We Admit That We Are Not Worthy: Did Joe?

This past Sunday former Vice President of the United States and current Presidential hopeful Joe Biden was denied Communion by a brave Roman Catholic priest in Florence South Carolina because of Biden's pro-abortion position. The priest will catch some flak as I heard from one Fox and Friends host Tuesday morning who said in effect that none of us would be worthy to receive Communion if the priest were to be consistent.

Consistent with what? A think the priest would be acting consistently if Biden had not first received the Sacrament of Penance and sacramental confession.

Regarding this, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops says,

"As Catholics, we fully participate in the celebration of the Eucharist when we receive Holy Communion. We are encouraged to receive Communion devoutly and frequently. In order to be properly disposed to receive Communion, participants should not be conscious of grave sin and normally should have fasted for one hour. A person who is conscious of grave sin is not to receive the Body and Blood of the Lord without prior sacramental confession except for a grave reason where there is no opportunity for confession. In this case, the person is to be mindful of the obligation to make an act of perfect contrition, including the intention of confessing as soon as possible (canon 916). A frequent reception of the Sacrament of Penance is encouraged for all."

We Anglicans confess our sins as part of our worship services and are made fully aware of our unworthiness to receive Communion when we pray the prayer of humble access,

The prayer of humble access (Anglican Standard Text):

We do not presume to come to this your table, O merciful Lord,trusting in our own righteousness,but in your abundant and great mercies.We are not worthy so much as to gather upthe crumbs under your table;but you are the same Lordwhose character is always to have mercy.Grant us, therefore, gracious Lord,so to eat the flesh of your dear Son Jesus Christ,and to drink his blood,that our sinful bodies may be made clean by his body,and our souls washed through his most precious blood,and that we may evermore dwell in him, and he in us. Amen. 

Many Roman Catholics also briefly acknowledge their unworthiness depending on which Eucharistic prayer is followed.

Did Joe?

I hope so.

Let us pray that he abandon his support of abortion and join the rest of us unworthy folk at the communion rail.   

More Missing Verses

This Sunday's reading from 2 Timothy 4:6-8,16-18 leaves out some negativity as you will see (the red verses),

"As for me, I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing."

"Do your best to come to me soon, for Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica; Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful in my ministry. I have sent Tychicus to Ephesus. When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments. Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will pay him back for his deeds. You also must beware of him, for he strongly opposed our message."

"At my first defense no one came to my support, but all deserted me. May it not be counted against them! But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and save me for his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory for ever and ever. Amen."

Imprecatory verses are omitted while things like "may it not be counted against them" are included thus softening the words for the Sunday pewsitters. This is a typical pattern for the lectionary used in many churches.

Soft scripture makes for soft Christians, and this is no time for weakness as Christianity is in decline in America as we documented in the previous post.

The Millennials = The "Nones"

Numbers published at the Pew Forum on the decline of Christianity in America show where we should be focusing our evangelistic efforts,



40% of millennials are "unaffiliated" making them the largest group in need of the Gospel and in need of belonging to the Church. Just think what the next generation will look like if their millennial parents do not raise them in the Church?

I am convinced that the best way to reach this group has to be one on one conversions by a new generation of evangelists and not by holding a Beyonce Mass.

Is your Church making those new evangelists to the millenials?

If not, your extinction is coming.

Itching Ears/Burning Ears

This Sunday's lectionary selection from 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5 presents a potential problem for the revisionist preacher,

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.
In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I solemnly urge you: proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favourable or unfavourable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching. For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths. As for you, always be sober, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully.

You see, the part about "the time... when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires" perfectly describes the congregations who gather each Sunday to listen to the revisionist preacher.

I wonder if those preachers' ears burn when they listen to those words.

I kinda doubt it.

One thing I am certain of is that the true revisionist will ignore those words when picking a theme for his/her/its sermon and instead focus on the Gospel lesson from Luke 18:1-8,

Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, ‘In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, “Grant me justice against my opponent.” For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, “Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.” ’ And the Lord said, ‘Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?’

Yep, that one will be a lot easier. 

As Predicted: Suicide by Physician For Non-Terminal Conditions

The slippery slope of physician assisted suicide continues as predicted by many.

