"The modern world detests authority but worships relevance. So to bracket these two words in relation to the Bible is to claim for it one quality (authority) which people fear it has but wish it had not, and another (relevance) which they fear it has not but wish it had. Our Christian conviction is that the Bible has both authority and relevance - to a degree quite extraordinary in so ancient a book - and that the secret of both is in Jesus Christ. Indeed, we should never think of Christ and the Bible apart. 'The Scriptures ... bear witness to me,' he said (Jn. 5:39), and in so saying also bore his witness to them. This reciprocal testimony between the living Word and the written Word is the clue to our Christian understanding of the Bible. For his testimony to it assures us of its authority, and its testimony to him of its relevance. The authority and the relevance are his. "--- John R.W. Stott

"University "safe space" censors anything that might upset certain groups. Free speech is sacrosanct until it causes offence. Whereupon it is banned as hate speech. "--- Melanie Phillips

Dear Brothers and Sisters
www.virtueonline.org
March 4, 2016

ANGER. It is fueling and driving America right now. People are angry at Washington, they are angry with President Obama, they are angry over abortion, gay marriage and they are angry that nothing is being done to solve America's glaring problems like infrastructure, inequality and infanticide. Evangelicals are so angry, they are prepared to vote for a man who says he has no need to ask God for forgiveness, which goes against everything we know about the gospel. Everything. The man is a narcissist, appealing to people whose faith declares that pride goes before a fall.

Anger is not primarily a political problem, it is first and foremost a spiritual issue. The Bible is very clear. We are to be angry, but "sin not" (Eph. 4:26)

There are a whole host of verses that deal with anger. Here are a few.

St. Paul writes in Ephesians 4:26-31 "In your anger do not sin: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice."

James write in 1:19-20, "My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires."

Ecclesiastes 7:9, "Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools."

"A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." Proverbs 15:18

In Colossians 3:8 Paul writes, "But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips."

The Psalmist declares in Psalm 37:8-9, "Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret--it leads only to evil. For those who are evil will be destroyed, but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land."

A nation this angry will self-destruct; nothing will be achieved. From anger will flow violence, and, with millions of guns in peoples' possession, Americans will turn on themselves out of deep frustration. Many of us who emigrated to this country 30 to 40 years ago don't like what we are seeing and hearing. It grieves us that violence has become a way of life with almost daily shootings unheard of in most civilized countries of the world. And the root of it all is anger, and the Bible is clear about what we should do about that.

Many of VOL's readers are "old white men", and I am told that we are among the worst offenders. So I ask you, as I ask myself, what is our spiritual responsibility to our God, to ourselves, to our churches, and to our children and grandchildren, as they see the anger we harbor and vent? God forgive us.

I have written a piece about Donald Trump and evangelicals that bears out what I believe. It is sad to watch a nation with so many evangelicals suddenly seeing Trump as their political and earthly savior, while tacitly nodding towards Jesus as their personal Savior.

What does this say about evangelicals, of which I claim to be one? Are we three thousand miles wide and only one inch deep theologically and spiritually? Are evangelicals putting their faith in a man who stands diametrically opposed to the gospel we believe? You can read my piece here, or in today's digest. http://tinyurl.com/ze4w6bo

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The Executive Council of the Episcopal Church met this past week in Texas to hammer out building infrastructure for new initiatives for racial justice, reconciliation, and evangelism "aimed at capturing members' imagination."

All this is mostly a smoke screen for issues that by and large do not exist in TEC. No one will identify any racists in the church, as most Episcopalians are women over 60 who have probably never uttered a racist comment in their lives. Linking evangelism (however that is defined) to racism is another dead end street. Who, what, where?

As far as evangelism itself goes, most Episcopalians are in need of the gospel first before they can even proclaim it. Most rectors are liberal and progressive, and not evangelicals, so they won't be encouraging evangelism. Because they have never accepted the "Good News" in their own lives, they are bent on parading made up "doctrines" of diversity and inclusion in which evangelism has no part.
All this would be a bad joke except that it involves real people and real peoples' eternal destiny. If TEC is just now discovering evangelism, what about Jefferts Schori, who in nine years in office, never touched the subject! What is Michael Curry honestly hoping to achieve in this late hour screaming that TEC is about "The Jesus Movement", as TEC slowly sinks into the sunset!

