Guitar Priest

Living as a Disciple - help from John Wesley!

noreply@blogger.com (peter) — Fri, 03 Jun 2016 12:04:00 +0000

Information about how to live as a faithful disciple of Jesus pours out like water from a fire hydrant. There are so many ideas, suggestions and recommendations that it can make one's head spin. The vast array of choices can be paralyzing.

Here's the deal though: living as a disciple isn't that complicated. It's really about doing a few things well.

I recently re-read the rules early British Methodists (led by John Wesley) were invited to follow to help them live and grow as disciples. Do you know how many there were? Three. That's it; three!!

Here they are:

First: By doing no harm, by avoiding evil of every kind, especially that which is most generally practiced.
Secondly: By doing good; by being in every kind merciful after their power; as they have opportunity, doing good of every possible sort, and, as far as possible, to all men.
Thirdly: By attending upon all the ordinances of God.

Pretty simple stuff! Just think, if all of us as disciples would attend to those three things everyday what that would do for our lives, what it would do for our communities and world and how the Kingdom of God would grow.

----------------------------

To help flesh these out Wesley gave examples. Here's the fuller version of the rules. Keep in mind that the sub points are not more rules, they are examples of the kinds of things we do to live these out. Also, these are examples of activities that were germane in 18th Century Britain. We would need to rewrite some of these to fit 21st Century America. Many of them are good even for us, however.

First: By doing no harm, by avoiding evil of every kind, especially that which is most generally practiced, such as:

The taking of the name of God in vain.
The profaning the day of the Lord, either by doing ordinary work therein or by buying or selling.
Drunkenness: buying or selling spirituous liquors, or drinking them, unless in cases of extreme necessity.
Slaveholding; buying or selling slaves.
Fighting, quarreling, brawling, brother going to law with brother; returning evil for evil, or railing for railing; the using many words in buying or selling.
The buying or selling goods that have not paid the duty.
The giving or taking things on usury—i.e., unlawful interest.
Uncharitable or unprofitable conversation; particularly speaking evil of magistrates or of ministers.
Doing to others as we would not they should do unto us.
Doing what we know is not for the glory of God, as:
The putting on of gold and costly apparel.
The taking such diversions as cannot be used in the name of the Lord Jesus.
The singing those songs, or reading those books, which do not tend to the knowledge or love of God.
Softness and needless self-indulgence.
Laying up treasure upon earth.
Borrowing without a probability of paying; or taking up goods without a probability of paying for them.
It is expected of all who continue in these societies that they should continue to evidence their desire of salvation,

Secondly: By doing good; by being in every kind merciful after their power; as they have opportunity, doing good of every possible sort, and, as far as possible, to all men:

To their bodies, of the ability which God giveth, by giving food to the hungry, by clothing the naked, by visiting or helping them that are sick or in prison.
To their souls, by instructing, reproving, or exhorting all we have any intercourse with; trampling under foot that enthusiastic doctrine that "we are not to do good unless our hearts be free to it."
By doing good, especially to them that are of the household of faith or groaning so to be; employing them preferably to others; buying one of another, helping each other in business, and so much the more because the world will love its own and them only.
By all possible diligence and frugality, that the gospel be not blamed.
By running with patience the race which is set before them, denying themselves, and taking up their cross daily; submitting to bear the reproach of Christ, to be as the filth and offscouring of the world; and looking that men should say all manner of evil of them falsely, for the Lord's sake.
It is expected of all who desire to continue in these societies that they should continue to evidence their desire of salvation,

Thirdly: By attending upon all the ordinances of God; such are:

The public worship of God.
The ministry of the Word, either read or expounded.
The Supper of the Lord.
Family and private prayer.
Searching the Scriptures.
Fasting or abstinence.

Church Planting Really is the Key

noreply@blogger.com (peter) — Fri, 30 Aug 2013 19:53:00 +0000

The Rev. Dr. Tim Keller, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City writes,

The vigorous, continual planting of new congregations is the single most crucial strategy for 1) the numerical growth of the Body of Christ in any city, and 2) the continual corporate renewal and revival of the existing churches in a city. Nothing else--not crusades, outreach programs, para-church ministries, growing mega-churches, congregational consulting, nor church renewal processes--will have the consistent impact of dynamic, extensive church planting. This is an eyebrow raising statement. But to those who have done any study at all, it is not even controversial.*

Jesus is building his Church. The way he does it is by building local churches - particular congregations. The Book of Acts is clear that God's mission in this age is evangelism, disciplemaking and church planting. This is the heart beat of his global mission and the heartbeat of how he brings redemption into individual lives and into communities and cities.

