The Fullness of God (Part I)

"He (Jesus) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-all things were created through Him and for Him.
And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. And He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything He might be preeminent. For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of His cross."


As we think about the concept of the redemption of man, His relationship with and to God, and the results of these things this passage helps shed some light on numerous issues. Obviously the main thrust of this passage is the notion that Christ is fully God and fully Man, and the preeminence of Christ as the First among all things. This passage focuses slightly more on the diety of Christ, but at the heart of it is the truth that He is the one who brought reconciliation between God and His creation.

I have been thinking about this passage in a bit of a different light though recently. "For in Him the fullness of God was pleased to dwell..." has been weighing on my thoughts as it affects the idea of the indwelling of the Spirit of God in the believer.

We are told in Galatians 4 that "when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might recieve adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God."

The mind-numbing thing about this passage is that the God of all creation has sent forth to us His very Spirit to dwell, or live within us. Paul tells us here in a subtle reference that it is not ourselves but the very Spirit of Christ who cries out to God as "Father." Meaning that without the Spirit it is impossible for us to come to God as our Father and plead before Him as a child of the King.

But what I wish to focus on is the idea of the indwelliing itself. This is an amazing thing to think about, and a truly under-taught doctrine in my humble opinion.

Under-taught in more than one way; first that it is simply not talked about enough. And moreover the implications are just not laid out for the people of God in their unbelieveable fullness.

Christ has given us a little peek into the reality of this doctrine in John 14. Here our blessed Lord is beginning to give His final words to His Disciples before His arrest and crucifixion.

At verse 15 He begins:
"If you love Me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you... Because I live, you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you..." "If anyone loves Me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him."

"The Spirit of truth... He dwells with you and will be in you." These words are remarkable, and their implication is staggering to the imagination. The dwelling of the Spirit is presented here in a two-fold manner, "with you" and "in you." This, I believe, is significant.

First the idea of the Spirit being "with" us. Here Christ is mirroring Moses in Exodus 33 and 34. In this instance the Israelites had defiled themselves at the foot of Mt. Sinai by creating and worshipping a Golden calf. Moses intercedes to God for the people saying, in essence, "if you are pleased with me, go with us."

Throughout this "High-Priestly prayer" Christ has expressed to His Father His willingness to consecrate (or set aside) himself for the sacrifice of the Cross, and declaring that those who love and follow Him will have the Spirit "with" them. As with Moses and Israel Christ declares boldly "if You are pleased with Me, go with them." The first Advent of Christ was (in part) about God going FOR us. Taking on our sin, taking our infirmities, our shame, and at the climax of His mission and the apex of human history, He bore the consequence of our sin.

And now He has promised to those that love Him, to those who have partaken of His sacrifice and it's implications, that the Spirit would go WITH them.

He goes with us. For Israel God went with them as their guide; as the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. He dwelt with them in the midst of the company of Israel in the Tabernacle to be their focus of worship. He rested between the cherubim on the Ark of the Covenat as their Judge. He went with them as their God.

He goes with us as ours, but it goes further than this.

The thought of God living with us is unbelievably amazing. The idea that He would condescend to live among us is more that I can grasp. And just as this becomes too much to handle our Lord hits us with the next promise; that the Spirit of God will not only be with us but IN us.

This is an unprecedented reality, but one that was promised and foretold long before it took place! The Lord long before promised to "write His law upon" our hearts. And Christ has revealed how this is accomplished to us; by sending His very Spirit to live in our hearts. He promised His disciples that the Spirit would "teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you."

The Holy Spirit points us to Christ, reminding us always of what Christ has done and said. He convicts us, rebukes us, comforts and counsels us. This is all a wonderfully Trinitarian thing; the Holy Spirit always points to, shows us and glorifies Christ, and in turn, he who has seen Christ "has seen the Father," and the Father is the Head and Master of all, who lives in holy unity with the Spirit and the Son.

