Orant: Theology for Sojourners

What is the Gospel - Part 2 - Paul Washer (A Southern Baptist)

missionchrist@gmail.com (Billy Kangas) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:33:00 +0000

After the last post one of my dear friends was concerned I was being a relativist by offering this series. You can read his response here. I thought it was a good criticism and although this post is indeed a continuation of the subject I want to make it clear that I am in no way teaching any of these perspectives as right or wrong. I want everyone to talk about what the Gospel is. As A christian I find that the Gospel is the center of my life, and living the Gospel is at the heart of all I strive to do.

My only issue is there isn't a clear definition in the Scripture of what that life looks like.

There have been various theories of what atonement looks like throughout history, and I don't know if any of them capture the Mystery of God's Salvation completely.

By offering these perspectives I hope to challenge each reader to reflect of their own understanding of the Gospel and respond by giving more of their life to Jesus.

I really appreciate the reply so much, and the definition given I think is an incredibly important explanation of "Gospel Truth." What I want to focus on now is what is "Gospel Life."

In Revelation 14 (which was quoted in the response) the Judgment is not one of knowledge but obedience, we see the same thing in Matthew 25 (link).

So often Jesus seems to be asking how we loved, much more then what we know.

Here is a perspective I hope my dear brother finds more peace about... Although some of you might not be at peace with it... I'd like to hear what everyone thinks.

What is the Gospel - Part 1 - Orthodox

missionchrist@gmail.com (Billy Kangas) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 19:26:00 +0000

This week I will be posting a view different views on different ideas about the Gospel. It seems like almost every church has a different perspective on the issue.

I'd like to hear what you think about each of these Ideas... Today I will share a video with you from One Eastern Orthodox perspective (although I am sure there are more).

What do you take away from this?

Shane Claiborne

missionchrist@gmail.com (Billy Kangas) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 14:58:00 +0000

A few years ago my friend Scot told me about a friend of his that was coming to town and had invited his band to play at a church where he was speaking in Grand Rapids called Mars Hill. I checked it out and really enjoyed both their performance an the speaker. Since then it seems I can't go anywhere without hearing about the speaker. His name is Shane Claiborne. It seems he's at every conference, festival, church, and bookstore I go to.

Some people I know have been really changed by his message....
Others have been really annoyed...

Check out this video:

Shane Claiborne Sermon from Covenant Communications on Vimeo.

So What do you think?

I have now seen him speak 4 or 5 times and I am always amazed by his ability to say some things most people would not be able to get away with saying, but somehow manages to get away with it with this "aw shucks" attitude. His little giggles are all it really takes.

Somehow giggling has this way of breaking down all our walls and prejudices. He can get the most hard line fundamentalist talking about the importance of social justice (something surprising hard to do sometimes) by giggling and then talking about the issues...

It makes me wonder how much of our conversation is based on our associations with an opinion and how much is actually listening...

...maybe the best place to start a conversation is with an expression of our mutual humanity...

I've been Twittering

missionchrist@gmail.com (Billy Kangas) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 17:37:00 +0000

Hey if you like my blog check out my twitter I try not to post too much stuff you won't care about...
Also Check out my new LOGO!

My RSS: http://twitter.com/statuses/user_timeline/38956028.rss

My Address: http://twitter.com/BillyKangas

A Few Great Evangelists - Part Four- Dr. King

missionchrist@gmail.com (Billy Kangas) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 18:53:00 +0000

Martin Luther King Jr was a minister who preached the Gospel by speaking truth to power. He spoke throughout the country and led marches and boycotts on behalf of the oppressed. He spoke against the injustice of racial segregation and using violence to acquire what you want. He put up with many persecutions for the sake of the Gospel. He was jailed, his house was bombed, he was maligned by many leaders of the church, but he would not back down. He placed Christ at the center of everything that he taught, and looked to him as his example. In 1968 he followed Christ unto death. He was shot in Memphis while fighting for Justice. From jail he wrote “Just as the Apostle Paul left his little village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to practically every hamlet and city of the Graeco-Roman world, I too am compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my particular home town.”

A few Great Evangelists - Part Three- Gianna Beretta Molla

missionchrist@gmail.com (Billy Kangas) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:27:00 +0000

Gianna Beretta Molla was a doctor, wife and mother. She spread the gospel in her work, and in her home by loving others more then herself. She considered all the duties in her life a way of serving God. Like many of us she struggled with feelings of inadequacy, but found happiness in giving thanks to God in every moment. Although she wanted to become a missionary to Brazil, poor health kept her at home. When she become pregnant with her fourth child she was told that it would probably kill her to have the child. She put the unborn baby’s life before her own and went though with the delivery saying "If you must choose between me and the baby, no hesitation; choose – and I demand it – the baby. Save him!" She died 7 days later.

A few Great Evangelists - Part Two - Dorthy Day

missionchrist@gmail.com (Billy Kangas) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 14:29:00 +0000

Dorthy Day was a Journalist who after a spiritual awakening turned her experience in publishing to spreading the Gospel through a magazine called “The Catholic Worker.” In it she inspired people with the message of Social Justice found in the scriptures, and in the church. This grew into a "house of hospitality" in the slums of New York City and then a series of farms for people to live together communally. The movement continues to grow around the world combining direct aid for the poor and homeless with nonviolent direct action on their behalf. Although she is being considered for sainthood she once said “Don't call me a saint. I don't want to be dismissed so easily.”

