Wow I can't believe I missed this

A friend sent me this earlier today... while the events at the ELCA convention were as sad as those at TEC's convention earlier... It may be worthy of noting that God (being omniscient and omnipresent) might be paying attention to what the Church is doing.

This is from a recent issue of WORLD magazine:
Remarkable providence: When a tornado hits, four centuries of press history flash before my eyes
by Marvin Olasky

Journalists love the unusual: "Man bites dog" stories are big. So how should reporters have reacted to a Minneapolis surprise last month?

Facts: A convention of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) last month voted to ordain as clergy noncelibate U.S. homosexuals. No severe weather warnings were in place, and no tornado had come into downtown Minneapolis for a long time—at least 90 years, according to one archivist. Nevertheless, as delegates met, a tornado damaged the roof of the Minneapolis convention center where they were meeting and knocked the cross off the host church next door.

In subsequent days I read a spectrum of reports about the event. Here's a quick survey of coverage, moving from right (certainty of God's righteous action) to left (any mention should be left out, because it's certain that any god that might exist would not act in this way):
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW

• Minneapolis pastor/author John Piper produced Bible-based news analysis of the kind standard in 17th-century journalism. (In 1681 a general meeting of Massachusetts ministers urged careful coverage of "Illustrious Providences," including "Divine Judgments, Tempests, Floods, Earth-quakes, Thunders as are unusual . . .") Citing Christ's analysis of the fatal fall of the Siloam tower (Luke 13), Piper wrote that "the tornado in Minneapolis was a gentle but firm warning to the ELCA and all of us: Turn from the approval of sin. Turn from the promotion of behaviors that lead to destruction. . . . Rejoice in the pardon of the cross of Christ and its power to transform left and right wing sinners."

• Blogger (and former UPI religion editor) Uwe Siemon-Netto called the ECLA meeting "shameful" but did not conclude absolutely that God sent the tornado. He wrote, "I could not help grinning: This was truly Old Testament-style: God sometimes uses nature to make a point. Of course you will have to believe in these things in order to grasp their ramifications. If on the other hand you accept Biblical truths only selectively, as did the majority of the Minneapolis delegates, then this incident could only have been a random occurrence—you know: as random as the beginning of the universe."

• The Philadelphia Inquirer reported the news and noted one interpretation, with a raised-eyebrow "even": "Some conservatives even saw signs of divine anger when a tornado touched down on the Minneapolis Convention Center just hours before the vote." The Associated Press also reported the incident, but in a more sardonic way: "A few jokes about God's wrath proved inevitable. 'We trust that the weather is not a commentary on our work,' said the Rev. Steven Loy, who was helping oversee the convention."

• The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported the tornado but downplayed it: "The storm largely escaped the notice of the 2,000 Lutherans involved." (Hmm . . . Julia Duin of the Washington Times noted that "inside the center, ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson read the 121st Psalm—which talks about God's loving care—to the nervous assembly.")

• The New York Times was at the extreme left: It left out any report of the tornado, even though it ran two stories totaling 1,462 words and concluded the second with words from a pro-gay-ordaining Lutheran pastor, 'Let's stop leaving people behind and let's be the family God is calling us to be.'

Where would you be on the spectrum? Where am I? Piper is right: God controls the winds, so any tornado is a warning to all of us that we do not control even the next hour of our lives. We need to be careful about citing tornado hits or misses as proof of God's specific disfavor or favor: Episcopalian prelates who approve sin should not rest easy because their conclaves have not caved in. In WORLD we avoid stating as fact that which cannot be proven from the Bible or from careful observation, but we do not follow the Times in ignoring remarkable providences.

That the Minneapolis tornado did not kill or seriously injure anyone is one more instance of God's miraculous mercy and persistent patience. The Bible warns us all, so we should not need tornados—but sometimes we do. Thank you, God, for not giving us what we deserve. Help more of us to grab hold of Christ so that we do not reap the whirlwind, in this life or the next.

Sermon Series on Leviticus

So we are working through the Book of Leviticus this Fall at All Saints in a sermon series entitled, Mercy Grace, and the Cross of Christ: A look at Leviticus for the 21st Century.

