VirtueOnline Digest, Vol 17, Issue 16

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VirtueOnline Weekly News Digest
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Today's Topics:

1. Table of Contents (David Virtue)
2. VIEWPOINTS: April 21, 2017 (David Virtue)
3. Indian Theologian Blasts Duplicity of CSI Moderator's Easter
Message (David Virtue)
4. C of E archbishops call on Christians to repent for
Reformation split (David Virtue)
5. The Untold Story of How the CDF Created the Anglican
Ordinariate (David Virtue)
6. Remains of five 'lost' Archbishops of Canterbury found
(David Virtue)
7. Keep Christians in the Public Square (David Virtue)
8. Why Are So Many Lesbians Getting Pregnant? (David Virtue)
9. WE WANT BARABBAS -- A Destructive Episcopal Trend in the
Anglican Communion (David Virtue)
10. How can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead?
- 1 Corinthians 15:12-19 (David Virtue)


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Message: 1
Date: Thu, 20 Apr 2017 21:14:39 -0400
From: David Virtue <da...@virtueonline.org>
To: "virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org"
<virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org>
Subject: Table of Contents
Message-ID:
<1492737279.1850659...@webmail.messagingengine.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

VirtueOnline Weekly News Digest - Desktop & Mobile Edition
www.virtueonline.org
April 21, 2017


*************************************
VIEWPOINTS
*************************************

1.Church of South India Deeply Corrupt * Welby's Woolly Easter Message *
Dead Muslim Judge Married to Episcopal Priest * Bishop Ackerman Bewails
TEC's Innovations * Trump attends Episcopal Church Easter Service * 3
TEC Bishops Die * GAFCON Primates to meet
http://www.virtueonline.org/church-south-india-deeply-corrupt-welbys-woolly-easter-message-dead-muslim-judge-married-episcopal


*********************************************
GLOBAL ANGLICAN NEWS
*********************************************

2.Indian Theologian Blasts Duplicity of CSI Moderator's Easter Message
http://www.virtueonline.org/indian-theologian-blasts-duplicity-csi-moderators-easter-message

3.C of E archbishops call on Christians to repent for Reformation split
http://www.virtueonline.org/c-e-archbishops-call-christians-repent-reformation-split

4.The Untold Story of How the CDF Created the Anglican Ordinariate
http://www.virtueonline.org/untold-story-how-cdf-created-anglican-ordinariate


*********************************************
CHURCH OF ENGLAND NEWS
*********************************************

5.Remains of five 'lost' Archbishops of Canterbury found
http://www.virtueonline.org/remains-five-lost-archbishops-canterbury-found


********************************
CULTURE WARS
********************************

6.Keep Christians in the Public Square
http://www.virtueonline.org/keep-christians-public-square


7.Why Are So Many Lesbians Getting Pregnant
http://www.virtueonline.org/why-are-so-many-lesbians-getting-pregnant


********************************
AS EYE SEE IT
********************************

8.WE WANT BARABBAS -- A Destructive Episcopal Trend in the Anglican
Communion
http://www.virtueonline.org/we-want-barabbas-destructive-episcopal-trend-anglican-communion


**********************************
DEVOTIONAL
**********************************

9.How Can Some Of You Say There Is No Resurrection Of The Dead? - 1
Corinthians 15:12-19
http://www.virtueonline.org/how-can-some-you-say-there-no-resurrection-dead-1-corinthians-1512-19


END



------------------------------

Message: 2
Date: Thu, 20 Apr 2017 21:17:17 -0400
From: David Virtue <da...@virtueonline.org>
To: "virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org"
<virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org>
Subject: VIEWPOINTS: April 21, 2017
Message-ID:
<1492737437.1851323...@webmail.messagingengine.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Liberal Protestantism without the Protestantism tends to gradually shed
the liberalism as well, transforming into an illiberal cult of
victimologies that burns heretics with vigor. The wider experience of
American politics suggests that as liberalism de-churches it struggles
to find a nontransactional organizing principle, a persuasive language
of the common good. --- Ross Douthart

"Christians who hold to the biblical teaching about sex and marriage,
have the same status in culture, and increasingly in law, as racists."
--- Rod Dreher

