Fear not because your prayer is stammering...

Fear not because your prayer is stammering, your words feeble, and your language poor. Jesus can understand you. Just as a mother understands the first lispings of her infant, so does the blessed Saviour understand sinners. He can read a sigh, and see a meaning in a groan. ...JC Ryle image

China accused of anti-Christian campaign as church demolition begins...

By Tom Phillips, Shanghai
28 Apr 2014

Demolition teams began destroying parts of a Chinese church that has become a symbol of resistance to the Communist Party’s draconian clutch on religion, activists and witnesses said on Monday.

Sanjiang church in Wenzhou, a wealthy coastal city known as the "Jerusalem of the East", made headlines earlier this month when thousands of Christians formed a human shield around its entrance after plans for its demolition were announced.

Church members accused Communist leaders in Zhejiang province of ordering an anti-church crackdown and claimed there were plans to completely or partially demolish at least 10 places of worship.

Officials rejected those accusations, alleging the church had violated building codes...  the rest image

Magical Europe

Magical Europe - Timelapse from StanChang on Vimeo.

What Have We Done To Our Young Men and Women?; Destroy a Church in 4 Simple Steps; Catholics protest supporting Catholic Doctrine...more

The group that kidnapped 234 Nigerian school girls and its murderous campaign against education
...But now, Nigerian authorities contend Boko Haram, which is today recognized as one of the most murderous terrorist groups in the world, has likely conducted one of its most chilling acts of terror yet. On April 16, in the middle of the night in northeast Nigeria, dozens of armed men who answered to the name Boko Haram captured 234 girls sleeping in dormitories at Chibok school and disappeared in the dark. In the two weeks since, despite parents’ searches deep in remote forests, there has been no sign of the girls...  200 girls are missing in Nigeria – so why doesn't anybody care?

Thousands protest new contracts requiring Catholic school teachers to support Church teachings ...Most opposition to the contract concerns the language of the contract, which requires fidelity to Catholic doctrine. One petition at FaithfulAmerica.com, which has over 21,000 signatures around the nation, attacks the contract for barring teachers from having or supporting homosexual relationships. The "new teacher contract is intrusive, cruel, flies in the face of Pope Francis's tone of welcome and humility," it said...LifeSiteNews

A Doctor's Declaration of Independence
...I don't know about other physicians but I am tired—tired of the mandates, tired of outside interference, tired of anything that unnecessarily interferes with the way I practice medicine. No other profession would put up with this kind of scrutiny and coercion from outside forces. The legal profession would not. The labor unions would not. We as physicians continue to plod along and take care of our patients while those on the outside continue to intrude and interfere with the practice of medicine...

Destroy a Church in 4 Simple Steps
...Before we get to those four steps we need to see one critical piece of information: this church self-destructs. The church is not closed down through government persecution; it is not afflicted by cultural pressure and does not succumb to the attacks of another religion. This church is eroded from the inside, from within the membership. This church is destroyed by people claiming to act in the name of Jesus...Tim Challies

What Have We Done to Our Young Men and Women?
...What have we done to our young people? What are they doing to each other and to themselves? The sexual revolution of the 1960s was supposed to usher in utopia and the Age of Aquarius, right? What it has produced is hell on earth—complete with ideologies hardened into orthodoxies to immunize it from truth-telling and to stigmatize and marginalize truth-tellers...First Things

Communiqué from the GAFCON Primates Council

Grateful for the gracious guidance of the Holy Spirit, and the leadership of its Chairman, the Most Reverend Dr Eliud Wabukala, the GAFCON Primates Council met in London from April 24th to 26th, 2014.

1. Following the success of our Nairobi Conference last October, at which over 1,300 delegates from 38 nations and 27 Provinces of the Anglican Communion were present, we have met to take counsel together and address the mandate we were given in the Nairobi Communiqué and Commitment to take forward the work of the GAFCON movement. We are determined and enthusiastic, and we look for the prayer and financial support of Anglicans around the world who long for a clear and certain witness to Jesus Christ as Lord.

2. As was stated in the Nairobi Communiqué, we believe that the GAFCON movement is emerging as a faithful instrument of unity capable of gathering the majority of faithful Anglicans in communion globally. We are now taking practical steps to heal, renew and revitalize the Communion for future mission by growing our membership, improving the frequency and range of our communication and setting up networks, which will equip us to fulfill the Great Commission. We are already eagerly anticipating GAFCON 3 in 2018.

3. We are prayerfully aware of the challenges that many of our brothers and sisters live with day by day in various parts of the world. We heard the tragic news of the recent massacres in Bor and Bentiu in South Sudan and the escalating of the conflict in South Sudan. We stand in solidarity with the Church in South Sudan in its appeal for a peaceful resolution to the crisis. We express our deep sympathy to the families and communities of those who have died in the conflict and have been displaced. We pledge our ongoing prayer and material support, as able.

4. We are also acutely aware of the ongoing violence against Christians in Northern Nigeria, and we stand in solidarity with the Anglican Church of Nigeria as it seeks to mediate peace and bring an end to the violence, and work towards genuine religious freedom in Nigeria. We pledge our prayers and urge the international community to support the Nigerian government and the Christian community to bring an end to the violence and provide comfort to the affected communities.

