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What I Am Reading

  • Gary A. Haugen: Just Courage: God's Great Expedition for the Restless Christian

    Gary A. Haugen: Just Courage: God's Great Expedition for the Restless Christian
    This book will cause you to do some very real self-examination. - Rob "I dare you to read Gary Haugen without growing a bigger vision of God. He is a prophet in our day calling us to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our God." —John Ortberg

  • Ruth Haley Barton: Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership: Seeking God in the Crucible of Ministry

    Ruth Haley Barton: Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership: Seeking God in the Crucible of Ministry
    I’m tired of helping others enjoy God." "I just want to enjoy God for myself." With this painful admission, Ruth Haley Barton invites us to an honest exploration of what happens when spiritual leaders lose track of their souls.

  • Gary A. Haugen: Good News About Injustice: A Witness of Courage in a Hurting World

    Gary A. Haugen: Good News About Injustice: A Witness of Courage in a Hurting World
    "I defy anybody to emerge from exposure to this book unscathed. In fact, my advice to would-be readers is 'Don't! Leave the book alone!'--unless you are willing to be shocked, challenged, persuaded and transformed." —John Stott

  • Brian McLaren: Finding Our Way Again: The Return of the Ancient Practices

    Brian McLaren: Finding Our Way Again: The Return of the Ancient Practices
    If I want to see change in the world, the change needs to begin in myself. If I want to see the world become more peaceful, for example, I need to become a person of peace. If I want the world to become less consumptive, I need to become more self-disciplined, and so on. So, to be the change we want to see in the world, we need spiritual practices that help us change.

  • Adam Hamilton: Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White: Thoughts on Religion, Morality, and Politics

    Adam Hamilton: Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White: Thoughts on Religion, Morality, and Politics
    Everyone agrees that America is polarized, with ever-hardening positions held by people less and less willing to listen to one another. No one agrees on what to do about it. One solution that hasn’t yet been tried, says Adam Hamilton, is for thinking persons of faith to model for the rest of the country a richer, more thoughtful conversation on the political, moral, and religious issues that divide us.

  • Mark Galli: Beyond Smells & Bells: The Wonder and Power of Christian Liturgy

    Mark Galli: Beyond Smells & Bells: The Wonder and Power of Christian Liturgy
    "In this warm and engaging book, Mark Galli makes a compelling case for the relevance of Christian liturgy in our postmodern, individualistic age. Through lucid examples and moving personal testimony, Gallie explains the countercultural appeal of liturgical worship that spans the denominational spectrum."

  • N. T. Wright: Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church

    N. T. Wright: Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church
    For years Christians have been asking, "If you died tonight, do you know where you would go?" It turns out that many believers have been giving the wrong answer. It is not heaven. Award-winning author N. T. Wright outlines the present confusion about a Christian's future hope and shows how it is deeply intertwined with how we live today. Wright, who is one of today's premier Bible scholars, asserts that Christianity's most distinctive idea is bodily resurrection. He provides a magisterial defense for a literal resurrection of Jesus and shows how this became the cornerstone for the Christian community's hope in the bodily resurrection of all people at the end of the age.

  • Kevin G. Ford: Transforming Church: Bringing Out the Good to Get to Great

    Kevin G. Ford: Transforming Church: Bringing Out the Good to Get to Great
    Using the story of five churches wrestling with change and searching for genuine growth in their ministry, The Transforming Church identifies the five dysfunctions of an unhealthy church and the five characteristics of a growing, healthy congregation. Hopeful and encouraging in tone, Kevin Ford will help churches identity and resolve common frustrations churches face and become a healthy church that is relevant and life-giving to society

  • N. Graham Standish: Humble Leadership: Being Radically Open to God's Guidance and Grace

    N. Graham Standish: Humble Leadership: Being Radically Open to God's Guidance and Grace
    “Humble” and “leadership” may seem oxymoronic, but Standish argues that the Christian tradition has twinned the two—that from the desert fathers and mothers through medieval mystics to the Reformers and modern thinkers like Thomas Kelly, some of history’s most passionate and effective spiritual leaders understood and demonstrated the power of humility in relation to their vocations to lead.