Now for the ridiculousness.

The fullness of God rests in all three members of the Trinity; Father, Son and Spirit.

Christ came and upon Him "the fullness of God was pleased to dwell." Christ then send us the Spirit, who is the presence of Christ in the midst of the people of God (the Church). As the presence of Christ dwells in the midst of His people, He also dwells in us.

Which brings the mind-boggling truth to us that the fullness of God dwells in His people.

Catch that? The Spirit comes and dwells in our hearts, the same Spirit who is the mystical presence of Christ, Christ who in turn is the "image of the invisible God."

When the Spirit dwells within His people then the TRINITY dwells within them! The Father dwells in me, the Son dwells in me, and the Spirit dwells in me!

This has enormous implications. First, and probably most important, is the simple (and mystical) truth that GOD IS HERE!

This should mold our worship. Our worship can not be one dimensional, focusing entirely on the Father, or Jesus, or the Spirit only. But rather the whole of our worship should scream "Glory to the Father, AND to the Son, AND to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now and shall be forever! World without end. Amen!"

The worship of the people of Christ should be focused on the Trinity because the God we worship is a Trinitarian God. To focus more on one person of the Godhead over the others is to be engaged in worship that is not true to orthodox Christianity.

Whether we know it or not (or better said, whether we want to admit it) most of modern Christendom is guilty of this. It's not that they deny the Trinity. More often than not it's likely that in most churches the Trinity is only mentioned using the following words; "I Baptize you in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."

This is a problem. People must know, and LIVE in the knowledge of the Triune God. We must be taught about God in His fullness, because God in His fullness dwells with us and in us! "How can we know Him of whom we have not heard?"

How can we truly know our God if He is not proclaimed, acknowledged, worshiped and adored AS HE IS?

The Spirit of God dwells in our midst and in our hearts. We must come before Him in humility, repentance and adoration. Longing with all our hearts to worship Him "in Spirit & in truth."

In Spirit because the Spirit brings us to worship, crying out to the Father from within us, and drawing His people together in ONE, HOLY, CATHOLIC, and APOSTOLIC Church!

In Truth because we must come to Him longing to understand and worship Him as He is. Because God will not accept false worship. Because He is worthy to recieve Orthodoxy (lit.; "right-glory"), and He is worthy to be pursued with our whole hearts as well as our whole intellect. It is not enough that we blindly worship Him. We must also seek after Him, and long with all our hearts to "know Him."




In Part II I will look at the implications of the presence of the Holy Spirit for the Holy Body of Christ, the Church.


"Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, +++
as it was un the beginning, is now and shall be forever. Amen."

The Blessed St. Dominic

"Almighty God,
whose servant Dominic grew in the knowledge of Your truth
and formed an order of preachers to proclaim the faith of Christ;
by Your grace give to all Your people a love for Your word
and a longing to share the gospel,
so that the whole world may come to know You
and Your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."



Today we celebrate the feast of St. Dominic, the patron saint of preachers and the founder of the Order of Preachers, the Dominican Order.

This man was a Spanish monk with a call of God to raise to up a new generation of preachers dedicated to proclaiming the Word of God to the world.

Let us, with St. Dominic as our example, continue as a church to raise up young preachers who are saturated with the Word of God. Let us summon by prayer young preachers into existence who are led by the Spirit of Christ, and live in awe of the God we serve.

Let them be raised up in our Holy Church, that we may be lifted up to the throne of the Father, through the work of Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit!

Amen!

The Feast of St. Thomas

Tomorrow, July 3rd, is the Feast Day of St. Thomas the Apostle according to the Church Calendar.




On this day we celebrate the great things that God did through His beloved Apostle Thomas. This wonderful man of God, who became known to us in history as "Doubting Thomas," is often villified and made to look like the Patron Saint of Skeptics.

However a more careful examination of the man will lead us to think differently, as well as giving us a wonderful example of how we should live.