5. We are equally concerned for the affected communities in Chile from the recent earthquake, terrorist attacks in Kenya, and the backlash from the international community in Uganda from their new legislation. We stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters and pray for the comfort of the Holy Spirit to sustain families and churches.

6. The rich experience of sharing fellowship as we met in Nairobi encourages our sense of needing to maintain our common life in faithfulness to Christ. Meeting shortly after the recognition in English law of same sex marriage, which we cannot recognise as compatible with the law of God, we look to the Church of England to give clear leadership as moral confusion about the status of marriage in this country deepens. The Archbishop of Canterbury has rightly noted that the decisions of the Church of England have a global impact and we urge that as a matter of simple integrity, its historic and biblical teaching should be articulated clearly.

7. We are particularly concerned about the state of lay and clerical discipline. The House of Bishops’ guidance that those in same sex marriages should be admitted to the full sacramental life of the church is an abandonment of pastoral discipline. While we welcome their clear statement that clergy must not enter same sex marriage, it is very concerning that this discipline is, apparently, being openly disregarded. We pray for the recovery of a sense of confidence in the whole of the truth Anglicans are called to proclaim, including that compassionate call for repentance to which we all need to respond in our different ways.

Finally, we gave thanks for the faithfulness and visionary leadership of Archbishop Robert Duncan who is shortly to retire as the Primate of the Anglican Church in North America. His ministry as the founding Primate has modeled for us what it means to contend for the faith once delivered to the saints with great courage and grace. He has built that which will last on the one foundation of Jesus Christ our Lord.

To God be the glory!

Primates present in London were:
The Most Rev’d Daniel Deng Bul, Archbishop, Episcopal Church of Sudan
The Most Rev’d Robert Duncan, Archbishop, Anglican Church in North America
The Most Rev’d Stanley Ntagli, Archbishop, Anglican Church of Uganda
The Most Rev’d Nicholas Okoh, Archbishop, Anglican Church of Nigeria (Vice Chairman)
The Most Rev’d Onesphore Rwaje, Archbishop, Anglican Church of Rwanda
The Most Rev’d Dr Eliud Wabukala, Archbishop, Anglican Church of Kenya (Chairman)
The Most Rev’d Tito Zavala, Presiding Bishop, Province of the Southern Cone

Also present:
The Most Rev’d Dr Peter Jensen, Diocese of Sydney, General Secretary
The Most Rev’d Peter J. Akinola, Church of Nigeria, Trustee
Most Rev’d Emmanuel Kolini, Anglican Church of Rwanda, Trustee
The Most Rev’d Dr Ikechi Nwosu, Anglican Church of Nigeria

Posted April 27, 2014
Found here

Anglican Unscripted Episode 97

Apr 25, 2014

Anglican Unscripted is the only video newscast in the Anglican Church. Every Week Kevin, George, Allan and Peter bring you news and prospective from around the globe. Please donate at http://anglican.tv/donate

STORY INDEX
00:00 Blame the Africans
11:07 Anglicans not swimming Tiber's
16:42 the IRS and you
26:06 Radical Islam want's you dead.

Bless the Lord, O my soul!

 The location is on the north Cornwall coast in England, near Newquay.

 

Bless the Lord, O my soul!

O Lord my God, you are very great!

You are clothed with splendor and majesty,

covering yourself with light as with a garment,

stretching out the heavens like a tent.

He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters;

he makes the clouds his chariot;

he rides on the wings of the wind;

he makes his messengers winds,

his ministers a flaming fire.

 

He set the earth on its foundations,

so that it should never be moved.

-Psalm 104:1-5

How Disney Princesses Lead Young Women To Dystopic Fiction

By Anna Mussmann

April 25, 2014

Prince William and Duchess Kate just wrapped up a visit to Australia. In a photo of Aussie crowds greeting the royals, two girls perhaps 5 or 6 years old stare upward at the Duchess’ face. One is clad in a costume modeled off Snow White’s. The other also wears a princess gown. Presumably, the two heard that they would be meeting a real live princess, and wanted to dress for the occasion. Who among us does not know at least one little girl who is happiest in a long, pink dress; wears a plastic tiara to the grocery store; recites the names of the princess collection before the ABC’s; and prefers that even her underwear are emblazoned with Disney royalty?

Somehow, images of slender femininity with flowing hair and royal pedigrees strikes a chord within the souls of small, female children across the globe. Not only can a professional party princess command a better annual salary than I did in my first teaching job, but Disney’s new line of princess merchandise also generated more than $4 billion between 2000 and 2009. This is true despite the efforts of many parents to avoid or sidestep the craze. A study by Sharon Hayes and Stacey Tantleff-Dunn observed that among the 3-year-olds to 6-year-olds they interviewed, the majority believed that they could be a princess, and over half said that a pretty dress or a crown would make them so... the rest image

The real message is that our girls need us to step entirely outside of the shiny, commercial world that would channel them toward following one fad after another until their souls and sense of self are blunted. It is possible to raise children who are independent from commercial culture and who can safely dabble in a princess or two, or an occasional dystopia, without being shaped and limited by them.

