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

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.

What We Lost In The Fire

Grace and peace, 

I was scanning the movie titles with my remote control and I came across a title that jumped off the screen: What we lost in the fire.  The Holy Spirit immediately began to speak to about my [personal] journey these last 18 weeks and all the things I’ve lost in the Fire.  The Song of Songs 8:6-7 says

“…love is as strong as death, jealousy is strong as Sheol; its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the Lord.  Many waters cannot quench love, nor will rivers overflow it…”

Psalm 79:5 [says]

 ”…shall thy jealousy burn like fire forever?”  

I have lost so many things these last few months under the heat of His affirming and furious fire that  
it would be impossible for me to number them.  Most of them were things I had become so accustomed to that I wasn’t even conscious of them.  I have no words to express my gratitude for the freedom the firestorm of His jealous love has brought to me as it has roared through my life.  To say yes to a repentant life, a life of holiness, is to stand with open arms and allow His Holy fire to envelope and consume you.  It is a glorious, intensely confirming, hilariously liberating, and yes heartbreakingly painful experience. In many ways the heartbreaking part may be the the most important part. I can tell you all that I am losing in the fire. All those things that have cluttered my life that have kept me from “…inheriting the earth.” 

I want to offer you this ancient prayer that represents the spirit of repentance.

I pray thee Lord Jesu, by thy sacred wounds, which thou didst suffer on the cross for our salvation, (whence flowed thy precious Blood, whereby we have obtained our salvation) : wound this my sinful soul, for which thou hast vouchsafed even to suffer death, with the fiery dart of thy exceeding and conquerable charity.  Pierce my heart with the javelin of thy love, that my soul may say unto thee: I am sore smitten with thy love ; that so from the very wound of thy love my tears may flow without ceasing both day and night. Strike, O Lord, I beseech thee, this my stoney heart with the mighty spear of thy gracious loving-kindness ; and pierce it to the inmost depth of thy mighty power. Who livest and reignest for ever and  
ever.  Amen.  

“ALWAYS!”

In Christ, 
+Chuck

Archbishop Charles Jones serves as Provincial Bishop of the Southeast Province of the International Communion of the Charismatic Episcopal Church and is rector of the Cathedral of Christ the King, Selma, Alabama.  The above meditation taken from the Archbishop’s Weekly Word.

Ask Father Paul…

The Rev’d Canon Paul Massey, Canon to the Ordinary for the Mid-South Diocese and Rector of Church of the Holy Cross in Fayetteville, Georgia writes a regular Q & A column for the Fayette Citizen entitled “Ask Father Paul…”  Below is a question recently posed to Father Paul I think you will enjoy.

Dear Father Paul: Why do you use a “prayer book” in your services? Can’t you make up the prayers for your services spontaneously as you go along? — Mark

Dear Mark: Good question. I’ll answer, but first let me ask you a question. Why do people use a hymnal in their church services? Can’t they make up songs with words and music spontaneously as they go along?

They can’t and don’t of course. That’s my point, and it’s why almost all churches have hymnals, or song books or project songs for worship on a screen. The songs were written often over decades or even centuries by men and women under Gods anointing for use by God’s people in worship … as helps and guides.

In the same way The Book of Common Prayer, which we use at the Church of the Holy Cross, was written (in the 1500’s) by anointed writers to help people in their worship. The majority of the text of the Book of Common Prayer is taken directly from the Bible. Over 75 percent of the world’s Christians use some type of prayer book or service guide in their services. The Prayer Books give direction and guidance to the service to help make sure the service does the things that God wants done, like confessing our sins and reading publicly from the Bible to name just two. I, for one, don’t think God wants us to “just wing it” in worship. Neither is he pleased with “dead” church services. There must and should be spontaneity. Prayer books are like the “tracks” that a train runs on taking it to its destination. A train needs tracks to run on. Otherwise the train would never get anywhere and you’d have a train wreck.

On The Dignity of Man

It is the biblical doctrine of creation in a unique and profound way that defines who we are - personal, significant, covenant creatures - unlike God, true enough, in that we are created, but like Him in that we are created in His image.

