Anglicans Ablaze

The ACNA Theological Lens: The Guiding Principles Behind the Proposed ACNA Prayer Book—Part 4

2012-01-27T12:35:00.000-08:00

By Robin G. Jordan

In this article we continue our examination of The Initial Report of the Prayerbook and Common Worship Taskforce of the Anglican Church in North America with an examination of Section VII of Part 2 of the report. The first thing we notice is that the Prayerbook and Common Worship Taskforce in its title to this section omit any reference to the Thirty-Nine Articles.
VII. The catholic faith, as set forth in the Creeds and expressed in the liturgical life of the Church, provides our common praxis (lex orandi est lex credendi)

As J. I. Packer points to our attention in The Thirty-Nine Articles: Their Place and Use Today, one of the four main functions of the Articles is to act as the Church of England’s theological identity card. They were drawn up to make good the English Reformers’ claim that the Church of England is “a true apostolic church, teaching and maintaining the doctrine of the apostles, and “to show that the English Reformation, so far from being, as Rome supposed, a lapse from catholicity and apostolicity on the part of ecclesia Anglicana, was actually a recovery of these qualities through recovery of the authentic apostolic faith." [J.I. Packer; R. T. Beckwith, The Thirty-Nine Articles: Their Place and Use Today, Vancouver, BC: Regent College Publishing, 2007, p. 67.]

This omission is significant. The reason for this omission becomes self-evident in the first subsection.

1. The Holy Trinity communicates the love between the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit in the act of creation. As created in the image of God, we were made for union with God, and so are instinctively drawn to God in all of our choices [Emphasis added]. However, as creatures who have fallen into sin, our loves have become distorted and turned inward.

We inevitably choose self-gratification and lesser goods over the love of God and love of one another. We thus live in a tension between satisfying immediate desires and wanting to please God and benefit humankind. We are called to love God with all our hearts and our neighbors as ourselves, but we find ourselves entrapped in false loves.

Compare this subsection with Article 9:

Original sin stands not in the following of Adam (as the Pelagians do vainly talk), but it is the fault and corruption of the nature of every man that naturally is engendered of the offspring of Adam, whereby man is very far gone from original righteousness, and is of his own nature inclined to evil, so that the flesh lusts always contrary to the spirit; and therefore in every person born into this world, it deserves God's wrath and damnation [Emphasis added]. And this infection of nature doth remain, yea, in them that are regenerated, whereby the lust of the flesh, called in Greek phronema sarkos (which some do expound the wisdom, some sensuality, some the affection, some the desire of the flesh), is not subject to the law of God. And although there is no condemnation for them that believe and are baptized, yet the Apostle confesses that concupiscence and lust has itself the nature of sin.

In the next subsection we read:

2. God’s grace and initiative are always prior to all our responses; As God has given us both intelligence and will, we alone of all God's creation can (through grace) choose to respond to God’s initiative in love; but we refuse the love of the Holy Trinity: We can offer God our worth-ship or turn away from Him to value other things. The choice is ours.

Grace is mentioned in the second sentence of this subsection almost as an afterthought. If the phrase “through grace” had not been added to the second sentence, it would convey the idea that God’s grace and initiative is manifest in the gift of intelligence and will. What we have here is semi-Pelagianism if not Pelagianism in disguise. Compare this subsection with Article 10:

The condition of man after the fall of Adam is such, that he cannot turn and prepare himself, by his own natural strength and good works, to faith and calling upon God. Wherefore we have no power to do good works pleasant and acceptable to God, without the grace of God by Christ preventing us that we may have a good will, and working with us when we have that good will.

The third subsection separates God’s Word from Holy Scripture, referring to God’s Word in Holy Scripture. It makes no mention of the New Testament teaching that “faith comes by hearing the word of God.” We only told that God’s Word convicts us of sin and guides us in fulfilling God’s will.

3. God’s Word in Holy Scripture both convicts us of sin, and provides guidance in fulfilling God’s will. The admonitions and warnings given by God throughout the Old Testament, as well as throughout the New Testament, remain as instructions necessary to our own present growth in Christ’s Body.

The fourth subsection fails to mention that the Creeds are authoritative because they agree with the Holy Scriptures. Rather it stresses that they authentically express the “rule of faith” of the Church in the second century. This is an example of giving more authority to antiquity and therefore tradition than to Scripture, placing the “rule of antiquity” above the “rule of Scripture.” While asserting that the Creeds are “authoritative statements of Trinitarian Christian belief, it neglects to identify the basis of their authority.

4. The three Creeds--the Apostles, the Nicene, and the Athanasian--are authentic expressions of the second century “Rule of Faith” and are authoritative statements of Trinitarian Christian belief. Along with the Holy Scriptures, the faithful historic episcopate, and worship in Word and Sacrament, the Creeds distinguished apostolic faith from heresy in the early Church, and continue to be authoritative to the present day.

The Creeds tell us who God is, and what He has done for our life and our salvation in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The fifth subsection makes no mention of the Scriptures. By the use of such phrases as “Apostolic witness” and “practices of the first Christians” the taskforce appears to imply that tradition is revelation equal to Scripture. Both Scripture and tradition are the “Apostolic witness.”

5. The Church as the Body of Christ, in spite of the distortions of belief or the misuse of authority due to human sin, has been continually called back to the Apostolic witness and practice of the first Christians as the normative standard and “lens” through which present-day belief and practice must be evaluated.

Here again the rule of antiquity is placed above the rule of Scripture.

The taskforce identifies what it describes as “definitive marks of Christian identity” but does not specify what it means. For example, the phrase, “continuity with the apostolic Church,” is open to a wide range of interpretations, as is “worship in Word and Sacrament.” Are we to conclude on the basis of a lack of these marks that Baptists, Congregationalists, and Presbyterians are not Christians because they do not conform to Anglo-Catholic ideas of “continuity with the apostolic Church”? Are we likewise to conclude that members of the Salvation Army and the Society of Friends are not Christians because they do not take an Anglo-Catholic view of the sacraments? With this particular choice of marks the taskforce appears to have adopted an exclusionary policy similar to that of the nineteenth century Episcopal Church that dechurched all denominations that did not have bishops and forbade Episcopal ministers from associating with their ministers. According to this subsection congregations that do not recite the Creeds every Sunday or “celebrate God’s gracious presence in the sacraments” are not a part of the Church.

6. Canon and Creeds, continuity with the apostolic Church, and worship in Word and Sacrament continue to be definitive marks of Christian identity. All play definitive roles in Christian worship. When she gathers to worship, the Church reads the Scriptures, proclaims her faith in the Creeds, proclaims the Word of God in the preaching of the Gospel, and celebrates God's gracious presence in the sacraments. Through the presence of the Holy Spirit, the Church is shaped through Scripture and Sacraments, and thus lives the faith expressed in the Creeds upheld from the time of the Apostles.

Article 19 tells us that the visible Church of Christ is a gathering of believing people in which the pure Word of God is preached and the sacraments are ministered with due order and discipline as ordained by Christ. It does not prescribe how often the sacraments must be administered. Nowhere in Article 19 or elsewhere in the Articles do we find any reference to the celebration of “God’s gracious presence in the sacraments,” an inference that Christ is present in or under the forms of bread and wine in the Holy Communion, or Lord’s Supper.

Historic Anglicanism recognizes the Word and the Holy Spirit as the means through which God works to make us willing and able to obey God’s purpose. Historic Anglicanism does not separate the sacraments from the Scriptures, as the taskforce appears to do in this subsection. The sacraments are God’s Word made visible. The Scriptures and the sacraments both proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Lord’s Supper makes known the Lord’s death until he comes (1 Corinthians 11:26). The sacraments are effectual because they answer their purpose, the purpose for which they were instituted. They both arouse and also strengthen and confirm our faith in God (Article 25).

The taskforce in this subsection appear to suggest an equivalence of the authority of the Creeds with the authority of the Bible. The authority of the Creeds comes from their agreement with the teaching of Scripture. Article 8 states, “The three Creeds, Nicene Creed, Athanasius' Creed, and that which is commonly called the Apostles' Creed, ought thoroughly to be received and believed; for they may be proved by most certain warrants of Holy Scripture.” They derive their authority from the Scriptures. They have no authority of their own.

The seventh subsection not only gives a place to tradition as a form of revelation but also makes room for John Henry Newman’s doctrine of development.
7. In this time between the Ascension and the second coming of Christ, God has not left the Church without guidance. Through meditation on the Scriptures, through worship and prayer, through faithful theologians and saints, the Holy Spirit has continued to guide and revivify the Church throughout her history. The Holy Spirit guides the Church through enlarging our understanding rather than imposing new doctrines or disclosing new revelations contrary to the catholic and apostolic faith the Church has inherited, and of which she is the trustee.

It makes the Church’s “inherited” faith the test by which the truth of a doctrine must be tried, not Scripture. In doing so, it clearly departs from the Thirty-Nine Articles and historic Anglicanism.

Consequently, the dialectical view of the Anglican theological vocation expressed in the eighth subsection is not particularly surprising.
8. Faithfulness to Scripture and apostolic faith does not mean simply repristinating the practices of a bygone period. There will always be an on-going dialectic between reformation and “return to the sources,” and preaching the Word, administering the Sacraments, and living faithful lives in such a way as to communicate Christ in our contemporary world.

As R. T. Beckwith draws to our attention in The Church of England: What It Is And What It Stands For, the Church of England and historic Anglicanism are confessional:

The Church of England is a church that uses confessions of faith to express the teaching of the Bible. This means that it a confessional church - something which is often denied, but in the teeth of the facts. Even the laity are required to accept the catholic creeds as conditions of being baptised and confirmed and partaking of holy communion. The catholic creeds, handed down to us by the early Fathers, concentrate on teaching about the Holy Trinity and the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ; but the 39 Articles (to which the church’s authorised teachers are required to assent) add teaching on three other important areas of biblical theology, namely Revelation, Salvation and the Sacraments. [R. T. Beckwith, The Church of England: What It Is And What It Stands For, London: Latimer Trust, 1992, 2006, p. 17.]

Any Prayer Book based upon this “theological lens,” as examined so far, while it might be well received by Anglo-Catholics and Broad Church Anglicans, would be thoroughly unacceptable to conservative Evangelical Anglicans and Anglican Evangelicals committed to the classic Anglican formularies and authentic historic Anglicanism. The College of Bishops’ approval of the report raises serious questions about the College’s own commitment to the classic Anglican formularies and authentic historic Anglicanism. The GAFCON Theological Resource Group in Being Faithful: The Shape of Historic Anglicanism Today stress that acceptance of the Articles’ authority is “constitutive of Anglican identity.” [Nicholas Okoh, Vinay Samuel; Chris Sugden, General Editors, Being Faithful: The Shape of Historic Anglicanism Today, London: The Latimer Trust, 2009, p. 37.] A body that does not fully accept their authority, as is the case of the Anglican Church in North America, is not fully Anglican. A key ingredient that goes into the making up of an Anglican identity is missing.

So what's an "open door" to do with the Gospel?

2012-01-27T12:20:00.000-08:00

One of the challenges of maintaining ministry or witnessing relationships is knowing when and how to offer spiritual input into another person's life. It's easy when "visitation" of people who first visited your church is your only model of sharing the Gospel or offering ministry to others. You know the purpose of the meeting, the other person knows it, and the conversation isn't really started until the spiritual purpose is introduced. That's fine in that context.

But what about your family members -- the people you share holidays, family events, and life's ups and downs? What about your co-workers, neighbors, friends at your gym, or other people you interact with on a consistent basis? Every conversation isn't about the Gospel or other spiritual issues. In fact, if that is all you talk about you may find you don't have too many of these people in your life. They see you coming -- and go the other way.

As Christians, we have a responsibility to share the Gospel. We want to do that as often as appropriate. We are also supposed to be kind, not browbeating people or otherwise being a nuisance. When that happens, the Good News becomes bad news! None of us want that. So, when and how do you help your friends and family consider spiritual issues, particularly the Gospel? You look for open doors of opportunity. Keep reading.

Looking for Jesus in All the Wrong Places

2012-01-27T11:46:00.000-08:00

Why do we want to see God’s face when it’s only going to kill us?

I recently found myself in worship singing,

Open the eyes of my heart, Lord
Open the eyes of my heart
I want to see You
I want to see You.

And then I ducked. Keep reading.

Pastors Debate 'Should Denominations Go Away?'

2012-01-27T11:29:00.000-08:00

Seven influential megachurch pastors took part in live unscripted discussions on different approaches to ministry in the second round of The Elephant Room – an event billed as "conversations you never thought you'd hear" from pastors.

Held in Aurora, Ill., and broadcast to over 70 locations around the U.S., the discussions were mediated by James MacDonald of Chicago's Harvest Bible Chapel and Mark Driscoll of Seattle's Mars Hill Church.

With nondenominational churches growing across the county, the role of denominations and church networks was the first topic discussed.

Jack Graham, a pastor affiliated with The Southern Baptist Convention, told audiences that there is "no question denominations are diminishing in their impact, [and] frankly, a lot should go away. Especially those whose theology and commitment to world missions is basically nonexistent."

Most people in today's culture aren't looking for a church affiliated with a denomination, he said. Rather they are looking for "a 'Jesus Church' and a church preaching truth and grace."

Graham doesn't necessarily see affiliation with a denomination as a bad thing, especially ones like the SBC that have a long history of conservative theology and are giving millions of dollars to "fulfill the Great Commission." Keep reading.

The Church of England: All Theological Education to be Centralised According to Synod Motion being Tabled Next Week

2012-01-27T11:24:00.000-08:00

When Synod meets on February 6th-9th, the headline catching debates are on issues such as women bishops and assisted dying. Yet the scheduled debate on the Sheffield Report could be as significant and radical as any other, but could easily slip by unnoticed.

The working group, which began meeting 18 months ago under bishop Steven Croft, was set up to consider how the Church of England should respond to government changes in the way Higher Education is funded. While the report opens with the issue of funding, and is being tabled at Synod in that light, the report recognises "that part (but only part) of the motivation for developing the common suite of awards is financial." (paragraph 37). Moreover, no financial costing has been made available.

The focus of Synod members will most likely be on the women bishops bill. Consequently the radical suggestions of the Sheffield report - that all theological education providers will have to move to a centralised common syllabus and HE award scheme by 2015 - could we waved through unnoticed. While exemptions are possible, they seem specifically designed for Oxford and Cambridge.

Most concerningly, Synod are being asked to approve the program and timetable before crucial questions have been resolved, such as: What shall the content of the centralised syllabus be? How can it possibly be faithful to the broad range of traditions (conservative evangelicalism, charismaticism, anglo-catholicism, etc.) without simply defaulting to the "lowest common denominator" (paragraph 8)? Keep reading.

Learning to Ask for Help

2012-01-27T11:13:00.000-08:00

It's okay to not have all the answers.

I was talking to a friend recently who is second in command at a publicly traded billion-dollar company. He was telling me about an important project he was responsible for, and how at one point he became completely overwhelmed. It had gotten complicated, he said, and he wasn't sure what to do next.

"I went into my office, shut the door, and stared at the information in front of me." He told me. "I didn't know what to do, so I just let the wave of panic and anxiety wash over me."

Being in a leadership position does not necessarily mean that we will have all the answers, nor does it mean that we have suddenly acquired magical all-knowing super-powers.

My friend went on to tell me how he eventually resolved the problem by ignoring his insecurities and persisting through the issue. He started talking with others in his organization about it. This ultimately led to some good ideas for possible solutions. He did not let those negative emotions take over. Keep reading.

Six Essential Steps to Recruiting Small Group Hosts

2012-01-27T11:00:00.000-08:00

A pastor must be in a small group. You need to show your congregation that small groups are so important for spiritual growth that even you belong to one. This allows you to share about your experiences, such as how being in a small group helped you during a difficult time or how the small group keeps you from becoming isolated as a pastor. I’ve been a part of a small group for almost ten years.

In addition, require your staff and key lay leaders to be part of a small group. It will not only help them, but it will also show the congregation that becoming part of a small group is essential to Christian growth.

Being a host is not limited to leaders and teachers. In fact, we started using the term HOST at Saddleback Church because many people do not think of themselves as leaders or teachers, and so they assume they are not qualified to facilitate a small group. We stress that being a HOST simply requires four things: Have a heart for people, Open up a place to meet, Serve something to drink, Turn on a DVD.

I used to ask if people could open up their homes, but changed this to a place to meet because so many people today have their small groups at coffee houses, restaurants, even in the park. Can you serve something to drink? In other words, we’re pointing out that hosting a small group only requires some basic hospitality? Can you Turn on a DVD? I even explain that, if the group is small enough, the host can use a laptop computer.

The point is, anyone can be a small group host: teenagers, senior adults, brand new believers. And be sure to tell your congregation that the host grows the most. Keep reading.

Creating a Trustworthy Group

2012-01-27T10:53:00.000-08:00

Mark Ingmire points out ten factors

Mark Ingmire recently wrote an article called "Evaluating Trust in Your Group" for our training resource Are We Building Trust? Mark points out ten key factors that indicate a trustworthy group including authenticity, confidentiality, and listening. Two other factors, though, particularly caught my eye. Mark points to confession—sharing our shortcomings and a desire to change—and serving others in the group as key indicators of trustworthy groups.

We often think that confession in small groups only applies to the strongest, most trusting groups. However, any group that has an appropriate amount of trust should be a safe place that invites members to share their shortcomings. Even if members don't share with the whole group, sharing with even just one other member is a sign that trust is present.

Serving one another, on the other hand, may not seem like such a big issue. Some might believe the group should be focusing on serving others rather than themselves. But Mark has a good point: "The age old adage is still true, 'People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.'" Serving group members can show them just how much you care. And that can go a long way in building trust.

Here's one of the evaluations Mark created. Be sure to check out Are We Building Trust? to read the full article and learn what your score means. You'll also get seven other assessments to evaluate the level of trust in your group. Keep reading.