A.S. Haley: Fort Worth Court Denies TEC Motion to Stay Proceedings

April 24, 2014

In compliance with the mandate issued by the Texas Supreme Court on March 21st, today the 141st District Court in Fort Worth agreed to move forward with a new trial in the property suit brought five years ago by The Episcopal Church against the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth. It is anticipated that the next major event in the proceedings will be a hearing on motion for summary judgment sometime this fall, when neutral principles of law concerning trusts and property ownership in the State of Texas will be applied in the dispute.

On Thursday morning Judge John Chupp heard discussion on both sides, then ruled on two motions. He denied a motion by TEC to stay the resumption of proceedings in his court, which would have postponed the case further while TEC considers an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court; and he ordered the return of the $100,000 cash bond posted by the Diocese in October 2011 in connection with our appeal to the state Supreme Court. His order also terminates other conditions of the supersedeas bond.

Commenting on the result, diocesan attorney Scott Brister noted, “The judge ruled with us. It’s time to move forward and finish this suit.”... the rest

Canadian aborted babies incinerated in Oregon waste-to-energy facility to provide electricity

by Peter Baklinski
Wed Apr 23, 2014

The British Columbia Health Ministry has admitted that the remains of babies destroyed by abortion in B.C. facilities are ending up in a waste-to-power facility in the United States, providing electricity for residents of Oregon.

The province’s Health Ministry said in an email to the B.C. Catholic that “biomedical waste” shipped to the U.S. to be incinerated includes “human tissue, such as surgically removed cancerous tissue, amputated limbs, and fetal tissue.”

“The ministry understands that some is transferred to Oregon. There it is incinerated in a waste-to-energy plant,” the email stated.

The ministry said that contractors handling the province’s “biomedical waste” follow “health and safety protocols, as well as federal, provincial, and local regulations.”... the rest

Just like the UK: UK hospitals burn aborted babies for ‘green’ fuel

MRSA found in homes; Chicago Easter-At least 9 dead, 32 injured in weekend shootings; First Church of England Clergyman Marries Gay Partner...more

Church leaders in Nigeria: 'We will stand first for Christ'
"We have to stay and uphold the name of Christ in this state," one pastor named only as James told Open Doors.

"We are willing to pay the price for our calling. We don't only share the Gospel when things are rosy. It is to be done in every situation. Hunger and want will never discourage us. Swords and guns, even the roar of the devil, will only encourage us to stand first for Christ.

"If we die, our blood will speak about Christ to our killers."

Apostasy Rising: First Church of England Clergyman Marries Gay Partner
A Church of England clergyman has become the first to enter a same-sex marriage, going against official guidance, which says clergy need to “model the Church’s teaching in their lives.”

Canon Jeremy Pemberton and his partner, Laurence Cunnington, had the ceremony in a hotel on Saturday.

An evangelical group within the Church of England called for “clear discipline” on the issue, saying anything else would make the Church’s official position look hollow...

U.S. Troops Arrive in Poland as Response to Russian/Ukrainian Conflict
United States troops were sent to Poland to complete military exercises in response to Russia’s interference in Ukraine. The troops are the first of about 600 that will be sent to Eastern Europe for military practice.

Other soldiers will go to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to complete the exercises Fox News reports...

Chicago Easter-At least 9 dead, 32 injured in weekend shootings
Nine people have been killed and a further 32 injured in weekend shootings in Chicago which started on Friday afternoon and lasted until Monday morning. Five of the injured are children...

Everything You Need to Know About Prisons

Study: Antibiotic-Resistant MRSA ‘Superbug’ Found In US Homes
An anti-biotic resistant “superbug” that has long affected hospitals and other health care locations around the world has now found a new “reservoir” location: inside U.S. homes.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a bacteria that is resistant to many of the strongest antibiotics, and although recent prevalence has been limited to hospitals and nursing homes, a new study of 161 New York City residents who contracted the MRSA infections finds that the these people’s homes were “major reservoirs” for the bacteria strains, HealthDay reports...

The issue on which everything hangs...

“If Jesus rose from the dead, then you have to accept all that he said; if he didn’t rise from the dead, then why worry about any of what he said? The issue on which everything hangs is not whether or not you like his teaching but whether or not he rose from the dead.” -Timothy Keller image

American Middle Class Is No Longer the World’s Richest; Affirmative Action Ban Upheld; God and the Gay Challenge...

Albert Mohler: God, the Gospel, and the Gay Challenge — A Response to Matthew Vines   ...Into this context now comes God and the Gay Christian, a book by Matthew Vines. Just a couple of years ago Vines made waves with the video of a lecture in which he attempted to argue that being a gay Christian in a committed same-sex relationship (and eventual marriage) is compatible with biblical Christianity. His video went viral. Even though Matthew Vines did not make new arguments, the young Harvard student synthesized arguments made by revisionist Bible scholars and presented a very winsome case for overthrowing the church’s moral teachings on same-sex relationships.

His new book flows from that startling ambition — to overthrow two millennia of Christian moral wisdom and biblical understanding.

Given the audacity of that ambition, why does this book deserve close attention? The most important reason lies outside the book itself. There are a great host of people, considered to be within the larger evangelical movement, who are desperately seeking a way to make peace with the moral revolution and endorse the acceptance of openly-gay individuals and couples within the life of the church. Given the excruciating pressures now exerted on evangelical Christianity, many people — including some high-profile leaders — are desperately seeking an argument they can claim as both persuasive and biblical. The seams in the evangelical fabric are beginning to break and Matthew Vines now comes along with a book that he claims will make the argument so many have been seeking.

