|
Be Alert!
Church of England to be disestablished with the number 666
Call it ironic or maybe just a sign allowed by God to
mark the end of Church of England that the order
paper listing motions for debates for the House of
Commons allocated the number 666 for the motion to
disestablish the Church of England. Whatever the
case it is difficult to overlook when this church has
fallen away to the point that it now has and, as most of
you already very well know.
However, just as when invaders destroyed the first
and second temples, I believe the invasion of false
teaching, the turning away from the Word of God and
outright persecution will destroy the current temple the
church, only to be rebuilt/resurrected into a glorified
body.
That I understand is not a very popular position to
take, but we are already witnessing it transpire before
our very eyes. Whether it be fallen-away churches
such as the Anglicans completely disintegrating,
Megachurches that may look good from the outside
but are really nothing but a house of cards ready to be
blown over violent winds or true believers in the
remnant that in many cases find themselves alone
without a good church to be found, we are seeing no
stone (we are living stones) being left
unturned.
BE/\LERT!
Scott Brisk
Matthew 24:1-2
Jesus came out from the temple and was going away
when His disciples came up to point out the temple
buildings to Him. And He said to them, "Do you not
see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone
here will be left upon another, which will not be torn
down."
1 Peter 2:5
you also, as living stones, are being built up as a
spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up
spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus
Christ.
John 2:19-21
Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in
three days I will raise it up." The Jews then said, "It
took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You
raise it up in three days?" But He was speaking of the
temple of His body.
1) Devilish debate on end for Church of England
AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE - January 10, 2008
LONDON - Eyebrows were raised in the House of
Commons on Thursday when a motion calling for the
Church of England to be disestablished was listed with the
number 666, symbol of the
AntiChrist.
"This number is supposed to be the mark of the Devil.
It looks as though God or the Devil have been moving
in mysterious ways," said Bob Russell, a Liberal
Democrat MP among those proposing the motion for
debate.
"What is even stranger is that this motion was tabled
last night when MPs were debating blasphemy," he
added.
The motion calls for an end to the formal link between
Church and State in England -- embodied in the
monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, who is both head of
state and head of the Church of England.
The number 666 is referred to in the Book of
Revelations in the Bible: "Here is wisdom. Let him that
hath understanding count the number of the beast for
it is the number of a man; and his number is six
hundred, three score and six."
"It is is incredible that a motion like this should have,
by chance, acquired this significant number," said
Russell.
Under the rules of the House of Commons the motion
by backbenchers has little chance of actually being
debated in parliament.
Also
EDM 666
DISESTABLISHMENT OF THE CHURCH OF
ENGLAND
House of
Commons Source Link
2) Church 'storm' of mass defections brews
Flight from biblical orthodoxy triggers exodus of 'faithful'
WORLDNETDAILY - September 15, 2007
The Episcopal Church is on the verge of a mass
exodus if it doesn't repent of its approval of
homosexual relationships, warn the leaders of three
dioceses that signaled their intent this week to leave
the 2 million-member denomination.
The dioceses of Fort Worth, Pittsburgh and Quincy, Ill.,
have stated that if they don't receive assurances by
Sept. 30 that the House of Bishops will reject the
consecration of bishops living in a same-sex
relationship and same-sex blessings, they are
prepared to cut themselves off from the Episcopal
Church in the USA.
The Episcopal Church is a member of the worldwide
Anglican Communion, which, led by bishops in Africa
and Asia, largely has maintained traditional doctrines.
"The Episcopal Church now faces potentially large
numbers of departures that would make what has
happened until now look like the calm before a storm,"
said Ralph Webb, director of Anglican Action for the
Institute on Religion and Democracy, a non-profit
group seeking renewal in mainline
denominations.
Noting a trend that has developed over more than
three decades, Webb said the denomination "has
moved so far away from Scripture, Christian tradition
and reason that many faithful Christians feel that they
can no longer stay within the Episcopal Church and
be faithful."
"The Episcopal Church so far has downplayed the
impact of the thousands of Anglicans who have left the
denomination," he said.
Initially, denominational leaders such as Presiding
Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori claimed the numbers
of people leaving were so small they weren't
newsworthy, Webb pointed out.
