The T. B. Joshua Story points to a problem in many churches

“The recent expose by the BBC on the late prophet T. B. Joshua is heart rending.

The reports and eyewitness accounts point to what is without a doubt a massive tragedy on many levels. To witness someone in authority in a church be able to perpetuate so much abuse for so long with complete impunity makes your blood boil. To see the lives of so many people scarred, perhaps for the rest of their lives, cuts to the heart. It puts on full display the ugliness of sin or evil and its power to hide and grow. It should make us all long ever more eagerly for the day of our Lord’s return to judge every lawbreaker and to make all things new.

However, to my mind, one of the greatest tragedies from this saga is that countless similar scandals have happened before in the African church. More so, they’re almost certainly going to happen again. Soon. …”

– At The Gospel Coalition Africa, Oyewole Akande in Lagos (pictured) speaks of a problem which is not always confined to Africa.

The crisis of episcopal leadership in the Church of England

“We have a serious crisis in the episcopal leadership of the Church of England. It has more than one dimension to it, and, as with any crisis, it has been a long time coming. If your ceiling caves in because a water leak has weakened the structures, you can be sure that the water has been leaking for some while (as we found out in our kitchen a couple of years ago!). The dimensions of this crisis include questions of role, training and education, and selection and appointment—but also more fundamentally of theological vision.

These questions have been brought into sharp focus by the news, leaked to the BBC, that Paula Vennells, chief executive of the Post Office during the Horizon scandal when 700 postmasters were wrongly convicted of fraud, was shortlisted for the role of Bishop of London, historically the third most senior post after the two archbishops. …

She trained part-time on what was then the Oxford and St Albans course, and appears to have undertaken no further theological study. The idea that someone with so little theological understanding, and absolutely zero experience in stipendiary ministry, could be considered as a candidate for the third most senior position in the Church, is quite astonishing. It indicates a complete loss of faith in the importance of either ministerial experience or theological depth on the part of someone. And it does seem clear that she was put on the short list by Justin Welby…”

– Ian Paul pulls no punches at Psephizo.

Image: Ian Paul speaking at the Church of England’s General Synod in February 2023.

‘Alan Bates vs the Post Office’ contains hard lessons for the Church

Many Australians will be unaware of the huge miscarriage of justice involving the Post Office in the UK, but it’s worth learning what happened when the Post Office decided to protect its ‘good name’:

“More than 700 branch managers were given criminal convictions when faulty accounting software made it look as though money was missing from their sites.

It has been described as the most widespread miscarriage of justice in UK history, with dozens of convictions overturned and many more in line for compensation. …” – BBC Report, 22 March 2022.

Post Office Horizon scandal: ‘It’s broken people’s lives’ — Andrew Bridgen MP – GB News.

The Most Widespread Miscarriage Of Justice’ Mr Bates vs The Post Office – Good Morning Britain.

This article at Premier Christianity warns Churches against doing what the Post Office did.

Link via Anglican Mainstream.

Things I wish I knew about Pastoring a Church when I was young

“I was 28 when I started in full-time ministry as associate pastor in a large Presbyterian church. I was thirty when I was called to pastor a small suburban church on my own.

I made loads of mistakes and learned a lot of things the hard way. I can’t turn back the clock but I can share these lessons. I hope they might help young men who are just starting out.

Most of these thoughts should be read in the category of wisdom or common sense, to be weighed accordingly. …”

– Campbell Markham, the minister of Scots’ Church Fremantle, Western Australia, shares a bunch of helpful reflections – providing food for thought at the end of the  year. It’s at AP, the national journal of the Presbyterian Church of Australia.

Photo: Moore College, 1956.

The Doctrine That Doesn’t Matter Remains Unchanged

“When the first rites of blessing for same-sex couples came out in the Anglican church, they were accompanied by a lot of bluster about how they were not to be equated with marriage rites and that they did not constitute a change in doctrine.

