Ride on! Ride on in majesty!



Ride on, ride on, in majesty!

Hark! all the tribes Hosanna cry;

O Savior meek, pursue Thy road

With palms and scattered garments strowed.

Ride on, ride on, in majesty!

In lowly pomp ride on to die!

O Christ! Thy triumph now begin

Over captive death and conquered sin.

Ride on, ride on, in majesty!

The wingèd squadrons of the sky

Look down with sad and wondering eyes

To see the approaching sacrifice.

Ride on, ride on, in majesty!

Thy last and fiercest strife is nigh;

The Father, on His sapphire throne,

Expects His own anointed Son.

Ride on, ride on, in majesty!

In lowly pomp ride on to die;

Bow Thy meek head to mortal pain,

Then take, O God, Thy power, and reign.

......Henry Hart Milman image

Nigerian Anglicans May Control the Future of the Church

As the Anglican Communion faces the looming threat of schism, the Church of Nigeria finds itself courted by both sides
14 April 2011
By William Clarke

With 18 million members The Church of Nigeria is the Anglican Communion’s second largest province after the Church of England itself, and its fastest growing one. It boasts the President of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, among its congregation. However, the relationship between the Nigerian Primates and their mother Church has not lately been a happy one.

The opposition of Nigerian Bishops and their congregations to any softening of attitudes towards homosexuality has made them increasingly uneasy with the notion of being in full communion with overseas churches which allow - in their view - an unacceptable latitude in sexual matters.

The size and faithfulness of this province means that in any ensuing schism, to be able to claim communion with the Church of Nigeria will be invaluable for a body seeking to present itself as the genuine inheritor of the Anglican tradition. As British, Australian and North American churches fight within themselves over the status of women Bishops and active homosexual clergy, the Church of Nigeria, along with the other African provinces such as South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda, finds itself courted by traditionalists and reformists, Anglo Catholics and Evangelicals, as a fountain of legitimacy for whatever schismatic or unifying agency can claim it. In an extraordinary moment of thwarted ecumenicism the low church, evangelical, and frequently anti-Catholic African Anglicans even found themselves rejecting an advance by Pope Benedict XVI, who wanted to bring them into his newly formed Personal Ordinariate, where they would have been permitted exceptional latitude in liturgy and practice, including the ordination of married men.   the rest

Archbishop Nicholas Okoh: American decadence a sign of the end times

April 15, 2011
by George Conger

The creeping acceptance of homosexual conduct as a moral good may be a sign that the end times are near, the Primate of the Church of Nigeria has warned.

In an interview published by the Church of Nigeria News, Archbishop Nicholas Okoh said the cultural hostility towards Christian morality in the West and the celebration of lust as godliness was a sign that “we are getting deeper and deeper into the age that was spoken of by Timothy when people will love themselves more than God, when the pleasure and comfort will determine many things.”

“We are in the end time and in this end time there are boundless opportunities of evil,” the archbishop said on April 7 drawing upon 2 Tim. 3:2, but added “but the joy of it all is that evil will not win in the end.”

While the former primate, Archbishop Peter Akinola, had led the coalition of churches opposed to the innovations of doctrine and discipline over homosexuality introduced by the Episcopal Church and Anglican Church of Canada over the past ten years, Archbishop Okoh has so far taken a lower profile on the international Anglican stage, focusing his efforts on the Nigerian scene. the rest

“We are in a kind of free moral fall and we do not know when it is going to stop,” he said.

Classic 'JESUS' Film Now in Japanese Anime



Fri, Apr. 15 2011

And the Good News is … just nine minutes and fourteen seconds long?

With the average attention span among youth constantly shrinking, one ministry continues to capture the hearts and minds of the lost in a unique language most teens find hard to resist – Japanese animation.

Adopted from the original “JESUS” film created by The JESUS Film Project, a ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ, “My Last Day” tells the story of Jesus’ crucifixion through the eyes of the thief who hung next to him in a short anime format.   the rest/image

With this new version of the original, which employs highly stylized animation techniques proven to be popular worldwide, the ministry hopes to effectively reach younger audiences.