Thomas was a Jewish man like any other when called to follow Christ, and he became a fiercely devoted disciple of our Lord.

Many look to Thomas and mock his doubting of Christs resurrection, but these people forget that it was Thomas who made the bold statement as Christ returned to Judea to go to the dead Lazarus, "Let us go with Him, that we may die with Him!" (John 11:16)

We look to Thomas, or Didymus (lit. "the twin") as he was also known, as a doubting, skeptical quasi-comical fool. However, this was a man who was willing to follow Christ to death. Christ was worth dying for for Thomas.

We poke fun at Him as a doubter, but how often do we doubt the promises of God, even this side of the resurrection?

How often do we deny Him as Peter did, when pressed against our own reputation or a circumstance we can't get out of?

How many times has our sin caused us to betray Him as Judas did? We must remember that WE are every bit as guilty of the blood of Christ as Judas was.

We learn from the examples of these men because we are just like them. We continue to deny, doubt and betray Christ every single day through thought, word and deed.

We should think about ourselves before we judge these men.

And as for St. Thomas, are we willing to say with him "let us follow Christ, so that we may die with him?"

Are we able to make that statement? And after all our doubting is passed, and the truth of Christ has been revealed can we echo Thomas, and dropping to our knees cry out to Jesus "My LORD and my God!"

Thomas was the first to make this monumentous statement of the faith. This doubting fool, as we like to think of him, was the first of all of the great Apostles to declare the complete divinity of Jesus as God.

Let us take the example of St. Thomas the Apostle and devote ourselves to Christ, seek Jesus as our God, and follow Him even to our death. And doing so let us find life eternal with Him, through Him, and in Him.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit +
As it was in the beginning, is now and shall be forever. Amen.

Praise to God!

It has happened everyone! The new Anglican Church in North America has been born in Bedford, Texas this week!



I praise God our Savior that He has, in His Sovereign will, brought together all the groups that have broken away from the Episcopal Church to unite as ONE under the banner of the Gospel!

We are all now united in one province, with one Archbishop, His Grace Bishop Robert Duncan,



with the recognition of the vast majority of the Anglican Communion around the globe, roughly 50 million Orthodox, Christ honoring Anglicans in all!

Praise the Holy Name of Christ! This is a joyous day!

Glory to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit +
As it was in the beginning, is now, and shall be forever. Amen.

So many heretics, so little kindling.

It's been an interesting week already folks, and it's only Tuesday! Ha!

What has made things so interesting? This week already I have been called upon by God to defend His name and the Orthodox teachings of His Holy Church against horrific heresies and false doctrines.

It's been a Martin Luther kinda week.


First off the bat I've had to deal with a system of theology known as "Word of Faith." This is an inherently Pentecostal system of doctrine that basically says that God wants His people to prosper in every way (money, health, reputation, etc...).

This system also goes by other names: "Prosperity Gospel," "Name it and Claim it," "Blab and Grab," and "The Health and Wellness Gospel" It is propounded by such teachers as Joel Osteen, Joyce Meyer, Kenneth Copeland, & Kenneth Hagan (among others), and (like most Penecostal Theologies) has no explicit or implicit Scriptural support.

It is a system that tells its followers "if you want something just 'claim it' in Jesus name and it's yours! Because God wants you to have the desires of your heart!"




Really? Does he really want you to have the desires of your heart? Is earthly prosperity something that is really important to God? Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't our Lord Christ teach on the evils of prosperity more than anything else?

Didn't Christ teach his people to GIVE UP every earthly treasure and follow Him? Christ has told us that anyone who isn't willing to give up parents, siblings, children, home, land, money, car, LIFE is "not worthy to be my disciple."

And yet the teaching persists that God wants us to prosper in this life? I don't think so.

This system teaches that any lack of these things is a sign of lack of faith.

Hears the problem though; JESUS DOES NOT APPEAR IN THIS THEOLOGY.

