In reading the Shepherd of Hermas, I can across the following verses:

23:15 Now therefore I say unto you that are rulers of the Church, and that occupy the chief seats;

23:16 be not ye like unto the sorcerers.

23:17 The sorcerers indeed carry their drugs in boxes,

23:18 but ye carry your drug and your poison in your heart Ye are case-hardened,

23:19 and ye will not cleanse your hearts and mix your wisdom together in a clean heart, that ye may obtain mercy from the Great King.

23:20 Look ye therefore, children, lest these divisions of yours deprive you of your life.

23:21 How is it that ye wish to instruct the elect of the Lord, while ye yourselves have no instruction?

23:22 Instruct one another therefore, and have peace among yourselves, that I also may stand gladsome before the Father, and give an account concerning you all to your Lord’.

I could not help but think of the leaders of TEC.

“Now therefore I say unto you that are rulers of the Church, and that occupy the chief seats; be not ye like unto the sorcerers.” That is an apt description of many in leadership roles in TEC, sorcerers of New Ageism and gnostic gospels. Because they find that they can not measure up to the requirements that Our Lord Christ Jesus has laid down for us, through the magic of heresy, they have reinvented Him into their image. They have conjured up a god and a ‘christ-like’ figure that conforms to their image of how he should be. Ignoring some scripture and embracing others they have, like skilled surgeons, dissected the True Gospel of our Lord and Savior in to a ‘new thing’ that is both heretical and hedonistic.

“The sorcerers indeed carry their drugs in boxes, but ye carry your drug and your poison in your heart. Ye are case-hardened, and ye will not cleanse your hearts and mix your wisdom together in a clean heart, that ye may obtain mercy from the Great King.” Indeed they do carry their drugs and poison in their hearts.

Matthew 15:18-20a

But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man ‘unclean.’ For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man ‘unclean’;

The thoughts of the heart that are orated from TEC leadership are both a drug and a poison for the lost. First, the unsaved receive the drug that tells them that their sin is not a sin and that they should treat their sin as if it were a gift from God. Karl Marx referred to religion as an opiate for the masses but the false doctrine and heresy from the pulpit is the opiate for the lost and unsaved. They hear that they will have to sacrifice nothing, repent of nothing, enjoy their sinful action and help the poor by throwing money into the offering plate every Sunday and Wednesday and Christ’s redemption will be theirs for the taking.

The lost accept this as the true gospel because it requires nothing from them. It requires no worship or respect for the triune God and replaces the sovereignty of Holy Scripture with the traditions of the church and the values of the secular world. Traditions that are not really traditions because they are open for interpretation and reinterpretation as any situation may merit. Paul warned us about turning from the True Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. In Colossians 2:8-10 he spoke to them of the very thing that we now witness within the houses of worship we have come to love and are now being taken from us.

See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.

“Look ye therefore, children, lest these divisions of yours deprive you of your life. How is it that ye wish to instruct the elect of the Lord, while ye yourselves have no instruction?” Here we see the drug that the Church leadership shares amongst themselves in their crack house of heresy. It is a drug that deludes them in to thinking that they are wise and in touch with the living God. Much like the visions and hallucinations of LSD seem real to those who partake of the drug, so does the false wisdom and delusions seem real to heretical. When they share this ‘new-ageism’ with the lost it becomes the poison that condemns the unsaved to eternal darkness and separation from the God they so desperately desired communion with.

It is sad to see that those who would know the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are being lead in another direction altogether. They don’t have the road map of scripture to tell them that they are headed in the wrong direction so they blindly trust the false teachers and (dare I say it) snake oil salesmen and charlatans. It is easy to accept a false doctrine as truth when it provides you a seemingly easier road to take. The ride gets comfortable and it is just too easy not to look at a map. Besides some who are headed to hell on a worldly tour bus don’t really want to know the true destination. It is too easy so say “I was misled” and hope that God’s understanding and mercy will be available when they cry out. What they don’t seem to understand is that if hell is the absence of God, will He hear them?

“Instruct one another therefore, and have peace among yourselves, that I also may stand gladsome before the Father, and give an account concerning you all to your Lord’.” Do those who would lead the lost have a chance to turn things around? There are some that believe that once the apostate has crossed a certain line they cannot turn back; salvation is no longer an option for them, but are they really apostate when many of them have never truly known Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior? Someone who is apostate has renounced their allegiance to and faith in Jesus Christ, but did they ever really have faith to begin with? This is a question that only they can answer and may God have mercy on their souls if John Owen and others are right and they did at one time truly believe.

Hebrews 6:4-6

It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.

