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Jimmy Buffet’s “Come Monday” and Christian Community by Dr. Steven Studebaker
The Gospel According to Bono by Calvin T. Andrews
Taking a Step Toward Pentecost by Burton K. Janes
The Good, The Bad, and the Spiritual Exercises by Joshua Weresch
Whither Theology? by Bradley T. Noel
Hope in a Changing World by E. Stewart Hunter
Jimmy Buffet’s “Come Monday” and Christian Community
“Come Monday, it will be all right, come Monday I’ll be holding you tight…” These are words from the chorus of Jimmy Buffet’s hit song “Come Monday.” The song portrays the relationship between a man and woman threatened by the vicissitudes of life. “Monday” represents the man’s longing for and the moment of restored intimacy. Although Buffet’s songs often comically romanticize cheeseburgers, casual sex, and excessive alcohol consumption, this one correctly recognizes a primary result of sin and the hope for its redemption presented in Genesis 3:1-16.
Gen 3:7 states that after the initial sin “the eyes of both of them [i.e., Adam and Eve] were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.” Their experience of nakedness denotes their alienation from each other. Sin destroyed their pure unmitigated relationship. Sin separates us from one another. Genesis also shows us that sin separated us from God (Buffet’s song does not mention this part of the story).
However, God (like Buffet) longs for Monday. God wants to restore our relationship with him and each other. Genesis
The good news is that we can experience Monday now, at least in part. In John 17:22-23, Jesus Christ prayed that “they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me.” He yearns for us to experience interpersonal unity with God and each other. He was not only referring to an eschatological consummation, but a relational reality that believers experience now through the presence of the Holy Spirit (John 14 and 16). However, on this side of Revelation 21 we must still say “Come Monday, it will be all right,” because the fullness of restored relationship occurs only in that eschatological reality. In other words, when Monday comes, then it will be all right. In the present, we experience Monday in part as we experience loving relationship with God and each other in Christian community. If we can put Buffet’s “Come Monday” into biblical idiom, it might sound like “even so, come Lord Jesus” (
Dr. Steven Studebaker is Assistant Professor of Systematic and Historical Theology at McMaster Divinity College in Hamilton, ON.
The Gospel According to Bono
There is a very broad cultural divide within the church and nowhere is that more evident than in the area of music. In Christian circles there is an obvious tension between fans of Bill Gaither and those of Matt Redman. There are people devoted to Vestal Goodman and others to Delirious. Some music lovers would go for the Cathedrals Quartet while others would enjoy Jesus Freaks. To switch between Christian groups would mean even more contrast. Alice Cooper and Fanny Crosby have little in common.
Some time ago one of our young adults sent me an interview that took place with Bono, the front man for the famous rock band U2. His birth name is Paul Hewson, born May 10, 1960, in
Most recently he has authored a rare book entitled Bono: In Conversation with Michka Assayas (Riverhead Books). The Internet is filled with the wonder of Bono’s claim that grace is superior to karma. This rocker has a bold witness of Christian grace and is unashamedly outspoken on who Christ was and is. One section of the interview is enough to make any evangelical shout “Hallelujah!” In an age when many of our popular spokespeople are putting their foot in their mouth or trying to live down their scandals, here is an unusual, but articulate champion. Undoubtedly, he is reaching an audience that the church cannot reach.
Bono is as direct as the Apostle Paul in his concept of Christianity. If there are two verses that underlie Paul’s ministry, it is these: 2 Corinthians 8:9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. 2 Timothy 1:8-10 So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, who has saved us and called us to a holy life--not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
Bono has traded the stage for the pulpit. So just how Christian is this unlikely prophet? I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Bono is more Christian than some Christian denominations today. It is amazing that some churches and individuals who claim to be Christian simply just don’t have the goods. There are some things that we simply have to believe or remove the name “Christian!” These groups have a partial message. We need a clear message of the grace of God. Whatever Bono is or isn’t, he’s given Christianity more than a casual look. I want him to explain himself in his own words as he’s interviewed by a French music journalist named Michka Assayas.
