The Great Separation

A Split is Called For.

The Anglican Part of The Body - Well, Gene Robinson, divorced father and a man that continues to live in the sin of homosexuality, has officially been raised to Bishop against the clear word of God.

And so, Anglican primates around the world are calling to split from the U.S. Episcopal churches that recognize the new Bishop. Most vocal is the Anglican believers in Africa. Sue Leeman reports for the AP:

"In a statement issued Monday, Nigerian archbishop Peter Akinola said Robinson's consecration in New Hampshire on Sunday demonstrates that parts of the U.S. Episcopal Church 'consider that their cultural-based agenda is of far greater importance than obedience to the word of God.

" 'The overwhelming majority of the primates (Anglican leaders) of the global south cannot and will not recognize the office or ministry of Canon Gene Robinson as a bishop,' Akinola's statement said. Resistance to gay bishops has been particularly strong in Africa."

Archbishop Peter Akinola couldn't be more right.

Apparently, Robinson, thinks that his being raised to Bishop will make it easier to reach "people who find themselves at the margins." The trouble with his thinking is that he is saying to these people on the margins that it is ok to stay in your sin. But the truth is that every one of us has been or is at the margins and that it is the power of Christ and his death and resurrection that pulls us out of the margins into holiness, righteousness, and communion with God.

What Robinson is preaching is the exact opposite of what Christ told the adulterous woman whom Jesus saved from stoning. She was living in sin and Christ offered her a way out and told her to go and sin no more (John 8:1-11).

What Robinson is saying in word and deed is, 'Come and continue in your sin.'

That will not help the person suffering in sin, but will lead to a worse condition of the soul.

It's Not Just the Anglican Church.

Can We Call it The Bride of Christ Anymore? - The sin of homosexuality isn't exclusive to the Anglican Church. Satan has infected the whole of the church with the promotion of this sin and is attempting to set up new theology around it.

Some Evidence:

Gleb Bryanksi for Reuters UK writes:

"Sweden's national church has taken a first step towards allowing gay marriages after senior clerics voted to draft an order of service for such a ceremony."

He goes on to quote a sorely confused pastor,

" 'The Swedish church has thus taken a prophetic role upon itself,' lesbian pastor Ann-Cathrin Jarl told Reuters at the assembly in Uppsala, north of Stockholm, on Thursday. 'We are the first major church that has come to that point.' "

Confused because she clearly doesn't know what prophecy is.

Bryanski goes on to quote the Swedish Church's archbishop as saying this step towards 'gay marriages' (ie, the endorsing of sin),

"...is a step towards making this reality but a solid theological foundation is needed before the church can go further."

A 'solid theological foundation'! You've got to be kidding me? So basically, they are going to rewrite God's Holy Word into their own image. That foundation isn't solid, it's sinking sand filled with hopelessness and death.

Not to be left out - or is that locked in the closet? - a Seattle Methodist minister has told her bishop that she is practicing the sin of homosexuality and has been doing so for some time. But it's ok in her eyes because it is with one woman. And they have a son.

Peggy Anderson for the AP reports that, thankfully,

"The [Methodist] denomination's Book of Discipline bars "self-avowed, practicing homosexuals" from being ordained or serving as pastors. On Monday, the church's highest court -- known as the United Methodist Judicial Council -- said the book must be upheld."

So it looks like the woman will be removed from her place of authority. Hopefully, they can find a way to bring this woman to redemption through the Love of Christ.

The Great Separation continues.

One Sin Begets Another Sin.

The Church and The Sinners in It - The controversy winging around the American Anglican Church over its raising to authority the man living in the sin of homosexuality is bringing out more sin.

Jonathan Petre for the Telegraph in the UK is reporting that Gene Robinson, the Bishop-elect, who believes he can live in the same continual sin and still be a minister of Holy God, is under around the clock F.B.I. protection because of death threats.

Although I've been unaware of any, Petre reports that here in America there is a, "growing militancy of religious extremists." He then sites the abortion doctor murder by Paul Hill some years back as evidence.