 

Modern cosmologists who insist that men are the product of an impersonal beginning plus time plus chance are really saying that there is no intelligible ground for asserting personal significance for the human race.  

    

Robert L. Reymond, New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith, (p. 116)

Chance is No-Thing

In a universe governed by God there are no chance events.

Indeed, there is no such thing as chance.

Chance does not exist.

 

It is merely a word we use to describe mathematical possibilities.

But chance itself has no power because it has no being.

 

Chance is not an entity that can influence reality.

Chance is not a thing.

Chance is no-thing.

 

R. C. Sproul

Like Rain Into A Fleece of Wool

In my time of prayer this morning there was a scripture that really ministered to me.  Ps.72:6 says “He shall come down like the rain into a fleece of wool, even as the drops that water the earth”.  What a remarkable description of being filled with the Holy Spirit.  We have been prophetically praying for the rain of heaven to fall; that is for a fresh soaking of the Spirit to come to our lives and to His Church.

                        

The phrase “Baptism in the Spirit” is the best metaphor to describe what is meant by “filling”.  We think of a cup being filled, but “Baptism” means “to immerse”, to “saturate”.  It comes from a word that means “to dip”.  The word was used to describe taking a piece of cloth and dipping it into a dye.  When you dip it you soak it with the dye.  Every fiber is filled with the dye, and the identity of the cloth is now changed for it is heavy with dye.  The dye is on, in, and around every molecule of that cloth. 

                      

Can you imagine how much water a fleece of wool can hold?  If you filled a fleece of wool with water so much that it couldn’t soak up one more drop that would be a good illustration of what it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit.  Also can you imagine how heavy that piece of wool would be.  This is what God is wanting to do in our midst.  This is what He is doing.  HALLELUJAH!!!!  He wants to send His rain on us personally and corporately until we are soaked with the Holy Spirit.  He wants us to be “heavy” with the Holy Spirit.  We just have to present Him our lives in absolute surrender (our fleece of wool that has been wrung dry through repentance) asking Him to make us “heavy” with the Holy Spirit. 

                               

May our minds, our emotions, our wills, all of desires, literally our entire beings be “heavy with the Holy Spirit.  ALWAYS”

                      

In Christ,

+Chuck

                   

Archbishop Charles Jones serves the Southeast Province of the International Communion of the Charismatic Episcopal Church and is rector of the Cathedral of Christ the King, Selma, Alabama.  The above meditation taken from the Archbishop’s Weekly Word.

The Real Problem by Father Mark Miller

G.K. Chesterton, a great Christian apologist , writer, and philosopher, entered an essay contest in England.  The essay theme was: “What is wrong with the world?”  Many people submitted some thought provoking articles on world hunger, racial prejudice, greed, justice, world peace etc.  G. K. Chesterton won the essay contest with two words, “I am.” 

Mr. Chesterton evidently had not been “enlightened” by the self-esteem movement.  He had not “parented” his inner child” or brought “closure” to all of his idiosyncrasies.  He was seeing himself and his sinful selfish behavior as contributing to the ills of society.  He could not answer for everyone else, only himself.

In a marriage conflict if a spouse focused first on himself/herself and his/her short comings rather than the mate’s, there would be fewer divorces.  I have to admit, it is easier to focus on the sin of another.  It is down right uncomfortable to deal forthrightly with my own sins.  (smile)

It’s human nature to excuse ones self and to blame others.  Recently, in a stimulating discussion with a fellow priest about what is wrong with today’s American church, I was about to step on my soap box and give a litany of the wrongs when Chesterson’s answer hit me: “I am.”  I suggest that we all start here.  Every revival of the church has started here.  “If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (Jn.1:19).

The Rev’d Father Mark Miller is rector of the Charismatic Episcopal Church of the Resurrection, 1030 S. San Jacinto Ave., San Jacinto, California, 92583. 

