New Hampshire

By the time of the Revolution many of the inhabitants of this colony had tired of British rule and were eager for independence. In Dec., 1774, a band of patriots overpowered Fort William and Mary (later Fort Constitution) and secured the arms and ammunition for their cause. New Hampshire was the first colony to declare its independence from Great Britain and to establish its own government (Jan., 1776).
New Hampshire is known as the Granite State. Granite is an igneous rock; the crystals of granite form while the molten material inside the Earth’s crust cools relatively slowly.

O Lord, may the people of New Hampshire be baptized with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Purge them from sin. Refine their faith to great luster and beauty, that they may have the mind of Christ and be living stones, built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
Matthew 3:11, 1 Peter 2:5

Lent Quotes: St. Gregory – The Difficulty of Parting with Ourselves

Perhaps it is not after all so difficult for a man to part with his possessions, but it is certainly most difficult for him to part with himself. To renounce what one has is a minor thing; but to renounce what one is, that is asking a lot” — St. Gregory, Homilies on the Gospels.

found at Friday’s daily Lenten devotional posted at Anglican Mainstream

Revival in Sudan

In the Bible, the current nation of Sudan was known as Cush, Nubia, and Ethiopia. The country we now know as Ethiopia was originally called Abyssinia.

Habakkuk 3:2 (Amplified Bible)
Lord, I have heard the report of You and was afraid. O Lord, revive Your work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make [Yourself] known! In wrath [earnestly] remember love, pity, and mercy.

O Lord!
How much more affliction must the tents of Cush undergo? Parade your power, O God, the power, O God, that made Your children what they are. We cry out for supernatural manifestations of Your power in the ancient land of Cush–visions, dreams, miracles of nature, signs, and wonders. Revive this land! Let Cush come running to God, her hands outstretched. May she turn to You and receive Your cleansing, refreshing, and restoration. Your holy prophets from ages past have spoken this, Lord. Let it be! Amen.
Habakkuk 3:7, Psalm 68:28,31-32, Acts 3:19-21

Salt and light

The bulk of Sudan’s salt is produced by solar evaporation of Red Sea brine. The consumption of iodized salt in Sudan is as low as 11 per cent. Each year, about 1 million newborn children (91 per cent of all newborn children) are not protected against brain damage due to lack of iodine consumption by mothers, and 142,000 of these are born with iodine deficiency consequences. The brain damage to these children is irreversible and can lead to a reduction of up to 15 points in IQ levels in endemic areas in Sudan.

Matthew 5:13-16 (New International Version)
“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.
“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

Dear Heavenly Father,
Satan would cause Sudan to hide its light and not release the salt which will preserve a lost and dying world. He will do everything he can to silence Your children.
Christ be in the spirits of Your children in Sudan that they may shine like a city on a hill. May their words and deeds praise You.
In the name of Christ Jesus, we bind all that would silence Your Sudanese children, and we loose the spirit of testimony. Provide all of the spiritual nutrients needed for the establishment of Your kingdom in Sudan. May it be rooted in love.
Father, we pray not only for spiritual salt, but also for the edible salt. Provide all of the micronutrients needed for their bodies and minds to grow into the stature of Christ. Amen.

Blessings over Sudan

Excerpts from Numbers 23 and 24

Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but you have done nothing but bless them!”

He answered, “Must I not speak what the LORD puts in my mouth?”

Christ, be in the mouth of all who speak of Sudan.

Then [Balaam] uttered his oracle: 
“Arise, Balak, and listen; hear me, son of Zippor.  God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind.  Does he speak and then not act?  Does he promise and not fulfill? I have received a command to bless;  he has blessed, and I cannot change it.  . . .  The LORD their God is with them;  the shout of the King is among them.

Father, may Your shout be among Your children in Sudan.  Indeed, may all the earth shout for joy to You.  Raise up shouts that resound through the heavens over Sudan.

