December 24, 2022

Amazing Conversations at Jesus Birthday Party

 Our Anglican Holy Communion Service is like a birthday party. We gather and talk about someone (3 Readings), re-connect with each other (Confession and Absolution), have gifts (offering) a special meal (Eucharist) with a special prayer and song (Lord’s Prayer). Let’s start by talking about Jesus and getting to know him better:

1. Isaiah (7.10-17) Talks about an Amazing Sign from God

It is an amazing sign, prophesied 700 years before Jesus was born – a virgin will get pregnant and have a baby. There is no mention of who the father is. Who do you think the father will be?

What does this tell us about Jesus?

 

2. Luke (2.1-20) is the Amazing Story of Jesus Birth

December 9, 2022

What Are You Looking For? (Advent 3)

 The word "Advent" is from the Latin verb "veno" to come and the prefix "ad" which means before. We are focusing on how to be ready for Jesus whenever comes. In the Gospel Reading (Matthew 11.2-11) Jesus is explaining what people were looking for in John the Baptist. You can not prepare to meet Jesus or Holy Spirit if you do not know what or who you are looking for.

1. Jesus asks if they were looking for a reed blowing in the wind?

Jesus is teaching about John and Himself by explaining what John was not

November 26, 2022

Hope Calls Us to Wake Up and Be Ready (Advent 1A)

We live in a time like Isaiah when most people have become distracted and lost their faith in God. They have no fear of God’s judgement, no hope for eternal spiritual life in Jesus. We are a faithful remnant waiting for Jesus to return in Glory to judge humanity and restore His Kingdom on Earth. The Good News is that we are a people who have faith and a real hope that this will come soon and include us. The Readings remind us to put off deeds of darkness and cloth ourselves with Jesus and His armour of light.

1.    Isaiah Gave Israel the Hope of Restoration

November 16, 2022

How To Enter the Kingdom of God (Reign of Christ)

 On the Cross Jesus shows us how God reigns over His Kingdom with love. The Reign of Christ that we celebrate today is a spiritual time that began 2000 years ago on the Cross and will continue to the end of time. The Prophet Jeremiah reminds us of why Jesus had to come. The Apostle Paul explains who Jesus is. The thief on the cross models how to come into this spiritual kingdom that is both visible and invisible. 

1. Jeremiah explains why God had to intervene

November 15, 2022

Obstacles To a Life of Grace (Clergy Cursillo weekend talk)

 You have now been invited to commit yourselves to the Ideal of a “Life of Grace”, and been taught how to grow spiritually in that life as part of a church community through worship and sacraments. This new “life of grace is easy to live out here in a retreat environment surrounded by friends who encourage and support you. The problem is we can’t all stay here forever. We all have to go back to our lives in what we are tempted to call the “real world”. The bad news is that:

·      Most of the people around us do not know about Jesus / have a life of grace

·      World has been corrupted by human weakness and sin

·      People have been deceived by false teachers and demons

 

This is your spiritual “boot camp”. Unlike soldiers taught to defend themselves against an obvious physical attack; you need to learn how to protect yourself from both your own desiresand a hidden enemy who tries to deceive youthrough your mind. You will need to work hard at piety, study and action to overcome the obstacles to living a spiritual life of grace. 

 

1. Sin is an obstacle to living a life of grace - spiritual life

October 22, 2022

Deliver Us from Evil (Proper 30c)

     Deliver us from evil is the culmination and a summary of the Lord’s Prayer. Some chilling news – evil is “live” spelled backwards. The ending in Greek indicates it is a male identity. Ie. He, the evil one or Satan. As I share in Going Spiritual, I did not really understand evil until I was hitchhiking through the battlefields of France. I realized evil is intentional destruction of human lives for no purpose or benefit– very different from “bad things” that happen by accident. In the Readings:

·     Joel gives us an End Times warning and hope – destruction is coming - and God will send Jesus / Holy Spirit to deliver us  

·     Timothy Reading omits the very important warning about false teachers v.1-4 and then assures us that God will rescue the righteous from every evil attack–particularly by false teachers

·     Jesus is teaching us that humility and repentance deliver us from the evil and the destruction of Spiritual pride 

 

1.   Deliver Us from Spiritual Death

October 17, 2022

Called and Anointed to Proclaim Healing and Deliverance (St. Luke's Day)

 


This is Jesus mission statement. It should be the Churches’ mission Statement and it should be the mission of all Christians. Sadly, it is not. It is not because it can be dangerous and requires real commitment and community prayer support. You would think people who wear crosses would get it that crosses are for killing dangerous people. We avoid the hard, supernatural things in ministry – and Jesus weeps.

