Gavin Ortlund on the Wesleyan/Methodist Revival

Gavin Ortlund is, without a doubt, my favorite Reformed Baptist clergyman YouTuber.  I really appreciate his charitable approach, intellectual rigor, and defenses both of Christian belief in general, and classical Protestantism as well.

I'm looking forward to the day when he sees the light on bishops and infant baptism.  

Here is a video that Ortlund did celebrating the early Methodist revival movement within the Anglican Church led by John and Charles Wesley.  It's a good video, especially in looking at the conditions in England before this 'awakening' and some of the lessons we might apply today.  

Since today is "Aldersgate day" - May 24th, when John Wesley had his "heart-warming" experience of assurance from the Holy Spirit that really sparked the revival - I commend it to you.  Today is a good day to remember just how much influence a Spirit-filled renewal can have on the whole of a society - and today is a good day to pray for another one.  

Thoughts on Young Men becoming Eastern Orthodox

 Here is a video I posted back in December:

Can Evangelicals Accept Purgatory?

 Of course, it comes down to what we mean by "Purgatory".  But I do recommend this discussion; rather than simply repeating slogans of the past, they really do explore important questions about our relationship with God and how Bible-believing Christians might approach them.  I certainly do not accept the Medieval idea of Purgatory as Christian believers "doing time" and being punished for sins after death before we can enter into Heaven, but there is a sense in which we believe we will be further "purged" at the end of this life so that our hearts will be able to receive the Glory our Father has for us. 

Holdsworth: It's not about Relationship, It's about Religion

 Here is a provocative video from Roman Catholic lay apologist Brian Holdsworth.  While I don't usually see things 100% the same way he does, he makes some excellent points in a compelling way here. 
I have a video on YouTube called "Consumeristic Christianity" that offers my "take" on these ideas.  Here is a glimpse: it is, as he says, not simply about "relationship," but rather "right relationship;" and in the Bible that always means "covenant relationship."

Gavin Ortlund on "That Hideous Strength"

Baptist pastor & scholar, Rev. Gavin Ortlund, produces great and edifying videos - many defending the historic continuity and catholicity of classical Protestantism over against charges that Protestant theology is something totally novel that emerged only in the 16th Century as a departure from the Great Tradition of the ancient church.  As someone who cares greatly about the catholicity of our faith - that my beliefs are shared by Christians across every age (and not only the last 500 years) I greatly appreciate his work in this area.

Another passion that Gavin and I share is a love of C.S. Lewis.  Here is Gavin's review/introduction to one of Lewis' most mature novels, That Hideous Strength.  I think that Gavin is right to put this novel alongside Till We have Faces as being some of Lewis' best fiction.

Having read a bit of Charles Williams, I can tell you that you definitely see Williams' influence on this novel by Lewis.  Much of the other things Gavin says in this video strike me as "right on."  Gavin is right to point out that when Lewis talks about "the masculine" and "the feminine" in this work, he is not really talking about what we think of as gender or sex, but rather about something far more "Jungian": archetypal characteristics that - in mythologies, symbols, and typologies across many cultures - have been associated with a "masculine" or a "feminine" spirit for a variety of reasons that I suspect we moderns/post-moderns can only barely begin to appreciate.  I suspect there are depths of wisdom and insight buried there that Lewis would have recognized more readily than most of us.

I like what Gavin has to say about conversion often (especially in a post-Christian culture) being a "multi-stage" process.  This rings true to my experience and that of others I've known, and is refreshing to hear from a significant Baptist thinker.

A final point he makes that I think is very important is the connection between beauty and evangelism.  Roman Catholic Bishop Robert Barron is constantly making this point in his own excellent YouTube ministry (following a thinker named Hans Urs Von Balthazar): beauty points us to God, to the Source and Ground of all beauty, just as discovering truth points us to God who is the Highest Truth. 

It is my hope that in years to come Christians of all denominations and churches will be known by our wholesome and beautiful ways of being and building in this world in a way that will draw people in, as in the early centuries of our faith.  Lewis' work certainly is a great example of exactly that.

