Wednesday, April 27, 2022

What is Taught In Seminary / Divinity School

I saw this story at Juicy Ecumenism which has a heavy Methodist slant. People going for their Masters degree in Divinity are obviously not learning Christian divinity, 

Praying to “the Great Queer One,” students at United Methodist-affiliated Duke Divinity School proclaimed God’s acceptance and support for LGBTQ relationships in a Pride worship service March 22.

Divinity Pride, a student group affirming the “dignity, faithfulness, and strength of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer/Questioning, Intersex, Asexual, and gender/sexuality non-conforming Christians,” sponsored the worship service.

“Strange one, fabulous one, fluid, and ever-becoming one,” prayed second-year Master of Divinity (M.Div) student Caroline Camp in opening the service. She stated that God is “mother, father, and parent” and “drag queen, and transman, and gender-fluid.”

Tirzah Villegas, an M.Div student, encouraged listeners to accept their sexuality because “You are never called to abandon yourself. Abandoning the self is negating the truth of who you are, and that is always a lie,” Villegas stated. God is a “queer God” who loves “every part of us,” according to Villegas.

A self-identified trans woman, C.J. Surbaugh, a first-year M.Div student, defended gender transition as biblical.

The United Methodists in the United States are headed for a split up, and now you know why.

 

Sunday, April 24, 2022

Coming To Belief

This Sunday's reading from John 20:19-31 relates two appearances to the disciples,

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.

I used to be a doubting Thomas, but thanks to the writers of the Gospels I have come to believe. 

 

Wednesday, April 20, 2022

When Women Hold Power in The Church

I recently read a post with the title, Rehabilitating Masculinity by Louis Markos at The Imaginative Conservative in which he reviews, “It’s Good to Be a Man: A Handbook for Godly Masculinity,” authors Michael Foster and Dominic Bnonn Tennant. Foster and Tennant make some broad (pardon the pun) accusations, but I have met some of these generalizations in the flesh,

Putting to one side the specific issue of female pastors, Foster and Tennant argue that when “women hold power in the church—whether officially or unofficially—two things tend to happen:

They strive to include anyone agreeable, regardless of error.

They strive to exclude anyone disagreeable, regardless of orthodoxy” (89).

By using their God-given feminine gift for peacemaking in the wrong way and the wrong place, these controlling women end up allowing heresy into the church. Why are they not prevented from doing so by men in the church? Because the men have been taught to suppress their masculine aggression and to seek out and defer to the validation of women.

To make matters worse, because these men “are ‘nice guys,’ and conditioned in using feminine tactics, they will seldom engage with masculine strategies like direct confrontation and factual refutation. Rather, they will turn to covert maneuvering and character assassination, trying to manipulate the offender into going away through subtle ostracization, turning others against him behind his back” (93).

We have all been repeatedly warned against toxic masculinity in church leaders. Foster and Tennant warn us against a toxic femininity that has browbeaten men into being ashamed of their masculinity and embracing androgyny. They warn us as well about the subtle ways in which churches teach men “to see themselves as androgynous spirits, trapped in bodies that, unlike women’s, have nasty, sinful urges” (86). This emasculation of men, when combined with society’s call to women to act like men in order to displace men in leadership roles, plays perfectly into Satan’s hands—for Satan enjoys nothing more than preventing us from fulfilling God’s mandate to be fruitful and multiply.

I can agree that there are a large number of male priests in the Episcopal organization who seem to have lost their chests, and an equally large number of female priests in that organization who seem to have grown theirs. 

One problem with this set up is that it turns men away from the Church. I would like to see a survey of churches to see if male priesthood is associated with male participation. 

One thing is clear, and that is whatever the Episcopal organization is doing, it ain't working.


Sunday, April 17, 2022

Nobody Expected That!

Jesus was crucified, dead and buried, but he came out of the grave, alive and talking.

None of the apostles expected that.

It remains hard to believe.

Only an Almighty God could have done it.

Yes, God lives, and He loves you.

Love Him back will you?

Happy Easter!


 

Wednesday, April 13, 2022

Holy Week

Midway through Holy Week and how are we holding up? 

Our parish held a big after church luncheon on Cloak/Palm Sunday with no snack planned for Easter Sunday as most families will be having a meal at home or will be out of town visiting relatives. 

Maundy Thursday we have business in town, a birthday celebration, and some gardening at the church before a Seder dinner and solemn church service.

Good Friday has traditionally been my time to act like a disciple. I flee and return to my nets and fishing boat which has been idle for Lent because of the Purple Martins nesting in the birdhouses on my pier.  

I used to always close my office on Good Friday while many offices closed on the Monday following Easter. There were many times that I had to explain to my colleagues the significance of Good Friday and why we were closed. 

I also explained why I went fishing. 

Not exactly what think about when you say the word, "evangelize".




Sunday, April 10, 2022

Cloak Sunday Revisited

(This is a rerun of an earlier post with some minor changes)

  Palm Sunday is a bit of a misnomer because in today's assigned reading, palm branches were not the most important things spread on the road.

"Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road."  Luke 19: 35-36
Spreading one's cloak on the road was a greater sacrifice, because cloaks were probably quite valuable and the roads back then were pretty nasty what with all those colts and donkeys coming and going, and going.

So why don't we call it "Cloak Sunday"?

People have tried to lobby for such a change, but it never caught on. I guess folks are not too willing to toss their Sunday best into the church aisle for the priests, acolytes, and choirs to walk over in a reenactment of the event.

