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Episcopal

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Thursday, October 11, 2007

  • Arise and Build - a pastoral letter
    to Christ the King Anglican Church
    in Lexington, Michigan

    The God of Heaven Himself will prosper us.  Therefore, we his servants will arise and build …  
    -  Nehemiah 2:20
    In the book of Nehemiah, we see the people of God rebuilding the wall in Jerusalem and in the book of Ezra, God’s people are rebuilding the Temple.   Our commission here at Christ the King Anglican Church is a similar one.   I would like to look at some challenges that we face here in Lexington, Michigan:  
    Realize the Rubble
    The birth of this congregation was birthed in seeing a serious departure from the faith in the Episcopal denomination.  That church was caving in to a worldly agenda and throwing away the faith of our fathers and mothers.   The Episcopal Church seemed to be no longer presenting the good news, but was on the front pages depicting much bad news of a disobedient and self-willed church, making up their own rules and throwing away any obligation to the Biblical, revealed Word of God.   When one sees the rubble of a city or a Temple or even a local church, there are many options, but I think the bravest one is to arise and build.   That is what you, as lay people decided to do a couple years ago.      
    Arise and Build

    You all as people of faith stood up for that faith.  It would've been easier seeing the rubble in the American wing of the Anglican Communion to arise and go elsewhere.  That's an easy route and doesn't take much effort.   Instead you chose to “arise and build” and that's putting your muscle, money and minutes where your mouth is and that's a much harder route.   You looked at the heritage, the sacraments, the liturgy, the theological treasures in the Anglican tradition and decided you wouldn't let go of it out of personal discouragement, anger, laziness or other various reasons.   You kept a vision of God's Temple even while leaving buildings and friends.   You also found new friends walking in the same faith and conviction.   Many were new Anglican friends with addresses in South America, Africa, and even Southeast Asia.  
    Sword and Hammer
    Some of these new friends were Anglican bishops who were also discerning the devastation and departure from biblical faith in the American wing of their Communion.  Again, back in Nehemiah, we see those working at the construction site holding both a tool for building and a weapon for battling in each hand.  It's not easy to build in the midst of battle or to battle in the midst of construction, but that is what many of us have been called to do over the last few years.   We're not alone, we have Anglican leaders around the world who have chosen to be obedient to the Lord and hold a hammer in one hand and the sword in the other.   I hope that we, in our local setting are more concentrated on construction, but as the Apostle Paul did, we also must fight the good fight. (…)

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

  • Alister McGrath - "Is God a Delusion"

    An interesting talk and discussion on Atheism held a the City Church of San Francisco:
    [audio:http://www.bringyou.to/AlisterMcGrathGodDelusion.mp3]
    Source Link
    City Church of San Francisco

     
      

Friday, September 21, 2007

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Monday, September 17, 2007

  • Stopping the Slave Trade
    Wilberforce: The Challenge For Today
    by Nicky Gumbel

    Some of you may have seen the recent movie "Amazing Grace", it gives a good presentation of the times and story of William Wilberforce, the DVD should be out before too long.  To learn more about the abolishing of Slavery in England and the life of William Wiberforce, listen to this interesting message from Nicky Gumbel, an Anglican Pastor in London. (…)

Saturday, September 15, 2007

  • I never read her Dracula books but her novel;
    Christ the Lord - out of Egypt
    is a worthwhile read

    This is a very interesting interview from the White Horse Inn, with Ann Rice an nationally known author and newly found woman of faith with interesting insights into the Biblical text.  She had a powerful conversion and has dedicated her writing skills to higher purpose.    In this interview she has much to say about supposed modern scholarship around the scriptural material and text. (…)

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Monday, September 3, 2007

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

  • Saint Augustine, Bishop of Hippo - 430 a.d.
    August 28th - Feast Day

    Here is information on Saint Augustine on his special day in the Church calendar:
    Aurelius Augustinus, Augustine of Hippo, or Saint Augustine (November 13, 354 – August 28, 430) was one of the most important figures in the development of Western Christianity, there considered to be one of the church fathers. (…)

Monday, August 27, 2007

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

  • The Quest for Relevance
    Os Guinness on the White Horse Inn

    On this edition of the White Horse Inn, the hosts talk with Os Guinness, author of Prophetic Untimeliness: A Challenge to the Idol of Relevance.  They discuss some serious concerns for the evangelical community and it's current condition and direction. (…)

Monday, August 20, 2007

Friday, August 17, 2007

  • Recommended Book - Treasures and Lessons
    on Pastoral Ministry from the Historic Church

    This is a must read for those in any Pastoral Ministry:
     
     
    In today's Church, there often appears to be a conflict between those who are doctrinally strong and those who "care about people." Thomas Oden does an excellent service by showing that a Christian (especially a Pastor or Pastoral Counselor) can and should use the resources of the Christian tradition as a tool of compassionate ministry. (…)

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Friday, August 10, 2007

Thursday, August 9, 2007

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

  • A Sacrifice of Praise - deep devotional material

    When I was 19 years old,  I was perusing the library shelves of Dallas Theological Seminary, and discovered a small hymnbook.   They let me borrow it, its title was Hymns for the Little Flock, if your church follows the common lectionary, you'll find that term on the lips of Jesus in this coming Gospel Reading (Luke 12-32-40).  He speaks to the “Little Flock’ and gives his disciples, a warning to be in preparation to flee from Jerusalem.   Interestingly enough, some 37 years later, I have some serious differences regarding the end time doctrine that has been represented by Dallas Theological Seminary, but I do thank them for introducing me to historic hymnody.   Ever since I held that book, I have been a collector of old hymn books, most of them leather bound with no musical notation.  In the early American church, they had various tunes that could be sung to a number of hymns.   Finding some great old hymn books at one time was fairly easy and fairly inexpensive.  Not so today, but I still am on the lookout whenever I get to a used bookstore.   These old hymn books make wonderful devotional material in worshiping God.   Comparatively, we have wandered pretty far from the God Centered, theologically deep and meaningful congregational singing in our day.   Thankfully, we have had some revival of songs from Scripture, and powerful worship, that exults in our God; Father, Son  and Holy Spirit.  I have to credit my friends at Integrity Music and a few others for helping to bring some tremendous worship music into wider distribution and use.  
    If you'd like to pursue music and hymns of the older sort, I would suggest an excellent book of Christian poetry and hymns written over a period of 1200 years.  This book utilizes sources from the Protestant, Anglican, Roman, and Orthodox traditions.   The title is "A Sacrifice of Praise” edited by James H. (…)

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Father Richard Dalton - Rochester - 48307 / Lexington - 48450 , Michigan / Phone 248-656-4864