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The love of something more
“I love being an American. I love this place in which I have been placed — its language, its history, its energy. But I don’t love ‘the American way,’ its culture and values. I don’t love the rampant consumerism that treats God as a product to be marketed. I don’t love the dehumanizing ways that turn men, women, and children…
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On the occasion of my ordination anniversary
Four years ago I was ordained by the grace of God to the sacred order of deacons in the Anglican Church. It was a holy moment for me as I was making a huge shift in my ministry life. It was also during COVID, so it was memorable in more ways than one.
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A confession: I am a big fat failure
Ezekiel 2:1-7 The biblical calling to a ministry is so different than the “call” Western Christianity calls people to. Ezekiel is called to the prophetic ministry. That has a certain connotation in certain Charismatic/Pentecostal circles, and I would venture to guess that the picture we have in our minds is different than Ezekiel’s call.
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The under-utilized ministry of a deacon
One alternate text for the 5th Sunday of Easter this year is Acts 8:26-40, the story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch. Having grown up in a Pentecostal tradition, we didn’t have any true category for “deacon.” We saw “deacon” in 1 Timothy but in most churches that was translated to “board member.” It wasn’t an ordained ministry.
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Understanding context and rethinking Paul
I have believed in women in ministry for as long as I can remember. Growing up in a Pentecostal denomination that had ordained women from the beginning, it was at first assumed in my thinking, then solidified by study over the years as I continually ran into people who didn’t think women should be ordained.
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Remembering ordination
It was three years ago I was ordained as a vocational deacon in the Anglican Church of North America. I had been in ministry over 30 years in another denomination. When I was transferring my ordination into the Anglican Church, it was on the assumption I would come in as a priest. The Spirit has had other plans. It would…
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Reflecting on Philip the Deacon and my own ordination
This month will be three years I have been ordained as a vocational deacon in the Anglican Church. I am grateful to reflect on that calling this time of year, especially with the Feast of Philip the Deacon and Evangelist being in the same month.
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Tim Keller — ministry shifts he engaged
I am working my way through Timothy Keller: His Spiritual and Intellectual Formation by Collin Hansen.
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Be, Go and Be, Come and See
I had the honor of preaching this past Sunday. I invite you to take in the whole service to see what it is like to walk in Anglican worship. My message begins around 21:24.