15) As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on these non-Jews just as he came upon us Jews on the day of Pentecost. (16) Then I remembered what the Lord told us, ‘John baptized in water, but you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit.’ (17) So if God gave non-Jews the same gift of the Holy Spirit that he gave to us Jews who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could resist the ways of God?” (18) When the Jews heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “God has also given repentance to non-Jews that leads to eternal life.”
Source: Peter - As quoted by Luke in Acts 12:15-18 (IEB)
Mr. Pentecost
As I lay there in the nighttime, with the lights off … I saw how wrong I had been. I had been expecting Jesus to use me, as a Pentecostal, to shake the churches. I thought I would pound home the truth, tell them just where they were wrong, shake them in righteous indignation. But the Lord sais, no, that's not the way. "The revival will occur if you forgive. If you fight - nothing."
During that time the Lord sent me again and again into chapter 13 of the First Letter to the Corinthians, the most powerful words ever written about love. I read, and I prayed, and I thought. "Can this really be?"
Love is so important that it is beyond our understanding as ordinary human beings. It is more important than talking in tongues to God. More important than talking directly to God. It is more important than prophesying, than receiving a word of knowledge or a word of wisdom directly from God. It is more important than healing the sick, than moving mountains. "Can this really be?"
It is more important than selling all you have to feed the poor. It is more important than giving your life in the cause of social justice. It is more important than your devotional life, than your preaching ministry. All is meaningless without love. "Can this really be?"
In that room of green walls, white ceiling, bedsores, bedpans, and endless hours, the Lord spoke: "You must love those people you minister to. Don't ever minister to anyone unless you love him."
Source: David du Plessis - From "A Man Called Mr. Pentecost", as told to Bob Slosser, Ch. 18, p. 159
Martin Bucer
These efforts came to a culmination in the 1541 Imperial Diet at Regensburg (Ratisbon). Henry VIII sent Bishop Stephen Gadiner of Winchester, Rome sent the irenic Cardinal Contarini. MacCulloch writes, “When introduced to Bucer, [Contarini] observed, ‘How great will be the fruit of unity, and how profound the gratitude of all mankind’. Bucer replied equally graciously: ‘Both sides have failed. Some of us have overemphasized unimportant points, and others have not adequately reformed obvious abuses. With God’s will we shall ultimately find the truth.'”
Not everyone wanted Regensburg to succeed: “some of the Emperor’s own princes were not anxious to see the Habsburg family’s problems solved, even less so the King of France, who would have been a necessary party to any final agreement.” But the politicians weren't the cause of the failure; the theologians were: “Contarini could not give ground on the eucharistic doctrine of transubstantiation; the Protestants were not prepared to say that confession to a priest was necessary. Their measure of agreement on justification in the Regensburg Book was therefore irrelevant. Then messages from both Rome and Luther in Wittenberg made it quite clear that even that would not be accepted.”
Source: Martin Bucer - Martin Bucer, Regensburg Diet, 1541, as quoted by Diarmaid MacCulloch in "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
John Armstrong
My name is John Armstrong. I live in Chicago, Illinois. My spiritual journey took a decisive and memorable turn one Sunday morning.
It was an ordinary Sunday morning worship service. We were reciting the words of the Apostle’s Creed, words I had said hundreds of times before. As an adjunct professor of evangelism at Wheaton College, I knew the words. As an evangelical (Reformed) Protestant, I believed them. But I had never been particularly moved by them. They were just words recited in a service.
But on this Sunday things unfolded very differently. As I said the creedal words, “I believe in the holy catholic church,” something stopped me. At that moment, the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart: “Do you really believe these words? If you believe them, then why don’t you act like it?”
Source: Wittenberg 2017 - "John's Story", from the Wittenberg 2017 (US) website
http://www.wittenberg2017.us/johns-story.html
Worthy of Honor
(15) You know that the household of Stephanas were the first believers in the Roman province of Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves to the service of the Lord’s people in Corinth. I exhort you, my brothers and sisters, (16) to respect (submit to) such people and to everyone who joins in the ministry and works hard at it. (17) I was very happy when Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus arrived in Ephesus from Corinth, because they supplied the fellowship that I lacked from you. (18) They refreshed my spirit and yours also. Men like this deserve to be honored.
Source: The Apostle Paul - 1 Corinthians 16:15-18 (IEB) - with inline notes by Dr. Andrew Jackson
Catholics & Baptists 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/
God's 1st Question
Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?”
Source: Bible - Genesis 3: 8-9
Substitution? Or Identification?
I found it also very important, that one pastor made very clear, what exactly we were doing.
it is not possible to substitute in repentance those who did evil.
But it is possible to identify with the guilt of the past and bring it before the Lord.
