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ANiC news
ANiC and ACNA events calendar
January 18 – Service of dedication at Emmanuel (Boston, MA), an AMMiC mission
January 22 – March for Life, Washington, DC
January 24 – Walk for Life, San Francisco, CA
February 5-8 – Bishop Charlie holds meetings in Ottawa/Pembroke (See website for details)
February 13-15 – Bishop Charlie holds meetings in St John’s, NL (See website for details)
February 15 – Alex Pryor+ to be ordained to the priesthood at Good Samaritan (St John’s, NL)
February 24-25 – Southern Ontario clergy retreat near Orangeville
March 13-15 – Bishop Charlie holds meetings in Greater Toronto (See website for details)
April 21-23 – Ontario clergy silent retreat near Orangeville
May 14 – March for Life 2015 in Ottawa
May 26-28 – AMMiC mini-conference in Richmond, BC
June 22-26 – ACNA Executive Cabinet, Council, College of Bishops meetings in Vancouver
Our promising-keeping God and Gospel-centred giving
Writing on behalf of the ANiC House of Bishops, Bishop Charlie, in his Christmas letter, reminds us that Christmas is the result of God keeping His promise against all odds. He concludes, “Dear friends, even when our path is difficult and our world seems dark, we can rejoice because our confidence – and our joy – is firmly anchored in our promising-keeping God. So rejoice, and again I say rejoice!”
In a year-end letter, Bishop Charlie encouraged us to make the Gospel the central focus of our charitable giving. He suggested that, in our giving, we think first of our church and consider a generous gift over and above regular tithing. But he also asked us to “consider the needs of our diocese, ANiC, and consider giving to help fuel our ministry priorities and growth”. Finally, he asked that we consider how our giving can help meet desperate needs in our world and commended the ministry of the Anglican Relief and Development Fund Canada.
Bishop Don conveys his thanks
Having been feted at synod and later receiving a bundle of personal messages written by synod attendees, Bishop Don responded: “It was a joy to see so many of you at Synod in Ottawa… Both Trudy and I were deeply moved by the dinner at the National Arts Centre and the re-living of so many memories of events as we recalled both the high and low points of our journey together… it was with surprise and delight that I discovered… [a package delivered following synod] contained an impressive number of sheets of specially designed stationary, each one containing beautiful personal messages from you. We both were rather overcome with the intimacy of these greetings and the love and affection expressed in them…” You can read the full letter on the ANiC website.
AMMiC mission launches south of the border
Emmanuel, a new mission in Boston, MA, has begun regular Sunday worship and is holding a dedication and thanksgiving service on Sunday afternoon, January 18. Bishop Stephen Leung will preside. This Chinese-speaking congregation is the Asian and Multicultural Ministries (AMMiC) first plant in the US and is being assisted by ANiC’s Holy Trinity Anglican Church (Marlborough, MA). Evangelist Carmen Mei has been working with the forming congregation since November, seeking to expand the outreach mission and launching regular services. Emmanuel is also on Facebook.
Lectionary suggestions
Canon Tom Carman’s offers some lectionary suggestions which are now posted on the ANiC website together with two 2015 liturgical calendars.
Ordinations
Please remember in prayer those who are to be ordained this spring. Also, where possible, do encourage the ordination candidates by your presence at the service.
Roger Revell will be ordained by Bishop Ron Ferris to the transitional diaconate on January 25 at 3pm at UBC Robson Square (800 Robson St) in downtown Vancouver. Roger is now serving at St Peter's Fireside (Vancouver). Information is on the St Peter’s Fireside website.
Isaac Albert Fisher will be ordained to the transitional diaconate and Praveen Mutalik to the vocational diaconate on January 26, 7pm by Bishop Charlie at Holy Trinity (Marlborough, MA). Isaac will serve at St Brigid of Kildare (Medway, MA) while Praveen will serve at Holy Trinity.
Iris Lau-Butt How Hung will be ordained to the transitional diaconate by Bishop Stephen Leung on February 8 at Grace Church (Calgary, AB). Iris will serve Good Shepherd Chinese (Calgary).
