Darkness and Light

"The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined." (Isaiah 9:2 RSV)

We live in darkness. On Christmas Eve we gather in darkness during the dark, dreary days of winter. We live in a world of darkness. Two-thirds of the earth's population does not profess Christ as Lord. Atheists openly advertise their misguided belief that "There is no god." The Church around the globe is under persecution and attack like never before. These are dark times.

But there is light at the end of this tunnel of darkness and despair. The light came as a star flickering in the dark, winter sky. The light came as a Baby born on a cold, dark night. The light came as tongues of fire descending upon a small group of frightened and confused men and women.

The Good News is that the flicker of light grew. The star lead to the Son of Righteousness. The Baby grew into the Son of Man. A handful of disciples grew into a third of the world's population known as the Church. The light of Christ started out small as the Babe of Bethlehem, but now the light of Christ has grown into the flames of fire found in the Church and will one day culminate with the blinding light of His triumphal return!

Every little mission, and church, and ministry is a flicker of light in the darkness of the world. Alone they are but flickers, but together they are a roaring fire! This world is a place of hurt and suffering, poverty and addiction, brokeness and sinfulness. And it is our flickers of light that offer hope in this dark world as we testify to the One Who Is Light. The Christmas story, the story of Light coming into the darkness, must be our constant theme. We must carry the Light into the world.

Those who have been bound up in darkness can see a great Light. That Light is Jesus Christ. Amen.

Why I Love Christmas

I'm really a kid at heart and I guess that is one of the reasons I love Christmas so much. I love the music, the shows, the decorations, the lights, and the presents! Even though my family was fairly poor growing up we still had wonderful Christmases with family and friends. I treasure the memories from those days and I reflect on them often.

I have certain rituals that I follow every year during the holiday season. I have to watch "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas," "A Charlie Brown Christmas," and "A Christmas Story." I also have to indulge myself with copious amounts of Egg Nog and Christmas cookies. To top off these rituals I have to try and convince my nieces, and now my grandson, that I'm an elf and that I'm best buds with Santa. When the movie "Elf" came out I told them it was my life story. :)

But I also have some other rituals. I have to light the Advent wreath to bring to mind the fact that the Baby in the manger will be returning as the King of kings! I also make a point of being in church on Christmas Eve to celebrate the birth of the One Who Saved My Soul. The biggest reason I love Christmas is because I love the Christ whom it celebrates.

I am amazed every time I think of what Christ has done for me and for us all. The thought that God would humble Himself to become like me is staggering. It is even more staggering to realize that He has made a way for me to become more like Him. The Christ Mass, the celebration of the Primordial Sacrament who is Christ Himself, has implications that are almost unfathomable. The Lord of the Universe walked among us and died among us. He ate and slept like us. He hungered and thirsted like us. He cried and laughed like us. Jesus Christ was and is like us and yet He is so much more. Fully divine and fully human.

I love Christmas because I love what it stands for...peace on earth, goodwill toward men, family, friends, fellowship, giving, etc. But the main reason I love Christmas is because I love Jesus Christ and, more importantly, He loves me.

Merry Christmas to you and yours. May the Christ of Christmas fill your hearts with peace, love, and goodwill toward men.

We Still Believe...

I have been greatly disturbed by recent trends in the Church. For many years now the so-called "mainline" denominations have turned their backs on Biblical principles and traditional morality. A tide of evil has swept through the Church and has forced many to draw a line in the sand and take a stand. Many are leaving the church and many more say the church has left them.

I just read an article about the continued support of abortion by many denominations including The Episcopal Church USA, The Presbyterian Church USA, The United Methodist Church, The United Church of Christ, The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, etc. I also read an article on the ordination of another gay bishop in the ECUSA.

There are those inside of these churches who are taking a stand. Recently the Diocese of South Carolina (ECUSA) took a stand against the tide during the diocesan convention. The Confessing Movement in the UMC are doing the same. But will they be able to prevail? One would like to think so but history has shown that sometimes a clean break is needed to bring reform. Remember Martin Luther? He tried reform internally but eventually it would take a break to reform the Church.