Since it is my firm conviction that Christians cannot hope to grasp the fullness of the Cross of Christ without an understanding of what Leviticus is about (hint: Jesus), we are looking at the key passages and sections of the often neglected OT book as a means of establishing the foundation of the Gospel. Two Sunday's ago we looked at the Feast of Trumpets which is the foreshadowing of the Great In Gathering when Christ comes again. As we looked at the passage I drew an analogy between the feast of Trumpets and what many call "Rally Day" or Reunion Sunday to highlight that people are coming off their summer vacations and gathering to begin the new church year.

This past Sunday we took our first look at the Day of Atonement as it is briefly described in chapter 23 in the context of it's call on God's people for spiritual renewal. Here is an excerpt from that sermon:


"The point of the times of rest and self examination is not to put yet another weighty burden but rather to offer a breathe of hope .. a point of release from the burdens of the world AND our own personal sin as we look to the Cross... you see when we examine ourselves and find ourselves lacking we have a choice: WE CAN MAKE EXCUSES OR we can turn to the Cross... we can turn to the one who paid for all those things we see in ourselves that we don't want to see when we examine ourselves. When we face our falleness we can turn to Jesus who put Himself in or place who lived as we live and died the death we deserve.. we can ask Jesus, our Lord Jesus, our Savior, to have mercy on the one we know ourselves to be. To have mercy on us... BUT we have trouble accepting the forgiveness of God because we operate under an illusion.. and the illusion is this... He wouldn't really forgive me if He knew who I really was.., Brothers and sisters He does know who we are... when Jesus died He died for your sins.. not just collective sins ... for your specific sins... for you. He knows you and He died for you to make the Day of Atonement have it's fullest meaning and He offers you and I a chance to respond to His sacrifice.. to accept... receive and be something new, in other words, He is offering in Himself and in and through His sacrifice … He is offering to you and to me transformation... real and enduring TRANSFORMATION!"


You can hear the whole thing at www.allsaintsanglicanbr.org


Blessings,

mark+

Good news, and other ramblings for Wednesday morning

not as GOOD as THE Good News but I can walk and bend my knee this morning... as I mentioned yesterday we had a lovely cold snap hit in time for this last long run before the race on the 25th of Oct. so now I know that a really good way to ruin a perfectly good first cool day of the Fall is to start off with a 24 miler:)

I am praying for the people in Samoa who were struck by the tsunami yesterday and the folks in SE Asia who are suffering from the storm Ketsana

It is a simply gorgeous day here in BR today...

so why so long...

Well it could be that I am lazy or it could be that I have been super busy... we had the Bishop in for my service of installation as the rector of All Saints and the lead up to that took time and then after it was playing catch up but mostly I wonder if this is a good use of time for someone leading a new church... surely the things I think of or the things going on in my life are not terribly interesting to others (I say that in soite of the twitterization of America) but today in keeping with the post I just put up about the marathon training run this morning I can do nothing except sit and so working on the "blogging thingy"... in the next post I shall take up our new sermon series (does that sound pretentious or what?

what was i thinking

So I ran 24 miles this morning. The plan at the beginning worked like a charm...kept it slow... good warm up hit the half way point right at 2:04 and still felt strong. But then came the strange feeling in the left knee and the the tightening... it was a good morning for running the heat we had been having in BR broke to a nice cool morning... I am under a month out from the Marine Corps Marathon in DC and I am becoming increasingly convinced that my goal of an under four hour time is WAAAY out of reach. Things were looking good earlier in the training this summer but It occured to me that my 47 years may simply have run faster than me...I am looking forward to the run in DC but right now I am just hoping to finish the race ahead of the street cleaners.

Oh yeah... that funky feeling... almost certainly the iliotibial band right at the knee... becoming inflamed... never had this on any of the runs so far so ...apparently ... for me 21 miles is where the ye old iliotibial band decides to say "no thank you very much" and if you insist on keeping up this foolishness I'll be reminding you of the error of your ways for the rest of the daym, tonight and well untill I just get tired of hurting you...

