9 Years and Counting

It doesn't hardly seem possible that nine years have passed since I was ordained to the priesthood of God's church, but as they say, "Time flies when you are having fun." Well its not all been fun, but most of it has been. And the parts that have not been fun have been worth it. Our children have always brought us more Joy than sorrow. Serving God has always had a cross at the middle of it, but the way of the cross is life and peace. Bi-vocational service has lingered far longer than I had anticipated when we began this mission. I had ambitiously thought that in 2 or 3 years we would have a self sustaining parish. However, when I said "yes" to God, it was without conditions, and escape clauses. Besides, look at what I would have missed: All the people in whose lives we have sown the seed of the gospel, through the business; Years of working with my boys teaching them the trade, and so much more; Teaching them that the Christian way, is more than what we do at church-- it's how we live our lives, together as a family, how we work, the quality of our efforts, doing our best at whatever we do, to the Glory of God: the peaceful rest enjoyed by one who has worked long and hard all day long.

I can hope that one or more of my boys might get called to orders, and follow in my foot steps. But if not I want them to know that for the Christian there are few secular vocations. The only truly secular profession is the one that CAN NOT be done for the Glory of God. What ever we do, we do our best, and work at it with all of our might, for the Glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Life lessons are not taught in the class room. They are learned in the bump and grind of life. Our lives are an offering to God, poured out for His Honor and glory.

Nine years, really isn't that long after all. If God allows, I will give Him many more,
and when I finally lay this body down, by His grace it will be well spent.

Welcome Ezra Jude!

It's been almost six weeks since Ezra made his grand appearance. I had the privilege and blessing of baptizing him into the Body of Christ, at our Easter Vigil. I was reminded that it was almost 18 years ago, when the first of our children made her entrance. Nothing much has changed. It never gets old. Each child an incredible blessing, each bringing unspeakable joy, and a sense of awe. To think that God, in his grace has entrusted to us one of his children. A brand new soul, that would not have existed apart from Mary and my cooperation. God made, Adam from the dust of the earth, and Eve from his rib. But the rest of the children in the world, he allows, even requires human participation. When I think about this trust, I am humbled by the enormity of the responsibility that it entails. God loves children, He loves people. He wants them all to be with Him forever. God has entrusted us with Ezra, to raise him, to train him in His stead, the way God would raise his own children so that Ezra too will one day join the ranks of the Saints in His presence. Who is up to the task?

Thankfully, God has not left us to figure it out on our own. He's given us grace beyond measure in the Church, in the Holy Scriptures, in the guidance of the Holy Spirit. With nine living children, I still do not know all there is to know about raising children. They are all different, all unique requiring their own tailor made game plan. The foundation of all means and methods however, remains the Church, life in Christ Jesus. In the Church God has granted every grace necessary for us to accomplish this task. Our task, is to make use of every available means of Grace, for us and for Ezra, to the honor and glory of God- That there might never be a time in Ezra's life that he did not know Christ, and have peace with God.

LOL--Yeah, whatever

It's not a little ironic that those inventions which initially intend to bring people closer ultimately separate us further. Do you remember the old telephone commercial? "Reach out touch some one," they used to say, and then pick up the phone. Who would have thought in those days of rotary phones and party lines,(do you remember those?) that nearly everyone including young people would be carrying cell phones. Of course its aimed at "staying connected." Not only that, we now have text messaging, where a person doesn't even have to talk, he or she can just type words, but not whole words or actual sentences- abbreviations. Whole words, and sentences take too long and require some grammar and spelling expertise. This is an excellent way to chat with your friends while you are otherwise occupied, say at church, or school, or in the grocery check out line. You can even be in a crowd of people (or with your family,)and at the same time "stay in touch" with your friends. Then of course we have the grand daddy of all superficiality, "social networking sites." Where else can you "keep up" with all your "friends" who you never see or talk to? Now you can be "social" from the comfort of your own home, sitting in your pjs on your lazy-boy. You don't even have to comb your hair or brush your teeth.

Which brings me to LOL, or another designation aimed at communicating emotion.:) Have you ever wondered why this is even necessary? I'll help you out here. The printed text is an inefficient, maybe even inadequate medium for human communication. It's fine for text books, dictionaries and encyclopedias, that is, for sharing facts and information. However, for communication between actual human beings, it is woefully inadequate. So when we text or email, we have to give indication of the emotion or inflection that we want to accompany the message. Of course we are limited to a relatively small stock of available emotions, LOL...Human communication, and social interaction is more than just words, or even accompanying pictures. Trying to compress human experience into words, was the challenge of the great literary artists, poets and novelists of former days. They did so by means of the mastery of the language, powerful vocabulary and many words, not abbreviations and emoticons.