I have labored inside of the UMC with hopes that change would come. It did, but not for the better. My wife and I finally decided that enough was enough. We left and we have now launched a mission with a few other brave souls to reach those whom the church has left. Our small group still believes!

We still believe that Jesus Christ is Lord! That means He is the Lord of our lives and the Lord of the Church. That means He sets the rules and He sets the agenda.

We still believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God! The words contained in this Holy Book are not fables, myths, or mere suggestions. We believe that God's Word is the standard for the Church and our lives.

We still believe that our clergy should meet high moral standards and follow explicitly the commands of Holy Writ. Humans do not have the authority to circumvent the clear commands of Scripture. Our clergy should be our example, not our shame.

We still believe that marriage is between one man and one woman. Why? Because that is what the Bible and the tradition of the Church says.

We still believe that every human being is created in the image of God. Therefore, every life is precious and should be afforded the sanctity that God intended. Unborn children have the same right to life that you and I have.

We still believe that there is no salvation outside of the Church. Christ and the Apostles made it clear that salvation is not a private affair, but a communal life. We are not to forsake the gathering together of ourselves. Those who profess Christianity outside of the Church deceive themselves.

It is our job as faithful Christians to be witnesses to the Truth. We know that Jesus Christ is Truth. During this Christmas season I encourage each of you to be faithful witnesses to the Truth that is the incarnate Son of God.

Give Thanks

"Give thanks to the Holy One, Give thanks..." That song has been rattling around in my head the last several days (and yes, I know, there's plently of room to rattle around in there!).

I've been pleasantly surprised to see many of my friends on Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites listing the things they are thankful for. I, too, am thankful for the many things they have listed; family, friends, jobs, health, etc. But I must tell you I am most thankful for the Holy One who has redeemed me and set me free from the bonds of sin.

I have been a bad boy this year (and I'm sure many of you have been bad boys and girls also) and I am especially thankful that God is not a divine Santa Claus keeping a list of who has been naughty or nice. The reality is that we've all been naughty and yet God still loves us and accepts us right where we are. That is not to say that God excuses our sin, but through the precious blood of His Son, He forgives our sins and puts us back on the right path of holiness and righteousness. God really is the God of second chances.

As you celebrate Thanksgiving this coming week be sure to give thanks to the Holy One. He is worthy of our thanks, praise, and worship. Give thanks!

Why an Anglican Mission in Elgin

I have recently been asked why I am working on starting an Anglican mission in the Elgin area. The short answer is that God has led me to do so. But to some this is not enough of an answer. So to help explain the thought process behind this I thought I would like to post a blog to answer some the questions raised about this venture.

Those of you who know me well knew that I had no intention of going into back into pastoral ministry anytime in the near future. I thought I would be perfectly content to just worship and work in the background of a local church. My wife and I had been attending the Church of the Apostles in Columbia and we were blessed in the worship we experienced there. But something kept tugging at my heart telling me that this was not enough.

Several things occured that spurred me forward to pursue active participation in ministry once again. One day I received a phone call from a Baptist minister that I had never met. He wanted to meet me for breakfast. We met at the Lizard's Thicket in NE Columbia and he told me that God had burdened his heart to talk with me and pray for me about why I was no longer preaching the Gospel. After much talking and prayer we parted ways. Knock, knock...God was calling me back to Himself.

During this time I was also having an ongoing conversation with a professed atheist who was challenging my faith and forcing me to re-examine my beliefs. I found myself in apologist mode and, again, God was calling me back to Himself.

Also during this period I met a young lady at work who was in trouble with the law and was seeking spiritual guidance. God allowed me the opportunity to minister to her and once again I found God calling me back to Himself.

Now I'll be the first to admit that I am kind of thick headed, but even I was beginning to get the message. God placed a group that I had never heard of before in my path and I began to do some research on them when the light finally lit and I realized that this was what I have been journeying toward all of my adult life. The Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches is a convergence movement. They seek to blend together the three stream of Christian worhip - Sacramental, Evangelical, and Charismatic. Over my 17 years of active ministry I have served in all three types of these churches. Finally I found a place where I could combine the best of all three worlds into one experience, just the way the early church did.