Esther Ann Beaulieu is to be ordained to the transitional diaconate by Bishop Stephen Leung on March 8 at 11am at Redeemer (Dauphin, MB). Esther will be engaged in ministry to First Nations and Metis peoples in the Dauphin area. The ordination service will bring together the congregations of Redeemer (Dauphin), Resurrection (Brandon) and St Bede’s (Kinosota).
The Rev Adebusola (Buzz) Onayemi will be ordained to the priesthood, on Saturday, April 25 at 2pm by Bishop Charlie Masters at Celebration Church (Barrie, ON).
Photos from the December 21 ordination of the Rev Neil van der Heerden, pastor of Living Edge in Victoria, are now posted online. If you look closely you’ll even see what looks suspiciously like a fist-pump!
Toronto area meetings changed
Bishop Charlie will now meet with Toronto area clergy, members and families the weekend of March 13-15, rather than in January as previously planned. Full details are on the ANiC website.
Vicar of Baghdad interviewed at St George’s
When Canon Andrew White, aka the Vicar of Baghdad, was at St George’s (Burlington, ON) last December 7 to baptize his grandson, the Rev Ray David Glenn was able to interview him. You can hear the interview on the St George’s website. While in Canada in December, Canon White received a honourary doctorate from Wycliffe College in Toronto.
Bishop of Iran visits ANiC
Bishop Azad Marshall (Iran and the Gulf) and his wife Leslie are currently visiting ANiC congregations and clergy. The larger South Asian and Pakistani community in the Toronto area was invited to a 3pm service on Sunday, January 11 held at Bethel South Asian (Brampton, ON). An area clergy event is planned at Good Shepherd Vancouver on January 14. Beyond that, Bishop Marshall’s itinerary will include small group gatherings and consultations.
Children’s ministry director needed… quickly!
The Asian and Multicultural Ministries in Canada (AMMiC) is looking for a full-time Children’s Ministry Director. Interested candidates should submit their applications on or before January 23. For more information see the AMMiC website.
A work in progress: Translating ACNA’s catechism and liturgy into Chinese
The Asian and Multicultural Ministries in Canada (AMMiC) is working feverishly to complete translations of both the ACNA’s liturgy,Texts for Common Prayer, and catechism, To Be a Christian, into Chinese. Please pray for this work.
St John’s Vancouver profiled
VirtueOnline has two articles on St John’s Vancouver. The gist of the articles is that the difficult departure of the congregation from the Anglican Church of Canada, while fraught with injustice, is being blessed by God in the planting of new congregations and the flourishing of the original congregation – formerly called St John’s Shaughnessy. The articles can be read here and here.
Parish and regional news
Good Shepherd (Vancouver, BC) Good Shepherd (Vancouver, BC) rejoiced to have six adults baptized during 2014, plus one child on Christmas Day. In addition 11 adults were confirmed this past year.
The Table (Victoria, BC) is thanking God for His “outpouring of grace”. Just a few weeks ago this church plant was staring at a projected $20,000+ deficit at the same time that God was leading them to dream of expanding to plant a second church site in another part of the city in 2015. As Genesis 18 reminds us, nothing is too hard for the Lord. In the last few days, The Table has seen God’s abundant provision and now are $2,000 in the black. However, if the second church site is to become a reality, they are still looking to raise an additional $50,000 next year. They ask that we pray with them that God will use this need to transform their church community into a praying people. On January 18, The Table will hold its first “preview” service at the new site, so will experience what it would be like to have the two regional locations. However, they still need a venue for the second site and ask for prayer for this as well as for more leaders so they can form ministry teams for both sites.
Church of All Nations - Japanese (Vancouver, BC) – The Rev Shihoko Warren has been asked to tour and minister in several churches in Japan, including Fukishima, for two weeks in March. Please pray for God’s blessing on Shihoko’s ministry.