Evangelical Mis-understanding of Baptism

 Below is a great video from a Lutheran teacher, examining why the New Testament leads us to a sacramental understanding of baptism, in which we believe that God actually offers saving grace through and with the outward sign of water. 

John Wesley is notoriously difficult on baptism.  In some places, such as his Treatise on Baptism, he clearly affirms regeneration and justification are given through baptism; in other places, such as his Notes on the New Testament, he seems only willing to affirm a more modest and symbolic view (the Notes seem to me to be more theologically modest and generic as a general rule). 
In still other places, such as his Sermon "The New Birth" he seems to be skirting the line between a view that holds to baptismal regeneration (for infants) and a view that focuses more on a conversion experience as the point of regeneration (for youth and adults).

What Wesley is trying to hold together is a sacramental and an evangelical view of baptism.  The Sacramental view holds that God really gives saving grace through baptism (as in Romans 6, Titus 3, 1 Peter 3, and John 3), and the evangelical view holds that we really receive God's saving grace through personal faith (as in Galatians 3 and Ephesians 2).  Wesleyan theology - following the Articles or Religion of the Church of England - holds these together by insisting that, while the grace is always given in baptism, it is not fully received until we have faith, which might not (from our point of view) happen until a conversion experience years after our baptism.  

The point is that baptism is an outward and objective declaration of God's promises to us, that we can return to again and again and reclaim throughout our lives - or each day as was Martin Luther's habit.

All of this will run counter to the view - common down here in the American "Bible belt" - that baptism is no more than a symbol of our own profession of faith in Jesus.
The video below examines the major New Testament texts (he doesn't even get into the many Old Testament texts) that show why this "baptism as merely symbolic of our profession" view is not drawn from the Bible, but rather presupposed and then imposed upon it.  He brings forward many of the same texts and arguments that I would use to make the case that Baptism not only symbolizes, but also effectually offers to us cleansing and renewing grace.

  

Are churches confusing "Relevant" and "Trendy"?

 

Parallel Commentary on the New Testament

 One of my favorite "classical commentaries" on the Bible is this Parallel Commentary on the New Testament.  John Wesley, Matthew Henry, and Charles Spurgeon are among the most influential thinkers on the Evangelical Protestant tradition, and of course Wesley's Notes are official doctrine of The United Methodist Church and some other Wesleyan bodies.

The Wesley Study Bible NRSV review

 Here is my review of the Wesley Study Bible.  It is a decent Study Bible that Wesleyans and Methodists will find useful, though it is a bit "light" and needs both more consistent editing and many more features if it wants to be a really good-to-great Study Bible.

Another good Study Bible (better in many respects) from a Wesleyan perspective if the Reflecting God Study Bible in the NIV translation (of 1984).

Lift Thine Eyes by Mendelssohn

 "Lift Thine Eyes" is a great example of Protestant sacred and choral music.  The image set to this recording is a chapel in an Anglican Cathedral.  This is the kind of beauty that a religious culture creates when it has a vision of the Transcendent Artist as the Source of all things.

The words are from Psalm 121.

Celebrating the Savior in 2020 and beyond

Like so many others, I too have found solace in watching worship services and listening to sermons online.  One of the churches I have watched the most is St. Andrews Anglican Cathedral in Sydney, Australia, which is known as a Bible-believing and evangelical congregation based in a beautiful gothic cathedral, built in the grand Medieval style.

This is the opening hymn from their Christmas Eve service, and I have to say, it actually moved me to tears.  During the last verse (which I've not heard before, though we sing this hymn every year), there is a shot of a tiny little boy - he looks about 4 - who seems to be so focused and working his absolute hardest to do his little part help bring this musical message of the Gospel out to the world.  

That is even more beautiful than the cathedral.  May we all, young or old, follow suite in our own callings.