A few Great Evangelists - Part One

missionchrist@gmail.com (Billy Kangas) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 18:56:00 +0000

At Mission Christ we have been speaking about spiritual disciplines. These are basically ways we can serve and seek God in our daily lives. So far we have been talking about Singing, Giving, and reading Scripture in a more contemplative way called Lectio Divina Today we are going to be talking about Evangelism. I thought I might post a few of my heroes over the course of this week. There are a lot of people who I consider to be great evangelists.

So many times we consider an evangelist to be only someone who proclaims the message of the Kingdom of God, and the victory of Jesus the Christ to people with words. The image that comes most readily to my mind is the man on the Soap box screaming "REPENT" at all that go by. Jesus gives us a fuller view of what it means to proclaim the Gospel.

When Jesus talks about his mission he quotes Isaiah 61. We see this in Luke 4:16-21

[Jesus] went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. ¹⁷The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
¹⁸"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, ²¹and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."

Jesus says he is anointed to preach, but what else is he anointed to do? Read it again.

There is so much more to bringing the kingdom of God then simply speaking.

Remember the words of St. Francis of Assisi
“Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words.”

This week I will be writing mini biographies of a few people I would consider Great Evangelists... Stay tuned!

A sample Day in Ypsi

missionchrist@gmail.com (Billy Kangas) — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 19:22:00 +0000

I will be moving out of Ypsilanti in a week: (I'm getting married!)

It breaks my heart!!

Here is what I have learned so far...

Sample day in Ypsilanti, Michigan:
-Breakfast either at Bomber (fresh corn beef hash) of Beezys (French toast is amazing!)

-Coffee at the Ugly Mug (get a shot of espresso!) - Hang out at the patio and make a new friend-

-play around at Riverside park-
-Visit the Water tower-

-Lunch at Luwak (old English, or pastrami Reuben) or Beezys (Avocado Veggie) for sandwiches. Roy's Slide-in for burgers (or go to Full House if you want to get a full Ypsi treat). Bills hot dog stand for amazing Root beer(get a chili dog as a condiment for your rootbeer). Gabriel's for great Steak Hoggies (peppers on the side)... Chick-in for shakes and sloppy Joes with great car side service!

Get it to go and go to peninsula park to eat it!

-Go to Corner Brewery for a drink in the Beer garden-

Dinner: Haabs for nice food (great streaks and Rubens) ... Aubree's and Get A Calzone or Pizza with their amazing BBQ sauce!! or get a burger at Sidetrack with some beer battered pickles

End the Night at the Tap room annex with some nice live music.

This list will change I'm sure.... Feel free to add your own suggestions

Cake Day

missionchrist@gmail.com (Billy Kangas) — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 12:56:00 +0000

Normally I only use this page to talk about theology related stuff.... But I recorded a song Called Cake Day yesterday.... I wrote this for some Mission Christ Guys last year take a listen...

LISTEN TO CAKE DAY

A Franciscan Benediction

missionchrist@gmail.com (Billy Kangas) — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 04:46:00 +0000

May God bless you with discomfort

At easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships

So that you may live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger

At injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people,

So that you may work for justice, freedom, and peace.

May God bless you with tears

To shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger and war,

So that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and

To turn their pain into joy.

And may God bless you with enough foolishness

To believe that you can make a difference in the world,

So that you can do what others claim cannot be done

To bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor.

Amen

OUR FATHER…

missionchrist@gmail.com (Billy Kangas) — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 02:20:00 +0000

This week we began the season of Lent. For me lent is a time where I try to focus increasingly on prayer. I’ve been thinking a lot about the practice, as well as reading what others had to say. Recently other people have also been asking questions about prayer.

For example this week I got this question:

“I really like to pray, but I don't know if what I pray is what God wants and desires for the person I'm praying for, or myself, and I just always feel like I'm going against God. … how does one pray?"

Asking “How does one pray?” is a question that has been asked for thousands of years. Just take a look at Luke 11:1 “Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.” Even those who lived day in and day out with Jesus still had trouble understanding how to pray!

Before we get into how… I think it’s important to talk about why… there are innumerable reasons to pray. Stop and think for a second before reading… Why would one pray? Come up with a reason in your mind…

I can think of a few reasons:

Ephesians 3:14-19 – It strengthens our relationship with God

A person prays, said Augustine, "that he himself may be constructed, not that God may be instructed."

Luke 22:39-41 – Avoid Temptation

Luke 10:2 It empowers us to see God’s will

Soren Kierkegaard once wrote: “the true relation in prayer is not when God hears what is prayed for, but when the person praying continues to pray until he is the one who hears, who hears what God wills.”

and empowers us do it (look at the next command of Jesus in Verse 3)

Prayer is really practical! As St. Thomas More once prayed, "The things, good Lord, that we pray for, give us the grace to labor for."

Ephesians 6:10-20 - Warfare

One of my favorite quotes about prayer comes from Karl Barth who wrote, "To clasp the hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against the disorder of the world."

Matthew 6:45-46 It Grounds us

Dietrich Bonhoeffer once wrote, “A day without morning and evening prayers and personal intercessions is actually a day without meaning or importance.” I love that!

