Happy Feast of St. Nicholas Day!

The Preacher’s Corner.

Liturgical Gangstas 17: Preaching Ananias, Sapphira and the Gospel

Good stuff!  Happy after Thanksgiving !

Living up to the label “Evangelical”

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2009/november/28.65.html

Good words from Philip Yancey’s last column for CT (for now anyway)

Diocese of South Carolinal Clergy Conf.

We are meeting as a body of clergy for the first time in a number of years. There has been some heartfelt discussion already. Your prayers are coveted.

Bishop Lawrence clarifies position of Episcopal Diocese of SC.

While I appreciate Adam Parker's attempt to understand the larger issues surrounding the upcoming Special Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina, his recent article titled "Diocese to vote on split" in the Oct. 4 Post and Courier was unfortunately marred by errors of fact.

These errors are all the more troubling because they relate to the effect of the proposed resolutions, should the convention vote in favor of them.

The errors are doubly troubling because a simple phone call to the bishop or the diocesan staff could have quickly corrected any misunderstanding.

The issues are so complicated that I can understand why such errors might be made. Nevertheless, I believe that it is important to correct misimpressions that the article may have produced. Read the rest...

The Invention of Lying: A quick review…

Well he did it. Ricky Gervais drew me in and then stomped on my head. Let me begin by saying that the new movie, “The Invention of Lying”, is funny, very smart, inventive, and entertaining. It is also an elitist smack down of people of the Christian faith and God Himself.

So if you can stomach that, it’s a great movie.

Gervais skillfully reels you into a world of gullible, one dimensional people with no religion at all. His first lie has, according to the movie, nothing to do with faith (unless you count breaking the 8^th commandment a faith issue), in fact he uses the first lie to rob a bank of money and then continues to lie and rise in status and wealth by doing so.

While at his mother’s deathbed, Gervais crafts a lie to comfort her in her fear of dying and slipping off into what she thinks is nothingness. The “lie” he tells involves an afterlife with “mansions” for everyone and eternal joy….sound familiar? (See John 14:2) That message then spreads to become a quasi-religion centered around the “Big Man in the Sky”.

The not-so-subtle context of the film is that people of faith are delusional and imbecilic which, if you know Ricky Gervais, is the central rant of his life. If you spend any time listening to his podcasts you will hear his acidic opinion of people who believe in God over and over.

Recently I poked around through a book call “UnChristian”. It’s a book filled with interviews of people who have either been repelled from the faith by Christians themselves or by some perceived notions about what Christians are like. Christian Elitism is a common thread throughout this book as one of the repulsive characteristics of “church people”. This mirrored almost perfectly by the Atheistic Elitism of “The Invention of Lying.” And its funny.

This said…I think that this would be a great movie to watch with other Christians and then sit around stunned with some coffee and discuss afterwards. Gervais makes some very simple, incorrect, assumptions about what faith in God is and his actual message is “if you believe the lie you’re an idiot.” Well at least he’s honest and direct, a quality that many Christians would benefit from exhibiting.

Yours in Christ (who really is real I promise)

David Dubay+

A letter to my parish: Giving as Worship.

About 4 years ago I learned something new. {which is special for me because as you know, I already think I know everything). I watched a teaching on the internet given by a preacher from Seattle of all places. I have to tell you that it changed my perspective on giving in about 2 minutes. Because before that day I had been driven to give (when I gave) out of guilt and peer pressure.

On any given Sunday, I would reach into my pocket and pull out what change I had (my friend calls it “tipping God”) and throw it into the plate, or many times I would give the usher the “Anglican wave off” and watch the plate move to the people behind me. I had a terrible relationship with that plate. The same sort of relationship I had with my dental hygienist who would have to beg, cajole, or brow beat me into flossing just to save my teeth. I would see that plate coming my way and visualize a robber coming to take my hamburger money.

But that has changed, and it’s one of the few instant miracles I’ve been given in this life. The first words I heard were:

Who is your God? Whom do you worship?

Of course my answer was “Jesus” I mean, wouldn’t yours be? The second question sent me reeling. It had never been asked of me before:

“Where do you dedicate your time, talent, and money?….because that is your God.”

I was furious. Furious that some TV preacher in a Members Only Jacket had challenged me like that and, more honestly, furious because for much of my life I had been worshipping a false God.….sometimes my God was my intellect, sometimes my God was my appetite, sometimes my God was my desire for leisure…..but rarely, using the benchmark of “time, talent, and giving” did I end up with Jesus as my answer. The same Jesus who gave all so that I and my wife and my kids and my friends who claimed to love Him might live forever.

