Evangelism and Social Action. The instrument of change. Evangelism is the major instrument of social change. For the gospel changes people, and changed people can change society. --- John R.W. Stott

Love and justice. The cross is a revelation of God's justice as well as of his love. That is why the community of the cross should concern itself with social justice as well as with loving philanthropy. It is never enough to have pity on the victims of injustice, if we do nothing to change the unjust situation itself. Good Samaritans will always be needed to succour those who are assaulted and robbed; yet it would be even better to rid the Jerusalem-Jericho road of brigands. ---- From "The Cross of Christ" John R.W. Stott

No warmth within. Some preachers have a great horror of emotionalism. So have I, if this means the artificial stirring of the emotions by rhetorical tricks or other devices. But we should not fear genuine emotion. If we can preach Christ crucified and remain altogether unmoved, we must have a hard heart indeed. More to be feared than emotion is cold professionalism, the dry, detached utterance of a lecture which has neither heart nor soul in it. Do man's peril and Christ's salvation mean so little to us that we feel no warmth rise within us as we think about them? --- From "The Preacher's Portrait" John R. W. Stott

The offence of the cross. The 'stumbling block of the cross' remains. Sinners hate it because it tells them that they cannot save themselves. Preachers are tempted to avoid it because of its offensiveness to the proud. It is easier to preach man's merits than Christ's, because men greatly prefer it that way. --- From "Our Guilty Silence" John R.W. Stott

One of the laments I hear most often is about numbers of Episcopalians. When asked by a reporter about the small numbers of Episcopalians in his diocese, one Western bishop was heard to reply, "Well, look at who those Episcopalians are. They include many of the judges, the leaders in local government and the school principals. We may not be many, but we have a remarkable part in caring for the whole community." --- Katharine Jefferts Schori, TEC Presiding Bishop

"Robinson 'is not the only gay-partnered bishop. He's the only one who's open about it." ---Katharine Jefferts Schori, TEC Presiding Bishop

Minnesota Dodges Gay Bullet*TEC Financial Woes Increase*New ACNA Parishes* Diocesan News

Stewards and heralds. We are stewards of what God has said, but heralds of what God has done. Our stewardship is of an accomplished revelation; but an accomplished redemption is the good news which we proclaim as heralds. --- From "The Preacher's Portrait" by John R. W. Stott

“You have reached a courageous decision and a faithful decision. You could go on in depletion, frustration. You have not done that,” he said. “There are some things worse than death. One of them is denial. Resurrection follows death, not denial.”. --- Bishop George Councell, Diocese of NJ on the closure of a 125-year old parish in his diocese.

If we haven't got control of our mind during the hour of spiritual study we are not benefited at all. We simply yawn and tire ourselves without a goal, for we cannot remember anything. In the same way, when the printer doesn't have his mind on his work and forgets to put ink in, the printing presses work without printing anything. --- Elder Paisios, +1994

The Anglican Communion crisis is not about Anglicanism in itself, but a crisis about faithfulness. --- The Rev. Charles Raven, Church of England vicar.

For Cranmer grace produces gratitude, gratitude produces love, love (not shame, fear or duty) produces repentance, repentance produces good works, and good works produces a better society. ---- Rev. Canon Dr. Ashley Null

The greatest hindrance. We claim to know, to love and to follow Jesus Christ. We say that he is our Saviour, our Lord, and our Friend. 'What difference does he make to these Christians?' the world asks searchingly. 'Where is their God?' It may be said without fear of contradiction that the greatest hindrance to evangelism in the world today is the failure of the church to supply evidence in her own life and work of the saving power of God. --- John R. W. Stott

The greatest single reason for the church's evangelistic disobedience centres in the church's doubts. We are not sure if our own sins are forgiven. We are not sure if the gospel is true. And so, because we doubt, we are dumb. We need to hear again Christ's word of peace, and see again his hands and his side. Once we are glad that we have seen the Lord, and once we have clearly recognized him as our crucified and risen Saviour, then nothing and no-one will be able to silence us. --- From 'The Great Commission', in "One Race, One Gospel, One Task", ed. C. F. Henry and W. S. Mooneyham

Again and again an opportunity presents itself to speak for our Lord Jesus Christ, but we hold our peace. And what is true of us as individual believers seems to characterize and paralyze the whole church. What are the causes of our guilty silence? No doubt any answer to this question would tend to be an over-simplification, because the reasons are legion. But I believe there are four major causes. Either we have no compelling incentive even to try to speak, or we do not know what to say, or we are not convinced that it is our job, or we do not believe we shall do any good, because we have forgotten the source of power. --- From "Our Guilty Silence" John R. W. Stott

Historic Vatican Decision Climaxes, Concerns Anglicans Worldwide. More News

The need for faithfulness. God intends every church to be like a sounding board, bouncing off the vibrations of the gospel, or like a telecommunications satellite which first receives and then transmits messages. In fact, this is God's simplest plan for world evangelization. If every church had been faithful, the world would long ago have been evangelized. ---From "The Message of Thessalonians"---The Bible Speaks Today series