Requests – Philippians 4:6

“God,” said Pascal, “instituted prayer in order to lend to His creatures the dignity of causality.” That’s a really cool idea to me!

I’m sure there another hundred reasons to pray, but these are a good start I think… Let’s now look on HOW to pray.

For me understanding how to pray BEGINS with looking at how Jesus responds to the request, “Lord, teach us to pray”. Go back to Luke 11 look at verse 3 and following:

Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us day by day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins,
For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.

This prayer is the basic prayer of all of Christianity stretching though all denominations, and traditions!

(This prayer is also recorded in Matthew 5… in fact that whole chapter is a great place to look for how to approach prayer!)

To Understand the LORD’S PRAYER (what the prayer above is often called). One has to look at the prayer which Jesus seemed to expound upon.

At the time of Jesus there was a prayer in use called Kaddish or The Sanctification. It goes like this….

Magnified and sanctified be his great name in the world He created according to His will.

May He establish His kingdom during your life and during your days, and during the life of all the house of Israel, speedily and in the near future.
And say Amen.

Can you see any Parallels?

Sanctifying the name of God
Request For God’s kingdom to be established

This prayer follows a pattern seen though out the teachings of Jesus.

Jesus frequently takes an established part of the religion, and tweaks it.

Another example of this is how Jesus changes the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4-9, this is the most basic creed of Judaism!) in Luke 10:27 by adding a passage from Leviticus 19:18 to create a Creed based on loving both GOD AND OTHERS!!

Jesus adds a few things into the Our Father…

The most obvious additions are requests for

Bread, Forgiveness, and Protection from temptation… and the addition of the word Father.

The part of this that actually strikes me the most is the way that Jesus transforms this prayer into a prayer for GOD AND OTHERS!! It adds the OUR, and makes requests that deal with the day to day struggles of us and our neighbors. It’s a prayer that is both Horizontal and Vertical… and is a deeply personal prayer.

Let’s look at the LORD’S PRAYER or the OUR FATHER as it is sometimes called again… At each line think about the way that Jesus crafts this prayer to reflect our place as CHILDREN TOGETHER IN THE FAMILY OF GOD.

Our Father in heaven,

Think about the spirit of adoption, and how we are now Son’s and Daughter. We pray this prayer WITH CHRIST HIMSELF, and THE HOLY SPIRIT!

Hallowed be Thy name.

Does our heart truly set God’s name Apart?
Thy kingdom come.
Are we living for Thy Kingdom of My kingdom

Thy will be done
Do we truly give God sovereignty over all our lives and Communities

On earth as it is in heaven.
God’s kingdom is something that BREAKS INTO THE DAY TO DAY!! Today!!

Give us this day our daily bread.
Pray this for others as well as for yourself! That’s what the “US” is all about

And forgive us our trespasses,
As individuals, and as a community!

As we forgive those who is trespass against us.
Are you really asking this? Let the sword cut both ways!

And lead us not into temptation,

Is sin something you really want to be free from… Do you want to see your neighbor free. Remember the US!

But deliver us from evil.

In ALL FORMS… Let this prayer be “the beginning of an uprising against the disorder of the world.”

Try praying this prayer everyday… I personally have an alarm set on my Cell Phone for 4PM everyday where I pray this prayer before I bring my concerns of the day before God.

Remember: Ultimately Prayer is grounded in doing it!

How do we learn to pray?

Mother Teresa answers, "By praying — If you want to pray better, you must pray more."

One Final thought by Eugene Peterson: ““Be slow to pray. Praying puts us at risk of getting involved with God’s conditions…. Praying most often doesn’t get us what we want but what God wants, something quite at variance with what we conceive to be in our best interests. And when we realize what is going on, it is often too late to go back.””

A Prayer

missionchrist@gmail.com (Billy Kangas) — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 20:17:00 +0000

Ich bete wieder, du Elauchter
"I am praying again, Awesome One.

You hear me again, as words
from the depths of me
rush toward you in the wind.

I’ve been scattered in pieces,
torn by conflict,
mocked by laughter,
washed down in drink.

In alleyways I sweep myself up
out of garbage and broken glass.
With my half-mouth I stammer you,
who are eternal in your symmetry.
I lift to you my half-hands
in wordless beseeching, that I may find again
the eyes with which I once beheld you.

I am a house gutted by fire
where only the guilty sometimes sleep
before the punishment that devours them
hounds them out in the open.

I am a city by the sea
sinking into a toxic tide.
I am strange to myself, as though someone unknown
had poisoned my mother as she carried me.

It’s here in all the pieces of my shame
that now I find myself again.
I yearn to belong to something, to be contained
in an all-embracing mind that sees me
as a single thing.
I yearn to be held
in the great hands of your heart–
oh let them take me now.
Into them I place these fragments, my life,
and you, God–spend them however you want"

–Barrows and Macy, trans. 1996. Rilke, Rainer Maria. Rilke’s Book of Hours: Love Poems to God. Riverhead Books.

Fasting:

missionchrist@gmail.com (Billy Kangas) — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 18:29:00 +0000

Throughout my Christian life I have learned that there are many practices that people have used thought history to grow closer to God and to become more like Christ. We have been going though a series of these “disciplines,” Many of them are very easy to understand why one might want to do them.

