Reflections on the Morning of an Election

I am sitting here in the church this morning as the polls open (on the west coast) praying and spending time with God.  I’m experiencing that feeling that you get when your favorite College Football team is playing their archrivals – it’s the political version of Florida vs. Florida State or Auburn vs. Alabama, and the line on the game is “pick ‘em” (for those of you aren’t sports enthusiasts, that means that it is dead even).  It’s that feeling that you get when you sense your team is going to win, but there is always the uncertainty that goes along with that.  What if we fumble the ball at the goal line?

The one Scripture verse that has pervaded my mind and my spirit for the last seven days comes from Romans 8:28, and many of us know it quite well.  “We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.”  This scripture verse has hit me strongly in two areas – the election today, and in an issue that has been very important to this election, abortion.

Romans 8:28 makes it very clear.  No matter what happens, whether things are good or bad, God will always work good “for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.”  The ramifications of this are clear.  If we love God and we put our trust in Him and His greater purposes, we cannot lose, regardless of the outcome of the election.  Whether we win or lose, God created this world, and He is at work in it.  All the elect have to do is to love God and to trust in Him.  I cannot even begin to tell you how much hope that gives me in the midst of uncertainty.

The other way that Romans 8:28 has impacted me this week has been in the abortion arena.  St. Michael’s participated in the 40 Days for Life Campaign, and this weekend at Diocesan Convention, we had the amazing experience of hearing Georgette Forney’s testimony.

If there is one thing about the abortion debate that has impacted me, it is this one thought: many times, acts that create children are sinful, but the child is never the sin.  All children are a blessing, regardless of how they were conceived.  And that includes pregnancies that were brought about by rape and incest.  Even Mitt Romney, who is the better of the two candidates when it comes to abortion, supports abortion in the case of rape and incest.  And I say this to him and to any other candidate who supports any type of abortion.  Fornication, adultery, incest, and rape are all sins.  Clearly!  But to follow up these sins by committing the sin of murder is just heaping double the judgment on our heads, yet our society is encouraging women to do that very thing.

On the other hand, what if every woman decided against abortion and chose either to have the child and raise him as her own, or to give the child up for adoption?  This is where Romans 8:28 comes in.  By choosing to keep the child, we are acknowledging God Himself.  We are acknowledging that God really does make amazing things happen in the midst of seemingly bad situations.  All we have to do is trust in God, His goodness and His mercy.  All we have to do is simply love him – and allow ourselves to be filled through and through with His Grace and mercy.  When we do this, good really and truly does come out of a bad situation.  But we have to love God.

During this election, remember this.  God really and truly does work good in all things for those who love Him and are called according to His purposes.  Love God, and regardless of the outcome of this election, regardless of your life circumstances, you will experience God’s goodness and mercy.  You can count on it!

When A Nation Rejects God

Do you know what it feels like to pick up a book to read that causes you to drop to your knees in repentance?  For me, this happened recently when I picked up a book called The Harbinger, by Jonathan Kahn.

The book does a very effective job of tying the 21st century America that we live in today to Israel in the 8th century B.C. just before the Israelites were carried into exile by the Assyrians .  The author makes the claim, and I believe rightly so, that we need to learn a valuable lesson from the 8th century B.C. Israelites or we run the very real risk of being carried into exile just as they did.  Let’s explore this a little further.

The first question you might ask is this: what does America have to do with Israel?  How can the two even compare?  The answer is that both countries were found on Godly principles and that God was at the center of both countries’ founding.  We of course know the story of the Old Covenant with Israel – how God promised them many things, blessing, prosperity, posterity, and protection from their enemies.  The only thing that God asked of them in return was for them to be a holy people who would follow God and only God, not the other gods of the day.

As spiritual complacency began to infect the 9th and 8th century B.C. Israelites, God began to send a series of harbingers to Israel to warn them of impending danger, while raising up prophets (Isaiah and Amos being two of them) to send the message to the country that it needed to fall on its knees and repent because it had been rejecting God’s Covenant.  One of the harbingers was series of small military skirmishes in which God lifted the hedge of protection around Israel just long enough for some damage to be caused.  The Israelites, rather than falling on their knees and repenting, became indignant, arrogant, and proud about the fact that they would rebuild.  This is where Isaiah 9:10 comes in.  “The bricks have fallen, but we will build with hewn stones; the sycamores have been cut down, but we will put cedars in their place.”  Of course, Isaiah 9:9 makes it clear that the Israelites said this with pride and arrogance in their hearts.  This pride and arrogance would keep them from repenting, and they would ultimately be carried into exile because of it.

If we carry this forward to 21st century America, Kahn makes the point that we as a country are at the very same point in our history that Israel was in the 8th century B.C.  Even though there are some who would debate about this today, let me be very clear on one very important point: we are a nation that was founded on Christian principles.  If you look at our moral and ethical code, it is founded on Biblical, scriptural ethics and morality.  In addition, when George Washington was inaugurated as the first President of the United States of America, his first act as the first President was to gather together the House of Representatives and the Senate, all of the people who were present at his inauguration, and walk down the street to St. Paul’s Chapel for a prayer service in which they prayed for God’s blessings on the new nation (remember that the first capital of our country was New York City).   Even though this was added much later, we truly were founded to be, and continue to be, “one nation, under God.”

Recently, though, this long-established concept that we are a nation founded on Christian principles has come under serious attack, and the United States corporately as a nation, is rejecting God and forgetting its roots.  We are, in effect, doing the same things now that Israel did as a nation over 2,700 years ago.  Spiritual complacency is causing us to lose sight of God’s promises and His blessings on our nation, and Kahn effectively makes the point that God is lifting His hedge of protection from around us as we speak, and that the very same harbingers that warned of impending doom for Israel before the first exile, have now manifest themselves in 21st century America, starting on September 11, 2001.  For the details and particulars of the various harbingers, I commend you to read the book.  It is very compelling.  Here are some take-aways from the book that we need to be aware of.

