More Feb 22 entries

Lent Quotes: Gregory of Nyssa on Prayer

My colleague Jill included this in a post of hers in March 2005 which I just rediscovered tonight. Very relevant for Lent when we traditionally focus on growing in spiritual disciplines.

The effect of prayer is union with God, and, if someone is with God, he is separated from the enemy.

Through prayer we guard our chastity, control our temper and rid ourselves of vanity. It makes us forget injuries, overcomes envy, defeats injustice and makes amends for sin. . .

It will refresh you when you are weary and comfort you when you are sorrowful. . . Prayer is the delight of the joyful as well as the solace of the afflicted. . . Prayer is intimacy with God and contemplation of the invisible.

Gregory of Nyssa

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Thursday, February 22, 2007

Psalm 31:1-5

In you, O LORD, I put my trust; let me never be ashamed; deliver me in your righteousness. (Psalm 31:1)

LORD, we have put our trust in you and you are our help and our strength; defend us from all attacks of the world, the flesh, and the devil.

Bow down your ear to me, deliver me speedily; be my rock of refuge, a fortress of defense to save me. (Psalm 31:2)

Lord Jesus, our eyes look to you, you are our refuge and fortress in these troubled times in your church.

For you are my rock and my fortress; therefore, for your name’s sake, lead me and guide me. (Psalm 31:3)

Father, your word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path; help us in this diocese to walk by the light of your word, for all other lights are deceptive and will fail.

Pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me, for you are my strength. (Psalm 31:4)

Holy Spirit, guide Bishop Bill and all our diocesan leaders as they seek the way through for us.

Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O LORD God of truth. (Psalm 31:5)

Jesus, please help us walk in your truth and faithfully proclaim it day by day. Thank you.

A word received: Pray for hearts that are transformed by my Spirit and my word

LORD, we do pray for hearts that are transformed by your Spirit and your word.

Albany Intercessor

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From our Sidebar: Lent & Beyond’s Top 20 Lent Resource List

Hey, well we got our Lent 2007 section of the sidebar organized! Yeah!
(Look to the right below the calendar and search box).

Here is the list of our top 20 Lent resources (favorite sites or essential Lent & Beyond Lent links). Some are entries here on L&B, some are links to external sites.

Have we missed any of your favorites? Let us know…

• 01. Lent 2007 posts
• 02. Lent Resources Category
• 03. Lent Resources Compilation
• 04. 2006 Devotionals Index
• 05. Church Fathers Readings
• 06. Lent Readings & Collects
• 07. Lent Lectionary Links
• 08. Lent & Beyond Categories
• 09. Fasting
• 10. Church Year.Net Lent Page
• 11. Classic Church Music
• 12. C of E: Live Lent
• 13. EWTN Lent Page
• 14. Journey to the Cross
• 15. Lectionary Central
• 16. Pray as You Go
• 17. Praying Lent
• 18. Scripture Union Lenten Bible Reading Guide
• 19. Some recommended blogs
• 20. Trinity New Rochelle (Lent/Easter page)

By the way, if you click on #8 (Lent & Beyond Categories) you’ll discover that we’ve created two brand new categories based on feedback from a reader and also from what we see folks are trying to find as we review our site meter entries:

— Lent Prayers
— Lent Quotes

Happy Browsing! With over 3000 posts on the blog, there’s lots of great material here.

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Lent 2007 Lectionary Links

Here are links for several different lectionary reading plans (i.e Daily Scripture readings) and resources for Lent:

I. ECUSA 1979 Daily Office Scripture Readings

English Standard Version (ESV) Daily BCP Lectionary Online: This gets my vote as far and away the best new lectionary resource. See each day’s daily office readings nicely formatted on one page in the highly respected ESV translation of Scripture. There are audio links for each passage to hear the text being read by Max McLean. Each day’s lectionary is also available by RSS feed.

For a handy table of the Lenten Daily Office readings for printing and reference (the lessons are not clickable): the CRI website has a table with the Daily Office readings (year 1) for each day of Lent here (the title says 2005, but the dates are correct for 2007).

Satucket.Com (see below) also has online links for the 1979 Daily Office Lectionary readings in RSV or NRSV.

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II. For Sunday / Eucharistic lectionary readings:
Satucket.Com is the best site for ECUSA ‘79 / RCL lectionaries. Here’s their page for Lent year C.

The Liturgies.Net site also has the daily Eucharistic readings (clickable for online reading) and a daily Lenten-themed Collect from Lesser Feasts and Fasts.

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III. For the 1928 / Traditional Anglican lectionary:
the go-to sites are Lectionary Central and CommonPrayer.Org

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IV. Non-Anglican Lenten Scripture Reading Plans

I have just come across a very interesting Lenten Scripture reading plan modelled on an Advent Jesse Tree. This is particularly geared for families and traces the theme of original sin and the plan of salvation throughout the Scriptures. There is one passage per day throughout Lent. Check it out here.

Is there some other lectionary plan you are looking for online? Leave a comment we may be able to help you find it.

