The Age To Come

All you need

Posted on 20 October 2007 by Peter

This is the second of three articles authored by ‘UnderTheRadar’ over at Revival School.

Down in the valley, in the middle of a dream, there were wonderful flowers blooming.
Down by the river, by the eddies flowing in endless succession;
there were beautiful blossoms dropping their petals into the icy cold waters below.
Growing around the mouth of the river, were artistic displays of patterns and colors in vast array,
dancing in an ever-graceful episode all their own.

And who would have known that there were none to see it …
or hear it or smell its fragrance and its unusual aroma?
Who would have understood the sadness at capturing its beauty in a dream, for none to share?
How sad to take in its beauty without the joy of giving it away.

Dreams are so elusive, giving us so much passion without including our loved ones.
Dreams are such gentle giants, stealing our hearts without sounding an alarm that wakens those around us.
There are dreams that capture our very essence and steal us away, into another time and place.
And in that time and place, we are swept away by our own amazing journey into the unknown.

Somebody tell me, can you come with me?
For where I am going, I am alone.
And alone, in the midst of the dream, I am intimately aware of Your presence,
like a fragrance I’ve never known, beckoning me to come closer and closer to Your heart.
And Your heart is so full of life and hope and passion, I am lost in Your embrace.
Sacred moments like these can only be found on my knees
and my knees are too soft from sitting, to give me the strength that I need.
Down on my knees where the river runs free,
I am lost in the solitude that beckons me further than I have ever gone.
Create in me a clean heart, O’ God, and renew a right spirit within me
or I will faint from the passion that engulfs me from head to toe and swallows my very being.

You are my Rock, my Strength, my Shield and my ever-present help in time of trouble.
You are my Prince of peace and more than I have ever dreamed.
And if You will permit me, I will insist that You come with me,
to the places in my heart that have been vacant of Your presence.
And I will allow you access, where access has been denied, just because You have asked me.
And You will find fallow ground behind the portals of my soul, where none has ever trod.
And You will be given time to plow the ground and invest in something that has lain dormant.
And You will have Your way with me, where determination has been my only friend.
And You will give Your heart to me, unreservedly, for I know that taking You there is only the beginning.
And in the beginning of the sunrise of my life, I will pause and reflect at the beauty of Your Majesty,
the richness of Your Glory,
the value of Your Presence
and I will bow and kneel before My King.

Have you ever seen the Sonrise in a man’s soul?
Have you ever captured the thought that there are no other answers than Him?
Have you ever reminded yourself that so many questions could be put aside in the Glory of His presence?
His presence is all you need in the long run.
It is the very answer to every question.
It is His presence that manifests itself in our lives to give us hope for the future.
It is the rain in our souls that waters the fallow ground and allows seedlings to take root.
And it is another dimension of time and space, where time stands still and space is only an illusion.
It is a summary of our lives and a witness against us of our sin
and a gentle tug that reminds us that He is our sacrificed Lamb.

He is our Father, the caretaker of our hearts and souls.
He is our Redeemer, buying the freedom we hold so dearly.
He is our open Door to the future and the future is only a heartbeat away.
He is our undying ecstasy, the celebration of our lives played out in mercy and grace.
He is our answer to every question and every question takes on a whole new meaning with Him.
He is a loveable laughable child, a pauper and a king,
In His eyes is the radiance that transforms me and surrounds my very being.
In his heart are the answers that unearth me and take me where I don’t want to go,
but He takes me to places that make me grow.
And if you could hear His heartbeat and hear Him breathe,
you would know that you are hearing His kindness and compassion and His sensitivity.
He is all you need to survive,
all you need to be alive,
all you need to live a life well-lived,
all you have to afford is His free gift.

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Have we run out of time?

Posted on 18 October 2007 by Peter

Over the next few days I am going to repost three articles authored by ‘UnderTheRadar’ over at Revival School. I found them all thought provoking and a blessing, and I thought you might too. Here is the first, the original can be found here.

Time, time, time… time is of the essence. There is not enough of it to go around. Every free moment is spoken for and before we’ve had a chance to catch our breath, another day has passed rudely behind us. There aren’t enough hours in the day to complete every task. There aren’t enough minutes in the hour to carefully and effectively address each issue. Where have the years gone? How did they slip away so casually, almost without notice? Time is taking its toll, literally running the show. I would raise my fist and curse the cause of my frustration, but the moments would continue to tick away in cruel defiance.

