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ANiC news
ANiC and ACNA events calendar
May 3-4
– Women’s
conference at Faith Mission (Milton, ON) hosted by St George’s Burlington
May 6,
7pm – The Rev Lyle Lewis will be ordained a priest at Living Water (Athabasca, AB)
May 7
– St Aidan’s appeal to be heard at Osgood Hall, Toronto
May 11
– Bible-in-a-day seminar,
Robson Square (Vancouver, BC)
May
13-15 – ACNA clergy women’s retreat in Woodbridge, Virginia
June 16
– Ordinations at Church of Our Lord (Victoria, BC) - Lynne Ellis &
Neil Van der Heeden
October
21-27 – GAFCon 2 international gathering in Nairobi, Kenya
October
31 – November 3 – ANiC Clergy Retreat in New England
ANiC
regional assemblies
Three
regional assemblies took place in mid – April, two in Vancouver, BC and
one in Burlington, ON. The focus of all three was building and supporting the
ministries of the local church and shaping our own discipleship by living in
obedience to and proclaiming God’s Word. From all reports the assemblies were a
tremendous blessing, encouragement and challenge.
Photos
of the events are posted. Some documents from the Assemblies are also online. Audio
of the key sessions will be posted as they are available. You’ll find these all
linked from the Assemblies’ web pages on the ANiC
website. You can also read a report on the Vancouver event by a St
John’s Vancouver delegate in the church’s April 21 parish life notes.
Eastern
Assembly – Bishop Charlie Masters concluded his moving charge to the
assembly by calling us to offer our lives to God as living sacrifices and,
empowered by the Holy Spirit and in conformity to the character of Jesus
Christ, to bring glory to God through proclaiming and Gospel to those around us
who desperately need to hear. He added:
“To you
as an individual I give this charge and challenge: 1) Begin today to beg the
Lord to help you grow in prayer. 2) Begin today to take steps towards growing
deeper in the Bible and increasing your intake and your application of it. And
3) begin today to pray for the names of perhaps three people who presently
don’t know the Lord… and witness to them as opportunity is given… To you as a
congregation… I give this charge and challenge: 1) Begin to seek and to plan to
reach the children and youth in your area… 2) Begin today to make plans for…
church planting from your congregations; and 3) Identify a means of increasing
the quality of teaching and ministry and health and maturity for your people.”
Western
Assembly – Bishop Trevor Walters encouraged us to be a radical movement,
introducing people to Christ; to develop Kingdom-focused strategic plans in our
parishes; to “get out of our walls”, engage the culture, and develop relationships
with non-Christians; to wrestle with living authentically as Anglicans yet
remaining accessible to the culture; to be culturally relevant by being
Biblically faithful and preaching God’s Word; to worship God passionately in
our music; to share the burden of ministry and head-off ministry “burn out”; to
involve and mentor young people into leadership. He concluded:
“…let
us press on to the high calling of our faith… Let us be bold as we seek to
break out of our walls, while holding firmly to our faith, as we discover the
language of the lost culture. Let us speak the words of life that bring good
news to the poor, sight to the blind, freedom to the prisoners and release to
the oppressed.”
Asian
& Multicultural Assembly (AMMiC) – Bishop Stephen Leung began by
noting that God is a missional God who has entrusted us with proclaiming the
Good News of salvation – of new creation – through Christ Jesus. The
resulting faith community is to be a fellowship of repentance, forgiveness and
reconciliation through which the world can see the living Christ. “The
attraction of the Church… is Christ himself reigning over the transformed
community in his love.”
Noting
that, by 2017, it is projected that around 20 per cent of Canada’s population
will be visible minorities, and that Canada is a magnet for international
students, he said “we have a huge Gospel mission field among us” which, if we
are faithful to the God’s mission, could resoundingly impact the growth of the
Church worldwide. To this end AMMiC is: planting Asian and multicultural
churches in Canada – five in the past year; charting a path for second
generation leadership in these immigrant church communities; and seeking to
serve the Church outside Canada by sending short-term mission teams.