Ordinariate Watch: New questions, challenges confront Episcopal-turned-Catholic leader

2012-01-26T13:30:00.000-08:00

Q: It seems to me that there would be something to learn from the Eastern Catholic jurisdictions in the United States on that. Have you been contacted with them about how they ...

A: I've talked to some of them. I've listened to many of the stories that have been told about their difficulties over the years. But in a way the Catholic Church today is in such a different place than it was in the early part of the 20th century. I've felt only a great sense of welcome from the Catholic bishops. And I hope -- I don't know how to put it, because I don't know enough about the history of Eastern Catholicism to be able to speak very knowledgably about it -- but I don't want to see us living too separated of an existence from the Latin rite. For good theological and historical reasons too because that's where we came from. Whereas the Eastern-rite Catholics, they have a ritual identity that goes way, way, way back. And for Anglicans, I mean we're specifically not a ritual church; we're not recognized as a separate rite but we're part of the regular Roman rite using our Anglican patrimony. Keep reading.

"... we're specifically not a ritual church; we're not recognized as a separate rite but we're part of the regular Roman rite...." says it all. Rome feels no obligation to allow the so-called Anglican ordinariates the use of their own Anglican rite.

In India, praying for Delhi's masses

2012-01-26T13:03:00.000-08:00

Delhi is a sprawling, energetic intersection of old and new, wealth and poverty, religion and science. People from across southern Asia come for jobs, education and asylum. Delhi is massive, teeming and heaving with people.

Even though I've lived and worked in India and elsewhere in the region for years, I am easily overwhelmed by this city of nearly 17 million people and want to know it better. Join me on three prayer journeys in Delhi. Keep reading.

Bible Translator William Tyndale Gave English Language 'Nobility,' Says Author

2012-01-26T12:33:00.000-08:00

While the words "16th century England" likely call to mind images of Shakespeare, Henry VIII, and Queen Elizabeth, one author has argued that another name should be held in higher renown.

David Teems, author of the recently released Tyndale: The Man Who Gave God an English Voice, argues that a Bible translator named William Tyndale was extremely influential in shaping the English language.

"Tyndale emancipated the English language," said Teems in an interview with CP, adding that Tyndale's translation of the Bible gave the English language "nobility."

"He taught us how to shape our words, but is still largely uncelebrated," lamented Teems, who added that "England has a very poor memory of William Tyndale."

In the book, Teems focuses on the life of the translator, and also lists many words and phrases that come from Tyndale's rendering of Greek and Hebrew Scripture into English.

According to Teems, it is from Tyndale's work in the early 1500s that we get English phrases like "I am the way, the truth, and the life," "Seek, and ye shall find," "With God all things are possible," and "Fight the good fight." Keep reading.

Worship as Performance

2012-01-26T12:12:00.000-08:00

The difference between a biblical and a pagan understanding of worship lies in the difference between a verb and a noun.

What is worship? Our English word comes from the Anglo-Saxon weorthscipe, which means "to honor" or "to ascribe worth." It is interesting that, in this regard, the Book of Common Prayer, 1662, includes within the vows for the solemnization of matrimony: "with my body I thee worship." That is a fairly succinct statement of the biblical understanding of sexuality.

The Old Testament Hebrew word used for worship means "a bowing down." Keep this in mind. For the Hebrews, worship was a verb, something you did. The same idea is behind the New Testament Greek word for worship which means "to serve." In anticipation of what I will be saying later, let me suggest this to you: the difference between a biblical and a pagan understanding of worship lies in the difference between a verb and a noun. For the person of the Bible, worship is something you do. For the pagan, worship is a state of being.

What is it, then, we do when we ascribe worth to God and bow down and serve him on Sunday morning? I believe we engage in a ritual drama. By ritual, I mean we use certain fixed forms of words, i.e., sermons, prayers, hymns. By drama, I mean that the telling of a story is woven throughout those rituals: the story of God's mighty acts of salvation in Jesus Christ. Keep reading.

Six Reasons Young People Leave the Church

2012-01-26T11:39:00.000-08:00

Barna President David Kinnaman examines the trend

Isolationism. One-fourth of 18- to 29-year-olds say church demonizes everything outside church, including the music, movies, culture, and technology that define their generation.

Shallowness. One-third call church boring, about one-fourth say faith is irrelevant and Bible teaching is unclear. One-fifth say God is absent from their church experience.

Anti-science. Up to one-third say the church is out of step on scientific developments and debate.

Sex. The church is perceived as simplistic and judgmental. For a fifth or more, a "just say no" philosophy is insufficient in a techno-porno world. Young Christian singles are as sexually active as their non-churched friends, and many say they feel judged.

Exclusivity. Three in 10 young people feel the church is too exclusive in this pluralistic and multi-cultural age. And the same number feel forced to choose between their faith and their friends.

Doubters. The church is not a safe place to express doubts say over one-third of young people, and one-fourth have serious doubts they'd like to discuss.

—Adapted from a list by David Kinnaman in You Lost Me: Why Young Christians are Leaving Church … and Rethinking Faith Keep reading

The Small Group Show

2012-01-26T11:33:00.000-08:00

The Small Group Show is a free resource distributed to small group leaders, pastors and champions across the country. Hosted by Steve Gladen, current Pastor of Small Group Community at Saddleback Church, and Brett Eastman, from Lifetogether. They are interviewing some of the most influential, and interesting men and women in the small group movement today in a talk show format to help encourage, equip and inform local Small Group Champions (Pastors, Point Leaders, Staff and Volunteers) whether paid or unpaid looking to both start and sustain healthy small groups in their church.

Each show will include elements of the following 6 components: TRAINING from an experienced small group pastor or director on some relevant topic for small group ministry leaders, TOOLS that will help you and your group leaders, including new small group curriculum, video training, and books, TESTIMONIES that will both inspire and motivate you for the long haul, TRENDS that are happening in the church and in particular those that impact the small group community, TOGETHER events, conferences and activities that are coming up online and around the country, TIPS on the latest and greatest ideas and strategies to building a healthy small group ministry.

Watch Willow Creek’s New Strategy for Connecting People
Watch Episodes from The Small Group Show

Leading Small Groups with Purpose: New from Steve Gladen

2012-01-26T10:46:00.000-08:00

If you’ve been looking for small group leader training resources, you’re going to want to take a look at Leading Small Groups with Purpose. New from Steve Gladen, this is gem of a resource! Packed with real-life illustrations, how-tos, and ideas…this is a must-have for every leader.

Gladen’s earlier book, Small Groups with Purpose, was an excellent resource for point leaders (whether from the purpose driven camp or not). The same is true for Leading Small Groups with Purpose. The content is so relevant, it works regardless of the type of small group system in use. Keep reading.

The Rigsdale Judgment: The Testimony It Affords to the Protestant Character of the Church of England

2012-01-25T10:24:00.000-08:00

Church Association Tract 60

In undertaking to offer some observations on the testimony given to the Protestant character of the Church of England by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, in their Judgment on the appeal in the Folkestone Ritual Case (Ridsdale v. Clifton), I begin by expressing my belief that, quite irrespective of this Judgment, the Protestantism of our National Church has been all through its past history and policy since the epoch of the Reformation, abundantly manifest.

The protesting Articles of the Church—her appeal in every instance to Scripture—the chastened fervour of her Communion Service—the whole framework of her Liturgy, from which are discarded all petitions to Saints or Angels, and through which prayer is addressed and worship offered only to the Triune God—Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,—and still further, the Homilies of the Church, containing “godly and wholesome doctrine,” in which the leading errors of the Romish Church and her entire system of sensuous worship are authoritatively condemned, with a power of argument and emphasis of expression which leave nothing to be desired—all these forbid the entertainment of the slightest doubt by any intelligent or unprejudiced mind, as to the Protestantism of the Church of England. When to this it is added that the great fundamental laws (by which the English Church has been established), as set forth in the memorable year of 1688, when the nation was referred to in the Bill of Rights as “This Protestant Kingdom” stamp indelibly upon it the distinctive name and character of true Protestantism.

Even those outside the pale of the National Establishment must admit the impossibility of denying the fact, that however the Church may be assailed either from within or from without, by secret intrigue or by open hostility, it still bears on its very front the signs and tokens that it is the Church of the Reformation, and therefore, is in direct antagonism to the false pretensions and arrogant assumptions of the Church of Rome. Keep reading.

10 Lame Excuses for Not Praying

2012-01-25T10:14:00.000-08:00

1. "I'm too busy!"
(Jesus had a packed ministry schedule but he made time to pray.)

2. "I don't know how to do it right."
(How about just try talking to God like you would a friend?)

3. "It doesn't work anyway."
(That's not how Jesus or the early church treated it.)

4. "Prayer just changes us, not situations."
(Who told you that, the providence fairy? It changes both!)

5. "I don't sound good when I pray."
(True prayer is a heart utterance, not a speech competition.)

6. "I'd rather read the Bible than pray."
(Without both it's just a one way conversation.) Keep reading.

Solar storm sparks dazzling northern lights

2012-01-25T09:53:00.000-08:00

U.S. space weather experts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Tuesday evening that so far they had heard of no problems from the storm that triggered the auroras, which made it as far south as Wales, where the weather often doesn't cooperate with good viewing.

It was part of the strongest solar storm in years, but the sun is likely to get even more active in the next few months and years, said physicist Doug Biesecker at the U.S. Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colorado.

"To me this was a wake up call. The sun is reminding us that solar max is approaching," Biesecker said. "A lot worse is in store for us. We hope that you guys are paying attention. I would say we passed with flying colors." Keep reading.

Just Marinating: Is Jesus’ Mission IM-possible?

2012-01-25T09:38:00.000-08:00

Is the mission of Jesus Christ impossible through our life?

Jesus’ Church, which the Bible describes as His Bride, His Family, and His Body, was birthed out of His divine DNA to join Him on His mission of reconciling the world to His Father (2 Corinthians 5:20; Matthew 28:18-20).

As a pastor and a Christ-follower in general, I see that many of Jesus’ followers separate Jesus’ mission from the activities of their everyday life. Keep reading.

Fla. Church Gets Donation to Turn Strip Club into Place of Worship

2012-01-25T09:31:00.000-08:00

A small Haitian-American congregation in Palm Beach County, Fla., is remodeling a closed strip club and will begin to worship there in a few weeks thanks to the much-needed financial help it received from a megachurch.

A site in Boynton Beach where dancers allegedly engaged in sex and sold drugs will soon be a place of worship after Eglise Assemblee Evangelique de Christ finishes its renovation work. The strip club was closed after a police raid during Halloween in 2009.

While the congregation of about 250 Haitian-Americans bought the place for $600,000 last May, it didn't have sufficient funds to bring the work to completion until the Christ Fellowship megachurch in Palm Beach Gardens donated $12,000.

"Oh, Lord. I cannot explain it," The Palm Beach Post quoted Dumont Pierre, pastor of Eglise Assemblee, as saying. "For us, we consider this as a miracle." The largest check the church had received was for $250 from a local soft-drink distributor.

Pierre's congregation was earlier worshipping at a rented church building in Delray Beach, but it could not afford to pay $2,000 each month. The congregation contributed the money for the new site and its renovation but it still needed more to meet the requirements by city authorities.

Members have repainted the walls, pulled out the dancing poles and removed the old carpet that was still stinking of alcohol. "The place was very, very ugly," Pierre said. "As long as this place is in better use now, to help the community, to help young people – that will be enough." To read more, click here.

Breaking All the Rurals: Never Neglect a Passion for Winning Souls

2012-01-25T08:59:00.000-08:00

Spurgeon said it best: If sinners will be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our bodies. And if they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees, imploring them to stay. If Hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go there unwarned and unprayed for.

James 5:20 Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins

I am asked 3 Questions almost every time I share:

-How do you continue a passion for growth?
-How do you replace members that left?
-What can I do to overcome an unwilling faction?
To read more, click here.

Barbershop patrons stir a church plant

2012-01-25T08:40:00.000-08:00

You can tell a lot about a community from the inside of a barbershop. Just about everyone, at some time or another, needs a haircut.

Yet of all the patrons at the beauty and barbershop operated by Sean and Taquella Boone in metro St. Louis, one group stood out to the couple -- young African-Americans who wanted no part of the traditional church.

The Boones saw them every day. They needed to hear about Jesus, but most wouldn't have felt comfortable in the aging churches nearby.

"There's this huge generation of people who just have never heard the Gospel in a language they can understand," Sean Boone said.

So Boone started a church, New Beginnings Christian Fellowship, three years ago to reach people no one else was reaching -- the kind of people who frequented his barbershop. Now a North American Mission Board church planter working bivocationally, he is one of a handful of church planters engaging metropolitan St. Louis with the Gospel in new and fresh ways. To read more, click here.

Related article and video: ST. LOUIS: 75 new churches is goal

The Challenges of Networking

2012-01-24T10:20:00.000-08:00

Editor's Note: This article was originally posted on The Heritage Anglican Network on February 24, 2011. It is relevant today as they was then.

By Robin G. Jordan

This past November Treading Grain David Wood published a brief article about plans to form an ACNA diocese in the Carolinas. More recently on Baby Blue Cafe Mary Aire published an article about proposals for the reorganization of the CANA District of Virginia into an ACNA diocese. These articles document a trend in the churches forming the Anglican Church in North America to organize in territory-based judicatories.

This trend does not surprise me as a number of voices on the Internet have called for the organization of all ACNA churches in a particular geographic area into a diocese. This form of organization is the one with which the former Anglicans and Episcopalians that form the nucleus of the ACNA are the most familiar. It is the way that the Anglican Church of Canada and The Episcopal Church are organized. It is how the Church of England and a number of other Anglican provinces are organized.

The diocese was the way that the feudal Medieval Church was organized, each bishop with his own fiefdom, palace, retainers, vassals, and serfs. It was also how the Roman Empire was organized. It was from the Roman Empire that the Eastern and Western Church borrowed this form of organization.

As noted in my article, “Affinity Networks,” the Celtic Church would adopt a different form of organization, a network of Christian communities that shared an affinity with each other. It was more suited to conditions in Ireland than the diocese. Patrick attempted to establish the diocesan form of organization in Ireland but it did not survive his death.

With an eye to integrating AMiA and REC congregations and clergy into the life of the diocese, the Diocese of the Central Gulf and the Diocese of the South incorporated provisions into their constitutions and canons opening various bodies of the diocese to these congregations and clergy with one exception—the Standing Committee. The hope is that such congregations and clergy will eventually unite with the new dioceses.

This call for the integration of all churches in a particular geographic area in an ACNA diocese received a rebuff when the Anglican Mission in the Americas opted to become a ministry partner to the ACNA instead of dismantling its organizational structure in order to create new ACNA dioceses. The AMiA had found that its particular form of organization was more effective for achieving its purposes of church planting and evangelism than the traditional diocese. Instead of releasing new churches to the ACNA, the AMiA has enfolded them in its own parachurch organization.

The Reformed Episcopal Church has not shown itself to be in any rush to dismantle its own organizational structure. One observer of developments in the ACNA with whom I am acquainted believes that as other founding entities of the ACNA release their congregations and clergy to ACNA dioceses, the REC will follow suit. Indeed REC will begin feeling pressure to release its churches to ACNA dioceses. While I do not rule out the possibility, I have so far not seen any signs of this development happening. I have also received reports of REC new church plants that have been enfolded into its own parachurch organization. I have adopted a “wait-and-see” attitude regarding what direction the REC will take.

This trend points to collective amnesia on the part of Anglicans and Episcopalians regarding the problems and disadvantages of this particular form of organization—the territory-based judicatory. It brings together congregations and clergy that have little in common beyond that they are located in the territorial bounds of the same judicatory. Anglo-Catholics, charismatics, evangelicals, and “mere Christians” are thrown together to make the best of a bad arrangement.

Conservative evangelicals historically have not benefited from such an arrangement. They have at times found themselves in a diocese in which the bishop is intent upon forcing the churches of the diocese into an Anglo-Catholic or liberal mold and to reshape them to his liking. This has led to serious theological disputes between the bishop and themselves. Conservative evangelical congregations have been forced to accept Anglo-Catholic or liberal clergy. Conservative evangelical ministerial candidates have been denied permission to attend conservative evangelical seminaries and theological colleges. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?

Another observer of developments in the ACNA with whom I am also acquainted believes that the pending formation of these two dioceses mark a rapidly closing window of opportunity for conservative evangelicals in the ACNA to form a non-geographic diocese or other grouping in that body to enfold congregations and clergy that are committed to upholding the historic Anglican formularies and promoting the Protestant and Reformed heritage of the Church of England. He may be right. The passage of time and further developments in the ACNA will reveal whether he is.

On the other hand, there may be no real openness in the ACNA to the formation of such a judicatory. A judicatory that is more firmly committed than the ACNA to the Jerusalem Declaration would be perceived as a threat to the perception of Anglicans outside of North America that the ACNA is GAFCON in North America. It would point to the ACNA’s own token commitment to the Jerusalem Declaration. An isolated, marginalized, scattered, and weak conservative evangelical wing prevents it from playing any appreciable role in a settlement that might shape the direction of the ACNA. One element in the ACNA would prefer to keep it that way.

Conservative evangelicals have historically tended to focus upon parish ministry. The kind of organizations that they are likely to form and support are those that benefit parish ministry. The Church of England’s Church Pastoral Aid Society (CPAS) is a good example. For a good part of its history the Church of England’s conservative evangelical wing isolated itself from the life of the denomination. The result was that Anglo-Catholics and liberals would come to dominate the decision-making boards, commissions, committees, and councils of the Church of England, as well as the episcopate in the English Church. Only in the second half of the twentieth century would the conservative evangelical wing recognize the folly of its ways and take a more active role in denominational affairs.

A preoccupation with parish work is one of the major obstacles to the organization of conservative evangelicals in the ACNA and the AMiA to further their common interests. They appear set upon following in the footsteps of previous generations of conservative evangelicals. They do not seem to have learned from the mistakes of the past.