Some would say that ours is a race against time, marked by our speed and agility in reference to reaching our destination. What then is the measure of our achievement and success? Presumably, our pace must be gauged by those competitors, whom we’ve overtaken, and those we hope to surpass. This is not a contest of endurance, but of skill and prowess. The destination is no longer the focus, but our position with reference to our opponents. Speed becomes the primary objective. Everything else is sacrificed, for the higher claim of speed. Speed is obtained through practice and diligence, pain and effort, discipline and the desire for success. Though many eventually reach their final destination, some may be regarded with disdain, because the only standard of achievement is how meritoriously each contestant has placed.

Clearly ours is not a contest against time, but a race measured by distance; the distance between the pursuer and the pursued. Life is not a test of our ability, but His timeless search for evidence of our hunger to know Him in all of His meekness and majesty. Time is of the essence, only when it’s wasted on meaningless pursuits, defeating our own purpose. Is there a higher cause or a greater goal than the intimacy of His Holy presence? We cannot reclaim lost time nor recycle it. Nonetheless, it only takes an instant to narrow the gap of intimacy that a lifetime of indifference has created.

How many moments are spent in devotion, service and even ministry, unaware that He stands in our midst? How often have we poured over His Word in concentrated study, unaware of the warmth of His breath on our brow? So often we unburden our hearts to Him in agonizing prayer, not noticing His lips gently caressing our cheek. So many intimate moments are lost in our vain attempts to impress Him. The Father of all creation, all that is holy, rare and precious, is not easily impressed. Our good works do not impress Him. We are His workmanship. Our eloquent prayers do not move Him, but the cry of hunger in our hearts does.

He is a pauper indeed, void of all the riches He died to reclaim. The Wealth of intimacy, a priceless embrace, and all those things that He cherishes and holds dear are so often denied Him. Our destitute Father cries out in despair. Who will take authority over His enemy, the empty longing in His heart? Who will fill His cup and unburden His heart and wipe the tears from His eyes?

Time is not the master of our souls; nevertheless, it yields to no one, but the precious Holy Spirit. Has He truly miscalculated the hours in one day that we so frequently come up short; or is it conceivable that we are lacking the wisdom of discerning those things that have lasting value and eternal consequence? Considering our time constraints, we graciously allot Him a spare moment in our busy schedule. Mercifully, He provides the next breath that we breathe and our next heartbeat, with no consideration of time and space. Have we so quickly forgotten that obedience is better than sacrifice? (1 Sam 15:22, Micah 6:6) Does He desire our sacrificial offerings or our hearts sacrificed on the altar of His mercy and grace? Does He prefer our service and our efforts to please Him or our deep burning desire to see His face and hear His gentle voice?

There is a river that flows from the very throne of God and it will spill into every avenue of our life and every second of our day, if we do not hinder its refreshing flow. Its compelling current will move us to places, the likes of which we’ve never even dreamed. The crystalline waters will clarify our vision to reveal the Father’s heart. Our desires will yield to His desires, uncovering those intents and purposes, which flow from obedience, rather than a desire to serve Him. It is a river of love that will etch His signature into everything that we attempt. It will breathe the very breath of life into every spoken word. It will flood the common and mundane with the miraculous. May I reiterate? It originates at His throne of mercy and grace. Not difficult to find, neither is it too arduous to access, it is but a heartbeat away. Dare we believe? Dare we receive it? Glory and majesty, wisdom and power reside in the Father’s heart. We will see it in His eyes, if we will but fall prostrate before His throne, in insatiable hunger, to seek His face.

Posted in Christian | 6 Comments

Will we stand?

Posted on 16 October 2007 by Peter

If you follow this blog, you’ll know that I’ve been warning that there are times coming that are going to be out of our comfort zone. So, I ask, when it comes down to the wire, will we stand? Will we take up our cross and walk in the footsteps of Jesus Christ? Or will we slink away into the darkness, unwilling to pay the price for following the Prince of Peace?

