Bishop Ian Anderson

The Self Help Gospel

2011-06-01T11:33:00.000-07:00

Fr. Stephen DelSignore, of St. Andrew's Traditional Anglican Church of Middleborough, MA wrote a great article on his face book page last Friday. He wrote; "To preach the Bible as "the handbook for life," or as the answer to every question, rather than than as the revelation of Christ, is to turn the Bible into an entirely different book." He is right; the main point of the Bible is to tell the story of Redemption. What I mean by the story of Redemption is that the Bible tells a four-part story:

1 – Creation
2 – Fall of man
3 – Redemption of man
4 – Future, eternal and complete reconciliation of man to God

The primary Person in the story of Redemption is Jesus Christ (the Gospel). Christ created all things and all things are held together by Him.

All things were made through him; and without him was not anything made that hath been made. (John 1:3)

Christ left heaven to come to earth in order to redeem man from his fall.

Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross. Wherefore also God highly exalted him, and gave unto him the name which is above every name; that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:5-11)

He accomplished our salvation by destroying what Satan had accomplished in the Garden of Eden by offering Himself as the perfect sacrifice for our sin.

…but when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law. (Galatians 4:4)

…he that doeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. To this end was the Son of God manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. (1 John 3:8)

Redemption is the message. We can’t “self-help” ourselves into heaven or a relationship with the creator. The main point of the Bible; the “Gospel” message of Christ’s redemption and salvation has been marginalized by too many Christians. Instead of seeing the Bible as a worship book, they have bought into the notion that it is a “self-help book.” A new Gospel has emerged leaving the saving grace of Christ’s redemption for all mankind as secondary to our own inner power to effect change. Some of these new Christians would have us believe that the Bible has some good philosophy for life but its message is no longer life changing.

This whole self-help phenomenon has been gaining popularity for the past 50 years and has not only infiltrated the church but it has changed the message of man’s inability to save himself to the popular notion that “God helps those who help themselves.”

As a result, what is now being preached from many pulpits is this notion that the Gospel is for our salvation, but not for our sanctification. Historically, the Gospel has always been the means to salvation AND the means to sanctification. From where I sit and from what I have seen, the psychological community seems to have embarrassed mainline Christianity into this new notion of sanctification by implying that the message of the Gospel is too foolish for thinking people to actually believe. The Gospel as presented biblically is more for the weak minded and uneducated.

Seeing that Jews ask for signs, and Greeks seek after wisdom: but we preach Christ crucified, unto Jews a stumbling block, and unto Gentiles foolishness; (1 Corinthians 1:22-23)

Most academics will tell you that the Gospel is not sophisticated enough for a “self-help” world or a “self-help” church. Look at what the world offers the “self -help” Christian. To them the Gospel seems foolish when put up beside some of our culture’s heavyweights like The Road Less Travelled, Your Erroneous Zones. Good heavens, how can the Gospel compete with that kind of brilliance? And not to be outdone, the liberal church provided us with the The Power of Positive Thinking, In Search of Significance, and Your Best Life Now. How much of this drivel have you seen promoted for the past 25 years of the Oprah Winfrey show?

So the conservative church is left holding this “foolish” Gospel bag. I would point out that seeing the drift the self-help market was carrying the church into, the conservative church entered the fray with some outstanding works, “An Outline of an Anglican Life”, Louis Tarsitano, and “The Call” by Os Guinness, just to name two.
Then comes the modernist, contemporary, evangelical community with books from the Rick Warrens and the Joel Osteens of the world who decided our salvation by grace was not the main point of the Bible. Their books have helped to further bury the church into self-help-ology.

It is even worse because at this point in the game the liberal church offerings and the conservative church offerings have become so integrated that it is hard for the average church member to discern more clearly between conservative and liberal and why the difference matters. And trust me, it matters.

This “Christianized” self-help mania movement has turned the Bible into just another “positive life force” book. With a few out of context verses in hand, our psychologized church, trained by our culture’s self-help gurus, have created what they believe is the world’s best self-help book. The Bible used to be a book about Him, but now it is a book about me and for me. Worship used to be centered on Christ and His redemptive sacrifice. Now it’s a rock concert complete with a speech about how you can be a more complete person. Just follow the twelve step program booklet available for purchase in the lobby.

Christians do not need another self-help book. Christians need Christ. Marriages need Christ. Families need Christ. Churches need Christ. Worship needs Christ. Any book that does not root the change process of salvation by Grace in the Gospel should be passed over. The notion that God helps those who help themselves is a lie. God helps those who ask. He can save; He can forgive; He can renew.

I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose. (Galatians 2:21)

Now is the time for the church to get back to its roots: The main story of the Bible is Christ! He is the only one who can change us.

Be changed by Christ,

Bishop Ian

Arrogant Christianity

2011-05-24T10:13:00.000-07:00

How many of you have heard this? “How can Christians be so sure they're right and everyone else is wrong? Isn't that arrogant?

Isaiah 45:21"There is no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but me."

John 14:6 "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

OK, let’s look at this logically… It's not possible for all the major world religions to be valid ways to God. As seen in the scripture verses above, Christianity states that the God of the Bible is the only true God and salvation is only possible by accepting Christ as Savior and Lord, Jesus said it himself. “No one comes to the Father except through me.”

As an example, Judaism states that the God of the Torah/Old Testament is the only true God, but that Jesus is not the Messiah, putting it directly at odds with Christianity. Jesus either is the Messiah, or he is not. If he is, Judaism is not a valid way to God; if he is not, Christianity is not a valid way to God. The exclusivity of Jesus statement only grows when other religions are added: Islam says that Allah is the only true God, and that anyone who says Christ is the Son of God will be condemned (Qur'an, 5:72, 9:30). Furthermore, if religions other than Christianity are valid ways to God, then Jesus was wrong and one of Christianity's basic principles is false; in that case, can Christianity still be said to be a valid?

No matter what belief system you adopt, you will be saying that your system is right and that the billions of people who don't accept it are wrong. If Islam is correct, the billions of non-Muslims are wrong; if Orthodox Judaism is correct, the billions of Gentiles are wrong. If it is correct to approve of multiple belief systems because they're all valid ways of achieving spiritual enlightenment, the billions of Christians, Jews, Muslims and others who believe in exclusive religions are intolerant and therefore wrong.

Alright, so how can Christians be sure their religion is the right one? Being born into a Christian family or growing up in a Christian community doesn't make one a Christian; culture and ethnicity don't determine your relationship with God. Instead, people become Christians because they are convinced of the truth of Christianity and/or have had experiences with God, in short, they have good reasons for believing Christianity to be true. Also, Christians are not saying that their personal ideas are true, but that the Christian God exists, and His words are true.

Furthermore, Christianity is unique because it addresses the fact that we can never be good enough to be in the presence of a perfect, holy God. In order to be perfectly good, we would have to be “doing good” all the time. If we do something wrong, we can't undo it, and we can no longer be considered perfect. Nor can we do more good to make up for our wrongs, for perfection requires doing the most good possible at all times - we can't be more than perfect to make up for when we're less than perfect. Other religions teach that we can somehow do enough good to earn heaven or nirvana, but they don't address the fact that we continually make mistakes. Christianity teaches that our sins were paid for by Jesus' death on the cross, and that by accepting his payment and believing in him we can be forgiven; we don't have to earn our way into heaven, which is a good thing, because we can't do it. Christ is the only way to God, because without the forgiveness that comes through his death and resurrection, there's no way for us to be able to stand before a holy God.

Saying that Christianity is right does not mean that Christians themselves are right about everything, or that they are innately superior to non-Christians. What Christianity teaches is that both Christians and non-Christians "have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Rom 3:23) and need salvation, which comes only by the grace of God, not the individual's actions or merits.

Christianity is intolerant of other beliefs.

Is refusing to call a belief false always the right thing to do? For instance, is it right to say that racism and Nazism are simply alternate belief systems that we shouldn't pass judgment on, or should we condemn these beliefs as being morally wrong? If someone believes they have the right to rape or kill whomever they please, should we accept their beliefs as an alternate lifestyle, or denounce them? Tolerance is an admirable virtue in many circumstances, but tolerating wrong by refusing to say it’s wrong is…just plain wrong. If Christianity is true, then there is only one God and salvation comes only through Him, and religions that deny this are not merely alternate forms of spiritual expression, but systems of belief that prevent their adherents from obtaining salvation. If Christ is in fact the only way to God, then to claim that he's not is both false and dangerous. If someone has a life threatening disease, telling them that they don't need to seek medical treatment is wrong. If someone can only have salvation by accepting Christ as their Savior, telling them they don't need to accept Christ is even more wrong, no matter how tolerant or well-meaning it may seem to be.

The bottom line is this, Christianity does not teach that only Christians deserve to go to heaven. If scripture tells us anything, it tells us that no one deserves to go to heaven, because we have all done wrong during our lives (Rom 3:23). We can gain admittance to heaven by repenting of our wrongs, accepting Jesus Christ's death as payment for our wrongs and deciding to follow and worship him as Lord. The principle of Christianity is that Jesus is the only way to God, not any particular church or denomination (Jn 6:40).

Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth. (Is 45:22)

There’s nothing wrong with that… Be Repentent…

Bishop Ian

Blessed Are The Meek

2011-05-15T17:29:00.000-07:00

Remember this? “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” I had an interesting conversation with someone recently who has been accused of being too bold in their approach to most things in life - marriage, relationships etc. But when I used the term “meek” he scrunched up his face like that was somehow unmanly. Now the Bible lists many benefits of meekness.

“The meek shall be satisfied.” “The meek He will guide and teach.” “The meek will become wise.” “The meek will be filled with fresh joy.”

There are lots of other references, but we in the modern church misunderstand this term. None of us really know what meekness is. In fact we often confuse it with another term that sounds like it. Meek sounds like weak right. And nobody wants to be weak, so nobody wants to be meek.

But the truth is meekness and weakness is at the exact opposite ends of the spectrum. The cool thing here is that the Greek word for meekness literally means “strength under control.” Like when a wild horse is tamed and taught to be ridden, the horse still has all the strength it had when it was wild but now it is strength under control for the master’s use.

Look, God doesn’t want you to be weak but He does want you to be meek, having strength under control. If I were to give you a simple definition of the word “meek” I would give you this phrase: let go and let God. That is the essence of meekness. It is surrendering, submitting, agreeing to what God wants to do in your life. It’s letting God be God in your life. Let go and let God.

Easier said than done? OK, look at it this way. Every morning you and I get up and we have a decision to make; whose going to be in charge of my life? Who’s the Boss? Who’s going to be the manager of my life, me or God? Who’s going to be in control, me or God? Who’s going to call the shots, me or God? Who’s going to be the one who directs and leads, me or God? Every day, moment by moment you are making that decision. When you choose to make yourself the manager of your own life it causes conflict, it causes confusion, it causes stress. You must let go and let Christ be the manager of your life.

"Agree with God, and be at peace; thereby good will comes to you. (Job 22:21)

How many of you would like to have peace at last and have things go well? Everybody this verse tells us: stop, let go and let God.

Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. (Matthew 16:24)

Basically Jesus is telling his disciples, you’re not in the driver’s seat. I am.”

I have a confession to make. I am a closet backseat driver. As long as I am in the driver’s seat, as long as I am in control. Everything is fine. As soon as I let Robin drive, I am nervous wreck. I find myself holding on to the door handle, and nearly putting my foot through the floor trying to apply a brake that isn’t there. And it’s not that Robin is a bad driver. She is an excellent driver. It’s just that I’m not in control. I’m not in the driver’s seat.

It’s exactly the same in our spiritual life. When we become Christians we say, “Ok, Jesus, You take over the driver’s seat.” We then promptly hop into the passenger seat and then do back seat driving. Jesus is in the driver’s seat of my life but I’m looking over His shoulder saying, “No, turn this way! Stop. Wait. Faster! I want to go that way. Or slow down. You’re going too fast. Don’t get so close. Wait that’s not the road I want to go down!” And Jesus says, “Am I the driver or not?”

Here’s the bottom line, if you don’t have an authority in your life you’re going to listen to all different kinds of conflicting opinions. One day you’ll decide this and another day you’ll decide that and then one day you can’t decide and indecision causes stress. But if you decide that God's Word is going to be the authority of your life it simplifies decision making. By knowing what the book says personal opinion now gives way to godly admonition and instruction.

The Bible is filled of all kinds of rules and commands. God says do this, don’t do that, make sure you do this. Why does He do that? Because He is a loving God and everything that’s in this book is not there to make your life miserable. It’s there to protect you. It’s there for your own health. It’s there for your own good. A loving God who knows more than you is saying, “Here are the rules for life. If you ignore them you only get hurt.”

Like it or not you’re going to have to serve somebody. And right now you’re controlled by something. It may be popular culture. It may be the opinions of others, or the approval of your parents. You may be controlled by your husband or your wife. You may be controlled by your own desires, appetites and drives. You may be controlled by an addiction or a habit. You may be controlled by a memory. You may even be controlled by your own ego. But everybody is controlled by something.

You are going to have to trust someone. Whether you trust yourself, or another it will fail unless you learn to be meek and until you trust enough to commit your whole life and will to God, you are going to be constantly looping on the white knuckle roller coaster known as self.

Still there is that one thing that will keep some of you from taking that step, a lack of trust. It takes trust to take a step. So let me ask you why wouldn’t you trust God? Why wouldn’t you trust the creator who made you, who loved you and sent His Son to die for you? Why would you not trust God? Did He let you down somehow? Didn’t take the turn you thought He should, tuned left and you wanted to go right? Didn’t drive your life the way you wanted? How’s the view from back there?

If you’ve consciously chosen to commit your life and will to Christ’s care and control, it is not enough to do it just one time in your life. You’ve got to do it every single day of your life. On a moment by moment basis if you need to. It’s a constant decision: Meekness, learning to let go and let God. If you haven’t made that commitment yet… Buckle up!

Be meek in spirit,

Bishop Ian

Following the Good Shepherd

2011-05-08T18:22:00.001-07:00

John 10: 11-16

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.

Everybody knows that sheep are not-so-bright, right? I mean we have all heard the phrase "to fleece." Basically it means that this person is so clueless that you could steal them blind before they realize they were getting ripped off. Was Jesus insulting us by calling us sheep?

Before we go looking for a more politically correct analogy, perhaps we should take a closer look at the reputation of sheep. Are they really as dumb as we’ve been led to believe? Could it be that they’ve just gotten bad press?

If you have ever seen any classic westerns sheep have had their reputations smeared by cattle ranchers. Every TV show and western movie I have ever seen shows that cattle ranchers hate sheep and sheep herders with a passion. Cattle ranchers decided that sheep are dumb because well…sheep don't act like cows. Every cattle dive I have ever seen on TV shows when you herd cattle, cowboys drive them from behind by whooping and hollering and cracking whips. If you try this with sheep, they’ll just sort of run all over the place. It seems you can't drive sheep; you have to lead them. Sheep won't go anywhere unless they know that there is someone out in front making sure that everything is okay. So who’s dumb here?

In Scripture, shepherds are pretty prominent. Jacob, Moses, and David were all shepherds, and according to Luke, shepherds were the first people to receive the message of Jesus' birth. In John 10 we find a series of statements from the lips of Jesus, in which he describes himself as the Good Shepherd (John 10:11). There is a good reason why they were all shepherds, and why sheep figure so prominently in scripture. Sheep were, after all, the primary form of livestock in Palestine at the time and that the people of Israel didn't consider them to be stupid. They knew what sheep were capable of so they didn’t take offense at being called sheep.

In the Gospel appointed for the second Sunday after Easter, Jesus talks about a specific attribute of “His” sheep; they recognize the voice of their shepherd. Not only that, but they will only follow the voice of that one shepherd. The reason sheep will only respond to the voice or call of their own shepherd is because they know that they can count on their shepherd to keep them safe. When danger comes, they won't run off like the hireling. Therefore, sheep get very attached to their shepherds.

I remember a while ago a documentary on the Discovery Channel about the Middle East. They followed different groups of nomadic Bedouins. They were all sheep herders and often they all would meet with their sheep at the same time at the local oasis. Different flocks also gathered at the same watering hole and the shepherds didn’t try to keep them apart. What was interesting is when the shepherd was ready to leave, he or she gave off a distinctive call or whistle and the flock gathered to that shepherd. They knew who they belong to; they knew their shepherd's voice, and it is the only one they will follow. Seems to me that sheep aren't all that dumb after all; they know who they can trust and who not to trust, and they respond only to that one voice. So I ask the question; if we are part of Jesus’ flock, will we recognize his voice and follow him? There are a lot of voices in the world that are calling out to us. The question is which one will we follow? This Good Shepherd analogy is the reminder that through an act of grace, God seeks us out. if we’re willing to tune ourselves in to the Shepherd’s voice, then we can have confidence when we walk through the dark valleys of life, whether it’s sickness, loss of a job, or a disaster; we can have confidence because we know that in Jesus, God has already gone before us and knows the path we need to follow. If we stick close to him, we will make it through safely. That doesn't mean that the wolves won't nip at our heels, but the Lord is with us, to lead us safely through the danger.

Be Listening,

Bishop Ian

Crossbearing

2011-05-01T17:24:00.000-07:00

It’s been a difficult week. Our Organist and Music Director, Ray, was diagnosed with congestive heart failure and is in the hospital. He had a pacemaker put in and one of the leads was dislodged as a nurse used a little too much of his body weight to apply the pressure bandage. It’s been a rough week for him and his family, yet he has a calm and certainty about his situation.

I have a deacon who is battling brain cancer and the chemo-therapy makes walking a difficult task, yet he came with me to the hospital today to bring our music director communion.

Robin and I have made several trips this week to the University of Florida Veterinary Hospital in Gainesville because our cat, Sailor, had an ulcerated eye. It was so severe that he needed to have emergency surgery to have the eye removed. We will be getting up in the middle of the night for the next 10 days to make sure he gets his medications. We will dose his remaining eye with medications for the rest of his life ensuring that he does not have problems with it. I have now renamed him “Popeye the Sailor Cat.” We have had this cat since he was 6 weeks old. Now, I realize our cat’s problem does not compare to congestive heart failure or brain cancer, but it’s all part of life in a corrupt world.

The question I am asking this week is, “how many times you have heard someone identify some difficult circumstance as, ‘The cross I must bear...’ Here’s the thing; I don’t think it’s appropriate to describe all bad or hard situations as “cross-bearing.” Most of the things we encounter in this life come because we live in a fallen world. Did we do something stupid that created our problem? How does this situation have any bearing upon the cross? In other words, how can we know whether a particular issue or problem relates to our Christian calling?

Be honest here. Suffering belongs to the Christian faith. With that in mind, we can begin to reflect on how suffering relates to what is going on in our life. True Christians believe that in and through Christ’s crucifixion God the Son substituted himself for us and bore our sins. He died, in our place, the death we deserved to die in order that we might be restored to God the Father and adopted into his family.

While it is one thing to confess this truth, it is quite another to live it. So what do I mean when I talk about being honest with ourselves? We first have to admit that we aren’t ready to jump up and down with excitement when we think about carrying our cross. Why? Because we know that bearing the cross of Christ means suffering and pain. You don’t need to experience a great deal of suffering to know that pain is difficult and uncomfortable. Rooms with padded walls are constructed for people who think pain is the way to go.

In seminary, I was introduced to a concept which was called the “upsilon vector.” This vector traces the trajectory of Jesus’ life in terms of his apparent defeat (dying on the cross) before ascending three days later in victory (in the resurrection). Upsilon is a Greek letter represented by the lowercase “U” and a vector is an arrow pointing to something. We are all called to turn our lives around and to point to Christ. He suffered, died, and rose again that we may have eternal life. Still we are all part of the corrupt human situation. We may be redeemed, but we still get sick, have pain and go through trials and eventually die.

We have all seen a certain TV preacher/evangelist telling everyone that God doesn’t want us to have sickness and disease. We must claim healing which is what God desires for us. I wish that were true, especially when I struggle to maintain a healthy body weight while taking a diabetic medication that is known to cause weight gain. The health-and-wealth gospel is flawed because it fails to understand the cross of Jesus. It fails to recognize that the cross was not only an instrument of torture on which God the Son died; it’s also the pattern to which our lives must be lived.

Every time we look at the cross think about this, “He hung there because of our sins. He bore them on our behalf. He suffered and died the death we deserved.” Nothing in history or in the universe cuts us down to size like the cross. Again be honest; all of us have inflated views of ourselves, especially in self-righteousness. It’s called “ego”...until we are confronted with the reality of the cross. It is at the foot of the cross that we shrink to our true size.

The cross instills brokenness and humility. It’s heavy and it’s rough, yet we are supposed to bear it by faith, patiently waiting for “the redemption of our bodies” (Rom 8:23-25). And just when you expect to drop dead beneath its weight, God provides grace. As Paul the Apostle wrote to the church at Corinth:

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body…. Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal (2 Cor 4:7-11; 16-18).

For what it’s worth, this is what I think about whether a circumstance really belongs in the category of “cross-bearing.” I ask this question: How does this trial present opportunity for me to advance the gospel?

Our response to trials is what matters, seeing them not so much as hurdles which must be cleared but as catapults that propel the message of Christ forward. Suffering is cross-bearing when it serves the cross; when our strength is diminished and God’s power is made perfect. This is how the world sees the reality of Christ. In our weakness He is strong.

Be a Cross bearer,

Bishop Ian

Finding Hope in Easter

2011-04-23T05:37:00.000-07:00

Lent is a time for reflection and “looking forward to the joy of Easter.” Certainly it seems there is much to reflect on at this time. Some of it personal, some of it bigger picture reflections about where we are in our society and the wider world.

These are not easy times in our nation. The much debated and talked about recession has not gone away and some projected economic forecasts are far from healthy. It is likely that more people will lose their homes and jobs. In short, there’s not a huge amount of hope going around this Easter.

Yet, hope is a key theme in the New Testament. When Paul reflected on the resurrection of Jesus he concluded that, “If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all people.” (1 Cor. 15:19.) In other words, because of the transforming power of God in raising Jesus from death, hope is born not just for this life but for all eternity.

The loss of hope is indeed a loss. We are paralyzed without hope. To be without any hope is effectively to be disempowered, to see no way out. Despite the promise of Jesus that He would rise from the dead, those around the Cross on that first Good Friday experienced the hopelessness of it all. They wondered whether the past three years they had spent with Jesus had just come to an unfortunate end.

The resurrection brought hope then and it can bring us hope today. This event, Paul would have argued, is primary evidence that the promises of God will be fulfilled. Without it, the hope that faith in God can bring would be unavailable to us. It would be in doubt.

The resurrection means that God can take the most impossible and hopeless situations and transform them; that His power to change things has been ultimately vindicated in Christ.

Do we believe that things can change in our lives, in our churches, in God’s world? If you’re not sure how to answer that question then you have not grasped the power of the Resurrection hope and we will never know that “joy of Easter”.

To rediscover hope is to be changed and to believe that, however awful the circumstances, things can change in our life, in our culture and in our world. Jesus teaches that with God all things are possible, not least of which is his rising from the dead.

My prayer for all my readers this Holy Week is that we rediscover the “joy of Easter” and reconnect our lives to the things above.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. John 10:10

Be Joyful,

Bishop Ian

Celebrating Lent

2011-04-07T11:57:00.000-07:00

Let’s face it; Lent has gradually lost its meaning for some of us. Most people in today’s world live in a noisy, materialistic society that has no idea what abstinence, prayer and meditation are all about. Even Christians are becoming bored with Lent. It’s lost it meaning because it becomes a “just do it” thing rather than a “here’s why it’s important” thing.

So why is Lent important? Let me ask this question; is Lent celebrated to benefit God or benefit us? Do we make life difficult during Lent as a way to pay Jesus for what he went through for our salvation or to reap the fruit of his suffering and death?

