the pope and the saints’ — in opposition to which, Huss taught that men are to believe in God only.

The priestly claim to remit the guilt and punishment of sin. Only God does that.

The implicit obedience exacted by ecclesiastical superiors to all their commands.

Making no distinction between a valid excommunication and one that was not so.

Simony – the idea that positions in the church can be bought and sold for cash.

In essence all of them are a re-assertion of the radical freedom of God. The church does not possess or control God, much less dispense him to others. God is our creator, we are not his. And yet God gives himself to us in Christ. Holding that tension saves us from many theological and spiritual mistakes. It saves us from domesticating God, making him familiar and safe. At the same time it keeps us from making him so distant and mysterious that we can say nothing about him, or rendering him cool and unconcerned with our struggles and pains. Hus’s blow struck for the freedom of God at the price of his own life is something for which we have to thank the Czech nation and it’s fine spiritual heritage.

Our guest blogger today is The Rev. Canon Dr. Alison L. Barfoot. Alison has, November 2003 served as the Assistant for International Relations to Henry Luke Orombi, the Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Uganda Previously, she served as Associate Rector and then Co-Rector of Christ Church, Overland Park, Kansas, from 1997 – 2004.

THINKING ABOUT DISCIPLESHIP AND MISSION

I’ve been thinking a lot about discipleship and mission lately. Maybe it’s because I’m a missionary who is also trying to mobilize East Africans in mission. Maybe it’s because I’ve been a parish priest and spent many years pondering these perennial challenges. Or, maybe it’s because I regularly meet short-term mission teams who come to Uganda or East Africa on a mission trip. I’m not sure why. But, it’s something I’ve been pondering very deeply of late.

On a recent short trip to the US I was visiting some friends whose small group met at their home while I was staying with them. They were using a video curriculum called The Truth Project (or something like that). They liked it a lot. Another church I visited was using Inter-Varsity Press small group materials for their small groups. Another church had done 40 Days of Purpose a few years back and was continuing to adapt the 40-day campaign model for other topics.

In Uganda where I have lived since 2004, parish priests are desperate for various discipleship materials. All Saints’ Cathedral, Kampala, where I assist on Sundays, uses some Navigators Bible Study material very effectively and has even sent out Bible study leaders to other churches in Kampala to share that discipleship material.

The Provincial Office for the Church of Uganda, where I work, hosts the Alpha Uganda office and has also engaged in a three-year training program around the country, training urban church leaders in 40 Days of Purpose and also the principles of a Purpose-Driven Church.

Two of our dioceses are using the Community Bible Study material very effectively and have more than 1,000 people in Bible study groups.

These are all great things to celebrate!

But, with all there is to celebrate in these stories, there’s something that is niggling inside of me.

Four experiences over the last ten years have caused me to ponder our programmatic approach to discipleship.

1. The first experience comes from my time as a parish priest in the last parish I served in the US before moving to Uganda. We wrestled long and hard about making disciples of Jesus Christ. Our first approach was a three-step process, which we called “Welcome. Equip. Send.” Our church ministries were organized around Welcoming functions, Equipping functions, and Sending functions. The problem was that life is not that tidy. Sometimes people want to Go before we think they’ve been fully equipped. Or, sometimes, someone might enter through an Equipping event before they have been Welcomed. You get the idea.

Then, there was the problem that most people never made the transition from Welcome to Equip, let alone Send. The level of participation in Adult Education or Sunday School or Small Groups or Bible Studies was small compared to the average Sunday worship attendance.

What I discovered, quite by accident, was that the best way to “Equip” people was in the process of “Sending” them. Most adults learn on a “need to know” basis. So, most people won’t sign up for a class on How to Give your Testimony as an academic exercise. But, ask them to serve on a team for a retreat or to go on a short-term mission trip where giving your testimony is expected, and the people were knocking down my door to learn how to give their testimony…or, how to preach…or, how to pray with someone else…It was amazing how many people wanted to learn and how motivated they were to learn!

I’m not sure how well a linear progression like “Welcome. Equip. Send” works. I understand the need to have some order in how the church thinks about evangelism, discipleship, and mission. But, life is not always lived in such a tidy, linear way. Nevertheless, if I had to re-do it, I think I would say, “Welcome. Send-Equip.” The Equipping takes place in the context of Sending and Going.