He went
on to discuss churches forming in Calgary, including: a Hindi-Urdu speaking church
for South Asians; a South Sudanese Dinka community; and others –
potentially four or more new churches in Alberta. Toronto is also a huge
multicultural mission field and AMMiC is partnering with the Anglican
Greenhouse Movement in Chicago to train young lay catechists in campus
ministry. Bishop Stephen said “We would like to see more church plants to
different ethnic groups [in Toronto], including South Asians, Filipinos, Mandarin-speaking
Chinese, Korean and Hispanic people.” In the Vancouver area, AMMiC has six
church plants and parishes and a renovation of the Good Shepherd church
building will include an Asian and Multicultural Ministry training centre. His
vision is for more church plants on university campuses and in the suburbs to “…reach out to international students, Mandarin-speaking Chinese, South Asian,
Korean and Arab ethnic groups.”
He
concluded by challenging us to grow spiritually as well as numerically through
conversion growth. “God calls you and me to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to
ethnic visible minority groups… Indeed, this mission is a great challenge that
demands far beyond mere human effort… God will reveal his way and call out
leaders in his time....”
Moderator’s
reflections
Bishop
Don Harvey was able to attend sections of all three Assemblies and reports that
he is very encouraged by the way they were carried out. He says, “While each
had very distinctive qualities, it was not difficult to see the common thread
running through all. Meeting in this manner gave everyone an opportunity to
experience what it would be like if we were to change our structure to have
gatherings and synods on a geographic or even an ethnic basis. Now, as we
continue to seek God's guidance to discern our future, delegates will be able
to reflect upon the pros and cons they experienced from this year's gatherings
when they come to Synod in the fall of 2014.”
As he moves into his last year in Office, Bishop
Don is trying to visit many of the parishes that came into being during his
tenure. On Sunday, April 21, he had the joy of beginning this series of visits
at the Church of the Resurrection in Hope, BC – which, significantly, was
the first parish to enroll in ANiC.
Help
shape ANiC’s governance structure
Bishop
Ron Ferris and members of ANiC’s Governance Task Force are calling for
submissions which address how ANiC should be governed. Synod requested a task
force to “address Anglican polity with a special focus on the relationship
between, bishops, diocesan council, Synod, clergy, and parishes”, and ANiC’s
Coadjutor Bishop Charlie Masters has appointed Bishop Ferris (chair), the Rev
Dr Brent Stiller and the Rev Mike Stewart to shoulder this task.
For
more information on the issues the task force is specifically concerned with
and how to make submissions, see the ANiC website.
Submissions are invited from individuals, parish councils, clergy groups, or
any interested cluster of ANiC members. May 31 is the deadline for receiving
submissions as the task force intends to have a report to Bishop Charlie in
August. The responses should be sent to anicgovernance@gmail.com. See Bishop Ron’s letter for more details.
Ordinations
and Confirmation
On June
16 at Church of Our Lord in Victoria, BC, Lynne Ellis will be ordained to the
diaconate and priesthood by Bishop Trevor Walters. At the same service, Neil
Van der Heeden, pastor of Living Edge
(Victoria, BC), will be ordained to the diaconate
Please
pray for ANiC’s ordination candidates, including the Rev Lyle Lewis who is to be
ordained to the priesthood on May 6 in Athabasca, Alberta.
Bishop
Trevor will also confirm candidates at Saint Matthew’s (Abbotsford, BC) on June 2 at the 8:45am service and at St John’s Vancouver on
June 9 at 6:30pm. And Bishop Don will administer the Sacrament of Confirmation
at Grace Church (Calgary, AB) on May 19, the Feast of Pentecost.