Moreover, when I did give, I had had this sense that I was now part of the leadership of the church, “I pay your salary, I better get something out of this place in return!” But that left me quickly that day. I became, as the Christians say, “Convicted”. And for the first time in my life and ministry I believed fully, that Jesus was truly Lord of my life and not just of the world.

Years later I ran into this little story:

Once upon a time there was a gardener who grew an enormous carrot. So he took it to his king and said, "My Lord, this is the greatest carrot I've ever grown or ever will grow. Therefore I want to present it to you as a token of my love and respect for you." The king was touched and discerned the man's heart, so as [the gardener] turned to go the king said, "Wait! You are clearly a good steward of the earth. I own a plot of land right next to yours. I want to give it to you freely as a gift so you can garden it all." And the gardener was amazed and delighted and went home rejoicing. But there was a nobleman at the king's court who overheard all this. And he said, "My! If that is what you get for a carrot—what if you gave the king something better?" So the next day the nobleman came before the king and he was leading a handsome black stallion. He bowed low and said, "My lord, I breed horses and this is the greatest horse I have ever bred or ever will. Therefore I want to present it to you as a token of my love and respect for you." But the king discerned his heart and said thank you, and took the horse and merely dismissed him. The nobleman was perplexed. So the king said, "Let me explain. That gardener was giving me the carrot, but you were giving yourself the horse." Timothy Keller, The Prodigal God (Dutton, 2008), pp. 60-61;

Of course, the king represents God, and for years I had been the nobleman and not the gardener.

The next step for me was to prayerfully find the stumbling blocks to my giving. There were three big ones staring me in the face.

1. Since I had changed from checking to debit card use, I didn’t have a check with me when went to church….so coins it was.
2. I found that when I would write the check or take out cash I couldn’t give sacrificially or with regularity.
3. I didn’t think my contribution mattered, like taking one grape from the produce stand and eating it doesn’t hurt anyone.

The answers:

1. To fix problems one and two I set up an automatic check that went out the day after my paycheck hit the bank…I didn’t have to write it…it was just sent… no pain, no inner debates.
2. I realized that the church actually counted on the amount that I had pledged and had to do things like cannibalize funds for other ministries just to keep the lights on. So my giving was important in a practical sense and not only a spiritual one.
3. I discovered that my giving to the Lord tells Him and tells me that I am dedicated to serve Him not only with lip service but with my most precious possession…. money. It has opened up my worship, freed my soul and blessed my family.

So, Fr. David, you want me to tithe?

No, I want to you to give regularly and consistently as worship. With the same regularity that you open the prayer book, kneel at the altar, and sing the hymns I want you to acknowledge who your savior is with your giving. 10% is great 5% is great 3% is great, but ask God first and find out what He wants you to do. He will tell you if you ask.

I won’t do a lot of talking about this….its a tough subject but it’s a real subject. If you have any questions about this please call me here at the office

May the Lord bless you and keep you,

David+

Diocese of South Carolina.

The Bishop of South Carolina is neither reactionary nor paralyzed. Thursday, Aug. 13th was a day that I will remember forever. It was the day that the Diocese of South Carolina, it's clergy and congregations, engaged the problem of corrupt doctrine in a way that has not yet been seen across the Communion. While pride is a sin, I admit, I was proud of my Bishop and of his predecessor, Bishop Allison, who did more for the faith yesterday than the house of Bishops has done in 40 years.

Click HERE for the full text of Bishop Lawrence's address.

Tim Keller: Who is Jesus parts 1 and 2.

Tim Keller: The Resurrection is intellectually
credible and existentially satisfying.

Part One

Part Two

Rest In Peace Marion Hatchett+

The following is a message that was received in my Facebook inbox:

Friends, I write this morning with news that Marion Hatchett died sometime during the night. I will send funeral arrangements when I hear of them. Sean+ The Reverend Sean Ferrell, Rector Saint Luke's Episcopal Church Jackson, Tennessee

Joseph Monti retires from Sewanee School of Theology

http://sitemason.sewanee.edu/newspub/iWaPzG?id=18769

Anglican Digest now online.

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Bishop Lawrence of The Diocese of SC on Gen Con 09

From Bishop Lawrence to the Diocese of SC

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

“…not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.”
Galatians 1:7-8

Grace, peace and courage to you in our Lord Jesus Christ, who was lifted high upon the cross that he might draw the whole world into the redeeming love of the Father and sustain us in the power of the Holy Spirit. I write to you in the aftermath of General Convention 2009. You need to know that the landscape of Anglicanism and The Episcopal Church has once again changed. I haven’t time now to describe these matters in the detail that they deserve and I am still too close to the events to adequately evaluate them. I shall write you at greater length when I return to Charleston next week. But let me answer ever so briefly two questions: Where is the Episcopal Church after General Convention 2009? What does it mean for South Carolina?

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