Jesus came to us as a poor, marganalized peasant. He suffered a brutal murder at the hands of ungodly men at the request of HIS OWN PEOPLE.

Christ did not prosper in this life. He counted it as having no importance.

Paul wrote that he once had all the things in life that a man could ask for, and that he counted it all as rubbish (or dung) compared to the excellency of knowing Christ. This word that we translate as "rubbish" or "dung" is actually a bit squimish in our english translations. In the greek it is actually a "cuss" word. It falls somewhere between crap and sh*t in our english venacular. He uses this strong language to get across the point that earthly pursuits and earthly gain (prosperity) mean NOTHING. They are worthless and disgusting in the eyes of God Almighty.

And remember that Christ, who is God in flesh, prayed for the will of God the Father to be done. Not the desires of His own flesh.

Remember this the next time you decide to "claim something in the name of Jesus" be it a new car, a raise, a new job, children or health. Remember that as Christians we worship a poor peasant who was murdered as a traitor.

Christ promised that "if they pursecuted me, they will pursecute you." We are called to follow His example. And while Christ did tell us that "anything you ask for in My name" you will recieve, you MUST interpret Scripture by Scripture, and realize that the same person who said this also "Thy Kingdom come, THY WILL be done."

You can ask for all you want, but if it's not the will of God you won't get it. Period.

Sometimes we have to realize that God is possibly glorified in our poverty, our sickness, our persecution, and even our death. Paul prayed that God would be glorified in His death.

How many of us are too worried about "claiming" what we want in Jesus` name, than saying to God, "Lord Thy will be done; if by my life or death, wealth or poverty, health or sickness, freedom or persecution, long life or martyrdom I can give You glory, let it be as YOU will.




The second great heresy I heard this week is the one of "gender neutrality" in the church.

I was visiting a church this weekend that practices this idea; that God is NEVER talked about using masculine pronouns (i.e; Him, His, Father etc...).

What made matters worse was that this church actually also practices using FEMININE pronouns to address God.

Someone actually told me that they will begin the Lords prayer "Our Mother, who art in Heaven."

I can't begin to understand this kind of liberalism.

It was explained to me that night that God is above the gender distinctions that we would put on Him(her?), that it was a cultural thing to address God as Father in that first century patristic culture, and that it is insensitive to women to address God as Father.

I will concede that God is above our human gender distinctions. However, Jesus has CHOSEN to reveal God to us as Father. God has chosen to reveal Himself as King (not queen), as "Himself," and as the "Father to the Fatherless." The word to discribe God throughout the Scriptures is always "Him." Not "her," "she," or even "IT."

The issue of how we address God is not one of cultural relevance, but rather one of revelation. God has revealed Himself as a Father, and that's the end of the argument.

Any further pushing of the issue only reveals our own arrogance and our thoughts that WE know better than God how to address Him and share Him with the culture.

Would you address your earthly father as "mother?" No. Because he is your dad. We simply cannot resolve ourselves to the nonsensical ramblings of Hamlet who said addressing his stepfather, "Father and mother are man and wife, man and wife are one flesh and so, good night mother."

God is God. God is Father, not because He possesses the anotomical features of a human man. But rather because that is how He has revealed Himself to us. This is the end of the argument.

God is not a God of "our many understandings" as Gene Robinson would suggest. He is a God who is.

He revealed Himself to Moses as "Eyeh asher eyeh," "I Am that I Am." In the New Testament, as well as the Septuigint the equivalent to this is found when Jesus, in Johns Gospel declares, "before Abraham was born, I AM." Here he uses the phrase "Ego Eime," literally meaning "I, I am"

It is enough that God IS. We approach God as He is, on HIS terms, or we don't approach Him at all. Period.

If you choose to approach God some other way that He has revealed as acceptable, there is a real possiblity that you are not addressing the True God at all.