2. The second experience took place in January 2004 when I was returning to the US from the enthronement of Archbishop Henry Orombi as the Archbishop of Uganda. I was on a British Airways flight from Entebbe to London, along with a group from a church in Northern Virginia who had also come for the Archbishop’s enthronement. I was acquainted with a few people in that group, but not everyone. It was an overnight flight and we all bumped into each other at the Costa Coffee Shop in Terminal 4 of Heathrow. Bleary-eyed, we sat down together to drink coffee (or, tea!) and wait several hours for our connecting flight. Someone asked a question about why the Episcopal Church had not been invited for the enthronement. The next thing I knew, more than an hour had passed, I had gotten out my Bible, and we had all pulled in around the table and were engaged in deep Biblical reflection about the issues that had just started dividing us. Now referred to as the “Heathrow Bible Study,” deep friendships were formed, and several people in that group are now fully engaged as mission mobilizers in their churches. I think we were all surprised by the power of such an impromptu Bible study that took place in such an open place. We even noticed people around us eavesdropping on our conversation.

3. The third experience took place during a trip to Israel I helped the Archbishop of Uganda organize for Ugandan leaders. Our Bible Teacher and Guide had taken us on a walk from the Mount of Beatitudes to a place thought to be where Jesus gave his disciples the Great Commission. It was about a fifteen minute walk, and we walked in silence, breathing in the fresh air and taking in the breathtaking beauty of the hills surrounding the Sea of Galilee. I imagined myself among the group of disciples, walking with Jesus on those same hills many years ago. As they walked and encountered people and situations, Jesus used those situations to teach his disciples about the nature of the Kingdom of God. There was no prepared Bible study curriculum Jesus used with his disciples. There was no set night of the week when they got together for one and a half hours for prayer, sharing, and study. And, yet, these were the people who turned the world upside down and set in motion the most dramatic movement to ever sweep the world. How did they do it?

4. The fourth experience took place at a very simple, modest, rustic Guest House in a border town between Uganda and Kenya. I was meeting one of our ministry partners in this border town to loan him my car for a month so he could go on a Pauline-like missionary journey in a remote part of Kenya where he has been involved in leading an evangelism and church-planting movement among several unreached people groups. We were meeting in a typical African meeting hut under a thatched roof with a nice breeze wafting past us and drinking tea. We had set aside a whole day to do some planning about this mission work and were beginning the day with prayer and devotions. There were two others with us – one I had brought with me from Kampala and one he had brought with him from Nairobi. The four of us, sitting around a table, drinking tea, and reading the Bible. We read a passage and then discussed it together for about two hours! It was holy time. Powerful time.

So, I’ve been thinking, if Jesus could disciple twelve men plus the others who traveled with them for three years as they moved up and down Judea, Samaria, and Galilee…if the disciples could evangelize, disciple, and plant churches all over the Roman Empire in an amazingly short period of time…and, all without the benefit of 40 Days of Purpose or some other video teaching series… why can’t we?

What would happen if we just opened our Bibles and started talking about it? It might not be perfect according to Serendipity, but surely the Word of God has the power to transform lives? We believe that, don’t we? What would happen if we found some way to salt our conversations and vocabulary with references and allusions to the Bible? What if reading the Bible together with our family and friends was just a normal part of life? Then, we wouldn’t need to find the perfect Bible study program, or Adult Education curriculum, or small group material. It would just be part of our life, and that’s the way it’s supposed to be.

More and more I am less interested in programmatic approaches to Bible study and discipleship, and much more interested in integrating the Bible with my life, the people close to me, and fellow disciples as we go about life, ministry, and mission. It’s much deeper and richer, and much more life-changing.

“Talk about them [the Word of God] when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” (Deuteronomy 6.7b)

Jesus said, “Therefore, [as you] go, make disciples of all nations…”

Our Guest Blogger Today is The Rev’d Matt Kennedy. Matt is the Rector of the Church of the Good Shepherd in Binghamton, NY. Matt also shares in the leadership of the popular blog, Stand Firm.

APOSTOLIC SUCCESSION – WHAT IS IT AND WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE ABOUT IT?