Is it any wonder that the Anglican Church in North America has taken up the task of evangelism with growing success!

Of course, TEC is throwing a ton of money at the whole idea, including $3 million for starting new congregations with an emphasis on assisting populations, including Hispanic communities, $2.8 million for evangelism work, and a major new $2 million initiative on racial justice and reconciliation.

Gay Jennings, the HOD president, said she is figuring out "how we as a church will live out this new manifestation of a corporate vocation." However the truth is plain to see -- no message, no church. No Good News about God's unfailing love and grace, but endless rants about racism will not start or grow a church.

The PB's new canon for evangelism and racial reconciliation, outlined the emerging plans that include an "evangelism summit" that would be the first step in building a network of evangelists across the church. There are planned initiatives in digital evangelism, including finding "ways to create meaningful links with people online [by] listening to their deepest longings and questions" and training Episcopalians in using social media for evangelism. The plans envision an experiment with Episcopal revivals that would, in part, "train local teams to practice relational evangelism and deep listening with their neighbors, schoolmates, friends, co-workers," she said.(who is the "she" here? If it is Jennings, I think you need to include it .

This begs the question, does The Episcopal Church even know what evangelism is to proclaim it?

*****

On a brighter, more realistic note, there was a Matthew 25 Gathering under the banner of Justice & Mercy Contending for Shalom. Members from across the Anglican Church in North America, who serve the poor and marginalized, came together to strengthen their ministries, by supporting and learning from each other.

Hosted by Christ Church in Austin, Texas, The Matthew 25 Gathering brought together 60 practitioners and leaders engaged in ministries of justice and mercy.

Grounded in the scriptures, specifically Matthew 25 and Isaiah 58, these men and women came together in order to build community, to encourage and offer spiritual refreshment for those on the front lines, and to discern the next steps for establishing and furthering the work within the Anglican Church in North America among "the least of these."

There was substantial representation from ministries to the homeless, refugees, people caught in human trafficking, at risk youth, immigrants, special needs youth and adults, those struggling with substance abuse, as well as ministries of racial reconciliation, community development, hunger/urban farming, and parishes consisting of under-resourced populations.

Christine Warner, a coordinator of the Matthew 25 Gathering said, "God's presence was with us in an extraordinary way. People were connecting with fellow Anglicans with the same heart and vision, receiving prayer, offering reports from the field, and thinking through what it means to stand in our rich heritage and dream about the future."

*****

Los Angeles Bishop Jon Bruno is trying to serve two masters, says canon lawyer Allan S. Haley. Writing at his blog http://accurmudgeon.blogspot.com/ Haley says Bruno is at odds with his own Diocese over the disclosure of financial information concerning the corporation sole of which he is the incumbent. In order to avoid a vote on an outside audit of his corp sole at the diocesan convention last December, Bruno promised to disclose its financial statements.

Bruno and his corp sole became embroiled in litigation last summer over the bishop's plans to sell the valuable, near-oceanfront real estate of the congregation of St. James the Great, in Newport Beach, California -- after he won a lawsuit to recover that property from the ACNA congregation that voted to leave his Diocese. The original developer who gave the property to the Episcopal Diocese for the building of a local church had placed a restrictive covenant on it, which specified that if the property ever ceased to be used for church purposes, it would revert to the developer.

Bishop Bruno did not take kindly to that position, and brought suit against the developer (in a fine example of how not to treat a wealthy donor). He claimed that the restriction had been waived when the developer had agreed to allow a portion of the property to be used as a parking lot. The developer pointed out in response that it had specifically not waived the restriction as to the very parcel on which most of the church building proper is located.