I am a firm believer in para-church organizations that zero in on particular aspects of Christian ministry - such as family reclamation or serving the poor. But none of these important ministries should supplant the centrality of the local church and the centrality of vigorous church planting in God's economy.

*From the paper WHY PLANT CHURCHES by Tim Keller, Redeemer Presbyterian Church, Feb. 2002.

Another Reason I'm a Benedictine

noreply@blogger.com (peter) — Wed, 28 Aug 2013 11:07:00 +0000

There's another reason I'm a Benedictine: non-heroic spirituality.

Here's the deal. Most of life is mundane, repetitive and just plain daily. If one is going to faithfully follow Christ then one HAS to figure out what it looks like to be a radically committed disciple in the midst of bill paying, lawn mowing, laundry and diapers. All that stuff seems pretty low ball compared to "reaching the world for Christ!"

Now, don't get me wrong. I think all Christians should be passionate about reaching the nations for Jesus. It's just that even if I am a missionary living among an unreached people group, I still gotta pay bills, mow lawns, do laundry and change diapers. I gotta figure out how all that stuff fits into following Jesus.

That's why Benedict is so helpful. His rule is all about offering every last detail of life to God. Why? Because it's in the midst of all that stuff that God forms us into the image of Jesus.

Too Busy NOT to Pray

noreply@blogger.com (peter) — Wed, 21 Aug 2013 11:00:00 +0000

Okay - confession time. I lifted the title of this blog post from Bill Hybels'. It's the title of his book on prayer. I do so shamelessly however because the title gets at the level of priority prayer ought to have in every believers life.

Do you pray daily? I don't mean only rattle off a prayer here and there when the Lord crosses your mind. I mean do you carve out time in your daily routine -everyday - to meet with God and read his word, worship and offer petitions and intercessions to him?

If you don't you need to start - TODAY!!

I am convinced that growth in Christ just won't happen without much time in prayer. I am convinced that God's kingdom won't expand and deepen without much time in prayer. I am convinced prayer is an indispensable part of every Christian's day.

But we are busy.

There is no denying this. We all have a lot going on. But think of all things we already get done in our busy lives. We work. We prepare meals and eat them. We watch T.V. We go to movies. We sleep. We exercise. Here's my point. Even though we are busy we all find time to DO WHAT WE VALUE.

Do you believe prayer is indispensable? If so, make time for it. I promise you will NOT regret it!

God is Obsessed With Reaching the Nations

noreply@blogger.com (peter) — Mon, 19 Aug 2013 11:00:00 +0000

I know - it sounds strange to say God is obsessed with something. Please know that I don't mean ANY disrespect. It's just that I believe God's mission between Genesis 3 and Christ's return is to call out, through the gospel, a people from every tribe tongue and nation for his glory and their joy. He is relentless about this!

That's God's heart and that's God's vision. Therefore, it should be my heart and vision.

One of the ways missiologists gauge the progress of the gospel is through tracking people groups. It is a much smaller unit than what we think of as a nation - the modern nation state. There are roughly 27,000 people groups in the world today. Of those 27,000 thousands of these group are still unreached - they do not even have Christians among them. Roughly 1000 do not even have missionaries from other people groups reaching into them.

Clearly these numbers are inexact. However, they are useful because they give a sense of the work to be done. The world is not reached and God is still at work fulfilling his mission.

God calls all us to be part of his global mission. I agree with what Dr. John Piper says, "Go, send or disobey." The vast majority of us are not called to invest our lives cross culturally. But all of us are called to be part of God's mission as senders. I believe there are two central ways we do this: resources and prayer.

How about you? Are engaged in God's global mission? Are you praying? Are you resourcing? What is Jesus telling you to do? Should you go?

Why I Pray Psalm 95 Every Morning

noreply@blogger.com (peter) — Sat, 17 Aug 2013 11:30:00 +0000

My daily prayer time uses the Morning Prayer service from the Anglican Book of Common Prayer (The BCP is the source book for Anglican worship).