Thank God the Christians ended slavery

 I find it interesting that, at least in some circles, Western Civilization has been so thoroughly dismissed and derided for having accepted the sin of slavery, while at the same time every other civilization in world history which practiced slavery (basically all of them) is given a 'free pass' and also the role of West - and of Christianity in particular - in fighting to end slavery goes largely un-mentioned.

If we want to do real justice to the historical facts, we should be celebrating the role of Christianity - Evangelical Christianity in particular - in fighting to drive this evil from our common life.  Matthew Everhard is one of the Presbyterian/Reformed YouTubers that I follow, and in this video he does exactly that: 

Ravi Zacharias on John Wesley

Some of you may have heard just a couple weeks ago that the great evangelical Christian teacher Ravi Zacharias passed away.  Zacharias was a world-renowned and brilliant apologist and defender of the Christian faith.  He made it his life's mission to demonstrate to the world that the Christian faith was true.  Here is a video of Zacharias talking about one of my patron saints, John Wesley.

Thanks be to God for the work and ministry of both of these truly great men.

It turns out, The United Methodist Church is basically Traditionalist/Evangelical

The United Methodist Church, though often described as progressive, or Mainline Protestant, is actually an evangelical and traditionalist denomination on the whole.*
That is the inescapable conclusion that we can now draw, not only from the recent General Conference's decision to endorse the "Traditional Plan" as the way forward through disagreements on sexuality, but also from a Nationwide survey conducted earlier this year by United Methodist Communications.

This survey is quite significant, and you can read the entire article that I'll be referring to on the UMC's official website HERE.

First we must note that The United Methodist Church is a world-wide denomination and this survey was a survey only of American Methodists.
Any attentive observer of trends in the UMC is aware that overseas Conferences are overwhelmingly conservative, traditionalist, and orthodox (and, in some cases, charismatic as well).
Furthermore the Church is now almost evenly divided between American Methodists and International Methodists.  This would mean that if even a small minority of American Methodists were traditionalists or conservatives, that would still mean that the world-wide church was mostly traditionalist.

But, as it turns out, however, the new study of American Methodists reveals that there are far more self-identified Traditionalists/Conservatives than there are Progressives/Liberals in the American Church.

Here is how it breaks down according to the article linked above:
Of those contacted, 
44 percent identified themselves as conservative/traditionalist in religious beliefs
28 percent as moderate/centrist
20 percent as progressive/liberal

Many will immediately be wondering what are the "political" ramifications (which is itself a sad commentary on how much fighting we've been doing).

Conservatives and Traditionalists are, far and away, the largest group.  This runs counter to the common narrative (often repeated in the run-up to the recent General Conference) that Centrists form the large majority of the UMC in America.  Rather it is likely that, when it comes to any particular moral or theological question or dispute, a majority of United Methodists in America would tend to line up behind the more traditional understanding.
Even supposing that you took the 28 percent that self-identify as Moderate and split them 50/50 between aligning with Traditionalists and aligning with Liberals on any particular issue, a significant majority of the American church (to say nothing of the Central Conferences overseas) would lean conservative/traditionalist.

Now, you might say, "Well, we should add all the Moderates together with all the Liberals, to see where the majority of the American church really is."  However, what the study actually found is that those who self-identified as Moderates tended to be closer to Traditionalists than they were to Progressives:
"The self-identified moderates generally ended between conservatives and liberals in the results for specific questions.  But often they were closer to the conservative position." 

This also raises the question about representation at General Conference.  I saw many progressives on social media saying that upwards 60% of American delegates to the recent General Conference voted for the One Church Plan, rather than the Traditional plan.  I think it is very possible that a few Conservatives actually did so as well, choosing institutional unity over their preferred theological understanding.
Nevertheless, if it is really the case that almost 2/3 of American GC delegates were Liberals/Progressives, then this would suggest that American Traditionalists are greatly under-represented at the General Conference level.

What about are the ramifications for the theological character of the Church?  On the whole, for those of us who are concerned with upholding and proclaiming the classic Biblical faith - the faith of the 'one holy catholic and apostolic church' - in United Methodism, the survey findings are very encouraging.

