Robot Priests?

Last year for a couple of months our church held online services. We still live stream one Sunday service a week, and we started Zoom Bible Study for those of us who live far away from the church building. 

The world is getting used to on-line meetings and there have even been Zoom weddings. 

As we live more and more on-line, more of us may find ourselves fooled by, or replaced by artificial intelligence (A.I.) masquerading as a real person. 

In a survey done for a television show in the U.K. about A.I. people were asked if they would be okay with a computerized priest.

Premier Christian News reported, 

"A quarter of UK adults say they would be comfortable taking spiritual advice from an artificial intelligence priest.

The findings of a survey conducted by ComRes on behalf of Premier's The Big Conversation have been released ahead of the second episode of the new series."

I understand that in some cases an A.I. priest might be an improvement over one's current priest, but several questions come to mind. 

• Would A.I. priest be Orthodox?
• Would A.I. priest be ordained by the laying on of hands in apostolic succession?
• Would A.I. priest have been baptized without shorting out? 
• Would A.I. priest identify as having a gender?

Some day we will all be replaced by machines.

 

May The Shepherd Be With You

 

This Sunday's Psalm is my favorite, Psalm 23. Each half verse has meant something special at different times of my life. As a child it was the image of, "though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death." Now it is, "I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever." I am haunted by the final measures of John Rutter's version which I have sung many times. If you have a chance, listen to it below.

23 Dominus regit me

1 The Lord is my shepherd; *

I shall not be in want.

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures *

and leads me beside still waters.

3 He revives my soul *

and guides me along right pathways for his Name's sake.

4 Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I shall fear no evil; *

for you are with me;

your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

5 You spread a table before me in the presence of those who trouble me; *

you have anointed my head with oil,

and my cup is running over.

6 Surely your goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, *

and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Amen, amen, amen.

White Supremacists In The Episcopal Organization?

 

The Episcopal organizations office of Government Relations sent out this crazy survey last week. If you read between the lines, it offers a glimpse into the worldview of those in the upper echelons of the denomination, 

The office of Government Relations is seeking information on perceptions and existing initiatives within The Episcopal Church on deradicalization, and we ask you to help us by filling out this brief, confidential survey. 

Executive Council asked the Office of Government Relations and the Office for Ecumenical and Inter-Religious Relations to consult with ecumenical and interfaith partners, Anglican Communion partners, and other departments on the church-wide staff to develop a plan for The Episcopal Church’s holistic response to Christian nationalism and violent white supremacy and report its progress to the next meeting of Executive Council. Information gathered from your responses here will help guide this work beyond this particular report.

Thank you for your input!

1. How concerned are you about white power movements and/or Christian nationalism in our nation and in our Church?
2. How prevalent do you think white supremacy and white power movements are in The Episcopal Church?
3. Have you or your community taken action as part of racial reconciliation work to address violent white supremacy and white power movements?
4. What do you see as the Episcopal Church's role in addressing far-right radicalization.
5. Do you feel that white power or Christian nationalist ideologies exist within your home parish or church office? If yes, please explain in broad terms (no personally identifying information).
6. Do you see white supremacy evident in your community or in other churches? If yes, please explain in broad terms (no personally identifying information).
7. What more could your church, community, or The Episcopal Church and other Christians do to address violent white supremacy and radicalization in our pews and communities?”
8. If you have an example of ways that your parish/community has addressed white supremacy or Christian nationalism, and you would be willing to share, please enter you email below.

To questions 4 and 7, I responded, 

"The Church should preach the Gospel and baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. That should take care of far-right radicalization."

 I am confident that this survey will not find any white supremacy or Christian nationalist presence in the Episcopal organization. 

What were they thinking?

Can a Dead Man Eat?

According to St. Luke in chapter 24:36-48, the resurrected Jesus ate fish,

While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, ‘Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.’ And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, ‘Have you anything here to eat?’ They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence.

 Then he said to them, ‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.’ Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.

Dead men don't eat. People who are alive do.

Jesus lives!

 

Why I Use Gab Instead of Facebook, Twitter etc...

I recently started using the social media platform, Gab. This Easter letter from Gab's CEO is why, 

 Brothers and Sisters,

For many Americans Christianity has become a rapidly deconstructed fragment of their actual identity. People refer to themselves as a “Christian” when asked about matters of faith, but you won’t find them openly proclaiming Christ as their central identity. How many of us are living according to God’s Word and how many are living according to the ways of the world?

...If at all possible find a way to homeschool your children. If that is not possible make sure you are spending time in God’s Word daily. If your children are not raised to have a Biblical worldview the Enemy will most certainly see to it that they are raised with their demonic secular humanism worldview. What is the best way to raise up your children with a Biblical worldview? Live it yourself. Be the example.

It’s so important to not sink into despair right now. We serve the Creator of the Universe. Trust His Plan. Christians need to play the long game and we need to start being strategic about our plan to recapture the control of our countries. That begins with the end of lukewarm Christianity.

