Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Our commitments to Christ...

Jesus did not say, "Come to me and get it over with." He said, "if any one would come after me, let that one take up his/her cross daily and follow me." Daily is the key word. Our commitments to Christ, however genuine and whole hearted it may be today, must be renewed tomorrow and the day after that.
-Louis Cassel image

Anglican Unscripted Episode 201


Sep 30, 2015

Anglican Unscripted is the only video newscast in the Anglican Church. Each Episode Kevin, George, Allan and Peter bring you news and prospective from around the globe. Please Donate - http://anglicanink.com/donate

Gene Proves Existence of Biblical Priestly Class; Hurricane Joaquin eyes East Coast...

DNA Studies Trace Jewish Priestly Lineage From Biblical Times ...While it may sound a bit like science fiction, geneticists have verified the link which connects the present-day group of men classified as kohanim to the Biblical figure of Aaron, who lived over 3,000 years ago. Demographic studies have shown that kohanim have always represented approximately five percent of the total Jewish population. 


Hurricane Joaquin eyes East Coast
.......

Intense Solar Flare Unleashed from Unruly Sunspot ...That M7-class flare was strong enough that the extra atmospheric charge interfered with low-frequency radio communications over South America and the Atlantic Ocean, with weaker effects farther out. And there's a chance that sunspot AR2422 may release more solar flares...

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Analysis of PP Videos finds no evidence of manipulation; Secret thoughts of Surrogate Moms...more

Forensic Analysis of Videos Exposing Planned Parenthood Finds “No Evidence of Manipulation”   ...A new forensic analysis of the 10 videos the Center for Medical Progress released exposing the Planned Parenthood abortion business apparently illegally selling aborted babies and their body parts for profit finds “no evidence of manipulation” despite claims from the abortion company and Democrats that they were heavily edited.

The multiple videos have horrified millions of Americans and the most recent video catches the nation’s biggest abortion business selling specific body parts — including the heart, eyes and “gonads” of unborn babies. The video also shows the shocking ways in which Planned Parenthood officials admit that they are breaking federal law by selling aborted baby body parts for profit....

Hajj stampede death toll climbs to 1,100 
The death toll from one of the worst stampedes during Hajj pilgrimage has hit 1,100, among them 42 Pakistani pilgrims, officials confirmed on Monday. The revised tally came a day after Pakistan’s Religious Affairs Minister Sardar Yousaf told a news conference in Saudi Arabia that 36 Pakistanis were among the stampede victims.

However, the minister told the state-run Pakistan Television on Monday that 42 Pakistanis were killed and 62 were still missing. Of the 35 injured Pakistani pilgrims, 29 had been discharged after treatment, he added...

Why Schools Are Increasingly Neglecting Introverts  ...These are, of course, generalized observations, but I recently met with two high-school students who spoke directly and frankly about their need for quiet, solitary learning environments. Both of proudly spoke of their success at Grizzly Youth Academy, a 22-week charter-school program in San Luis Obispo, California, targeted at teens who’ve had a “history of school failure” at a previous school. Asked what she thought facilitated her success, one student responded: “The structure—I can concentrate here.” Acknowledging her tendency to get distracted, the student noted that there was “absolutely no quiet time” at her former public school, and she now appreciates the disciplined classes and quiet study hall sessions. “I’m like a completely different person now.”...

Church of England schools increasingly failing to appoint heads of the same faith, says study ...“There was clear consensus across school leaders and diocesan officials that recruitment of school leaders with the necessary understanding and commitment is proving increasingly difficult and sometimes impossible,” says the report.

“Many dioceses have become more flexible around the requirement that headteachers need to be practising Christians and can reference successful heads who are from other faiths or none at all but are able to maintain a clear vision for education in line with the [church’s] overall vision,” it said.

“However, in the long term there is a risk to the vision if sufficient numbers of teachers and school leaders with a deep understanding of and engagement with the Church of England cannot be deployed.”...

What Pastors Wish Their Worship Leaders Knew ... For the sake of this post, I’m using the term “worship leader” to describe a non-pastor who leads the music during the gatherings of the church...

Secret Confessions of Surrogate Mothers
Being a surrogate may be one of the most rewarding things one woman can do for another - but that doesn't mean it comes without its internal struggles.

Now, thanks to anonymous confession app Whisper, surrogate moms are spilling the beans on all the stress, anxieties and drama they have experienced as they go through process of giving an infertile couple the gift of a child.
 
The confessions range from dealing with the assumptions of others, to family problems to even trysts with the baby's father behind his wife's back...

Monday, September 28, 2015

Rev. Canon Phil Ashey: Archbishop Welby, what will you do about it?

Posted September 28, 2015

I’m not fond of litigation.  I take our witness to the world very seriously, and the damage to that witness from Christians suing each other is serious. And even though my former profession as a criminal prosecutor put me in the position of litigating daily in the courts, I would much prefer followers of Jesus Christ being able to follow I Corinthians 6 and work out their disagreements within the Church, through church or secular sponsored arbitration services and negotiated settlements.

I cannot, however, let the injustice pass that occurred in the oral arguments before the South Carolina Supreme Court, between the Diocese of South Carolina (Bishop Mark Lawrence) and The Episcopal Church (TEC.) There must have been quite a few people watching the live stream—because there apparently wasn’t any room for me to access it when I tried. But attorney Alan Haley (aka The Anglican Curmudgeon), was able to watch it and then review it again in the archives to make the following point.

The newest Justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court, Kaye Hearn, should have recused herself from the hearing. During the proceedings, she demonstrated blatant bias, prejudice, and disregard for court precedent throughout the hearing. It is no surprise that she is a member of a TEC congregation in South Carolina and a founding member of The Episcopal Forum of South Carolina, which helped bring disciplinary charges against Bishop Mark Lawrence under TEC’s Title IV.

Alan Haley has done an exhaustive job detailing the evidence of bias in Justice Hearn’s questions, citing for any listener the exact point in the tape where she speaks...  the rest
So we come back to the Archbishop of Canterbury and his call for a gathering of Primates.  If this is not just another “gabfest,” if this is really an attempt to return to the authority the Primates were willing to exercise back in 2007 at Dar, what will this Archbishop of Canterbury do with TEC, the Anglican Church of Canada and the endless litigation?  The new Presiding Bishop of TEC, Michael Curry, will be there. He has just a month before he takes office—but so far, his utter silence on TEC’s litigation speaks volumes. There is no reason to believe this late in the game that he will change any policy or strategy. The litigation will go on as long as the dollars remain to fund it.

