Basileia is a liturgical-sacramental, Evangelical-Reformed, and Orthodox-charismatic communion of the Church.
Basileia is a liturgical-sacrament, Evangelical-Reformed, Orthodox-charismatic communion of the Church.
Our spiritual heritage received through Communio Christiana is a convergence of these three historic streams of the Church.
The Church as a whole may be likened to a river that is a confluence of three streams of spirituality whereby the Trinity speaks through creation, in Scripture and by the Spirit.
- Liturgical and sacramental expressions of the Church emphasize the priestly mode of revelation through creation in general and specifically through the Church’s signs, symbols and sacraments.
- Evangelical and Reformed expressions of the Church emphasize the prophetic mode of revelation in Scripture.
- Orthodox and charismatic expressions of the Church emphasize the kingly mode of revelation by the Holy Spirit.
The degree to which we actually hear and obey the unified revelation of the Trinity speaking through symbol, Scripture and the Spirit is the degree to which we fulfill our call to be a communion shaped by convergence. But the degree to which we fail in this is the degree to which we fall into the divergence of denominationalism.
We intentionally, self-consciously and consistently endeavor to be convergent, not autonomously elevating any one of these three expressions of the Church above another, but by grace keeping the unity of the faith and integrating the treasures of all three into a greater whole.
Therefore, in regards to prayer, belief and action:
- While our Liturgy emphasizes priestly revelation in symbol, our Liturgy is liturgical and sacramental in Evangelical, Reformed, Orthodox and charismatic ways. This is the principle of lex orandi est lex credendi et agendi, which translated says, “The rule of prayer is the rule of belief and of action.”
- While our Lifestyle emphasizes prophetically embodying revelation in Scripture, our Lifestyle is Evangelical and Reformed in liturgical, sacramental, Orthodox and charismatic ways. This is the principle of lex credendi est lex orandi et agendi, which translated says, “The rule of belief is the rule of prayer and of action.”
- While our Canons emphasize kingly revelation by the Spirit, our Canons are Orthodox and charismatic in liturgical, sacramental, Evangelical and Reformed ways. This is the principle of lex agendi est lex orandi et credendi, which translated says, “The rule of action is the rule of prayer and of belief.”
Because Basileia is a communion shaped by convergence, our Liturgy shapes our Lifestyle and Canons, our Lifestyle shapes our Liturgy and Canons and our Canons shape our Liturgy and Catechism. Our Liturgy, Catechism and Canons are interdependent and ultimately identical, not in form, but in meaning. They all mean the same thing. They are perspectivally related, re-presenting the same thing from three different angles or perspectives. This is a practical outworking of the Father’s pleasure to unify in Christ all things in heaven and on earth through the revelation of the Word in creation, Scripture and by the Spirit.
Our identity as a communion shaped by convergence is foundational to how Basileia in turn relates divine revelation, the Church, creeds and tradition.
The more I immerse myself in the universal language of myth and legend the more alive Scripture becomes, the more mystically transformative the sacraments and the Liturgy become, and the more clear the speaking of the Holy Spirit becomes.
Giving ourselves to the epic quest of embodying God in our leprous bodies is how we exhaust evil.
The Father’s language is way more wild, controversial, deeply mystical, and outright outrageous than mortal minds can handle. Thus, to hear and learn from the Father we must first eat what Tolkien calls lembas, the waybread of Elves.
Both the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Satan, like white and black pieces on a chessboard, are at war over whose world system shall rule creation.
Romantic fiction and science fiction give us the key that puts into proper perspective rulings like those of late by the U.S. Supreme Court redefining marriage. The key? Heroism.
The Roman Empire didn’t have a problem with Christian believers, but with Christian worshipers.
It doesn't matter if you're sailing a boat, smacking a tennis ball, kicking a football, climbing 8,000 meter peaks, playing chess, or drinking Christ’s blood from a chalice served by a priest in the Eucharistic worship of the Church. We’re all playing the same game for the same prize.