Source: Unknown - Personal (unofficial) report on the Reformation Commemoration Tour of Austria, August 16-26, 2016
Corporate Repentance
We have been praying, reading and seeking to hear from God over the past two months. It has been a valuable time for me personally. From our studying Joel and Habbakuk together at home I have been struck by some of the remarkable parallels between their situations and ours. I think that there is also a response that God expects from us in our current situation that parallels what he expected from the recipients of those messages: corporate repentance. I’ve asked our community to consider what they need to repent of in their personal lives, but also to identify the sins of our communities and nations. As the body of Christ incarnated in cultures around the world we identify with those places, interceding on their behalf. We don’t shift blame or justify the sins of the world around us. We should be a people willing to repent, confessing the sinfulness around us as genuine members of those communities. We model repentance and trust in Jesus for the communities around us. And we commit to not participate in that corruption, but to stand against it in all of the ways that we are able. The kinds of corporate sins that have stood out to me in our context include nationalism/racism, materialism, abuse and trafficking of women, and lack of care for the environment. Of course there are other sins and other contexts and other ways of conceiving corporate sinfulness.
The message of corporate repentance is as valid for all of our neighbors as it is for the church. I think this is a good time to find ways to call the nations to repent.
Source: Ryan K - Posted on FB, 3 May 2020
Hamilton
There are moments that the words don't reach
There is a grace too powerful to name
We push away what we can never understand
We push away the unimaginable
They are standing in the garden
Alexander by Eliza's side
She takes his hand
It's quiet uptown
Forgiveness
Can you imagine?
Forgiveness
Can you imagine?
Source: Lin-Manuel Miranda - "It's Quiet Uptown", from the musical Hamilton, by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Philipa Soo, Renée Elise Goldsberry, and the Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton
The Great Schism
In the Protestant and Evangelical worlds, the so-called Great Schism between the churches of the East and West belongs to a chapter of church history lost in pre-Reformation murkiness, seemingly irrelevant to the contemporary struggle for survival in a secular age.
...
It is a rift which erupted in the eleventh century, although it had a long prelude and multiple grievances. The broken relationship between the Eastern and Roman churches lasted over nine whole centuries, before eventually the mutual excommunications were lifted in a joint declaration issued by Pope Paul and Patriarch Athenagoras during the Second Vatican Council in 1965. Communion however was not yet restored and significant hurdles remained.
Source: Jeff Fountain - Weekly Word eNewsletter, 8 April 2019, "The Creed That Unites And Divides"
https://us9.campaign-archive.com/?e=0b86898e11&u=65605d9dbab0a19355284d8df&id=0e080f28cf
An Analogy
On my mind this morning. It's a weak analogy but...
Imagine that you come across a loving, powerful, forgiving, and encouraging individual. You're having a conversation with him. His words fill you with life and hope that you've never known before. You feel you belong. You feel empowered.
Suddenly, you're attacked by a group of thugs who want to steal everything you have and leave you for dead.
This amazing man steps in and covers you. He tells the thugs, "Let him go. You can take me instead."
He gets brutally beaten, so badly that he doesn't even look human anymore. He, even in his dying, extends love to you. He dies, but later he is brought back to life.
You ask him, "What can I do for you? How could I ever repay?"
He expresses that all he wants is for his friends, family, and acquaintances to live in peace and be one together. In fact, this is what he prays for...asking God that they all be one so that the world would know about his love.
Would you respect his wishes?
Would you be appalled and saddened by the bickering, accusing ways of people that "know" him?
Would you give him what he asked for?
To be a name-caller...to be divisive...and to demean another in his name would be a slap in his face.
Yet, we as Christians, have forgotten The Way, and we slap Jesus in the face over and over again with our idiotic, self-righteousness.
Have we forgotten The Way once again during this election?
Lift up your head.
Raise your eyes.
Look at Him. Just look into His eyes. Stop trying to force the gaze of others and trust the one who loves us all.
By putting our trust in this political system we've built, we forget Truth. We forget his request.
Can't you hear the cry of the man who went through hell? Will you give him what he asked for?
(John 17:20-22)
Source: Traci Vanderbush - AS posted on FB 15 Oct 16
Dead, Enemy Churches
"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
CS Lewis on the Difficulty of Forgiveness
Quoting CS Lewis:
To forgive the incessant provocations of daily life - to keep on forgiving the bossy mother-in-law, the bullying husband, the nagging wife, the selfish daughter, the deceitful son - how can we do it? Only, I think, by remembering where we stand, by meaning our words when we say in our prayers each night, "Forgive our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.
