Today in the Church Calendar we Celebrate the Life of John Bosco, educator of those born into poverty.

Today in the Church Calendar we celebrate the life of John Brosco, Priest and Educator of those born into Poverty. Died 1888 

John Bosco, Priest, Founder of the Salesian Teaching Order, Died this day in 1888

John Bosco was a Catholic  priest who was born himself into poverty. He dedicated his life to the working out the teachings of Francis de Sales. He was deeply committed to the education of the urban poor as well helping young people to come to faith in Christ.

He began a religious order that bought education to those who had none in Italy Sardinia and finally sent missionaries to the USA to bring a message of education for the poorest to all. 

Today in the Church Calendar we Celebrate the Life of Thomas Aquinas.

Saint Thomas Aquinas,  1225 – 7 March 1274), was an Italian Dominican priest, and an immensely influential philosopher and theologian in the tradition of scholasticism. Thomas came from one of the noblest families of the Kingdom of Naples.. He was the foremost classical proponent of natural theology, and the father of Thomism. His influence on Western thought is considerable, and much of modern philosophy was conceived in development or refutation of his ideas, particularly in the areas of ethics, natural law, metaphysics, and political theory.

Thomas Aquinas was basically a genius of His day and whilst some of his views are hotly debated today especially his epistemological method drawn from Aristotle he was an amazing man. For all his great learning he was also a man of the Spirit and some very interesting spiritual experiences accompanied his life such as Angelic visitation and the ability to be caught up into heavenly realms.

Aquinas helped the church in several areas and developed theological thinking of the time in these issues. He of course did far more than these and this is but a taste fo some of his amazing works sucha as Summae Theologiae and Summa Contra Gentiles.  

Nature of God

Thomas believed that the existence of God is self-evident in itself, but not to us. "Therefore I say that this proposition, "God exists," of itself is self-evident, for the predicate is the same as the subject.... Now because we do not know the essence of God, the proposition is not self-evident to us; but needs to be demonstrated by things that are more known to us, though less known in their nature — namely, by effects."^[91]

Thomas believed that the existence of God can be proven. In the Summa theologiae, he considered in great detail five arguments for the existence of God, widely known as the quinque viae (Five Ways).

For detailed analysis of the five proofs, see Existence of God

For the original text of the five proofs, see quinque viae

1.     Motion: Some things undoubtedly move, though cannot cause their own motion. Since, as Thomas believed, there can be no infinite chain of causes of motion, there must be a First Mover not moved by anything else, and this is what everyone understands by God.

2.     Causation: As in the case of motion, nothing can cause itself, and an infinite chain of causation is impossible, so there must be a First Cause, called God.

3.     Existence of necessary and the unnecessary: Our experience includes things certainly existing but apparently unnecessary. Not everything can be unnecessary, for then once there was nothing and there would still be nothing. Therefore, we are compelled to suppose something that exists necessarily, having this necessity only from itself; in fact itself the cause for other things to exist.

4.     Gradation: If we can notice a gradation in things in the sense that some things are more hot, good, etc., there must be a superlative which is the truest and noblest thing, and so most fully existing. This then, we call God -->note Thomas does not ascribe actual qualities to God Himself!

5.     Ordered tendencies of nature: A direction of actions to an end is noticed in all bodies following natural laws. Anything without awareness tends to a goal under the guidance of one who is aware. This we call God --> Note that even when we guide objects, in Thomas' view the source of all our knowledge comes from God as well.^[92]

Concerning the nature of God, Thomas felt the best approach, commonly called the via negativa, is to consider what God is not. This led him to propose five statements about the divine qualities:

1.     God is simple, without composition of parts, such as body and soul, or matter and form.^[93]

2.     God is perfect, lacking nothing. That is, God is distinguished from other beings on account of God's complete actuality.^[94] Thomas defined God as the ‘Ipse Actus Essendi subsistens,’ subsisting act of being.^[95]

3.     God is infinite. That is, God is not finite in the ways that created beings are physically, intellectually, and emotionally limited. This infinity is to be distinguished from infinity of size and infinity of number.^[96]

4.     God is immutable, incapable of change on the levels of God's essence and character.^[97]

5.     God is one, without diversification within God's self. The unity of God is such that God's essence is the same as God's existence. In Thomas's words, "in itself the proposition 'God exists' is necessarily true, for in it subject and predicate are the same."^[98]

Following St. Augustine of Hippo, Thomas defines sin as "a word, deed, or desire, contrary to the eternal law."^[100] It is important to note the analogous nature of law in Thomas's legal philosophy. Natural law is an instance or instantiation of eternal law. Because natural law is that which human beings determine according to their own nature (as rational beings), disobeying reason is disobeying natural law and eternal law. Thus eternal law is logically prior to reception of either "natural law" (that determined by reason) or "divine law" (that found in the Old and New Testaments). In other words, God's will extends to both reason and revelation. Sin is abrogating either one's own reason, on the one hand, or revelation on the other, and is synonymous with "evil" (privation of good. Thomas, like all Scholastics, generally argued that the findings of reason and data of revelation cannot conflict, so both are a guide to God's will for human beings.