I’ve had a number of questions and conversations about Apostolic Succession over the last few weeks since the sermon I preached on what it means to be an apostle. I’m writing this brief note to address some of those questions. We may talk about it for a brief moment or two at the start of class this Sunday as well

What is apostolic succession? Apostolic Succession is the name for the belief that since the time of the original apostles in the first century until now, there has been an unbroken line of overseers (bishops) consecrated (or set apart) by the laying on of hands who exercise apostolic authority over the church. The Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Anglican, and some Lutheran churches claim to have bishops in this succession and make differing claims about what this means.

1. For Roman Catholics, the Eastern Orthodox, and some Anglicans, the Church can only truly exist where there are bishops in apostolic succession because only bishops in succession inherit through the laying on of hands (by other bishops in succession) the authority Jesus vested in the original 12.

According to this line of thought, only bishops in apostolic succession have the authority (according again to Catholics, Orthodox, and some—not all—Anglicans) to ordain priests. And only priests ordained by bishops in succession may legitimately celebrate the sacraments Christ gave to the Church. Moreover, according to Roman Catholic and, I think, Eastern Orthodox doctrine, when meeting in ecumenical (or ‘church-wide’) council bishops in Apostolic Succession may speak infallibly with Christ’s authority on matters of faith and doctrine (this belief is based on Jesus’ promise to his apostles in John 14:25-26 and John 16:12-15). Rome holds that infallible teaching authority is also vested in the office of the Pope as the successor of St. Peter. But the Pope’s infallibility only applies to his teachings ex cathedra or “from the chair”.

2. The Roman Catholic Church does not agree with the Anglican claim to have bishops in Apostolic Succession and, for that reason, Roman Catholics tend to view our sacraments as having less or no validity (depending on who you speak too)

3. Some Anglicans do not believe that Apostolic Succession carries the authority that others do. These Anglicans generally agree that our bishops are in the historic line of apostolic succession—in other words that you can trace the laying on of hands from our Anglican bishops all the way back to the original Apostles—but they do not believe that this succession of leadership carries with it the same type or level of authority that Jesus invested in the original Apostles. Rather, they understand authority in the church as being linked primarily and directly to a faithful succession of apostolic teaching (faithful adherence to the scriptures). In other words, any ordained leader in the church who preaches and teaches scripture faithfully, stands as a successor to apostolic teaching but does not inherit the same gifts and powers that Jesus gave to the 12.

This position does not deny the fact that Anglican bishops are in succession or the importance of that fact for church governance and tradition, but it does deny that this in itself lends a bishop any authority apart from a his faithful proclamation of the Word of God. Anglicans who take this view do not think a bishop in apostolic succession is necessary in order for the church to be fully present but instead recognize the validity of all other faithful Protestant and non-Protestant churches and denominations and accept them as full participant’s in the visible Church so long as they carry on the teaching of the original Apostles as contained in the bible.

Where do I stand?

I rejoice in the fact that our bishops stand in a historical line that reaches back to the original apostles. This fact stands as a living reminder that the Christian faith is grounded in real history and events that truly took place.

The historical succession of leaders from the first century until now also points to the faithfulness of God to his Church—never leaving his people without shepherds and leaders.

There is, finally, also a reminder for us that Anglicans have always sought to retain everything in Christian tradition that does not stand in conflict with the word of God. Anglicans have determined to retain the historical line of church leadership by ensuring that every bishop is consecrated by other bishops in apostolic succession. This is a fine tradition fully compatible with scripture and there is every reason to retain it as a living symbol and reminder of Christ’s love for his Bride.

While I believe that our bishops stand in apostolic succession and that this is an important truth for maintaining church order, Anglican identity, and governance, I do not believe that Apostolic Succession conveys the authority that Jesus invested in his original Apostles.

As I said in the sermon I preached (linked also above), I think the “Office of Apostle’ (Eph 4:11-13) as it was held by the 12 and by Paul and others in the first century ended when the last first century Apostle died. The two New Testament criteria for apostleship: 1. to be called as an apostle by Christ directly or through the Holy Spirit and 2. to have been a living witness to ministry, death and bodily resurrection (or, as in Paul’s case, at the very least a witness of the risen and ascended Lord) can no longer be fulfilled.