Assisted suicide set to be legalised in Swiss old peoples' homes

By Alan Hall
14th April 2011

A Swiss region is poised to give old people in state-subsidised care homes the right to die via assisted suicide if that is their wish.

The assisted suicide organisation Exit, which already helps terminally ill patients in a number of nursing homes, forced a poll on the issue in Vaud – a Swiss first - back in 2009 and garnered the required number of signatures to make it law.

Now there will be one more referendum to decide if the local government's proposals, which slightly water down the Exit plans, become law. the rest

Albert Mohler: TIME Magazine Considers Rob Bell

“A Massive Shift Coming in What it Means to Be a Christian?”
Friday, April 15, 2011

The edition of TIME magazine timed for Easter Week features a cover story on the controversy over Rob Bell and his new book, Love Wins. Interestingly, the essay is written by none other than Jon Meacham, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author and former editor of Newsweek –TIME’s historic competitor. Meacham, who studied theology as an undergraduate at the University of the South, helpfully places Rob Bell in the larger context of modern theology, even as he offers a basically sympathetic analysis.

Meacham explains:

The standard Christian view of salvation through the death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth is summed up in the Gospel of John, which promises “eternal life” to “whosoever believeth in Him.” Traditionally, the key is the acknowledgment that Jesus is the Son of God, who, in the words of the ancient creed, “for us and for our salvation came down from heaven … and was made man.” In the Evangelical ethos, one either accepts this and goes to heaven or refuses and goes to hell.

Bell, Meacham writes, “begs to differ” with this “standard Christian view.” He then relates that Rob Bell “suggests that the redemptive work of Jesus may be universal — meaning that, as his book’s subtitle puts it, ‘every person who ever lived’ could have a place in heaven, whatever that turns out to be. Such a simple premise, but with Easter at hand, this slim, lively book has ignited a new holy war in Christian circles and beyond.” the rest

Legal challenge to National Day of Prayer thrown out

A federal judge last year had struck down as unconstitutional the National Day of Prayer. But on Thursday, a US appeals court ruled that the people who had brought the case lacked legal standing.
By Warren Richey, Staff writer
April 14, 2011

A US appeals court on Thursday overturned a decision by a federal judge in Wisconsin last year that struck down as unconstitutional the National Day of Prayer.

Although that ruling had been stayed pending the appeal, the appeals-court decision clears the way for President Obama to issue a new proclamation, declaring May 5 as this year’s National Day of Prayer.

The three-judge panel of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago did not examine the district judge’s legal conclusion that Mr. Obama’s proclamation of a National Day of Prayer and the statute authorizing that action violated the First Amendment’s prohibition on the establishment of a state-sponsored religion.

Instead, the appeals court ruled that the people who brought the case, the Freedom From Religion Foundation, lacked the necessary legal standing to file their lawsuit. the rest

Obama Cuts Women’s Health Care, Funds Planned Parenthood

by Steven Ertelt
Washington, DC
LifeNews.com
4/14/11

President Barack Obama is facing criticism from a conservative group for cutting women’s health care while holding steadfast to funding for the Planned Parenthood abortion business.

Obama refused repeated requests from pro-life House Speaker John Boehner to agree to cut funding for the Planned Parenthood abortion business. However, his administration didn’t raise a stink about the elimination of $600 million for Community Health Centers.

Planned Parenthood, and its defenders, like Obama have used the argument against cutting its funding that women’s health would suffer because the funding cuts would supposedly cut or eliminate legitimate health care programs for women offered by the abortion business. However, the community health centers facing the cuts offer real health care services for women that Planned Parenthood doesn’t provide. the rest

Tapes Show Planned Parenthood Abortion Ctrs Hiding Statutory Rape

CA Senate bill mandates gay history in schools

By LISA LEFF, Associated Press
Thu Apr 14, 2011

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people would be added to the lengthy list of social and ethnic groups that public schools must include in social studies lessons under a landmark bill passed Thursday by the California Senate.

If the bill is adopted by the state Assembly and signed by Gov. Jerry Brown, California would become the first state to require the teaching of gay history.

Supporters say the move is needed to counter anti-gay stereotypes and beliefs that make children in those groups vulnerable to bullying and suicide.