"The survey dug into United Methodists' views on various theology-related subjects, including the Bible, Jesus, salvation, the Resurrection, and the afterlife...
On some matters there was broad agreement.  For example, large majorities of all three self-identifying groups believe in Jesus' birth from a virgin,  his crucifixion in order to reconcile humans to God, and his resurrection in bodily form.  By big margins, conservatives, moderates, and liberals understand God as creator of heaven and earth and believe God's grace is available to all..."

So on the matters of basic theological orthodoxy, as articulated in the Apostles' Creed (for example), the vast majority of American Methodists are basically orthodox.  This is great news for the future health of the Church!

On the other hand, there was significant disagreement over the doctrine of Hell:
"But only 50 percent of liberals believe in a literal Hell, compared to 82 percent of conservatives and 70 percent of moderates..."

I do wonder if the phrase 'literal Hell' might have been a hindrance to some, and if a different phrase (like "an actual hell" or "eternal separation from God") would have yielded slightly higher numbers.
Nevertheless, we are pretty firm on our belief that Jesus really is the only Savior, and the only way to the Father:
"An overwhelming majority of conservatives, 86 percent, said a relationship with Jesus is the only way to salvation.  64 percent of moderates agreed with that and 54 percent of liberals did."

Again I'm pleasantly surprised to find that the numbers are this high (even among liberals) for this decisive orthodox and evangelical doctrine.

Finally, "The survey showed that women are more likely than men to hold liberal/progressive views and that church attendance is strongest by conservatives." 

Many have bemoaned the lack of involvement in the church by men, which has been a long-standing problem (even Karl Marx noted this almost 200 years ago).  But this survey would suggest that moving the church further in a liberal direction, if it did anything, would actually exacerbate the problem.

Because of the way Traditionalists interpret the Bible and understand its authority (including the 10 Commandments), I'm not surprised to find that conservatives are strongest in church attendance; I would also not be surprised to find that (because of their more traditional interpretations of the Bible) they are also more likely to give 10% of their income to the church, but apparently that question was not included.
It would indeed be interesting to see another survey that follows up by asking about the spiritual disciplines and practices of all these people, and seeing how that may (or may not) correspond to their self-described religious beliefs.

United Methodism is a big and diverse denomination, and I think (and hope) it always will be a place where everyone is welcomed and embraced (as is certainly appropriate for a world-wide Church); but we clearly do have a theological identity and the evidence shows that, on the whole, the UMC is a theologically traditional and orthodox denomination as well being diverse - both in the USA and, even more so, across the world.

------------------------

*I always feel the need to note that by Traditionalist and Evangelical, we do not mean Fundamentalist in the usual sense that word is now used.  The average Evangelical United Methodist will be open to things like Ecumenism or the Ordination of Women etc. things which are generally rejected out of hand by Fundamentalists.

Anglicans on the Wittenberg Trail

When I was in seminary one of the many books I read that greatly influenced me personally (most of which were, sadly, not part of the official curriculum) was a little book called Evangelicals on the Canterbury Trail, by Robert E. Webber.

Webber tells the stories of numerous Evangelical Christians - coming from Baptist, Non-Denominational, Pentecostal, and other churches - who made journeys into Anglican or Episcopal churches (and other liturgical churches) because of a longing for liturgy, mystery, history, and a sense of deeply-rooted, ancient, and authoritative community.

Indeed my own return to Methodism was a similar journey.  Having sojourned some years in non-liturgical evangelical communities (mostly Baptist and non-Denominational) I discovered the Episcopal Church and, through it, (re)discovered Methodism.  I was delighted to find that The United Methodist Church, of which I was already (technically) a member, had inherited and adapted the same liturgy and the same Articles of Religion and (in John Wesley's writings), the same sacramental spirituality that I had come to admire about The Episcopal Church and the Anglican tradition.

