...Clyde Francis Lytle image
Saturday, July 20, 2013
Unless we know the difference between flowers and weeds...
...Clyde Francis Lytle image
Recife loses court battle over church property to the IEAB
Diocese to appeal ruling
By George Conger
The Bishop of Recife, the Rt. Rev. Miguel Uchôa has convened an extraordinary meeting of the diocesan synod for 20 July 2013 to discuss a civil court ruling handed down this week that awarded the diocese’s property to a faction aligned with the Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil (IEAB).
“I have called an extraordinary synod for this Saturday to have a united voice from the Diocese with the presence of our lawyers ,” Bishop Uchôa told Anglican Ink.
In 2005 the Bishop of Recife, the Rt. Rev. Robinson Cavalcanti was deposed for incivility by his fellow bishops following several years of doctrinal disputes between the Evangelical bishop and the liberal majority in the Province. After he was removed from office, the province then defrocked 32 Recife clergy without trial for backing their bishop. Approximately 90 percent of the lay members of the diocese followed Bishop Cavalcanti and are presently under the metropolitan oversight of the primates Anglican Church of North America and the Province of the Southern Cone. the rest
“I have called an extraordinary synod for this Saturday to have a united voice from the Diocese with the presence of our lawyers ,” Bishop Uchôa told Anglican Ink.
In 2005 the Bishop of Recife, the Rt. Rev. Robinson Cavalcanti was deposed for incivility by his fellow bishops following several years of doctrinal disputes between the Evangelical bishop and the liberal majority in the Province. After he was removed from office, the province then defrocked 32 Recife clergy without trial for backing their bishop. Approximately 90 percent of the lay members of the diocese followed Bishop Cavalcanti and are presently under the metropolitan oversight of the primates Anglican Church of North America and the Province of the Southern Cone. the rest
Scrolling around...July 20, 2013
Chicago Blues: Tenured Teachers Laid Off
Having closed 11 percent of the city’s public schools in May, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) has now been forced to fire 2,000 employees, including 1,000 teachers—half of whom were tenured...
Detroit Bankruptcy Likely to Spark a Pension Brawl
Episcopal Church Task Force Releases Report on Restructuring Plans
A task force created by The Episcopal Church to investigate changes within the denomination's ecclesiastical structure has met and released a new report.
"Structural, administrative, and governance change is only one component of the renewal to which the church is being called. Our deepest hope and prayer for our work is that it will be part of, and will continue to catalyze, the renewal that is taking place in many places around the church," reads part of the report from the Task Force for Re-Imagining the Episcopal Church (TREC). met last week at the Institute of Technology in Linthicum, Maryland.
"In order for structural, administrative, and governance reforms to be compelling and to effect meaningful change, they must be grounded in a coherent vision for what those structures are supposed to do in the life of the church," TREC stated in a news release provided by the Episcopal Church Office of Public Affairs on Tuesday...
Dozens of Christians Killed in Plateau State, Nigeria
Gunmen killed six Christians in an early morning attack yesterday on Dinu village in southern Plateau state, a month after Muslim Fulani herdsmen shot a Christian to death in a nearby village, Christian leaders said.
The identities of the gunmen and the victims were not immediately known, though the Rev. Johnson Kikem, chairman of a nearby Regional Church Council of the Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN), reported that church members who fled the village in Wase Local Government Area said the assailants were Muslims.
“Some of our church members there who escaped from the village and ran to us here in Langtang brought the news of the attack,” Kikem said. “We have been told that six of our members have been killed.”...
Christian Girls Being Snatched by Islamist Traffickers
...Last year, a Helsinki Commission hearing revealed the number of disappearances and abduction of Christian girls is increasing. Human trafficking expert Michel Clark told of more than 800 cases.
Still, many Islamic leaders and government officials debunk claims that Christian girls are being trafficked. They insist the conversions and marriages are not forced; they are simply the result of amorous love between young people of different faiths...
Judge grants injunction in Hobby Lobby case
Hobby Lobby Inc. was given a temporary exemption Friday from a requirement in the new federal health care law to offer insurance coverage for the morning-after pill and similar emergency birth control methods or face steep fines.
U.S. District Judge Joe Heaton issued the preliminary injunction for the Oklahoma City-based arts and crafts chain and stayed the case until Oct. 1 to give the federal government time to consider filing an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court...
Explosion hits Beijing International Airport
An explosion occurred Saturday evening in Terminal 3 of the Beijing International Airport, police said.