Lent isn’t about just giving up candy or coffee; it’s also about remembering and celebrating. Yes I said celebrating. Years ago I sought to enjoy Lent as a celebration instead of an observance. When Lent is approached as an observance, it has a tendency become dry and lifeless, some folks say even boring, something to be avoided. But when we approach it as a celebration, it is refreshing and full of life, and if we remain steadfast, each passing year has something new to teach us about the Word become flesh. Look for example at this passage in Lamentations.

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is his faithfulness” (Lam 4:22-23).

Cool verse, but so what? Look at it this way; Lent is not celebrated to benefit God but to benefit us. Seems an odd statement but let me clarify. There is nothing we can do to pay for what Jesus went through for our salvation. God does not expect us to carry the cross during Lent or mourn or torture ourselves. Remembering Lent is to remember (reflect), celebrate (yes, by denial and self evaluation) and renew our hearts in prayer and meditation, and re-commit ourselves for the work of salvation done by God in Jesus Christ.

We are the ones to put our faith in action and share with those around us the finished work of salvation. In his 33 years of earthly life, he left us an example of how we can live for God on earth as humans. Jesus’ earthly life reveals that he identified with our human nature by becoming flesh as a God-man. He suffered and was tempted but denied himself worldly “things” for spiritual ones.

This Lent, consider what Jesus went through for our sake through his passion death and finally the promised resurrection. For me, Lent is a cherished period of self evaluation and gratitude celebrating the life and teachings of He who would take away my sins. Lent is a period in which we can prepare ourselves for personal mission and learn how we can, through Jesus’ example, overcome the many troubles that come with being human. We celebrate with praise and thanksgiving the opportunities to share in the victory he has already gained for us. The period of abstinence in Lent can help us abstain from so many of life’s challenges that lead us to sin; a period where we can reflect on our own commitment to the gifts we have been given as members of Christ’s Body.

It is my hope that this approach will help us celebrate what’s left of these forty days with some relish as the grace filled period and opportunity God has made possible through God the Son. Use the time left to really prepare your hearts and minds for the greatest celebration of all. Abstain, give up, and throw away those things that keep you from the benefits, the grace, and the peace and truly celebrate what it means to be serving the creator of everything.

Be Benefitted,

Bishop Ian

Lent: What's New, What's Normal?

2011-03-23T17:58:00.000-07:00

I was listening to several of the talking heads lapping up the Kool-aid and saying this recession is the barometer for the “new depression,” and rising gas and food prices were the “new normal.” My parents grew up in the depression of the 1930’s. So did my wife, Robin’s, parents. The depression stamped them for life and yes, there is reason to be concerned about today’s recession, but there’s also a reason to be hopeful. I’ve been remembering my first Lent as a young teenager; it was a time that I felt that pull of the Anglican faith and practice that shaped my life.

By requiring fasting and abstinence, the observance of Lent somehow helped me cope with the multitude of early teen angst many of us had to grapple with.

This was also the time that I attended confirmation class. We were asked to give something up. I gave up eating candy. The main point for me was just to get through those 40 days. I remember being told that this was the same number of days a famished Jesus spent in the desert and the number of years the Hebrews wandered in the wilderness. “God’s will” was the name we gave to suffering, and God’s grace was the promise that it would end ... eventually.

Lent is one of the most important seasons in the calendar, but now self-denial seems more a suggestion than a requirement. Maybe it’s this notion of the “new normal.” We are inundated with the statistics of unemployment and poverty on the rise. Who needs Lent to give something up? We have all sacrificed, so I suppose Lenten self-denial could be forgiven this year.

There are plenty of difficulties in everyday life without choosing to add new ones. Job loss is hell enough. I mean this is America; yet it seems this whole economic mess came out of nowhere and revealed that we weren’t as secure as we thought we were.

Yet, I would argue that traditional Lenten observances offer one particular contrast to today’s “new normal.” Lent begins with the word remember; spoken when a cross of ashes are smudged on the forehead…remembering what we are and where we came from; ashes to ashes, dust to dust; we are the created.

This year it struck me that the millions of people who started Lent in the same way simply go through the motions and deny the scriptures as they say, “Remember thou man we are dust, and all things are passing,” This is a hard cold fact . This “new normal” put a sharp focus for many on material worries, and should instead remind us of what matters most in life.

Lent will end and sacrifices will go on. There is nothing wrong with job security, and yet, it seems there is nothing right with suffering. That is exactly what our Lord came to do. To suffer for us, so we don’t have to. It seems insecurity is normal again and that’s okay, because if Lent teaches us anything, it teaches us to get used to it. "The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised." Luke 9:22 .

We are all part of the human situation. This recession is new but it certainly isn’t normal. We will suffer from time to time. This Lent remember we may be dust, but because he suffered and was raised. We are redeemed dust.

Be Remembering,

Bishop Ian

Fear - Love's Opposite

2011-03-14T16:50:00.000-07:00

Those of you who are fans of Charlie Brown will remember the time Charlie Brown visits Lucy at her Psychiatric booth and talks to her about his fears, yet he can’t quite get a grip on it so Lucy proceeds to run down the list of every “phobia” there is until she gets to “Pantaphobia, fear of everything.” And Charlie screams out, “THAT’S IT!”

I think if we are honest about it, fear is a large part of what it means to be human. In general, it‘s not that we are afraid of specific things like snakes or spiders. We are just afraid...period. We fear the outcome of our relationships – am I with right person? Will I ever find love? We are afraid that this job or that job will not last long, or we are afraid that it will. "Am I stuck doing this same thing for the rest of my life?” We are afraid that people who meet us will not like us, or we are afraid that they will - (maybe too much.) We are afraid of failure, or we are afraid of success and what that might mean for our comfortable lives. We are afraid of dying young, and we are afraid of growing old. Often, we are more afraid of life than we are of death. No wonder Prozac is the number one prescribed drug today.

It’s Lent; slow down a little; read I Corinthians 13 (The love chapter) each day. Usually we think of Hate as the opposite of Love and in some respects that‘s true. But, I would argue that this first Sunday in Lent and Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness demonstrates that fear is the opposite of Love.

Look at it this way; fear may be expressed as anger or abuse - (“I am afraid that you may not love me anymore."), or greed - (“What if I run out of what I have now?”), or addictions, violence, and corruption. All of these things that we think of as the opposite of love are simply symptoms of fear. When true love is absent, our fears drive us to hate that which we fear. There are many different ways through which we can look at the temptation story. This year I would like to look at it in the context of love.

The temptation of Christ was a stretching and testing of the humanity of Christ. Before Jesus could be totally operating with Love, in a way that would lead him to the cross, Jesus had to go to the desert and face fear in its totality. These were temptations far beyond what you or I could endure. I would argue that Jesus is tempted by Satan who uses fear - “turn these stones to bread, eat this here or you may never eat again.” How about corruption and greed? Satan tempts Jesus to get on board and share in the leading of the kingdoms of the world. “You are out here all alone. You may just wind up with nothing.” That’s also fear of isolation or loss of status. The final temptation is, “Are you sure God is still with you out here in the desert? Maybe you could jump from a high place just to be sure that God is protecting you. You know if God is not watching closely you might just die out here in this desert?” That’s fear of abandonment.

To Love completely is to trust God. The temptation is to Fear, to abandon Love, to abandon the relationship of trust with God. The temptation in the Garden of Eden is the same temptation as Jesus faced. “Eat this fruit. God is leaving you out of the loop. You do not know everything that God is up to, so you better eat this fruit.” The opposite of Love is Fear. In both temptations the tempter uses the same temptation that we all face every day. Will my life, my decisions, my relationships be driven by fear of will they operate out of love. Each moment we are deciding to function in one mode or the other.

“God is Love. And he who abides in love abides in God and God abides in him. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.” “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.” I John 4

Ok, great so how do we live by love?

Within each of us lives the Spirit of God; the Spirit of Love. God is Love. Within us is Christ who overcame these temptations and fear.

I remember reading once that Michelangelo was asked how he had created such wonderful sculptures as David, Moses, and others. He answered that it was God who created these great works of art. Michelangelo said, “My job is to remove the excess marble that surrounds God's beautiful creation.” I like that; I think that’s right on. There is no perfect me or the perfect you, yet the perfect God, is within you and within me - there to chisel away the excess fears and phobias that turns our attentions away from Him who is perfect.

Spend time reading 1 Corinthians 13 this Lent; Love is patient, Love is kind, Love is not envious, boastful, or rude,” as we focus on the Love of God that already resides within us, allow the Holy Spirit to chisel away at the those fears.

Maybe Lucy was right. Maybe we start by honestly examining our lives to find what we fear most and how is it damaging our relationships and the decisions that we make. Then we can allow the perfect love, Christ within us, to flood that area of our lives as we focus on love. Allow the Holy Spirit to chisel away the fear that surrounds us until we are left with only the great and perfect master piece. Love.

Be fearless in love,

Bishop Ian

Change Is Coming...

2011-03-05T12:51:00.000-08:00

I’ve been sojourning with my soul mate recently and I haven’t had much chance to get to blogging. But, this week I thought I would speak a little bit about this season known as pre-Lent and the “gesima” Sundays. There are three of them and they make up the Sundays known as pre-Lent. What is the meaning of the “gesimas” and why do we even need a three week pre-Lent season anyway? When I first heard the word “Septuagesima” as a teenager I thought, “Great… even the church has a season to celebrate some obscure algebraic formula.”

Here’s the deal. We have just been through some joyous events these last few weeks — the birth of Jesus, his naming and circumcision, the first Gentiles (Wise Men) to find him, and his baptism. On various dates and places through the ages, the Christian Church has celebrated these things in its church year.

But now a change is coming. We know, as we celebrate his birth, that Christ was born for us so he could die for us. Look at it this way; His blood was spilled in circumcision, putting him under the Law, His blood would be spilled on the Cross, to redeem us from under the Law.

We saw that the Gentile Wise Men who found him had to return by a different way, and I would argue that this is what happens to those of us who find Him, because life is different afterward. After his baptism, Jesus will spend forty days in the desert before beginning his public ministry, where we read he will be tempted by the things of the world. So, we too will soon imitate those forty days for our own devotion with the season of Lent, on the way to the Cross. A change is coming.

So the church provides a transitional time between the first and second of its three great seasons - Advent-Christmas-Circumcision-Naming-Manifestation-Baptism. Now we must prepare for the serious reason why those things happened; sin and our redemption from sin.

Here we have all of these “gesima” Sundays that will fit between the end of the Christmastide, and after the octave of the Epiphany, and then the baptism of Jesus. Septuagesima is simply another word for Seventy Days; that’s all. The Septuagint, the translation into Greek of the Hebrew Scriptures by seventy scholars — and the gesima part derives from the Latin for days.

Seventieth day from Easter; no more complicated than that!

So, Septuagesima is 70 Days; Sexagesima is 60 Days, Quinqagesima is 50 Days. With the Seventieth Day, or Septuagesima, the change within the church is pretty obvious. The white vestments of Christmas time joy give way to the Green of Epiphany tide and then purple or violet of repentance and penitential meditations.

The world has always had its early spring celebrations. The interesting thing is the majority of them are timed on Lent. So pre-Lent, to the world, has become quite opposite from its Christian meaning just as Advent has become the gift buying and partying season before Christmas. At the beginning of Lent, fasting in some form is observed, usually involving abstaining from meat. The most likely origin of the name for the worldly face of all this is called carnival. It is a celebration before the giving up of consuming meat. In most, but not all places, Septuagesima is the start of carnival season; ending just before Lent starts on Ash Wednesday. As the church prepares for the penitential season of Lent the world enjoys the flesh, in all senses of the word. Ever been to Mardi-Gras in New Orleans?

God the Son has indeed come to seek and save the lost. It’s our participation in the process that gives us time in our present state as human beings to walk the path to the cross. Change is coming. Prepare your heart and soul for God’s mercy in sending God the Son to do what we could never do on our own.

Be prepared,

Bishop Ian

The Vending Machine Jesus

2011-02-14T06:56:00.000-08:00

I was watching TV last weekend and came across the “Christianity King of Prosperity” right at the very moment when he told the congregation that the reason Christians are suffering in this economic downturn is because we didn’t have faith enough to give. If we don’t give, especially in bad economic times, then we don’t receive. I felt a little sick hearing that statement.

We are in a hard core recession. Countless faithful Christians are unemployed and going to bed worrying if there will be food on the table for the family. Countless Christians are anxious about their finances. You can see it on their faces and you can hear it in their voices. The problem that must be explained by proponents of the prosperity gospel is that the faithful still get laid off, lose homes, and struggle to make ends meet.

Basically, Pastor Prosperity wants you to sort of look at God as “The Vending Machine Jesus” - put in your faith and out pops blessings, money, homes, cars, beautiful spouses, perfect kids, good neighbors, big churches, and plush vacations. For the prosperity gospel, humans are “The Happiness People” – they receive the blessings, rely on the promises, act on the commandments, and they can put on a big happy face. Every day, from the moment you get up to the time you go to bed, Pastor Prosperity and others of his ilk want you to believe that life is like Disney’s Magic Kingdom - steep admission included.

This individual’s gospel proclaims that the bible teaches us and promises us material, spiritual, and physical prosperity. To become prosperous, all you have to do is believe and receive. The prosperity gospel isn’t even a half truth, its blasphemy.

So let’s get real here. The Bible and the Church have never taught the prosperity gospel. Abraham waited and waited for the son of promise. Joseph experienced being sold into slavery by his God-elected brothers. Moses led Israel into years of testing. Israel only crossed the Jordan River after 40 years in the wilderness (and Moses never crossed the Jordan). David, a man after God’s own heart, suffered years of waiting, family struggles, and a son who fell away from faithfulness. Jeremiah spent most of his days in tears. Daniel was a devoted Israelite who had anything but a cushy life. And don’t even get me started on Job. His faithfulness seemed to have gotten him into the crosshairs of the Satan himself. Have you ever read Foxe’s, Book of Martyrs?

Who we are as Christians is not the Bible version of the Brady Bunch. Our humanity is tied to the Cross. Jesus told his followers to take up the cross every day and that meant to be ready to suffer as well. (Luke 9:23). Jesus was crucified for us and we are called to die with Him – to be the person who has died with Christ, died to self, died to everything the world counted as worthy, and died to the flesh. We are called not to seek our own happiness, money, power, personal glory, but to seek the glory of God by giving ourselves to God for His glory.

The problem with the prosperity gospel is that it focuses on getting earthly wants, and then blaming it on a lack of personal faith when we don’t get what we want - when the vending machine savior does not pay out. As Pastor Prosperity spoke to the people sitting in his massive stadium church, I about fell out of my chair as he quoted John 11:22, “But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you." And all you had to do to unlock that promise was buy this guy’s latest book!

The cross gospel focuses on the giving of our selves. Love of God means to live for God. Don’t get me wrong - yes, God is indeed with us. We are commanded to give all we are to Him. The bottom line is that some days are good and we thank God for his blessings. Some days are difficult and we are summoned by God to trust, (look at Paul) to be faithful, not to lose heart, and to hang on in the hope that God will do what he promised when He returns.

Be Faithful,

Bishop Ian

Jesus Just Wants to Give You a Hug

2011-02-06T15:09:00.000-08:00

I have Sirius XM radio in my car. I like to listen to all kinds of music so I surf a lot. I was surfing the channels recently and I came upon the Christian Contemporary channel so I listened a bit. After several tunes I came to the conclusion that most of what I was hearing was basically grown men, whining like love sick teenagers with lyrics like, "Nothing else can take your place, or feel the warmth of your embrace." The band was called “Big Daddy Weave,” but I have to ask the question here; who are they singing to? The One who holds the universe together by the power of His word, or some long lost girlfriend? The women were no better, they sang with such throaty breathiness, I wondered if they were singing to brad Pitt or The Savior of the Universe. What kind of theology is there in “Jesus just wants to give you a hug” lyrics?

Yes, I am a bit prejudiced when it comes to the theology of the lyrics most of these Christian rock bands use to describe the king of all creation. So for fun I have looked a few up. Yup, you can actually look up the lyrics online.

Take a look at the verses from these six contemporary songs. Can you pick which phrases belong to secular songs and which to the supposedly Christian ones?

1. All I need to do is just be me, being in love with you.
2. My world stops spinning round without you.
3. I never want to leave; I want to stay in your warm embrace.
4. I'm lost in love.
5. Now and forever, together and all that I feel, here's my love for you.
6. You say you love me just as I am.

The first three are from that same band I was listening to earlier, “Big Daddy Weave,” the second half are from Air Supply. Why Air Supply? Well, they were on the smooth 80’s channel when I tuned in looking for comparisons.

Song after song on the Christian music channel kept hammering on one note: Jesus loves you soooooo much. He is your buddy; He is your pal. Now, do I doubt for a second that Jesus loves His children? Nope, but it depends on what your definition of "love" is.

God "agape" loves His children. Agape love is not based on the warm and fuzzy kind of love. I looked up the translation of agape and discovered that William Tyndale was the first translator to use the word "love" for agape. My commentary also said that prior to the 16th century; the word charity best described agape. Seemed a good topic for debate, but putting that aside, a modern day use of the word love ranges from a love for an object to physical love/sex (eros love). I love that new car. I love that girl. I love that God. That God loves me.

Not only do the lyrics use love in romantic ways to sing about God, there were other romantic phrases in the songs I heard and latter researched like: hold me, embrace me, feel you, need you. In music that’s called “amatory phrasing.”

My research on hymnody revealed John Wesley considered an "amatory phrase" to be language that was more feelings based love than self-sacrificing agape love. John Wesley deleted "Jesus, Lover of My Soul" from one of his brother, Charles' collections because it was too romantic sounding.

Not only are today’s Christian music writers guilty of writing amatory phrases, but they are singing with amatory phrasing. Christian men and women sing with such romantic longing and neediness as to be completely embarrassing.

In my opinion there are two consequences to this "Jesus is my boyfriend/girlfriend" music. Needy, emotional women continue to need more counseling, self help books and conferences where they can spread their wings and soar. Men will continue to not show up for church because they simply can't stand the mood manipulating worship tunes designed to help them, "feel the Lord's big bear hug embrace."

Without theology in music, we are offering fluff that will not comfort when life takes a turn. Songwriters could provide true hope if they would write about the sovereignty of God rather than crying about "how safe I feel when Jesus is hugging me."

Is there anything wrong with being reminded that our God is our help from ages past? Of course not, the Psalms are loaded with promises of God's comfort. But unlike the Psalms (and theology based hymns), contemporary music is void of the reason why we should not worry. We shouldn’t not worry because someone croons that Jesus’ warm embrace keeps us safe so we shouldn't fret, but because God is our shelter in the stormy blast and our eternal home. Our comfort comes from knowledge, not in a lyric about a teddy bear Jesus.

Be Listening,

Bishop Ian

A Healthy Fear of God

2011-01-30T13:38:00.000-08:00

“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”

(Philippians 2:12)

Martin Luther made an important distinction concerning the fear of God. He distinguished between servile fear and filial fear. He described servile fear as that kind of fear a prisoner has of his jailer. Filial fear is the fear of a son who loves his father and does not want to offend him or let him down. It is a fear born of respect. When the Bible calls us to fear God, it is issuing a call to a fear born of reverence, awe, and adoration. It is a respect of the highest magnitude.

To truly fear God means to be in awe of God’s being and character as well as in awe of what He has done for us in Christ. When you put these two ideas together, you have an absolutely sovereign Creator of the universe who punishes those who resist Him, and yet loves us and sends His Son to die in our place. Surely that’s good reason to fear or reverence Him.

So how could a Christian walk with no fear when the Bible says that we should, “work out our own salvation with fear and trembling.”

I know - it seems confusing. It seems like maybe our salvation may not be a sure thing, which would certainly invoke fear and trembling in me. Yet, the Bible promises that if we confess the Lord Jesus with our mouths and believe in our hearts that God raised him from the dead, then we are saved. So the question is this: If we’re saved, why do we have to serve God with “fear and trembling”?

Paul, in his admonition to the Philippians, never meant that we should quake in our boots as Christians. He simply meant that Christians should never want to offend God with their actions and deeds. Working out our salvation with fear and trembling means we should approach everything in our lives with a heightened sense of reverence for God. We are supposed to be living our lives in a way that brings glory to God.

Listen, don’t get me wrong, a little fear is healthy. For example, a child’s healthy fear of a parent will often produce the right behavior. All my mom had to say was, “Wait until your Father gets home,” to strike fear in the hearts of her children when we misbehaved. We knew he would follow through on her threat if we didn’t straighten up. I had a healthy fear of my Father but I still loved him even when I received disciplined.

When I ride my bike I have a healthy fear of oncoming traffic so I am more aware of my surroundings when I ride. The same is true for God; to have a healthy respect and to be in awe of God is what is being referred to by Paul in the above passage. Think about whom it is we serve here. Then think about those who choose not to . Pretty scary.

Look at the Book of Proverbs. It provides great instruction about the fear of the Lord.

Proverbs 1:7 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.”

Until we understand who God is and develop a reverential filial fear of Him, we cannot have true wisdom. True wisdom comes only from understanding who God is and that He is holy, just, and righteous. Fearing God means having such a reverence for Him that it has a great impact on the way we live our lives. To be in fear of God is to respect Him, to obey Him, to submit to His discipline, and to worship Him in awe.

Proverbs 8:13 “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil.”

Evil by its very nature sets itself against the Lord. It is the exact opposite of what God is, so to take any attitude toward it but hatred is to dishonor the Lord.

Proverbs 10:27 “The fear of the Lord prolongs days.”

Righteousness, which comes about through a reverent fear of the Lord, always has a tendency to lengthen life, for it leads to the practice of healthy principles. Sin, on the other hand, because it is the practice of things often detrimental to health as well as to holiness, tends to shorten life; some have called it hard living.

The truth is if we don’t have a healthy fear of the Lord, we cannot please God. The prophet Isaiah said it this way, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool. Where is the house that you will build me? And where is the place of my rest? For all those things my hand has made, and all those things exist,’ says the Lord. ‘But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at my word’.” (Isaiah 66:1-2)

The Bible is clear about what a fear of the Lord can bring to our lives. Without it, we close ourselves to the treasures of God’s wisdom and knowledge; we will flirt with evil and are corrupted by it; our lives are likely to be shorter; and we will never come to know the love of God that gives us the assurance and confidence in our own salvation.

We really should walk in fear of the Lord, but we shouldn’t be afraid of Him. He is a life-long companion, an ever-present help in a time of trouble. Respect His ways, observe His truths, and walk in His light.

Be in awe…

Bishop Ian

Out With the Old

2011-01-17T15:17:00.000-08:00

On the new web site I created for Resurrection Church I used, “An Unchanging Faith in an Ever-Changing World,” as the banner.” I have had several inquiries as to why. Well to be honest I was first introduced to it by Fr. Steven DelSignore, Rector of St. Andrews in Middlebourgh MA. I liked it so much I decided to use it for Resurrection Church. To answer the question, let’s have to first look at the reason behind the phrase.

Americans, especially in the 21st century, are not very good at embracing the past. We seem to be hardwired to embrace change without the lessons of the past as a guide for moving forward. Look around; old buildings are torn down to make space for new ones, upgrades abound in everything we see in ads and on TV. Churches are eliminating traditional worship for the more contemporary. Let’s face it, “out with the old in with the new,” has become the mantra for everything from politics to religion.

We are a society led to believe the future will be brighter and that the old thoughts and ideas of the past were not nearly as cool and sophisticated as the new ones. As if any connections to the past make us well… un-cool.

"Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints." Jude 1:3

Christians are commanded in Scripture to, “pass on the faith as once delivered to the saints.” This is what original Episcopalians believe and the reason for our unchanging faith. We are the heirs of a long tradition for which countless Christians have given their lives. The Faith is not for us to play with or to change to suit our own ideas, or the whims of a modern society.