When I had my first conversation with the archbishop of this communion everything fell into place and we both knew that this was a God-ordained union. We both agreed to take time to pray and wait upon the Lord to confirm this was His will for both of us. After days of prayer and counsel we spoke again and agreed that God had confirmed in our hearts that we should move forward. So we set a course for a mission.

Over the years I have had an attachment to the Lugoff-Elgin area. I've had aunts, uncles and cousins living in the area. For a time my mother and sisters lived there. Eventually I worked there and am doing so again. I now have both of my sisters, my daughter, son-in-law, and grandchild living there. God seems to keep pulling me back to the area.

Also, my research has shown that there is absolutely no Anglican presence in the area. Most of the churches in the area are Baptist and Pentecostal with a few Methodist churches thrown in for good measure. The nearest Anglican churches are in Northeast Columbia and Camden. Both of these churches are part of the liberal Episcopal Church USA. The nearest traditional Anglican churches are located in downtown Columbia and in Florence. This leaves a huge vacuum for those Christians in the Anglican tradition who refuse to accept the un-Biblical practices of ordaining homosexuals to the ministry and blessing same-sex unions as is currently done by the ECUSA.

There is also a large number of un-churched people in the area who are not being reached by the churches already in existence. I do not know the reason for this, but whatever it is, the gap has to be filled and these people must be reached for Christ.

We, the core group of this mission, are convinced that this is God's will for each of us. Most of the core have been part of a mission church before and we are all well aware of the burdens and heartache that potentially lay ahead. But despite this we are convinced that God's grace is sufficient and we are willing to make the sacrifices necessary to ensure that God's will is done.

Please pray for us as we move forward with this sacred mission. If you would like to be part of this adventure feel free to join us. If you are serving God where you are, continue to do so with the knowledge that we are praying for you as well. May God's Kingdom come and may His will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Liturgical Worship

I've always loved liturgical worship and I've never made any secrets of that. Even when I was pastoring in an evangelical church I tried to incorporate as many liturgical elements into the service as I could. I find great beauty, comfort and holiness in the liturgy.

I have heard many of my evangelical friends criticizing the liturgy as being "vain repetition." I think this is due to ignorance more than anything. A cursory study of Jewish and Christian history will show that liturgical worship was the norm until after the Reformation. The truth is that the vast majority of Christians still worship in a liturgical fashion whether they be Protestant, Roman Catholic, Anglican, or Orthodox.

I recently read a great book called "Beyond Smells and Bells" by Mark Galli. Mark is a former evangelical who became an Anglican because he fell in love with liturgical worship. In his book he makes this statement, "In a culture that values spontaneity, the liturgy grounds us in something enduring. In a culture that assumes that truth is a product of the mind, the liturgy helps us experience truth in both mind and body. In a world demanding instant relevance, the liturgy gives us the patience to live into a relevance the world does not know."

Things like reciting the Creed, praying the Lord's Prayer, and partaking of the Eucharist every Sunday remind me that I am a part of something much bigger than myself. It reminds me that I am a part of the mystical Body of Christ, the Church universal, the Communion of the Saints. It instills in me a sense of awe and mystery which is appropriate when one remembers that we are worshiping a living God who is the ground of all being and the source of all things. God is mysterious. His ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts.

I have recently discovered the convergence movement which is seeking to meld the three streams of Christianity together; evangelical, liturgical, and charismatic. I like this because it is, in my humble opinion, Biblical. I am currently attending an Anglican church where the service is just such a blend. The liturgy is read and prayed, with guitars and keyboards leading in ancient hymns and modern praise choruses, while people pray aloud during the petitions, and lift up holy hands when they feel moved to do so. The priests preach evangelical sermons and encourage personal holiness and a missionary lifestyle.

As Rich Mullins (a litugical Methodist) used to sing, "Our God is an awesome God!" So I say let us worship Him in the beauty of His holiness. When I bow as the crucifer goes by I do so in homage to the One who died to save my soul. When I make the sign of the cross I do so in honor of the Holy Trinity. When I smell the incense I remember that my prayers, and the prayers of all the saints, are rising to Heaven. Liturgical worship helps me to worship God with all of my senses. We have been commanded to worship the Almighty with body, soul, and spirit. The liturgy helps me to do just that.