(e.g. Reading scripture is valuable because it tells us about so many things God has done, promises to do, and connects us into the lives of countless people seeking to seek God in ways that still resonate with us today. Prayer is valuable because it is connects us with God in some very tangible ways.)

I think one of the hardest “disciplines” to understand is the practice of fasting. It’s even hard to define:

· According to the dictionary fasting is:
“To abstain from food.” Or
”To eat very little or abstain from certain foods, especially as a religious discipline.”

· Medical Science says a fasting is assumed to be happening after obtaining from food for 8–12 hours.

· Catholics have a weekly “fast” of one hour before the Mass.

· Some people fast from things other then food or drink, others say that’s not a true fast

· Eastern and Oriental Orthodox faiths fast from meat and dairy 2 times a week and for huge sections of the church calendar.

· Catholics fast from meat on Fridays during lent.

· Paul talks about abstaining from sex with your spouse for periods of time by mutual consent for prayer. Some call these sorts of things fasts! 1 Corinthians 7:5

· Can you think of any other fasting examples?

What is fasting?? I’m not really going to worry about defining it. There is no mandate in scripture that says anything like “all people must fast.” If it did I can understand why someone might get anxious about figuring out what it is and is not. Today I want more to look at its practical application.

When we look through the Bible we can many purposes a fast is used for:

Ezra 10:6 - Mourning
Ester 4:16 – intercession
Daniel 9:3 – Prayer
Joel 2:15 – Community
Jonah 3:7 – Repentance
Luke 2:37 – Worship
Acts 13: 1-3 – Decrement
Matthew 4:1-4 - Obedience

The question for me is can’t we do all of these things without fasting??

Of course we can… but I think fasting forces us to deal with the Body part of us as well as the spirit. We are deeply affected by our bodies. What we think, how we feel, how we serve these are all deeply intertwined with our bodies. If we want to serve God with our whole self we need disciplines in our life that deal with our bodies too.

As Scot McKnight says: “Fasting is a physical condition in which all the disciplines can occur.”

To understand what I mean by this try putting the word “body” in front (e.g. Body Mourning, or Body Repentance)… does that make any sense?

Difficulties with fasting:

Isaiah 58:3-7 – Trying to bribe God into helping… or pleasing him
Matthew 6:16 – Putting on a show
Fasting can be distracting, we can think about food the whole time – but what does that show us…. Could fasting act as a mirror into our hearts as well?
It can be done at the wrong time Matthew 9:14-17
It can become a “technique” (i.e. fasting becomes a form of magic to attain certain benefits, or simply a steroid to your prayer life)
The focus can easily shift to what it’s doing to your “Spiritual Life” rather then a biblical perspective. In my humble opinion fasting is what happens when a child of God surrenders their entire person -- heart, soul, mind, spirit and body – to Abba.

I have personally tried fasting in a number of different ways, I’d be happy to talk about my experiences with it sometime if anyone wants.

Check out these pages for more information on fasting:

http://www.ccci.org/growth/growing-closer-to-god/how-to-fast/index.aspx

-This one is a great one on HOW to do it.

http://www.biblebb.com/files/tniv/FASTING.TXT

- A list of verses on fasting

http://blog.beliefnet.com/jesuscreed/2007/04/fasting-a-thesis_comments.html

- Read the comments hear for a good discussion

http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/praxis/pr_fasting.aspx

- Orthodox fasting rules. I tried to live these last year! Very challenging!!

My Ten questions on Fasting:

As I began thinking about this I came up with TEN QUESTIONS about fasting... if anyone wants to take a stab at them that would be awesome!

1. In our culture many people seem to have trouble understanding why anyone would really do it. The benefit in doing it is much less tangible then that of prayer, reading scripture, or many other spiritual disciplines. Why would anyone fast?

2. I see many examples of fasting in the world today used to raise awareness. For example Desmond Tutu's involvements in a hunger strike for change in Zimbabwe. [The Story] Where did this practice come from? Are there any good examples of this in church history?

3. Fasting is generally thought of as refraining from eating food, or drink. However I know that our Eastern Orthodox brothers and sisters fast twice a week from Meat and Dairy. Is this a true fast?

4. As far as you know did the practice of Fasting in Islam come from the Judeo-Christian practices Mohamed came in contact with or were there other precursors in the area?

5. What fasting practices did the early church fathers?

6. There seems to be a tie between "monastic" life and fasting. How did this connection develop?

7. Jesus often talks about fasting in the gospels, what were the fasting practices like in the ancient near east during the time of Christ?

8. I know a number of people who are very skeptical of the practice of fasting. They believe it can function as a stand in for a more "real" spiritual practice, and can make the faith more formulaic and less organic. What would you say to someone who thinks this way?

9. Depriving oneself of food as a "spiritual practice" seems counter intuitive to many in the west. We have a very platonic understanding of the world. How is what we put in our body relevant to how we are in relationship with God?

10. Fasting can be a very intimidating practice. I'm not sure where one might begin. There are many things to consider: heath implications, what to fast from, how often, and how to do it in a way that helps you grow closer to God. What are some good resources about how to fast?

Followers of Jesus

missionchrist@gmail.com (Billy Kangas) — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 13:31:00 +0000

I created a webpage

http://FollowA2.com check it out

It’s a social network for local churches, Christians, and communities.