Because we live in an ever-changing world, we frequently need to be reminded of this and to take a stand. As original Episcopalians, we believe that Christians who worship in a modern way in a modern-looking church may begin to lose sight of their past. They forget about the historic Church.
I get questions as well about the 1928 over the 1979 prayer book. Original Episcopalians believe that our 1928 Prayer Book to be slowly crafted over the centuries, with careful up dating of the original Book of Common Prayer of 1549. When you worship on Sunday, you say many of the same prayers used by Thomas Cranmer, Queen Elizabeth I, George Washington, and thousands of other Christians. The words themselves become a vocal connection to those Anglicans who have “fought the good fight” and handed on the Faith intact to us. I remember a time when an Anglican could go to any other Anglican parish in the world and feel right at home in worship. In fact, one of the fundamental ideas of Anglicans was that everyone would worship using the very same words. That is what is meant by common prayer. Today, our Prayer Book serves not only to identify us as Original Episcopalians, but also to keep us on the same page with history.

Another quality of 21st-century Americans is that they have a very high view of themselves. They don’t like to be under anybody else’s authority. Christian virtues such as obedience, humility, and submissiveness are considered today to be signs of weakness. We also demand to be entertained. Nowhere is all this more evident than in today’s worship. Reverence has given way to lively, emotionally “exciting” praise fellowship. There is a real sense of a loss of the sacred in what the modern church calls a “seeker friendly” worship environment.

In worship, we come together not so much to gain a blessing from God as to perform a service, to “offer ourselves, our souls and bodies to be a reasonable, holy, and living sacrifice unto the Lord.” From the start of the Reformation, we have believed that worship ought to be liturgical in a language understood by the people, to profess the “reformed Catholic” faith, and it ought to be (as St. Paul stipulates) reverent and orderly.

Original Episcopalians believe that we need to be reminded that we are sinners, that we are all personally responsible for the Son of God having to suffer death upon the cross. We believe that our pride has to be torn down in order for us to properly worship and adore God. Our service is meant to convey that sense of humble reverence.

It is also meant to provide us with an escape from the boisterous, fast-paced world in which we live. Original Episcopalians come to appreciate how precious this time can be. We must remember that worship is an awesome work. In worship, the community comes before God not only with praise and thanksgiving, but also mindful of its own unworthiness and sinfulness.
Reverent and orderly worship also enables the community to step out of the “secular” and experience the “sacred.” In this way, both the individual and the community are constantly reminded of the spiritual, the corporate, the historical, and the mystical aspects of the Body of Christ.

Be Unchanging,

Bishop Ian

The Authentic Deacon

2011-01-10T17:27:00.000-08:00

There are two types of deacons. Transitional - those of us in the beginning of ordained ministry were learning the ministerial ropes as we waited out our time before being ordained a Priest. We were supposed to be learning the role of servant, yet I truly question how many actually did.

I think many liturgical churches have overlooked the authentic role of the Vocational or Permanent deacon. The role of vocational deacons is to bring the church to the world and the world to the church; to lead us out of our comfortable pews and into the ministry beyond the brick and mortar.

As a deacon, I served an Episcopal Church in California. I remember Fr. Doyle, the priest who presented me for ordination, stating, “The role of the priest is to bring the good news to the world. The role of the deacon is to bring the bad news back."

Ok, I confess I didn’t have a clue what he was talking about at the time, but I soon came to realize the real world reality of Fr. Doyle’s comment. I was the “parochial gopher,” which meant I was the man on the ground for everything from hospitality ministry to chairing every committee the parish had. I wasn’t just serving at the altar; I was the hands and feet of our local congregation and the community at large. If any member of the congregation had a concern, grievance, or illness they came to me. And so I learned well the meaning of being the bearer of the bad news during my year as a transitional deacon.

Vocational deacons serve permanently, and in my opinion every congregation should have them. Not because we need someone to push all the stuff on that we don’t have time to do, but to be a servant leader among the congregation. Yes, all of us are called in some capacity to be ministers in the church, lay and clergy alike. Some we ordain to lead us, and through their ordination they will lead and highlight the value of our ministry.

"Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order that they may provide for daily necessities and not live unproductive lives." Titus 3:14

Priests tend and grow the flock; deacons are there to pull us out of ourselves and move beyond the flock. As Christians, we understand that we are saved by grace, not by works. However, we are all called to serve; ordained or not, to the challenges of doing good works that God has planned in advance for us to do.

Heeding his calling to serve, Gene A. Morse, was ordained as a Deacon on January 9, 2011 in Resurrection Protestant Episcopal Church. He was called to this ministry not by self but by God. This is not for Gene’s own glory but that God’s glory would be shown through his work in our community. Gene is battling cancer and worked tirelessly through his study program for the deaconate during his chemo and radiation therapies.

But, here’s the thing; every Christian’s mission in life is to bring glory to God and blessings to others - not just to receive, but to do. No matter what challenges we face in this physical life we are still called upon to be doers - that God’s grace can be shown through us. The result of being a doer is that we are blessed in ways that are immeasurably greater than any physical ailment or affliction.

In the last two churches where I served as a Rector, I was privileged to serve alongside deacons. Liturgically, they set the table, and assist at Holy Communion, emphasizing their servant ministry. But, far beyond their help during the service, I cannot imagine how we would have done our work without them. They are that important.

We have all been granted gifts to be able to bring glory to God and blessings to His people. Deacon Gene Morse has embraced his abundant God-given gifts and become the “hands and feet of Christ.”

Congratulations Gene, I look forward to authentic ministry with you.

Be of Service,

Bishop Ian

Presiding Bishop Del Murray with Bishop Ian Anderson ordaining Gene Morse to office of Deacon.

New Year, New Beginning

2011-01-02T10:41:00.000-08:00

Every New Year’s Eve we prepare for the year that is to come with bright lights, big bands, bubby champagne, loud noise makers, and grand parties. While we may not stay up until midnight on many nights of the year, we try to stay awake past midnight on December 31 in order to see the dawn of the New Year. Even if we are in our pajamas at home, we typically tune our televisions to the evening’s events in Times Square, allowing the bright lights and the flicker of the big ball to illuminate our living rooms. The New Year is almost always ushered in with lights. Something new has come!

The season of Epiphany begins when the twelve days of Christmas are over and it ends on Ash Wednesday with the beginning of Lent. Jesus was twelve days old when wise men followed a star, looking for the ruler who would shepherd the people of Israel. We are told that the wise men find delight beneath this star, and Epiphany is the season of our basking in this same light – the light of the Christ child. It is a time to go and tell what happened in Bethlehem. And Epiphany begins with the promise of a light – a light that comes when the glory of the Lord has risen upon us. In their search, the wise men travel to Jerusalem and create a stir with a simple question, “Where is the child who has been born King of the Jews?” The very question foretells great change. Herod is no longer the King of the Jews. A new king has arrived – a child who will change the world. The wise men from the East know that the child for whom they are searching will lead the people of Israel in a way that no one else has ever led them before. The Jews are accustomed to being ruled by Herod, but they long for not just another ruler, but for a shepherd. They are hungry for a different kind of government. They are eager for the change this child will bring.

At the beginning of the New Year, we also often yearn for things to be different. We yearn for families to get along, for finances to improve, bodies to become healthier, a more peaceful life and a peaceful world, more time with friends, less stress, a new job, and so on. Yet the things we resolve to do differently on January 1 are rarely part of our life on March 1. We set out every year with high hopes in doing things differently this year. So, what if we were to stop making impossible resolutions for ourselves; stop setting ourselves up for the same failure we experienced last year?

When the wise men finally encounter Christ they are overwhelmed with joy, offering costly gifts to the baby – gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh – the best of the best. What if we resolve to remember the significance of Christ’s birth by consistently asking ourselves what we can offer to Christ this New Year? We may discover that we really have not given our lives to Christ in the first place – that what Christ is really yearning for is for us to come – to come home to him and say, “I want you to rule my life, guide my life, and shephard my life.”

Keep your resolutions simple this year. Don’t walk alone; ask Christ for his help and see if they finally become possible.

Begin anew,

Bishop Ian

The Easy Way

2010-12-12T17:42:00.000-08:00

"Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God."
(1 Corinthians 4:1).

Wouldn’t it be nice if Paul, in the above scripture, were referencing himself and a few followers? Sure would make it easier to do this church thing. Pick out a few folks to carry the load for us as we sit back and enjoy the ride without any responsibility to our faith. How easy would that be? Well, I have some bad news folks; there is no easy way. We are not allowed as Christians to choose a few folks to be religious on our behalf. It’s not allowed for us to divide our time so that an hour here or there belongs to God while the rest of our time belongs to us to do with as we please.

To be a Christian means that we have to stand up and be counted on our own…to be known every day and in everything we do; that we are the ministers of Christ and the stewards of the mysteries of God. This Advent three is called Joy Sunday. The reason is simple: as Christians we realize that the Church exists forever and that we have eternal life by God’s Grace. We are also called to give praise to God in Christ by an entirely dedicated life of on this earth - by action and by being good stewards of the gifts we have been given.

If you remember anything I write about remember this; what makes us Christians is that we are washed in the blood of the Son of God made man, and that blood was shed for us on a cross. So as we look with Joy towards the manger this Advent 3, keep in mind we do so in the shadow of the cross. It may be easier to celebrate Christmas without that shadow but it is only half the story. Is it inconvenient sometimes to be a Christian? Yes, the easy way is to be Christian only when it suits our purpose. But, it falsely represents who we are and waters down the Gospel. There are enough churches in the world already who have taken the easy way.

We expect our bishops, priests, and deacons to be godly men, to preach God’s Word to us, to administer the Sacraments, and to lead us in our prayers, but we don’t want them leading our lives for us. So guess what, being a good steward means that we don’t give up reading the Bible, saying prayers, or doing good works ourselves on our own.

Every Christian, in every walk of life, is meant to be the hands that carry out the will of God given in the Scriptures. Look at it this way; a mystery is a truth that can only be known if God reveals it. A steward is someone who protects and preserves what belongs to his master. So, we are supposed to preserve the “mysteries that God has revealed,” because it belongs to God and not to us. The easy way is the notion that we have a responsibility to attend church when it suits us and no more…to give when it suits us but not to the point that it takes away from our own wants and desires.

The Good News of the revealed mysteries from God is that they always lead to the promise that if we make the effort to be good ministers and good stewards, we have the gift of eternal life. And living forever with Christ is worth all the effort.

Be a Faithful Steward,

Bishop Ian

The Second Sunday in Advent

2010-12-04T10:06:00.000-08:00

"BLESSED Lord, who hast caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning; Grant that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience and comfort of thy holy Word, we may embrace, and ever hold fast, the blessed hope of everlasting life, which thou hast given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen." (Collect for Second Sunday in Advent 1928 BCP pg 92)

Advent 2 for most 1928 prayer book Anglicans has always been called "Bible Sunday.” No, it’s not the day we decide to bring bibles to church and parade around the sanctuary. Rather it’s because The Collect, which dates from the Reformation, asks for God's grace that we might"...read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest..." the sacred scriptures. At that time, Thomas Cranmer, (First Archbishop of Canterbury under Henry the VIII), issued a decree that an English Bible should be placed in every church. One of the great things about the Reformation was the desire of the leaders to give the Bible to the people. The problem? Most of the people couldn’t read. So, the bible became the reading primer of the day. Imagine that in today’s modern public schools.

"Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning: that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope." (Romans 15:4)

In the epistle appointed for Advent 2, St. Paul refers to the Scriptures, meaning the Old Testament. There was no New Testament at the time since Paul was busy writing some of it. In doing so he was revealing the truths of the Old Testament, arguing that they always point to Jesus.

Christianity is a religion of revelation. Essentially, what Jews and Christians believe is clear in what God revealed to us in his word. I get asked all the time what’s the difference between traditional orthodox Episcopalians, and the liberal humanist church. When asked about their beliefs, most liberal humanists (or atheists) would say, "I think" or "I feel…” Any good traditionalist worth his salt would reply to the same question, 'But, the Bible says this about it...' Big difference - yes?

St. Paul, in his letter to the Romans, calls Jesus, "a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers." Paul is telling the Romans that Jesus is the promised Messiah foretold in the Old Testament. But he also points out those revealed promises are for all men.

There use to be a time when the church actually taught that it was a good thing to read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest the Scriptures. The present attitude found in so many modernist parishes is the notion that the church has out grown scripture in favor of well, anything else.

My challenge to each and every person who reads this blog is for you to read the Bible on your own every day. Look at the Psalms and Lessons index at the front of your prayer book; it’s a great place to start. The whole idea of a Bible study is to keep you strong as you go through this life. You will soon discover that there is something even better for you in the next.

"Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning: that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope." (Romans 15:4)

Be Comforted,

Bishop Ian

Walking in the Light

2010-11-28T13:58:00.000-08:00

Today is Advent 1, the beginning of the season of Advent and the starting point of the new ecclesiastical year. What makes today different from the secular New Year’s Day is that there is little of the typical "out with the old, in with the new."

If anything, our Christian Advent is a promise of more of the same. We plan to read the same lessons and to say the same prayers in this new year that we did in the year past, and for almost two thousand years before that. Even our New Year’s resolutions, found in this morning’s excerpt from St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, are the same old resolutions that Christians have made every year since that glorious year so long ago when our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified, rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven.

So are we in a rut? The secular world (which means literally, "the world of this age") would say we lack imagination and our religious observances are boring because we have no plans to change what we believe and what we hope for from year to year.

Advent promises us otherwise. The Latin Adventus means simply a coming, but the Church uses it to refer to two comings of the same Divine Person: our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. On Advent Sunday we look back to the pinnacle of history, as far as the purposes leading to the conception and birth of the Son of God, made man by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary. When Jesus Christ shed his Blood on the Cross and offered his life before his Father’s throne, all sins were redeemed - completely bought and paid for. The victory of God in Christ over the world, the flesh, and the devil was accomplished once and for all, and all anybody had to do, then, now, or a thousand years from now to share in that victory, is to confess his sins and to submit to Jesus Christ his Son.

That was the First Coming of Jesus Christ. We lived under God’s judgment, and the terms of the salvation of mankind were made as clear as they could possibly be. All the history that has followed that First Coming, however great or small, ties up all the loose ends like the end of a novel.

The Second Coming represents no change in plans on the part of God, no surprise ending, no new thing at all, with the exception that Jesus Christ will announce the end of human struggles and the beginning of eternal blessedness for the resurrected and redeemed. This is the true "world without end." This is the eternal reality; a changeless God whose rule cannot be overturned.

In our prayer book, words like “day-spring” are used to describe Advent. Day-spring means the dawn, and the first coming of Jesus Christ was the dawn of salvation upon the world. The Second Coming isn’t the sunset part of the story, but the second dawn that puts an end to the darkness of sin and of Satan’s legions.

Today in church, as we lit the candle of hope, we were assured of the same sunrise, the Light of Christ in the manger, and the Light of the world when he comes again. Our calendar reminds us every year of the reality and trustworthiness of the promise of light in Advent. The Light has come. The Light will come again. And when that light comes, we must belong to it or endure an eternal darkness. With our new Church year, we begin again the lessons, prayers, and discipline that will prepare us for light eternal.

Be walking in the light,

Bishop Ian

Thanksgiving Blessings

2010-11-24T14:56:00.000-08:00

I have heard it over and over again. “I have nothing to be thankful for. I hate my job. My children are disrespectful. My family is constantly at each other’s throats and spending time with them seems more like a recipe for disaster than a joyous event to be celebrated. While others around me seem to be so happy, I am miserable.”

As clergy, we hear it all the time, and if this sounds like you…well, you are not alone. Yes, we live in a fallen world with a fallen economy. The bottom line? Life is tough and it’s not hard to find the negatives in our lives. Robin and I just had a fantastic visit with Casey, John, and the triplets. Yes, triplet babies. I am so impressed with John and Casey’s thankfulness for the gift they have been given in these babies. Difficult? You bet. Are they worn out each day? Sure who wouldn’t be; yet despite the difficulties of having three babies and only two hands they are working it out. Let’s face it no one escapes difficulties, we are all struggling with something. Despite what we are dealing with we need to remember to,

“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

The media bombards us with images of what the good life should look like - dictating what our homes should look like, (just look at the home style magazines), what we should wear, what car to drive - a BMW or a Mercedes if you are successful. We pay huge sums to enroll our kids in all types of extracurricular activities and run ourselves ragged driving them here and there.

Wouldn’t you love to spend Thanksgiving Day at Martha Stewart’s farm with her recipe for the perfectly cooked turkey and trimmings; then sit at a beautifully decorated table with people who love, respect, and appreciate one another?

If we buy into this marketing hype we believe that we don’t measure up, we are not successful enough, or are not blessed enough. The truth is we have become so addicted to the comfortable life, it has become nearly impossible to even recognize the blessings in our lives, those which are much more prevalent than we often realize. We miss these blessings because we focus on trying to gain and acquire more of the stuff we think we want. Do we even really know what we want?

We are rarely taught to be thankful. We are a spoiled, ungrateful nation. Few of us are immune. I sometimes fall prey to this attitude myself. But it is at these times that I must remind myself of what God told Paul;

“My grace is sufficient.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

If more Christians would believe that, take it to heart and truly live it, their lives would be blessed beyond measure. They already are; they just don’t realize or accept it. What greater gift is there than the sacrifice of Christ dying on the cross for us insuring our eternal life? If we would simply accept this fact, our lives would look different. We would live more peacefully and we would have grateful hearts giving thanks for the simplest of things and enjoying the sometimes mundane activities of everyday life.

“And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.” (Colossians 3:17)

The recipe for happiness such as a big house, an expensive car, extravagant vacations, a dream job, and the money to support it all, suddenly does not seem nearly as important. Our focus begins to shift from the noise of the world as we begin to find joy in the basics of life. For me, it was seeing the babies smile for the first time and holding them after a feeding and feeling them fall asleep on my shoulder. I got to do a bike ride from Old Town Alexandria to Mount Vernon with my son-in law, John. I was in awe as the heavy clouds periodically gave way to allow the sun to peak through the trees as I rode along the Potomac River. It was a reason for celebration. If we stop to look at these things we begin to recognize and acknowledge the blessings that God bestows upon us every day.

“…do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” (Philippians 4:6).

It’s human nature to fear losing what you have worked so hard for. Perhaps you measure yourself by society’s standards of success, yet deep down you know that it would take very little for the world as you know it to topple. Our lives are always at risk of destruction. We are not exempt from life threatening illnesses. Even Christians lose jobs and homes. The bigger problem is that we think we have control over such things, and we are prone to try and overcome every obstacle by ourselves. That merely adds to our frustration and desperation and in the end we become part of the, ‘I am miserable club.’

“Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." (Hebrews 13:5)

Giving thanks is a daily exercise in faithfulness. The point of Thanksgiving Day in our prayer book is to give thanks to God for his blessings on our land and its fruits. It is also a reminder that we need to thank God for the things we have to be grateful for...not just for the obvious things like food, but for the thousands of fortunate moments, and the multitude of blessings that we receive each year. Make thankfulness an everyday habit. It's a skill that will benefit you throughout the year.

“For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16).

This Thanksgiving I pray you will accept the greatest gift of all.

Be Thankful,

Bishop Ian

Advent - The Forgotten Season

2010-11-14T16:20:00.000-08:00

As any good Protestant Episcopalian knows, Advent is the season of preparation for Christmas. Those of us who cut our teeth on the 1928 Prayer Book could tell you that Advent is supposed to be a "little Lent." However, if you ask most Protestants what Advent is, the answer may be something like, “isn’t that something the Roman Catholics do?” Advent is fast becoming the forgotten season in just about all Protestant Calendars. It’s the same old story, Halloween is over, and in an instant the stores are transformed with festive Christmas decorations. We hear the sound of jingle bells and Muzac versions of carols; even the scent of spices and pine fill the air of every mall and shop. We are inundated with commercials and print ads about the gigantic sales that await us on “Black Friday.” It’s like Thanksgiving has become the holiday where we carb up the night before for the marathon shopping safari that awaits us in the retail jungle. The twelve days of Christmas have become the last chance to get the gift shopping done rather than the days from Christmas to Epiphany.

Let’s face it; none of this has anything to do with preparing our hearts, looking forward to Bethlehem or our Savior’s return. Advent calls us to consider who we are as Christians and to prepare ourselves to celebrate our savior’s birth and to prepare our hearts and minds for His coming again.
Our Prayer Book lectionary provides us in Advent with a huge selection of scriptures from the prophet par excellence, Isaiah. Beginning with Advent 1 and daily through Advent 4, I encourage you to read and contemplate these scriptures as part of your Advent keeping.

The prophet Isaiah reminds us that we must be in right relationship with God, particularly in times of distress.

“Lord, you are our Father; we the clay, you the power, we are all the work of your hands.” (Isaiah 64:7)

Isaiah was speaking at a time when the people were not following the ways of the Covenant. His words are also relevant to today: the coming of the Messiah will be a time, not simply for salvation, but also for judgment. What do we have to show as a church, and is there need for repentance? Can we stand before our risen Lord when He comes in glory and say that we have been good and faithful servants?

For Christians it is Christ who “brings good news to the poor, to bind up hearts that are broken, to proclaim liberty to captives, and freedom to those in prison.” (Isaiah 61:1-2.)

This Advent, remember the kingdom as we prepare our hearts to hear and proclaim this good news constantly. It is part of our Christian experience to read and mark this liturgical season so that our own hearts can continue to be strengthened and healed. We need truly to hear the voice of truth and to proclaim it always. As Christ heals us, so He also sends us out to complete the mission He gave to His disciples. The child born in Bethlehem enters a world still very much in need of its savior.

Be in preparation,

Bishop Ian

Remember Our Veterans

2010-11-09T16:16:00.000-08:00

Veterans Day is among the numerous federal holidays which you find on most calendars, but it is not like the other federal holidays which give us a three day weekend.

This day, we will remember, has its roots when in the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918, armistice between the Allied nations and Germany went into effect. Although this was not the official end of World War I, this day marks the official end of hostilities between the warring nations.

In order to honor this day, President Woodrow Wilson declared November 11 to be Armistice Day, a day to honor "the heroism of those who died in the country's service." In 1954 after World War II, Armistice Day was officially changed to Veterans Day, in order to honor all American veterans of all wars. Because of the historical significance of the 11th of November, it was decided to celebrate this day every year regardless of what day of the week it fell on.

Every year on Veterans Day a ceremony is held at Arlington National Cemetery beginning with the laying of a wreath at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier followed by a parade and speeches to thank those who served in the armed forces. Communities across the nation hold their own celebrations with parades, the playing of taps at local cemeteries, and Veterans dinners.

Every Vet has a story, and it is important that one take the time to listen. One of them is about a young man who trained the pilots who flew P-51 Mustangs in WW2. Another is of a man in a tin can off the Korean coast standing watch in the freezing cold during the Korean War. Then there is the man who served in Vietnam who still today can barely speak about it. Or how about the old man who works bagging groceries who helped liberate the Nazi death camps, and wishes his wife were still alive to hold him when he is awakened by the nightmares reflecting that time. There is the young army vet fresh home from Afghanistan who is putting on his ribbons and medals for the Veterans Day parade with a prosthetic hand. There is the Iraqi war vet who sits on the corner with a sign begging for work. Then there are those of us who served war efforts right here at home.

Many times the bravery of those serving in our military, past and present, is overlooked. November 11th is a great day to honor the veterans in our community whether by volunteering, listening, or just saying thank you. These brave souls fought for the safety and freedom of the nation and deserve to be thanked for their service to America. Every veteran has a story; take time to listen and to say thanks. I want to say thanks to my father in-law, my dad, and my friend, Dan. And, also to Fr. Stephen DelSignore, who in a special way continues to offer God’s grace to those who served and those who remember. If it were not for the dedication and sacrifices of our veterans, we would not be able to worship as we believe.