The church in Africa is not divided on the sexuality issue. Africans
generally agree with current church law that homosexuality is
incompatible with Christian teaching. --- The Rev. Lloyd T. Nyarota

Ecclesiastical salt cellars. When men reject what they know of God, God
gives them up to their own distorted notions and perverted passions,
until society stinks in the nostrils of God and of all good people. Now
Christians are set in secular society by God to hinder this process. God
intends us to penetrate the world. Christian salt has no business to
remain snugly in elegant little ecclesiastical salt cellars; our place
is to be rubbed into the secular community, as salt is rubbed into meat,
to stop it going bad. And when society does go bad, we Christians tend
to throw up our hands in pious horror and reproach the non-Christian
world; but should we not rather reproach ourselves? One can hardly blame
unsalted meat for going bad. It cannot do anything else. The real
question to ask is: where is the salt? --- John R. W. Stott

What all Protestants agree on is that if a person has a right
relationship with God, forgiven and justified, it is not because of any
personal merit that person can claim. Our main objection to Catholic
theology is the implication (if not straightforward claim) that merit
other than Jesus' own comes into play in the sinner's reconciliation and
right standing before God. --- Roger E. Olson

It would be very exciting if the Church of England apologized for not
evangelizing enthusiastically enough. I remember when I was converted
back in1975 in an Anglican cathedral and I had been a choir boy since
the age of six. I was confirmed in Canterbury Cathedral. I remember, as
the Gospel struck me for the first time as a law student, saying: "Well,
Lord. Where do you want me to be a Christian.? Surely not in the Church
of England. They've had me since I was six and they managed to hide
Jesus from me all that time." ... There has always been this sense that
if the Church of England had anything to apologize for perhaps it ought
to start with not having put enough energy into evangelism and actually
telling people Who Jesus is --- Canon Gavin Ashenden on Anglican
Unscripted

I think we'll see what the next few years will mean for religion in
American life. But I think most Evangelicals right now, wherever they
stood on the election, have the understanding that the Bible commands us
to pray for our leaders, to wish the best for our leaders, to wish the
best for our country. And so I think most Evangelical Christians are --
are willing to pray for President Trump, for his administration, and
also too seek to be good citizens. --- Russell Moore

Dear Brothers and Sisters
www.virtueonline.org
April 21, 2017

We invite VOL readers to listen to this before reading the news. It will
uplift you.
http://www.anglicansamizdat.net/wordpress/easter/beethoven-hallelujah-from-christ-on-the-mount-of-olives/

*****

An Anglican priest who listened to Archbishop Justin Welby's Easter
message urging strength, had this to say after the ABC said people
facing despair should remember the words "Do not be afraid". He said it
was woeful misapplication of the Easter message - where is redemption
honoring the Savior? Pointless prattle. The bishop of balderdash. Woeful
Welby - a waste of the office and its opportunities. A mere cub scout in
a commander's costume, ecclesiastically speaking. May God give us a man
to wear the mantle of mighty preaching - not this bleating apology for a
bishop.

Here is the archbishop's sermon:

The Christian gospel runs 'utterly counter' to the world, a world where
there is still evil.

"Christians in Egypt live surrounded by bombs and terror. We and those
we love, know the grim, grey moments of illness, suffering, arguments,
poverty, ill health mental and physical, prison, guilt and failure.

"We experience a world of pain and despair, grief and death."

These things must not be allowed to overshadow our lives, he said.

"They lie, they deceive, they pretend to have power that they do not
have, when they say they are final.

"There is only one finality: Jesus the crucified one is alive. In the
hard journeys we all face, in every moment of loss, the community of
witnesses to the resurrection must come alongside and, with love and
gentleness, bring restoration and hope.'

He added: "In our world today the only certain ground for hopeful
expectation is the news of today; it happened, Jesus is alive."

Archbishop Welby was speaking during sung Eucharist.

He said terror cannot triumph over Christianity, because the
Resurrection happened.

"Today across Egypt, but most poignantly at St George's Church - Tanta
and St Mark's Church - Alexandria, God's people have already gathered to
worship the One who was dead and is now alive.

