And it is good...

Someone asked a retiring seminary president what he was going to do with his time once he retired.  "Well, for one thing," replied the president, "I am looking forward to getting back to my book."  His friend looked surprised and said, "I didn't know you were writing a book."  "No," said the president, "I mean the one I was reading."

I have told that story a number of times because it fits my life to a tee.  I have spent 31 one years in graduate theological education, ten of those as a seminary dean/president.  For much of that time, I was involved in administration.  My PhD program required two minors (in my case, New Testament and Missiology) and even my major was a double major: Historical and Systematic Theology.  I have taught in all these areas, as well as Church History, Christian Spirituality, Liturgics, and Christian Education.  But it was never enough to concentrate on my subject area; I always had a concern for creating a learning environment, recruiting good faculty, providing the infrastructure to make learning possible.  So it was almost inevitable that, at some point, I would become a seminary president.  At the same time, being involved in administration has meant that I have missed being able to immerse myself in research and writing to the degree I would have liked.

Even though the last three houses where we have lived have had a study where I could work, it didn't prevent books, computers, and a work area from overflowing into the master bedroom.  In our current house, we devoted the room that could have been a study to other things, so our master bedroom now has two desks, three computers (1 PC, 1 Mac, and 1 Linux) and enough floor to ceiling bookcases to hold roughly 2,000 books.  It looks more like a large study with a bed in it than a master bedroom.  (I have a very understanding wife.)   The remainder of our books (more than half ) are on shelves elsewhere in the house or still stored in boxes because there isn't enough room to unpack them.  Of the books in the master bedroom, I have read slightly over half of them.  So I lie in bed sometimes and look at all the books and think to myself, "If I knew everything that was in all these books...  Wow!"

I didn't retire as a seminary president; I left and became rector of a very wonderful congregation.  I am blessed to have in this congregation three other Anglican priests (in addition to myself), a Foursquare Gospel minister, and a Lutheran pastor who is also a psychologist.  Then there are three professors (Fuller Seminary, Biola University, Trinity School for Ministry) who are members, and a fourth (from Westminster Seminary) who owns a condo in the area and worships with us when he is in town.  Then there are few more MDs and PhDs--in total I would guess that more than a quarter of the congregation has one or more advanced degrees.  If you were to think that makes us a stuffy or pretentious bunch, you'd be wrong.  The congregation (aptly named "All Saints") embraces everyone from the wealthy to the homeless, from high IQ individuals to the developmentally challenged, and is the warmest, friendliest, most welcoming congregation I know.

The transition from seminary president to pastor has been a very natural one in some ways and monumental in others.  I have been here 18 months, and it has taken me almost that long to learn to read again.  I mean really read--seriously, deeply, enjoyably.  Maybe I'll get to read the rest of the books I own after all.

My life today is far from devoid of academic pursuits:  I helped found the St. Benedict School for Ministry in the Diocese of Quincy, to make quality theological education accessible online.  In addition to teaching Church History and Theology, I am the Dean and President of the School.  I continue to serve on the boards of Anglicans for Life, the Society of Anglican Missionaries and Senders (SAMS), and Anglican Frontier Missions, in addition to serving on the Commission on Ministry, the Diocesan Council, and the Committee on Constitutions and Canons in the Diocese of Quincy.  I served as one of the writers of the new Catechism for the Anglican Church in North America, and I currently serve on the ACNA's Ecumenical Relations Task Force and the Theology Working Group of the newly-appointed Task Force on Marriage, Family, and the Single Life.

(I didn't realize how busy I was until I typed that last paragraph.  No wonder I am tired sometimes.)

As a member of the ACNA's Ecumenical Relations Task Force, I wrote the paper on the Filioque (the phrase in the Nicene Creed translated as "and the Son") that was received by the College of Bishops and has influenced how the Filioque is treated in the Nicene Creed in the ACNA's Texts for Common Prayer.  For Forward in Faith North America, I wrote a paper entitled "An Anglican View of the Seven Ecumenical Councils that has been reprinted as one of their position papers.  Both of these papers are available at academia.edu.

At All Saints, our mission statement is: "Reaching Out With the Transforming Love of Jesus Christ."  We are exploring what it means to be a "place of healing" to all who come to All Saints and a "place of blessing" to those in the community around us.  By the grace of God, we are growing at a time when many congregations are finding that to be a challenge.

I am growing too--not always in the ways I would have chosen if it had been solely up to me.  But one of the challenges we all face in life is learning to "bloom where you are planted."  And again, by the grace of God, it is happening slowly but surely.  And it is good.
 

Islamic State uproots Christians who use the language of Jesus

From here:

BEIRUT — Suhail Gabriel was in bed when Islamic State militants stormed his village in eastern Syria, firing machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades.  Gabriel rushed his wife and daughter onto his motorcycle and sped through the early-morning darkness, he later recalled.