Though this page I hope to achieve three main goals:

First Cooperation -
On this page we can share about opportunities to serve the poor, prayer groups, mission trips, service projects and much more. We can start to work together and achieve more. Get involved by posting events and going to events that other churches are hosting!

Second Conversation -
I have set up a number of forums here to facilitate conversation. So often I have felt cut off from the community. I heard about Christians around the world, but had little contact with those in my own neighborhood. Hopefully this network can help change that. Get involved by posting Videos, and pictures. Or become active on the forums.

Third Connection -
I want people to make friends here. This is a good place to meet new people, build relationships with friends you already have and discover groups with similar interests. Get involved by adding friends, leaving messages, and creating groups for your interests (musicians, artists, bikers, etc...)

I hope you can join me in really making an effort to contribute to this online community and get involved with the events and groups here!

I believe this network can change our city if we all work together. Help make this work! Contribute to the community.

Grace and Peace!
-Billy Kangas

Paths to God: Week 1

missionchrist@gmail.com (Billy Kangas) — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 04:52:00 +0000

Ok here is a question: Name as many forms of prayer as you can think of!

Many of you probably thought of traditional forms similar to the Lord’s Prayer. Some may have thought or praying in tongues. A number of you could have though of guided prayer, or prayer books. Still others may have thought of prayers of intercession, for the sake of an individual, a city, or any thing else. There are prayers of desperation where one might call out in times of despair or trial, and there are prayers of relief when a tragedy is avoided.

Did any of you think of fixed hour prayer?

Fixed hour is a regiment of prayer where a person prayers at set times during the day. It is seen most commonly in the Islamic practice of Salah (prayer 5 times a day). This originated many years before Mohamed. In fact we can see the practice mentioned throughout the bible.

Daniel was thrown in the lion’s den for praying three times a day. Many psalms specifically mention praying in the morning (5:3; 55:17; 59:16; 88:13; 92:2) or evening (17:1-3; 42:8; 63:5-6; 119:55; 141:2).

Early Christians would take time to pray at the third the sixth and ninth hours. At which times they would remember Jesus by praying the Lords Prayer. Understanding this practice in the early church actually gives light to a number of verses in the New testament.

For example: Pentecost happened at the third hour. Peter had his rooftop vision of clean and unclean animals while praying at the sixth hour. He and John healed a lame man on the temple steps as they all gathered for ninth hour prayers.

I find it little coincidence that Jesus is said to have been crucified at the third hour and died at the ninth.

Fixed hour prayer has many of the advantages of any prayer book.

It gives words when we don’t have any, or when we feel “cut off” from God
It draws from the wisdom and experience of the Body of Christ rather then relying on an individual experience
It allows us to join in the riches of other communities, and other periods of the churches history.

On top or these there are some added benefits:

It’s based on the ’fixed language’ of Scriptures, through which God has spoken for years and continues to speak.
It draws on a rich tradition of practice
It helps develop faith as a lifestyle over faith as simply a system of beliefs
It helps us see God in very special times of the day (see Psalm 65:8)

There are Seven hours traditionally:

Matins or The Officium lectionis or Office of Readings - The fist hour of a day
Morning or lauds – Morning prayers
Terce or Mid-Morning Prayer
Sext or Midday Prayer – done at noon
None or Mid-Afternoon Prayer (yes it’s called none)
Evening or vespers – Just evening prayers
Compline or night prayers – Just before you go to sleep

SOME LINKS:

If you are interested it trying this ancient practice please check out these links:

http://www.ebreviary.com/ - Online Prayers

http://www.ambs.edu/prayerbook - Anabaptist prayers

http://www.saintjohnsabbey.org/beingamonk/prayer.html - Catholic Prayers

http://www.osb.org/lectio/ - Benedictine Prayer

http://www.annarborvineyard.org/tdh/tdh.cfm - The divine hours (this is what I mostly use)

http://www.cofe.anglican.org/worship/dailyprayer/index.html - Anglican Prayers

http://www.rejesus.co.uk/spirituality/daily_prayer/index.html - More Prayers

http://www.universalis.com/ - Hours for the traditional three hours

Note:
There are many names for the same practice

-Catholics :
praying the divine office or the liturgy of the hours.

-St. Benedict, who wrote the first manual for praying the hours, thought of praying the offices as “opus dei,” (Benedictines understand prayer as a communal act.)

-Many Orthodox Christians refer to praying the divine office or divine hours.

-Anglicans and Episcopals generally speak of common prayer.

-A breviary is a service book of prayers, readings, and responses to be read or chanted at specific hours.

-Other Christians call their practice “morning and evening prayer” or “fixed-hour prayer.”

One True Faith??

missionchrist@gmail.com (Billy Kangas) — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 19:03:00 +0000

A reader, mark, recently asked me how "I know mine is the 'One and Only True Faith'" I thought I would put my response up here for everyone to comment on.

I don’t really know that. Faith is something that shows me something of God, but not him entirely. There is always the possibility that God is much bigger then my own faith. In fact a God that wasn’t would be very troublesome to me. I personally believe that Jesus Christ is the only way to God, but what that entails is far beyond me. Jesus Christ could be revealed to someone in a way that I see inconstant with my own faith, but still somehow manages to be consistent from the vantage point of the almighty.

