How do you interpret the statement Jesus Christ is Lord?

This is post 4 of 17 in the Probationary Membership and Commissioning series.

Response to ¶324.9 of the 2004 Book of Discipline

How do you interpret the statement Jesus Christ is Lord?

I believe that the statement Jesus Christ is Lord is best interpreted through an examination of three words: Jesus, Christ, and Lord.

Jesus is a personal name that refers to an individual that lived in first century Palestine. The personal name of Jesus reinforces his humanity and points toward his unique identity among humanity. The meaning of the name Jesus also implies salvation. Christ is a title that points to the role of savior or messiah. This title has particular significance considering the Jewish expectations for the coming Messiah at the time of Jesus’ life on earth. Jesus Christ as Lord means that he is someone that has power, influence and authority.

I believe that the supreme power and rule of Jesus Christ, God’s eternal Word, extends to all of creation.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.”¹²

Not only was Jesus present with the Father at all times and before creation, but through Jesus all things were made. This implies that nothing is outside the scope or care of Christ. Every aspect of creation is loved and has value; the light of Christ can be found in all places. As all things were created through Christ, Jesus Christ is Lord can and should extend to all creation.

It is important to affirm that Jesus Christ is the one Lord. There are no others that can successfully challenge the lordship of Christ. There are no other individuals or conceptions of God to be held on the same level as Jesus Christ. “The true God and His activity can never be perceived within the framework of a general philosophy. … It would have to look first at the true God and His activity – in a specific occurrence.”¹³

12 John 1:1-3 (TNIV).

13 Barth, Church Dogmatics III.3, 140.

Bibliography

Barth, Karl Church Dogmatics III.3: The Doctrine of Creation. Translators: G. W. Bromiley and R. J. Ehrlich. Editors: G. W. Bromiley and T. F. Torrance. London: T & T Clark International, 2004.

Subscribe in a reader

Subscribe to Thoughts of Resurrection by Email

Humanity and Need for Divine Grace

This is post 3 of 17 in the Probationary Membership and Commissioning series.

Response to ¶324.9 of the 2004 Book of Discipline

What is your understanding of humanity, and the human need for divine grace?

I understand humanity to be a part of God’s good creation. The book of Genesis provides a description of this creation:

“Then God said, ‘Let us make human beings in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’ So God created human beings in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. … God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.”¹⁰

Humanity is created in relationship - relationship with God and relationship with each other. Evil distorts humanity’s relationship with creation and with God. Humans need divine grace to be able to be in right relationship with God, neighbor, and creation. When one accepts the need for God and a relationship with God as a beloved child, one is enabled to move toward perfect love of God and neighbor.

Divine grace convicts people and draws them to God. Divine grace comes before humans do anything. It is what prevents creation from being hopelessly lost. Divine grace restores us to right relationship with God through the forgiveness of past sins. Divine grace is not only something that God does for us, but something that God does in us. Divine grace gives us the ability to follow Jesus. An excellent description of the need and work of divine grace is found in the Articles of Religion of the Methodist Church:

“Sanctification is that renewal of our fallen nature by the Holy Ghost, received through faith in Jesus Christ, whose blood of atonement cleanseth from all sin; whereby we are not only delivered from the guilt of sin, but are washed from its pollution, saved from its power, and are enabled, through grace, to love God with all our hearts and to walk in his holy commandments blameless.”¹¹

10 Genesis 1:26-27, 31 (TNIV).

11 The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church, ¶103.

Bibliography

The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church. Nashville: The United Methodist Publishing House, 2004.

Subscribe in a reader

Subscribe to Thoughts of Resurrection by Email

Understanding of Evil

This is post 2 of 17 in the Probationary Membership and Commissioning series.

Response to ¶324.9 of the 2004 Book of Discipline

What is your understanding of evil as it exists in the world?

I understand evil to exist in the world made manifest in sin and death. Evil is conquered in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Paul writes about this in his letter to the Corinthians:

“When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’ ‘Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”⁶

Although evil and the power of sin and death is conquered through Jesus Christ, it still has a foothold in the world today. For individuals, the evil within is often more dangerous than the evil without. I believe that evil is perpetuated by individuals and systems who choose to turn away from a relational existence with God to a selfish existence. This is seen in individuals who cheat others for personal gain, systems that seek to perpetuate their own power, and whenever a relationship with God is denied.

The existence of evil is sometimes linked with the presence of suffering in the world. There is suffering that results from evil, but I do not believe that all suffering is inherently linked with evil. I do believe that God is particularly concerned with those that are suffering. “God’s power has ultimately to articulate itself in divine solidarity with the sufferer, that is, in the ‘weakness’ of suffering love.”⁷ God uses power to reach out to those suffering and in need. This can be found in Jesus ministry as attested to in the gospels and also in the Psalms:

“Who is like the LORD our God, the One who sits enthroned on high, who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth? He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes, with the princes of his people.”⁸

This Scripture shows God in power and might reaching down to the earth and entering into solidarity with the suffering. Not only that, but God brings the suffering up to sit with the “princes of his people.”⁹

6 1 Corinthians 15:54-56 (TNIV).

