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16 episodes with ashley null
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On today show Stu talks wih Dr. Ashley Null, a renowned scholar of Reformation history and theology. The discussion explores the impact of the Protestant Reformation on the Christian faith. Dr Null with his extensive Knowledge of the Refomation and its key figures, provides insight into the theological shifts that occurred during this pivotal moment in history. Tune in for Truth Talk Live
The Rev. Dr. Ashley Null (eminent Anglican theologian and Thomas Cranmer expert) visits Grace Church and offers a reflection on the scriptural basis of the Collect for Purity.
by Ashley Null
by Ashley Null
by Ashley Null
by Ashley Null
Ashley Null | February 04, 2024
Message from Rev. Ashley Null on October 15, 2023
QUOTES FOR REFLECTION“[Y]our brain can instinctively trust people simply because they sound as if they know what they're talking about…. Put another way, ‘Whom we trust is not only a reflection of who is trustworthy, but also a reflection of who we are'….”~Tim Herrera, journalist with The New York Times “Religion used to be the opium of the people…. But now, we are witnessing a transformation, a true opium of the people is the belief…that for our betrayals, our greed, our cowardice, our murders, we are not going to be judged.”~Czesław Miłosz (1911-2004), Polish-American poet and Nobel Laureate, regarded as one of the great poets of the 20th century “A God without wrath brought men without sin into a kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of a Christ without a cross.”~H. Richard Niebuhr (1894-1962), Yale professor, describing the religion of many American churches “The trouble with human nature is that we are born with a heart that loves ourselves over and above everything else in this world, including God. In short, we are born slaves to the lust for self-gratification, i.e., concupiscence. That's why, if left to ourselves, we will always love those things that make us feel good about ourselves, even as we depart more and more from God and his ways. Therefore, God must intervene in our lives in order to bring salvation.~Dr. Ashley Null, English Reformation scholar and author Sin “is irrational…. Sin deceives and destroys.”~Thabiti Anyabwile, pastor and author God “is not there to conform to us; we must conform to him. He summons us from outside of ourselves to know him. We do not go inside of ourselves to find him…. He is not known on our terms. This summons is heard in and through his Word. It is not heard through our intuitions.”~David F. Wells, professor and author in God in the Whirlwind “Recognizing who we are in Christ is the ultimate self-care because the Word of God doesn't reinvent itself along with a constantly changing culture.”~Alisa Childers, author and singer-songwriterSERMON PASSAGEJude 1-16 (ESV) 1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ: 2 May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. 3 Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. 4 For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. 5 Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day— 7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.8 Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones. 9 But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you.” 10 But these people blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively. 11 Woe to them! For they walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam's error and perished in Korah's rebellion. 12 These are hidden reefs at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, shepherds feeding themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; 13 wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever.14 It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, 15 to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” 16 These are grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires; they are loud-mouthed boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage.
by Ashley Null
by Ashley Null
by Ashley Null
by Ashley Null
QUOTES FOR REFLECTION “According to [Dr. Jean] Twenge [a co-author of The Narcissism Epidemic and professor of psychology at San Diego State University], indicators of self-esteem have risen consistently since the 1980s…. But, she says, what starts off as healthy self-esteem can quickly morph into an inflated view of oneself—a self-absorption and sense of entitlement that looks a lot like narcissism….” ~“How to Land Your Kid in Therapy” by Lori Gottlieb in The Atlantic Monthly “The trouble with human nature is that we are born with a heart that loves ourselves over and above everything else in this world, including God. In short, we are born slaves to the lust for self-gratification, i.e., concupiscence. That's why, if left to ourselves, we will always love those things that make us feel good about ourselves, even as we depart more and more from God and his ways. Therefore, God must intervene in our lives in order to bring salvation.” ~Dr. Ashley Null, resident scholar at Humboldt University in Berlin in his work “Thomas Cranmer's Doctrine of Repentance: Renewing the Power of Love” “When we are securely rooted in personal intimacy with the source of life, it will be possible to remain flexible without being relativistic, convinced without being rigid, willing to confront without being offensive, gentle and forgiving without being soft, and true witnesses without being manipulative.” ~Henri Nouwen (1932-1996), priest, professor, and writer “Don't worry that your children never listen to you; worry that they are always watching you.” ~Robert Fulghum, American author “One of my mom's favorite sayings: ‘Behind every successful child is an astonished parent.'” ~Cory Booker, attorney and U.S. Senator SERMON PASSAGE Ephesians 6:1-4 (ESV) Ephesians 5 15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. Ephesians 6 1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), 3 “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” 4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Deuteronomy 6 4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
We are honored to have our dear friend and mentor Dr. John Ashley Null on the show. Primarily known as a prestigious theologian, he's also deeply involved in elite sports as five-time Olympic chaplain. He has had an incredible impact on my career and my life as a whole, and after every conversation with him I leave better than I came.