St George’s (Burlington, ON) - On Christmas Eve, at the request of the workers, the Rev Ray David Glenn – wearing safety boots and a hard had – held a Holy Communion service in St George’s almost completed new building for the construction workers. Please pray for St George’s and for these workers. May Jesus be lifted high, so that everyone would be drawn to our Saviour.
St Peter’s Fireside (Vancouver, BC) reports that, “At the end of last year we had 3 groups; we now have 8 (which means roughly 90+ people are in groups, which is about 75% of our community)… We celebrated one year of services! Our average Sunday attendance started around 70, and now our average Sunday attendance is around 120. We have about 95 people who volunteer be it on our hospitality, Scripture reading, prayer, setup/teardown, music teams. That's incredible! We have a very engaged community and our people are owning our vision”.
St Luke’s (Pembroke, ON) will host a Week of Prayer for Christian Unity potluck supper and hymn sing on January 25 for Christians of all denominations from the Pembroke area. Like several ANiC churches, St Luke’s helped with free Christmas Day dinners for community members.
Got parish news? Let the rest of us know about it! Email Marilyn.
Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) news
ACNA College of Bishops meet; issue statement
ACNA’s bishops and their wives gathered this past week to discuss key initiatives and policies for our Province. You can see an agenda, video of some sessions, and photos on the ACNA website.
The communiqué reporting on the meeting noted that Bishop Mark Lawrence who leads the independent Diocese of South Carolina attended the entire session. Other tidbits of news gleaned from the document include:
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The College is proactively developing a disciplinary process for bishops |
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A new preface is approved for the confirmation liturgy to ensure public professions of faith |
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A task force will be formed, chaired by Dr Stephen Noll, to develop a provincial initiative to strengthen marriage |
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The Holy Orders Task Force – which will address the thorny issue of women’s ordination – is currently focusing on how ecclesiology relates to ordination and holy orders |
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A symposium will address the need for greater engagement with African-Americans |
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Internationally, it was reported that ACNA has “relationships of full communion and recognition from the vast majority of the world’s Anglicans, and [we] have robust mission partnerships with many Provinces”. ACNA bishops have been appointed to “help facilitate communication and relationships” with 16 provinces |
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Ecumenically, the ACNA is “…engaged in eight different ecumenical dialogues: Roman Catholic Church, Orthodox Church in America, Polish National Catholic Church, North American Lutheran Church, Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, Messianic Jewish churches, Good News Methodists, and Presbyterian Church in America” |
Archbishop Foley Beach’s video Christmas message
In a three-minute video, Archbishop Beach explains why the birth of Christ was such good news and such an incredible gift.
Court proceeding for ACNA’s Diocese of Fort Worth drag on
In response to further attempts by the US Episcopal Church (TEC) to deviously manipulate court proceedings, the ACNA Diocese of Fort Worth has filed a response which shows how TEC’s motion for the court to issue a summary judgment “tortures the language of [an earlier] Texas Supreme Court ruling…” The Diocese of Fort Worth writes, “Plaintiffs often change the words of a quotation in a way that changes its meaning… For example, Plaintiffs say the Court must defer to TEC because issues like who can be church members are ecclesiastical questions. To support this, they truncate a sentence from the Texas Supreme Court’s opinion in this case by cutting out the part that says just the opposite…”
ACNA cited as a growing denomination with Gospel clarity
Saying that Gospel clarity is the hallmark of vibrant churches while “fog” is a hallmark of dying churches, Dr Timothy Tennent, Asbury Theological Seminary President, cites the ACNA as an example of a denomination with Gospel clarity that is growing.
Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans and Anglican Communion news
Corruption in the Anglican Communion
The video newsmagazine Anglican Unscripted touches on the issue of corruption in the Anglican Communion and the “buying” of Global South leaders by western liberal church leaders.
International news in brief
Canada
BC Advanced Education Minister Amrik Virk has withdrawn the consent he had previously given to Trinity Western University’s (TWU) proposed law school citing the controversy over TWU’s community covenant which states the traditional Christian view of marriage. Ironically, in the face of whipped-up opposition within the legal profession, TWU must resort to the courts to fight for its law school. You can read a brief history of the issue here and an interview with the president of TWU here.