Opponents counter that such instruction would further burden an already crowded curriculum and expose students to a subject that some parents find objectionable. the rest

A little reverse psychology...

UK: Patients are denied high cost drugs by NHS trusts

Family doctors are being prevented from prescribing drugs for conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and osteoporosis as NHS managers attempt to make drastic budget cuts, an investigation has found.
By Stephen Adams, and Laura Roberts
12 Apr 2011

Primary care trusts are adding more medicines to their so-called "red lists" which means they can only be prescribed by a hospital consultant and not a GP.

The measure is designed to save money by restricting access to drugs that are often among the more expensive. It also means that many patients find it more difficult to obtain the most effective drugs free on the NHS, even though they have been approved by the medicines rationing watchdog Nice.

Patients' groups described the disclosure as "outrageous" and "extremely worrying". the rest

Pro-homosexuality foundation pours millions into Catholic and mainline Protestant dissident groups

April 8, 2011
by the Rev. David Fischler

At CatholicVote.org, Thomas Peters recently wrote about the effort by homosexual billionaires to change the Roman Catholic Church’s position on homosexuality by funding dissident groups within the church. Peters catalogs funding to the tune of almost $600,000 to various Catholic groups through something called the Arcus Foundation.

After reading Peters’ article, I went to the Arcus website and discovered that it isn’t just Roman Catholic groups this foundation is funding. Money is also going to many dissident groups in mainline Protestant denominations. the rest

Archbishop Chaput: Politics and the Devil

by Charles J. Chaput
April 11, 2011

Excerpt:
The moral and political struggle we face today in defending human dignity is becoming more complex. I believe that abortion is the foundational human rights issue of our lifetime. We can’t simultaneously serve the poor and accept the legal killing of unborn children. We can’t build a just society, and at the same time, legally sanctify the destruction of generations of unborn human life. The rights of the poor and the rights of the unborn child flow from exactly the same human dignity guaranteed by the God who created us.

Of course, working to end abortion doesn’t absolve us from our obligations to the poor. It doesn’t excuse us from our duties to the disabled, the elderly and immigrants. In fact, it demands from us a much stronger commitment to materially support women who find themselves in a difficult pregnancy.

All of these obligations are vital. God will hold us accountable if we ignore them. But none of these other duties can obscure the fact that no human rights are secure if the right to life is not. Unfortunately, abortion is no longer the only major bioethical threat to that right in our culture. In fact, the right to life has never, at any time in the past, faced the range of challenges it faces right now, and will face in the coming decades. Physician-assisted suicide, cloning, brain-computer interface (BCI) research, genetic screening of unwanted fetuses, genetic engineering of preferred physical and intellectual traits, cross-species experimentation, and developments in neuroscience—these things already raise serious questions about the definition of “human nature” and the protection of human dignity in the years ahead. the rest

Don’t ever underestimate the beauty and power of the witness you give in your pro-life work. One thing we learn from Scripture is that God doesn’t have much use for the vain or the prideful. But He loves the anawim—the ordinary, simple, everyday people who keep God’s Word, who stay faithful to his commandments, and who sustain the life of the world by leavening it with their own goodness. That’s the work we are called to do. Don’t ever forget it. If you speak up for the unborn child in this life, someone will speak up for you in the next, when we meet God face to face.

First Things: Abortion and the Negation of Love

How Catholic Universities Support Planned Parenthood

 by Tim Drake
Monday, April 11, 2011

The U.S. House of Representatives has voted to de-fund the nation’s largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood. Now, it looks as if the Senate will be voting on the issue, as well.

Meanwhile, a new report, “A Scandalous Relationship: Catholic Colleges and Planned Parenthood”, by the Manassas, Va.-based Cardinal Newman Society, reveals more than 150 current and past connections between Catholic colleges and universities and Planned Parenthood.