In this episode, esteemed scholar, author, and researcher Ashley Null will be taking us on a deep dive into a key origin story character, Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer. We'll explore Cranmer's contemporary culture, and the key events throughout his life that led him to write the first book of Collects, the first Book of Common Prayer, and of course, ultimately lay the groundwork for what would become the Anglican Church of England.
QUOTES FOR REFLECTION “All the money you earn, all the stocks you buy, all the mutual funds you trade–all of that is mostly smoke and mirrors. It's still going to be a quarter-past late whether you tell the time on a Timex or a Rolex. …[S]ooner or later things will begin to go wrong with the only three things you have that you can really call your own: your body, your spirit, and your mind.” ~Stephen King (1947-present), American novelist and short-story writer “The human being is only a reed, the most feeble in nature; but he is a thinking reed. It isn't necessary for the entire universe…to crush him; a whiff of vapor, a taste of water, suffices…. But when the universe crushes him, the human being becomes still more noble than that which kills him, because he knows that he is dying…. The universe, it does not have a clue.” ~Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), French mathematician “I could never myself believe in God, if it were not for the cross. The only God I believe in is the One Nietzsche ridiculed as ‘God on the cross.' In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it…. I have turned…to that lonely, twisted, tortured figure on the cross, nails through hands and feet, back lacerated, limbs wrenched, brow bleeding from thorn-pricks, mouth dry and intolerably thirsty, plunged in Godforsaken darkness. That is the God for me! He laid aside his immunity to pain. He entered our world of flesh and blood, tears and death. He suffered for us.” ~John Stott (1921-2011), English theologian and cleric “Human beings may be instinctively addicted to always having to prove their worth, but the cross of Christ shatters that lie. Human beings may fear they can never make the changes in their lives that are expected of Christians, but the Resurrection of Christ conclusively testifies to his power to make all things new. Human beings may feel rootless and estranged, but Christ has promised to prepare an eternal home for his people, even as he prepares them for it.” ~Ashley Null, scholar at Humboldt University of Berlin “What do we find God ‘doing about'…sin and evil? ...God did not abolish…evil; He transformed it. He did not stop the Crucifixion; He rose from the dead.” ~Dorothy L. Sayers in “The Triumph of Easter” (1938) SERMON PASSAGE 1 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. 3 So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” 4 But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. 7 Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” 8 The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?” 9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10 But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” 11 After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.” 12 The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” 13 Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. 14 Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, 15 and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” 16 So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” 17 Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. 18 Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, 19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. 20 So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.” 28 When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” 29 And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. 31 When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. 32 Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. 34 And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus wept. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” 37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?” 38 Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” 40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” 41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” 43 When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” 44 The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.” 45 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, 46 but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” 49 But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. 50 Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” 51 He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, 52 and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. 53 So from that day on they made plans to put him to death.
