Meanwhile in England: "You are not allowed to sing church songs outside of the church grounds"

Dame Vera Lynn once sang, "There'll always be an England", but I am starting to doubt the Lady.

From Anglican Mainstream,

"A Metropolitan Police special constable has reprimanded a popular Christian singer, claiming she couldn’t sing ‘church songs’ outside of church grounds.

The Daily Mail reports that Harmonie London, a gospel singer with over 300,000 YouTube subscribers, frequently treats passersby to worship music during her performances on London’s busy Oxford Street. When she protested that she was allowed to sing, the officer insisted that such songs required authorisation from the church.

The singer posted a video of the officer laughing and sticking out her tongue as she walked away. "

If only we could sing with Harmonie London and Dame Vera this song to the constable, 

"...and England shall be free. If England means as much to you as England means to me."

I give you a toast Ladies and gentlemen

I give you a toast Ladies and gentlemen

May this fair land we love so well

In Dignity and freedom dwell

While worlds may change and go awry

There'll always be an England

While there's a country lane

Wherever there's a cottage small

Beside a field of grain

There'll always be an England

While there's a busy street

Wherever there's a turning wheel

A million marching feet

Red, white and blue

What does it mean to you?

Surely you're proud

Shout it loud

Britons awake!

The Empire too

We can depend on you

Freedom remains

These are the chains

Nothing can break

There'll always be an England

And England shall be free

If England means as much to you

As England means to me

On attending a same-sex wedding

This Sunday's reading from 1 Corinthians 8:1-13 was mentioned at the recent Mere Anglicanism conference when talking about living in a secular world and being asked to do things that might compromise our Christian faith. We were told to stand firm. I suggest this passage is applicable to the question of attending a same-sex wedding.

Now concerning food sacrificed to idols: we know that ‘all of us possess knowledge.’ Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. Anyone who claims to know something does not yet have the necessary knowledge; but anyone who loves God is known by him.

Hence, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that ‘no idol in the world really exists’, and that ‘there is no God but one.’ Indeed, even though there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as in fact there are many gods and many lords— yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

It is not everyone, however, who has this knowledge. Since some have become so accustomed to idols until now, they still think of the food they eat as food offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. ‘Food will not bring us close to God.’ We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling-block to the weak. For if others see you, who possess knowledge, eating in the temple of an idol, might they not, since their conscience is weak, be encouraged to the point of eating food sacrificed to idols? So by your knowledge those weak believers for whom Christ died are destroyed. But when you thus sin against members of your family, and wound their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food is a cause of their falling, I will never eat meat, so that I may not cause one of them to fall.

So basically, while it would not harm my faith to attend a same sex wedding like 
Paul would not be shaken if he ate meat sacrificed to an idol, I will never attend such a thing because of the harm it may do to others by sending a message that I was approving of the "marriage".

Carl Trueman (one of our speakers) at First Things put it this way, 

"There are also obvious reasons why a Christian should never attend a gay wedding. Many wedding liturgies, including that of the Book of Common Prayer, require the officiant to ask early in the service if anyone present knows any reason why the couple should not be joined together in matrimony. A Christian is at that point obliged to speak up."

"In short, attending a gay wedding involves remaining silent when one should speak. It involves a concession on bodily sex that undermines any attempt to hold fast to the importance of the biological distinction between men and women. And it involves approving of a ceremony that makes a mockery of a central New Testament teaching and of Christ himself. That’s a very high price tag for avoiding hurting someone’s feelings. And if Christians still think it worth paying, the future of the Church is bleak indeed."

Indeed, I have already declined to attend a same-sex wedding involving a family member. 

No harm done.

Mere Anglicanism 2024: "To disagree and love at the same time"?

 Last week I attended the 2024 Mere Anglicanism conference in Charleston, South Carolina. I enjoyed listening to the speakers who, for the most part, stuck to the theme of "Speaking the Truth in Love: The Church and the Challenge of the new Morality". There was some drama and controversy and some not so loving words which left everyone with questions about the problems Anglicans in America may face and how they can discuss them openly.

First, let me say something about each speaker's presentation in order .

1) D.A. Carson: "The Scriptures and God's framework for human flourishing".