A wheel-chaired Chinese man set off a home-made explosive device outside the arrivals exit of the Terminal 3 at around 6:24 p.m.. The man was injured and is currently under treatment...
Helen Thomas dies at 92, reported on every president since Kennedy
...As the senior news service correspondent at the White House, Thomas ended dozens of presidential news conferences with the familiar phrase "Thank you, Mr. President."
She was known for her straight-to-the-point questioning of presidents and press secretaries in a manner that some considered dogged. Others, including many fellow reporters, considered her style in her later years to be too combative and agenda-driven...
BILL WHITTLE: The Lynching
Having closed 11 percent of the city’s public schools in May, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) has now been forced to fire 2,000 employees, including 1,000 teachers—half of whom were tenured...
Detroit Bankruptcy Likely to Spark a Pension Brawl
Episcopal Church Task Force Releases Report on Restructuring Plans
A task force created by The Episcopal Church to investigate changes within the denomination's ecclesiastical structure has met and released a new report.
"Structural, administrative, and governance change is only one component of the renewal to which the church is being called. Our deepest hope and prayer for our work is that it will be part of, and will continue to catalyze, the renewal that is taking place in many places around the church," reads part of the report from the Task Force for Re-Imagining the Episcopal Church (TREC). met last week at the Institute of Technology in Linthicum, Maryland.
"In order for structural, administrative, and governance reforms to be compelling and to effect meaningful change, they must be grounded in a coherent vision for what those structures are supposed to do in the life of the church," TREC stated in a news release provided by the Episcopal Church Office of Public Affairs on Tuesday...
Dozens of Christians Killed in Plateau State, Nigeria
Gunmen killed six Christians in an early morning attack yesterday on Dinu village in southern Plateau state, a month after Muslim Fulani herdsmen shot a Christian to death in a nearby village, Christian leaders said.
The identities of the gunmen and the victims were not immediately known, though the Rev. Johnson Kikem, chairman of a nearby Regional Church Council of the Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN), reported that church members who fled the village in Wase Local Government Area said the assailants were Muslims.
“Some of our church members there who escaped from the village and ran to us here in Langtang brought the news of the attack,” Kikem said. “We have been told that six of our members have been killed.”...
Christian Girls Being Snatched by Islamist Traffickers
...Last year, a Helsinki Commission hearing revealed the number of disappearances and abduction of Christian girls is increasing. Human trafficking expert Michel Clark told of more than 800 cases.
Still, many Islamic leaders and government officials debunk claims that Christian girls are being trafficked. They insist the conversions and marriages are not forced; they are simply the result of amorous love between young people of different faiths...
Judge grants injunction in Hobby Lobby case
Hobby Lobby Inc. was given a temporary exemption Friday from a requirement in the new federal health care law to offer insurance coverage for the morning-after pill and similar emergency birth control methods or face steep fines.
U.S. District Judge Joe Heaton issued the preliminary injunction for the Oklahoma City-based arts and crafts chain and stayed the case until Oct. 1 to give the federal government time to consider filing an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court...
Explosion hits Beijing International Airport
An explosion occurred Saturday evening in Terminal 3 of the Beijing International Airport, police said.
A wheel-chaired Chinese man set off a home-made explosive device outside the arrivals exit of the Terminal 3 at around 6:24 p.m.. The man was injured and is currently under treatment...
Helen Thomas dies at 92, reported on every president since Kennedy
...As the senior news service correspondent at the White House, Thomas ended dozens of presidential news conferences with the familiar phrase "Thank you, Mr. President."
She was known for her straight-to-the-point questioning of presidents and press secretaries in a manner that some considered dogged. Others, including many fellow reporters, considered her style in her later years to be too combative and agenda-driven...
BILL WHITTLE: The Lynching
Friday, July 19, 2013
Father, I want to know Thee...
Same-Sex Marriage Is Still Wrong; And It’s Getting Wronger Every Day
by Rev. Dr. Ephraim Radner
Wednesday, July 17th, 2013
The unexpectedly rapid civil acceptance of same-sex marriage in the West may lead one to imagine that the issue is somehow already settled. Whatever doubts one may have had, they have been swept away by the overwhelming flood of changed public opinion. Fait accompli. Traditional Christians must simply step aside now.