“We left in our pajamas,” Gabriel said. “We didn’t even have time to put on clothes.”

He was among the thousands of people from an ancient community of Christians, known as Assyrians, who fled 35 farming villages in Syria’s Khabur River area in February because of attacks by the extremist Sunni Muslim group.  The militants desecrated churches and religious symbols during the offensive and kidnapped about 250 of the Assyrians, including women and children.

Over the past decade, Assyrians have joined waves of Christians who have fled Syria and Iraq because of war and persecution by extremist Muslims.  But the latest attacks have added to concerns that this unique Mesopotamian people are in danger of disappearing from the region.

Assyrians in Iraq and Syria belong to the last communities of significant size to speak the language of Jesus: Aramaic. Many of Assyrians are being forced to move outside the Middle East, where it becomes less likely that the tongue will be maintained, said Eden Naby, a Middle East historian and expert on Assyrian culture.

Aramaic is the oldest continuously written and spoken language in the Middle East, she said. It was once also used by other religious communities, including Jews. “Assyrians remain the last Aramaic-speaking of people of the world. So the disappearance and displacement of these people pretty much spells the closing chapter of Aramaic use in the world,” Naby said.

Read the rest.
 

Archbishop: Anglican Conflicts Coming to a Denomination Near You

As I have been saying for a very long time...

From here:

An orthodox renewal leader in the Anglican Communion has warned that the pressures which divided his family of churches are on the doorstep of every other Christian Church.

“What the Anglicans are suffering is already, or will be, the fate of us all,” warned Archbishop Peter Jensen.  “Even evangelical and catholic denominations and movements will not be exempt in years to come.  Do not think that you are living in a safe haven.  You are not.”

The emeritus Archbishop of Sydney, Australia spoke March 18 at Westminster Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania for the school’s eighth annual Richard B. Gaffin, Jr. Lecture on Theology, Culture, and Mission. Jensen’s lecture was entitled “Beginning in Jerusalem: The Theological Significance of the 2008 Global Anglican Future Conference.” (GAFCON)

Speaking to an audience of mostly non-Anglicans, Jensen outlined the crisis within the third largest family of Christian churches, explaining why other Christians should take note, and what lessons they could bring back to their own Christian communities.

“This may all seem very remote to you,” Jensen noted.  “Your church home may be comfortably orthodox – but so fast is change coming and so massive are the forces at play that no one is safe.  You need perhaps to enter into our experience so that you can prepare yourself for what may come.  You too may need to form a new confessional fellowship.”

Read the rest.
  

Devil of a Job: Growing Number of Exorcists in England Due to Soaring Porn and Drug Use

The number of exorcists in England is growing following a rise in demonic possession, as both the (London) Times and the Daily Telegraph are reporting.

A week-long exorcism conference, held this week at the Pontifical University of Regina Apostolorum in Rome and endorsed by the Vatican, is being attended by around 160 Roman Catholic priests from around the world, who insist that demonic possession is very real.  

Dioceses in the UK, Italy, Spain and elsewhere have noticed a dramatic increase in the number of people claiming to be possessed and have responded by training more priests in the dark arts of how to perform exorcisms.

A priest who is one of four Britons to attend the conference in Rome said that most Roman Catholic dioceses in England now have an official exorcist, whereas only half had one just five years ago.  He explained that part of the reason for this increasing demand is the rise in the consumption of pornography, drugs, and greater interest in the occult in modern society.

“Porn and drugs are addictions which can allow an evil spirit to enter, but there is also a growth in awareness within the church of the Devil,” he said.

Since his election two years ago, Pope Francis has frequently mentioned the Devil, helping put belief in Satan back into the mainstream of Catholic thought.  Father Cesare Truqui, a Mexican exorcist, told the media:

“Pope Francis talks about the Devil all the time and that has certainly raised awareness about exorcisms.  But all Latin Americans have this sensibility – for them, the existence of the Devil is part of their faith.”

One of the British priests added: “Until a few years ago, a significant number of people in the Church didn’t believe in the Devil, but people are now going back to the Scriptures.  Pope Francis has given a certain amount of encouragement to that.”

Fr Truqui, who serves as exorcist for the Swiss diocese of Chur, says he has taken part in around 100 exorcisms.  He said that exorcists are trained to discern the difference between demonic possession and medically treatable psychiatric disorders.

“Some people are mentally ill and do not need exorcism.  But others do and there are some classic signs – people who speak in ancient tongues, for instance.  Other people have supernatural strength when they are in a state of possession – it might take four men to hold down a slightly-built woman.  In some cases, people are able to levitate.”