Another Evangelical who was influenced by Webber's book and who has personally "walked the Canterbury Trail" is Dr. Wesley Evans.  Dr. Evans has recently written a piece called "Anglicans on the Wittenberg Trail", which is a play on the same book title, and which I commend to you.
He refers not so much to Anglicans actually joining Lutheran churches, but a literal pilgrimage that he and several friends took to Wittenberg, Germany, where Martin Luther famously nailed his 95 Theses to the church door and (accidentally) launched the Protestant Reformation.

Why this Lutheran pilgrimage by Anglican theologians?

This year, October 31st of 2017, Halloween or "All Hallows Eve" marks the 500th Anniversary of the launch of the Reformation.

Church door at Wittenberg

Will you be doing anything special to mark the Reformation this year?  Reading Luther's works?  Holding special services or prayers for Christian unity?

Thinking theologically about how we 'do church'

Here is a video that I really liked from the President of Asbury seminary encouraging graduating students and pastors to think theologically through practical ideas like having "different worship style options" at church, while pointing out the tendency - at least among evangelicals - to address issues like this (and there are numerous other examples we might come upon) simply in terms of consumerism or marketing ("what do people want/what is the demand"), which leads to the "commodification" of the Gospel.

Challenging stuff here for the 21st Century American Christian.

Some interesting recent news and commentary

As you can see I've slowed down a good bit in my blogging as I've tried to attend not only to my duties as a clergyman but my dozen or so other hobbies as well.  The line between "renaissance man" and "unfocused" is a rather blurry one, isn't it?  So I may be on a bit of a (partial) blogging hiatus for a while.

Yet I still run across interesting news and commentary that hits on the major themes discussed on this blog (theology, paleo-orthodox church-renewal, political philosophy, religious freedom, etc.).  So I just thought I'd share a few things that I've been reading recently.

1) One is "Young, Restless, No Longer Reformed" by Austin Fischer at the Patheos blog.  He discusses the relationship between truth and beauty and God (an important topic to "catholic" Christians of all stripes) and why he is no longer a Calvinist.

2) Another that I recently read was at NPR, "Attracted to Men, Pastor feels called to Marriage with a Woman."  Many Christians who experience attraction to members of the same sex (or ambiguous attractions that are hard to label) have been arguing for years that they have some very real and Biblical lifestyle options, such as holy celibacy.  Another option that has perhaps been getting more attention lately is entering into the Biblical marriage covenant (one man + one woman) and settling down in a traditional family.  Some might see this as some kind of betrayal of the true meaning of marriage - but I suspect that is because our culture has so romanticized marriage that we have forgotten the very down-to-earth reasons for which it was created (so eloquently rehearsed toward the beginning of the traditional Anglican wedding liturgy).  

It seems to me that liberals in the various Christian churches who constantly argue that we must change our historic teachings on sexuality and marriage to include gay individuals have been systematically ignoring the voices of these self-identified gay Christians who themselves are also committed to historic and Biblical orthodoxy when it comes to sexual morality and marriage.  There are actually quite a few of them and their experiences also need to be accounted for in our conversations.

3) I've been very interested in numerous pieces written since the Muslim radicals rampages in France last month on questions of secularism, multiculturalism, cultural integration, and religious freedom/persecution in Europe.  The BBC has run several stories - such as this one - suggesting that most European Jews are seriously considering relocating (either to the USA or Israel or elsewhere) because they feel their communities and values are endangered by secularism on the one side and Antisemitism (of the old neo-nazi kind and now the newer Islamic kind) on the other.

4) Some other good pieces - such as this one - have asked whether Islam, a fundamentally public religion, is even capable of conforming to the expectations of European secularism, which developed in connection not with "religion" in the abstract but with Christianity in particular.  It is a question worth asking.

5) Personally I'd like to see a more informed debate about the relationship between Islam and violence.  Many political leaders simply shut down the conversation by asserting that "Islam is a religion of peace" yet studies show that the most violent and intolerant places on earth also tend to be Muslim-majority places as well - as even some Muslim writers have recently pointed out who are willing to have an honest discussion about the good AND the evil of contemporary Islam.  I think that discussion is worth having without the conversation being shut down by platitudes that are politically correct but practically useless if we want to understand what feeds extremist Islam and how it might be countered.