Running counter to the trend, just last week, in a very close vote, the Law Society of New Brunswick upheld its earlier decision to accredit graduates of TWU’s proposed Law School. Earlier, the Law Society of BC reversed its earlier accreditation, succumbing to pressure and political correctness.
This is a fight that concerns anyone who supports freedom of religion. TWU’s president Bob Kuhn writes, “While this is a setback, we remain committed to opening our School of Law. We are not seeking to engage in another legal battle, however there are such important rights and freedoms at stake that we have no choice but to seek their protection in court… Though there is a long road ahead of us in this legal challenge, I am confident that God has called us to be faithful witnesses in our secular culture, and that the courts will once again affirm the right of all Canadians to practice their faith—not just in their private lives—but in the public places.”
The Anglican Communion Alliance (formerly the Anglican Essentials Federation) has done some analysis of the submissions received from individuals by the Anglican Church of Canada’s (ACoC) Marriage Commission – and posted to the ACoC website. They found that 61 per cent of the 222 submissions posted oppose change to church law. The Anglican Planet provides background on the marriage commission and the ACA’s concerns.
The Anglican Journal reports that “The Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Unity, Faith and Order (IASCUFO) has urged the Anglican Church of Canada not to amend its marriage canon (church law) to allow the marriage of same-sex couples, saying such a move would “cause great distress for the Communion as a whole, and for its ecumenical relationships.”” According to the Anglican Journal, the primate of the Anglican Church of Canada (ACoC), Archbishop Fred Hiltz, recently met with the Archbishop of Canterbury to discuss the ACoC’s reconsideration of its marriage canon to potentially allow same sex marriages in the church.
The Anglican Communion Alliance (ACA) is planning a conference, in partnership with Tyndale and Wycliffe Colleges, on Christian Formation, October 22-24 at Tyndale. More information and registration is on the ACA website.
The Anglican Church of Canada’s Diocese of New Westminster is moving its diocesan office to St John’s Shaughnessy, the building formerly occupied by ANiC’s St John’s Vancouver congregation.
United States
The US Episcopal Church’s statistics show ongoing decline. Read more here.
A US Episcopal Church bishop has been charged – with driving under the influence, vehicular manslaughter, criminal negligent manslaughter, texting while driving, and fleeing the scene of an accident – in a hit-and-run accident which killed a cyclist December 27. According to news reports, Bishop Heather Cook of the Diocese of Maryland has faced previous drug, alcohol and reckless driving charges. While a statement from the diocese claims that she returned to the accident scene about 20 minutes after initially fleeing without stopping to aid the dying cyclist, others claim she was chased down by other cyclists who followed her to her home. The Anglican Unscripted commentators offer a compassionate perspective.
England
The Church of England (CoE) has appointed its first woman bishop, the Rev Libby Lane, who currently serves as vicar of St Peter’s, Hale and St Elizabeth’s, Ashley. She will become Bishop of Stockport, as a suffragan (assistant) bishop in the Diocese of Chester. She currently is one of eight women clergy who are “participant observers” in the CoE’s House of Bishops. In his analysis, Andrew Symes of Anglican Mainstream notes the significance of a parish vicar being appointed rather than some of the more prominent women clergy in the Church. He adds, “…as a Suffragan, Libby Lane will not enter the House of Bishops or the House of Lords. The first female Diocesan Bishop is likely to be appointed in 2015, with Newcastle and Gloucester seen as potential sees, given that these have had liberal Bishops in the recent past.”
The evangelical CoE group known as Reform expressed concern, saying they hoped that the Bishop of Chester would uphold the promise made by Synod, allowing “… the many thriving conservative evangelical churches in his Diocese to continue to serve their communities with theological integrity under the oversight of a male bishop.”
Parliament has introduced legislation which would fast-track women bishops being admitted to the House of Lords. Currently the 21 “spiritual” seats in the House of Lords go to the most senior and longest serving bishops. Under the new legislation, women bishops would be given preference over longer serving or more senior male bishops.