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EWTN: Daily Lenten Reflections

The Roman Catholic Website EWTN has a very nice Lent page. You can click on the calendar each day for a short devotional entry which follows this pattern.

Scripture
Reflection
A Lent Question
A Lent Action
Prayer

It’s one of the most nicely designed and clearly focused Lent websites around. Very definitely recommended.

Here is the link for today’s entry (Feb. 22)

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Please support CaNNet

If Lent & Beyond has been a blessing and a helpful resource to you, please consider supporting CaNNet who hosts this ministry for free. Click on the Picture to Donate! Anyone interested in more details can write us at AnglicanPrayer(at)gmail.com.

Please note: Clicking on the credit card symbol at the bottom of the donation page takes you to a page where you can choose either PAYPAL or Credit Card as your method of payment.

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Primates meeting prayer followup?

I’m realizing foday how sharply we’ve gone from pretty much “all Primates, all the time mode” to “all Lent all the time mode.” That may be a bit of a shock to some readers. We still have a lot of visitors clicking on our Primates prayer pages… We’ll leave all the reporting and analysis of the Primates meeting, however, to Titusonenine, Stand Firm and others.

Obviously much prayer is needed for The Episcopal Church in responding to the specific demands made of it by the Primates. There will be a House of Bishops meeting in March. Pray for bishops to seek the Lord before responding out of emotion or based on “knee-jerk” readings of the Communique. Pray for the orthodox / traditionalist leaders, including those in the Network, AMiA, CANA, etc. who also need to figure out what response to make to the Communique.

Prayer is needed too for the Anglican Church of Canada (which has its Synod this summer), and the Church of England (which has a Synod coming up very soon, I think) as they grapple with the implications of the Communique. We urge continual prayer for Abp. of Canterbury Rowan Williams and all the Primates who will have a role in implementing the details of the Communique. Next week we’ll try to remember to post names of the Primates’ Standing Committee and other leaders.

So, we haven’t forgotten these things, and we will continue to post intercessory prayer resources as the Lord enables and leads us. But after a season of outward-focused intercession, now is a time for our own self-examination.

Please feel free to join us in our Lenten meditations and prayers!

Feb 22 Backup

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Lent Prayers: A prayer by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

God of the day and of the night, in me there is darkness, but with you there is light. I am alone, but you will not leave me. I am weak, but you will come to my help. I am restless, but you are my peace. I am in haste, but you are the God of infinite patience. I am confused and lost, but you are eternal wisdom and you direct my path; now and for ever. Amen

–Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 1906-1945

source: Thisischurch.net

We’ve got about 10 days of daily “Lent Prayers” lined up in the posting queue. We welcome contributions of other appropriate Lent Prayers by e-mail: AnglicanPrayer(at)gmail.com

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Lent & Beyond Category Links

To make finding material here on L&B a bit easier, here are some categories that may be helpful during lent:

Lent-specific categories:
All Lent 2007 entries
Lent Resources (2007 and prior years)

General Categories:
Meditations & Devotions
— illustrated devotionals
— poems, hymns and songs

Prayers and Prayer Themes (the organization of this category needs some work…)
— Collects
— Saints & Church Fathers
— confession
— repentance

Quotable

Spiritual Disciplines
— Fasting

Anglican Prayer & Intercession
— Lectionary-based prayers

We apologize that the category listing in the sidebar is such a mess. It is unfixable in this version of WordPress. Some year we might upgrade to a newer version which will fix things. Please let us know if we can help you find things.

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A Christ-Centered Lenten Resource from Scripture Union

“Journey to the Cross” Lenten Guide Offered
Do you want a special Bible reading guide to help you travel with Jesus on his “Journey to the Cross” during the Lenten season? If so, it’s now available in both a downloadable pdf. or a daily email beginning on Monday, Feb. 26.

“Journey to the Cross” from Scripture Union provides 5 daily readings (excluding weekends) for each of the six weeks in Lent. The readings are in the familiar format (Pray, Read, Reflect, Apply, Pray) used in the daily email readings for Discovery and the format that was used in the Advent guide “Journey to Bethlehem”.

The six weekly readings are built around the following topics:

Week#1: Jesus’ Saving Work Foretold.

Week#2: Jesus Predicts his Death

Week#3: Jesus Prepares for his Death

Week#4: Jesus’ Trial

Week#5: Jesus Goes to the Cross

Week#6: Jesus’ Death and Resurrection

Continue reading the rest of the entry…

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Blogs I would recommend for Lenten Reading — Updated

Given that we here at L&B are likely to be posting less frequently than in past Lenten seasons I thought it might be helpful if I compiled here a short list of a few other blogs we would highly recommend for Lenten meditations and devotional entries.

The two at the top of my list are:
Father Stephen Freeman’s Glory to God for All Things

The Continuum (Lent Category posts)

as I already have been bookmarking Lenten-themed posts from both of these blogs for the past few days.

Updates:

More Recommended Sites (these are new to me, but look good):

Vultus Christi Lent 2007 category — A blog by a Benedictine–Cistercian monk of the Abbey of the Basilica of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme.