Morning prayer always includes Psalm 95. It's something Christians have been doing from time immemorial.

There are a number of reasons for this. One reason is verse 7, "For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. Oh, that today you would hearken to his voice!" That second sentence is the key. Why? Because it reminds me that my task everyday is to listen to the Lord and obey him.

I believe that is the simplest definition of discipleship - listening to Jesus and doing what he tells you to do. Psalm 95 sets me up to remember that everyday.

Give it try! Build Psalm 95 into your daily reading and use it as a prayer asking the Lord to give you the grace to hear him and obey him. You won't regret it!

Serving is Bedrock Kingdom Value ... So It Should Be One of My Bedrock Values

noreply@blogger.com (peter) — Fri, 16 Aug 2013 11:30:00 +0000

Jesus said he came to serve; not to be served (Mark 10:45). Since Jesus said this I figure serving is REALLY important to him. Because it is really important to Jesus it ought to be really important to me. Therefore, serving ought to be one of my bedrock values and ought to be a bedrock value for my church.

Let's go backwards and start with church life. Since Jesus is building the church and since the church is his body (Ephesians 1:22,23) then he wants us to do what he did. One of those things is serve. In fact the New Testament invites us to serve one another.(Galatians 5:13). This is why I am unapologetic about inviting people to serve in my parish. When the pastor calls and asks someone to serve, its easy to think in service club terms and assume he or she just wants to get me busy. Wrong! I want to help everyone I serve grow up in maturity in Christ and know the joy that comes from that. You can't get that done with out serving. Period.

But serving is bigger than that. It happens at home, it happens at work, it happens in the neighborhood, and it can happen in the city. Life is chock full of places to serve!

Are you serving? If not, you are missing a huge part of the pathway to life. Remember what Jesus said, "Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."(Matthew 10:39)

Want real life? Serve.

3 MORE Reasons Small Groups are Essential to Growing as a Disciple of Jesus

noreply@blogger.com (peter) — Wed, 14 Aug 2013 11:30:00 +0000

Here are three more reasons I believe small groups are essential to growing as a disciple of Jesus.

1. A Place to Belong. Belonging is a basic human need. It's also a basic need for a disciple. All of us are encouraged and strengthened by the friends we make and regularly meet with. We also need the affirmation and welcome that friends being into our lives. A small group can be a place where a disciple can know the belonging that strengthens the heart to faithfully follow Christ.

2. A Place to Serve. All disciples are part of the body of Christ and as part of the body of Christ (i.e., the Church) are called to serve other disciples. A small group is a planned setting and environment where disciples can serve each other. I see this in two ways. While the group meets, each member serves the others by listening, encouraging and sometimes challenging. At the same time, the group is an avenue of serving one another outside of the group meeting by attending to needs that come up in the lives of group members.

3. It Creates the Right Size for Connection and Ministry. Even in a small church it isn't possible to connect to everyone at the level faithful Christian discipleship demands. A small group creates the social space for the deeper connection and fellowship to happen in the lives of disciples. Obviously group members know and minster to others in their local church. But much of how the New Testament envisions Christians connecting to and serving each other can only happen in a small group.

3 Reasons Small Groups are Essential to Growing as a Disciple of Jesus

noreply@blogger.com (peter) — Mon, 12 Aug 2013 11:00:00 +0000

I believe in small groups. I didn't used to. I thought it was a nice option for those who like those sort of things.

I've changed my mind.

Now I think they are essential. Here are three reasons why.

1. All Holiness is Social Holiness. This is quote from John Wesley. Contrary to popular opinion this is not a statement about social justice. It is about the nature of growing in Christ: discipleship. Wesley learned through the implementation of small groups called class meetings that they were indispensable for spiritual growth.

2. I Need Others to Spur Me On. This is true in all areas of life - but especially in Christian discipleship. This is why Hebrews 10:24-25 says, "And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together,as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and al the more as you see the Day drawing near."

3. Spiritual Growth is Not Linear. This has been a hard one for me to face. My naturally systematic mind wants to lay out a path that takes one to maturity. Problem is it just don't work that way. Small groups are ways of engaging discipleship that allow the Holy Spirit to meet people where they are in the context of other believers. Each person is encouraged to hear from the Lord and follow him.