Thomas’ views on the nature of the Trinity

Thomas argued that God, while perfectly united, also is perfectly described by Three Interrelated Persons. These three persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) are constituted by their relations within the essence of God. Thomas wrote that the term "Trinity" "does not mean the relations themselves of the Persons, but rather the number of persons related to each other; and hence it is that the word in itself does not express regard to another."^[102] The Father generates the Son (or the Word) by the relation of self-awareness. This eternal generation then produces an eternal Spirit "who enjoys the divine nature as the Love of God, the Love of the Father for the Word."

This Trinity exists independently from the world. It transcends the created world, but the Trinity also decided to give grace to human beings. This takes place through the Incarnation of the Word in the person of Jesus Christ and through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit within those who have experienced salvation by God; according to Aidan Nichols.^[103]

Prima causa – first cause

Thomas's five proofs for the existence of God take some of Aristotle's assertions concerning principles of being. For Thomas, God as prima causa (first cause) comes from Aristotle's concept of the unmoved mover and asserts that God is the ultimate cause of all things.^[104]

Nature of Jesus Christ

In the Summa Theologica, Thomas begins his discussion of Jesus Christ by recounting the biblical story of Adam and Eve and by describing the negative effects of original sin. The purpose of Christ's Incarnation was to restore human nature by removing "the contamination of sin", which humans cannot do by themselves. "Divine Wisdom judged it fitting that God should become man, so that thus one and the same person would be able both to restore man and to offer satisfaction."^[105] Thomas argued in favor of the satisfaction view of atonement; that is, that Jesus Christ died "to satisfy for the whole human race, which was sentenced to die on account of sin."^[106]

Thomas argued against several specific contemporary and historical theologians who held differing views about Christ. In response to Photinus, Thomas stated that Jesus was truly divine and not simply a human being. Against Nestorius, who suggested that Son of God was merely conjoined to the man Christ, Thomas argued that the fullness of God was an integral part of Christ's existence. However, countering Apollinaris' views, Thomas held that Christ had a truly human (rational) soul, as well. This produced a duality of natures in Christ. Thomas argued against Eutyches that this duality persisted after the Incarnation. Thomas stated that these two natures existed simultaneously yet distinguishably in one real human body, unlike the teachings of Manichaeus and Valentinus.^[107]

In short, "Christ had a real body of the same nature of ours, a true rational soul, and, together with these, perfect Deity." Thus, there is both unity (in his one hypostasis) and composition (in his two natures, human and Divine) in Christ.^[108]

I answer that, The Person or hypostasis of Christ may be viewed in two ways. First as it is in itself, and thus it is altogether simple, even as the Nature of the Word. Secondly, in the aspect of person or hypostasis to which it belongs to subsist in a nature; and thus the Person of Christ subsists in two natures. Hence though there is one subsisting being in Him, yet there are different aspects of subsistence, and hence He is said to be a composite person, insomuch as one being subsists in two.^[109]

Echoing Athanasius of Alexandria, he said that "The only begotten Son of God...assumed our nature, so that he, made man, might make men gods."^{[110] [1]}

^{Learning from the Life of Aquinas.}

^{It is easy to be overwhelmed with the questions of life. Making sense of the big questions can be mind boggling at times. Philosophers through all times have sought to wrestle with these issues. I agree with Thomas so should Christians. However at the end of the day I do agree with Karl Barth when he states;}

^“when asked in 1962 (on his one visit to America) how he would summarize the essence of the millionsof words he had published, he replied, "Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so."[2]

^{So please excuse my post modern epistemology but like the Apostle John Where in his First Epistle chapter 1 he states:}

^{1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have gazed at, and our hands have handled – concerning the Word of Life! 2That life was displayed, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and we announce to you the life of God’s coming age, which was with the father and was displayed to us. 3That which we have seen and heard, we announce to you too, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the father, and with his son Jesus the Messiah.[3]}

When you have met and experienced the risen Christ made known through the love of the Father and the power of the Holy Spirit you know, what you know, what you know… and the rest is purely evidence, but thanks anyhow Thomas…..

Enjoy reading about him.

---

[1] Ammended extracts from Thomas Quinas on Wikipedia, Accessed at : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Aquinas on 28th of January 2013

[2] Christian History Quotes Karl Barth, Accessed at:  http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/131christians/theologians/barth.html?start=2 on 28^th of January 2013

[3] ^{Wright, T. New Testament for Everyone, The Perseus Books Group. Kindle Edition. 2011 p. 527.}

Today in the Church Calendar we celebrate the lives of Timothy and Titus, with a thank you to Johnny Dyer.

