Antioch and the Birth of the Gentile Church – May 11

It was a long hard journey for Paul to get to Pisidian Antioch and preach in the synagogue beneath the ruins of the church where I am standing (the other Antioch is in Syria) so we did not really mind the 7 hour bus ride diagonally across Turkey from Cappadocia. As we arrived the sunny weather became a downpour. We took this as a reminder of the hardships Paul also faced in spreading the Gospel. As I write this our bus is descending through the incredibly steep mountain pass Paul must have walked up from the coast.

In addition to the physical hardships, we could see in the relative layout of the ancient city that the power and authority of Rome towered over the main public market and was directly facing the synagogue below. Paul walked into a situation where both Rome and the Synagogue already claimed divine authority. His message, delivered in the synagogue below the church where I am standing, was nothing less than that both were wrong. He was proclaiming a new religious authority, graciously suggesting God would pardon past ignorance but not forever. When the Jewish authorities opposed the message he turned to the gentiles and the Christian Church was born.

The takeaway for me was an enhanced realization of how hard it is to proclaim a different understanding of God. In spite of Pauls’ oratorical skills, theological knowledge and the evidence of miraculous healings and the gifts of the Holy Spirit; they refused to believe the good news of God’s love in Jesus. Perhaps people are more lazy than inquisitive. We get angry when our pet ideas are challenged and there is a possibility we are wrong. It is as if we prefer being wrong to the mental and political struggle of finding the truth. Our religion is our established comfort zone and we do not like the discomfort of exploring change. Both Rome and the Jewish leadership were using the claim of divine authority to support their political and economic position. Both had a lot to lose if Paul was right. Both ended up opposing Paul, the truth and God – to their detriment.

This goes on in our own time. We are in the middle of a ferocious battle for the authority and reliability of the Bible. Academics including NT Wright, Ben Witherington, Richard Bauckham and Craig Evans are defending the authority of the Bible against popular and academic Biblical de-constructors including Elaine Pagels, Bart Ehrtman and Dominic Crossan. This is literally a life and death struggle for the church and all serious Christians - we can not loose this battle. We had quite a discussion of this on the bus with students asking how theological conservatives can be so narrow and theological liberals so empty. I blew my cover as an Anglican priest and shared my observation that theological liberals do not believe in the miracles of Jesus and spiritual evil – which gives them a completely unrealistic worldview. We appreciated Paul's struggles much more deeply!

Father John in Cappadocia May 10

 Our day began with a wakeup call at 4.15 am so again this may not be too coherent. Most of our study tour group were going ballooning which is a huge tourist thing here because the landscape is so unique. Over 100 ft. of volcanic ash was deposited and over time formed a special kind of rock called ‘tufa’. It is very soft and erodes much like the badlands of Drumheller Alberta. Where harder layers are on top this erosion creates strange mushroom shaped rock formations - which can be dug out to create underground cities as in picture .

It was dark when we got to the launch site but as it got lighter we could - see the outlines of over 50 huge balloons, each carrying up to 30 passengers were springing up from the ground as hot air roared into them. Riding in a balloon is magical in that the only sound is the roar of the burners. You just drift along, often low enough to touch the treetops. It was windy so we stayed below 500 meters. Our assignment was to ponder the question of ‘what kind of spirituality would emerge in a place like this? Our Professor, Dr. Charles Neinkirken had briefed us about St. Basel who went to Egypt in the Fourth Century to study and experience the desert spirituality of the “Desert Fathers” like the hermit Anthony. When Basil came back to his home in Cappadocia he rejected the solitude approach as an attempt to escape from Christ’s commandment to love one another. His famous words were “When I am alone whose feet can I wash?”

Instead he worked out a monastic rule based on community which is still in use in the Eastern Church. Basil, his sister Marika and brother Gregory devoted their lives to rescuing the Church from destructive and heretical disputes over the nature of Christ.

The rest of the morning was spent exploring a seven story underground city carved in the tufa rock where 3,000 people could hide from the various invaders from the Hitites 25 Centuries before Christ to the Moslems in the 7th. Century. The point being that in the world there is persecution and people have to adjust or perish. In the afternoon we visited a whole valley of carved chapels and homes carved into the rock by monastic communities. These lasted until the post-war settlement of 1923 whereby modern Turkey was created – along with forced population movements that meant the Greek monks had to leave.

The spiritual takeaway? Life is dangerous so we need to think globally, work in community and adapt locally. Perhaps this is why 23 people from Calgary are exhausting themselves with long flights and long days trying to understand how Christianity was saved and enriched by the Caoppoadician Fathers in the late Fourth Century.

Turkey Blog 1: Cappadocia Cave Churches

This is a blog written in a cave in Urgup Turkey by very tired traveler who spent most of the day walking around a UNESCO Heritage site at Gorme that has dozens of small cave churches. We arrived at the hotel at Midnight after an exhausting flight from Calgary so this is not by best writing.