From Life Site News,

"October 9, 2019 (Euthanasia Prevention Coalition) — On September 11, a Québec court struck down the provision in Canada's euthanasia (MAiD) law requiring that a person be terminally ill to qualify for death by lethal injection."

"The court decided that requiring that a person's 'natural death must be reasonably foreseeable' was unconstitutional and they gave the government 30 days to appeal the decision, knowing that Canada was in the middle of a federal election."

"In a televised debate on French TV network TVA, among political party leaders Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (Lib), Andrew Scheer (CPC), Jagmeet Singh (NDP) and Yves-François Blanchet (BQ), Trudeau stated that he would not appeal the Québec court decision that struck down the 'terminal illness' requirement and that he would craft a more permissive MAiD regime in the 6 months period ordered by the Court."

I have a new prediction: In the future, pharmacists will be allowed to dispense a suicide cocktail without a prescription, and if a pharmacist refuses, the pharmacist will be put on trial.

Spiritual Wellness

This Sunday's Gospel reading was from Luke 17:11-19 in which Jesus heals ten lepers,

On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!’ When he saw them, he said to them, ‘Go and show yourselves to the priests.’ And as they went, they were made clean. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, ‘Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?’ Then he said to him, ‘Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.’

I was at a cancer survivor gathering the other day, and one of the survivors came up to the microphone and first and foremost gave thanks to God for having lived with cancer for fourteen years. She then thanked her doctors and nurses. I gave her hug and thanked her for keeping the Lord first. The next man who got up praised Jesus for his healing, and then the next did likewise.

I thank God that he placed me where he did. Those people are alive and well, some had been healed physically, and many had been healed in spirit. Those of us who were there left as witnesses to God's power.  

An LGBTQIA2S Hymnal

Over at Anglican Samizdat, you will find a post on "Songs For The Holy Other" which is essentially a hymnal for the "LGBTQIA2S" (don't ask me what all those initials stand for). I thought I would expand it a little bit by giving you a list of the song titles and an example of the text to one of their hymns.

A group called "The Hymn Society" produced this set of songs. Their goals are rather obvious.

To access a PDF copy I had to submit name, church, and e-mail information which will be used by The Hymn Society in order to send e-mails, and that information will be shared with other organizations, groups which most likely have a similar mission to The Hymn Society.

I created a new e-mail address which I quickly deleted.

Here is their introduction to the hymnal,

We who have been labeled as “wholly other” are claiming our holiness, and reclaiming our otherness as a prophetic witness to the church. Hymn writer and theologian Rev. Dr. Carl P. Daw, Jr., FHS writes:“Human otherness (of whatever kind) provides a sacramental reminder of the ultimate otherness of God, and openness to human otherness has the potential to enlarge our perception of and receptivity to divine otherness. It is also an essential element of human maturity to recognize otherness, i.e. to know where the self ends and otherness begins, whether that otherness be other people or non-human objects. From a theological perspective, “otherness” is a necessary dimension of themovement from the disappointments of self-sufficiency to the assurances of trust in God.”The gifts God has given us are not in spite of our otherness, our queerness, our LGBTQIA2S+ identities, but rather our identities are inextricably tied up in our God-given gifts, and are, in and of themselves, a gift to the church, as we reflect the rainbow diversity of God’s creation.This collection emerged from a desire to make queer hymns — hymns by, for, or about the LGBTQIA2S+ community — accessible to a wider range of congregations. While the idea emerged from the membership of the The Hymn Society in the United States and Canada