Today in the Church Calendar we celebrate the lives of Timothy and Titus, 

with a thank you to Pastor Johnny Dyer. 

Timothy my True Son in the Faith, I have no one else like him. Died AD 97. 

 The son of a mixed marriage; his mother, who evidently instructed him in the Scriptures, was a Jewess and his father a Greek (Acts 16:1; 2 Tim. 1:5). He was a native of Lystra (Acts 16:1) and was highly esteemed by his Christian brethren both there and in Iconium (Acts 16:2). When he became a Christian is not specifically stated, but it is a reasonable inference that he was a convert of Paul’s first missionary journey, which included Lystra in its itinerary, and that on that occasion he witnessed Paul’s sufferings (2 Tim. 3:11). It is not certain when Timothy’s mother Eunice became a Christian, perhaps before Timothy, but certainly before Paul’s second missionary journey. 1. Timothy often traveled with Paul. Timothy's mother was Jewish and his father was Greek,[4] but he had not been circumcised, and Paul now ensured that this was done, according to the text, to ensure Timothy’s acceptability to the Jews. According toMcGarvey[5] Paul performed the operation "with his own hand", but others claim this is unlikely and nowhere attested.[citation needed] He was ordained[6] and went with Paul on his journeys through Phrygia, Galatia, Mysia, Troas, Philippi, Veria, and Corinth. His mother, Eunice, and his grandmother, Lois, are noted as eminent for their piety and faith,[7] which indicates that they may have also been Christians. Timothy is praised by Paul for his knowledge of the Scriptures (in the 1st century mostly the Septuagint, see Development of the New Testament canon#Clement of Rome), and is said to have been acquainted with the Scriptures since childhood.[8] That Timothy was jailed at least once during the period of the writing of the New Testament is implied by the writer of Hebrews mentioning Timothy's release at the end of the epistle. It is also apparent that Timothy had some type of stomach malady, owing to Paul's advice in 1 Timothy 5:23, counseling Timothy to "No longer drink water exclusively, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments." Paul commanded Timothy to remain in Ephesus (1 Timothy 1) "I command you to stay there in Ephesus" to prevent heresy from infecting the church in Ephesus. Paul also gave Timothy instructions for establishing Elders and Deacons there. These very guidelines have become the commonly used guidelines among churches across the world to this day. According to later tradition, Paul consecrated Timothy as bishop of Ephesus in the year 65, where he served for 15 years. In the year 97 (with Timothy dying at age 80), Timothy tried to halt a pagan procession of idols, ceremonies, and songs. In response to his preaching of the gospel, the angry pagans beat him, dragged him through the streets, and stoned him to death. In the 4th century, his relics were transferred to the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople. 2


Titus: 

Died in the year 107, aged about 95 3 Titus (Person).3.  

 One of Paul’s converts—“my true child in a common faith” (Ti 1:4)—who became an intimate and trusted associate of the apostle in his mission of planting Christianity throughout the Mediterranean world (2 Cor 8:23; 2 Tm 4:10; Ti 1:5). Mentioned frequently in Paul’s letters (eight times in 2 Cor, twice in Gal, once each in Ti and 2 Tm), his name occurs nowhere in Acts, a puzzling silence some have sought to explain with the fascinating, but uncertain, suggestion that he was a brother of Luke, the author of Acts. Unlike Timothy, who was half Jewish, Titus was born of gentile parents. Nothing is recorded of the circumstances surrounding his conversion and initial encounter with Paul. He is first introduced as a companion of Paul and Barnabas on a visit to Jerusalem (Gal 2:3). The occasion appears to have been the Jerusalem Council, about A.D. 50, which Paul and Barnabas attended as official delegates from the church at Antioch not long after the apostle’s first missionary journey (Acts 15). With the hotly contested issue of compulsory circumcision of gentile converts to Christianity before the Council, Paul decided to make a test case of Titus. The Council decided in Paul’s favor against the Judaizing party, and Titus was accepted by the other apostles and leaders of the Jerusalem church without submitting to the rite of circumcision. Thus Titus became a key figure in the liberation of the infant church from the Judaizing party. Very likely Titus accompanied Paul from that time on, but he does not appear again until Paul’s crisis with the church at Corinth during his third missionary journey. According to 2 Corinthians, while Paul was conducting an extended ministry in Ephesus, he received word that the Corinthian church had turned hostile toward him and renounced his apostolic authority. Other attempts at reconciliation, including a personal visit, having failed, he sent Titus to Corinth to try to repair the breach. When Titus rejoined Paul somewhere in Macedonia, where the apostle had traveled from Ephesus to meet him, he bore the good news that the attitude of the Corinthians had changed and their former love and friendship were now restored (2 Cor 7:6, 7). In view of this development Paul sent Titus back to Corinth bearing 2 Corinthians and with instructions to complete the collection of the relief offering for the Jewish Christians of Judea which he had previously begun, but not finished (8:6, 16). In this venture also Titus was apparently successful (Rom 15:26). On the assumption that Paul was released after his first Roman imprisonment, recorded in the final chapters of Acts, it appears that Titus accompanied him on a mission to the island of Crete. On departing from Crete, Paul left Titus behind as his apostolic deputy to consolidate the new Christian movement there (Ti 1:5). The assignment was difficult, for the Cretans were unruly and the struggling church was already invaded by false teachers (vv 10–16). His handling of the Corinthian problem some years before, however, demonstrated that Titus possessed the spiritual earnestness, skillful diplomacy, and loving concern required to meet the present challenge, and Paul was confident that this new commission was therefore safe in his hands. Paul’s letter to Titus, one of his three pastoral letters, was written somewhat later to encourage Titus in his Cretan ministry. The letter closes with the apostle’s request that Titus join him at Nicopolis, a town on the west coast of Greece, where he planned to spend the winter (Ti 3:12). Most likely it was from Nicopolis, or else later from Rome where the apostle was imprisoned again and eventually martyred, that Paul sent Titus on the mission to Dalmatia, a Roman province in what is now Yugoslavia, on which he had embarked when Paul wrote 2 Timothy, the last of his letters (2 Tm 4:10). If later tradition is correct, Titus returned to Crete, where he served as bishop until advanced age. 4 