When Balaam looked out and saw Israel encamped tribe by tribe, the Spirit of God came upon him and he uttered his oracle: ” . . . . May those who bless you be blessed and those who curse you be cursed!”

Holy Spirit, bless the intercessors for Sudan.  Vivify their spirits that their intercessions will be multiplied manifold. 

Triune God, we speak blessings to the enemies of Sudan because that is what Jesus taught us to do.  You know their needs far better than we.  Bless the Muslim government in Khartoum and the military.  Bless the international oil companies.  Bless the Chinese arms dealers.  Bless the janjawid.  Bless the Lord’s Resistance Army.  Bless the animists and the witch doctors.  Lord, bless all of the enemies of Your Sudanese children.  Bless them at their point of need.

We see through a glass darkly.  This land has known heartache for millenia.  It has suffered greatly by the rulers, the authorities, the powers of this dark world and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  Devour these unseen forces in Sudan.  Amen.

Lent Quotes: How Much Do We Thirst?

I was struck by this quote from yesterday’s devotional from Church of the Resurrection Tampa (posted at Anglican Mainstream here)

Lent is the time of our lives where we are most especially called to reflect on our own lives and ask ourselves, how much do we thirst for an intimate relationship with our loving Jesus who is just waiting for us to respond to His love? It is the time that we must deeply ponder how much do we thirst for a life that is life-giving to others?

May the Lord not only increase our hunger and thirst for Him and His righteousness this Lent, but may we also by His grace experience how He satisfies all our thirst and desires with good things.

Bp. Mark Lawrence: “Who are these birds that can sing in the dark?”

In thinking about the struggles of the Diocese of South Carolina today, and praying for Bp. Mark Lawrence, I was reminded of what was probably the first thing we posted of his reflections or sermons, back at our original blog, in Sept. 2006. During the “walkabouts” that were part of the election process for bishop in September 2006, he gave some “opening comments” about joy even in dark times and places, and they moved me deeply and stuck with me long after I first posted them at Lent & Beyond… I went hunting online today to find those “walkabout comments” from Sept. 2006. They are well worth rereading, not just in the context of praying for Bp. Lawrence and the Diocese of SC in these days, but also as a Lenten meditation as well. -Karen

We meet this morning in this lovely city of Charleston. Inside the walls of this great old historic edifice—we can only hope the wisdom of the years might seep into our minds that we might rightly appreciate the present, and more importantly imagine an even greater future for tomorrow. It is of course serious stuff we do here today.

Our beloved Episcopal Church has entered into a time of crisis quite unique in her history. And this flagship diocese of South Carolina has to negotiate right in the midst of the narrow strait and stormy seas the finding of a new helmsman. Like Magellan’s crew continuing their circumnavigation of the globe after their captain is gone. No easy task. All just a little nerve-racking. Serious business, I tell you. Serious business. A man could lose his footing; a diocese could lose its bearings. My wife suggested to me that you all might be under a lot of stress…. I told her, “Well I’m under a little stress myself!”

I have among my bookshelves in my office at the church a small book written by Michael Henshall, Bishop of Warrington, England. It’s made up of letters he wrote to his newly ordained son, Nicholas. In one of the letters the bishop mentions some counsel Archbishop Michael Ramsey gave to him at his ordination in 1956—“Always pay your bills on time. Always answer your mail on time.” Bishop Henshall said he thought at the time the advice was pretty banal. Later he grew to see how often we fail because of small procrastinations. It reminded me as I read it of my ordination to the priesthood 25 years ago. I was full of idealism; having, so I thought, a deep commitment to prayer, study, servanthood, sacrifice, and ministry in the Holy Spirit. I didn’t get to pick the preacher as many do today. I didn’t think at the time it was all that good of a sermon. I still don’t. But the preacher said something that stuck with me because it seemed to me at the time so trite. He said, “Don’t be a grumpy priest. Don’t forget to smile.” Now at 56, and two and a half decades after my ordination, it doesn’t seem so trite a charge. So facetious a warning. It is a constant with me—I have to watch out for grumpiness. It would be the gravest mistake if we who profess and call ourselves Christians allow our difficulties, struggles, and spiritual battles to cause us to lose our joy. G. K. Chesterton called joy, “the gigantic secret of the Christian.” Well why not. The Gospel begins with joy and ends with joy.