Why do we need the New Testament if our church leaders are hearing from the Holy Spirit who is telling them what the words of Jesus really mean? I also question that if we’ve had it all wrong for the last two thousand years, is this really a ‘new thing’ or just some old thing believers have over looked? Two thousand years is a mighty long time to over look something as important as the treatment (or mistreatment) of the sexually immoral. If we use Genesis as are starting point then this misunderstanding goes back to around four thousand years. I would have thought God would have straightened us out long before now.
Would the God of perfect justice have allowed His creation to misunderstand His laws and mistreat another part of His creation for four thousand years? I cannot know the mind of God but I just do not think this would be the case. Yet, if you listen to many at the pulpit this is exactly what they would have you believe. Of course they do not come right out and say this because that leads to a lot of unwanted questions about the legitimacy of the god that they want us to accept. If this god wanted us to embrace and encourage those living a homosexual life style then why did he allow suppression of their desires and feelings for the last four thousand years? Why, when he had is son become incarnate two thousand years ago, did his son not specifically say something to correct this incorrect notion?
Perhaps because their god is not the real God and is maybe some fallen angel who is up to no good? Perhaps this fallen angel never had a son to become incarnate two thousand years ago that could clear these things up. Maybe, just maybe, this god has no spirit to whisper in to the minds of church leaders the truth of scripture but instead has a demon speak enticing lies about a ‘new thing’ that will lead Christian believers in to a new era of peace and love and tolerance of the nature of sinful man. Perhaps this delusion is so strong that those who fall under its spell cannot see that their church is disintegrating before them and instead believe that it will soon grow and draw all sorts of people to the true faith.
This demon might even tell them that people can leave the church, but property and money cannot and then confuse them into believing that the church is really about the buildings and not the people who fill those buildings. An unholy spirit uses a well placed whisper from a sweet sounding demonic voice to cause the church leaders to violate Sacred Scripture and sue Christians for the material that the church wants to possess? Would the church elders allow themselves to be encouraged by this fallen angel to deny Christians a place to worship, a place some have worshipped all their lives and still view their behavior as good and approved by their god?
Could they eventually become so tolerant of heresy and apostasy that they mislead people in to believing that the sins of the people are really gifts that should be cherished because these gifts are from god who loves them and wants them to exercise their gifts as often as possible. Whispering demons speaking from the pulpit, disguised as shepherds, leading the sheep down the wide path and through the broad gate that ultimately leads to condemnation and hell fire. Could all this happen and with only a few realizing the truth of the matter but no one listening until it was too late? The answer to all of this seems to be yes.
How could all this happen? That question is an easy one to answer. It has the same answer as the question at the beginning of this article which I will restate now. Why do we need the New Testament if our church leaders are hearing form the Holy Spirit who is telling them what the words of Jesus really mean? The answer begins with believers who fail to study scripture and instead rely on having it hand fed to them from the pulpit on Sunday mornings and Wednesday night. Once they accept that they are hearing the truth and only the truth from the pulpit and that there is no need to dig for the truth themselves in scripture their fate and the fate of the church is sealed. They can no longer distinguish between a lie and the truth because they no longer have something tangible to base the truth on. Once the first little lie is told from the pulpit and is believed it becomes easier to feed the sheep bigger and bigger lies until their diet is no longer the food of eternal life but the lies of the father of lies meant to lead the sheep astray.
Martin Luther made some pertinent deductions concerning scripture and the need of people to read and study and understand scripture. Luther said, “Let the man who would hear God speak read Holy Scripture.” According to John Piper in his book ‘The Legacy of Sovereign Joy” in the section on Martin Luther Piper says scripture is necessary to solidify the image and teachings of Jesus Christ; that if we to rely on the accounts of the historical Jesus then “the historical Jesus becomes the wax nose shaped by the preferences of each generation.” In short, without scripture to keep us on track we will redefine His teaching and meaning to suit whatever agenda we wish to pursue and put forth. Is this not exactly what is happening within the Episcopal Church and will many other mainstream denominations? Instead of holding open a door to allow those who would an escape from the world we instead are becoming a mirror in which the world is reflected.
As this new Anglican providence is formed and stands as witness to the heresy and apostasy within the old Anglican providence it must not hesitate to not only encourage but demand that those who sit in the pews read and learn scripture. The faithful must be educated and know the sounds of apostasy when they hear it and then stand against it. If they do not do this then perhaps the new Anglican Church of North America is destined to take the same path as that of the Episcopal Church, the wide path with the broad gate at its end. Because this is a corrupt society and that corruption is virulent the faithful most inoculate themselves with the vaccine of Holy Scripture. In the face of demons bent on our damnation the shield of The Word and the Word made flesh is all we have to protect us.