"Then, as more and more parishioners left, they
revised their claim to emphasize parishes instead of
people," he said. "They have ignored the loss of
congregations with some of the largest numbers of
parishioners in the denomination." - - - -
3) Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams, at 'secret' gay ceremony
THE TIMES of LONDON [News Corporation/Murdoch] -
By Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent - November
30, 2007
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams,
presided at a "secret" Eucharist yesterday for lesbian
and gay clergy in the Church of England.
At the service, in London, he gave a talk on "present
realities and future possibilities for lesbians and gay
men in the Church". Conservative church members
condemned the Archbishop, claiming that the service
would make him the "focus of division".
The venue, originally scheduled to be St Peter's,
Eaton Square, Belgravia, was changed to avoid media
attention after news of the meeting emerged on the
Church Society website this year. The meeting was
organised by the Clergy Consultation, a support group
for gay clergy, ordinands and Anglican monks and
nuns. Secrecy was so tight that a list of names
attending was sent to Lambeth Palace with orders
that it be shredded as soon as Dr Williams had read
it.
The consultation, which has between 250 and 450
members at any one time, was set up in 1976 by three
Anglican priests, Malcolm Johnson, Peter Ellers and
Douglas Rhymes. Many members are married and
faithful to their partners. The organisation intends to
help them to cope with staying faithful to what they
regard as a Christian lifestyle while dealing with their
sexuality.
A spokeswoman said: "The Archbishop of Canterbury
is committed to the listening process which was
agreed at the Lambeth Conference [in 1998] as part of
the discussions on human sexuality. That means
listening to and engaging with gay and lesbian clergy
in a pastorally sensitive setting."
Dr Williams was criticised by evangelicals, who
believe that his actions will be interpreted as an
endorsement of the Church's liberal wing. The Rev
David Phillips, general secretary of the Church
Society, said: "This is not something that should be
happening. There is serious doubt in our mind about
some of the people present and their standing
because of being in homosexual relationships. We
came to the conclusion a long time ago that [Dr
Williams] was not really fit to be Archbishop."
In a joint statement Dr Richard Turnbull, chairman of
the Church of England Evangelical Council, and Dr
Philip Giddings, convener of the evangelical group
Anglican Mainstream, said: "Every occasion for
listening pastorally to people is to be welcomed.
However, the Holy Communion is a fundamental
symbol of fellowship and an expression of our unity in
Christ." To offer this to those in gay relationships was
contrary to biblical teaching and to the teaching by the
bishops themselves in their document Issues in
Human Sexuality, they said. - - - -
4) Episcopal Diocese Votes to Secede
NEW YORK TIMES [NYTimes Group/Sulzberger] - By
Neela Banerjee - December 9, 2007
FRESNO, Calif., Dec. 8 - The Diocese of San Joaquin
voted on Saturday to cut ties with the Episcopal
Church, the first time in the church's history a diocese
has done so over theological issues and the biggest
leap so far by dissident Episcopalians hoping to form
a rival national church in the United States.
Fissures have moved through the Episcopal Church,
the American arm of the worldwide Anglican
Communion, which has 77 million members, and
through the Communion itself since the church
ordained V. Gene Robinson, a gay man in a long-term
relationship, as bishop of New Hampshire in
2003.
Traditionalists at home and abroad assert that the
Bible describes homosexuality as an abomination,
and they consider the Episcopal Church's ordination
of Bishop Robinson as the latest and most galling
proof of its rejection of biblical authority.
In the last four years, the Anglican Communion, the
world's third-largest Christian body, has edged closer
to fracture over the issue. In the United States, several
dozen individual congregations out of nearly 7,700
have split with the Episcopal Church. But Saturday's
vote was the first time an entire diocese has chosen
to secede.
"The church will inevitably leave the Bible behind at
point after point," said Bishop John David Schofield of
San Joaquin to the diocesan convention on
Friday, "but since on this view the Bible is the word of
fallible men rather than of the infallible God, leaving it
behind is no great loss."