Christ Lutheran Church, Daily Online Lenten Devotionals (an Evangelical Lutheran Church in the UK)

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Online LENTEN Calendars?!

Hmmm. Know all about Advent Calendars, but it seems “Lenten Calendars” are catching on too:

The Church of England has a Live Lent website with 50 daily Lenten Action suggestions. (note: if the actions don’t show up, click on “Join In” at the top of the home page)

This morning I also came across an online Lenten Calendar called Sorting it Out - described as “a Lenten toolbox for adjusting your focus and supporting your soul.” It looks promising, with the early entries focused on the seven deadly sins and helping us to examine to what extent we may be stumbling in these areas.

The ExploreFaith.Org site which has the “Sorting It Out” calendar has another Lenten calendar with short daily reflections and quotes: When We Are Real — A Daily Thought. Literally a one line quote, or one Scripture verse tied into a weekly Lenten theme.

Also at ExploreFaith.Org there is a section on The Divine Hours — helping people to practice the discipline of Fixed Hour Prayer

In the past I’ve avoided ExploreFaith.Org, which I’d seen billed as a site for those seeking to learn about Christianity. It tends in many cases to present a fuzzy spirituality with little clarity about Christ, Creeds or doctrines. Worse, in some of its articles it seems to offer clearly false teaching about sin and salvation. I am also leary of some of its board members. But that said, some of these Lenten Resources look as if they could be useful for both committed orthodox Christians and for seekers. Check it out and let us know what you think. For instance, without being able to see the later Lenten entries, it’s hard to know what REMEDY the “Sorting it Out” calendar will offer for sin. Will it point people to Jesus Christ and urge repentance, or will it offer mere psychological explanations and self-improvement strategies? Stay tuned…

Anyway, for now, file these resources under the category “Interesting, but not necessarily recommended”

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Fr. Dan Martins: the frightening truth about sin (and the Truth about the solution)

An Excerpt from Fr. Dan Martin’s Ash Wednesday blog entry: “Ashes, Ashes We All Fall Down”

Sin also has, of course, a very personal dimension. Each one of us is individually guilty of doing those things which we ought not to have done, and leaving undone those things which we ought to have done. And at an individual level, sin is wickedly deceptive. It is like the Trojan Horse, sneaking into our hearts disguised as common sense or justice or beauty or love, and then spilling its vile contents into our souls in a desperate attempt by the Evil One to draw us away from God. The frightening truth about personal sin, individual evil, is that I cannot even trust my own feelings and intuitions. They are tainted, and cannot be relied upon apart from the objective standard of God’s revealed word. What “feels right” to me may be the very face of death itself,

and I need to run 180 degrees in the other direction.

Turning 180 degrees around. That takes me to the third level of meaning that is operating today. Turning around is itself the very definition of repentance. When we run away from sin and evil,

we find the open arms of Jesus waiting for us—Jesus, the Prince of Light and Life. Jesus, in his redeeming love, supplies us with the strength we need to persevere in our repentance. He does this through the witness of scripture, in the communal life of the church, and—most openly and gloriously—in the Mass, the sacrament of Holy Communion.

Jesus is not merely an example or a coach or a cheerleader. He’s more than just moral support.

He gives us his own self, his very life, the meat on his bones and the blood in his veins. To receive the ashes that mark us as sinners without also receiving the Body and Blood by which we are redeemed is to tell and hear only half the story. Before God, we stand overdrawn, bankrupt. But the miracle of gospel grace is that the creditor steps down into the place of the debtor, and pays the debt. The sacramental elements of the Eucharist are the sign and seal and actual conveyance of that payment.

We have the resources necessary to the keeping of a holy Lent, and a holy life thereafter.

The full post is here.

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A series of Lenten Reflections on the Seven Deadly Sins

In 2004, the BBC had an interesting series of Lenten Reflections on the Seven Deadly sins. The entries are still online. If you’re battling one of these sins this Lent, consider checking out these reflections

Week one: entering the wilderness (gluttony)
Week two: sloth
Week three: envy
Week four: anger
Week five: greed and lust
Week six: pride

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Quotable: Peggy Noonan

Peggy Noonan has this observation in her Wall Street Journal commentary yesterday:

Earlier this week I heard a minister quote a spiritual genius: “All the problems in the world are caused by man’s inability to sit quietly in a room by himself.” We’re restless and need action, which in a modern media world means information. We need the busy buzz–the Internet, TV, instant messages, magazines and newspapers, the beeps and boops and bops. Rudy’s up in Iowa. Hillary’s stuck. We want to be among the first to have this information and the first to share it. And we want it not because it’s crucial but because it distracts us from the crucial. It takes our minds away from what is most important. Who you are, for instance, or what we are about. It’s a great relief not to think about the important. It’s a relief to focus on factoids. [link]

Patrick Allen noted it on his blog under the title “Lent & the Crucial.”

May the Lord grant us grace this Lent to learn to love times of silence, to nurture times in which we focus on the important, when we tune out every voice and distraction and turn our eyes to the Lord and hear what He is speaking to our hearts.

