"I saw a blindness"

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

Dr. Gary S. Greig

The Church needs to learn to confess sin the Bible's way, which is also the Lord's way. We need to learn to confess not only personal sin but also parental, ancestral and national sin. We need to confess parental, ancestral and national sin that the Holy Spirit shows us, so that we do not unwittingly walk in those sins. As the examples of Moses (Exo. 34:9; Num. 14:17-19), Jeremiah (Jer. 14:20), Daniel (Dan. 9:8, 20), and Nehemiah (Neh. 1:6) show us, we can always identify with the roots of any given sin even if we ourselves have not committed it. I may not have committed hate crimes against African Americans, but I can identify with the sinful attitudes at the root of racism--pride, intolerance, fear, control, divisiveness, isolationism, and self-preservation. Moses and Jeremiah were not idolaters, but they confessed the sin of idolatry on behalf of God's people, asking the Lord to forgive their sin (Exo. 34:9; Num. 14:17-19; Jer. 14:20).

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

JPII

John Paul II then asked leaders and theologians of other churches to join him in seeking out a new way of exercising the papal ministry that would truly serve the cause of unity while remaining faithful to its essential mission.

Source: Fr. Peter Hocken

Smith Wigglesworth - "But, Lord, they are my enemies"

"The time for the fulfillment of the prophecy Smith Wigglesworth gave you has arrived. It is time to begin. I want you to go to the leaders of the churches."

I argued back. "Lord, what can I say to those dead churches?"

"I can raise the dead." As simple as that.

"But, Lord, they are enemies." I almost whined.

"Yes, but I have told you to love your enemy."

Ignoring the truth of Scripture in my frustration, I continued to argue. "How can I love people like this? I can agree with neither their doctrines nor their practices."

"Well," the Lord said firmly deep inside me, "you will have to forgive them!"

"Dear, Lord" - it really was a whine by then - "how can I forgive them if I can't justify them?"

"I never gave you authority to justify anybody. I only gave you authority to forgive. And if you forgive, you will love them. And if you love, you will want to forgive. Now you can choose."

The conversation was over. But the battle had only begun. A small light had gone on, enough to show me that I knew very little about forgiveness in the eyes of the Lord. In the days ahead, I had to wrestle with the Lord, to learn, to go through the internal pain of a genuine revolution. A new king had to be put in power over that part of my life.

Source: David du Plessis - From "A Man Called Mr. Pentecost", as told to Bob Slosser, Ch. 18, pp 158-159

"the same Spirit creates diversity and unity"

A new people. On the day of Pentecost, the Spirit came down from heaven, in the form of “divided tongues, as of fire… [that] rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in other languages” (Acts 2:3-4). This is how the word of God describes the working of the Spirit: first he rests on each and then brings all of them together in fellowship. To each he gives a gift, and then gathers them all into unity. In other words, the same Spirit creates diversity and unity, and in this way forms a new, diverse and unified people: the universal Church. First, in a way both creative and unexpected, he generates diversity, for in every age he causes new and varied charisms to blossom. Then he brings about unity: he joins together, gathers and restores harmony: “By his presence and his activity, the Spirit draws into unity spirits that are distinct and separate among themselves” (Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on the Gospel of John, XI, 11). He does so in a way that effects true union, according to God’s will, a union that is not uniformity, but unity in difference.

Source: Pope Francis - "Santa Messa nella Solennità di Pentecoste, 04.06.2017", Vatican website, 6 April 2017, http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2017/06/04/0387/00862.html#INGL

Benjamin Berger

September 5: Repentance service at Christ Church

It is not very well known that UK and Germany shared the first protestant bishopric in Ottoman Jerusalem. Christ Church in the Old City of Jerusalem is the best known and most visible of this blessed period, which came to an abrupt and painful end in the 1880s. In a service, conducted by Canon Andrew White and witnessed by Messianic leader Benjamin Berger, this sin was brought before the Lord. In a letter to British intercessors GPC reported this memorable event to our friends in the UK.

Source: Global Prayer Call - Posted on their FB page 28 Sept 2016

Daniel's Identificational Repentance Led To ...

The result of Daniel's prayer, fasting, and identificational repentance was that the angel sent to him on the second occasion broke through the opposition of the demonic principalities of Persia and Greece (Dan. 10:13, 20). Because there was spiritual breakthrough, God's desire was fulfilled to open the way for Daniel’s people to return to Jerusalem and to reveal to Daniel by the angel of God what God's redemptive plan was for Israel in world history--that the anointed Messiah of Israel would establish God's Kingdom over Israel and all nations (Dan. 7:13-14, 26-27; 9:2ff., 25ff.; 12:1-3). In fact, Daniel’s intercession seems to have been answered by the Lord releasing the Jewish exiles to return to Jerusalem from Babylonia, since Ezra 1, describing the return of the exiles to Jerusalem, and Daniel 9, describing Daniel’s prayer and repentance, are both dated to the first year of Cyrus’s rule, 539/38 B.C.