I have to admit I was enthralled by some of these new "advances." However the novelty has worn off, and a sense of foreboding has taken its place. They may be useful but I doubt they are good. In effect, the world of text, rather than growing to accommodate human experience, is static, compressing human experience into an increasingly narrow field. The result? superficiality, facade, and surface relationships with no depth. Not only is there the possibility of intentional deception, ( I'm thinking of the country hit..."I'm so much cooler online") but also the tacit deception, that is, the things left unsaid. What your friends via textual media know of you does not even scratch the surface of who you are. It's like the tip of the ice berg. What your friends see by means of facebook, twitter, or TM may be true, but its certainly not the whole truth, and "Relationships" thus upheld bear little resemblance to human friendship. Consequently, while we may be inundated with "friends," it's entirely possible to remain isolated, remote, and alone. We may actually find ourselves losing face to face social skills. Perhaps the most detrimental effect of the multiplication of these superficial contacts, is that they can and do sometimes distract us from the people who are physically present with us, endangering the only real relationships we have. Virtual is virtual. Real is real. Virtual is not real.

I'm reminded that God communicated through the words of the prophets and seers for ages, but to save us, to reveal Himself, and His love, the Word became Flesh. God incarnate, in Jesus Christ. The book, the text on the page was just not adequate.

My advice? The next time you are out with real friends, show them the respect they deserve. Be present with them. Give them your unobstructed attention. Turn off your phone. You can catch up with all your text messages later, from the comfort of your own home.

The Word Became Flesh

My inactivity for the last three months might lead one to suspect one of any number of explanations:
My computer died
I contracted swine flue
I had major surgery involving my hands
I have been on an extended vacation,
Our electricity/internet has been shut off
I've been really busy with other pursuits
I spend too much time facebooking
I just don't have anything to say

The list could go on, but let me just say most of these explanations are false. The truth is that our building project at Christ Community, and then the holidays, absorbed most of the time for blogging that I may have had. Now that Epiphany day is behind us, allow me to share some thoughts from my current pursuits.

I have been reading from the 7 Ecumenical Councils of the Church. If that sounds like exciting reading, it's not really. However, it is enlightening. I have found myself musing, "Who would have thought...hmm. That's interesting." For example, anyone not acknowledging the Blessed Ever-Virgin Mary as Mother of God is to be anathema. I know some of you may be thinking to yourself, "Isn't that just a little over the top?" Let me just say it makes perfect sense when you consider what was at stake, and also, consider the effects of the modern tendency to neglect this point.

One of the issues that stands out in all the councils, especially the first 3 is a concern for clarifying the Truth surrounding the person of Jesus Christ, and the Holy Trinity. Issues that were settled once and for all, and articulated in the Nicene and Apostles creeds. These creeds remain the measuring stick for Christian Faith. The fathers were intense about these defining issues. One of the many heresies in this time period (4th/5th centuries) sought to explain the incarnation by dividing Christ into two persons: the Logos (Eternal Word/Deity) and Christ (Jesus of Nazareth). They suggested that Christ was a man just as you and I, filled with the Holy Spirit in a profound and unprecedented way. The Fathers said, no. The Word BECAME flesh. Christ and the Logos were one. No less God, and no less Man. Jesus was not inhabited by God he was/is the incarnate God, the second person of the undivided Holy Trinity. The Fathers were very clear on the point. Theotokos (Mother of God) is not as much a statement about the Blessed Virgin but a statement about Christ. To refuse to acknowledge Mary as the Mother of God is to deny Christ, pure and simple.