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Lenten reflection

Law enforcement officials, social service agencies, and courts spend the majority of their time on a small proportion of the population. It is telling that the recently concluded primates meeting in Dar es Salaam spent the majority of its time on one province—The Episcopal Church.

We are the most spiritually immature province in the Anglican Communion. We are willful, arrogant, presumptuous, proud, and selfish. We are masters of constructing philosophical thought systems to view the world as we wish. We ignore realities with walls of rationalizations. Since Jesus is the Truth, these false barricades keep our risen Lord at bay from our hearts.

When He walked on earth, Jesus spent more time amongst the uneducated that the erudite. The uneducated had fewer preconceived ideas about the Messiah.

Jesus spent far more time outside of Nazareth than inside. The Nazarenes had more assumptions about Jesus’ identity, and He performed fewer miracles there.

In the kingdom of God, these philosophical systems are as substantial as a house of cards. Yet Jesus is such a gentleman, He will not come in unless He is invited.

He is a person, the same yesterday, today, and forever. He wants to be desired. He yearns to be in relationship with each one of us, but He will not force Himself. He will not cross the barriers that we construct.

The irony is that the closer we draw to our risen Lord, the better able we are to recognize these barriers.

The closer we draw, the more we realize we need Him. Repentance and amendment of the life are an integral part of drawing near.

Draw near, good folk. Draw near to our risen Lord. Ask Him to show you the barriers around your own heart and then shun them. If you’re addicted, ask Him to help you cast aside this addiction. Immerse Yourself in Holy Scripture. Ask Him to speak to you when you open your Bible. Immerse yourself in the body of Christ. Ask Him to show you which members of the body of Christ can help you grapple with your addictions.

Lastly, persist, even when you fail. Persist in Holy Scripture. Persist in Holy Communion. Persist in seeking His face.

In the presence of His face over time, we acquire the mind of Christ. His face will reflect from our faces, and His charity from our hearts.

1 Timothy 1:5 (ESV)
The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.

Alms can be given to Episcopal Relief and Development and to Anglican Relief and Development .

Feb 21 Backup, part 2

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

 

Lenten Links From Fr. Binky

Today’s list of Lenten links is by the infamous “Binky the WebElf” of the Classical Anglican Net News (CaNN) WebLog. You can read his past Lent & Beyond contributions here. Although Fr. “Binky” likes to play an elf on the internet, he is in reality an Anglican priest in Canada. He started providing “hot & fresh” Anglican news on the web in 1998, and founded the “CaNN blog empire” in 2003, with Mike the Hirsute TechElf.

- DAVID WARREN: Gethsemane - “Bear up, gentle reader. Lent has begun, and now you are going to be served my annual Ash Wednesday sermon” … (davidwarrenonline)

- THE POPE’S MESSAGE for Lent has been released. Lent 2007: The Love Letter Written by Pope Benedict … (amywelborn)

- MAGIC STATISTICS: “The First Day of Lent” … (magicstatistics)

- MARK SHEA: The Gift of Lent … (catholicexchange)

- ROD DREHER: “Lent - For our Western Christian brothers and sisters, a blessed Ash Wednesday to you, and welcome to Lent”; A kinder, gentler Ash Wednesday … (beliefnet)

- CATERING TO TRADITION– Firms in Texas, Florida are Ash Wednesday suppliers … (dfw.com)

- GET RELIGION: “To dust you will return” … (getreligion)

- FR. STEPHEN: “That One Must Be Watchful Not to Judge Anyone” … (fatherstephen)

Continue reading the rest of the entry…

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“Praying Lent” — A fantastic resource

Here is a great Ash Wednesday prayer from today’s entry at Praying Lent:

Let us pray
for the grace to keep Lent faithfully.

Lord,
protect us in the struggle against evil.
As we begin the discipline of Lent,
make this season holy by our self-denial.
Grant this through our Lord, Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

Source: Praying Lent (first four days)

If you have some time tonight, delve into the Praying Lent site, there are many great resources

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Lent Quotes: Prayer, Fasting and Mercy

The disciplines of prayer, fasting and almsgiving are to be practiced together. One leads to the other. Peter Chrysologus (c 380-450) says:

“Prayer, mercy and fasting: These three are one, and they give life to each other. Fasting is the soul of prayer; mercy is the lifeblood of fasting. Let no one try to separate them; they cannot be separated. If you have only one of them or not all together, you have nothing. So if you pray, fast; if fast, show mercy; if you want your petition to be heard, hear the petition of others. When you fast, see the fasting of others. If you hope for mercy, show mercy. If you look for kindness, show kindness. If you want to receive, give.”

This is a backup blog for Lent & Beyond

This backup blog is current as of Feb. 21st.