  • Tracy Balzer: Thin Places: An Evangelical Journey into Celtic Christianity

    Tracy Balzer: Thin Places: An Evangelical Journey into Celtic Christianity
    Thin Places introduces contemporary Christians to the great spritual legacy of the early Celts, a legacy that has remained undiscovered or inaccessible for many evangelical Christians. It provides ways for us to learn from this ancient faith expression, applying fresh and lively spritual disciplines to our own modern context.

  • Anthony B. Robinson: Leadership for Vital Congregations (Congregational Vitality)

    Anthony B. Robinson: Leadership for Vital Congregations (Congregational Vitality)
    This is an excellent book on leading congregations. Robinson boldly confronts the adaptive challenge we face in mainline congregations: moving from a culture of church membership to a culture of transformation and intentional discipleship to Jesus Christ.

  • Robert E. Webber: The Divine Embrace: Recovering the Passionate Spiritual Life (Ancient-Future)

    Robert E. Webber: The Divine Embrace: Recovering the Passionate Spiritual Life (Ancient-Future)
    One element that makes this book so important is Webber's clarification of the word "spirituality" --- specifically, Christian spirituality as defined and experienced by the ancient church. Webber rescues the word from its ambiguous, anemic use in contemporary society and restores to it all the vibrancy and God-centeredness that is inherent in genuine Christian spirituality.

  • Tony Campolo and Mary Albert Darling: The God of Intimacy and Action: Reconnecting Ancient Spiritual Practices, Evangelism, and Justice

    Tony Campolo and Mary Albert Darling: The God of Intimacy and Action: Reconnecting Ancient Spiritual Practices, Evangelism, and Justice
    "This very important work brings integration to the false dichotomy that promotes an artificial disconnection between Christian mysticism and Christian outreach. By weaving together the themes of personal spiritual transformation with the themes of evangelism and social justice, Campolo and Darling help us to find the narrow path between "spiritless service" on the one hand and "arrested spiritual development that verges on narcissism" on the other. - Ruth Haley Barton

  • Eugene H. Peterson: The Jesus Way: A Conversation on the Ways That Jesus Is the Way

    Eugene H. Peterson: The Jesus Way: A Conversation on the Ways That Jesus Is the Way
    In The Jesus Way Eugene Peterson continues the thought-provoking spiritual-theological conversation that he began in Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places and Eat This Book. This third volume, offering more of Peterson's singular blend of probing biblical exposition and keen cultural analysis, considers all the ways that Jesus is the Way compared to the distorted ways the modern American church has chosen to follow.

  • Martin Laird: Into the Silent Land

    Martin Laird: Into the Silent Land
    A book that gives mature advice on the prayer of the heart.

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July 22, 2008

Brian McLaren at Lambeth

L21_194 I'm impressed that Brian McLaren was invited to speak at Lambeth on the subject of Evangelism. Here are his reflections about being at Lambeth and a snippet of his presentation.

"What a tremendous honor and pleasure it's been to speak on the subject of evangelism at the Lambeth Conference being held here in Canterbury, England. I know that most people think the "news story" here is about divisive controversies over sexuality, but my sense is that the real news story is very different.

There is a humble spirit here, a loving atmosphere, a deep spirituality centered in Bible study, worship, and prayer, and a strong desire to move beyond internal-institutional matters to substantive mission in our needy world. Most postmodern people don’t relish being far from God, bereft of hope and roots, isolated from loving community, part of the problem rather than the solution. But neither do they want to be religious fanatics, cultists, Us and Them dualists, Church hobbyists, Judgmental fantasists. They need authentic, sane, vibrant faith.

Anglicanism at its best is well placed to provide safe space to grow this:

1. A gospel which prioritizes Jesus and the kingdom more than institutional religion, with a servant concept of ministry

2.A safe platform from which to develop creative fresh expressions of Church
 
3. A multicultural family, with global flexibility

4. A liturgy that at its best exibits mystery, beauty, rootedness, intelligence and clarity, biblical coherence, as opposed either to absolutism or bigoted, mean spirited zealotry.

I find this very hopeful.