One of the British priests also said: “If one is addicted to something, it allows the evil spirit to hook into that and make it more potent.”  He added, however: “A considerable number of the cases referred to us are in fact psychiatric cases.  It is important to be able to recognize the difference.”

In October, Pope Francis commended exorcist priests for their fight against "the Devil's works", saying that the Church needed to help "those possessed by evil."

During the week-long course, there will be lectures by Roman Catholic prelates on subjects such as “Occultism, black magic and Satanism,” “Angels and demons in Holy Scripture,” and “Criminal Aspects of Satanism.”
 

New York Times Writer: Christians Must Be Made to Embrace Gay Lifestyle

The war on Christians escalated on Sunday, with an Op-Ed piece in the New York Times by Frank Bruni, onetime Times restaurant critic and a gay activist.  Breitbart contributor Thomas D. Williams offers the following report on the NYT article:

In the wake of the Indiana donnybrook over religious liberty, which somehow was transformed overnight into a question of gay rights, it couldn’t be long before the New York Times weighed in against Christians.

Yet who could have expected the draconian measures the Times would propose?  Either Christians fully embrace the gay lifestyle, or you will be coerced into doing so.

Op-ed writer Frank Bruni, onetime Times restaurant critic and a gay activist, has written that Christians who hold on to “ossified,” biblically-based beliefs regarding sexual morality have no place at America’s table and are deserving of no particular regard.

In one fell swoop, Bruni trashes all believing Christians as “bigots,” saying that Christians’ negative moral assessment of homosexual relations is “a choice” that “prioritizes scattered passages of ancient texts over all that has been learned since — as if time had stood still, as if the advances of science and knowledge meant nothing.”

In other words, if you still cling to your benighted views and your “ancient texts,” you are living in the past and your views merit no respect.

Bruni’s solution to the impasse is not some sort of goodwill compromise or a treaty of mutual respect, but a take-no-prisoners ultimatum to Christians to abandon their beliefs or else.  When Bruni says that Christians’ understanding of sexual morality is “a choice,” what he means is that there is a way out without completely losing face: just embrace the new morality preached by mainstream liberal churches that see nothing wrong with any sexual arrangement you are comfortable with.  Then we will accept you.

As a food critic, NY Times writer Frank Bruni was entertaining and occasionally informative.  As an op-ed columnist he is adolescent and often repetitive.  But as a theologian, he is simply abysmal.

Bruni takes it upon himself to explain how the Bible can be interpreted to read that God is really fine with sodomy and that all that antiquated stuff against adultery, fornication, and “men lying with other men” is a quaint vestige of an archaic worldview that went out definitively with Freud.

The scary part about Bruni’s essay is not his awkward attempt at playing the biblical scholar, but the undertone of evident disdain for Christians and his proposal that those who resist should be forcibly reeducated.

In Christians’ refusal to bend with the times, Bruni sees not faithfulness to God but willful obstinacy that must be broken.

“So our debate about religious freedom should include a conversation about freeing religions and religious people from prejudices that they needn’t cling to and can indeed jettison, much as they’ve jettisoned other aspects of their faith’s history, rightly bowing to the enlightenments of modernity,” Bruni writes.

But what if Christians don’t want to change?  What if they don’t want to “bow to the enlightenments of modernity”?  What if they are convinced that the modern worldview is not necessarily the most enlightened path when it comes to the ultimate meaning of life and death, time and eternity?

“Religion,” writes Bruni, “is going to be the final holdout and most stubborn refuge for homophobia. It will give license to discrimination.”

And thus it must be stamped out.

Bruni cites fellow gay activist Mitchell Gold, founder of the advocacy group Faith in America, as saying that church leaders must be made to take homosexuality off the sin list.  “His commandment is worthy — and warranted,” writes Bruni.

So now government should be dictating belief to churches and enforcing theological orthodoxy?  Now politicians and courts will be telling Christians what they are allowed to consider as sinful?  Isn’t this what America was founded to escape from? [Emphasis added.]

People are already talking about forcing churches to perform same-sex weddings, whether they like it or not, or get out of the marriage business.  Christians founded America and yet now the minority gay lobby is trying to tell them they are personae non gratae and their beliefs are no longer welcome.

America has a grand tradition of tolerance and religious freedom, respect for a diversity of beliefs, and an honest engagement with ideas of all sorts.  It seems that some would like to force all Americans to walk in lockstep, marching to the same drummer.

Sincere Christians have no problem accepting other people with all their sins, inclinations, and struggles, fully understanding that they are in no way superior to the next guy and no better in God’s eyes.

But attempts to force them to abandon their ethical standards and their principles reveal not open-mindedness or fairness, but intolerance, chauvinism, and hate.

These are the attitudes that have no place in America.

One further observation:  This kind of hatred toward Christians is precisely why laws protecting religious freedom are necessary.