It's About Listening and Obeying

noreply@blogger.com (peter) — Sat, 10 Aug 2013 12:01:00 +0000

Jesus said making disciples means training people to obey all his commands. From that I extrapolate this simple idea: the central job of a disciple is to listen to Jesus and do what he says to do.

Like many pastors I have implemented complicated programs for discipleship. Many of them have never produced many disciples. One reason is I did not make obedience to Jesus the central goal. The problem wasn't the programs - many of them are excellent resources created by excellent people. The problem was ignoring obedience.

Of course, obeying Jesus is not a legalistic thing - it is a dynamic, Spirit led and Spirit empowered thing. Christ is in us and through his presence and power we are able to live the kind of life he calls us to live as we listen to him and do what he tells us to do. That's discipleship and that's the goal of disciplemaking.

I Use Evernote as My Getting Things Done (GTD) App

noreply@blogger.com (peter) — Thu, 08 Aug 2013 11:17:00 +0000

I use Evernote as my Getting Things Done (GTD) app. I have found it to be the simplest and easist tool to use. I can post on my computer or iPhone and everything is fully syncable. Best of all? It is free!!

Go to The Secret Weapon website to learn how to use Evernote for GTD.

How Do I Know I am Forgiven?

noreply@blogger.com (peter) — Wed, 07 Aug 2013 10:45:00 +0000

So I confess my sins(s) but a problem arises. I don't feel forgiven. The guilt from the sin lingers with me even after I have confessed it to the Lord. What do I do?

Don't base your forgiveness on your feelings, base it on God's word.

1 John 1:9 says,"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Notice the logic. If I confess, then God forgives. It does not say, "If I confess hard enough then I am forgiven." It does not say, "If feel forgiven then I am forgiven." It says, "If I confess."

So then, how do I know I am forgiven? Because I confessed my sin and God said if I confess it I am forgiven, It is that simple.

You see, God's eternal, infallible and unchanging Word is true and reliable. It has greater authority than my feelings or my earnestness. If God says I am forgiven, then I am forgiven. To believe otherwise is to call God a liar.

So be encouraged! Be faithful to confess your sins and be faithful to believe God's Word - that you ARE forgiven.

Why Confess My Sins?

noreply@blogger.com (peter) — Mon, 05 Aug 2013 12:00:00 +0000

I believe Christians should confess their sins. When we recognize that we have sinned, we should name that sin, thank God for forgiving us and move on.

But why? Didn't Jesus' death on the cross pay for my sin once for all? Am I not now justified - declared not guilty and accounted righteous before God? Yes all those things are true.

Maybe this will help.

There are two dimensions to forgiveness of sin. When we come to faith in Christ there is an overarching forgiveness God gives us that brings us into relationship with God. That is non-repeatable. However, as we live our life we find ourselves falling into sin. This does not end our relationship with God, but it does stifle our fellowship with God. Confessing our sin - agreeing with God about our sin - restores the closeness of our fellowship with him.

It's like being married. When I married Trudi we made a life long covenant. Sometimes, we wrong each other and this puts a block in our fellowship. We don't cease being married when that happens. But we do need to apologize if our marriage us to stay warm and vibrant.

That's why we confess our sins regularly - to stay close to God.

Here's how I do it. When I realize I have sinned I simply say, "Father, I confess to you that I have _______. Thank you forgiving me for this. In Jesus' name. Amen." That's it. Based on the promise of scripture I know I am forgiven and I move on.

3 Reasons I Read Prayers

noreply@blogger.com (peter) — Sun, 04 Aug 2013 13:03:00 +0000

I read prayers. Really, I do. You should try it: you might like it!!

Here's what I mean. Not only at church (I'm an Anglican - we use a printed liturgy) but in my personal, daily prayers I use written prayers. Why?

Three reasons:

1. Some of the prayers are really good. I use the Book of Common Prayer for my prayers. Some of the prayers in there are WAY better than what I might come up with on my own. They help me pray things better than I would pray them on my own

2. I pray for things I might ignore on my own. The written prayers I use hit a broad range of topics. This forces me to pray for stuff I wouldn't normally pray for.

