REV. OWEN STEPPS: CLAIRMONT PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH'S HUMBLE VICTORY

Rev. Owen Stepp, Senior Pastor

Owen leads our team of pastoral and support staff. 
He works with the elders and other leaders of the church to discern and implement God’s will for Clairmont.

 Owen comes to us after spending four years in the financial services industr​y. God has powerfully used that experience in the marketplace to shape Owen’s leadership, preaching and pastoral care for God’s family here at Clairmont.

 

The Serenity Prayer: Full Version (The Prayer Foundation)

God,

grant me the Serenity To accept the things I cannot

change...

Courage to change the things I can,

And

Wisdom to know the

difference. 

The Serenity Prayer: Full Version (The Prayer Foundation): 

The Full Version

God, grant me the Serenity

To accept the things I cannot change...

Courage to change the things I can,

And Wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time,

Enjoying one moment at a time,

Accepting hardship as the pathway to peace.

Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is,

Not as I would have it.

Trusting that He will make all things right

if I surrender to His will.

That I may be reasonably happy in this life,

And supremely happy with Him forever in the next.

Amen.

        
________________________________________

The Original Full Version

God, give us grace to accept with serenity

the things that cannot be changed,

Courage to change the things
which should be changed,

and the Wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.

Living one day at a time,

Enjoying one moment at a time,

Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,

Taking, as Jesus did,
This sinful world as it is,

Not as I would have it,

Trusting that You will make all things right,

If I surrender to Your will,

So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,

And supremely happy with You forever in the next.

Amen.

__________________________________________________


My Revised Version

God, give us...
Grace to accept the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things which should be changed,
and the Wisdom to distinguish 
the one from the other.

One day at a time,
One moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
Taking, as Jesus did, 
This sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it.

***

GRACE?

In Western Christian theology, grace has been defined, not as a created substance of any kind, but as "the love and mercy given to us by God because God desires us to have it, not because of anything we have done to earn it",^[1] "the condescension or benevolence shown by God toward the human race".^[2] It is understood by Christians to be a spontaneous gift from God to man — "generous, free and totally unexpected and undeserved"^[3] — that takes the form of divine favor, love, clemency, and a share in the divine life of God.

It is an attribute of God that is most manifest in the salvation of sinners. Christian orthodoxy holds that the initiative in the relationship of grace between God and an individual is always on the side of God.

In Eastern Christianity too, grace is the working of God himself, not a created substance of any kind that can be treated like a commodity.

The question of the means of grace has been called "the watershed that divides Catholicism from Protestantism, Calvinism from Arminianism, modern [theological] liberalism from [theological] conservatism."^[4] The Catholic Church holds that it is because of the action of Christ and the Holy Spirit in transforming into the divine life what is subjected to his power that "the sacraments confer the grace they signify": "the power of Christ and his Spirit acts in and through [each sacrament], independently of the personal holiness of the minister. Nevertheless, the fruits of the sacraments also depend on the disposition of the one who receives them."^[5][6] the Sacred Mysteries (sacraments) are seen as a means of partaking of divine grace because God works through his Church. Catholics, Eastern Orthodox and Protestants agree that faith is a gift from God. Ephesians 2:8; "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God". Protestants almost universally believe that grace is given by God based on the faith of the believer. Lutherans hold that the means of grace are "the gospel in Word and sacraments".^[7][8] That the sacraments are means of grace is also the teaching of John Wesley,^[9] who described the Eucharist as "the grand channel whereby the grace of his Spirit was conveyed to the souls of all the children of God".^[10] Calvinists emphasize "the utter helplessness of man apart from grace." But God reaches out with "first grace" or "prevenient grace" that each person may accept or reject. The Calvinist doctrine known as irresistible grace states that, since all persons are by nature spiritually dead, no one desires to accept this grace until God spiritually enlivens them by means of regeneration. God regenerates only individuals whom he has predestined to salvation. Arminians understand the grace of God as cooperating with one's free will in order to bring an individual to salvation. According to Evangelical theologian Charles C. Ryrie, modern liberal theology "gives an exaggerated place to the abilities of man to decide his own fate and to effect his own salvation entirely apart from God's grace." He writes that theological conservatives maintain God's grace is necessary for salvation.^[4]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_%28Christianity%29

***

SERENITY (?) TRANQUILLITY

serenity

noun

1. Lack of emotional agitation:

calm, calmness, peace, peacefulness, placidity, placidness, quietude,
tranquillity.

2. An absence of motion or disturbance:

calm, calmness, hush, lull, peace, peacefulness, placidity, placidness, quiet, quietness,
stillness, tranquillity, untroubledness.