In God and the Gay Christian Vines argues that “Christians who affirm the full authority of Scripture can also affirm committed, monogamous same-sex relationships.” He announces that, once his argument is accepted: “The fiercest objections to LGBT equality — those based on religious beliefs — can begin to fall away...

Supreme Court Upholds Michigan's Affirmative Action Ban
A splintered Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled 6-2 that states may end racial preferences without violating the U.S. Constitution, upholding a Michigan law that grew out of the state's long-running debate over affirmative-action policies at public universities.

The ruling leaves in place the outcome of a 2006 Michigan ballot initiative where voters backed an end to racial preferences at state schools. But it also left intact legal precedents that protect minorities from being targeted for unfair treatment through the political process.

Tuesday's ruling means racial preferences won't soon return to the University of Michigan—or any other university in states that have chosen to end the practice—but suggests the justices are far from consensus on when affirmative action may be allowed, an issue sure to return to the court in the coming years...

The American Middle Class Is No Longer the World’s Richest

The American middle class, long the most affluent in the world, has lost that distinction.

 

While the wealthiest Americans are outpacing many of their global peers, a New York Times analysis shows that across the lower- and middle-income tiers, citizens of other advanced countries have received considerably larger raises over the last three decades.

 

After-tax middle-class incomes in Canada — substantially behind in 2000 — now appear to be higher than in the United States. The poor in much of Europe earn more than poor Americans....

Muslims leading Muslims to Christ

Why Muslims Are Becoming the Best Evangelists
Timothy C. Morgan
April 22, 2014

After traveling 250,000 miles through Dar al-Islam ("House of Islam") as Muslims call their world, career missiologist David Garrison came to a startling conclusion:

Muslim background believers are leading Muslims to Christ in staggering numbers, but not in the West. They are doing this primarily in Muslim-majority nations almost completely under the radar—of everyone. In the new book, A Wind in the House of Islam: How God is Drawing Muslims Around the World to Faith in Jesus Christ, Garrison takes the reader on his journey through what he describes as the nine rooms in the Muslim-majority world: Indo-Malaysia, East Africa, North Africa, Eastern South Asia, Western South Asia, Persian, Turkestan, West Africa, and the Arab world. Muslims in each of those regions have created indigenous, voluntary movements to Christ.

"What did God use to bring you to faith in Jesus Christ? Tell me your story." This was the core question Garrison asked as he traveled and conducted more than 1,000 face-to-face interviews. In his background research, he documented 82 historic Muslim movements to Christ, consisting of either at least 1,000 baptisms or 100 new church starts over a two-decade period. The first sizable movement of Muslims toward Christianity did not occur until the mid-19th century, nearly 1,300 years after Mohammad established Islam. Garrison said 69 of these movements today are still in process... the rest image

I've traveled to 100 countries over the years. The thing that changed me, as I look back on it, was finding that the living Christ has already been in these places.

I was hearing from Muslim-background believers that they had met Jesus. Sometimes we as Christians feel we take Jesus to people. What we forget sometimes is that we're attesting to a living Christ who continues to break into people's lives, into their dreams, into their visions, and into their prayers.

 

Jesus answers those prayers, and he meets with them, and it shakes them up. From West Africa, North Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, Central Asia, Indonesia, I met people whose lives had been shaken and rattled by their encounter with Christ. They were not persuaded by logical doctrine or a better civilization, but by that encounter with the living Son of God who changed their life and world. They can't go back to life as usual.

The Resurrection narratives...

The Resurrection narratives are not a picture of survival after death; they record how a totally new mode of being has arisen in the Universe. Something new had appeared in the Universe: as new as the first coming of organic life. This Man, after death, does not get divided into “ghost” and “corpse.” A new mode of being has arisen. That is the story. What are we going to make of it? ...CS Lewis image

Unearthed footage shows Planned Parenthood founder’s true mission

American birth control activist Margaret Sanger (here called Margaret Slee, which was her second husband’s name) sternly demands that the women of the world have “no more babies.”

Story

Jerusalem Builded Here: Why England's Churches are Empty

by Nick Hallett
20 Apr 2014

Easter Sunday may be the holiest day of the year for Christians, but this year more churches than ever will find themselves with empty pews as the British public turn away from organised religion. What went wrong? Why, despite years of liberalisation and modernisation, are churches driving people away?

You will have read James Delingpole's piece on why Christianity is dying in Britain. The statistics back up his analysis, revealing that churchgoers are turned off by trendy liberalism, moral relativism and endless arguments over the modernisers' pet projects such as female clergy.

In 2007, the Tearfund Trust, a Christian charity, published one of the most detailed ever reports on church attendance in the UK. It said that just 15 percent on the UK go to church at least once a month.

Yet it's not as if Britain has suddenly become a secular, atheistic country. According to the same survey, 58 percent of the population still profess to be Christian, while the 2011 Census puts the figure at 59 percent.