Cappacocia is in the Eastern side of Turkey, South of the Black sea and West of Syria and Iraque. It famous to Western Christians for the “Cappadocian Fathers, Basil and the two Gregories” who helped settle a huge theological controversy in the late 300s. They also helped save the Eastern Orthodox church from completely losing the Holy Spirit as happened in the Western Church. It was a time of great military conflict and later of Moslem invasions that meant having a safe place to hide was important. Nature provided a solution in this part of the world through massive volcanic eruptions that produced thick layers of ash with different kinds of minerals that later hardened into tufa rock which was easy to carve. Over the Centuries people discovered they could cut homes and storage places into the rock and hide from invaders.

Religious communities formed around the teachings of the Cappadocian Fathers near the modern town of Gorme where they cut small chapels into the soft rock. Some of these are quite elaborate with stone columns left in place to remind the monks of churches in other places that needed columns to hld up the roof. They also cut refectories – eating halls kitchens and storehouses into the rock. The churches are decorated with beautiful paintings of Bible stories. Since there were no books the  story of the Faith had to be passed down orally. The pictures on the walls and ceilings of the churches are like our stained glass windows. If a picture is worth a thousand words then these churches have many thousands of words of teaching that they used to teach the faith to children and converts. This is what we have sadly almost lost in my generation.

Now to bed – wake-up for balloon ride is at 4.15 am. Blessings, John in Capaddocia+

How Do You Become Pure and Holy? (Easter 6)

If nothing impure or unholy is allowed into the new heavenly Jerusalem (Revelation) it is very important that we understand how to become pure and holy. The Good News is that Jesus will help us by forgiving the sins we repent and confess. Jesus will come and live in the hearts of those who really love Him. Our love of Jesus is measured by how well we keep his commandment to love God and one another. Since we are human we need help in discerning our sins and overcoming our self-deception. Jesus promises to send the Holy Spirit to guide us, comfort us and remind us of His teachings.

1. Jesus will come and live in the hearts of those who love & obey Him

Jesus is teaching us that our faith or trust in Him must be more than head knowledge. It must lead to real love. Real love is not what we desire for ourselves – that is lust. Real love is an emotional desire for the good of the other. Sacrificial love is putting the need of the other person and your desire for their good before your own needs. The more we know Jesus and understand His teachings from Bible reading, prayer and our worship experiences; the more we come to love Him and obey His teachings:

·         Love God – more than we love alternative idols:

o    Material things

o    Work / Career

o    Political heroes

o    Sports

·         Love what God has done – creation, reading about God in Bible

·         Love what God values:

o    Truth vs deception and lies

o    Holiness vs unholy, divided, impure, mixed

o    Peace not conflict and division

o    Order, justice – not disorder and injustice

o     Forgiveness not anger, hatred and revenge

·         Love your neighbour – sacrificial love based on their need

o    Respect personal value as child of God – physical needs

o    Honour by respecting reputation vs false witness, gossip

o    Respect property (stealing, coveting)

o    Respect marriage relationship (adultery)

o    Respect humanity by forgiving (vs un-forgiveness)

·         Love one another in the fellowship of the church community

o    Particularly tested by people we do not really like

Jesus helped people see how holy God is and how important it is that we be clean and holy if we are to be in the presence of God. The Holy Spirit cannot come and live on a spiritual garbage dump. If we want to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit we have to provide a clean environment.

2. The Holy Spirit will come and guide us in our spiritual battle

Love is the Blessing of a Community (Easter 5)

Jesus gives His followers a new Commandment. “As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” (John 14.34) This is a dramatic moment. Jesus is not just giving some pastoral advice. As devout Jews His followers were already under  the 10 Commandments. Five of these specify how Gods’ people were to love one another by not stealing, lying or harming others. Something special is going on here. Jesus is stepping into His divine role and making a new Covenant that alters the Covenant of Moses. The old Covenant was with the whole Hebrew people. The new  Covenant of Jesus is with a community of His disciples. It is with individuals who put their trust in Him personally. This is not an academic thing. This is a personal Covenant relationship with Jesus and with others who believe in Him. Christians are a covenant community of love.

1. Love means extending yourself for others

We often use the word “love” carelessly. Jesus is teaching His followers a new definition of “love”. There was in fact a new Greek word “agape” that is used primarily in the New Testament to describe the self-sacrificial love Jesus modeled. Christian love is about serving the deepest emotional and physical needs of the other person. This is very different from our ‘love of ice cream’. When we say we love ice cream we are describing what we want to get for ourselves. This is selfish love or desire. The Christian Psychiatrist M. Scott Peck defined Christian love as “extending yourself  for the other person”. Jesus wanted this kind of self-less love to be the sign of a Christian community. Deep down inside many people want to belong to a community with this kind of caring love even more than they want forgiveness and the hope of eternal spiritual life. This deep desire for intimacy with God and others is what Jesus built His church on.