For this reason, while bishops have been given leadership and authority in the church by virtue of their conscration, I do not think bishops in succession are “apostles” in the New Testament sense of that word nor do I believe that they have the authority, when meeting in council or on their own, to teach or speak infallibly.

Every leader in every church, even (some would say, especially) bishops, must be held accountable to the Word of God.

That is my opinion but it is not just mine. It is held by a large number of Anglicans and it seems to be the one articulated in the Anglican confession of faith, the 39 Articles in which Article 19 defines the visible Church not by the presence or absence of bishops in succession but by the presence of faithful preaching and the celebration of the sacraments in keeping with Christ’s institution (the invisible Church, by contrast, is the body of all who believe in Christ which stretches from heaven to earth, across denominations and throughout time).

So, that is my opinion on the matter of apostolic succession. I think it to be faithful to the scriptures but, as always, please study the bible yourself, come to your own conclusions and test mine.

If you disagree with me, great, if you agree, well I think that is great too. Either way, you’re welcome at Good Shepherd. This is not an issue over which division is necessary. We can debate, disagree and remain brothers and sisters.

Our guest blogger today is The Rev’d Ellis Brust. Ellis is the Lead Pastor and church planter of Epiphany: a community of Light, Love and Expectation in Mission Viejo, CA

VENEER TO VULNERABILITY

Every culture has a veneer it tries to hide behind; the “tough” New Yorker, the “independent” Texan, the “polite” Southerner, the Brit with a “stiff upper lip.” I live in Southern California where the veneer is image. To project the right image you have to dress right (for the beach, Hollywood or even as a church planter), drive the right car, live in the right zip code, go to the right places to be seen by the right people, keep your body fit (by whatever means necessary), your hair blonde and do it all in a laid back “Dude, I’m keepin’ it real” way. You’ll never see chipped paint or a dying plant at Disneyland – the “image” veneer is really that important.

As Christ-followers, we’re called to a different way of living. We’re supposed to be authentic, genuine and vulnerable in a way which gets behind the veneer to the real person – because we follow a Savior who gives us strength through His true vulnerability. Veneer removal begins in the heart, in the quiet of our lives – even learning to not take ourselves so seriously. When we humbly allow God to pull away the façade and remove the layers of veneer from our own lives we really become someone He can use to genuinely engage the people He has asks us to love and serve in His name.

Think about Paul; a man who had all the veneers of power and privilege. He was educated, a Pharisee and Roman Citizen; but a major life change happened on the Damascus road. Years later he was writing from a prison about the strength of trusting everything in his life to Jesus, “I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” (Phil. 4:13) Major life changes are one way God gets our attention to go from veneer to vulnerability. In these we learn to have faith and trust that He is God and will do what He says He will do.

My family and I recently moved from South Carolina to Southern California to church plant – a major life change. A move of this magnitude has a catalytic way of revealing the veneers which God would remove and opening one to the grace found in authentic vulnerability before the Lord and those we serve in His name. But, you don’t have to move across the country and plant a church to rip away veneers and seek to be genuinely vulnerable in your faith and trust in Jesus Christ. Every day God desires to transform and make us new by His grace, love and mercy. An authentic witness to others in your life begins by asking God to remove those things which would hide the authentic you. From veneer to vulnerability – this is the way to let Christ’s light shine through you daily.

Have you ever thought about the veneers in your life? As I said, every culture has a veneer (and probably two or three here in SoCal – I’m the church planter behind the Ray Bans, with my shirt tail out and hair gel). How would a life without all those veneers change the way you interact with others? From veneer to vulnerability, think about it a life genuinely, authentically free of veneers and simply being the person Jesus made you to be, so others can know the God you love. From veneer to vulnerability.

Today’s guest blogger is The Rev’d Dr. Gavin McGrath. Gavin is Senior Associate Minister at Dundonald Church in southwest London and former professor at Trinity School for Ministry.

DID THE EPISCOPAL RENEWAL MOVEMENT FAIL?

Thirty years ago I was ordained deacon in the Episcopal Church. While all but three years of my ministry have been here in the Church of England, I continue to have an eye on the Anglican scene in the USA – especially over recent years! I have a huge respect for and personal gratitude to Archbishop Robert Duncan. He might raise one of his majestic eyebrows at my comment but he is an encouragement to many on both sides of the Atlantic.