3. They help me pray when I don't feel like praying. My daily prayer time is in the morning. If I don't do it then it doesn't get done. Most mornings I stumble to my desk sipping on coffee trying to wake up. I usually don't feel that spiritual. But I need to pray. Written prayers help me do that.

Now don't get me wrong. I also pray extemporaneous prayers - lot's of them!! I have a prayer list I pray through daily. After I get rolling I try to be earnest in my praying (a theme all over bible) and I even pray for things that just come to mind that day. I don't read prayers INSTEAD of free praying; I read prayers IN ADDITION to free praying.

What are some ways you have found reading prayers helpful?

The Power of Multiplication

noreply@blogger.com (peter) — Sat, 03 Aug 2013 14:37:00 +0000

The key to world evangelization is multiplication; not addition.

Do know how thick a piece of standard copy paper would be if you could fold it in half 30 times? About 68 miles. How about 50 times? 142,606,336 miles. Seems crazy doesn't it. Get a calculator and do the math. You will be shocked!

This fun little math fact teaches something profound about how disciples ought to invest their lives. If I were to lead a person to faith in Jesus everyday for the next 33 years, I would lead 12,053 people to the Lord. But what if I led one person to Christ a year for the next 33 years AND I trained each person to lead another person to Christ who in turn would train others, who would train others, etc. The outcome of this would be 8,589,934,592. That is larger than the current population of the earth.

Of course in real life things would never work this nice and neat. However, this exercise demonstrates the power of multiplication and shows that the most effective way to evangelize is not only lead people to Christ but to train them to lead others, who will train others, etc. Multiplication.

I cannot imagine a better way to invest my life!!

How Do I Know if I am a Disciple

noreply@blogger.com (peter) — Fri, 02 Aug 2013 11:32:00 +0000

There are many marks of a disciple. One however that is overlooked when talking about following Jesus is this: a disciple is one who makes disciples.

The Great Commission tells us to make disciples by teaching those we disciples to obey all of Christ commands. Well. One of Christ's commands is to make disciples.

Making other disciples is an essential part of being a disciple of Jesus. Have you committed yourself to this practice?

Check out this video about disciplemaking.

Why I am a Benedictine

noreply@blogger.com (peter) — Thu, 01 Aug 2013 14:39:00 +0000

Four years ago I became a Benedictine. Here's what I mean. I joined a religious community called the Company of Jesus. As a member of the company, I do not live in a monastery. What I do is join with other members spread all over the globe who are committed to living the way of St. Benedict.

You may have heard of St. Benedict. He is called the father of western monasticism because he wrote a rule - a guidebook - for how to organize monasteries that has been in use for 1500 years. That's a pretty good track record!!

I'm a bad Benedictine. I struggle to do all the things we agree to do as members of Company of Jesus. However, I am committed to be Benedictine. Why? Because the way of Benedict is a non-heroic spirituality.

You see, I have this problem. I find myself wanting to be the hero of my life story. There is a problem with this, however. I have committed my life to Jesus and, well, he thinks HE is the hero of my life story (and he is). For me, being a Benedictine is a kind of cure; a kind of recovery program for my tendency to think too highly about my ability to anything apart from Christ. I actually think one of the reasons God has me be a Benedictine is because I am bad at it. This makes sense actually, because the first thing Benedict exhorts the readers of his rule to is ... humility.

John Wesley's Throne Room of the Soul

noreply@blogger.com (peter) — Thu, 25 Jul 2013 15:04:00 +0000

In a Christian believer love sits upon the throne which is erected in the inmost soul; namely, love of God and man, which fills the whole heart, and reigns without a rival. ... In a circle near the throne are all holy tempers;-longsuffering, gentleness, meekness, fidelity, temperance; and if any other were comprised in "the mind which was in Christ Jesus." In an exterior circle are all the works of mercy, whether to the souls or bodies of men. By these we exercise all holy tempers; by these we continually improve them, so that all these are real means of grace, although this is not commonly adverted to. Next to these are those that are usually termed works of piety;-reading and hearing the word, public, family, private prayer, receiving the Lord's Supper, fasting or abstinence. Lastly, that his followers may the more effectually provoke one another to love, holy tempers, and good works, our blessed Lord has united them together in one body, the Church, dispersed all over the

earth; a little emblem of which, of the Church universal, we have in every particular Christian congregation.

from John Wesley's Sermon "On Zeal"

Time to Blog Again

noreply@blogger.com (peter) — Wed, 24 Jul 2013 12:50:00 +0000

I've decided it's time to get the dormant blog rolling again. I am not yet clear on what kinds of themes I plan to post about. Right now my plan is to get the blog rolling again as a pastoring tool - a way for me to comment and write about items related to my walk with Christ and the life of our parish.