Our main site is at: http://lent.classicalanglican.net/

This site is intended as a backup to handle expected heavy traffic in the leadup to the Anglican Primates meeting in Dar es Salaam Tanzania February 12-19 2007. It contains posts going back to January 7, 2007 when the Primates Prayer Campaign began. (Lent & Beyond archives go back 3 years to Feb. 2004, so this backup blog only contains very recent posts)

Note: Should the main Lent & Beyond site be unavailable and you are trying to click on a link here that directs you to the main site, try searching Google’s cache — it’s very likely that you will be able to view the original page:

How to do that:

1. Right click on the link you would like to view.
2. Click Copy Bookmark (or Copy Link Location … the exact words depend on your web browser)
3. Go to Google
4. Type Cache: into the search window and then right click and copy the link you’re trying to read next to the word cache: (no space between the semi-colon and the link)
5. Hit search.

Remember, we welcome questions and feedback. Write us at AnglicanPrayer(at)gmail(dot)com

Feb 21 (Ash Wednesday) Backup

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Index: 2006 Anglican Bloggers’ Lenten Devotional Series

Way overdue. Here is an index of all the entries in last year’s Anglican Bloggers Lenten Devotional Series which we hosted here on Lent & Beyond. Entries are listed in chroniogical order as they were originally posted.

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Shrove Tuesday
Captain Yips: Making Room in Our Imaginations for God

Ash Wednesday
Karen B: Seek the Lord and Live

Continue reading the rest of the entry…

 

Matt Kennedy: Advice on Lenten Disciplines

This is excerpted from the Rev. Matt Kennedy’s 2005 parish newsletter article What to Give up for Lent?. Very practical advice. Before adopting some rote Lenten discipline, take time today to pray and ask the Lord what discipline will accomplish His purposes in your life this season.

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So, rather than thinking about what vice to give up or what discipline to add, a better place to start is prayer. Ask God to search your heart and bring to your mind those habits of thought, word, and/or deed that displease him most. (Sometimes what is displeasing in your life will be so obvious that you won’t even need to pray, you’ll just know. The Holy Spirit living inside you will have made it abundantly clear already). When you ask this in sincerity you can be sure that God will provide you with an answer.

This answer will tell you whether you need to add a discipline or be rid of a behavior or attitude. If, for example you believe that God wants you to be more committed to studying scripture, then you should probably consider adding personal or group bible study to your routine. If on the other hand you believe God is displeased with the amount of time you spend on the internet or the kinds of things you look at on-line, then you should probably consider cutting out or down on your computer usage or installing some parental control program to keep you accountable (even if, especially if, you’re a parent).

In other words, your Lenten discipline should not be arbitrary. If you have a problem with lust, don’t give up chocolate. Give up whatever it is that leads you into lustful behavior. And don’t just give it up for Lent, use Lent to give it up forever. Let the Lord know that you are committed to turning from the sin he has shown you and then ask him to help you in your task though the power of his Holy Spirit.

The full article is here.

Here is a link for Ash Wednesday Resources & Meditations

Last year I compiled a list of some of the most helpful Ash Wednesday resources and meditations I had found online.

I may try to add new material today, But for now: here’s the link for last year’s compilation.

Last year’s Ash Wednesday Devotional entry is here.

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Our Online Lenten Resources compilation is here. The Lent Resources category is here.

A blessed and holy Lent to all our readers!

John 1:29-34 and Titus 1:1-4

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29)

Holy Spirit, please help us this Lent to know Jesus as the one who has come to take away our sins. Bring us to a new cleansing from sin in Jesus.

“This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who is preferred before me, for he was before me.’” (John 1:30)

Father, please help us to be like John: putting Jesus first before ourselves.

“I did not know him; but that he should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water.” (John 1:31)

Jesus, please let every baptism that takes place be an occasion for revealing you to the world.

And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and he remained upon him.” (John 1:32)

Holy Spirit, please help us see and recognize it for what it is when you are at work among us.

“I did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’” (John 1:33)

Jesus, I need, your church needs a fresh baptism in your Holy Spirit. Please come soon!

“And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.” (John 1:34)

Jesus, help us give the good testimony that you are the Son of God. Thank you.

Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect and the acknowledgment of the truth which accords with godliness, (Titus 1:1)

Father, we pray for all those in apostolic ministry that according to the faith of God’s elect that they will acknowledge the truth that accords with godliness. These are days when “multitudes, multitudes are in the valley of decision! For your day is near in the valley of decision!” (From Joel 3:14) Please help the bishops of the Episcopal Church make the right decisions — soften their hearts.

in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began, (Titus 1:2)

Holy Spirit, please restore to all the bishops of the Episcopal Church the hope of eternal life.

but has in due time manifested His word through preaching, which was committed to me according to the commandment of God our Savior; (Titus 1:3)

Jesus, please help all our apostolic leadership through their preaching follow your commandments.

To Titus, a true son in our common faith: grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior. (Titus 1:4)

Father, help every bishop in the Episcopal Church be a true son in our common faith, let them receive your grace, mercy and peace. Thank you for raising up Bishop Bill as a true son in our common faith in this diocese.

