{"id":25648,"date":"2025-08-13T10:30:33","date_gmt":"2025-08-13T14:30:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=25648"},"modified":"2025-08-13T10:46:21","modified_gmt":"2025-08-13T14:46:21","slug":"25648","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=25648","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Mandisa - Overcomer (Lyric Video)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/z29olPjFbqg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Enabled to Do All Things<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>What is a Mystic? From the Canadian Anglican Church Newsletter<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>The earliest documentary witness to Jesus Christ which we possess is the witness of mysticism; and it tells us, not about His earthly life, but about the intense and transfiguring experience of His continued presence, enjoyed by one who had never known Him in the flesh. &nbsp;<br>\u2014Evelyn Underhill&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>Something missing in my heart tonight<\/em><\/strong><br><strong><em>Has made my eyes so soft,<\/em><\/strong><br><strong><em>My voice so tender<\/em><\/strong><br><strong><em>My need for God absolutely clear. (Hafiz)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Can you recall a time when you knew you needed God, and nobody else, nothing else, could fill that need? These are the words of Hafiz, a Mystic, describing the heart of every mystic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How do you respond to this need? Do you push it back and try to ignore it, or do you spend some time trying to connect with the one who can fill that need? Do you try and clear space in your busy inner world and invite God to fill that need?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you make the time to connect with God, you are a mystic. I define mystics as all who seek a deeper connection with God and live into that deeper connection. The church recognizes some people as mystics, for example, Hildegard of Bingen, and Julian of Norwich. Many others have not been officially identified as Mystics, just as the church recognizes some people as Saints. The number of saints is not limited to those formally recognized by the church. The Apostles Creed refers to the Communion of Saints: a large number.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>___________________<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We can read the stories about Mystics, Theologians, and others in two ways. We can read to learn the details of their lives and to gain knowledge about their teaching. We become scholars. Or we can read their stories with the eyes of our hearts \u2013 asking: \u201cWhat is God wanting me to hear, to see, to feel, through what I am reading?\u201d As we ponder what God is saying to us, we are mystics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Anglican mystic and author Evelyn Underhill (1875\u20131941) is convinced that the apostle Paul\u2019s writings are often<\/em><strong><em> misunderstood because we weren\u2019t taught that he is a mystic:&nbsp;<\/em>&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>To obtain a true idea of St. Paul\u2019s personality &#8230; we must correct the view which sees him mainly as a theologian and organizer by that which recognizes in him a great contemplative. For here we have not only a sense of <strong>vivid contact with the Risen Jesus, translated into visionary terms\u2014\u201cI fell into a trance and saw him saying to me\u201d<\/strong> [Acts 22:17]\u2014but an immediate apprehension of the Being of God\u2026.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We misunderstand St. Paul\u2019s mysticism if we confuse it with its more sensational expressions. As his spiritual life matured his conviction of union with the Spirit of Christ became deeper and more stable. It disclosed itself \u2026 as a source of more than natural power. Its keynote is struck in the great saying of his last authentic letter: \u201cI can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me\u201d (Philippians 4:13). This statement has long ago been diluted to the pious level, and we have ceased to realize how startling it was and is. But St. Paul used it in the most practical sense, in a letter written from prison after twelve years of superhuman toil, privation, and ill-usage, accompanied by chronic ill-health; years which had included scourgings, stonings, shipwreck, imprisonments, &#8220;on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from bandits, danger from my own people, danger from gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, \u2026 in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, hungry and thirsty, often without food, cold and naked&#8221; (2 Corinthians 11:26\u201327). [1]&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These, and not his spiritual activities and successes alone, are among the memories which would be present in St. Paul\u2019s consciousness when he declared his ability \u201cto do all things.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Underhill emphasizes Paul\u2019s sense of himself as a mystic:&nbsp;<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Much of the difficulty of St. Paul\u2019s \u201cdoctrine\u201d comes from the fact that he is <strong>not trying to invent a theology, but simply to find words which shall represent to others this vivid truth\u2014\u201cI live, yet not I \u2026 to live is Christ \u2026 Christ&nbsp;<em>in<\/em>&nbsp;me\u2026\u201d<\/strong> [Galatians 2:20].&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>[His] letter [to the Romans] is the work of a man who has fully emerged into a new sphere of consciousness, has been \u201cmade free by the Spirit of Life,\u201d \u201ca new creature,\u201d and enjoys that sense of boundless possibility which he calls \u201cthe glorious liberty of the children of God.\u201d He knows <strong>the mysterious truth, which only direct experience can bring home to us, that somehow even in this determined world \u201c<em>all<\/em>&nbsp;things work together for good to them that love God<\/strong>\u201d [Romans 8:2, 21, 28].