". . .The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire." - Luke 3:9
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Message from Bishop David Anderson
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 | | Bishop Anderson |
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus,
A few years ago, well actually in 1978, a religious leader in Jonestown, Guyana named Jim Jones convinced his followers to commit mass suicide with him. Tragically, some 909 members of the "Peoples Temple" either committed suicide or were murdered by drinking cyanide-laced, grape flavored' Kool-Aid. Ever since then, the euphemism "drinking the Kool-Aid" has been used for people who blindly follow their leaders and believe what they are telling them without questioning. The "Peoples Temple" was a cult, built around the personality and authority of one person, Jim Jones, and he had the ability to deceive and finally destroy all who followed him.
Although Jim Jones wrapped himself and his organization in the mantle of church and religion, he was, at heart, a Marxist and an atheist. He used the trappings of religion and church to gather people to himself and to hold control over them. A few followers left his cult over the years, but what is astonishing is the number that stayed with him up to and including drinking the cyanide-laced Kool-Aid. For those few who resisted, including over 200 children, it was too late. They were forced at gunpoint to drink anyway.
In today's religious world people have to decide what they will believe in, and what they will dismiss, and then act accordingly with their time and treasure. |
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Any religion worth believing in should speak into all corners of one's life, and have enough compelling logic and/or authority to shape opinion, decision and action. For some people, "it seems right to me" is enough for them to build their spiritual belief around. Unfortunately, the mind's own fears, hopes, projections or previous action are enough to kick the reasoning part of the brain into a self-justification mode, attempting to make sense of existing fears, hopes, projections or deeds already accomplished. Letting everyone find right, wrong and truth by what seems right to them alone is anarchy. As one writer of a previous century put it, "Reason is a harlot and it will sleep with anyone." Most people make up their minds about what they want to do, and then use their ability to reason to, well, make it seem reasonable, and most of us are pretty good at it.
Right, wrong and truth need to be grounded on something more firmly placed. Science, which is dedicated to finding truth, struggles with the fact that truth for what happens and why in micro space is very different from the truth for what happens and why in macro space. Even Science needs help finding right, wrong and truth, and with each new discovery comes new belief. Some communities seem to feel that right, wrong and truth can be discerned by larger numbers of individuals gathering together and deciding, perhaps by voting, which or what is true. The question, though, still remains, "what is the basis for the decision about right, wrong and truth?". Is it that more individuals are bound to get it right than those who get it wrong? History has not born this out in many seasons of time. Witness chattel slavery being the law of the land in many nations for long periods of time before its evil was fully and finally recognized. The progression of time though doesn't always take us from wrong to right, as borne out by the rise of dangerous and destructive nations that for significant periods have terrorized both their own people and their neighbors. Right, wrong and truth can't always be discerned by the forward movement of time and history. . .
Read the rest of Bishop Anderson's article here.
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The Chaplain's Corner
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 | | Canon Ashey |
By The Rev. Canon Phil Ashey
Chief Operating and Development Officer, American Anglican Council
Therefore we do not lose heart
Dear Friends in Christ,
The news for Christians worldwide has not been good this week. A poll released shows atheism on the rise globally by almost 10%, with several Asian and European nations experiencing the most growth. The rise in atheism across Europe coincides with a decline in churchgoing. In Africa, another deadly church attack by unidentified gunmen during a Monday evening worship service left 19 Nigerian Christians dead.
The Muslim terrorist group Boko Haram is demanding that Nigeria's Christian president convert to Islam or resign, a stance that again calls into question the Obama administration's playing down of religion as the primary motivation for the radical group. Meanwhile, back in the United States, intellectual elites continue a relentless public assault on Chik-Fil-A's rights to free speech because their President, Dan Cathy, dared voice his support for traditional marriage-a point of view that critics with a totalitarian mind-set simply cannot permit in the free marketplace of ideas.
The news in our Anglican world is also distressing. You can see my summary of the state of the Anglican Communion in regards to observing Biblical, traditional and Anglican teaching on human sexuality and holy orders in this week's Anglican Perspective video. 14 years ago to this very week, an overwhelming majority of Anglican bishops approved Resolution 1.10 at the 1998 worldwide Lambeth Conference of Anglican Bishops. This resolution affirmed the biblical and traditional teaching of the church that sexual relations are appropriate only within the context of a lifelong marriage between a man and a woman-with abstinence in all other cases-and that the church can neither bless same-sex unions nor ordain people to any order of ministry who are in such relationships. And yet this very week dioceses in The Episcopal Church are pushing ahead to implement same-sex blessings as well as same-sex marriages. On Monday of this week, the Episcopal Bishop of Connecticut, Ian Douglas, wrote a letter to all his clergy authorizing them not only to use the liturgical rites approved by TEC General Convention 2012 to bless same-sex unions, but also to go ahead and bless civil marriages of same sex partners.
What is especially egregious about this is that Ian Douglas serves on two of the five bodies within the Anglican communion that are supposed to look after the unity, faith and order of the Anglican Communion-The Standing Committee and the Anglican Consultative Council. Biblical teaching, Anglican faith and order are being trampled underfoot by TEC, spread by TEC funded and compromised "continuing Indaba" listening processes (the only provision of Lambeth 1.10 being observed!) to the rest of the Communion, while the very governing bodies of the Anglican Communion are compromised by the presence of those who, like Ian Douglas, continue to willfully violate the Bible, Lambeth 1.10 and the Windsor Moratoria.
So much bad news. . . is there any good news?? Where is it??
