The Self Help Gospel

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

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

Crossbearing

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

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

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?

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

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

The Vending Machine Jesus

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

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

Out With the Old

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 Easy Way

"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

"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

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

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

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

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