Also, a huge proportion of those who don’t attend church have been "de-churched" – that is, they once regularly attended church but no longer go... the rest

So in other words, despite decades of "modernising", of ditching difficult aspects of faith in order to become more "relevant", and of embracing "alternative lifestyles", Britain's churches are actually driving Christians away in record numbers.

The Greatest Easter Painting Ever Made

 April 18, 2014

by Elise Ehrhard

Tucked away in a central Parisian museum that was once a railway station, there hangs an Easter painting quite unlike any Gospel masterpiece created before or after it. It is not painted by a Rembrandt or a Rubens or the patron saint of artists, Fra Angelico. The painting is the work of a little-known Swiss painter. For those who make a trip to see it, viewing the canvas is a special spiritual experience in their lives.

The work does not even show the risen Jesus. It merely portrays two witnesses, Jesus’ oldest and youngest apostle. The youngest who was the only man brave enough to stay by Jesus’ cross and the only one who did not die a martyr’s death as a result of it. The oldest apostle who first denied Jesus in fear, yet ultimately chose to be crucified upside down by the Roman authorities rather than deny Christ’s resurrection.

In “The Disciples Peter and John Running to the Sepulchre on the Morning of the Resurrection” by Eugène Burnand, John clasps his hand in prayer while Peter holds his hand over his heart. The viewer feels the rush as their hair and cloaks fly back with the wind. They are sprinting towards discovery of the moment that forever altered heaven and earth. As you look at it, engage for a moment in what the Catholic blogger Bill Donaghy calls “the visual equivalent of Lectio Divina.” As Donaghy notes, “This Resurrection scene does not put us before still figures near a stagnant stone, or figures standing with stony faces in a contrived, plastic posture, pointing to an empty tomb. This scene is dynamic; we are in motion.”... the rest

Believing in the Resurrection?; Western education and Boko Haram; NYC councilman Dromm-true marriage supporters not welcome...more

Believing in the Resurrection?
...I wonder how many of these millions of Chinese Christians doubt Christ’s bodily resurrection? A Religion News Service article suggests Christians are divided over the resurrection. It contrasts a twenty something Canadian Evangelical youth pastor who believes with 82 year old Episcopal Bishop John Spong who infamously does not:

Spong’s Bible studies were enormously popular, attracting 300 people to each session, he said. His congregations grew as a result.
“When people hear it, they grab on to it,” Spong said. “They could not believe the superstitious stuff and they were brainwashed to believe that if they could not believe it literally they could not be a Christian.”

The article doesn’t mention that Spong lost over 40 percent of his membership while bishop of New Jersey. I’ve been to some of his events, which tend to be all elderly people...

Archbishop of Wales: Fundamental action needed to combat climate change
In his Easter sermon at Llandaff Cathedral, Dr Barry Morgan called on worshippers to make changes to their way of life to protect the planet...

Nigerians Mark Easter Amid Mourning and Fear
With little to celebrate, Nigerians marked Easter Sunday with heightened security against a spreading Islamic uprising, mourning the deaths of at least 75 bomb blast victims and fearful of the fate of 85 abducted schoolgirls.

The homegrown terrorist network Boko Haram on Saturday claimed responsibility for last week's rush-hour explosion at a busy bus station in the capital, Abuja, and threatened more attacks.

"We are the bombers ... yes we are the bombers; if you really want to know who did it, let me tell you now, it was Shekau that did it," leader Abubakar Shekau boasts in a new video...

A Little Learning is a Dangerous Thing
Question: What does Boko Haram, the Nigerian terrorist organization, have in common with Western educators? Answer: Both think that Western education is sinful. Fortunately, Western educators will not burn down your church or school with you inside as Boko Haram does to those who persist in their Western ways. Unfortunately, the type of education provided by Western educators will leave you totally unprepared for the likes of Boko Haram.

Roughly translated, “Boko Haram” means “Western education is sinful.” So there’s little doubt about where it stands. But in what way can it be said that Western educators believe the same thing? I don’t know if any educators have actually declared that Western education is sinful, but it’s not unfair to say that contemporary educational theory in the West is built upon a rejection of traditional Western education. Beginning with Rousseau’s Emile (1762), Western intellectuals began to challenge the Judeo-Christian view of the child and along with it traditional ideas about how children should be educated... Excellent!

True marriage supporters ‘not welcome’ in New York: councilman
A New York City councilman has effectively told traditional marriage supporters they are “not welcome” in the Big Apple.

In response to Chick-fil-A’s proposed plans to expand their business and set up restaurants in several locations, including New York City, Councilman Daniel Dromm told the Huffington Post that the fast-food chain would not be welcome in the most populous city in the country.

“We don’t need bigots coming to New York City,” Dromm told HuffPost. “They are not welcome here unless they can embrace all of New York’s diverse community, including the LGBT community.”...

Easter Sunday 2014

 The Resurrection of Christ is not the fruit of speculation or mystical experience: it is an event which, while it surpasses history, nevertheless happens at a precise moment in history and leaves an indelible mark upon it. The light which dazzled the guards keeping watch over Jesus’ tomb has traversed time and space. It is a different kind of light, a divine light, that has rent asunder the darkness of death and has brought to the world the splendour of God, the splendour of Truth and Goodness.