The Doomsday Seed Vault Was Tapped; On the Reading of Books...more

Abortion, Suicide, And Same-Sex Weddings Are Now Your Job ...But progressives gotta’ progress. The Left’s ultimate objective is not merely to legalize abortion, assisted suicide, or same-sex marriage. It is to weaponize government to coerce your participation. If you don’t “do your [newly and arbitrarily redefined] job,” you will suffer severe consequences: You will be fired. You will lose your law, medical, or other professional license. You will be ineligible to run for public office. You will be unable to earn a living for your family by running a small business...

Albert Mohler: Some Thoughts on the Reading of Books  ...As Solomon warned, “Of making many books there is no end” (Ecc 12:12). There is no way to read everything, and not everything deserves to be read. I say that in order to confront the notion that anyone, anywhere, can master all that could be read with profit. I read a great deal, and a large portion of my waking hours are devoted to reading. Devotional reading for spiritual profit is an important part of the day, and that begins with the reading of Scripture. In terms of timing, I am somewhat unorthodox. My best time for spending time in the Word is late at night, when all is calm and quiet and I am mentally alert and awake. That is not the case when I first get up in the mornings, when I struggle to find each word on the page (or anything else, for that matter).

In the course of any given week, I will read several books. I know how much I thrive on this learning and the intellectual stimulation I get from reading. As my wife and family would be first to tell you, I can read almost anytime, anywhere, under almost any kind of conditions. I have a book with me virtually all the time, and have been known to snatch a few moments for reading at stop lights. No, I do not read while driving (though I must admit that it has been a temptation at times). I took books to high school athletic events when I played in the band. (Heap coals of scorn and nerdliness here). I remember the books; do you remember the games?...

Churches in Ruin
It’s estimated that every year between 4,000 and 7,000 churches close down in the USA. In Europe, the statistics vary by country: approximately 20 Church of England churches are closed per year in the UK; in Holland, the statistics are much higher, at around two per week.

There are ongoing debates about what to do with all these unused churches. In some instances, they have been repurposed: churches have become bars, skate parks and art galleries. But some churches do not get to have a second life. Many are abandoned to deteriorate slowly. Photographer Hans van Vrouwerf has a fascination with lost faith and forgotten places of worship, and has visually documented about 20 abandoned churches around Europe...

Taxing Churches Would Marry Church And State   A spate of articles in prominent venues (such as Time and the Washington Post) have argued we should do away with “tax exemptions” for churches. In the most recent volley, David Niose claims that religious tax exemptions equal religious subsidies. Since fewer Americans are going to church, he suggests it’s time to stop subsidizing religion.
 
The claim that tax exemptions for churches (or for religious organizations more broadly) are just the same thing as subsidizing religion is absurd. As our friend Francis Beckwith points out, that’s a lot like saying the government subsidizes each of us because it doesn’t tax our income 100 percent (there is a formal equivalency in the two positions). But for the sake of argument, we’ll put the absurdity of the position to the side....

Whistleblowers claim Obama White House uses ‘doctored’ intel reports  Some of the U.S. intelligence community’s top analysts reportedly informed the Pentagon watchdog that their reports have been systematically edited to backup President Barack Obama’s—and his national security team’s—assertions that the war on the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) as more successful than it actually is, according to news reports from outlets such as The Hill.

Not Good: The Doomsday Seed Vault Was Tapped Due To The Syrian Civil War   In the arctic, there is a vault 500 feet into a mountain that house hundreds of thousands of seeds in case of a catastrophic human event, or natural disaster, which threatens the biodiversity of the planet. It’s our saving account against starvation. National Public Radio reported last week that the first withdrawal was made due to the brutal war in Syria...

Migrant Crisis Update: “No End in Sight” to influx
“This is a continental transfer”


‘Ashokan Farewell’: The Story Behind the Tune Ken Burns Made Famous

Lunar eclipse 2015

Earlier on the evening of the eclipse, Raymond went to
Onondaga Lake to catch the moonrise.
 
City of Syracuse at twilight
 
 Eclipse-totality with its distinct copper color
(Pictures by Raymond Dague)
Click on pictures to enlarge

Friday, September 25, 2015

'Supermoon' Lunar Eclipse Coming Sunday



When and Where to Watch This Weekend's Total Lunar Eclipse Late on Sunday evening, September 27, the Earth will slide precisely between the sun and the moon, throwing the satellite into a rusty red shadow. This’ll be the fourth total lunar eclipse in two years, but that doesn’t make it boring. Quite the opposite—this week’s event will be the last in this rare tetrad, and the most dramatic.

That’s because this lunar eclipse coincides with another astronomical event: a supermoon. That’s what it’s called when the moon’s mostly elliptical orbit brings it closest to Earth’s surface—about 220,000 miles away instead of its average 240,000 miles. During this total lunar eclipse, the moon will appear about 14 percent larger and 30 percent brighter than Earthlings are used to seeing it.

And yes, it’ll also change color. The Earth doesn’t totally shade the moon; some sunlight trickles around the edges of the planet and gets filtered through the atmosphere, which only lets through light with longer wavelengths. That’s red. This eclipse also happens to coincide with the harvest moon, the full moon that falls closest to the autumnal equinox...

Anglican Unscripted Episode 200: Blatant Bias on Display in ECUSA's South Carolina Case


Sep 24, 2015

Anglican Unscripted is the only video newscast in the Anglican Church. Each Episode Kevin, George, Allan and Peter bring you news and prospective from around the globe. Please Donate - http://anglicanink.com/donate

A.S. Haley: Blatant Bias on Display in ECUSA’s South Carolina Case  Before the oral arguments yesterday in The Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of South Carolina v. Episcopal Church in the Supreme Court of South Carolina, your Curmudgeon had heard mention of the fact that one of the five justices who would be hearing the case was active in one of the parishes affiliated with the defendant Episcopal Church in South Carolina. I did not look into the question further until I watched the oral arguments live, and could see the justices as they put their questions to each of the attorneys for the litigants.

I took particular note, as I watched, of the attitude and unspoken assumptions behind the questions asked by Justice Kaye Hearn, the newest person elected to that Court. In many cases, it seemed (to this appellate attorney) that her questions were designed more to provide encouragement to ECUSA’s attorneys, and to advance their arguments, than they were to probe the various issues at stake in the case.

A little research on the Internet provided the facts that Justice Hearn was a former member of the congregation and choir at St. Paul’s in Conway, South Carolina—a parish that chose to remain with Bishop Mark Lawrence and his Diocese. A group of two dozen or so from that 500-member parish decided they could not remain, and left to form what has since become St. Anne’s Episcopal Church, also in Conway. The records there show that Justice Hearn’s husband, George, is a member of the parish’s vestry and mission committee...