Such a judgment would be a mistake. Indeed, far from the matter being settled, at least form a Christian perspective it has hardly been engaged, despite claims to the contrary by proponents of same-sex marriage. What we have had instead is a bait-and-switch set of tactics, first seeking civil and religious recognition and affirmation somehow of same-sex attractions, then pressing for ordinations, then blessings of unions. What comes next? The question of a “slippery slope” is hardly a fallacy here, for in this case we have a historical track-record of legal advocacy and movement that stands as quite rational “evidence” for the slope’s existence.
All the while, most discussions claimed that “marriage” was never nor could be ever the issue at stake. But here we are: changes to “marriage canons” and Prayer Books are now in the works. At this stage the advocates of change are merciful enough to suggest “conscience clauses” for those who disagree. the rest
Wednesday, July 17th, 2013
The unexpectedly rapid civil acceptance of same-sex marriage in the West may lead one to imagine that the issue is somehow already settled. Whatever doubts one may have had, they have been swept away by the overwhelming flood of changed public opinion. Fait accompli. Traditional Christians must simply step aside now.
Such a judgment would be a mistake. Indeed, far from the matter being settled, at least form a Christian perspective it has hardly been engaged, despite claims to the contrary by proponents of same-sex marriage. What we have had instead is a bait-and-switch set of tactics, first seeking civil and religious recognition and affirmation somehow of same-sex attractions, then pressing for ordinations, then blessings of unions. What comes next? The question of a “slippery slope” is hardly a fallacy here, for in this case we have a historical track-record of legal advocacy and movement that stands as quite rational “evidence” for the slope’s existence.
All the while, most discussions claimed that “marriage” was never nor could be ever the issue at stake. But here we are: changes to “marriage canons” and Prayer Books are now in the works. At this stage the advocates of change are merciful enough to suggest “conscience clauses” for those who disagree. the rest
Forceful assertion unaccompanied by convincing argument has proved to be the modus operandi for the advocates of change. For one thing, the Bible offers several rather pointed prohibitions to homosexual acts. This has, with reluctance, been an immovable challenge to advocates. True, these prohibitions are not numerous, but they occur in both the Old and New Testaments. In addition, the Bible is suffused with a vast, rich, and interconnected fabric of heterosexual marriage imagery, and explicit discussion, much of it deeply charged theologically.
Scrolling around...July 19, 2013
Roman Catholics in decline in Brazil, Protestants on the rise
A new report from the Pew Research Center has revealed Brazil's changing religious landscape.
America's Most Saintly City Is New York?
New York City is far from America's so-called "Bible Belt," but a new list argues the Big Apple is still the nation's "most saintly" city.
Church in the Metropolis
It seems that denominationalism has had its day. A 2009 Barna survey found that denominational commitments have gone squishy in mainline Protestant churches, and Evangelicals don’t fare much better than the rest. After a similar survey, Ron Sellers of what was then Ellison Research said that Protestants are as “loyal to their denominations as they are to their toothpaste.”
Denominationalism may recover, but its diseases look terminal. This toothpaste isn’t ready to return to the tube.
Like most everything, this development has its pluses and minuses. Denominations were born of a catholic spirit. They enabled believers to maintain their distinctive beliefs without de-churching the rest of the Christian world. It would be tragic if the decline of denominations left the church less catholic. Plus, without thick denominational loyalties, Christians abandon their churches at the first shimmy of trouble. Once upon a time, Anglicans stuck it out because even an incompetent pastor and an ugly carpet were preferable to joining the Lutherans. Today Lutheranism is a live option. And the Barna survey found that low denominational loyalty often expressed a weak adherence to Christianity itself. Slightly less than half of the respondents were “absolutely” committed to Christianity, and most might be enticed to explore other religions...
First New England, Then the Nation: The Spread of Physician-Assisted Suicide
On May 20, Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin signed “The Patient Choice and Control at the End of Life Act,” legalizing physician-assisted suicide (PAS) throughout the state. This event matters not only because this law governs life and death, but also because Vermont is the first state to sanction PAS through the legislative process, via the votes of elected representatives. The law also represents the spread of PAS from the West Coast to the opposite side of the United States.
While neither of these characteristics may alarm right-to-life and disability rights advocates (who perhaps are concerned solely for the people of Vermont), policy scholars know that both of these attributes greatly enhance PAS proponents’ ability to spread the scourge of voluntary euthanasia throughout New England and eventually nationwide...
