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)
Recent Comments