To root this interview in real time, the exchange between Bono and Assayas took place just days after the
Bono on Christianity’s Ground Zero: My understanding of the Scriptures has been made simple by the person of Christ. Christ teaches that God is love. What does that mean? What it means for me: a study of the life of Christ. Love here describes itself as a child born in straw poverty, the most vulnerable situation of all, without honor. I don't let my religious world get too complicated. I just kind of go: Well, I think I know what God is. God is love, and as much as I respond [sighs] in allowing myself to be transformed by that love and acting in that love, that's my religion. Where things get complicated for me, is when I try to live this love. Now that's not so easy.
Assayas probed Bono’s faith with a provocative question meant to embarrass a Christian: “What about the God of the Old Testament? He wasn't so "peace and love"? I’m sure we’ve all faced those objections. Bono: There's nothing hippie about my picture of Christ. The Gospels paint a picture of a very demanding, sometimes divisive love, but love it is. I accept the Old Testament as more of an action movie: blood, car chases, evacuations, a lot of special effects, seas dividing, mass murder, adultery. The children of God are running amok, wayward. Maybe that's why they're so relatable. But the way we would see it, those of us who are trying to figure out our Christian conundrum, is that the God of the Old Testament is like the journey from stern father to friend. When you're a child, you need clear directions and some strict rules. But with Christ, we have access in a one-to-one relationship, for, as in the Old Testament, it was more one of worship and awe, a vertical relationship. The New Testament, on the other hand, we look across at a Jesus who looks familiar, horizontal. The combination is what makes the Cross.
A question was asked concerning a personal relationship with God. Assayas asked: “I think I am beginning to understand religion because I have started acting and thinking like a father. What do you make of that?” Bono: Yes, I think that's normal. It's a mind-blowing concept that the God who created the universe might be looking for company, a real relationship with people, but the thing that keeps me on my knees is the difference between Grace and Karma.
Assayas: “I haven't heard you talk about that.” Grasp this concept is you want a well-articulated difference between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. Bono: I really believe we've moved out of the realm of Karma into one of Grace.
Assayas: “Well, that doesn't make it clearer for me.” Bono: You see, at the center of all religions is the idea of Karma. You know, what you put out comes back to you: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, or in physics—in physical laws—every action is met by an equal or an opposite one. It's clear to me that Karma is at the very heart of the universe. I'm absolutely sure of it. And yet, along comes this idea called Grace to upend all that "as you reap, so you will sow" stuff. Grace defies reason and logic. Love interrupts, if you like, the consequences of your actions, which in my case is very good news indeed, because I've done a lot of stupid stuff.
Assayas: “I'd be interested to hear that.” Bono: That's between me and God. But I'd be in big trouble if Karma was going to finally be my judge. I'd be in deep [trouble]. It doesn't excuse my mistakes, but I'm holding out for Grace. I'm holding out that Jesus took my sins onto the Cross, because I know who I am, and I hope I don't have to depend on my own religiosity.
Bono has to deal with a skeptic. Assayas: “The Son of God who takes away the sins of the world. I wish I could believe in that.” Bono: But I love the idea of the Sacrificial Lamb. I love the idea that God says: Look, you cretins, there are certain results to the way we are, to selfishness, and there's a mortality as part of your very sinful nature, and, let's face it, you're not living a very good life, are you? There are consequences to actions. The point of the death of Christ is that Christ took on the sins of the world, so that what we put out did not come back to us, and that our sinful nature does not reap the obvious death. That's the point. It should keep us humbled… It's not our own good works that get us through the gates of heaven. [Are we listening?]