Noonan: A Bombshell in the IRS Scandal
...The IRS scandal was connected this week not just to the Washington office—that had been established—but to the office of the chief counsel.
That is a bombshell—such a big one that it managed to emerge in spite of an unfocused, frequently off-point congressional hearing in which some members seemed to have accidentally woken up in the middle of a committee room, some seemed unaware of the implications of what their investigators had uncovered, one pretended that the investigation should end if IRS workers couldn't say the president had personally called and told them to harass his foes, and one seemed to be holding a filibuster on Pakistan...
So You Want To Sin, Do You?
I get that. I’ve been there. I've been there today. And yesterday. And the day before. Can I beg just four or five minutes of your time? Then you can go and sin all you want. But first I want you to read just a few words and take a moment to consider them.
Consider, Christian, that Christ came from his Father’s side, where he had existed eternally, to this world of sorrow and death; that God himself was manifested in the flesh, the Creator made a creature; that he who was clothed with glory would now be clothed with mortal flesh; he who filled heaven and earth with his glory would be cradled in a manger; that the almighty God would flee from weak man—the God of Israel escaping into Egypt; that the God of the law would become subject to the law, the God of the circumcision circumcised, the God who made the heavens and earth laboring with Joseph as a small-town carpenter... image
Eric Metaxas and Tim Keller helped lead Kirsten Powers to Christianity
New York City is not known as the mecca of Christianity, but nationally-known journalist Kirsten Powers who was not a believer discovered that God can use the influence of only two or three people among millions to change a person's life, according to comments she made in an interview with Focus On The Family today, Thursday, July 17.
[I actually found this from April 19, 2013 broadcast Focus On the Family here]
"The people I know around here (New York) don't do daily Bible readings. This isn't like the South," she said.
With bestselling Christian author Eric Metaxas and respected pastor Tim Keller in the neighborhood there is always a chance a person in a secular environment can become a believer. In Kirsten's case, it was a chance invitation from a friend of Eric Metaxas to her to attend a service at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, New York, that caused her to see the world in a whole different light.
Well-know pastor Tim Keller's powerful sermons over a two-year period persuaded Kirsten that history and logic were powerful evidence that Jesus Christ is who He said He is. The daughter of atheist parents, she didn't have a strong theological background and didn't know what to do with her newfound faith...
'The Bible' Miniseries Earns Emmy Nomination; Roma Downey Calls It a 'Blessing'
"The Bible" miniseries has been nominated for an Emmy Award in the "Outstanding Miniseries or Movie" category, it was announced Thursday morning.
History Channel's biblical miniseries will be competing with five other programs for the category's top spot, including FX Network's "American Horror Story: Asylum," HBO's "Behind the Candelabra," HBO's "Phil Spector," USA's "Political Animals" and Sundance Channel's "Top of the Lake."
The show, which was produced by husband and wife team Mark Burnett and Roma Downey, has also been nominated for "Outstanding Sound Editing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special" and "Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Miniseries or a Movie" for its premiere episode, "Beginnings."...
Top 17 Most Outrageous Pro-“Choice” Signs During Texas’ Abortion Debate
A new report from the Pew Research Center has revealed Brazil's changing religious landscape.
America's Most Saintly City Is New York?
New York City is far from America's so-called "Bible Belt," but a new list argues the Big Apple is still the nation's "most saintly" city.
According to real estate blog Movoto, NYC handily beats out Colorado Springs (among other cities in Colorado, California, and Arizona) to claim the title.
Movoto's list stands in stark contrast to Barna Group's list of "most Bible-minded" cities and Gallup's list of "most religious" cities, which CT reported earlier this year....
Church in the Metropolis
It seems that denominationalism has had its day. A 2009 Barna survey found that denominational commitments have gone squishy in mainline Protestant churches, and Evangelicals don’t fare much better than the rest. After a similar survey, Ron Sellers of what was then Ellison Research said that Protestants are as “loyal to their denominations as they are to their toothpaste.”
Denominationalism may recover, but its diseases look terminal. This toothpaste isn’t ready to return to the tube.
Like most everything, this development has its pluses and minuses. Denominations were born of a catholic spirit. They enabled believers to maintain their distinctive beliefs without de-churching the rest of the Christian world. It would be tragic if the decline of denominations left the church less catholic. Plus, without thick denominational loyalties, Christians abandon their churches at the first shimmy of trouble. Once upon a time, Anglicans stuck it out because even an incompetent pastor and an ugly carpet were preferable to joining the Lutherans. Today Lutheranism is a live option. And the Barna survey found that low denominational loyalty often expressed a weak adherence to Christianity itself. Slightly less than half of the respondents were “absolutely” committed to Christianity, and most might be enticed to explore other religions...