The Cardinal Newman Society broke the connections down into seven different categories: Counseling and Medical Referrals; Internships and Fellowships; Job Referrals; Faculty, Staff, Leaders; Campus Clubs and Events, Academic Activities and Referrals; and Student and Alumni Recognition. the rest


Same-Sex Romeo and Juliet at St. Michael’s College

An Everyday Scandal

The slaughter of the unborn needs no hidden cameras for condemnation.
A Christianity Today editorial
4/12/2011

Abortion, forever lurking beneath the currents of American life, sometimes roars to the surface. In recent months, the rumble of political realignment and the siren of scandal have combined to reawaken the slumbering giant.

Buoyed by November's gains at the state and federal levels, pro-life legislators have unleashed a flurry of ambitious proposals. Legislation drafted in Nebraska, Kansas, and Ohio looks to topple Roe v. Wade by using new research on fetal development. In Washington, resurgent House Republicans hasten to fortify restrictions on federal abortion funding and to strip taxpayer subsidies from Planned Parenthood. The GOP also seeks to prevent last year's health-care overhaul from harming the unborn.

As these battles rage, new revelations have exposed, once again, a sleazier side of the abortion industry. First, a colossal grand jury report detailed the depredations of Philadelphia abortionist Kermit Gosnell. His alleged peddling of the painkiller Oxycontin put investigators onto the scent. His clinic reeked of cat urine. It was staffed by unlicensed apprentices, spattered with bloodstains, and cluttered with unsterilized instruments and a stockpile of fetal body parts. Prosecutors have charged Gosnell with murder for overmedicating a Nepalese refugee and snipping the spinal cords of seven fully delivered infants.  the rest

Criminal… Team Obama Spent Up to $200 Million on Obamacare Propaganda Campaign

by Jim Hoft
Tuesday, April 12, 2011

This is criminal.

The Obama Administration spent up to 200 million taxpayer dollars to push Obamacare.

It cost $700,000 to run the Andy Griffith ObamaCare ad. the rest

Bishops married to divorcees 'pose serious challenge to traditionalist Anglicans'

The announcement that Rev Nicholas Holtam is to become the first clergyman married to a divorcee to be made a bishop raises serious questions for traditionalist Anglicans.
By Rev John Richardson
 13 Apr 2011

The announcement from Downing Street that the Revd Nicholas Holtam, currently vicar of St Martin-in-the-Fields, has been nominated as the next Bishop of Salisbury poses great challenges for traditionalist Anglicans here and abroad, but it also raises serious questions about the functioning of the Crown Nominations Commission, responsible for choosing Anglican bishops.

There have been rumours about Mr Holtam’s appointment for some time, principally because he is married to a divorcee. Oddly enough, although the Church of England imposes certain restrictions on clerical ordination for those in that situation, there was no clarity about the consecration of bishops. At the last General Synod, however, such clarification was urgently sought and the suspicions of many people as to why seem now to have been confirmed. the rest

Church of England's 'rising star' becomes first bishop married to a divorcee
A vicar has become the first Church of England clergyman married to a divorcee to be made a bishop amid strong opposition from traditionalists.

The Rev Nicholas Holtam, vicar of St Martin-in-the-Fields in central London, has been approved by the Queen to take up the post of Bishop of Salisbury.

He was strongly tipped for promotion after changes in Church rules allowed divorced and remarried clergy to be consecrated as bishops...

UN document would give 'Mother Earth' same rights as humans

By Steven Edwards
April 11, 2011

UNITED NATIONS — Bolivia will this month table a draft United Nations treaty giving "Mother Earth" the same rights as humans — having just passed a domestic law that does the same for bugs, trees and all other natural things in the South American country.

The bid aims to have the UN recognize the Earth as a living entity that humans have sought to "dominate and exploit" — to the point that the "well-being and existence of many beings" is now threatened.

The wording may yet evolve, but the general structure is meant to mirror Bolivia's Law of the Rights of Mother Earth, which Bolivian President Evo Morales enacted in January. the rest

Nigeria: 1,000 Muslims Armed With Guns and Machetes Attack Christian Village

Elderly Burnt to Death in Their Homes…
April 12, 2011

Armed with machetes and guns, 1,000 militants attacked the village of Bar Arewa in the northern Nigerian state of Bauchi on April 7. “Almost every home in the village was destroyed, and some elderly people were reported to have been burnt to death in their homes,” according to Christian Solidarity Worldwide.