Among the other developments that weaken the cause of traditional Anglican evangelicalism in North America is a separatist tendency in those who should be championing its cause. Conservative evangelicals have since the nineteenth century been subject to pressure not only from within their own ranks but also from what are sometimes known as “the Free Churches” to break with the Church of England in the United Kingdom and the Protestant Episcopal Church in North United States and to establish a doctrinally pure denomination. They have also experienced pressure from the Tractarians, the Ritualists, and their successors to secede. The Reformed Episcopal Church and the Free Church of England are the result of nineteenth century attempts to establish such denominations. So is the Plymouth Brethren.

Bishop of Liverpool J. C. Ryle who was a leading nineteenth century conservative evangelical fought against this tendency in conservative evangelicals in his day. He urged them not to abandon the Church of England.

The events of the past 40 years has strengthened this inclination in conservative evangelicals in North America as one group after another has succeeded from The Episcopal Church over issues of doctrine and practice. Separation is no longer Plan B if Plan A fails. It has become Plan A.

The conservative evangelical focus upon parish ministry may itself be a mild form of separatism. Conservative evangelical clergy who find themselves the only Reformed minister in a judicatory are apt to keep their distance from other clergy who do not share their Reformed views. This may explain the past reluctance of conservative evangelical clergy to participate in denominational boards, commissions, committees, and councils. In their minds their participation in these gatherings would entail collaboration with ministers who were not Reformed in their views. The prospect of such collaboration evoked feelings of doubt and uneasiness about the propriety of their participation in the gatherings and caused them hesitance about taking part in them. Rather than suffer the prick of a troubled conscience they avoided gatherings of this type.

I am convinced that the future of historic Anglicanism in North America is tied that of traditional Anglican evangelicalism. If traditional Anglican evangelicalism does not have a future in North America, historic Anglicanism does not have a future either. Of all the schools of thought in the contemporary Anglican Communion, only the conservative evangelicals can truly claim a recognizable continuity not only with the primitive and apostolic Church but also the Protestant Reformation. They are the heirs of the English Reformers. They are the spiritual descendants of Cranmer, Latimer, Ridley, Jewel, Parker, Hooker, and Whitfield.

I am also convinced the way forward for conservative evangelicals in the Anglican Church of Canada, the ACNA, the AMiA, TEC and other Anglican bodies in North America and those outside these bodies is to network with each other and with conservative evangelicals outside of North America. They can provide each other with encouragement, support, and assistance and work together for the furtherance of their common interests. Even if the window for a non-geographic judicatory n the ACNA closes, conservative evangelicals should organize into a formal or informal affinity network. This network should be a part of a larger affinity network that enfolds affinity networks in the other Anglican bodies and outside of them and has links to conservative evangelicals outside of North America.

One of the challenges of creating networks of conservative evangelicals is that conservative evangelicals have a tendency to look around them and when they do not immediately see other conservative evangelicals like themselves, they are apt to conclude that they are a dying breed. Because they do no see anyone within the limited range of their vision, they assume that there is no one. They surrender to hopelessness. “What is the point?” they exclaim.

Conservative evangelicals, however, are not noted for their visibility. They do not wave a flag or blow a trumpet to attract attention to themselves. Due to their particular circumstances they may prefer to not draw attention to themselves and to avoid the limelight. In North American and even in the United Kingdom they are not likely to be found in high profile leadership positions.

Those whom we should be seeking to enfold into a network of conservative evangelicals may not yet be conservative evangelicals. We should be endeavoring not only to bring into such a network those who share our views on every point but also those who might over time come to appreciate and even adopt our views and who can be encouraged to gradually move in a conservative evangelical direction. We cannot always expect people to immediately see the merit of our views. Those who are quick to adopt our position on an issue may just as quickly adopt the position of someone else.

A farmer, when he plants wheat, does not expect the seed to produce an immediate yield--to spring up right away as mature plants, the stalks bent double from the weight of the heads of grain. He knows that the seed must be allowed to sprout. The young wheat must be watered. It must be given an opportunity to grow and to mature. When it has ripened, then the wheat is ready for harvest.

We must also be wary of the very human proclivity to conclude from a handful of bruised, rotten, or shriveled apples that the whole apple crop is ruined. In our impatience we are prone to discard the good with the bad. We lump together those who eventually might support our cause with those who will always be its fiercest opponents.

Paul was an enemy of the Lord and a persecutor of the brethren. Jesus met him on the road to Damascus and changed his life. Jesus called Peter to follow him early in his ministry. Peter was a part of Jesus’ innermost circle of followers. Yet Peter did not always grasp what Jesus was saying. He fell away when Jesus was arrested. When he heard the news of Jesus’ resurrection, he did not believe. Under pressure from the Judeacizers he shunned the Gentiles. It took a vision from God to put his feet back on the right path.

We cannot expect everyone to have a road to Damascus experience—to see a bright light, to hear a voice from heaven, and to be immediately convinced of the rightness of our views. Most of people who do come to our position on key issues are going to come slowly to that position as we did.

It is also not necessary that other people share our view on every point—only on what really matters. The Protestant Reformed Church of England required uniformity on essential matters. She permitted liberty of conscience on non-essential matters, matters of indifference.

The creation of a network of conservative evangelicals like the launching of a new church or any other undertaking must begin with prayer. Only through prayer can we discern God’s will in the matter. We must ask God for guidance—to show us what he would have us do. We must also ask Him for the good will and the grace to accomplish his purposes.

The Holy Spirit was at work in the Reformation of the sixteenth century, the rediscovery of the gospel of divine grace to which the New Testament bears witness, and the spiritual movement that flowed from this rediscovery. I believe that the Holy Spirit is at work in our day, bringing about a revival of gospel teaching.

Conservative evangelicals may not be large in numbers. But God works through the weak and the insignificant. He takes those who are nothing and does great things.

I believe that the organization of conservative evangelicals into networks is God’s will. The renewal of classical Anglican evangelicalism and historic Anglicanism are more than the rebirth of a tradition. They are a major part of this revival of gospel teaching.

Megachurch Revival Reignites Discipleship vs. Evangelism Debate

2012-01-24T10:05:00.000-08:00

What's more important? Reaching the lost or growing the reached? Over the past two weeks, the ongoing debate between discipleship and evangelism took center stage during one megachurch's Code Orange Revival.

Elevation Church, a seeker-friendly church in Charlotte, N.C., hosted a 12-night "old-school revival," that ended Sunday night, featuring presentations from well-known pastors like Ed Young, Perry Noble and T.D. Jakes. The event drew thousands of attendees but it also attracted critics, who raised important questions for the evangelical church.

Steven Furtick, lead pastor of Elevation, has made it clear that his church's main goal is about reaching out to unbelievers. In fact, his church's list of core values called "The Code" states: "We Need Your Seat. We are more concerned with the people we are trying to reach than the people we are trying to keep."

He told those attending the Code Orange Revival on night seven, "We're all about the numbers." Elevation has grown to six campuses in just six years and claims to have more than 10,000 people attending their services on any given Sunday.

Many pastors, including Craig Groeschel and Ed Young, have taken note of the rapid growth. Young, pastor of Texas-based Fellowship Church and author of the new book Sexperiment, highlighted on night five of the revival that Elevation has "baptized about a 'squillion' people. That's growth."

However, a wide variety of theologians and watchdog organizations have a different view. To read more, click here.

You Lost Me

2012-01-24T09:53:00.000-08:00

I’ll get straight to the point: you need to read You Lost Me: Why Young Christians Are Leaving Church...and Rethinking Faith by David Kinnaman. If you’re at all interested for the future of the church. If you’re a church leader – youth minister, senior minister, or bishop. If you’re a parent, or grandparent. If you’re a teenager or young adult, particularly if you’re wondering whether or not to hang around the church for much longer. You need to read this book (here’s a video intro for the digital natives).

New from the Barna group in the US, You Lost Me is reporting on research done among young adults who used to be members of the church. ‘Used to be’ is the key. The title of the book gives voice to the response young adults are making to the church – it’s what you say when you’re talking with someone and they start saying something that doesn’t make sense anymore: ‘hang on, you lost me’.

The research spoke with young adults with a Christian background to hear their stories of why they’ve left the church and sometimes the Christian faith all together. The book is a companion of sorts to Kinnaman’s previous book, unChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity... and Why It Matters that considered the reasons young non-Christians reject the Christian faith. Where the previous book spoke with the ‘outsiders’, this book is about the ‘insiders’, or at least those who were insiders in the past. To read more, click here.

Is Trinity School for Ministry really "an evangelical seminary in the Anglican tradition"?

2012-01-24T09:42:00.000-08:00

Recovering the Christian Mind: Educating the Anglican Ministry Today

The story of the up-side down mice (Roald Dahl), as used by Jeremy Begbie. Our challenge: living the right-way up in an upside down world as we await the returning King.

The Vision

Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." (Matt 28:18-20, ESV)

Church's task: turn pagans -> Christians, God's enemies -> friends, children of darkness -> light

- That is the task of the whole Church, and Anglicans have a vital part to play

- Our vision: Reformed Catholicism. Justification by faith understood in Catholic faith and order [Emphasis added]

- Cranmer's vision of a holy nation; but not limited to one nation

- People of prayer, word, sacraments, and a life orientated to service in Christ's name by the Spirit

- High view of the laity (lay theologians and apologists: S.T. Coleridge, D.L. Sayers, C.S. Lewis...)

- High expectation of the ordained: learned clergy (pastor-theologians: Hooker, Donne, Wesley...) To read more, click here.

How to Spend an Hour in Prayer

2012-01-24T09:35:00.000-08:00

Pastor, how can I spend more time in prayer? What can I possibly talk to God about for an hour?

I know an hour seems like a long time to pray.

There are many patterns you could use to format your extended prayer time but here’s away to structure an hour in prayer with 12 Bible-based sections. Spend about 5 minutes on each focus point and you will spend an hour in prayer before you know it. To read more, click here.

Breaking All the Rurals: Power in Preaching

2012-01-24T09:25:00.000-08:00

Power in preaching results in changed lives. Preaching without God’s power, numbs lives. We know that it comes, first and foremost, from personal devotion and prayer. I also know we can approach the “pulpit” with powerless presentations. Exceptional blessing, favor, and power in our teaching is given when we about these things.... To read more, click here.

12 Lessons Learned In 12 Years in Church Planting (Parts 1 and 2)

2012-01-24T09:18:00.000-08:00

Twelve years ago this week, we launched weekly worship services at Mountain Lake Church. Wow. What a ride! God has used me despite my stupidity; and I have learned so much along the way. Here’s the first part of my top twelve lessons I’ve learned in the last twelve years. To read more of Part 1, click here.

7. Change the way people think about church: In the first year of our church, we made a decision. In everything we do, we’re going to seek to change the way people think about church. This is so much bigger than the type of music we do, or our dress, even though they are parts of the equation! It affects everything we do. Examples? Folks don’t have to be “Christians” to go on a mission trip. They might become one by going! They don’t have to be a “Christians” to volunteer at our church, much less, be a member! Our small groups are always not only open to new people, but are going after people who don’t go to church and inviting them to be a part! Every group is responsible to “get off the couch” and serve and care missionally for people groups in our community. Just small simple examples of how we’re changing the way people think about church both inside and outside our church in our community. To read more of Part 2, click here.

Ordinariate Watch: New ordinariate and 1980 pastoral provision: An analysis

2012-01-24T07:57:00.000-08:00

How are the new U.S. Catholic ordinariate for former Anglican groups and the 1980 U.S. pastoral provision for Episcopal (Anglican) priests who become Catholics different? What do they have in common? What does the presence of Catholics in the new ordinariate mean for other Catholics?

The pastoral, canonical, ecclesiastical and other questions posed by the new developments are numerous and challenging, but here is an attempt to sort out a few of the bigger ones.

To take the third question first, other Catholics -- Eastern or Latin rite -- who were baptized or confirmed into the church as Latin or Eastern Catholics can legitimately participate in the life and worship of an Anglican-use Catholic community, but ordinarily, they may not become a formal member of that community.

An exception is marriage, for which church laws similar to those applying to Latin-Eastern rite Catholic marriages would come into play: An Eastern or Latin Catholic marrying a Catholic in the new Anglican-use ordinariate could become a member of that ordinariate if the couple agrees on that decision. To read more, click here.

Planes to reroute following massive solar eruption

2012-01-23T10:50:00.000-08:00

A powerful solar eruption is expected to blast a stream of charged particles toward Earth Tuesday, Jan. 24, as the strongest radiation storm since 2005 rages on the sun.

Early this morning (0359 GMT Jan. 23, which corresponds to late Sunday, Jan. 22 at 10:59 p.m. EST), NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory caught an extreme ultraviolet flash from a huge eruption on the sun, according to the skywatching website Spaceweather.com.

The solar flare spewed from sunspot 1402, a region of the sun that has become increasingly active lately. Several NASA satellites, including the Solar Dynamics Observatory, the Solar Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), and the Stereo spacecraft observed the massive sun storm.

A barrage of charged particles triggered by this morning's solar flare is expected to hit Earth tomorrow at around 9 a.m. EST (1400 GMT), according to experts at the Space Weather Prediction Center, a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. [Video & photos of the huge solar flare]

According to NOAA, this is the strongest solar radiation storm since May 2005, and as a precaution, polar flights on Earth are expected to be re-routed within the next few hours, Kathy Sullivan, deputy administrator of NOAA, said today at the 92nd annual American Meteorological Society meeting in New Orleans, La.

Scientists call these electromagnetic bursts "coronal mass ejections" (CMEs), and they are closely studied because they can produce potentially harmful geomagnetic storms when the charged particles rain down Earth's magnetic field lines.

In addition to generating stronger than normal displays of Earth's auroras (also known as the northern and southern lights), geomagnetic storms aimed directly at our planet can also disrupt satellites in orbit, cause widespread communications interference and damage other electronic infrastructures. To read more, click here.

What Does Revival Look Like in 2012?

2012-01-23T10:42:00.000-08:00

Back in the olden days (the mid-1990′s) I preached a few times at a small church (averaging 12 each Sunday) in eastern Arkansas. They had a rotation system that determined who would take the visiting speaker home for lunch, and one day my lot fell to two elderly ladies who made awesome roast beef!

As I sat in their living room visiting after lunch, they brought out some photo albums from the church’s history. I was amazed to see crowds of people stuffed so tight into the little white clapboard building that they were spilling out into the yard around the church with small groups gathered around each window leaning in to hear a loud evangelist thunder forth the gospel. The next few photos were of the mass baptisms they conducted in the White River – dozens had come to claim Jesus Christ.

Some argue that “revival” isn’t about people being saved but about the church coming back to life. I agree, but the byproduct of the church coming to life is nearly always that lost people knowing and claiming Christ as Savior to the glory of God. I had grown up in a similar tradition with loud evangelists, standing-room only crowds, and mass baptisms in Clear Fork Creek in southern Kentucky.

I’ll never forget those two ladies’ question to me. “Pastor, why don’t we see revivals like these anymore?” To read more, click here.

Will Immigration Slowdown Prompt a Bilingual Ministry Bust?

2012-01-23T10:05:00.000-08:00

Churches retool Hispanic outreach after recession impact.

One recession-driven social trend is attracting the attention of church growth experts: Immigration from Mexico and the rest of Latin America—once thought to be nearly bottomless—has dried up to a trickle.

A Pew Hispanic Center analysis of Mexican government data shows the number of Mexicans leaving their country for the United States each year has declined from more than one million in 2006 to 404,000 in 2010—a 60 percent reduction. U.S. Border Patrol arrests in the Southwest have fallen from a peak of 1.6 million in 2000 to about 448,000 in 2010.

Much of the decline comes as U.S. unemployment remains stubbornly high. South of the border, Mexican officials say improved social services have made staying home more attractive.

Couple that with increasingly strict immigration policies in the United States, and Spanish-speaking churches in some states are shutting their doors.

"We are definitely seeing a definitive, measurable decrease in the number of first-generation people," said Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference.

It's a noteworthy change for churches that have eyed the Hispanic population for years as the greatest source of growth. Armed with data projecting that by 2050, whites will become a minority and Hispanics will jump from 14 percent of the U.S. population to nearly 30 percent, churches have launched English as a Second Language classes and Spanish-language services for immigrants.

So is the slowdown cause to toss aside their bilingual Bibles and cancel the Spanish service?

Not so fast, experts say. To read more, click here.

The Business of Religion vs. Jesus

2012-01-23T09:49:00.000-08:00

Sorry, but you can't reconstruct a stripped down, organic, anti-corporate version of what you think Jesus should be.

A talented young believer posted a video of himself delivering a poem last week about what's wrong the Church today and the thing has gone crazy-viral. Nearly 15 million views at this point. Quite remarkable.

Obviously, the piece is connecting with people. I would guess that most are connecting positively because they're interested in seeing a better angle on their Christian faith that's different than what they've been seeing. That desire is always good.

My interest is not the thoughts or offering of the young man who posted it. (I do like that it's an offering of discipleship through art, something that has a long and beautiful history in the church.) My interest is the wild response itself.

Why the huge reaction? One can only guess. So I will. To read more, click here.

Seven Reasons Leaders Fail

2012-01-23T09:25:00.000-08:00

I recently conducted a fascinating exercise. I looked at the stories and records of leaders who have failed. While there is some subjectivity to the definition of failure, I think most would agree with my choices. There seems to be near unanimity that the leaders I researched did not fare well in their roles.

Some of my choices were historical figures for whom much has been written. Others were virtual unknowns in the annals of leadership history. Little, if nothing, has been written on them. But I have followed their lives, and they fall into the same patterns of the more publicized leadership failures. Others who know these lesser-known persons agree with my assessment without exception.

What then are the common characteristics of leaders who fail? I have no expectation that my list is exhaustive, but it was amazing to me to see some of these traits repeated several times. To read more, click here.

Lee Strobel: We're on Cusp of Golden Era of Apologetics

2012-01-23T09:18:00.000-08:00

Christians should understand that being able to give reasons for their faith is not merely an option – it's biblically mandated, says apologetics author and speaker Lee Strobel.