Almighty God, our heavenly Father, in whose hands are the living and the dead; We give thee thanks for all those thy servants who have laid down their lives in the service of our country. Grant to them thy mercy and the light of thy presence, that the good work which thou hast begun in them may be perfected; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord. Amen. (Page 42, The 1928 Book of Common Prayer)

Be proud,

Bishop Ian

Loving Your Neighbor

2010-10-31T12:50:00.000-07:00

The Ten Commandments are the rules God gave us as our guide to living in a society. Then, Jesus comes along and leaves his disciples with another commandment that He called “new.”

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” (John 13.34)

There are plenty of examples in scripture of Jesus’ love for those who where the social outcasts and great sinners of his day. As a result of their encounter with Him, many knew love for the first time. Yet the word love is probably one of the most misunderstood and misused words in the modern world. I remember a third year seminary project, part of which was to ask teenagers in the churches we were assigned to, this question: What is love? Many of them referred to love as a “feeling.” These kids were Christians but they never referred to any aspect of love from a biblical perspective. As for Jesus’ love, scriptures show that His reaction to sinners often times was to correct the problem and set them free. His love was an action.

The word love is used often in the Bible, particularly in the New Testament. But, let’s face it; love is difficult to accurately define. So, I decided to get technical and look it up in the dictionary. When love used as a noun in an abstract way such as, “baseball was Bob’s first love,” the word goes beyond the senses. When love is used as a verb it’s often describing a relationship to someone and something; “Ian must be madly in love with his wife, Robin, as they are constantly holding hands.”

As people moving through life quickly, we tend to limit the meaning of love to human emotions, but when we view love as an action, we are tested as to the truest definition of what it means to love. As Christians we are called to be more than a people who love; we are called to be a people who love and act. We are called to help with our hands, to forgive with our hearts, and to nurture all who are in need.

“Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs.” (Proverbs 10:12)

The apostle Paul brilliantly describes love in 1 Corinthians 13. He defines love as that which, "hopes all things, endures all things and never fails." (My paraphrase). Wait a minute, did he say, “love never fails?” Why would Paul describe love in that way? Let’s look at it this way. In our culture we define love as: affection, approval, attraction, and so on, but without Jesus they will all fail at some point. When Paul says that love never fails he is talking about divine love. The love of God never fails. Let’s face it, the love we have for one another fails to a greater or lesser degree, unless it is tied to Christ.

Jesus issued the commandment to love one another; the roots originating in the Old Testament with the commandment to, “love your neighbor as yourself.” (Leviticus 19:18). Jesus issued this commandment because love was a principal that He lived and died for. To love one another as Jesus loves us shows evidence of our new spiritual birth and continued growth. Remember just how pure Christ’s love is; he even prayed for the ones who murdered him as he hung there on the cross.

"We know that we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers.” (1 John 3:14)

Love is inseparably connected with all other aspects of the Christian life. Love is the light that shines through and separates the darkness. It is how we as Christians must be seen in this world. Love always comes before mercy and gives the faint hearted patience to finish the race. Love is the main spring that gives the believer courage and strength to follow God. Even when the sin is so wretched that we struggle to find anything to love, we may find that it is only through the love Christ has shown us in our own lives that can we find strength to love the sinner.

We must love God in response to His love for us, and we are to love each other as a result of our love for God. We love, because He first loved us. If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; “for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.” (1 John 4:19–21 )

Be found loving…

Bishop Ian

Why Should We Obey Our Parents?

2010-10-17T18:03:00.000-07:00

"Honor your father and mother so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you." (Exodus 20:12).

Why should we obey our parents? Notice at the end of this Commandment it says, "… so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you." (Exodus 20:12)

So not only live long, but it also says, "In the land your God is giving you." He is not only talking about individuals; He is talking about society because when the family unit breaks down, the society breaks down too.

Take a look around you. Respect for parents and family is certainly something we have lost sight of in our culture. I'm going to be incredibly un-PC right now and say that many of the Baby Boomers that became parents created a generation of spoiled children. It’s been my observation that as a result of this spoiling, many of today’s parents spend more time trying to negotiate with their children than establishing who is in charge in the first place.

The best they can come up with after the negotiations fail is more idle threats, ridiculous bribes, or the ever popular, “time out." Heck, just the sound of my dad's footsteps coming down the hallway used to shut us kids right up. I understood as a child that my Dad was in charge, so was my Mom. Let’s face it, in many ways they still are. But, it wasn’t just fear of punishment that kept me on the straight and narrow, I was learning to respect their authority, and that began developing in my earliest years.

The truth of the matter is the breakdown of family values in this country is one of the greatest battles we face as a nation. The sad fact is that five out of every six births are to unwed mothers. We have become a nation of wounded souls giving birth to wounded souls. Is it any wonder that so many kids today can barely read, pass a test, or say no to drugs and alcohol? Did you know that the majority of violent criminals are teenagers?

It has been rightly observed throughout history that the family is the backbone of society. It always has been the first building block to a successful society. Our very existence as a safe and loving community is dependent upon the success of the family.

Nobody cares more for our personal well being, outside of our parents, than God. Healthy families produce healthy people, and a healthy nation. I also want to point out that scriptures say nothing about an “age of maturity,” a time when you suddenly are free from respecting and honoring your parents. Growing from childhood to adulthood is not a time of moving spiritually away from your family. Your family is eternal, and honoring them has eternal as well as earthly consequences.

A healthy family is the place we learn about life. We learn things about living together as a family and as a society. Family life is the path to a great deal of life’s lessons. You want to know about conflict resolution, financial management, love, acceptance, failure, success, communication – you name it – your family should be the place to go.

Sadly, the world today looks at families in a different light. For many, the family just isn’t important and too often God isn’t important either. Yet we are all born with this primal need to know who we are. Our very nature craves being loved by the two people called mom and dad. If we lose that connection, our identities blur and it weakens not only ourselves but our nation – and yes, our connection to God.

Yes, there are some very imperfect parents – abusive, absent, and substance addicted, but the commandment has no “clauses” that excuse our responsibility to honor them. Even though their actions may have brought us pain, they have after all, brought us into this world.

"Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord." (Colossians 3:20).

Do you want to know how to please God? Read his commandments to us. Obey them – not just a few – but all of them. Obeying and honoring your parents pleases the Lord. As I mentioned, even if they aren’t particularly lovable, the commandment has no exception clauses, and no expiration date as to our responsibility to it.

Honoring your father and mother is never more apparent than when you have children of your own. Suddenly you understand what you owe your parents. And then you take all the good they have given to you and pass it on.

Be Honorable,

Bishop Ian

Remembering the Sabbath

2010-10-10T15:35:00.000-07:00

Life can get pretty busy at times. As the hours pass, you channel your limited supply of energy into work, relationships, activities, and service. All worthwhile endeavors, but don’t forget to save time and give yourself a rest.

God gave us the example of rest by stopping on the seventh day of creation.

And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. (Genesis 2:2)

Instead of encouraging us to beat our tired bodies into a stressful wreck, God sets the precedent.

Look at commandment #4: “Remember to dedicate the Sabbath day.” (Exodus 20:8)

Isaiah followed with this reminder: “Keep the Sabbath day holy. Don’t pursue your own interests on that day, but enjoy the Sabbath and speak of it with delight as the Lord’s holy day.” (Isaiah 58:13)

Enjoy it, but don’t pursue my interests? Think it sounds like a paradox? It is. We should embrace a discipline in our lives that ultimately leads from work to rest. We refocus our hearts, re-energize our spirits, and reorder our lives around God by setting aside time to rest our souls. True Sabbath-keeping is far more than an ancient, outdated rule; it’s also more than a vacation from work. Confused? I thought so.

Sabbath’s Purpose ~

Jesus proclaimed, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:27)

He shattered the idea of rules for the sake of rules, emphasizing that the Sabbath is not about blind legalism. As we have seen in our Gospel readings for Trinity 16 and 17, Jesus broke many Sabbath rules by healing and meeting needs, He revealed God’s love for people over practice.

In Hebrew, the word for Sabbath, Shabbat, literally means to cease or to stop. Look at it this way… In Sabbath-keeping, we take this day to stop and honor the creator and remember our humanity. Unlike God, we cannot work without stopping. We need rest.

Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you. (Deuteronomy 5:12)

Deuteronomy on the other hand, commands us to observe the Sabbath as it was originally a time to observe or celebrate God’s freeing His people from the yoke of slavery. In a similar way, we observe Sabbath because we’re not forced to toil every day as those in captivity. We are free to rest.

When we celebrate Sabbath, we are declaring that we are more than our work. Our lives are not dollar signs nor are they our endeavors, no matter how noble. Work ceases to define us because through spending time with God, He redefines us as His children.

Let’s face it, most of us don’t live the 'prairie home companion' life. Our priorities get out of whack. A day for Sabbath rest also helps us to reorder our lives around God, not ourselves. Sabbath is a day “to the Lord your God,” (Exodus 20:10; Deuteronomy 5:14). In observing the Sabbath, we are both giving a gift to God and imitating Him. We recognize that it’s God’s world, and we need to stop our interfering.

In my opinion, that’s what’s missing from a Christian Sabbath - a true cessation from work and the world, a time wholly set apart for worship. I think we have lost that sense of the point of Shabbat, is to reorient our lives toward God.

I think what’s important is to remember that before we keep a Sabbath day, we need a Sabbath heart. To have a Sabbath heart, means we reflect on who God is. Our prayer book worship reminds us of our dependence on Him for salvation and even our every breath. The reason for structure and liturgy in our worship is to keep us focused that our worship is a spiritual observance, not a ritual.

OK, I know what you’re thinking; "this Sabbath stuff sounds great! But seriously Bishop Ian, I have five deadlines, a boss breathing down my neck, a relationship going south, a mortgage payment, kids that don’t do homework, etc. There’s no time to rest."

I get it, but the Sabbath is more than a nice idea. So, start with this simple exercise; learn to stop. Cease doing what you have to do, and do what you need to do for your soul’s health - that is the basic meaning of Shabbat. Enjoy a day without a to-do list. Honor God through a Sabbath. Refrain from housekeeping, worry, and problem-solving. Avoid those things that might distract you from soaking up the presence of God. Try to avoid the topics of work and money in your conversations.

The idea is not to barricade yourself from the world, but it is to center your entire being on experiencing joy in the presence of God. The goal of Sabbath-keeping is to spend time enjoying God so that you may know Him and love Him more. All else is secondary.

Be a Sabbath-keeper,

Bishop Ian

What is Truth?

2010-09-23T16:06:00.000-07:00

I have been having an email conversation with an individual regarding Christianity and my opinions regarding my belief in the scriptures; The Word of God as truth. So then came the question, "What is truth?"

It’s a very simple question. Of course, answering it isn't so simple. We can offer definitions like, "Truth is that which conforms to reality, fact, or actuality." But this definition is not complete because its definition is open to interpretation and can be used in a wide variety of ways. What is reality? What is fact? What is actuality? How does perception affect truth? We can spend all day asking one question after the other which leads to another and we end up getting half an answer. It’s like throwing a ball against a wall. It must get half way there, and then half way of the remaining distance, and then half of that distance, and so on. But, an infinite number of halves in this scenario never make a whole.

The ball-against-the-wall scenario simply illustrates that defining and redefining things as we try to approach a goal and actually prevents us from getting to that goal. This is what philosophy does sometimes as it seeks to examine truth. It sometimes clouds issues so much, that nothing can be known for sure.

But, even though it is true that an infinite number of halves do not equal a whole, we can "prove" that it does by simply throwing a ball at a wall and watching it bounce off. Trust me I checked out my theory with a college math professor I have coffee with once in a while, and he claims the ½ exercise it is a mathematical truth. The problem with my inquisitive friend is that the answers aren’t always lock step with just the “truth” per se, but in its application. The problem applied to asking the ultimate question, “So what is Truth,” becomes an exercise in verbal gymnastics.

"See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ," (Col 2:8 ).

In order for truth to be defined properly, it would have to be a factual and logical. Simply put, it would have to be true. So let me do a little twisting of your noodle by addressing what truth is not. Truth is not error. Truth is not self-contradictory. Truth is not deception. Yes, I know, I am way ahead of you, it could be true that someone is being deceptive, but the deception itself isn't truth.

My friend looks at things as relative to the next, all points of view are equally valid and all truth is relative to the individual. If it works for you then it must be “truth.” If this were true, then it would seem that this is the only truth relativism would have to offer. But, the problem with this kind of thinking, as it is in reality, relativism isn't true for the following basic reason. If what is true for me is that relativism is false, then is it true that relativism is false? 1) If you say no, then what is true for me is not true and relativism is false. 2) If you say yes, then relativism is false. Relativism seems to defy the very nature of truth; namely, that truth is not self-contradictory.

So here’s the deal. If there is such a thing as truth, then we should be able to find it. If truth cannot be known, then it probably doesn't exist. But, it does exist. For example, we know it is a true statement that you are reading my blog.

Is there such a thing as something that is always true all the time? Yes absolutely. For example, I wrote about Stephen Hawking who claimed that gravity not God started the universe. Basically, I wrote that the “universe cannot bring itself into existence." This is an absolutely true statement. In order for something to bring itself into existence, it would have to exist in order to be able to perform an action. But if it already existed, then it isn't possible to bring itself into existence since it already exists. Likewise, if it does not exist then it has no ability to perform any creative action since it didn't exist in the first place. Therefore, "Something cannot bring itself into existence," is an absolute truth.

This is a truth found in logic, but there are truths that are not logical by nature. It is true that I love my wife... a lot. This isn't logically provable via gravitational influences and formulas and logic paradigms, but it is true. So I can say that truth conforms and affirms reality and/or logic.

Is this what relativism does? Does relativism confirm to reality and logic? Actually, yes - relatively speaking. Is there an absolute right or wrong way regarding which side of your head you should part your hair, if you part it at all? So to answer my friend, there are relative "truths" that are different for different people. But, these are relativistic by nature. As an example; people drive on the right side of the street in America and on the left in England. I like to watch science fiction and not musicals. Some may say snow is better than rain, etc. These things are relative to culture, individuals, preferences…not God.

It boils down to this, if there is such a thing as truth apart from cultural and personal preferences, we must acknowledge that we by nature are looking for something greater than ourselves, something that transcends culture and individual inclinations. To do this is to look beyond ourselves and outside of ourselves. In essence, it means we are looking for God. God would be truth, the absolute and true essence of being and reality who is the author of all truth. If you are interested in truth beyond yourself, then you must look to God.

"But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him." (John 4:23)

For the Christian, the ultimate expression of truth is found in the Bible, in Jesus who said,

"I am the way, the truth, and the life..." (John 14:16)

Of course, most philosophers and skeptics will dismiss His claim, but for the Christian, He is the mainstay of hope, security, and guidance. Jesus, who walked on water, claimed to be divine, rose from the dead, and said that He was the truth and the originator of truth. If Jesus is wrong, then we should ignore Him. But, if He is right, then it is true that we should listen to Him.

The eyewitnesses wrote what they saw. They were with Him. They watched Him perform many miracles, heal the sick, calm a storm with a command, and even rise from the dead. Either you believe or dismiss these claims. If you dismiss them, that is your prerogative. But, if you accept them, then you are faced with decisions to make about Jesus. What will you believe about Him? What will you decide about Him? Is He true? Is what He said true?

Truth always conforms to reality. The truth is, Jesus performed many miracles and rose from the dead. So my friend is asking the wrong queston. The truth isn't about "what", it's about "who."

Be grounded in reality,

Bishop Ian

Resistance Training

2010-09-19T16:39:00.000-07:00

As Christians we often act surprised when the good things we try to do don’t go according to plan. Big or small, it’s annoying to say the least and devastating to some depending on the situation.

“He shall wipe every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death or mourning, crying out or pain, for the former world has passed away. (Rev 21:1-5).”

OK, this is the end of the story. John is speaking of a new heaven and earth where God reigns unopposed. The problem is that we’re still in the story, living in the old heaven and earth where there is yet plenty of opposition to Christians and the Lordship of Jesus.

Remember the story of Paul in Lystra? He has just been “raked over the coals,” yet in an effort to strengthen the souls of the disciples following him, he encourages them to continue in the faith.

“...and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.” (Acts 14: 22)

Look at what Paul had just come up against.

"But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead." (Acts 14:19)

Paul can speak from experience, having been stoned nearly to death, beaten with rods, jailed, shipwrecked, and bitten by a poisonous snake. When he and his companions came into Macedonia, he says;

“...our bodies had no rest but we were afflicted at every turn – fighting without and fear within.” (2 Cor 7:6).

Following Christ is not a cake walk folks. God provides, but he does not necessarily provide comfort and convenience. Simply put if we never experienced resistance, we’d never grow. I ride a bike as many of you know. I am an endurance rider. It’s about going the distance at a steady pace. There are training exercises I do to expose my already sore muscles to a greater resistance in an effort to increase strength. I push against the pedals in a high gear until my muscles burn to the point of failure. I do sprints in the short training runs so I have the strength to go the distance on the long rides. No pain, no gain.

“...count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.” (James 1:2)

Like I said, endurance riding is about distance at a steady pace. James is telling us that spiritually, God doubles as our personal trainer by increasing resistance from time to time. Resistance may come from inside our own churches as well as outside. So how do we deal with fellow Christians who being difficult? The Lord gives us a commandment; to love one another as he has loved us. (John 13: 34) Remember, Jesus had just washed the disciples’ feet, and Judas had responded to this act of love by slipping out into the darkness to betray his master.

So metaphorically are we to wash the feet even of those who annoy us, or worse, betray us? This does not mean always agreeing with them or acquiescing to their wishes. But we are to love them, and lay our lives down for them. Granted, this is not a natural response. It is natural for us to love those who love us, agree with us, and think like us. We resist loving those who we dislike. And that’s the point. We are no longer limited to what comes naturally, we must strive to love when it’s difficult as well.

The death and resurrection of Christ has spread God’s supernatural love upon the earth. We have become “sharers in the divine nature” (2 Pet 1:4), and we know from John that the nature of God is love (1 John 4:8).

It is a very painful experience to love those who don’t like us or may even wish us harm and we resist, yes there’s that word again. Yet, scriptures tell us we are to love one another so that our joy might be full. But that’s not the main reason. The world needs to know that Jesus is different from the many false prophets and phony religions that constantly come and go.

So how will the world know that Jesus is God the Son?

"I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me." (John 17:23)

Good stuff! But what does the world see when it looks upon those who call themselves his disciples? They see division, bitterness, and hypocrisy that eats away at the fabric of faith. Soon all that is left to present to the world as evidence of Jesus’ love are nothing more than filthy rags.

If we are to make a difference, if we are to present the Gospel and be disciples, then we are going to be tested, and we are going to have trials. We are going to have resistance added to our daily lives to increase our strength and our faith. Sometimes it is going to leave us spiritually sore.

"In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ." (1 Peter 1: 6-7)

Be Strong,

Bishop Ian

The Silent Majority

2010-09-12T17:29:00.000-07:00

Jesus, the founder of the Christian faith, was being questioned by the Jewish authorities regarding a tribute tax to Caesar. Jesus said, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." Mark 12:13-17 (The same passage appears, slightly modified, in Matthew 22:15-22 and Luke 20:20-26).

For the most part Christians have based their attitudes toward government on this passage. The accepted theology here is that Jesus' statement establishes two separate realms, Caesar's and God's, and that people should render to each what they ask for in their respective realms. This passage has come to be understood as recognizing the existence of two distinct authorities, one spiritual and the other political. The establishment of a separate Church and State was established here in America. With it came the freedom to practice a religion without government intervention.

But much of Islam has no such distinction. Muhammad was a religious and political leader, the Prophet and the head of state. Under his successors, the caliphs, Islam grew into a huge empire and world religion. Islamic sharia, or Holy Law, deals with power, authority, and political philosophy. Specific applications differ among Islamic nations. In an extreme example of this spiritual political blend, Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini once said, "Islam is politics or it is nothing.”

With this mindset, many Muslims believed that the Western world and the United States became infidel invaders; imperialist bullies who desecrate Islamic states by force. European colonialism, Western imperialism, and U. S. policies are at the heart of all the Jihads of recent history. Many Muslims deplore the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan. America and Israel often are seen as collaborators trying to destroy Islam.

Especially disturbing to the Muslim radicals is the Western world’s relationship with rulers of Saudi Arabia -- Islam's Holy Land -- whom they see as warped by greed, graft, and moral corruption. One Saudi diplomat noted after 9/11, "What shocks me most is why they hit America and not us."

But they did hit America, and radical Islamic views of politics played an important role. In the aftermath of 9/11 much has been said about Islam and its growing influence on the western world. Most Americans can’t wrap their head around a religious state and given what most of us see in the Muslim world, Islam is anything but a “Religion of Peace.” Sharia Law is as foreign to us as was Jesus’ statement to the people he spoke to regarding Caesar’s Coin.

These Islamic laws in practice are brutal to the western observer; they are barbaric, and what makes it even more disturbing is it is mainly levied against women and children. Let’s face it, we in the U.S. are loathe to see Sharia Law instituted here no matter how many times the so called “moderate Imams” tell us how peaceful their religion is and how tolerant the west must be.

The simple fact is that the radicals rule Islam at this moment in history. It is the radicals who march shouting, “Death to America”. It is the radicals who wage any one of 50 wars worldwide. It is the radicals who systematically slaughter Christians, Jews or anyone else who aren’t them. It is the radicals who bomb, behead, murder, and honor-kill. It is the radicals who take over mosque after mosque. It is the radicals who zealously spread the doctrine of stoning, physical abuse, and mutilation. It is the radicals who teach their young to kill and to become suicide bombers. The hard, quantifiable fact is that the peaceful majority including Muslims, Christians, and Jews in the Western World, the 'silent majority,' say nothing.

Communist Russia was comprised of people who just wanted to live in peace, yet the Russian Communists were responsible for the murder of about 20 million people. The peaceful majority were irrelevant. China's huge population was peaceful as well, but Chinese Communists managed to kill 70 million people.

The average Japanese prior to World War II was not a warmongering sadist. Yet, Japan murdered and slaughtered its way across South East Asia that included the systematic murder of 12 million Chinese civilians; most killed by swords, shovels, and bayonets.

I have a brother. He isn’t born of my family, yet I love him and consider him as such. He is a man who spent his youth under the thumb of the communist party in the days of the USSR. He watched as members of his family disappeared for having a viewpoint that differed from the party. He, with others, could say nothing without fear of it being repeated to the authorities; the authorities who were always looking for the next example of what would happen to those who were in non-compliance with the law. The basic premise was that if you aren’t one of us, you must be one of them. My “brother” is a Jew from the Ukraine… a man of God, a scholar of the Book, a man of peace. He is also a Rabbi. He has seen what happens to the silent majority.

Lastly, I was asked recently to participate in an interview offering my opinion on the proposed Quran burnings in Gainesville. I declined the offer; they weren’t looking for an educated viewpoint. They wanted to pick a fight. But I will ask this question. Does burning the Quran change what is written in it? How about the Bible? Yet, everyone from the Pope to Barrack Hussein Obama are bending over backwards to appease radical Islam because some “pastor” gets it in his head to BBQ the Quran. Once again the Muslim World is out burning U.S. flags and threatening death to all Christians; Imams telling the people in the name of their “religion of peace” that they are obligated to kill all Americans on sight.

Let’s be honest here. There is never going to be a way the Western world can appease radical Islam. There will always be something else that they find offensive.

If you want to silence the rising voice of radical Islam, know what’s in your Book first. Be able to defend the Christian Faith first. Once you do that, burning any other religions book will be irrelevant.

Be that Voice,

Bishop Ian

How Original

2010-09-05T16:17:00.000-07:00

How original; scientists claiming that creation is the product of random acts of gravitational forces, and well… compressed gas. According to Stephen Hawking, the laws of physics, not the will of God, provide the real explanation as to how life on Earth came into being. The Big Bang, he argues, was the inevitable consequence of these laws, “because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing.”