 

1.     We Are Called and Anointed – Its Spiritual!

September 10, 2022

Repentance is the Gateway to Reconciliation (Proper 24c)


    Jesus is teaching us the great lesson of repentance as the gateway we must all walk through from the spiritual prisons of pride and un-forgiveness to the joy of reconciliation. We have all at some time been lost sheep who got into trouble and needed to repent our foolishness and come home to Jesus. Jesus and His Church – all of us are in the reconciliation business. This is who we are and what we do – or at least are supposed to be doing.

 

1.    We Are All Lost Sheep

August 20, 2022

Love Is the First Spiritual Gift (Proper 21c)

 Love is the first spiritual gift we receive. This assures us that we have really established a right-relationship of love with God. Since love is a mystical or spiritual gift, men often have more trouble “getting it” than women who are usually more intuitive. Love is probably the most used and least understood word in English. Best understanding is Nicky Gumbel’s sharing of how he fell in love with Pippa – hint – they just knew. The Readings teach us:

·      Jeremiah’s Love of God enabled him to overcome his fear

·      Paul explains how overcoming our fear leads to joy

·      Jesus taught us that love frees us from the Law

 

1.    Jeremiah’s Love Overcame His Fear

August 18, 2022

Deliverance from Masonic Oaths and Curses (Zoom talk notes Aug. 18 2022 by Fr. John Gishler))

 1.    Introduction to Freemasonry

Freemasonry is an ancient pagan religion that can be traced back to the mysterious ancient associations of master builders in Egypt who built the pyramids centuries before Moses. They use mysterious words that they claim to be from “ancient Egyptian” – which modern language scholars say never existed. Freemasonry blinds, deceives and binds members to secrecy with powerful satanic oaths and curses as they progress through 33 degrees of spiritual cleansing and ‘enlightenment’. Masons believe in brotherly love and model this better than many Christians – but only to other masons and their families. As we will see in the comparison Table, they do not believe in salvation through Jesus but salvation through man-centred enlightenment and moral self-purification. Masons have a ‘corrected’ bible, consider themselves Christian and are drawn to the ritual of Anglican Churches. A Nineteenth-Century Anglican Commission conclude that Freemasonry is incompatible with Christianity. They are drawn to power and control and are often on Anglican vestries. Freemasonry is based on witchcraft that blinds and corrupts good men who then pass the sin-guilt from their oaths and curses down the family line.

 

2.    Table of Masonic and Christian Beliefs and Practices[1]

July 16, 2022

The Mystery of Life in Christ (Proper 16c)

 How can naturally unholy humans live in the holy and divine son of God who died 2,000 years ago? Christians believe Jesus created a new way of forgiveness and know how to be made holy. It is the idea of living in the Risen Jesus part that is a stumbling block for many:

·      Forgotten Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit and to be with His followers always. 

·      The connection is Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus and the continuing presence of Jesus in the world. 

·      When we are listening to Holy Spirit we are listening to Jesus and He is with us. 

·      Readings explain Life in Christ as a mystical relationship of focussing on and listening to the Holy Spirit of Jesus.

 

1.    Amos 8.1-12: A Famine of Hearing the Words of the Lord

June 26, 2022

The Trinity is Near You (Trinity Sunday)


 (Guest post from Rev. Tom Hubschmidt, at Holy Cross Anglican Church in Calgary)

In case you don’t know me, I’m Tom. I’m the intern (at Holy Cross Anglican Church, Calgary)  There’s this running joke across the Anglican Church—I’ve heard it here, I’ve heard it in Toronto, heard it in Hamilton—that when Trinity Sunday comes around, the Rector will always get the student minister to preach! I’ve been assured though. By three different Rectors. That they would never intentionally offload heavy task of the Trinity unto their minion! But I also must say, that for the past two Trinity Sundays, I have been a pastoral intern, and for the past two Trinity Sundays, I have preached! Nah, obviously Rev. Dr. Kyle Norman is more than up to the task. 

But there’s a reason the joke is made. Our belief in the Trinity can seem like an odd one. Certain sages or philosophers or scientists all over the globe see the doctrine of the Trinity as the Church’s self-destruct button. Depending on if you’re talking to, belief in the Trinity makes us either irrational or irreligious. I love it. The theologians I study all think the Trinity is the crowning glory of Christian belief, the most joyful of topics, and the closest, most intimate, precious experience of God. And I am so with them.

June 18, 2022

Children of God Are Victors Not Victims (Proper c-12)

  Like Elijah, many people in our feel discouraged, depressed and like victims under attack. They have an identity problem. The Good news of today’s Readings is that we are adopted children of God by faith. We are protected and have put on the authority of Jesus Christ to do God’s work in the world.