To help Christians better explain and defend their faith, Strobel and ministry associate Mark Mittelberg have launched The Institute at Cherry Hills, an apologetics and evangelism ministry at Cherry Hills Community Church in Highlands Ranch, Colo. The institute is aimed at innovating new approaches to defending and sharing the faith.

Strobel and Mittelberg will kick off a series of national simulcasts to be hosted at churches starting in March with the event "The Questions Christians Hope No One Will Ask," based on Mittelberg's book by the same title.

While an atheist, Strobel began to write a book disproving the existence of Jesus and ended up realizing he could not. Instead, he ended up writing his best-selling book, The Case for Christ: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus. He has authored more than 20 books, including a series of other "Case for…" works, such as The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity.

The Christian Post asked Strobel this week to discuss the current state of Christian apologetics via an email interview. To read more, click here.

AMIA: A Guest Perspective on Two Conferences

2012-01-23T09:02:00.000-08:00

As I fly home after a week of Winter Conferencing and Sacred Assembling, I have some time to reflect on, as Chairman Murphy says, "What I think I think." I am an AMiA priest of going on 11 years, a former network leader, and a careful observer and listener to both sides in this family squabble and potential "divorce." (I am a "world-class hopeful romantic" to borrow a movie line, but I fear the divorce may already have happened.)

That's what it feels like after all is said and done. I haven't actually decided if the divorce is final yet, but there are going to have to be some big changes for repentant words and reconciliation to turn into restoration. And there is alot more, as with any family dysfunction, that is not seen than is seen publicly. I am convinced however, that love actually does "cover a multitude of sins" so you won't find any expose' here. To read more, click here.

Severe weather rakes Southeast; 2 dead in Alabama

2012-01-23T08:51:00.000-08:00

Severe weather tore across the Southeast early Monday, killing at least two people and spreading damage through at least two states, emergency officials said.

The two fatalities reported were near Birmingham, Alabama, according to Jefferson County sheriff's Sgt. Jack Self.

One was a 16-year-old in the city of Clay, northeast of the city, and the second was an 82-year-old man in the Oak Grove community west of Birmingham, Self said.

The teenager was a female, Self said, although the fatality was initially reported as a male. Authorities believe the same storm, which struck about 3:30 a.m. (4:30 a.m. ET), was responsible for the deaths, he said.

Severe weather hits Arkansas At least 100 injuries were reported, from cuts and bruises to broken bones, Self said. Several homes were reported destroyed.

Emergency crews were working to locate people who may be trapped or injured and clear roads, several of which were impassable, the sheriff's office said. To read more, click here.

A Picture of “Healthy” Discipleship

2012-01-21T10:51:00.000-08:00

I discipled my daughter this morning. Not about Jesus; about oranges. In our household these days, we are trying to eat a little healthier. After finishing her cereal this morning, my 12 yr old Hannah said “I’m still hungry.” “You can have an orange,” I said. “OK…”( I could see the disappointment); “but I want to peel it,” she said. She tried. She couldn’t. I offered. She accepted.

However, here’s what I told my daughter: “Hannah, today I’ll show you how to peel it. Tomorrow, though, I want you to give it a try. you can give it a shot and I’ll watch; after that, you should be a professional orange peeler.” “OK,” she said. She smiled. I did, too. A “healthy” disciple is in process! To read more, click here.

Moving Forward Together: Sacred Assembly Wrap-Up

2012-01-21T10:25:00.000-08:00

Sometimes on vacation we will write to a friend from some temporary paradise, "I wish you were here". I must say, if you are reading this article and could not make it to the Sacred Assembly called Moving Forward Together [MFT] I truly wish you were there. I say that because for me it was at certain points as if we were indeed in Paradise. I don't believe I have ever been at such a large gathering where there was such intense seeking and subdued, worshipful, spiritual energy. To see such large number of clergy and laity seeking the face of God together in an atmosphere of open prolonged, sincere, and dignified worship, humility, sorrow for sin, confession, and repentance was an awesome thing.

Those who have been following the story of the dust-up between AMiA and it's provincial home in Rwanda would, like myself, headed toward Raleigh expecting a far different program and agenda than what actually materialized over the eighteen actual hours of meeting together at the Church of the Apostles.

Some would have expected the meeting to have the spirit of a business meeting. In other words, what do we do now? What are the structures, who are the leaders, what is our new name, where is the new headquarters going to be, and etcetera? Others would have expected a time of recriminations and accusations directed at some people and explanations and justifications on the part of others. Some would have expected a 'show' or a 'pep rally atmosphere' to get everyone excited and to draw everyone in and get 'momentum' for a new movement. Then experienced Anglicans may have expected papering over problems and endless dialogue and committee meetings.

Speaking for myself, but also according to others, what we saw and what actually transpired in Raleigh was an unexpected and 'once in a lifetime' experience for an assembly of ministers in a time of crisis, confusion, and pain. To read more, click here.

Strictly prohibited

2012-01-21T10:21:00.000-08:00

"Welcome to the church of what's happening now. Head straight through - it costs nothing but change."

- Lyrics from "The Church of What's Happening Now," by Sia

One positive development stemming from the sexual abuse scandal that has cast a pall over the Roman Catholic Church is that churches in this province are getting better at talking about it. To read more, click here.

Enormous solar outburst could dazzle your weekend

2012-01-21T10:10:00.000-08:00

Auroras may dazzle more people than usual this weekend as Earth receives a glancing blow from an enormous solar outburst that erupted on Jan. 19.

Auroras may dazzle more people than usual this weekend as Earth receives a glancing blow from an enormous solar outburst that erupted on Jan. 19.

The outburst, known as a coronal mass ejection (CME), was detected by sun-watching satellites.

Researchers at the University of Alaska's Geophysical Institute predict that auroras should be visible from Seattle, Des Moines, Chicago, and Cleveland, to Boston and Halifax, Nova Scotia Saturday and Sunday nights, weather permitting. To read more, click here.

At least 143 dead after multiple bombs rock Nigerian city in attacks aimed at government targets

2012-01-21T09:51:00.000-08:00

At least 143 people have been killed in multiple bomb blasts targeting security buildings in Nigeria's second largest city Kano last night.

Initial reports suggested seven people had been killed in the attacks but that figure has now risen to 143 after more than 100 bodies were taken to the morgue at Murtala Muhammed Specialist Hospital in the city centre.

The attacks on police headquarters and security services head offices prompted the government to impose a dusk-to-dawn curfew in the city - which has a population of more than 10 million people. To read more, click here.

Disaffected Presbyterians Announce New Evangelical Body

2012-01-21T08:39:00.000-08:00

Presbyterians discontent with what they view as an abandonment of Scripture in the PC(USA) announced Thursday that they are launching their own Reformed body.

Calling it the Evangelical Covenant Order of Presbyterians, the group presented the body not as an "alternative" but rather as a structure that "enables ministry," Layman.org quoted Dr. John Ortberg, pastor of Menlo Park Presbyterian Church, as saying.

"Every organism lives in a larger system. A healthy ecosystem filters out toxins so that organisms can thrive," Ortberg said at a conference of The Fellowship of Presbyterians – the group launching ECO. "The goal is to build a spiritual ecosystem that in turn builds flourishing churches that make disciples of Jesus Christ."

More than 2,000 Presbyterians gathered in Orlando this week to provide support for congregations discontent with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and to officially launch the new church body.

Attendees are weighing whether to join the ECO or remain a faithful witness in the PC(USA).

"We are not angry, we are determined," said ECO President John Crosby, according to Presbyterian News Service. "We are not 'after' or 'against' them."

Ortberg also noted that they want to "honor, not dishonor, our brothers and sisters in the PC(USA)."To read more, click here.

Celebrate The Book of Common Prayer in Church Life

2012-01-21T08:18:00.000-08:00

BCP 350th Anniversary

This year is the 350th anniversary of The Book of Common Prayer--not the 1928 Prayer Book, the 1962 Canadian Prayer Book, or the 1979 Prayer Book but the classical Anglican Prayer, indeed the quintessential Anglican Prayer Book--The Book of Common Prayer of 1662. The Prayer Book Society is inviting churches not only in the United Kingdom but around the world to join the celebration. To learn more, click here.

High Points of Moving Forward Together

2012-01-20T14:14:00.000-08:00

A Sacred Assembly for Worship, Reconciliation, and Connection

By Robin G. Jordan

Everyone who attended Moving Forward Together, I believe, came away with what they experienced were high points of the Sacred Assembly. I am going to share a number of my own personal high points with the readers of Anglicans Ablaze.

One of the highest points of the gathering, if not the highest, was meeting you face to face. A number of you introduced yourselves during the three days of the gathering. I would rank with meeting you all meeting several individuals who had communicated with me regarding various matters during the past eight years. We are now able to put faces with names.

A second high point of the gathering for me was meeting so many young pastors who are Reformed in their theological outlook. As I described the experience to a friend, it was like falling asleep in a bed of bluebells in the woods to wake up surrounded by the Fair Folk. They are not a figment of my imagination as I have been repeatedly told. They are real!

The English country folk at one time believed that if you went picking bluebells in the woods or fell asleep among the bluebells, you would be spirited away to the land of Fairie and never seen again. The beds of bluebells in the wood, hawthorn bushes, certain bodies of water, heaths, hills, mounds, valleys, and wells, and rings of mushrooms and toadstools, were believed to be the doorways between our worlds and theirs.

A third high point of the gathering for me was meeting one of my readers who is involved in small town and rural ministry. I live in a part of Kentucky that is largely rural. There is a great need for the people living in small towns and rural areas to hear the Gospel. Small town and rural ministry has its particular challenges, and I plan to post more articles on small town and rural ministry and identify more resources related to this important ministry in 2012.

A fourth high point of the gathering for me was singing hymns at the service of Holy Communion on Day 1, the services of Morning and Evening Prayer on Day 2, and the service of Holy Communion on Day 3, and hearing the congregation singing as one voice.

The church with which I am sojourning has an incredible music ministry. However, most of the songs used in the worship gatherings are praise and worship and contemporary Christian. The volume is cranked up so high so that the congregation feels the beat and does not hear themselves singing. The rational for the latter is to spare members of the congregation embarrassment that hearing their own voices might cause. As consequence the congregation rarely experiences singing with one voice. Rather than singing together, they sing along with vocalists, as we might sing along with our car radio, ipod, or CD player. It is not corporate worship but concurrent worship, not individuals worshiping together but individuals worshiping independently of each other in the same room.

A fourth high point was that the worship team that led and supported the congregational singing and provided the special music included a violinist. I have long advocated the use of all kinds of musical instruments in worship, not just the organ or guitars, a keyboard, and a drum kit.

A fifth high point was hearing the moving stories of Bishops Louis Muvunyi and Alexis Bilindabago who both lost close family and relatives in the Rwandan genocide. It was very clear from what Archbishop Rwaje and the other Rwandan bishops said, that they and the Rwandan House of Bishops wished to convey to their brothers and sisters in North America that they regarded reconciliation to be a very serious matter.

A sixth high point was hearing the energetic preaching of Bishop Julian Dobbs, Dr. Lyle Dorsett, and Bishop Thad Barnum. I have posted a link to the text of Bishop Dobb's address, "Come, Let Us Arise and Build."

A seventh high point was that Archbishop Onesphore Rwaje presided at the final service of Holy Communion of the Sacred Assembly. Archbishop Rwaje vested in rochet and chimera. During the Prayer of Consecration he used the simple gestures mandated by the rubrics of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer and knelt to communicate himself. He invited the congregation to the Lord’s Supper with the Words of Administration from the 1662 Prayer Book.

An eighth high point was that the Moving Forward Together Statement recognized that those who come to Raleigh for the Sacred Assembly had different hopes and dreams for their future. Most of those present at the gathering came away with their hopes and dreams affirmed.

This list of high points is not exhaustive. There were certainly other high points of the gathering for me. They, however, will have to wait to another day.

Five Steps for Courageously Tweaking Your Ministry

2012-01-20T14:04:00.000-08:00

Step One: Ask “Who?”

Consider who created the pattern, the model, “the how” of your particular ministry area or ministry responsibility. Did it come from a book, another church (conference), the previous pastor? Someone was the designer. Who was it? To read more, click here.

Afghan Christian Refugees in India Face Deportation, Possibly Death Back Home

2012-01-20T13:51:00.000-08:00

UN Agency's Rejection of Refugee Status Exposes Family to Danger, Says International Watchdog Group

An Afghan Christian widow and three of her daughters were denied refugee status by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in New Delhi for the second time last month, and currently face imminent deportation to their home country where they could face imprisonment for apostasy and a potential death sentence.

The widow and her daughters, whose names have not been released for security reasons, received a deportation notice from the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs after their first application for asylum was rejected in October 2009, International Christian Concern (ICC), a global Christian advocacy group, informed The Christian Post. When the mother reapplied in July 2011 with her three daughters and a fourth daughter, who is widowed with a child, only the widowed daughter and the child were accepted. The others are no longer permitted to correspond with the UNHCR office and are currently living in India as illegal immigrants, ICC said.

"All members of the family left Afghanistan for the same reason, all of them are Christians, and all are facing the same kind of problem," Obaid S. Christ, a leader of the Afghan Christian community in New Delhi, told ICC. "If two members of the same family are recognized as refugees and four others are denied, there is definitely something wrong with the UNHCR judgment system. We believe that the UNHCR office blindly closed their application without making any inquiry, investigation, or considering the new facts and real danger that these women are facing back in their home country."

The UNHCR "Guidelines for International Protection" state: "the term 'refugee' shall apply to any person who [qualifies as having] well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it."

The women were turned down by the agency on the basis that they failed to meet the criteria set forth in Article 6B of the UNHCR statute, which states that a person can receive refugee status if "[he or she has a] well-founded fear of persecution by reason of his race, religion, nationality or political opinion…," ICC told CP in a statement.

The Christian Post was unable to contact UNHCR in India or the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs for immediate comment. To read more, click here.

Acts 29 Network: Planting Churches Still Essential to Evangelism

2012-01-20T13:43:00.000-08:00

The greatest evangelical impact Christians can take part in is to plant new churches, say leaders at the Acts 29 Network, an organization aimed at facilitating a global church planting movement.

Pastor Scott Thomas, who is the president of the group and lead pastor of church planting at Seattle-based Mars Hill Church, recently re-published an article by pastor and bestselling author Tim Keller on the subject.

Keller, who leads Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, published his thoughts about the importance of starting other churches 10 years ago. His article was condensed in a post last week titled, "Why Church Planting?" on Acts29Network.org.

Keller's assertion that planting churches is essential for the Church is still being echoed by pastors today.

Acts 29 is a network of church planters founded by Mars Hill lead pastor Mark Driscoll. Thomas says that in the last 10 years, "Acts 29 has emerged from a small band of brothers to over 400 churches in the United States and networks of churches in multiple countries."

"Keller reflects our biblically-informed approach to church planting," Thomas told The Christian Post. "The Book of Acts is a record of Spirit-led Christians proclaiming the Gospel boldly in places where the Gospel is not known and establishing churches among the new believers. The Book ends in chapter 28. Acts 29 (Network) is seeking to continue the call to redeem broken lives into a community of God worshippers for His glory." To read more, click here.

The Great Commission: the believer's mandate

2012-01-20T13:30:00.000-08:00

The Great Commission, like the Great Commandment, is usually not a part of Scripture to which we race when we want to feel good, be comforted, or be reassured. In fact, we often overlook the Great Commission entirely. The passages in Scripture we love to read breathe acceptance, forgiveness, and the blessings of the new life in Christ. But we have a way of neutralizing the demand of Jesus to: "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you." (Mt. 28:19,20)

Despite our reticence, the Great Commission won't go away. The 1988 Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops from around the world said: "evangelism is the primary task given to the church." The Conference called for a renewed emphasis on evangelism throughout the Communion.

Nevertheless, we Anglicans on the whole have been very lazy evangelists. Furthermore, when preachers preach on the Great Commission, I find that it creates more guilt than enthusiasm. Exhortations to "Share your faith with your neighbor; witness to the guys you work with; bring a friend to hear the Gospel; mention Christ at the AA meeting you attend" generally go unheeded. In response people say to themselves: I'm willing to support those who go abroad or who come here as missionaries, but do I really have to evangelize my friends and neighbors? To read more, click here.

Anglican Mission Completes Break with Anglican Church of Rwanda and Anglicanism

2012-01-20T13:18:00.000-08:00

Bishop Murphy tells Winter Conference the Anglican Mission is ready to go it alone

Bishop Chuck Murphy along with the other former bishops of the Anglican Mission in America (AMiA) have rejected the protocol for reconciliation with the Church of Rwanda brokered by the Archbishop of Kenya at the 4 January 2012 meeting in Nairobi.

Speaking at a conference in Houston this week, Bishop Murphy reiterated his plans to form a mission society with an international focus from the remnants loyal to him within the former AMiA. The decision to repudiate ties with Rwanda severs the last link to the Anglican Communion for Bishop Murphy and his faction within the AMiA.

Bishop Phillip Jones, one of the resigned suffragan bishops told the Houston Conference, the new group no longer sought to be Anglican or to work within the confines of the Anglican tradition. The Murphy group wanted to be attached to some wider organization, but in its current form it was a non-institutional entity with a global focus, that did not need to be Anglican, Bishop Jones said according to those present at the meeting. To read more, click here.

"Come, Let Us Arise and Build"

2012-01-20T12:55:00.000-08:00

Ed. Note: CANA Bishop Julian Dobbs gave this address on January 17, 2012 at Moving Forward Together A Sacred Assembly of Worship, Reconciliation, and Connection in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Votre grâce,l'archevêque, mes frèresen Christ rwandais, brothers and sisters in Christ, grace and peace from God our Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Journey with me in your mind back to the glittering court of the Imperial Palace at Susa in ancient Persia [modern day Iran], 450 years before the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. God’s People were a long way from the Promised Land as they had broken their promises to Almighty God; straying far from His will and commandments, and, as a punishment for their disobedience, had been defeated and deported from Judaea at the hands of their enemies. By the time we join them in Susa, most of the Chosen People had been living in exile for over seven decades years. By God’s grace, however, Nehemiah, a young Jewish aristocrat of tremendous faith and great vision, gained appointment as the cup-bearer to Artaxerxes, the Shahanshah, King of Kings, Ruler of the Persian Empire and most powerful man alive the world at that time. It was not, however, a very nice job… tasting wine for poison, but it was a very responsible position that brought Nehemiah into daily contact with the monarch and into the King’s intimate confidence.