What is the Church doing to prepare people to stand in the times to come? Rather little it seems, as I cast my eye around the Internet and in the real world. False words of comfort are being given, rather than true words of hope. There are lights shining in the darkness, but so often they appear an exception to the rule.

I seem to find myself observing two worlds within the Church, both of which preach the false words of comfort. With one of my hats on, I view the prophetic sources on the web. Predominantly, they seem to be skewed towards the pre-tribulationist eschatological viewpoint. Now, I’m no expert on these things, however I do observe the convenience of a theory that allows us to live in comfort now, and be whisked away at the first hint of trouble. Is this what the Bible really says? I am mindful of John 16 v33:

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

We, as Christians, are overcomers – not escapers. So often it seems that God will transform a situation rather than remove us from it. Was pre-tribulationism not the same theory that worked ultimately to weaken faith in China ahead of the persecution in the Boxer rebellion? In what is our trust? Sometimes in these prophetic circles it appears that there is more trust in the comfort of the rapture, rather than in the hope of Jesus Christ.

I don’t want to argue eschatological theories – but I will debate the fruit, and the fruit of pre-tribulationism appears to be words of comfort that sit well with our ears.

Then we come to my other world, that of the inclusive church. The church that has abolished sin, and hence the need for a saviour. A faith where Jesus is just a way, a metaphor and an example – and no more true than another way. The church that confirms us ‘just as we are’ – and leaves us that way.

It seems that so many cannot be bothered to live for this gutted faith, therefore can we imagine that any would die for it – a relativistic faith where all truths are held to be equal?

What do we have here but false shepherds doing their best to undermine foundations, leaving behind them a creaking shed, so that when the waves come in and the wind blows the whole rotten edifice will crash down.

I will submit to you that though the world is different, the fruit is the same – words of comfort that itching ears long to hear. Come to us, and have your sins blessed!

Do I make you despondent? Ah then, let me give you the good news.

The Gates of Hell will never prevail against the Church! God is not mocked. Even now, there are those who are called.

Called to stand.

Called to be lighthouses, called to be lifeboats, called to provide safe harbour, and guide people to refuge.

Called to those who will otherwise be wrecked on the rocks, or founder on the storms of the sea of relativity. Those who have no anchor and see no need of one.

He still cares for us. Do we care for Him? Will we stand? If there is one thing I will say, and say again and again in the hope that even one person will hear, it is this: to stand, stand on the Rock of Ages, the only place that will prove firm footing in the times to come. He is calling you, calling me, not to look to the things of the world but to stand in Him and to be found only, only in Him, the source of life and light itself.

May Christ in our hearts be like the light of Eärendil – a light for us in dark places, when all other lights go out.

This then the cry. Prepare! Stand! May you live and move in the light of the Rock of Ages.

Posted in Christian, Prophecy | 11 Comments

Diocesan Synods

Posted on 13 October 2007 by Peter

There is plenty of blog material in the queue at the moment, and funnily enough absolutely none of it has anything to do with Diocesan Synods. So, before we get to those posts, I thought I might mention the couple of Synods that met this weekend.

Firstly, the Diocese of Ottawa appears to make its choice, now it is up to the bishop to decide. I don’t know anything about Bishop Chapman, but he’s certainly not in a comfortable place tonight. Pray that he does the right thing.

Secondly, my diocese, the diocese of Calgary met also. There were no contentious motions such as in the Diocese of Ottawa, however the agenda included this line “St. Michael Report and Motions Passed at General Synod”. Does this matter? Yes! From my point of view, if we do not repudiate A186 as a diocese, then we have implicitly accepted it. If I find out more, I will update this post.

It is a desperately sad thing to watch your church implode. I am rather less mellow than I might sound here.

UPDATE: The only substantive (albeit mainly a political statement) motion relating to the Current Unpleasantness, that of an intent to sign the Anglican Covenant, was tabled (often a way of avoiding the question, or saying no politely, for any not familiar with the infamous table). The full text is below:

Motion 5:
MOVED THAT the Anglican Diocese of Calgary urges the Anglican Church of Canada, through the Council of General Synod, to participate in the process of the Covenant Design Group with the intent of being a full party to the resulting covenant.
TABLED

What does this mean? It’s an interesting question. Bishop Hoskin has said that there will be a moratorium on gay blessings in this diocese. That, and his voting record at General Synod, would lead one to believe that we are not going the way of Ottawa any time soon.