Their legacy for us today. 

Carrying the vision of another, and walking in the footsteps of another until you walk in your own. 

At 51, if there is one person to whom I am always grateful it is a Pastor Johnny Dyer. Johnny was my father in the faith, he baptised me, officiated at my wedding, and dedicated all three of my children with me to the Lord. He was the one who persuaded the Elders of the Church to raise the cash to send me to Bible College. It was he who set me off on my first failed church plant and helped me to pick up the pieces after. He would put books by Tozer, Spurgeon and other spiritual greats into my hands. He took me with him on my first missionary trip to Romania. He has wept with me, laughed with me, given me the strongest telling off I know. He even stood me down from ministry when I became too puffed up and rightly so. He then re- hired me when I had learned to humble myself. And then, when the time was right he released me into all that God had for me. Today he is in retirement still preaching, writing, encouraging and travelling to the nations as he approaches 80.

I haven't seen him in three years and yet,  I still hear his voice when I preach, when I pray, and when I counsel or speak into situations. I hear his stock phrases spoken through me. I will always thank God for him. Was he perfect, far from it. I have seen his strengths and his weaknesses, like all  he is  flawed, yet in my eyes a great man. I have learnt from his successes and from watching his mistakes. I am grateful to God for his weaknesses and his mistakes they were a tool in Gods hands to form me. When I grow old I pray I will have a legacy of spiritual sons as he has had. 

   Walking in the footsteps of another is key to being a disciple of Jesus. In our fiercely individualistic age people no longer seek this sadly. I believe this is the key reason churches have such poor leadership pipelines. It is rarely a theological college that produces a minister of the Gospel (although they have a vital training role) It is usually a man or women who makes disciples of others. But to do that you must first walk in the footsteps of another. So as we celebrate these two disciples of the mighty Apostle Paul today; for the sake of the future can I ask whose footsteps are you walking in?

References:

1, Guthrie, D. (1996). Timothy. In D. R. W. Wood, I. H. Marshall, A. R. Millard, J. I. Packer & D. J. Wiseman (Eds.), New Bible dictionary (D. R. W. Wood, I. H. Marshall, A. R. Millard, J. I. Packer & D. J. Wiseman, Ed.) (3rd ed.) (1189). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

2 St Timothy, Accessed at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Timothy on 26th of January 2013.

3, St titus acessed: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titus_(Biblical)on 13th of January 2013.

4 Elwell, W. A., & Beitzel, B. J. (1988). Baker encyclopedia of the Bible (2072–2073). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.