Just as the sun’s rays in springtime cause the buds on the branches of the trees to sprout and open up, so the radiance that streams forth from Christ’s Resurrection gives strength and meaning to every human hope, to every expectation, wish and plan. Hence the entire cosmos is rejoicing today, caught up in the springtime of humanity, which gives voice to creation’s silent hymn of praise. The Easter Alleluia, resounding in the Church as she makes her pilgrim way through the world, expresses the silent exultation of the universe and above all the longing of every human soul that is sincerely open to God, giving thanks to him for his infinite goodness, beauty and truth.

“In your Resurrection, O Christ, let heaven and earth rejoice.” ...Benedict XVI
(Photo- Garden tomb -taken  March 2014 from our trip to Israel)

Holy Saturday 2014

LORD, God of my salvation;

I cry out day and night before you.

Let my prayer come before you;

incline your ear to my cry!
 

For my soul is full of troubles,

and my life draws near to Sheol.

I am counted among those who go down to the pit;

I am a man who has no strength,

like one set loose among the dead,

like the slain that lie in the grave,

like those whom you remember no more,

for they are cut off from your hand.

You have put me in the depths of the pit,

in the regions dark and deep.

Your wrath lies heavy upon me,

and you overwhelm me with all your waves.
 

You have caused my companions to shun me;

you have made me a horror to them.

I am shut in so that I cannot escape;

my eye grows dim through sorrow.

Every day I call upon you, O LORD;

I spread out my hands to you.

Do you work wonders for the dead?

Do the departed rise up to praise you?

Is your steadfast love declared in the grave,

or your faithfulness in Abaddon?

Are your wonders known in the darkness,

or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?

 

But I, O LORD, cry to you;

in the morning my prayer comes before you.

O LORD, why do you cast my soul away?

Why do you hide your face from me?

Afflicted and close to death from my youth up,

I suffer your terrors; I am helpless.

Your wrath has swept over me;

your dreadful assaults destroy me.

They surround me like a flood all day long;

they close in on me together.

You have caused my beloved and my friend to shun me;

my companions have become darkness.
-Psalm 88 image

Good Friday 2014

 From the cross uplifted high,

Where the Savior deigns to die,

What melodious sounds we hear,

Bursting on the ravished ear!

“Love’s redeeming work is done—

Come and welcome! sinner, come!

Sprinkled now with blood the throne;

Why beneath thy burdens groan?

On My piercèd body laid,

Justice owns the ransom paid:

Bow the knee, and kiss the Son,

Come and welcome, sinner, come.

“Spread for thee, the festal board

See with richest bounty stored;

To thy Father’s bosom pressed,

Thou shalt be a child confessed,

Never from His house to roam;

Come and welcome! sinner, come!

“Soon the days of life shall end—

Lo, I come—your Savior, Friend!

Safe your spirit to convey

To the realms of endless day,

Up to My eternal home—

Come and welcome! sinner, come!”

...Thomas Haweis image

Holy Thursday 2014

Here at Thy table, Lord, this sacred hour,

O let us feel Thee near, in loving power,

Calling our thoughts away from self and sin

As to Thy banquet hall we enter in.

Sit at the feast, dear Lord, break Thou the bread;

Fill Thou the cup that brings life to the dead;

That we may find in Thee pardon and peace,

And from all bondage win a full release.

So shall our life of faith be full, be sweet;

And we shall find our strength for each day meet;

Fed by Thy living bread, all hunger past,

We shall be satisfied, and saved at last.

Come then, O holy Christ, feed us, we pray;

Touch with Thy piercèd hand each common day;

Making this earthly life full of Thy grace,

Till in the home of heaven we find our place.

...May P. Hoyt image

How easily we forget...

How easily we forget that the church was founded by disciples who betrayed their master. None was willing to stand by Jesus as the religious and political authorities condemned him to death. At his moment of greatest need, the disciples fled in the darkness. The boldest of the lot, Peter, was the very one who cursed and denied him three times before the cock crew. It was for traitors that Jesus died. ...Philip Yancey image

Two Edinburgh churches quit over gay ordination; The Puppet Mass Returns; Nigerian Schoolgirls abducted...more

Obama taps gay bishop to wrap Easter Prayer Breakfast with invocation
Not hard to guess who...

Edinburgh churches quit Church of Scotland over gay ordination
TWO Edinburgh churches are quitting the Kirk just weeks before the General Assembly over the issue of gay ordination...

The Puppet Mass Returns

NYT: A significant number of people labeled vegetative had received an incorrect diagnosis
...A new study has found that PET scans may help answer these wrenching questions. It found that a significant number of people labeled vegetative had received an incorrect diagnosis and actually had some degree of consciousness and the potential to improve. Previous studies using electroencephalogram machines and M.R.I. scanners have also found signs of consciousness in supposedly vegetative patients.

“I think these patients are kind of neglected by both medicine and society,” said Dr. Steven Laureys, an author of the new study and the director of the Coma Science Group at the University of Liège in Belgium. “Many of them don’t even see a medical doctor or a specialist for years. So I think it’s very important to ask the question, are they unconscious?”...

