Lectio Divina

Recently, I had the opportunity to teach someone this method of Bible study.  As I watched with great joy the Holy Spirit speaking so powerfully to this individual through our time of meditation on the Word of God, I decided to bring this post forward to help encourage all of us to continue to practice deliberate meditation on and study of God’s Holy Word.  Originally posted January 1, 2008.  Enjoy!

    

There are many ways to study the Bible: topical, inductive, book studies, etc. All of which are very profitable and worthwhile methods. One method which has been handed down to us through the centuries is known as Lectio Divina which in Latin means divine reading, spiritual reading, or holy reading. It is a method of prayer and scriptural reading designed to “promote communion with God and provide special spiritual insights” (Wikipedia, 2007). For all intents and purposes, “it is a way of praying with the Scripture that calls one to study, ponder, listen, and finally, pray from God’s Word” (Wikipedia, 2007)

                     

Lectio Divina is also a wonderful way to learn to listen and respond to the leading of the Holy Spirit in your daily devotions, I would like to encourage you to make use of this particular method of Bible reading. I believe it will profit you and your family in many ways. In particular, I believe it will help you to learn how to listen and hear the Holy Spirit speak to you through the Word of God. Below are the steps involved in Lection Divina.

                    

Step 1: Invocation

                   

Begin by asking the Holy Spirit to guide your time of study and meditation on the Word.

                   

Step 2: Key Word or Phrase

                   

The leader should have everyone to close their eyes as he or she reads the Scripture text. The leader should read the text through 2-3 times slowly. As the text is read slowly through instruct everyone to listen for a key word or phrase that stands out to them. After the final reading, the leader should ask each person in turn to state the word or phrase that caught their attention or the Holy Spirit seemed to illuminate. This is not a time for comment or discussion. Simply ask them to name the word or phrase.

                

Step 3: Impression or Emotion

                    

The leader should have everyone close their eyes again as he or she reads the text through again slowly 2 or 3 times. This time everyone should be reflecting on how the reading is speaking to them emotionally. What impression or feeling each one is having. For example: Does the reading stir up feelings of peace, joy, conviction, longing, hope, etc. After the reading, the leader should have everyone state the feeling or impression they are receiving from the reading. Again, this is not a time for comment or discussion. Have everyone simply state the feeling or impression.

                   

Step 4: What is God saying?

                        

The leader should again have everyone close their eyes and listen as he or she reads the text through slowly 2 or 3 times. This time the leader should ask everyone to ask themselves what they sense God is saying to them through this reading. After the last reading the leader should have everyone take turns sharing what they feel the Holy Spirit is saying to them through the reading. Now is the time to discuss and comment on the text.

                  

Step 5: Benediction

                           

Conclude your time of study with a prayer of thanksgiving for the insight you have received and the grace to apply God’s Word faithfully in your life.  One final note: Lectio Divina helps us to learn to read God’s Word as living and not just for information gathering. However, all our “impressions” as to what God is saying should be in accordance with the plain reason of the text. Beware the temptation to see what you “feel” regarding the Scripture as a license to make the Scriptures say anything you want them to. If the Holy Spirit is speaking something to you through His Word then it will agree with and not contradict the plain meaning of the text.

                             

Sources Cited 

Lectio Divina. (2007, January 22). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 04:51, February 27, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lectio_Divina&oldid=102446213

Bishop Samuel Lubogo Visits Mid-South Diocese

Bishop Samuel Lubogo of Source of the Nile Diocese Uganda is visiting the Mid-South Diocese after attending the International Convocation.  Bishop Lubogo is staying this week in Royston with Father and Mrs. Stanley Samuel.  He will minister this Thursday at 7:00 PM during the weekly meeting of St. John’s Eucharistic Fellowship and will then be our guest at St. Andrew’s Church on Sunday morning at 10:30 AM. 

Father Stanley extends a special invitation to all to come and join them in worship on Thursday evening to hear Bishop Lubogo.  For directions to St. John’s Eucharistic Fellowship, click here.

Alien Dignity

   

Our alien dignity is that dignity that we have but which is not of us in our fallen nature but can only be of God in His perfect nature.  It is a dignity of which we are stewards but only by the grace of God.  It is a dignity that is His intrinsically and is ours only extrinsically.  It is a dignity that does not adhere in us. Rather, it is earned for us. 

   

From The Rev’d Fr. John Bogg’s, Something Edifying ( July 2002 )

Convocation Begins TONIGHT!

International Convocation officially begins this evening.  For up-to-date reports on the events and happenings go to CECHome.Com  Also, please keep the Convocation in your prayers throughout the week.

A New Online Service

St. Andrew’s is trying a new online service called MyChurch.Org.  It is a service designed to allow parishoners to connect online so as to share important information, prayer requests, and stuff of interest with one another.  It also allows the church the opportunity to provide important information to the congregation who are registered and to make others in our community looking for a church aware of our parish.

Two of the unique features of MyChurch.Org is that it provides an exceptional church calender program that will allow us to easily post and keep track of schedules and upcoming events.  Plus, ministry groups within the parish will be able to establish sub-groups for disseminating groups specific information to their ministry team.

I encourage all our members to please sign-up and give the service a try.  I think you will like it and that it is going to prove a valuable tool for furthering parish communication. 

To sign-up, click here.

This Coming Sunday at St. Andrew’s

This weekend Father Lem Anderson will be both the celebrant and homilist during our Sunday Eucharist Service starting at 10:30 AM.  Deacon Kerry Wells will teach the Faith Formation class at 9:00 AM.  Father Randall will be in Dayton, Ohio for the dedication of his brother’s new church, the Safe House of Worship.

Please pray for our clergy as they carry out their various duties and responsibilities. 

If you have a need during Father Randall’s absence you may contact Father Lem through the church office at 770-784-5100.

Last Sunday of Summer Fan Drive

This Sunday, August 28, will be our last Sunday collecting fans for the FaithWorks Fan Drive.  If you have not already contributed to the Fan Drive do so this weekend.  Fans donated will be given to needy families in the Covington/Newton County area to help during the hot summer months. 

Fans to be new and still in their box.  Wal-Mart has simple box fans for less than $12.00.  Thank you for your donation.  For more information, call Father Randall at 678-371-6498.

Another Great Book by Anne Rice

I never imagined when I picked up the book Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt by Anne Rice earlier this year that I would be declaring myself a fan.  But having read Out of Egypt and now the sequel, Christ the Lord: Road to Cana, I must confess I am - a fan. 

In Road to Cana, Anne picks up with Jesus as an adult and weaves a story which takes him from Nazereth to the Wedding in Cana.  What is mesmerizing in this story is how Anne Rice is able to give us a glimpse into what Christ’s life might have looked like living in community in Nazereth, wrestling with the questions, concerns, and expectations of family, all the while coming into full awareness of His mission as Christ the Lord.  What I find admirable on the author’s part is that the plot of her story makes the Scriptural accounts come to life.  I found myself throughout the book thinking that her perspective on various accounts like the Baptism of Jesus, the Temptation, and even the Wedding in Cana gave great insights into the Scriptures themselves.

One of the most intriguing aspects that readers will face, especially Christians, is the thought of Jesus’ possible struggle with the desire to marry and to raise a family.  What at first seems almost an irreverent thought quickly becomes a very plausible consideration when one considers that Christ is fully man as well as fully God.  Certainly, he could have entertained or had desires to have a wife and to have children just I, a man, wanted a wife and children.  But let me say no more so as not to give to much away. 

My recommendation?  If you haven’t read the first book, Out of Egypt, start there.  If you have, get ready!  I think you are going to love Road to Cana. 

Keep’em coming, Anne.  You are doing a great job.

I Was Glad

 

“I Was Glad” sung by The Choir at King’s College, Cambridge

Prayer and the Devil

The following quote is from an article entitled What the Devil Fears by Sarah Elias Foulkes (Charisma Online).

The devil fears nothing like prayer. He knows that if he can break our communication with God, he has cut us off from all power. Hence, he sentinels the gateway of prayer with his seducing agents. He deadens the spiritual sensibilities,  hatches excuses, makes evasions in the mind, causes us to suddenly grow dull and drowsy and indolent, and in a thousand other ways he works untiringly to keep us from getting hold of God in earnest prayer.

                

He engineers strange circumstances to keep us from our knees. He incites a false zeal and, in a multitude of church activities, crowds out prayer. To the degree that he succeeds in causing us to neglect prayer, he has won the day. Our victory comes in arousing and stirring up all the faculties of taking hold of God in the combats of prayer.