• When 9/11 happened (one of the harbingers), we as a country reacted with national pride and defiance.  We vowed to rebuild the Tower, and we used hewn stone as the cornerstone.  We went to war against the Taliban in a show of American strength.  We should have gotten down on our knees and repented.
• We continue to take prayer out of our schools.  We continue to remove the 10 commandments from our courtrooms.  We continue to allow God, and specifically Jesus Christ, to be written out of our national life.
• If we continue, as a nation, to reject God and write Him out of our national life, God will continue to lift His hedge of protection from around us, just as he did to Israel when they rejected God.  It was not a pretty sight for Israel, and it will not be a pretty sight for us as well.

I realize that this sounds like a lot of gloom and doom, but there is a lot of hope as well, and our hope is two-fold.  First, we can always repent as a nation and return to the Lord.  This will take another great revival in America.  And this great revival will start with us as Christian disciples – willing to proclaim Jesus Christ from the rooftops, and staying away from the fear of politics.  Second, if we are unsuccessful and another exile does occur, always remember that God delivers, and He uses those opportunities to draw His believers closer to Him.  Our God is strong and mighty to save, and will do that for us as individuals, even if things do not go well in our nation.

I have always said this, and so have other leaders in the Anglican movement in North America.  We are in for some amazing times.  I believe that an American revival is right around the corner, and North American Anglicanism will play a very important role in this.  We know what happens to churches when they go the way of the culture, and we know how freeing and how cathartic it is to repent from those ways and return to the Lord.  We are uniquely qualified to call others to that, because we have done it ourselves.  Reject spiritual complacency.  Don’t be afraid to be a “religious nut.”  The harvest is plentiful and the workers are few – but God is at work in the world, spreading the transforming love of Jesus Christ.  Let us all as Christian disciples join God in that work.  If we do, lives are transformed and we will see amazing fruits of the Spirit not only in our lives and our communities, but in the nation as well.  Then we will truly return to what has made America great – our foundation will once again be Jesus Christ our Lord.

Fishers of Men, Not Keepers of the Aquarium

A few weeks ago, I came across a simple slogan that had a huge impact on me, and I think it describes very clearly and succinctly one of the greatest challenges that we will face in North American Anglicanism in the 21st century.  The slogan, which was posted on the Alpha Facebook page, is this:  “God calls us to be fishers of men, not keepers of the aquarium.”

Whoa!  What a great descriptor of the Episcopal Church that many of us grew up in – the same Episcopal Church that has been bleeding membership for many years now.  In addition to that, Archbishop Duncan – time and again – has challenged us to be authentic Anglicans and not merely conservative Episcopalians.  What does this mean?  What does it mean to be an authentic Anglican?  I believe that part of it lies in above slogan.  For too long, our churches have made it their mission to take care of their own.  Jesus, on the other hand, calls us to care for those around us, in our communities, in our country, and in the world around us.

One of the biggest struggles that we face is that it is pretty easy to talk a big game about the need for evangelism, but it is another challenge completely to walk the talk.  Churches have embarked on all kinds of evangelism projects, usually with measurable goals, and then the members sit back and scratch their heads, wondering why in the world it did not work.

In my experience, there are two main reasons why we fail at evangelism.  The first is a lack of courage and fortitude, and the second is a lack of a specific set of tools for evangelism.  I would like to look at each of these separately in more detail.

The first challenge – development of courage and fortitude – is something that can only be given to us by God.  The strength that we need to be able to witness can be found in a scripture verse that has recently been made famous by Tim Tebow, a quarterback in the NFL.  The verse is Philippians 4:13 – “I can do all things through [Christ] who strengthens me.”  The strength and the courage that we need to be effective witness only comes when we are connected with God and mutually encouraged by other disciples.  We become connected by God in three main ways – through regular worship of God, through regular times of personal prayer, and through routine study of God’s Word.  If we fall short in one of these areas, it should be no surprise to us that we are woefully inadequate in our evangelism.  On the other hand, if we commit to regular times of prayer, study and worship, we will be so connected to God that He will provide us the strength to be effective.  The bottom line is this: we cannot do it on our own strength.  We can only do it with God working in us and through us to accomplish His purpose – and that is to draw people closer to Him.

The second challenge is the development of tools for evangelism.  Many of us are in love with the idea of evangelism, but then often don’t go for it because we don’t know how.  The answer to this is simpler than we think: develop a plan, write it down, and revisit it often, making changes where necessary.  Most people who are successful, especially in business, are good at planning and they think and pray things through before they even start.  Here are some things to include in your “Living Faith Plan.”

• How I connect with God – Include in this part of your plan a schedule or a goal for connecting with God through worship, prayer and study of God’s Word.  Make sure that you include specific prayers for evangelism, asking God to show you who He is calling you to minister to and to bring to Christ.  In your studies, make sure that you are studying God’s Word and are not distracted by other things.  Consider your spiritual gifts and how God might be using them to draw other into relationship with Him.
• Practical Aspects of Evangelism – Include in this part of your plan specific actions that you will take to make yourself available for evangelism.  Some of you may want to hold “office hours” at a local Starbucks.  Some of you might join clubs or organizations that put you in regular contact with unbelievers.  Keep a list of the people that God has placed on your heart to talk about the faith.  Pray for them patiently and regularly, be an amazing example of a disciple of Jesus, and be there for them when they struggle, and pick them up when they fall.  Know your own story and don’t be afraid to share it with them for encouragement.

I believe from the bottom of my heart that if every parishioner in our congregation wrote down a plan, and then came up with the names of five people that they know to be either marginal believers or unbelievers and went out of their way to friend them and witness to them over time, using the Anglican 4th Day model of “make a friend, be a friend, bring a friend to Christ,” we would see instant growth in our churches.  When we are intentional about evangelism and witnessing to those around us, it becomes contagious and brings all kinds of new excitement.  This kind of excitement is generated by the conversion and formation of new believers in Jesus Christ, and that can only happen when we step out of our comfort zones and outside of the walls of the church.

Don’t be afraid to step out of the aquarium.  Go into the world, and be fishers of men.