Another Pilgrim

I feel compelled to share this so that others may find some hope in my story. As of today I’ve been clean and sober for 3 years. I can in no way take credit for this because I did nothing to bring it about. God literally took the urge away from me. To set the stage, I had been drinking since I was 15 years old and drinking heavily since I was 18. I had managed to stay sober and off drugs for a few months here and there but no matter my intentions I always found an excuse to once again pick up a drink or a drug. Between the age of 37 and 45 I had pretty much accepted the fact that I was an alcoholic and a drug addict and quit trying to quit using. I had been arrested 3 or 4 times for various drinking offenses and I had 2 DUIs. Three years ago yesterday I got my third DUI.
I sat in jail and felt pretty certain that my life was over. My intention at that point was to get out of jail, go home and kill myself. I finally got bailed out at around 5:00 p.m. on the April 23rd. I went home and started to plot my death. I don’t like pain so cutting my wrists or shooting myself was out of the question. I figured that I would put a Led Zeppelin CD in the stereo in my car, start it up in the garage and wait for the inevitable to take place. Basically being a coward I started putting it off. As I lay in my bed enjoying my misery and self-pity the Lord broke in to my thoughts for a personal service announcement. He simply said hang on and things will get better. The emotion I felt could not be denied. It seemed that the voice understood and sympathized. At any rate, I didn’t do anything that night. After several days I noticed that I hadn’t thought about or wanted a drink.
I have never wanted to drink or do a drug ever again. I quit smoking a few months later and I haven’t looked back (well… not very often). God took it all away from me. I had quit drinking before and I had always gone through withdrawal. This time no withdrawal, no DTs, no shakes and most importantly no desire. I don’t know why He did this for me when He has let others die. It wasn’t because I deserved it. I was not a Christian and never bought into the whole Jesus died from my sins thing. I had never really done anything for anyone other than myself and really didn’t care what happened to others. I had never lived a life that in any way honored or respected God. Apparently it didn’t matter. He called me to Himself and healed me.
I was thinking about this the last few days and I realized how little I deserved this blessing. I am indebted to him in ways that I can never repay. Not even if I lived for an eternity could I ever balance the scales. I look at the debt that I have and it terrifies me. Sometimes I almost wish He would have let me drink myself to death or OD on some drug. I realize how unworthy I am of all that He has done for me. I’m not talking about the promise of eternal life in the presence of the Holy God; it is the removal of my addictions for which I am not fit to receive. I am sure there are others who are much more deserving of the miracle that I received but yet I sit here alive and whole when, if justice had been done to me, I would be worm food.
So on this birthday/anniversary I want to give thanks God my Father and Christ my Savior for giving me a tangible example of salvation by taking my addictions from me and for how much God loves us even though we don’t deserve it. I feel that God has given me a message that he wants me to relate to everyone here. No matter how much you believe or don’t believe, no matter how much love or don’t love God, no matter what things you have done wrong in your life, no matter how undeserving you may feel you are, God loves you and He wants to give you the things you need the most. All you have to do is to believe and then live like you believe. It is hard to do this sometimes but once you feel the embrace of God’s love and that of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, and guidance of the Holy Spirit you will want to try.

Link: http://www.gaywired.com/Article.cfm?Section=66&ID=22371

Once again we run in to the nurture or nature argument as it concerns itself with homosexuality. It seems the Anglican Mainstream Organization of Great Britian is holding a conference dealing with techniques to cure people of their homosexual tendencies. The belief is that homosexuality is a learned trait with some possible geneic influence. The theory maintains that if alcoholics and drug addicts can be conditioned not to give in to their desire for drugs and alcohol so too can homosexuals. Much like addiction, however, one must have a desire to abstain before he or she can be expected to give up the prediliction. A person will continue using drugs until the cost of useage (psychological and physical cost not monetary) become to high and the choice to quit becomes the path of least resistence. Until such a time one will keep indulging in the vice regardless of treatment. The only exception to this is when God chooses remove the desire for his purposes.

As for how gays and lesbians feel about this, the article speaks for itself.

Next weekend London hosts a conference advocating techniques for men and women to be cured of their homosexuality. The Anglican Mainstream Organization, a group devoted to the conservative tenets of the Church of England, is holding the event, which plans to have “a special focus on how religious professionals and friends/relatives can respond biblically and pastorally to those struggling with unwanted SSA (same-sex attraction).”

Despite scientific evidence suggesting human sexuality cannot be changed, attempts by religious groups and some therapists to de-homosexualize people continue. Shockingly, a recent study found that a sixth of Britain’s registered therapists and psychiatrists have attempted to cure patients of their homosexuality.

The conference is deemed “ideal for clergy, rabbis, psychologists, therapists, educators and others concerned about the plethora of sexual issues confronting us in today’s society, including mentoring the sexually broken, the sexualization of culture, pornography, the Bible and sex, and marriage, the family and sex.”

Notoriously anti-gay guest speakers will appear at the event, including Joseph Nicolosi, of the National Association for the Research and Therapy of Homosexuality, and Jeffrey Satinover, who is an outspoken advocate against gay civil rights based on his belief that sexual orientation is a fiction.

Nicolosi advocates and practices reparative therapy, an attempt to rehabilitate those with unwanted homosexual feelings in order to turn them into what he deems proper, upright citizens. Often this type of treatment includes aversion (shock) therapy and other outdated techniques.

I originally posted this on June 20th 2008. I reread it recently and felt that I should post it here on the new blog. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Matthew 5:43-48

What a tall order the Lord Jesus is asking of us. It is kind of difficult to love my enemy when I am pretty certain that my enemy does not love me and in fact my enemy would probably would find extreme pleasure in cutting my head off and posting the video on YouTube. To show love and kindness to someone who does not wish to return the favor runs counter to human nature. Movies, books and philosophies teach us to seek retribution for the wrongs (trespasses) committed against us. Even the Old Testament spoke to us of retribution,

“Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.”

