Lindi heard a Voice [she assumed from Jesus] giving another person a life review, saying, "Let's look at all the things you've done to serve Me, to love other people well; let's look at the relationships in your life and how you've loved them well and therefore served Me through them." Lindi recalls, "What was interesting is it was all about relationships. There was nothing about accomplishments, nothing about our 'successes' - all about how you've loved other people." Then came the part she had feared, but the Voice said, "Let's look at the missed opportunities to love Me better. Let's look at how you could have loved other people better, and the missed relationships and how you could have loved them better and therefore served Me better." Then the Voice said, "Welcome home, thank you for loving me so well throughout your life." She realized there's truly no condemnation, and it motivated her to not miss opportunities. She's since started working to free women from sex trafficking.
Source: John Burke - "Imagine Heaven", Ch. 17, pp. 251-252
Rhiannon Lloyd, Welsh reconciler in Rwanda
Finally Rhiannon tells them a personal story. "I come from a nation where two tribes have hurt each other," she says. "One day I was in a prayer meeting when an English Christian knelt at my feet. 'We have often made the Welsh our servants,' she said. 'Please forgive us.' And she proceeded to wash my feet. A deep healing took place in my heart that day because of the humility of one person who chose to identify with the sins of her people against my people." Rhiannon's simple story contains a key ... Each believer must take up the cross and apply it to their own identity. Even now God is looking for people like Rhiannon's humble English friend. He's looking for those who will express the humility of Christ and bring healing to the nations.
Source: John Dawson - What Christians Should Know About Reconciliation, p. 8
Holy discontent can be a good thing!
Seeing racial division at conferences and churches really broke my heart and gave me a holy discontent. As I came to the predominantly white church, I saw a blindness. [Most people] thought the issue was diversity—“If I have someone on staff who doesn’t look like me, then there is my racial reconciliation.”
Source: Latasha Morrison - As quoted in Christianity Today, "Latasha Morrison: The Church Is the ‘Only Place Equipped to Do Racial Reconciliation Well’", interview by Morgan Lee, January 2017, http://www.christianitytoday.com/women/2017/january/latasha-morrison-church-is-only-place-equipped-to-do.html
Thomas' Story
Around the year 2000, my wonderful wife Amy was drawn unexpectedly into the Catholic Church. I remained Protestant, and together we share both worlds. As instructed by her priest, she comes with me each Sunday to Hope Chapel, a Protestant non-denominational church. Frequently I bundle up the kids and attend mass with her.
People who meet us did not immediately realize, “She is Catholic, but he is Protestant.” Instead, they just see a married couple, Amy and Thomas, whom the Lord had mystically made one flesh through the sacrament of marriage.
We have the understanding that this represents, in a very faint way, the radiant beauty of the Church universal – we, the body of Christ, are one body, because He, our Lord, is one God. He has made us one, in a mystical sense.
And yet, for Amy and I this oneness has to be worked out in real, practical moments. I have to apologize for my insensitivity to her. She has to sacrifice her desire for solitude to join me at a prayer meeting. We have to sit down together, listen to each other, and decide together how to structure our life. And so on …
In the same way, mystical oneness in the body of Christ must be worked out in a myriad of practical decisions. Does the Catholic bishop reach out to connect to Protestant pastors in his diocese? Does the “united” prayer gathering of mostly evangelical pastors, invite Catholic priests to participate? How does an Anglican respond upon learning that the Roman Catholic church asks her not to receive communion during mass? How does a Messianic Jew respond when he overhears an Eastern Orthodox believer making statements he considers to reflect replacement theology? And so on …
Jesus set a high bar when He prayed for us, you and me, as recorded in John 17:
My prayer is not for them alone.
I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message,
that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.
To me, these words contain an echo of Genesis 2, “a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.” It is widely recognized that there is a required “leaving” required for the unity of marriage – a death to previous identity and known way of life. For us to enter, as Jesus prayed, into the unity of the Trinity, must we not also leave behind those aspects of our church identities that are obstacles to reconciliation?