Unfortunately, while Hawking's argument is being hailed as controversial and ground-breaking, this is old news folks. For years other scientists have made similar claims, maintaining that the awesome, sophisticated creativity of the world around us can be explained by simple physical laws such as gravity. But then Stephen Hawking said it so it must be true. But then where did gravity come from?

For me, as a Christian the laws of physics and science only reinforce my faith in an intelligent, divine creator. The more I understand science, the more I believe in God because of my wonder at the depth and sophistication of creation. The very reason science flourished so vigorously in the 16th and 17th centuries was precisely because of the belief that the laws of nature, which were then being discovered and defined, reflect and point to the influence of a divine law-giver. Here, in the 21st century, almost every scientist in the world will be the first to tell you that they don’t need God to explain the universe. That’s a problem because it’s two different sides of the same coin.

The basic difference between science and religion is this. Science is about explanation. Religion is about interpretation. Science takes things apart to see how they work. Religion puts things together for us to see what they mean. They are different pursuits for the same purpose.

Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things,and for thy pleasure they are and were created. Revelation 4.11

God consistently throughout Scripture wants to be known and acknowledged as the Creator of all things. Isaac Newton said that, "He is want to be called Lord God, Universal Ruler."

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. Psalm 19:1-2

I am always skeptical when a guy like Hawking shows up with a controversial opinion about the existence of God or the lack thereof. It’s the old Science vs. Religion debate that has gone on for centuries and is always a media crowd pleaser. As a guy with a background in media, I know it is a fundamental law of PR that anything as controversial as the God-science debate is a sure fire source of publicity. That kind of PR is always welcome when one has a book to sell.

What would we do for entertainment without scientists telling us, with breathless excitement that, “God did not create the Universe,” as if they were the first to tell the world about it? Stephen Hawking is the latest, but certainly not the first.

For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else. Isaiah 45:18

Be in awe,

Bishop Ian

Why Use A Liturgy?

2010-08-29T16:52:00.000-07:00

It’s an interesting question and one I was asked recently by an individual who thought that liturgical worship was unbiblical.

He was surprised to discover that we liturgical Christians take our cues from the Bible. It comes from the worship mandated by God in the Old Testament in what is called the Deuteronomic Liturgy. It describes how God wanted the temple set up and how we are to worship Him.

One of my grievances with contemporary worship is that the focus easily falls on the self/individual instead of on God. Not only is the corporate character of worship lost, but the goal and purpose of worship is lost. Many contemporary praise and worship songs focus more on one’s feelings, hopes, desires, etc. than on God. It’s been my observation that what is called contemporary worship is most conducive for the people rather than what is most glorifying to God.

The contemporary service literally rises or falls on the individual and his or her sermon. It becomes a 45 minute lecture complete with graphs, charts and handouts. But this is not the model of worship Scripture gives us. What I see happening is that the contemporary pastor has forgotten that worship is not the same as teaching. We need to return to authentic forms of worship, we need to re-learn how to worship again.

Liturgy is the form and content of the worship of the early, ancient church. It includes the Psalms, creeds, hymns, and verses used by the earliest Christians. It exists and has connected us as God’s people throughout time.

In the liturgy we recite the Kyrie, “Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy,” which has its origins in the Hebrew Hosannah. It was later used by the ancient Greek Christians and was standardized by the fourth century. The Gloria in Excelsis was derived from the angelic hymn used to announce the birth of Jesus. All of the major components of the liturgy, including the Eucharistic prayer, find their origins in Jewish, Biblical, or very early Christian worship.

Liturgy also invites participants to worship God holistically with body, mind, and spirit. It’s an invitation to worship more fully. Our intellects may be engaged by a sermon or teaching, but in contemporary worship our bodies usually are not. Participants should not be mere spectators. In a liturgical worship environment, one’s body and senses are fully engaged. Your body participates along with your mind and spirit through the physical acts of kneeling, rising, and coming forward to the altar. The senses are engaged through visual means in art, candles, symbol, and through the hearing and singing of music, as well as through taste and touch in Communion. All of these invite us to lift up our hearts, minds, and bodies to God in praise, adoration, and worship.

A part of worshipping God holistically with our bodies is something we all hear at the liturgy to “offer yourselves as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to the Lord” (Romans 12:1).

Our faith is an incarnation faith. (Incarnation is the embodiment of the spiritual in a material form.) Christianity is focused on a person: Jesus Christ who is God Incarnate. It’s God’s way of speaking through people and the prophets, God communicating to us through the scriptures, and through Jesus Christ himself, the ultimate incarnation. Liturgy allows us to take this incarnation experience and utilize it fully. We are called to be open to God’s touch and message and can expect to see it in the beauty of creation, and in the rhythm of worship; in water, bread, wine, or in the radiance of a candle flame - a God who graciously comes to us in these ordinary, earthly ways - just as God came to us in God the Son.

Be Liturgical,

Bishop Ian

Sacred Ground

2010-08-22T12:28:00.000-07:00

Over the last few weeks the rights of Muslims has dominated discussions regarding the building of a mosque at Ground Zero in New York City. The whole issue rests not so much with the building of a mosque but it has become a human rights debate regarding the treatment of Muslims here in the US. We are somehow “racist” for opposing the building of this Muslim Cultural Center when it is clearly inappropriate. Those openly critical of Islam are sometimes dubiously slurred as racists, regardless of what their true views on race may be. In fact, Islam is not a race; Islam has nothing at all to do with genetics. It is an ideology – a set of beliefs about individual behavior and the rules of society. Neither are Muslims a race of people. In fact, there are Muslims of all races. So criticizing Islam is not racism. There is no such thing as "anti-Muslim racism" any more than it makes sense to pretend that there is "anti-Christian racism," "anti-Methodist racism," or "anti-Capitalist racism."

Ground Zero in New York is truly sacred ground. A mosque being built on the spot is not the symbol of healing for a nation. It picks the scab and is more a “Victory” monument for radical Islam despite what the Muslim and political leadership claim. Not one of the Imams engaged in this project have come out against the atrocities committed there on 9/11. In fact they blame the US and its policies towards Muslim nations as the reason this occurred. It’s our fault and we got what we deserved. But is that all there is to the story? While left wing human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International (which even went the politically correct route of appointing a Muslim Secretary General) have jumped in to the business of protecting the rights of Muslims in the West with both feet. Yet very little attention is paid to the rights of Jews or Christians living in Muslim countries. Try building a Christian church or Synagogue in Saudi Arabia, or Yemen, or Iran. While Muslims incessantly shout about their rights in Europe, America and Israel, it might be a good idea to take a look at how non-Muslims are treated in Muslim countries. As much as 90 percent of Dubai is run by foreign guest workers who slave away for the Emirs. As much as 40 percent of Saudi Arabia consists of foreign guest workers and is built on the foreign oil companies they seized, built by American and British oil workers, serviced by Asian and African laborers. Many have their passports seized and are housed in little more than slave labor camps. Keep an eye out on who funds the Ground Zero Mosque as many of the organizations clamoring for the rights of Muslims in the West are either Saudi fronts, such as CAIR (Council on American Islamic Relations), or Saudi funded, such as Human Rights Watch.

Until the Muslim world gives the same rights to non-Muslims as to Muslims, the same rights to women as to men... Muslims have no right to make human rights demands of anyone else. When religious minorities can live in peace and security in the Muslim world, only then can Muslims issue demands to non-Muslim countries.If Muslims abroad were treated as they treat others at home, they would enjoy few rights, they would be murdered at random and their attackers let off with a fine, their children would be seized to be converted to another religion and their women would be jailed for not complying with local customs. Instead, Muslims enjoy legal equality in their host countries, even as they spread the poison of an Islamist ideology that calls for the murder of non-Muslims - sometimes acting on it. Times Square and Fort Hood are good examples.Despite all the talk about hate crimes against mosques, Muslims abroad have committed far more violent attacks on other people's houses of worship, than have been committed against theirs. Muslim rapes far outweigh any rapes of Muslims. Muslim terrorist attacks on non-Muslims far outweigh any terrorist attacks carried out against Muslims.

Yet the politicians and the media go out of their way to appease the Muslim leadership with the endless barrage of "Religion of Peace" propaganda. Yet, we have the squealing by Saudi front groups crying about the fate of Muslims living high on the hog in America, while spinning their favorite anthem of, “Death to Everyone Who Isn't Us.” Perhaps before Muslims here in the US complain about their rights, they should first begin honoring the rights of non-Muslims here and in their home countries. The Qur’an places an enormous distinction between Muslims and non-Muslims that is hard to miss. Believers are loved by God, whereas infidels are hated to the extent that they are tortured for eternity (3:32, 4:56) merely for not believing. Muslims are told to shun unbelievers (3:118), who are called “helpers of evil” (25:55), “wicked” (4:160), “fond of lies” (5:42) and compared to the worst of animals (8:55, 7:176, 7:179). Members of Islam are told to be merciful to each other, but ruthless to those outside of the faith (48:29). Violence is also sanctioned against those who defy Islamic rule (8:12-13, 9:5).

So, if Muslims were a race, Islam would not only be a racist ideology, but arguably the most hateful and destructive in history. It is bad enough that hundreds of millions of people have been killed in the last fourteen centuries by divinely sanctioned Jihad and slavery, yet here they stand espousing religious supremacy and racial superiority ready once again to build a mosque on top of the blood and ruble of a place considered “Sacred Ground” by the families and friends of the victims of 9/11. A place their “Religion of Peace” helped to destroy.

Building a “Muslim Cultural Center” at ground zero is the wrong place. It always will be.

Be Informed,

Bishop Ian

Being Good Enough

2010-08-07T16:30:00.000-07:00

When a good person dies, you will always hear someone remark, “Well if anyone’s in heaven, its Grandpa Joe, He was such a good man. He was so good you know; he’d give you the shirt off his back.” Or how about, “She’s in heaven now; she was such a good and kind person.”

Well, OK, who wouldn’t want to have a funeral like that? Imagine an alternative one with everyone standing hand-in-hand at Aunt Bessie’s graveside service with the rousing chorus of, Ding Dong the Witch is Dead, offered as the recessional hymn.

There are many people who were good in life and have left a wonderful legacy to their family and friends with great memories for those left behind. Still, is being good, good enough? Now that’s a good question. When you consider the length of eternity it’s pretty important to understand how to get into heaven. And if goodness does it, exactly how much of it do you need for the Golden Ticket?

If you die young and haven’t had much chance to chalk up a lot of “good” what happens then? Since we have all done some bad stuff in life, does it cancel out whatever we have done that’s good? Then, are we looking at scales to see which has the greater weight? What happens if we do good but with bad motive? Are we ever good enough?

The truth is that no one is good enough on their own to get into heaven. Heaven is the home of Almighty God who is holy and pure and perfect. How can any of us rightfully stand in his presence?

“All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags.” (Isaiah 64:6).

Uh Oh! There it is in black and white. According to Isaiah, being good isn’t good enough. Now what? Being stuck for eternity in the depths of the hoary underworld with Satan and all his minions? Is there any other way?

According to the Bible, God bypassed our good because it wasn’t good enough and made a better and easier way to spend eternity with him. How about if someone who really is good stands in for us? How about if we get in on somebody else’s Golden Ticket? That’s exactly what happened.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)

God the Father sent Jesus, God the Son, to take the punishment for our sins so we could get into heaven on His goodness.

Look at it this way; imagine standing before the throne of God and being asked to justify your life. “How do you plead; guilty or innocent”? Tough one, eh? If you plead innocent you are a liar because we are all guilty by our very sin nature. But then if you plead guilty you are condemning yourself to eternity in H.E. double hockeysticks. Here’s the deal, as a Christian you always Plead the blood! It is the blood of Jesus, God the Son that secures heaven for any of us.

Well gee Bishop Ian; if being good doesn’t secure heaven does it have any value? Absolutely; doing good is our legacy if we have accepted the righteousness of Christ and become his disciples. Look again at the verse above, and then check out the one below.

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10)

Certainly we are supposed to do good every chance we get and we will receive rewards in heaven (though not heaven itself) based on our good works while we lived. Being good extends the kingdom of God here upon the earth and as His disciples we are all called to that service.

No one wants to think of a good man or woman being anywhere after death other than heaven. I understand that. But the real question is: when he or she is before God to give an account of their life; whose goodness are they standing on? What about you?

Be Standing with Christ,

Bishop Ian

Santa Claus is Suing the Pope

2010-08-01T11:51:00.000-07:00

Have you seen this? No kidding, a guy named Thomas O’Connor, a 63-year-old Lake Tahoe man, who legally changed his name to Santa Claus (no middle initial) in 2005, is suing the Pope. The article reveals that he was recently elevated to the title of missionary bishop in the Apostles' Anglican Church, an ecumenical Christian denomination based in Ohio and Michigan. On behalf of the many children sexually abused by priests, his mission is to, “explore and utilize a variety of legal means,” the statement read in part, "to hold the Roman Catholic Church, especially the Pope and the Vatican, accountable for the suffering of many thousands of vulnerable children at the hands of clergy, straight and gay, young and old, celibate or not."

I know, it sounds like an episode of “Boston Legal.” The jolly old elf shows up at Denny Crane's office with a naughty and nice list with the Pope at the top, and a big bag of coal for all the Roman Catholics in the world. Fuming mad, Denny Crane takes the case and strikes a blow against the church and saves the suffering children.

Don’t get me wrong, like many of you I am appalled at what happened to these children at the hands of those clergy and it was an abomination. Every child deserves to be nurtured, protected and loved. We are called to condemn these actions and every Christian including Roman Catholics have. But here’s the problem. The article says ‘his mission’ is "to hold the Roman Catholic Church, especially the Pope and the Vatican, accountable..."

"If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him." (James 1:5)

The Bible tells us that God wants us to be wise when we deal with people in the name of Christ. Folks, Santa suing the Pope is perhaps the dumbest thing I have ever heard of. Instead of calling for prayer for the victims of these crimes he calls for litigation.

"Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should." (Colossians 4:2-4 )

What did the Apostle Paul do to make sure that he would be wise to those outside the family of God? He devoted himself to prayer, and he asked others to devote themselves in prayer for him. In other words, Paul understood that it was absolutely vital to first go to God about the people before he went to the people about God.

A wise person once said, "Almost every man wastes part of his life in attempts to display qualities which he does not possess." This is a man who is trying to be someone he isn’t and doing it in the name of Christ, as an Anglican bishop. It’s dumb… It’s moronic… It brings no glory to God and makes all of us “Anglicans” appear foolish.

"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses it saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men." (Matthew 5:13)

On the next episode of Boston Legal, The Easter Bunny sues the major candy companies for making children fat.

Be wise, be salty…

Bishop Ian

Perfect Conditions

2010-07-25T17:55:00.000-07:00

"Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap."
(Ecclesiastes 11:4)

This verse is basically saying that if we wait for the perfect conditions to do something we will most likely never get anything done because those perfect conditions never arrive. So what do we do? Take a leap of faith, just a little one, trusting that God will guide and provide.

"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." (Hebrews 11:6)

I just got back from a week in Manchester, Vermont. Two granddaughters were being baptized and many family members were there for the occasion. Many of the family work on Wall Street and were lamenting the current financial situation and recession. It wasn’t that they had no reason to complain as we are indeed in a bad fiscal situation, not just in America but all over the world. Some spoke of current conditions and what needed to take place to allow for growth while others stated it was time to buy gold, guns, and prefab bomb shelters. Unfortunately, there seemed to be no perfect condition available in anyone’s opinion to remedy the current financial issues of the day.

Everyone is looking for the perfect condition to make decisions or to make a forecast for the future. It’s Human Nature; the problem is that we are expressing faith in those conditions rather than in God. Now understand, I am not saying that we blindly barge forward and completely disregard all logical thinking. God has graciously given us a mind that he expects us to use in a sensible way. However, I think you will agree that very often we can allow our sensibility to create all kinds of excuses for not taking the step of faith that honors God.

Writers of the Old and New Testament remind us often that we need to honor God first, and then move forward. “Well you are a Bishop; you’re supposed to have that kind of faith.” Yes the clergy are supposed to set the example but we alone are not the torch bearers of faith for everyone else. To find faith we must trust, to trust we must know God, to know God we must give up self and serve Him who gave us life.

"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." (Ephesians 2:10 )

Will your faith be tested? Of course it will, but take the step anyway. Will you meet with opposition that will challenge your commitment? Of course you will, but take the step anyway. Will you meet with negativity that will question your sanity? Of course you will, but take the step anyway. We honor God when you show trust in God. The families of our two granddaughters’ had faith enough to know they needed to be baptized. That was a small leap of faith.

We had a great time Vermont; we had good weather, good food, and good fellowship. It is always a joy for Robin and me to wander such places as these. Realize that God gave us these beautiful places to play in. If we are faithful in this life, think of the beauty and love He will give us in the next. Fulfill the purpose you have been created for and bring glory to God....you will not be disappointed!

Be of good faith…

Bishop Ian

Space - the Forgotten Frontier

2010-07-11T18:13:00.000-07:00

I don’t often go off on tangents in my Blog. But there are exceptions. Here’s one of them.

NASA's new mission: Building ties to Muslim world.

This was the headline I read on AOL as I ate my breakfast. It was one of those double take moments. I thought, ‘maybe it’s an acute case of dyslexia or my computer juxtaposed a story’.

Nope, as I read on I was horrified (and I don’t use that term lightly) to discover that the new NASA administrator, Charles Bolden, had been given three tasks by President Obama. He was quoted from an AL Jazeera interview no less. “He (Obama) wanted me to help re-inspire children to want to get into science and math; he wanted me to expand our international relationships; and third, and perhaps foremost, he wanted me to find a way to reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with dominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science, math, and engineering." You can’t make this stuff up. NASA’s foremost mission is to make Muslims feel good? I mean the President does realize that the “S” in NASA stands for “Space,” right???

I grew up with astronauts as my heroes. I love astronomy, and I’ve read every book I could find about the space program, and by the astronauts who flew the missions. I’ve seen “From the Earth to the Moon” six times. And now, I wake up to read that the new mission of NASA is to make the Muslim world feel good about their contributions to science, math and engineering? What are we talking about here, two or three guys, who like the Germans of WWlI, escaped fascism and were given an opportunity to build a space program in the confines of freedom and liberty here in the US?

They can’t seriously be trying to give the warm fuzzies to the guys in Iran - those same guys who are trying to come up with a guided missile delivery vehicle to blow up Israel are they? Maybe NASA can have a class on how to build a better IED. "Hi kids. Wanna see science? Today we are going to make an explosive device from common household items." It’s…well, lunacy.

The writer from the Washington Examiner goes on to say, “Obama's proposal stunned U.S. space heroes Neil Armstrong and Eugene Cernan -- the first and last men to walk on the moon -- who, along with Apollo 13 commander Jim Lovell, made a rare public statement denouncing the plan as a "devastating" scheme that "destines our nation to become one of second - or even third-rate stature."

Look, even John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth, who later became a Democratic senator and an Obama supporter, chimed in on the president's plan to rely on the Russians to ferry American astronauts to the international space station. "We're putting ourselves in line for a single-point failure ending the whole manned space program."

I was 6 years old when Glenn orbited the earth. I remember following every mission, from Mercury to Apollo. I was 13 when Armstrong walked on the moon, and I was 16 when Gene Cernan closed the hatch on the Lunar Module and flew home. I stood on the bridge of the USCGC Hammer anchored near Titusville, FL and watched as the last Apollo mission left Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It was the Apollo-Soyuz mission with Deke Slayton, one of the Original 7 Mercury Astronauts, and he was flying his first mission into space. Every launch and every mission I ever watched always left me with one word, WOW! It was a huge source of national pride, not just for me but for most of the nation.

In 1997, I retired from active ministry in the Episcopal Church and went to work at a national TV network in Washington DC as one of the Post Production Supervisors. I bought a small townhouse in Baltimore and commuted to Washington’s Union Station everyday. It was a late night and I was waiting to take the last MARC train - the 10:15 back to Baltimore. There were three of us in the terminal area, when two spry elderly people came and sat next to me. He looked at me smiled and said; “How are you tonight young man.” It was John Glenn, and his wife Annie. It was another one word moment - I was sitting next to Mercury Astronaut John Glenn!!!. WOW…

He was taking the train to NYC to do one of the national morning TV shows before heading back to Florida. He was training for his trip back to space and he had just spent the evening with President Clinton.

I worried about being intrusive especially with a living legend so I congratulated him on his upcoming flight and I thanked him for his service and I told him how I remembered his first flight even as a young child of 6 years old. I rambled on about how he and the others had inspired me to get a telescope and study astronomy and learn about rockets and space. He smiled, stood up and shook my hand and said, “Young man, I am glad to hear you say that. I get asked all the time why I am doing this, and that is the reason - that’s it right there, what you just said, the reason I’m going back up, to inspire young people to start looking up again.”

Now c’mon folks, NASA for the last 50 years has been about Space. When NASA put John Glenn into orbit and landed Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the Moon, the whole world went, WOW. They have done things in their fifty year history that made people; ordinary people like me from all over the world look up again and say WOW.

We have a president whose vision of America’s greatness lies in our humility, rather than the greatness we have achieved as a nation. Nothing embodied that greatness like the accomplishments of NASA. Making Muslims feel better??? Yes, I thought, WOW, when I read the article. It wasn’t the good kind of WOW factor. This is politics, the worst kind; NASA deserves better. America deserves better. All of mankind, who NASA has inspired for fifty years, deserve better.

Be Inspired,

Bishop Ian (boldly going where I haven't gone before)

The Fourth of July: Remembering America as a Nation Under God

2010-07-04T15:11:00.000-07:00

"The highest glory of the American Revolution was this: that it connected in one indissoluble bond the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity."

- John Quincy Adams

The signers intended the Declaration of Independence to officiate the separation between America and Great Britain. However, they based the Declaration, which has served as a foundation for the beginning of the American nation, upon a greater foundational belief that God, or as written in the Declaration, a “Creator,” was the source for men’s irrevocable rights.
Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration, also believed, "God, who gave us life gave us liberty.”

Two of the Continental Congress’ first actions were to hire military chaplains and to purchase 20,000 Bibles to remedy a national shortage.

Although America was already a free nation during the presidency of George Washington, as the first president of the United States, he suggested that only religion could uphold its morality. During his farewell address he said, "And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle."

The first settlers in America, the Pilgrims, clearly stated the purpose for their voyage even before stepping off the Mayflower; “...undertaken for the glory of God and the advancement of the Christian faith...”

The U.S. Supreme Court also identified America as a Christian nation in 1892 after 10 years of examining hundreds of documents on the foundation of the country. The justices came to the unanimous conclusion that the documents undeniably "add a volume of unofficial declarations to the mass of organic utterances that this is a religious people, a Christian nation."

After the constitution had been ratified, John Adams, the second president of the United States, summed the document up this way. “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."

The late Ronald Reagan, 40th President of the United States, held the conviction that God cannot and should not be moved from the social and governmental construct of America. He said, "Without God there is no virtue because there is no prompting of the conscience....without God there is a coarsening of the society; without God democracy will not and cannot long endure....If we ever forget that we are one Nation under God, then we will be a Nation gone under."

People who want to remove all mention of a God from schools, public buildings, government, and society in general, use the First Amendment to the Constitution as their rallying point. But if you read that amendment carefully, you will note that the words "separation of church and state" do not appear. The amendment simply prohibits "an establishment of religion." That means there should be no nationally mandated or tax supported church. The amendment promises the federal government will not start a national church, like England has the Church of England.

We have to answer to God for our national life, because it was God who gave us our national life. It was God who was often called upon by our leaders and credited with our victory in America’s War for Independence, and not just "good fortune" or "luck" that allowed thirteen colonies to defeat the greatest military power in the world at that time.