If I didn’t believe in a paradoxical faith I would have a lot of trouble believing in the trinity, the hypostatic union, and even that God is both Just and Merciful. God, it seems, likes to dwell in the tension of ideas more them be confined by the ideas themselves. It’s like music. A note is not beautiful by itself, but the tension created by all the notes together creates the beauty of a piece of music. The same is true in poetry. Rarely does a single word move someone to tears, but the tension of words put together creates something of power. I think God is understood best in a similar tension. What I know of him is simply one note in a symphony that demonstrates his majesty to those who care to listen.

“Creativity” - Top Ten Things to get catch an idea

missionchrist@gmail.com (Billy Kangas) — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 17:33:00 +0000

I'm working on a set of guidelines for creating lessons at MissionChrist I created this list as a resource and thought you all might like to take a look at it.

Creativity is one of the main ways we are created in God's image. He is a creator, in fact in Genesis 1:1 the fact that he is a creating is the only thing we know about God. The Bible begins by introducing us to God, not with a name or a linage, or even an image. All we know is that he creates.

We'll probably talk about this a lot more in the future, but until then here are ten tips for creating good ideas, and identifying useful goals!

GET CREATING!

1. Brainstorm Alone and With others
2. Repeat what others have said back to them to clarify
3. Take a break and let ideas simmer
4. Identify in what times and places ideas come to you most. Create a space for them to grow.
5. Have a method to catch ideas when they come in the day to day. (paper, pen, voice recorder, etc...)
6. Try changing your perspective on an issue. Different vantage points can foster new Ideas
7. Try Random association: take something unrelated and just grab words and pictures from it and run with it… see where it goes.
8. Write down everything even stupid ideas
9. Don’t Be Afraid to Share!
10. Have Fun…. Play… seriously this is proven to help

Senator Barack Obama on Faith and Religion

missionchrist@gmail.com (Billy Kangas) — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 18:15:00 +0000

Over the past few months it seems I have heard no end to examinations of Barack Obama’s Christian faith. The remarks of his former pastor Jeremiah Wright have fueled a firestorm of criticism and investigation into exploring what Senator Obama’s faith is composed of.

In his address entitled “Call to renewal” Senator Obama sets out to “reconcile faith with our modern, pluralistic democracy.” In this speech Obama relates his personal journey to Christianity, and responds to critics of his faith. Although in general I found the speech to be both compelling and inspiring there was a line that stuck out to me. Senator Obama posits that, “Democracy demands that the religiously motivated translate their concerns into universal, rather than religion-specific, values.” This statement articulates an attitude the Senator has that I find much more troubling then his connection with Rev. Wright.

This concern was underscored again for me last Thursday when Obama delivered his speech, “The American Promise," at the Democratic Convention in Denver. There he mentioned a number of “universal values” we can “all agree” on stating, “We may not agree on abortion, but surely we can agree on reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies in this country.” Although I personally agree with him there, I know a number of Catholics who would be very wary of signing onto that mission. That night Senator Obama stated,” I don't believe that Senator McCain doesn't care what's going on in the lives of Americans. I just think he doesn't know.” Although I believe this criticism to be accurate when examining McCain’s economic policy, when it comes to Obama’s own reading of the national pulse on issues of faith, the same criticism can be applied. Obama talks about a “higher purpose,” as our “common purpose,” which is a great thought. The only problem is when it comes to what individuals see as a “higher purposes” there is nothing “common” about them.

The nuances of different religions are so sensitive, polarizing, and often paradoxical that attempts to distil them into “universal values” exhibit the same naivety that has been demonstrated by our nation so many times already. Osama Bin Laden orchestrated his attacks on US civilians, not out of a hate for freedom, but as a retaliatory measure in response to our our stationing of troops in Muslim Holy Land, which violated specific laws within Islam.

Whether we like it or not, understanding the faiths of our world, in their beauty, in their darkness, and in the tension of their mysteries is essential in the increasingly global system in which we find ourselves. Living in a pluralistic society does not mean we should abandon the beauty of our religious or non-religious traditions to create a melting pot of faiths, freedom of religion is not contingent on sacrificing the nuances of our theologies for feel good platitudes, and contrary to what Senator Obama seems to think Democracy does not “demand” articulation of universal values, but an equal voice for all, even if it offends our own sensitivities. When we flatten our beliefs into universals, at best, we are left with the lowest common denominator, and in all likelihood we will construct a caricature of the faiths around us that leave us baffled when they don’t fit the mold we attempt to force them into. A society with “universal values” sounds nice in speeches,but I am truly worried about what response this attitude will generate if it ever becomes the basis of national policy.

A Parable

missionchrist@gmail.com (Billy Kangas) — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 20:15:00 +0000

One upon a time there was a young bride who left her home to be married to the Lord of the Land. On her way she fell into the hands of bandits. The bandits ripped her gown, took her money, beat her, and ran off laughing leaving her to die.

Soon two fine society ladies came along the path. They saw her lying there, and spoke to one another saying, “Isn’t that the bride of the Lord whose wedding we are going to? You’d think the Lord would be able to pick a better wife look how messy she is! Her gown is ripped and she has no money. What a fool the Lord is!” The two women walked by speaking to one another about the wedding, and the reception and paying no more attention to the Bride.