Why Welfare Isn't Stewardship

“Each man should give what he has in his heart to give, not reluctantly decided or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Corinthians 9:7)

Recently, with what we in politics used to call the “silly season” upon us, there has been a lot of discussion in the news and among my friends about welfare and entitlement programs.  As some of you already know, I am completely against the welfare system of today because of the old saying “give a man a fish, feed him for a day.  Teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime.”  Our system as it currently stands, in my opinion, is heavy on giving away fish and falls far too short on teaching men to fish.  I really do believe that if we spent half of the resources that we spend on giving away fish on teaching people to fish, with clear consequences for those who choose not to fish, this country would have a whole new outlook and out welfare system would be much better at doing what it was originally intended to do – get people back on their feet.

In discussing this point recently, I had someone really try to take me task.  This person went on and on about how we have a responsibility to take care of the poor and needy among us and asked me how anyone who calls himself a Christian pastor could ever be against a program that does so much to help the poor.

So I asked him the obvious question – “how much of your own money do you give to the poor?”  His answer:  “nothing out of my own money.  My tax dollars go to help the poor.”  And then, in another discussion on an ACNA discussion board, another layperson made the statement that disciples should consider part of their tax dollars a tithe, since some of the money goes to help the poor.  Therein lies the real problem. 

Using the government to help the poor may sound good on the surface.  We really should want to help the poor – that should be the noble desire of every Christian disciple.  But to say that giving tax dollars to welfare is good Christian stewardship is false teaching, and it runs completely contrary to the entire concept of Christian stewardship – and I say this for two reasons.  First, Christian giving and taking care of the poor should be done freely and joyfully from a heart totally in love with Jesus Christ.  Second, if it is done under compulsion, then it sends the wrong message that works-based righteousness is acceptable and all I have to do is pay my taxes to be saved.

Paul covers the first point very clearly in 2 Corinthians 9:7.  Each man should give cheerfully and joyfully from a heart in love with and committed to Jesus Christ.  It should never be done reluctantly or under compulsion.  Taxation is compulsory by design, and therefore any consideration that paying taxes is somehow stewardship is completely wrong.  Remember that Jesus said “give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and give to God what is God’s.” (Matthew 22:15-22)  Jesus very clearly delineated Christian stewardship from taxes – there is no confusion.  While we should pay our taxes, we should not allow our taxes and our giving – or taking care of the poor – to be confused as if they are the same thing.  Jesus says differently.

The second issue to cover is specifically a salvation issue.  I think the most comprehensive statement of salvation is that “we are saved by grace through a living faith in Jesus Christ.”  I love this definition because it takes into account the absolute need for grace and faith, but also recognizes that a dead faith (faith without works) is no faith at all.  In the words of Bishop Todd Hunter, an ACNA bishop, “salvation cannot be earned, but it does take effort.”  This states two things.  If we say we have faith but have not works, it is a dead faith, as James says, and thus there is no salvation.  On the other hand, if we do works but they are not rooted in faith in Jesus Christ, then these works will not bring about salvation.  If our stewardship, i.e. our taking care of the poor, is not rooted in faith in Jesus Christ and given freely from the heart, then it will not bring about salvation.  Anyone who thinks that paying in to the government will bring about salvation because they are doing a good work is completely missing the boat.

As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord – voluntarily and joyfully.  We will continue to help the poor, both here in Ridgecrest and throughout the world – not because we are compelled by the government, but because of the love of Jesus in our hearts.  That is our prayer for all people who believe in Jesus Christ.

Fighting False Prophets

“I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them.”  (Romans 16:17)

In late June, many of us found out the news that The Episcopal Church (TEC) has announced that charges have been filed against nine orthodox, Godly bishops that have remained in the Episcopal Church.  Their offense?  They let the courts know through various court filings that, historically and canonically (according to church law) TEC is a hierarchical structure up to the Diocesan level.  Historically and canonically, their argument was completely correct.  In effect, these bishops were charged for doing what was right – and they needed to speak up because the precedent that was being set could be used against them in their own dioceses.

Even at the risk of becoming quite unpopular with my fellow orthodox clergy who are still in TEC, I asked the question indicative of the elephant in the living room – the question that nobody wanted to ask in the first place.  Why in the world would they want to stay in TEC?  After reflecting on this some more, the question morphed.

What in the world were they still doing in TEC?  Why didn’t they get out a long time ago?

As I have asked that question over and over again on blogs or on Facebook, I usually get the same answer, and I got the same answer again with my first question above.  “We stay in the Episcopal Church because it is all about faithful witness.  We stand firm in the face of persecution.”  That sounds great when you first hear of it, but I again asked the question, is it really the faithful response?  Or is it sort of a quasi-theological cover for choosing the easy way (staying in TEC) over the hard, but right way (leaving for a more Biblically faithful expression of Anglicanism where one is supported by their church rather than being torn down by it)?

The latter question is merely offered in a spirit of accountability, and anyone who knows in their heart that they have not entertained that motive can disregard the question.  But I really want to engage the first question: is it really the mark of a faithful shepherd to stay in an organization that has so very clearly given itself to false teaching and false prophecy?  The scriptural answer, I believe, says a very clear “no.”

In order to engage the question further, several scripture verses came to mind.  I chose first Paul’s passage in Romans above because it provides a simple, clear, no-nonsense answer to the question.  We are to avoid false prophets altogether, rather than hoping that we can hang around long enough to engage in conversation in order to change them and witness to them.  It is very real temptation to allow some of (or all, in some instances) our energy to be consumed with trying to change or reform our own church when the church has gone down this road, but every ounce of energy that we spend trying to reform TEC is an ounce of energy that we do not consume fighting the battle where it should be fought – in the world.  Screwtape and Wormwood (for those of you who have read The Screwtape Letters, by C.S. Lewis) would be having a field day over this, laughing with delightful glee.  On the other hand, I believe this would truly break Paul’s heart if he saw faithful, orthodox Christians doing this today.