Assayas: “That's a great idea, no denying it. Such great hope is wonderful, even though it's close to lunacy, in my view. Christ has his rank among the world's great thinkers. But Son of God, isn't that farfetched?” Here’s a critical question. On this our faith rises and falls. Do you want to be saved ... through the gates of heaven as Bono says? Listen to the rocker preach the good news! Bono: No, it's not farfetched to me. Look, the secular response to the Christ story always goes like this: he was a great prophet, obviously a very interesting guy, had a lot to say along the lines of other great prophets, be they Elijah, Muhammad, Buddha, or Confucius. But actually Christ doesn't allow you that. He doesn't let you off that hook. Christ says: No. I'm not saying I'm a teacher, don't call me teacher. I'm not saying I'm a prophet. I'm saying: "I'm the Messiah." I'm saying: "I am God incarnate." And people say: No, no, please, just be a prophet. A prophet, we can take. You're a bit eccentric. We've had John the Baptist eating locusts and wild honey, we can handle that. But don't mention the "M" word! Because, you know, we're gonna have to crucify you. And he goes: No, no. I know you're expecting me to come back with an army, and set you free from these creeps, but actually I am the Messiah. At this point, everyone starts staring at their shoes, and says: Oh, my God, he's gonna keep saying this. So what you're left with is: either Christ was who He said He was—the Messiah—or a complete nutcase. I mean, we're talking nutcase on the level of Charles Manson. This man was like some of the people we've been talking about earlier. This man was strapping himself to a bomb, and had "King of the Jews" on his head, and, as they were putting him up on the Cross, was going: OK, martyrdom, here we go. Bring on the pain! I can take it. I'm not joking here. The idea that the entire course of civilization for over half of the globe could have its fate changed and turned upside-down by a nutcase, for me, that's farfetched …
Bono later says it all comes down to how we regard Jesus just as it was for Pilate: Bono: … [I]f only we could be a bit more like Him, the world would be transformed. …When I look at the Cross of Christ, what I see up there is all my [sins] and everybody else's. So I ask myself a question a lot of people have asked: Who is this man? And was He who He said He was, or was He just a religious nut? And there it is, and that's the question. And no one can talk you into it or out of it.
After reading this interview, I love the unlimited ability of God to make himself known. Who would have believed that a rocker would be so clear and so convincing? God spoke through a donkey when humans did a poor job communicating his message. God uses the natural world to testify of his majesty and creative power. Who would think that Bono could cut through all of the junk that has tried to wrap itself around the Christian message and rob it of its power? Trust the grace of God to shine through the darkness of this age and shine with such a powerful beam.
I followed this story through Christianity Today and Time and World Magazine. It provoked a response in the Reno News and Review. It landed Jesus on 1.3 million webpages and on the websites of thousands of churches and religious groups. It has opened a brand new religious discussion and people are being provoked. It’s hit the stage as well. I suppose I could get fired for going to a U2 concert, but I’m happy for the message in music that blasting through enough speakers to blow our minds. On U2's most recent album, All That You Can't Leave Behind, Bono sings a line that goes, "Grace ... she travels outside of karma."
Allow two points in conclusion. First, Bono teaches us by example that if you believe in something you have to be willing to put it out there. He’s no closet Christian. He’s putting his religious beliefs right out there: no apologies for his view of Christ and no shyness about tackling some of the tough issues right in the face of secularism.
The second point is really a question. What will you do with this grace offered by Christ? It’s not a topic for an interview; it’s humanity’s last and final hope! What makes Christianity different from all the other religions of the world? Years ago that very question was discussed at a conference. Some of the participants argued that Christianity is unique in teaching that God became man. But someone objected, saying that other religions teach similar doctrines. What about the resurrection? No, it was argued, other faiths believe that the dead rise again. The discussion grew heated.
C. S. Lewis, a strong defender of Christianity, came in late, sat down, and asked, “What’s the rumpus about?” When he learned that it was a debate about the uniqueness of Christianity, he immediately commented, “Oh, that’s easy. It’s grace.” How right he was! The very heart of the gospel is the supreme truth that God accepts us with no conditions whatever when we put our trust in the atoning sacrifice of His incarnate Son. Although we are helplessly sinful, God in grace forgives us completely. It’s by His infinite grace that we are saved, not by moral character, works of righteousness, commandment-keeping, or churchgoing. When we do nothing else but accept God’s total pardon, we receive the guarantee of eternal life.