While serving (literally) at the right-hand of the King, Nehemiah receives the very disturbing news that the remnant of God’s people back in Jerusalem are in great trouble; the walls surrounding the once great City of David are broken down; her gates destroyed by fire; her public places desolated.

In an act of amazing courage for an exile risen to the intimate circle of a king, Nehemiah requests permission to leave his post and, in an incredible display of Almighty God’s loving goodness and favor, the Lord moves the heart of Artaxerxes to release this faithful young patriot from service and grants him authority to rebuild the ruined walls of Jerusalem. Nehemiah receives letters of personal introduction from the hands of the King and all the necessary materials to successfully complete his mission and departs for a homeland he has never seen. To read more, click here.

While I recognize that there is indeed a critical need for "a renewed biblical missionary Anglicanism" in North America, and I agreed with much of what Bishop Dobbs said, I question whether the Anglican Church in North America is biblical and missionary enough in its Anglicanism to replant such Anglicanism in Canada and the United States.

Winter Conference 2012 Communique

2012-01-20T12:52:00.000-08:00

Nearly 700 laity, clergy, bishops, archbishops and guests gathered at the Hilton Americas Hotel in Houston, Texas, January 11-14, 2012, for worship, prayer, Bible study, teaching and fellowship. We were challenged and encouraged by a range of presentations from inside and outside the Anglican Mission and affirmed our commitment to evangelism through church planting. We came with an expectation for the Holy Spirit to be present and move among us, and we rejoice in His anointing our time together.

While we celebrated with joy our life and mission, we also acknowledged the difficult, and painful events we have experienced as a Mission over the last few months. We spent a significant amount of time together seeking God’s heart and acknowledging the pain of broken relationships. This led to frank and open discussions among bishops, clergy and laity – we shared our hearts and listened to one another’s concerns.

We give thanks for the presence, leadership, spiritual oversight and godly wisdom of our founding Archbishops Emmanuel Kolini, Moses Tay and Yong Ping Chung. To read more, click here.

The Moving Forward Together Statement

2012-01-19T09:18:00.000-08:00

On Day 3 of Moving Forward Together A Sacred Assembly after the concluding Eucharist at which Archbishop Onesphore Rwaje, presided and Bishop Thad Barnum preached, Archbishop Rwaje would give a brief address. Rev. Steve Breedlove read what Archbishop Rwaje had described in his address as an “After here, what?”—the full text of which is given below. Copies of this statement were given to those present at the gathering. The members of the transition team were introduced, and the Rev.David Atkinson with Anglicans 1000 was invited to pray for the team. Those present at the gathering were invited to a question and answer session with the bishops who would be available to answer any questions following the dismissal of the gathering. Archbishop Rwaje then dismissed the gathering with a solemn blessing.

Moving Forward Together Statement
Raleigh, NC
January 18, 2012

On January 16-18, 2012, over 300 laity and clergy, representing 109 churches that have been a part of the Anglican Mission in the Americas, gathered at the Church of the Apostles, Raleigh, NC, for a sacred assembly. The assembly was hosted by Archbishop Onesphore Rwaje and the House of Bishops of the Anglican Province of Rwanda (PEAR), who sent three other bishops (Alexis Bilindabagabo, Laurent Mbanda, Louis Muvunyi) as delegates, and were joined by US bishops Thad Barnum and Terrell Glenn. Archbishop Robert Duncan and Bishop Julian Dobbs of the Anglican Church of North America (ACNA) joined the assembly as honored guests.

The assembly was a rich time of worship, prayer, and communion with God. In the traditions of classical Anglicanism and the East African revival, the assembly featured both form and flexibility, which fostered dialogue, reconciliation, healing, and—most importantly—listening to the Lord. A way forward was unclear at the outset of the assembly, but by its conclusion the next steps for moving forward together were evident.

Emphasizing collaborative leadership as an Anglican distinctive, Archbishop Rwaje and the House of Bishops asked Bishops Terrell Glenn and Thad Barnum to create a short-term team to give oversight and care for all clergy and churches that have been a part of the AMiA’s and desire to remain resident in Rwanda. This team is to be characterized by a spirit of openness, collaborating freely with clergy and laity throughout its constituent churches. Its structures are to be temporary and easily dismantled once its task is completed. It will be a team actively connected to the House of Bishops of Rwanda.

This team is charged with:

Care, healing, encouragement and guidance for churches and clergy in all ongoing efforts of mission and ministry, in all things personal, corporate, ecclesial and structural;

Ongoing mobilization and distribution of financial support and guidance for church plants and church planting;

Continuing support for those in process of ordination and those whom God might raise up to join in the work of planting churches and carrying out the work of Christ’s church;

Developing temporary structures necessary to support and accomplish these tasks.

For this task, Bishop Glenn was asked and has agreed to serve as the team’s leader. He will recruit and recommend to Archbishop Rwaje temporary canons and regional leaders who will serve those churches and clergy moving forward together in regional groupings throughout North America. Additionally, as a result of the generous offer of Archbishop Bob Duncan, this team will work freely and collaboratively with partner churches and bishops in ACNA for the support and care of churches and clergy as needed.

Bishop Glenn has appointed the following clergy to serve in this temporary process: the Rev’s Steve Breedlove, David Bryan, Dan Claire, Chip Edgar, Alan Hawkins, Clark Lowenfield and Ken Ross. Others may be added in the weeks ahead as needed structures come into focus.

For the duration of its service, this team will communicate its progress and its finances on a monthly basis to constituent and interested congregations and clergy. Feedback will be welcomed.

Archbishop Rwaje charged the team to create a task force to work collaboratively with representatives of the ACNA and PEAR to explore and develop plans for long-term structures that will serve the following needs of our congregations:

Those who desire full participation in an existing diocese of ACNA

Those who desire to remain affiliated with PEAR while also forming a subjurisdiction of ACNA

Those churches who desire to remain affiliated with PEAR by establishing a missionary jurisdiction in North America

It is anticipated that these long-term, permanent structures will be established within the next 6-12 months. As congregations and clergy transition into them, the work of the interim team will be completed.

We invite all churches and clergy that have been a part of the Anglican Mission in the Americas to be part of this process: we need your voice so that we can move forward together. Please contact Bishops Glenn or Barnum, or any member of the temporary team, to signify your interest in moving forward together. Starting on or before January 23, contact information can be found at http://www.pearusa.com.

We are deeply thankful for all those who joined together in Raleigh during this gracious time of fellowship and we are thankful for our bishops who have given us a way forward for these next days ahead. Please pray continually and fervently for all those who are seeking to serve the work of our Lord Jesus Christ and his Church in the days and months ahead, and please communicate freely and frequently your thoughts, ideas, questions and concerns with this team.

On behalf of all who attended the Sacred Assembly,

The Most Rev. Onesphore Rwaje, January 18, 2012

Tribal Church: Lead Small, Impact Big

2012-01-19T08:49:00.000-08:00

God’s biggest assignments have always been entrusted to those leading a small tribe. From the twelve families of Israel to early Christians who met in one another’s homes, great leaders begin by serving a core group of people who ripple outward for ever-extending social and spiritual impact. They go big by leading small.

Today, leaders don’t fail because they lack vision. They fail because they neglect their tribe. It could be a father losing sight of his family, a lead pastor failing to leverage the strengths of his staff, or a small group coordinator ignoring a tiny but important process.

Tribal Church helps pastors recognize the potential and power of various tribes within their congregations—one family, a network of small groups, maybe an entire age group—and then recalibrate ministry efforts to maximize the impact of each. Steve Stroope has spent three decades mastering the art of leading small in a church that has multiplied from dozens to over ten thousand. He explains why big impact does not come from any sort of mega-church ambition. It rather comes by attending to the little details and the smallest tribes.

PRODUCT DETAILS
ISBN: 9781433673443
Trim Size: 7.00 x 5.00 x 0.59 in
Page Count: 224
Weight: 0.46lb
Binding: Trade Paper
Status: Not Yet Published
Publication Date: January 2012

Originally posted on pastors.com

Seminary Leaving Students Worse Off? Desiring God Reacts With New Series

2012-01-19T08:12:00.000-08:00

Contrary to popular opinion, seminary can actually leave many believers worse off than when they started.

Not underestimating this strange phenomenon, the leaders at Desiring God ministry created a new series titled “How to Stay Christian at Seminary,” hoping to do exactly that – keep potential pastors and “serious students of the Bible” Christian.

The first of the seven ways seminary students could accomplish this was published on Tuesday: “Know Your Value of Values.”

“As seminarians and aspiring church leaders, our immediate future is uncertain,” Jonathan Parnell, a content strategist at Desiring God, stated on the ministry’s blog. “We don’t really know what we’re doing ... we don’t really know where we’ll end up ... we don’t really know what theological commitments will be intensified or leveraged.”

“But this we do know: we value something. We know what we care about. More than anything else, by grace, we want Jesus to be high and lifted up. We value his name. We are committed to his fame and renown. We want the fullness of God’s person to be displayed for the delight of his people in all that he is for us in Jesus Christ. This is our value of values. We are about the glory of God.”

He warned that without holding onto the “value of values” and being committed to them, it was easy for the knowledge gained from biblical training to puff up. To read more, click here.

Elevation Church Accused of Censoring Reformed Pastor's Sermon

2012-01-19T08:03:00.000-08:00

Elevation Church’s revival is seeing some theological controversy. An apologist and blogger is claiming that Matt Chandler’s sermon was censored during a rebroadcast.

Chandler, a Reformed evangelical pastor, spoke as a guest speaker at Elevation last Friday, the third night of the Code Orange Revival. But Chris Rosebrough, blogger and host of Fighting for the Faith, told The Christian Post that Chandler’s sermon was never rebroadcast afterwards like the other speakers’ talks were.

Elevation Church is in the midst of its 12-night revival in Charlotte, N.C. Each night, the worship time and speakers' sermons are rebroadcast on the Elevation Network at 10:12 p.m. and 3:12 a.m. EST.

Rosebrough told The Christian Post that when he went back to watch Chandler’s sermon at both of the appointed times they never showed up. Elevation rebroadcast the worship time leading up to Chandler’s talk, but “right when it got to the time for the sermon it was cut out.” They put a prayer update in its place.

Elevation’s spokesperson, Tonia Bendickson, told CP, “We decided to do prayer time live during the first rebroadcast time. We were getting so many requests for prayer.”

The Motion Graphic Designer for Elevation Church, Geoff Schultz, also explained on his Facebook wall that Chandler's sermon was edited out of the revival's rebroadcasts because "the team decided to focus the rebroadcast on Jesus - so we reformatted the content a bit - We are trying to stay in the flow of what the Spirit is leading us to do." To read more, click here.

Book Review: Being Faithful: The Shape of Historic Anglicanism Today

2012-01-19T07:56:00.000-08:00

In June 2008, The Global Anglican Futures Conference (GAFCON) was hailed as one of the most significant developments in worldwide Anglicanism for many years. It was seen as constituting a clear signal from so-called ‘traditionalist’ Anglicans that they wished to distance themselves from both the tenets of theological liberalism and its practical outworking in church life.

On 29th June 2008, the participants in GAFCON issued a Statement on the Global Anglican Future, which described GAFCON as ‘a spiritual movement to preserve and promote the truth and power of the gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ as we Anglicans have received it’ and as ‘a movement in the Spirit’. The Statement launched ‘the GAFCON movement as a ‘fellowship of confessing Anglicans’, The Jerusalem Declaration serving as ‘the basis of the fellowship’. The Declaration was described in the Statement as ‘a contemporary rule…to guide the movement for the future’ and was set out in full within the body of the Statement.

In September 2009, a Commentary on the Declaration was published under the title Being Faithful: The Shape of Historic Anglicanism Today. The Commentary was prepared by the Theological Resource Group of GAFCON and in its published form, it is supplemented by a document entitled The Way, The Truth and The Life, which consists of a number of papers written by members of the GAFCON Theological Resource Group and describes itself as a ‘handbook, to serve as a theological introduction and definition for GAFCON’.

To understand the GAFCON movement and its theological reference points and to gain some insight into the nature of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans, it is necessary to read the Statement, the Declaration, the Commentary and The Way, The Truth and The Life as a whole, which was no doubt the intention behind their publication together under the banner Being Faithful: The Shape of Historic Anglicanism Today. To read more, click here.

The 'Prosperity Gospel' Is Peddled by Magicians

2012-01-19T07:49:00.000-08:00

Have you noticed the significant number of ministers in recent decades who have been promoting magic in their teaching? They truly believe that their very words contain the power to create and change reality around them. They teach people that man has the ability to speak things into existence the same way that God spoke the world into existence. They have been deceived into believing they have this power within themselves and in the words they speak out loud.

These false teachers have been seduced by the "Word-Faith movement." The arrogance of this philosophy has led its followers to believe that God must obey our commands if we speak the right words with enough faith. It makes man "god" and it makes God our servant who is limited in His activity for us by the words we confess out loud. There is no humility in this doctrine and it goes completely against the letter and the spirit of the Scriptures. Man cannot speak into existence anything he wants to happen. It is up to God to decide how best to answer our prayers according to His will and His plan for our life on earth. The humble Christian prays in faith and confidence, but always with an attitude of "Thy will be done." The Word-Faith promoter speaks magic words with the mindset, "My will be done."

It is very much like the magicians who perform in Las Vegas and elsewhere. One magician explained the power of his words this way: "This source of the power of any word uttered for magical purposes is quite simple: The will of the magician. A word uttered by the average man will only reflect an immediate thought, usually directed towards no real end. That same word, uttered by a magician, can have an impact on the very fabric of reality." It is no different with the Word-Faith teachers. They believe that their words change reality. They believe any of us can harness this power and ability just like God. You just need to learn how to speak things into existence the way God did. To read more, click here.

Moore College in Latin America

2012-01-19T07:25:00.000-08:00

Thousands of students across Latin America are studying the Moore College correspondence course in Spanish, with exponential growth even in countries deeply hostile to Christian ministry.

Peter Sholl (pictured right), CMS missionary with his wife Sarah in the violence-torn Mexican city of Monterrey, is the Director of MOCLAM - Moore College in Latin America.

Taking up the reins in 2009, he says that the course’s popularity is due to its clarity and deep commitment to teaching the Bible. But the course also cuts across denominational boundaries in a denominationally ‘rigid’ environment, and comes with Australia’s reputation for providing quality education.

MOCLAM began with the work of Australians Grahame and Patty Scarratt in Chile, but exams for the correspondence theology course are now being sat by over almost 3000 students in fifteen countries.

Sometimes a handful of people in a church will be studying the course, sometimes IFES student groups, sometimes entire networks of pastors and church leaders within denominations.

The course has unexpectedly flourished in one of the most restricted nations for Christian ministry in Latin America. In that country, 1000 students study the course from a group of fifteen that started in 2007. Peter trains pastors there to teach the course in their own churches.

‘In one little Baptist church in the capital, they have sixty people on Tuesday nights studying subjects,’ he says.

The growth has been so dramatic that the Australian-based markers have struggled to keep up, and locals are being trained not only as teachers but exam markers. To read more, click here.

Oak Hill College: Commentary 2011/12

2012-01-19T07:14:00.000-08:00

Oak Hill’s Vice Principal Chris Green looks at the man behind Apple, the late Steve Jobs, in the latest issue of Oak Hill College’s Commentary magazine. To read this issue of Commentary or download it as a 4.8 MB PDF file, click here.

Moving Forward Together A Solemn Assembly: Day 2

2012-01-17T17:17:00.000-08:00

Day 2 of Moving Forward Together A Solemn Assembly began with Morning Prayer. Rwandan Bishop Louis Muvuny preached the sermon, "Wearing the Whole Armor of God." Bishop Muvuny drew to the attention of the gathering that their enemy was not people. They are fighting against the spiritual forces of evil at work in the world. He stressed that to fight spiritual forces requires spiritual weapons.

Next CANA Bishop Julian Dobbs gave an address titled "Come, Let Us Arise and Build." He spoke on six steps that he believed were essential to the replanting of biblical Anglicanism in North America. They included:

1. Confident commitment to biblical truth;
2. Determined dedication to evangelism;
3. Radical investment in church planting;
4. Conduit for new leaders;
5. An Anglican moment; and
6. Dedicated and determined discipleship.

Bishop Dobb's address was followed by a break, after which a panel discussion regarding Moving Forward Together was held. The participants were Archbishop Onesphore Rwaje, Bishop Alexis Bilindabagabo, Bishop Laurent Mbanda, Bishop Louis Muvuny, Bishop Thad Barnum, and Bishop Terrel Glenn. Those present at the gathering were given an opportunity to address questions to the panel of bishops. I did not find this panel discussion particularly informative.

During the course of the panel discussion Bishop Barnum confessed to how he believed that he had injured Archbishop Robert Duncan who was seated in the audience. He apologized to Archbishop Duncan who forgave him. Bishop Glenn also confessed to injuring those over whom he had been bishop through his resignation from the Council of Bishops and apologized to them.

Bishop Glenn told the gathering that what form the "Rwandan convocation" would take and the structure it would adopt would depend upon God. He also told the gathering that he and Bishop Barnum were using ACNA bishops to provide episcopal ministry to churches in the "Rwandan convocation" on the West Coast.

After lunch those present at the gathering attended one of five breakout session. I attend Bishop Bilindabagabo's session, Church Planting in the Tradition of the East African Revival. I plan to write a seperate article on the talk that he gave. Other sessions were Mission Partnerships with Bishop Laurent Mbanda, Clergy Wives with the discussion facilitated by Teresa Glenn, Financing a Movement with discussion facilitated by David Bryan, and "What's So Important About Continuing to be Anglican?" with discussion facilitated by Steve Breedlove.