Christian Today reports that, “Senior clergy in the Church of England are being summonsed to sign up for MBA-style leadership courses as the Archbishops of Canterbury and York attempt to create a Church fit for the 21st century. Plans for the business-style leadership programme to bring about Church growth and create a "talent" pool of future bishops… [heralds] a "culture change" in the way the Church chooses and trains its… leaders.”
The Daily Mail reports that “The Church of England is embroiled in a row over proposals to sweep away laws that forbid a full Christian funeral to people who have taken their own lives”. The Church Times has more detail.
The Queen gave another excellent Christmas message where she clearly affirmed her faith in Christ of Christmas and referenced the Christmas truce in WW1. She said, “For me the life of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, whose birth we celebrate today is an inspiration and an anchor in my life. A role model of reconciliation and forgiveness, He stretched out His hands in love, acceptance and healing. Christ’s example has taught me to seek to respect and value all people of whatever faith and none...”
The Archbishop of Canterbury’s Christmas message was addressed to Ecumenical partners and focused on unity.
Julian Mann, a CoE vicar and blogger explains why he believes those who hold to the Biblical teaching on marriage and sexuality should not participate in the CoE’s current facilitated conversations on human sexuality.
Scotland
The College of Bishops of the Scottish Episcopal Church has issued a statement which reiterates that clergy are forbidden to solemnize or contract same-sex marriages.
Australia
St Andrew’s Cathedral hosted a packed service of hope and prayer for Sydney following the terrorist siege in Sydney's Martin Place in which two hostages died. ANiC’s diocesan Bishop Charlie Masters wrote Sydney’s Archbishop Glenn Davies assuring him of his – and our – prayers as they grieve the hostage taking and resulting deaths. Archbishop Davies responded with gratitude and noted the prayer service at the cathedral which was attended by the governor and police commissioner as well as the general public.
Pakistan
Following the Taliban’s attack on a school in Peshawar which killed more than140 people – mostly children, Christian churches in Pakistan toned down Christmas celebrations in order to minister to the grieving and injured.
ANiC’s Bishop Stephen Leung wrote to Bishop Humphrey Peters (Peshawar) assuring him and his people of our prayers in the wake of this murderous attack on school children in Peshawar on December 16. Bishop Stephen also wrote ANiC’s South Asian congregations in Canada, Church of the Good Shepherd South Asian in Calgary and Bethel South Asian in Brampton, to say that we were also upholding them in prayer as they grieved this tragedy.
ACNA Archbishop Foley Beach also called us to prayer. He wrote, “Bishop Humphrey Peters from the Anglican Diocese of Peshawar joined our bishops when the College met last January, and during that time he shared with us the challenges that the people of his city and diocese are facing. I ask you to remember the people of Peshawar in your prayers this week. Please pray that the darkness of this tragedy would help the hope that we have in the birth and promise of our Lord Jesus shine all the more brightly.”
India
Radical Hindu groups linked to the current government are making life difficult for minority religious groups including Christians. There are reports of forced conversions, brutal attacks on church groups, systemic discrimination in government benefits programs, attempts to strengthen laws designed to prevent Hindus converting to other religions, and arrests of Christians for supposedly insulting Hinduism. One radical group has announced its intention to cleanse India of other religions by forcing Christians and Muslims to convert to Hinduism or leave the country.
Iraq
Over Christmas, Iraqi refugees created a crèche “for the refugee child, Jesus” in one of the refugee tents in their camp in Northern Iraq. In a Maclean's magazine article entitled “The Vicar of Baghdad and the lost Christians of Iraq”, Canon Andrew White discusses the situation in Iraq and his work in the refugee camps.
Several women, who had been captured and enslaved by the Islamic State terrorists, as they advanced through Iraq, managed to escape and tell their story of sex slavery. Enslavement is a key tenant of the Islamic State’s ideology.
