Rex.Espiritu.net - a blog vox

With anticipation and expectation in this season of preparation through Advent, I am watching what Jesus does (wwjd) among us and praying Jesus Christ is coming to town. 

Reflecting further, this may mean different things for each person.  What does it mean for Jesus Christ to come to town, into the life of this community, into the life of your family, and into one’s own personal life?  What does it mean for neighbors, friends and loved ones to have Jesus Christ come into their midst?  Even if we consider that the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ is already t/here, what does it mean for Him to come into our lives anew, to be reborn in and among us this Christmas?  What does it entail for us to recognize, realize and experience His being with and in us today? 

The Latin phrase, Coram Deo comes to mind, meaning: “before the face of God�.  The Hebrew word, Paneh, can be translated “face� or “presence�.  There is at once a sense of deep intimacy and awesome power in the face and presence of God, whether in the form of a tiny babe at Bethlehem, or as the Lion of Judah in Revelation.  When the glory of the Lord filled the temple in the time of King Solomon, God’s presence was such that the priests were not able to enter.  As a song of praise entitled, Let Your Glory Fill This Place conveys it, “God’s glory was more than they could stand.�  The apostle Paul describes God’s powerful ability to the saints in Ephesus as “immeasurably more than, exceedingly, abundantly, far above all we could ever ask or even think or imagine.� 

So what would it mean for Jesus Christ – the Holy One in Whose humanity dwelt the very presence of God – what would it mean for His Holy Spirit to dwell among us anew this Christmas?  Would it be more than we could stand?  Would it cause us to kneel and humbly bow before Him in utter worship?  Would we raise our hands in surrender and unbounded unceasing praise “to Him Who sits on the throne and unto the Lamb� Who is worthy to receive “blessing and honor and glory and power forever�?  Would the face of a little child placed in our midst capture our hearts anew to the beauty of one so fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of their Creator?  Would we experience ourselves being wholly and dearly loved as ones who are treasured by our Lord and Savior, Redeemer and Friend – the One Whom the prophet in Isaiah refers to as Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace? 

This Christmas, I am making a list and checking it once, twice, thrice…  to find the heart, soul, mind, and strength of the One Who loved us so very much that He sent and gave His One and Only Child to be born in us.  I am writing in my journal some items today, not in conforming to this world’s materialistic culture of consumerism, but instead hope-fully being transformed by the renewing of my mind in attempting to reflect with spiritual depth what words would meaningfully come after the words, All I want for Christmas is … 

not to miss beholding the Holy Child at Bethlehem; to know I am fearfully and wonderfully made; to experience people being treasured, wholly and dearly loved; to witness Jesus being loved with all our heart, soul, mind and strength; not to miss treasuring my own wife and children in the family the Lord God Almighty has blessed me with; not to miss re-member-ing and praying for others at this time during the holidays in which some may find it difficult to celebrate; to keep writing this list as a prayerful offering to my Lord God. 

Dear ones, this Christmas, let us reflect upon things noble, pure, lovely …

That the glory of the Lord would fill our place, and so that we would truly have… 

A Merry Christmas! 

FYI - Here’s a quote I stumbled upon earlier which gives me pause for further reflection…. 

http://www.pcusa.org/pastorselders/dailyquote#Oct17

October 17 Think of a hospital.  The patients are dying like flies.  The methods are altered in one way or another.  It’s no use.  What does it come from?  It comes from the building, the whole building is full of poison.  The patients are registered as dead, one of this disease, and that one of another, it is not true; for they are all dead from the poison from the building.  So it is in the religious sphere.  That the religious situation is lamentable, that religious men are in a pitiable state, nothing is more certain.  So  one man thinks it would help if we got a new hymnal, another a new altar—book, another a musical service, etc., etc.  In vain – for it comes from . . . the building. — Søren Kierkegaard, “Medical Diagnosis�

With such a diagnosis, I would pray the Lord’s healing upon the body of Christ for a hopeful prognosis in God’s shalom –

Toward seeking a more fundamentally missional purpose for the church of Christ, living life together transformed in the power and fellowship of the Holy Spirit as a community of faith for the glory of God, I continue 

Under the mercy and healing grace… 

Here’s something I submitted for reflection at the church congregation where God has called me to serve…. 

What does it mean for us to be a missional community?  As believers in Christ within the family of faith at First Presbyterian Church, what is the Lord calling us to in fulfilling the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) for our surrounding community?  What unique gifts has God given us to offer our neighbors in New Castle, Henry County, and beyond?  How would the Lord have you exercise your gifts along with others as we are called to participate in mission and ministry with those around us in cooperation with the Holy Spirit? 
To be a missional community, we cannot be a congregation that expects people to come to us.  Instead, we are called to seek ways to become involved in our surrounding community; to engage with and be a blessing in the lives of people around us.  The “old way� of doing church may have meant focusing on buildings and land, or programs and facilities.  The idea exemplified by our popular culture in the movie, Field of Dreams, was the model of “if [we] build it, they will come,� or to put it another way, “if we upgrade or modernize, it will be more appealing for them to come.�  (Dr. Stephen A. Hayner in his message at the inaugural conference of the Presbyterian Global Fellowship characterized this with the notion of “compelling them to come in� as one may misapply mission by conquest from the parable of the great banquet in Luke 14:23.)[1] 

But the missional church must take issue with that.  While it may entail the use of a more adequately equipped facility to do the work of ministry with excellence for God’s glory, the greater and larger vision is one that would include us living our lives with intentionality in and among those around us in such a way that a desire for the God Whom we serve is engendered within them and that they are moved to become willing to be with us as we are with them. 