We all have guidlines for how people can address us. It would not be appropriate for someone to address me as "Doctor" or "Daddy" or "Ma'am" because I am not any of these things.

Likewise it is not the least bit out of the question that God would desire to be addressed as He really is. And it is inappropriate and arrogant to attempt to address Him any other whay that what He has given us.




All I have to say to my Christian Brothers and Sisters in conclusion to all of this; read your bibles, and THINK people. The writers of the Bible say over and over again that they don't want us to be ignorant. This requires constant study, prayer and THOUGHT! We do not possess a mindless faith.

We are commanded to grow in the Knowledge of God. We are told that having eternal life is "knowing God." I beg, plead and implore all of you to KNOW the God we serve. And the way to know Him is to seek Him where he is revealed to us, in the pages of His Holy Word.

We can never fully wrap our minds around the fullness of the mystery of our God. But we are told, or rather commanded, to try anyway.

That's all I have to say tonight. I hope that you all will think about your faith, about your God, and about your thoughts and attitudes toward Him. The impression of Him that you give others is dependant upon your thoughts and attitudes toward Him.

Think on it.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit +
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be. Amen.

The Cross and the Fashion Statement

Lately I've really noticed a large growth in people wearing crosses. This is an interesting trend, especially in our society, which grows decidedly more pagan with each passing day. It is interesting to me that in our culture (in which the church, and the gospel are no longer integral parts) that people are using the symbol most associated with Christianity as a fashion statement.



I see women with cross necklaces, guys with cross tattoos, crosses on t-shirts and all over so-called "Affliction Gear."



Again this is very interesting to me.

I wear a crucifix around my neck, it's a black and polished brass cross, with the medal of St. Benedict in the center, and a silver figure of the crucified Christ attached to the cross. I wear it to remind myself, in every moment possible, of the sacrifice that was made on my behalf by Christ.

But why do other people wear it?

I have no idea to be really honest with you. It makes no sense to me whatsoever that a non-believer would wear the emblem of a cross.

I can only guess that people really just don't get what the cross was all about.

We don't remember that the cross in those days was a method of execution, akin to our electric chair or gas chamber. It was a thing on which people died. And they died in one of the most horrific ways conceivable.

Men and women who suffered crucifixion would often remain alive, nailed to their cross, for days before their eventual death. The cross wasn't just devised to be an instrument of death, but also one of horrific torture and humiliation.

In this way the cross is less like our modern means of humane execution and more like a lynching tree. It's purpose is to kill you while humiliating you at the same time.

In fact, the pain of crucifixion was so horrible that a word had to be invented to describe it; "excruciating" literally means "from the cross."

Do we really think about this when we hang a cross around our neck, or tattoo it on our arm. Do we bear in mind the horrific traitors death that it signifies when we hang a cross on the wall of our bathroom?

When you as a christian make the Sign of the Cross, do you realize what it is that you are doing? Do we understand that with every time we cross ourselves we are marking ourselves with a sign of treason? To be marked with the Cross is to marked as one who places no value on this world, and stands in opposition to it.

We are the traitors. We are the rebels. We are the subjects of another kingdom. We are ones who hold allegiance to another nation that the one we live in.

When we mark ourselves with the cross, we are reminding ourselves that our Lord was brutally murdered for treason. If we stand with Him we will suffer likewise.

We stand in the shadow of the Cross, and it is in that shadow we are reminded of the one truth that separates Christianity from all other world religions:

Christianity is the only religion in which the central theme is the humiliation of it's God.

The Cross is a symbol of the willingness of our God and King to come down to our level. It reminds us that He set aside His place as the Creator, to be murdered by His creation.

The Cross symbolizes that He left His throne of Perfect Judgement to be executed as a common criminal.

It shows, more than any other symbol we can think of, the fullness of the Fathers great love for us. It shows us that through the blood shed upon that Cross two-thousand years ago, we who were once far away fom God have been brought near.

