Jesus Made a New Covenant Based on Love

·         Readings begin with the Covenant of Abraham and end with the Covenant of Jesus we celebrate in The Eucharist

·         Need to understand the meaning of a covenant with God

·         Need to realize that the bottom line is a love relationship

·         Lent is a good time to examine our own relationship with God – more than tokenism - like giving up chocolate

1.    What is a Covenant?

a.    A special type of agreement with God - God initiates

b.    Both parties promises to do something

c.    Abraham had to “walk before me faithfully and be blameless” (Genesis 17.2)

                                            i.    Love God - loyalty to one God vs. many gods

                                           ii.    Love others - good behaviour towards others

                                          iii.    Notice it is all about an attitude of the heart

                                          iv.    Pharisees / Teachers of Law substituted rules

d.    God provided land, children and prosperity

                                            i.    Can see in the history of the Jews – prosperity

Transfiguration Was the Ultimate Epiphany Experience

An Epiphany moment is when we see something in a dramatic new way. In this case Peter, James and John see Jesus with his body and cloths changed in a dramatic, visible way; talking to Elijah and Moses (Mark 9.2-13). This is not a dream. There are three very awake and frightened witnesses. The witnesses are having the epiphany moment of their lives. They are seeing Jesus as part of another eternal spiritual dimension. This is nothing less than the heavenly kingdom in visible form intruding on our physical world.

1. We have trouble with the Biblical supernatural worldview

• We have been raised in a culture based on science and reason
• The Age of Reason and Enlightenment rejected this view as Biblical myths
• Modern Theological Liberals often reject the supernatural as superstition
• Anglican Church theology based on Scripture, Tradition and Reason
• Anglican Church Reformation rejected authority of “Experience”
• Good News is we still acknowledge the work of the Holy Spirit
• Healing Ministry gives us ‘observable and repeatable evidence
• My experience – physical healing from cancer
• Reading Scott Peck and seeing Dr. Kraft do an exorcism
• Family Foundations International and release from oppression
• People who have not had personal experiences of the supernatural can not be expected to completely believe these stories
• Good News is all Baptized Christians do receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit and will eventually have some experience of the supernatural

The Healing Miracles Teach Us Who Jesus Is

·         The Readings teach us the Good News that divine healing is possible and give us the hope     of personal healing

·         The healing miracles also confront us with what is a major stumbling block to faith for many people – the supernatural

·         Did Jesus really do miraculous healings as Mark says?

·         I believe He did – but only because I have seen miracles

·         Seeing the miraculous authenticates the Biblical worldview

·         I respect the fact that those who have not experienced the supernatural will continue to have trouble with this worldview

1.     We  all struggle to believe in the healing miracles of Jesus

·         Many people in our science-based culture do not believe in the supernatural worldview of the Bible

·         The Church has gradually lost it’s teaching authority as it became corrupted and used its’ authority to control rather than heal people

·         Enlightenment Theologians had no experience and questioned the authenticity of the Resurrection and healing miracles

·         Theologians searching for the “Historical Jesus” have been exposed as re-making Jesus in their own image, with no power

·         When I was at Oxford I learned that historically Theologians have often tended to remake Jesus in their own image

·         Some modern Liberal Protestants dismiss the miracles of Jesus as myths of a pre-scientific and superstitious culture.

·         This is Satan’s big lie in our time – and many have believed it.

·         We say we believe in the miracles of Jesus, but those who have personally experienced healing miracles believe in the supernatural worldview of the Bible on a much deeper level.

Jesus Has Given Us the Authority To Heal and Free the Spiritually Oppressed

The Gospel story of Jesus healing a sick woman AND casting out a demon opens our eyes to the supernatural world of the healing ministry in the Bible. This is an Epiphany moment. Many people in our time have been told the healing miracles of Jesus are exaggerations, from a pre-scientific and superstitious culture; or that healing only happened in the time of Jesus. This is wrong information. Those of us in the healing ministry have personal experience that people in our time can be healed from both physical illness and spiritual oppression – just like it says in the Bible. The Healing Ministry is scientific and reasonable because it is based on observable evidence. Let me give you some examples:

1.    Our words have power in the spiritual realm

A very long time ago Lucille and I were reading John and Paula Sanford’s books on the Healing Ministry. This couple have been writing books, leading conferences and doing prayer ministry for over 50 years.

Christians Are Called To Shine With the Glory of God

In January we begin a New Year and many people pause to reflect on their lives and make resolutions on what to do in the New Year. It helps if you have some idea of the purpose of human life. As Christians we are different because we do not believe that the purpose of life is to die with the most toys, the biggest house or the largest investment portfolio. Christians believe that the purpose of life is to be a sign of the glory of God. The Readings chosen for today remind us that God chooses holy people and reveals Himself to them so they will be filled with joy and reflect His glory.

1.     God chooses holy people

The Readings include two call stories – the call of Samuel and the call of Nathaniel. Why is Samuel chosen instead of the priestly sons of Eli? If we read around the call story we learn that the two sons of Eli had blasphemed God, had not repented and had not been rebuked by Eli. Both Eli and his sons had made themselves unholy by their failure to respect the authority of God. In contrast, notice the humility of Samuel. Notice how he never even thinks that God might want to talk to him. His life is focussed on serving God by serving Eli.

Reply to "Mormons are indeed Christians" letter to National Post

 (This is the original text of my letter which was shortened and published in the National Post on January 5, 2012)
Mormons are very good people who live exemplory lives reflecting Christian
values but they are not really Christians in the original meaning of the
word. Christians, to quote from the Anglican Baptism questions "put their
whole trust in Jesus Christ as their lord and saviour." They depend on
grace, the forgiveness of sins and eternal spiritual life through repentance
and faith in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross and regular
participation in communion with other Christians. In contrast the Book of
Mormon and the resulting new religion has established a path to salvation
which is more based on works and personal morality - i.e. self-salvation;
and does not respect the spiritual equality of women. Christianity is based
on the 66 books of the Bible which include over 3,000 years of verifiable
prophecies, historic events and settlements. The Book of Mormon was a
revelation to one individual whose occupation according to the US Census was
"treasure hunter", was claimed to have been translated from 'Ancient
Egyptian' which is a language unknown to Egyptian linguistic scholars and
describes ancient civilizations with large cities that have not been
detected in spite of modern satelite imagery and ground probing radar. The
bottom line - or perhaps the top line is that sadly their churches are under
what looks more like a phallic symbol than a cross.

Rev. John Gishler, M.Div., Calgary

Bible Teachings For Spiritual Life: Epiphany Moments Drive Our Spiritual Life

Bible Teachings For Spiritual Life: Epiphany Moments Drive Our Spiritual Life