(Deuteronomy 19:21).

If one were to take that passage as it stands then the assumption could be made that we are to repay evil with evil. We are to do unto others as they have done unto us, but when placed in context this verse does not say what we think it says. In full context:

“One witness is not enough to convict a man accused of any crime or offense he may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.

“If a malicious witness takes the stand to accuse a man of a crime, the two men involved in the dispute must stand in the presence of the Lord before the priests and the judges who are in office at the time. The judges must make a thorough investigation, and if the witness proves to be a liar, giving false testimony against his brother, then do to him as he intended to do to his brother. You must purge the evil from among you. The rest of the people will hear of this and be afraid, and never again will such an evil thing be done among you. Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot”

(Deuteronomy 19:15-21).

This verse applies to a legal proceeding in which one of the accusers is giving false testimony against his neighbor and this is a direct violation of the ninth commandment in the Decalogue. Also this passage speaks not to retaliation by an individual but to the application of justice by a court of law. In short because you killed my son I can not in turn kill you or your son. You have to be tried by a legal proceeding, found guilty and then suffer the punishment declared by those sitting in judgment. I, as the accuser, must find a way to be satisfied with whatever penance the judges have decided upon. I can not take the law in to my own hands and give additional punishment. If the perpetrator is not being punished to my satisfaction then I must accept it. In normal circumstances this is not an easy teaching to follow.

What if the perpetrator is found not guilty despite what I know to be true? Again I must accept the verdict of the court and find a way to live with it. The urge to strike back and the action of retaliation are at odds with how Christ Jesus has told us to behave. We have been told to

“love our enemies and pray for them .”

To do less is to be disobedient to our Lord and Creator. Christ told us that,

“If you love me, you will obey what I command”

(John 14:15).
Jesus did not ask us to simply pay lip service to this teaching. He did not say that it was okay to love them with our words but it is fine to harbor hatred in our hearts. He said to love them and pray for them and that we should do this with as much sincerity as we would if were praying for ourselves. I have heard it said that “well He’s God and that’s His job.” Guess what? When we accepted Christ as our savior and repented of our sinful nature then we took that same job upon ourselves.

Why would he ask us to do something this difficult? Why would he expect us to show the slightest kindness to someone who would never return the favor if the shoe was on the other foot? In my mind there are several reasons, but the first and foremost being that this is exactly what He has done for us. We are sinners and enemies of God. We bring pain to the Lord every day with our sinful behavior. Can you image what it must feel like to maintain all of existence and have elements of that existence defy your every wish every hour of the day? God created a world for us and a universe for that world to exist in and He by His own will and nothing else holds that existence together for us and mankind proverbially spits in His face daily.

Do you think I am exaggerating? God says to have no other gods and we worship things that are made with our own hands or imaginary beings and forces that have no life and can give us nothing. He asks us not to make idols but we idolatrize things like money, drugs, sex and fame. Profanely using the Lord’s name is now so common that television does not even sensor it from dialogues of entertainment programs. We are a people who find entertainment in our disobedience. We no longer keep any day sacred to the Lord and the day of honoring our parents has long since passed. We murder, we steal, we commit adultery, we bear false witness and covet everything we see with such impunity that it is a wonder that God the Almighty Lord and Creator does not just let go and let creation slip down the tubes in to the infinite bit bucket.

Despite all that, despite all that we as a people do to defy our Lord and Savior, He still loves us with an infinite and relentless love. He loves us so much that He became incarnate, accepted the punishment that was due us and died a horrible and shameful death nailed to a tree for the entire world to see and mock. Then He triumphed over death and returned to us so that we could have hope of a new tomorrow and an eternity spent in the presence of our Creator as His adopted children. He did this when we were still his enemies. He did this for those who knew about him from the time of Abraham and for those who had never known him and worshipped pagan idols and false gods. In short, He loved His enemies and prayed for them. He saw the enemy and it was us and by the redeeming blood of His only begotten son he forgave us and blessed us with the twin gifts of grace and salvation.

With all that considered, is He really asking so much to expect us to do the same for our enemies? Is it really so much of a burden that we, His adopted children, should treat with dignity and respect the other products of His creation? He created us all and before we were given the blessed gift of His loving grace we, in the eyes of God, were no different than those we now call our enemies. We were unforgiving, unloving, ungodly and ungrateful products of a generous and loving God and we did not have the sense that God gave a rock to obey our Creator and to do the things He asks. He forgave us regardless of our sinful behavior against him and he expects us to forgive those who trespass against us. Is this reason so difficult for us to understand?