7 Hall, God & Human Suffering, 156.

8 Psalm 113:5-8 (TNIV).

9 Psalm 113:8 (TNIV).

Bibliography

Hall, Douglas John. God & Human Suffering: An Exercise in the Theology of the Cross. Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1986.

Subscribe in a reader

My Personal Experience and Understanding of God

This is post 1 of 17 in the Probationary Membership and Commissioning series.

Response to ¶324.9 of the 2004 Book of Discipline

Describe your personal experience of God and the understanding of God you derive from biblical, theological, and historical sources.

While describing what I understand about God, it is important that I remember that it is impossible to circumscribe God. One can identify God, but never get one’s mind around God in entirety. Identifying and naming God does not control or define God. God reveals God’s self to the world and to individuals, but in that revealing there remains a mystery.

My best understanding of God in light of the gospel of Jesus Christ is God as Trinity - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The primary source for my understanding of a Triune God is the good news of Jesus Christ according to the writers of the New Testament.

Trinitarianism is a part of the structure of the gospel. One expression is found in the baptism of Jesus as described in the Gospels.

“As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.’”³

The baptism of Jesus occurs in all four of the Gospels and provides an example of the Trinitarian nature of God. Jesus is the Son as referred to by the voice from heaven. The Son implies that there is a parent. This is the one who pronounces the words upon Jesus. The Spirit is seen descending like a dove. This points to God as Father, God as Son and God as Spirit.

A secondary source for my understanding of the truth of a Triune God as revealed by Scripture is The Father’s Spirit of Sonship, written by Thomas Weinandy. I will explain my best understanding of his thesis because at this time it is my best understanding of the one God who is seen as three-in-one in light of the gospel. Weinandy’s central thesis is that within the Trinity, the Father begets the Son in or by the Holy Spirit, who then proceeds from the Father as the one in whom the Son is begotten.

Each person of the Trinity is identified by and in relationship to the others. It is not possible for one to be present without relationship to and in the presence of the others. The eternal Father eternally begets the Son and spirates the Holy Spirit. In a sense, the Holy Spirit is the breath with which the Father eternally speaks the Word (Son).⁴ This explanation is consistent with Scripture. It is evident at key times in the narrative of the life of Jesus Christ: birth, baptism, cross and resurrection. For example, on the cross, the Spirit enables the Son to cry out Abba, to the Father. At the time of greatest need, the Son is able to cry out through the Spirit to the Father.⁵ This conception of the Trinity is one that all traditions of Christianity, including Orthodox and Roman, would be able to affirm. I agree with Weinandy’s assertion that this arrangement puts the Trinity into a proper relationship.

My personal experience of God as Trinity has been shaped at various times through a feeling and knowledge of my relationship with God as child, sibling and vessel. There have been times in my life where I have felt cradled in God’s arms and cared for as by a loving parent, living as a brother of Jesus Christ and filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. Knowing and experiencing God’s presence in many ways combined with belief in one God are important components of my personal experience of God.

3 Matthew 3:16-17 (TNIV).

4 Weinandy, The Father’s Spirit of Sonship, 75.

5 Weinandy, The Father’s Spirit of Sonship, 29.

Bibliography

Weinandy, Thomas G. The Father’s Spirit of Sonship: Reconcieving the Trinity. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1994.

Subscribe in a reader

Probationary Membership and Commissioning - Introduction

This is the introduction of the Probationary Membership and Commissioning series.

Response to ¶324.9 of the 2004 Book of Discipline

This is the introduction to a series of posts on my responses to questions from paragraph 329.4 from The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church 2004. I would enjoy feedback and your response to my answers to these questions. The questions are:

• Describe your personal experience of God and the understanding of God you derive from biblical, theological, and historical sources.
• What is your understanding of evil as it exists in the world?
• What is your understanding of humanity, and the human need for divine grace?
• How do you interpret the statement Jesus Christ is Lord?
• What is your conception of the activity of the Holy Spirit in personal faith, in the community of believers, and in responsible living in the world?
• What is your understanding of the kingdom of God; the Resurrection; eternal life?
• How do you intend to affirm, teach and apply Part II of the Discipline (Doctrinal Standards and Our Theological Task) in your work in the ministry to which you have been called?
• The United Methodist Church holds that the living core of the Christian faith was revealed in Scripture, illumined by tradition, vivified in personal experience, and confirmed by reason.
• What is your understanding of this theological position of the Church?
• Describe the nature and mission of the Church. What are its primary tasks today?
• Discuss your understanding of the primary characteristics of United Methodist polity.
• How do you perceive yourself, your gifts, your motives, your role, and your commitment as a probationary member and commissioned in The United Methodist Church?
• Describe your understanding of diakonia, the servant ministry of the church, and the servant ministry of the probationary member and commissioned minister.
• What is the meaning of ordination in the context of the general ministry of the Church?
  