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

Baptists & Catholic Churches ... Sharing a Building?

A warm and friendly relationship between the two faith communities has developed. All agree that respect has been key. The Baptist and Catholic communities work hard to share the building and to be good neighbors. The Catholic congregation keeps the necessary items for Mass on carts at the back of the church. They set up for Mass and then meticulously return the space to its original configuration so that it’s ready for Baptist Sunday School and worship.

The Catholic and Baptist communities share more than just a church building. Friendships have been formed and strengthened. They pray for each other regularly and assist each other when needed. In January, the Catholic community treated their Baptist hosts to an afternoon meal and social time in appreciation for their hospitality.

“It’s [the fire] bringing the (larger) community closer together,” remarked Pastor Buck. “It has really been a blessing.”

Source: Frank Lesko - "After the Fire", Posted 3 Jan 2017 on Glenmary Home Missioners, http://www.glenmary.org/after-the-fire/

K. Albert Little

Until I, as an evangelical Protestant, met some halfway decent Catholics I had no idea what they believed. Likewise, if it wasn’t for my Anglican friend I’d have no ideas how gosh darn similar we actually are.
It’s not until we actively begin to reach out and meet each other where we are that we can begin to take down these walls, brick by brick.

Source: K. Albert Little - The Cordial Catholic on Patheos, 1 May 2015, "Dear Christians: Take Our Unity Seriously, Because Everyone is Watching", http://www.patheos.com/blogs/albertlittle/dear-christians-take-our-unity-seriously-because-everyone-is-watching/

"Satanic Pentecostalism"

c) “Satanic” Pentecostalism in Germany

Equally, Evangelicals’ former exclusion of Pentecostals from the camp of the faithful is yet another example of over-extended essentials. In the highly influential 1909 statement adopted by a large section of German Evangelicals in the so-called “Berlin Declaration,” the Pentecostals were judged to have so compromised the essentials of the Christian faith by their beliefs and practices that they were actually dismissed in print as demonic, the exact words being:

"The so-called Pentecostal Movement is not from above, but from below; it has many phenomena in common with spiritism. Demons are at work in it which, craftily led by Satan, mix lies and truth, in order to mislead the children of God. In many cases, the so-called ‘Spirit-gifted’ have subsequently proved to be possessed. In the conviction, that this movement is from below … [we note] the healings, tongues, prophecies, etc., by which the movement is accompanied. Such signs were ever connected with similar movements, for example with ... spiritism. "

Thankfully, a significant measure of reconciliation was reached between the so-called “charismatic” and “non-charismatic” wings of Evangelicalism in Germany with the 1996 signing in Kassel of an accord between the German Evangelical Alliance and the Union of Freechurch Pentecostal Congregations (Bund Freikirchlicher Pfingstgemeinden) whereby they expressed mutual respect for each other in the midst of their doctrinal differences. (Anon 1996) That it took nearly ninety years to reach this accord again indicates the proclivity we Evangelicals have of hardening our denominational distinctives into wider tests of true Christianity.


Source: Paul Miller - "Evangelicals Cooperatively Evangelising & Discipling with Catholics in Faithfulness to Evangelical Distinctives", by Paul Miller

One In Heart & Mind

On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David:

‘Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth take their stand
and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One.’

... Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. All the believers were one in heart and mind.

Source: Bible - Acts 4:24-30

Evangelicals & Catholics

While this way of putting it might make some evangelicals uncomfortable, others have already started using the resources this Pope has made accessible and attractive to the world. It is obvious that Charles Colson and Billy Graham pay more attention to the writings of the Holy Father and take them to heart more readily than do some dissenting Catholic priests and theologians. Pat Robertson for a time was sending copies of the Catechism of the Catholic Church as a gift to friends, while some Catholics view the Catechism as oppressive and authoritarian. It could even be argued that Campus Crusade and Prison Fellowship have done more to advance the Church of Mary than entire theology departments of some Catholic universities. These evangelical leaders recognize that Catholics and evangelicals share the same gospel, the same deposit of faith, and especially in recent decades, the same evangelical and apostolic imperative.

