Refiner's Fire

Recently at St. B's we were able to bless our new fire pit that we constructed back in December 09. It was such a wonderful time to be together as a church family. Not only did we thank God for our beautiful setting, we were also able to enjoy some hotdogs, smores, and just spend time relaxing and sharing our stories. There is something about fire that stirs within each of us a myrid of emotions.

In scripture, God is represented many times by the image of fire.  The danger and mystery that fire invokes has a way of touching our souls. In Malachi (3:2b-4) it says, "For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap; he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the LORD in righteousness." God is constantly working on our behalf to burn away the things that keep us from fully loving and being loved by Him.

In Hebrews, God is a consuming fire. For many that can take on a very negative, fearful understanding of God. But what if we looked at it a little differently.  In the Gospel of Matthew (3:11) John the Baptist says "...but He (Jesus) will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire." God is a consuming fire, baptizing you and me with fire. This could mean that God so desires you and I to the extent that our Creator is willing to totally engulf and immerse us in his love as a fire consumes and absorbs everything in its path. By consuming us, we are transformed into the image of Christ. God wants us to be whole and complete the way we are intended to be.

As we journey through Holy Week experiencing the path that Christ took to the cross and then the excitement beyond, remember that God so desires to not just be a part of your life -- but desires to consume all of your life, thereby allowing true life, resurrected life to shine forth.

De Colores - The Many Colors of God

What an exciting weekend Dave and I have had! We have just come back from Honey Creek after a wonder-filled Cursillo weekend. All the love and excitement we experienced has left us both exhausted – but exhausted in a good way.

In reflecting on some of the things that we experienced, one thing (of many) stood out to me and that is the “colors”. Rainbow colors everywhere. Reds, blues, yellows, greens, oranges, purples, blacks, browns, pinks – all the colors one could name. But have you ever wondered, “What color is God?” The use of colors in scripture and our tradition is vast.

According to the law of color, there are three primary colors: red, blue, and yellow. All other colors are a combination of these three colors. White is the combination of all the primary colors and black is the absence of any color.

When white light is focused through a spectrum, the colors contained in the white light forms bands of color. We see this in the form of a rainbow. Psalm 19: 1-2 says, “The heavens are telling the Glory of God and their expanse shows the work of His handiwork. Day to day they speak and night to night reveals knowledge.”

It is said that the three primary colors (red, blue, and yellow) represent the character of God. The secondary colors that are formed from these primary colors represent the roles of God as He seeks to reconcile one character to another within us. The colors of black and white reflect the status of the human life as we either reject or accept the living God.

Red is the sacrifice of God through His Son, Jesus Christ. “In Him we have redemption (deliverance and salvation) through His blood, the remission (forgiveness) of our offenses (shortcomings and trespasses), in accordance with the riches and the generosity of His gracious favor.” Ephesians 1:7 [AMP] It means life. The blood of Christ cleanses us making us a holy people. “For the life of the flesh is in the blood.” (Leviticus 17:11)

Yellow or gold signifies the Holy Spirit in our hearts. If we compare two passages of Scripture we see that fire is symbolic of the Holy Spirit. "He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire" (Matthew 3:11) and "There appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost" (Acts 2:3-4). Fire refines and can change material from one form to another. Fire purifies, warms, and illuminates. God changes us by purifying our character through the Holy Spirit in to gold. “I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich.” (Revelation 3:18) “And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.” (Malachi 3:3)

Blue speaks of God, the Father and Creator of the world. God is in covenant with us. God covers and shields us with His mercy until all are brought into right relationship with Him. Blue is the color of the sky and sea, it has often symbolized divinity, as well as height and depth and breath of God. It represents God’s Glory. “And they saw the God of Israel and under his feet there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself.”(Exodus 24:10)

White is the perfect balance of all three – in love. Love motivates you and I to allow the completeness of God (the Holy Trinity: Father, Son, Holy Spirit) to be lived out in and through us. Come now let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool. (Isaiah 1:18) God is not just one of these colors, but much more. The colors are only distinctions that God is working to reconcile you and me to Himself.