Be Patriotic,

Bishop Ian

Take Your Bible for a Walk

2010-06-27T13:12:00.000-07:00

I recently read an on-line article from my old seminary and discovered that The Rev. Shunji F. Nishi, acting dean at the time I attended, and my Philosophical Theology professor, had died last May. He was an interesting professor and yes, very philosophical. He asked us one day, “What is the commandment of Jesus most people follow today?” We gave him several scriptures. I quoted Mark 16:15. With a wry smile and a bit of sarcasm, Professor Nishi quoted Mark 7:36.

“And he charged them that they should tell no man…”

His point of course is that most professing Christians are reluctant to talk about the Gospel. Unfortunately, Professor Nishi was right. Most people when given an opportunity will choose to say nothing about their faith; in fact most professing Christians don’t even open their Bibles. They rely on the personality in the pulpit to tell them what they should believe.

Jesus said, “Go in into all the entire world and preach the Gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15) The problem? Most Christians have no idea how to do that. Communicating the simple truth of the Gospel is elusive to those who never crack a Bible past Sunday morning. Jesus’ intention in Mark 16:15 wasn’t that our only obligation was to send and support missionaries, or go on the occasional mission trip. While these works are wonderful and needed, it isn’t the sum total of our responsibilities. The mission field is right out the front door. And Jesus’ admonition in Mark 16:15 applies to all of us. We live in amazing technological times. We have the ability to travel and communicate further than we ever have - whether by plane, train, automobile, or electronically. Everyone has a cell phone; texting and tweeting are now part of the American lexicon. Internet access that connects us globally is a few keystrokes away. Our voice and image has the ability to travel further and in a shorter amount of time than Professor Nishi or any of us could ever have imagined twenty-five years ago. Yet, we have friends, neighbors, co-workers, even family members who have never heard the Gospel. We stand next to lost souls in line at the grocery store; they’re sitting next to us in restaurants, movie theaters, and airplanes.

We are willing to carry on small talk with total strangers about our favorite sports team, our hobbies, or our family. How about talking about your church, the Bible, your salvation? I know, many of you will say you aren’t good with scriptures or you don’t know how to start the conversation without feeling like a “Jesus Freak.” Well - there are worse things you could be.

I have a challenge to all my blog readers. It is the same challenge the good professor gave our class all those years ago. Take the biggest Bible you can find, and carry it with you for a week; in full view - out in the open - everywhere you go. Don’t open it; just take it with you. Let me know how many opportunities to talk about your faith arise from this simple exercise. I was amazed at the looks I got, and more amazed at the opportunities I had to speak about what was in the book.

If you are doing your part, keep it up! If you’re not doing your part, please remember the verse after Mark 16:15. “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” (Mark 16:16) Isn’t that something everyone needs to hear?

Be communicating,

Bishop Ian

Don't Just Do Something - Stand There!

2010-06-13T12:28:00.000-07:00

I said that right, “Don’t Just Do Something - Stand There.” You see, the liberal church for years has said, “Let’s not squabble over the Bible and doctrine. Let’s just go out there, open our doors to every sin, every new theology, and preach the message of tolerance, relativism, and personal interpretation. Let’s just do something.”

The bottom line is this; it doesn’t matter whether we go out there if we don’t have the message that saves. So, don’t just do something, stand there on the Bible. Stand there on the truth. Stand there on the gospel. Stand there on what the Bible says about Jesus. Believe that and then we’ll do something.

This spring and summer I have been teaching a series on cults and the occult. Rob, a member of the vestry at St. Andrews in Middleburgh, MA, shares my rabid interest in Apologetics. In one of our many email conversations, he sent me a scripture from Jude, a passage I hadn’t visited for awhile. Jude calls us to be lovingly contentious Christians; to stand with conviction about our faith, to care about truth, to believe in truth, and teach the truth. Why?

For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. (Jude 1:4)

Jude is saying, ‘Here’s why I’m writing to you. There are people in your own congregation who have the name Christian, who say that their teaching is Christian, but they’re leading you astray. They’re teaching you false things. They’re teaching cheap grace and using it as an excuse to live a life of indifference and sin, and they’re denying the biblical historic Jesus Christ.’ Sound familiar? It certainly strikes a chord with most of us battle scarred Anglicans.

The new relativistic theology tells us that it doesn’t matter how you live as long as you’re sincere. It doesn’t matter what your life is like as long as you’re good and kind. It doesn’t matter what you believe about Jesus as long as it is relative to your expression of him.

A false teacher is a flip of the channel away, the opening of a book away, or as close as the nearest progressive congregation. False prophets and false teachers are everywhere. We need to be discerning because truth and good theology matters. What you don’t know can hurt you as false teaching can destroy souls and lives.

And so here’s Jude speaking to a group of Christians who lived in a pluralistic society, a relativistic culture that followed after many gods, many truths, many fashions, and many fads. And lo and behold, here we are 2,000 years later in a culture that’s very relativistic and pluralistic, following after many fads, many fashions, and many gods. Jude is saying to us again - care about the truth - cling to the truth - believe the truth. Be savvy enough about the truth that you can tell a false teacher from a faithful believer. Stick close to the Bible. Stick close to God’s word. Stick close to Jesus Christ. Don’t just do something, Stand There!!!

He’s saying all those things to us. And that word is just as fresh today as when he spoke it 2000 years ago. Thanks Rob, it’s been a while since I’ve looked at Jude, a simple message, with eternal consequences.

Be standing on the truth.

Bishop Ian

A Fine Line

2010-06-06T05:02:00.000-07:00

Occam's Razor - William of Occam was a fourteenth century philosopher who enunciated the principle "pluritas non est ponenda sine necessitate," or "nature likes things as simple as possible." In other words, the simpler the explanation of a given phenomena - that takes into account all the experimental evidence - the more likely it is to be correct. This could also be called the KISS principle.

The Bible tells us that those who have trusted in Jesus as their Lord and Savior have been adopted into the family of God. We have life with God, we are children of God, and we are in the family of God...forever!

"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him." (1 John 3:1)

Pretty simple, and that theme is played over and over again in scriptures. Then why so many variations on the theme, when scriptures from the Old and New Testament clearly reveal God’s plan of salvation and reconciliation through the sacrifice of God the Son?

"But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep." (2 Peter 2:1-3)

I am still amazed by what some of the mainline churches have adopted as “New Spirituality," rejecting the completeness of God’s coming in Jesus Christ. It’s a new name for a very old error. Almost two thousand years ago St. Paul visited Athens. In the midst of all the Grecian idols was an altar inscribed "To the Unknown God" (Acts 17:23). The Greeks thought that they were covering all their religious "bets" by setting up an alter to all gods known and unknown. St. Paul said to them then, "Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious" (Acts 17:22). "Covering your religious bets" is the is the foundation for today’s "spiritual movement."

"(God) who has saved us and called us to a holy life - not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time." (2 Timothy 1:9)

Occam hit the nail on the head. It is the simple truth that leads to true spirituality. Think about it, the three persons of the Trinity knew you, loved you, and called you into the Most Royal Family...not because of your good works, but because of God's purpose and grace given to you in Christ Jesus - before the beginning of time!

God’s plan for reconciliation by nature is "pluritas non est ponenda sine necessitate.” His plan doesn’t get much simpler than that.

"But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility." (Ephesians 2:13-16 NIV)

Be Simplistic,

Bishop Ian

An Alternative Ministry Worth Fighting For

2010-05-30T12:54:00.000-07:00

On September 17, 1944, we were part of the first wave of Allied parachute troops that landed in the Netherlands. We were part of the massive airborne assault codenamed, Operation Market Garden.

The plane carrying me and my comrades from the 101st, encountered heavy anti-aircraft fire as we approached the jump zone. Our pilots were able to hold formation, and for the most part, we were delivered to the correct drop zones.

We made our drop to the west of the main highway near the villages of Zon, St. Oedenrode, and Best. My company, the 506th Parachute Infantry E Company (Easy Company), cleared Zon, but it was slow going with lots of casualties. 1st Battalion, under General Taylor, moved around the village to the south to seize the bridge crossing at the Wilhelmina Canal, but heavy enemy fire completely pinned them down as they tried to approach the bridge. We moved out of Zon and met up with 1st Battalion. We were starting to beat back the German defenses when the Germans blew the bridge.

Some of us were called to form a strike force and we slowly made our way across the river. We were finally able to destroy the Germans who had blown up the bridge and we were able to get everyone across. It was the first time I had seen battle - the first time I saw the carnage of war - the first time I ever saw what lead and bombs could do to flesh. I had lost my faith because of that war…until I met Chaplain Steve 64 years later.

There are many stories like this one. This particular story is told through the eyes of John. He was there in that invasion; 18 years old and fresh out of training. This was his first jump as a member of Easy Company, the “Band of Brothers” made famous by the HBO miniseries of the same name.

Plans are established by counsel; by wise guidance wage war. (Proverbs 20:18)

I want to fast forward a few decades. In the U.S. there are many men and women who participate in military re-enactments. They bring history alive from the Revolutionary War to the Civil War, from the French and Indian War to WWII. One of the Deans of our Diocese, Fr. Stephen DelSignore is a re-enactor. He participates in an alternative ministry as a WWII Army Chaplain – in Easy Company.

Steven participates at the annual “Battle of the Bulge” reenactment at Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania held every January. “Chaplain Steve,” as he is known, serves as the Chaplain for the 101st Airborne - complete with the period uniforms, and an authentic chaplain’s kit issued in the 1940’s.

When Fr. Steven told me about his involvement and how serious he was about this alternative ministry I was enthralled. You see it isn’t about men and women playing soldier. It’s about living our history, and it’s a living memorial to all the heroes of WWII - the fallen as well as those who came home.

The added reality to this memorial is that Fr. Steven is a priest. He takes his ministry with him and is able to impart to men and women, some who may never set foot in a church out side the Fort Indiantown Gap chapel, the grace of God, the Gospel of Christ.

Steven has told me several stories of his time as a Chaplain re-enactor. My favorite is the story of John. Since his experience in Holland, John hadn’t been in a church nor taken communion in over 65 years. He came to the re-enactment as a guest, meeting Chaplain Steve during his visit. By the grace of God, he reconnected with his faith while experiencing this amazing alternative ministry.

Remember, freedom has a price; it can’t be bought with dollars and cents. It can’t be measured by wealth and power. The price of freedom is rows of white markers. This weekend, celebrate your freedom, and remember what it cost.

Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. (Romans 5:2)

Be thankful for freedom,

Bishop Ian

John receives communion - his first since WWII

An Alternative Ministry

2010-05-23T14:10:00.001-07:00

I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings. Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. (1 Corinthians 9:23,24)

As you know I have been blogging and emailing about the Tour de Cure, a 68 mile bicycle ride from Jacksonville to St. Augustine benefiting The American Diabetes Association. It was a fundraising event, nothing “church” about it. Many of you generously donated who are not from the church, but you gave because you knew I am a diabetic and that this event meant a lot to me.

“A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.” (Proverbs 11:25)

The verse from Proverbs tells us we are to be in the business of building up and blessing others. The benefit of doing this is that people are refreshed because we help to refresh them. Your generosity added value to my life as a person living with diabetes because you cared enough about the cause. I was able to raise over $1100.00 dollars and for that I want to thank everyone.
Yesterday’s event wasn’t a “race” per se, yes there were teams in colorful jerseys and assigned rider numbers; there were teams from other states, and street racing teams with $3000.00 dollar carbon fiber frames. There were recumbent bikes, tandem bikes, beach cruisers, and even a tiny little bike with training wheels with its tiny little rider wearing an “I Ride With Diabetes” jersey.

One of my friends and a member of the Church, Dan Crowley joined me for the ride. Dan and his wife Trish picked me up at 6:00 am and dropped Dan and I off at the starting point. The game plan for us was simple. Steady pace and pray we don’t fall off. By God’s grace Dan and I rolled across the finish line 6 hours later. We had ridden 67.8 miles at an average speed of 15.2 miles per hour and without the check point stop times our total ride time was 4hrs and 46 min. We had finished what we started out to do.

There are many ways to give, many worthy causes. When we give we refresh others, as a result you also will be refreshed. You will experience the joy and contentment of knowing that life matters, that you are actually making a difference in the lives of others.

As I have said before. Diabetes changed my life, riding my bike has changed it as well. This is the first time I have ever done a ride for others. It won’t be the last. As Dan and I made our way to the third checkpoint he said, “We need to start our own team.” I agreed, and Team Resurrection was born. Join us or look for us in October, a 60 mile ride to raise money to find a cure for Multiple Sclerosis. This is our alternative ministry and we’re becoming the hands and feet of Christ.

You won’t be able to miss us; next time we will have our own colorful team jersey.

"Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable." (1 Corinthians 9:25)

Be Alternative,

Bishop Ian

Is Jesus God?

2010-05-16T14:14:00.001-07:00

Is Jesus God? It’s a valid question and one that separates “Christians” from – well, everyone else.

As an apologist, one of the first things I do when examining other religions is to look at what the leadership teaches and believes about Jesus. The answer to this question is key. When examining any religion, everything taught and believed depends on this answer.

I blogged last week about my visit to the good people of St. Andrews Protestant Episcopal Church in Middleborough, MA. While there, I was asked to address the vestry regarding the direction and future of our denomination and I shared some of my vision. (Many of the folks on the vestry are former members of TEC - The Episcopal Church.) After the meeting they asked me if I could provide some sort of document that illustrates the differences in belief and practice between the TEC and the Protestant Episcopal Church.

Upon returning home I prepared, as promised, a short list basically outlining the major tenants of Christianity (things every Christian denomination believes), and juxtaposed The Episcopal Church's response to those issues. Those responses came mainly from interviews and publications of their presiding Bishop, Katherine Schori-Jefferts. It was by no means exhaustive but it did provide a clear understanding that under the current leadership, The Episcopal Church denies that Jesus Christ is God. They teach that "all paths lead to God," even though our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ clearly taught, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me" (John 14:6).

In all of my blogging I have never said anything directly derogatory regarding the TEC as I really don’t have much to say. We may have a common past, but their departure in the last three decades from scriptural and moral absolutes clearly has sent them down a path that does not represent my understanding of who Jesus is. Nor do they represent my understanding of the Anglican faith and its practice anymore than non-believers do.

Let me shed a little more light on the subject of who Jesus is…

1) Jesus is the Lord of Creation.

"For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities: all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together." (Colossians 1:16-17)

Jesus is the Creator and Sustainer of all things. He holds all things together, everything seen and unseen, He has power over all. He also has power over our lives and the life of His church. My bible is pretty clear about who He is and who He claims to be.

"My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." (Colossians 2:2-3)

I love these verses because they give a picture of a treasure chest filled to the top with something of great value, the wisdom and knowledge of Christ. So, we are to seek His wisdom and cry out for His knowledge when it comes to the direction of our life. He has all that we need.

"I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6).

If we believe Jesus Christ is telling the truth then all the other paths are dead ends in the most literal sense - they lead to eternal death itself.

2) Jesus is the Lord of the Church.

"And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross." (Colossians 1:18-20)

Jesus is not only the Lord of creation; he is also the Lord of the church. He is the one who gave His life for the church, and He is the one who is the boss of His church. Original Anglicans want to see Him honored and glorified.

Remember, Jesus is the one who brought us into a peace relationship with God the Father, and He did it through the shedding of His blood. To Original Anglicans, Jesus is the Lord of creation and the Lord of His church. He has always been the second person of the Trinity; He is God the Son who was punished for us that we might be reconciled to the Father. He is God!

"So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness." (Colossians 2:6-7)

Be Discerning,

Bishop Ian

The Primary Purpose

2010-05-06T09:51:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, Robin and I made a visit to the congregation of St. Andrews in Middleborough, MA. It was my first visit as Bishop and I was both excited and anxious. Fr. Stephen DelSignore had set up a meeting with the vestry and a reception dinner Saturday night, both of which felt like returning home to long lost friends. Later that night, I told Robin that I felt so at home and at ease with everyone. “Of course,” she said, “this is your purpose in life, and this is what God has called you to do.” I knew that she was right.

Think about it, how you would answer if someone asked, "What is your purpose in life?" Would you answer, “To serve the Lord?” I think most would say that making money and living a comfortable life is their primary purpose.

"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." (Matthew 6:33)

The sermon I preached while at St. Andrews, was on the new spirituality. I spoke about the current fad of replacing the words religion and faith with the word spirituality. This kind of switch may seem harmless at first, especially since a large number of people who call themselves Christians endorse it. Some even call it a new kind of evangelism that helps people get around the so-called barriers of doctrine and dogma. They believe it enables them to get directly to Christ on their own terms. They tell us that, "all religions are true and give us an experience of God.” The problem with calling this a new approach is that it isn’t new at all. It’s the same old rhetoric that goes against the Holy Scriptures, and that it doesn’t lead to Jesus.

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." (John 10:10 )

Make no mistake. Satan knows the end of the story and is indeed the thief described in John 10:10. So when someone tells you, "I’m not into religion, but I am into spirituality," or "I’m not religious, but I am very spiritual," they are also saying, "I wish to exempt myself from the consequences of religion and faith." This exemption is impossible. John 10:10 also tells us that Jesus Christ is not only "True God of true God." He is also "True man of true man."

Jesus Christ is God come to earth, once and for all, in the flesh, for the redemption of the world. His coming ends the possibility that any other "religion" can be true except the worship of God the Father, body and soul, in God the Son, in the grace and fellowship of the Holy Spirit. That is the primary reason for The Protestant Episcopal Church, and the reason the people of St. Andrews gather together every Sunday. They are a people of good purpose, a people of God. And I was as comfortable and at home with them as when I am at my home church.

"Yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live." (1 Corinthians 8:6)

Be of good purpose,

Bishop Ian

Evil: The Explanation

2010-04-25T15:58:00.000-07:00

I have been teaching the adult class at Resurrection Protestant Episcopal Church on comparative religions. We started addressing the questions, What is the Trinity? What is God’s nature? Who is Jesus of the bible? A question came up as we were talking about God and His creation regarding evil as referenced in Isaiah 45:7. What is evil?

I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things. (Isaiah 45:7, KJV)

Basically, they were confused. I had said during class that God did not create evil. Evil exists as the opposite of God’s love and it is rebellion against God’s law. To start with, evil is not really a created thing (unless you know my sister but that’s another story.) Still, it’s a valid question and Isaiah seems to indicate that God created evil. However, the Bible is quite clear that God is not the author of evil and insists that He is incapable of doing so.

God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it? (Numbers 23:19 ESV)

So what’s the deal? Well, Isaiah 45:7 is simply a contrast of opposites, such as darkness is the opposite of light. However, evil is not the opposite of peace. The Hebrew word for peace is shâlôm, which has many meanings, mostly related to the well being of a person – their welfare, health, and prosperity. Râ‛âh, the Hebrew word for evil in the KJV often refers to adversity or distress, misery, injury, calamity. The ESV translates it this way:

I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the LORD, who does all these things. (Isaiah 45:7 ESV)

So the Hebrew word râ‛âh does not refer to moral evil, but calamities. They indicate that the verse refers to God's judgment based upon people's sin, not God as the author of evil.

For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you.
(Psalm 5:4 ESV)

God does bring judgment and calamity (either directly or through human authorities) on those who rebel.

Therefore, whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. (Romans 13:2-4 ESV)

Be the light,

Bishop Ian

What Kind of Sheep Are Ewe?

2010-04-18T18:08:00.000-07:00

In the 1928 Book of Common Prayer, this week’s scripture reading is John 10: 11-19. Jesus describes himself as the Good Shepherd. I always found it strange that the Bible describes Christians as sheep. I mean c’mon sheep are dirty, disobedient, defenseless and dumb (have you ever seen anyone trying to train sheep?). Maybe that’s why the prophet Isaiah wrote:

"We all like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way.." (Isaiah 53:6a)

Well, in my estimation, if we are being honest, Isaiah hits the nail on the head. Isaiah also tells us that in spite of our "sheepness," the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ was willing to be punished for us.

"And the Lord (God the Father) has laid on him (God the Son) the iniquity of us all." (Isaiah 53:6b)

Not only was Jesus willing to be punished in our place as our substitute; he was also willing to lay down his life for us so that we could have eternal life through him.

"I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me - just as the Father knows me and I know the Father - and I lay down my life for the sheep." (John 10:14-15)

To say that this is profound is an astronomical understatement! Think about it. Not only was Jesus willing to be punished as our substitute; and not only was Jesus willing to die the death that we deserved, but John goes on further to say that Jesus came looking for us when we were lost and defenseless.

"I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen (that would be us!). I must bring them also (again he is talking about you and me). They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd." (John 10:16)

We were dirty, disobedient, dumb and defenseless. Yet Jesus, the Good Shepherd, was willing to go through all that he did so that we could be brought into the family of God. Who are we? What is our life that Jesus would actually lay down his life, so that we could have the free gift of eternal life? Take the time in prayer this week to thank our Good Shepherd. Being one of Christ’s flock, a sheep of His pasture, is truly amazing grace!

Be a Sheep,

Bishop Ian

Bike rides, Wildlife and God

2010-04-11T14:05:00.000-07:00

Occasionally someone asks me why I ride a bicycle. I think back to my time as a child and remember it was the best mode of transportation available. It was also the workhorse when I delivered newspapers. As a child I hated gym class. I was a total klutz. I was always the last one picked when choosing team members. I simply wasn't any good at sports, and the taunts of my classmates ensured that I would forever view exercise as torture.

It’s not the same now. Riding my bike gives me two great benefits; first a time in prayer, which is very good for my soul’s health. Second, riding is something I need to do physically as well. I have diabetes (Type II), so it’s also good for my body’s health.

"For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come." (1 Timothy 4:8)

I am redeemed and I don’t fear death. But I am mindful of my responsibility to take care of my body, as well as my soul. As a child, I recall enjoying the time alone with my thoughts as I rode, but I didn't think of it as exercise at the time. Riding my bike felt like total freedom when I was a 10 year old. And in a different way, and for different reasons, it’s also freedom to a 54 year old.

Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. (Romans 12:12)

I like to ride early. I get up, feed the cats, let the dog out, and fill my water bottles. I mentally go over what route I will take, the 22 or the 30 mile course. Each one winds around lakes and trees with lots of wildlife to look at. Occasionally I find the wayward Florida Box turtle that needs a hand up over the curb, or I hear the screech of a Red-shouldered Hawk, or the ospreys hovering over the lakes looking for breakfast. The wild turkeys scratch the ground just at the forest’s perimeter. More importantly it’s my time to be alone with God and my thoughts.

Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. (Colossians 4:2)

So why do I ride? To give thanks to God for my type II Diabetes. I know that sounds strange, but it keeps me focused on my health and it keeps me on my knees. Without it I would not be riding my bike. And it's is a unique and special time alone with God that I never would have had.

Be healthy of body and soul,

Bishop Ian

He Is Risen!

2010-04-04T16:41:00.000-07:00

God in His mercy sent Jesus, God the Son, to once and for all pay the price for sin for all time and eternity. Yet, I am just amazed, given the overwhelming evidence of Jesus as Messiah, that he is not recognized as Savior by the majority of the world. We are blessed in that we can see and celebrate the completed work of Salvation.

The Old Testament prophets recognized him.

The prophet Micah reveals that Bethlehem would be the birthplace of the Messiah, about 700 hundred years before he was born there. Or, how about the prophet Isaiah; he reveals that the Messiah would be born of a Virgin, that he would minister in Galilee, that he would be tortured and killed as a “guilt offering” for the sins of mankind. The Prophet Isaiah also wrote that the Messiah would not remain in the grave but that he would rise again, and “prolong his days.”

But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
(Isaiah 53:5- 10)

The disciples on the road to Emmaus didn't recognize the risen Jesus, as he walked along with them and explained to them all of the things that happened in Jerusalem those previous days.

Mary Magdalene didn't recognize him when he was standing right in front of her until he spoke her name.