Source: Daniel P. Moloney - "Evangelicals in the Church of Mary", First Things, December 2000, https://www.firstthings.com/article/2000/12/evangelicals-in-the-church-of-mary

See How He Loved Him

When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. “Where have you laid him?” he asked. “Come and see, Lord,” they replied. Jesus wept. Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”

Source: Bible - John 11:33

Not Protestant Enough For a Catholic Priest

A Roman Catholic priest who attended the Twelfth celebrations on Saturday for the first time has said that he did not find the event sufficiently Protestant. Fr Martin Magill said that he had enjoyed the “feast of colour” provided by banners and uniforms, the sense of community and the skill of the musicians. But later in the day he said he had seen more alcohol being consumed, with some of it being seized by police. Writing in the Irish News, he added: “Having reflected on the parades and the Twelfth that I saw, my main observation is that it wasn’t truly Protestant enough for me.
“One of the Orangemen I met told me he had carried a Bible in previous years but didn’t this year because he was afraid it would get wet.
“For me, this was a parable of what is missing in the Twelfth — people living by the Word of God.
“When I think of my Protestant friends and colleagues, I think of people who read and love the Bible and who by God’s grace model their lives on the life of Jesus.
“The more these modern day disciples are central to the Twelfth celebrations, the more we all will experience grace and generosity — and maybe even a day we all can celebrate.”

Source: Newsletter UK - "Catholic priest who attended the Twelfth: it wasn’t Protestant enough for me", Newsletter.co.uk, 15 July 2014, http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/catholic-priest-who-attended-the-twelfth-it-wasn-t-protestant-enough-for-me-1-6176995

Judging

So a friend (Rosella) sent me the Gospel reading for today and the last line really struck me. (John 5:30) Jesus said: "By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me." This really grabbed me. So often when we "judge" things we do so out of personal desire and ambition. This always hurts people, because its source is selfish by nature. But Godly judgement come from listening to the Father and seeking his heart and perspective, not for our purposes and what WE want to see come about, but for his Kingdom to come.

Source: Alex Newsome - Posted on FB 29 March 2017

Von Wied & Bucer

[Hermann von Wied, Archbishop of Cologne] went so far as to incorporate Protestants into his reforming efforts: “in 1539 von Wied invited Melanchthon and Martin Bucer to help him in preparing a more thoroughgoing scheme of reform for his diocese, and although Melanchthon eventually refused to compromise himself in this way, Bucer accepted. Similarly, in the same year, Bucer joined with Georg Witzel, a married priest whose early enthusiasm for Luther had cooled and who had returned to Roman obedience, in drafting a Church structure for Ducal Saxony in the wake of the death of Luther’s instransigent enemy Duke Georg.”

It was a remarkable sight: “an Archbishop of the Western Church who openly regretted the failure of repeated efforts to reform the Church, while still proclaiming his loyalty to the Holy See.”

Source: Diarmaid MacCulloch - "Europe's House Divided", as quoted by Peter Leithart, "Ecumenism in the Sixteenth Century", First Things, 6 Feb 2017, https://www.firstthings.com/blogs/leithart/2017/02/ecumenism-in-the-sixteenth-century

MLK: The Way to Shalom

The late Martin Luther King Jr. is famous for his peaceful protests amongst his enemies. In one of his essays, “Non-violence: The Only Road to Freedom,” King says that the way to shalom “will be accomplished by persons who have the courage to put an end to suffering by willingly suffering themselves rather than inflict suffering on others.” This is one way of turning on the lights. “Blessed are the peacemakers,” Jesus says, “for they will be called children of God” (Matthew 5:9). In the book Beyond Homelessness: Christian Faith in a Culture of Displacement, Brian Walsh and Steven Bouma-Prediger say this about contentiousness (which is the opposite of peaceableness): “Like a parasite living on a host, contentiousness feeds on rage and rancor, antipathy and animosity, to fan the fire of discord and accelerate the spiral of violence.” (214).

Source: Brian Walsh & Steven Bouma-Prediger - "Beyond Homelessness: Christian Faith in a Culture of Displacement", p. 214, as quoted by Jeff Skeens in "The Beautiful Disruption of Peace", A2J Blog, Apprenticeship to Jesus, 7 Feb 2017, http://www.a2jphoenix.org/blog/the-beautiful-disruption-of-peace

Joe Tosini

It's no secret that division in a family brings harm and pain on many levels. The church which is described as the family of God remains divided. The attitudes and harsh judgements amongst professing Christians have caused deep wounds and centuries of conflicts.

"Father I pray that those who believe in me will be one so the world will know you sent me." That prayer of Jesus in the 17th chapter of the Gospel according to John is the reason Roman Catholics and a variety of Protestant Christians met together on May 23rd, 2015 in Phoenix, Arizona.

There was a declaration made that day by those in attendance to see the Church in Phoenix becoming relationally unified in a way that would make the claims of Jesus visibly seen and felt by those within and outside of the church.

My impression of our day but even more of the effort and working together of so many leading up to Saturday's meeting gives me hope that the church in all of its rich diversity can live and work as one family in the unity of the Holy Spirit.

Source: Joe Tosini - Founder, John 17 Movement, http://www.john17movement.com/
http://www.john17movement.com/