Holy smoke! What a headline!
Again and again, we need to stress that newspaper reporters rarely, if ever, write the headlines for their stories.
I mention this because of a stunning headline in The Telegraph about the pre-Lambeth strategy meeting that conservatives are having right now in Jerusalem (after making a quick exit from Jordan, for complicated and perhaps political reasons). There are many complex angles to the Global Anglican Future Conference, or GAFCON, which is why this particular headline simply leaps off the page:
Anglican church schism declared over homosexuality
– Terry Mattingly at GetReligion comments on some of the more sensational reports about GAFCON.
First-hand account of the Lakeland ‘revival’
There’s a great deal of buzz in some circles about a so-called ‘healing outpouring’ taking place in Florida under the leadership of one Todd Bentley. His daily revival meetings are being shown across the US on ‘God TV’ and include claims of healings and resurrections. For those who may be aware of these events, this first-hand account by Justin Peters (pictured) of one meeting is worth hearing.
Justin was interviewed on Way of the Master Radio in California on Tuesday. While the style of programming might not be to the liking of all, the interview – starting 37 minutes into this mp3 audio file (direct link – 12MB) – is illuminating.
See also our earlier post on Justin Peters’ seminars on Word of Faith preachers.
23 Minutes in Hell – a review
No, it’s not an experience of a particularly bad sermon – Tim Challies reviews a sure-to-be-popular book –
I suppose it was inevitable that, with a bestselling book describing an author’s “90 Minutes in Heaven,” one would soon follow detailing a journey to hell. Sure enough, Bill Wiese follows Don Piper’s 90 Minutes in Heaven with his own 23 Minutes in Hell.
Wiese’s story is simple. One night, while sleeping, he was transported to hell. There God showed him hell in all its horror and terror. He was thrown into a barred cell, he was abused by demons, he was shown lakes of fire, and he saw people suffering torment. After a brief visit with Jesus, he was transported back to earth in order to tell people that Jesus is returning soon and to assure them that hell is a real place (and one that exists in the center of the earth, apparently). Wiese’s hell seems to be equally influenced by the works of Ray Comfort, Mary Baxter and Gary Larson. …
– Already available in Australia at some Christian bookshops. Read the review at Discerning Reader.
Beyond homophobia
Dr. Andrew Cameron of Moore College has written a thoughtful and helpful piece, “Beyond homophobia”, Briefing #076 for the Social Issues Executive of the Diocese of Sydney.
You can read it at the SIE website.
Should orthodox C of E bishops still go to Lambeth?
Four Episcopal dioceses, three in California and the Diocese of El Camino Real, have come out with ringing endorsements of the California Supreme Court’s recent ruling on same-sex marriages. …
There is little doubt that the behaviour of these bishops, in this regard, renders them unacceptable to any council of Christian bishops. Can you imagine the Council of Jerusalem or the Council Nicaea sitting down with these bishops? The question must be raised, on what grounds are the orthodox Bishops prepared to meet with them in this fashion? – David Virtue at VirtueOnline.
‘Gay wedding’ liturgy analysed
This is the first of a series of posts looking at the news this morning that a London Anglican Clergyman “married” two other male priests in a ceremony that mimicked marriage.
This post looks at the liturgy used in that service and compares it to a BCP marriage service to show that the explanation that this was only intented to be “a blessing” is specious.”
– from Peter Ould in the UK (hat tip to Anglican Mainstream).
Update: Peter has followed with a second post – on the theology of the service:
“This leads us to a problem with the liturgy that not only demonstrates how its actions runs counter to Scripture, but also presents a significant issue for the Church of England to address if no disciplinary action is taken on those who carried it out. Having identical vows for both partners of a same-sex marriage, while at the same time drawing on the Ephesians 5 model for those vows, implies that there has been a fundamental misunderstanding in the church’s application of Ephesians 5 up to this point. The BCP service indicates clearly that the sexual distinctiveness of the two partners is critical to understanding the mystery of the sexual union of the spouses – the gay union liturgy implies that it is not.”
Note also the video of this BBC interview with the Rev. Martin Dudley, who conducted the service.
The Tragedy of 1662
Lee Gatiss, Co-ordinator of Reform London, spoke last month about the persecution and ejection of the Puritans from the Church of England in 1662, and the lessons we can learn from those events.
The talk is 35 minutes long (it is preceded by a 6 minute introduction to Reform London). Download it from Reform London at this page. Direct link to the 14.1MB mp3 file.