Today in the Church Calendar we celebrate the conversion of the Apostle Paul

Today in the Church Calendar We Celebrate the Conversion of the Apostle Paul. Between AD 33 and AD 36 Saul of Tarsus a Zealous Jew, Pharisee, Roman Citizen, and Scholar participated in the attempt to wipe out Christianity in its very earliest stages. He was a witness and encourager of the killing of the first Martyr Stephen deacon of the Church in Jerusalem. He later experienced possibly the most famous conversions in the History of Christianity. Today we have in common language the expression a Damascus Road experience. Here in His own words he describes what happened to him in his Epistle to the Galatians. You have heard, no doubt, of my earlier life in Judaism. I was violently persecuting the church of God and was trying to destroy it. 14 I advanced in Judaism beyond many among my people of the same age, for I was far more zealous for the traditions of my ancestors. 15 But when God, who had set me apart before I was born and called me through his grace, was pleased 16 to reveal his Son to me, so that I might proclaim him among the Gentiles, I did not confer with any human being, 17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were already apostles before me, but I went away at once into Arabia, and afterwards I returned to Damascus. The Bible in the Book of Acts written by Luke relates the story of his conversion. 9 Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 3 Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” 5 He asked, “Who are you, Lord?” The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 6 But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” 7 The men who were traveling with him stood speechless because they heard the voice but saw no one. 8 Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 9 For three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank. 10 Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” He answered, “Here I am, Lord.” 11 The Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul. At this moment he is praying, 12 and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” 13 But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem; 14 and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who invoke your name.” 15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel; 16 I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” 17 So Ananias went and entered the house. He laid his hands on Saul and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored. Then he got up and was baptized, 19 and after taking some food, he regained his strength. There is possibly no-one else other than Jesus Christ who has influenced Christianity more. Many claim he was the architect of Christianity which is very debatable. However his writings written under the guidance and influence of the Holy Spirit have shaped the History of the World and it is these writings along with the other Apostles that under the guidance of the risen Christ have shaped Christianity. This amazing one time hater of Christ gave his all for His fame and for the Glory of God. The manner of his conversion speaks deeply to all men’s condition today. In our human pride we are deeply unaware of our blindness and nothing less than us being thrown from our high horse and seeing the risen Christ will be the beginning of not only regaining our sight, but will also be the beginning of realizing why we are alive our destiny is revealed. Perhaps now you could ask yourself where am I blind to my condition, where has my pride made me an enemy of God, where has my arrogance led me, where do I need to get off my high horse and realize that it is me who serves Him and not the other way round. References: 1, The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.1989 (Ga 1:13–17). 2, The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.1989 (Ac 9:1–19).

Can Lance Armstrong be redeemed?

As a very keen ex Ironman Triathlete and Cyclist I have watched with deepening sadness the demise of a hero, Lance Armstrong. I have bought his books, followed his training programmes, read avidly Cycling weekly, and spent hours every July watching him demolish his rivals in 7 Tour De France victories. No-one other than his family and Cancer Community could be sadder at his demise, he was a Hero for me. I even have a Trek bike rusting in the garage in Lance colours. Yesterday I watched with deep sadness his partial confession to Oprah Winfrey. For two hours he deflected, avoided, and followed the brief his lawyer had given him. Was this a confession? Here is my analysis and theological musings on it.

Was what we watched a Confession I don't think so, but the problem is it takes deep integrity to make a full confession and this can only come with the Help of the Holy Spirit who truly searches our hearts. In my view what we watched was a well orchestrated damage limitation exercise by Armstrong and his legal team. However confession is a very funny thing as usually when it gets to this stage character is so pathologically flawed the lie is so habitual, that the truth and reality are hidden and shrouded in the self deception. I would say that he needs to go into long term therapeutic counselling if ever he is to move on. Secondly, a part of the theological and Biblical perspective of repentance is the act of restitution. See Luke 19 and the story of Zaccheus. Restitution is a vital part of the process as he will never experience acting justly and being justified until he has paid back the money, made the apologies and experienced the weight of his sin.... The act of restitution is a community act, vital to demonstrating and acknowledging the wrong that has been done. It is wrongly called punishment, it is merely putting right the things he has done. Thirdly, expulsion is also a part of the restoration process, (hence why Christ was crucified outside Jerusalem, he was not only punished in our place but he was excluded from community for our sins) Instinctive to humanity is the putting out of those who have done wrong from society. For Armstrong to be restored a period of exclusion is needed for him and the community to take time to observe the consequences of his actions and for him to realise, if he is to be a part of the community he must play by the community rules. In the act of expulsion it is the community who brings him back and not he who demands his place. Lastly our post modern culture tells us not to exclude, not to judge, and here is where we are struggling. Statements such as "there but for the grace of God go I" and "we are all flawed" are what you hear people saying, we have language for this in Christianity, For all have sinned, and fall short of the Glory of God... Romans 3:23 ... This is because latent in our culture we have the concept (narrative) of Grace. The problem with Grace is, it goes beyond what is perceived as just. It looks like guilty people get off scot free and is totally undeserved. Its not free.... the one sinned against (cycling community, sponsors, cancer sufferers, tour de France, the list is endless) has to pay because the person cannot redeem themselves, they are in too big a hole and their only life line is to be rescued by others. As Christians this is how we see our state in relation to God, we cannot make ourselves right with God, our imperfections run too deep. So the only answer is this, the one sinned against pays the price for our forgiveness, that he is punished, he is expelled, he restores the wrong doing, So back to Armstrong at sometime if he does ever repent and restores things I think grace will have to rescue him. Will that mean racing professionally probably no. Will he bare his scars for ever, yes... can the community have him back especially the cancer community I hope so... It's not about the Bike it's all about character.