SC Supreme Court Justice has Deep ties to National Episcopal Church

Thursday, September 24, 2015

Stampede kills more than 700 at Hajj pilgrimage near Mecca...more

Stampede kills more than 700 at Hajj pilgrimage near Mecca  A stampede during one of the last rituals of the Hajj season -- the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca -- has killed more than 700 people and injured 800 others in Saudi Arabia.

The stampede occurred Thursday morning during the ritual known as "stoning the devil" in the tent city of Mina, about 2 miles from Mecca, Islam's holiest city
.
Footage taken just after the stampede -- obtained by CNN Arabic -- shows a disturbing scene. Bodies piled upon bodies, a few moving, but most appearing lifeless. Workers in hard hats and reflective vests can be seen working the edges of the pile of faithful, pulling dead bodies away to get to those who are still alive...
 
A stampede during the annual pilgrimage to Islam’s holiest city left more than 700 dead and nearly 900 injured on Thursday, Saudi officials said.

Pope Francis Meets With Little Sisters of the Poor to Protest Obama Forcing Them to Obey HHS Mandate In Washington D.C., Pope Francis decided to meet with the Little Sisters of the Poor, the religious order that sued the Obama Administration over the president’s HHS mandate. In 2012, the sisters filed a lawsuit citing religious freedom concerns since it forces them to pay for birth control and drugs that may cause abortions, which is in direct violation of their religion.

Father Federico Lombardi said that the Pope’s visit was a surprise that “was not in the program.” He added that “this is a sign, obviously, of support for them” in their court case. Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville, president of the U.S. Bishops Conference, was pleased to hear of the Pope’s visit and commented on their current lawsuit...

Volkswagen chief quits over emissions scandal as car industry faces crisis ...The resignation of Winterkorn follows five days of growing pressure on VW after the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) accused the carmaker of using a defeat device to cheat emissions tests on diesel cars.

The crisis could lead to millions of VW and Audi vehicles being recalled around the world and legal claims from motorists. Leigh Day, a UK law firm, said that if VW also manipulated tests in Europe then UK consumers could claim compensation...

A.S. Haley: On the Oral Arguments in South Carolina

Thursday, September 24, 2015

Your Curmudgeon watched the arguments in the case of Bishop Lawrence and his diocese and parishes against the Episcopal Church and the Episcopal Church in South Carolina yesterday, and reviewed the tape carefully once again as archived. The event must have seemed dispiriting to those who supported the trial court's decision, because Judge Goodstein came in for a substantial amount of criticism for excluding evidence that ECUSA wanted to put on -- as it was able to do in San Joaquin, Quincy, Fort Worth and Pittsburgh -- concerning its "hierarchical" structure.

Indeed, much of the argument seemed to dwell upon whether the national Church should be deemed hierarchical, and if so, whether that classification would make a difference to the outcome. And that is precisely where ECUSA and its attorneys wanted to focus it. (How they succeeded in pulling off that strategy will be the subject of my following post.)

For ECUSA and its attorneys, the world of church property law began and ended with Watson v. Jones, an 1872 decision by the United States Supreme Court that, among other irrelevant observations (called "obiter dicta", or "things said beside the point"), offered the view that the then-established Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America was hierarchical. The opinion furnished no analysis or justification for that observation, but simply included PECUSA in a group of churches that the Court contrasted with those it termed "congregational."... the rest
In the South Carolina Supreme Court yesterday, ECUSA's attorney argued exclusively for deference to it as a "hierarchical" church. (Never mind that the only true hierarchical relationships in ECUSA are between a diocesan bishop and his subordinate clergy, and in some cases between an individual member parish and its governing diocese. There is no body within ECUSA -- not its General Convention, its Presiding Bishop, or its Executive Council -- which can order or make a Diocese to do anything that diocese does not choose to do. The relationship between the national Church and its dioceses is thus voluntary, for as long as the parties want to continue it, and may be dissolved at any time by taking the appropriate steps to amend the diocese's governing documents. The national Church, again, has no power to prevent a Diocese from so amending its governing documents.)
SC Supreme Court hears arguments in Episcopal Church breakup saga

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Yogi Berra Dies at 90


By BRUCE WEBER
SEPT. 23, 2015

Yogi Berra, one of baseball’s greatest catchers and characters, who as a player was a mainstay of 10 Yankee championship teams and as a manager led both the Yankees and Mets to the World Series — but who may be more widely known as an ungainly but lovable cultural figure, inspiring a cartoon character and issuing a seemingly limitless supply of unwittingly witty epigrams known as Yogi-isms — died on Tuesday. He was 90.

His death was reported by the Yankees and by the Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center in Little Falls, N.J. Before moving to an assisted living facility in nearby West Caldwell, in 2012, Berra had lived for many years in neighboring Montclair... the rest image

Yogi Berra's most famous quotes: The wit and wisdom of the late Yankees legend  At a charity event at a Staten Island golf course years ago, a reporter engaged Yogi Berra in a conversation about his Yankees, who had just lost a mid-summer series to the then-cellar-dwelling Kansas City Royals.

He was trying to note how the Yankees were able to beat teams with good records but didn't fare well against others with poor records. And then it happened:

"The lousy teams are good this year," Berra said in a true Yogi-ism.

"It ain't over 'til it's over"
 
"It's deja vu all over again"
 
"When you come to a fork in the road ... take it"
 
"I usually take a two hour nap from one to four"
 
"Never answer an anonymous letter"
 
"I didn't really say everything I said"
 
"I want to thank you for making this day necessary"
 
"We made too many wrong mistakes"
 
"You can observe a lot by watching"
 
"The future ain't what it used to be"
 
"It gets late early out here"
 
"If the world were perfect, it wouldn't be"
 
"If the people don't want to come out to the ballpark,
nobody's going to stop them"
 
"Pair up in threes"
 
"Why buy good luggage, you only use it when you travel"

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Christian hope...

Heaven
“Optimism hopes for the best without any guarantee of its arriving and is often no more than whistling in the dark. Christian hope, by contrast, is faith looking ahead to the fulfillment of the promises of God, as when the Anglican burial service inters the corpse ‘in sure and certain hope of the Resurrection to eternal life, through our Lord Jesus Christ.’ Optimism is a wish without warrant; Christian hope is a certainty, guaranteed by God himself. Optimism reflects ignorance as to whether good things will ever actually come. Christian hope expresses knowledge that every day of his life, and every moment beyond it, the believer can say with truth, on the basis of God’s own commitment, that the best is yet to come.” ...J.I. Packer image

Mother Teresa on Family Prayer


Israel Moves to High Alert for Yom Kippur; Legal Pot Has Led To ‘Epidemic’ For Colorado Kids...more

Dozens of Women and Children Freed from Boko Haram ...At least a dozen women and children who had been kidnapped by Boko Haram militants have been freed.
 