First New England, Then the Nation: The Spread of Physician-Assisted Suicide
On May 20, Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin signed “The Patient Choice and Control at the End of Life Act,” legalizing physician-assisted suicide (PAS) throughout the state. This event matters not only because this law governs life and death, but also because Vermont is the first state to sanction PAS through the legislative process, via the votes of elected representatives. The law also represents the spread of PAS from the West Coast to the opposite side of the United States.
While neither of these characteristics may alarm right-to-life and disability rights advocates (who perhaps are concerned solely for the people of Vermont), policy scholars know that both of these attributes greatly enhance PAS proponents’ ability to spread the scourge of voluntary euthanasia throughout New England and eventually nationwide...
Noonan: A Bombshell in the IRS Scandal
...The IRS scandal was connected this week not just to the Washington office—that had been established—but to the office of the chief counsel.
That is a bombshell—such a big one that it managed to emerge in spite of an unfocused, frequently off-point congressional hearing in which some members seemed to have accidentally woken up in the middle of a committee room, some seemed unaware of the implications of what their investigators had uncovered, one pretended that the investigation should end if IRS workers couldn't say the president had personally called and told them to harass his foes, and one seemed to be holding a filibuster on Pakistan...
I get that. I’ve been there. I've been there today. And yesterday. And the day before. Can I beg just four or five minutes of your time? Then you can go and sin all you want. But first I want you to read just a few words and take a moment to consider them.
Consider, Christian, that Christ came from his Father’s side, where he had existed eternally, to this world of sorrow and death; that God himself was manifested in the flesh, the Creator made a creature; that he who was clothed with glory would now be clothed with mortal flesh; he who filled heaven and earth with his glory would be cradled in a manger; that the almighty God would flee from weak man—the God of Israel escaping into Egypt; that the God of the law would become subject to the law, the God of the circumcision circumcised, the God who made the heavens and earth laboring with Joseph as a small-town carpenter... image
Eric Metaxas and Tim Keller helped lead Kirsten Powers to Christianity
New York City is not known as the mecca of Christianity, but nationally-known journalist Kirsten Powers who was not a believer discovered that God can use the influence of only two or three people among millions to change a person's life, according to comments she made in an interview with Focus On The Family today, Thursday, July 17.
[I actually found this from April 19, 2013 broadcast Focus On the Family here]
"The people I know around here (New York) don't do daily Bible readings. This isn't like the South," she said.
With bestselling Christian author Eric Metaxas and respected pastor Tim Keller in the neighborhood there is always a chance a person in a secular environment can become a believer. In Kirsten's case, it was a chance invitation from a friend of Eric Metaxas to her to attend a service at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, New York, that caused her to see the world in a whole different light.
Well-know pastor Tim Keller's powerful sermons over a two-year period persuaded Kirsten that history and logic were powerful evidence that Jesus Christ is who He said He is. The daughter of atheist parents, she didn't have a strong theological background and didn't know what to do with her newfound faith...
'The Bible' Miniseries Earns Emmy Nomination; Roma Downey Calls It a 'Blessing'
"The Bible" miniseries has been nominated for an Emmy Award in the "Outstanding Miniseries or Movie" category, it was announced Thursday morning.
History Channel's biblical miniseries will be competing with five other programs for the category's top spot, including FX Network's "American Horror Story: Asylum," HBO's "Behind the Candelabra," HBO's "Phil Spector," USA's "Political Animals" and Sundance Channel's "Top of the Lake."
The show, which was produced by husband and wife team Mark Burnett and Roma Downey, has also been nominated for "Outstanding Sound Editing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special" and "Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Miniseries or a Movie" for its premiere episode, "Beginnings."...
Top 17 Most Outrageous Pro-“Choice” Signs During Texas’ Abortion Debate
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Jesus! where’er thy people meet...
Jesus! where’er thy people meet,
There they behold thy mercy-seat;
Where’er they seek thee, thou art found,
And every place is hallow’d ground.
Dear Shepherd of thy chosen few!
Thy former mercies here renew;
Here to our waiting hearts proclaim
The sweetness of thy saving name.
...William Cowper image
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)