Day 2 concluded with Evening Prayer. The Rev. Dr. Lyle Dorsett preached the message. He asked those present, "Do you love his appearing?" Did they have that kind of relationship with Jesus where they wanted to see him more than anything else. They could not wait to behold him face to face.

Archbishop Robert Duncan’s address to the Opening Session of Moving Forward Together A Sacred Assembly: An Analysis

2012-01-17T17:09:00.000-08:00

By Robin G. Jordan

Archbishop Robert Duncan’s address to the Opening Session of Moving Forward Together A Sacred Assembly was classic Bob Duncan. It was tailored to his particular audience. In his address Archbishop Duncan sounded themes that he could expect to resonate with an audience primarily composed of charismatics and evangelicals. He also turned on the Duncan charm.

He spoke of how God had given him two Scripture passages for the occasion. He repeatedly emphasized that he was speaking as a sinner. He spoke of his own conversion, pointing out that he share a common identity with those present—“a sinner saved by grace.”

Duncan went on to say that he had learned things from East Africa. It was noteworthy that he did not give any examples of what he had learned.

Duncan stressed that he was” great friend of Rwanda” He also emphasized his friendship with Archbishop Onesphore Rwaje.

Duncan spoke of bringing “some words of wisdom.” He also talked about “images” that he had received from God.

Duncan repeatedly stressed moving forward together throughout the address. The thrust of the address was that the “Rwandan convocation,” as he described his audience should “make common cause” with the ACNS as the AMiA had in the past. “We must be in this together.”

Duncan had the rapt attention of those seated around me. Listening to their verbal agreement to different parts of his address, I believe that if he called for a show of hands in favor of the “Rwandan convocation” affiliating with the ACNA, they would have raised their hands.

Duncan made a number of statements that are worth taking note of. First, he talked about continuing a relationship in mission together with the Rwandans as if the “Rwandan convocation” had left the Anglican Church of Rwanda and become a part of the ACNA.

Second, he spoke of the ACNA needing its church planting expertise.

Third, he talked about a full partnership between the ACNA and the province of Rwanda.

Fourth, he spoke about the need for accountability and discernment in selection of bishops. There was an inference that the ACNA would play a substantial role in the choice of bishops for the “Rwandan convocation.”

Fifth, he touched upon the AMiA having not been fully Anglican. While he may reference to the AMiA not being synodical, he appeared to infer that there was more than the lack of a synodical form of ecclesiastic governance at issue. It is noteworthy that the ACNA itself is not fully synodical and under Duncan’s leadership has been moving toward a more prelatical form of church government.

Sixth he, he stressed, “we are called to go where Jesus is leading.” “It is not about ourselves but our love for others.” This suggested that Duncan was seeking to persuade the folks in the “Rwandan convocation” to believe that Jesus was calling them to go into the ACNA and to dissuade anyone who had qualms about affiliation with the ACNA and might organize resistance to such a move with the argument that they were not doing what Jesus wanted them to do. They were thinking of only themselves.

Communique from Archbishop Eliud regarding the January 4 Reconciliation Meeting between the Anglican Church of Rwanda and the AMiA

2012-01-17T15:37:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday January 4th, 2012 a reconciliation meeting was in Nairobi, Kenya, held between the leaders of the Anglican Mission in America (AMiA) and the Province of the Anglican Church of Rwanda [PEAR] at the invitation of the Most Rev'd Dr. Eliud Wabukala, Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Kenya [ACK] and Chairman of the Primates Council of the Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans [GAFCON/FCA}

Present were the Most Rev'd Dr. Elîud Wabukala (ACK), the Most Rev'd Onesphore Rwage (PEAR), the Rt. Rev'd Lauren Mbanda (PEAR), Rt. Rev'd Chuck Murphy (AMiA) and the Rt. Rev'd John Miller (AMiA). Also present were the Most Rev'd Ikechi Nwosu (Church of Nigeria), the Rt. Rev'd Ioseph Kanuku (ACK), the Rt. Rev'd Timothy Ranji (ACK), the Rt. Kalu (ACK) and the Rt. Rev'd Dr. Gideon Githiga (ACK).

The Chairman made it clear that while there had been a painful and very public breakdown in the relationship between the leadership of the Anglican Mission in America and the Anglican Church of Rwanda he was confident that by God's grace reconciliation could be achieved and harmony restored. He invited both sides to present their concerns openly and urged all present to listen prayerfully. To read more, click here.

Virtue Online: RALEIGH, NC: "Moving Forward Together - A Sacred Assembly"

2012-01-17T15:23:00.000-08:00

Many times the names or titles given to these kinds of conferences are a bit of hyperbole. This time, not so much. The atmosphere and the content of this first night seemed to fit the title just fine. There was a tremendous feeling and evidence of unity in all that was spoken and a great awareness of a 'sacred' dimension to the meeting held in the Church of the Apostles here in Raleigh.

The highlights, of course, were addresses and sermons given by Abp. Rwaje of Rwanda and Abp. Duncan of ACNA. Rather than holding out conclusions until the end of the conference very clear statements were made that will provide guidelines for exactly how this group of mixed clergy and laity will indeed, Move Forward Together. To read more, click here.

A Living Text: Moving Forward Together

2012-01-17T15:12:00.000-08:00

AnglicanTV should have videos of yesterday’s sessions up soon, if they don’t already. The first meeting took place at 3:30 in the sanctuary of Church of the Apostles. here in Raleigh. Archbishop Rwaje spoke, telling the gathering: “You are part of us and we are part of you.” He said that those who have ‘deserted’ are welcome back at any time, but that any such move must be orderly – there can be no cheap reconciliation.

Archbishop Duncan then preached, saying that Jesus’ last words to Peter in John were ‘follow me’, just like at the first. The challenge to us is to follow him today, not worrying about where he will take us tomorrow. Archbishop Duncan then said that he wanted to share wisdom with the Moving Forward Together that was gained by the ACNA leadership over the years. To read more, click here.

Moving Forward Together A Solemn Assembly: Opening Session

2012-01-17T05:18:00.000-08:00

I arrived at the Church of the Apostles about an hour before the Opening Session began. I thought that I was early but discovered a throng of folks gathered in the lobby, checking in at one of the tables, or greeting each other or lining up for a latte made with freshly brewed Rwandan coffee. The crowd grew as more people arrived. The crowd was diverse—Millenials as well as Busters and Boomers. The mood was upbeat—no drawn, tense faces; no anxious, worried conversations.

Alan Hawkins, the leader of the Apostles Mission Network, kicked off the Opening Session. He spoke of finding “a home in Anglicanism.” He went on to describe the “Anglican fathers” as “giants upon whose shoulders we stand.” He stressed that an Anglican identity is an identity “worth fighting for.” He enumerated what the Rwandans had offered the Anglican Mission. They most importantly, he stressed, had “offered relationship.” He spoke of those present sharing “a deep affection for the Rwandans.” He went on to say that the main question before the Solemn Assembly would be, “How can we be together?” He acknowledged “a common need for repentance, healing, and reconciliation…” He went on to point out, “the gospel alone could heal our brokenness, our sin.” Hawkins further spoke of the need to hear from the Rwandan bishops and most importantly from the Holy Spirit. Those present were “gathered in sacred assembly to accomplish these things.” He described the gathering as “the first steps in moving forward together.”

Archbishop Onosphore Rwaje and the House of Bishops of Rwanda were introduced as the hosts of the Sacred Assembly. As Archbishop Rwaje and the three bishops who accompanied him were in turn introduced, each received an enthusiastic round of applause.

Patrick Domingos, the rector of the Church of the Apostles, delivered the welcome. He then called for a moment of silence. A deep silence fell upon the gathering.

When Archbishop Rwaje was introduced as the next speaker, the gathering rose to its feet and greeted him with rousing applause.

Archbishop Rwaje told the gathering that he and the three bishops with him were there on the behalf of all the House of Bishops of Rwanda. He emphasized, “the whole House of Bishops is with you.” “There is some conception that we do not walk together,” he said. “We are a united House of Bishops,” he went on to emphasize. “It is the evil one suggesting a divided House of Bishops.”

Archbishop Rwaje went on to welcome those present at the gathering. He extended a special welcome to Archbishop Bob Duncan whom he characterized as “bringing people together in America.”

Archbishop Rwaje stressed that the meeting was a meeting of more than Anglicans. It was a meeting of Christians—“Christians in the family of Anglicans.” He went to say that he and the other bishops were “here to assure you that we are together.” “To say again and again, you are part of us.” “We are here to support you…to reassure you…to be with you.”

Archbishop Rwaje pointed out, “We are wounded.” “We are wounded healers.” “We are here to heal each other.” “We are all wounded.” Those present were gathered to “look for ways and means to heal others and to heal ourselves.”

Archbishop Rwaje went on to say, “The Anglican Church is an orderly church and does things in an orderly way.” “Whatever we do, we do to God’s will and direction…we seek God’s guidance.” He stressed, “We are praying for those who are moving away from the Anglican Church of Rwanda.” Our hearts are open to welcome back anyone who has deserted.” He pointed out, “There is a cost to reconciliation.” It requires repentance and forgiveness. He went on to say that Christ’s death on the cross showed the necessity of reconciliation.

I plan to post a seperate analysis of Archbishop Robert Duncan's address to the Opening Session.

Why Church Planting?

2012-01-16T08:31:00.000-08:00

Obviously, I’m passionate about church planting. On the blog of the Acts 29 Network is a great article that echoes my heart about the matter. It’s an adaptation of a writing by Tim Keller, and it really reflects the reason why we’re planning on planting out of Grace Hills as soon as possible. To read more, click here.

My Church Model Is Better Yours

2012-01-16T08:25:00.000-08:00

“The Mega Church is the best!”

“No! The House/Organic Church is the best!”

“No way, bro! The Hipster Church is the best!”

“The Traditional Church was good for the Apostle Paul, therefore it is still the best!”

We slam the Mega Church, saying it’s “too corporate and shallow.”

We slam the House Church/Organic Church as just “a bunch of bitter and disgruntled people who were burned in a Mega Church, so that now they just want to meet together with a ‘four and no more’ mentality.”

We slam the Hipster Church as too “technologically driven and entertainment-based, with music so loud it will bruise your internal organs.”

And we slam the Traditional Church as “dead and irrelevant.” To read more, click here.

How can I make sure I'm applying what I'm learning in Bible study?

2012-01-16T08:16:00.000-08:00

Cindy was in the Bible study I led for three years. She always answered the questions and participated in the discussion. She accumulated a lot of knowledge, but her life never changed.

I have puzzled a lot over people like Cindy. I've met quite a few over the years. It seems that some people never move beyond head knowledge to heart knowledge. There are numerous reasons for this; I've listed three below. Evaluate which of these could problems in your Bible study. To read more, click here.

Backpacks of Mercy

2012-01-16T07:04:00.000-08:00

Practice mercy by filling school supply kits.

This service project can be done throughout the year as schools and students often need new supplies. It also serves as a great way to talk with your group about showing mercy to others. To read more, click here.

Muslim Extremists Strike at Christians in East African Isles

2012-01-16T06:57:00.000-08:00

In Zanzibar, two church buildings razed; in Comoros, a Christian suffers disease, shunning.

Far from the world media’s gaze in remote islands off the eastern coast of Africa, church buildings are razed and Christians are ostracized and imprisoned for their faith – leaving one with a skin disease.

On Tanzania’s island of Zanzibar, in one week-long stretch last month Muslim extremists destroyed two church buildings, Christian leaders said. The extremists torched the building of the Pentecostal Evangelical Fellowship of Africa in Mtufani Mwera, about 12 kilometers (seven miles) from Zanzibar town, at 7 p.m. on Dec. 3, said Pastor Julius Makoho. Damages were estimated at 1.5 million Tanzania shillings (US$9,350).

“When I arrived at the scene of incident Sunday morning, I found that the church had been reduced to ashes, with bottles seen close by that could be petrol or paraffin that could have been used for the burning of the church building,” Pastor Makoho said.

As the assailants fled, said one church member who requested anonymity, “I heard them shouting, ‘We do not want a church in this area!’”

To date no arrests have being made.

Daniel Kwilembe, bishop of the 80-member church, said authorities on the predominantly Muslim archipelago tend to take no action in crimes against Christians. Bishop Fabian Obedi of the Pentecostal Evangelical Church of Zanzibar concurred. To read more, click here.

Karnataka Most Dangerous State in India for Christians

2012-01-16T06:32:00.000-08:00

Southern state remains most volatile place for third straight year.

Attacks on Christians accelerated over the Christmas and New Year’s holidays in the south Indian state of Karnataka, which was identified as the most unsafe place for the religious minority for the third consecutive year in 2011.

With 49 cases of violence and hostility against Christians in 2011, Karnataka remained the state with the highest incidence of persecution, according to the Evangelical Fellowship of India’s annual report, “Battered and Bruised…”

The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), which is based in Karnataka’s capital of Bengaluru and initially reported most of the incidents, also documented at least six anti-Christian attacks between Christmas Eve 2011 and New Year’s Day. To read more, click here.

Anglican Mission Winter Conference ends

2012-01-16T05:48:00.000-08:00

The Anglican Mission closed their winter conference Saturday, January 14 in Houston. Amid the context of morning worship, Bishops Phil Jones and TJ Johnson drew summaries for those in attendance from their own times of doubt and uncertainty. The conference theme was the Work of the Holy Spirit. The final encouragement was to embrace the Spirit and follow the work he has already begun. To read more, click here.

In response to this article, I posted the following comment, which is awaiting moderation.

Cheryl,

One part of your article puzzled me:

“Some priests and parishes in the Mission will decide that they have to have classical catholic/Anglican structures and certainty of authority; hierarchy, if you will. They will be released to other jurisdictions.”

The Anglican Mission already has a very hierarchical structure with Chairman Chuck Murphy at the top of the hierarchy, the Council of Bishops under him, and the network leaders under the bishops. The Anglican has no equivalent of a synod involving clergy and laity at any of these levels. I would think that folks would want to leave the Anglican Mission because it is too hierarchical. The local mission networks do not determine what mission propjects they undertake. They submit proposals to the Board of Directors at Anglican Mission national headquarters and the Chairman and the Board of Directors determine whether or not the mission project is funded. The funding does not come from the local mission networks but from Anglican Mission national headquarters. To my knowledge there has been no proposals for changes in this structure.

The major proposed change is that the Anglican Mission would no longer be accountable to an Anglican province but would be wholly independent with the three retired Primates serving as a College of Consultors, that is, as an advisory body to the Chairman. In an organizational chart of the Anglican Mission, the College of Consultors would be a lateral structure, not above the Chairman in the hierarchy of the organization.

Something to which very little attention has been drawn is that The Episcopal Church as a legal entity is a missionary society–The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society. In morphing the Anglican Mission into an independent missionary society, Bishop Murphy and the Anglican Mission Leadership Council is essentially morphing the Anglican Mission into a new denomination–Anglican in name but arguably not Anglican in its commitment to the classic formularies and historic Anglicanism. It is certainly not Anglican in its structure. Its structure is a hybrid of organizational elements taken from the Roman Catholic Church and corporate America.

Your Church Isn't Missional If…

2012-01-15T18:22:00.000-08:00

If you are the pastor/church leader who is running around declaring that your church is “missional,” then there’s a good shot your probably not.

Before you get angry let me ask a few questions… To read more click here.

The Anglican Autumn

2012-01-15T17:01:00.000-08:00

2011 saw the collapse of governments across the Middle East in a broad move later dubbed the Arab Spring. A major catalyst for this implosion was the strength of people connecting on the internet through Twitter, Facebook and blogs. The medium of the internet exposed these governments to scrutiny that had not previously existed. Leaders who were used to acting with impunity were suddenly exposed to a very public check on their power, and they did not respond well.

Former Anglican Archbishop Moses Tay remarked on this upheaval during the AMiA Winter Conference, where he said: “Global shaking [was] affecting the church as well. We had a year of global shaking in the Middle East and everywhere else and here we have the church being shaken as well.” Indeed, a distinctively Anglican social media, born during the initial struggles with TEC, gained its sea legs during the Fall of 2010 in what we might call the Anglican Autumn. To read more, click here.

Why Did AMiA Break Away from the Anglican Province of Rwanda?

2012-01-14T10:30:00.000-08:00

On December 5,2011,after 11 years as a mission of the Anglican Province of Rwanda, the Anglican Mission in America (AMiA) abruptly broke away from the Church of Rwanda,thereby severing its ties to the worldwide Anglican Communion. This article and the appended timeline are an effort to summarize what happened from the perspective of the Rwandan House of Bishops, based on extensive interviews with the bishops as well as public documents. To read more click here.

The Nairobi Communiqué that Wasn’t

2012-01-14T10:20:00.000-08:00

Ten days ago, Anglican Ink announced that there was a “make or break” meeting about to occur in Nairobi, Kenya for the resigned bishop Chuck Murphy. We now know that other attendees included the Primate of Kenya and head of GAFCON, Archbishop Eliud Wabukala, Archbishop Rwaje and Bishop Mbanda from Rwanda, resigned bishops Murphy and Miller, and other bishops from Nigeria.... To read more, click here.

AMiA and ACNA – Guessing at the Status

2012-01-14T10:01:00.000-08:00

In an attempt to decipher where exactly the Pawleys Island group will end up affiliating (if anywhere), let’s look at some of the statements that have been made. My sources here are Virtue Online articles, Archbishop Duncan’s Pastoral Letter and the words of Bishop John Miller from the Winter Conference. To date, we have not heard from Rwanda or GAFCON, but only from ACNA and the Pawleys leadership, so this story is being told from one perspective....To read more, click here.

Century year old church for sale - $1,000

2012-01-14T05:53:00.000-08:00

A two-lot piece of land is hard to come by in the small community of Cupar, SK.
It took Ida and Albert Sakal a long time to find this property.

