A couple of people asked to see this before the holiday when I was writing it, so here it is. Don't get out your heretic burning posts; I have half of my schooling yet in front of me.
A Statement of Faith and Act of Worship by James Randolph Estes
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
I believe that there is one mediator between God and humanity, Jesus of Nazareth, who is the only way to the Father. I believe that God, motivated by great love, sent Jesus Christ into the world so that all who believe in Him will not perish, but have eternal life; that Jesus did not come into the world for its condemnation, but for its salvation. I believe God is one. This one God is the I AM of Israel who is disclosed in three persons; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The truest disclosure of God is in the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, the living Word, who is the invisible God wrapped in flesh; perfect Deity and true humanity united in one person forever. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, lived in perfect submission to His Father by the Holy Spirit, suffered under Pontius Pilot, was crucified, dead and buried. On the third day He was vindicated by God in bodily resurrection, ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father, almighty<!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[1]<!--[endif]-->. He will return to judge to quick and the dead, for the remaking of creation into a new heaven and new earth where Righteousness will be at home.
I believe that Jesus lived, died, was raised up, ascended and sent the Holy Spirit together with the Father in order to bring me into the family of God and enable me to say not just God, or creator, but “Abba, Father.” I believe this pleases God. This particular relationship is by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ; his atonement and glorification. Jesus kept the whole law as I could not and became as I am so that I might be as He is; that is a son of God, in a particular, unique and ordered place of favor and glory within the Divine Council because God is pleased to have it so. It is from this place of favor and intimacy that I am able to participate in the eternal-life and purpose of God, the coming of the Kingdom and the doing of God’s will in the earth; Jesus’ unchallenged dominion over all of creation,<!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[2]<!--[endif]--> having destroyed sin and its weak dominion forever. This is the calling of the Church and the heritage of every believer.
I believe that the Church is the assembly of those who have come near to God through faith in Jesus’ eternal, reconciliatory life. The church is the new community of disciples sent into the world to proclaim the reign of God, is sustained by the Holy Spirit, and is the body of Christ, called to become ever more like Jesus Christ, its Head, in its unity. The Church is also the means of God’s righteous dominion, saints in rank and file, marching through the earth, cold water in hand, visiting the isolated, bandaging wounds, feeding the hungry, washing feet and declaring the good news of the Kingdom’s nearness.
I believe that Baptism and the Eucharist are ordained by the Lord Jesus. Baptism is a rite of passage that marks entrance into the new covenant family. The Eucharist is a continuing covenant renewal of vows. Together they are simultaneously God’s pledge to us, divinely ordained means of grace, public statements of submission to the once crucified and now resurrected Christ, anticipations of Jesus’ promised return and of the consummation of all things. While these holy doings are a means of participation in the new covenant life, the covenant itself is first between Jesus Christ and His Father. The Church, by the activity of the Holy Spirit, are united to Jesus and in this way all the work is God’s and not ours at all.
Standing in the tradition of the ancient historical church and the reformers, I believe that the Old and New Testament are the authoritative witness to God’s dealings with creation. God has spoken above all in the living Word who became flesh and revealed the truth of God faithfully and without deception. I believe that God continues to speak by the Living Word through the written word and that because Jesus Christ is the Word become flesh, Scripture has its center and fulfillment in Him.
I believe that God is ever creative and new. “Behold the Lord is doing a new thing in your day.” Indeed, to cease to be creative would be a denial of God’s own nature. Yet, God is changeless and as such ever expresses in ceaselessly breathtaking, beautiful ways the changeless majesty of God’s own character. Thus new wine flows ever toward the same ecstasy; a slender intoxicating glimpse from the inexhaustible knowledge of Him fills all in all.
1 In regard to “at the right had of the Father, Almighty” I would add, “…a reality beyond me so much that I tremble to imagine it.”
2 It is easy to read of unchallenged dominion and think of totalitarian regimes and despot rulers who erect idols in their own honor. This is not the God we serve. The dominion of Christ’s reign is that of peace, of community, of righteousness, of equality, or faithfulness, of justice, and of love.
Do you lock your doors at night? That’s the habit at my house. Of course, if someone really wanted in they would find a way; the night’s dark silence would be disrupted with breaking glass. It’s troubling to imagine, yet it’s also how we are to anticipate the coming of the day of the Lord: like a thief in the night. In fact the prophets remind us the Day of the Lord is not light at all, but rather great darkness; the Day of the Lord is night itself. The great and terrible Day of the Lord will come as a thief, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman, and there is no escape.
What shall we do then? Well, we have a contingency plan for this at my house, and I’ll bet you do too. When out of town we employ a small army of dial-timers to switch lights on and off at all hours of the night, and not just lights to be seen, but also radios and televisions to be heard. Why? Because we hope would-be thieves will move on to one of those “not a creature was stirring” homes. If we are not awake, we at least don’t want the thief to know it.