The Seven Deadly Sins of Fundamentalism

Most of you are familiar with the Seven Deadly Sins recognized by the Roman Catholic Church: Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy, and Pride. I don't necessarily subscribe to just seven deadly sins (all sin is deadly!) but they are at least Biblical.

Being raised in an independent Baptist Church I became familiar with a different set of deadly sins. Now the list of these sins is infinite, but I'll give you the Big 7! So here is my list of the Seven Deadly Sins of Fundamentalism.

1. Smoking. This is one of the first tenants of being a good fundamentalist...Thou shalt not smoke. One old preacher used to say "If you ain't going to hell why would you want to smell like it!" Clever. Of course he used to say this from the pulpit while his wife was out back of the church smoking. Folks, smoking may be bad for your health (what isn't these days) but it is not going to send you to hell. Some of the most famous Christians of the modern era smoked and if they didn't make it to Heaven I'm outta luck! The original picture on the paperback cover of Mere Christianity was one of C.S. Lewis sitting in a lounge chair smoking a cigarette at Cambridge University. Charles Spurgeon, probably the most famous Baptist preacher of all time, used to smoke cigars. A parishioner of his once asked him if smoking was a sin and he said, "Only if I smoke two cigars at once, sir," (See Gluttony under the RC 7 Deadly Sins)

2. Drinking. This sin should probably be number one as it will send you to hell faster than any other known to mankind. Alcohol is the Devil's Kool-Aid! It, not the love of money, is the root of all evil. Thou shalt not drink. But here's where we run into a sticky wicket, indeed. All throughout the Bible we see people (i.e., prophets, priests, kings, and even Jesus himself) drinking. The whole "wine is really grape juice" argument doesn't fly if you know anything about the original Biblical languages of Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. As if that were not bad enough there is even mention of beer and liquor in the Bible (Hush your mouth, Rick!) The only prohibition to drinking in the Bible is the admonition not to get drunk. It was such a rarity not to drink that Nazarites (like Samson and possibly Paul) had to take special vows not to do it. Folks, Jesus turned water into wine...let the party begin!

3. Dancing. Oh the horrors of the human body writhing in lustful movement. As the old joke goes, "Why don't Baptists have sex standing up? For fear that it lead to dancing!" Thou shalt not dance. It is a well known fact that dancing leads to sex and sex leads to pleasure and we can have none of that! But wait a minute. What about the prophet/king David dancing before the Ark of the Covenant? Or what about the Biblical admonitions to dance before the Lord. There must be some mistake here. There is, but it is not the Bible's mistake.

4. Since I've already mentioned the "S" word let's talk about sex. Thou shalt not have sex except to procreate. I've always been a little confused by this one. If sex is so bad why do so many fundamentalist preachers like to do it. Remember Jimmy Swaggart? How about Jim Baker? Sex was created for multiple purposes. The first and foremost being procreation. No arguments here. But if that is its only purpose why does Paul tell married couples that their spouses body is theirs and vice-versa? He says that we are not to abstain from sex unless it is mutually consented to. I'm going to let you in on a little secret...when done within the confines of marriage and mutually agreed to, almost anything goes. Read the Song of Solomon in a modern translation if you would like a little erotic reading this evening.

5. Long-hair. When I was a kid we were always told that long hair was a sign of being a sinner and a closet homosexual. Only women should have long hair. Men should always have their hair cut above the collar and off of the forehead. Men, thou shalt not have long hair. Now maybe my inquisitiveness has been more of a curse than a blessing because I'm always pondering things. I've often pondered how a preacher could stand in the pulpit and condemn men with long hair while being overshadowed by a giant picture of Jesus with long hair. There was nothing effiminate about Jesus. He was a man's man! He was a carpenter by trade, an intellectual, a radical, and oh yeah, HE WAS AND IS THE SON OF GOD! Enough said about that one.