In 2003, the Anglican Diocese of New Westminster in Canada published a form of blessing for same-sex couples. Then-Bishop Ingham made a point to distinguish these blessings from the sacrament of marriage. …”

– At Crisis Magazine, former Episcopalian priest – and now Catholic – James Merrick argues that changing Pastoral Practice might be more significant than changing Doctrine. It’s happened in the Anglican world, and is now happening in the Roman Catholic world.

Photo: Then-Bishop of New Westminster, Michael Ingham, in 2002.

What now for those Evangelicals who fled to Rome?

“Where to now for the young evangelicals who left the Reformed faith for the safety and security of Rome? A Rome whose walls would never be breached, we were led to believe, by the ravages of the post-Christian Sexular Age?

The announcement by the Pope that same sex relationships can be blessed by the church raises a serious question for the trickle leading to a flood of evangelicals (often young men, with growing families who wanted to be more crunchy in their faith) who crossed the Tiber.

And where to now for former Church of England bishop, Michael Nasir-Ali, who left for Rome , for similar reasons? What reasons did he give for leaving? Here he is in his own words …”

– Written a couple of days ago, Steve McAlpine asks some valid questions.

See also:

The Icing on the Cake of Pope Francis: the Blessing of Same-Sex Unions – Leonardo De Chirico.

“Don We Now Our Gay Apparel”

“Is the decline in Christianity among Anglican clergy moving pari passu with the decline in Western civilisation? Good question. Indubitably, is the answer. …

Mosques are crowded, churches are emptying. To have any chance of turning the tide, Christianity needs biblically-based priests. Priests like Glenn Davies; Bishop of the breakaway Diocese of the Southern Cross and former Anglican Archbishop of Sydney.”

– In an opinion-piece at Quadrant Online, contributor Peter Smith takes a hard look at what is happening in many parts of the Anglican Church. His article is supplemented by an excerpt from a well-known episode of “Yes, Prime Minister”.

Image from the website of the Anglican Church of Australia.

What is the Good News? A Response to Jayne Ozanne’s Reinterpretation

“I was astonished last week to see that Premier Christianity published what to be frank was just a heretical article from Jayne Ozanne…even more so after my own experience of being cancelled by them lest I upset some people (Why was I Cancelled and Repented for by Premier Christianity?)

They seem to have little difficulty in upsetting biblical Christians! I was not going to respond and then I came across a couple of other Christians who were influenced by Ozanne and did not see a major problem with what she said – so I wrote this piece  – which Christian Today have thankfully published. …

‘But what is this Good News? The Church of England, as the Church of Scotland and much of the rapidly declining mainstream denominations in the West, seem greatly confused. I recall a group of Scottish politicians who had asked a group of “representative” clergy to give advice and how confused they were. ‘You seem to believe in two different religions’ was their accurate observation. Indeed the trumpet has been giving an uncertain sound for many years.

Jayne Ozanne, the former evangelical, who once believed the Good News, has now come to agree with this view that there are two different versions of Christianity which are incompatible with one another. She wrote of this in a revealing article earlier this month. …’

– David Robertson responds in his usual helpful way – by drawing us back to the word of God. At The Wee Flea.

Did Pope Francis Really Give Blessing to Same-Sex Couples? The Complicated Disaster of the News Coming Out of the Vatican

In his The Briefing for Tuesday 19th December 2023, Dr Albert Mohler takes a look at the latest statement from the Vatican.

“I think this is an indefensible statement.”

– Listen here.

Hard Decisions will have to be made — Bishop Wallace Benn

“I was privileged to be part of the group at the Lambeth Conference of world-wide Anglican bishops in 1998 which produced the statement overwhelmingly supported by the Conference …

I was also part of the group that wrote the excellent Jerusalem Declaration in 2008 (which became the basis for GAFCON — the global movement of orthodox Anglicans)…”

– Both statements assert the authority of Scripture.