2. Love is a sign of the presence of God

Church Development 101 – Love Jesus, Feed Lambs, Take Care Of Sheep

The Readings (Acts 9.1-20; Rev. 5.11-14 and John 21.1-19) are all about the beginning of new ministries. The Christian ministry of Paul begins with a dramatic conversion experience. In Revelation we are beginning the End Time ministry of Jesus and in John we have just read about the re-instatement and are commissioning of Peter as the first leader of the Christian Church. It cannot be a co-incidence that this is my first teaching as the newly anointed Interim Priest at St. Magloire’s in Drumheller, Canada. These Readings will guide us in our mission of re-developing our Christian ministry in this place – and could help many others in declining churches.

1. Paul, Jesus and Peter were Anointed by the Holy Spirit for Ministry

The key question facing us here is “What does God want to do in this place?”

We could call a Vestry Meeting or do a survey but that would not necessarily tell us what God wants to do here. It would tell us what some people think God wants to do – but what if they were wrong? We would end up working against God and frustrated. Paul, Jesus and Peter were all chosen and anointed by God not because they were popular or educated. They were chosen because they loved God more than others. There is a process of spiritual entropy in churches where the initial fire of the Holy Spirit begins to fade in people’s hearts as customs become entrenched and personal ambition and politics gradually replace spiritual anointing. So our first task is to come to terms with history and confirm that God has really chosen each of us to re-develop this Parish at this time. For my part, Lucille and I have both felt the anointing of the Holy Spirit in the work we have been doing over the past few weeks to prepare for this Interim Ministry. Please pray about this.

Spiritual Life Comes Through Believing in the Heart

(Bible teaching notes for Easter 2, 2010 by Rev. John Gishler)

The Easter stories teach us that there is a big difference between believing something to be true in your head and believing something to be true in your heart. This is the difference between head knowledge and heart knowledge. Spiritual life comes through believing deep in your heart – in your personal spirit, the part of you that survives physical death; that Jesus rose from the dead as the ‘first fruits’ or model for all those who put their trust in Him. We need to do more that affirm this as a theological creed. We need to be willing to bet our lives on it.

1. Thomas was prevented from believing by his pride

We are all a little like Thomas. It is hard for us to believe in something we have not seen or experienced ourselves. Thomas was probably a little insecure. He could not trust the witness of the other disciples. We can suspect from our own experience that pride made Thomas look down on the other disciples as easily fooled or confused. Thomas was making a terrible judgement of his friends. He is revealing a shocking lack of trust. In modern language we would say Thomas had ‘trust issues’. His lack of trust had apparently excluded him from the fellowship of the disciples. There is a huge lesson in this for the disciples – and for all believers. Belief in the Resurrection is not easy. Most people are very sceptical of the miraculous. The disciples had personally seen Jesus raise Lazarus form the dead. The Resurrection should not have been so difficult for them to believe. The lesson for the disciples – and us, is that we all have to wrestle with unbelief on some level during our spiritual life journey.

2. Believing leads to binding together and forgiveness

The disciples who believed had not all seen Jesus themselves. They had simply believed Mary who had seen Jesus and John and Peter who had seen the empty tomb. The difference is that they believed Mary and the evidence of John and Peter. This teaches us the importance of community and personal relationships in helping other people come to belief in Jesus. The other disciples knew Mary personally. They knew they could trust her as a witness. They also knew Jesus personally. They knew they could trust Him to do what He said. The disciples were a community, a fellowship like ours, where everyone was connected emotionally and spiritually. This connection included being connected emotionally and spiritually to Jesus. Because they believed in Him as Saviour they could purify themselves spiritually by confessing and taking their personal sins to Jesus for forgiveness. The disciples were modelling a community of believers living in right relationship to God through their belief in the heart in Jesus.

3. Forgiveness leads to spiritual peace, joy and life in the Holy Spirit

Like us the disciples were able to get rid of the poison of guilt, shame and bitterness that eat away at our souls. These are the burdens that many people carry around in their daily lives. These burdens suck the peace and joy out of people’s lives. They can reduce our lives to endless frustration. The Good News is that when a person believes in their heart in the Resurrection of Jesus – and all the other teachings, they enter a personal relationship with Jesus that binds them into a new spiritual community. This relationship connects them to a way of cleaning out their spiritual garbage. As the spiritual garbage is cleaned out the Holy Spirit can be invited in to bring spiritual peace and joy. The Holy Spirit is a sign that the person believes from the heart and is in this relationship. Many people are not aware that they have this gift. It is the still small voice in your head. This is what gives us spiritual life. The Holy Spirit flows like living water through our soul, helping us see our sins and healing our brokenness.

Jesus taught us the importance of spiritual cleansing and forgiveness in the Lord’s Prayer. If we believe from the heart and want to grow in spiritual life we need to forgive those who trespass against us. These are the people who upset our spiritual peace. Our un-forgiveness has power over us. This is the only requirement for participation in the Covenant of Jesus. We demonstrate our belief in our spiritual life by passing on the grace of forgiveness that God has given us - to others.

Spiritual life comes through believing in the heart!