All kidding aside .. it does hurt like the dickens BUT the run is for charity... I am running for 25:40 and for the Sonrise orphanage in Rwanda you can check out the fund raising page at http://www.2540.org/Team2540/marine-corps-marathon-2009-e5/fr-mark-turner-m49/

As I sit here on the back porch of our home.. I think about how it was just a year ago that I had come home from being in Rwanda. It seems a long time ago... but the people of Africa and the faith of the Christians there remains such a big part of me...


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Gratitude and Heresy and an Invitation to Sermon Comments and Questions

We are now posting the sermons on mp3 at our church website (http://www.allsaintsanglicanbr.org/). Here is an excerpt from this past Sunday's sermon:

"Q: Isn't it sufficient to simply say I love Jesus and Jesus loves me?
To this question I ask this follow up: Which Jesus? The Jesus of the Scriptures? The Jesus who is the 2nd person of the Triune Godhead, the Jesus who spoke all things into existence?

Or the Jesus who was just a prophet, the Jesus who did not really die on the Cross, the Jesus who never rose from the dead, the Jesus who was just one really good man among many good men.

Or the Jesus who is fully man and fully God? The Jesus that is in perfect union with the Father and the Holy Spirit? The Jesus who is not just in relationship with the Father but is of the same substance as the Father... one in the same in their essence. It's important ...
Because THAT is the Jesus who died for your sins and mine...That is the God who loves us with such a love such a compassion that if we were to really consider it we would weep in thanksgiving..."

If you listen to a sermon or were in church on Sunday and have questions or comments post them here.

IHN
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So...I'm still learning

...and that means I am learning this blogging thing as I go... I am reading the Blogging Church (find out more at the author's blog @ http://www.leaveitbehind.com/) right now and trying to synthesize it's contents, start and actually maintain a blog, while trying to get a new church up and off the ground..soooo ...that means I am posting when I can until I develop a rhythm (if you only knew how many times I just typed "rhythm" you would be amazed in fact I looked at the final correct version while typing the last version and still got it wrong the first time) ...

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Faces of Death, American Psycho, 8mm, and TEC

In this post I am sharing my thoughts, as an Anglican priest in the new Province, about the 2009 TEC General Convention

a number of years ago the book American Psycho was published. there was something of a furor about the book with some calling for the book to be banned. I was a poly sci grad student at U of H and knew little about what was truly true BUT I knew books should not be banned. on the other hand, I had seen just enough stuff in my life that I was sorry I had seen and could not forget that I was reluctant to read the book to see what the big deal was... a couple of years before American Psycho came out the Faces of Death videos were big on campus. I still remember one of my professors, Dr. Monroe, answering one of my classmates' question about whether he had seen any of the videos or if he planned on watching them. He said, “no.” “Why not,” he was asked. He replied that it was simple, he had learned that “once things went into the brain they were with you forever” they just stayed there. Images remain with us … things change us... and there is no going back...

As a Christian now, I believe that people can be redeemed...in fact, I count myself as one of the redeemed by the blood of Christ... but my mind and soul still have the imprints of images I would love to erase but can't … so join me now in a book store on Alabama St. in Houston ...it is summer 1991… I am browsing the aisles and there it is in front of me...American Psycho... I pick it up and open it to the middle and begin reading … within moments I see the truest danger of the book...it is well written... it is gripping... it draws me in because the images are so stark... frightening? Yes... disturbing? Yes..and though they do dull over time there they are living in my mind all these years later...things that go in remain... I still remember putting the book down and knowing I should never have picked it up...Dr. Monroe was right

Years later I would become a Christian and eventually God led me to seminary and the ordained ministry and that lesson begun in a classroom on U of H and brought home standing in a bookstore aisle remains with me still...the things we see, the things hear, and the things we participate in change us... they are never neutral... St. Paul says, “brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” (Phi 4:8 ESV)

… and that brings me to a fairly bad movie, starring Nicolas Cage, I stumbled across one day while surfing the channels... the movie is named 8mm... I do not recommend... once again it is not that the movie is made so badly or the acting terribly bad but it is a movie about a private detective who is looking for a young lady who has been caught up in the world of pornographic snuff films... if you don't know what that is already, you don't want to know... just suffice it to say they are not the kind of thing St. Paul calls us to think on.... but there was an incredible moment in the movie that provided great clarity for me... Cages' character, Tom Welles, ends up partnering with a young man, Max California, who has himself been caught up in this bizarre and dark film underworld... in a pivotal point in the movie the following conversation takes place when Max tries to warn Welles' about getting too close to the world he is investigating...