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Matthew 7:15-20)

Jesus, like Paul, also has very strong, very clear teaching about false prophets.  His message, like Paul, is to stay away from them.  It also begs the question: what shepherd in his right mind would subject his sheep to the wolves?  Any shepherd who thinks that he can adequately protect his sheep should take a look at several formerly orthodox dioceses in the southeast who spoke out clearly in 2003 when Gene Robinson was consecrated, but have since turned thoroughly revisionist.  Another question comes to mind: who would want to knowingly and willingly attach themselves to a diseased tree?  If Jesus says very clearly that a diseased tree bears bad fruit, then it stands to reason that anyone who attaches themselves to a diseased tree will not only bear bad fruit, but will have eternal consequences.  Why would anyone want to do that?

It is my hope and prayer that all persons who are still in the Episcopal Church who profess to believe in Jesus Christ – the true Jesus who is revealed to us in Scripture, not the false Jesus that worldly have created – will renew consideration of these very important questions.  The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.  It would be a true tragedy of epic proportions for the evangelical zeal of good Christian workers to be wasted trying to reform a denomination that is full of false teachers and false prophets that show no signs of repentance whatsoever.  The Gospel of Jesus Christ is waiting to be heard.  May we proclaim it faithfully in this world that needs to hear the Good News so desperately.

Celebrating Anglican Foundations - Part II

Since the Anglican Foundations course is going on, the following is the second in a two-part series on the Anglican Communion and why I believe it is such a unique church to be a part of.

One of the features that makes us unique as a Protestant denomination is that we have not gone all the way in rejecting our Catholic roots, and one of the features of this part of our history is that we are a liturgical church.  That means that, instead of turning our worship into a free-for-all, we follow a prescribed pattern of worship.  What does this mean, and why is it important?

Liturgical Worship is Covenantal, and therefore Biblical

Throughout the Scriptural witness, we see much evidence of liturgical worship.  This begins in the Old Testament, when God makes the Covenant with His people, Israel.  If you look in the Bible at the Old Testament law, you will see that God gave Moses very specific instructions for worship, all the way down to the exact dimensions of the temple itself.  He also gave him exact details about vestments.  These scripture passages may be found in many place in both Exodus and Leviticus.

In the New Testament, specifically Matthew and Luke, the disciples asked Jesus exactly how they should pray, and Jesus gave them a specific formula.  We call it the Lord’s Prayer, and it is a regular part of almost every liturgical service that we have in Anglicanism (Matthew 6:9-15, Luke 11:2-4).  Sure, there is certainly a time for free-form prayers, and I love to pray them, but in our worship it is clear that we are to do so in an orderly fashion that includes liturgy.

Finally, Jesus gave us the ultimate form of worship in the Holy Eucharist (Luke 22:15-20).  He gave us specific words to use, which we call the Words of Institution.  It should follow a specific format.

Practical Aspects of Liturgical Worship

There are several things that, as a priest, I love about liturgical worship.  First and foremost, it ties us to something that is so much bigger than just our local congregation.  It ties us into the one holy catholic and apostolic church.  Second, I love the fact that worship is something that is given to me by the church, as one who is under authority.  Because of this, I do not take license and liberty in changing the Prayer Book.  That is clearly an un-Anglican practice.

The final, and perhaps most important, thing about liturgical worship is that it is very difficult to change.  I love the fact that our liturgy, in and of itself, is a sign of Unity in the way that it is formulated.  It indicates a unity that we have with each other, in the fact that it has to be generally agreed upon to be accepted.  It is also a symbol of unity with the Apostolic Church, in that the order and basic format dates back throughout history.

In summary, in this day and age where people often pride themselves in seeing who can be most creative with their worship services, we should celebrate our Anglican heritage that keeps our liturgy as more than “what the pastor feels like today.”  We should celebrate the fact that we worship in a way that connects us, not only with each other, but also to the church throughout history.

Celebrating Anglican Foundations - Part I

Since the Anglican Foundations course is going on, the following is the first in a two-part series on the Anglican Communion and why I believe it is such a unique church to be a part of.

“You know what I love about the (Anglican) Church?  You are the only Protestant Denomination that has not gone all the way in rejecting its Catholic roots.” –Popular author Tony Campolo, speaking at St. John’s Episcopal Church, Tallahassee, Florida.

With that quote, Tony Campolo really struck a chord with me.  He hit the nail on the head about what is probably the most appealing thing to me about the Anglican Communion.  We are really and truly a reformed catholic church.  What does that mean?  Let’s explore this a little further.

In the 1500’s, after the Church of England made the break from Rome, a battle immediately ensued in the Church.  There were two factions at the time, those who were still loyal to Rome, and those who wanted to purify the church of Roman excesses and problems, also called the Puritans.  In a ten-year period from 1549 to 1559, the first three prayer books were issued.  The 1549 Book of Common Prayer (BCP) was fairly Catholic, while the 1552 BCP was fairly Puritan.  Then, when Mary became Queen, who was very sympathetic to Rome, the 1559 BCP became quite Catholic.  And thus, this Catholic vs. Puritan battle would play out over and over.

Eventually, the Church of England adopted a via media approach.  Let me say very clearly that the original concept of via media is very different than what the Episcopal Church has made it into today.  Today, the Episcopal Church says that the via media allows for multiple views regarding core doctrine.  This is, plain and simply put, historically inaccurate and completely dishonest.  In the via media, the Church of England became a church that would combine the best of both the Catholic and the Protestant/Puritan traditions, and that is what I love about the Anglican Church.  It is a place where both Catholics and Protestants can worship and grow together.

Catholic Traditions

When we come to church on Sunday, we worship using the Holy Eucharist, which has been at the center of Anglican worship ever since the first BCP in 1549.  This has never changed.  From time to time, Morning Prayer found a place on Sunday mornings when there was a shortage of clergy to celebrate the Eucharist, but Holy Eucharist has always been the central focus of our worship on Sunday.

Another way that we closely mirror the Catholic Church is through our focus on the seven sacraments.  In addition to Baptism and Eucharist, our focus is also on five other sacraments – reconciliation (or confession), matrimony, confirmation, unction (healing of the sick), and ordination (with three Sacred Orders of the Church).  These are some of the ways that we have kept Catholic traditions that other Protestant denominations rejected around the reformation, and are still rejecting to this day.  We should celebrate the ways that Anglicanism has maintained parts of the Catholic tradition.