Albany Intercessor 

 

Jehovah-nissi

You are Jehovah-nissi, The Lord my banner. You utterly put out the Amalekites from under the heavens. You war with our sins from generation to generation. War with my sin today, Lord. You are my victory. Defeat my iniquity! I am Your child and I am weak. Help me to overcome my weakness. I wish my life to be a sweet, sweet savor of Christ on earth. Amen.
Exodus 17:14-16, 2 Corinthians 2:14-16

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The Lent & Beyond Team - Earthen Vessels, Not Fortune Cookies

On the last Sunday of Epiphany/Quinquagesima, we heard how Jesus took Peter, John and James away from the normal routines of the day, and gave them a vision of his glory.

Coming up on the First Sunday in Lent, we will hear that the Holy Spirit drove Jesus out into the wilderness to contend with Satan. Out there, Jesus practiced painful fidelity to his Father’s will and received angelic care as he took up his earthly ministry.

Our growth into the full stature of Christ includes times when God leads us out of “normal” life and up to mountain tops or down into deserts. He takes us aside and gives us more of Himself.

I think I can speak for all who post here in saying that we are not fortune cookies. You don’t just open us up and find a prayer ready to read. We can be just plain broken and empty. We can be useless, broken pots if we do not let God mend and refill us.

So, during Lent 2007, we will be posting quite a bit less and while we keep our Lenten disciplines. The rigors of the Primates’ Prayer Campaign were pronounced, and we thank all of you who shared them with us. We need some mending and refilling - and of course we will still be praying as the Episcopal Church struggles in its own spiritual wilderness.

I wanted to compose an eloquent prayer to launch us into Lent, but I just don’t have it in me. Let me fast from fascination with my own words and simply pray God’s word: The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen. II Corinthians 13:14, NKJV

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Blogs I would recommend for Lenten Reading

Given that we here at L&B are likely to be posting less frequently than in past Lenten seasons I thought it might be helpful if I compiled here a short list of a few other blogs we would highly recommend for Lenten meditations and devotional entries.

The two at the top of my list are:
Father Stephen Freeman’s Glory to God for All Things

The Continuum (Lent Category posts)

as I already have been bookmarking Lenten-themed posts from both of these blogs for the past few days.

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“The Difficulty of Lent”

Fr. Stephen Freeman has a reflection on Romans 12:1,2 which I find very striking as we enter Lent.

Here’s an excerpt:

To offer our bodies as a sacrifice, through fasting and prayer, is itself lifted up to the level of worship, and interestingly our “logike” worship (”spiritual” really is more accurate than “reasonable” as some render it). It is a struggle to fast, to present a “living” sacrifice. This is so much more than a “one time” offering - but stretches through the days and nights of this great season.

He then admonishes us not to be conformed to the world but to be transformed by the renewal of our mind (nous) which could easily be rendered “heart.” Fr. John Behr describes the passions, in his The Mystery of Christ, as “false perceptions,” our own misunderstanding of the body and its natural desires. Thus renewing our minds is an inner change in our perception of our self and our desires, or in the words of St. Irenaeus (quoted frequently by Behr) “the true understanding of things as they are, that is, of God and of human beings.”

The full entry is here.

Feb. 20 Backup

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Luke 18:9-14 and Psalm 130

Also he spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: (Luke 18:9)

Lord, have mercy on us, for the Episcopal Church has despised the teaching and witness of the larger church and has gone its own way.

“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.” (Luke 18:10)

A word received: Pray for those who enter my church to pray that they will have hearts turned to me.

Jesus, we pray for all those who enter your church to pray that they will have hearts turned to you.

“The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men — extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector.’” (Luke 18:11)

A word received: I want repentance — not hearts puffed up with pride.

Jesus, in all that is going on in the church, please help us recognize our sin and repent of it. Lord, the Episcopal Church is puffed up with pride — please bring it to humility before you. Help all of us, liberals and orthodox, return to you with hearts softened by your Holy Spirit.

“‘I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’” (Luke 18:12)

Lord, help us give of our heart as well as our purse.

“And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’” (Luke 18:13)

Holy Spirit, please help us come along side this tax collector in humility; bring us true repentance this Lent.

“I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18:14)

A word received: That is still my word to my people today: humble yourselves that I may lift you up.

Father, help all of us in the Episcopal Church humble ourselves before you. We have nothing to boast of — please bring us to repentance this Lent.

Out of the depths I have cried to you, O LORD;
Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.
If you, LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?
But there is forgiveness with you, that you may be feared.
I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I do hope.
My soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning — yes, more than those who watch for the morning.
O Israel, hope in the LORD; for with the LORD there is mercy, and with him is abundant redemption.
And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.
(Psalm 130)

A word received: I Am calling my church back to me — pray that it will respond.

Pour out a spirit of repentance and turning on all of us — orthodox, revisionist, and indifferent alike. Help us heed your call to return to you.

Albany Intercessor

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Bonhoeffer

Who stands fast? Only the man whose final standard is not his reason, his principles, his conscience, his freedom, or his virtue, but who is ready to sacrifice all this when he is called to obedient and responsible action in faith and in exclusive allegiance to God—the responsible man, who tries to make his whole life an answer to the question and call of God. Where are these responsible people? Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Jehovah-Sabaoth, I give thanks for the responsible men and women in the Anglican Communion. Amen.