Today in the Church Calendar we celebrate the life of Amy Carmichael. "One can give without loving, but one cannot love without giving." "Missionary life is simply a chance to die. “If I fear to hold another to the highest goal because it is so much easier to avoid doing so, then I know nothing of Calvary love” . Amy Wilson Carmichael (16 December 1867 – 18 January 1951) was a Protestant Christian missionary in India, who opened an orphanage and founded a mission in Dohnavur. She served in India for 55 years without furlough and wrote many books about the missionary work there. Amy Wilson Carmichael was born in the small village of Millisle, County Down, Ireland to David and Catherine Carmichael. Her parents were devoutPresbyterians and she was the eldest of seven siblings. One story of Carmichael's early life tells that as a child, she wished that she had blue eyes rather than brown. She often prayed that Jesus would change her eye color and was disappointed when it never happened. She loved to pinch her brother's cheeks to make the prettiest color blue in his eyes. But she always repented afterwards for hurting her brother. As an adult, however, she realized that, because people from India have brown eyes, she would have had a much more difficult time gaining their acceptance if her eyes had been blue. Amy's father died when she was 18. Carmichael was the founder of the Welcome Evangelical Church in Belfast. The Welcome’s story begins with Carmichael in the mid-1880’s starting a Sunday morning class for the ‘Shawlies’, i.e. the mill girls who wore shawls instead of hats, in the church hall of Rosemary Street Presbyterian which proved to be very successful. Amy’s work among the shawlies grew and grew until they needed a hall to seat 500 people. At this time Amy saw an advertisement in The Christian, by which an iron hall could be erected for £500 that would seat 500 people. A donation of £500 from Miss Kate Mitchell, and a donation of a plot of land from one of the mill owners saw the erection of the first "Welcome Hall" on the corner of Cambrai Street and Heather Street in 1887. Amy continued at the Welcome until she received a call to work among the mill girls of Manchester in 1889 before moving onto missionary work. In many ways she was an unlikely candidate for missionary work. She suffered neuralgia, a disease of the nerves that made her whole body weak and achy and often put her in bed for weeks on end. It was at the Keswick Convention of 1887 that she heard Hudson Taylor, founder of the China Inland Mission speak about missionary life. Soon afterwards, she became convinced of her calling to missionary work. She applied to the China Inland Mission and lived in London at the training house for women, where she met author and missionary to China, Mary Geraldine Guinness, who encouraged her to pursue missionary work. She was ready to sail for Asia at one point, when it was determined that her health made her unfit for the work. She postponed her missionary career with the CIM and decided later to join the Church Missionary Society. From their she travelled in Japan , Ceylon and later to finally found her Orphnage for Children where she found orphaned children sold to Hindu temples as shrine prostitutes where they would be brutally raped. Amy dedicated 55 years of her life to these children who had suffered such horrors. Today Stop the traffic and Hope for Justice carry on their work of rescuing children from darkness and bringing them into the fathers love. Amy Carmichael bio, accessed at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amy_Carmichael on 18 January 2013.

Today in the Church Calendar we celebrate the life of St Anthony, St Anthony, known as Tone or Tony, to his bezzie mate’s. He was one of the famous desert fathers who following the institutionalization of Christianity by Consantine in 300 ad fled to the desert to live a life of radical obedience to Christ. Anthony fled to the Libyan Desert to go to war with the devil. He gave away all his possessions in response ot Christ’s call and they were significant as his parents were wealthy people. Athenasius of Alexandra wrote about him as he is allegedly illiterate. He was later martyred for his faith but his lifestyle had a huge influence on Cuthbert and Aiden of Lindisfarne causing the Celtic saints to live at times in isolation so they could give themselves to warrior prayer against the devil. He is called the first monk but in fact there were people before him who gae themselves to the hermitic life. Today there are those who chose isolation to be shut in with God. It was Anthony who said, “go into your cell and it will tell you all you need to know” The fervency of his prayer and worship, worked wonders and he was known for his battle against demons and prevailing against them. Quite a dude ....