QUOTES FOR REFLECTION “It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness.” ~Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962), U.S. first lady, diplomat, and activist “If you think that moral reasoning is something we do to figure out the truth, you'll be constantly frustrated by how foolish, biased, and illogical people become when they disagree with you.” “Our moral thinking is much more like a politician searching for votes than a scientist searching for truth.” “People bind themselves into political teams that share moral narratives. Once they accept a particular narrative, they become blind….” ~Jonathan Haidt, social psychologist and NYU professor “…what the heart loves, the will chooses, and the mind justifies. The mind doesn't direct the will. The mind is actually captive to what the will wants, and the will itself, in turn, is captive to what the heart wants.” ~Dr. Ashley Null, scholar at the Humboldt University of Berlin “Pharisees are not an extinct breed. Whenever we find ourselves valuing the letter of God's law above its spirit; whenever we find ourselves unable to rejoice in the saving and renewing of lives simply because the instrument used was not someone who dots all the i's and crosses all the t's of our…group; whenever we lose the daily, hourly sense of joy in the grace of God…, then we need to be beware. ‘Lord, is it I?' The only security against Pharisaism is grace, which is perhaps the reason the Lord may from time to time permit us to stumble in our Christian walk so that we may have opportunity to rediscover it. Luther's observation, ‘there is no cure for spiritual pride like a little over-eating, over-sleeping or over-drinking' is to the point…..” ~Bruce Milne, pastor and professor “We must not be frightened nor cajoled into accepting evil as deliverance from evil. We must go on struggling to be human, though monsters of abstractions police and threaten us.” ~Robert Hayden (1913-1980), poet, essayist, and educator SERMON PASSAGE John 9:1-41 (ESV) 1 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud 7 and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing. 8 The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some said, “It is he.” Others said, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” 10 So they said to him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” 11 He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.' So I went and washed and received my sight.” 12 They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.” 13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. 14 Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. 15 So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” 16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them. 17 So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.” 18 The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight 19 and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” 20 His parents answered, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. 21 But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.” 22 (His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.) 23 Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.” 24 So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.” 25 He answered, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” 26 They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” 27 He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” 28 And they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. 29 We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” 30 The man answered, “Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. 32 Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” 34 They answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out. 35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36 He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” 37 Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” 38 He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him. 39 Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” 40 Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” 41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,' your guilt remains.”
The Rev. Canon Dr. Ashley Null is an internationally respected and highly awarded scholar on the grace and gratitude theology of the English Reformation. He recently spoke at the American Anglican Council Nehemiah Society donor dinner, which showed him doing what he does best: giving glory to God while illuminating the scriptures and encouraging his hearers to put them into practice as we journey onward in the faith. Join Canon Phil in this week's podcast to listen on on what Dr. Null has to say about giving God all of the glory.
by Ashley Null
by Ashley Null
by Ashley Null
by Ashley Null
QUOTES FOR REFLECTION “What a man believes may be ascertained, not from his creed, but from the assumptions on which he habitually acts.” “No man ever believes that the Bible means what it says: He is always convinced that it says what he means.” ~George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950), Irish playwright and critic “What the heart loves, the will chooses, and the mind justifies. The mind doesn't direct the will. The mind is actually captive to what the will wants, and the will itself, in turn, is captive to what the heart wants. “The trouble with human nature is that we are born with a heart that loves ourselves over and above everything else in this world, including God. In short, we are born slaves to the lust for self-gratification, i.e., concupiscence. That's why, if left to ourselves, we will always love those things that make us feel good about ourselves, even as we depart more and more from God and his ways. Therefore, God must intervene in our lives in order to bring salvation.” ~Ashley Null, scholar at Humboldt-University of Berlin “The prize of your faithfulness is your God. He is what you will get, he is preparing himself as the reward of his worshippers … He it is who is the reward of your faith and fidelity. You greedy misers, what will ever satisfy you if God himself doesn't?” ~Augustine (354-430), North African church leader (Carthage, A.D. 419) “If you want your own way, God will let you have it. Hell is the enjoyment of one's own way forever.” ~Dorothy L. Sayers (1893-1957), English writer and poet “Your identity is not wrapped up in how right you get it or how perfect you can posture yourself…. [but] in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.” ~Lecrae, rapper, songwriter, and producer SERMON PASSAGE John 6:25-59 (ESV) 25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” 26 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” 28 Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” 30 So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? 31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'” 32 Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” 35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. 36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” 41 So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven'?” 43 Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. 44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me— 46 not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; hehas seen the Father. 47 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” 52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59 Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum.