Evangelism
conference in Toronto
Christ
The King is hosted an evangelism
conference April 26-27 at 80 Blythwood Rd, Toronto. The speaker was
the Rev Dr John A MacDonald, from Trinity School for Ministry (Ambridge,
Pennsylvania) together with a team of seminarians.
The
rest of the story…
Remember
the newspaper
article featuring truck driver/ANiC rector the Rev Doug Beattie? Well,
here’s how it came about… Back in November, Doug+ wrote a critical
review on the movie Hellbound? and submitted it to an Abbotsford
newspaper. That review was noticed by a reported at Vancouver’s The Province
newspaper who contacted Doug+ for a follow-up
interview. From that interview about his movie review, a connection
was formed and the reporter contacted Doug+ recently for an Easter feature…
which was subsequently scrapped but the story on Doug+ survived – minus
the Easter angle. As Paul Harvey used to say, “Now you know the rest of the
story.”
Congratulations
ANiC’s
National Director John MacDonald has been
selected to serve on the board of Niagara Health System.
Strengthening
our partnership with churches in Cuba
Bishop
Trevor Walters is leading a small team of ANiC members to Cuba May 21-June 1 to
further our objective of building partnerships between ANiC churches and
churches in Cuba which have grown from Bishop Charles Dorrington’s years of
ministry. Bishop Dorrington leads a Reformed Episcopal Church diocese in the ACNA which encompasses Western Canada, Alaska and Cuba.
Later
in June, Bishop Trevor will serve as chaplain on an Anglican Leadership
Initiative adventure – a seven-day Outward Bound Course in Colorado
designed to shape future ACNA leaders. The Rev Ray David Glenn is the Canadian
participant on the course which runs June 21 - July 2.
Visit
Israel
An
opportunity to explore Israel is coming this fall, when the Rev Sharon Hayton
will lead a tour, October 31 – November 11. The trip
itinerary is on the CMJ Canada website, as is an outline of costs and
conditions and an
application form.
Family
Camp – All of ANiC is invited
Everyone
in ANiC is invited to a family camp at Camp Koinonia,
located 226
km north of Toronto and just east of Parry Sound, from August 10-17. Meals are
provided as are programs, led by camp staff, for children and teens. Please
email the Rev Peter Robinson,
rector of St Peter by the Park (Hamilton, ON) if you are interested and he’ll
provide more details.
Parish
and regional news
New
Song Anglican Church (Port Perry, ON), which joined ANIC
in late 2011, purchased a 6000 square foot former Odd Fellows Hall and has
converted the building into a permanent church home. While much of the work is
now complete, some renovations are still under way. The site was recently dedicated
for worship and community outreach. "We are very thankful to God," says the Rev
Dr Brent Stiller, rector of New Song. "To have found
such a suitable property at an affordable price is God's provision." The
congregation had been meeting in a school, with offices in a downtown
storefront. "We've been referring to… this space as 'a home of our own and
a church for the community.’ We want to keep that focus and be an inwardly
nourishing and outwardly looking space and place."
Saint
Matthew’s (Abbotsford, BC) – Please pray for a group of 46 from Saint Matthew’s, led by
the Rev Mike Stewart, as they travel on pilgrimage to Israel from April 21-May
5. The Rev David Pileggi, rector of Christ Church Jerusalem, will guide the
group as they visit sites thorough Israel.
Also Saint Matthew’s School of Life and Ministry Easter-tide term courses are now open for registrations. Courses offered on
Sunday mornings are “Catechism 3 – Christian Love: Prepared for Good
Works” and “Jesus in the Marketplace”. On Monday evening a course on the book
of Revelation is offered by the Rev Dr Ken Deeks.
St John’s Vancouver is
sending a team of six people to Malawi this summer to strengthen their partnership with the Diocese of the Upper Shire.
Anglican Church in North America
(ACNA) news
Archbishop Bob Duncan set to meet with the Archbishop of Canterbury
According to
VirtueOnline, the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby plans to
meet with ACNA primate Archbishop Bob Duncan in late May.