The words of Christ were made good and true, "And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." (John 12:32 ESV)

And this is so. The Cross of Christ has brought millions from all over the world, from every continent, country and tongue, to Himself by the grace of Almighty God.

"Holy a gracious Father: In Your infinite love You made us for yourself; and, when we had fallen into sin and become subject to evil and death, You, in Your mercy, sent Jesus Christ, Your only and eternal Son, to share our human nature, to live and die as one of us, to reconcile us to You, the God and Father of all.

He stretched out His arms, upon the cross, and offered Himself, in obedience to Your will, a perfect sacrifice for the whole world." (BCP 1979)

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit+
As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

Charismatic Worship and the Liturgical Renewal

I'm beginning to notice a strange thing arising in the modern church, a thread of unity in the Church, if you will. Though there are many trends and ideologies that divide Christs Holy Church (on earth anyway) this trend is strangly uniting the church in many ways.

The division in the church of which I speak is the one that has existed between those who would call themselves "Charismatic," and those considered "Liturgical."

For years now the rift between those considered Charismatic and Liturgical (respectively) has been a considerable one.

Those deemed "Charismatic" are those who place enourmous emphasis on the "gifts of the Holy Spirit" (gk: charismata). Those in this camp (ex. Pentecostal, Vineyard, Assembly of God, Church of God, etc...)are dedicated to expressive worship, individual & emotional times of prayer, spontaneous acts of worship and reception of gifts from God. Some (the more extreme) will emphasize the necessity of speaking in tongues, as well as other charismatic phenomena such as being "slain in the spirit" and "prophetic words" from God. Normally the chief end of these services is for the individual to come closer into the presence of God, and have a deep and meaningful experience with Him.

On the other side of the spectrum is the "liturgical" christians. These are those who conduct themselves in a more "traditional" fashion. These churches are on the side of placing an emphasis on order in their services. Most of these churches (which we must admit constitute the majority of churches on earth, Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican, Methodist, Orthodox, etc...) will have a written liturgical structure that they follow. The basis of their worship is centered on the Word of God, and the administration of the Sacraments; with the general idea being that the individual is not the absolute end of the service, but rather the entire body worshipping and praying as ONE.

A strange thing is beginning to happen however.

As strange and antithetical as these may sound, there is an unusual merger of these two traditions going on in our midst.

This week I spent some time at an Anglican Worship Leaders retreat in Atlanta, Georgia, and one of the main topics of discussion was the merging of the liturgical with the charismatic. All over the world, and specifically the U.S. christians in the charismatic traditions are moving toward the historical Christian practice of liturgy, while at the same time liturgical christians are embracing (albeit slowly) more charismatic traits.

What is the cause of all of this?

The only explanation I can think of is that our generation of Christians are longing for something more.

Those Christians brought up in the charismatic tradtition (like myself) are finding it's individualistic and emotional bent and lack of historical basis tiresome and shallow. While those brought up in liturgical traditions have grown tired of dry repetition, and lifeless worship.

Slowly, and extremely evidently the two are finding their way together.

The Charismatic christians are finding deep roots and a sense of stability from the addition of liturgy to their worship. While the liturgical churches are finding new life breathed into their old liturgy with the addition of charismatic traits!

We live in a strange and awesome time, when the historical church is coming alive again in the midst of modern charismatic expressions!

I really do believe with all my heart that we stand on the brink of a new Reformation, and one that will unite Christians from all traditions to stand behind the truth of the Gospel.

And uniting historical Christian worship with the fervent praise of spirit-driven people will breath new life into our Church. A new life that she so desperately needs!

I thank God that He has chosen, in His Divine Providence, to place me square in the middle of this movement! A movement that is as new and revolutionary as it is ancient and rooted in stability!

We live in a world of paradox, it's time to embrace one more!

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit +
As it was in the beginning, is now, and shall be forever. Amen.