The women and children were being held captive in Nigeria where Boko Haram has been carrying out suicide bombings... 

Poll Shows Millennials Believe Religious Liberty is Fading Fast Data from a new Barna poll commissioned by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a prominent faith-based advocacy, training, and legal fund, reveals a majority of practicing Millennial Christians fear the state of religious freedom in America is worse off than a decade ago...

Here’s Why the Progressive Left Keeps Sticking Up for Pedophiles
Today, Salon gave a platform to a self-confessed pedophile to explain his urges in sympathetic terms. “I’m a Pedophile, But Not A Monster” reads the headline. It’s a long, self-pitying screed that ends with a call to be “understanding and supportive” of adults who crave sexual intimacy with children.

Forgive me if I’m not first to start the standing ovation. In fact I’m pretty sure most people will find the existence on Salon’s website of this post both shocking and distasteful.

The timing of Nickerson’s post, barely a week after multiple high-profile progressives rallied around progressive activist Sarah Nyberg, couldn’t be more suspect. Over the past two weeks, an alarming number of left-leaning commentators have rallied around the self-confessed transsexual pedophile and progressive activist who defended white nationalism.

In other words, progressives who got fired up about whether green and purple was a “rapey” colour scheme were suddenly fine with discussion of incestuous pedophilia from a 22-year-old in a chat room full of teenagers. It has been a somewhat grotesque spectacle to watch...

Israel Moves to High Alert for Yom Kippur
Thousands of security personnel and police forces have moved to high alert in advance of the start tonight of the most solemn holy day on the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur.

As happens every year and for every major Jewish holiday, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon has ordered the complete closure of crossings with Judea, Samaria and Gaza. The closure begins at noon today (Tuesday, Sept. 22) and lasts until midnight Wednesday, Sept. 23, several hours after the end of Yom Kippur.

Access to the Temple Mount has been restricted due to the ongoing violence by Palestinian Arabs...

Commercialization Of Legal Pot Has Led To ‘Epidemic’ For Colorado Kids  ...Kendal came home one evening to find his 13-year-old son unconscious from what he says was a marijuana overdose.

He was gray. His heart wasn’t beating and he wasn’t breathing,” he said.

Kendal used CPR to resuscitate him and later talked to his son’s high school peer and supplier.
“I had heard from kids that there was 60 percent of this particular high school using drugs, and she shook her head and said, ‘That’s way low,'” Kendal said...

Women in Combat
...While the U.S. Navy and Air Force are pledged to open all positions to women, and the Army is being coy, the Marines did a major study on hundreds of volunteers in simulated combat. The results, NBC reports, included “Women were injured twice as often as the men (40.5 per cent for women, 18.8 per cent for men); Men were more accurate at shooting on every weapon system except the M4 [rifle]; Women had trouble with combat tasks, including removing casualties.” But this study will be dismissed as outdated thinking rather than welcomed as important new evidence. And in one sense, indeed, it merely confirms what we all know...

Video: Hillary Campaign Workers 'Run' from Questions About Election Law Violations  ...O’Keefe recently captured Clinton campaign worker and Nevada immigration lawyer Christina Gupana appearing to condone and encourage what appear to be Clinton volunteers and staffers to ignore and knowingly violate Nevada’s voter registration laws. She tells them, “Do whatever you can. Whatever you can get away with, just do it, until you get kicked out like totally.”...

Federal Court rejects TEC petition for reconsideration

21 Sep 2015
Joy Hunter

A federal judge handed the Episcopal Church (TEC) and its local subsidiary, the Episcopal Church in South Carolina (TECSC) a setback today when he refused the request to reconsider a decision about who rightfully owns the Diocese of South Carolina identity, trademarks and other intellectual property.

Bishop Charles G. vonRosenberg, who heads TECSC, has repeatedly alleged that the property and identity of the Diocese of South Carolina actually belongs to the Episcopal Church and was wrongfully taken by Bishop Mark Lawrence, who heads the Diocese which left TEC in 2012.

Federal District Judge C. Weston Houck originally dismissed vonRosenberg’s claim in 2013, recognizing that the essential issues of the Diocese’s identity would be resolved by the South Carolina courts. Last February, South Carolina Circuit Judge Diane Goodstein ruled the Diocese of South Carolina was, in fact, free to leave the denomination and keep its property and assets. TEC appealed that decision and the appeal will be heard by the South Carolina Supreme Court on Sept. 23... the rest

The Anglican Communion is already divorced

Trevin Wax
September 21, 2015

Is the Anglican Communion about to split over different views of sexual ethics?

You might think so after reading headlines about the archbishop of Canterbury’s proposal to “loosen” the structures of the Communion — a way of retaining his relationship to the liberal wing of the Western churches as well as the traditional Anglicans of the Global South.

But to interpret the archbishop’s recent announcement as a split over sexuality is to miss the bigger picture. First, the impending dissolution of Anglicanism as it currently exists institutionally is over much more than sex. Second, the divorce has already taken place, just not formally... the rest
On the one side are the shrinking liberal churches of the West, whose primary identity appears to be “running errands” for liberal social causes. On the other side are the growing churches of the Global South, whose historic connection with Christianity is doctrinal, not merely institutional...

One side of this church is a shell. The other is the heart.

Monday, September 21, 2015

A new form of abortion advocacy; US murder rates rise...more

Anti-Israel activism hits elementary school in Ithaca, NY   An uproar is brewing in Ithaca, New York, after anti-Israel activists bragged on Facebook how they managed to bring Palestinian activist Bassem Tamimi to a third-grade class as part of a presentation on the suffering of Palestinian children at the hands of Israel.

According to the activists, the event took place on Friday morning, September 18, 2015 at the Beverly J. Martin Elementary School.

Tamimi is best known for his use of children, including his own, for media purposes. The game goes like this: Tamimi’s children and other children from the village of Nabi Saleh are encouraged to confront Israeli soldiers in the hope of provoking a reaction. The children are surrounded by a phalanx of photographers and videographers waiting for the viral moment when the Israeli soldier reacts, which then is fed to the media through the Tamimi media operation and international activists who often participate...

'2000 Years of Christian Civilization Destroyed on Obama's Watch'   ...The archbishop of Canterbury recently warned British Prime Minister David Cameron that his government’s refugee policy was discriminating against Christians because Christians are not among the refugees being helped in UN camps. They’re not in the UN camps because they fear persecution from radicalized Muslim refugees.