Also available on the same page is the audio of Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali (at the same meeting) speaking informally on the uniqueness of Christ, GAFCON and the future of the Church of England. Direct link to that 19MB mp3 file here.
Plan to Plant Conference, Saturday July 26
“You may be an experienced church planter, or someone who really wants to be.
You may want to start new ministries in a sub-culture or in a new way.
You may be a part of a larger team or working by yourself.
You may have no ideas or be full of them… but if you want to be stimulated by others who are currently multiplying Gospel ministry – you need to be here.”
Martin Morgan, from Rouse Hill Anglican Churches in Sydney’s west, invites you to a day for all who want to multiply gospel ministries.
Saturday 26th July 2008 at Rouse Hill. Download a leaflet for details.
Run to win the Prize – Tom Schreiner
Professor Tom Schreiner from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, spoke at the Oak Hill School of Theology in London last month. His topic? “Run to win the prize – The nature of warnings in New Testament theology”.
Our friends at Oak Hill have generously made the audio files of the talks available – on the Oak Hill website.
The M’Cheyne daily Bible reading calendar
Need encouragement to read the Bible regularly? Ben Edgington has made available Robert Murray M’Cheyne’s daily Bible reading calendar in several formats.
Links to PDF files and an online interactive version are linked from this page at www.edginet.org. (There’s another online version here.)
From the Files: Peter Jensen on GAFCON
In December 2007, shortly after GAFCON was announced, Archbishop Peter Jensen wrote this about the meeting –
“The Anglican Future Conference is not designed to take the place of Lambeth. Some people may well choose to go to both. Its aim is to draw Biblical Anglican Christians together for urgent consultation. It is not a consultation which can take place at Lambeth, because Lambeth has a different agenda and far wider guest list. Unlike Lambeth, the Future Conference is not for Bishops alone – the invitations will go to clergy and lay people also. But it is a meeting which accepts the current reality of a Communion in disarray over fundamental issues of the gospel and biblical authority. …”
From the Files: The Anglican Debacle
So, who are the schismatics? Over coming weeks, many will seek to portray biblically faithful Anglicans in such a way. It’s not true, of course.
Dr. Mark Thompson’s paper, The Anglican Debacle: Roots and Patterns, delivered at St. Andrew’s Cathedral in March, catalogues the events leading up the GAFCON and Lambeth 2008.
Word of Faith preachers
Like it or not, some members of your church probably watch US TV preachers. The so-called ‘Word of Faith’ preachers increasingly dominate the US Christian cable channels, and are also being seen in Australia. Who are these preachers – and what is their message?
One who has studied their teaching is Justin Peters. He visited faith healers as a teenager, hoping to be healed of Cerebral Palsy. At Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, his Master’s thesis was an examination of the life and ministry of Benny Hinn.
Justin went back to Southwestern to give a 30 minute overview of the seminars he runs in churches. A video file of that overview is available on his website (a 101MB download in Windows Media format via this page). Justin has also been interviewed on Christian radio in Toronto (5.2MB mp3). DVDs of his seminars are available from his website.
(For some light relief, here’s a page from Sacred Sandwich.)
Other ways of talking about the divine?
“I am a deacon in the Sydney Anglican Diocese. In the Anglican Church I have found my life enriched and my faith strengthened. Yet that has not always been because of the teaching of its leaders in Sydney. …”
– Plenty for discussion in this Opinion piece by Susan Emeleus in The Sydney Morning Herald and Brisbane Times.
From the Files: A Crisis in Koinonia
Newspaper articles, prophecies of doom, and synod resolutions aside, Jesus is still building his church.
For Anglicans, in a denomination that now sanctions same sex unions, this now means changes in the shape of our relationships so they might help rather than hinder the mission of Christ. The new oppressive liberal orthodoxy in North America must choose between using the current denominational structures as instruments of coercion, or through an act of love, allow a realignment of relationships within different structural patterns. If those in power choose the first course of action, biblically orthodox Anglicans will be forced to choose between the gospel and Anglican structures. Either way the Anglican communion as we know it will cease to exist. …
– We published this very helpful paper by David Short, Rector of St. John’s Shaughnessy in Vancouver, back in 2004. With GAFCON just around the corner, and Lambeth close behind, it’s worth re-reading “A Crisis in Koinonia: Biblical Perspectives for Anglicans”.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…