Providentially, only two days before watching the movie, Lucy, for the first time in my life I encountered the phrase, “the drug of immortality,” but not from a Hollywood scriptwriter.
Spiritualistic and materialistic notions of the world are scandalous. They both suffer from an underdeveloped sense of the Resurrection as an accomplished fact. The image of God in us isn’t just a “spiritual” reality, but also one for the physics books.
Having faith in God doesn’t magically make the world a better place. Having God’s faith in humanity does.
"Circle me, Lord." The First Adam didn’t pray this way nor invite his wife to join him in such a prayer. However, the Second Adam does pray this way and invites his bride, the Church, to join Him in praying this way too.
Forbidden fruit never satisfies. The more we eat, the hungrier we get. We’re at a turning point. Something big’s happening. We’re losing a taste for formulas. The prodigal son is coming to his senses.
Arising out of a common desire and hunger to experience the fullness of Christian worship and spirituality, the Convergence Movement seeks to blend or merge the essential elements in the Christian faith represented historically in three major streams of thought and practice: the Charismatic, Evangelical/Reformed and Liturgical/Sacramental.
As a Soul Friend, Tim is forming a colony of heaven on earth by giving people a place to belong in order to believe instead of requiring them to believe before they can belong.
In all great stories, there is a point where the hero and his or her friends make a costly choice. Contrary to the instinct for self-preservation, they take dangerous paths into the heart of darkness to destroy evil and save the world.
The mission to restore all things is the spirit and pattern of liturgical Eucharistic worship. Replacing the Fallen World System with the Kingdom of God is the joy of worship.
Subcultural and countercultural forms of denominationalism effectively say yes to Hades and to hell with the Church. Kingdomculture dares to say yes to the Church and to hell with hell.
When we’re about the ultimate business of running our own city, we no longer “go to church” or “go to work” or “go to the store” or “go to school” as exiles, but go from Church into our own city to embody the Kingdom of God in our various specialized vocational callings seven days a week.
Our destiny, your destiny, my destiny is to shine like the sun in the kingdom of the Father. Dare to imagine that. Dare to imagine becoming by Grace what God is by nature. As St. Athanasius says, Christ became “incarnate” so we might be “ingodded.”
The covenantal nature of mankind as created in God’s image with both an individual and collective nature is foundational to understanding the nature of male-female equality and the nature of male headship, respectively.
The Covenantal view of how men and women exercise individual and collective governance is an area of profound confusion today.
In addition to the false dichotomy between “local church” and “mission church” we also face a great challenge in the false dichotomy between individual freedom and collective order in membership.
Our kingdomcultural lifestyle makes us participants in the Epic Story of Paradise lost and regained, a story that unfolds in rhythm with the seasons of the Church Year.
In the kingdom of God, fire is a good thing. "Let the wind of Your Spirit blow and reverse the works of darkness: and Your fire will cover the earth." (Celtic Daily Prayer, p. 159.)
The Fallen World System is the problem for which kingdomculture embodied in the Capital C Church is the solution. Putting the phrase “Capital C” in front of the word Church is necessary in order to be clear that there’s more to the Church than just distinctive expressions of the Church like the “local church,” the “mission church,” the “house church,” the “mega church,” or the “established church.”
Christus Victor is the ancient, central, and unifying theme of the faith of God’s people since the beginning (Gen. 3:15). The prophets called it “the counsel of the Lord” (Jer. 23:18; cf. Amos 3:7). Paul referred to it when he spoke of the “good confession” that Jesus made before Pontius Pilate (1 Tim. 6:13). And Jesus Himself called it “the mystery of the kingdom of God” (Mk. 4:11).
The Constitution of Basileia expresses our charism, that is, the divine graces, distinctive orientation, spiritual qualifications, cultural ethos and special characteristics of the mission and values granted to us in Jesus Christ for the life of the world.
For mortals, fantasy isn’t real but pretend. But fantasy in the hands of faithful immortals is the power of sanctified imagination to fuse thought and action and build worlds in the language of poetry, epic story, ceremony, liturgy, and ritual.