Egypt
In a historic and welcome move, “Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi made an unannounced appearance at the Coptic Cathedral where Christmas Eve Mass was being celebrated by the Egyptian Pope Tawadros II”. The Coptic Church celebrated Christmas on January 7. Christians in Egypt have experienced growing persecution at the hands of Muslim extremists. Earlier, in his New Year’s Day speech, the president called for a “religious revolution” in Islam to counter violent Islamist jihad.
Egyptian Christians working in Libya have increasingly been singled out for kidnapping and murder. International Christian Concern documented a recent incident of a doctor and his entire family being murdered.
Nigeria
The recent accounts of Boko Haram’s murderous activities in northern Nigeria – targeting primarily Christians – are heart-wrenching. One good-news story stands out in the midst of the horror. In the city of Kaduna over Christmas, local Muslim youth voluntarily protected Christians from attack as they celebrated and worshipped in their church. Boko Haram kidnaps young males and females and massacres entire towns with seemingly little resistance from government troops.
In a CNN article, a 13-year-old describes how she was forced to be a suicide bomber but escaped.
A Guardian article indicates that as many as 2000 were killed in a January 7 attack on Baga, a community on the shore of Lake Chad – possibly Boko Haran’s bloodiest attacks to date. More details in provided by the BBC.
In a letter to the president of Nigeria, a military commander outlines why the army is hapless in fighting Boko Haram: administrative mismanagement, corruption, and poor equipment.
South Sudan
December marked the one year anniversary of the outbreak of civil war in South Sudan. Estimates of the death toll – mostly civilians – range from 50,000 to 100,000. The Guardian reports that “An estimated 12,000 child soldiers were forcibly recruited… entire towns have been pillaged… An estimated 2 million people have run from their homes… While famine has been averted thanks to a massive aid effort, Oxfam warns that the country remains in a severe food crisis with up to 2.5 million people estimated to be at risk of hunger.”
Sudan
Anglican Ink reports that the Muslim government of Sudan is attempting to seize an Anglican church building in Khartoum, the capital. However the Episcopal Church of South Sudan and Sudan has filed an emergency appeal with the courts. “Christian Solidarity Worldwide reports the eviction notices are part of a government campaign to strip Christians of their property. Last week the Khartoum government demolished an evangelical church in North Khartoum and arrested 37 members of the congregation. “
Uganda
An article in the Ugandan Saturday Monitor provides the testimonial of a newly installed Anglican bishop and former alcoholic.
West Africa
The CBC reports that the death toll from Ebola has now reached 8000.
Islam & Islamists
In the wake of the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris, Dr Albert Mohler discusses why the secular mind – which characterizes most western leaders – is unable to comprehend or address Islamic extremism. He concludes “We are living in a world growing more dangerous by the day. That world — the real world — is a world of clashing ideologies and conflicting worldviews. The real world is also a world in which theology always matters, and a world in which an empty secular worldview is no match for an Islamic theology set on conquest and driven by revenge.”
Anglican TV offers an excellent video providing insight into Islam, the Quran, political strategy in the west where it is a minority religion, what God is doing among Muslims, and how Christians can engage with Muslims.
Open Doors, a Christian organization which supports persecuted Christians, reports that in 2014 twice as many Christians were killed by Islamic militants as in 2013. Nigeria saw the most murders. A Pew study found that Christians are the most persecuted of all religious groups and that persecution occurs primarily in Muslim dominated countries. You can see the latest World Watch Map/List from Open Doors of the worst countries for persecution.
Rape is increasingly used as a weapon against Christians in Pakistan and other Muslim countries. A Christian Headlines article states that more than “…200 million Christians in at least 60 countries are denied fundamental human rights solely because of their faith.”
Roman Catholic
In a December address, Pope Francis chastised Vatican bureaucracy for gossip, power-hunger, double-lives and 12 other sins that plagued the Curia.
Resources
Resources for ministry
Church planting’s dirty secrets – A Christianity Today article discusses the unvarnished realities of church planting.