Good news indeed, even from Bono. What a gospel! What a Savior!
Calvin T. Andrews is Senior Pastor of the Pentecostal Tabernacle (PAON) in Corner Brook, NL.
http://www.westsidetabernacle.ca
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Taking a Step Toward Pentecost
Karl Barth (1886-1968) was one of
“For Barth,” commented David J. DuPlessis (1905-87), who dialogued with the theological giant, “the truth...of the Word of God continues to unfold to us through the Holy Spirit as we go all the way toward the full statue of Jesus Christ.”[3] In Barth’s theology, notes Jean-Daniel Pluess, “the Holy Spirit brings life to the community of believers through the proclamation of the Word of God.”[4]
Barth’s reflections on the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Godhead, although from a Reformed background, are insightful and refreshing to Pentecostals. He develops his pneumatology in his magnum opus, Church Dogmatics,[5] with further discussion in other works.[6] This article guides the reader through one of Barth’s early sermons, “Come, Creator Spirit!,” which was prepared in the 1920s.[7] This is followed by a brief analysis of his later exposition, as found in his Church Dogmatics, Dogmatics in Outline and Evangelical Theology: An Introduction, spanning his entire life.
In “Come, Creator Spirit!” Barth’s aim is simple yet profound: focus on the Holy Spirit who “seems to be behind a wall,” hidden from humanity. Our actions can either enlarge or destroy the barrier, revealing the Spirit for all to see.
Barth chooses as his text Acts 2:4, 7-11, which he calls “the Pentecostal event.” Those foreigners visiting
The chasm is bridged by “the story of Pentecost,” which, for him, surpasses “a beautiful tale born of literary emotion...a pretty tale.” Rather, it expresses “real knowledge” of Jesus “ ‘standing in the midst.’ Jesus is the centrum,...history with all its generations stands still in His presence and...all distinctions dissolve before Him.” One cannot profess pneumatology without an accompanying Christology.
For those gathered at
Humans are “closely bound together” in “death...sin and sorrow.” Pentecost, on the other hand, means “that behind this central point of death a new, other, central point arises. Behind death, the Prince of Life; behind the transient, the Eternal; behind death, the resurrection.” Pentecost brings with it a “great...colossal reversal.” He continues:
All this general transiency, imprisonment and chance-existence of mankind shall be invalidated. That which until now is called sin shall be forgiveness; that which until now is called fate shall be called mercy; that which until now is called transiency and the grave shall be called eternal life; that which until now is called chance is called God’s will and guidance; that which until now is called man’s wit and wisdom is called God’s Word by which we live!
The conclusion? “Here is proclaimed the miracle of the Holy Spirit.”
Our responsibility is “to take one step towards Pentecost,” meaning we “place ourselves under judgment and acknowledge that we are aliens, living in a land of estrangement....” Jesus “beckons the weary and heavy laden to Himself and pours out His Spirit upon those who know it not.”
A “spirit of supplication” will cause “Pentecost [to] become a reality.” Only then will “the age of God which strains to emerge” be realized. “Then it will be Pentecost.”
In his exhaustive (and, at times, exhausting!) Church Dogmatics, Barth attempts a comprehensive treatment of Christian theology. He magnifies the otherness of God and His graciousness revealed in Jesus Christ. Barth’s is a Christocentric theology from start to finish. His theme throughout is, “Jesus is Victor.”[8]
In Church Dogmatics I/1, Barth covers the doctrine of the Trinity. The subject of revelation is the Lord who freely reveals Himself. In I/2, completed in 1937, he speaks of both the objective and subjective realization of revelation. The objective reality of revelation is none other than Jesus Christ, the incarnate Word. It follows that God’s freedom for man becomes an event. This compressed Christology is followed by a miniature pneumatology, the domain of this article.