Happy Epiphany

Today in the Church Calendar We Celebrate Epiphany. Epiphany (Koine Greek: ἐπιφάνεια, epiphaneia, "manifestation", "striking appearance. Epiphany is the feast in the Christian Calendar where we celebrate the rising of the star over the birthplace of Jesus in Bethlehem. Here’s the passage in scripture. 2 In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2 asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.” 3 When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: 6 ‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.’ ” 7 Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. 8 Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.” 9 When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. 11 On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road. (1) What is the significance of this event? The Messiah has arrived: the gifts given are usually the focus in most people’s concept of Epiphany. 1. Gold: the symbol of a King, speaking to Christ’s Davidic line the promised messiah is here. The Gold speaking of the hey day of Israel under Solomans reign and the Temple covered in all its Gold. 2. Frankincense: I first smelt frankincense when I was recently in North Africa. This heady pungent beautiful fragrance pervaded everything. I remember the Berber sales man telling me that if I burn it in my home it would keep evil Spirits away. Christ has come to break all the power of the Evil one. The ascended Glorified Christ now fills all in all. Bt His Spirit he fills all in all. 3. Myrrh the bitter herb. This was possibly the bitter herb mixed with wine offered to Christ on the cross. Myrrh is extracted from a thorny plant that they “wound” to obtain the fragrant resin within the thorns. What a wonderful picture of the suffering servant of Isaiah. Bruised, wounded, pierced for our transgressions, bearing thorns as our curse. His wounds would later bear our sickness and our sin. Isaiah says and yet it pleased the Lord to wound Him. The Crucified God as Jurgen Moltmann puts it was wounded for our sins and transgressions. His wounds have transformed everything. The Messiah to the Gentiles too. This story messes with my exclusivist Evangelical head. Why, because God has used syncretic Astrologers to bring the news of Israel’s Messiah to the world. Matthews Gospel is the only Gospel that holds this story. Matthew a true Levite is saying to His people Jesus our Messiah is not only the Messiah to us Jews, but also to the Gentiles. These pagan Babylonians (possibly) the Jews former oppressors are also seeking the Messiah can this be? As Isaiah prophesied, the light to the nations has come in this baby . He has fulfilled Gods charge to Israel. I will always remember reading The Shack (2) a conversation between Mack and Jesus in the book where Mack asks Jesus “So are you saying all roads lead to you? “ Jesus replies to him “No most roads lead no-where, but I am prepared to go down any road to find you”. This is the mystery of our faith; God in his sovereignty has left His finger prints everywhere in general and natural revelation for man to grasp for Him. But at last in his son he has given us a full revelation of himself. He loves the World so much that he will go find seekers... even star gazers. Listen to the book of Hebrews: Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. 3 He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word. When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. (3) He is the Cosmic Christ: Jesus is the Christ not only of the Jews or the saviour of the Gentiles but the Christ of all creation! It was only natural that the heavens and the Earth announce the miracle of His coming. I am often flummoxed when people ask me what doyou think was the greatest of Gods miracles, what a question... Creation, Resurrection, Red Sea, Sun standing still, however for some reason I am usually stuck between the incantation and the resurrection and ascension. That God would take on flesh is miraculous and wondrous. That the Holy Trinity could take mankind up into its life, are mind blowing concepts. Yet this is our faith, God contracted to a span, infinitely made man. This wonderful Carol sums up the mystery of the incarnation so beautifully. Let earth and heaven combine, Angels and men agree, To praise in songs divine The incarnate Deity, Our God contracted to a span, Incomprehensibly made Man. He laid His glory by, He wrapped Him in our clay; Unmarked by human eye, The latent Godhead lay; Infant of days He here became, And bore the mild Immanuel’s Name. Unsearchable the love That has the Savior brought; The grace is far above Of men or angels’ thought: Suffice for us that God, we know, Our God, is manifest below. He deigns in flesh to appear, Widest extremes to join; To bring our vileness near, And make us all divine: And we the life of God shall know, For God is manifest below. Made perfect first in love, And sanctified by grace, We shall from earth remove, And see His glorious face: His love shall then be fully showed, And man shall all be lost in God. (4) The incarnation has changed not only the course of the Jews the Elect people of god , the Gentiles the inheritors of Abrahams promises, but the very fabric of creation. His coming heralds the coming of the New Heavens and the New Earth. The Incarnation birthed it, the Cross redeemed it, the resurrection was its beginning and the final advent will come through much travail as finally the kingdoms of this world will become the Kingdom of our God and it’s heavenly King Jesus. Happy Epiphany... References: 1.The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. 1989 (Mt 2:1–12). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers. 2. Young, W. P. The Shack,( London: Hodder & Stoughton 2008) 3. The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. 1989 (Heb 1:1–4). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers. 4. Carol. Let Heaven and Earth Combine, William Henry Havergal (1793-1870).