    He focused on Isaiah chapter 3 and Colossians 3. Isaiah tells us of God's judgement due to rebellion and poor leadership. God takes away "flourishing" but promises hope of a return to Him. In Colossians flourishing is the putting aside of earthly things. We are dead and risen.

2) Carl Trueman: "Who am I? Defining Identity and Self in an Age of Faulty Anthropology".

What does it mean to be human? Who we are is more important than what we are, but it should be the other way around as we are God's creatures who have,

a) rejected our limits and are committed to overturning the limits of the past. 

b) rejected teleology (things move towards an end) because our end should be to glorify God and worship Him forever, but instead we want to decide our own ends.

c) rejected our natural obligations to others. The obvious example is seen in marriage, sexual activity, and child rearing. 

How should the Church respond? By recovering teaching, liturgy, and community.

3) Calvin Robinson: "Critical Theory: Antithetical to the Gospel?" Feminism is the gate through which the attack on patriarchy and heteronormativity enters the Church. "Priestesses" (his term) in the Church of England and the need for equal numbers vs male priests resulted in a liberal Church, a compromised Church, and acceptance of Marxism (which had as one of its goals a revolution against religion). Critical theories are another name for Marxism. 

4) Sam Allberry: "Why our bodies and what we do with them matter"

1 Corinthians 6:13 "13 You say, “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.” The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.

In the Bible your body is you. Now we are whatever we want. "We are fearfully and wonderfully made", and the body is for the Lord, and because God dwells in us, our bodies are the temple of God.

5) Rebecca McLaughlin: "Right Thinking: Gospel truths in a culture subscribing to a secular creed",

Many secular claims are Christian based, help people to see that. She talked about her own same-sex attraction, overcoming it and being married with children, and how she faced protestors and tried to work with same sex couples. 

6) Amy Orr Ewing: "Face to Face: speaking the truth in love in relationship".

Conversational evangelism is biblical and historical. 

How to deal with difficult questions? Start with love of the other person. Be clear about where you come from (follower of Jesus), ask empathetic questions to learn what drives them (example: injustice which points to God's imprint on us so we see injustice as wrong), be aware of their trauma, listening, lose your fear of their rage, "the battle is God's" , be proactive, and be persistent in prayer.

7) John Dickson: "Gospel Hospitality in a Fractured World".

Jesus is the epitome of Gospel hospitality. He loved outsiders and ate with sinners. At table fellowship, Jesus expected his grace to transform.  Our fractured world has lost the moral imagination to disagree and love at the same time.

After these talks, there was a panel discussion, and that is where the controversy happened. Instead of being seated on the panel and given a chance to explain how his talk was appropriate to the topic to which he was assigned as planned, Fr. Calvin Robinson was told to not join the panel discussion. Organizers say that he was "disinvited" (Calvin Robinson's term) because he did not address the topic, an explanation that has left many wondering if there was anything else involved. 

I have my suspicions, but looking at my notes, Fr. Robinson did address the topic. I think his conclusions and the use of "trigger" language such as "priestesses" led the Bishop to advise Fr. Miller to disinvite Calvin Robinson, a man who everybody should have known can cause controversy. 

I wanted to see how the panel would interact with Fr. Robinson. I would have liked to have heard an open discussion about the elephant in the room, women's ordination, which remains a source of disunity in the Anglican Church in North America. That would have provided us all with a real life example of "Speaking the Truth in Love" face to face. To have him at the table would show "Gospel hospitality". Alas, it was a missed opportunity to "disagree and love at the same time."

As for Fr. Calvin, he too has a thing or two to learn about "Speaking the Truth in Love". He should have known that the use of the word "priestess" is offensive to female priests and is to some of them regarded as bad as using the "n" word to refer to a black person (I hope he did not understand this beforehand). He will hopefully learn to approach things more carefully as he grows and matures in Christ.

One other criticism of the panel discussion is that one panelist concluded that attending a same sex wedding might be okay if everyone there understood that you were clearly opposed to same sex marriage, and no one on the panel spoke up in opposition to that stance.

I know that the organizers have received this feedback.

I pray they do better next time. 