The subjective reality of revelation is the Holy Spirit, in whose reality man’s freedom for God occurs. In this way, man appropriates God’s revelation in Jesus Christ. Barth is not, however, equating the Holy Spirit with human reception. He explains it in a capsule statement which heads the chapter, “The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit”:
According to Holy Scripture God’s revelation occurs in our enlightenment by the Holy Spirit of God to a knowledge of His Word. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit is God’s revelation. In the reality of this event consists our freedom to be the children of God and to know and love and praise Him in His revelation.[9]
In himself, man has no freedom for God, Barth asserts. God, however, in His grace and freedom, reaches man by the Holy Spirit. This is the possibility of revelation. How is man reached? God brings the Word to his hearing, God makes him a believing hearer through the Word and Spirit, and God causes the Word to become his master by the Holy Spirit.[10]
Barth is quick to put out three caution flags. First, as a reaction to neo-Protestantism piety with its emphasis upon Christian experience to the exclusion of God’s objective activity in revelation, Barth provides a balance. The subjective element must never override the objective. “Subjective revelation is not the addition of a second revelation to objective revelation.”[11] Pentecostals would have no quarrel with his claim.
Second, he cautions against specifying the precise way man experiences the Holy Spirit. Both the objective revelation of God in Christ and the subjective reception through the Spirit are manifestations of God’s grace. “What lies between them,” he maintains, “we can never express or state, because it is not revealed to us. And it is not revealed to us because it is revelation itself.”[12]
He also aims to steer clear of sectarianism which, he says, perceives the testimony of the Spirit in terms of an “immediate spiritual inspiration,” which “by-passes the Word and its testimonies.”[13] We must not posit an independent theme in theology other than Jesus Christ who is, as he had written in his sermon, “the centrum of life.” At the same time, the subjective, experiential aspect has some validity. In a later volume of his Church Dogmatics, written in 1955, he admits to a greater understanding of this dimension of the faith “of the Pietists and ‘Evangelical groups.’ ”[14]
Barth’s popular exposition of the Apostles’ Creed, Dogmatics in Outline, was delivered as lectures in the summer of 1946. It is, as the title suggests, a précis of his multi-volume Church Dogmatics. He cogently summarizes his reasoning on the Holy Spirit:
When it happens that man obtains that freedom of becoming a hearer, a responsible, grateful, hopeful person, this is not because of an act of the human spirit, but solely because of the act of the Holy Spirit. So this is, in other words, a gift of God. It has to do with a new birth, with the Holy Spirit.[15]
Barth concluded his 1962 American lectures–Evangelical Theology: An Introduction–with one on “The Spirit”–“the real power that is hidden in theological assertions–hidden, unattainable, unavailable not only to the environment but also to the very theology which serves the community.”[16] And this Spirit “dwells not only among [men] but also in them by the enlightening power of his action.”[17]
Barth then brings the reader full circle. In his sermon four decades earlier, he had referred to the Day of Pentecost. In 1962, he described the Day as the Holy Spirit’s “invasion, incitement, and witness to ‘what is in God’ and ‘what has been given us by God,’ his power arousing and begetting the confession ‘Jesus is Lord!’ ”[18]
Although he was still a Christocentric theologian at the end of his life, Barth zeroed in on the Spirit.
It is clear [he writes] that evangelical theology itself can only be pneumatic, spiritual theology. Only in the realm of the power of the Spirit can theology be realized as a humble, free, critical, and happy science of the God of the Gospel. Only in the courageous confidence that the Spirit is the truth does theology simultaneously pose and answer the question about truth.[19]
He ends his lectures on the upbeat “Veni creator Spiritus! ‘Come, O come, thou Spirit of Life.’ ”[20]
The author is aware of the “early” and “later” Karl Barth, but maintains that the two coalesce in the area of pneumatology, and that his later reflections are but the fleshing out of his initial thoughts preached in his early pastorates.