New Emails Show Lois Lerner Was in Contact With DOJ About Prosecuting Tax Exempt Groups
According to new IRS emails obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request from Judicial Watch, former head of tax exempt groups at the IRS Lois Lerner was in contact with the Department of Justice in May 2013 about whether tax exempt groups could be criminally prosecuted for "lying" about political activity...

Slaughter in Nigeria — Where Is the State Department?
...But even on the very day on which they called Boko Haram terrorists for the first time, the State Department displayed mixed feelings and moral equivalence regarding the jihadists. Testifying at the House hearing, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said that “Boko Haram’s activities call our attention not just to violence, but also to poverty and inequality in Nigeria.” It’s true that there is poverty and inequality in Nigeria. But none of it touches Boko Haram. They carried out their latest slaughter in two armored personnel cars and seven double cabin pickups, according to Punch.

In addition, the State Department is always loath to attribute religious motivation to Boko Haram (or any other Islamists)...

At Least 100 Nigerian Schoolgirls Abducted
...Various news outlets report Muslim terrorists abducted at least 100 Nigerian schoolgirls on Monday at the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok. Nigerian police claim they can’t confirm who is behind the kidnapping, but named the Islamist group known as Boko Haram as the possible perpetrator.

"Many girls were abducted by the rampaging gunmen who stormed the school in a convoy of vehicles," Emmanuel Sam, an education official in Chibok, told CNN...

Over 200 dead in terror attack on Nigerian commuters

14 Apr 2014
By George Conger

Over 200 people have been killed in a terror attack at a bus terminal outside the Nigerian capital of Abuja today. While no group has yet come forward to accept responsibility for the blast, the Islamist terror group Boko Haram is suspected to be behind the attack.

A priest of the Church of Nigeria, who asked not to be named as he was not speaking on behalf of the church, told Anglican Ink that witnesses report hundreds of dead and wounded from the explosion in Nyanya some 10 miles outside of Abuja. Wire service reports state that a single bomb exploded in a bus terminal during rush hour at 6:30 am on 14 April 2014 as passengers were boarding four commuter buses. The four high capacity buses, along with several smaller vans and passenger motorcycles known as “okada” were destroyed in the blast.

The attack comes a day after Boko Haram terrorists killed 60 people in North East Nigeria. The United Nations estimated last month that a half million people had fled their homes in Northern Nigeria since Boko Haram began its campaign of violence against Christians and moderate Muslims four years ago. The Church of Nigeria priest gave voice to the frustrations held by many people over the government’s inability to stop the violence, which has claimed several thousand victims this year.

In an interview published on 23 March 2014 on the Codewit website, the Primate of All Nigeria, the Most Rev. Nicholas Okoh reported that the anti-Christian violence had led the church to close the Diocese of Damatura. “The Bishop has relocated to Jos; the clergy is just being paid to keep it on.”
However, “our church in Maiduguri is miraculously on but the churches are being attacked here and there.  The Bishop has escaped so many attacks, but he is still there; so what we are doing is to find a way to support the Bishop to support his members. The Bishop is there to ensure that the church does not die,” he said.

“Let me say that evil will not win this battle no matter how long it takes,” Archbishop Okoh said.

“We are aware that some people are behind it all, because it is not just the poor Boko Haram person who is perpetrating this evil; there are people behind it who bring the money, who bring the ideology and use these poor boys as cannon fodder. By the grace of God, the evil will be defeated.”

Here at Anglican Ink

Palm Sunday 2014

The Savior! what a noble flame

Was kindled in his breast,

When hasting to Jerusalem

He marched before the rest!

Good-will to men, and zeal for God,

His every thought engross;

He longs to be baptized with blood,

He pants to reach the cross.

With all his suff'rings full in view,

And woes, to us, unknown,

Forth to the task his spirit flew,

'Twas love that urged him on.

LORD, we return thee what we can!

Our hearts shall sound abroad

Salvation, to the dying Man,

And to the rising God!

And while thy bleeding glories here

Engage our wond'ring eyes;

We learn our lighter cross to bear,

And hasten to the skies.

-William Cowper image

Ride On ! Ride On In Majesty - King's College

1.  Ride on, ride on in majesty!
     Hark! all the tribes hosanna cry;
     O Savior meek, pursue your road
     With palms and scattered garments strowed.

2.  Ride on, ride on in majesty!
     In lowly pomp ride on to die:
     O Christ, your triumphs now begin
     O'er captive death and conquered sin.

3.  Ride on, ride on in majesty!
     The winged squadrons of the sky
     Look down with sad and wond'ring eyes
     To see th'approaching sacrifice.

4. Ride on, ride on in majesty!
    Your last and fiercest strive is nigh;
    The Father on his sapphire throne
     Expects his own anointed Son.

5.  Ride on, ride on in majesty!
     In lowly pomp ride on to die;
     Bow your meek head to mortal pain,
     Then take, O God, your pow'r and reign.
                    -Henry Hart Milman

Exclusivity of Christ; Iran-Muslims coming to Christ; Kenyan churches oppose polygamy; Rise in stay at home moms...

Turning kids into clients: Planned Parenthood’s evil schemes
...Consider for a moment, the vicious cycle Planned Parenthood start little kids on. Through the government sanctioned sex-education FoSE (Future of Sex Education), which Planned Parenthood helped to draft, their “age-appropriate” training begins exposing Kindergarteners to sexual exploration at age five. Continually reinforcing the myth that they are the child’s trusted ally, Planned Parenthood slowly becomes the authority in all sexual matters. In the FoSE curriculum, by 4th grade, sexual experimentation is encouraged and before long, contraceptive measures are suggested...