So what difference does it make really? Quite a lot actually. The motivation of proponents of the many different heresies in the early days of the Church, was the fundamental distrust, or denigration of the Flesh. At best the flesh was viewed as weak, at its worst intrinsically evil. This line of thinking can be traced back at least as far as Plato. It is not the same as the Christian view of the flesh as fallen, bent or marred. It is difficult for moderns and ancients alike to comprehend how God who is perfect, holy, infinite, could become flesh. Its easier to imagine Him inhabiting flesh and even that is a stretch of faith. Neglect of this point of doctrine regarding the Incarnation of God, has lead to a "spiritualization" of the Christian faith, that likewise neglects the redemption of the flesh. The result being a artificial dichotomy between flesh and Spirit, and a failure to recognize the whole person, both of Christ and human beings generally. We sometimes see it manifested as "spiritual worship," that is to say, worship unhindered by outward forms or rituals. Casual becomes acceptable because reverence is a matter of the heart. Kneeling is unimportant if our spirits are humbled and bowed. Thinking and reasoning is supplanted by feeling and emotion. The hard facts of the Scriptures are set aside for a "spiritual interpretation." In the end, the Scriptural teaching regarding the Church as the visible body of Christ, is abandoned for a notion that justifies the many divisions within the Church.

Worst of all, this "spiritualization" denies our humanity, offering to the people a truncated salvation, rather than Christian wholeness. The Word became Flesh to restore humanity, to the human race. Human beings, severed from God, degenerate into animals, ruled by their carnal appetites and instincts supposing that it is more "natural." For the first time since the Garden of Eden, we see in Christ Jesus what being human really looks like, how we were created to be. He was/is the perfect Man. Salvation and sanctification through Christ, do not separate the spirit/soul from that which is flesh, but rather restore the proper integrity between flesh and spirit. The truly "spiritual" person is not one who stands aloof from that which is material/flesh but rather, one whose outward manner of living (and dying) is a perfect expression of his inward/spiritual life. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld his glory...and from His fullness have we all received grace upon grace.

Extraordinary Means

Recently I read an article concerning new Anglican vocations. The point was made that the new Anglican world, (ACNA) would present a need for priests willing to be bi-vocational. This is a new reality that many former Episcopalians are facing. I am thankful, and really not surprised that many young men are willing to go to such extraordinary measures for the sake of the Gospel. There is a long history of such self-sacrifice in Christian Tradition, going all the way back to St. Paul. " I have become all things to all men , that I mighty by all means save some." It was my motivation almost fifteen years ago, and continues to be the driving motive to this day.

However, care must be taken to keep this zeal in its proper perspective. Bi-vocational ministry, while becoming more common, even necessary in many instances, is not normative of Christian ministry. It is the exception rather than the rule, Scripturally and traditionally. St. Paul, by his own testimony, embraced bi vocational ministry as a way of not being a burden to the fledgling congregation at Corinth, but no where does he suggest that all ministers do the same. In fact his council to Timothy, is in stark contrast to his own practice at Corinth. Furthermore, there is no evidence that St. Paul viewed his "tent making" as anything other than a temporary, extraordinary means. It was his "ground for boasting." (1 Cor.9:15)

In this light, bi vocational ministry must be viewed as a personal choice, an offering of self-sacrifice for the sake of the Gospel. For the Church to go beyond this, and to require its ministers to be bi vocational would be a violation of the Gospel. "The Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel." (1 Cor. 9:14)

Likewise, bi vocational ministry should be seen as a means to a specific end, not an end in itself. The goal of every bi vocational minister should always be full time vocational ministry. There are a number of reasons for this. First, and foremost, as I stated above, it is against Scripture and Tradition to do otherwise. God has His own reasons why He has always, set aside men dedicated to his service, from the Levites under the Old Covenant to the ministers, bishops priests and deacons of the New. It seems that for the sake of the missionary endeavor, God has allowed exception to this rule, but it is the rule nonetheless. The person considering bi vocational service, needs to be aware of the cost of this compromise. It will cost. We need to count this cost, and be sure that we are able to pay. Bear with me for stating what should be obvious. If bi vocational ministry was the best, most effective way to do ministry, the Lord would have told us.

After nearly fifteen years of bi-vocational ministry, I can testify that it is not "the berries." It's a lot of work, more than people who are not bi vocational can imagine. It is consistently frustrating, because of the limits of time and physical endurance. The quality of service rendered to the parish suffers. Nevertheless, bi vocational ministry enables us to take the Gospel, to plant new churches in areas, that traditional ministry cannot. So I embrace it as an extraordinary means that makes it possible for me to serve the dear people of rural Kentucky now, while reaching out in hope for the day when I will be able to serve the people of my charge without the distraction and drain of a second job.

David and Goliath

Everybody likes the story. Little David against all odds, defeats a giant of a man, Goliath. We love it when the underdog comes out on top. Its a popular theme, in movies, sports, and yes, even politics. Perhaps the reason it is so popular is that so many of us view ourselves as "underdogs," or little guys, and it gives us hope that one day we will come out on top. Now hope is a good thing. Without it people cannot survive. However, we have missed the whole point of the story if we think this is about an underdog.