Admittedly, Barth does not present a denominationally Pentecostal interpretation of the Holy Spirit’s work in the believer. His writings are couched in the terminology of Reformed theology, but his penetrating analysis of humanity, and his encouragement to be receptive to the Spirit, are aspects of his theology that deserve careful study by Pentecostals and other evangelicals.
A sermon such as “Come, Creator Spirit!,” preached at a regular Sunday morning service, could only serve to make its hearers hungry for the Holy Spirit. Preached today, it would strike a responsive chord in the hearts of believers.
Barth’s more formal writings sparkle with insight and spiritual vigour. At the conclusion of his American lectures, he uttered a sentence that bespeaks his sensitivity to the Spirit’s moving. “Only where the Spirit is sighed, cried, and prayed for does he become present and newly active.”[21]
ENDNOTES
[1]. David L. Mueller, Karl Barth (Waco, Texas: Word Books, 1972), p. 13.
[2]. J. Rodman Williams suggests that the thought of recent theologians–especially Barth, Paul Tillich, Emil Brunner and Rudolf Bultmann–“serves as very helpful background for today’s dynamic movement of the Holy Spirit.” (The Era of the Spirit [Plainfield, New Jersey: Logos International, 1971], p. 65). For another positive appraisal of Barth by a Pentecostal, see Jean-Daniel Pluess, “Can Pentecostals Benefit from Dialectical Theology? Reflections on the 100th Anniversary of Karl Barth,” World Pentecost (July 1986), p. 20.
[3]. Interview with David J. DuPlessis, Agora (V:1), Summer 1981, p. 12.
[4]. Pluess, “Can Pentecostals Benefit from Dialectical Theology?,” p. 20.
[5]. Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics (C.D.), 13 volumes. Edited by G.W. Bromiley and T.F. Torrance (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1936-69). See especially I/1,12; I/2, Part III; IV/1, Sections 62 and 63; IV/2, Section 68; IV/3, Sections 69 and 73; IV/4, Section 1.
[6]. See Karl Barth, Dogmatics in Outline. Translated by G.H. Thompson (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1959), pp. 137-40; Karl Barth, Evangelical Theology: An Introduction. Translated by G. Foley (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1963), pp. 48-59.
[7]. Karl Barth, “Come, Creator Spirit!” in Barth and Eduard Thurneysen, Come Holy Spirit. Translated by G.W. Richards, E.G. Homrighausen and K.S. Ernst (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1978), pp. 171-82. The remaining quotations in this section are taken from these pages. Barth’s biographer notes: “Only with Thurneysen did [Barth] continue to feel wholly at one over what he wanted and the two were...of a mind...” (Eberhard Busch, Karl Barth: His life from letters and autobiographical texts. Translated by J. Bowden [
[8]. C.D. IV/3-I, pp. 165-274.
[9]. Ibid., I/2, p. 203.
[11]. Ibid., p. 238. Cf. Ibid., I/1, pp. 226-283.
[12]. Ibid., I/2, p. 234.
[13]. Ibid., p. 236.
[14]. Ibid., IV/2, p. x.
[15]. Barth, Dogmatics in Outline, p. 140.
[16]. Barth, Evangelical Theology, p. 51. Emphasis in original.
[17]. Ibid., p. 54. Emphasis in original.
[18]. Ibid., p. 55.
[19]. Ibid.
[20]. Ibid., p. 58.
[21]. Ibid.
Burton K. Janes (Dip.Th., B.A., M.A.) is archivist with the Pentecostal Assemblies of Newfoundland and managing editor of its official publication, Good Tidings. The author or editor of several books, this year he has released Beyond Aslan: Essays on C.S. Lewis and From the Cottage to the Tabernacle: The History of Glad Tidings Tabernacle, Embree, NL. He lives in Bay Roberts, NL.
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The Good, The Bad, and the Spiritual Exercises
I spend many of my days in the hospital room. I’m not physically ill and I’m certainly not a doctor; I’m a student chaplain and I hear of good days and bad days, splendid days and days of darkest depression and gloom. I’ve heard talk of the great days before the hospital and the great days to come after leaving its precincts, and I’ve heard of wretched days before and lonely days to follow. I’m privileged to carry these burdens, invited into patients’ lives to hear their stories, and blessed by the possibility of God allowing me to hear some hope or hopelessness in many lives.
St. Ignatius of Loyola was not, however, a chaplain; he was a soldier in the Spanish Army and, injured by a cannonball which shattered his leg, was converted to faith during his convalescence. One of his most important works, Spiritual Exercises, is a manual for faithful life and the discernment of God’s will. Four weeks of meditations address the reformation of what has been deformed by sin, the conformation of that reformation to Jesus’ life and witness, the strengthening of that conformation, and the transformation by love of what has been resolved. A central aspect of Ignatian spirituality is the idea of consolation and desolation, that which draws one near to God and that which draws one from God. Right intention and the examination of conscience are also formative aspects of Ignatius’ Exercises.[1]
So, how does St. Ignatius change our day? How does he connect with the days we have and the stories which we live and hear? We have good, bad, and ugly days—a day in the hospital tells us that—but, thanks to St. Ignatius, we don’t have to think of them quite that way anymore. Days can be good and bad: they can possess some moral value, which is undeniable. On the other hand, perhaps a better way to consider our days is to see them as ones which draw us closer and further from God. Instead of events being good or bad, perhaps we could begin to think of them as neutral, as moments that draw us close to or push us away from God. In that way, two things can happen: first, we can begin to place God in the midst of our thoughts; and, secondly, we can begin to allow a more studied calmness and faithfulness in God to infuse our actions and our life. Events and catastrophes can come, and we may be shattered by them, but these things can push us toward or away from God, consoling us or leaving us desolate (literally, “abandoned”). They will strengthen or injure our faith in God and in God’s care for us.
The good, the bad, and the ugly are all a part of God’s world and in God’s care. Their stories of hope, sorrow, loss, and redemption are interwoven with the narrative of God’s work in history, a work of groaning redemption. During our days here, days where we’re honoured to live with and among others, may we learn to see our days as both consoling and desolating, both drawing toward and drawing from God.
[1] Debuchy, Paul. “Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius.” Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 14. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14224b.htm (accessed: Thursday, July 20, 2006); Internet.
Joshua Weresch, a recent graduate in the M. Div program at McMaster Divinity College, lives in Hamilton, ON with his wife, Katie.
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Whither Theology?
You can imagine my distress when I felt called of God to leave
As a member of the Society of Pentecostal Studies, it was indeed a privilege to attend their annual meeting in 2002. The focus that year was on “Pentecostalism and the
As I sat through the various sessions, my thoughts were drawn back to
We are afraid of losing our distinctives. Many Pentecostals seem to fear that working together with other denominations leaves us open to the “watering down” of our own message. I believe this fear would subside if we better understood our own faith. While it is true that we do not have to be theologians to be Christians, it is also true that without a clear understanding of what we believe and why, we are far less effective in sharing the Gospel. This generation will be the best-educated Newfoundlanders ever. While they must come to the cross by a simple faith, they will also have educated, intelligent questions about our beliefs along the way. We must be prepared.
I would call upon our Pastors to realize that they are the teachers of the Church. In the Greek, Paul’s listing of the ministry gifts to the Church puts pastors and teachers as one (Eph. 4:11). As a pastor, you are also a teacher. The time for teaching again the fundamentals of our faith is now, for the need has never been greater. While you may not feel “up on your theology”, there are plenty of resources available to once again get you on track. While you may feel you do not have the time, I believe it is essential that we make the time. Our boards and people must realize afresh that the primary calling of the Pastor is to spend time studying the Word and in prayer.