6. Cussing. Now I'm going to catch some flack for this one. A cardinal tenet of all good religious folk is - Thou shalt not cuss. I agree that cussing is not always a good thing. But I do need to point out that there is a difference between cussing and cursing. Cussing is using slang venacular that some find offensive. Cursing is Biblical prohibited because it is calling down evil upon the person or thing it is directed toward. We are told to bless, not curse. No arguments here. But cussing is a time honored Biblical (that's right) and Christian tradition. I need to remind you of the time that Elijah asked the prophets of Baal if their god was taking a shit while they cut themselves waiting for him to respond. That is literally what it says in the Hebrew and it was just as offensive then as it is now. That's why he said it. Or maybe I need to remind you of the time Jesus compared a Gentile woman to a bitch when talking about crumbs from the table. Look up the Koine Greek if you don't believe me. And again, it was just as offensive then as it is now. It was meant to be. Or maybe you should read some of the early Reformation literature put out by Martin Luther and others. It would offend you puritanical sensibilities.

7. The King James Bible only. There is no true Word of God except the King James Version of the Bible. You've probably heard the story of the woman who was offended one Sunday when the pastor read from the new-fangled NIV Bible. She promptly confronted the pastor and reminded him that if the King James Version was good enough for Jesus it ought to be good enough for him! I actually had to take a class on this in Bible college. I'm not going to bore you with the details of the Alexandrian Text or the Masoretic Text and such that were used to translate the modern Bible. The reality is that no matter what modern translation you use they are 98.5% in total agreement with each other. You will find it interesting that Jesus actually was a rebel when it came to modern translations. The first century Jews believed that the Hebrew translation was the only true translation of the Bible. Yet when Jesus quoted the Bible he did so from the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Bible. This is why when you read the Gospels the Old Testament quotations are sometimes a little different. Jesus used the version of the Bible that was written for the common folk in the street language of the day.

I want to say that these observations are from my own personal experiences and I am not trying to pick on the Baptist. That is just what I know. But I can tell you the same is true in many other evangelical and pentecostal traditions. Martin Luther once said, "Where the Bible speaks, speak. Where it is silent, be silent." St. Augustine said something similar centuries before. We do not need to add to the Bible. The real sin is adding or taking away words from the Bible.

There are plenty of sins that are "real" listed in the Bible that we each struggle with. Why do we want to add to our guilt un-necessarily?

Halloween

I'm going to tell you something that may shock you. I love Halloween! There, I've admitted it and now I can move on with my life. Seriously, I love Halloween for many reasons, like the fact that I enjoy seeing little kids dressed up as their favorite super heroes, or the fact that I enjoy seeing adults make complete fools of themselves (it's one of my favorite pasttimes), and as a chocoholic is gives me a great excuse to indulge my weakness.

But the main reason I love halloween is because it is a reality check. Halloween is actually a religious holiday still celebrated by liturgical churches and it is the beginning of a somber few days in the life of the Church. All Hallow's Eve (Halloween to we Americans) is the night before All Saints Day. It is a time to remember those saints who have gone before us to their final rest. It should be a time of introspection, rememberance, and celebration. In many churches the names of those who have departed this life and gone into glory are read and remembered on All Saints Day.

Following All Saints Day is All Souls Day. It is a day for all of us who still remain in our earthly journey. It is time to reflect upon the condition of our soul and our standing before God. It is a great time to ask ourselves, am I ready to meet my God face to face?

Enjoy Halloween. I certainly do. But never forget the real meaning behind the day and use the time to reflect upon the true meaning of the communion of the saints.

"Almighty God, you have knit together your elect in one communion and fellowship in the mystical body of your Son Christ our Lord: Give us grace so to follow your blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we may come to those ineffable joys that you have prepared for those who truly love you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen." (Collect for All Saints Day, BCP 1979)

How To Get Rid of God

It seems today everybody wants to get rid of God. The government, the educational system, the media, you name it...they want God gone. Of course, this would be laughable if it weren't so sad, to think that God can be gotten rid of. It has certainly been tried before. Listen to these words of the Russian Communist Zinonieff, "We shall grapple with the Lord God. In due time we shall vanquish him from the highest heaven, and where he seeks refuge, we shall subdue him forever." How arrogant! I think history has proven for us who won that battle. And yet even though history has shown time and time again the futility of this endeavor there are those who would seek to conquer the God of the Bible.