The group is part of a larger band of 2,000 militants that has been attacking non-Muslim villages.

15% of the nation’s 146.5 million people are Catholic, according to Vatican statistics. 50% are Muslim, 25% are Protestant, and 10% retain indigenous beliefs. the rest

Call for protection of non-Muslim Nigerians after election violence

In Christ, troubles are turned into triumph...

In Christ, troubles are turned into triumph, so in Him we look at what is coming as the times of the greatest triumphs the world has ever known! The conclusion of all things is that we win! The cross will prevail. This is the foundational truth that all of our understanding of these times must be based on. There will be no retreat in those who walk in the true light. When you open your shades at night, darkness does not come in and flood the room. Rather the light shines out into the darkness because light is stronger than darkness. The darker it becomes, the brighter our light will be. Where sin abounds, grace will that much more abound. ...Rick Joyner image by Anthony Easton

Christian leaders: ban on Anglican bishop and new taxes are unjust

Bishop Suheil Dawani, of Nablus, is considered a "foreigner" by Israel and he is forbidden to travel to the cathedral and curia in East Jerusalem. Another prelate threatened with expulsion. The new taxes are an outrage against the tradition of the Ottoman Empire, British rule, that of Jordan and ...
 Friday, April 08, 2011
By Asia News

Jerusalem - The heads of Christian churches in Jerusalem have come out against the Israel’ government’s denial of a residency permit in the city to the Anglican (Episcopalian) bishop Suheil Dawani. At the same time, they have renewed their protest against government attempts to impose new taxes on churches, something which was excluded by the UN, and in centuries of their presence had never occurred before not even at the founding of the State of Israel.

In a statement released in recent days, the church leaders (which includes patriarchs, bishops, the head of the Custody of the Holy Land) defend Bishop Dawani’s " right to religious freedom," to “reside with his family in the holy city."

Bishop Dawani was born in Nablus in the West Bank and is considered a "foreigner" in East Jerusalem, a territory occupied by Israel and where the Cathedral and Anglican curia are located. He may reside there only with special permission which has been denied him by the Israeli Ministry of the Interior. the rest

Church leaders are "deeply concerned" by the ministerial decision because it constitutes “a precedent in attempts by the Israeli authorities to deny his residence in Jerusalem at the head of one of the Churches of the Holy City (see Holy Land Churches support Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem ).

According to information gathered by AsiaNews there is already another Christian bishop, threatened with expulsion from Jerusalem for "crimes of opinion".

Albert Mohler: Why is the Muslim World So Resistant to the Gospel?

Friday, April 8, 2011

The future shape of the world appears to be a worldview competition between Christianity, Islam, and Western Secularism. For Christians, both of these worldviews represent real and lasting challenges to evangelism. Neither of these is a particularly new challenge, and the Christian encounter with Islam is now over a millennium in duration.

Writing over thirty years ago, when most American evangelicals had little knowledge of Islam, missiologist J. Herbert Kane of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School outlined six reasons why the evangelization of the Muslim world has been so difficult. His explanation of “Why the Muslim Soil is So Barren” remains both instructive and important. the rest

Islam not only denies the deity of Christ, it finds the idea abhorrent. “If a missionary but mentions the deity of Christ the fanatical Muslim is likely to spit on his shadow to show his utter contempt for such a blasphemous suggestion.” Furthermore, the Qur’an denies that Christ actually died on the cross, thus taking away the very act of our atonement. “There appears to be no way around these two obstacles,” Kane lamented. “The Christian missionary can find many points of similarity between Christianity and Islam, and certainly he will want to make full use of these; but sooner or later he must come to the central theme of the gospel — the cross. At that point he runs into a stone wall. He can remove many offending things, but he can never do away with the offense of the cross. That and the deity of Christ are hurdles that can never be removed.”

'Soul Surfer' Breaks Out in Top 5 at Box Office

Mon, Apr. 11 2011
By Audrey Barrick
Christian Post Reporter

"Soul Surfer" debuted over the weekend with $11.1 million, beating out the star-studded film "Your Highness."