The "militancy of religious extremists" thing is, I think, a bit over the top. There have always been extremists going one way or another, from environmentalists to religious to political, so I would say it's nothing new. Perhaps it appears greater only because there is an effort in America to label and segregate the citizens into groups; ethnic groups, conservative, liberal, etc. Perhaps it appears greater because so many people now think their views aren't being heard because of all these minority groups. That's really beside the point.

The point being that the sin of the Anglican church is leading to the sin of others. Apparently, Robinson has been receiving death threats, so now others are sinning in hatred and threatening harm. Something Christ would never do.

All they are doing is partaking in Satan's agenda of publically disgracing the Church to the rest of the dying world. And the media is going to gorge upon it.

So those in the world chained in slavery to sin and death can only ask, "How are those Christians any different from us?"

The Great Separation continues.

Anglican Mission Parish Facing Disbandment for Stand Against Sin of Homosexuality.

Michael Higgins of the National Post has a good article detailing one of the first repercussions of the raising to Bishop of Michael Ingham, the man that divorced his wife in order to live in the sin of homosexuality. I point you to this scripture that says a Bishop must be a man married to one wife:

"This [is] a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;” (1 Timothy 3:1-2 AV)

So scripturally he can not be a Bishop.

Anyway, Higgins reports that the Church of the Holy Cross in Abotsford, British Columbia is a mission church, meaning that it answers more to the Anglican diocese authority, and therefore Ingham, than an established church does because most of its funding is received from the diocese. In fact the minister typically is paid from the diocese because the tithe raised in the church isn't great enough to support him. This is the essence of mission work and it's a good thing, typically.

But something interesting, and I believe commendable has taken place in the Church of the Holy Cross. Higgins writes:

"An Anglican priest has had his pay cut off and his church has been recommended for 'termination' after his parishioners voted to defy their bishop by refusing to support blessings for same-sex unions."

So the people in the mission church have recognized the sin that their Bishop and diocese is endorsing and have refused to be part of it, even at their own detriment.

Swing by the article for a good read, it details the heavy handedness of the diocese in trying to enforce the promotion of sin in this mission church and another church that voted against the "same sex blessings" and how the diocese tried change the locks on the church and ended up firing a bunch of people to replace them with willing participators.

Greater stands for righteousness, I hope, are coming.

The Great Separation continues.

UPDATE: Anglican Split Over Sin of Homosexuality Likely.

The Body in Crisis - The meeting in London is over and it appears that all agreed as the Archbishop of Canterbury said,

"Undoubtedly there is a huge crisis looming."

But they are apparently going to wait until the "looming crisis" crashes upon their walls and swallows them. They've decided pretty much to continue to talk about the problem they face and not to jump to any "quick solutions."

Yahoo!® News posted a story by Robert Barr, of the AP, who writes:

"At the end of a two-day crisis meeting Thursday, the leaders of 37 national churches said the diocese of New Hampshire threatened to split the communion if it goes ahead with plans to consecrate the Rev. V. Gene Robinson as bishop on Nov. 2. The diocese said it was determined to go ahead with consecrating Robinson, who lives with a male partner.

"The primates also rebuked the Canadian diocese of New Westminster in British Columbia for approving blessings for same-sex couples. And they set up a commission to spend a year examining the practical issues of administering churches, notably in the United States, which are riven by disputes over homosexuality."

The Archbishop says that they have set a twelve month "thinking time, inviting provinces to reflect on their reactions." They also set up a central commission to look into the implications of a split.

The question is, Will Christ wait that long before spewing them from his mouth? Revelation 3: 15-16.

The Great Separation continues.

Pressure Building Over Sin of Homosexuality in The Anglican Church.

Lambeth Palace, London, England - Rachel Zoll, a religion writer for the Associated Press, has a piece today that is making it's rounds on Internet News sites. I found it on the Guardian. It covers the meeting of the 37 Anglican Primates meeting with the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams over their threat to spilt from the Anglican church because of the raising to bishop a man who divorced and left two children and a wife he pledged to be one with till death so that he could take up unholy relations with a man.