First, David was not an underdog, and he did not view himself in that way at all. When he stood before the doubtful King Saul, David was far from fearful or weak. He was more like a teenage boy, lacking proper restraint, and judgment. He had killed lions and bears with his own hands, and this Philistine would fall too. Sorry. David was no underdog in his own eyes, although others may view him as such. There were underdogs in the story though. They were the ones standing on the sidelines despairing, scoffing at young David, waiting for a real hero, and the king who sat in safety and sent a young boy to do what he was afraid to do himself. Those are the underdogs in this story.

David was different from the rest. What set him apart was not his strength, fighting skills, or even his experience defeating lions and bears. What distinguished David from the rest was his deep seated confidence in God. David was a man/boy of faith, and a model for all of us in this regard. His faith went beyond mere belief in God. David believed something about God, and this faith permeated his whole life, whether in the fields watching over sheep, or on the battlefield facing a giant. And it is this faith, what David believed about God, that set him apart from the rest of the army in his own day, and from the wannabe heroes, and arm chair quarter backs of today. Of course, David surely believed in God's power, and greatness, His holiness and righteousness, as do we. But David's extraordinary confidence, came from his belief in God's sovereignty and good will toward him and the nation of Israel. Beyond this, David understood himself to be a participant not a spectator in the economy of God's dominion. God's dominion is carried out by the hands of faithful men and women.

We pray "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done..." (Oh, Lord please send somebody) I doubt that David, was in the field one day tending his sheep, when God, "gave him a word " that he was to defeat Goliath. When the lion attacked his sheep, I doubt he took a moment to pray about what he should do in this situation. When he heard Goliath blaspheming the Lord, he knew what needed to be done. King Saul saw these as two entirely different genres. David saw them as one and the same. The God who helped him kill the lion and the bear, would help him defeat Goliath.
It was not an underdog that defeated a giant, it was the Lord's servant David, simply doing his duty, in concert with his Master.

Listen, we as the people of God, have got to stop reveling in our victimization. We are not victims, we are not underdogs. We are servants of the sovereign King of the universe, co-laboring with Him to achieve his Glory in the world. His power is not lessened but perfected in our weakness. Let us therefore take hold of each day, and with the confidence of David, engage our giants. Let us work in our portion of the field that God's will be done-on our watch.

The Economy of Ministry

This was a new one to me. A recent article on Fox News, cited the poor economy, and rocky employment environment, for a recent increase in enrollment in religious education. Pause. When I read this article I wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry. It could be that we are experiencing a revival of sorts. The more cynical side of me sees this as a bad omen, a sign that the gospel and ministerial vocations, have been so cheapened that they are viewed as career plan B. "If I can't make it into med school, I can always be a minister." I witnessed this first hand back in college--the student who cannot decide on a major, or cannot cut the academic rigor of his first choice, becomes a religion major.

Then there is the other side, that sees ministry as a lucrative opportunity in hard economic times. People give to the church, even when times are hard. Remember the widow's mite. In some peoples mind I'm sure that this makes ministry an attractive profession. I have to agree that the "opportunities" for service are endless. What ever might be your take on the situation, it seems evident that as a culture, religious careers, have displaced vocations. Compare this article with the fact of declining vocations in the Roman Catholic Church, and you will begin to see my point. What's the difference? Why is one growing and the other declining? It's the difference between "vocation," and career choice. We don't have much room for vocation in our church culture anymore. It's the idea that a person might be chosen, rather than choose. This little difference changes everything. For the person who is called, who receives a vocation, is under obligation, under orders. There is a cost, a sacrifice to be made, obedience fulfilled. It is not a simple matter to "change majors" if things don't seem to be working out. It doesn't matter how well the job pays, or what is happening in the economy. In some cases we who are under orders, have to work a second job, to fulfill our vocation. That is not an appealing proposition to many. Finally the ministerial vocation is a life long vocation, similar to marriage in that it is not to be entered into lightly or unadvisedly. But for those whom God has called it is a price we are more than willing to pay. The promises, the vows you make before God, witnessed by the congregation, and under the hand of your bishop are not a matter of convenience.

How many of these graduate students, pursing ministerial careers, would continue if they considered their vocation in this light?