Ministry Matters: Gay, Christian, and Celibate?

I've been (mostly) enjoying reading Ministry Matters, which is a Methodist-based online forum for church leadership, evangelism, and growth.  Here is a recent article they ran called "Gay, Christian, and Celibate: the Changing Face of the Homosexuality Debate."

The article covers an often-overlooked (or deliberately ignored for ideological reasons?) segment of the population that identifies as "Homosexual" in terms of experiencing consistent attraction of persons of the same sex, but who have also deliberately embraced a celibate lifestyle because of they also identify as Bible-believing Christians.  Another such group of Christians who experience same-sex attraction, but who live in holy celibacy (these mostly in the Church of England) contribute to the Living Out website.  These many stories of struggle and faithfulness and spiritual discipline deserve an important place in contemporary conversations about sexuality and Christian faith.

Since the Reformation, with Martin Luther's strong objections to vows of celibacy (himself a celibate for many years as a monk and priest), Protestants have largely ignored or downplayed the significant and ancient Christian tradition of celibacy as a lifestyle and even a spiritual gift from God (Greek: "charisma" - see 1 Corinthians 7:6-9).  "Focus-on-the-family" style evangelical Protestantism has lifted up marriage as the essentially universal vocation of all good Christians.  Yet the gift of celibacy as a form of Christian obedience and self-dedication to God is rooted in our Lord's own words.  When the Apostles objected (as many do still today) that his teachings on marriage were too strict (one man and one woman for life; no divorce except when the marriage vows have been broken), the Lord Jesus replied to them, "...there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven.  Let anyone accept this who can." (Matthew 19:12); which is to say, some have sworn off marriage and sex, embracing a celibate lifestyle instead for the sake of being dedicated to God's mission.  St. Paul the Apostle was one such (see 1 Cor. 7 above).

There have actually been a great many Protestant clergy, laity, and missionaries who have chosen a life of celibacy to devote themselves more fully to the Lord's work - many Evangelicals, Anglicans, Lutherans and Methodists (including early Methodist circuit riders, bishops, and more recent luminaries such as Methodist Bishop William R. Cannon) and others.  I hope and pray that our conversations around the nature of human sexuality as ordered by God can create an opening for those of us in the Reformational churches to recover some of the deeper, older, and more "catholic" (universal) ideas about the positive gift of celibacy in the life of the Church of the Lord Jesus.  This might even go hand-in-hand (one can only hope and pray) with our also recovering an understanding of the value of monastic communities and intentionally establishing new such communities.

As the Ministry Matters article describes, some Christians don't know what to do with or what to think about such "gay-but-celibate" (or any deliberately celibate) believers in our midst.  We should start by listening to their stories.  We can also take a lesson from the Early Church.  Since ancient times the church has celebrated and encouraged the unique spiritual gifts, discipline, and ministry of such celibate-for-the-Kingdom people as exemplary and as a gift from God to his church; I think we must do so again - especially when people choose celibacy as a holy way forward that both affirms the reality of their same-sex attractions, but also the even higher reality of their identity as baptized believers who find Christ himself and his Kingdom to be their true orientation.

The full Ministry Matters article can be found here.

See also this older post.

The Benefit of Tradition for the Church

Much of  the work I have done on this blog over the last 8 years is precisely as one of these young adults advocating for the re-discovery of the theological and liturgical traditions of the ancient church for our contemporary church and world.  More and more I am discovering others who are on a similar journey: we seek a church that can unreservedly affirm the faith of the ancient Creeds and use them as our lens for determining the "basics" or "foundations" of Christian belief and for interpreting the Bible; we seek a sacramental and liturgical spirituality that engages not only our brains but our senses of sight, smell, taste, touch and our sense of wonder in a holistic way of worship that is rooted in the ancient Hebrew and Christian practices and shared with saints and believers through the centuries of Church history.