I was hiking one day on Mt. Desert Isand in Maine when I came across a Ladyslipper on the side of the trail. I knelt down to study it. I thought, “What a beautifully formed wildflower.” It brought me joy. And when I got up to hike there was a new lilt in my step. But it was a serendipitous, happenstance joy. Too many Christians seem to think that this is how our joy should be, just something we come across as we go through life. But Christian joy is a cultivated flower, planted, nurtured and water in cooperation with God’s grace. So I remind you of the joy of Christmas, even on this morning in September. “Behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a savior who is Christ the Lord.” Read next the resurrection appearances and you’ll see this same joy everywhere between the lines of the narrative. The Road to Emmaus disciples run back to Jerusalem and discover Peter too has seen the Lord. They all share their stories and Luke writes, “While they disbelieved for joy….”

One of the staggering things, though, about John’s Gospel is that the closer Jesus gets to the cross the more he talks to his disciples about his joy. “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” He prays to his Father, “But I am coming to thee; and these things I spoke in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.” Then to his disciples again, “I will see you again and your hearts shall rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you…ask, and you shall receive, that your joy may be full.”

The French spiritual writer, Louis Evely has written, “Our sadness measures exactly our attachment to ourselves. The place we give to joy is the place we give to God. We believe no more in him than in joy.”  Is our religion only a religion of the cross? Of sacrifice? Of denial? Of spiritual battles? Is there no place for the empty tomb, the lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore, a charcoal fire, and the risen Christ with fish on the shoreline in the morning mist as the sun rises above the Galilean hills—and a voice calls out, “Children have you caught any fish?” “No.” “Cast the net on the right side of the boat….” (He wasn’t talking politics when he said “right side.” Nothing here about theology). No maybe I’d better put it… “starboard side of the boat and you’ll get a catch.” Joy you see runs right through the gospels from beginning to end.

The late bishop, Festo Kivengere, Anglican bishop in Uganda and well-known evangelist related how one day he was coming from the cathedral feeling very good that he had preached a fine sermon. (You can often tell how a preacher feels about the morning sermon by his gait as he goes to his car after the service when nobody is watching). Then a dear lady, 70 years old, illiterate, but a real saint, took his hand and thanked him for the message. Then, very quietly she said, “Bishop, what’s wrong? You seemed rather dry.” There was no despising or criticism, he said, just redeeming love. Before he could answer, she said, “Just take it to the Lord.” So bishop Kivengere when home and got down on his face. “I took it to Him—and it was the beginning of blessing. I’m learning we need to be in a blessable posture in our hearts in order not to hinder the stream of the Spirit.” So each of us needs to be in a blessable posture this morning so the Holy Spirit can move among and upon us.

Sure there are many concerns in the larger church. Struggles aplenty. This is serious business. So serious we dare not do it without joy of the Gospel. There’s no reason to let our concerns, ours struggles, our worries—our battles steal our joy. My grandmother used to have songbirds in her kitchen. She kept them in a cage. And they would sing to her throughout the day. Sometimes they’d make too much noise during one or her soap operas and she’d put a veil over it and they’d grow quiet. “Grandma” I asked, “why do you put that towel over their cage?” She said, “Mark, birds can’t sing in a darkened cage.” Yet you will remember Paul and Silas. Arrested in Philippi. Beaten with rods and put into stocks in the Philippian jail. Still there in the darkened prison that night they sang songs of praise to God. The jailer and prisons must have thought to themselves, “Who are these birds that can sing in a darkened cage?” May they say of this Diocese of South Carolina, in these stressful, troubling and sometimes-dark days, “Who are these birds—that can sing in a darkened cage? Surely the joy of the Lord must be their strength!”

