Today's Devotion: Mark 3:35 (New International Version) - Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother."

In Mark 3:21, one reads that "When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, "He is out of his mind."

Today's Comments: According to the Fourfold Gospel on StudyLight.org, Jesus was talking about his spiritual family. In other words, if we are in him and he is in us, we are part of his spiritual family. Paul, in Romans 8:15 talks about our receiving the spirit of sonship. When we receive the Holy Spirit, we become family.

Today's Devotion: Ephesians 2:10 (New International Version) - For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Not only did God prepare man to do good works in his name, but he also has a plan for us that existed before we were created.

Today's Comments: The Book of Jonah tells a story about a man for whom God had a plan. Jonah did everything that he could to resist that plan, but in the end, God convinced Jonah that he needed to do God's work of saving the Ninevites from self destruction. What do we need to do to save ourselves from self-destruction?

Today's Devotion: Hebrews 11:6 (New International Version) - And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Today's verse is really about following Jesus. He is the way, the truth and the life, as well as our means to salvation. If we do not have faith, how can we follow him?

Today's Comments: “What has philosophy to do with following Jesus?“ is an appropriate question. Theology is the philosophy of religion. Understanding that, we also know that even though it was the Apostles’ intention to establish one church, that one church has split apart and become many different Christian denominations and sects. Each of these groups, like it or not, differs in its theologies. Otherwise, we would be able to unite into one. There are some churches, for example, which do not require a belief in the virgin birth of Our Lord. Others will accept a denial of even the Trinity. There are people and churches, including some clergy in my own Episcopal denomination, that refuse to accept the concept of original sin. Much of our contemporary theology results from modern interpretation and re-interpretation of the writings of Paul. For example, we often discuss and argue about Paul’s views on homosexuality and women in the ministry. All these issues involve theology and its role in interpreting the Bible. Yes, we are told to follow Jesus. But philosophy or theology can help (or can often hinder) us in determining how.

Today's Devotion: John 8 (New International Version) - 3The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" 6They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." 8Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
9At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"
11"No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."

Let he who is without sin cast the first stone. Isn't that what we are doing when we preach schism or division in the church?

Today's Comments: And yet, sometimes we have to stand up for what we believe in, when the church is wrong. Today, I received a message from my church's Senior Warden that the Commission on Ministry has declined to elevate Micah Snell, one of our vocationers, to candidate status for priest. The message said that the letter was signed by our Diocesan Bishop and suggested that Micah's beliefs and practices were incompatible with those of the diocese. This is disturbing, considering the fact that initially the Bishop was excited with Micah's prospects and was even willing to offer him a scholarship to Oxford, if he could get in. The issues here could very well refer to his views on the ordination of women and homosexuals to the priesthood.

William Du Boise, a well known Anglican liberal stated, " Extremes always work themselves off best by freedom to work themselves out. The best expulsion of error is through the freedom permitted to it of self-exposure. Our end in view is not the licensing of error, but the ultimate best, if not only, method of eliminating error by suffering it to meet and be overcome by truth. By all means let the church guard and preserve her faith, order, and discipline, her creeds, her ministry, and her worship. But let her neither indulge the weak fear that these are really endangered or compromised by the fullest freedom conceded to and exercised by her members, nor imagine that danger or harm can be averted by the suppression or expulsion of that freedom. If our desire is to propagate error, there is no surer way than to persecute, suppress, and exclude liberty." If conservatives are being driven out of the church, where is the freedom? I suspect that this is going to have a most adverse affect on our church. We may end up losing our Biola students.

Today's Devotion:2 Corinthians 1:4 (New International Version) - who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.

Comforting our neighbor is a part of loving our neighbor.

Today's Comments: South African Bishop Desmond Tutu said, "God has made us so that we need each other. We are made for a delicate network of interdependence, We see it on a macro level. Not even the most powerful nations in the world can be self sufficient. " I think that Tutu does a good job of explaining this verse.

Today's Devotion: Romans 12:19 (New International Version) - Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay,"[a]says the Lord.

We must treat others with love. Jesus said, "Love your neighbor as yourself."

Today's Comments: I have been working on my term paper for Dr. Greg Peters' Anglican Studies Class (he is mentoring me through independent study). I am putting together a series of Philosophies of the Founders quotes into a PowerPoint so that others might view samples of what Anglicanism is all about. It is not is a single, well thought out, precisely organized theological system. Anglicanism has evolved through the philosophies of its founders. By reading and studying their words, writings, and wisdom, we begin to realize the diversity of its founders, the richness of its heritage, and the inclusiveness of its theology.

Dorothy Sayers (1893-1957), whose apologetics are peppered with humor, appropriately comments on today's Devotion: "When we demand justice, it is always justice on our behalf against other people. Nobody, I imagine, would ever ask for justice to be done upon him for every thing he ever did wrong. We do not want justice--- we want revenge: and that is why, when justice is done upon us, we cry out that God is vindictive."