Called to Dig Ditches

There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God,The holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High. - Psalm 46:4 (NKJV)

One of the key passages to which we appeal for an understanding of what is termed the Convergence or Three-Streams Movement is Psalm 46:4.  Recognizing that there are three broad worship traditions within the Body of Christ i.e., evangelical, sacramental, and charismatic, the Convergence or Three-Streams Movement contends that these streams were never meant to be seen as seperate and exclusive expressions from one another but were to be understood and celebrated as one.  In other words, three streams; one river.  As it was in the Early Church a church, we seek a church which is fully charismatic, fully sacramental, and fully evangelical. 

Studying this passage recently, I discovered something I didn’t know.  The streams of which Psalm 46:4 speak are irrigation channels.  In other words, they are streams dug to help feed and nurture the land.  They are streams that do not converge into a river but flow from a river to bring the needed nutrients and refreshment the land needs to produce a harvest. 

As I meditated on the significance of this insight, the following implications seemed important for us who are part of the Three-Streams Movement.

1. Cultivating the full expression of the charismatic, evangelical, and sacramental takes intentionality.  Irrigation ditches don’t just happen.  They are dug.  They are also carefully engineered in order to provide the best flow of water for the maximum benefit of the land.  In like manner, if we want to say we are truly and fully manifesting and celebrating each of the three streams, we must be intentional in “digging the trenches” for them to flow in.
2. That each stream provides important nutrients necessary to the life and fruitfulness of the Church cannot be underestimated.  Building off of the previous observation, we cannot devalue the importance of one stream over another.  Each has it place and importance to the overall health of the Body.  The question cannot be are we to be more catholic, evangelical, or charismatic.  The question is how can we insure that all that is needed for the life and health of the Body is being provided.  It is not one stream but all the streams which “make glad the city of God.”
3. A very important fact - the river feeds the streams not the streams the river.  This may seem obvious, but in our very own language there is a danger of turning this point around.  The word “convergence” implies a coming together.  I understand what we mean by this.  We seek to nurture and bring together these three key expressions of Christianity into one full expression of worship and ministry.  However, these three exist within the greater body of Christ already and flow from Him to us.   We have not been chosen to be “the” expression of true Christian worship.  To many are vying for that position already.  No, ours is a more humble position.  He has chosen us from among His people to be a sign and a symbol of what can happen when all three streams are allowed to feed and nurture His people.  To be “triumphalistic” and think we are the source is a sure way for us to “dry up” and loose touch with what God is trying to do in and through us.
4. Properly dug irrigation streams make glad (benefit) all the people of the City.  In other words, how we dig our ditches now to cultivate the charismatic, evangelical, and sacramental I believe will have a major impact on the whole of Christ’s Church now and in the future.  While we are but one part of Christ’s Church, we are an important part of what the Spirit is doing in our day.  It is for the benefit of all God’s people that we seek to cultivate the flow of all three streams in our churches.  

In conclusion, we are part of a very exciting move of the Spirit.  Yet, given the nature of the calling, it is still one which requires alot of work.  If you will, we are called to dig ditches.  This might explain for us why our work at times seems more frustrating and slow going.  Furthermore, it sounds a bit lack lustre for Kingdom work.  Yet, as pointed out above, it is vitally essential for the health and welfare of Christ’s Church.  And if we are faithful, the benefits (the harvest) for us and for all God’s people yet to be realized will come.

The Trouble Tree

The carpenter I hired to help me restore an old farmhouse had just finished a rough first day on the job. A flat tire made him lose an hour of work, his electric saw quit, and now his ancient pickup truck refused to start. While I drove him home, he sat in stony silence.

On arriving, he invited me in to meet his family. As we walked toward the front door, he paused briefly at a small tree, touching the tips of the branches with both hands. When opening the door he underwent an amazing transformation. His tanned face was wreathed in smiles and he hugged his two small children and gave his wife a kiss. Afterward he walked me to the car. We passed the tree and my curiosity got the better of me. I asked him about what I had seen him do earlier.

“Oh, that’s my trouble tree,” he replied. “I know I can’t help having troubles on the job, but one thing’s for sure, troubles don’t belong in the house with my wife and the children. So I just hang them on the tree every night when I come home. Then in the morning I pick them up again.”

He paused. “Funny thing is,” he smiled, “When I come out in the morning to pick ‘em up, there ain’t nearly as many as I remember hanging up the night before.”

Mark Dumas
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