While that lawsuit was waging, the parish of St. James and its popular vicar, the Rev. Canon Cindy Voorhees, brought suit themselves against the bishop, after earlier lodging a disciplinary complaint against him for misrepresenting his intentions in his dealings with them. The lawsuit sought to enforce the restrictive covenant against the bishop on behalf of the congregation. Lately, the disciplinary proceedings have bogged down, after Bishop Bruno spurned any effort at conciliation.

Bruno and his corp sole are prosecuting one lawsuit and defending another. His goal is the same in both suits: to be able to move forward with his planned sale of the St. James real estate to a friend who is a developer, and who reportedly has agreed to pay $15 million for the property if it is free and clear. (The parish contends the property is worth even more.)

But now the bishop tells his Diocese that despite his December promise to the convention, his lawyers have advised him that to release the requested financial information could harm his ability to conduct the lawsuits. And, with that announcement, Bruno has all but admitted that he is embroiled in a rank conflict of interest with his own Diocese.

Contends Haley, one would have to go back to the Borgias to find a church prelate who was so enamored of temporal things as to place his own business interests ahead of his religious duties. While the corp sole may be a non-profit, the LLC most certainly is not. And what business does a non-profit corp sole -- the legal holding entity of a religious organization -- have with a corporation organized for commercial profit that is unrelated to any church or charitable purpose? (If there is any such purpose to his investment, Bishop Bruno should have disclosed it to his Diocese by now.)

The proceeds from such an investment are generally characterized under tax law as "unrelated business income", which is taxable at regular corporate rates. A charitable organization that has too much "unrelated business income" in its mix runs the risk of having its charitable status reviewed, or even revoked, by the IRS.

If Bishop Bruno could jeopardize his Diocese's tax-exempt status through his corp sole activities, then he most certainly has a conflict of interest, even if matters have not progressed quite that far. He has a fiduciary obligation to make full and open disclosure of all those activities -- to all beneficiaries who could be affected by them. Both the Standing Committee and the vestry of St. James should see to it that Bishop Bruno does not have the last word in this matter.

*****

An activist Episcopal priest who underwent an abortion to finish Divinity School, later tanked her parish. The Rev. Anne Fowler claims that if she had not had access to an abortion when she accidentally became pregnant after enrolling in Divinity School, she would never have been able to graduate, to serve as a parish rector, or to help the enormous number of people whose lives she has touched.

Her story got punched up in USA Today, where she claims to have doubled her church - St. John's Episcopal Church in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts - but Jeff Walton of IRD did some sleuthing, and found that far from increasing the parish's attendance and monetary wealth, she, in fact, lowered it.

St John Jamaica Plain MA statistics can be seen here: https://s3.amazonaws.com/juicyecumenism/wp-content/uploads/20160303152615/St-John-Jamaica-Plain-MA.pdf

Fowler claimed in the Gazette piece that St. John's doubled in size and more than doubled in budget under her leadership. She said that she is most proud of "fostering a loving, creative, responsible and fun community of faithful people." Sadly, we know this legacy all too well: another decimated parish led by a liberal activist, writes Walton. You can read the full story in today's digest.

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From REFORM Ireland comes word that the clergy there have written an open letter to their bishops saying that a letter put out by their leaders on same sex marriage is a "dangerous departure from confessing Anglicanism."

It is dangerous, they say, because of its appearance of orthodoxy, while undermining the principles of our reformed protestant denomination.

The letter from the bishops proposes to encourage mutual respect and attentiveness, but it communicates something quite different, they say. "They make the Church of Ireland its own primary authority and source of unity, and then assume that the church's teaching on the issue of human sexuality is liable, even certain, to change."

You can read the full story in today's digest.

*****

The Episcopal Church and Trinity Wall Street need to keep their hands off Africa. Increasingly, TEC is using Trinity Wall Street as a proxy to use its money to move African Anglicans from their "fundamentalism" to the more "enlightened" West on issues like sexuality. But they are meeting resistance, as more and African Anglicans are telling TEC and TWS that they can take their money and float themselves down the East River.