Source: Wittenberg 2017 - "Thomas' Story", from the Wittenberg 2017 (US) website
http://www.wittenberg2017.us/thomas-story.html
Wittenberg 2017 - Historical Conclusions
1. We honor Martin Luther as a prophet sent by God to Luther’s own church, the Roman Catholic Church.
2. We lament that Luther's prophetic message was not correctly considered or responded to by his apostolic authorities.
3. We grieve the subsequent shared history of hostility – and ask the Holy Spirit to embolden us to identify with the actions of our forefathers, repent, forgive, and where appropriate make restitution.
4. We believe that Catholics & Protestants can and should jointly commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation.
5. We propose that Catholics & Protestants seize the opportunity to pray John 17 with Jesus on the occasion of this historic anniversary.
6. We believe that in preparation for Jesus’ return, the Holy Spirit will move again as Malachi prophesied, “turning the hearts of the fathers to the children and the children to their fathers.”
Source: Wittenberg 2017 - Historical Conclusions, http://www.wittenberg2017.us/historical-conclusions.html
Vietnam Napalm Bomber
Referencing a Vietnam pilot forgiven by the girl he bombed with napalm:
Reflecting on the way the incident changed his life, John maintain that forgiveness is "neither earned nor even deserved, but a gift." It is also a mystery. He still can't quite grasp how a short conversation could wipe away a twenty-four-year nightmare.
Source: Johann Christoph Arnold - Why Forgive?, pp.162
What Should Our Children Represent About Us?
As a father I'm thrilled beyond words when my kids tell each other how much I love them, because in representing me they're just representing themselves. Imagine if one of your children told the other, "Dad loves you so much. Dad talks about you all the time. Every time Dad looks at your picture a genuine smile crosses his face and there's so much love in his eyes. Dad can't wait to see you. Dad is so proud of you and his face lights up whenever he hears your name."
But I would be rocked to my core if any of my children presumed to represent my anger, because in representing me they're just representing themselves. Imagine if one of your kids ever told the other, "Dad is so mad at you. Dad is going to punish you. Dad hates you. Dad is furious with you. Dad is going to disown you and send you away because he never wants to see you again. Dad can't even stand to look at you."
God is our Father, and we are His children. How you want your children to treat one another should give you great revelation into the Father's heart.
Source: Bill Vanderbush - Posted on FB 4 Feb 2017
Paul on Personality Cults in the Church
(11) For, my brothers and sisters, some people from Chloe’s household have told me that there are divisions among you, (12) because one claims, “I follow Paul”; another claims, “I follow Apollos”; another claims, “I follow Peter”; and still another, “I follow Christ.” (13) Christ can’t be divided!
Source: The Apostle Paul - 1 Corinthians 1:11-13 (IEB)
Ut Unum Sint
For Catholics it is easy to recognize 1995 as a key moment, being the year of the issue of John Paul II's encyclical letter on ecumenism, Ut Unum Sint. This may be the only papal encyclical that begins with a personal declaration: "I carry out this duty with the profound conviction that I am obeying the Lord, and with a clear sense of my own human frailty."
Source: Fr. Peter Hocken - Pentecost and Parousia, Peter Hocken - p. 63 [Ut Unum Sint 4]
Declaration on the Way
“Dear sisters and brothers, let us pause to honor this historic moment,” said ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth A. Eaton addressing the assembly following the vote. “Though we have not yet arrived, we have claimed that we are, in fact, on the way to unity. After 500 years of division and 50 years of dialogue, this action must be understood in the context of other significant agreements we have reached, most notably the ‘Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification’ in 1999.”
“This ‘Declaration on the Way’ helps us to realize more fully our unity in Christ with our Catholic partners, but it also serves to embolden our commitment to unity with all Christians,” said Eaton.
Source: Episcopal Café - Press release from the ELCA, ELCA approves historic agreement with Roman Catholic Church
http://www.episcopalcafe.com/elcaapproveshistoricagreementwithromancatholicchurch/
Because of Jesus, I am willing to ...
Because of Christ, I am willing to be part of a body that constantly underestimates the ongoing impact of racism. Because of Jesus, I am willing to associate with believers who outright deny systemic and institutional forms of inequality based on race. Because of our unity in the Spirit, I am willing to fellowship with believers who rebuke me for my honesty, and accuse me of sowing division because I speak of difficult subjects. I am still here. Bear with me if I sometimes long to worship with people who share not only my theology, but my pain as well.