This morning I was reading from II Corinthians 4:1-6, especially verse 6: "For God who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ." As John Stott observes, "If we put the three verses together (vv. 4, 5 and 6), we find that the devil blinds (v. 4), God shines (v. 6), and we preach Christ Jesus as Lord (v. 5). . .If the light by which God rescues people from darkness is the gospel, we had better preach it!" (Stott, John Through the Bible, Through the Year (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2006), p. 366.). . .
Read the rest of Canon Ashey's article here.
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Connecticut parish leaves home for good
| Source:TheDay.com
 | | The Congregation of Bishop Seabury Anglican Church |
August 5, 2012
By Julianne Hanckel
Six years after the congregation declared itself unable to fully participate in The Episcopal Church, the parishioners and clergy of the Bishop Seabury Anglican Church held their last service in their building on Sunday.
The service was emotional as parishioners frequently broke out in tears. They hugged often and held hands. The majority of the Prayers of the People portion of the worship focused on the congregation's departing and the unknown challenges that lie ahead.
"The sights, the sounds and the smell of this building remind me of home," April Head said aloud, kneeling behind a pew. "This place has been a constant in my life, but I've learned that there are constants in life and one of them is change. Lord, where you go we will go. Prepare a new home for us, Father, keep us as a family."
Beginning Aug. 12, services will be held at the Groton Inn and Suites until a more permanent home for the congregation can be found.
"I'll tell you one thing," the Rev. Ronald S. Gauss told his parish Sunday morning, "Don't start crying until I'm through because if you do, I'll never get through this." . . .
Read the entire article here.
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| Bishop Lawrence Meets with Clergy of the Diocese of South Carolina Following General Convention | | Source:
Diocese of South Carolina
 | | Bishop Lawrence |
July 30, 2012
By Canon Jim Lewis
. . . He told the Bishops that the magnitude of these changes was such that he could no longer in good conscience continue in the business of the Convention. In fact, he was left with the grave question of whether he could continue as a bishop of an institution that had adopted such changes. It was with that question on the table that he took his leave from the House of Bishops.
Since that time, and in the gathering of the Diocesan Clergy, the Bishop stated that he believes the Episcopal Church has crossed a line he cannot personally cross. He also expressed to the clergy that though he might act one way if he were a priest in a diocese, as a Bishop he feels deeply his vow before God to faithfully lead and shepherd the Diocese of South Carolina. Both dimensions of this dilemma weigh upon him at this time.
The Bishop has asked for a period of grace as he prayerfully seeks the face of the Lord, and asks for God's direction (Psalm 27:7-9,14 or BCP Ps 27: 10-13, 18). He left yesterday evening, July 29, to begin several weeks of vacation. It will be a time spent on mountaintops and in deserts where the Bishop will seek refreshment and discernment. Upon his return at the end of August he will meet with the Standing Committee and the clergy of the diocese to share that discernment and his sense of the path forward.
In the interim, the Bishop has asked that we hold this process in our prayers and pledge that there will be "no golden calves" or departures during his absence. Those present heartily agreed to both requests. He would also encourage the clergy as they are able to gather in deaneries for prayer and intercession. I commend the prayers below as pillars around which to order your prayers for the Diocese in the coming weeks. . .
Read the entire article here.
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Dan Cathy And The Silence Of Many Churches
| Source: BobRussel.org
August 5, 2012
. . . While the mayors of three large cities and a few University administrators were publicly threatening to ban Chick-fil-A, and while the discussion was the hot news topic of the week, there were many ministers who said little or nothing at all. Church members from across the country are puzzled as to why. When a Christian brother is beaten up by the world and left wounded on the side of the road why would church leaders just pass by on the other side and not get involved?
Some are fearful of criticism. No one likes to get nasty emails or hear derogatory comments about their church. If you stand for Biblical marriage you are sure to be accused of being bigoted, hateful, or intolerant. Dan Cathy is a prime example. Jesus said, "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me". (Matthew 5:11) But it doesn't feel blessed when it happens, and it seems many Christian leaders do everything they can to avoid persecution. Perhaps they love the praise of men more than the praise of God.
Some leaders think it's wise to stay out of the fray in order to better evangelize the lost. Ministers know one of the primary reasons people are turned off to the church today is because of its stance on homosexuality. They fear that if their church gets a reputation as being homophobic then an increasing number of people - both gay and straight -will refuse to visit. They think a bad public image makes it more difficult to evangelize. After all, it doesn't make good sense to alienate the very people they're trying to win. So these church leaders continue to keep silent in hopes that Dan Cathy and those who believe as he does will survive the attacks. They pass by on the other side of the road because they don't want to be found guilty by association. . .
Read the entire article here.
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| Billy Graham: "Final Call" for America to Repent | Source: WND
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Billy Graham
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August 7, 2012
By Troy Anderson
. . . Unlike his famous stadium crusades over the past six decades, Graham is asking Christians to invite family, friends and neighbors to their homes to watch the "Living Room Crusade" on their televisions, tablets or smartphones as part of a massive grassroots effort to ignite a spiritual awakening in North America.
In what is expected to be the largest undertaking in its 60-plus year history, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association hopes to mobilize millions of Christians to register as host "Matthews" at www.myhopewithbillygraham.org and undergo training to learn how to share their faith with others.
"We have seen God visit our nation in powerful and transformational ways in the past," Preston Parrish, vice president of "My Hope with Billy Graham," told WND.com. "We are praying this will be a real moment of revival and awakening and transformation across our nation."
The announcement comes as Graham - whom Parrish described as "very sharp and keen mentally" at age 93 - released a letter last month entitled, "My Heart Aches for America." In the letter, Graham recalled how his late wife Ruth once expressed concerns about the "terrible downward spiral of our nation's moral standards" - exclaiming, "If God doesn't punish America, He'll have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah.". . .
Read the entire article here.
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