I’ve been thinking back to the days back in the mid-1970s when, arguably, the Episcopal Renewal movement(s) took on greater energy and vision. Leaders I looked up to and continue to admire – John Guest, John Rodgers, Peter Moore, John Yates and Alf Stanway, to name but a few – pointed the way. John Guest galvanised people’s vision and energies for what became Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry. I was in the third class that entered (and years later came back to join the faculty and serve as Academic Dean before returning to the UK). I am thankful to the Lord to have been a witness to that moment in history. I remain deeply indebted to Trinity. I have an eternal gratitude to Rodgers, Moore, Fairfield and Stanway.

Yet I also wonder if the presenting aim of that time – to seek a biblical renewal of the Episcopal Church – ever came about. Later historians will have the opportunity to conclude what those of us still too close cannot yet do. At face value, biblical renewal of the Episcopal Church did not occur. Certainly, God graciously worked remarkably in the dioceses of Pittsburgh and South Carolina. Whether or not, however, this was instrumentally through the so-called renewal movement is an open question, at least in my mind. Certainly, bishops Appleyard and Hathaway were significant means in Pittsburgh yet neither was at the centre of the renewal movement in the 1970s.

What explains the possible failure? Cultural forces? Theological confusion? Inadequate finance? Compromise?

For what it is worth, I look back and wonder if the presenting aim (changing the Episcopal Church) possibly failed for three reasons.

First, while the renewal movement coincided with a fresh sense of the Holy Spirit and the need for personal trust in Jesus (think of the ministry of Terry Fullam) we never were able to muster a robust, thoroughly biblical, Calvinistic-Anglican theology. For some reason we never saw the rise of our own Packer, Stott or Lucas; our pulpits were not known for expository preaching; and Trinity never gave rise to the scholarship of places like Wycliffe and Oak Hill in the UK or Moore College in Sydney.

Second, while we hoped, prayed and worked for men and women eventually to ‘work within the system’ or ‘gain a chance to sit at the table’ with denominational leaders, this never really arrived at a significant level. A ‘critical mass’ never came about. Yet, perhaps, this was that at the same time a cultural shift occurred: away from centralised, structural influence base to a subsidiary centre of influence. In other words, maybe having a conservative voice at diocesan level or even national level was working with an already out-dated model. What always mattered was the local congregation (which, by the way the Articles define as the church, never the diocese). To push it further, it could be argued that history shows few changes ever come about at the centre; rather, changes come about by those at the grass roots who take risky steps. Ironically, the renewal movement(s) were, humanly, led precisely by those not at the centre!

And, thirdly and most importantly, I wonder if renewing the Episcopal Church was never ultimately God’s concern. Bear with me for a few moments longer.

The stated aim was the renewal of the Episcopal Church. Yet, all along the overarching aim was the gospel of Christ! Look back to those days in the 1970s and you will read about a re-engagement with biblical evangelism, helping people read the Bible and equipping the saints for the work of ministry. Sure, we didn’t always know how to go about things; but we wanted to see people converted, discipled and trained. Out of those years arose an interest and concern for mission – local and overseas. Within those years a connection with brothers and sisters in other parts of world developed not so much out of a shared Anglicanism but out of a gospel partnership.

So, here are my questions. Could it be that, in ways we don’t yet see, the Episcopal renewal movements of the 1970s did not achieve our stated aim but, through God’s sovereign kindness, the movements contributed to furthering our overarching aim? Could it be legitimately asked whether the vision and aim of those in the 1970s failed at one level but were blessed and furthered by God in ways utterly unimagined? Why can’t it be argued that ACNA/AMiA is a totally unexpected but consistent outworking of the vision of the 1970s? What if the reasons why people rightly (in my mind) leave TEC are because of the fruit of the renewal movements? Might it not be then, that my heroes of that past generation can remind the next generations of what really mattered then and matters now: the gospel of Christ and the glory of God!

Today’s guest blogger is The Rev’d Andrew Pearson. Andrew is Associate Rector at St. Helena’s, Beufort, SC.

