There is a rather common saying that the Book of Common Prayer is composed of 85% bible passages. It is true. As J.I. Packer once said, “The Book of Common Prayer” is the Bible arranged for worship. I like that.
(To learn more about the Book of Common Prayer, read our Rookie Anglican […]
When Jesus was crucified on His Cross, the last words He spoke before he died are extraordinary examples of what was in His heart. Jesus cried out “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?” This is one of the most passionate and intense moments in the entire Scripture—the Son of God crying out the opening […]
Psalm 22 is a pilgrimage from the depths of pain and suffering to the final proclamation of victory. Jesus knew the entire psalm by heart and understood the psalm as a prophetic depiction of his own death but also a prophetic declaration of hope and victory at the end. The Psalm on the Cross is a […]
These were the dying words of Jesus as he hung on the cross on Mount Calvary. But what did He mean by them?
These words are read as part of the “Seven Last Words of Jesus from The Cross”. And they raise […]
“If you want to understand what a particular verse of Scripture means you have to stop reading it. In fact, you should never read a Bible verse.”
This is how I have opened virtually every talk that I have ever given to would-be Bible students. The Bible is a collection, not […]
In 2008 Phyllis Tickle made the important observation that about every 500 years, a significant transformation takes place in the Church. She points to the arrival of Jesus in the first century, the collapse of the Roman empire five-hundred years later in the late 5th century, the Great Schism five-hundred years after that in 1054, and finally the […]
From its inception in 1549, the Book of Common Prayer (BCP) has always been a text intertwined with the text of the Bible. Many of the prayers utilize phrases that have been extracted from the Bible. Verses of the Bible are quoted directly (for example, Opening Sentences in the Daily Office and Offertory Sentences in the Eucharist service) […]
Many folks accustomed to reading Bible-in-a-year plans are delighted to find out that the Book of Common Prayer (2019) has a Daily Office lectionary that leads the faithful Anglican to read through the whole Bible in a year—at least, most of it. Those same folks are sometimes a little dismayed to then find out that a number of books are […]
In the shadows cast by the early English reformers (such as Cramner and Hooker) on the one side, and the giants of Anglican theology since the 18th century on the other, sits the rich trove of Anglican theologians and devotional writers known collectively as the Caroline Divines.
“Caroline” (derived from the Latin version of the name “Charles”) is the term given […]
This is an incredibly important time for the community of Jesus as our nation grapples with the injustice of racial inequality. An unavoidable light is now shining on the systemic oppression and racism that has plagued the history of our country from its inception. The complicity of large swathes of the American church on issues of racial injustice has been […]
Despite its focus on repentance, Lent is no exception to the gracious focus of all Scripture—Jesus Christ himself. Scripture is always about redemption.
Before we look at that question, we have to lift a few burdens.
It was J. I. Packer who made an Anglican out of me.
Although I had attended a student-led Anglican service when I first became a seminarian at Regent College, it wasn’t until I moved to the Anglican church that Dr. Packer attended (and at which he sometimes led liturgy) that I was struck by the beauty and majesty of Anglican […]
For many years, I attended a church that called itself a “Bible church.” I really loved it and am thankful for everything I received there. But many years later I started to reflect on what exactly that name means.
Anglicans love liturgy. This has always been true, but in the past couple of decades, I’ve seen more and more young clergy who are especially enamored with the formational impact of rightly ordered worship.
I would imagine this phenomenon is due mostly to a generation of young priests drawn to the Anglican way from a low church […]
In just a few weeks, the registration for the November Holy Land trip (November 12-21) will begin to close. Register quickly! If you have been thinking and praying about it…it is time to act. In the closing weeks of registration, I want to reiterate what makes this trip unique. Here are ten great reasons to join us:
All […]
LeaderWorks was the power engine behind The Gift of Lent program that has made its way around the ACNA. We conceived the idea and, by God’s grace, were able to build the website and get the links set up. Many thanks (almost ALL thanks) to Kolby Kerr for his work.
One of the cornerstones of the project was the daily […]
CLICK HERE to access the new version.
In the interests of making the ACNA Daily Office Liturgies and Lectionary more accessible, I’ve been creating Rookie Anglican Daily Office Booklets for just over a year.
As I prepare to release the next Daily Office Booklet (for Christmastide through […]
Here’s another sneak peek at my new book, Giving Up: How Giving to God Renews Hearts, Changes Minds, and Empowers Ministry, available now. This excerpt is from the second chapter, titled “The Hidden Virtue of the Early Church.” I want to give the church corrective lenses to see that the ministry of Jesus, Paul, and the very first Christians was inextricably […]
Every week or so, we’ll highlight one of the sites we’ll visit on our upcoming Israel tours for pastors or for everyone. The stories of these people and places in the Bible have the power to form us, first as humans made in the image of God, but also as servant leaders who have been called […]
For me, it is much easier to understand what Anglicanism is by first understanding what it is not. I am convinced of this helpful principle because my own personal journey into Anglicanism is an illustration of it.
Let’s be honest, most people think […]
It is likely that you’ll hear a variation of the following words at an Anglican Church on Sunday morning, “Please be seated to be instructed from the Word of God.” It’s clear that the Bible is going to be read aloud for the purpose of teaching and formation, but who assigns the lessons? Is it left up to the whims […]
Recently we were told that the Christian Church in America “hemorrhaging members” and that the church is shrinking. It is true that the number of Americans who claim to be Christian is shrinking. But as usual, Ed Stetzer provides some real clarity in his interpretation of statistics. Turns out that people are not so much “leaving church” as they are “leaving the mainline” and […]