Cleophas and the other disciple (who I like to think was Mrs. Cleophas) didn't recognize him until they invited him into their home and he sat down with them at table, took bread, broke it, and gave it to them. They recognized him, says St. Luke, in the "breaking of the bread." (Luke 24:35).

That anti-Christian persecutor, Saul, didn't recognize the risen Lord either - until he was knocked off his high horse. "Who are you Lord?" ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting’” (Acts 9:5). It was the presence of the risen Lord appearing to Saul that transforming and converting him, that made him St. Paul.

So how do we recognize Him? We encounter the risen Lord, the Messiah, in many ways. He is with us in our midst. Recognize him in the Eucharist, in the breaking of the bread. Recognize him in his word in the Sacred Scriptures as he speaks to you. And recognize him in one another in your community of believers because here he dwells in the midst of his Church. This is what we celebrate. This is what makes us an Easter People, we recognize Jesus, and we fall on our face and worship him.

“And he said to them, do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen; He is not here." (Mark 16:6)

Today, Easter Sunday is so much more than a commemoration of a past event. It is a celebration of an event that is happening in our midst now. Look around you and see. The Lord is truly risen. He is risen indeed. He is with us all days until the end of the world!

Be Blessed,

Bishop Ian

On Bended Knee

2010-03-28T15:04:00.000-07:00

"And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow…" (Philippians 2:8-10).

It is a tremendous understatement to believe that Holy Week, which begins Palm Sunday, is the culmination of the Church’s official "Lenten course." For at least sixteen centuries that we can prove, the Church has ordered that we read these words of St. Paul on this Sunday, along with St. Matthew’s account of the Passion of the Son of God. We have come to the center of the Church’s teaching since the very beginning, from before the time of prayer books, to this central truth upon which all of Christianity depends—Jesus Christ died for our sins.

The Truth of all things Christian is that there are only two possible outcomes for every person, past, present, or future. There is Salvation in Jesus Christ, eternal life with the Lord of all, or eternity of death and separation from God in hell.

Yes, I know it’s easy to make fun of the "fire and brimstone" preachers. They seemed to know more about hell than they do about the mercy of God or about the kingdom of heaven. Polls show that most Americans do not believe in hell. Some of the theologians and seminary professors I had to endure, revised the Scriptures in such a way that all men are saved, universally, regardless of what they believe or do in this world.

These opinions represent a false faith, a false Gospel, and a false doctrine of God. Most of all, what those who hold such opinions have in common is this - they will not bow their knee at the Name of Jesus Christ, to the glory of God the Father.

A disbelief in hell is a disbelief in Jesus Christ, who endured death and hell for our sake. When we say that hell is "no big deal," we trivialize the crucifixion that Jesus Christ suffered to keep us out of hell. You may think all of the sufferings and lashings and becoming sin for our sake was pointless, as Jesus was going to heaven any way. Why did Jesus go to so much bother?

We have to face the bad news, in order to receive the good news. The bad news is when the Name of Jesus is not exalted, God is not glorified, and we are damned. When we put anything in heaven, in earth, or under the earth above the Lord Jesus Christ who died for our sins, we belong with Satan because we think and we live like Satan.

The good news, on the other hand, is this: that no one who exalts Jesus Christ will ever be lost to hell, to Satan, or to death. Every drop of blood that Jesus Christ shed on the cross is a testimony of life and love for every faithful person, offered before the Father.

A true, life-giving faith in Jesus Christ consists of living our entire lives on the trust that his Blood is sufficient to redeem our lives. Jesus took away what we deserve, not by magic, but by bloodshed that we might share with him, and in him what he deserves—the exaltation of eternal life, the perfect love of the Father for the Son, and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost.

So, during this Holy week, we have a chance to bend the knee to Jesus Christ with all the faithful. There is nothing simpler and more humble than that.

Be on bended knee,

Bishop Ian

Passion Sunday

2010-03-21T14:05:00.000-07:00

But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. (Hebrews 9:11-12)

The Fifth Sunday in Lent is traditionally called Passion Sunday because the appointed readings in the Prayer Book point to our inability to save ourselves from sin. They also point to the sacrifice that redeemed us from sin. So as we come to the last two weeks of Lent we begin reflecting on our Lord's Atonement - his death – which brought us back into fellowship with God the Father through the sacrifice of Jesus, God the Son.

Before our Lord’s sacrifice on the cross, a process was begun after the fall in the Garden of Eden. God accepted Abel and his sacrificial lamb (Gen. 4:2, 4), and from that time on men had known that the blood of animals (Blood was regarded as the seat of life Gen. 9:4), made men acceptable to God for a time.

Scriptures tell us that God established a system of sacrifices which would atone for the sin of his people (Exod. 29:38-30:16, Lev. 6:8-end). T his became known to the people of Israel as The Day of Atonement. It was by far the holiest day in the Old Testament calendar. The rituals and sacrifices proceeded according to the following steps:

1. The high priest washed and dressed, and then sacrificed a bull as a sin offering for

himself.
2. He entered the Most Holy Place and sprinkled the ark with the bull’s blood.
3. He took two goats, and by lot, chose one to be the scapegoat, the other to be
the sin offering.
4. After sacrificing one goat as the sin offering, he then sprinkled the goat’s
blood on the ark, the outer part of the tabernacle of meeting, and the main alter.
5. He confessed the sins of the Israelites as he laid hands on the scapegoat's
head and then sent the scapegoat into the desert. By doing this, the high
priest transferred those sins to the goat and the goat then symbolically carried
the people's sins away into the desert.

This process of sacrifice merely established a principle, for the men were imperfect in themselves. This sacrifice had to be repeated over and over again (Heb. 8:6-10). No earthly sacrifice could perfectly pay the price of sin. Sin, being an offence against God, is an infinite offence. So only an infinitely good sacrifice could cancel its effects, but man had nothing worthy enough to provide. So God, in his infinite mercy, sent God the Son to become man, and to offer himself as a worthy sacrifice. “…a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world” (1928 BCP pg 80).

The New Testament makes many comparisons between the Day of Atonement and the death of Christ; For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. (Hebrews 9:13-15)

As we prepare for Easter remember, as Jesus hung on the cross, God the Father took the sins of all people - past, present and future - and placed them on God the Son. Jesus became our substitute.

Be Passionate,

Bishop Ian

Climbing God's Ladder

2010-03-14T12:46:00.000-07:00

I once heard somebody say that if you are tired of having people step on your face, then quit trying to climb the success ladder. A bit extreme? Perhaps. However, there is some truth to that statement.

Everyone who has faithfully answered the call of God is attempting to follow God's plan in that calling. As we strive to fulfill God's purpose for our lives, we will meet with opposition. In other words, as we faithfully climb "God's ladder" of success, we will have opposing forces trying to "step on our faces." I have been reading St. Paul’s Letter to the Philippians, specifically chapters 1-4, in preparation for an upcoming class I will be teaching. This coupled with having a rather hard week I can relate to the Apostle Paul.

"Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel." (Philippians 1:12)

The Apostle Paul was called by God, to climb "God's ladder" and to bring glory to God. He also was a man who understood what it was like to have opposing forces stepping on his face as he was climbing. In fact, the forces of opposition were so strong that they actually had him thrown into prison. However, even after being thrown in jail for preaching the gospel, that still didn’t keep Paul from continuing to fulfill God's call and purpose.

"As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly." (Philippians 1:13-14)

Yes, certainly Paul was unfairly imprisoned, but he didn't quit; he kept climbing. The result? He was able to share the gospel of saving grace throughout the whole palace guard, and the other Christians who were not imprisoned became more courageous in sharing the gospel. Think about it; even though Paul was unfairly imprisoned (talk about having your face stepped on!), he kept climbing God's ladder. Not only that, his attitude inspired many others to start climbing God's ladder as well...allowing the gospel to be spread, souls to be saved, and the name of Christ to be honored!

"I can do everything through him who gives me strength." (Philippians 4:13 NIV)

How has the climb been lately? Have you been motivated and excited to fulfill God's plan and purpose for your life...even in the face of opposing forces? Or, have you lost motivation as a result of having your faced stepped on too many times? Yes, I know the feeling. And we can all learn something from the example of Paul. We need to remind ourselves that reaching the top of God’s “Ladder of Success” is eternal life.

God never promised the climb would be an easy one. But he did promise that He would be with us on every rung. Sometimes life is unfair, it’s hard, it’s dangerous, and it’s tempting us away from our calling and purpose. We will make many mistakes along the way, but keep climbing, and don't quit. Fulfill God's calling on your life by blessing others and bringing glory to our great God and Savior Jesus Christ!

"And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen." (Philippians 4:19-20)

Be a Climber,

Bishop Ian

It's Hard To Stumble If You're On Your Knees

2010-03-07T14:30:00.000-08:00

It’s been said that when God is about to do something great, he starts his people praying. His supernatural strength is available to praying people who are convinced to the core of their beings that He can make a difference. Skeptics may argue that answered prayers are only coincidences, but as Bishop JC Ryle once observed, "It's amazing how many coincidences occur when one begins to pray." For it is only when we have first spent time on our knees before God, that we will then be able to go and stand before people.

“Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?” (Romans 11:33-34)

The great evangelist of the 19th century, D.L. Moody, was once asked why a godly man such as himself would need to pray so much. He responded, "Because I leak." Moody means that all the blessings the Lord fills us with need constant prayer to keep our spiritual tanks topped off and full.

We as Christians are wisest and safest when we are on our knees in prayer. Why? Look at the title above. It is pretty hard to stumble when you are on your knees. Scriptures are very clear and consistent that Jesus was a man of prayer. The Gospels show us that Jesus’ natural response to any situation, be it crisis or decision, was to seek the Father alone in prayer. His earthly life not only lived out the practice of prayer, it was one of His most consistent teachings.

Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found;surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him. You are a hiding place for me;you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance. (The Psalter 1928 BCP p. 378, Psalm 32:7-8)

We have a rich history, and an historic prayer book full of prayers and devotions that have been said by faithful Christians for thousands of years.

O GOD, the strength of all those who put their trust in thee; Mercifully accept our prayers; and because, through the weakness of our mortal nature, we can do no good thing without thee, grant us the help of thy grace, that in keeping thy commandments we may please thee, both in will and deed; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Collect: The First Sunday after Trinity. Pg. 188 1928 BCP)

This Lent, let God do something great in your life through prayer,

Be Prayerful

Adding Reality To the Vision

2010-02-28T10:59:00.000-08:00

One of the best things about being a follower of Christ is that we have an opportunity to make the ordinary extraordinary. One of my firm beliefs is that many people profess Christianity but lose their impact on the people around them because they hide God's greatness. Are those around you becoming stronger, faithful people because of your influence? Are people growing spiritually because of your impact?

“A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.” (Proverbs 11:25 )

The goal of The Missionary Diocese of the Resurrection is to add reality to vision. I wrote in my blog last week, ‘We live in a fallen world; no vision or goal is self perpetuating. It must be nourished in God’s Word, sustained by his Grace, and fanned into flame again and again by the Holy Spirit operating in our lives. God’s glory can be seen in everything we do. That’s Original Anglicanism, that’s what being an Easter People means.’

We are to be in the business of building up and blessing others. The benefit of being Original Anglicans is that people can be refreshed because of our influence.

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:9)

This is one of my favorite passages of scripture as it is a perfect example of my vision for the local as well as the national church. We have to challenge ourselves daily, fanning the flames to keep the fire hot and the coals bright red.

The Protestant Episcopal Church, both locally and nationally, is here to fill an important gap. Original Anglicanism is a church dedicated to the Gospel and the challenges of remaining faithful to that Gospel. That is the value of our denomination. Adding a reality to our vision is also recognizing the need for solid leadership. Communities and denominations whose leadership builds a church on a message of what they are against is not a church that will stand the test of time. Original Anglicanism has always been about building on the message of what we are for, because that is what moves the kingdom forward.

"He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." (Isaiah 40:29-31)

My vision, and it’s a big one, is to start a capital campaign for a pro-cathedral, complete with a pre-school; eventually leading into K through 8 lower school programs. I want to accomplish this in five years. I firmly believe that a solid Christian school within every church we build is the key to securing the future of this denomination. I’m aggressively seeking out those displaced Protestant churchmen who represent a true reformed expression of the faith. Towards this goal, I have a generous $250,000 pledge for 4th quarter of 2011. I want to triple that amount in the same time period. Like I said, it’s a big goal – but one that we believe will further the Kingdom in a powerful way.

“May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 15:5-6 NIV)

Be a visionary,

Bishop Ian

Taking Stock

2010-02-21T17:46:00.000-08:00

It’s been a year since the doors of Resurrection Protestant Episcopal Church were opened. Fr. Frank Castillo and I, a couple of California transplants, decided to plant an Episcopal church in St. Augustine, FL. That’s pretty gutsy given the ongoing turmoil that has embraced much of anything Anglican.

We both felt what was needed wasn’t so much a new continuing church, but an Anglican church that filled a gap. We called it “Original Anglicanism.” We are an “Easter People,” dedicated to the proclamation that without that connection to the Risen Lord there can be no real church.

This past year has been one of the biggest challenges of my life. It has been a roller coaster ride with moments of elation to moments of terror. For me, transitioning from the local to the national level as a Bishop, all the while knowing that as Resurrection goes so goes the Diocese has been challenging. With all of the struggles this church has faced it is important to take stock now and re-focus that vision.

One good rule of thumb when taking stock of any work started for the glory of God is to remember that, “When God brings you to something; he is more than able to bring you through that something.” I like that statement because it is a great reminder that God will never lead us to a place where his grace cannot sustain us.

"The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail." (Isaiah 58:11)

The prophet, Isaiah, always had the right perspective when he spoke to the people of Israel. Things seemed to be going against them every step of the way. Yet, God in his grace reminded them that if he brings them to something, he is more than faithful, and more than able to bring them successfully through that something.

We have come a long way in a short time. People who share the same vision are joining us locally and nationally, and I am encouraged. I see it in the work of St. Andrews Middleborough MA, under the leadership of Fr. Steven DelSignore, and with the outreach ministry of Deacon Lon Barfield. God has certainly been faithful there.

"He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young." (Isaiah 40:11)

Remember, if He brings us something, He is more than able to bring us successfully through that something! We are taking a big step in our journey as we cast the vision for growth. It will be a time of great joy and purpose, filling that gap and moving forward with God’s grace.

"He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." (Isaiah 40:29-31)

We live in a fallen world; no vision or goal is self perpetuating. It must be nourished in God’s Word, sustained by his Grace, and fanned into flame again and again by the Holy Spirit operating in our lives. God’s glory can be seen in everything we do. That’s Original Anglicanism, that’s what being an Easter People means. Next week, I want to get into the nuts and bolts of that vision.

Be an Original…

Bishop Ian

On Shaky Ground

2010-02-14T18:29:00.000-08:00

"Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire." (Hebrews 12:28-29 )

Take a look at the past few years; we have seen that the stock market and real estate market can be shaken. We have also seen that seemingly strong businesses can be shaken. In fact, we have even seen that the strongest countries can be shaken. I would say, and I think you would agree, that this world operates on shaky ground.

The writer to the Hebrews tells us that there is one kingdom that can never be shaken, the kingdom of God. The good news is, through Jesus Christ, we as Christians are members of that very kingdom! The question is, are you a member of that kingdom?

"Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.' So we say with confidence, 'The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?'" (Hebrews 13:5-6)

Self worth is a big issue. We measure it by success at work, school, who we’re married too, our bank accounts, and quite frankly, it’s a trap many of fall into. Don’t get me wrong; money, employment, good grades, and strong marriages are not bad things. But if they are the only thing giving you self worth, then I would guess you’re on shaky ground.

God tells us that he is our helper and protector; he promises to guide and guard us; and he reminds us that he is mightier than anything man can come up with. Think about it, as a Christian you are part of a kingdom that can never be shaken. You also have the God of this universe on your side, and he can never be shaken or defeated.

"What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all - how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?" (Romans 8:31-32 )

What "shakable" circumstances you have been facing? This lent, take some time to take stock of your life. Is God central in all that you do? If so, then take some time to rejoice that you are part of an amazing kingdom, and that your KING is more than able to give you everything you need to keep you from being shaken! If not… talk to me. I want to share some Bad News and some Good News with you.

Be unshakable…

Bishop Ian

Training Body and Spirit

2010-02-07T18:24:00.000-08:00

The Evangelist, Billy Graham, once said, "Unless the soul is fed and exercised daily, it becomes weak and shriveled. It remains discontented, confused, and restless."

I ride a bicycle everyday. I do between 12 and 22 miles depending on my mood (and the weather). As a diabetic, if I don’t exercise it will impact my physical health negatively. If I don’t eat right, it’s even more of a problem. Our spiritual health suffers in the same way. This is why our daily time with the Lord through prayer and reading the scriptures is so important. It's the food and exercise we all need to be healthy and balanced Christians. Be honest, how much have you been feeding and exercising your soul? How healthy are you spiritually?

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God." (Colossians 3:16)

One of the things I do at the end of my ride is stop at the church and say morning prayer. It helps me focus my day and it’s a good cool down opportunity for me physically as well. I call it my “spiritual work-out room.” One of the great things about being an Anglican is our prayer book. It provides me the opportunity to daily exercise my soul through prayer and the reading of scripture provided in the Morning and Evening prayer sections.

"For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come." (1 Timothy 4:8)

So here we have the Apostle Paul telling Timothy that physical training is valuable. Hmm, maybe Timothy was a jogger. Anyway, as Christians, the Spirit of God lives in us and our bodies are actually the temples of the living God. Obviously, we need to train our bodies with healthy exercise and healthy eating. However, Paul says that spiritual training is of even greater value. Therefore, we need to feed and exercise our souls in such a way that we have joyful and healthy hearts. You can’t be joyful without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

"Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me." (Psalm 51:10-12)

Do you have a "spiritual work-out room" where you spend time feeding and exercising your soul? Remember, that which you don't exercise regularly usually ends up shriveling and getting weak. Or, as Billy Graham said, "Your spiritual life becomes restless, discontented and confused.”

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness." (2 Timothy 3:16)

Be in Training,,

Bishop Ian

The Truth of the Matter

2010-02-05T08:06:00.000-08:00

We are all faced with choices. Look down the isles in the supermarket or the abundance of stores at the mall. And then we also have really big choices in life such as whether we speak the truth or tell lies. In other words, we have the choice to be a faithful witness or a false witness.

"A truthful witness does not deceive, but a false witness pours out lies." (Proverbs 14:5)

I was recently asked to sit on a radio panel to discuss the homeless situation here in St. Johns County. I was asked to participate not as a “Christian or Bishop” but as an advocate. This individual felt he wanted to keep religion out of the conversation. I declined the offer, stating that I could no more separate myself from who I was and who I represent than he could. You see, he started the conversation telling me he was an atheist.

As Christians, what we say and how we act can be a powerful witness for the glory of Christ. People are looking for someone they can trust, someone who represents truth. Being truthful to who you were called to be, and who you were called to represent makes a tremendous difference in how you are perceived as a person.

"A truthful witness saves lives, but a false witness is deceitful." (Proverbs 14:25)

We work and live in a secular world. We have a natural human tendency to keep our Christianity rather quiet as we conform to the spirit of secularism in our workplaces, schools, and social clubs - places that may be hostile to Christians. Are Christians absent from these places? Of course not. Christians are everywhere, but maybe it’s not where we are but what we are in those places. What we don’t say or do can be a powerful negative witness just as proper actions can be powerful positive witness.

Today will probably be another day where you will be faced with many choices. As you start your day, what kind of witness do you want to be - a faithful or false witness - in your family, workplace, or school? Do you want to bring blessings to others and honor to Christ?

"But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you." (John 16:13-15)

As Christians, we have the Spirit of truth with us and living in us. God the Holy Spirit is our guide and our teacher. He wants our lives to be lives that are defined by truth, not by deception. He wants His light to shine within us at all times. It is by the Spirit that we can be what Christ wants us to be right where we are.

Be what matters,

Bishop Ian

When Opportunity Knocks, Answer the Door...

2010-01-24T13:45:00.000-08:00

Last week I spoke about being patient and waiting on God’s timing. I want to speak this week about what to do when God does provide us with opportunity. Oliver Wendell Holmes, once noted that there exists in every church people “who are so heavenly minded they are of no earthly good.” Likewise, the late bishop, J.C. Ryle, observed how many times people would reject the very things they had prayed for. The odd thing he noted was that the excuse for not embracing God’s answer was that they needed to pray about it some more just to be sure.

God provides opportunities to our advantage all the time. Unless we take advantage of those opportunities provided for us, they simply will not become reality if we are constantly reaching for excuses.

"But I will stay on at Ephesus until Pentecost, because a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me." (1 Corinthians 16:8-9)

The Apostle Paul was a man always looking for the opportunities shown to him by God. He recognized a door of opportunity that the Lord opened for him in Ephesus, and he wanted to make sure that his dream of spreading the gospel there became a reality. Interestingly, he also recognized that this opportunity was going to meet with difficult opposition. There were many people in that very area who were opposing him every step of the way. Yet, Paul did not reach for excuses. Rather, he saw the opportunities in the midst of the opposition. How about you?

"These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open." (Revelation 3:7)

These are very encouraging words from Jesus...words that were not simply for his people back then, but words that are also for his people today. Jesus tells us that he holds the keys; meaning that he has all authority. He also tells us that He is the one who opens or shuts the doors of opportunity; meaning that He has all power.

What a deal! If God opens doors of opportunity to further the kingdom - step through - reach for the opportunity, and don't reach for excuses! I know, maybe you feel you should pray about it some more…or some of you may be thinking that you are not yet prepared…or you are too tired to take that step. Whatever your reason, Jesus has something to say to all of us.

"I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and not denied my name." (Revelation 3:8)

Here’s the bottom line. If you believe that no one can stop His perfect plan, then reach for the opportunities! Will there be opposition? Maybe. Will you feel tired and overwhelmed at times? Probably. But, let me ask you this; when Jesus opens the door of opportunity, do you really want to miss the blessings on the other side?

Be heavenly minded that you may be of great good!!!

Bishop Ian

Being Patient...

2010-01-17T13:20:00.001-08:00

“Patience is a virtue.” How many times has this saying rolled off the lips of mothers throughout time? We live in an instant gratification world and we have a tendency to operate in “crisis” mode when we don’t get what we want.

I know that God is perfect and that his timing is perfect as do many of you. Yet, even I sometimes wish that His timing would coincide with my timing. It seems whenever we rush into something or pace the floor over some situation, we finally realize that we have no control. We are truly wasting our time - time better spent bringing the situation before God in prayer.

"For I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance." (Philippians 1:19)

The Apostle Paul, writer of the letter to the Philippians, had good reason to feel impatient. He was unfairly imprisoned, his opponents were attacking his reputation, and his ministry seemed to be in jeopardy. Yet, there was Paul sitting in prison and stating that what had happened would turn out for the best.

If it were me, I would be wondering not only how this would turn out for the best, but when this would happen! With each passing hour in that prison, I would be losing more and more of my patience.

"I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death." (Philippians 1:20)

This passage should be mind blowing for us. Paul could remain patient in prison because all he cared about was bringing glory to Christ even if that meant a longer stay in prison. The only thing he wanted was the courage to properly honor Christ.

Was it tough for Paul to be in prison? Of course it was. Was it difficult for Paul to sit in prison while his ministry was under attack? Of course it was. Did Paul have a desire to be free and continue to do the Lord's work on the outside? He was human, wasn't he? Paul, however, also understood that the Lord's plans and timing were much better than his. Therefore, Paul figured he would leave the timing up to the Lord, and in the meantime he would live to bring glory to the Lord... whether in prison or out, whether by life or by death.

