John
John 1:6-26
(New International Version)
(New International Version)
6There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. 7He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. 8He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 9The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world....
15John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.' " 16From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. 17For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known...
22 and finally they said, "Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?"
23John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, "I am the voice of one calling in the desert, 'Make straight the way for the Lord.' "...
26"I baptize with water," John replied, "but among you stands one you do not know. 27He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie."
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This passage has always reminded me of a Rather Intriguing Operation in Kansas City- run by Charismatic Personality Mike Bickle, his "Friend of the Bridegroom" concept has developed into a ministry called International House of Prayer. Yes, this group has been flagged by their fair share of cult watchdogs, whose critiques are always appreciated. But I tend to like this operation, simply because they embody a cross of cultures in the contemporary Church; Bickle is a converted Roman Catholic and a self-proclaimed "prophet," who has done two amazing things in the Evangelical Charismatic World as part of his mission to "prepare the way of the Lord" as the "friend of the Bridegroom."
1) He actually promotes an amazing ecclesiology of the Church as the ontological and eschatological Bride of Christ, and to this end he has...
2) ...Directed his (unabashedly so-called "IHOP") ministry in the direction of a sort of Monastic Community. There is to be prayer every hour on the hour, twenty-four-seven, in an enclosed community of simplicity, punctuated with outreaches to the poor. Sounds vaguely familiar. These are practices around which the Church truly may unite as one nuptial Body- which is what Bickle is praying for.
An Adventine sort of project...
posted by MM at 8:55 AM
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