My father, a minister, made a good point the other night about this man, Gene Robinson, being raised to Bishop. Had Robinson run from his family responsibilities and pledge before God in order to shack up with the church pianist, he would not have been raised to Bishop and would very likely have been defrocked.

Anyway Zoll reports:

"The closed meeting began with prayers and Bible study, then each primate was given up to five minutes to make a statement, said Canon James Rosenthal, communications director of the Anglican Communion. He did not comment on the content of the statements. An announcement of the meeting's outcome was not expected until late Thursday, but Anglican leaders from both sides of the debate have been meeting in London all week to lobby for support."

Zoll reports that a group of the pro-homosexuality lobbyists met Tuesday night and one Reverend Daniel Webster criticized conservative Anglicans as promoting the wrong message which he said was:

"Conform or you're not welcome."

To which he added:

"That is not the traditional Anglican way."

I don't know if that isn't the 'traditional Anglican way,' but I do know that as Christians we are to conform to the will of God.

"And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” (Romans 12:2 AV)

Zoll reports that conservative leaders, who have also come together to lobby, are petitioning the primates,

"to 'guide the realignment of Anglicanism in North America.' They have not said what form that would take, but some council supporters have said they want Williams to expel the Episcopal Church and recognize conservatives as the true Anglicans in North America."

Zoll ends her report by noting that:

"The head of the Episcopal Church, Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold, has been trying to reach out to conservatives leading up to the summit. He has insisted his vote to approve Robinson 'wasn't settling questions of sexuality. I was affirming the choice of a diocese.' "

So let me see if I understand that position. The shepherd is now taking orders from the sheep.

Ok, I know that seems an oversimplification but a shepherd is supposed to be held to a higher standard and he is supposed to be listening to the will of God not the will of the people he is given to shepherd.

In a related story, ITV.com is reporting that the Manchester Cathedral has told Gene Robinson that he is not allowed preach there on the 26th of this month. The report reads:

"Organisers [sic] were hoping that he would preach at the lesbian and gay Christian Movement service at the cathedral.

But the cathedral has "reluctantly withdrawn its permission" for the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement to hold the service on October 26."

To which I say, 'There is no such thing as a "lesbian and gay Christian."' Just as there is no such thing as a gambling Christian, an adulterer Christian, a pedophile Christian, a pornographer Christian, a bestiality Christian, a slanderer Christian, or a greedy Christian. There is just Christian. Everyone of these labels is sin, from the sin of homosexuality to the sin of greed.

The people that are attaching the sin of homosexuality to "Christian" are trying to legitimize their sin in their own eyes. Worse, and perhaps unbeknownst to them, they are the pawns of satan and his attempt to destroy Christ's church on the earth in these end times.

They use the excuse that they were born that way. Then they have not been reborn in Christ!

All but Christ were born with the nature of sin passed to us from Adam. So we all are slaves to that nature. But to accept Christ as your Lord and Savior is to be reborn with a new nature, a nature of Holiness, pleasing to God. A nature free from the chains that bind man to sin and death.

To be reborn in Christ is means you are no longer slaves to the sin nature but, instead become a brother or sister of Christ, a royal priesthood, and are a slave to God.

"Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John 3:3 AV)

Episcopalian Split.

(Source: Bobby Ross Jr., for The AP, The Miami Herald; hat tip to Drudge)
The Anglican Denomination - A group of ministers, striving to get the United States side of the Episcopalian church back to adherence of the Word of God, has been meeting in Dallas for the last several days. The three day meeting has drawn 46 Bishops out of the denomination's 300, who are seeking to set the church's course back upon the tracks that God laid down for churches and leaders to follow.

Ross writes:

"The Rev. Rick Kramer, one of about 800 priests attending the Dallas meeting, said he came in hopes of 'taking back the church,' even if that means severing ties with the denomination.