Ministering to victims – Tim Challies interviews a Christian expert on the issue of sexual assault and how Christians and the Church can better minister to victims of this vastly underreported and stigmatized crime. This is important for clergy – and all Christians – to understand.
Healing the shockwaves of abortion – In 2015, Anglicans for Life and the Silent No More Awareness Campaign are launching a new initiative called Healing the Shockwaves of Abortion. Every month in 2015 will focus of a different group that wounded by abortion. The Silent No More website provides helpful information, testimonials, and resources – including sermon suggestions, prayers and bulletin inserts.
How well does your church present itself online? An Australian pastor reviewed 100 church websites during Advent and found 58 per cent were missing Christmas service times – and many of the others made the information difficult to find. How easy do you make it for visitors to find key information on your website – such as the address for worship services, service times, how to contact you, and what you believe? This same pastor then emailed a basic question to the same 100 churches, but only 57 per cent responded. How accessible our church is online, demonstrates how deeply we care for our neighbours.
Praying for other churches – A Ligonier Ministries articles explains why congregations should regularly pray for other churches in their communities.
Resources for Christian living
39 Articles of Religion – In very short three minute videos, Canon Phil Ashey adeptly expounds:
Article 16 – “Of sin after baptism”
Article 17, Part 1 – “Of predestination and election”
Anglicanism
A Pentecostal explains why he is becoming a member of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) and how his theology has grown to align with Anglicanism.
Michael Jensen, author of Sydney Anglicanism: An Apology, offers a short article that outlines “9 things you should really know about Anglicanism”
Bible reading plan for 2015 – A variety of Bible reading plans can be found on Ligonier Ministries website as well as Tim Challies’ blog. ANiC’s St Peter’s Fireside has prepared its own plan.
Science & God – An article which states that “Science increasingly makes the case for God” is proving to be the most popular in the history of the Wall Street Journal online. You can watch an interview with the author, Eric Metaxas.
Protect kids from porn – Tim Challies warns parents to protect their kids from porn when giving them electronic devices – and details what you can do.
Family dinner – Tim Challies explores why dining together as a family – regularly – is so important.
Powerful cartoons – Adam4d.com offers cartoons which communicate deep truths, including:
My values vs God’s ways
Moral therapeutic deism
Jesus vs theological liberalism
Abortion – An estimated 1 billion lives have been lost through abortion since 1920. This short video is proving to be powerful in changing peoples’ view on abortion.
Euthanasia – After a decade of legalized assisted dying in the Netherlands, it is estimated that as many as 1 in 3 deaths in the country are from euthanasia – including 650 babies each year.
Modesty – True Woman offers help in teaching girls God’s perspective on dress and modesty.
The Maker’s Instructions for sex and marriage – You can hear an excellent series from the Rev Vaughan Roberts, rector of St Ebbe’s Church (Oxford, England) covering “The Maker’s Instructions”, marriage, gender, same-sex marriage and singleness.
Gender identity, homosexual activism and religious freedom
A VirtueOnline article explores why we tend to wildly over-estimate the proportion of gays and lesbians. A recent UK study found 1.6 per cent of adults identified as gay, lesbian or bisexual – 1.6 per cent of men identified as gay, 0.8 per cent of women as lesbians, and 0.5 per cent of men and women as bisexual. Studies in other countries vary but have similar findings. Yet the public tends to estimate the LGBT population at 10-25 per cent. This has a dramatic impact on public policy.
Dr Robert Gagnon, a respected expert on human sexuality, urges us to wake up to the dangers to our civil and religious liberties posed by homosexual activists. He goes so far as to view this as “the central political issue of our day”,
Soul food
Just for laughs
A wife asks her husband, "Please go shopping for me and buy one carton of milk and if they have avocados, get 6."
A short time later the husband comes back with 6 cartons of milk.
The wife asks him, "Why did you buy 6 cartons of milk?"
He replied, "They had avocados."
www.mikeysFunnies.com
Thought
Our greatest fear should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don’t really matter. ~Francis Chan
And now a Word from our Sponsor
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.
Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
1 John 4:1-11 ESV
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