A short time latter a wealthy man walked by carrying pushing a wheel barrel stacked high with riches. He saw the Bride lying there, and recognized her as the Lord’s Bride. He bent over and told her,

“I love your groom so much! Look here at the wedding present I’ve brought for him. I’ve spent the last month crafting these fine gold plates and filled them with the finest food. I’ve labored for years crafting the finest wines and have brought him a bottle of the best of the bunch. I have even refinanced my home to buy him this famous painting and dedicated it to his honor. I have even stitched him these fine clothes by hand, in the latest fashion and crafted with the finest care.”

The bride just groaned! The man smiled and moved on toward the wedding so excited with what he would give.

After some time a beautiful young women came walking down the little road. She was fretting to herself about how she just didn’t like her outfit. The shoes, it seemed, didn’t quite fit her dress. She was worried about feeling ugly at the wedding she was going to for the Lord of the land. She saw bride lying there and noticed her shoes. “Oh my, those stilettos are just FABULOUS” she said. “You don’t mid if I borrow those for the evening?” she said. The bride made a low gurgling sound. “Thanks!” said the women. And took her shoes and walked on.

A short while later a drunk and homeless vagabond came stumbling down the path pushing a shopping cart. He saw the bride and his heart broke for her. He took off his coat and wrapped it abound her. He bandaged her wounds with strips of cloth he ripped from his shirt, and disinfected the wounds the the bottle of Bacardi 151 he had. He gathered soft grass and filled the cart. Then he placed her in it and pushed her towards the hospital as fast as he could.

Meanwhile news had reached the Lord what had happened to his Bride and he had come making all haste to retrieve her. Finding her in the care of the vagabond he took her in his arms and carried her to the wedding feast he had prepared. When all the guests had gathered round the Lord called the homeless vagabond to sit at the head table right next to him, and when the time to give a toast had come the Lord got us and spoke saying. This man beside me has shown me the greatest love.

Some of you seeing the brokenness of my bride thought you should defend my honor by scorning her brokenness. Others thought you could love me by showering me with all you had, even if that meant others would have none. Still more have come showing off their own splendor, taking from those that could serve them even my bride. Only this man beside me though has truly shown me love. For he has given what he has to love the one I adore.

So what do you think.... If you hadn't guessed this is a parable about the Church. Think about your own life.

We can all see the church is broken and hurting, but how do we respond...

Give me some thoughts!

Disturb us Lord - Sir Francis Drake

missionchrist@gmail.com (Billy Kangas) — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:26:00 +0000

I will not be in touch with computers much in the coming weeks. While I'm gone I thought I would leave this prayer for you all. I hope you can find the same life in it that I did. Take some time set your heart of God. Then read this prayer aloud slowly and thoughtfully. Take a breath between every line. Alright here you go!

Disturb us Lord

"Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves,

When our dreams have come true because we have dreamed too little,

When we arrived safely because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess

We have lost our thirst for the waters of life;

Having fallen in love with life, we have ceased to dream of eternity

And in our efforts to build a new earth,

We have allowed our vision of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture on wider seas

Where storms will show your mastery;

Where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars.

We ask You to push back the horizons of our hopes;

And to push into the future in strength, courage, hope and love."

Sir Francis Drake

If you would let me know a few more places that you want God to disturb you in the comments section that would be pretty awesome!

Anti-Trash Election!

missionchrist@gmail.com (Billy Kangas) — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 18:24:00 +0000

Alright I’m not sure if you guys are aware of this but this year in the United States we will be voting for who will be our next President! There are so many people you can vote for it’s amazing, but only two have a shot at winning right now. There’s been a lot of trash talk lately about their stances on all sorts of things, but I want to have an ANTI-Trash Talk time. You can say anything about the person you’re voting for, or who you’d want to win. Or even an ideal candidate, but you CAN’T say anything BAD about another person!! Alright Ladies and Gentleman start your engines and let me know. The Floor is yours!

Viva La Pollution

missionchrist@gmail.com (Billy Kangas) — Thu, 29 May 2008 02:59:00 +0000

Does anyone remember that show Captain Planet? For those of you who weren't watching cartoons in 1990 I'll fill you in. Captain Planet is our hero, and he's gonna take pollution down to zero.

As you can see above Capitan Planet (The blue guy on the left) is an environmental super hero. He has a bunch of teenagers follow him around and save the world from "looters and polluters" (this foul lot can be seen on the right!)

The villains in this show had a strange thing for polluting as much as they could. It some how made them happy to destroy the environment. This little fact is what made the show so funny.

Who in their right mind would purposefully destroy the environment?

I never thought anyone in the real world would be resemble the senseless mallice of these cartoon villains until I ran into These Guys! (this is a link click it and read!)

Who does that!?

I don't have time to get into the details of how I believe Christians should respond to the environment right now, but I will tell you what I think the two greatest sins of our nation are.

1. The legalization of infanticide though abortion, as well as all other forms of government sanctioned murder (war, death penalty, etc...)
2. The disregard of our stewardship of the planet for our own gluttony.

OK... The floor is yours.

Answer me these 2 questions...

1. How do you feel about global warming.
2. What does God have to say about our role in this world.

Peace and Love... and God bless the cartoon villains

Itch

missionchrist@gmail.com (Billy Kangas) — Wed, 28 May 2008 14:41:00 +0000

What is it about an itch? What is it about the way an itch can drive you mad? Why is it that the whole world can seem to fade away with a little itch caused by nothing at all? Just think about your whole body itching all over. It’s itching and you can’t do anything about it. Now how many of you just had to scratch yourself somewhere?

