{"id":1063,"date":"2016-11-01T21:13:51","date_gmt":"2016-11-01T21:13:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/?p=1063"},"modified":"2016-11-01T21:16:10","modified_gmt":"2016-11-01T21:16:10","slug":"for-all-the-saints","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/2016\/11\/01\/for-all-the-saints\/","title":{"rendered":"For All the Saints"},"content":{"rendered":"

I had not heard the hymn \u201cFor All the Saints\u201d until 1972 in a chapel service at Union Theological Seminary (now Union Presbyterian Seminary). The words and music struck a deep chord in my Pentecostal heart. To this day I love that hymn; it was sung at my mother\u2019s funeral, and I hope it will be sung when that day comes for me. You can listen to a beautiful version\u00a0here<\/a>. The opening lines connect me to the saints of God who have gone before. I think of their courage, their faithfulness, their fears, their struggles, and their abiding faith in the Lord of glory:<\/p>\n

\u201cFor all the saints, who from their labours rest, Who Thee by faith before the world confessed, Thy Name, O Jesus, be forever blessed. Alleluia, Alleluia!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

November 1 is All Saints Day in the life of much of Western Christendom. It follows the secular perversion of Hallows Eve, contemporary Halloween, October 31. Meant to draw our hearts into remembering the connections we have by faith in Christ with those who have gone before us, it has been perverted into darkness and All Saints Day is barely, if at all, known by many of us. These connections for me are not about \u201csaint worship.\u201d Rather, the connections are those of hearing the voice and words of the same God, the same Son of God, the same Holy Spirit. These are connections of history, biography, tradition, a communion of saints that spiritually transcends time, language, culture; connections realized in the person of Jesus the Son of God.<\/p>\n

This seminary introduction became something more spiritually significant in the mid-1980s. At that time the International Pentecostal Holiness Church had a training center in Finsbury Park, London known as the Centre for International Christian Ministries (CICM). For nearly 15 years I had the privilege of teaching there on an annual basis. Among the many blessings of that experience was the discovery of All Hallows-by-the-Tower, an Anglican \"all_hallows_by_the_tower_byward_street_london_ec3_-_east_end_-_geograph-org-uk_-_718002\"<\/a>church that in those years became a place of spiritual refuge.<\/p>\n

It was quiet in that church. I would usually go late in the afternoon. Though I never attended a worship service, I always felt that God was nearby. It was the perfect place to reflect on what I had learned from IPHC students who came from around the world to CICM in London. As a pastor and later conference superintendent in those years, it was where\u00a0convergence of learning, family, personal growth, purpose, could occur. I always felt that I was in \u201cthe shadow of His wings\u201d while there.<\/p>\n

Now I find myself reflecting on All Saints Day while listening and reading the swirling news of politics. The media madness of this final week of the U.S. presidential campaign reminds me of Malcolm Muggeridge\u2019s comment about journalism in England prior to World War II: \u201cJournalists follow authority as sharks do a liner, hoping to feed off the waste it discharges, with perhaps someone occasionally falling overboard to make a meal, and once in a way the whole ship going down and providing a positive feast.\u201d[i]<\/a><\/p>\n

Amid the swirl of polarization, anger, accusations, recriminations (and that just among Christians!), I find myself thankful for All Saints Day. I remember that through Israel\u2019s history (that great cloud of witnesses who \u201cyet speaketh\u201d in Hebrews 11), and through the 2000 years of people who \u201clooking to Jesus\u201d have \u201crun with endurance the race that is set before us\u201d (Hebrews 12:1, 2) that I am not alone. In fact, as bad as I think it is, it really doesn\u2019t compare to what most Christians have experienced and are experiencing now.<\/p>\n

I remember them. I take courage in them. I find solace in them. I hear their witness. I find hope in them. I remember that long after politicians are forgotten, the name of Jesus will still be heard. I join them in singing this closing refrain from the great hymn, praying that I will have the courage to be faithful and the simple humility to trust in Jesus:<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom earth\u2019s wide bounds, from ocean\u2019s farthest coast, Through gates of pearl streams in the countless host, Singing to Father, Son and Holy Ghost: Alleluia, Alleluia!\u201d Amen.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