Another reason that Christ told us to love our enemies relates back to the concept of personal retribution. If the trespasser has not been punished to the degree to which we believe he should have been then the temptation to wield the iron glove us justice may be too great to resist. However this would not be justice, it would in fact be revenge and Paul tells us to refrain from vengeance

“Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord”

(Romans 12:19).
But Paul does not let it rest there. He goes on to elaborate on what Christ told us when Paul says in Romans 12:20-21,

“On the contrary: ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

Christ redeemed us and rescued us from the evil, sinful nature that dwelt within and now as believers we should let the good that is in us out. Once it was constrained by the evil of our sinfulness but now the Christ-like nature that the Holy Spirit is building within us must be allowed to room to grow.

If we carefully consider the teachings of Christ, take them to heart and do our best to live them out on a daily basis then Spirit of Truth that the Father sent us will fill us and grow us in ways that are hard to imagine. The good qualities of Christ will become our qualities and as our old nature subsides the new nature of Christ Jesus will grow to fill the void left behind. As we become more Christ-like, doing what is right will become easier and easier and instinctively knowing the will of the Father will become more natural. We shall never be perfect in this world but that is no reason not to strive for it and with the Holy Spirit instructing us as we follow Christ down the narrow path we shall one day be with God and as with His Son we can hope to hear that “He is well pleased” with us. We would do well to consider that the first steps down the path are called love and forgiveness and when we feel the hatred of an enemy rising in our hearts would should ask ourselves a question,

“If you love those who love you, what reward will you get?”

As Christ gave us the gift of forgiveness we, as His followers and disciples, must now give the gift to those who need forgiveness from us. God forgave us and we, in our gratitude, endeavor to obey the commands of Christ Jesus. Now much more will God do for us if we unselfishly forgive those who us wrong and what greater reward could there be if the person whom we forgive also turned to the Lord and accepted Christ as his savior. He will have gone from our enemy to our spiritual brother in Christ and we will have assisted the Lord in bringing another soul to the gates of salvation. Is not that what Jesus really wants us to do? When your enemy stumbles reach out a hand and help him up. You may find that what was an enemy is now a friend and your kind actions may turn that friend in to a spiritual sibling and adopted son of the Lord God Almighty.

Another Pilgrim

Link: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/i.have.not.divided.the.church.says.bishop/23082.htm

The Right Reverend Robert Duncan Speaks out on yesterdays announcement from GAFCON that it would recognize the Anglican Church in North America as a new providence of the Anglican Communion. Bishop Duncan makes many good points including the excerpt below.

“I’m a cradle Anglican. My grandfather was a boy chorister … My theological views haven’t changed. The problem is that folks who have become the leadership of the Episcopal Church in the United States have pulled the rug out from under me. The person who is our Presiding Bishop, she didn’t begin as an Anglican. I did. She represents something very different. I don’t think I’m a breakaway.

“I don’t believe I have divided the Church. I believe the innovators are the ones who are dividing the Church. I love them, and I want to behave in a godly way towards them, and I will do everything I can to convince them about the truth that’s been delivered; but my focus now has to be on those who don’t know Jesus.”

Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8002734.stm

This in and of itself probably does not mean that much, but in the grander scheme of things it is one more rung in the ladder to recognition by the Anglican Communion as a whole for the Anglican Church of North America.

A breakaway faction of the Anglican church in the US and Canada has been recognised by primates from a new coalition of traditionalist clergy.

The Global Anglican Future Conference (Gafcon) council gave the Anglican Church in North America (Anca) its backing at a meeting in London.

Traditionalists set up the new church last year in protest at the American Church’s liberal view on homosexuality.

Lambeth Palace and the Anglican Communion declined to comment.

Link: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-episcopal_15met.ART.State.Edition1.4a79441.html

“We’re stewards of property that has been given for generations to the Episcopal Church. We can’t just let people walk off with it,” said Kathleen Wells, chancellor for the reorganized Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth.

The suit was filed in Tarrant County district court and names Iker as a defendant, among others.

Iker could not be reached. In earlier interviews, he said he hoped the property dispute would be ended through negotiation, but he predicted that the Episcopal Church would first file suit.

Bishop Iker’s prediction of a law suit from TEC has come true. Of course it didn’t take a prophet of the caliber of Isaiah or Ezekiel to foretell that such an event would come to pass. A clear understanding of how TEC works would assist any up and coming prognosticator in conjuring up an accurate prediction or two. In this case the diocese leaves and new diocese is established by TEC and the new diocese sues old diocese for property and trust funds claiming to be the real diocese.

Admittedly my understanding of the Canons of the Episcopal Church is somewhat limited but the way I understand things is that the TEC does not start dioceses. The would-be dioceses established themselves and then requested permission to join TEC. This doesn’t seem to be what has occurred but I am betting (this does not take a Jeremiah either) that this is a test of the new model to regain lost assets even though the assets belong to the original diocese not the new one.

It is one thing to violate the Canons but it is something entirely different to set aside the teachings of Christ about Christians suing Christians in a court of law. TEC, however, has demonstrated it has no problems with picking and choosing the teachings of Jesus that they like and discarding those that hinder their agenda. TEC approves of the feed the poor aspect of Christian doctrine but really cannot stomach the command against sexual immorality.

