The "E" Word

"E"vangelical that is. I enjoyed Fr. Dunbar's sermon on the basis of Anglican Evangelism. The reactions to the Beaufort revival were similar to our response to "Faith Alive." As with any effort where changing one's spiritual place is the goal, there will be resistance as well as acceptance. We need to be open to the voice of change. We should not have it forced upon us. The true Evangelist speaks with the spirit of Truth and should not need to coerce or to dictate to us how to worship, pray, think, or behave. Today's anthem by Faber "There's a Wideness..." does what the Evangelist should do, giving us thought changing ideas but not demanding change.

"For the love of God is broader than the measures of our mind; and the heart of the Eternal is most wonderfully kind. But we make that love too narrow by the limits of our own; and we magnify God's strictness with a zeal Love will not own.
There is grace enough for thousands of new worlds as great as this; there is room for fresh creations in that endless world of bliss. If our love were but more simple we would trust the living Word; and our lives would fill with gladness in the joy of Christ our Lord."

http://www.answers.com/topic/frederick-william-faber

There is room enough for Evangelism too.

The Naked Pewster

Pardon the graphic imagery, but the reading from Paul's letter (Hebrews 4:12-16) made the point first. Charlie tried to expound upon this one point. I liked the bit about the Word dividing soul and spirit (whatever that means), joints from marrow. God's scalpel! Only God's scalpel could dissect out the real me. I guess that makes God both a master surgeon and psychiatrist, an unheard of Superspecialist to be sure. The type of nakedness mentioned in the reading I believe is not the graphic image of a nudist, but that of a soul late bare. Maybe we should set up a Naked Soul Colony (I did a quick web search and it looks like we would be the first), now who would be our Priest, and do mosquitoes bite naked souls?

Give Away All Your Stuff!

I think I'll start by throwing out the computer. After that, I'll put on my saffron robe and sandals and start out on the road. Of course, if we all did that there would be nobody left to farm, to handle the sewerage, to do all those dirty jobs that give abundant life to everybody else. How do you rationalize away Jesus' message to give away all you own in order to follow him? I think the hardest thing to give away is our sense of self. Any thoughts?

New Feature

To get new Postings (not message board stuff) sent directly to your Yahoo (you do have yahoo don't you?) try the new button, and let me know if you can figure it out. For info go to the following:

http://my.yahoo.com/s/about/rss/index.html

Wednesday's Child

Our fearless reporter failed to give us a critique on the Wednesday Healing Service. A lame excuse was given instead. I heard that Gwen will sometimes let Charlie have it after his sermons. We should always listen to the voices of those around us, the voices of our community who will correct us, lest we be led astray by our inner voice. For if I listen to my inner voice in isolation from the community, I may think I am listening to God when I am just hearing myself.

The "D" word

Charlie had the duty last Sunday when the "D" word came up in the lectionary. Episcopal priests have been heard voicing dread as this lesson comes around. Jesus is very clear in his message. The fact that we fail in the application of the rule is our problem. That there is "a wideness in God's mercy" sounds comforting.

Gandhi's Birthday Message

"Nonviolence succeeds only when we have a real living faith in God. "
"My effort should never be to undermine another's faith but to make him a better follower of his own faith. "
"My faith is brightest in the midst of impenetrable darkness."
Quotations from M. Gandhi

The End of a Winning Streak.

After the immensely controversial Sermon Scoring System was banned from the official Episcopal Church of Our Saviour Web site, sermons have been pretty good. This week I have to bring you the bad news, that there is no way to graphically score the sermon(s) we endured today. I use the plural because I counted at least three separate sermons and ten good stopping places. First we touched on the Lessons, then we traveled to Cange, Haiti, and then we went on to hear about the importance of Baptism with a few anti-football and anti-conservative potshots thrown in. The only good thing to say about this one is that it is over. Ever since this blog was started as a place for comments on the Sunday Sermon, I have been looking for a good way for you the readers to post a score for the sermon. I will use the Tag Board for the score from now on. )-: