Category Archives: Church History

Church History, Current Events

Embracing The New Year

celtic-crossA new year is upon us, beckoning us to embrace life with all its changes and mysteries.  This day, as an old Scottish New Year prayer says, is a “new day that has never been before.” And as a new day, let us embrace the newness of it and set our eyes ahead towards the rising sun.

The Lord Jesus is in our midst, walking with us and beckoning forward on His mission. The old year along with the old junk of our lives – our failures, mistakes, pains, sorrows, bitterness, and tears – have been laid at the foot of the cross and we are now new beings, washed pure by His light (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Let us, therefore, stand tall as sons and daughter of the Most High (Romans 8:14-17) and march forward together as one body under the leadership of Jesus, the King of Kings and Prince of Peace.

Christ has many services to be done;

Some are easy, others are difficult;

Some bring honor, others bring reproach;

Some are suitable to our natural

Inclinations and temporal interest,

Others are contrary to both.

In some we may please Christ and please ourselves,

In others we cannot please Christ except by denying ourselves.

Yet the power to do all these things is assuredly given us in Christ, who strengthens us.

 

Therefore let us make the Covenant of God our own.

Let us engage our heart to the Lord,

And resolve in His strength never to go back!

 (Section of an old Celtic New Year covenant service)

Church History, Current Events

An old Scottish Prayer for the New Year

open-door-eric-foltzThis day is a new day that has never been before.

This year is a new year, the opening door.

Enter, Lord Christ – we have joy in your coming,

You have given us life; and we welcome your coming.

I turn now to face You, I lift up my eyes.

Be blessing my face, Lord; be blessing my eyes.

May all my eyes looks on be blessed and be bright, my neighbors, my loved ones, be blessed in Your slight.

You have given us life and we welcome Your coming.

Be with us, Lord, we have joy, we have joy.

This year is a new year, the opening door.

Be with us, Lord, we have joy, we have joy.

Church History, World Missions

Africa: Christian Long Before Europe

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history of the church in africa jonathan hildebrandtOne of the best classes I took during my undergrad years was a class on the history of Christian in Africa taught by Jonathan Hildebrandt (who also wrote a book on the subject). The best part was that the class didn’t start in the modern era, where a lot of folks and books start, but in the first-century with the Twelve Apostles and those who followed in their footsteps.  While the full history is too long to trace here, it is noteworthy to mention that the Gospel of the Kingdom spread throughout Africa very early on – there were even large nations deep within Africa continent who declared Christian as the national religion long before the Roman Empire did so.  (Makuria is one such nation which has recently come into the news due to a recently discovered burial crypt.)

Below is a video that highlights an aspect of Christian in Ethiopia, one of the very, very few African nations to successfully resist European colonialism. However before you watch the video, here are some cool tit bits about the history of Christian in Africa. I would also recommend reading Ramon Mayo’s blog series on “Christianity is Not the White Man’s Religion” where he not only explores the spread of Christian into Africa, Syria and other non-European areas. (Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6)

  • Acts 8 tells the famous story of Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch. What folks may not know is that this Eunuch went back to Ethiopia and started telling everyone there about Jesus – effectively making him the first missionary to cross international boundaries.

“This man (Simeon Bachos the Eunuch) was also sent into the regions of Ethiopia, to preach what he had himself believed, that there was one God preached by the prophets, but that the Son of this (God) had already made (His) appearance in human flesh, and had been led as a sheep to the slaughter; and all the other statements which the prophets made regarding Him.” – St. Irenaeus of Lyons in his book Against the Heresies (180 AD).

  • One of the leaders of the church at Antioch who sent out Barnabas and Paul was a gentlemen named Simeon who was called Niger (Acts 13:1). The word “Niger” means black and was used in first century to identity those of dark complexion and/or African descent. This means, then, that one of the leaders of the most successful churches in history was a African.
  • Church tradition states that at least two of the Twelve Apostles traveled and preached in Africa: Simon the Zealot and Matthew the Tax Collection (who also wrote the Book of Matthew in the Bible). Simon was said to have traveled throughout northern back of Africa before going to Britain. Matthew, on the other hand, went through Egypt to Ethiopia – possibly to visit Simeon Bachos the Eunuch?
  • John Mark, the author of the Book of Mark in the Bible and a traveling companion of St. Paul, is credited with starting the church in Alexandria, Egypt, in 42 A.D. This church went on to become one of the most powerful churches in the Roman Empire. Eventually this church would become what is now known as the Coptic Orthodox Church.
  • The first Christian university was founded in Alexandria, Egypt, by either John Mark or one of his successors, it is not known for sure. What is known is that Athenagoras is recorded as the dean of the Catechetical School of Alexandria in 176 A.D. Later on the school would launch the career of Origen (185-254 AD), who is considered by many as the Father of Theology.
  • Another famous Christian theologian is St. Augustine (354-430 AD). While folks today quote his books and writings, what they probably don’t know is that Augustine was a Berber African. The Berber people were (and are) an ethnic group indigenous to North Africa west of the Nile Valley. In other words, St. Augustine was a dark skinned African who lived, worked, and died in present-day Algeria long before white man of Europe even heard about Jesus.

I could go on, but I’m out of time… it is enough to say that Christian was not, and has never been, a white-man’s religion (Jesus, after all, was a Jewish Middle-Eastern man!). As St. John wrote in Revelation 7:9, people of “every nation and all tribes” will and are worshiping the Creator of Heaven and Earth.

Blessings.

Church History, Theology Thoughts

My Life Through The Three Movements of the Holy Spirit: Pentecostal, Charismatic, and Third Wave

azuzs streetEd Stetzer, the President of LifeWay Research and great missiologist, has recently embarked on a series of blog posts about the Pentecostal / Charismatic / Third Wave Movements. The first post starts off by defining the “continualist movement” (i.e. Christians who believe that the spiritual gifts are still active today) as opposed to the cessastionists who believing that such gifts have stopped. From there, Stetzer gives a good history overview of the beginning of Pentecostalism before summarizing their doctrine/theology.

In the second post, Stetzer tackles the Charismatic movement – with a great history on how that movement got started in in the early 1960s. This was, to me, the most interesting article of the series as I didn’t know very much about how the Charismatic movement got started. (Spoiler: God used Dennis Bennett at Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church in Van Nuys, CA to spark the movement).

The next post was about the Third Wave, which moved through the USA in the 1980’s. This wave was different from both the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements in both doctrine and practice. Pentecostalism was rooted in the Holiness Revival of the 1800’s and hold to a doctrine of subsequence (meaning that a believer is fill with the Holy Spirit in a second, or subsequence, event after conversion). The Charismatic movement pick up this doctrine of subsequence and brought it into the mainline churches (i.e. Anglican, Episcopal, Roman Catholic, Lutherans, Orthodox, and Reformed).

Third Wavers, a term coined by C. Peter Wagner Professor of Church Growth at Fuller, disagreed with this doctrine. They believe that a follower of Jesus is baptized with the Holy Spirit at the time of conversion and that one could be filled with the Spirit without speaking in tongues (something the Pentecostal and Charismatic churches would disagree with). Stetzer lists John Wimber of the Vineyard and Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel as proponents of this view.

Wild Goose Chase Computer imageAs I write this overview of Ed Stetzer’s articles, I can’t help but smile as I’ve personally been shaped by all three movements. My paternal great-grandmother, paternal great-granduncle, paternal great-uncle, maternal grandfather, mother, step-father, maternal aunt, and maternal uncle all have been licensed and/or ordinated pastors within Pentecostalism (mostly with the Independent Assemblies, who broke off from the Assemblies of God in 1967). Growing up, I remember attending Buddy Harrison’s Faith Christian Fellowship in Tulsa, Ok, before my family sifted over to some Charismatic churches in Tyler, TX. College found me deeply rooted in a local Church On The Rock church, a network of Charismatic churches in Texas started by Larry Lea. After college I moved to Idaho where I fell headlong into the Third Wave through Tri Robinson and the Vineyard Movement.

Looking back, I can see where these three movements have shaped my worldview and theology. My Pentecostal roots taught me to look at the world through spiritual eyes, seeing the spiritual battle waging around us every day. It also introduced me to spiritual gifts, miracles, and the Christus victor atonement model, among other things. My journey within the Charismatic movement tampered my typically emotional self and introduced me to the Reform/Calvinist approach to spiritual gifts as well as the penal substitutionary atonement model. Charismatic and Evangelical college professors also opened my eyes up biblical studies, giving me a taste of the joy that comes with studying the Scriptures.

Life within the Third Wave over the last ten years have transformed me once again – opening my eyes up the center-set beauty of enacted inaugurated eschatology Kingdom Theology. Big words describing a worldview deeply rooted in the Kingship of Jesus who transformed history and all of creation with his birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension. Gone is guilt of not having enough faith when praying for the sick, or anything else matter; gone is the doctrine of subsequence (granted, I was introduced to the Holy-Spirit-at-conversion concept at the Charismatic leaning Church On The Rock); gone is the strict holiness club mind set of Pentecostalism…

It has been an interesting journey full of twists and turns (like any good journey). Three unique movements with different histories and doctrines with some overlapping theology and practices…three movements that have left their stamp on global church and my life. Three movements all chasing after the Holy Spirit with a belief that God is still working in the world today and is calling His people to step out in faith and do the impossible.

Fun times. Let’s go.

Church History, Current Events

Pope Francis: Shaking Things Up

pope francisAs you all have no doubt heard via the mainline news stations, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio from Argentina was elected as the 266th pope. His election to the office marks a HUGE shift in the Roman Catholic Church as he is the first pope from the New World. He is also the first Jesuit to be chosen as the pope in the 472 years of the Society of Jesus.

The great thing about Pope Francis is that he is a very humble man who chose to walk the streets of Buenos Aires and not to live in the fancy Archbishop residence therein. This choice to live humbly as already caused some difficulties with the Vatican security forces as they are used to popes riding in their bullet proof cars…

Pope Francis also decided to change the customary plans of the Vatican for the beginning of Easter. Instead of washing the feet of twelve retired priests in St John Lateran, Pope Francis has moved the mass to a juvenile prison in Rome where he will wash the feet of twelve inmates – included a few ladies, which is a statement in and of itself.

I don’t know what is store for the Roman Catholic community across the world – but so far I like this guy. He seems to walking the walk, loving the less-than and side-stepping the trappings of wealth and power.

Oh, one last comment before I end this post – the name of “Pope Francis”. Ever since Pope Lando’s reign in 913 AD, the serving pope has always chosen a name used by one of his predecessors. Instead of following this tradition, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio chose the name “Pope Francis” in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi who is known for his love of the poor and animals.

The name “Pope Francis” also carries with it undertones of one of the founders of the Jesuit society, Saint Francis Xavier. Saint Xavier was a missionary who spread the love of Jesus into India, Japan, Borneo and Moluccas during the 1500’s. He is famous for using the local languages and dressing according to the culture around him rather than trying to hold onto European customs.

Church History, Current Events

Electing a New Coptic Pope

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Coptic Orthodox Cross, Reads: "Jesus Christ, the Son of God"

While most of the world is focusing on the USA Presidential election, there is another election going on in Egypt that is even more important. It is the election of the successor of Pope Shenouda III of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria who died on March 17, 2012.

Established by St. Mark (the same guy who wrote the Gospel of Mark) around 42 AD, the Coptic Orthodox Church has about 18 million followers worldwide with 2 to 4 million currently living in Egypt. They are also part of the Oriental Orthodox Communion, a group of six churches in full union with each other.

Not to mention the fact that, as if having this large of a flock wasn’t enough, the new pope is going to have to deal with the political upheaval of the new government of Egypt. It is a task that can only be done under the guidance of the Holy Spirit….

The election itself is very interesting to me as it is done in a way that is contrary to how other church groups election their popes. Rather than choosing a new pope from among the existing bishops, the Coptic Church gathers a list of monks, bishops, abbots or priests whom have been endorsed by six bishops or twelve of the 24 members of the General Lay Council. A committee of nine bishops and nine laypersons will then narrow this list down to five or seven candidates.

From there, a 2,400~ member Electoral College (diocese representatives, community leaders, bishops, etc.) votes to narrow the list down to the top three candidates. The entire church body then embarks on a week-long prayer and fasting period followed by a liturgy service. During this service the name of the three final candidates are then placed into a box on the altar of St. Mark Cathedral in Cairo where a blindfolded five year-old child draws the name of the next pope.

This to me is a beautiful combination of democracy, human wisdom and utter reliance on the Holy Spirit! It has democracy as both the bishops and laypeople of the church are allowed to nominate candidates; human wisdom then narrows the lists of candidates down to those who are most gifted and able to lead, before turning things back to democracy (i.e. the voting on the top five to seven candidates). The final selection is then left to the guidance of the Holy Spirit in that God guides the hand of the young child in choosing the next pope.

Beautiful!! 🙂

Continue reading Electing a New Coptic Pope →

Church History

Veni Sancte Spiritus (Come, Holy Spirit)

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Considered one of the best Latin poem ever written, the Veni Sancte Spiritus (Come, Holy Spirit) has been sung during the Masses of Pentecost since the Middle Ages. No one really knows who wrote it, but the two most likely candidates are Archbishop of Canterbury Stephen Langton (c. 1160-1228) and Pope Innocent III (c.1160-1216).

While today is the first time I have heard of this poem/song, the message is one that I have been praying for many years. Within the Vineyard the cry of “come, Holy Spirit” is one of the earliest prayers we have, dating back to Mother’s Day in 1980 when Lonnie Frisbee prayed that prayer at John Wimber’s church in Yorba Linda, California. The rest they say is history.

Below is the English version of the poem (a video of it sung in Latin can be found here)

Come, Holy Spirit,
Send forth the heavenly
Radiance of your light.

Come, father of the poor,
Come, giver of gifts,
Come, light of the heart.

Greatest comforter,
Sweet guest of the soul,
Sweet consolation.

In labor, rest,
In heat, temperance,
In tears, solace.

O most blessed light,
Fill the inmost heart
Of your faithful.

Continue reading Veni Sancte Spiritus (Come, Holy Spirit) →

Church History

The Early Church Fathers On The Distribution of Wealth

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Aristides of Athens

A friend of mine recently posted a series of quotes from the early church Fathers about the distribution of wealth. I encourage you all to read through these quotes and mediate on their means as they all steam from the Holy Scriptures.

Sadly, however, the church in general has allowed hyper-commercialism and hyper-individualism to dictate what is means to be a follower of Jesus.

“You are not making a gift of your possession to the poor person. You are handing over to him what is his.” –Ambrose of Milan, 340-397.

“The property of the wealthy holds them in chains . . . which shackle their courage and choke their faith and hamper their judgment and throttle their souls. They think of themselves as owners, whereas it is they rather who are owned: enslaved as they are to their own property, they are not the masters of their money but its slaves.” –Cyprian, 300 A.D.

“The bread in your cupboard belongs to the hungry man; the coat hanging in your closet belongs to the man who needs it; the shoes rotting in your closet belong to the man who has no shoes; the money which you put into the bank belongs to the poor. You do wrong to everyone you could help but fail to help.” –Basil of Caesarea, 330-370 A.D.

Continue reading The Early Church Fathers On The Distribution of Wealth →

Church History, Vineyard Movement

A Heritage of Leadership: Vineyard USA History Overview

The Five: Current and Past Vineyard USA National Directors

A few days ago I mentioned that the Vineyard USA had recently installed a new National Director; well today, I have discovered (via Jason Clark) an amazing article on the Vineyard USA homesite giving a short history of the movement and the previous five USA national directors.

Some of the highlights of the article – which I encourage everyone to read in full – as listed below:

The Five
  • Kenn Gulliksen (late 1970’s-1982)
  • John Wimber (1982-1995)
  • Todd Hunter (1995-2000)
  • Bert Waggoner (2000-2012)
  • Phil Strout (2012-Present)

As a side note, I love the fact that they mentioned Kenn as he was very foundational in starting the Vineyard Movement. Yet, sadly enough, his leadership is sometimes forgot due to the huge shadow cast by John Wimber.

Todd Hunter’s Leadership Years

The late 1990’s were a turbulent time full of controversial prophetic and renewal meetings and shifting worldviews, not to mention the fact that John Wimber died in 1997, causing more uneasiness… Talk about getting handed a hornets nest!

Having not been there (I joined in 2003), I can’t comment on how well or not-so-well Todd navigating these waters…Yet, what I can tell you is that Todd was on the forefront of the shifting worldview in the USA. This came to light for me a few years ago when I was studying the emerging church. His name (along with some others in the Vineyard) kept popping up time and time again from different sources and denominations. God really used him to spark a worldwide movement that goes beyond the Vineyard; we were just blessed enough to have him journey with us for a while (he is now an Anglican Bishop and author).

Continue reading A Heritage of Leadership: Vineyard USA History Overview →
Church History, Current Events

Catholic-Oriental Orthodox Book Launch

Bishop Angaelos and Archbishop McDonald with the book (Mazur/catholicnews.org.uk)

Two weeks ago the Roman Catholic and Oriental Orthodox Churches released a landmark book focusing on the areas of theological agreement between themselves. The book, which can be downloaded for free, is simply entitled “Joint Statements” and addresses various issues under four main areas:

  1. The Mystery of the Church
    • The Holy Trinity and the Church as Communion
    • The Attributes of the Church
    • Growing Towards Full Communion
    • Point for Further Study and Discussion
  2. Bishops in Apostolic Succession
    • Bishops
    • Apostolic Succession
  3. Synodality/Collegiality and Primacies
    • Local/Diocesan Churches and Their Bishops
    • Relationship Between Synodality, Conciliarity and Primacies
    • Ecclesiological Meaning of Synods and Councils
    • Point for Further Study and Discussion
  4. The Mission of the Church

The publication of this book is made even more phenomenal and meaningful due to the history of these two major branches of Christianity. They officially  separated from each other at the Council of Chalcedon in 451 AD when the bishops of Rome and Constantinople excommunicated the bishops of Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem for not agreeing with them on how to describe the divine and human nature of Jesus. The excommunicated bishops went on to form six national Oriental Orthodox churches: Coptic Orthodox, Ethiopian Orthodox, Eritrean Orthodox, Syriac Orthodox, Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (India) and Armenian Apostolic churches.

Sadly enough this split within Christianity was only partly about theology as the primary issue at state during the firth century was a political  power struggle between bishops. In fact, in 1984 the Syriac Patriarch Mar Ignatius Zakka I Iwas and the Pope John Paul II released the following statement:

“The confusions and schisms that occurred between their Churches in the later centuries, they realize today, in no way affect or touch the substance of their faith, since these arose only because of differences in terminology and culture and in the various formulae adopted by different theological schools to express the same matter. Accordingly, we find today no real basis for the sad divisions and schisms that subsequently arose between us concerning the doctrine of Incarnation. In words and life we confess the true doctrine concerning Christ our Lord, notwithstanding the differences in interpretation of such a doctrine which arose at the time of the Council of Chalcedon.”

As you can see, the Lord is moving to restore unity among His people – a unity build upon love and mutual respect. Glory be to the King!