In his book “Apostasy from the Gospel” John Owen described very accurately the actions of an apostate church and how such a church attempts to advance its agenda. His description written in the 17th century has a very familiar and modern ring to it.

• Use of Force
• Accommodate religion to the sinful lusts of man by either
  
  • Denying the existence of God or
  • Giving man a religion that allows him to indulge in his lusts and sexual depravity and yet still appear to be Christian.

The more things change the more things stay the same.

This seem to be exactly what TEC is doing but in order to further spread their apostasy they need money to finance their heresies and buildings in which to instruct those willing to listen and believe in their satanic ranting and ravings. It is truly sad to see how deep in the hip pocket of Satan TEC is. A denomination that was once intent on spreading the true gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has been reduced to a tool of the devil until such a time as the tool is no longer useful and then to be discarded in the rubbish heap of previous apostate churches. Satan laughs.

Hopefully the court systems in Texas and beyond will be able to see through this legal ploy and disengage the “new” Fort Worth diocese from the legal wrangling that were the sole purpose of its establishment by the Episcopal Church. After all, this new diocese did not raise the money to pay lawyers this quickly without the aid of TEC. Acting as a puppet regime to a larger interest they are initiating a process that Christ would not approve of in order to spread a gospel that Christ wouldn’t recognize all the while claiming that this is Christ’s “New Thing”. Seems like the same old things if you ask me, apostasy and heresy.

Link: http://www.anglicancommunion.org/commission/covenant/ridley_cambridge/draft_text.cfm

The link will take you to the third draft of the updated Anglican Covenant that describes the relationship between the churches in the Anglican Communion.

After reading through the draft I have to wonder how TEC can be included as a member church of the Anglican Communion seeing that the Episcopal Church does not adhere to many of the principles put forth in the document.

I originally wrote and posted this piece last year on Good Friday. I thought that I’d repost it this year…

My recognition for the need of God’s love and His gift of Grace and salvation came to me at a time I feel was the lowest point in my existence. I was decrepit and wicked and for the first time in my life I was in total understanding of my wretched condition. I truly knew what it was to have a moment of perfect clarity. I felt so poor that I knew that I could not go on living life as I had been living it. I had to change or die and I felt certain that I was beyond changing. Then the Lord Jesus called to me and He showed me that I had hope and that He was my only chance to rise above this condition and be free of all the pain that that had taken root and grown in my soul.

Only through His love could I ever be free of all the demons that had tormented me and had led me to torment others through my actions and inactions. In a single instant I was given, by the Holy Spirit, both a clear understanding of what I really was and how disgusting I was in the sight of my God and an unwavering glimpse of the path to salvation, freedom and peace. Like a fork in the road, I knew that I was free to choose either way. To stay upon the path I was on and be wretched, vile, unworthy of the love of any one, too afraid to live and too cowardly to die or I could take the road from which I could hear the voice of God beckoning me.

He wooed me with no promises of an easy journey but He guaranteed me that He would take the journey with me and that I would never be alone. There was only one real choice. I opted for the way of the Lord and the narrow path that leads to God and salvation. You see, I heard my Shepherd’s voice and I knew it and I followed. He laid His life down for me to protect me from the devouring wolves of sin and now I am honored to give Him my life in gratitude for His holy sacrifice. As an adopted son I say it is truly an honor and a pleasure to serve my Father in heaven.

Even if eternal life was not being given to me and that eventually I would die and by body would return to the dust from which it came I would still feel the need to do my best to please the Lord God with any action he desired of me. He is my God and I am but a lowly servant grateful to kneel down before my King and to offer him my service and my life.

John 13:13-17

When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

This is one of the most powerful and moving moments in the story of Jesus. Using himself as an example, he dramatically acted out the role that all who intend to follow Christ must take upon themselves. It has far reaching implications for how we treat each other and what the Lord expects from us in terms of leadership and service. It is a beautiful moment where leadership and humility become entwined, as a visual act of service is rendered to men by the Lord and Creator of all. The question must be asked, if the Lord was willing to take this upon himself in this simple and humble act should not we follow his example and humbly offer ourselves in service to those who are in need of the assistance we can give them?

We are all aware and often mediate on the huge acts of service that Christ performed. The largest being his death on the Cross to atone for the sins of man. We also remember his acts of healing and the wonderful life sustaining lessons he taught us, but in this one act of humbly by washing the feet of his disciples he showed us that the smaller, less visible acts of service, humility and kindness are equally as important as the larger, more honor invoking and noticeable aspects of service. To stand there at the pulpit and teach a crowd of a thousand people the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is awe inspiring and a worthy endeavor but just as worthy is the volunteer who cleans the chapel after the congregation as left. The teacher of the sermon can feel the glory and admiration of the assembly but the man sweeping the floor has the honor of serving God for nothing more than the pleasure of being a servant to the Almighty.