The Rev. Canon Dr. John Ashley Null is widely considered to be the pre-eminent scholar on Thomas Cranmer, the author of our Book of Common Prayer. He teaches all over the world and has also served as Olympic chaplain to the athletes. Sermon from 9/26/21
The Rev'd Canon Dr. Ashley Null is an internationally respected scholar on the grace and gratitude theology of the English Reformation. He teaches regularly in seminaries and churches in the Americas, Europe, Africa and Australia. Meanwhile, Ashley serves as a chaplain to elite athletes and coaches, helping them to integrate the Reformation's emphasis on the unconditional love and grace of God with their vocation as professional sportspeople. Ashley is a five-time Olympic chaplain, most recently at Rio 2016. As we record our conversation, Ashley is Omaha for the US Swimming Olympic Trials prior to the Tokyo Olympics. Our conversation today concerns his approach to the pastoral care of elite athletes...and it is gold!
Stu's sister Karen sits down with Dr. Ashley Null, scholar and Olympic chaplain, to discuss his new book, "Performance Identity: The Folly of Striving to Earn God's Favor."
For the first part of May, Lorna Ashworth has contributed to Lift Up Your Hearts devotionals. After the Ascensiontide break of devotionals contributed by Ashley Null, Lorna has contributed devotions until the end of May where she focuses on the theme of forgiveness. How do you forgive? Why do we forgive? How can I forgive someone if they won't even accept that they have done anything wrong? These are the types of questions that Lorna addresses through scripture this month and what we talk about in this episode of Everyday Global Anglicans. Lorna Ashworth is a Canadian who has lived in England for nearly 26 years after marrying an Englishman she met in Jamaica while on missions. She is a mother of 3 teenage children and is a former member of the General Synod of the Church of England and the Archbishop's Council. Lorna studied theology alongside her husband at Oak Hill Theological College where she completed a degree and MA in theology and loves to see scripture clearly communicated and understood.
Guest Preacher: The Rev'd Dr. Canon Ashley Null Read Ashley Null's bio. Bible Study Don't just take our word for it . . . take His! We would encourage you to spend time examining the following Scriptures that shaped this sermon: Ezekiel 36:16-27; Acts 2:1-21 If you have questions about this sermon please email the church office (Office@StAndrews.Church).
By day Ashley Null is an Anglican priest and scholar specializing in the theological notebooks of reformer Thomas Cranmer – and by night, he's a chaplain to the most elite Olympic athletes providing as he describes, “Cranmer for jocks.” Elite athletes have to earn their worth, and this performance based identity can trickle into their […]
The last of our BCP Heritage Lenten Lecture Series. Notice: Copyright John Ashley Null 2021, all rights reserved, used by permission for educational purposes.
The Rev. Dr. Ashley Null gives the last of his three Simeon Lectures. This one focuses on Cranmer's relationship with the King of England and the Church of Rome throughout his life, and the vital theological beliefs for which he gave his life defending. New episodes every Monday.
This week we continue our series featuring a group of lectures from the Rev. Canon Dr. Ashley Null. This particular lecture was on Cranmer's convictions concerning the Bible, and salvation.New episodes every Monday.
This week we offer a lecture from the 2002 Simeon Lecture Series by the Rev. Canon Dr. Ashley Null on the Historical Context of Thomas Cranmer. New episodes every Monday.