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Return and rest

Isaiah 30:15a
For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel;
In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength.

O Lord God, Holy One of Israel,
We thank You for Your salvation, Your healing, and Your strength. May each primate and church leader, each media representative and support staff member who was in Dar es Salaam return to You, rest in You, find quiet within You, and grow confident through You. In the name of Your Son Jesus we pray. Amen.

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Psalm 18:36

Morning Prayer Psalm, 1928 BCP, Quinquagesima Tuesday

Psalm 18:36

You have given me your shield of victory;
your right hand also sustains me;
your loving care makes me great.

Almighty God, I thank you for your grace. My efforts are imperfect - I am an unprofitable servant. To you be all glory. Thank you for protecting, sustaining and loving my Primates and all my brothers and sisters in the Anglican Communion. Thank you for protecting, sustaining and loving me in all the spiritual ups and downs of the past week. Thank you for your grace in offering my church a way forward. Thank you most of all for the saving grace of my Savior, Jesus Christ, and for your love poured into my heart by the gift of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Luke 17:10; Psalm 115:1; Romans 5:5

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An Open Thread — Primates’ Meeting wrap up

Hallelujah! It is good to be able to log on this morning with a clear sense of answered prayer in a number of specific areas. I confess 24 hours ago things looked very grave indeed and it was hard to see any clarity or promise or clear steps forward from what was being rumored regarding content of the Communique, etc.

Today I’d like to focus on thanksgiving and commiting the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion and the follow up from the Communique into the Lord’s hands. What can we thank God for? How do we pray going forward?

I’m hoping that each of my co-contributors will be able to post something. I expect to post some thanksgivings and some Scriptures to guide our prayers going forward in a few hours (and will send out a second listserv post in the afternoon).

However, we’d also like to make this an OPEN THREAD. We invite all of our readers who have participated in this prayer campaign to leave your own thanksgivings and prayers for the future in the comments here.

With thankful hearts for all the ways known and unknown in which the Lord has worked through our prayers. –Karen B.

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Lent 2007 Thoughts: Notes from Lent & Beyond Admin re: Lent

Greetings all.

Hard to believe today is Shrove Tuesday. Usually today we would be in major “gear up for Lent” mode here on Lent & Beyond. Only problem is that we’ve just had an absolutely intense 7 week period of intercession focused on the just-completed Anglican Primates meeting. We’re worn out and not ready to gear up for anything new right now.

It’s going to take us awhile to get into “Lent mode” — changing the blog color scheme, getting the Lent 2007 section on the sidebar organized, and above all, figuring out what we want this blog to be during Lent. I expect it will be about a week before we recover from the Primates meeting.

I do expect later tonight to post some links to other blogs and websites where we have found wonderful Lent devotionals and resources. Do feel free to let us know what you would most enjoy to have posted here and find spiritually profitable this Lenten season. We want to be a blessing to our readers.

In Christ,
Karen B.

Waiting on God

As we wait and wait for the Primates meeting Communique, these verses from this morning’s Psalm in the ECUSA 1979 lectionary come back to my mind:

From Psalm 25

To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
2 O my God, in you I trust;
let me not be put to shame;
let not my enemies exult over me.
3 Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame;
they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.

4 Make me to know your ways, O Lord;
teach me your paths.
5 Lead me in your truth and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation;
for you I wait all the day long.

May the Lord help us to wait for and wait on Him with hope and put our trust in Him, not in the Primates.

From Kendall Harmon: PRAY! Updated

16:30 GMT Monday / 11:30 Eastern

 

The Communique and the Press Conference are Delayed

---

The reason is because there is still no agreement. Please joining me in praying for all who are there.

=========KEEP PRAYING:  ANglican Mainstream has this:

More latest news

There will be no press conference until 11pm (Tanzania time). The Primates will break for dinner at 8.30pm, resume at 10.00pm and many will leave at 5.00am tomorrow morning.

Meanwhile we understand that the Covenant will be posted on the Anglican Communion website at 17:00 GMT.

 

We End and He begins

Written earlier in the day by my colleague Tim F. but we had communications trouble, hence the delay in posting this.

We End and He Begins

As the Primates’ meeting ends, the prayers have been said and the arguments made.  There has been “process” and rumor.  There comes a point where our efforts end and we trust God for what’s next, knowing that He is faithful and good.

The 1928 BCP Lessons for Morning Prayer (Monday before Lent) included:

• Psalm 18:1-20, an affirmation that God is moved and contends for us when we are overwhelmed.
• Genesis 18:1-16, in which Abraham and Sarah offer the expected duties of desert hospitality, and receive from God a promise so wonderfully outlandish that Sarah can only laugh at it.
• Mark 9:38ff, in which Jesus tells his disciples to back off from “forbidding” a stranger to do good in His Name (maybe a caution to those of us in the orthodox camp to stop sniping and hair splitting at one another?), followed by a warning that those who lead Christians astray will face dire consequences (which is to say, absence of discipline now does not mean that false teachers will evade discipline).