Protestant Traditions

Many of the Protestant churches this day have a wonderful focus on a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and the indwelling and inner-working of the Holy Spirit.  You will find that spirit alive and well in the Anglican Church.  The Anglican Church, when it is truly living into who it is called to be, places a focus and emphasis on the scriptures and applying them in our everyday lives.  In most celebrations of the Eucharist, there are four scripture lessons (Old Testament, Psalms, New Testament, Gospel), which is more scripture than is read in most Protestant churches.  Truly Anglican preachers will take the scripture lessons for the day and use them to encourage parishioners to a closer, personal walk with Jesus Christ.

We also follow the Protestant tradition of a strong focus on the Holy Spirit and how He works in our lives.  We seek the will of God through prayer in which we ask the Holy Spirit to dwell in our hearts for two reasons: to convict us when we sin so that we can repent, and to guide us to God’s more perfect will.  Anglicans should also place a focus on discerning the gifts of the Holy Spirit, so that we can live active lives as Christian disciples.  This focus on personal relationship and the Holy Spirit is another aspect of Anglicanism that makes it so compelling.

When people ask me what I like about the Anglican Church, my answer is usually this: “It’s a place where you can feel comfortable worshipping like a Catholic and doing Bible study like a Baptist.  It is the place where Beth Moore meets the chanted Eucharist.  It is the place where, in the Protestant Reformation, we did not throw the baby out with the bathwater.”

More times than not, when I ask a new couple why they came to the Anglican Church, they tell me that he was a Protestant and she was a Catholic, and the Anglican Church was where they felt like they could worship and grow together.  We shouldn’t apologize that we have a great tradition in the Anglican Communion – especially in a time where so many churches seem to be rejecting their traditions.  We should celebrate, for we have a lot to be thankful for.

Relationship and Religion: Why You Can't Have One Without The Other

I think one of the saddest and most dangerous heresies that is floating around Christianity today can be summed up in this one quote: “Christianity is about relationship, not religion.”  It sounds really good at first glance, because it does two things.  It focuses our faith on what is truly most important – our relationship with Jesus Christ – and it allows those who are uncomfortable with, or have burned by, organized religion to have some level of comfort.

I think that the above quote is contrary to the Christian faith because it goes against everything that scripture says about how we should practice our faith.  Relationship is about the relationship that we have with Jesus Christ, and religion is about how we live out that relationship with Christ in our worship lives and in our relationships with others in the Body of Christ.  In fact, a better way of saying it should be “Relationship and Religion: You can’t have one without the other.”  Let’s take a moment to reflect on what the church would like if we had one but not the other.

Relationship Only

I am reminded of a quote that I have heard quite recently from an Anglican 4^th Day weekend – “a solitary Christian is a paralyzed Christian.”  This quote sums up the concept that Christianity cannot be faithfully practiced outside of the Body of Christ, which is the Church.  There are several reasons why people avoid the church.  Many stay away because, at one point in their life, they have been burned by the Church.  This problem has become even more profound with the clergy sex abuse scandal.   Those who have been burned by organized religion need to heal and brought to reconciliation with the Church, not taught to avoid the church.  If we do that, we are denying the very healing that needs to take place and we are pretending that the hurt will go away if we avoid the issue.  The Body of Christ functions much better when all its members are together, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit and using our gifts together in concert with each other.  If we separate the legs from the rest of the body, then the body cannot stand.  In short, we need religion to make the relationship manifest to the rest of the world.

Religion Only

I once was part of an Episcopal Church congregation that was often called by others in the community a “Country Club” church.  It had amazing music, a beautiful facility, and many of the elite in the community worshipped there.  What was sadly missing from the congregation was the teaching that a personal relationship with Jesus Christ was necessary.  The sermons were very vanilla, and were usually focused on making people feel good, rather than teaching a true saving and transformative relationship with Jesus.  Most people went to church in order to “fulfill their obligation” and be seen socially.  One guy, who was a young professional CPA, even told me that he came to church in order to build his business and develop new clients.  That parish ultimately went down the road of false teaching because they were not grounded in a true faith in Jesus Christ – one that stressed personal relationship.  Jesus said “if you love me, you will keep my commandments, and I will ask the Father, and he will send another Helper, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot see, because it neither sees him nor knows him.” (John 14:15-17, ESV)  If we do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, then we cannot truly love him.  And if we do not truly love him, we will not keep His commandments.  We will not receive the Holy Spirit, but instead will be among those in worldly darkness who do not know Him.  Growing in a relationship takes humbleness, courage, sacrifice and commitment.  I believe this a major reason why some in the mainline denominations of Christianity are so willing to follow false teaching – because they have not developed their relationships with Jesus with sacrifice and commitment.

What Does This All Mean?

We, as disciples of Jesus Christ, need to remember that, when it comes to religion and relationship, we cannot have one without the other.  If we are living in, or if our attitudes show an imbalance between religion and relationship, we have to develop in the areas in which we are lacking.

If we are focused too heavily on religion at the expense of relationship, we need to open our hearts more to Jesus and allow Him to touch us deeply in our hearts.  It is only then that we will truly experience the transforming, powerful, amazing love of Jesus Christ. 

If we are focused too heavily on relationship at the expense of religion, we need to explore more deeply what Jesus and Paul meant by stressing the importance of worshipping and participating in the body of Christ.  We need to stop living in fear of what might happen if we invited someone to church and instead focus not only on how to win someone to Christ, but also how to make them feel comfortable in church so that they can fully integrated into the Body of Christ.

Jesus intended relationship to be the foundation of our faith, a faith that should be practiced through religion.  We cannot have one without the other. 