With you on the Journey,

Rob+

July 21, 2008

Some words from Bishop Howe at Lambeth

Sunday_7-20-08_028 "This afternoon we had our first plenary session, and once again, the Archbishop spoke to us; very differently from the meditations in retreat. He  outlined four possible futures for the Communion:

1) that we become a loose federation of churches, sharing a common heritage, but increasingly autonomous.

2) that we become a collection of even less connected national churches, each going its own way.

3) that we develop a strong centralized authority that will dictate uniformity in ethics and practice.

He rejected all of these as being "less than a Communion," and put his hope in the fourth:

4) that we become a Communion of "counsel and consent," held together by the bonds of affection and an Anglican Covenant."

The question is this: Will the House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church be willing to be directed by the counsel, the consent, and the covenant of the Anglican Communion?

As Rowan Williams has said:

"A failure in leadership is a failure to hope in Christ."

With you on the Journey,

Rob+

July 19, 2008

+Rowan and the Lambeth Conference

Imgp3454

The conference's opening public worship is set for Sunday in Canterbury Cathedral. The Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the Anglican spiritual leader, has led a three-day closed-door session this week focused on the role of the bishops as seen through the Gospel.

Williams designed the entire gathering without any votes or resolutions. Instead, starting Monday, the bishops will hold daily Bible study and small group discussions. They plan to release their collective "reflections" on the meeting when it ends Aug. 3.

Join me in daily prayer for Rowan and the Lambeth Conference.

WIth you the Journey,

Rob+

 

July 10, 2008

Trinity Church Vero Beach FL Celebrates New Beginning

0708vero1wRead the story here: http://centralflorida.anglican.org/news/news08/0708vero.htm

With you on the Journey,

Rob+

July 02, 2008

New Beginning for Trinity Episcopal Church Vero Beach Florida

Scan0003 Many of my readers will know that my father, The Rev. Canon David Lord, served as Rector of Trinity Episcopal Church in Vero Beach, Florida for 14 years. His ministry there was nothing less than a gracious demonstration of the power of the Gospel to renew and restore that parish into a dynamic place of transformation of many lives for Christ. The overflow of that vibrant ministry resulted in the founding of two mission churches that have grown to be solid parishes in their own right. His integrity was without question.

I have many fond memories of observing his ministry there, hearing him preach from the beautiful sanctuary of his day, celebrating a catholic and evangelical expression of the Episcopal church in the Anglican tradition. My son Jonathan was baptized in that sanctuary the week after my ordination to the Diaconate in June of 1980. My brother priest Rick and I preached at his Jubilee anniversary of his ordination, and we shared in the 50th Wedding Anniversary of our Dad and Mom (Julie) at a Eucharist held in the Trinity Chapel. Needless to say, I am deeply proud of them for their faithfulness to Trinity Church and to the Diocese of Central Florida.

This coming Sunday, July 6th will be a special Sunday for Trinity as they begin a new season of ministry with their interim Rector, Dean Rick Lobs, ( former Dean of St. Luke's Cathedral in Orlando) and Bishop Howe, leading the service. My father, the Rector Emeritus will be among them and in the procession. I wish I could be there.

Dad, you built your ministry at Trinity upon the foundation of the Apostles, Jesus Christ being the chief cornerstone. That foundation, has endured the test of fire. Congratulations to all the members of Trinity. May they  bear a continuing witness as a faithful Episcopal parish in the Diocese of Central Florida. I am proud to be your son Dad and Mom, and to be member of this Diocese and friend of Trinity Church.

With you on the Journey,

Rob+

 

  



 


 

July 01, 2008

Bishop N.T. Wright on GAFCON

Archbishop_and_wright

Executive Summary

 

GAFCON was a great celebration of the gospel of the love and transforming power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The church needs this energy and vision. But this doesn’t mean the GAFCON proposals can be accepted without question. The proposed ‘Primates’ Council’ is a strange body, just as the ‘Declaration’ is an odd document which leaves many ambiguities. It gives far too many hostages to fortune, inviting us to trust an unformed and unaccountable body to make major decisions and giving licence to all kinds of unhelpful activities. It isn’t so much that GAFCON should invite people to sign up to its blank cheque. Rather, GAFCON itself should be invited to bring its Christian vision and exuberance to the larger party where the rest of us are working for the same gospel, the same biblical wisdom, the same Lord.