The tolerance of the generations before us has led to the subversive takeover of every facet of society and even the faith by the global elite. That does not mean that they cannot be defeated. I believe that God has a plan to do so, but it will take the organized, peaceful, and longterm commitment and effort of His people to accomplish this. We must never again tolerate evil and the spirit of the antichrist in our culture, governments, education systems, homes, and our own hearts.

Today on this Easter Sunday we remember the hope, grace, forgiveness, and salvation of our risen Savior. We will forge ahead into the darkness and be not afraid, for our God will always be victorious and our faith rests in the eternal life that awaits us in His Kingdom.

God bless you all and Happy Easter, He is risen!

Andrew Torba CEO, Gab.com

Jesus is King

Don't You Wish You Knew Those Other Signs

In today's reading from John 20:19-31, the author relates the story of Jesus appearing to the disciples and to Thomas, but he adds that many other things go untold,

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’

 But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.’

A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.’ Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.’

 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

Initially we think, "Tell us more!" When in fact, we don't need to know any more. The author's last sentence sums it up.

 

Cancelling Christianity

 As this report from the Christian Post notes, censorship, which is the first step toward cancelation, is well underway through the likes of Amazon, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and others.

A new report from the Napa Legal Institute (requires a subscription) has revealed the full extent of big-tech censorship of Christians. It details the growing attitude of hostility towards faith-based views and organizations in large tech companies, and urges “decisive” actions by faith leaders to confront this new culture.

While many of these actions have gone relatively unnoticed, some have risen to the status of national news. Among them was Amazon’s removal of Ryan T. Anderson’s book When Harry Became Sally, which challenged progressive orthodoxy on transgender issues. Amazon deleted the book from their catalogue and refused to reverse the decision, despite widespread backlash by conservatives and Christians. They later doubled down on the ban, saying they have “chosen not to sell books that frame LGBTQ+ identity as a mental illness.”

...As the report shows, the censorship culture extends far beyond Amazon. In February, Twitter suspended the account of Catholic bishop Kevin Doran after he attacked the practice of “assisted suicide,” which is officially condemned by the Roman Catholic Church. The tweet that led to Bishop Doran’s suspension read, in part, “Assisted suicide, where it is practiced, is not an expression of freedom or dignity, but of the failure of a society to accompany people on their ‘way of the cross.’“

His account was eventually restored after a month, but others have suffered permanent consequences. LifeSiteNews, a pro-life news outlet, had their YouTube account permanently banned, removing their catalogue of over 2,000 videos. They had amassed over 300,000 subscribers over the course of a decade, before being abruptly banned.

Other pro-life groups have also been targeted. The Susan B. Anthony List was deplatformed by Facebook during the run-up to the presidential election, preventing ads revealing Democratic candidate’s positions on abortion from reaching voters. Facebook alleged that, according to a 3rd party “fact-checker,” they were spreading “debunked” information on late-term abortions. After receiving public backlash, Facebook apologized and allowed some of the ads to run again.

In early March, Instagram permanently suspended the Catholic Connect account, alleging “copyright infringement.” Instagram has neither reversed the suspension nor explained their reasoning, despite coverage in Catholic media and an appeal by Catholic Connect.

 Freedom of speech for Christians is being whittled away by the master manipulators of information. 

How long before they reach this lowly and obscure blog? 

He is Risen!

The last month and a half brought us through Lent to the sorrow and horror of the Crucifixion and finally to the shock and joy of Easter morning. The fact that Jesus rose from the dead is something that we must still proclaim loudly today to an increasingly unbelieving world.

He is risen!

The Lord is risen indeed!

Happy Easter everyone!

The Agony of Victory

 Years ago, ABC ran a show every Saturday called, "The Wide World of Sports" which had an intro with a voiceover and repeating images of, "The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat." When Christ hung on the cross, it was seen at the moment to be the agony of defeat, but we know the rest of the story. To us, the agony of the cross leads to the thrill of victory.

From The Temple (1633), by George Herbert:

 

The Agonie.

 

        Philosophers have measur’d mountains,

Fathom’d the depths of seas, of states, and kings,

Walk’d with a staffe to heav’n, and traced fountains:

        But there are two vast, spacious things,

The which to measure it doth more behove:

Yet few there are that sound them; Sinne and Love.

        Who would know Sinne, let him repair

Unto mount Olivet; there shall he see

A man so wrung with pains, that all his hair,

        His skinne, his garments bloudie be.

Sinne is that presse and vice, which forceth pain

To hunt his cruell food through ev’ry vein.

        Who knows not Love, let him assay

And taste that juice, which on the crosse a pike

Did set again abroach;1 then let him say

        If ever he did taste the like.

Love in that liquour sweet and most divine,

Which my God feels as bloud; but I, as wine.