No one is certain now what will follow, though few
expect changes to occur immediately. But over the
coming months, tensions could rise in the greater
Communion because the San Joaquin Diocese also
voted to align itself with a foreign Anglican province, or
regional church. Other dioceses may feel
emboldened to cut ties with the Episcopal Church
also. And on the local level, the church would probably
file suit against the diocese over property, lay people
and clergy on various sides said.
"It will be a huge, huge legal battle," said the Rev.
Ephraim Radner, a leading Episcopal conservative
and professor of historical theology at Wycliffe College
in Toronto. "The costs involved will bleed the Diocese
of San Joaquin and the Episcopal Church, and it will
lead only to bad press. You have to wonder why
people are wasting money doing this and yet claiming
to be Christians."
San Joaquin's delegates voted overwhelmingly last
year to change the diocesan constitution to erase
mention of accession to the Episcopal Church, but
such amendments require a second vote, which
occurred Saturday. Two-thirds of the laity and clergy
needed to accept the changes, and the approximately
200 delegates passed the measures again by huge
margins.
Two other dioceses, Pittsburgh and Fort Worth, out of
110 in the Episcopal Church held their first votes this
fall. Bishop Schofield estimated that another six or
seven might follow suit, and that together they would
ultimately form a new Anglican province of North
America, marginalizing the Episcopal Church.
In response to such moves, presiding Bishop
Katharine Jefferts Schori, the chief pastor of the
Episcopal Church, has written to bishops warning
them to stop and to be aware of "potential
consequences." - - - -
5) California Diocese Breaks With Episcopal Church in Rift Over Role of Gays in the Church
ASSOCIATED PRESS - December 8, 2007
SAN FRANCISCO - An Episcopal diocese in central
California voted Saturday to split with the national
denomination over disagreements about the role of
gays and lesbians in the church.
Clergy and lay members of the Episcopal Diocese of
San Joaquin voted 173-22 at their annual convention
to remove all references to the national church from
the diocese's constitution, according to
spokeswoman Joan Gladstone.
The Fresno-based congregation is the first full
diocese to secede because of a conservative-liberal
rift that began decades ago and is now focused on
whether the Bible condemns gay
relationships.
The diocese, in a later vote, accepted an invitation to
join a conservative South American congregation of
the Worldwide Anglican Communion. The Episcopal
Church is the U.S. member of the global Anglican
Communion.
The decision is almost certain to spark a court fight
over control of the diocese's multimillion-dollar real
estate holdings and other assets. - - - -
6) Archbishop of Canterbury warns greed could wreck the Earth
AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE - December 25, 2007
The leader of the world's Anglicans slammed "human
greed" in his Christmas sermon, saying it threatened
the Earth's fragile environmental balance.
Doctor Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury,
told worshippers at Canterbury Cathedral in south-
east England, that humanity needed to protect the
world created by God.
People should treat each other and nature
with "reverence", the Church of England leader said.
"More and more (is) clearly required of us as we grow
in awareness of how fragile is the balance of species
and environments in the world and just how our greed
distorts it.
"When we threaten the balance of things, we don't just
put our material survival at risk; more profoundly we
put our spiritual sensitivity at risk -- the possibility of
being opened up to endless wonder by the world
around us."
The archbishop also stressed the need to respect
others and praised "brave and loving people" in Israel
and the Palestinian Territories. - - - -
FAIR USE NOTICE: This newsletter
contains
copyrighted
material the use of which has not always been
specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are
making such material available in our efforts to
advance understanding of religious, environmental,
political, human rights, economic, democracy,
scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe
this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted
material as provided for in section 107 of the US
Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C.
Section 107, the material on this site is distributed
without profit to those who have expressed a prior
interest in receiving the included information for
research and educational purposes. For more
information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you
wish to use copyrighted material from this site for
purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you
must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
|
|
|
 |
BE ALERT!
Is part of Moriel Ministries, the teaching ministry of J.
Jacob Prasch & Friends.
Various alerts and press releases are sent out
regularly and includes news items of
Biblical significance, encouragement, and warning to
the body of Christ to help keep you looking up for our
soon and coming King, Jesus Christ.
Questions?
Please understand that due to the high volume of e-
mail we receive, we are not always able to answer
every question although we will try. Also please be
patient as our response could be delayed.
|
|
|