Source: Johann Christoph Arnold - Why Forgive?, pp.123
“The Love of Christ Compels Us”
When the German national planning committee met in the autumn of 2014, it quickly became clear that the materials for this Week of Prayer for Christian Unity would need to have two accents: on the one hand, there should be a celebration of God’s love and grace, the “justification of humanity through grace alone”, reflecting the main concern of the churches marked by Martin Luther’s Reformation. On the other hand, the materials should also recognize the pain of the subsequent deep divisions which afflicted the Church, openly name the guilt, and offer an opportunity to take steps toward reconciliation.
Ultimately it was Pope Francis’ 2013 Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (“The Joy of the Gospel”) which provided the theme for this year, when it used the quote: “The Love of Christ Compels Us” (Paragraph 9). With this scripture verse (2 Cor 5:14), taken in the context of the entire fifth chapter of the second letter to the Corinthians, the German committee formulated the theme for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2017.
Source: Vatican - "Resources for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2017", Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/chrstuni/weeks-prayer-doc/rc_pc_chrstuni_doc_20160531_week-prayer-2017_en.html
Joined Together Constantly In Prayer
On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” ... They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
Source: Bible - Acts 1:4, 14
Welcome your runaway slave back
(17) So Philemon, if you consider me a partner in Christ, I ask you to welcome Onesimus as you would welcome me. (18) If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, you can charge it all to me. (19) I, Paul, am writing this letter with my own hand. I will pay you back everything that Onesimus owes you—not to emphasize that you owe me your very life.
Source: The Apostle Paul - Philemon 17-19
A Post-Death Confession
As my adult life unfolded before us, my self-centered nature predominated, and this greatly displeased my divine company. I did very little that was not in my own self-interest. Other people's needs were less important than my own desires. This is opposed to the will of God and is the opposite of love ...
Source: Howard Storm - As quoted by John Burke in "Imagine Heaven", Ch. 17, p. 241
Start the Dance!
It takes two to tango.
The other person has their own goals, expectations, and reasons for even letting you talk to them (if they do.) Realize that all those things play into the initial meeting and the process of reconciliation. Be aware, always, that you are involved in a dynamic, two-sided relationship.
But be the first one to dance!
Source: Steven Lee - Posted on Facebook, 20 July 2018
A Vision of "One Accord"
One of the old brothers in that small, hardy band of Christians was constantly worried about the diversity of our backgrounds [Anglican, Methodist, Dutch Reformed]. He was convinced that a critical part of the Scripture describing the early church was "these all continued with one accord." He had the idea that the "one-accordness" was the crucial factor about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost rather than the day itself. He constantly disturbed the congregation with his complaint that "we are not one, we are not one."
The, the Lord in HIs mercy gave him a vision [of Pentecost] that provided a great lesson for the old man and for all of us. ...
One stood and declared, "Brethren, we were five hundred when Jesus ascended, and I just counted: now we're one hundred and twenty. The others are gone. We're losing, and I feel it is because we've lost our leadership. Jesus is gone. ... We must find someone to take the place of Jesus."
After a moment's pause, he added, "And so, I would nominate Brother Peter."
Another man got up and said, "I couldn't second that because I haven't forgotten what Peter did. The Lord knows I love Brother Peter, and I admire him, but how can he be the leader when he failed so badly?"
So, down goes Peter.
Another one gets up and says, "Well, we need a man of great love, and I would suggest John as that man."
Someone else protested, "How can you want John? He wanted to sit on Jesus' right hand and lord it over us. I wouldn't vote for John."
"Well, said another, "we must have a man of faith, and James is a man wiht great insight into faith. I nominate James."
"But," came the argument, "he is the brother of John and he wanted to sit on the left hand of the Lord."
Then someone else said, "What we need is a very cautious man who will not accept just anything. I nominate Thomas."
Another declared, "Thomas is not cautious; he's just a doubter. He'll get us all doubting."
Then Peter got up and said, "How far are we going with this? If we begin to expose everybody's failures and weaknesses, who of us is any good at all? I do not feel qualified to stand in the shoes of the Master, but I want to suggest this: Anybody in this meeting who feels so qualified, stand up and I will follow you, and I'll call everybody else to follow you."
No one stood up. At last, they were in one accord.
The old brother's vision helped me in later life to understand that the accord necessary for God's blessing does not center on how good we or anyone else may be, but rather on our willingness to acknowledge and accept the weaknesses and failures of each one, including ourselves. This stopped the disturbance in our little congregation and we were humbled. We knew that we were not good at all and that even Jesus had said, "I can do nothing of myself" (John 5:30). So we trusted the Lord to help us.
Source: David du Plessis - From "A Man Called Mr. Pentecost", as told to Bob Slosser, Ch. 2, pp 12-14