Wish luck and grace!

Yes, The Church DOES Need Leaders

noreply@blogger.com (peter) — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 11:21:00 +0000

There is a meme out in the Christian blog world that decries leadership, arguing that pastors should not understand themselves as leaders.

I strongly disagree.

Pastors are leaders.

No, they are not leaders of corporations or government bureaucracies. And, they are not only leaders. But they are leaders.

Certainly the nature of church leadership is different than leadership in those other contexts. It's should be practiced differently. It often is not practiced differently. That can have tragic consequences.

Pastor means shepherd. The LORD was the shepherd of Israel. Moses shepherded Israel. David shepherded Israel. And, of course, Jesus is our shepherd. Pastor/shepherd is a king word. Pastor/shepherd is a leadership word.

Healthy, courageous, self-differentiated leadership is essential for the healthy life of any group of people - family, school, business and, yes, church. In my view, the question is not leadership vs. non-leadership, Leadership always exists in every grouping of people.. The issue is the nature of leadership.

The last thing the church should do is jettison the idea of leadership in defining the role of pastor. That would be a disaster.

I think one of the main problems in the church, especially in our day, is lack of courageous leadership. The courage to speak the truth in love even when others will not listen. The courage to call people to obey God even when it is not popular. The courage to name what one believes is right even while choosing to love those who disagree. Failing in these things has destructive consequences for the life of the church. These are all failures of leadership.

My vote is we keep the word leadership. Let's work hard to define it well. But let's us make sure those who give leadership in the church know they are leaders, embrace their calling to leadership and lead with love, courage and faithfulness.

Lord Open Our Lips

noreply@blogger.com (peter) — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 13:59:00 +0000

"Lord, open our lips.
And our mouth shall proclaim your praise."

I try to say the Daily Office from the Anglican Book of Common Prayer everyday. Some days I miss, but over the years it has become a habit. I am grateful to mentors have encouraged me to build that spiritual practice in my life.

Early in the office, one is invited to recite the words, "Lord, open our lips." It's kind of a funny thing to say. One is already opening one's lips to ask God to open them. Of course, that's not the point. The point is that it is hard to offer worship to God. I need help. That's what I love about this short prayer. It reminds me that I need help and it promises me help. Our generous God invites us to pray and then gives us the strength to do so. What a good God we worship!

She Said ... Yes.

noreply@blogger.com (peter) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 18:28:00 +0000

Every year during the last week of Advent I remember the story of the Annunciation: that few minutes when the angel Gabriel met with a teen girl to inform her that God - the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob - was about to deliver Israel. To get that done, God was finally sending the Messiah. The catch was that God intended to use Mary to bring him into the world.

Mary's response - what we call the Magnificat - could only have come from the lips of a person deeply imbibed in the story of Israel and expectantly waiting for the Messiah to come. Mary was hoping for the Messiah. Mary prayed for the Messiah. Mary longed for the Messiah. Now her hopes, prayers and longings were to be fulfilled.

But NOT in the way Mary planned.

It doesn't take much imagination to recognize that Mary wasn't thinking God would deliver Israel by making her pregnant out of wedlock. We do not know exactly what Mary's expectations were about how the Messiah would come, but it seems plain that her expectations about her hope and the way God intended to fulfill her hope did not match up.

And so, what did Mary do? She said ... yes.

Think what Mary could have done. She could have stalled in confusion because God's way of fulfilling his promise did not match her preconceived notions. She could have actively fought God because God's way of doing things did not matter to her. Instead, Mary said yes. She said yes because she was able to keep her hopes and expectations separated.

This fourth week in Advent always reminds me to be unmoving with my hopes and nimble with my expectations. All of us are looking for God to show up in our lives. But we need to heed Mary's model. By all means, hope in God; trust God fully! But at the same time we must be careful to not tie our hopes to closely to expectations. In doing that we might miss God and we might find ourselves, in the midst of our hope, saying no to God.