A new form of abortion advocacy is about to change our debates ...I expect that in the coming years abortion rights supporters will execute a tactical retreat that admits the humanity of the unborn, conjoined with a strong counter-offensive dismissing the moral relevance of that biological fact. What matters, advocates will increasingly assert, is the state’s guarantee that women’s reproductive desires are fulfilled—with abortion viewed as a positively good way of doing so. Pro-lifers had better quickly discern how to counter the new candidly explicit pro-abortion advocacy...

'Europe's 1930s Jew Hatred Raised its Ugly Head Again'  Science Minister Ofir Akunis (Likud) responded sharply on Monday morning to reports quoting a senior European Union (EU) official as saying the labeling of Israeli products from Judea, Samaria and the Golan Heights will begin in October, as early as next week.

"The revelation of hatred against Jews that we've known from recent history raises its ugly head again," said the minister.

"It is saddening that the European Parliament hasn't learned a thing from history, and works today with the same deviant means known to us from the 1930s, which marked the start of the greatest tragedy in the history of humanity."

In referencing the labeling of Jewish goods by the genocidal Nazi regime back in the 1930s, Akunis echoed criticism leveled earlier this month by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu against the European Parliament's decision, when he said, "we have historical memory of what happened when Europe labeled Jewish products."...

U.S. Soldiers Told to Ignore Sexual Abuse of Boys by Afghan Allies  In his last phone call home, Lance Cpl. Gregory Buckley Jr. told his father what was troubling him: From his bunk in southern Afghanistan, he could hear Afghan police officers sexually abusing boys they had brought to the base.

“At night we can hear them screaming, but we’re not allowed to do anything about it,” the Marine’s father, Gregory Buckley Sr., recalled his son telling him before he was shot to death at the base in 2012. He urged his son to tell his superiors. “My son said that his officers told him to look the other way because it’s their culture.”...

Summer of bloodshed as US murder rates rise  ...After years in decline, the pace of homicides is on the rise in some 30 big American cities...

Blasts rock Nigerian city of Maiduguri  ...Three blasts have struck the north-eastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri, the army says.

A spokesman blamed the Islamist militant group Boko Haram for the attack. The group was founded in Maiduguri.

Unconfirmed reports say as many as eight people may have died from the blasts...

Social Media Etiquette For Christians
1 Timothy paints a wonderful picture of leadership as it pertains to the life of a Christian. If any of us aspire to lead others, (which we all should) we must take the contents of 1 Timothy to heart and evaluating our lives from the inside out. I think we should do the same for our social media posts...

A Powerful Practice for Prayer

...Never resist the least urge to pray. What if you lived that way? What if we all lived that way? Our lives and our churches would be bathed in prayer. I believe we would be living in much greater faithfulness to God’s command to “pray without ceasing.”

So why don’t you try it? See what difference it makes in your life, in your family, in your church, when you stop resisting those urges to pray, and when you joyfully respond to every impulse...

Through African Eyes
...One important difference, however, has been the enduring importance of traditional conceptions of family and morality. This largely shields Africans from the cultural upheavals that America has suffered, including redefinitions of male-female roles, chastity, holiness, and, of course, the normalization of homosexual sex. Liberal American Christians judge the African position on homosexuality as cruel to one set of human beings. But Africans have no problem in naming homosexuality a sin and praying for the redemption of all sinners. We heed the parable of the wheat and the weeds in Matthew 13. We remember that the harvest and separation of the wheat from the weeds is none of our business and belongs to the not yet, the final consummation of the Kingdom of God. There should be no place for homophobia in the African church. But there is also no place for redefining the Word of God.

As a result, Africans still believe in marriage as the union of man and woman and view homosexuality as contrary to God’s design and will, a reflection of the broken sinfulness of humanity. To hear mainstream Western media and Western liberals dismiss African disapproval of same-sex relations as the work of right-wing American Evangelical groups brings to mind a long history of patronizing attitudes and contempt. The fact that the views of the vast majority of African society on issues of sex and marriage align with those of American Evangelicals does not mean Africans are mimicking or acting as proxies of American anti-gay groups. African views, which are shared by the overwhelming majority of non-Western societies, are based on sound biblical interpretation that reinforces and is reinforced by the traditional African view of life, family, community, and sexual ethics.

African societies also have a strong communal dimension. Sin is not an individual, private, or merely interior reality. Life is communal and holistic, natural and supernatural, and so sin has social, political, environmental, and even cosmic consequences. This sense of the wholeness and interconnectedness of life means individuals are accountable to one another, for, as St. Paul writes, “if one member suffers, all suffer together, and if one member is honored, all rejoice together.” Liberal American theologians may regard the redefinition of marriage as a limited, contained adjustment of doctrine. For Africans, to revise a part is to disrupt the whole... (Read all-great article!)

GAFCON Chairman's September 2015 Pastoral Letter

To the Faithful of the Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans and friends
from Archbishop Eliud Wabukala, Primate of Kenya
and Chairman of the GAFCON Primates’ Council

‘As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.’
Matthew 9:9

My dear brothers and sisters,

Grace and peace to you in the name of our precious Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

I continue to thank God for the global family of the GAFCON movement and as we stand together to restore the Bible to the heart of the Anglican Communion, I believe that we are recovering what it truly means to be disciples of Jesus Christ. Today, we give thanks for St Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist for whom discipleship was costly. The call of Jesus was the point where he abandoned his love of money because he knew God had not abandoned him. Matthew, the despised tax collector, experienced the grace of God as he was given a new purpose in life and a new community to be part of.

Real discipleship will be marked by sacrifice and by love for Jesus Christ, and if we truly love Jesus Christ, we will love another and we will work together love the lost. It is therefore very sad that the Archbishop of Canterbury is calling a meeting of Primates to see if the Communion can be saved by making relationships between its Churches more distant rather than closer.

A statement in response to the Archbishop’s invitation can found on the GAFCON website. Let me simply say here that a global Communion embracing widely different cultures should strengthen its member Churches by mutual wisdom to see where adaptation becomes compromise, each Church being submitted to the revelation of Jesus Christ as we have it in Scripture as our final authority in all times and in all places. Instead, it has become clear over the last twenty years that the Communion is becoming a source of weakness as Churches which have rejected the truth as Anglicans have received it spread false teaching, yet continue to enjoy full communion with the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Our GAFCON movement believes in a much richer vision. We seek to unite. We recognise and embrace those who sacrifice for the sake of the gospel, not only those who persevere in the face of violent persecution but also those who persevere despite being marginalised and even forced out of their traditional spiritual homes by the rise of false teaching in the Church. To them we say ‘You are not alone’ as we join together to make Christ known.

I am very encouraged to see this commitment to true discipleship bearing fruit in various ways as our movement matures and I want to highlight a recent initiative.