By Doug Beacham<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[i]<\/a> Chronicles of Wasted Time<\/em> (Vancouver, BC: Regent College Publishing, 2006) p. 313.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"excerpt","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":857,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,1],"tags":[180,134,218,205],"class_list":{"0":"post-1063","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bishops-blog","8":"category-general","9":"tag-180","10":"tag-bishops-blog","11":"tag-blog","12":"tag-november","13":"entry"},"title_es":"Para Todos los Santos","content_es":"No hab\u00eda o\u00eddo el himno \"Para Todos los Santos\" hasta el a\u00f1o 1972 en un servicio en la capilla del Seminario Teol\u00f3gico Uni\u00f3n (ahora Uni\u00f3n Seminario Presbiteriano). Las palabras y la m\u00fasica tocaron una fibra profunda en mi coraz\u00f3n pentecostal. A d\u00eda de hoy me encanta ese himno; se cant\u00f3 en el funeral de mi madre, y espero que ser\u00e1 cantada cuando llegue ese d\u00eda para m\u00ed. Se puede escuchar una versi\u00f3n hermosa aqu\u00ed<\/a> . Las primeras l\u00edneas me conectan a los santos de Dios que nos han precedido. Pienso en su valor, su fidelidad, sus miedos, sus luchas y su fe inquebrantable en el Se\u00f1or de la gloria: \"Para todos los santos, que de sus trabajos descansan, el cual te por la fe ante el mundo confes\u00f3, tu nombre, oh Jes\u00fas, sea por siempre bendito. Aleluya, aleluya! \"1<\/em> noviembre es el D\u00eda de Todos los Santos en la vida de gran parte de la cristiandad occidental. De ello se desprende la perversi\u00f3n secular de los Santos Eva, Halloween contempor\u00e1nea, el 31 de octubre Destinado para dibujar nuestro coraz\u00f3n en recordar las conexiones que tenemos por la fe en Cristo con aquellos que nos han precedido, se ha pervertido en la oscuridad y de Todos los Santos es apenas , en todo caso, conocido por muchos de nosotros. Estas conexiones para m\u00ed no son acerca de \"culto a los santos.\" Por el contrario, las conexiones son las de o\u00edr la voz y las palabras del mismo Dios, el mismo Hijo de Dios, el mismo Esp\u00edritu Santo. Estas son las conexiones de la historia, la biograf\u00eda, la tradici\u00f3n, la comuni\u00f3n de los santos que trasciende espiritualmente hora, el idioma, la cultura; conexiones realizadas en la persona de Jes\u00fas, el Hijo de Dios. Esta introducci\u00f3n seminario se convirti\u00f3 en algo m\u00e1s espiritual significativa a mediados de la d\u00e9cada de 1980. En ese momento la Iglesia Internacional de Santidad Pentecostal ten\u00eda un centro de formaci\u00f3n en Finsbury Park, Londres conocida como el Centro de Ministerios Internacional Cristiano (CICM). Por casi 15 a\u00f1os he tenido el privilegio de ense\u00f1ar all\u00ed sobre una base anual. Entre las muchas bendiciones de esa experiencia fue el descubrimiento de Todos los Santos por la Torre-, un anglicano \"all_hallows_by_the_tower_byward_street_london_ec3<\/a> iglesia que en esos a\u00f1os se convirti\u00f3 en un lugar de refugio espiritual. Estaba tranquilo en esa iglesia. Por lo general se vaya al final de la tarde. Aunque nunca asist\u00ed a un servicio de culto, siempre sent\u00ed que Dios estaba cerca. Era el lugar perfecto para reflexionar sobre lo que hab\u00eda aprendido de los estudiantes IISP que vinieron de todo el mundo para CICM en Londres. Como pastor y m\u00e1s tarde superintendente conferencia en aquellos a\u00f1os, era donde, podr\u00eda producirse la convergencia de la educaci\u00f3n, la familia, el crecimiento personal, el prop\u00f3sito. Siempre sent\u00ed que estaba en \"la sombra de sus alas\" mientras est\u00e9 all\u00ed. Ahora me encuentro que refleja el d\u00eda de Todos los Santos, escuchando y leyendo las noticias de remolinos de la pol\u00edtica. La locura de los medios de comunicaci\u00f3n de esta \u00faltima semana de la campa\u00f1a presidencial de Estados Unidos me recuerda el comentario de Malcolm Muggeridge sobre el periodismo en Inglaterra antes de la Segunda Guerra Mundial: \"Los periodistas siguen autoridad como los tiburones hacen un forro, con la esperanza de alimentarse de los desechos que se descarga, tal vez con alguien de vez en cuando caer al agua para hacer una comida, y una vez en una forma totalmente la nave que va abajo y la disponibilidad para una fiesta positiva. \" [i]<\/a> en medio de la turbulencia de la polarizaci\u00f3n, la ira, acusaciones, recriminaciones (y que s\u00f3lo entre los cristianos!), me parece yo agradecido por el D\u00eda de Todos los Santos. Recuerdo que a trav\u00e9s de la historia de Israel (la gran nube de testigos que \"a\u00fan habla\" en Hebreos 11), ya trav\u00e9s de los 2000 a\u00f1os de personas que \"los ojos en Jes\u00fas\" tiene \"correr con paciencia la carrera que tenemos por delante\" (Hebreos 12: 1, 2) que no estoy solo. De hecho, es tan malo como creo que es, lo que realmente no se compara con lo que la mayor\u00eda de los cristianos han experimentado y est\u00e1n experimentando ahora. Los recuerdo. Tomo coraje en ellos. Encuentro consuelo en ellos. He o\u00eddo su testimonio. Encuentro esperanza en ellos. Recuerdo que mucho despu\u00e9s de que los pol\u00edticos se olvidan, todav\u00eda se escucha el nombre de Jes\u00fas. Me uno a ellos para cantar este estribillo de cierre de la gran himno, la oraci\u00f3n que voy a tener el valor de ser fieles y la sencilla humildad de confiar en Jes\u00fas: \"A partir de amplios l\u00edmites de la tierra, de costa m\u00e1s lejana del oc\u00e9ano, a trav\u00e9s de puertas de flujos de perlas en el muchedumbre innumerable, Canto al Padre, Hijo y Esp\u00edritu Santo: \u00a1Aleluya, Aleluya \"Am\u00e9n. [i]<\/a> Cr\u00f3nicas de tiempo perdido<\/em> (Vancouver, BC: Regent College Publishing, 2006) p. 313.","author_name":"","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2016\/05\/Bishops-Blog-2016.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pb62Bx-h9","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1063","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1063"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1063\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}