THE FOLLY OF SELF-IMPROVEMENT

‘Lord, make me thin…or make all of my friends look fatter than me.’ This prayer normally marks the inauguration of summer and the bathing suit season. I think it is fairly clear that men have also bought into the lie about image and the human body. I have now achieved the age where when I look at a recently taken photograph I say, ‘Ugh, I look terrible,’ knowing full well that in five years time I will look at the same picture and say to myself, ‘I would kill to look like that again.’ As human beings we lack perspective. Not just a little, but we are completely incapable of objective self critique.
I have always been bothered by the interview question, ‘What do you feel are your strengths?’ My response tends to gravitate toward what I ‘like’ to do as we perceive our strengths to be those tasks we enjoy. Inevitably, young seminarians and clergy rank preaching as one of their strengths. Frank Limehouse, Dean of the Cathedral Church of the Advent in Birmingham, once said, ‘I’ve never met a seminarian who didn’t think they were gifted in preaching and I have yet to meet one who is.’ And even after being in ministry a while, things never change. I received an e-mail the other day that asked all of the staff to rewrite their job descriptions (‘What is it that you exactly do around here?’) and I responded, ‘To be awesome.’ In my life I am guilty of over exaggerating both my strengths and weaknesses.

As a fallen man in this world, life has a crushing effect and throws a powerful spotlight on my weaknesses. And as a Christian, God’s Law shows me my incapability of rescuing (much less helping) myself (‘Be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect!’). A minister friend of mine said once, ‘The more you believe in yourself the less you can be a true Christian.’ When I first heard those words, as a believer, I grimaced a little. But upon reflection, in light of my fallen nature and God’s holy Law, I could only cry out, ‘Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?!’ (Rom. 7:24). St. Paul himself answers his own question: ‘Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!’ (Rom. 7:25).

Often life will drive us to seek out the Lord, but like Paul, we find that the more we grow in our faith, the more sinful we find we are. Where there was once a complete lack of objective self critique, God’s Law is held up like a mirror to our sin-soiled faces where we have no choice but to stare directly at the reality of our condition. And yet, this mirror will not clean our faces, but drives us to the soap and water of the Gospel.

Paul’s answer to his own question of rescue was not, ‘I need to try harder!’ or ‘Time to pull myself up by my spiritual bootstraps!’ The answer was outside of him and was found in what Jesus Christ did for him on the cross. The Gospel, to use St. Paul’s words again is simply this, ‘For our sake God made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God’ (2 Cor. 5:21). When Paul found himself struggling, he did not look to his strengths, or the Law, but to the Gospel.

What was, and still is, amazing to me is that Paul was speaking as a Christian to Christians! So often those of us who are ‘mature’ believers think that the Gospel is for those who haven’t heard. Once we have received the Gospel, we ‘move on,’ but Paul stands squarely against such self-reliant measures.

The result of this reliance on Christ and Christ alone for salvation in the Christian life is found in Paul’s ‘Braveheart moment’ when he boldly declares that ‘There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.’ When we are able to rest in this Gospel message that comes only through God’s grace, we find that we are able to live in freedom while at the same time knowing that we are in need of rescue.

Today’s guest blogger is The Rt. Rev’d Foley Beach. +Foley is the bishop of the Anglican Diocese of the South and the Rector of Holy Cross Anglican Church in Loganville, Georgia.

WAITING ON THE LORD

Many times in our journey following the Lord, we are called to wait – wait for directions, wait for counsel, wait for answered prayer. Since we Americans have a difficult time waiting, too often we don’t wait for Him, and we get ourselves in a mess.

The prophet Isaiah wrote to the believers of his day: “those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they walk and not be faint” (Isaiah 40:31). The word “wait” can be understood in several different ways… 1) As in being patient over time (waiting). Driving around Atlanta after 3:00 one often has to wait! 2) As in serving. Restaurants have waiters (now often called servers).

The Hebrew word from which this passage is taken takes these meanings even deeper. To wait is a hopeful expectation. It is looking forward with eager anticipation. Isaiah is saying that those who wait with a hopeful expectation that the Lord will act will not be disappointed – they will soar on wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary, and they will walk and not faint.

The Scriptures encourage us that while we wait for the Lord: to wait patiently (Ps. 37:7) – “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their evil schemes” (NIV); to wait quietly (Lam.3:26) – “It is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord” (NIV)’ to wait expectantly (Lam.3:24) – “I will say to myself: “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him” (NIV); and to wait in His Word (Ps.130:5) – “I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and his Word I put my hope” (NIV).

Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. Isn’t it amazing how exhausted we can get doing God’s work? However, as we wait for his leadership and direction, and his coming, our strength is renewed. Too often, rather than waiting patiently, quietly, expectantly, and in his word, we are fretting and anxious and non-trusting– and our strength is zapped. Those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength.

Those who wait on the Lord will soar on wings as eagles. It is an interesting thing about eagles – They soar they don’t fly. They wait for the correct wind, and then they ride that wind – soaring to the heights. Isn’t that a great picture for us as we wait on the Lord? When the wind of the Spirit moves and blows, we ride with wings as eagles to where he wants us to go.

Expectantly wait on Him. And when the Holy Spirit moves, when the wind blows, then soar on wings like an eagle, run and not grow weary, walk and not be faint. In the meantime, wait for Him. And while you are waiting – renew your strength.

Our guest blogger today is The Rev’d Mario Bergner. Mario, the author of Setting Love in Order, is the founder of Redeemed Lives and Rector of The Anglican Chapel in South Hamilton, MA.

APPROACHING THE ALTAR FROM A BROKEN PAST

In most Christian wedding ceremonies, there is a moment when the minister declares that the bride and groom have been joined together in the eyes of God. This is followed with the proclamation that they have now become man and wife. We respond with applause, tears of joy, kissing and embracing. The church is filled with a triumphant organ recessional.

In the excitement of the moment, how many of us truly stop to consider what has just happened? We have witnessed a miracle; one no less amazing than the miracle of the wedding feast at Cana. God has joined together that which sin broke apart at the Fall. He has given man and woman to one another as a constant reminder of the relationship He longs to have with us.

I approached my own wedding day with a heart full of questions. I was deeply aware of the significance of the vow I was about to take – of the miracle in which I was about to take part. There was no question in my mind that I loved my fiancée deeply. In many ways, that was the problem! I deeply desired to offer her the kind of husband she deserved. But I wondered if I could be that man. My healing journey out of sexual brokenness had certainly not been without pitfalls. In offering myself before God to one of His beloved, was I being foolish? Or selfish? Or sinful? Could I fully commit myself to a wife? Was I healthy enough to consider marriage?

These questions were certainly not unique to me. They are questions any person might ask when the possibility of marriage presents itself. For any Christian considering marriage, it is important to honestly seek the Lord’s wisdom. For Christians with a history of sexual brokenness, these questions often take on a greater sense of urgency. You will stand before the altar and offer yourself as husband or wife to one of His children. You will become a part of the great miracle of uniting man and woman. You must know that you can do so with a pure heart and with His blessing. The miracle of the joining of man and wife is the holy act of a holy God. You must enter into this miracle with a right sense of reverence.

As you seek the Lord, there are some indicators – road signs that can help you know if you are nearing a place where marriage is a wise and godly choice. Nothing stated here is a hard and fast rule. These are simply guidelines that can help bring some clarity as you listen to the Lord. They should not replace your own honest search in His presence.

It is also important to understand that marriage is not the end of any healing journey. It is an important turning point, but the journey continues. You are not required to be perfect to enter into the miracle. You do, however, need to have a significant history of honesty and repentance where your sin is concerned. It is also important that you do not see marriage as a means to become “more healed.” Marriage is not a tool to be used to draw you closer to the ideal picture of yourself that you have in your mind. The only route to healing is constant relationship with Jesus.

The Structures

The first indicator to look for is full honesty with your intended spouse. Have you told him or her the full extent of your broken past? It is important that you bring your dark past into the light. Once married, your spouse will be your greatest source of support. It is important that they know what they are supporting you in. The commitment to full honesty must not stop with a disclosure of your past. You must be able to commit to a fully honest relationship throughout your life.

For those who have fallen sexually with one or more other people, a vital question to ask is, “How long has it been since my last fall?” Faithfulness in marriage is non-negotiable. If you have acted out with another person within the last two years, you will seriously need to consider whether you have strong enough boundaries in place to give your marriage bed the reverence it deserves. If you have ever acted out with another person, regardless of how long ago, you should be prepared to be tested for STDs and share the results with your partner.