Source: Jemar Tisby - "Trump's Election and Feeling 'Safe' in White Evangelical Churches", Reformed African American Network, 18 Nov 2016, https://www.raanetwork.org/trumps-election-feeling-safe-white-evangelical-churches/
How to Pray for Other Churches
I heard another great prayer idea by Southern Baptist Pastor Dean Anderson from Trenton, KY. He offers this advice: "Pray by name for the other churches in town." Here is an example of how he does this: "I pray that the Father will bless them, use them and grow them to build His Kingdom." This can be added to your individual and community prayer intentions.
Source: Dean Anderson - Southern Baptist Pastor from Trenton, KY, as quoted by Frank Lesko, "The Traveling Ecumenist", in his blog post "Lenten Practices for Christian Unity", 17 February 2015, http://travelingecumenist.blogspot.com/2015/02/lenten-practices-for-christian-unity.html
What "Where's the music?" means
Yet another Christmas event proved to be an eye-opener for me personally. I was asked to be co-director of an ecumenical service. The other director was from Church in the Round, the large Church of God in Christ congregation. We invited all the choirs in town to participate. Those who rallied to the call were St. Titus Roman Catholic Church, Church in the Round, and our folk from Celebration / All Saints [Episcopal]. On the first night of rehearsal the Roman Catholics were asking, "So, where is the music?" I was circulating the printed songs as they spoke. The African American folk from Church in the Round were asking, "So, where's the music. Sing us a tune." I realized they could have cared less about what was on a piece [of] paper being passed around. For them, the music was in the air ... Sing it, please. Being all things to all people took on new meaning for me that Christmas. Once again, music seemed to unite where systems failed; people from radically different backgrounds could sing the same song together - to the glory of God. Again NBC showed up to film this ecumenical event.
Source: Betty Pulkingham - "This Is My Story, This Is My Song", Ch. 19, p. 183
Pope Francis honors Martin Luther
Pope Francis urged Catholics and Lutherans on Monday to forgive the "errors" of the past and forge a future together, including sharing the Eucharist, as he marked the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation by traveling to secular Sweden with a message of Christian unity.
Francis and the leaders of the Lutheran World Federation presided over an ecumenical prayer service in the Lund cathedral, the first time a pope has commemorated the anniversary of Martin Luther's revolt with such a symbolically powerful gesture.
Francis quoted Luther and praised him for having restored the centrality of Scripture to the church.
"The spiritual experience of Martin Luther challenges us to remember that apart from God, we can do nothing," Francis said.
Source: Andrew Medichini, Jan M. Olsen & Nicole Winfield - Associated Press, "Pope on Reformation: Forgive 'errors' of past, forge unity", 31 Oct 2016, https://www.yahoo.com/news/reformer-pope-heads-sweden-mark-luthers-reforms-050227744.html
Identificational Repentance recorded by Nehemiah
Nehemiah 9:2-3 shows outdoor public confession by the Jewish community in Jerusalem in the fifth century B.C., almost a century and a half after the destruction of Jerusalem in 587/6 B.C. and the subsequent exile of Judah. The post-exilic community in Jerusalem had been listening to Ezra and the Levites reading and instructing them from the Book of the Law of Moses (Neh. 8:1-18) and then:
Neh. 9:2-3--"They stood in their places and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. They stood where they were and read from the book of the Law of the Lord their God for a quarter of the day, and spent another quarter in confession and in worshiping the Lord their God."
It is clear that the community was confessing specific sins of theirs and their fathers, since they spent a quarter of the day—three hours—doing so.
Source: Dr. Gary S. Greig - The Biblical Foundations of Identificational Repentance as One Prayer Pattern Useful to Advance God's Kingdom and Evangelism, April 2001
Bonhoeffer's Concern with Ecumenical Efforts in Germany
Since his student days in Berlin, Bonhoeffer had been deeply involved in the emerging ecumenical movement, especially through the group called the World Alliance for Promoting International Friendship Through the Churches. With some exceptions (the great Dominican Yves Congar being one), most Roman Catholics stood aloof from such movements. Bonhoeffer had been attracted to aspects of the Catholic Church since his first visit to St. Peter’s in Rome in 1924. He was also familiar with the Una Sancta movement, an effort to overcome confessional divisions through the renewal of faith among both German Protestants and Catholics, to establish “fraternity in Christ across all barriers.” While Bonhoeffer appreciated this effort, he had reservations about it. His main concern was not the goal, which he shared, but the lack of theological clarity. Without such clarity, he believed, no enduring unity could be built.