The missional church is called to be incarnational, embodying Jesus as the body of believers in Christ being salt and light so that the surrounding world might witness and experience the things of the kingdom among them and be drawn to the Son by the Father in the power of the Holy Spirit.  Facilities and programs are a means to relationship and a vehicle for ministry.  They should never be the primary focus of staff, leaders, or anyone else in the congregation gathered for worship, study and fellowship.  The missional church’s focus is to keep on asking where and how they can be in and among the folks in the community with the purpose of glorifying God and forever enjoying God together. 
The Rev. Dr. Terry Mann, pastor at Fountain Park Church writes on “being missional�… 

Being missional is indeed about caring, reaching out to, and ministering to those commonly referred to as “seekers.�  But it goes so far beyond that. 
A lot of the discussion I am hearing centers around being missional in this sense: “What do we do in order to have others come to us?�  “How should our program look to be attractive?�  Friends, that is not being missional.  That is being attractional.  [There is a] Huge difference.

Attractional says, “How do we get them here?�
Missional says, “How do we go to them?’
Attractional says, “Here we are.�
Missional says, “Where are you?�
Attractional says, “Come, let me help you.�
Missional says, “Let me be with you.�
Attractional says, “What is appealing?�
Missional says. “Where should I be investing my time?�
Attractional says, “Come.�
Missional says, “Go.�
Both care about those without Christ, but the core movement is opposite. 

Now, before you say so, let me.  Being missional will indeed be attractional, – at least on some level.  When folks see you coming to them, see you caring for them where they are, without a hidden agenda; that is indeed appealing!  BUT and this is a big BUT, the key . . . is that being missional starts with the church going to them; not us striving to get them to us.  Please understand this difference.  It is at the core![2] 

In the interest of initiating a possible “virtual” implementation along this vein, or at least a preliminary conversation thread, here are some pertinent blog bytes….   

http://www.pcusa.org/pastorselders/dailyquote#26

September 26

“You have to die to enter a vocation. A profession brings out the best in you. A vocation calls you away from what thought was best in you, purifies it, and promises to make you something or someone you are not yet.”

—Richard Lischer

Excerpts from http://pcusa.org/theologyandworship/whatwedo/newpastors.htm 

an urgently-needed anchor for personal cultivation of theological and spiritual vitality

a national network for pastors, in which pastors are extended the opportunity to think and pray together in an ongoing covenant. The Reformed tradition offers a compelling model for such a network, namely John Calvin’s “Venerable Company of Pastors� in Geneva

seeks to situate and habituate pastors in a rhythm of rigorous study and disciplined prayer, in regular company with colleagues under the oversight of wise spiritual directors, from the very outset of their vocational journeys

Many reported that these consultations reconnected them with their original sense of God’s call. Engaging colleagues in intensive study and disciplined prayer over several days renewed and sharpened their vocational identity as ministers of Word and Sacrament.

unless pastors periodically meet to encourage and admonish one another, they find it all too easy to set aside the commitments of the covenant due to the press of demands they face in their day to day labors.

It is very difficult for pastors who already have already carved out established vocational patterns to change deeply entrenched habits midstream. Slowly but surely, a pastor’s life of study can taper down to little more than the necessary minimum for preparing sermons and lessons, and a pastor’s life of prayer can devolve essentially into a tool for pastoral care. Deeply habituated in such vocational patterns, pastors often struggle in vain to pull themselves out of well-worn ruts to embrace new commitments to study and prayer.

All too easily pastoral ministry becomes primarily a matter of getting a job done, rather than an abiding vocation that is regularly nourished quite apart from the current demands of particular local ministry situations. For vocation-sustaining habits of regular study and prayer — quite apart from job responsibilities — to be faithfully maintained, pastors need to gather regularly to encourage one another in such practices.

such engagements do in fact renew and nurture the theological vocation of pastors

pattern of vocational nurture that is firmly rooted in deep experience with pastors far and wide

 

thank you for your welcome!  although i’ve tried starting a number of different blog site accounts before, upon reading some of the postings and conversations here, i was drawn to initiating one in and joining this particular community by a sense of being together specifically set apart to wonder in awe along with other pilgrims on the journey of faith, seeking to live authentic lives in Christ for the glory of God and the advancement of God’s kingdom.  i am looking forward to hopefully engaging well in this forum with others, being transformed by the renewing of our minds in Word and Spirit, spurring one another on toward love and good deeds, that I and others may come to know Christ better and make Him known.