Tranquillity (also spelled tranquility^[1]) is the quality or state of being tranquil; meaning calmness, serenity, and worry-free. The word tranquillity appears in numerous texts ranging from the religious writings of Buddhism, where the term passaddhi refers to tranquillity of the body, thoughts and consciousness on the path to enlightenment, to an assortment of policy and planning guidance documents, where interpretation of the word is typically linked to engagement with the natural environment.

Psychological Being in a tranquil or ‘restorative’ environment allows individuals to take respite from the periods of sustained ‘directed attention’ that characterise modern living. In developing their Attention Restoration Theory (ART), Kaplan and Kaplan^[2] proposed that recovery from cognitive overload could most effectively be achieved by engaging with natural restorative environments, that are away from daily distractions and have the extent and mystery that allows the imagination to wander, thereby enabling individuals to engage effortlessly with their surroundings. The theory works on the principle that the amount of reflection possible within such an environment depends upon the type of cognitive engagement, i.e. fascination; that the environment holds. ‘Soft fascination’ is deemed to occur when there is enough interest in the surroundings to hold attention but not so much that it compromises the ability to reflect. In essence, soft fascination, which has been taken by Herzog^[3] and Pheasant^[4] as a reasonable term to describe tranquillity, provides a pleasing level of sensory input that involves no cognitive effort other than removing oneself from an overcrowded mental space.

n contrast to ‘soft fascination’, ‘directed attention’ requires a significant amount of cognitive effort and it is known that prolonged periods of sustained mental activity can lead to directed attention fatigue. This condition has the potential to significantly affect performance and bring about negative emotions, irritability and decreased sensitivity to interpersonal cues.^[5] As the incidence of mental illness continues to rise,^[6] there is growing evidence that exposure to natural environments can make a significant contribution to health and wellbeing. Mounting evidence shows, that exposure to nature contributes to physical and psychological wellbeing, such as the review carried out by Louv,^[7] that found evidence of ‘nature-deficit-disorder’ in children, which suggests that the importance of being able to engage with restorative environments applies across a wide age range. Others report that natural tranquil surroundings have profound physiological effects on people suffering from stress. For example Ullrich^[8] found that stress (as measured by blood pressure, muscle tension and skin conductance response), induced by showing videos of workplace injuries, improved significantly quicker following further viewing if videos included natural surroundings rather than busy traffic or shopping scenes. A recent study has demonstrated the benefits of simulating such environments for pain relief during bone marrow aspirate and biopsy.^[9]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tranquillity


***


CONDESCENSION (?) ACCOMODATION

Accommodation (or condescension) is the theological principle that God, while being in his nature unknowable and unreachable, has nevertheless communicated with humanity in a way which humans can understand and respond to. The concept is that scripture has accommodated, or made allowance for, the original audience's language and general level of understanding.^[1]

The 16th-century Protestant Reformer John Calvin is a key developer of the concept, in response to that century's discoveries in natural science, foremost Copernicus' theory of heliocentrism that conflicted with medieval theological traditions of reading the Bible "through geocentric spectacles".^[2] The concept of accommodation is thus an alternative method of Bible interpretation to the tradition of Biblical literalism, which, together with an insistence on traditional Bible interpretation, formed the basis for the Roman Catholic Church's condemnation of Galileo Galilei in the early 17th century.^[3]

Accommodation is not an innovation of the Reformation Period, but "has a long tradition of use within Judaism and subsequently within Christian theology, and can easily be shown to have been influential within the patristic period."^[4]

It appears almost contradictory that the Christian God, as revealed in the Bible, is often described in terms of his supreme transcendence and the inability of limited, finite man to comprehend and know the God who is unlimited and infinite – the contradiction being that even this knowledge can be known by humanity and recorded in scripture.

Although this may appear on the surface to be an illogicality, the status of the Christian God's unknowability is only true insofar as God acts not to reveal himself. In this line of thinking, no human being can ever hope to even understand or know God via their own powers of discernment. The principle of accommodation is that God has chosen to reveal aspects of himself to humanity in a way which humanity is able to understand.

This principle helps to underline other parts of Christian theology, especially the role of God in supervising the writing of the Bible. While the Bible itself claims that humans are limited and sinful and can make mistakes, God has nevertheless supervised the writing of the Bible to ensure that no mistakes were made. This belief was generally held throughout the historical Christian church, and is still held by evangelical and fundamentalist Christians today.

ZACHARIAH 9: REJOICE GREATLY, DAUGHTER ZION!CLAIRMONT PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH?