– Taken from an internet cache from the Diocese of SC’s website, originally from Sept. 13, 2006.  Our original entry from Sept 18, 2006 from the L&B archives is here.

New Hampshire

From the state constitution:

Part 1, Article 5:
Every individual has a natural and unalienable right to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience, and reason; and no subject shall be hurt, molested, or restrained, in his person, liberty, or estate, for worshipping God in the manner and season most agreeable to the dictates of his own conscience;

Blessed are the people whose God is the LORD.  Psalm 144:15b

Father,

We thank You for the constitutional foundation of the freedom of religion in New Hampshire.  May the people of this state continue in this covenant, honor You, and be blessed.  Amen.

God’s voice in Sudan

Praise the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens.
May Your voice rise up amongst Your children in Sudan, O Lord. Let the music fill the air and each note cleanse the heavens.
Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness.
May Your voice rise up amongst Your children in Sudan, O Lord. Let the music fill the air and each note cleanse the heavens.
Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, praise him with tambourine and dancing, praise him with the strings and flute, praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals.
May Your voice rise up amongst Your children in Sudan, O Lord. Let the music fill the air and each note cleanse the heavens.
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD.

Psalm 150, Isaiah 30:31-32

Psalm 91

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. (Psalm 91:1)
      LORD, please help us come into that secret place with you day by day. Day by day and little by little lead us into your presence. Thank you. (See Deuteronomy 7:22)

I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in him I will trust.” (Psalm 91:2)
      Father, you are eternal and you are our refuge, and underneath are your everlasting arms. (See Deuteronomy 33:27)

Surely he shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence. (Psalm 91:3)
      Jesus, as our days are, so let our strength be. (See Deuteronomy 33:25)

He shall cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you shall take refuge; his truth shall be your shield and buckler. (Psalm 91:4)
      We have not dealt uprightly with you, LORD; we have been a foolish and unwise people. You are our Father who has bought us with the blood of your son Jesus. You have made us and we ask you to establish us in your love forever. (See Deuteronomy 32:26)

You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, (Psalm 91:5)
      Holy Spirit, you will help us to be strong and of good courage as we go forward to the work you have called us to. (See Deuteronomy 31:7)

Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday. (Psalm 91:6)
      Jesus, you are Lord, and you are with us and go before us. You will not leave us nor forsake us; we need not fear nor be dismayed. (See Deuteronomy 31:8 )

A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it shall not come near you. Only with your eyes shall you look, and see the reward of the wicked. (Psalm 91:7-8 )
      Father, you have set before us the choice between life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore help us choose life so that we and our children and our children’s children may live. (See Deuteronomy 30:19)

Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place, no evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; (Psalm 91:9-10)
      LORD, you have not done this because we are good, but because you are good and you have chosen to fulfill your oaths to your people. (See Deuteronomy 9:4-5)

For he shall give his angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, the young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot. (Psalm 91:11-13)
      Lord, please help us remember all the ways you have led us and tested us in the wilderness times so that you would know whether we would keep your commandments. (See Deuteronomy 8:2)

“Because he has set his love upon me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him.” (Psalm 91:14-15)
      You have humbled us and allowed us to hunger so that we would know that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from your mouth. Thank you for leading us and guiding us and feeding us with you word. (See Deuteronomy 8:3)

“With long life i will satisfy him, and show him my salvation.” (Psalm 91:16)
      Father, you daily show your love for us: you chasten us as a man chastens his son to deliver us from evil. Thank you. (See Deuteronomy 8:5)