 

1.    Many People Like Elijah Have an Identity Crisis

Elijah believed he was a victim - the lie that all the prophets in Israel were being killed. He ran away. But you can’t run away from God. God is not angry. Like a loving father God gently asks him what he is doing. God corrects him and gives him a powerful, nation changing mission. God is still with him and has preserved a remnant of 7,000 faithful believers in Israel.

May 14, 2022

Church Is A Holy Spirit Led Community Of Love (Easter 5)

  

Jesus is teaching the disciples how to build a Holy Spirit Led Community of Love. It is the beginning of the Christian Church. The Gospel readings teach us that it’s defining characteristic is to be the love relationship within the community. Psalm 148 reminds us its main work is to give God glory and praise. The Acts reading reminds us it is to be Holy Spirit-Led community of Holy Spirit-baptised people. The Revelation Reading chosen sadly omits verses 7 and 8 which tell us who is excluded from the Community.

 

1.    A Community of Love

April 16, 2022

Resurrection Validates the New Covenant of Jesus

 Easter is a celebration of Jesus courage and love in overcoming the power of sin and death. It is God’s divine yes to the New Covenant of Jesus, that created a new way for us to be forgiven and made holy so we could be in the presence of God in heaven:

·      Challenges us to have the courage and love to experience and share that grace like Paul

 

 

1.   God Made a New Covenant of Grace

April 12, 2022

Palm Sunday is A Celebration of Courage

(Fr. John – 30th. Anniversary of Ordination)

 




I chose to be ordained a priest on Palm Sunday because it is a joyful celebration of Jesus courage in ministry. It was probably the happiest time in His ministry as He was claiming His authority as Messiah at the gates of Jerusalem. The people who were there because they recognised His teaching and miracles as evidence of His authenticity. It was courageous because challenging the authority and teaching of the religious establishment would lead to the most horrible and painful death possible. Jesus trusted that His Father would honour the New Covenant in His blood and raise Him and those who believed in Him from death.

 

1.  Jesus Proclaimed the Truth with Courage & Love

March 25, 2022

Climate Emergency as False Science

( John is working on a manuscript tentatively titled "7 Great Deceptions: Recovering Truth, Freedom & Democracy". It is a continuation of Francis Schaefer's "How Shall We Then Live" that traced the decline of the Judeo-Christian foundation of truth on which modern democracy, social and economic progress is based and warned this leads to social chaos and the rise of dictators like Hitler, Trump etc. This draft of Chapter 2 exposes the fraudulent manipulation of climate data that was used by a coalition of the the New Left  and wind and solar industries to gain political power and enormous profits while doing nothing to slow global warming:)

       Climate Emergency as False Science is the second great deception that is driving our post-truth culture into social and economic chaos. Like all the deceptions of our post-truth time it flows directly from the flaws of self-deception, politicization and spiritual deception explained above in "Human Reason as False Truth". Climate Emergency is the best example of truth, real scientific truth, being manipulated, exaggerated, politicized and weaponized for personal, political and corporate gain. When politicians say ‘the science is settled’ they are lying. Like all politicians they know that if a lie is repeated often enough, people will believe it. Not only is the science not settled. The real existential danger of our time is the ineffective, anti-democratic and anti-capitalist policies that are currently being justified by this false science. 

     To be very clear global warming is a really happening and is going to require serious and very expensive economic and social changes on a global scale. But the good news is that it is not an emergency. The science, which we will review in detail, says we have until the end of this Century (not the middle) to develop, get international agreement on, and implement a comprehensive plan to slow and limit warming and prepare local mitigation measures. The title and sub-title of Bjorn Lombard’s book False Alarm: How climate change panic costs us trillions, hurts the poor, and fails to fix the planet[1]” says it all. This is a respected Swedish climate scientist who has served on international panels and seen first-hand the complexities of measuring global warming and the manipulation of raw data to create false political panic to implement ineffective and economically and politically destructive solutions.

We will begin our study of this deception with a serious, in-depth look at the key numbers to learn how global warming is measured, what causes global warming and the false science of melting glaciers, rising oceans, flooding, extreme weather and forest fires.

March 21, 2022

Our Strength is In Our Weakness (Lent 3c)

 The Readings (Isaiah 55.1-9; 1 Cor. 10.1-13; Luke 13.1-9) remind us that our strength is in our weakness. On our own we can do nothing to help ourselves. We may become discouraged, prideful, get distracted, rebel against Father God and lose our Baptismal Covenant promise of eternal spiritual life. Lent is a time to dig around and loosen our roots, repent our sins, “Come to Jesus” for forgiveness and go deeper in our spiritual life.

 

1.   Jesus Begins His Teaching with the Problem of Evil

When bad things happen to people, we might wonder if God is punishing them. Jesus uses the examples of persecution, a wall falling and a tower collapsing and killing people. He asks were they more guilty than others?