To those in the congregation of the saints, I would encourage you to know what you believe, and why! Many of us are “experts” in areas such as hunting, cooking, mechanics or sewing. We have spent time in patient study and practice. We ought to know more about our Christian faith than any other area of our lives! I believe time is short, and as such, the devil’s attacks are ferocious. The winds of heresy and false doctrine are blowing in our Province as perhaps never before. The solution, however, is not to hide in our Pentecostal churches and wait for Jesus’ return, but to know our own faith, and then boldly work with others of like faith to reach the world for Christ before His return.
Who is our brother? How are we to tell if there are true believers in other churches? That’s an excellent question. It’s important to realize that differing beliefs or practices do not necessarily exclude others from the Kingdom. For example, we must realize that it is not necessary to share our beliefs on the working of the Holy Spirit for others to be true believers. They do not need to worship as we do, or for that matter, celebrate communion as we do. Their services may be very different than ours, and they may feel free to do certain things that our reading of Scripture keeps us from. They may disagree with our interpretation of end-time events, or our stance on healing. In each case, however, the only true question is whether the individual has realized their sin before God, accepted the work of Jesus on the cross, and made Him their Saviour and Lord. The Holy Spirit works out the rest of the issues in each life. The fact is, some of the most Christ-like people in the world today are not Pentecostals – they come from the Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist, Salvation Army, United, Anglican, Roman Catholic churches, and others. Since we will spend eternity with these folks in Heaven, should we not be open to working together with them here on earth?
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Hope in a Changing World
No one knows where all this will end, how it will end, and when it will end. And, to those who have not as yet accepted Jesus Christ as their Saviour, these international issues, in addition to their own problems, can leave them feeling totally inundated.
But, let us remember what Jesus declared in John’s Gospel, 14:6. “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me”.
His message was clear: Faith in Him is the only way to God. He is not only one of several ways but the only way. There are many world religions and religious leaders, both living and dead. However, there is only one Gospel and one Jesus Christ, who by His death and resurrection became the Gospel. He is what our faith is all about, what God is all about. No other name in history provides forgiveness of sins (Acts 4:11, 12).
Many think it is unreasonable, even unfair, to believe that Jesus is the only way to salvation. Christians have often been accused of being narrow and exclusive. But all truth is narrow. The fact that two plus two equals four proves to be a very narrow statement. It is an absolute – a non-negotiable. In music, for instance, all instruments are tuned to the absolute “A.” Similar principles apply in engineering. All progress is made by obeying absolutes. And the Bible claims that Jesus Christ is the spiritual and eternal absolute. The only way to be saved is to trust in Him alone as your personal Saviour.
How well I remember doing just that in 1955 when Billy Graham came to
For these 51 years, Jesus has never failed me in spite of the innumerable times that I have failed Him. He’s been a Friend, a true Friend, who has stayed with me, even when the difficult circumstances of life felt like they were about to inundate me. There, in the midst of it all, He encouraged, protected and helped.
If you have never yet asked Jesus to forgive your sins, I recommend you seriously consider making that decision today. He will become your closest Friend as you daily acknowledge His presence in your life. The old hymn writer was right when he penned these words,
“What a Friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear,
What a privilege to carry,
Everything to God in prayer.”
Written by Joseph Scriven (1820-1886)
Stewart Hunter, former District Superintendent in the Eastern Ontario District of The Pentecostal Assemblies of
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Other Voices...
Clark H. Pinnock - Open Theism: "What is this? A New Teaching? - and with Authority" (Mk. 1:27)
http://webzoom.freewebs.com/jkclarke/Ashland - Pinnock.doc
Ron Kydd - The History and Theology of Marriage in the Anglican Church
http://webzoom.freewebs.com/jkclarke/Ron Kydd - Same Sex Marrige.pdf
Steven M. Studebaker - The Mode of Divine Knowledge in Reformation Arminianism and Open Theism
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3817/is_200409/ai_n9440201
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