Friday: 91, 92; Genesis 47:1-26; 1 Corinthians 9:16-27; Mark 6:47-56
Saturday: 136; Genesis 47:27-48:7; 1 Corinthians 10:1-13; Mark 7:1-23
      Week of 4 Lent
Sunday: 19, 46; Genesis 48:8-22; Romans 8:11-25; John 6:27-40
Monday: 89:19-52; Genesis 49:1-28; 1 Corinthians 10:14-11:1; Mark 7:24-37
Tuesday: 94, [95]; Genesis 49:29-50:14; 1 Corinthians 11:17-34; Mark 8:1-10
Wednesday: 119:121-144; Genesis 50:15-26; 1 Corinthians 12:1-11; Mark 8:11-26
Thursday: 73; Exodus 1:6-22; 1 Corinthians 12:12-26; Mark 8:27-9:1
Friday: 107:1-32; Exodus 2:1-22; 1 Corinthians 12:27-13:3; Mark 9:2-13
Saturday: 33; Exodus 2:23-3:15; 1 Corinthians 13:1-13; Mark 9:14-29

Albany Intercessor

A Lenten Prayer: Prepare my soul with holiness

The Rev. Kendall Harmon has been posting a series of short Lent prayers at TitusOneNine recently. Here’s one that particularly struck me.

O Thou who hast prepared a place for my soul, prepare my soul for that place. Prepare it with holiness; prepare it with desire; and even while it sojourneth upon earth, let it dwell in heaven with thee, beholding the beauty of thy countenance and the glory of thy saints, now and for evermore.

You can find all of Kendall’s Lent-themed blog posts here.

South Carolina

We are praying for our nation, one state per week.  South Carolina is known as the “palmetto state.”  The palmetto plant is a perennial.

Dear Heavenly Father,

May the Christian faith of the inhabitants of South Carolina be hardy and long-living.  Amen.

A Call to Prayer for Bp. Mark Lawrence of South Carolina

Kendall Harmon has posted a call to prayer for Bp. Mark Lawrence of the Diocese of South Carolina.

In support of Bishop Lawrence, members of the West Charleston Deanery have issued “A Call to Prayer,” inviting members of their Deanery to join in a time of fasting and prayer for Bishop Lawrence March 16-18 prior to the House of Bishop’s Meeting (March 19-24). The Deanery has scheduled a gathering of prayer and worship for Thursday, March 18 at 7:00 p.m. at Saint James, James Island. Following that gathering, churches from the deanery have signed up to pray for the Bishop every day of the House of Bishops’ meeting through and including our Diocesan Convention, March 26. As Craige Borrett, Dean of the West Charleston Deanery noted, “We need to remember that, ‘Prayer isn’t preparation for the battle. It is the battle.’”

More info here.

I’ve had the privilege of meeting Bp. Mark Lawrence briefly at last year’s Mere Anglicanism gathering, and I have posted a number of his reflections here at Lent & Beyond.  I personally am committing to praying for him, and the diocese of South Carolina, and hope many of our readers may join in this prayer effort.  — Karen

Five smooth stones

The meaning of the name Goliath, in Hebrew, is “uncovered.”   (1 Samuel 17)

Lord God,

There are many demons in Sudan, but these spiritual giants are uncovered.  We stand in unity with our Sudanese brothers and sisters.  Exponentially multiply the power of our prayers.   We pick up  the five stones of worship, Holy Scripture, prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. 

Who are these uncircumcised of heart that they should defy the Sudanese children of the living God? 

 

Updated links for Lent Devotionals from Church of the Resurrection, Tampa

I’ve been lax in providing updated links for the downloads of Church of the Resurrection’s Lenten Devotionals each week. I know we’re nearing the end of week 3, but for the record, and for the archives in case any one wants to have these available as a resource, here are the links:

Week 1 devotions

Week 2 devotions

Week 3 devotions

Week 4 devotions

These are some of the best Lenten devotionals I’ve come across.  I love the combination of snippets of Anglican history, reflections of the lectionary, Anglican heritage quotes, a daily prayer and a practical application.

In addition to the daily devotionals, Church of the Resurrection also seems to be offering a parish Lenten study program “Growth in Christ – A Forty Day Journey” with weekly study guides:

Week 1

Week 2 and study guide

Week 3 and study guide

Don’t forget, you can also read each day’s Lenten meditation from Church of the Resurrection online at Anglican Mainstream.