Source: Timothy George - "Bonhoeffer at Ettal: Advent", First Things, 12 Dec 2016, https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2016/12/bonhoeffer-at-ettal-advent-1940
Racial Reconciliation among the Baptists
Achieving racial reconciliation can be hard work and often slow, but Christians are called to pursue it relentlessly, said speakers at a summit of Baptists seeking to bridge a racial divide that continues to bedevil the nation.
Former President Jimmy Carter joined national religious leaders in Atlanta for the New Baptist Covenant summit Sept. 14-16, urging participants to challenge a “resurgence of racism.”
“The New Baptist Covenant can be a powerful potential weapon to set an example not just among Baptists and among churches, but in communities and among people of all faiths,” said Carter, who lent his support to the organization’s beginning in 2007 and convened its first meeting. “I hope that we can set an example to the world. Accept my personal thanks for what you are doing to maintain momentum that exists and increase its impact.”
The NBC was created to unite Baptists of different races, which it has fostered with a series of gatherings and summits. The three-day meeting in Atlanta highlighted emerging partnerships between predominantly black and white congregations working in their communities to address racial and social justice.
Source: Robert Dilday - "Racial reconciliation tough but essential, say leaders at New Baptist Covenant summit", Baptist News Global, 19 September 2016, https://baptistnews.com/article/racial-reconciliation-tough-but-essential-say-leaders-at-new-baptist-covenant-summit/#.V-VcYZMrI0q
The Austrian Round Table
This consortium – calling themselves the Round Table – of Protestant Free Church and State Church leaders, Evangelical mission leaders, leaders of Catholic movements meets approximately twice a year for three days at a trot under the chairmanship of Catholic Diakon Mag. Johannes Fichtenbauer, the Deacon of Vienna and Cardinal Schönborn’s assigned representative to the non-Catholic Christian groups of Austria. Their theological basis can be found in the German original at the website Weg der Versöhnung, http://wegderversoehnung.christen.at/ .
Source: Paul Miller - Footnote 25 of "Evangelicals Cooperatively Evangelising & Discipling with Catholics in Faithfulness to Evangelical Distinctives", by Paul Miller
14 Wounds of the World
At a Canadian conference in 1995, Christian delegates from over forty nations identified fourteen general categories of deep-rooted, systemic alienation between peoples and elements of society, fourteen areas in which reconciliation ministry must be applied:
#1: Indigenous peoples to immigrant peoples ...
#2: Residual antagonisms, when there is justice under the law but wounds continue ...
#3: People-group conflicts ...
#4: Nation-state rivalries ...
#5: Independence movements ...
#6: Civil wars ...
#7: Alienation between generations ...
#8: Societal conflicts ...
#9: Gender-based abuses ...
#10: Industry, trade and labor disputes ...
#11: Social-class divisions ...
#12: Interreligious conflicts (as between Christians and Jews)
#13: Inter-Christian conflicts (sectarian divisions)
#14: Christianity to peoples ...
...
How do we respond to such deep, gaping, sometime ancient wounds! The simple answer lies in the humility of Jesus expressed through His Body, the church.
Source: John Dawson - What Every Christian Should Know About Reconciliation, pp. 29-31
Tonya Godwin-Baines
Tonya Godwin-Baines agreed with her sister about the need for forgiveness.
"The thing that I would take away the most from my father is he taught us about God ... how to fear God, how to love God, and how to forgive. Each one of us forgives the killer."
Her voice breaking, Godwin-Baines credited her faith with keeping her strong and helping her recognize others are grieving, too.
Source: Melissa Mahtani - "Cleveland victim's family: We forgive killer", CNN, 18 April 2017
http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/18/us/cleveland-victims-family-we-forgive-killer-cnntv/index.html