If you ever get tired of calling it "Palm Sunday" and are not ready to make the sacrifice of  "Cloak Sunday",  here are a few of the various names used historically and around the world for today's commemoration (derived from the Catholic Encyclopedia plus one from an older post here*),


  • Kyriake
  • Heorte ton baion
  • Heorte baiophoros
  • Lazarus Sunday
  • Dominica in Palmis
  • Dominica Palmarum
  • Dies Palmarum
  • Dominica Hosanna
  • Pascha floridum
  • Pâques fleuries
  • Pascua florida
  • Dominica florida
  • Dies floridus
  • Fig Sunday*
  • Flower Sunday
  • Olive Sunday
  • Branch Sunday
  • Sallow Sunday
  • Willow Sunday
  • Yew Sunday
  • Blossom Sunday
  • Sunday of the Willow Boughs
  • Blumensonntag
  • Blumentag
  • Secundus floricultus (Armenian seventh Sunday after Easter)
  • Secunda palmarum dominica (Armenian seventh Sunday after Easter)
It has also been suggested that we tack branches on our doors to celebrate Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem.

Pewsterspouse and I will be tacking a housecoat (the closest thing we have to a cloak) to our doorway.  


Wednesday, April 06, 2022

Men in Women's Prison

I saw this at The Christian Post a while back, and I think that in light of the recent inability of our most recent nominee to the Supreme Court to define "Woman", we should be reminded of where all of this "gender" confusion can lead, 

 The United States Department of Justice has unveiled new guidance allowing male inmates at federal prisons to be housed with female prisoners.

The DOJ’s Federal Bureau of Prisons outlined changes to the "Transgender Offender Manual" in a 14-page document released Jan. 13. The stated purpose of the update is to “ensure the Bureau of Prisons (Bureau) properly identifies, tracks, and provides services to the transgender population.”

Specifically, the changes remove language inserted into the "Transgender Offender Manual" by the Trump administration. The Trump administration required the Transgender Executive Council to “use biological sex as the initial determination for designation” of trans-identified inmates. According to the Trump administration’s approach, implemented in 2018, “the designation to a facility of the inmate’s identified gender would be appropriate only in rare cases.”

The aforementioned language has since been removed from the "Transgender Offender Manual." Additional language removed from the manual includes a statement declaring that “training materials and current information on the management of transgender inmates” will “include information concerning best practices for maintaining the safety of transgender inmates, while also ensuring security and good order in Federal prisons and the safety of staff, inmates, and the public.” 

In addition to removing the language added to the "Transgender Offender Manual" by the Trump administration, the Biden administration now requires prison personnel to address trans-identified inmates using their preferred pronouns. Under the Trump administration, prison staff had the option to decide whether to address trans-identified inmates using pronouns that matched their chosen gender identity. Now, prison officials will have to either refer to trans-identified prisoners by their last name or “the pronouns associated with the inmate’s identified gender.

“Deliberately and repeatedly mis-gendering an inmate is not permitted,” the guidance states.

In the absence of the Trump administration guidance assigning biological sex as the primary determining factor for the placement of a trans-identified prisoner, the designation of such inmates to prisons that either match their biological sex or chosen gender identity will be done on a “case-by-case basis.” The manual stresses that “a transgender or intersex inmate’s own views with respect to his/her own safety must be given serious consideration.” 

The document also contains an entirely new section outlining the process trans-identified inmates must go through when seeking so-called "trans-affirming surgeries." Trans-identified inmates now have the option to submit a request for “surgical intervention” to their prison’s warden. 

Next, you have the answer to our Supreme Court justice nominee's puzzler, 

Additionally, the document defines gender as “a construct used to classify a person as male, female, both, or neither,” adding: “Gender encompasses aspects of social identity, psychological identity, and human behavior.” The definition makes no mention of the role human biology plays in determining gender. The definition, one of several included in the "Transgender Offender Manual," remains unchanged from the Trump administration.

"Neither"? 

Female inmates in California have expressed opposition to a recently enacted law that allows the placement of male inmates who identify as female in women’s prisons, citing concerns for the safety of the female inmates in light of the biological differences between men and women.

One female prisoner recalled an interaction between a young female prisoner and a trans-identified man in the prison yard. “He spoke of ‘getting it on’ with the women and he had no intentions of getting rid of his penis,” she reported.

“These guys have been overheard saying to one another, ‘Stick to the plan.’ What exactly is the ‘plan?’” she asked. “We are not certain. I will not be surprised [when] the first female gets pregnant.”

Another female inmate, who has suffered “sexual abuse, gang rape, rape by co-defendant, [and] domestic violence,” wrote about the “horror of having to wait for a possible sex offender with a penis to be housed in a cell with me.” She also feared “being the only one left alone in the cell with someone who [has] 25 percent more muscle than me.”

This is literally a "bone headed" move. 

Our reportedly devout Catholic President is ignorant of both biology and the Bible, 

He created them male and female, and blessed them and called them Mankind in the day they were created. Genesis 5:2 NKJV

And ignoring Jesus's words,  

But from the beginning of the creation, God ‘made them male and female.’ Mark 10:6 NKJV

Pray for our women (the old definition) in prison. 

 

Sunday, April 03, 2022

Bringing in the Sheaves

This Sunday's Psalm reminds us that we will soon leave the gloom of Lent and be restored by the Easter miracle.

Psalm 126 In convertendo

1 When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, *
then were we like those who dream.

2 Then was our mouth filled with laughter, *
and our tongue with shouts of joy.

3 Then they said among the nations, *
"The Lord has done great things for them."

4 The Lord has done great things for us, *
and we are glad indeed.

5 Restore our fortunes, O Lord, *
like the watercourses of the Negev.

6 Those who sowed with tears *
will reap with songs of joy.

7 Those who go out weeping, carrying the seed, *
will come again with joy, shouldering their sheaves.