Max California: [on the porn industry] All I'm saying is... it can get to you.
Tom Welles: No worries. Thanks for the warning, though.
Max California: You're welcome. Pops... If you dance with the devil, the devil don't change. The devil changes you.

If you dance with the devil, the devil don't change. The devil changes you.
St. Paul knew this, Dr. Monroe knew something at least like this, and I have learned it to... and that brings us to TEC in the wake of their now concluded general convention... during which a rather modest resolution on the uniqueness of Christ was defeated, and numerous other actions were taken to further distance this body from the Christian faith. the events are well documented at blogs like www.standfirm.com, so I will not enumerate the sad details here.

I know there are some who are determined to fight the good fight for the orthodox faith in the TEC and yet I wonder sometimes if the fight has not become the whole thing and replaced the thing that is most important … Jesus... and sharing the Good News about Him with a world that needs to know Jesus and be in relationship with Jesus...my concern for those still in TEC who still have some semblance of a living faith and practice is whether they will be able to hold fast to that faith and practice when the focus of all that they participate in is a fight for control of a dying institution...some might say... hey, man. none of your business … you are out of TEC... mind your own business... fair enough when it was just those in power in TEC making disparaging remarks about those of us “who don't get the new way of things”... fair enough when it was those in power in TEC calling me an Anglican in parentheses and sneering at my backward fundamentalism for believing things like Jesus Christ is the only way to the Father, the Bible is the word of God, etc.... but when THE faith itself is under attack then ALL Christians should speak up and... after all... maybe Charles Dickens was right... maybe mankind is my business... and maybe Jesus was right maybe everyone is my neighbor... and maybe Max California was right... when you dance with the devil the devil don't change. The devil changes you...my fear is that good people are remaining tied to and continue to participate in TEC and based on the statements of the PB of TEC and based on the results of this last general convention... my concern is that good people are dancing with the devil...and the devil don't change...

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why a blog?

So, why a blog. I am not that interesting (note the subtle yet latent arrogance in my use of the phrase "not that" which suggests somehow that i am actually somewhat interesting which is, of course, debatable) so why would anyone care what I think about anything?

I don't know.

I am blogging for a number of reasons... one of which is that I read a book entitled "The Blogging Church" and the writer assured me that I should. I am the rector (senior pastor) of a new church start in Baton Rouge, LA and apparently all new church plants should have someone (or many someones) blogging... otherwise they are not very relevant. At least that is what "they" say.

All sarcasm aside, (well, at least some of it) I am blogging because as a preacher and church leader I am in the communication business... My goal is to communicate the Gospel first and foremost... along the way a blog will give me the chance to share some thoughts that are really geared for the blogosphere medium rather than other means of communication...

I like to write and this gives me an opportunity to do that...it also allows me to play fast and loose with the annoyance of proper punctuation:0, it allows me to share thoughts without going through a series of rough drafts, and allows me to interact with others who might be interested in dialoging ... we'll see...

My blog is called ambitious project in "honor" of the anonymous quote in the header... I stumbled across it a couple of years ago and was blown away... man is that where we are as a western culture or what?

We are not just down on God or even the idea of God but also we are awash in a sea of hopelessness... in Genesis God did indeed start what, from our human vantage is easy to view as a rather ambitious project in the creation of humanity... but He has not given up on us... He never has and He never will... we are God's ambitious project... God is not, in fact dead, and through the life giving blood of the only Savior, Jesus Christ, the conclusion of God's human project is assured... so my title for this blog is really a kind of homage to the Lord... an act of gratitude... thanks God, for loving me , thanks for not giving up on me, thanks for saving me and thanks for still working on me every day.

Just part of the human project story of redemption, mark+

First Blog Post

Hello, this is my first blog posting. My wife, who knows far more about these things than I has assured me that I should write these posts using an editor and then cut and paste them into the blog...but hey I am living dangerously with this first one:)

I am looking forward to getting to know and interact with folks who drop by the Ambitious Project blog.


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