A loss of faith. The principal reason in my judgment why there is so little effective evangelism to-day is that we clergy have, in many cases, ceased to believe in it. We are no longer expecting to see moral miracle. --- From "Parochial Evangelism by the Laity", John R. W. Stott

The integrated Christian. Paul loved to liken the Christian life to a race in the arena. Notice that to "run well" in the Christian race is not just to believe the truth (as if Christianity were nothing but orthodoxy), nor just to behave well (as if it were just moral uprightness), but to "'obey the truth"', applying belief to behavior. Only he who obeys the truth is an integrated Christian. What he believes and how he behaves are all of a piece. His creed is expressed in his conduct; his conduct is derived from his creed. --- From "The Message of Galatians" by John R.W. Stott

The first and fundamental ground of our assurance, because it is the sole ground of our salvation, is 'the finished work of Christ'. Whenever our conscience accuses us, and we feel burdened with guilt, we need to look away from ourselves to Christ crucified. Then again we will have peace. For our acceptance with God depends not on ourselves and what we could ever do, but entirely on Christ and what he has done for all on the cross. --- From "Your Confirmation" by John R.W. Stott

'The doctrine of the Church is grounded in the Holy Scriptures and in such teachings of the ancient Fathers and Councils of the Church as are agreeable to the said Scriptures. In particular, such doctrine is to be found in the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion, the Book of Common Prayer and the Ordinal.' –-- From Michael Ovey lecture at NEAC, November 2008

Baptism and regeneration. Let me cut the Gordian knot and declare that baptism and regeneration are not the same thing, that the one neither conveys nor secures the other, that there are baptized people who are not spiritually regenerate, and also, although this is (to say the least) irregular, that there are some regenerate people who are not baptized. Let me emphasize, further, that neither Bible nor Prayer Book teaches that baptism effects regeneration.

The expressions in the baptism service which have given rise to this view (for example 'seeing now ... that this child/person is regenerate') can be properly interpreted only in the light of the whole service. To isolate a text from its context is as irresponsible in the Prayer Book as it is in the Bible. We need to ask ourselves: who is this person who is declared regenerate? It is not just somebody who has been baptized in the name of the Trinity, but somebody who, before being baptized, has publicly professed his repentance, faith and submission, either with his own mouth or (in the case of a child) through the lips of his sponsors.

Whether the reformers were right to represent a child as thus speaking is another matter; the point here is that the only children baptized in the Church of England, and the only adults, are "professed believers". And this is why they are declared regenerate. They are regenerate in the same sense in which they are penitent believers in Christ. This is the hypothetical language which is proper to the administration of sacraments, and which the New Testament itself uses when it attributes to baptism what it elsewhere attributes to grace and faith. --- From "Our Guilty Silence" by John R.W. Stott

Pittsburgh Punts...PB Pitches New Reorganized Diocese...Tensions Mount... NA Province Moves Closer to Reality

A brother came to an old man, troubled by the temptation of lust. The old man said, "Be like him who passes through the marketplace in front of an inn and breathes the smell of cooking and roasting. If he enjoys it, he goes inside to eat some of it. If not, he only inhales the bad smell in passing and goes on his way. It is the same for you. Avoid the bad smell. Wake up and pray, saying, 'Son of God, help me' Do this for other temptations also. For we do not have to uproot the passions, but resist them."

Letter and spirit. Is the law still binding upon the Christian? The answer to that is, No and Yes. 'No' in the sense that our acceptance before God does not depend on it. Christ in his death fully met the demands of the law, so that we are delivered from it. It no longer has any claims on us. It is no longer our lord. 'Yes' in the sense that our new life is still a bondage. We still 'serve'. We are still slaves, although discharged from the law. But the motive and the means of our service have altered. Why do we serve? Not because the law is our master and we have to, but because Christ is our husband and we want to. Not because obedience to the law leads to salvation, but because salvation leads to obedience to the law. The law says, Do this and you will live. The gospel says, You live, so do this. The motive has changed. How do we serve? Not in oldness of letter, but in newness of spirit. That is, not by obedience to an external code, but by surrender to an indwelling Spirit. --- From "Men Made New" by John R.W. Stott

VirtueOnline Viewpoints: Duncan's Deposition Captures World Attention

by David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
9/19/2008

The Episcopal Church has become a legal shell with timid survivors who cannot make anything but institutional statements in support of institutional ends. Doctrine has been bargained away. All that remains are familiar phrases, emptied of meaning, retained for occasional use in public relations. Even these have largely fallen out of use, replaced by secular hot button phrases like "justice" and "inclusiveness" -- words which never mean anything in particular, but always adapt themselves to institutional ends. Today's Episcopalians are under pressure to pretend that nothing of substance has changed over the centuries. --- The Rev. Canon J. Gary L'Hommedieu VOL columnist.

In Christ by faith *All* men are in Adam, since we are in Adam by birth, but not all men are in Christ, since we can be in Christ only by faith. In Adam by birth we are condemned and die. But if we are in Christ by faith we are justified and live ... Peace, grace, glory (the three privileges of the justified) are not given to those who are in Adam, but only to those who are in Christ. --- From "Men Made New" John R.W. Stott