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APPRECIATING THE CHURCH:
The living Person of God makes the Church alive by its attachment to the divine.
The new paganism which praises as God what is not God and superstition which makes us depend on some natural desire makes us less than human.
We live ("walk") ideally with two legs (the Bible and the Sacraments) and we need the map (drawn by the Saints) as well as experience and discernment (of the existing Church).
We adore God, we reverence the Saints, and we respect the ministry.
The Record of The Revelation.
APPROACH:
The Bible is a library of material which transcends its time and culture. It is more than poetry or law and it is concerned more with life assurance than fire insurance, the interest is in God and what is the place of humanity. Not what God is. Not who is God. Not what God does. But how God comes through to our world. The Old Testament is about Salvation History, the Selection of His people, and the way God is regarded in life. The New Testament indicates the fulfilment of the previous and the implications of this.
A driver`s licence consists of words, but there is a personal matter presupposed.
CONSIDER:
* There is one God of all creation. He is the generous giver and Sovereign.
* There is a need to maintain a relationship with God who is personally active in the world.
* A response to God is expected in significant events.
* God has the final say.
* Jesus is the Lord.
* The Christ Event means more than a memory of a dead hero, rather it is the recognition of the living Person of our lives.
* The Holy Spirit empowers what would otherwise be dead and destructive.
Anglicans particularly insist believers must be people of the book, and that book is the Bible.
The Sacraments.The instruments of God in the Church.
APPROACH:
The sacraments are "the personal touch of God".These effective signs and symbols makes the presence of Christ real as the Father planned and as the Holy Spirit works in time and occasion. These moments of eternity come about by what is said (the form), what is used (the matter), the attachment to its source (the institution), and what is expected (the intention).Unless there is a personal contrary intention the sacrament effect what they convey also providing the preconditions of the sacraments are met (e.g. one must be human to be baptized).
A bank note is only paper and ink, but in a particular form it takes, it has the value it has.
CONSIDER:
Status sacraments which are administered once.
* Baptism, "wash and be clean" of the compulsions which naturally pull us away from God by inheritance and social factors.
* Confirmation, "a sealing" of the inclination towards God publically witnessed in total regard of the Church itself.
* Marriage, " the one-fleshness" as a commitment of the basic social unit of creation : the family.
* Ordination, "the distinct but not different" positions of Deacons, Priests, and Bishops within the Church.
The continuing needs of the Church are met
* Holy Communion, "eat and live", the service (the Masse) of thanksgiving(the Eucharist) at the centre of the Churches life Jesus Christ is Re-presented in memory, in sacrifice, and self giving presence.
* Confession, "redirects the sinner to God" by sorrow, repentance and amendment, away from the violations, distortions and desires which misdirect humanity.
*Unction, "healthy wholeness" involved in the fact of salvation, in the tragedy of disruptive sickness and impending death.
Anglicans particularly insist of the incarnational (human and divine) aspect of the sacraments and that they be done decently and in order.
The Holy Community.
APPROACH:
The Church is incarnational: divine (but not deified and infallible) and human (but not as a mere association). God has the vote that matters as a majority of ONE. In another way it is a true democracy, the saints of all time get to vote, so it is not carried away with, and imprisoned by, the fashion of the moment. So the Church is not dictated by a leadership (as in a business), or by some weird tuned-on spirituality, or even less by confining God in a human way.
The Church provides the freedom to worship God, and it gives the discipline to make it possible.
Not like a man who wanting to train his goats protects them in a pen; but he made the pen so large that the goats inside the pen were as wild as the goats outside.
CONSIDER:
* The Church is the anticipation of heaven - aware that earth is an appendix of heaven.
* The Church is the Body of Christ ( believers gathered together with Jesus).
* The Church is the special sphere of the Holy Spirit.
* The Church is one - because God is one.
* The Church is holy - challenging the distortions in our world.
* The Church is catholic - not restricted to one time and place but inclusive by nature.
* The Church is apostolic - guaranteed in the faith kept throughout the ages.
Anglicans particularly insist that the Church is not an "army", or a "club" but a "family".
The living agents of God`s Church.
APPROACH:
All believers are to make the work of God real and desiring all to be brought to God. All share in the priesthood of Christ; His sacrifice and His offering of Himself. Some of the Church are appointed to personally embody the reality. Deacons, Priests and Bishops are to be responsible, personify and serve; to make the Church seen in the individual, in the society and in the culture prevailing. The confrontation of missionaries and monastics acclaim facets of the life of the Church which it ignores to its peril.
Priests are seen as the cutting edge of the Church`s existence not as the star players, or as the coach, or even as the referee, but as the provider of the equipment for the main game.
CONSIDER:
* The Apostolic nature of all ministries and more particularly in the person of some.
* The ordained ministry is distinct but not different from the Church.
* Deacons personally show the Church is service.
* Priests personally show the Church is sacrifice.
* Bishops personally show the totality of the Church.
* Clergy are called to a permanent character in living and not merely a function.