Today We Remember 2nd of January 2013

Today in the Church Calendar we remember Basil the Great and Gregory of Nazianzus, Bishops, Teachers of the Faith, 379 and 389 Baz and Greg (to their friends only) are two of the Cappadocian Fathers. Cappodocia was part of modern Turkey and was a largely Greek speaking part of the World at that time. You and I owe an enormous debt of gratitude to these two guys as it was they who undertook an enormous amount of work for us to arrive at an Orthodox position on the nature of Christ. At that time there was a common heresy about called Arianism . Arianism is still around today, it is essentially what Jehovah’s witnesses believe about Jesus. Arians believe he was created rather than begotten and they deny His divinity. The Church at that time was struggling to get unity on what we know today as the Nicene creed . All orthodox Christians (orthodox = right believing not Russian, although they do believe it) hold to this creed, you will probably have said it at some time in Church. Creeds are great as they are sign posts that show us we are on the right road when walking with God. Basil was also not only a Theologian but the father of the Monastic movement that called Christians into radical community, passionate spirituality, and missional living. The social programmes that surrounded the work he carried out were phenomenal feeding many poor in the region. Today people like Shane Claibourne and others are taking up again this way of living to show Gods radical love for the world. Basil and Gregory have left us a legacy to follow of rigorous theology, coupled with radical lifestyle. If our worship of Christ and our love of His word doesn’t result in us wanting to change the World then we must ask if the Holy Spirit does indeed live in us. Lastly let me leave you with a great creed named after Athanasius of Alexandria this guy was awesome he is without a doubt one of the greatest theologians of all History. So here’s what he said on the Trinity, it is pure dudishness…… WHOSOEVER will be saved: before all things it is necessary that he hold the Catholic Faith. Which Faith except every one do keep whole and undefiled: without doubt he shall perish everlastingly. And the Catholick Faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity; Neither confounding the Persons: nor dividing the Substance. For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son: and another of the Holy Ghost. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, is all one: the Glory equal, the Majesty co-eternal. Such as the Father is, such is the Son: and such is the Holy Ghost. The Father uncreate, the Son uncreate: and the Holy Ghost uncreate. The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible: and the Holy Ghost incomprehensible. The Father eternal, the Son eternal: and the Holy Ghost eternal. And yet they are not three eternals: but one eternal. As also there are not three incomprehensibles, nor three uncreated: but one uncreated, and one incomprehensible. So likewise the Father is Almighty, the Son Almighty: and the Holy Ghost Almighty. And yet they are not three Almighties: but one Almighty. So the Father is God, the Son is God: and the Holy Ghost is God. And yet they are not three Gods: but one God. So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord: and the Holy Ghost Lord. And yet not three Lords: but one Lord. For like as we are compelled by the Christian verity: to acknowledge every Person by himself to be God and Lord; So are we forbidden by the Catholick Religion: to say there be three Gods, or three Lords. The Father is made of none: neither created, nor begotten. The Son is of the Father alone: not made, nor created, but begotten. The Holy Ghost is of the Father and of the Son: neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding. So there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons: one Holy Ghost, not three Holy Ghosts. And in this Trinity none is afore, or after other: none is greater, or less than another; But the whole three Persons are co-eternal together: and co-equal. So that in all things, as is aforesaid: the Unity in Trinity, and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshipped. He therefore that will be saved: must thus think of the Trinity. Furthermore it is necessary to everlasting salvation: that he also believe rightly the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the right Faith is that we believe and confess: that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man; God, of the Substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds: and Man, of the Substance of his Mother, born in the world; Perfect God, and Perfect Man: of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting; Equal to the Father, as touching his Godhead: and inferior to the Father, as touching his Manhood. Who although he be God and Man: yet he is not two, but one Christ; One, not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh: but by taking of the Manhood into God; One altogether, not by confusion of Substance: but by unity of Person. For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man: so God and Man is one Christ. Who suffered for our salvation: descended into hell, rose again the third day from the dead. He ascended into heaven, he sitteth on the right hand of the Father, God Almighty: from whence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. At whose coming all men shall rise again with their bodies: and shall give account for their own works. And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting: and they that have done evil into everlasting fire. This is the Catholick Faith: which except a man believe faithfully, he cannot be saved. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Ghost; As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen. The Cappodocian Fathers, Acessed at : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cappadocian_Fathers on 2 January, 2013 Arianism and Arius 4th Century. accessed at : http://www.ntcanon.org/Arianism.shtml on 2 January, 2013 Church of England Nicene Creed. Accessed at : http://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-worship/worship/texts/newpatterns/contents/sectione.aspx on 2 January, 2013 Review of On Social Justice by St Basil the Great, St Basil the Great, On Social Justice, tr. Fr C. Paul Schroeder (Crestwood, NY: SVS, 2009).Reviewed. Acessed at : http://logismoitouaaron.blogspot.co.uk/2010/03/on-social-justice-by-st-basil-great.html on 2 January, 2013. Athanasius of Alexandria. Acessed at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athanasius_of_Alexandria on 2 January, 2013 Text from The Book of Common Prayer, the rights in which are vested in the Crown, is reproduced by permission of the Crown's Patentee, Cambridge University Press.