• Describe your understanding of an inclusive church and ministry.
• You have agreed as a candidate for the sake of the mission of Jesus Christ in the world and the most effective witness of the gospel, and in consideration of their influence as ministers, to make a complete dedication of yourself to the highest ideals of the Christian life, and to this end agree to exercise responsible self-control by personal habits conducive to bodily health, mental and emotional maturity, integrity in all personal relationships, fidelity in marriage and celibacy in singleness, social responsibility, and growth in grace and the knowledge and love of God. What is your understanding of this agreement?
• Explain the role and significance of the sacraments in the ministry to which you have been called.

Subscribe in a reader

Subscribe to Thoughts of Resurrection by Email

Death of a Congregation

New life and death are a natural part of the life cycle and overall health of a denomination and annual conference. This may be seen in the planting of new congregations, but it will also be necessary to move through the death of some congregations who are no longer effective in making disciples of Jesus Christ.

Recognizing that a congregation is nearing death in a life cycle may be easier for someone that is outside of the congregation, i.e. newly appointed pastor, district superintendent, etc. However, it may be very difficult for someone from the outside to bring this to the attention of the congregation and facilitate moving into the process of closing. What may happen is that the person from the outside is accused of not having the best interest of the congregation in mind.

Sometimes there will be a place where someone within the congregation notices that things are not going well and perhaps the best thing is to let the congregation die. This may become easier as there are more and more congregations that are closing within the annual conference. The closing or death of congregations is likely to increase within the next ten years for various reasons. According to Steve Compton, conference staff of the North Carolina Annual Conference, some of these reasons include:

• Loss of family perpetuation of membership in rural and town churches
• Longer effect of the natural life cycle
• Dramatic shifts in community demographics.

This is true, not only in the North Carolina Annual Conference, but I believe in the Kansas East, Kansas West and many other annual conferences around the country. The death of congregations will need to be matched with both the birth of new congregations and the revitalization of existing congregations.

Preparation

I have been preparing for an examination with the Board of Ordained Ministry in connection with my request for Probationary Membership and Commissioning. Today, I have been focused on responding to questions from paragraph 329.4 from The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church 2004. When ready to submit to the conference level board, I hope to post responses to these questions. The questions are:

• Describe your personal experience of God and the understanding of God you derive from biblical, theological, and historical sources.
• What is your understanding of evil as it exists in the world?
• What is your understanding of humanity, and the human need for divine grace?
• How do you interpret the statement Jesus Christ is Lord?
• What is your conception of the activity of the Holy Spirit in personal faith, in the community of believers, and in responsible living in the world?
• What is your understanding of the kingdom of God; the Resurrection; eternal life?
• How do you intend to affirm, teach and apply Part II of the Discipline (Doctrinal Standards and Our Theological Task) in your work in the ministry to which you have been called?
• The United Methodist Church holds that the living core of the Christian faith was revealed in Scripture, illumined by tradition, vivified in personal experience, and confirmed by reason.
• What is your understanding of this theological position of the Church?
• Describe the nature and mission of the Church. What are its primary tasks today?
• Discuss your understanding of the primary characteristics of United Methodist polity.
• How do you perceive yourself, your gifts, your motives, your role, and your commitment as a probationary member and commissioned in The United Methodist Church?
• Describe your understanding of diakonia, the servant ministry of the church, and the servant ministry of the probationary member and commissioned minister.
• What is the meaning of ordination in the context of the general ministry of the Church?
  
  
• Describe your understanding of an inclusive church and ministry.
• You have agreed as a candidate for the sake of the mission of Jesus Christ in the world and the most effective witness of the gospel, and in consideration of their influence as ministers, to make a complete dedication of yourself to the highest ideals of the Christian life, and to this end agree to exercise responsible self-control by personal habits conducive to bodily health, mental and emotional maturity, integrity in all personal relationships, fidelity in marriage and celibacy in singleness, social responsibility, and growth in grace and the knowledge and love of God. What is your understanding of this agreement?
• Explain the role and significance of the sacraments in the ministry to which you have been called.

Kansas Area Strategic Plans

I grew up in the Kansas West Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church and am currently serving in the Kansas City area which is a part of the Kansas East Annual Conference. Both of the conferences were challenged by our Bishop Scott Jones to undertake a vision process guided by the following strategic questions

1. How can we strengthen our existing congregations?
2. How can we start more and stronger new congregations?
3. How can we better serve ethnic minority persons in Kansas?
4. How can we strengthen student ministries?

Responses to these questions have taken shape in both the East and the West conferences. I am excited by the way that these questions have led to continued conversation about the mission of the church and the impact that the United Methodists can make in Kansas for God's Kingdom. I also think that these questions are applicable beyond United Methodism and beyond Kansas.

• How are / might these questions shape your ministry?
• What other questions would you ask with the purpose of making and forming disciples of Jesus Christ?