*All ministries depict the Church as available and vulnerable.
Anglicans particularly insist that there is a delegation of authority to definite people but the abuse of the position is intolerable.
The certainty of the Religious experience.
APPROACH:
Unless we believe properly we will fall for anything. Popular leaders can, because of their following, be tempted to distort the truth. And there is a justifiable fear of institutional dogma. However, proven truth not only deserves to be clearly presented but it must be done to avoid chaos. Various working theories which say they "doubt everything" in actual practice are intolerant in a very vicious way of anything which opposes their method. There is in any operation of importance, the need of working principles.
Good features can be corrupted (as in drugs designed to alleviate pain in the chronically ill) used for recreation.
CONSIDER:
* Living truth is greater than a theory which still requires proof.
* There is a need to state the primacy of God, the historical importance of Jesus and the empowering produced by the Holy Spirit.
* God is not like us, but three Persons and one God. While there are some valuable attempts to describe and explain, such as I, YOU, HE or God above us, God with us and God in us; all such attempts fail, just as all attempts to define a human being fail. Still, so that we can proceed, we must clearly speak.
* Doubt in the given, like doubt in ourselves, is debilitating.
* We are limited when we talk about God. However, it is wrong to deny what God has done and to not speak about God at all.
* The experience of God in the Scriptures and in the Holy Tradition of the Church needs to be summarized.
* Because of the acceptance of a definite statement there can be more openness in dialogue with ideas being examined.
Anglicans particularly insist in the need to absolutely state the reality of God and what He does.
There is an obligation in the situation.
APPROACH:
We are to be developers not vandals. While most people would try to do the right thing under normal circumstances there is often a situation of "perplexity" which must be resolved. Our faith demands the right choice is to be made. Some indications such as "when in doubt don't", "the greater good should be done","do not sin that good may come about" or "the person's rights are to be respected" are helpful, but there is often expected an evaluation. Whatever the issue, worshipers are morally accountable, because they praise the Holy God.
A little girl broke her friend`s doll and her excuse was that her friend had invited her to stay at her home, and she could do anything she liked. But the doll`s owner rightly told her,"If you had loved me you would not have done such a thing".
CONSIDER:
* The Revelation ( specially as known in the Holy Scriptures).
* Reason ( not as a rationalization but as understanding).
* Responsibility (due to how we are placed).
* Law (not just a minimum legal standard but as a natural expectation).
* Intention (with the end in view).
*Virtue ( a conscious training of the conscience).
* Environment/situation (by which everything must be kept in proportion).
Anglicans particularly insist that there is a duty and discipline involved because of the life which has been given.
The praying to become prayer.
APPROACH:
Being with God is the aim of prayer. More than talking at God, more than enjoying His company and much more than being changed by the experience or getting something out of God; prayer is the natural response of humanity in the presence of the divine, and the grateful reaction to what God has done. There is a change of life perspective (conversion) and a desire for the Person of God as He is. This is a much greater matter than spending a few moment to enjoy our own company and to get ourselves together. The stress is therefore not on our wills, our reasoning, our imagination or our feelings, it is to put ourselves in the right place for God to have His affect upon us.
Our feet must leave the earth if there is a desire to learn to ride a bike, instead of walking in the water there is a need to begin to float in order to learn to swim.
CONSIDER:
Types of praying
* Privately - "alone with the alone".
* Public worship - together as we will be in heaven.
* Family prayers - the basic cell of prayer.
* Prayer groups - an association for prayer.
* Daily set prayers - a necessary discipline.
* Meditation - to make possible purgation, illumination, union.
* Crisis prayers - putting the case in the proper light.
Anglicans particularly insist that believers should have homely contentment with God.
Jesus Christ is really God and really man, the point of creation. The finality of our Lord is not to be overshadowed by an interest in archeology or even the justifiable concern of the end of history. In Jesus, we know the Person of our ultimate concern, and it is the Church which reflects this Spirit. Whereas obsessions, which are intent by power and control to exploit are in fact devoid of the value content expected of us as humanity. Jesus dies on the cross and says,"I thirst" wanting us as part of His life. This in turn demands we live because we worship.
| DIVINE GRACE | CONCENTRATING ON | OPPOSED TO | |
| Trinity | Bible
Holy Tradition Reason |
"New" Paganism | |
| Incarnational | Really God
Really Human |
Syncretism | |
| The Church
(Christ as Lord) (Spirit of Christ) |
Available
Vulnerable |
Trade School Skills | |
| Bible
Sacraments Creeds Ministry |
Worship
Discipline Catholic (inclusive) |
Exploitive - leadership | |
| Ethics
Prayer |
Society
Culture |
Superstition | |
| Responsibility | Individual | Fashion acceptance | |
| Faithfulness
Heaven |
Desired End | Idolatry of the humane |
Please tell us what you think about the issues on this site. Even if you want to join in a discussion I am only too willing to help you on your journey of faith. God Bless.