Mohler defends exclusivity of Christ
...Mohler said liberal Christianity has dealt with the claim by moving toward universalism, the belief that eventually all persons are saved, or, more commonly, inclusivism, which assumes that all world religions point to a common truth that at the end of the day will be discovered to have been Christ...

Kenyan Churches Oppose Polygamy Legalization
Churches across the East African nation of Kenya have expressed opposition to a bill that if signed into law would legalize polygamous marriages.

As Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta considers signing the marriage bill into law, his administration faces the vocal opposition of multiple church groups. In late March, Christ is the Answer Ministries Bishop David Oginde read a joint statement from numerous church leaders denouncing the bill as a threat to the family unit...

More Muslims May Be Coming To Christ in Iran Than Anywhere Else
Open Doors USA has ranked Iran number 9 on its list of 50 countries where persecution of Christians for religious reasons is most severe.

The Institute on Religion and Democracy recently spoke with officials of the ministry who say despite intense persecution, many more Muslims are coming to Christ at an increasing rate.

“Rafin and Nader, young coverts from Muslim backgrounds are proof of that,” Jerry Dykstra, media relations director with Open Doors told the IRD.  “They are not alone. “Many Persians are coming to Christ, he added. “Many are young college students, and even some of their teachers are asking for Bibles!...

Four Pakistani Christians now on death row

After Decades of Decline, A Rise in Stay-at-Home Mothers
The share of mothers who do not work outside the home rose to 29% in 2012, up from a modern-era low of 23% in 1999, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of government data.1 This rise over the past dozen years represents the reversal of a long-term decline in “stay-at-home” mothers that had persisted for the last three decades of the 20th century.2 The recent turnaround appears to be driven by a mix of demographic, economic and societal factors, including rising immigration as well as a downturn in women’s labor force participation, and is set against a backdrop of continued public ambivalence about the impact of working mothers on young children...

Dear Lord, if at this evening hour...

Dear Lord, if at this evening hour I think only of myself and my own condition and my own day’s record of service, then I can find no peace before I go to sleep, but only bitterness of spirit and miserable despair. Therefore, O Father, let me think rather of Thee and rejoice that Thy love is great enough to blot out all my sins. And, O Christ, Thou Lamb of God, let me think of Thee, and lean upon Thy heavenly righteousness, taking no pleasure in what I am before Thee but only in what Thou art for me and in my stead. And, O Holy Spirit, do Thou think within me, and so move within my mind and will that as the days go by I may be more and more conformed to the righteousness of Jesus Christ my Lord; to Whom be glory forever. Amen. ...John Baillie

Obamacare-There’s no such thing as illegal immigrants; Too late to buy Obamacare for most; IRS employee promoted Obama 2012...more

NY health boss resigning after agency failed to inspect abortion clinics
...Word of Shah’s resignation late Wednesday came as the Health Department announced it was scrambling to inspect 25 abortion clinics ”within the coming days” — after The Post reported that it hadn’t visited many of them in more than a decade.

The abortion clinic controversy also became a political hot potato for Gov. Cuomo when GOP gubernatorial candidate Rob Astorino Wednesday accused the Health Department of neglect and called on Shah to resign....

Too Late to Buy Health Insurance in 2014 for Most, Thanks to Obamacare
...Consumers — including those outside the healthcare exchanges — will be unable to purchase health insurance from now until the next enrollment period, which begins January 1, 2015.

John Divito, president of Flexbenefit, states, “It’s all closed down. You cannot buy a policy that is a qualified policy for the purpose of the ACA (Affordable Care Act) until next year on January 1.”

According to Fox News, this requirement will leave tens of millions of people out of the health insurance market for the rest of the year, with only a few exceptions, such as qualifying events that include marriage, divorce, the birth of a child, or loss of employment...

Obama administration to health insurers: There’s no such thing as illegal immigrants  ...On April 1st, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued a new guidance document to health insurers. The CMS guidance says that people whose immigration status is uncertain will be presumed eligible for subsidized coverage in Obamacare’s marketplaces while a further review is pending...

Watchdog finds IRS employees promoted Obama in 2012
IRS employees encouraged taxpayers to vote for President Obama during his 2012 reelection campaign and disparaged Republicans, a federal ethics watchdog said Wednesday.

One IRS customer representative urged people calling into the agency to vote for Obama by “repeatedly reciting a chant based on the spelling of his last name,” the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) said in its announcement.

The office is responsible for investigating cases in which people violate the Hatch Act, which bans federal employees from engaging in partisan campaign activities...

Hilary praises Pussy Riot band who stormed cathedral and sang lyrics calling religion the excrement of Jesus Christ
...The U.N.’s Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin mocked her in reply, suggesting Powers join the group herself. “I would expect her to invite them to perform at the National Cathedral in Washington. Maybe they could arrange a world tour for them, you know. St Peter’s Cathedral in Rome, then maybe in Mecca in Saudi Arabia, ending up with a gala concert at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem.”...