New
bishop consecrated for diocese in formation
On
April 20, Bishop Clark Lowenfield was
consecrated as the first bishop of the Diocese of the Western Gulf
Coast – a diocese in formation in the ACNA which is currently comprised
of congregations in Louisiana and Texas.
Bad
news in Virginia
The
ACNA’s The Falls Church (Falls Church, Virginia) received bad news in the
recently released Virginia Supreme
Court decision – which canon lawyer Alan Haley dissects is his blog post and passionately decries in the current
edition of the Anglican Unscripted news video. In response to the
court ruling, a church
statement says:
“The
Court’s decision reverses the trial court’s ruling as to a part of our church’s
funds, and sends the case back to the trial court for further proceedings
regarding that point. But the Court has affirmed the trial court’s decision as
to our church’s real property and much of the personal property, meaning that
our lands, building, and much of our money have not been returned to
us. Please join me in praising and thanking God for his faithfulness to us
despite this result.
“Although
this is not the outcome we had hoped for, our faith and our future do not
depend on court decisions… it is a privilege to count this cost to be obedient
to Christ.
“There
is no doubt in my mind that we as a church are much stronger as a result of the
trials that we have undergone… God has enabled us to continue to plant new
churches and establish new ministries. And we have been blessed by the
friendship, support, and assistance that so many other churches continue to
provide to us. It is the body of Christ in action…”
A
number of Global South bishops are adding
their voices in support of the (independent) Diocese of South
Carolina.
In
legal affairs involving the ACNA Diocese of San Joaquin, Alan Haley discusses a recent, favorable court decision which, based is the reverse of an earlier
decision in a parallel case. Calling it a “litigation lottery” he notes, “Same
facts, same arguments, same Canon, and same California law applicable: but two
diametrically opposite results.”
Anglican Communion
GAFCon
2 global gathering confirmed for October 21-26 in Nairobi
Reporting
from Nairobi and the GAFCon Primates meeting, Canon Phil Ashey confirms that the GAFCon 2 gathering will be in Nairobi, Kenya, at All Saints cathedral,
October 21-26. The theme will be “Making disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ”. The
gathering will focus on the Great Commission, on discipleship and on creating
ministry networks across all provinces of the Anglican Communion. The first
gathering of GAFCon (Global Anglican Future Conference) was held in Jerusalem
in 2008.
Dysfunctional
instruments of Communion
Canon
Phil Ashey provides
commentary and insight on the statement released by the Standing
Committee of the Anglican Communion following their meeting last month. He
notes how US Episcopal Church (TEC) funding has steered the governance body to
become hopelessly ineffectual through interminable meetings – and,
unfortunately, this “culture” of “indaba” (ongoing discussion) is being spread
throughout the Anglican Communion through TEC’s financial influence. Canon
Ashey notes that this “…endless dialogue… seems
to be vehicle for legitimizing any behavior despite the plain reading of the
Bible.”
Canon
Ashey also observes that while “the Bible in the Life of the Church (BILC)
project contains many good resources for promoting Bible reading and study, it
contains a fatal flaw. This flaw… is that the “Context” of the person reading
or studying the Bible is as important as the content of the Bible.” Finally, he
questions the official communications agenda in the Communion, the goal of
which seems to be “…to ignore the crisis of Gospel truth in our Communion
precipitated by the peddling of false gospels, muffle the “noise” of
bible-believing Anglicans and wear them down until they have no will to resist
the agenda.”
Praying
for the news media
The Anglican
Communion News Service has issued a release to the global communion urging us “…to mark Sunday 12th May 2013 as a special
day of prayer for the media - and to contact their local newspaper, radio and
TV station to find out what they would like prayer for.” More information is
available here.
