Thank God I Am a Loser!

Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.

And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Mt. 5:1-11)

We live in a society that celebrates winners. But by societal standards I am a loser. And to be honest, it's not something that I tried to accomplish. And that's the point.

A few years ago I was diagnosed with depression. Before the diagnosis I knew something was not right in my world. But I did my best to pretend that all was well. It was during my wellness exam my physician confronted me and asked if I was depressed. I broke down crying. That was my answer. The really bad news is that she asked if I had any fantasies about taking my life. I said, "No!" I lied.  T make a long story short, I was referred to a therapist and prescribed Zoloft. With therapy and medication, I came out of my depression. But I also ended up divorced. Shortly after my divorce my mother's cancer spread to her lymphatic system and I knew I should go back home to be with her. She died shortly after.

But the move required me to find a new position in the Church or secular employment. I found neither. Now through an old acquaintance I began volunteering at a church plant in the new Anglican Diocese of the South. My ordaining diocese in The Episcopal Church never returned my calls. Just as well. To try to make some money I did background work for some of the movies and TV shows filmed around Atlanta. But it was not enough to keep up with child support. To make another long story short I have been doing door to door marketing. It's not my calling but it makes a small dent in my bills. 

The good news, besides Jesus dying for my sins, is that out of all of this I am growing more and more dependent on Jesus as my Lord.  You see, if I were successful by the world's standards, I would have no need to lean on God. But by the world's standards as a divorced, under-employed person, you name it, I must lean on God. I have a new church home with a new future. God is not my servant but He is a caring Father whose desire for me is that I don't become a spoiled brat. (Heb. 12:5-11) The poverty I experience is an emptiness that only God can fill. And He is filling it in His own way for His own glory.  It is Jesus who died for all of me and He rose from the tomb defeating death. Therefore the victory belongs to Him. He is the real winner! 

God has never abandoned me not even during my depression. He sent friends and professionals to my aid. Even though there are days I wish I could be doing something different, I know God has a good reason for the circumstances I am in. If you are blessed with material goods and wealth then thank the Lord for He is the One who has blessed you. (Eccl. 5:19) If you are empty in any area of life, rejoice for God will indeed fill you with His abundance! The secret is to let God define the abundance you are meant to have! (John 10:9-11)

Reclaiming the Word 'Parson' for the Clergy

Parson
noun

1.

a member of the clergy, especially a Protestant minister;pastor; rector.

2.

the holder or incumbent of a parochial benefice, especially an Anglican.

Origin: 
1200–50; Middle English persone  < Medieval Latin persōna  parishpriest, Latin:  personage. See person

A Pastor is the Deputy of Christ for the reducing of Man to the Obedience of God. This definition is evident, and containes the direct steps of Pastorall Duty and Auctority. For first, Man fell from God by disobedience. Secondly, Christ is the glorious instrument of God for the revoking of Man. Thirdly, Christ being not to continue on earth, but after hee had fulfilled the work of Reconciliation, to be received up into heaven, he constituted Deputies in his place, and these are Priests. And therefore St. Paul in the beginning of his Epistles, professeth this: and in the first [v.24] to the Colossians plainly avoucheth, that he fils up that which is behinde of the afflictions of Christ in his flesh, for his Bodie's sake, which is the Church. Wherein is contained the complete definition of a Minister. Out of this Chartre of the Priesthood may be plainly gathered both the Dignity thereof, and the Duty: The Dignity, in that a Priest may do that which Christ did, and by his auctority, and as his Vicegerent. The Duty, in that a Priest is to do that which Christ did, and after his manner, both for Doctrine and Life. ~George Herbert, A PRIEST TO THE TEMPLE OR, THE COUNTRY PARSON HIS CHARACTER, &c.

If we want to define something we use words. There are a variety of words we use to define ministers of the Gospel. Minister, pastor, elder, priest, etc. One word that is very seldom used today is parson. At its root parson means person, nothing more. So often clergy are caught up in being something they are  not such as fund raiser, administrator, counselor, social worker, best friend to name a few. But deep down clergy are people. Deep down all of us are people. And not so deep down the fallenness of who we are is quite evident. We are sinners. So as far as being a person is concerned, we all fall short of the glory of God. (Rom. 3:23)

Now a pastor, rector, or vicar is a leader of a congregation. But where are they leading? And how? The answer to this question is found in Scripture.

And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me. (Colossians 1:21-29)

In this passage we can see the nature of man ( hostile in mind doing evil deeds), what Christ has done (reconciled us by his death) and why (presenting us blameless before God). The purpose of the minister of the Gospel is to proclaim Jesus 'warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.' All this by the grace of God. Clergy shepherd (pastors) people to Jesus. But to maintain proper health, clergy should never forget that we are persons. By shepherding others we should be mindful of ourselves as fallen creatures in need of Christ's redeeming. We need to understand the food that must be our spiritual daily bread. We need to understand that not everyone goes to heaven. And we need to understand that works do not make us better people but only the Holy Spirit working in us transforming us so that we can do the will of God. (Philippans 2:13) All of this is by our service to the Gospel that saves the wretched sinner. The life of the parson is to look upon the cross daily, reading the Bible daily, and leading the flock to green pastures and still waters so that they may be the person that Jesus is molding for the sake of the Kingdom. After all, Jesus is the ultimate person. He will do the work in the parishioner for the elect in God. But to know what that fruit looks like, we have to know what Jesus is doing in us. (Luke 6:39-49)

Can We Be Good Without God?