Reversing the Trend: Combatting the Tyranny of Relativism

Jesus said to Thomas, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6, ESV) 

Recently, Greg Bond put me on a book that has had a profound impact on my view of the Christian faith and how we as Christian disciples interact with the world around us.  The book, by Chris Stefanick, is entitled Absolute Relativism: The New Dictatorship and What To Do About It.  In the book, Stefanick sounds the warning bell about one of the biggest threats to Gospel proclamation in our day: moral relativism.

In short, moral relativism can best be stated this way:  there is no such thing as moral absolutes, and what might be considered truth to you is not necessarily truth to someone else.  We’ve all heard this from time to time, haven’t we?  And if we hear it enough times and it goes unchallenged, then we begin to believe it.  After all, it sounds good on first reading.  But when we really look into it scripturally, it really makes no sense whatsoever.

The problem with those who are proponents of moral relativism is they treat relativism as if it is an absolute.  That is the biggest problem with someone who engages in relativism.  They say things like “there is no such thing as absolutes” yet that statement, in and of itself, is an absolute.  And on the flipside, many of us who do speak in absolutes are often called bigots and are labeled as intolerant.  Nobody likes to carry around those labels, so many types we back of the absolute truth and we give in to the tyranny of relativism.

The reality of the Christian faith is that there are such things as absolutes, and Jesus Himself spoke in absolutes.  Jesus’s revelation of who He was in John 14:6 above is a great example of an absolute statement.  Jesus said “I am the way, and the truth and the life.”  As Stefanich puts it, He did not state that “I am a way, an opinion, or just another type of lifestyle.”  Throughout scripture, Jesus spoke with clarity and conviction about who he was and who God was calling him to be.  The “I am” statements in the Gospel of John are powerful evidence of this.  Never did Jesus say “I think I am the Good Shepherd,” or “I might be the bread of life.”  He never said “in my opinion, I am the light of the world.  Let’s just agree to disagree, OK?”  He spoke the truth in love with courage and conviction and we should too.

And that, my brothers and sisters, is how we combat the sin of moral relativism – by believing that there is such a thing as absolute truth, and that Jesus the Person embodies that absolute truth.   We as Christian believers are called to proclaim that truth in love, believing that Jesus really and truly is the way, and the truth, and the life, and not just one in a long series of valid opinions.  If we do this, we can be compelling in our witness.  If we do not, then we are merely coming across as preaching something that we do not necessarily believe in, and when we do that, we are not compelling.  In closing, speak the truth in love.  When the truth and love of Jesus go hand in hand, powerful things happen.

Taking Back The Reason for the Season

Have any of you noticed that, as every year passes and we come to Christmastime once again, Christmas becomes more and more secular? Several years ago, we used to get outraged when a single store omitted the term “Merry Christmas” and instead opted for the more politically-correct term “Happy Holidays” or “Season’s Greetings.” Now, it seems that we just don’t care anymore because almost every business is doing it. It has become such a routine part of our Christmas experience that we have become desensitized to it.

It used to frustrate me greatly because I see something seriously wrong with Retail America hijacking the Christmas spirit and using it for their own profit, and then refusing to acknowledge publicly that Christmas even exists, or that it is even important, for that matter. Some people have even become so discouraged and frustrated with this, that they have opted not to celebrate Christmas at all, or Easter, or Halloween (All Saints’ Eve), for that matter – all Christian holidays that have become secularized. It is very sad to me when Christians let secularism rob them of the joy that comes with celebrating the wonderful things our Lord has done for us.

I urge you, brothers and sisters, to please enjoy Christmas anyway. When you walk into a store and they say to you “happy holidays,” turn to them and say “may the peace of Jesus Christ be with you this Christmas season and always.” During this season, we remember the birth of the single most important person to ever walk the face of this earth. It is a time when we remember that God Himself came down into this world in the flesh to redeem the flesh, to undo what Adam and Eve did when they wanted to be like God. The miracle that is the life of Jesus Christ is to be celebrated in the hearts of all faithful people and we should never allow ourselves to be robbed of the joy of Christmas by those who want to use Christmas for their own financial gain, or who want to have the joy of celebrating Christmas, but have no intention to love or follow Jesus Christ.

My favorite part of the Christmas story is the shepherds (Luke 2:8-20). The shepherds saw something so glorious that it scared them to death. The angels calmed their fears, then gave them something to rejoice about. But they didn’t stop there. They ran all around the countryside and told everyone that they could find the good news, or should I say “The Good News?” In this Christmas season, rejoice as the Shepherds did when the angels sang “Glory to God in the Highest Heaven, and on earth, peace, among men whom he favors.” But most importantly, let others see you rejoice. Do not be afraid to share the true reason for the season. Christ is counting on you! May you be richly blessed this Christmas, and may God you a blessing to others.

Speak the Truth Boldly - No Fear!

When we were at Diocesan Convention in October, there came that poignant moment in time when our new Bishop, Eric Menees, stood up to speak and to give his new vision for the Diocese. He talked of the Great Commission, and his vision of us planting new dioceses. In his vision, he also stated that the Episcopal Church “was and is willfully leading others along the path to hell.”

I must confess to you all that, when he said that, I immediately recoiled. Did he just say what I think he said? Boy, he’s going to pay for that one. Of course, I knew that what he was saying was absolutely right – and I knew immediately that he had just called me up short.

How many times do we withhold our witness or not speak the truth out of fear of what people are going to think of us? The fact that I winced when he said those words let me know that I have a long way to go. If we are to be faithful disciples of Jesus Christ, then we have to care more about Jesus than we do ourselves, and when we hold back in fear of how people are going to take what we say, then that shows that we care more about ourselves than we do speaking the truth to others – we choose fear over love. I maintain to you that this is one of the reasons that the Episcopal Church got itself into trouble. It cared more about not offending its individual members than it did about faithfully proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And as someone who was in the Episcopal Church for 34 years, I can assure you that old habits die hard.

For that reason, I want to do something. In front of all of you who are reading this article, I repent for all the times that I did not faithfully say what needed to be said because I was worried about who gets offended. I repent of all those times when I chose to do what was easy, rather than what was right. I repent of all those time when I held back, and thus sent the message that I cared more about myself and my own conflict avoidance than I did about the people that God entrusted me to care for. Lord, I beg your mercy and your forgiveness and I am so thankful that you died on the Cross to forgive me of my sins. Thank you, Lord.