Other news in brief
Canada
An article in
the Anglican Journal based on an interview with retiring Bishop of
the Anglican Church of Canada Diocese of New Westminster contains some rather
astonishing quotes:
“What’s not widely understood is that the great
majority of conservative Anglicans remained part of the diocese of New
Westminster,” said Ingham. In fact, moderate conservatives and moderate
progressives in the diocese worked to create provisions that no one should be
compelled against their conscience to bless same-sex unions and to offer a
visiting bishop to oversee parishes that were opposed to the decision. “I’m
proud of the fact that a lot of people of goodwill on all sides came together
and helped to make it work,” he said.
But the reaction was not confined to the diocese or
even Canada. Same-sex blessings remain controversial in various parts of the
worldwide Anglican Communion, but Ingham says New Westminster’s process of
dialogue serves as an example for the Communion. Indaba conversations—an
African model of respectful listening and dialogue—are now being used to
help heal divisions in the Communion.
“If I have a word of advice, and I did actually say
this to Rowan Williams when he was the Archbishop of Canterbury,” said Ingham,
“it is that these things do pass and you do someday find yourself on the other
side of these passionate differences. And the way we deal with each other in
the midst of them determines the quality of life of the community afterwards.”
Noah
Njegovan, former executive archdeacon of the Anglican Church of Canada’s
Diocese of Brandon – and son of the diocesan bishop – is charged with embezzling $190,000 from the diocese.
United
States
The
Anglican Curmudgeon, aka lawyer Alan Haley, provides a
good chronology of the complex legal wranglings in the case of the
Diocese of South Carolina which has severed its ties with the US Episcopal
Church over the accelerating departure of TEC from its founding beliefs and
principles.
The New York
Times reports that an internal dispute which resulted in a lawsuit
has brought to light the net worth of the Episcopal Church’s financial
powerhouse, Trinity Wall Street. The church’s wealth – more that $2
billion – stems from a 1705 gift of 215 acres of Manhattan from Queen
Anne of England. Trinity’s largesse is frequently used as leverage in the
Global South.
West
Indies
The West Indies House of Bishops issued a statement reiterating their stand for the traditional definition of marriage and urging
their governments to resist pressure from the US and Britain to redefine
marriage. They said, "We urge our leaders of government and of civil
society, as well as the people of our nations, to resist any attempt to
compromise our cultural and religious principles regarding these matters… The
threat and use of economic sanctions are not new… neither is the claim to a
superior morality... While claiming to invoke human rights as the basis for
such imposition, we submit that the same principle must allow us the right to
affirm our cultural and religious convictions regarding our definitions of that
most basic of social institutions, marriage.”
England
Canon
Chris Sugden, who has spoken at several ANiC events over the years, is retiring as Executive secretary of Anglican Mainstream (England) at the end of July and
will be succeeded by the Rev Andrew Symes.
A
Church of England report, “Men and Women in Marriage”, has received mixed reviews – and multiple interpretations. Anglican Ink
reports, “The Church of England has reaffirmed its rejection of gay
marriage stating the public blessing of marriage can only take place within the
context of a lifelong, monogamous, male-female relationship. Marriage is a gift
from God, not a right granted by the state nor cultural construct said a paper
released today by the church’s Faith and Order Commission entitled “Men and
Women in Marriage”.
Others
however, see the report as giving
tacit consent to same-gender blessings. And others like activist Dr
Giles Fraser says “This is saying you can bless same-sex
relationships as long as you don’t say what you are doing. It is a wink to
people like me who want to go ahead... It is coded language which says do it,
but don’t advertise.”
Scotland
A Scotsman
article notes in passing that 50 Church of Scotland congregations
have been in talks to join the Free Kirk. This reflects the ongoing fall-out
from the Church of Scotland’s stand on the ordination of non-celibate
homosexual ministers.