Can we be good without God? The answer is no! The Word of God states that what God creates is good! (See Genesis chapter 1) Goodness flows from God. And yet the Bible is quite clear that if we deny God there cannot be any good in that person (see Psalm 14)

It follows then that to be good one must seek the Lord while He wills to be found! (Is. 55:6, Ps. 122:9, Pr. 28:5)

Thirsting for The Springs of Living Water

 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.” (John 4:13-15)

My day to day secular job requires me to do door to door marketing. Here in the deep south, it is very hot and staying hydrated is essential. One day I forgot to bring a bottle of water and so I became thirsty very quickly and began to feel the effects of dehydration. Fortunately a neighbor offered me some water and I was grateful for the relief. Without water we die.


Jesus promises us a spring of living water welling up to eternal life. My experience with the absence of real water reminded me that we cannot be absent of Jesus' life giving spirit. We are refreshed from within. For the Samaritan woman who encountered Jesus at the well, she recognized the Messiah for He told her everything she did. (John 4:39) Often we deny whatever we have done excusing our sins. As Paul reminds us it is our trespasses that makes us dead. (Eph. 2:1-3) But Jesus desires us to know our sins so that we recognize who we are and appreciate the life giving spirit He has to offer. For indeed we are thirsty. No wonder those who thirst after righteousness will be satisfied as it is Christ's righteousness that we need and it is His righteousness we thirst after. (Mt. 5:6)


When Jesus died upon the Cross, one of His last words was "I thirst." (John 19:28) He became death so that we may have life. In order to be made right with God we need to see the drought of our lives and thirst for the righteousness that only God provides through the Cross of Christ. 

Why is Grace So Hard to Understand?

Why is grace, God's unmerited kindness toward His elect, so hard to understand? Specifically, why is it that people refuse to acknowledge that we cannot enter into Heaven by our own merits? Actually, I do know the answer. It's called pride.


A recent article in the New York Times mentions that charitable donations can be counted as an indulgence that may diminish one's time spent in purgatory for Catholics. Evidently Catholic teaching never really did away with indulgences. Now the problem here is that Catholic teaching does not put much stock in the death of Jesus as being once and for all for the payment for our sins. And here is the rub. Jesus died once for the remission of our sins. Nothing we can do can earn our way into heaven. As an Anglican I don't believe in purgatory. The cross of Christ is sufficient for me to be saved. Whatever good works I do is a fruit of faith, not a bribe to God. The doctrine of purgatory is repugnant to Scripture. When one dies, one will either go to heaven or go to hell. Scripture is clear as to who goes where.


Now watch these next two videos. One is from a Catholic teacher and the other from a Protestant evangelist. And tell me where you want to put your faith, in yourself or in Christ who stood in our place on that first Good Friday granting us eternal life for those who repent. And that my friend is grace!




Now let us be clear what St. Paul taught: But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Romans 3:21-26


Now hear the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus Christ as proclaimed to a sinner in the street:

Paganism, The Default Mode of Humans

pa·gan

   [pey-guhn]  Show IPA

noun

1.

one of a people or community observing a polytheistic religion, as the ancient Romans and Greeks. Synonyms:polytheist.

2.

a person who is not a Christian, Jew, or Muslim. Synonyms:heathen, gentile; idolator; nonbeliever.

3.

an irreligious or hedonistic person.

4.

a person deemed savage or uncivilized and morally deficient.

adjective

5.

pertaining to the worship or worshipers of any religion that isneither Christian, Jewish, nor Muslim. Synonyms: heathen,heathenish, idolatrous, polytheistic. Antonyms: Christian,Jewish, Muslim, monotheistic.

6.

of, pertaining to, or characteristic of pagans.

7.

irreligious or hedonistic. Synonyms: unbelieving, godless,atheistic, agnostic; impious, profane, sacrilegious, unholy,ungodly. Antonyms: religious, pious, devout.

8.

of a person deemed backward, savage, or uncivilized ormorally or spiritually stunted. Synonyms: primitive,uncultivated, uncultured, heathenish, barbaric, barbarous,philistine. Antonyms: civilized, cultivated, cultured, urbane.

We are all born pagan. By that I mean no one is born a Christian. If there is no regeneration of the heart by Jesus Himself, we remain a pagan.


We may be religious. We may go to church. We may say we believe in Jesus Christ or the God of the Holy Bible. But without a true conversion of the human heart, we remain the same as those who profess a belief in modern day paganism.


I say all of this now as many in the USA decry our nation's lack of moral leadership as abortions are protected and marriage is redefined. The truth is we come into this world as murderers and sexual idolators. Why else did God give us the Ten Commandments? In order for us be the people we must be in God's eyes, we must change. And the only way we can change is by God's mercy for nothing is impossible with God. The solution to our problems is the preaching of the Gospel plain and simple. Our political leaders need to hear the Gospel and the person in the street needs to hear the Gospel. That my friend is the business of the Church. 

So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? (Gal. 4:7-9)

Resurrection

We die because we are supposed to. Our earthly life is not forever. But that was not how it was supposed to be. We were to enjoy our life forever. But our first parents, Adam and Eve, thought of themselves more highly than their Creator. So we die.

We die because of the evil we carry in our hearts. If we compared ourselves to our Holy God we can see how filthy our hearts are. But even then God isn't happy leaving us in such a pitiful damnation.

No God sent His Son to be among us. He took our flesh and nailed it to the cross. In our place He met the demands of the Law. For every time we broke God's Law in thought, word and deed, He paid the penalty on our behalf. And how do we know this is true? Jesus, the Son of God, rose from the dead. Death has been defeated.

Do we see our need to die? Do we see our hope in the Resurrection. This Easter, let us rejoice knowing that Jesus paid the debt for our sins by every single drop of blood on the Cross.