Opening and closing music: Holy, Holy, Holy, by Stephanie Devlin. Used with kind permission. Find out more at: https://www.stephaniedevlin.com/. Correction: Henry VIII passed the Act of Supremacy in 1534, not in 1563 when he would have found it rather more difficult! Father Ted Clips from http://www.101soundboards.com. Rights to Father Ted belong to Hat Trick Productions. Other sound effects from https://www.zapsplat.com. We're not sponsored by or affiliated with Ashley Null - but you should still read his book :)
REFLECTION QUOTES “According to [Dr. Jean] Twenge [a co-author of The Narcissism Epidemic and professor of psychology at San Diego State University], indicators of self-esteem have risen consistently since the 1980s…. But, she says, what starts off as healthy self-esteem can quickly morph into an inflated view of oneself—a self-absorption and sense of entitlement that looks a lot like narcissism….” ~“How to Land Your Kid in Therapy” by Lori Gottlieb in The Atlantic Monthly “The trouble with human nature is that we are born with a heart that loves ourselves over and above everything else in this world, including God. In short, we are born slaves to the lust for self-gratification, i.e., concupiscence. That's why, if left to ourselves, we will always love those things that make us feel good about ourselves, even as we depart more and more from God and his ways. Therefore, God must intervene in our lives in order to bring salvation.” ~Ashley Null, scholar at Humboldt University in Berlin “When we are securely rooted in personal intimacy with the source of life, it will be possible to remain flexible without being relativistic, convinced without being rigid, willing to confront without being offensive, gentle and forgiving without being soft, and true witnesses without being manipulative.” ~Henri Nouwen (1932-1996), priest, professor and writer “Don't worry that your children never listen to you; worry that they are always watching you.” ~Robert Fulghum, American author “When you have children, your perspective on the parent-child relationship alters.” ~Salman Rushdie, British Indian novelist and essayist “Let parents bequeath to their children not riches, but the spirit of reverence.” ~Plato, ancient Greek philosopher and founder of the Academy in Athens “It is a wise parent who knows his own child.” ~William Shakespeare (1564-1616), English poet and playwrigh SERMON PASSAGE Genesis 1:26-31 & Mark 7:20-23 (ESV) Genesis 1 26 Then God said, “Let us make manin our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29 And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. 30 And to every and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. Mark 7 20 And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 21 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
REFLECTION QUOTES “If, 20 years ago, I had announced we would soon be creating machines that control humans, there would have been an uproar.” ~B.J. Fogg, Stanford researcher, on smart phones and social media “…what the heart loves, the will chooses, and the mind justifies.” “The trouble with human nature is that we are born with a heart that loves ourselves over and above everything else in this world, including God. In short, we are born slaves to the lust for self-gratification, i.e., concupiscence. That's why, if left to ourselves, we will always love those things that make us feel good about ourselves, even as we depart more and more from God and his ways. Therefore, God must intervene in our lives in order to bring salvation.” ~Ashley Null, scholar at Humboldt University in Berlin “…the best way to prepare people for authoritarian rule is not to indoctrinate them into an authoritarian philosophy, but to make them believe that there is no such thing as truth.” ~Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia in NPR interview “Today, we think that each person must find his or her own way of being spiritual, something that is comfortable to that person; each spirituality is particular to each person.” “[But God] is not there to conform to us; we must conform to him. He summons us from outside of ourselves to know him. We do not go inside of ourselves to find him…. He is not known on our terms. This summons is heard in and through his Word. It is not heard through our intuitions.” ~David F. Wells in God in the Whirlwind: How the Holy-love of God Reorients Our World “If God is the source of supreme pleasure, beauty, love, and goodness—and He is—then turning away from God makes no sense. It's irrational…. In all of this, sin deceives and destroys.” ~Rev. Thabiti Anyabwile of Anacostia River Church in Washington, DC SERMON PASSAGE Jude (ESV) 1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ: 2 May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. 3 Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. 4 For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. 5 Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day— 7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire. 8 Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones. 9 But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you.” 10 But these people blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively. 11 Woe to them! For they walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam's error and perished in Korah's rebellion. 12 These are hidden reefs at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, shepherds feeding themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; 13 wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever. 14 It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, 15 to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” 16 These are grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires; they are loud-mouthed boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage. 17 But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. 18 They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” 19 It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. 20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. 22 And have mercy on those who doubt; 23 save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh. 24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