Australia
Anglican Bishop John Harrower is leading the call by church leaders for the state government of Tasmania “…not to ignore
Christian values as it pushed for legislative reform on euthanasia, abortion
and same-sex marriage.” The church leaders’ declaration presented to the government can be summed up as “life, liberty and legacy”: “All
human life is precious and the sanctity of life should be upheld… Every person
has the… God-given freedom… to speak, gather, worship and generally act in
accordance with the beliefs of their faith community… A family is a God-given…
legacy… for the benefit of society generally… [and is] best embodied in the
birth and development of children within a stable, loving home built around the
marriage of a mother and father...”
Egypt
The National Post
reports intensifying persecution of Christians under the current
Islamist regime. The article humanizes their plight: “Tonight, an Egyptian Christian mother will
lie awake, worrying if her kidnapped daughter was merely forced to marry a
radical Islamist and convert or if her fate was much worse. This Sunday, an
Egyptian father will hitchhike more than 10 miles to the nearest church with
his sons, not knowing whether the boys will be kidnapped by gunmen who don’t
conceal their identities. Also uncertain is whether he and his fellow
congregants will make it through Mass alive or whether extremists will set off
explosives and shoot those inside.”
A Christian
Today article details evidence of police inaction and a government
determined to look the other way while giving lip-service to upholding the law.
Egypt’s religious leaders are tiring of the President’s assurances in the face of
continued violent attacks. Pope Tawadros II, head of
the Egyptian Coptic Church is accusing the President of neglect and is
demanding “actions not words”.
The Guardian reports that, recently, police seemed to aid Islamists as they attacked mourners
leaving St Mark's Cathedral following the
funeral of four Copts killed in earlier an earlier attack north of Cairo. In
this latest incident, two Christians were killed and at least 80 injured. This
is also reported in Anglican
Ink. Anglican Primate Presiding Bishop Mouneer Anis notes that while violence has increased in the two years since the revolution, “No
one who committed violence or killing has been brought to justice…”
Syria
Members of the Anglican Communion are urgently asked to pray for an end to the
war in Syria. The Anglican
Communion News Service reports that “This week saw the massacre of many women and
children in a besieged town near Damascus and on Monday, two bishops of Aleppo
[one Greek Orthodox and the other Syrian Orthodox] were reported kidnapped.” In a joint
statement, Archbishop Justin Welby assures Syrian Christians of his
prayers.
Uganda
Christian leaders in Uganda are opposing proposed government legislation which
would provide legal recognition for common law marriages, saying it is bad
social policy and jeopardizes the rights of women. Anglican Ink
reports that Anglican primate Archbishop Stanley Ntagali said:
"Marriage for us in the Church is not a union of convenience but it is a
lifelong partnership that can only be extinguished by the death of the partners.”
Nigeria
Islamist terrorists Boko Haram have rejected the amnesty (astonishingly)
offered them by the Nigerian government. Boko Haram has targeted Christians and
killed almost 3000 people in the last few years. Instead, Boko Haram is said by Christian
Today to have responded that they have done no wrong and it is the
government which should be seeking pardon. They justified their butchery by
saying it was their mission to drive Christians out of Nigeria. Their goal is
to turn Nigeria into an Islamist state. For a westerner’s first hand account of
the tensions in the north of Nigeria – and the remarkable ministry of the
local Anglican bishop, Bishop Ben Kwashi, and his wife Gloria – see Alan Craig’s
article in the Church of England Newspaper.
Central
Africa
The Anglican
Communion News Service reports that, “Young Anglicans from the
Church of the Province of Central Africa (CPCA) have called for urgent training
of Sunday School and youth leaders to enhance leadership skills among youths in
the Province.” In addition to Bible training, the Province, comprised of
Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Botswana, identified the need for training in
Anglicanism, facilitation, child development, HIV/AIDS and entrepreneurship.
Soul food
Resources
Prayer
meetings – A pastor offers great advice on planning,
promoting and leading effective and regular prayer meetings – for men. By
practicing the principles outlined, he reports, “In the last year we have seen
our group steadily increase and become a vibrant band of men who regularly
sacrifice time to meet early in the morning for the purpose of frontline
prayer. It is awesome. God is using it greatly!”
