The Failure of Secularism, and Its Successes

I have just finished reading a chapter in Rowan Williams' book Faith in the Public Square, entitled "Has secularism failed?"  Reading this work is part of my recently begun PhD program, as I attempt to gain a broader understanding of Charles Taylor and his model of a 'social imaginary.'  Taylor is now most know for his major work A Secular Age which sets out to tell the story of 'how we got here' in the 21st century.  As such, Williams' chapter could be read as a score card for our secular age, an evaluation which reinforces many of Taylor's own critiques and comments of the world we experience.

Sermon for Saint Joseph

A sermon for Saint Joseph’s Day, preached at Evensong on Wednesday, March 19th at Holy Spirit Anglican Church, San Diego.

                From very early on in the Christian Church, Christians began to remember the lives of the great saints who had gone before them.  On specific days, which marked the death of a saint, or a special event in their lives, the church held special services to remind themselves of these holy men and holy women.  Doing so gave them a sense of continuity with the earliest believes and a conviction that the faith for which they were struggling, either externally against persecution or internally against their own sin, was worth it.  Others had trod this path before, they were not alone on the pilgrim way following the savior, and they could take heart that glory truly did lie ahead.  As one contemporary worship hymn has put it, “As saints of old still line the way, Retelling triumphs of His grace, We hear their calls and hunger for the day, When, with Christ, we stand in glory.”  Today, March 19^th, we pause and remember the Saint Joseph, the step-father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and we listen to his tale of God’s grace that we might be encouraged and hunger for the day of Christ.

I Am Seeking My Brothers, Reflection on Genesis 37:12-24

The Joseph story continues in the Daily Office reading today, moving on from the first reports of Joseph's dreams to his brothers' act of betrayal.  As I read and re-read these twelve verses the scene of the man who found Joseph wandering in the fields struck me as a bit odd.  What function do these few verses have in the narrative?  Couldn't Scripture have just summed up by saying Joseph's brothers weren't where they were supposed to be, but he eventually found them in Dothan?  However, an important line which comes from Joseph's interaction with the unnamed man is his motivation; "I am seeking my brothers."

Who made him to rule over us? Reflection on Genesis 37

Genesis 3:1-11 begins the 'Joseph Cycle', the narrative of the last son of the patriarch Israel (Jacob).  The story is somewhat familiar to many due to the popular play Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat.  The story begins by describing Joseph's beloved status as the favored son and his gift of dreams.  Both of these things reveal a deep jealousy in the family and serve to illuminate the brokenness of Israel and his son, and even Joseph himself.

Daily Office Reflection, March 8th, 2014: Why do we fall?

Well, you can see that I continue to be a sinner, in desperate need of God's grace, despite my renewed commitment towards improving my spiritual life in Lent.  Seems no matter how hard I try, I cannot do better on my own.  I'm trying to make daily reflection on the office readings a discipline this Lent, so far, I'm 2 for 4.  

Today's reflection is on Ezekiel 39:21-29.  Once again, I'll be working with the ESV text.  

Daily Office Reflections, March 6th, 2014

As a Lenten discipline this year, I have decided to embark upon a journey with the Daily Office.  The desire to do this comes from my weakness; I have struggled in the past to be faithful to daily prayer and devotion, and when I do manage to take the 10-15 minutes to do it, I tend to briskly read through the lessons in order to move on to another cup of coffee.  I am truly sorry and repent of that, and pray that the Lord would use this season to rekindle in me a hunger and love for His word.

The reading on which I have chosen to write today is from the prophet Habakkuk.  The lesson is Habakkuk 3:1-19.  I will be working with the ESV text, which can be found here.

Ash Wednesday 2014: Our Sins, God's Judgment, and the Way of Repentance

A sermon preached at the noon Ash Wednesday service at Holy Spirit Anglican Church, March 5th, 2014.

Who is My Neighbor?

The following sermon was preached at Holy Spirit Anglican Church on July 14, 2013.  The audio version can be found here.  As always, the audio version is slightly different than the text below.  Feedback is always welcome.

Participation in Christ: Christology, Ecclesiology, and Sacramental Theology in Richard Hooker

The following paper was given at a gathering between clergy of the Anglican Church North America and the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod on Tuesday, April 23rd.  Many direct quotes are taken from Richard Hooker's work Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity, which can be found in the public domain.  The references refer to book, chapter, and section; so V.lvi.6 would refer the reader to book five, chapter fifty six, section six.