Of course, your spouse cannot be your only source of support and accountability. Before you enter into marriage, it is important that you have structures built into your daily life that keep healthy boundaries between you and your sinful behaviors. This generally takes two forms. First, you need to maintain an appropriate separation from people, places and things that were a part of your sinful past. Second, you need to make sure your unhealthy support systems have been replaced by healthy ones.

An appropriate separation from those things that played a part in your brokenness is needed because they provided you with unhealthy ways of dealing with anxiety and pain. If you marry, you must be able to fully enter into the relationship. If you give yourself the option of running to your old sources of comfort when things get difficult, there will always be an insurmountable gap between you and your spouse. Instead, commit to learning how to feel anxious or sad or angry or frightened while staying fully present in your marriage. You need to learn to ask your spouse for their support and prayers.

Appropriate separation does not necessarily mean completely cutting people out of your life. There are times when that is certainly the best way to deal with an old relationship that triggers unhealthy responses in you. However, if you are preparing for marriage it is important to avoid getting in the habit of pushing relationship away because it is painful. There are times when continuing in a relationship with clear boundaries in place is better than dismissing the relationship completely.

It is not enough to simply separate yourself from old, unhealthy ways of dealing with pain. You need to replace your unhealthy support systems with healthy ones. For all practical purposes, this means engaging fully in Christian community. You need to be an active part of a church body. Christ has left us His Church as a primary way in which He ministers His presence to us. Within your church body, look for a mentor – an older Christian who has been faithful to Lord and is able to share godly insights with you. Ask your mentor to pray for you and with you. Ask him or her to tell you about their life: how they have struggled and how they have been faithful.

You also need to have a small, trusted group of Christian friends with whom you pray regularly and to whom you are accountable. This accountability relationship should not end after we are married. Your spouse should generally not be your accountability partner. In fact, it is almost always best that you are accountable to a small group of people of your own sex. Within in this group, completely honesty is essential. For men, it is especially important to have accountability with other men regarding pornography and internet usage. While some women may also need this kind of accountability, it is a significantly more common struggle amongst men and one that many men can share with each other.

The Reality

Marriage can be an exceptionally difficult relationship. The first year or two is often full of stresses as you learn to change the entire structure of your daily life. Add a child or two to the mix and the stress can really escalate. That is not to say that marriage isn’t worth the effort. It is the most fulfilling and exciting relationship I can imagine this side of Paradise. I have known many people, however, that have pushed to get through their wedding day thinking that life on the other side will be simpler and less stressful. It rarely works that way. Before making the decision to enter into marriage, you must be prepared to enter into the full reality of the new life that awaits you.

It is important that you are absolutely realistic about the sins of your past and present. Do not lightly gloss over the sins that have cropped up again and again. It is not necessary to dwell on your shortcomings, but it is necessary to be realistic about how these shortcomings have affected you and may affect you in the future.

It is also important to be absolutely realistic about what marriage will mean for your life. If you are able to recognize the elements of marriage which might cause anxiety you will be better prepared to deal with that anxiety in a healthy way. Naturally, marriage will be full of surprises and we can’t foretell every source of stress that may pop up. We can, however, make some general observations about how we have dealt with pre-marriage life and consider what may prove to be difficulties in the future.

Sex is one of the most common causes for stress among Christians preparing for marriage. We often buy into the myth that our wedding night must be full of passion and bliss that will be unmatched for the rest of our lives. Reject that myth immediately. Regardless of how much sexual experience you bring to your wedding night, it will not (and should not) be the best physical connection you will ever have with your spouse. Sex is a learning process. If we have the best possible connection on our wedding night, it doesn’t leave us much to look forward to, now does it? Do not be afraid to speak to your married same-sex friends about their experiences. Sex is meant to be a mystery, but it needn’t be shrouded in confusion.

The Miracle Fulfilled

When man and wife join together in the sight of God they become part of His redemptive plan for the world. When you come to marriage from a place of sexual brokenness, the work required to share in that plan can seem insurmountable. Do not be frightened away from His blessings by hard work or fear. God longs to bless us. You must, however, be extremely honest with yourselves and your intended about where you have come from, where you are, and where you see God leading you. Do not be afraid that you are not worthy of the miracle. Do not reject the miracle because you are not perfect. But do consider the full weight and holiness of His Altar. If He calls you to marry, embrace the miracle and praise Him for His good gifts.