Zechariah 9 
New International Version 
(NIV)

 

Judgment on Israel’s Enemies

9 A prophecy:

The word of the Lord is against the land of Hadrak
and will come to rest on Damascus—
for the eyes of all people and all the tribes of Israel
are on the Lord—^[a]
2 and on Hamath too, which borders on it,
and on Tyre and Sidon, though they are very skillful.
³ Tyre has built herself a stronghold;
she has heaped up silver like dust,
and gold like the dirt of the streets.
⁴ But the Lord will take away her possessions
and destroy her power on the sea,
and she will be consumed by fire.
⁵ Ashkelon will see it and fear;
Gaza will writhe in agony,
and Ekron too, for her hope will wither.
Gaza will lose her king
and Ashkelon will be deserted.
⁶ A mongrel people will occupy Ashdod,
and I will put an end to the pride of the Philistines.
⁷ I will take the blood from their mouths,
the forbidden food from between their teeth.
Those who are left will belong to our God
and become a clan in Judah,
and Ekron will be like the Jebusites.
⁸ But I will encamp at my temple
to guard it against marauding forces.
Never again will an oppressor overrun my people,
for now I am keeping watch.

Zechariah 9:9-13

New International Version

(NIV)

 The Coming of Zion’s King

9 Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!

     Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!

See, your king comes to you,

     righteous and victorious,

lowly and riding on a donkey,

     on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

10 I will take away the chariots from Ephraim

     and the warhorses from Jerusalem,

     and the battle bow will be broken.

He will proclaim peace to the nations.

    His rule will extend from sea to sea

    and from the River to the ends of the earth.

11 As for you, because of the blood of my covenant with you,

     I will free your prisoners from the waterless pit.

12 Return to your fortress, you prisoners of hope;

     even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you.

13 I will bend Judah as I bend my bow

     and fill it with Ephraim.

I will rouse your sons, Zion,

     against your sons, Greece,

     and make you like a warrior’s sword.

The Lord Will Appear

¹⁴ Then the Lord will appear over them;
his arrow will flash like lightning.
The Sovereign Lord will sound the trumpet;
he will march in the storms of the south,
¹⁵ and the Lord Almighty will shield them.
They will destroy
and overcome with slingstones.
They will drink and roar as with wine;
they will be full like a bowl
used for sprinkling^[c] the corners of the altar.
¹⁶ The Lord their God will save his people on that day
as a shepherd saves his flock.
They will sparkle in his land
like jewels in a crown.
¹⁷ How attractive and beautiful they will be!
Grain will make the young men thrive,
and new wine the young women.

 



 "For two thousand years, 

Jesus has revenged himself on us for not having died
 on a sofa."
~(Emil Cioran)~

Two Shepherds?

Zechariah 11 

New International Version 

(NIV)

11 Open your doors, Lebanon,

so that fire may devour your cedars!

² Wail, you juniper, for the cedar has fallen;

the stately trees are ruined!

Wail, oaks of Bashan;

the dense forest has been cut down!

³ Listen to the wail of the shepherds;

their rich pastures are destroyed!

Listen to the roar of the lions;

the lush thicket of the Jordan is ruined!

Two Shepherds

⁴ This is what the Lord my God says: “Shepherd the flock marked for slaughter. ⁵ Their buyers slaughter them and go unpunished. Those who sell them say, ‘Praise the Lord, I am rich!’ Their own shepherds do not spare them. ⁶ For I will no longer have pity on the people of the land,” declares the Lord. “I will give everyone into the hands of their neighbors and their king. They will devastate the land, and I will not rescue anyone from their hands.”

⁷ So I shepherded the flock marked for slaughter, particularly the oppressed of the flock. Then I took two staffs and called one Favor and the other Union, and I shepherded the flock. ⁸ In one month I got rid of the three shepherds.

The flock detested me, and I grew weary of them ⁹ and said, “I will not be your shepherd. Let the dying die, and the perishing perish. Let those who are left eat one another’s flesh.”

¹⁰ Then I took my staff called Favor and broke it, revoking the covenant I had made with all the nations. ¹¹ It was revoked on that day, and so the oppressed of the flock who were watching me knew it was the word of the Lord.

¹² I told them, “If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it.” So they paid me thirty pieces of silver.

¹³ And the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the handsome price at which they valued me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter at the house of the Lord.

¹⁴ Then I broke my second staff called Union, breaking the family bond between Judah and Israel.

¹⁵ Then the Lord said to me, “Take again the equipment of a foolish shepherd. ¹⁶ For I am going to raise up a shepherd over the land who will not care for the lost, or seek the young, or heal the injured, or feed the healthy, but will eat the meat of the choice sheep, tearing off their hooves.

¹⁷ “Woe to the worthless shepherd,

who deserts the flock!

May the sword strike his arm and his right eye!

May his arm be completely withered,

his right eye totally blinded!”