1. A Hymn for Self-Acceptance 
2. Alchemy of Healing 
3. All Belong Here 
4. All Colors of the Rainbow 
5. As Colors in the Sky 
6. Blest Be the Holy Other 
7. Christ Our Health 
8. Fearfully, Wonderfully Made 
9. For all the Children 
10. For Those Who Suffered 
11. God Calls You Good 
12. God Gave This World 
13. God Loves Us in Mysterious Ways 
14. God of Many Faces
15. God of Queer Trangressive Space
16. God of Queer Transgressive Spaces
17. God’s Limitless Imagination 
18. God’s Love is Boundless 
19. I Know That God Loves Me 
20. I Met a Stranger on the Road 
21. I Shall Not Leave from by Your Side 
22. Impartial, Compassionate God
23. Jesus, You Have Truly Called Us 
24. Like the Weeping Willow 
25. Love Astounding 
26. Love’s Rage and Grief 
27. Lovely, Needy People
28. New Patterns for Living
29. O God, Bestow Your Love and Care 
30. Pour Your Freedom Over Me 
31. Queerly Beloved 
32. Quirky Queer and Wonderful 
33. Rest in Power 
34. Rise Up Kim 
35. Sing a New World into Being 
36. The Dove Will Fly on Mended Wing 
37. The Heart Will Choose the One It Loves 
38. The Kingdom of God is the Queerest of Nations 
39. The Love That Goes Unspoken 
40. Transfigure Me 
41. We Are a Rainbow 
42. We Are The Hidden Slats 
43. We’ll Build a World 
44. Weary Seekers
45. When Comes the Time 
46. Who Is the Alien
47. With Open Hearts

Here is an example of the theo-illogic one can find in this songbook,

"Quirky, Queer and Wonderful" 

(Refrain) Quirky, queer, and wonderful, distinct, unique, and odd... all of our humanity reveals the face of God 

1. No normal can encompass or comprehend the range of all the kinds of people that God created strange! (Refrain)

2. From Jesus we learn riddles he said the last are first He tweaked received religion with roles that he reversed. (Refrain)

3. To Peter God presented untouchable cuisine and said, "Do not call dirty what I declare is clean." (Refrain)

4. In Christ the false divisions of gender, class, and race can never separate us from God's abundant grace. (Refrain)

5. The many parts that form us each serve a different role In Christ we are one body, made holy good and whole. (Refrain) 

God reveals the face of God.

Verse three is a classic example of revisionism. Acts 10:9-16 involves Peter's vision of unclean foods which God commands him to eat. God therefore is the one who decides what is clean and fit to eat. In this hymn, the suggestion is that LGBTQIA2S sexual activity has been declared clean, but by whom? Man has declared that such acts are "clean". God has done nothing of the sort. The dietary laws were cleaned up, but not the sexual morality codes regarding same-sex activity or cross dressing etc.

This song book shows how far some people will go to justify sinful behavior.

I have found that it is far easier to admit my sins, to confess them, and to pray for forgiveness than it is to rationalize them away.

I suggest the LGBTQIA2S do the same.

Teachings About Faith and Humility That We Might Not Like

This Sunday's reading from Luke 17:5-10 contains two lessons, one about faith and the other about humility,

The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith!’ The Lord replied, ‘If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, “Be uprooted and planted in the sea”, and it would obey you. 

 ‘Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from ploughing or tending sheep in the field, “Come here at once and take your place at the table”? Would you not rather say to him, “Prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink”? Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, “We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!” ’

 The mustard seed is a tiny thing. When I traveled through India last year, I past acre after acre of mustard plants in bloom, and in the city markets I found large amounts of mustard oil for sale. I wondered how many seeds were needed to make an 8 ounce container of oil and my guide said, "A lot." A jar of our table mustard is made from one thousand seeds. So, faith the size of a mustard seed must be more powerful than enriched uranium. Since most of us need a shovel and manual labor to uproot a mulberry tree and toss it into the sea, our faith must be far less than the size of a mustard seed. In fact, I do not know of one verified instance of someone uprooting a mulberry tree except by manual or mechanical work. None of us likes to hear that our faith is so small.

In the second half of today's reading, Jesus tells us another thing we don't want to hear, that we should remain humble to the point of self deprecation when he recommends us to say, "We are worthless slaves...".

I don't know about you, but Jesus sure put me in my place today.

New Name, Same Mission

Following a ruling by the court, The Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina was forced to change its name to "The Anglican Diocese of South Carolina".  Their new web page can be found here. The mission, "Making Biblical Anglicans for a Global Age" is the same mission we learned about at the Mere Anglicanism conferences that were held in Charleston a few years ago. It is a mission statement that is anathema to many Episcopalians. Let us pray that they too may become Biblical Anglicans someday.