However, is that enough? That’s a question to be wrestled with – what to do in a fairly safe diocese that nevertheless has not taken a stand against A186 and all that. There is, like it or not, an elephant in this room, and despite all attempts to ignore it, it is not going to go away.

I’m really supportive of the vision of growth for the diocese – but the church is more than just the diocese. For me, I would have needed to see a strong repudiation of A186, plus potentially a number of other resolutions making clear our position. Since nothing like that surfaced, we have in my estimation implicitly accepted what General Synod has said – we are yoked with the national Church.

This raises a number of questions that are going to need answers in the next couple of months. The diocese has made its collective decision, I now have to consider mine.

Posted in Anglican | 5 Comments

A vision of the world

Posted on 12 October 2007 by Peter

Something a little bit different for you today.

I read a post recently that made me think of this vision from a couple of years ago. I’ve pondered whether to post it or not, as I’m not sure what it might offer. However, I think I felt the nudge to do so, and on the basis of that slightly ephemeral feeling, here it is.

28th December 2005

I was woken up by two people calling my name. Upon awaking and asking I was given a vision – it’s a little fuzzy at the edges, but this is the gist of it:

I saw a map, a picture of the world (I think). It was as though it was made of lots of little paper squares. As I saw it a number of squares were blown off from every part of the map and as they fluttered down I saw they were all black. Almost immediately following was a lesser number of red squares blown off from predominantly the east of the map, blown westwards.

I don’t really have an interpretation, though I had some thoughts that I’ll keep to myself for now. So, over to you and I’d be interested to see what (if anything) you make of it.

Posted in Christian, Prophecy | 3 Comments

Homeward Bound

Posted on 11 October 2007 by Peter

I’d much recommend a visit to Homeward Bound. Most edifying and insightful.

Thanksgiving

Posted on 7 October 2007 by Peter

Happens earlier this side of the border!

Blessings on you and yours, and I’l be back later this week after recovery from the ginormous turkey dinner. 🙂

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

The grief of the Father, reprise

Posted on 3 October 2007 by Peter

Back in June I wrote about the grief of the Father, in the context of the ACoC General Synod in Winnipeg. More recently, with the intransigence of the TEC House of Bishops, I have once again felt the same thing.

The Fathers grief is not one of an impotent Father waiting anxiously for any sight of his errant children, wringing His hands and unable to act.

This is not a grief where we take centre stage.

This is a grief of the same Heart that burns with wild and outrageous Love and explodes in the most terrible and wrathful judgment against sin. So often we trivialise both, and make God to be a pale insipid creature at our beck and call, whenever we want an imprimatur to our latest course of action.

We truly and simply have no concept of the heart of our Father – were we to catch but a glimpse we would fall on our faces in awe, terror and love. Love and Wrath would burn us up both, because they are the same heart, the deepest heart of Holiness. There are simply no words, no jigsaw pieces of language that I can bring to express His heart. Would the we see a little, even if through a glass dimly (which is to our mercy), for then we would understand in a new light the sacrifice of Jesus.

So, when I say grief, this word is but the palest and dimmest approximation to our Fathers heart. It is the best that can be expressed with the meagre tool of words.

Where is this grief directed? It is directed at His Church. Not church as in Anglican Communion, though that may be the setting of the moment, but at His Church, His Bride. Once again, in all the petty politics and mealy-mouthed words – in the accusations, counter-accusations and in all the justifications we have for the dark things we do – once again our sight fails us and we do not see the Church as She is. A body of people, redeemed, sanctified and covered by the Blood. Made wholly new and completely acceptable in the sight of God. Note that – completely acceptable. No spot or blemish found anywhere, no stain of sin to be seen. The very sight of the Church is a terror to satan, glittering, Holy and terrible, standing astride the centuries, visible as the victory of the Lamb.

This is who we are – we are His body, and He is the head. It is because of who we are called to be, what He has chosen and elected us to, that our Fathers head is bowed in grief.

So, where is this grief directed? Well, I shall limit my current scope to The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada, though for sure the sauce that is applied to these geese can be applied to other ganders.

Romans 1:24-26 could not be more appropriate in judgment of TEC and the ACoC:

24Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. 26Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.