For some reason an itch can be contagious! Just saying the word itch can create the sensation in others! It’s not like itch is some magic word or anything. The same phenomenon will occur in German if you say Gelüst or in Spanish if you say picar or in Japaneese if you say muzumuzu.
Saying itch taps into the experience we’ve all had associated with that word. It cues our mind. We have these mirror neurons that cause us to imitate what we see others doing... like having an itch and scratching it.

What other things in your life give you a desire that needs to be fulfilled. Is that desire contagious? Is that a good thing? Peace!

Thanks

missionchrist@gmail.com (Billy Kangas) — Fri, 23 May 2008 05:13:00 +0000

2,186,230 Can anyone guess what that number represents?

2,186,230 any Ideas?
2,186,230 this is the number of people who were in Jail, or Prison in the United States alone in June 2005 (the most recent statistics I could find).

Each person incarcerated in our system today is there because the government believed they had committed an offense that warranted a punishment. It’s not the only way the government punishes people, but it’s one.

Other means of punishment include parking tickets, community service, probation and a slew of other reprimands.

Throughout time there have been many very odd ways justice is carried out. In Elizabethan England women who gossiped to much was led around the city with a metal cage over her head with spikes in her mouth so she couldn’t move her tongue, they also made drunkards walk the streets wearing nothing but a barrel, and encouraged public jeering. The means for carrying out justice have changed but in every society there has been a consequence to breaking the rules.

In the time of Jesus things were no different. If you stole, you were punished. If you killed you had to face consequences. There were laws in place to keep the peace, and keep society plugging along.

There were also laws that the people followed in order that they could have peace with God. These were laid out in a group of writing that were the heart and soul of Jewish culture. This collection was called the Torah. The Torah laid out the beginnings of the Jewish people, stories of how God had intervened to help, save, and nurture the Jewish people throughout time, and laws that taught the Jewish people how to have fellowship with God.

One of the major ways people made peace with God was through sacrifices.

Sacrifices were offered in the temple in Jerusalem periodically throughout the year. Many of these sacrifices were slaughter offerings where an animal was killed for the people. We see in the book of Hebrews that this was because blood was required to fulfill the justice of God. As Hebrews 9:22 states, “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”

Blood was needed, blood was given, but God wanted a deeper connection. He wanted life with us that was forever. Our lives fell short of God’s righteousness. We couldn’t live up to the standard of God. We weren’t perfect, and God requires perfection. This is what Christ’s life was about. He came and was killed, a perfect sacrifice between God and us forever. He opened the way to life with God, and united us with our creator for all time.

Because of Christ we are right with God. There is no need to sacrifice. There is no more blood needed for salvation. There is nothing that can separate us from the love of God.

That often leads me to the question, “now what?”

Seriously, Christ took care of it. What are we to do now?

In the Torah we can see hints of what life with God is all about.

The offerings for sins were required to be perfect, as Leviticus 22:20 states, “Do not bring anything with a defect, because it will not be accepted on your behalf.” However there were other things we people could give God that were not required to be perfect.

In Leviticus 22:23 we read that, “you may, however, present as a freewill offering an ox or a sheep that is deformed or stunted.”

These were offerings given to God, not to fulfill a requirement or obligation, but simply to give thanks to God.

Christ has taken the requirement of blood on himself, but we can still give God thanks. It may not be perfect like Christ, but God has always accepted true thanks even thanks that might be deformed of stunted.

I think this is what Paul is talking about when he writes: “in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship (Romans 12:1).

Right now I want you to close your eyes breathe in and just say Thank you.

Thank you….

What are we to thank God for? WHAT NOT!

When I was in Europe thank you was the first word I learned in every Country. In Germany, Danke, in Hungry Köszi, in Sweden and Denmark it’s Tak. To the Americans I met it was Thanks and to the Japanese guy I stayed with it was Domo arigato (Mr. roboto).

Life on earth is filled with expressions of gratitude to those who have given us even the smallest of things. We say thank you for gifts, for opportunities. We say thank you to the guy who gives us our change, and even to the guy who hands us a flyer to the show we don’t even want to see. How much more should we thank GOD!

Do you find yourself irritated by the people you work with, the teachers you have, or the kids you run into every day?

Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 5, “give thanks in all circumstances.”

I have found the more I thank God the less things seem to bother me, and the more I feel close to God. Just as ancient offerings were said to ascend to the heavens, so also a life lived in praise connects us with God in powerful ways.

It also connects us with others in powerful ways. Last week at MissionChrist we sat around and gave thanks for one another. It was powerful to see the ways that each person had become a blessing in someway to someone else. As we went around there was no person who hadn't impacted another in love at some point. Your life can be a blessing.

What are you thankful for?

I know

I was lost… but not now
I was hopeless… but not anymore
I was alone… but now I have true friends

And I know that even when I find myself lost hopeless and alone God will bring me out again.

Remember. Right now. EVERYTHING God has done.

God has inspired me, moved me, provided for me, saved me and known me. God has blessed me beyond comprehension, and taught me how to laugh, dance and run.