The future of the Anglican Communion belongs to Africa, not to the West anymore. I have written extensively about this in today's digest.

*****

Canadian Anglican Bishops dodged a bullet on Gay Marriage this week, saying that a same-sex marriage motion would "not likely" to pass in order of the House of Bishops.

The Canadian House of Bishops could not muster the 2/3rds majority it needed to pass a motion to change the marriage canon to accommodate same-sex couples.

A resolution before General Synod this summer to change the Anglican Church of Canada's marriage canon to allow same-sex marriage is "not likely" to get the number of votes it needs from bishops, according to a statement sent by the House of Bishops to Council of General Synod (CoGS), and released publicly Monday, February 29.

There was blow back, of course, from a couple of revisionist bishops.

The bishop of Ottawa expressed his mortification at the decision from the recent House of Bishops' meeting not to support same-sex marriage.

He issued a statement in which he rather smugly congratulates himself and his diocese for being consummately inclusive, while at the same time lauding same-sex couples whose "marriage is an exclusive loving commitment". Odd, really: if unrestrained inclusion is good enough for the bishop and his diocese, why isn't it good enough for same-sex couples?

So far, two liberal bishops -- Chapman and Bishop Michael A. Bird of Niagara -- have wailed, gnashed their teeth, and profusely apologized for this decision. Oddly enough, we haven't heard from any conservative bishops?

*****

From the Diocese of Egypt comes this word on this years' Good Friday offering from The Episcopal Church.

Egyptian Archbishop Mouneer Anis wrote, "It has come to our attention that the Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church (USA) has recently issued a Lenten appeal asking the churches of TEC to remember the Good Friday offering for Jerusalem and the Middle East. In this appeal he said "this tradition [The Good Friday Offering] is decades old and is an important statement of our solidarity with the members of the four dioceses of the Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East.

"I would like to clarify the fact that the Diocese of Egypt with North of Africa and the Horn of Africa, one of the four dioceses of the Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East does not receive funds or grants from the Good Friday offering of the Episcopal Church (TEC) in the USA. The decision not to receive these funds came after the 2003 decision by TEC to consecrate as bishop a divorced man living in a homosexual relationship. The decision not to receive money from TEC is one expression of the reality that the Diocese of Egypt with North Africa and the Horn of Africa was (and still is) in an impaired relationship with The Episcopal Church."

One of our clergy in Ethiopia states our situation in graphic terms: "We rather starve and not receive money from churches whose actions contradict the scriptures."

*****

Atheist scientist Hugh Ross finds God and becomes a Christian. Watch this video: https://youtu.be/tnm4-lzKWVk Pass this along to a young person who might be wrestling with issues of science and faith.

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Dr. Patrick Sookhdeo, former head of the Barnabas Fund UK is appealing his conviction to the highest court in England, for sexual assault and witness intimidation. This is a costly and taxing process. Because he is no longer part of Barnabas Fund, he cannot be supported, or viewed as being supported financially by the organization.

An account has been set up to channel support to Patrick and his wife. The details are as shown below.

Account name: Reconciliation Trust
Account number: 9071280902
Sort Code: 20-84-56
Ref: Patrick Sookhdeo

You can see my story about Dr. Sookhdeo - http://www.virtueonline.org/dr-patrick-sookhdeo-story-behind-story-trial-guilty-verdict-and-public-vilification

*****

Egyptian Bishop Ghais Malek died this past week, reports Egyptian Archbishop Mouneer Anis. He was 86. During his last two months, he suffered from pneumonia, a minor stroke and other complications. Bishop Ghais was known for his compassionate pastoral care, servant leadership and love for all. He will always be remembered as a faithful man of God, who revived the Episcopal Anglican Diocese of Egypt with North Africa and the Horn of Africa, which he led from 1984 to 2000.
He promoted the community development services within the diocese, as well as educational and health services. He worked hard to strengthen our ecumenical relations and initiated our interfaith dialogue with Al-Azhar in 1999, with then Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey.

*****

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David