Black is not a mixture of any color because it is the total absence of all colors. There is no connection to God. Christ became sin for us when he hung on the cross so that you & I might come into right relationship with God. “He made Him who know no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21) Our journey is no longer in darkness, but in light.

It is the visible spectrum of light that is the part of our everyday vocabulary. The colors of the rainbow paint our world with the beauty of God’s grace production. The shades and combinations of the basic colors give way to thousands of colors that thrill and delight our world. For those who walk in the light of God’s grace, color in our world helps us understand divine truth giving you and I a vivid artistic portrayal of God’s plan for our lives.

Mother God

It never ceases to amaze me the number of times in scripture that God is referred to in the feminine. Yet, how little we pass that image on to others. In our Gospel reading for this Sunday, Jesus refers to God as "a hen who gathers her brood under her wings."
What a beautiful image of God's loving, protecting arms encompassing us.

Too often these days we chose to live in isolation. I do not mean that we live as a hermit out in the wilderness alone from all inhabitance. What I am referring to is that you and I can be in a crowd and yet we choose not to interact with the people around us.  Instead we choose to plug our ears or focus our eyes on Ipods, Iphones or other technological gadgits and thereby isolate ourselves from making connections with each other. We choose to shut out the world around us. A world that is suffering and hurting. A world that so longs for the human touch.

Being a Christian is about relationships. Relationships with God and each other. It is about being the body of Christ and our willingness to embrace our suffering and hurting world. If we choose to ignore and isolate ourselves, God's Spirit is hindered in healing our world. If we choose to connect with God's creation, then healing will come.

During this Lenten Season, let your hearts choose to connect with God's heart and allow the Spirit to guide you to someone who's heart is hurting.  Then be prepared to see the world transform.

Prayer - A Lenten Practice

Lent is a good time to develop or strengthen our rule of life through prayer. Prayer is essential if one is to grow spiritually. Communicating and communing with God through prayer is how we build and nurture a deep, meaningful relationship with our Creator.

Jesus gives us simple instructions on how to pray:

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened." (Matthew 7:7-8)

Prayer is an important element of the Lenten Season. Begin to set aside a time each day to meet with God. God is so eager to hear our prayers, so pray, and meet with God today.

Some ways of praying include:

Mindful Prayer is holding little conversations with the Lord within our head, its visualizing God as Father, Creator, Lover, Provider, as a Beloved Son or as Friend. It's reading a passage from Scripture, meditating on it then imagining the scene and placing ourselves in it.
Vocal Prayer is said out loud alone or in groups.
Contemplative Prayer is 'being lost' in the beauty and wonder of God and His creation, acknowledging His greatness in all things.
Silent Prayer is closing out the world from distraction and in silence 'opening the door of the heart' to the Lord.
Reading Prayer is with Scriptures or meditating upon the writings of recognized Christian writers.
Singing Prayer is in the joy of song and music through hymns and spiritual songs. Today there are many spiritual songs that draw us deeper into our love for God because many of them are based on scripture. What a great way to memorize the scriptures through song.
Working Prayer is dedicating our day's work joyfully and honestly to the Lord.
Vernacular Prayer is bringing God's name back into everyday language - 'Thank God' or 'Thanks be to God' during conversation.
Thanksgiving Prayer is praising and thanking God in all things, even in the difficult situations.

There are many excellent prayers found in Scripture to pray. Praying the Psalms is an excellent place to start. Using the Anglican Rosary can also be a wonderful tool that helps us in our prayers. The Liturgy of the Hours, an ancient practice of praying throughout the day: Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer, Noonday Prayer, and Compline is an wonderful goal for Lent. Our liturgy should always be prayer, so a good discipline for Lent would be to make an effort to attend worship services on a regular basis whenever possible.

In the beginning.....

Well, I have taken the plunge and started a blog. I thought this might be one way to keep everyone up to date about what is happening at Saint Barnabas Episcopal Church in Valdosta. I hope that this will become a tool to inspire, encourage, and challenge everyone who visits. So keep checking to see what is happening at St. B's