When the GAFCON Primates Council met earlier this year, we agreed to a request from the Anglican Church in North America’s Caminemos Juntos movement for Bishop Miguel Uchoa of the Diocese of Recife to provide episcopal covering for orthodox Anglican Churches in central and northern South America who are unable to continue within their dioceses. Speaking at the annual Caminemos Juntos conference last month, GAFCON Primate Archbishop Tito Zavala said “It’s time for biblical and missionary Anglicanism” and welcomed this initiative to bring isolated churches into fellowship and make possible a united Anglican church planting movement to reach Latinos throughout the Americas. In his plenary address, Archbishop Foley Beach emphasised the vital link between mission and discipleship, telling the delegates that “To plant churches and raise up workers we need to re-learn how to make disciples.”

I hope soon to announce various capacity building steps we are taking to fulfil the commitment we made in the Nairobi Communiqué of 2013 ‘to find new ways of supporting each other in mission and discipleship’. However, what will really assure the future of our movement, and of the Anglican Communion as a whole, is the recognition that our strength and unity does not depend upon institutional structures, new or historic, but upon an unshakeable commitment to obey the call of Jesus Christ and follow him. Here

St Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist; 21st September 2015

Posted September 21, 2015

Sunday, September 20, 2015

Home from church....

September 20, 2015
 
Raymond took this photo of the view we have on our ride home from church.   The  Carrier Dome is in the background. 
 
Stunningly beautiful day in central NY!

Vicar of Baghdad Warns: ‘Europe Is Ignoring The Real Refugees’...more

'Europe is Ignoring The Real Refugees' Says Vicar of Baghdad     Europe is failing the most vulnerable refugees by focusing its sympathy on the migrants crossing its borders rather than those left behind, Canon Andrew White has said. In a passionate statement, he added: “the wrong people are at the front of the queue.”

Until November last year Canon White, better known as the ‘Vicar of Baghdad’, was Chaplain of St. George’s Church in Baghdad, the only Anglican Church in Iraq. He was eventually forced to leave at the behest of the Archbishop of Canterbury following numerous death threats from ISIS militants, and now works as the founding and current President of the Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East (FRRME).

In a scathing statement, Canon White has now slammed Europe for its response to the migrant crisis. He says it is wrong to focus resources on those already in Europe, when those in real need are the ones left behind.

“I am disappointed by Europe’s response to the refugee crisis,” he said “Not enough is being done to help the most vulnerable, particularly those who have fled religious persecution...

White House Invites Several Opponents of Catholic Teaching to Greet Pope Francis   ...In a stunning show of political indecorum, Obama has invited a series of individuals who publicly flout Catholic teaching, including a pro-abortion religious sister, a transgender woman and the first openly gay Episcopal bishop, along with at least two Catholic gay activists.

The White House was illuminated in gay pride colors on June 26, 2015, after the Supreme Court legalized gay same-sex marriage.

One of the invitees, retired Episcopal bishop Gene Robinson, made history by becoming the first openly gay episcopal bishop in 2003 and subsequently the first to divorce his gay partner in 2014, after having previously separated from his wife of 14 years. He has attended a number of religious events with the Obama administration, offering a prayer at President Obama’s inauguration in 2009 and taking part in the 2014 National Prayer Breakfast....

Court Shuts Down Attempt to Stop Release of More Planned Parenthood Videos ...The order was extended several times, but has now been blocked from permanence by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. While the restraining order has not been lifted, the stay indicates that the 9th Circuit court judges question the validity of the restraining order...

Saturday, September 19, 2015

Anglican Unscripted Episode 199


Sep 18, 2015

Anglican Unscripted is the only video newscast in the Anglican Church. Each Episode Kevin, George, Allan and Peter bring you news and prospective from around the globe. Please Donate - http://anglicanink.com/donate

Friday, September 18, 2015

Fiorina was Right; Christians Are Being Denied US Visas...more

Video: Fiorina was Right
...Fiorina certainly did not misspeak. Each of the above sources got it exactly wrong. Everything she described in the debate is all plainly here in the video, starting at 5:37. (WARNING: It is graphic and upsetting.)...

'Every 5 Minutes a Christian Is Martyred for Their Faith,' Persecution Watchdog Group Warns  ... A persecution watchdog group is warning believers that statistics suggest a Christian is martyred for their faith every five minutes somewhere around the world.

As part of this year's International Day of Prayer, which falls on Nov. 8, Christian Freedom International is encouraging all Christian churches to join them in praying for the safety of those who are being persecuted for their faith in Jesus Christ...

Christians Are Being Denied US Visas While 'Cradle of Christianity Is Wiped Off the Map,' Evangelicals Warn
  ...A faith-based global ministry has initiated a "Fostering Families" program in which it's calling on over 1,000 churches in America to take in persecuted refugees from the ongoing crisis. Rev. Kevin Jessip, president of Global Strategic Alliance, said Christians are being wiped out from the Middle East, while at the same time being denied visas in the United States, and it's an urgent time for the rest of the Christian body to wake up and help.

"It's inappropriate for the Untied States of America to discriminate against a minority religion who is in dire need of asylum. These are proven cases at the UNHCR that we've seen of people who have been denied, and are in jeopardy of losing their lives," Jessip told The Christian Post in a phone interview on Thursday...

Germany: Migrants' Rape Epidemic
A growing number of women and young girls housed in refugee shelters in Germany are being raped, sexually assaulted and even forced into prostitution by male asylum seekers, according to German social work organizations with first-hand knowledge of the situation.

Many of the rapes are occurring in mixed-gender shelters, where, due to a lack of space, German authorities are forcing thousands of male and female migrants to share the same sleeping areas and restroom facilities.

Conditions for women and girls at some shelters are so perilous that females are being described as "wild game" fighting off Muslim male predators. But many victims, fearing reprisals, are keeping silent, social workers say...

Congresswoman: Bill to Defund Planned Parenthood Tells Americans ‘You Can Just Die’    ...Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) told members of the House Thursday that a bill putting a moratorium on the funding of Planned Parenthood tells Americans, “forget your health, you can just die.”

“This bill creates chaos and in that chaos peoples lives will be put at risk, DeLauro said. “This bill is spiteful, it’s mean-spirited and it is cruel. It tells millions of low income Americans ‘forget your health, you can just die.’ Enough is enough. I urge my colleagues to vote against this bill.”...

Grieving Mom’s Heartache Turns to Fury as Obama Honors Immigrant, Ignores Dead Americans ...Mendoza told Breitbart News that while Obama is eager to invite to the White House everyone from illegal alien college students to Ahmed Mohamed, the teen whose homemade clock was recently mistaken for a bomb—he refuses to so much as acknowledge the existence of the families that have been torn apart by illegal alien crime.