The
Book of Acts – The blog Unlocking the Bible shares Prof D A Carson’s method of studying Acts, including highlighting (literally)
the themes of the Holy Spirit, prayer and witness; making note of Old Testament
passages quoted, noting how records of conversions are worded, and following
the events in Acts on a map.
Effective
preaching – Learn about an inexpensive new book on preaching which is already being compared to great
works by Martin Lloyd-Jones and John Stott. Saving Eutychus was written to
combat boring and ineffective sermons, and equip preachers “for the kind of
preaching that changes the heart.” The book offers lots of practical tips and
pointers.
12 step program for inner healing and wholeness – The Ven Darrell Critch (Church of
the Good Samaritan, St John’s, NL) would like ANiC churches to know about
– and consider offering – a healing-discipleship ministry featured in a
workshop at the ANiC East Assembly. Freedom
Session is billed as “a tried,
tested and transferable Christ-centered 12 Step Program leading wounded people
into an understanding of physical, relational and spiritual wholeness through
Jesus Christ”.
Freedom
Session is offering ANiC churches a special price on resource material. Also
facilitator training is offered in Toronto at The People’s Church on August 24
for $30.
Short-term
mission trips – The book Is Our Helping Really Hurting? is said to be
essential reading for everyone involved in missions and planning short-term
trips, helping us to be more effective and act more wisely. A summary is
here. The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada also offers The Code of Best Practice in Short-Term
Mission.
The
social moral revolution – LifeSiteNews has an insightful
article which notes that same-sex marriage is “…the logical conclusion
of the whole trajectory of social and sexual mores of the past century.” If we
are to stand for traditional (Biblical) marriage, we will fail if we only
oppose “marriage equality”. Rather we must tackle “the much harder task of
rolling back the social revolution that ever permitted gay “marriage” to be
calmly discussed as a viable option by reasonable people in the first place.”
The
author concludes the excellent article, “In other words, if there is going to be any hope of
saving traditional marriage, then we will have to discontinue this charade, in
which all of us are implicated to one degree or another, of accepting or
indulging in our favorite portions of the Sexual Revolution, but then
complaining bitterly when the revolution leads precisely to where it promised
to lead. We simply cannot convincingly stand guard over the citadel while at
the same time plundering its spoils. No. If we are ever to see the restoration
of a culture of true marriage, then we are going to have to start being consistent.
And that starts with you, and me, today.”
Roman
Catholicism – Tim Challies contrasts the
humility of the man currently installed as pope with the claims of the RC
church for the position of pope.
Gender
in the Church – The Rev Barbara Richardson (St Chad’s, Toronto) would like
ANiC members to know about Christians
for Biblical Equality, an organization dedicated to the
understanding “…that the Bible, properly interpreted, teaches the fundamental
equality of men and women…” The organization now includes members in more than
100 denominations and 65 countries. An international conference is planned for
July 26-28 in Pittsburgh, PA.
Just for laughs
Father
O'Malley answers the church phone and hears: "Hello. Is this Father
O'Malley?"
"It
is!"
"This
is the IRS. Can you help us?"
"I
can!"
"Do
you know a Ted Houlihan?"
"I
do!"
"Is
he a member of your congregation?"
"He
is!"
"Did
he donate $10,000 to the church?"
"He
will."
www.mikeysFunnies.com
Thought
You have a choice: You can throw in the towel, or
you can use it to wipe the sweat off of your face.
www.mikeysFunnies.com
And now
a Word from our Sponsor
“Enter
by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to
destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the
way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
“Beware of false prophets, who come to
you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize
them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from
thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears
bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear
good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown
into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord,
Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my
Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we
not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty
works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart
from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
“Everyone
then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who
built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the
winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been
founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do
them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain
fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and
it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
Matthew
7:13-27 ESV
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