So, in the light of the latest moved by the House of Bishops of the Church of England, Bishop Wallace Benn asks, “What are Bible-believing Christians to do?”

– Anglican Mainstream has republished his comments from Evangelicals Now.

Photo: Bishop Benn at GAFCON 1 in 2008 by Peter Frank for GAFCON.

Top 7 stories in 2023 (from heaven’s perspective)

“It’s the season for reflecting on the year that has been.

People are compiling lists of the biggest or most momentous events of 2023. While these lists can be interesting, I want to do something a little different here.

Rather than taking the usual perspective, I want to remind us that the Scriptures give us another view of reality and it’s one that we can easily miss or forget in the midst of everyday life.

Enjoy and be encouraged and a little bit challenged as well. …”

– Murray Campbell wants us to have a heavenly perspective on 2023.

Canada is not only euthanizing Persons but Personhood itself

“In 2016, Canada legalized euthanasia for adults suffering severely and incurably near the end of life.

Four years later, it legalized euthanasia for adults even if death is not “reasonably foreseeable.”

Next year, euthanasia is set to become legal also for adults whose sole medical condition and source of suffering is mental illness. Recommendations have been made to legalize euthanasia for minors whose death is “reasonably foreseeable.”

The organization that regulates physicians in the province of Quebec has suggested that euthanasia should be available for infants with severe disabilities or illnesses that render them unlikely to survive. …”

– Since euthanasia has just been introduced in New South Wales, this is a very relevant article by Brian Bird at Public Discourse.

Link via Anglican Mainstream.

Why the Post-Christian West is eagerly pursuing ‘Skynet’-Level AI

“OpenAI (chatGPT’s parent company) exists to develop ‘Skynet’-level Artificial Intelligence.  Or more specifically, a safe version of AI as intelligent as Skynet. In their founding charter, they write:

OpenAI’s mission is to ensure that artificial general intelligence (AGI)—by which we mean highly autonomous systems that outperform humans at most economically valuable work—benefits all of humanity. We will attempt to directly build safe and beneficial AGI.

And if the recent ousting then return of OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman is any indication, they’re making progress. The ABC reported on Sunday:

Ahead of Altman’s ousting, several staff researchers wrote to the board of directors warning of a powerful discovery that they said could threaten humanity, according to Reuters. …”

– Akos Balogh writes at The Gospel Coalition Australia.

Voluntary assisted dying laws partly invalid

“An important decision handed down recently in the Federal Court of Australia rules that part of Victoria’s euthanasia law (the Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2017 (Vic)(‘VADA 2017’)) is invalid, as it authorises assistance with suicide, which is prohibited by Federal law.

The decision, of Abrahams J as a single judge in the Federal Court, is Carr v Attorney-General (Cth) [2023] FCA 1500 (30 November 2023). The implication is that similar provisions of other State and Territory laws are also invalid. The relevant federal law, sections 474.29A and 474.29B of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth), in broad terms, makes it an offence to assist or encourage someone to commit suicide through use of a ‘carriage service’, most commonly by use of a telephone (either a voice call or a text message), email, or some internet service. …”

– At Law and Religion Australia, Neil Foster looks at the implications of a recent decision.

Image from a Diocese of Sydney training day.

Kel Richards calls on Australians to ‘refuse to walk backwards’ in the fight against the evils of anti-Semitism

“A new expression was coined at the recent Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (or ARC for short) conference in London: ‘civilisational moment’.

The 1,500 delegates were warned that Australia, Britain the United States and all of the western world is facing a ‘civilisational moment’  – a tipping point in which we could lose the civilised values that have guided us for well over than a thousand years, and which have given us the freedoms we enjoy. …

The warning sign of our ‘civilisational moment’ is the epidemic of anti-Semitism sweeping the western world – what we thought was the civilised world. …”

– Kel Richards writes this opinion-piece at Sky News Australia.

Related:

Archbishop Kanishka Raffel’s statement on antisemitism — 13 October 2023.

Image: ABC.

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