Some members of the Body have gifts of healing, or prophecy or even the ability to make music and write words of honor to the Lord. These are worthy and important gifts but sometimes God gives gifts that are not so much of ability as they are of desire. Some have it in them to visit and comfort the sick and elderly. Some have the desire to do the lesser tasks for those who are infirm or otherwise not capable of performing these jobs. Mowing the lawn, doing the laundry and even changing a light bulb are small things that get noticed by no one other than the person to whom the service was rendered. But just because the world didn’t stand up and cheer when the job was completely has no relevance to the importance of the task. God noticed and His approval is all that really matters.

So on Maundy Thursday, as we prepare to glorify and give honor to Christ our Lord for his sacrifice on the Cross, let us think about the humble act of service that he performed in washing the feet of his disciples. It is no coincidence that on the night before his death he performed this small, lowly act of service. He gave us a compare/contrast set of events and asked us to take a good look at the two and determine what difference, if any, could we find at the heart of the two. The motivations behind each act were the same. Both were done in love and humility for those who were in need of these services. Both were done with no though of the shame involved and only the cleansing processes and outcomes mattered. One left the disciples with clean feet and the other left mankind with a clean soul.

This should be our guide for the remainder of our time here on Earth. We should willingly do all those little things that might seem to be below our dignity for others who are in need. If the Creator of the universe can get on his knees and wash the feet of those who live to serve him then what is stopping us from stripping ourselves of pride and ego and becoming humble servants to the weak and poor of the world.

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’

Jesus sat upon a donkey and rode in the city of God with the disciples lining the road shouting “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest.” They could not keep quiet. “If they did”, Jesus told the Pharisees “then the stones will cry out.” So began the week leading to the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus and the redemption of all men and women who could reach out for it. Simon Peter in Acts 2:21 told us “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” The new covenant was now in place and the conclusion of the long plan for the restoration of mankind was in put into motion. Glory be to God and praise his eternal name forever and ever.

On that day when Christ approached Jerusalem he was over taken by the emotion of the moment. Jesus knew that he had to be rejected by the people he had come to save in order for salvation to be given to all men and women in all the nations of the Earth. It is ironic that five days later the priests of the temple would reject his claim to be the messiah and the Romans, to appease the Jews, would sentence Jesus to death by crucifixion and in doing so bring about a promise made to Abraham nearly two thousand years before, “through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.” (Genesis 22:18)

It is said in scripture that Jesus wept that day knowing of the rejection to come and because of that rejection God would bring war against the Jews, utter destroy the temple and scatter the majority of the Israelites to the four corners of the earth. Christ knew what the future held for both himself and God’s chosen people but he cried for those who would be lost. Through his tears he rode on and entered the temple court yard only to find it a market full of cheats and thieves who swindled both the rich and the poor with the assistance and collusion of the temple priests.

Christ responded to the scene with the righteous indignation that only Christ, the Son of God, has the authority to express. He scorned them and named them for what they were, thieves and cheats. Jesus constructed a whip drove them from the “house of prayer” that was his (and ours) Father’s house. Those in the temple came outside and Christ healed those who where lame and those who were blind. The children witnessed the miracles and cried out “Hosanna to the Son of David” and the temple priests became indignant and questioned Jesus and he asked them in return “have you never read, ‘From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise?” This greatly upset the priests and at that time the double their efforts to kill him.

That night Jesus left for Bethany where he would rest in preparation for the trials that were ahead of him. What must it have been like for our Lord during that week as he anticipated his coming execution? Even though he was God and he knew of the events that would unfold, he was also a man who knew pain and suffering. He was familiar with the agony that many of those he had healed during his earthly ministry had experienced and he knew that once he took on the burden of mankind’s sins the physical agony of scourging and the cross would pale in comparison. Being God, sin was more abhorrent to him than anything we could imagine but being man he must take on the burden of our sins and die for our atonement. He would not refuse the burden and his acceptance of our sins leads to our acceptance of his righteousness.

For a long time I never understood the purpose of the cross and while I still don’t understand the divine mechanics behind it, I understand (or rather believe) that a trade takes place with Christ as he hangs nailed to the cross and suffers the humiliation that in truth should be ours to bear. We exchange all the disobedience of God’s will that we have done or will do in our lives and it is replaced with the righteousness that is Christ’s and allows us to kneel in prayer before the presence of God cleaned of our sins because the weight of that burden has been given to Christ Jesus and he has willingly accepted it on our behalf.

When I sit in prayer and I give thanks to God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit I always try to remember to give thanks for the sacrifice that Christ Jesus as made for us. It is in those moments when my heart feels so close to God that I can almost touch him that I realize how really insignificant my words are because words are too little to match the sacrifice that Jesus made. The actions of my life, even if I were to live the remainder in total obedience and compliance with God’s will, would be inadequate to the task of giving thanks that were equal to the burden that Jesus bore for me and for all those who believe. This is the importance and significance of the gift of grace. There is nothing that we can say and nothing we could do, that would make us in any way remotely deserving of this depth of love that was shown to us by our Creator. God blesses the creation and the created weep.