&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>______________________<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td>AUG 13, 2025<br>The Problem with Applying Scripture. (Skye Jethani)<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td>       Studying and applying scripture is difficult. As a result, some traditions discourage Christians from engaging the Bible, fearing its misapplication, and instead reserve the study of scripture for those trained to handle it correctly. Of course, this doesn\u2019t guarantee the correct use of scripture either, as there is no shortage of bad biblical scholarship throughout church history. Other, more populist traditions do the opposite by encouraging&nbsp;<em>everyone<\/em>&nbsp;to read the Bible, interpret it, and apply it for themselves. While this may lead to some wackadoodle interpretations\u2014and frequently does\u2014the belief is that broad biblical engagement ultimately does far more good than harm.   <br>           One of the interpretive challenges for both Bible scholars and Bible populists is determining <strong>which of Jesus\u2019 statements are universally applicable and which are not<\/strong>. For example, I have heard many sermons in which Jesus\u2019 call to Peter, James, and John to become \u201cfishers of men\u201d (Luke 5:10) has been broadly applied to all believers. On the other hand, I\u2019ve yet to hear a sermon in which Jesus\u2019 command to a rich man to \u201csell all that you have and give it to the poor\u201d (Luke 18:22) is imposed on every Christian. Why do we universalize Peter\u2019s specific calling and not the rich young ruler\u2019s?<br><br><strong>Sometimes the application of Jesus\u2019 commands has changed over time. <\/strong>  For most of Christian history, for example, the Great Commission passage at the end of Matthew\u2019s gospel was seen as a specific calling to the remaining eleven Apostles to whom Jesus said, \u201cGo and make disciples of all nations\u2026\u201d (Matthew 28:18). Only later, with the modern missionary movement, was this passage broadly reapplied as a commission given to the whole church. In my life, I\u2019ve never heard it taught any other way but go back just a few hundred years and the interpretation assumed by nearly all modern evangelicals would have been unknown in most churches.<br><br>This same interpretive challenge applies to many parts of Jesus\u2019 farewell discourse. It\u2019s clear from John\u2019s gospel that Jesus was addressing his closest disciples concerning his death, resurrection, and return to the Father, but how do we know which of Jesus\u2019 promises apply only to those gathered with him that night and which apply to us as well? For example, in John 14:26, Jesus says the Holy Spirit will \u201cbring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.\u201d Some have taken this verse to mean the Spirit\u2019s role in every believer\u2019s life is to recall and illuminate Jesus\u2019 words. Throughout history, some have even used this verse to claim they\u2019ve received new revelations from God and new commands from Jesus himself.But what if Jesus intended this promise&nbsp;<em>only<\/em>&nbsp;for those with him in the upper room? Those affirming this view believe the Spirit, while promised to all believers, was also given to Jesus\u2019 first disciples for a special purpose. Specifically, so they could remember all he said and did and record it for future generations. In other words, some believe John 14:26 anticipates the writing of the gospels and the rest of the New Testament. When understood this way, our job isn\u2019t to seek the Spirit for new revelations from Christ, but to engage the words given by the Spirit to his Apostles as authoritative scripture (see 2 Timothy 3:16). In the context of the farewell discourse, I find this interpretation far more convincing.Still, the ambiguities of Bible interpretation remain real, and we should all be more self-aware of the biases and interpretive traditions we carry with us when we open the scriptures. <strong>Our tendency to universalize the promises and commands we like, while dismissing the ones we don\u2019t as not applying to us, is very real.<\/strong> Minimizing this error requires learning from both the Bible scholars and the Bible populists. The scholars can teach us history, context, and language so we read the Bible as its authors intended, while the populists remind us that even with education and training, we still need the Spirit\u2019s guidance to lead us into all truth. And <strong>I would beware of any Bible teacher who insists only one or the other is necessary<\/strong>.<br><br>DAILY SCRIPTURE<br><br><a href=\"https:\/\/withgoddaily.us2.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=87188c8737bc50c1a2fb8e2c9&amp;id=bcf71c19f3&amp;e=f52fc38132\">JOHN 14:25-31<br>2 TIMOTHY 3:10-17<\/a><br><br>WEEKLY PRAYER.  From Robert Leighton (1611 &#8211; 1684)<br><br>Grant, O Lord, that I <strong>may be so ravished in the wonder of your love that I may forget myself and all things; may feel neither prosperity nor adversity; may not fear to suffer all the pain in the world rather than be parted from you.<\/strong> O let me feel you more inwardly, and truly present with me than I am with myself, and make me most circumspect in your presence, my holy Lord.<br>Amen.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Enabled to Do All Things What is a Mystic? From the Canadian Anglican Church Newsletter The earliest documentary witness to Jesus Christ which we possess is the witness of mysticism; and it tells us, not about His earthly life, but about the intense and transfiguring experience of His continued presence, enjoyed by one who had [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25648"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25648"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25648\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25654,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25648\/revisions\/25654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}