Jesus, Our King

This sermon was preached at Holy Spirit Anglican Church, San Diego on November 25, 2012.  The audio version can be found on the sermons page of the church's website.  In the audio, the order of things is changed a little, as I felt it flowed better that way, and there is some added material which was not previously written out.

Reflection on a Death

In my first month as a curate at Holy Spirit Anglican Church, I went on a house call with the rector.  We were going to visit a couple with whom was living one of their mothers.  The mother was close to death and had been for some time.  It was explained to me that we were going to be with the couple, in order to care for them as they continue to care for the mother.  When we arrived, the wife informed us that the nurse had just left and that the mother would not last the night.  She told us that she has started the 'death rattle'.  I was not entirely sure what that meant, but I did get the sense that our visit would be very different from what I had originally expected.  

Jesus, The Perfect High Priest

Below is the sermon that I preached this past Sunday (10/21) at Holy Spirit Anglican Church.  This was week 3 of our series through Hebrews, which we have called 'The Complete Jesus.'  As we go through each of the Hebrews readings we are paying particular attention to what it says about Jesus.  This week's reading was Hebrews 4:12-16.  The audio version of the sermon can be found here and is titled with the date, October 21.  Any feedback is welcome.

Healing, Now and in Eternity

This sermon was preached at Holy Spirit Anglican Church on September 20th, 2012. The text was James 5:13-20.  The audio version of the sermon can be found here.  The text below and the audio will be different, as I preach from an outline.

On Preaching in the Context of Worship

Some thoughts on preparing sermons in the context of an Anglican worship service which have been forming in my mind for the past few weeks.

Faith that Works

This sermon was preached on September 9th, 2012 at Holy Spirit Anglican Church.  An audio version of the sermon can be found on the church's website here.  The text below and the audio will be a bit different, as I used an outline rather than reading from the manuscript.

Reflections on our Internship

For six weeks this summer, we were both extraordinarily blessed to spend time with St. George's Church, Holborn, in London, England.  We went into this internship with only a vague idea of what we wanted to learn, more of an attitude of just trying to soak as much up as we could.  Our expectations were completely surpassed, and the Lord not only taught us things through the wonderful people of St. George's, and those of the church in England, but also blessed us tremendously through prophecies, words, prayers, and dreams.  Below are some of our reflections on what we learned and what we received.

Scholars, Harry Potter, and Friends

This past weekend we traveled to two of the most famous universities in the world, Cambridge University and Oxford University.  We were fortunate enough to be taken to both places by students or former students, so we got a bit of an inside scoop.  We have also been able to visit our good friends from Trinity, Jon and Sarah Hall, who are over visiting family in Croxley Green.  We will talk about the ending of our time with St. George's and our reflections in a separate post.  For this one, we'll just stick to the fun touristy stuff.

Sunny Views and Nights Out

Over the past week, we've had a few more days of exploring parts of London, including the London Eye, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, Regent's Park, and Primrose Hill.  We also had some more lunch and dinner meetings, went out on boys nights and girls nights, and took lots of naps in between.  We have also had the opportunity to reflect on our time in England and with St. George's as our internship with the church comes near to a close.

Lunches and Brain Experiments

Since coming back from Focus we have continued to explore London and to connect with the people of St. George's.  We have also been able to enjoy being in the host city for the Olympics while the great games happen, which has been a lot of fun.  Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the last few days has been our participation in brain experiments...

Focus 2012

This past week we were away with St. George's at Holy Trinity Brompton's Focus holiday 2012.  We gathered with 4,300 other Christians for a week-long time of worship, music, talks, and ministry.  It was a fantastic week and we are really glad to have spent it with our good friends of St. George's.  One fantastic and miraculous part of the week was that it was sunny almost the entire time, and never rained.  This is miraculous because it had rained almost non-stop for three months in England prior to this event.  Praise God!  We've included some brief reflections below about the different parts of Focus, but there was far too much to give an in-depth summary of everything.  We're sure that things will come up in conversation once we get back, but if something intrigues you, please be sure to ask more about it.