Why Do We Baptize Babies? 4

noreply@blogger.com (peter) — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 12:20:00 +0000

I apologize for the time gap since my last post.

I am continuing with thoughts about why Anglicans believe children of believers are proper candidates for baptism. A text that is important to our thinking about this is the story of Jesus blessing the children. Mark 10:13-16 states,

¹³ And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. ¹⁴But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, "Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. ¹⁵ Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it." ¹⁶And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.

This text says nothing about baptism. However, it does say that little children ought to be brought to Jesus because the Kingdom belongs to them. All by itself, this statement does not justify baptizing babies. So why do Anglicans look to this text as a basis for baptizing babies? Because baptism is a rite of entrance and a sign of belonging in the Kingdom of God. Since the Kingdom can belong to little ones, it seems appropriate to give the sign of Kingdom belonging to them.

Again, all by itself, this text does not teach nor justify the practice of baptizing babies. What it does do is add to a cumulative case for the practice. The coming posts will add more biblical data to the case for baptizing babies.

Why Do We Baptize Babies? 3

noreply@blogger.com (peter) — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 20:24:00 +0000

Virtually all Christian traditions agree that converts to Christianity ought to be baptized. Disagreement comes between those who believe only converts should be baptized and those who believe the children of believers may also be baptized. Anglican's are in the second group. This raises a question, why do Anglican's believe children are also proper candidates for baptism?

Let me begin my answer in this post and complete it in the next few to come.

The first thing to note is the inconclusiveness of the New Testament. There is no text in the New Testament that identifies the proper candidate for baptism - believer or child of believer. The New Testament is just plain silent. Second, while there are a number of examples of believers receiving baptism in Acts, there are also examples of whole households receiving baptism. The only person in these texts professing faith is the head of the household. All we are told about the other members is that they were baptized as well. The household texts don't claim children of believers were baptized, but they do create ambiguity. We simply do not know for sure who was in that household. And we do not know if every member of the household professed faith before being baptized.

Since we cannot answer the question from New Testament resources, Anglicans believe the next place to go is to the Old Testament. While we do not find baptism in the Old Testament we do find a rite of initiation into life in God and the people of God: circumcision. Circumcision is not the same thing as baptism, but there are similarities. Like baptism, it is a rite of initiation into life in God and his people. But notice, the rite was not only for adults who joined Israel, but for the sons of Israelites. Here's the point: circumcision was for believers and for children of believers. Circumcision functioned as sign of faith (Romans 4:11). Therefore, circumcision makes clear there is nothing inherently problematic in God's economy for the sign of faith to proceed the profession of faith. There is much more that can be said about this than a blog post gives room for. However, the basic point is that Anglicans see in the Old Testament rite of circumcision part of the basis for offering the New Testament rite of baptism to converts and to children of believers.

More needs to be said. Stay tuned.

Why Do We Baptize Babies? 2

noreply@blogger.com (peter) — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 13:46:00 +0000

In my first post I wrote, "Anglicans believe infant Baptism is ... an authentic expression of the meaning of Christian baptism and salvation as taught in scripture."

So ... what is the meaning of baptism?

The Book of Acts gives a number of examples of people being baptized in water. In every case, this ritual is tied with them following Jesus and joining the Church. It's a kind of threshold; a kind of doorway into life in Jesus and life in the church.

With that in mind, I will define baptism as a rite of entrance - entrance into life in Christ and entrance into life in the Church.

How does infant baptism express this? Anglicans believe that baptism is the beginning of a journey. And so when parents bring their children to be baptized they are bringing them to Jesus and bringing them to the church. Baptism is a ritual that marks their entrance into life in Christ and life in the Church. I realize that raises questions about the inability of a baby to profess faith in Christ. That is a very important question and I will address it in a later post. Right now, the key idea I want to stress is that we do not understand baptism as a once and for all event. It's not some magical act that gives a kid eternal life no matter what happens subsequently to baptism. It is a beginning. It is an inauguration. It's a threshold. When mom and dad bring their seven month old daughter and have her baptized, they are beginning a journey that they will take with their kid to raise her into the fullness of life in Christ and the church.

The next question, is why do we believe little kids can be brought for baptism apart from their own profession of faith. I will answer that in the next post.