Almighty God, you delivered your chosen servant David from those who sought to destroy him.  You blessed Abraham and Sarah with wonders they could not forsee, and from their descendants brought us a Savior.  You will bring your justice to the whole creation, with those who are in Christ the first fruits of the new heavens and new earth.  Let us rest in the wonder of who you are, until you next stir us up to your service.  In Jesus’ Name.  Amen.

Sunday posts and Monday a.m. posts

Monday, February 19, 2007

O Holy Spirit

Breathe in the primates, O Holy Spirit, that their thoughts may all be holy.
Act in them, O Holy Spirit, that their work, too, may be holy.
Draw their hearts, O Holy Spirit, that they may love only what is holy.
Strengthen them, O Holy Spirit, that they may defend all that is holy.
Guard them, O Holy Spirit, that they themselves may always be holy.
adapted from Augustine of Hippo

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St. Augustine

It is our choosing that makes us what we are. St. Augustine

Dear Lord, may the primates’ choices be pleasing to You. Amen.

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Sunday, February 18, 2007

Psalm 91

1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

2 I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”

3 Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare
and from the deadly pestilence.

4 He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

5 You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,

6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
nor the plague that destroys at midday.

7 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.

8 You will only observe with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.

9 If you make the Most High your dwelling—
even the LORD, who is my refuge-

10 then no harm will befall you,
no disaster will come near your tent.

11 For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;

12 they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

13 You will tread upon the lion and the cobra;
you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

14 “Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

15 He will call upon me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.

16 With long life will I satisfy him
and show him my salvation.”

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Sarah Hey

Lovely exhortation to pray.

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Bonhoeffer

The ultimate question for a responsible man to ask is not how he is to extricate himself heroically from the affair, but how the coming generation is to live. It is only from this question, with its responsibility towards history, that fruitful solutions can come, even if for the time being they are very humiliating.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer

O Father, we cry out for the coming generation!

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Dominic

May God the Father who made us bless us. May God the Son send his healing among us. May God the Holy Spirit move within us and give us eyes to see with, ears to hear with, and hands that your work might be done. May we walk and preach the word of God to all. May the angel of peace watch over us and lead us at last by God’s grace to the Kingdom. Dominic

May it be so for the primates. Amen.

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John 1:6-13 and Hebrews 1:1-4

A word received: I Am. I Am calling you more and more into intercession — into standing in the gap. Pray for more people to stand in the gap. I Am calling — who will respond?

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. (John 1:6)

Father, send us forth into the harvest fields; help us hearken to your call.

This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. (John 1:7)

Holy Spirit, please work in the hearts of those to whom we give witness about the light of Jesus so that they may believe.

He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. (John 1:8)

Thank you for John’s faithful witness; help us to be faithful in our generation.

That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. (John 1:9)

Jesus, please help us and those we speak to that we will discern the true from the false.

He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world did not know him. (John 1:10)

Lord Jesus, we cry out to you for the lost and the least that surround us in the world — help us make you known to them. Renew in our hearts this Lent the burning desire that John had to make you known to the world.

He came to his own, and his own did not receive him. (John 1:11)

Father, we cry out to you for the Episcopal Church: help your people receive your son Jesus and the fullness of his teaching.

But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in his name: (John 1:12)

Holy Spirit, please restore to your people in the Episcopal Church a true and lively faith in Jesus — help us all become children of God by adoption and grace.

who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:13)

Jesus, thank you for making us your children; thank you for choosing us and bringing us to new life in you.

In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs. (Hebrews 1:1-4)

Jesus, please help us keep a holy Lent so that as your father speaks to us we may hear and respond to his words.

Father, you gave witness of your son on the Mount of Transfiguration, saying, “This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear him!” (Matthew 17:5) Please help us hear what Jesus is saying to us today as we enter this time of preparation and repentance of Lent.

Albany Intercessor

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A loving God

Dear Lord, You are a loving God. Your very nature is love. You are a gracious and merciful God. You are a patient and persevering God. You desire no one to perish, but all to come to repentance. You justify the one who has faith in Jesus. You are righteous, O Lord.
We beseech You, O Lord, to surround the primates, church leaders, and media in Dar es Salaam with Your love, grace, and mercy. We pray that all come to blessed repentance as they draw nearer and nearer to Christ Jesus, by whose blood they are healed. Amen.
Nehemiah 9:31, Romans 3:21-26, 2 Peter 3:9, 1 John 4:16

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Underhill

A spiritual life is simply a life in which all that we do comes from the centre, where we are anchored in God; a life soaked through and through by a sense of His reality and claim, and self-given to the great movement of His will. Evelyn Underhill

O Lord–
Center this meeting on God.
Anchor this meeting in God.
Soak this meeting with God.
We give this meeting to God. Amen.

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Jehovah-Shalom

We praise You with all our hearts, Lord. You are Jehovah-Shalom, the God of Peace who will crush Satan under our feet. We shall not fear.
Judges 6:22-24, Romans 16:20