by Ashley Null
by Ashley Null
by Ashley Null
by Ashley Null
by Ashley Null
by Ashley Null
by Ashley Null
by Ashley Null
REFLECTION QUOTES “The heart of the problem, is the problem of the human heart.” ~Oswald J. Smith (1889-1986), Canadian pastor and author “We used to wonder where war lived, what it was that made it so vile. And now we realize that we know where it lives…inside ourselves.” ~Albert Camus (1913-1960), French philosopher, author and journalist “The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between political parties either—but right through every human heart.” ~Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1918-2008), Russian novelist and Soviet dissident “…what the heart loves, the will chooses, and the mind justifies. The mind doesn't direct the will. The mind is actually captive to what the will wants, and the will itself, in turn, is captive to what the heart wants.” ~Rev. Dr. Ashley Null, Anglican scholar “There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root.” ~Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) in his book Walden “I don't know if there's a healthier way for two people to stay in love than to stop using each other to resolve their unfulfilled longings and instead, start holding each other slowly as they experience them.” ~Author Donald Miller in his book Scary Close “To see the Law by Christ fulfilled, To hear His pardoning voice, Changes a slave into a child And duty into choice.” ~William Cowper (1731-1800), English poet and hymn-write SERMON PASSAGE Mark 10:1-16 (ESV) 1 And he left there and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan, and crowds gathered to him again. And again, as was his custom, he taught them. 2 And Pharisees came up and in order to test him asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” 3 He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” 4 They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away.” 5 And Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. 6 But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.' 7 ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, 8 and the two shall become one flesh.' So they are no longer two but one flesh. 9 What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” 10 And in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. 11 And he said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her, 12 and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.” 13 And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. 14 But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. 15 Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” 16 And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.
REFLECTION QUOTES “A cynic knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.” ~Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), playwright and novelist “There is something gratuitous about creation, an unnecessary abundance of beauty, and through its blossoms and pleasures we can revel in the sheer largesse of the Father.” ~Michael Reeves, British author, theologian and historian “…what the heart loves, the will chooses, and the mind justifies. The mind doesn't direct the will. The mind is actually captive to what the will wants, and the will itself, in turn, is captive to what the heart wants. “The trouble with human nature is that we are born with a heart that loves ourselves over…God. In short, we are born slaves to the lust for self-gratification… That's why, if left to ourselves, we will always love those things that make us feel good about ourselves, even as we depart more and more from God and his ways. Therefore, God must intervene in our lives in order to bring salvation.” ~Dr. Ashley Null, Anglican scholar “As the eye cannot judge of sounds, nor the ear of prospects and colors, neither can our reason help us in our religious concerns, till it is first brought to the foot of the cross. The doctrine of Jesus Christ and him crucified, is the Sun of the intellectual world. It can only be seen by its own light; but when the eyes of the mind are opened to behold it, it throws a light upon every other object and subject in which we are concerned.” “Look unto the Lord Jesus Christ; look unto him as he hung naked, wounded, bleeding, dead, and forsaken upon the cross. Look unto him again as he now reigns in glory, possessed of all power in heaven and in earth, with thousands of thousands of saints and angels worshipping before him, and ten thousand times ten thousand ministering unto him; and then compare your sins with his blood, your wants with his fullness, your unbelief with his faithfulness, your weakness with his strength, your inconstancy with his everlasting love.” ~John Newton (1725-1807), English clergyman SERMON PASSAGE Mark 7:24-37 (ESV) 24 And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden. 25 But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. 26 Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27 And he said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.” 28 But she answered him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs.” 29 And he said to her, “For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter.” 30 And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone. 31 Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. 32 And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him. 33 And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. 34 And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” 35 And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. 36 And Jesus charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. 37 And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”
Dr Ashley Null joins Graham, Mike and Jane to discuss the life and theology of Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury under the Tudor monarchs at the time of the English Reformation.
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