Link: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008976514_anglican03m.html?syndication=rss

The Anglican Church in North America grows a bit more with the creation of a new diocese in the Northwest. It is good to see those whose faith in the Lord Christ and in his Holy Gospel as it was given to us by Christ Jesus are uniting for the strengthening of the Body

The Cascadia Diocese, as it’s being called, is the latest local example of the deep divisions splitting the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion over issues such as Scriptural authority and church teachings. The differences erupted in 2003 when the Episcopal Church confirmed the election of an openly gay bishop in New Hampshire.

The Episcopal Church is the U.S. branch — or province — of the 77-million-strong worldwide Anglican Communion.

The Western Washington congregations are seeking to become part of the Anglican Church in North America — itself a newly formed conservative rival to the more liberal Episcopal Church and Anglican Church of Canada.

The rival province was formed last December by groups that included four U.S. dioceses and a number of parishes that had broken away from the Episcopal Church. This new province intends to seek the approval of leaders in the worldwide Anglican Communion.

The formation of the new province made it “clear to everybody it was time to coalesce into regional structures,” said the Rev. Duncan Clark, rector of St. Charles Anglican Church in Poulsbo.

As I read a quote in the article from Bishop Gregory Rickle I reflected on the sadness involved with watching those who are being driven away from the church they called home because TEC is bound and determined to take the church down a path of apostacy that God fearing believers can not follow.

Olympia Bishop Gregory Rickel said while he was happy people in those congregations are finding a diocese to call home, “it distresses me. I wish we would not have to go this route.”

Link: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008958770_redding01m.html?syndication=rss

Here we have a woman priest within TEC that is being defrocked because she became a Muslim. I suppose she could have saved herself much grief by becoming a Buddhist. They seem to have some inside track with the Presiding Bishop and her supporters. The defrocking of Rev. Redding, however, brings to mind a couple of issues.

Bishop Geralyn Wolf, of Rhode Island, who has disciplinary authority over Redding, is expected to announce her decision on Redding’s fate today.

Redding fully expects she will be defrocked since Wolf has made it clear that’s the consequence unless she resigns from the priesthood or renounces her Muslim faith.

Redding is not doing either.

“I am very sad,” Redding said. “I’m sad at the loss of this cherished honor of having served as a priest. And I’m also sad at what seems to me to be the limits of vision” about how widely accepting the church can be.

Indeed, to some, Redding’s an embodiment of how more people seem to be drawing from different faiths these days — including a recently elected Episcopal bishop in Michigan who practices Buddhist meditation. They see her story as a call to the church to be more open to such people.

In Christianity and Islam, while “there are streams of tradition that are mutually exclusive, there are also streams that are not mutually exclusive,” said Eugene Webb, professor emeritus of comparative religion at the University of Washington. “Ann is exploring those.”

It would be a good thing, Webb said, if more churches allowed for such exploration since it’s “going to take place one way or the other. It might be better to wait and see what comes of them, rather than decide in advance that it wouldn’t be fruitful.”

The first issue I have is with the nature of Rev. Redding’s acceptance of two faiths. Am I against Rev. Redding being defrocked? No I am not. I seem to remember something about serving two masters and this is clearly what she is attempting to do whether she admits it or not. No matter how the argument gets made, I do not feel I will ever be convinced that the god of Islam is the same as the God of the Judeo-Christian faith.

As a Christian, she must also accept our Lord and Savior is God incarnate came into the world to save man from his sinful nature. Islam, however, views Jesus as a great prophet and nothing more. How can Rev. Redding reconcile these polar positions in her personal theology? Either Jesus is the Son of God as the New Testament contends or he is just a prophet pointing to the coming of the last and greatest prophet Mohammad? Which is it Rev. Redding, you can’t have it both ways.

Now we come to the other issue on my mind. How can Rev. Redding be said to violate her oaths by participating in two belief systems while at the same time TEC is about to confirm a practicing Buddhist, Rev. Kevin Thew Forrester, as the Bishop for the Michigan Diocese? The two events when considered side by side seem to be an example of craven hypocrisy. I know enough about Buddhism (being a Taoist for quite some time before the Lord opened my eyes) to know that it is just as incompatible with Christianity as Islam is.

Buddhists do not believe in the existence of a creator God who is personally involved with His creation. This is the most basic tenet of the Judeo-Christian faith. How can someone who lives the Buddhist doctrine accept the God of the Bible? At some point Rev. Forrester must be either lying to himself or lying to those he teaches. To become a Bishop he must swear allegiance to Christ the Lord, yet Rev. Forrester doesn’t believe (if he is being true to his Buddhist philosophy) that Christ is who he claims to be.

This is all so confusing but I know that TEC has it all figured out. They are not confused by any of this which shows us why they are in charge and we are not. Look at what we have misunderstood for thousands of years and God never bothered to clarify until the current incarnation of the Episcopal Church showed up to tell us all what God really meant. I sleep better at night know this.