My brothers and sisters, I am not advocating that we go out into the world to be recklessly offensive. If we do that, then we really do care more about ourselves than we do God or others. When we hear that little voice in our head that says “I wouldn’t say that if I were you,” we should be careful. Often, that is the voice of Satan in our heads trying to talk us out of saying what God wants us to say. I encourage you all to stand firm in your faith. Speak the truth in love. And in all things, I ask our Lord and Savior to deliver us from any fear that might keep us from being the most effect witnesses for Jesus Christ that we are all called to be. May God give us strength, enthusiasm, and a joy for His Gospel that conquers all!

A Priest’s Reflection and Testimony on the Tithe

By Fr. Townsend Waddill, Rector

St. Michael's Anglican Church, Ridgecrest, California

I can honestly look you in the eye and tell you this. I have been a Christian disciple all of my life, and I have never tithed until very recently. And this might shock you, right? I mean, after all, I am a priest of the Church. Surely all priests tithe, right?

Until this year, I did not tithe, although I did give. Deep down in my spirit, there was something that seemed wrong about not tithing, and I began to doubt whether or not I was doing the right thing. Tithing is, after all, an obligation for all Christians, isn’t it? In order to put a salve on that doubt and that growing sense of guilt, I tried all kinds of excuses and reasons for it. Here is just a small sampling of some of the excuses that I used for not tithing:

• God wants me to take care of my family, so He will not have a problem with me taking care of the needs of my family and giving Him what’s left.
• God wants me to get out of debt, so He should want me to do that first before giving to the Church.
• Since most of my debt is seminary-related, and since seminary is church-related, then my debt payments related to seminary should count toward my tithe.
• Since I am a priest and paid by the Church, then it would make no sense for me to pay the Church’s money back to the Church.

All of these reasons, these excuses, sounded very good…at first. As time went by, there was this gut feeling down in my heart that, even though I had my reasons, they just weren’t good enough, and something was still wrong.

That is when Dave Ramsey and his Financial Peace University program came into my life. I knew I needed to get rid of the debt and knew that his program would help me do that, but the most important thing that FPU impressed on me was the joy, the freedom, and the peace that comes from giving, and giving at least a tithe. FPU is designed to help people in even worse debt than me get that needed freedom from the slavery of debt. Yet in all his budget worksheets, no matter your debt load, the tithe was the first thing to come off the top of the budget. And he is right theologically. When we did our budget, we took the tithe off the top and designed our budget around what was left. Sure, our budget really seemed tight, and we had to make some sacrifices, but when I wrote that first tithe check and dropped it into the plate that Sunday, I cannot even begin to describe for you the sense of peace that washed over me. That was the manifestation of the blessing that God gave me as promised in Malachi, Chapter 3 – “Bring the full tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.” I mean, how cool is it that the Lord gives us one place in Scripture where we can put him to the test? Lisa and I put him to the test, and He responded mightily. The question you might ask is: how did He respond?

When we made the commitment to tithe and put it at the top of our budget, we thought that we would have financial troubles, that we would not be able to pay the bills, that it would take us much longer to get our debt paid off. Strangely, that didn’t happen. We don’t live extravagantly, but we also have not found ourselves in serious need. The Lord has really and truly provided for us, just as He always does. In fact, we are still on track to pay off our debt using the same schedule as before we tithed. Our God really and truly is an awesome God. All that we have to do is trust in Him.

Now that we have made the commitment, the Lord has blessed us with more new manifestations of that peace of God which surpasses all understanding. We know that we are helping to provide resources that will make the ministries of St. Michael’s, the Anglican Diocese of San Joaquin, and the Anglican Church in North America as amazing as possible. We are so passionate about what the Lord is doing here that being able to support these ministries is one of the best gifts that God has given us. We are so thankful and so amazed at the awesome provision of our Almighty God!

If you are not tithing – if you are holding back because you are anxious, I encourage you brothers and sisters to take a leap of faith. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding. Take this one and only opportunity to put the Lord your God to the test, and sit back and be amazed at how the Lord will bless you. I know in my heart, with all faith in Jesus Christ, that He will bless you, and give you that wonderful gift of peace – financial peace.

Letter To Congregation about Charges Filed Against Bishop Mark Lawrence

Dear St. Michael’s Parish Family,

This morning, I woke up with a tremendous feeling of thanksgiving – thanksgiving that God has placed me and my family in such a wonderful parish, in a wonderful diocese with two wonderful bishops, in a Province that is so committed to the Gospel of Jesus Christ – the real, historical Jesus Christ! The word that came to me over and over again was “Wow! The grass really is greener on the other side. Not perfect, but definitely greener.”

Then, as I sat down over my morning coffee and my computer (which has replaced the newspaper for those in my generation), I read that the Episcopal Church has laid down charges against Bishop Mark Lawrence of the Diocese of South Carolina for abandoning the Episcopal Church. I thought I would be shocked and sad, but for some reason that attitude of gratitude continued to pervade my spirit as I read more and more. Then it became clear. The only thing shocking to me about what TEC has done to Mark Lawrence is that they waited until October to do it.

In my heart of hearts, I know that God has something so much better for the Diocese of South Carolina than what they are going through now. The grass really is greener on the other side, but unfortunately, sometimes we have to travel through the desert for a time to get there. All of us here in the Diocese of San Joaquin have travelled that road at one point, and we know that, at times, it can be painful.

For this reason, I ask you all to please pray fervently for the Diocese of South Carolina, for Mark Lawrence their amazing and Godly bishop, for their Standing Committee, and for all their clergy and laity who will be struggling with potential lawsuits and some major decisions over the coming months. Please pray that God will provide in them a might sense of direction, if He has not done so already. Pray that they will continue to stand strong for the Gospel of our Almighty God in the face of the persecution that they are dealing with. If you know anyone in the Diocese of South Carolina, please send them a note or an email of encouragement – letting them know that we love them and they we are with them in this.