“My son was KILLED by an illegal alien,” Mendoza writes, “a senseless loss of an incredible son, officer of the law, friend to his community. Is that not worthy of some sort of acknowledgement from the President… even when I have written [to him] asking [for an acknowledgement]?” she asks. Mendoza has written to Obama but has received no response.

“As each day passes while he ignores our pleas,” Mendoza said, “I am feeling more and more that none of us or our children matter.”...

GAFCON Response to January Primates meeting

GAFCON calls for ‘truth on the table’

Media Statement

The Archbishop of Canterbury’s call for a meeting of Primates in January 2016 shows that he has recognised the deep concerns of faithful church leaders around the world, including those belonging to the GAFCON movement who represent the majority of the global Communion’s membership.

GAFCON began with the first Global Anglican Future Conference in 2008 as an initiative to restore the integrity of Anglican faith and order as the Communion descended into deepening crisis.

We are now a global family standing together to restore the Bible to the heart of the Anglican Communion with a strength and unity that comes from our common confession of the Lord Jesus Christ, not merely from historic institutional structures.

It is on this basis that the GAFCON Primates will prayerfully consider their response to the Archbishop of Canterbury’s letter. They recognize that the crisis in the Communion is not primarily a problem of relationships and cultural context, but of false teaching which continues without repentance or discipline.

Consistent with this position, they have previously advised the Archbishop of Canterbury that they would not attend any meeting at which The Episcopal Church of the United States or the Anglican Church of Canada were represented, nor would they attend any meeting from which the Anglican Church in North America was excluded.

It is therefore of some encouragement that the Archbishop of Canterbury has opened the door of this meeting to the Primate of the Anglican Church in North America, Archbishop Foley Beach. He has already been recognized as a fellow primate of the Anglican Communion by Primates representing GAFCON and the Anglican Global South at his installation in Atlanta last October and he is a full member of the GAFCON Primates Council.

In the end, our confidence is not in any structural reorganisation, useful though it may be, but in the saving grace of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and in the abiding truth of the Bible. That is what empowers us and this is the assurance we bring to our broken world.

September 17, 2015 AD     link

David Ould-
Primates’ Meeting: It Still All Comes Down to What Welby Will Do

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Anglican Unscripted Episode 198


Sep 17, 2015
Anglican Unscripted is the only video newscast in the Anglican Church. Each Episode Kevin, George, Allan and Peter bring you news and prospective from around the globe. Please Donate - http://anglicanink.com/donate

A Statement from Archbishop Beach on the Proposed Primates Gathering

A.S. Haley: Finally! An Anglican Post
News from the Anglican Communion has been non-existent, largely because it is no longer functioning as a Communion (remember what the Primates warned in October, 2003?), and because developments in the Church of England (as it slowly goes to pieces in the same way that ECUSA did) have left little that can still be called Anglican.

So it comes as a welcome surprise that the Archbishop of Canterbury has called for a gathering of the Anglican Primates in London next January to discuss the future of the Communion. The agenda will not be dictated beforehand, but will consist of topics suggested by individuals and agreed upon by consensus.

In a nod that acknowledges the collective will of the GAFCON primates, the Archbishop of Canterbury has already extended an invitation to ACNA Archbishop Foley Beach to attend for part of the gathering. According to the Secretary of the Anglican Communion, the Most Reverend Josiah Idowu-Fearon, "nearly all the Primates have indicated support for this meeting" -- since Archbishop Welby's invitation shows that he listened to what the GAFCON primates had to say in his individual conversations with them...

Comments at Stand Firm   TitusOneNine  MCJ

Genocide studies reveal why Good People Support Planned Parenthood; Nobel panel saw Obama peace prize as ‘mistake,’...more

Genocide studies reveal why Good People Support Planned Parenthood  ...More bewildering than the brutality, if that is even possible, is the truth about who committed these acts of horror. Jones reveals to us through the eyewitness accounts of those who were victimized by these atrocities the frightening normalness of people who perpetrate evil. There is nothing significantly different about them either in manner or appearance than any other person you might meet on the street, or even have in your home for dinner.

Jones explains it this way: “When you read genocide studies you find that most murderers also did many nice things: walked the family dog, baked cookies, gave gifts, helped a friend in need or played with their children just before or after they committed atrocities.”

Alexander Solzhenitsyn, someone Jones references, spent years in the Soviet gulag and said of captors, “Where did this wolf-tribe appear from among our people? Does it really stem for our own roots? Our own blood? It is our own. And just so we don’t go around flaunting too proudly the white mantle of the just, let everyone ask himself: ‘If my life had turned out differently, might I myself not have become just an executioner?’ It is a dreadful question if one answers it honestly.”...

11 Most Important Takeaways From 10th Explosive Planned Parenthood Video ... Here are a few of the most devastating moments from the video, which highlights conversations abortion executives had with people they believed to be in the business of purchasing human organs from the victims of abortion...

Ashley Madison and the Problem of Liberal Sexual Ethics  Liberal attempts to defend adultery demonstrate the internal inconsistency and shallowness of contemporary sexual ethics...


Carly Fiorina's Rousing Denunciation of Planned Parenthood Moves Crowd at CNN Debate

Presbyterian Minister Says Unborn Baby Only Becomes a Person “When They are Loved”   ...This is a fascinating view on personhood, especially coming from a Christian religious leader who is supposed to give the most weight to what God says about the matter. However, the minister’s comments are not all that surprising considering the official stance of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) on abortion, which is that “the considered decision of a woman to terminate a pregnancy [by abortion] can be a morally acceptable, though certainly not the only or required, decision.”... 

The Most Invisible Christians in Washington
 Even as Middle Eastern churches face extinction, their lobby struggles to be heard...

Chinese pastor missing as cross-removal campaign continues  ...Zhang has not been seen since September 8, when he was returning from a business trip to Shanghai, about 500km north of his home in Gaosha village, Pingyang County. He had previously been detained by police on August 25 after holding a meeting with lawyer Zhang Kai, who is now serving a six month sentence in 'black jail' on suspicion of endangering state security and disturbing the public order. Zhang Kai had been representing churches battling orders to remove their crosses amid a crackdown on places of worship in the region, while Zhang Chongzhu has publicly called for Christians to oppose the demolitions...

One Million Evacuated As Huge Quake Strikes Off Chile Coast ...More than one million people were evacuated from their homes after a massive 8.3-magnitude earthquake struck near the central coast of Chile Wednesday evening.

At least five people were killed by the quake that damaged buildings and slammed powerful waves into coastal towns, causing flooding in some...