That's a prevailing message at the meeting, as conservatives claim the church's liberal wing has abandoned a message of repentance and forgiveness for an anything-goes brand of religion.

'It is the gospel of affirmation rather than the gospel of salvation,' said the Rev. Kendall Harmon, canon theologian for the Diocese of South Carolina. 'We have moved from sinners in the hands of an angry God to clients in the palm of a satisfied therapist.'"

What a great quote.

The group is preparing a declaration that will, among other things, call for members to hold back money from the "national church and dioceses that support" the confirmation of a divorced father of two, practicing the sin of homosexuality to Bishop in New Hampshire and the denomination's endorsement of same sex marriage vows.

Ross notes of the declaration:

"It also calls on the archbishop of Canterbury and the 37 other leading bishops in the Anglican Communion, of which the Episcopal Church is the U.S. branch, to create an undefined 'new alignment for Anglicanism in North America.'"

So a split may be forth coming.

The Great Separation continues.

The First Resignation Over The Episcopalian Endorsement of Sin.

(Source: Julia Duin for The Washington Times)
Catonsville, Maryland - Perhaps the resignation of Reverend Steven R. Randall will mark the exodus from the Episcopal church over its promotion of the sin of homosexuality. Duin reports that Rev. Randall said in his resignation statement,

"I can no longer submit to the heretical authority in the Episcopal Church."

The bishop overseeing Rev. Randall was Bishop Robert Ihloff. Duin writes,

"During an Aug. 19 meeting at diocesan headquarters in Baltimore, Bishop Ihloff informed the priest he would not be defrocked 'because,' Mr. Randall said, 'that would make me a martyr to many who support me.'
"'He said that he is still my bishop and pastor whether I recognize him or not. He told me to get psychiatric treatment because he believes I have 'delusions of grandeur.' The bishop also made it clear, Mr. Randall added, that he was expected to resign."

So, Ihloff is still Rev. Randall's "bishop and pastor" but he refuses to help Randall by passing him off on a psychiatrist and then informs Randall he is expected to leave. Hm... Great shepherding that isn't.

I'm beginning to think that the upper echelon of the Episcopal Church in America is corrupted.

The Great Separation continues.

Aussie Slang. Yet Another Paraphrase of The Bible To Be Released.

(Source: Daily Times and TLC.com)
Australia - Give me strength. From the two sources;

"In the Aussie Bible the Virgin Mary is "a pretty special sheila" who gets knocked up with the Big Boss' son wraps him in a bunny rug and tucks him up in a feed trough in the back shed because the local pub is full to bursting."

I don't even know where to start here. This idea that the Word of God isn't right and needs a new slant to make it 'Hip' and 'Marketable' is a growing problem in Christian publishing markets. The claim is, 'We just have to reach the world in their lingo.' Balderdash! The lingo of the world is pain, suffering, guilt, loneliness, and hopelessness. And the Word of God and a life in Christ, in action and word, is what the world needs. Not another watered down, confusing, laughable, paraphrase of the Bible designed just to fill someone's pockets with cash.

3 Beat Church Janitor After Pastor Preaches Against Homosexual Sin.

(Source: WorldNetDaily)
Westlake, OH - Police are investigating a hate crime. But then isn't all battery crime a hate crime? The hate crime here was three men beating up the church janitor when they couldn't find Pastor Paul Endrei. Pastor Endrei preached a sermon against the sin of homosexuality in the light of the recent events of Gene Robinson' confirmation as an Episcopalian Bishop. When they finished with the janitor one of the three men yelled,

"This is a message for Pastor Paul."

The WND article goes on to report that on August 7,

"a Kenyan Anglican bishop was attacked on a London street by two Church of England colleagues for opposing Robinson's appointment, according to the East African Standard of Nairobi."

And:

"An Episcopal vicar in Graham, Texas, near Fort Worth, reported his church was vandalized and a portion set ablaze Aug. 5 in an apparent reaction to the congregation's defense of traditional orthodoxy."

The Great Separation continues.