They’ve bought a new house and plan to move it here.

But first, they have to deal with a century-year-old church that came with the land. To read more, click here.

Anglican Mission Winter Conference Updates: Day 3

2012-01-14T05:27:00.000-08:00

These two articles from Virtue Online were dated yesterday:

The AMIA differences will astound you
Bishop Murphy Answers Questions about AMIA Split

The following articles from Anglicans United were date yesterday and the day before:

Anglican Mission: Bishops discussion on Thursday’s group sessions
Anglican Mission Winter Conference: First Impressions

Do You Really Want To Become a Part of the Anglican Church in North America?

2012-01-13T10:49:00.000-08:00

By Robin G. Jordan

Here is a summary of the reasons why I personally would not lead a church into Anglican Church in North America as a pastor or support such a move as a member of the congregation. They are divided into two categories—structural and doctrinal.

Structural

1. The last judicatory organized on the basis of affinity in the ACNA recognized by the Provincial Council was the Missionary Diocese of All Saints. It was established for congregations affiliated with Forward in Faith North America, a traditionalist Anglo-Catholic organization that is committed to the promotion of “Catholic doctrine, order, and practice” in the Anglican Church and is spearheading a “new Oxford movement” in those Anglican provinces where it has branches. The Missionary Diocese of All Saints requires its clergy to be members of FIFNA. The Diocese of the Holy Spirit, one of the few remaining affinity-based judicatories in the ACNA, was dissolved.

The trend in the ACNA is to encourage the formation of geographic-based judicatories with all the problems that such judicatories present. Churches and groups of churches in a particular region are expected to affiliate with the existing judicatory in that region. This means that there is a strong possibility that they may end up in a judicatory with which they are mismatched.

2. The present Archbishop of the ACNA has shown a persistent disregard for the provincial constitution and canons. For example, he has created the offices of provincial archdeacon, provincial canon, and provincial dean and made appointments to these offices, which under the provisions of the provincial constitution and canons he has no authority to do. He has also established an Archbishop’s Cabinet, modeled upon a similar body found in Roman Catholic archdioceses, and made appointments to this body, which under the provisions of the provincial constitution and canons he also has no authority to do.

3. The provincial canons give powers to the Archbishop of the ACNA that other Anglican provinces do not give even to the metropolitan of the province and which represent a significant departure from Anglican practice. They permit the Archbishop to overrule a diocesan bishop’ suspension of clergy under his jurisdiction, require a diocesan bishop to obtain the permission of the Archbishop and the Executive Committee to reduce or terminate the sentence that the diocesan bishop imposed upon a member of the clergy under his jurisdiction, and require the College of Bishops to obtain his permission to reduce or terminate the sentence that the College of Bishops imposed upon one of its members.

4. The ACNA canons promote the practice of the College of Bishops’ election of the bishops of a diocese over that of the diocesan synod’s election of its bishops. If a diocese adopts this practice and adopts the provisions of the model diocesan canons governing nominations for the position of diocesan bishop, coadjutor bishop, and suffragan bishop, the diocese effectively surrenders the choice of its bishops to the College of Bishops since the College of Bishops can repeatedly turn down a diocese’ nominees until it finds one to its liking.

5. The College of Bishops has assumed powers that the provincial constitution and canons do not vest in that body. This includes authorizing an Ordinal, which under the provisions of the provincial constitution and canons it has no authority to authorize.

6. The ACNA Governance Taskforce discourages groups of churches seeking recognition as ACNA judicatories from incorporating provisions in their governing documents that are not prohibited by the ACNA constitution and canons such as mandatory retirement ages and other forms of term limits for bishops.

7. The ACNA Governance Taskforce developed model diocesan constitution and model diocesan canons that give a very limited role in the governance of the diocese to the diocesan synod, relinquish powers to the province that dioceses are not required to yield under the provincial constitution and canons, and thereby reduce the autonomy of the diocese. These model diocesan governing documents also permit the Archbishop of the ACNA to meddle in parochial matters.

8. The provincial constitution and canons do not prohibit dioceses from taking the property of congregations in trust, only the province.

9. The ACNA has no proper Provincial Synod. The governing body of the province is supposed to be the Provincial Council but the Archbishop’s Cabinet and the College of Bishops have been usurping its powers.

10. The Provincial Assembly has an extremely limited role in the governance of the province: it ratifies changes in the provincial constitution and canons and makes recommendations. In practice, the Assembly is bypassed on most important matters.

11. The way that the ACNA is structured at the provincial level reveals a basic distrust of lay participation in the discussion and determination of major issues.

12. Under the provisions of the provincial canons the Archbishop of the ACNA appoints the prosecutor and legal advisor to the court for the trial of bishops. He appoints the judges, prosecutor, and legal advisor for the court of extraordinary jurisdiction. This court tries clergy canonically resident in other provinces and clergy of dioceses that do not possess a trial court. His appointive powers in relation to these courts enable him to influence the outcome of hearings in them.

13. Basic procedural safeguards necessary to guarantee a fair and impartial hearing are conspicuously absent from the disciplinary canons of the ACNA.

Doctrinal

14. The fundamental declarations of the province do not fully accept the classical formularies as Anglicanism’ long-recognized doctrinal standard. They take a position on the historical episcopate over which Anglicans are divided, favoring the Anglo-Catholic side of the issue over the evangelical. The fundamental declarations adopt a nebulous standard for worship and prayer, which is open to interpretation as including the pre-Reformation medieval service books.

15. The provincial canons incorporate doctrine, language, norms, and principles from the Roman Catholic Church’s Code of Canon Law (1983). They establish the minimum age requirement of Roman Catholic bishops as that of ACNA bishops and take Roman Catholic doctrinal positions on apostolic succession, ordination, and the sacraments.

16. The provincial constitution relegates its affirmation of The Jerusalem Statement to its preface where it is purely incidental to the preface’s explanation of the establishment of the province.

17. The ACNA College of Bishops has approved a “theological lens” to guide the ACNA Prayerbook and Common Liturgy Taskforce in its creation of a Prayer Book for use in the ACNA, which favoring an Anglo-Catholic interpretation of Anglican Church history, the character of Anglicanism, and the development of the Book of Common Prayer and Anglican worship. This “theological lens” contains only passing reference to the Thirty-Nine Articles, elevates tradition to the same level as Scripture, and treats the 1549 and 1928 Prayer Books as if they are Anglican formularies. It views the 1928 Book of Common Prayer as a continuation of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, which is far from the case as a comparison of their doctrine will show.

18. The ACNA Ordinal sanctions doctrines and practices that the English Reformers rejected on solid biblical grounds in the sixteenth century. Among the doctrines it sanctions are the doctrines of transubstantiation and the sacrifice of the Mass.

19. The present Archbishop of the ACNA has endorsed this Ordinal and has used the Roman Catholic ceremonies permitted by its rubrics in his consecration of new bishops, for example, anointing the head of new bishops with oil of chrism.

20. All candidates for ordination, all clergy, all new congregations leaders, all new dioceses, and all ministry partner organizations are required to unreservedly subscribe to the provincial constitution and canons.

21. The ACNA “theological lens” does not contain a statement that affirms in no uncertain terms salvation by grace alone by faith alone in Christ alone as the essence of Gospel teaching. Rather it contains references to salvation by faith, which are open to a Roman Catholic interpretation.

22. In a number of churches in the ACNA “a different gospel” from the New Testament Gospel is preached.

I realize that some folks do not share my qualms about the ACNA. They feel that if they become a part of the ACNA, they can make changes. I am not convinced that they can.

If they are evangelicals like myself, committed to the authority of the Scriptures and the Anglican formularies, the fulfillment of the Great Commission, and the establishment and maintenance of responsible, synodical church government, I believe that, if they do not compromise their principles, they are going to find themselves assigned to a marginal space in the ACNA and eventually pushed to the periphery and then out of the ACNA. This is why I advocate the formation of a North American convocation of Anglican evangelical churches.

The formation of such a convocation does not rule out the possibility of merger with the ACNA at a later date when the churches forming the convocation may be in a better position to negotiate a merger agreement with the ACNA in which the ACNA is required to make concessions in such critical areas as confirmation of the election of bishops, doctrine, governance, worship, etc. Any church or group of churches joining the ACNA at the present time will be doing so on its terms. For evangelicals committed to the authority of the Scriptures and the Anglican formularies, the fulfillment of the Great Commission, and the establishment and maintenance of responsible, synodical church government these terms are far from favorable.

Anglican Mission Winter Conference 2012 Updates: Day 2

2012-01-13T10:40:00.001-08:00

About that Apology

The Washington Statement reported that Bishop Murphy had used the phrase reverse colonialism while meeting with the Rwandan House of Bishops:

Given these financial and ecclesiastical concerns, some of the Rwandan bishops expressed the desire to exercise greater authority over the AMiA, including the Rwandan House of Bishops electing the AMiA chairman. In response, Bp Murphy cautioned the Rwandan bishops against “reverse colonialism.” During the presentation, he claimed to have told the Rwandan House of Bishops that their “directing and shaping what happens in North America is a bad idea.” He went on to say that their increased involvement would be both “missiologically crazy and practically foolish.”

In his resignation letter to Archbishop Rwaje, Murphy said:

Let me begin by sincerely apologizing both to you and to the House of Bishops for any language that I have recently used that has caused hurt or pain to you or to any of my fellow bishops. I did not sense, nor did anyone tell me, that my reference to the dangers of reverse colonialism at the September House of Bishops meeting was received as being abusive. Since it appears that it did bring offense, then I do apologize and ask your forgiveness.

To read more, click here.

An audio and a summary of Bishop Murphy's address may also be found at the A Living Text website. Just scroll down the page.

Related articles: What I wish Chuck Murphy had said
AMIA Leaders Lay out Future of Mission Post Split

New Anglican Bishop enthronement tomorrow

2012-01-13T10:09:00.000-08:00

The Right Reverend Claude Berkley’s Enthronement Service as the new Lord Bishop of Trinidad and Tobago, takes place tomorrow, at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in downtown Port-of-Spain.

Drums and bells have been chosen to replace the traditional trumpet fanfare at the Service. While it is reported in the Anglican Outlook that there is expected to be musical input from the place of his birth 54 years ago with the presence of the Signal Hill Alumni Choir of Tobago. The Trinity All-Generations Steel Orchestra (TAGS) will also play at the service and the St Agnes Dancers are to perform. Michele Dowrich of San Fernando is the musical director.

As customary, the new Bishop will meet the Cathedral’s Great West Door locked and will use the crozier with which he was presented at his consecration on March 17, 2011, to knock three times on the door to demand entry. The Very Reverend Dean of the Cathedral, Colin Sampson, will unlock the door and the new bishop who succeeded Bishop Calvin Bess on December 18, 2011, as the 12th Lord Bishop of the Diocese, will advance into the doorway and make his request of the Dean that he “be conducted to the Bishop’s Seat” in the Cathedral Church “there to be inducted, installed and enthroned according to the ancient usage and prescriptive right.” To read more, click here.

Be Missional, Not Superficially Contextual

2012-01-13T09:28:00.000-08:00

Moving from the theological tower of seminary to the worn-in trenches of church planting, much more than my clothing had to change. The transition exposed me to the broken-in look of various theological concepts, particularly in the field of missiology. As an interdisciplinary academic discipline, missiology is robust. However, its street-level expression---missional church---can be a bit thin. After five years in U.S. church planting trenches, I've watched "missional" unravel from missiology through a gross misuse of contextualization. To read more, click here.

Four Christians Killed by Islamist Group Boko Haram in Nigeria – Villages Threatened

2012-01-13T09:03:00.000-08:00

Gunmen from the Islamist group Boko Haram yesterday shot dead four Igbo Christian men in Potiskum town in Yobe State, and threatened to launch an attack on two nearby villages later that evening.

The four men were reportedly shot in a vehicle as they were migrating southwards to rejoin their families, who had already moved to that area to escape the violence. Previous attempts to join them had been hampered by the indefinite general strike against the removal of a government fuel, which has brought the nation to a halt.

On the same day, Boko Haram also threatened to attack Kukargadu and Dagare villages, both of which have large populations of indigenous Christians. However, extra security personnel were deployed to the villages, which were consequently kept safe through the night.

On Tuesday, eight men and a woman were killed by suspected Boko Haram gunmen in Potiskum. All nine are thought to have been Christians. The group, which included a lecturer at the Federal College of Education/Technical in Potiskum, four policemen and a young man employed by Jam’a Clinic, were in a bar in the Dorawa Ward when they were shot at by gunmen who escaped on motorcycles. On the previous day, two Christians were also shot at by gunmen on a motorcycle in the Barracks area of Potiskum, but escaped unhurt by falling to the ground and playing dead. To read more, click here.

Pioneers USA Reaches Out to 200,000 Muslims in Chad

2012-01-13T08:52:00.000-08:00

Pioneers USA recently added a new video to their "Multiply" Web series that takes viewers to the country of Chad where a church-planting team is meeting humanitarian needs and sharing the Gospel with a Muslim people group of 200,000.

The work is just beginning in Chad, and the challenges are geographical, cultural and spiritual. After landing in the capital city of N’Djamena, Dave Carter and his missionary team have to travel two to three days to get to the far eastern city of Guereda where they serve with the Tama people.

Guereda is a city the size of Des Moines, Iowa, but with no known believers and no church.

"It's a challenge to live here," Carter notes in the "Multiply" video. "But a lot of the easier places to get to are already reached with the Gospel. It's the places like this in the heart of Africa, the forgotten places that just haven’t been touched with God’s word yet.” To read more, click here.

Prayer Not an Excuse for Laziness, Inactivity, Megachurch Pastor Says

2012-01-13T08:46:00.000-08:00

The Body of Christ needs to stop using prayer as an excuse for laziness, a megapastor in South Carolina proclaimed, sharing the same sentiments as a few atheists who criticized believers in this manner.

All too often, Christians hide inactivity behind prayer, hoping things would get better without taking any action themselves, Perry Noble, senior pastor of NewSpring Church revealed.

“Prayer is a powerful weapon which we should make more use of in the church,” he stated on his blog, “However, God did not call us to pray about His will but also to participate in it.”

Like Noble, many people, including nonbelievers, observed this growing tendency in Christians to pray without action.

Though Christians are willing to pray about things, they would end it there, thinking they had done their part. Then they would “get angry at God because He did not do something amazing to compensate for our laziness and passivity.”

It was like trying to “pray the pounds away” without exercising, adopting better eating habits and a healthier lifestyle; or like “praying back your marriage into a great place. To read more, click here.

5 Reasons We Need to Rebrand Evangelism

2012-01-13T08:16:00.000-08:00

Let’s play a word association game. When I use the word “evangelism” what comes to mind?

-A bullhorn?
-A “Repent” sign?
-A pointed index finger (resulting in a flipped up middle finger)?

Too often, too many of us have negative views of the word evangelism. Sadly, the 2,000 year old practice of evangelism has 2,000 years worth of baggage that comes with it (i.e. the inquisition, burning heretics at the stake, Jim Jones, etc.) In the early church the baggage was merely carry-on. But today, there is so much baggage associated with evangelism that we are forced to check it and tempted to chuck it.

But we shouldn’t. Jesus himself modeled the right brand of evangelism which was equal parts awkward and awesome, drenched both in love and boldness. He commissioned his disciples to go into all the world and preach the gospel to everyone. The baton of that responsibility has been passed from generation of believers to generation of believers and it is now firmly in our hands. It’s our turn to run with it. But as we do we should do it with an eye toward changing people’s perspective of evangelism from manipulative and obnoxious to patient, powerful and persuasive.

Here are five reasons why we need to rebrand evangelism....To read more, click here.

Anglican Mission Winter Conference 2012 Updates: Day 1

2012-01-12T13:04:00.000-08:00

AMiA Winter Conference – Bishop Murphy’s Address, Part II

If you don’t want to listen to the entire audio of the presentation, here is a summary of the second half of Bishop Murphy’s presentation. To read more, click here.

AMiA Winter Conference – Bishops Roundtable

This afternoon, the AM bishops held a roundtable; the audio is available at this link. Some takeaways:

Archbishop Kolini states that “the whole problem is around power. There were five candidates to take my place. 10 voted for 1, the other voted for himself.” He is calling Bishop Alexis out here I think. He is consistently trying to hang this mess on Alexis. To read more, click here.

AMiA Winter Conference – Kolini vs. Rwanda

According to sources inside the AMiA Winter Conference meetings, retired Archbishop Kolini spoke heavily in defense of Chuck Murphy and against the Rwandans during the clergy convocation.

He is reported to have turned to Murphy and said, “Chuck, you are a victim of politics.”

He told the gathered clergy not to make Rwanda an idol. He said that Jesus has sent the clergy, “Rwanda has not sent you.” He is also reported to have said that “it is reverse colonialism.”To read more, click here

AMiA Winter Conference Day 1 – Revealing the New Thing

This morning in Houston, Bishops Murphy and Kolini presented for about an hour and took a couple hours of questions. The message from these men is that efforts at reconciliation are ongoing, but that the way forward remains unclear. How this matches up with the message tonight from Archbishop Yong Ping Chung is hard to see.

According to tweets from tonight’s meeting, Yong’s remarks included:

God is asking the AM to enlarge their tents for global mission. Hard work is ahead. (The AMiA) needs to go rescue those in darkness.

So there is to be no turning back from the global mission society concept. What it will be tethered to is totally unclear right now. Yong announced a change in the AMiA’s reach:

Go global! The 130,000,000 unreached becomes the 6 billion.

David Roseberry said that Yong blamed the Internet and the devil for the damage to the AM. To read more, click here.

Chinese city's sex trade meets firm but compassionate foe

2012-01-12T12:46:00.000-08:00

The young Chinese woman steps from a back room into the soft, pink light of the small brothel. She adjusts her short dress and black stockings. A middle-aged Chinese man follows a few steps behind. Under the watchful eye of the shop's owner, the customer hands her a wad of bills -- about $60.