But, of course, Jesus is not a thief coming to plunder. The Day of the Lord is His day! Jesus is the rightful King returning to claim His day, coming suddenly with judgment for all days. Let’s not think that Jesus will not come back simply because He has not done so yet. He is not slow as we consider such things, but is patient, and His patience means salvation. This is the flame atop the candle of hope, that we are His people. What fear of darkness is there for those who are light in the Lord?
Beloved, there is no eternal night for us. We are children of the day, the heritage of light and so we set aside the habits of night people. We don’t live any longer for fading night-pleasures with no thought for tomorrow.
What are the children of light to do? We remember and we wait together. We remember the lowly manger, the garden tears, the cruel cross, and we remember the empty tomb; we remember that just as he did not wait overlong in that tomb, so He will not sit overlong at the right hand of power. We remember, waiting through the night watches, we gaze forward, giving Him no rest until righteousness shines like a lamp, waiting we whisper together into the darkness, “Come, Lord Jesus!”
Beloved, encourage one another and build each other up, because Jesus is coming. Hallelujah, He comes suddenly.
A little bit of a pet peeve for me: all the talk I hear of the greedy mortgage companies that have created this economic crisis.
This just doesn't make sense. Loan companies don't want to make bad loans. That's just going to lead to going bankrupt and being bought out way undervalued by Chase Inc. There is no CEO that has "give loans that drive us to the soup lines" as a part of their 5 year plan. So, why would you make bad loans if you were working for a mortgage company? Two words: Big Brother.
America has a short term memory disorder, which is that it can only remember the last six political years ata ny given time. Reach out a hand and reach back a few administrations and consider thanking Bill Clinton for the Mortgage crisis.
If you have ever been in my car or near the door to my room it is clear to you that I would prefer to sing most things that could be said. Commentaries on road-side happenings, dirty dishes, a card in the mail, joys, frustrations... It's just nice to sing.
Try to imagine my delight when I was digging through a drawer at work and found the anniversary edition DVD of the Sound of Music!! Basically, I got paid to to sing with Julie Andrews last night at work. I don't usually watch movies while I do paperwork, but I couldn't say no, or sing no for that matter.
Christmas Break was Soooo Gooood!! (said in teen girl squad voice)
I have been trying to make these posts shorter, so let's se how I do.
Something magical, maybe holy, about niece hugs and kisses, about being tackled by a cutish two year old chunk of tough, manly awesomeness.
4 days in Overland Park with the Connelly's. Met Christmas break '04 when Mateo and I gave Trish Tarno a stolen starbucks decoration (which she loved). Blessed to be neighbor, friend and staff family with Colleen through the Outreach Ministries at ORU, which also led to friendship with Erin, Colleen's sibling. What a gift those days were -- sleeping in and laughing at breakfast, going to the prayer room, good talks and musicals, eating authentic mexican cuisine (Look at the horns). Thank you Connelly's for your graciousness.
Stacked wood with my Dad. Stacking the wood was nice, but the conversation is treasured.
Committal in Ponca City with Michael, a pastor and friend at my home church. Short service, long drive. Time with Michael in the car was a gift. Michael helps bridge the gap between the culture of my heritage and the culture of my calling and he asks good questions. The message: Talk is cheap. Live it. Thanks Boss.
"You are my hiding place in every storm of life. You even save me from myself; you are my hiding place." -- Danielson.
Watching from the Clark's living room as the Jayhawks claim the Orange Bowl for the Big 12. We had gathered to wave the wheat for Jeff, a senior on the special teams squad and brother the Jen Clark, who played after being told that he wouldn't. Good food, good friends, caucus returns, lots of laughing, and reenactment of the trophy presentation. We are all such total dorks, and it's perfect that way.
'Run In The New Year' with Adam Kuert. 11:45 on new years eve found me wearing shorts, warm hat, and double layered t-shirts to run in the new year with a little 5K. Finished under 27 minutes (Yea!!) and broke my digital camera (Boo!!).
Family breakfast. I have a great family.
Spoke for the youth group at my Father's church. Forced to set to paper ponderings for a youth leadership retreat at which I am speaking in February. The topic? Prayer. I have three one hour time slots to persuade and motivate high school students and hopefully redefine the way we think about, well, everything.
Conversations of Laughter and leisure, of warmth and worship. Special thanks to Micah, Michael, Blake, Beth, Josh, Jaclyn, Colleen, Laura, Kate, Eric, and Mark. You all give to me just in being who you are.
Returned to Pittsburgh with clearer mind, lighter heart, larger expectation, lighter load, deeper hope, a more focused life, and (as I may uniquely need) better pictures for thinking about life. I think I had forgotten who I am for a bit. Those whom the son sets free is free indeed.
Still not good at short postings. Is it better at all?