 

Fishing for people

 This Sunday's reading from Mark 1:14-20 continues the Epiphany trend of Sunday lessons about Jesus' early ministry.

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.’

As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake—for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me and I will make you fish for people.’ And immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.

 How many heard the call but failed to follow Jesus? Based on today's statistics, probably a lot of them closed their ears and walked away.

Jesus, give us the courage to keep fishing for men.

 

 

What is the leading cause of death worldwide?

 According to the Worldometer site it is abortion. At the time I wrote this, there were 2,625,743 deaths this year and 1,934,546 abortions this year. 

And it is only January.

A Sure Bet

This Sunday's Psalm reading in churches using the Revised Common Lectionary is Psalm 139:1-5,12-17, Domine, probasti.

1 Lord, you have searched me out and known me; *

you know my sitting down and my rising up;

you discern my thoughts from afar.

2 You trace my journeys and my resting-places *

and are acquainted with all my ways.

3 Indeed, there is not a word on my lips, *

but you, O Lord, know it altogether.

4 You press upon me behind and before *

and lay your hand upon me.

5 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; *

it is so high that I cannot attain to it.

darkness and light to you are both alike.

12 For you yourself created my inmost parts; *

you knit me together in my mother's womb.

13 I will thank you because I am marvelously made; *

your works are wonderful, and I know it well.

14 My body was not hidden from you, *

while I was being made in secret

and woven in the depths of the earth.

15 Your eyes beheld my limbs, yet unfinished in the womb;

all of them were written in your book; *

they were fashioned day by day,

when as yet there was none of them.

16 How deep I find your thoughts, O God! *

how great is the sum of them!

17 If I were to count them, they would be more in number than the sand; *

to count them all, my life span would need to be like yours.

 I think some of the lessons taught in this Psalm will not be mentioned by revisionist preachers in their sermons today. In fact you can bet on it. See if you can guess what I am talking about. They will probably talk about racism instead. 

Vatican Clarification: a 15 second Blessing is not heretical

Following up on Pope Francis clearing the way for same-sex blessings, the Vatican posted a clarification. 

From Premier Christian News,

 The Vatican's doctrinal office released a five-page statement emphasizing the brevity of the blessings, lasting around 10 to 15 seconds, with a focus on seeking peace, health, and other positive outcomes for the couple. 

The clarification stressed that allowing priests to perform such blessings is neither heretical nor contradictory to the Church's traditions.

Acknowledging the varying attitudes towards homosexuality globally, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith emphasized the need for "pastoral prudence." It recognized that in countries where laws criminalize homosexuality, openly blessing gay couples could lead to persecution, imprisonment, or even threats to life.

This pig still does not fly. 

Faithful Roman Catholics should fly.  

 

Epiphany: Stars don't stop after they rise!

The reading for Epiphany is from Matthew 2:1-12 which tells us of the travels and arrival of the wise men.

In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, ‘Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.’ When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They told him, ‘In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:

 “And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,

   are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;

for from you shall come a ruler

   who is to shepherd my people Israel.” ’

Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, ‘Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.’ When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure-chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

The wise men followed a star that rose as stars do but then stopped over Bethlehem.  That is not normal behavior for a star. Planets do show retrograde motion, but that can only be discerned over several days, and when a planet in retrograde motion rises, it keeps on rising normally and does not stop. 

The star of Bethlehem could not have been a normal star, planet, or comet as has been suggested by many. It must have been something else, something out of the ordinary.

I'll chalk it up to a miracle.

2024

2023 was quite a year. We saw the LGBT+ agenda move forward in the Organization of England formerly known as the Church of England in the form of the blessing of same sex couples, and we had the Roman Catholic Organization give a pass to "blessings" of same sex persons. We also saw 7,300 United Methodist churches leave the denomination because the American United Methodist Organization's endorsement of the LGBT+ agenda. 

As I sit and finalize the 2023 books for our small ACNA parish church, I am encouraged by the numbers which show a nice increase, and I am happy to see new faces in the pews and at Bible study. 

While the world is in turmoil as it always will be, I am looking forward to doing what I can to spread the Word in 2024.

His name is Jesus.