Though fourth at the box office, the inspirational film based on the true story of Bethany Hamilton had a higher per screen average than the weekend's number one movie, Warner Bros.' "Arthur."

"Soul Surfer" tells the story of teen surfer Hamilton (played by AnnaSophia Robb), who lost her left arm in a shark attack at age 13. The film follows her brief struggle and reveals her strong Christian faith and optimism that gets her back on the board. the rest

Christians arrested amid China's crackdown

 Sun Apr 10, 2011
Beijing police have arrested dozens of Christian worshippers from a "house church" - one not formally recognised by the government - when they tried to pray outdoors, a rights group said.

They sang hymns and said prayers as police loaded them onto waiting buses in Beijing's western Haidian district, the US-based Christian rights group China Aid said in a statement, citing witnesses.

"The Beijing authorities have again demonstrated their total disregard of their citizens' constitutionally guaranteed fundamental right to religious freedom," China Aid founder and president Bob Fu said in the statement.

Police declined to comment to agency reporters and requested written questions be sent to them by fax. the rest

The Radical Gradualism of Paul Ryan

The status quo is far more ‘extreme’ than the Republican budget
Apr 18, 2011
By YUVAL LEVINS

Late last month, Senator Charles Schumer of New York led a conference call in which Senate Democrats briefed reporters about the ongoing budget battle. At the outset, unaware that his comments were already audible to reporters on the line, Schumer provided some marching orders, advising his colleagues to describe Republican proposals as radical. “I always use the word extreme,” he said. “That’s what the caucus instructed me to use this week.”

It was no surprise, therefore, that when House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan released the Republican budget proposal for 2012 last week, Democrats in Washington called it radical and extreme. The White House labeled the plan unbalanced. Representative Chris Van Hollen, the senior Democrat on the House Budget Committee, called it “ideology on steroids.” Iowa senator Tom Harkin said the Ryan plan “gives new meaning to the term extreme.”

But it wasn’t only Democrats who seemed struck by the radical character of Ryan’s proposal. Many supporters of his budget, too, noted above all its boldness, or its wholehearted fiscal conservatism, which is just another way to say that he proposes a dramatic change. the rest

On the contrary, underlying the Ryan budget is a vision of security and stability, of gradual reform of the welfare state in the face of changing circumstances. The document is full of calls to save the social safety net and “[fulfill] the mission of health and retirement security for all Americans.” Its basic aim is to avoid sudden or radical breaks, because predictability and security are essential both for enabling growth and for instilling confidence in consumers, producers, investors, and creditors.


This explains, for instance, why this supposed embodiment of conservative extremism doesn’t fully balance the budget for two decades. The Ryan budget begins to turn things around quickly​—​reaching primary balance (that is, a balance between taxing and spending excluding interest payments) and beginning to reduce the relative size of the debt by 2015​—​but it doesn’t reach a truly balanced budget until the 2030s. To get to such balance right away would require enormous immediate cuts in entitlement benefits or massive tax hikes, either of which would be highly disruptive both to people’s lives and to the performance of the economy.

Cute prank!

It's wholesome and liberating ... how cathedral landed in row over nudism

By Jonathan Petre
10th April 2011

A Church of England cathedral is at the centre of a row after promoting nudism as ‘wholesome’ and ‘liberating’ on its website.

The item was posted by Manchester Cathedral several weeks ago on its ‘Spirit of Life’ site, which has been advertising a Mind, Body, Spirit fair planned for next month. The fair includes card readings, dream interpretations and a fire-breathing vicar.

Under a section headed ‘New Age’, the item said airbrushed models created ‘an unhealthy, unnatural model of perfection’.

In contrast, it continued, ‘naturism is a liberating lifestyle and belief which encourages self-respect, respect for others and for the environment, and embodies freedom and a unique sense of communion with nature. the rest image by Nikodemus Siivola

The cathedral website included a link to the little-known Christian Naturist Fellowship, set up in 1999 to organise ‘clothing-free’ gatherings across the country.

But all references to nudity suddenly disappeared from the site last week after critics said the cathedral was promoting fads that undermined traditional Christianity.