Many young people on this journey have migrated from various sorts of "free churches" into Methodist, Lutheran, Anglican or even Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches.

All of these churches have their issues and problems right now, none is perfect; but all of them share in the ancient liturgical and creedal heritage that has been handed down from the early church, and all of them also seek (though in differing ways and to differing degrees) to continue the ancient three-fold ministry of bishop, presbyter, and deacon that we find in Scripture and the early church.  As a Methodist presbyter I can say that we are less consistent than some of these other churches in our reception of these treasures, but the ancient faith and liturgy are indeed the basis of official doctrinal statements and books of worship, even if some of our clergy ignore this.  

Here is a post on the benefit of this ancient theological and liturgical heritage at The Flying Scroll blog by Chad Bird.  Here are some excerpts:

Some like the way these practices are transhistorical, providing an unbroken ritual link with prior generations of the faithful.  Others appreciate how traditions tend to concretize doctrine, embodying religious teachings in religious rites, so that the eyes and ears and other senses participate fully in what a faith teaches, rescuing it from becoming a bloodless religion of the mind.  Still others embrace tradition as the communal expression of the faith, the participation of all in a shared rite, thereby bonding them, and avoiding the tyranny of individualism or clerical whim.

I am afraid that clerical whim - both in terms of our worship services and our theology has been a great problem at times, but not a new one.  For us as Christians and especially us clergy, the challenge is always to be sure that we are putting what God wants and what God things before our own desires and values (and recognizing that the two may be quite distinct).  Chad goes on to tell why he eventually came to love the rooted experience in the liturgical church.

Ultimately, however, I fell in love with traditions—and specifically, traditional worship—for a single, overarching reason:  its components, to varying degrees, are all in the service of the Gospel.
What you’ll encounter in a traditional worship service is a framework of readings, creeds, confessions, hymns, and prayers that pulsate with the language of Scripture, with Christ Jesus at the heart of it all.  By the repetition of these, with new elements circulating every week, truths seep into the hearts and minds of worshipers, steeping them in vivifying words.  Every element of worship flows toward, into, and from the altar, where Jesus sits as Lamb, Priest, King, and Man, all rolled into one, giving his blood and body into his people and thereby literally embodying them with God.  Cognizant of the fact that Jesus came to save not only the soul, but also the body, the body participates fully in this worship.  Knees bow before the regal Lord; hands trace the sign of the saving cross upon themselves; mouths dine at his feast; eyes soak in the portrayal of his Passion in crucifix, icons, stained-glass windows; and noses spell the aromatic incense wafting prayers up toward God’s throne.

There is some wonderful testimony there.  He brings us back to the main point here, which is communion with the Living Lord; he also discusses the much-talked-of recent posts from Rachel Held Evans on the subject of young Baptists 'going high church,' but I will not rehash that ground, you can check it out over there.  Check out the whole post here.

For similar 'musings' on liturgy and tradition see:
Lewis on the liturgy
Methodist bishop: Let us pray (with the church)
The Liturgy questions us about relevance.

Why our youth leave church AND the pope

Two completely unrelated topics.  First I wanted to share this excellent post on the top 10 Reasons Youth Leave our churches.  The author is writing particularly from within American Evangelical Protestantism.  I think this is an important article and it is worth your reading all of it. 

Secondly, you no doubt heard the big news yesterday: Pope Benedict XVI will step down from the role of pontiff at the end of this month, becoming the first pope to do so since the 1400s.  What are your thoughts?  Did he do it to avoid deteriorating in office as his predecessor did?  Is there some huge scandal lurking behind all this?  Is he setting a healthy precedent that will mark a huge shift in what it means to be pope?  What will it mean to have a "pope emeritus" running around with a new pope sitting on the cathedra?  Will we still call him Benedict - or will it be Ratzinger again?  Will the out-going pope spend his days hanging out and debating with Rowan Williams who recently stepped down as Archbishop of Canterbury?

Life is always interesting.