"For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." (Philippians 1:21)

Paul wanted his life to be all about Christ. Even if he had to remain imprisoned, his life would have still been about Christ! If he died, he knew there was the great reward waiting for him - eternal life with Christ - eternal life with his Savior with no pain or suffering, no death or sorrow, and no prisons! It kind of puts our problems in better perspective.

Be patient…

Bishop Ian

Be Resolved

2010-01-10T16:45:00.000-08:00

How is your New Year’s resolution list coming? Are you using that new exercise machine that guarantees you’ll drop 4-5 inches from your waistline, or is it now the new coat rack? How about the latest fad diet…the new running shoes…the latest self help book? I know, it’s mid January and the list is probably now crumpled in a desk drawer somewhere. Overshadowed by the immediate situations of our world, we tend to be drawn back to the very things we resolved to change.

Human beings, by our very sin nature, are prone to relying on a list of things we should or shouldn’t be doing in an effort to make us better. We write New Year’s resolutions that we believe show good common sense and then we ask God to bless them. If we do things from a sense of duty only, we are putting up a standard in competition with Jesus Christ. We have put our resolutions on the throne instead of the resurrected Christ.

In the Epistle appointed for Epiphany 3, the Apostle Paul writes: “Be not wise in your own conceits.” (Rom 12:16)

Rather than relying on old conceits to get us through another year we need to get into the habit of constantly referring back to the resurrected Lord of all. We are called not to walk in the light of our own self-centered desires, but to walk in the light of the Risen Lord! What would God have you resolve to improve or change for the New Year? What would He bless? Act according to His will and those resolutions just may be a lot more doable.

Don’t worry, spring will be here soon and you can always sell that exercise machine at your garage sale.

Be In His Will,

Bishop Ian

The Making of a Deacon...

2010-01-07T04:48:00.000-08:00

JC Ryle, the great Evangelical Bishop of Liverpool, said that, “The church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints”. He goes on to say, “We as Christians are not to simply sit and soak,” in our pews; rather we are to stand up and serve, both in our church and the outside community as well. We are to be the “hands and feet of Christ.”

"Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order that they may provide for daily necessities and not live unproductive lives." Titus 3:14

As Christians, we understand that we are saved by grace, not by works. However, we are called to serve; doing good works that God has planned in advance for us to do. Heeding his calling to serve, Lon Barfield, was ordained as a Deacon on January 6, 2010 in Resurrection Protestant Episcopal Church of St. Augustine, FL. He was called to this ministry not by self but by God. This is not for Lon’s own glory but that God’s glory would be shown through his work in our community. Lon works tirelessly to feed and clothe the homeless and working poor of St. John County, and many have come to depend on his commitment, strength, and kindness.

Here’s the thing; every Christian’s mission in life is to bring glory to God and blessings to others - not just to receive, not to “sit and soak,” but to do. The result of doing these two things is that we are blessed in ways that are immeasurably greater than we can imagine.

Do you want to experience joy, excitement, and contentment in your life? Stand up and serve in a way that brings glory to God and blessings to others. Not everyone is called to become “clergy,” but God has a purpose and meaning for your life; that you can depend on.

"This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone." Titus 3:8

We are all unique, wonderful creations of God. We have been granted gifts to be able to bring glory to God and blessings to his people. Lon Barfield has embraced his abundant God-given gifts and become the “hands and feet of Christ.”

Be a doer,

Bishop Ian

Epiphany: Seeking The Glory of Christmas

2009-12-30T05:48:00.000-08:00

Epiphany, the 12 days on the other side of Christmas, commemorates the visit of the three wise men to worship the “newborn king,” Jesus. It is the time we reflect upon the glory of the promised savior now fulfilled; “…we behold his glory, the glory as of the only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14).

All the lessons of this Epiphany season illustrate that glory; Jesus with the doctors in the Temple, Jesus turning water into wine at the wedding feast at Cana, and Jesus healing the leper and the Centurion’s servant. These are the signs of the glory of God manifest in Jesus Christ. But, for each of us, the vision of that glory is life altering; our personal “Epiphany” transforms our life into one of service to Christ.

Os Guinness, in his book “The Call,” makes the point that it is Christ who calls us to find him. Like the magi, we too are called to worship the King. He calls us to seek His word; that we may fulfill His call whether we are called as magi, shepherd, carpenter, banker, priest, or housewife -- you get the idea. No matter what we believe is our fulfillment in life, the truth is we can have no real fulfillment unless we are called to that manger; unless we seek the caller Himself.

Jesus begins by calling the very least of us. If we heed His call, like the magi in Bethlehem, there is an Epiphany for all where his glory shines, and there we make our gifts of adoration.

I didn’t bring up resolutions, but I will say this; if you are going to make any this year, make your own winter journey to Christ. Answer the call of God incarnate laying in a manger in Bethlehem. Adore him there. Seek the Glory of Christmas in your life. I assure you, you will not return unchanged!

Be One Whom Is Called,

Bishop Ian

My Best Christmas - Ever

2009-12-24T16:08:00.000-08:00

The best Christmas I ever had wasn’t about the presents. It was the first time I sat in St. James Cathedral singing the great carols and hearing the account of Jesus’ birth in the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 2. I realized that Luke gave no description of anything remotely glorious going on in that stable. Humbly, Jesus was born in a barn, swaddled in a very rough blanket, not a birth that seemed to trumpet God’s glory.

Yet, in that manger lies the glory of the Lord; an event that today is so easily ignored; a story that has become too familiar for most to take seriously. Images of that birth in the stable are sometimes still around us; here in church, in our homes, maybe on the lawns of our public buildings. If we are not careful however, we may begin to ask, "What does this have to do with me?" We might be tempted to say, "This all happened so long ago, what difference can it make?"

But the birth of that infant in the manger has everything to do with us, at least everything that is good. That infant made us. That infant redeemed us. That infant is the fullest revelation of God that we will ever have. And because that infant is God Incarnate, God born as a man of the Virgin Mary, this is not just a story or event from long ago. Jesus Christ is still with us and he will always be with us, if we remain faithful to him.

So this Christmas look again at the babe that God has given us. And stop for a moment to celebrate the greatest birthday of all, and give glory to God for his mercy and love. Sing the carols, listen to the account in Luke, and maybe, like me, this might become the greatest Christmas present you’ll ever receive… Jesus Christ, born in Bethlehem.

The story of Christ’s birth is very much a part of our ordinary lives, and in those baby’s hands, God placed the fate of the world.

Robin and I wish all of you a very Merry Christmas.

In Love and Peace…

Bishop Ian

The Difference

2009-12-20T09:57:00.000-08:00

In the Christian tradition that I grew up in, Advent was not a profound time of year; it was overshadowed by Christmas. However, when I began going to an Episcopal Church as a 13 year old, I began to look at Advent in the light of Christmas and I began to experience something remarkable. When we sang advent hymns like “Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus” and “O come, O come, Emmanuel,” for me came the realization that from a small obscure beginning came the King of the Universe. Advent made all the difference in the world to me from that time forward. I longed for that in my life; the small beginning that transformed the world.

We live in a world in which bigger and better defines much of life. We are overshadowed by super size, super stars, and high definition. We view life through a lens that so magnifies what we expect out of the world that we tend not to see the miracles that come from small, seemingly obscure beginnings.

It never ceases to amaze me that God often begins with small things and inadequate people. In the Gospel of John, Chapter 1, beginning in verse 19, appointed for Advent 4, we see John the Baptist being questioned by the Pharisees; a rag tag man whom many thought was crazy; a homeless man who lived off bugs and wild honey proclaiming the coming of the Christ. It certainly seems that God could have chosen "bigger" things and "better" people to do His work in the world. John was proclaiming the coming of the Lord. He yearned for Jesus’ coming, even in the midst of crisis he found joy in that small beginning, and made a difference in the world at that time.

God can do anything with the smallest of things, with the most unlikely of people, and in the most hopeless of circumstances. I think that is part of the wonder of the Advent Season. He does it with us.

I am convinced that one of the main purposes of Advent is to provide hope, to give us cause to rejoice, to proclaim once again that the Savior of the world is coming.

As Advent comes to a close, look to the incarnation, look for the longing of Christ in your life, and invite someone to Church to share this special season with. Maybe they too will experience the same yearning of Advent as I did so many years ago…

Be the Difference

+Ian

For Want of a Trailer

2009-12-17T19:12:00.000-08:00

I remember an old Seinfeld episode, the one where we were introduced to “Festivus,” an invention of George Costanza’s father. The dilemma for George wasn’t so much his eccentric father, but that he was working for a firm that gave gifts at Christmas. George decides to pull a fast on each of his co-workers, giving them a Christmas card that read, “A donation has been made in your name to the Human Fund.” There was a lot of groaning once they opened their cards. Of course no such organization existed and George gets caught.

At the end of each year, my wife Robin and I give to several truly wonderful organizations that provide food and shelter to the disadvantaged, as well as a sustainable way to make a living - “don’t give a boy a cup of milk, give him a cow.” For a full rundown of those groups see her blog at http://www.robinmcquayandersonphotography.wordpress.com/

It’s Christmas; a time of reflection and celebration for the life perfected in us by Christ. A chance, even for a brief moment, to promote peace and goodwill in a world that often rejects such notions.

Feeding Bodies Feeding Souls, Resurrection Protestant Episcopal Church’s (St. Augustine, FL) outreach ministry to the homeless, has added tremendous value to the lives of many people in this community, not just to those being served, but to the servers as well.

Lon Barfield, Resurrection’s Senior Warden, is continuing his ministry to the homeless and is fundraising to purchase a trailer to be used for collection and distribution of food, clothing, and other items for the disadvantaged. It will also be used as a mobile kitchen to provide hot meals in and around St. Johns County, FL during the week.

Lon has raised over $2000.00 for the cooking equipment and needs another $4000.00 to buy the trailer. It’s a worthy cause, and it’s a gift that will impact the lives of many for years to come.

Pray about it; if you’re looking to make a difference beyond Christmas, make your tax deductible donation payable to Resurrection PEC

MEMO: Trailer Fund
Send to: Diocesan Center, 163 Palencia Village Drive, Suite 104, St. Augustine, FL 32095

Unlike the Seinfeld character George, are you adding real value to the lives of others? Are people growing because of your impact?

“A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.” (Proverbs 11:25 NIV)

Be Generous,

+Ian

Advent 3 - Be Prepared

2009-12-13T15:34:00.001-08:00

As original Anglicans, we celebrate all the seasons of the church year with each season corresponding to the life of Christ. We now find ourselves in week 3 of Advent. It is the week to be prepared.

The 1928 Book of Common Prayer gives us three looks, if you will, in the birth of Jesus the Messiah. First, we look back to the incarnation, the birth of King Jesus. Looking back provides us with the opportunity to be thankful for what Jesus has done. Next, we also look with great expectation to the return of King Jesus. As we look ahead we have the opportunity to ask God to make us ready for Jesus’ return.

Between these bookends of first and second comings our prayer book admonishes us to take a look at our lives, to be prepared. Are we ready for Christ’s second coming? Are we faithful? Are we living according to His purposes? Are we ourselves showing a reflection of Christ to the world?

Advent literally means “coming.” When we enter into this joyous season we look to the prayer book lectionary. It has scriptures which describe to us the coming of Jesus as Messiah. The days that precede Christmas provide us an opportunity to reflect and ponder the promises of God from beginning to end.

“Behold I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.”
Gospel for the Third Sunday in Advent, 1928 BCP pg. 94

The Christmas Season can easily become a fast paced blur of parties, school functions, and endless shopping. We are bombarded by retail “XMAS” madness everywhere we turn. Advent, and especially Advent 3, is God’s invitation to shut the door on the busy world, to quiet our hearts and rediscover the meaning and the wonder of the coming of God’s Messiah.

Be Quiet, Be Listening, Be Ready,

+Ian

Advent 2 - "Bible Sunday"

2009-12-06T09:00:00.000-08:00

Blessed Lord, who hast caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant that we may in such wise hear, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience, and comfort of thy holy Word, we may embrace, and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which thou hast given us in our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Collect for Advent 2, 1928 BCP Pg. 91

The Second Sunday in Advent is traditionally known as "Bible Sunday". The collect, which dates from the Reformation, asks for God's grace that we might "...read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest..." the sacred scriptures. Thomas Cranmer (First Archbishop of Canterbury under Henry the VIII) issued a decree that an English Bible should be placed in every church. One of the great things about the Reformation was that its leaders wanted to give the Bible to the people. The problem was most of the people couldn’t read…. so the bible became the reading primer of the day. Imagine that in today’s modern public schools.

Cranmer also made sure scripture would be the foundation of our prayer book. From its beginning in 1552 the prayer book was and is still two-thirds direct scripture, while the remaining third is scripture put into a devotional form. That means that all the prayers, collects, thanksgivings, invocations, litanies etc., as well as the responses of the people are biblically based.

So there you have it - Bible Sunday but there’s more to the story! (Cue the scary music and dim the lights.) The Gospel of St. Luke 21:25 has Jesus talking about the end of the world; the prophesy of destruction, and the end of all things. But it is not just about end times - all that scary passing away of stuff and the final judgment of this and that. It’s also about Christ coming in power and glory! The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, now all earthly things are passing… But Jesus is forever. His words will never pass.

The Epistle appointed for Advent 2 is also perfect for the Christmas season. Romans 15:4-13 also tells us that Advent is a season of hope, faith, and expectation to both Jews and Gentiles. Paul speaks of the promises of God, referring to Isaiah's prophecy:

There shall be a root of Jesse,
And he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles,
In him shall the Gentiles hope.

Advent 2 is indeed Bible Sunday; a book full of promises fulfilled, and some yet to come. What a joy to know that we are heirs of those universal promises, that by patience, and comfort of thy holy Word, we may embrace, and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which thou hast given us in our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen
Collect for Advent 2, 1928 BCP Pg. 91

Be hearing, be marking, be learning…

+Ian

'Tis The Season...Advent One

2009-11-30T10:28:00.000-08:00

The Advent season is upon us once again. It is the time we consider God’s coming to His people. First we look back to the coming of Jesus as Savior and look forward to the second coming of Christ as Judge. I think more importantly we must remember that Advent is ultimately about looking for God’s grace through Christ and His presence with us here and now.

For others it’s the beginning of the Christmas shopping season.

There is a logical development in the four Sunday lessons in Advent as each Sunday builds on the previous Sunday and points to the next. So let me see if I can shed a little light each week.

Advent 1 is what the church has always referred to as the awakening and cleansing of the soul by the coming of the Word. Some might say it’s the beginning of the great cleansing of the bank account and awakening to the fact that most of us have no idea what Advent really means anyway. I mean, we get Christmas, right?

ALMIGHTY God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life, in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the quick and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal, through him who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, now and ever. Amen.
Collect for the First Sunday in Advent, 1928 BCP pg 90

The collect is significant. It is repeated throughout the Advent season. Why? Because it tells us in plain language what we need to be about as a Church and as a people of God. Put on the amour of light - awaken to the miracle of Christ’s birth – awaken to the promise of the past that connects us with the promise of the future. Be rid of any works of darkness – cleanse your soul and remember who you serve. Think about who has been and who will come again and how it impacts your life. Think of the power in those words. This collect is also a synopsis of the Epistle and the Gospel themes presented throughout Advent. It’s Christianity 101… God the Son came and humbled himself that we might be reconciled to the Father.

A. Jesus’ miraculous birth brought the promise of redemption.

B. That redemption came by his sacrifice on the cross for the sins of the whole world.

C. He overcame sin by shedding his blood; he overcame death by rising from the grave. He ascended into heaven and sits at the Father’s right hand.

D. This is good news for some, and will be bad news for others. He really is coming again.

This Advent, make a resolution. Cast way the darkness, put on the light and refocus your life. Enjoy God’s grace once again. Your bank account I can’t do much for.

I know it’s a cliché, but Jesus really is the reason for the season…

Be the Light, Be Cleansed, Be Awakened,

+Ian

Thanksgivings Then and Now

2009-11-21T13:40:00.000-08:00

Psalm 95. vs 1-2

O COME, let us sing unto the LORD; let us heartily rejoice in the strength of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving; and show ourselves glad in him with psalms.

As a child, Thanksgiving Day was devoted to the celebration of the Pilgrims’ first year in the new world; their thankfulness for being delivered from a harsh winter, and a bountiful harvest to get them through the one to come. At least that is what I remember from my grade school days. We dressed up like Pilgrims and Indians and sang and recited the story of the Great Thanksgiving to the delight of our friends and family. There was nothing remotely “religious” about it.

Yet the Holy Eucharist celebrated in our churches this Thanksgiving tells a story from scripture those Pilgrims knew very well. As we gather around the altar this holiday we’ll use words that mean the very same thing. Eucharist is Greek for thanksgiving. There is a fundamental connection between the Thanksgiving feast we share with family and friends and the Thanksgiving feast we share every time we receive communion.

Naturally, on this day we give thanks not just for our own personal blessings, but also the blessing of coming before the King each time we share the thanksgiving feast as a church family. The Pilgrims’ thanksgiving came after a devastating winter where many people suffered the loss of loved ones and friends. Yet, they still gathered to give thanks to one another and God.

In my family there is a little one at the table this year for the first time. We also have one on the way who may make her appearance by then. And for each of us, there are also empty places at the table. Through our joys and losses, we are reminded in verse 2 of Psalm 95 to, come before his presence with thanksgiving; and show ourselves glad in him with psalms.

For many of us it’s the pies or a juicy turkey that prompts a story about past Thanksgivings - who liked pumpkin or pecan, or why we like our dressing dry or moist - who always grabbed a leg and who wanted white meat - or my son-in-law, John’s understanding of fine wine. I remember the wonderful divinity salads my mother made, and my grandmother’s oyster dressing. And there is nothing more wonderful than a helping of my wife’s corn soufflé.

This year let us also remember, as we gather with our loved ones, the story of the night when Jesus gathered with his disciples, breaking bread, taking and pouring wine, declaring them his body and blood, saying whenever we do these things He would be with us again. For that, we can all be truly thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving!

+Ian

Give When No One But God Is Looking

2009-11-16T13:48:00.000-08:00

"Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head." Luke 9:58

One of the most interesting observations about this holiday time of year is the amount of churches lining up to promote programs that seek to do something good for “those less fortunate” in our communities. They promote it beginning in early November but come December 26th the drive to do good “for those less fortunate” is over until next year.

I’m not saying that no good comes from this, but what about the weeks after Thanksgiving and Christmas? Who will be serving “those less fortunate” after the holidays? Shouldn't we be asking our selves if what we are doing as a church and as individuals adds value to the lives of others in the long run? In other words, are the people around us helped physically and spiritually as a result of our influence on them?

“A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.” (Proverbs 11:25 NIV)

This verse tells us that we, as Christians, are to be in the business of building up and blessing others, not just those in our church community but in the greater community. Notice that it does not say only at the holidays. The generous man is refreshed not because he reserves these outreach projects for the holidays but because he can be counted on to be there when no one but God is looking.

I firmly believe the church in America has fallen asleep. People want to feel the part about being a person of faith, but would rarely, if ever, want to show the part. Jesus' ministry offered hope, love, and salvation to people who never had access to it. Does your church have a good solid outreach program that operates with enthusiasm all year long? Do you reach out, give of yourself, or donate when no one is looking? Or do you begin and end your involvement only at the holidays?

“The poor will see and be glad— you who seek God, may your hearts live!”
(Psalm 69:32)

The outreach ministries at Resurrection Protestant Episcopal Church in St. Augustine, Florida are called “Love in Action." Feeding Bodies, Feeding Souls is their commitment to the homeless and working poor. They work with non-profit and government agencies to feed and cloth the disadvantaged on a weekly basis.

As a part of the Feeding Bodies, Feeding Souls ministry team, my wife Robin, a professional photographer, began photographing some of the people being served each week. She created a DVD titled “Feeding Bodies, Feeding Souls.” Over 100 DVD copies have been distributed to the various community partners to help keep this issue front and center and they continue to ask for more.

She also entered a national photography contest called “Faces,” submitting her work in a photo album format titled “Portraits of Hope, Hunger, and Homelessness." There were over 1000 entries; her work took second place.

http://robinmcquayanderson.shutterfly.com/

The response to the work has been phenomenal. It has opened doors and more than a few hearts. This clarifies our responsibility to provide outreach in the community and it must be a year round effort. We have the privilege and opportunity to influence lives year round! This is exciting!

Give when no one but God is looking. It makes both a temporal difference on earth and an eternal difference in Heaven!

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:9)

Be A Giver,

+Ian

Prayer Is A Priviledge

2009-11-07T14:22:00.000-08:00

I am often asked when counseling couples, “What is the most important thing we can do to keep our marriage strong? The answer is easy, the implementation is difficult. Prayer; the act of praying together is the most intimate thing a couple can share together. The next question is, “How do we pray?” I then give them a prayer book, take them to the family prayers section. Predictably, their response is often one of amazed relief. Those prayers enable you to focus your prayer on God without having to make it up as you go along.

As Anglican Christians who follow an “Episcopal” order of worship, we are encouraged to follow our prayer book. It’s full of prayers and thanksgivings that make praying to God - be it for ourselves, others, or general thanksgiving - a fairly simple task.

We believe that God knows all…he is omniscient. We also believe that God is in full control of absolutely everything…he is Sovereign. These are truths that we can trust and be thankful for. However, if God knows everything before it is going to happen, then why do we have to pray? Yes, we know that God commands us to pray. Yes, we also know that Jesus prayed. But, if God knows all and is in full control of all, do our prayers really matter?

Prayer is Pleasing to God.

“The LORD detests the sacrifice of the wicked, but the prayer of the upright pleases him.” (Proverbs 15: 8)

Our Book of Common Prayer (1928) contains scriptures that follow the life of Jesus and point us in a direction that helps us fulfill Gods commandment to pray.

Just as parents feel joy when their child looks to them in dependence and trust, our Father is pleased when his children look to him in dependence and trust. The prayers of God’s people are expressions of belief that God cares for us. They are also expressions of faith that God not only hears us, but that he can answer us.

“Almighty God unto whom all hearts are open all desires known and from whom no secrets are hid. Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love thee and worthily magnify thy holy name through Jesus Christ our Lord… Amen”

(That’s the Collect for Purity, 1928 Book Of Common Prayer, pg. 67)

Prayer is a Privilege for God’s People.

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” (Hebrews 4:15-16)

As I pointed out in last week’s blog, access to God’s grace and mercy is only through Jesus Christ. The access that Christian’s enjoy was secured at a huge price. Jesus had to go to the cross and be punished with the punishment that we deserve. His body had to suffer and his blood had to be shed for the forgiveness of our sins. Without the death and resurrection of Jesus, we as sinful humans would never have access to God. In other words, without the access provided by Jesus, our prayers would never even reach the ceiling of the room you are now sitting in! Think about the price that was paid for the privilege to be able to pray.

Prayer gives us a Proper Perspective.

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.” (Ephesians 3:20)

As we pray from the prayer book, the prayers are designed and written to allow you to focus on the issue. The prayers for peace and grace, found on page 17 of the 1928 BCP, are an example of asking for God’s peace and grace in our daily lives. That peace and that grace gives us a proper perspective of how powerful our God truly is.

God can do immeasurably (exceedingly abundantly) more than we can possibly ask for or imagine! How is this possible? Through his power that is at work within us. This is the same awesome power that spoke creation into existence by the word of His mouth. This is the same amazing power that parted the Red Sea and set the Israelites free. This is the same infinite power that raised Jesus from the dead, setting us free - free indeed! What should our response be to this?

“To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” (Ephesians 3:21)

Intimacy brings people closer. It seals and binds. Intimacy through prayer binds those two hearts, sealed and bound as one, together with the divine.

“Let thy ears , O Lord, be open to the prayers of thy humble servants; and that they may obtain their petitions, make them to ask such things as shall please thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.”

(Collect for the Tenth Sunday After Trinity, Book of Common Prayer (1928), pg. 203)

Be prayerful…

+Ian