I remain…

Faithfully yours,

Fr. Townsend Waddill+
Rector

Let Your Faith Be Living, Not Dead

Recently, I found myself in a friendly yet spirited Facebook debate with a colleague of mine in another diocese. He had put out a quote from Antoine de Saint-Exupery that stated “if you want to build a ship, don't drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea."

I made the point to him that if all we do is yearn for the vast and endless sea, the ship will never get built. Why merely stand on the shore and yearn for the sea, when we can yearn for the sea, build the ship, and then experience the sea in all its power and might?

The quote really is a metaphor for our relationship with Jesus Christ. As we continued to debate, we ended up in a discussion that I believe will be debated in the Anglican Church for a long time. How do we as Anglicans understand salvation? What role does justification play? Sanctification? Grace?

I can sum this up for you in one clear and concise statement – and scripture supports this. Our road to salvation begins with justification, is perfected by sanctification, and it cannot at all be possible without grace. In other words, grace is the glue that holds it all together. Let’s look at each of these terms more closely.

Justification. By theological definition, the term justification means that moment in which we are declared righteous. In a sense, justification is the beginning of that race that St. Paul talks about. According to St. Paul, we are justified by faith – and that justification takes place when we put our complete faith and trust in Jesus – and we cannot do this on our own merit. We need grace to make it happen. Baptism and Confirmation, as sacraments, are the outward and visible signs of this inward and spiritual grace.

Sanctification. Sanctification in its most basic sense is that process by which we are made holy, and it is also a critical component of salvation. In 2 Timothy 4:7-8, Paul said “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.” For Paul, faith was a component of salvation, as well as sanctification. Notice that Paul did not stand idly at the starting line. He ran the race that the Lord laid out for him, and through that process, he was sanctified – and the combination of his faith (justification) and his running the race (sanctification) led to salvation.

Grace. Grace is defined as “God’s favor towards us, unearned and undeserved.” Since grace is absolutely necessary for our own salvation, there is nothing we can do on our own accord to earn our own salvation. We are totally dependent on God’s grace.

We have to be balanced in our understanding of salvation or else we can devolve into one of several inadequate practices of the Christian faith.

Works-Based Righteousness. This places too heavy of an emphasis on sanctification, while ignoring justification (faith). People who are guilty of this can generally be found in two camps. The first are those who thinking that if they do nice things for people enough times, they can earn their salvation, regardless of whether they either believe in Jesus, or are faithful to Him. The Pharisees in Biblical times were guilty of this and Jesus called them up short. They tried to selectively apply parts of the Old Testament law in the hope that they could earn salvation. Jesus pointed out to them that they were missing the whole point. They did not love God with their whole hearts. They obeyed the letter of the law, but not the spirit, and Jesus made it quite clear that salvation was not theirs. The second are those who have an overly mechanistic and quantitative understanding of the sacraments – particularly the Eucharist. These see the grace that is imparted in the Eucharist as a quantifiable amount, and if they can get to the Eucharist enough times within a given amount of time, then they are automatically saved. People who hold this view have a misguided understanding of what grace really is.

Dead-faith Christians. These are Christians who talk a big game about their faith and their belief in Jesus Christ, but are sorely lacking at actually putting their faith into action, as Scripture calls us to do. James, in his letter, it very clear about this. “Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” (James 2:17) If we truly love Jesus with all of our hearts, he will call us to do some really amazing things. We can’t be caught sitting around. I would hate to meet Jesus one day and have to explain why I was sitting around when he called me to do something. Somehow I don’t think he would accept the following explanation: “Well, Lord, I got the sense that you were calling me to do something, but I was so afraid that it would be considered works-based righteousness that I didn’t do it.”

My brothers and sister, maintain the balance. Know that everything you do must be centered around one thing, and one thing only – a deep, heartfelt faith in and love for Jesus Christ. But understand also that justification by faith does not give us a blank check to sit around. May your love for Jesus Christ cause you to do great things for His Kingdom.

Pentecost: More of a Graduation Than A Birthday

If there is one thing in the Church that I have always just taken for granted, it is that Pentecost is the birthday of the Church.

Just recently, as I was preparing my sermon for Pentecost, I came across a Bible Commentary that completely challenged the notion that Pentecost is really a birthday. I glossed over it at first, but as I continued to think, pray, and reflect on the concept of Pentecost as a birthday, I became more and more uncomfortable with it.

Recently, I came to a prayerful realization. Pentecost was more of a graduation than a birthday.

In order to understand this better, it is helpful to reflect on some basic definitions that we also take for granted. What is the definition of a Church? What is the definition of a birthday?

The word “church” comes from the Greek word ekklesia, which means, in Biblical terms, a group of people gathered for a specific purpose. A birthday is the day that something comes into being. Therefore, the birthday of the church would mean “the day that the group of people gathered for a specific purpose came into being.”

I am not comfortable with that day being Pentecost. If we say that Pentecost is the birthday of the Church, then that carries with it the implicit assumption that the Church did not exist before Pentecost. In other words, the Church ceased to exist during the time that Jesus was on this earth. I don’t believe that the witness of Holy Scripture supports this. There was a gathering of disciples, called and trained by Jesus Himself, and they were sent forth to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of Heaven, several years before the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost.

My purpose in writing this is not to demean what happened in Pentecost – not at all. Jesus spent His time on earth teaching, training up the disciples in the way that they would go. He also made it very clear that the purpose of the Holy Spirit was to give us another Counselor who would be Immanuel – God with us – when Jesus was gone. In effect, Jesus would assume a new role (our Counselor in Heaven), get out of the way and the Church would go to work, ushering in the Kingdom of God on this earth.

There are striking similarities between Pentecost and that time when a parent let’s go of their children and sends them out on their own. That time is graduation.

We will still continue to celebrate heartily at St. Michael’s on the Feast of Pentecost, and I intend to keep the tradition of decorating the church with balloons in celebration. For me, though, the celebration will be a graduation celebration rather than a birthday. Please join me in celebrating this day in which the church was empowered by God to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ in the world.