Well, here are a couple of ways that the world tries to get rid of Him. First of all, they just ignore Him. St. Paul talks about this in Romans 1:28, "...they did not see fit to acknowledge God..." This is what the theory of evolution is all about. Darwin was a seminary drop-out who was angry at God and decided to try and take Him out of the mix. If we ignore Him maybe he'll go away. It's like a child hiding under a blanket when he's afraid or an ostrich sticking it's head in the sand.

Secondly, if they don't like who God is they try to change Him. Again, St. Paul speaks of this in verses 22 and 23 of Romans chapter 1, "Claiming to be wise they became fools (literally "morons" in the Greek) and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things." Now I'm not going to get into too many details here because you can look all of these up for yourself: humanism, polytheism, pantheism, etc. Just pick an "ism" and make God into whoever or whatever you want Him to be. The Egyptians used to worship a sacred onion. The Romans had 39 gods to choose from and the Greeks had 48. The Hindus have hundreds. My first police partner was a Hindu and he used to bring a different god to work everyday for protection.

The problem with ignoring God or trying to change Him is that He's still God in the end. As the old saying goes, just because the sun is blocked by the clouds doesn't mean that its not there and that it can't burn you. I don't know about you but some of my worst sunburns have come on overcast days because I forgot about the sun. Forgetting about the sun will get you burned! So will forgetting about God. Paul reminds us that there is a "penalty for their error." That penalty is death (see Romans 6:23).

Friends, I know that it is frustrating to have the world system demean your faith and your God, but remember, your God is bigger than anything the world can boast of and He is always victorious. They may try to forget about Him but He always has a witness for the world. Whether it be a band of nomads wandering through the wilderness with a Tabernacle showing forth His Glory, a tiny nation with a Temple showing forth His Glory, or, a remnant known as the Church showing forth His Glory, God always has a witness.

Teach Us To Number Our Days

Regis Philbin used to ask, "Who wants to be a millionaire?" Well, I'm not going to offer you a million bucks for answering these questions but give it your best shot. What happened on these dates?

December 7, 1941

September 2, 1945

November 22, 1963

July 20, 1969

September 11, 2001

How'd you do? Here are the answers: 12/07/41 - attack on Pearl Harbor, 09/02/45 - Victory over Japan, 11/22/63 - JFK assassination and death of C.S.Lewis, 07/20/69 - Man on the moon, 09/11/01 - World Trade Center attack.

History has a way of numbering the significant days of our lives so that their impact is simply recalled by their numerical date. All an author need do is write "Dec. 7" or "Sept. 11" and we know what they're referring to.

The Bible tells us "...to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom." (Psalm 90:12 ESV) The New Living Translation of the Bible says it this way, "Make the most of our time, because time on this earth is fleeting." It would appear that the old Latin phrase "Carpe Diem" is a biblical principle. We must seize the day because we are not guaranteed another.

On the morning of September 11, 2001 a 32 year old business man was forced "to make the most of his time." As Todd Beamer boarded Flight 93 headed for San Francisco he had no idea that he would be placed in a situation that would alter the course of history. But he was and he rose to the occassion because he was a Christian and he had been taught "to number his days." When Todd realized that his plane had been hijacked and was being aimed back toward Washington D.C. he calmly tried to call his wife. He couldn't reach her so he left a message with the air phone operator. He told the operator to tell his wife that he loved her and then asked the operator to pray the Lord's Prayer with him. After praying together the operator reports that the last thing she heard from Todd was him telling his fellow passengers, "Let's roll!"

We all know what happened after that. Todd and his fellow passengers sacrificed their lives so that thousands of lives on the ground might be saved. Todd's unwavering faith in the Lord Jesus Christ gave him the courage to act and to seize the day.

Here are some more million dollar questions. Are you ready to seize the day? Are you ready to meet your Maker? Tomorrow holds no guarantees. All we have is today. Let the Lord teach you to number your days.