 

Read it all here: http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_After_GAFCON.htm

 

 

June 30, 2008

Archbishop of Canterbury responds to Gafcon: "The Risks Entailed"

Rowan-williams-portrait

ABC Rowan Williams has issued an authoritative response to the GAFCON'S Jerusalem Declaration.

"Despite the claims of some, the conviction of the uniqueness of Jesus Christ as Lord and God and the absolute imperative of evangelism are not in dispute in the common life of the Communion.

However, GAFCON'S proposals for the way ahead are problematic in all sorts of ways, and I urge those who have outlined these to think very carefully about the risks entailed."

Read it all at this Link

http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/news.cfm/2008/6/30/ACNS4417

With you on the Journey,

Rob+

June 28, 2008

Grandpa and Andrew Robert

IMG_15921Its been a great joy for me to have my daughter Jenni and our grandchildren visiting.

Needless to say, it is one of lifes greatest joys to hold a grandson.

WIth you on the Journey,

Rob+

June 26, 2008

Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership: Seeking God in the Cruicible of Ministry

01543_falls_1280x1024It has been my good fortune to know Ruth Haley Barton and to experience her ministry at the Transforming Center. Next to Dallas Willard, she has been one of the most helpful spiritual guides to me in the practice of ministry.

Her new book is a must read for any one in vocational ministry today. This is a book about the soul. Jesus indicated that it is possible to gain the whole world but lose your own soul. She raises the question that if Jesus were talking to Christian leaders today, he might point out that it is possible to gain the world of ministry success and lose your own soul in the midst of it all. He might remind us that it is possible to find your own soul, after so much seeking, only to lose it again.

The soul-full leader is faithful to the one thing he can do - create the conditions that set us up for an encounter with God in the places where we need it the most. To continually and tenaciously seek God in the crucible of ministry no matter how hard it gets.

As Ruth says, the best thing we have to bring to our leadership is our own transforming self, and that transformation comes as we are strengthened in the inner being by the presence of God.

With you on the Journey,

Rob+

June 16, 2008

Beneath the Surface

01585_greenrock_1280x1024 “Beneath the surface of everyone’s life, especially the more mature, is an ache that will not go away. It can be ignored, disguised, mislabeled, or submerged by a torrent of activity, but it will not disappear. We were designed to enjoy a better world than this. And until that better world comes along, we will groan for what we do not have. An aching soul is evidence not of neurosis or spiritual immaturity, but of realism.” Larry Crabb

The Christian journey must be rooted in reality not escapism. The appeal is strong to provide our own relief, but it is only God himself that can bring us rest for the soul. Its not even about relief! It is about transformation, of becoming God's beloved.

With you on the Journey,

Rob+

 

Photo Albums

Good Places To Visit

  • Covenant
    We embrace a historic orthodoxy that is generous in spirit, confident in the contribution evangelical-catholics can make to Anglicanism, and welcoming of the diversity of traditions within North American Christianity.
  • Fulcrum: Renewing the Evangelical Center
    Fulcrum aims to represent the centre ground of evangelical Anglicanism in the church and in wider society
  • All Saints Episcopal Church, Winter Park, Florida
    The Parish I serve as Rector
  • Jesus Creed
    Exploring the significance of Jesus and the Orthodox Faith for the 21st Century.
  • NASHOTAH HOUSE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
    This is my seminary where I attended from 1977-1980. It remains one seminary where Mere Christianity in the Catholic and Evangeical tradition is honored and where clergy are trained in the richness of the Anglican Tradition.
  • Living Church Web Site
    A good source of news about the Episcopal Church
  • Renovare
    The ministry of Richard Foster, helping churches with making disciples and spiritual transformation
  • Bishop N.T. Wright Website
    N.T. Wright is a leading New Testament Scholar and Theologian in the Anglican Communion. Solid and dynamic reading!
  • World Of Your Making
    My twin brother and fellow Episcopal Priest's weblog
  • The Northumbria Community
    A "new monasticism" community in Northern England and the Holy Island of Lindisfarne