She nods and accepts the money, flashing a strawberry tattoo on her left hand, often a sign of rebellion in this ancient culture. Transactions like this take place every day in brothels throughout China, says Belinda Baker*, a worker who shares the Gospel among commercially exploited women in a city of 8 million people.

To read more stories about human trafficking in today's BP, click here.

The 40-year-old New Orleans native is careful not to say "prostitute," a word that implies that women choose that lifestyle. "No child says, 'I want to grow up and sell my body,'" Baker says.

Instead, poverty, lack of education and lack of opportunity drive women to prostitution as a means to provide for their families. Baker hopes to free the estimated 35,000 exploited women in her city both physically and spiritually -- first by sharing the Gospel, then by offering a safe place to live and alternative job skills. To read more, click here.

Babies 'dedicated' to temple prostitution

2012-01-12T12:43:00.000-08:00

Imagine living in a society in which you are judged by your station in life, determined by your birth, rather than by your individual worth or accomplishments. As a father in the lowest rung of society, you can barely keep food on the table for your family.

Should your wife become ill after giving birth to another daughter -- who, unlike the son you had hoped for, will be an unbearable financial burden -- you have only one choice: dedicating your daughter to the goddess as a devadasis, a temple prostitute.

By this act, she is given a profession and a way to obtain food for her family. Perhaps the goddess will now show favor to your family, sparing your wife's life and filling her womb with the long-awaited boy child. Such a sacrifice is small compared to a family's alternative fate of starvation.

In India, the devadasi (day-vah-dah-see) system, a Hindu practice of temple prostitution, has existed more than 5,000 years, says David Dass, executive director of the India Gospel League. In the state of Karnataka where he and his wife live, starving families dedicate hundreds of girls each year to the goddess Yellamma. The children are forced to begin a life of prostitution at age 11 or 12. To read more, click here.

Offer Love and Hope … One Child at a Time

2012-01-12T12:28:00.000-08:00

During National Mentoring Month, let's remember Jesus' command to reach out to "the least of these."

January is National Mentoring Month, but today all I can think about is my son, Scott. Just a few moments ago, I walked out of a pre-surgery holding area as nurses wheeled him into an operating room. Although he's now 18 years old, my heart felt squeezed as I watched him lying in a bed connected to an IV.

As a now-legal adult, he signed all his own paperwork when we arrived today (somewhat odd considering that I still pay for everything). When a nurse asked for his authorization so the medical team could disclose medical information to me, he offered a glimpse into the relationship we share. "Sure you can," he said. "I tell him everything—so you can too."

And now for the connection to National Mentoring Month. To read more, click here.

Christians Help the Poor With Renewable Energy

2012-01-12T12:05:00.000-08:00

A new wave of Christian ministries are answering the call to good stewardship and breaking down stereotypes with renewable energy initiatives.

According to World Bank statistics, over 1.4 million people worldwide, the majority in rural Asia and Africa, don’t have access to electricity. About 3 billion people use non-renewable materials like wood, charcoal, even waste, for cooking and heating. These sources are economically draining and bad for the environment.

This past August, the U.N. Secretary General emphasized renewable energy sources – like solar energy, wind power, and hydropower – as good ways to help lift the poor out of poverty.

Some Christian organizations are beginning to agree. Prominent evangelical Chuck Colson recently said in a radio report, “In Cambodia, for example, a typical kerosene lamp costs around $30 to light a home for a year – that’s about 10 percent of what an average Cambodian earns each year. But solar lanterns only cost $25 and can last for two years.”

Other organizations like SonLight Power, whose mission is “to improve the lives of underserved children, families, and communities worldwide through sustainable solar-powered solutions,” are providing ways to provide low cost alternatives to those in impoverished nations.

Kevin Sasson, executive director at SonLight, told The Christian Post that his organization’s power systems “are often installed at off-grid primary schools in parts of the world without access to sustainable sources of electricity.” They work in many Latin American and African countries. The organization’s projects include providing energy-efficient lighting, TV/DVD assemblies, and laptop computers. To read more, click here.

Supreme Court Upholds Church's Religious Liberty in Unanimous Decision

2012-01-12T11:56:00.000-08:00

The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously agreed Wednesday that the government should not interfere with religious groups’ internal affairs in the case of a disgruntled former employee of a Lutheran school.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority opinion for Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that allowing the EEOC’s anti-discrimination lawsuit violated the Free Exercise clause of the First Amendment.

"Such action interferes with the internal governance of the church, depriving the church of control over the selection of those who will personify its beliefs," Roberts wrote. "By imposing an unwanted minister, the state infringes the Free Exercise Clause, which protects a religious group's right to shape its own faith and mission through its appointments."The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously agreed on Wednesday that the government should not interfere with religious groups’ internal affairs in the case of a disgruntled former employee of a Lutheran school.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority opinion for Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that allowing the EEOC’s anti-discrimination lawsuit violated the Free Exercise clause of the First Amendment.

"Such action interferes with the internal governance of the church, depriving the church of control over the selection of those who will personify its beliefs," Roberts wrote. "By imposing an unwanted minister, the state infringes the Free Exercise Clause, which protects a religious group's right to shape its own faith and mission through its appointments."

The 9-0 ruling in favor of Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church is a huge relief for religious freedom proponents. To read more, click here.

NYC Extends Bronx Church's Lease Amid Fears of 'Crackdown' on Worship

2012-01-12T11:39:00.000-08:00

The New York City Housing Authority has extended the lease of a Bronx church that uses one of its facilities after the congregation accused authorities of trying to evict them in the context of an alleged clampdown on worship groups in government buildings.

Infinity NY Church, a nondenominational ministry led by Pastor Dimas Salaberrios, has been fighting to keep its space at the Bronx River Community Center after it received a notification from NYCHA that its lease was going to expire, and that the church would need to move by February.

A number of congregants staged a protest in front of the New York City Law Department offices last week, in which Salaberrios and other participants were arrested while praying. To read more, click here.

The ACNA Theological Lens: The Guiding Principles Behind the Proposed ACNA Prayer Book—Part 3

2012-01-11T11:01:00.000-08:00

By Robin G. Jordan

In this article we continue our examination of the part of the Initial Report of the Prayerbook and Common Liturgy Taskforce of the Anglican Church in North America titled “An Expanded Explanation of Our Guiding Principles.” As was noted in the previous articles in this series, this part of the report is incorrectly titled as the taskforce does not explain its guiding principles but offers its view of worship. We will be looking at the sections of the report titled “V. The Holy Spirit and the Church” and “VI. The Bible is the authentic transmission of God's Word.”

V. The Holy Spirit and the Church. In this section of the report the taskforce tell us that “the risen Jesus Christ sends the Holy Spirit to create the community of the Church, the new Israel.” It also tell us that “through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the Church is united to the risen Christ, and shares in the eternal love of the Holy Trinity.” But consistent with the preceding sections of the report, it does not provide any Scriptural references or annotation. As noted in second article in this series, historic Anglicanism requires that the truth of all doctrine must be tried by the test of Scripture. The taskforce cannot expect readers of the report to accept such assertions without providing the passages of Scripture in which these doctrines may be found or by which they may be proved (Article 6). They must also demonstrate that what they are asserting can be read with certainty out of these Scripture passages, that it is unambiguously expressed by the human writers of the Scripture passages, and is not something that the taskforce is reading into or imposing on the Scripture passages.

In this section of the report the taskforce takes the Roman Catholic position that the Holy Spirit invests human beings with a new and higher spiritual nature through faith and the sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist. It goes on to assert that the Holy Spirit “makes us one body with the risen Christ in His ascended humanity [Emphasis added].” It does not provide the Scriptural basis of this view nor does it provide any references to Patristic writings or other theological works that support the view.

In this section of the report the taskforce defines “grace” as “a shorthand term for God’s entirely gratuitous redemption and reconciliation of humanity through the incarnation, life, death and resurrection of Jesus, and His gift of the Holy Spirit to constitute the church.” This definition does not take note of the fact that the Old Testament is full of examples of God’s grace—his favor and his divine regenerating and inspiring influence. One is prompted to ask why the taskforce adopted such a sweeping definition of grace rather than these more precise definitions. The taskforce goes on to link justification and sanctification in a way that is reminiscent of Roman Catholic theology: “God’s gift to sinful humanity is not only forgiveness and pardon (justification), but is also transformation, re-creation and change (sanctification), a new life of participation in the Triune love.”

Note the reference to “a new life of participation in the Triune love.” In Roman Catholic theology the means by which we participate in this love is the Eucharist. While taskforce does not go as far as taking this view, it does not exclude this understanding.

A observation from J. I. Packer’s Concise Theology: A Guide to Historic Christian Beliefs may be appropriate at this point. Packer notes, “when John says ‘God is love’ (1 John 4:8), what he means (as he goes on to explain) is that the Father through Christ has actually saved us formerly lost sinners who now believe…” John is not referring to “the endless life of the triune God as one of mutual affection and honor” or to God’s creation of angels and humans “to glorify their Maker in sharing the joyful give-and-take of this divine life, according to their creaturely mode.” Rather God “loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for sins (1 John 4:9-10).” (J. I. Packer, Concise Theology: A Guide to Historic Christian Beliefs, Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, 1983, p. 45) This is also the Thirty-Nine Articles and The Book of Common Prayer’s understanding of “God is love.” The taskforce at times appears to loose sight of this important fact in its rhapsodizing about the persons of the Trinity’s love for each other. Or perhaps its downplaying of God’s love manifest in the atonement is intentional.

In this section of the report we are told, “Christian ethics and spirituality grow out of the Church’s life as a worshiping community.” This view plays down or ignores the role of the Bible in establishing the moral principles or a moral code by which we live. The members of Christian community can regularly gather together for the celebration of the Eucharist and other forms of worship and not live a life that conforms to the moral standards of the Scriptures, as is the case in The Episcopal Church. A number of factors help to form and shape an individual’s spirituality. They include but are not limited to the Bible, life experiences, and mentors and teachers. Prayer and worship may play a role in the forming and shaping of an individual’s spirituality but they are not the only factors. The taskforce is prone to making generalizations, which, while they may apply in some cases, do not apply in all cases.

The statement that follows suggests the Roman Catholic doctrine of justification by infused righteousness: “The Holy Spirit forms and transforms us into the image of Christ as we worship the Triune God.” The Prayer Book Catechism teaches that the Holy Spirit sanctifies all the elect people of God. But this may be done apart from “worship.” What the taskforce appears to have in mind is the worship of the eucharistic celebration, which may involve the priest’s reiteration or representation of Christ’s sacrifice (Trent) or our participation in Christ’s ongoing sacrificial activity in heaven (Lambeth 1958). In both instances Christ is believed to be present under the forms of bread and wine and to be received in or with the sacramental species.

VI. The Bible is the authentic transmission of God's Word. The GAFCON Theological Resource Group in The Way, the Truth, and the Life note that Anglicanism fell prey to moralism in the late seventeenth century. In this section of the report the taskforce in its emphasis upon Jesus’ teaching as a guide for our conduct appears to succumb to the same tendency. There is no mention of the New Testament doctrine of salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. Yet Jesus himself teaches this doctrine.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God….” (John 3:16-18 ESV)

In this section of the report the taskforce makes this rather problematic statement:

In recognizing the Scriptures as canon the acknowledges its final and normative authority, distinguishing within it the words of prophets and apostles as eyewitnesses of the crucified and risen Lord, from distinguishing also from all subsequent words of the Church[Emphasis added].

The statement is poorly worded. One is left wondering what exactly is the taskforce trying to say. The statement reflects a tendency of the taskforce at times to use high-sounding words and phrases apparently to impress the reader rather than clear and precise language to make plain what the taskforce means. (A less charitable explanation is that the taskforce is deliberately obfuscating at such points for reasons of its own.) What, for instance, does it mean by the phrase,” from distinguishing also from all subsequent words of the Church.” This phrase is open to more than one interpretation. It suggests that the taskforce is taking the position that the Scriptures are the words of the Church with all the implications of that the position.

The taskforce fails to mention God’s authentication of Scripture by the inward witness of the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit’s witness, not personal experience, human argument, or the Church’s testimony, by which God authenticates his Word to us. This witness produces a state of mind in which we recognize the divinity of Jesus of the gospel and the words of Scripture.

The taskforce concludes this section of the report with the statement, “The Church submits herself to the authority of the Scriptures as ‘containing all things necessary for salvation.’” The Scriptures certainly contain everything that we need to know in order to be saved. However, they are not authoritative for that reason alone. They are “God’s own testimony and teaching in human form” (J. I. Packer, Concise Theology: A Guide to Historic Christian Beliefs, Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, 1983, p.3) This statement brings to mind one of the questions in the Ordering of Deacons in the 1928 Ordinal and the 2011 ACNA Ordinal.

Bishop: Are you persuaded that the Holy Scriptures contain all Doctrines required as necessary for eternal salvation through faith in Jesus Christ?

Answer. I am so persuaded.

This question was one of a number of changes that the 1928 revision introduced in the American Prayer Book that reveal the growing influence of Anglo-Catholicism and liberalism upon the Episcopal Church at that time. The 1790 Ordinal, the classical American Ordinal, like the Prayer Book Ordinal, requires blanket belief in the Bible:

The Bishop. Do you unfeignedly believe all the Canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testament?

Answer. I do believe them.

This statement in the report and the use of the 1928 question in the 2011 ACNA Ordinal are a part of a growing body of evidence that the ACNA “theological lens” along with the ACNA constitution and canons has put the ACNA on the same path as the Episcopal Church in the 1920s, except the ACNA is more liberal than the Episcopal Church at that time, accepting the ordination of women and embracing the charismatic movement. The Episcopal Church in the 1920s was not open to the “enthusiasm” of Pentecostalism. We know where this path led—to the emergence of what Les Fairfield calls “Catholic Modernism.”

J. I. Packer reminds us what should be the place of the Bible in the faith and life of every follower of Jesus Christ:

What Scriptures says, God says; for, in a manner comparable only to the deeper mystery of the Incarnation, the Bible is both fully human and fully divine. So all its manifold contents—histories, prophecies, poems, songs, wisdom writings, sermons, statistics, letters, and whatever else—should be received as from God, and all that Bible writers teach should be revered as God’s authoritative instruction. Christians should be grateful to God for the gift of his written Word, and conscientious in basing their faith and life entirely and exclusively upon it. Otherwise, we cannot ever honor or please him as he calls us to do. (J. I. Packer, Concise Theology: A Guide to Historic Christian Beliefs, Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, 1983, p. 5)

Clothing Matters: What We Wear to Church

2012-01-11T10:53:00.000-08:00

Why what we put on may be more important than we think.

The so-called "worship wars" of recent years may have produced a winner. Many congregations remain divided between traditional and contemporary styles, but in most places the contemporary appears to have gained the upper hand.

What's more, our worship services have become increasingly relaxed and informal affairs. You can see it in what we wear. Church for today's worshipers is not a dress-up event. Whatever is clean and comfortable seems sufficient. Christian students in particular have been taught by their seniors — or has it been the reverse?— that when it comes to church, attire doesn't much matter. They understand there is nothing particularly spiritual about a dress or a coat and tie. God is scarcely impressed by such things. "People look at the outward appearance," we are reminded, "but the LORD looks at the heart" (1 Sam. 16:7).

I do not intend to wade into the broader debate over worship styles; that's a different discussion. In any case, I'm content with either traditional or contemporary if they're done well. But I do wish to raise a question about this last notion: namely, that when it comes to public worship, our clothing doesn't matter. This common assumption, it seems to me, deserves more scrutiny than it typically receives.

Over the last several generations, American attire in general has lurched dramatically toward the informal. A feature that quickly dates an old photograph, for instance, is the men wearing fedoras; most today wouldn't know where to find one. Those who are old enough can remember when travelers got spiffed up to board an airplane. Today's travelers think nothing of flying in duds they might wear to the gym. Or consider the rise of the term "business casual." In most parts of the country, though not all, even the corporate setting has grown less formal.

These changes are part of a broad shift toward the convenient and comfortable. It's a shift we see on display every week in our worship services. In many churches casual wear is de rigueur. It's easy to imagine how one might look over-dressed there, but less easy, short of immodesty, to imagine being under-dressed. Jeans or shorts, tee shirts or tank tops, flip-flops or sandals: these draw scarcely any attention, while full dresses or a suit and tie appear strangely out of place. Relaxed, even rumpled informality is in; suiting up in our "Sunday best" is out. The question I want to raise here is, What should we make of this shift in worship attire?

Many seem convinced it's a good thing, because, again, it's the heart that counts. Yet precisely for this reason—because it's the heart that counts—I want to suggest that what we wear in our public worship may matter more than we think. To grasp this connection, let us draw on some helpful insights from the field of communication. To read more, click here.

How Much Should I Share?

2012-01-11T10:47:00.000-08:00

Leaders have difficulty knowing what to share about their struggles with their small groups.

Every believer sins. No one is perfect—not even leaders. On the other hand, when you're struggling with temptation or are caught up in a sin pattern, how much should you share with your group? After all, while confession is good for the soul—and for strengthening a group—it can be bad for the reputation or make a messy situation even messier. Here are some suggestions for navigating this tricky issue. To read more, click here.

Religion: The long Anglican road to Rome

2012-01-11T10:15:00.000-08:00

It's almost laughable to call these developments "sudden" or the result of unilateral actions by the pope, said the Rev. Allan Hawkins of St. Mary the Virgin Catholic Church in Arlington, Texas, a priest in the Church of England before coming to America. The roots of these events even predate the Episcopal Church's 1976 vote to ordain women as priests and later to the episcopate.

"The end of the '70s was important, but this really goes back to the Oxford Movement," said the 77-year-old priest, referring to a mid-1800s surge toward Anglo-Catholicism. While the ordination of women "made headlines, it was just a symptom of what was happening deep down. ...

"So many of us had yearned all our lives to be part of a church with a clear sense of authority. That yearning is what pulled us to Catholicism." To read more, click here.