They exchanged the truth of God for a lie.

This is the judgment on these ichabod churches, and it a terrible thing indeed. The one truth, the last and only hope for mankind, exchanged for a tawdry lie of the common culture. We saw the same thing in Nazi Germany, as the German Church sold its birthright to buy into cheap and nihilistic depravity. You see the same thing again and again throughout history, and this grieves the heart of God so very, very greatly. We do not know the value of what we have, else we would cling to it with fierce determination, to death and beyond. But yet, we toss it aside like so much garbage, because the gaudy trinkets of the world hold so much more allure to our darkened eyes – sexual ‘freedom’, reproductive ‘choice’, financial ‘wealth’. By any objective analysis, we truly do fit into the definition of insane. Sin does that – it makes men mad.

Note, I am not judging any individual here – that is not my purview or intent. The Lord sees our hearts and he is the great and just Judge. The very fact should make us tremble! No, the judgment here is on the churches that once were part of the body of Christ, and now have detached themselves and are withering apart from the vine. The churches that have exchanged Truth for a lie. These dark lighthouses, that give no light and blind those within. These caricatures, that ape the Church of God, both deceived and deceiving, how could God not be grieved – and angered?

This grief is not divorced from judgment, nor from power to bring about change. If only we knew how delicately Wrath and Mercy, Love and Judgment is balanced in our Fathers heart. If only we knew how the stench of sin smells to Him who made and upholds the universe. If only we knew the power of the Cross and Blood of Jesus – how that great and cataclysmic event ripples out through history as Gods Redemption for a Creation gone astray. If only we knew what it meant to then exchange this truth for a lie.

For those that remain, those that are part of the new shoot growing from the Root that once nourished the now dead tree, it would be well to think on these things and realise that it is only by the grace of God that we are here. Paul did not write idly in Philippians 2:12-13 when he said:

12Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.

It is only in Him that we have anything. Lest we be struck with a sense of superiority as holders of the truth, or indeed how we rescued ourselves, let us remember that is only in His Grace. Perhaps indeed in godly fear and trembling, thinking not highly of ourselves, we might be able to reach out and snatch those lost and hurtling into the outer darkness.

May it be to us as Jesus prayed in John 17:

20″My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 24″Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. 25″Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

Amen! Even so come Lord Jesus.

Posted in Anglican, Christian, Prophecy | 7 Comments

27

Posted on 30 September 2007 by Peter

1 The LORD is my light and my salvation—
whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life—
of whom shall I be afraid?

2 When evil men advance against me
to devour my flesh,
when my enemies and my foes attack me,
they will stumble and fall.

3 Though an army besiege me,
my heart will not fear;
though war break out against me,
even then will I be confident.

4 One thing I ask of the LORD,
this is what I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD
and to seek him in his temple.

5 For in the day of trouble
he will keep me safe in his dwelling;
he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle
and set me high upon a rock.

6 Then my head will be exalted
above the enemies who surround me;
at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make music to the LORD.

7 Hear my voice when I call, O LORD;
be merciful to me and answer me.

8 My heart says of you, “Seek his face!”
Your face, LORD, I will seek.

9 Do not hide your face from me,
do not turn your servant away in anger;
you have been my helper.
Do not reject me or forsake me,
O God my Savior.

10 Though my father and mother forsake me,
the LORD will receive me.

11 Teach me your way, O LORD;
lead me in a straight path
because of my oppressors.

12 Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes,
for false witnesses rise up against me,
breathing out violence.

13 I am still confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the LORD
in the land of the living.

14 Wait for the LORD;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the LORD.

Posted in Christian | 5 Comments

Six foot under

Posted on 26 September 2007 by Peter

When I read the response of TECs House of Bishops to the Primates, I was struck with an image of a shoal of bishops, swimming six foot under, unwilling to come to the surface for air, and at the same time unwilling to commit to the dive to the murky bottom.

However, dithering in the refracted light six foot under is as much a death sentence as dwelling in the gloom sixty foot under. Either way, death is what comes. So it seems also for those bishops who cannot seem to choose life, not will they commit to choosing death.

If you will not come up for air, it does not matter how far underwater you are.

Deuteronomy 30 v19
This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.

Posted in Anglican, Prophecy | 4 Comments