Barack Obama: A Legacy of Lawlessness ...Perhaps President Obama’s most brazen violation of the law was his unilateral executive action on immigration, and his imposition of the illegal “deferred action” program, which rewards unlawfully present minors and their parents with legal status and financial benefits. No president has ever attempted to alter the legal status of millions of people, and simultaneously provide them benefits – Congress’ jobs – with the stroke of his pen. For this reason, U.S. District Court judge Andrew Hanen put a stop to the president’s unilateral immigration overhaul and threatened to hold the president’s attorneys in contempt....

 Nobel panel saw Obama peace prize as ‘mistake,’ new book claims ...Geil Lundestad, director at the institute for 25 years, said in his just-published memoir that he and the committee had unanimously decided to grant the award to Mr. Obama just after his election in 2009 more in hopes of aiding the American president to achieve his goals on nuclear disarmament, rather than in recognition of what Mr. Obama had already accomplished...

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Canterbury Calls “Make or Break” Summit of Anglican Leaders

Canterbury Calls “Make or Break” Summit of Anglican Leaders   Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has invited the top bishops (primates) of the Anglican Communion to a January gathering intended to head off potential schism in the third largest branch of global Christianity.

The agenda of the gathering, which will be held January 11-16, “will be set by common agreement with all Primates encouraged to send in contributions,” according to the announcement today from Lambeth Palace.

“It is likely to include the issues of religiously-motivated violence, the protection of children and vulnerable adults, the environment and human sexuality,” the statement reads.

While no group is openly discussing separating from the Anglican Communion, several Anglican provinces (national churches) have ceased relations with one another, effectively “living in the same house” but no longer on speaking terms. The Anglican Communion Primates officially last met in a 2011 meeting in Ireland, but a large majority has not convened together since at least 2005. Tensions in the Anglican family have been growing since the mid-1990s centered upon disagreement on scriptural authority and the person of Jesus Christ. A crisis point was reached in 2003 with the consecration of an openly partnered homosexual bishop by the U.S.-based Episcopal Church. In 2008, over 200 bishops, mostly from growing and traditionalist Global South churches, effectively boycotted the decennial Lambeth conference that brings together bishops from the Communion of churches descended from the missionary activities of the Church of England.

The Global South bishops instead convened an alternative gathering to the Lambeth Conference known as the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON). It first met in 2008 in Jerusalem and again in 2013 in Nairobi, Kenya... IRD

Archbishop calls talks over divisions in Anglican communion ...A spokesman for the archbishop said the meeting would be an opportunity for the 38 leaders of national churches to talk face to face and decide together their approach to the next Lambeth Conference - a once-a-decade gathering of the worldwide Anglican bishops in Canterbury... BBC

Archbishop of Canterbury calls for primates' gathering  ...Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby today wrote to all 37 primates inviting them to attend a special primates’ gathering in Canterbury to reflect and pray together concerning the future of the Anglican Communion.
The meeting, to be held in January 2016, would be an opportunity for primates to discuss key issues face to face, including a review of the structures of the Anglican Communion and to decide together their approach to the next Lambeth Conference.

The agenda will be set by common agreement with all primates encouraged to send in contributions. It is likely to include the issues of religiously motivated violence, the protection of children and vulnerable adults, the environment and human sexuality... ENS

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

10th PP Video: We Sell “Fresh” Aborted Baby Eyes, Hearts and “Gonads”

Steven Ertelt
Sep 15, 2015

The organization that has released nine videos exposing the scandal of Planned Parenthood selling aborted babies and their body parts has released a new undercover video today with another shocking discovery. This latest video catches the nation’s biggest abortion business selling specific body parts — including the heart, eyes and “gonads” of unborn babies.The video also shows the shocking ways in which Planned Parenthood officials admit that they are breaking federal law by selling aborted baby body parts for profit.

The 10th video by The Center for Medical Progress features several top-level Planned Parenthood executives discussing the organization’s secretive practices around aborted fetal parts harvesting. The video includes comments from Deborah VanDerhei, the National Director of the organization’s Consortium of Abortion Providers, describing the harvesting of fetal body parts as “donation for remuneration.”... the rest
“We’ve just been working with people who want particular tissues, like, you know, they want cardiac, or they want eyes, or they want neural,” says Dr. Westhoff to a prospective fetal organ buyer. “Certainly, everything we provide–oh, gonads! Oh my God, gonads. Everything we provide is fresh.” Westhoff continues, “Obviously, we would have the potential for a huge P.R. issue in doing this,” before offering to introduce the buyers to “national office abortion people” from Planned Parenthood.
The expose’ videos catching Planned Parenthood officials selling the body parts of aborted babies have shocked the nation. Here is a list of all nine:
  • In the first video: Dr. Deborah Nucatola of Planned Parenthood commented on baby-crushing: “We’ve been very good at getting heart, lung, liver, because we know that, so I’m not gonna crush that part, I’m gonna basically crush below, I’m gonna crush above, and I’m gonna see if I can get it all intact.”
  • In the second video: Planned Parenthood’s Dr. Mary Gatter joked, “I want a Lamborghini” as she negotiated the best price for baby parts.
  • In the third video: Holly O’Donnell, a former Stem Express employee who worked inside a Planned Parenthood clinic, detailed first-hand the unspeakable atrocities and how she fainted in horror over handling baby legs.
  • In the fourth video: Planned Parenthood’s Dr. Savita Ginde stated, “We don’t want to do just a flat-fee (per baby) of like, $200. A per-item thing works a little better, just because we can see how much we can get out of it.” She also laughed while looking at a plate of fetal kidneys that were “good to go.”
  • In the fifth video: Melissa Farrell of Planned Parenthood-Gulf Coast in Houston boasted of Planned Parenthood’s skill in obtaining “intact fetal cadavers” and how her “research” department “contributes so much to the bottom line of our organization here, you know we’re one of the largest affiliates, our Research Department is the largest in the United States.”
  • In the sixth video: Holly O’Donnell described technicians taking fetal parts without patient consent: “There were times when they would just take what they wanted. And these mothers don’t know. And there’s no way they would know.”
  • In the seventh and perhaps most disturbing video: Holly O’Donnell described the harvesting, or “procurement,” of organs from a nearly intact late-term fetus aborted at Planned Parenthood Mar Monte’s Alameda clinic in San Jose, CA. “‘You want to see something kind of cool,’” O’Donnell says her supervisor asked her. “And she just taps the heart, and it starts beating. And I’m sitting here and I’m looking at this fetus, and its heart is beating, and I don’t know what to think.”
  • In the eighth video: StemExpress CEO Cate Dyer admits Planned Parenthood sells “a lot of” fully intact aborted babies.
  • The ninth video: catches a Planned Parenthood medical director discussing how the abortion company sells fully intact aborted babies — including one who “just fell out” of the womb.