"Seven days after the horrendous bomb attacks on these Christian
communities the resurrection will be proclaimed and experienced. Because
the church is established by this day.'

The witnesses are those who met him.

"Laid stone cold dead in Joseph's tomb on Friday, on Sunday morning the
tomb is empty, he is physically, bodily, tangibly alive. Why would we
presume to know better than these first witnesses what took place?"

What brings the faithful out to worship in Tanta and Alexandria is
truth. 'It happened. The resurrection is an event which -- although
never experienced before or since -- changes everything because it
happened.'

*****

An Indian theologian blasted the duplicity of the Church of South India
(CSI) Moderator's Easter message. The Rt. Rev. Thomas Oommen presents a
false image of Church of South India to the Anglican Communion via the
Anglican Communion News Service.

An Easter message by the newly elected Moderator was branded an "empty
speech" devoid of any truth about the true state of the CSI, which an
activist orthodox Anglican theologian says is embroiled in political as
well as financial corruption and fraud.

The Rev. Dr. Joseph G. Muthuraj, resident of Bangalore, responded to the
Moderator's message and argues that the Easter Message published by the
Anglican Communion News Service
(http://www.anglicannews.org/news/2017/04/easter-message-from-the-moderator-of-the-church-of-south-india.aspx)
comes as a "total surprise" to members of the CSI, "You have never
spoken in this manner to a CSI audience when all the bishops were
present," Muthuraj expostulated.

The theologian criticized the Anglican leader, accusing him of speaking
with a "double-tongue"; giving one message to the international
community to earn a good name, and another message to his own national
community," for public consumption.

He added, "This projects a false image of ourselves to the Anglican
Communion when the Anglican Communion is fully aware of the crisis
situation of the CSI which is embroiled in corruption and fraud."

Dr Muthuraj squared off against Oommen in the following exchange. You
can read the full exchange in today's digest.

*****

Following a story I wrote last week on crumbling parishes and dying
dioceses, VOL got further word on a TEC diocese in the Northeast that is
in deep trouble. A VOL reader wrote and said that the diocese in
question back in 2006 was reasonably healthy. 36 churches had full time
clergy. 56 had part time or supply. Then there were 92 parishes. Today
there are about 80.

Now in 2017, those same 36 fulltime churches look very different.

1 left the diocese for ACNA
16 have part time clergy
19 have full time clergy (although some are at the very low end of a
full-time salary, and expect with their next clergy change, to go part
time). Meanwhile, the diocesan office is expanding hires, and renting
more square feet.

Will Bishop Curry's Jesus Movement make a difference? Don't hold your
breath.

*****

On the occasion of Bishop Keith Ackerman 43rd anniversary of his
ordination, he wrote this; "As I think about, the eve of my 43rd
ordination to the Sacred Order of Deacons - 4/20/74, I realize how much
has happened. The day was magnificent, and being ordained at Nashotah
House was more than I could have hoped to encounter. Our 3 year-old son,
Keith (now 46), prostrated himself before the Altar - because that was
what Daddy was doing. Brien and Terry Kohler helped in every conceivable
way, and the faculty absented themselves from their conventual Masses in
order to participate.

"As I ponder what destruction has occurred with the theological
innovations since 1974 I realize how heart sick I am. It is as if
someone has taken the Church into which I, my parents, my grandparents,
and great - grandparents and numerous generations before me were born
and has altered it beyond measure. It becomes increasingly obvious that
the ordination of women is more than simply an alteration - but is an
innovative destruction of the Faith once delivered. While I want to
celebrate these 43 years, witnessing the destruction of the Catholic
Faith by virtue of the "ordination" of women is simply more than I can
imagine. I remain an Anglican, but weep beyond what I can express. The
onus remains on those who have sought to change the Faith - not on those
who have sought to maintain it."

*****

Sheila Abdus-Salaam, America's First Female Muslim Judge who was found
dead floating in the Hudson River in New York City this week, was
married to an Episcopal priest. Judge Sheila Abdus-Salaam was married to
her husband of less than one year, Canon Gregory A. Jacobs, Canon to the
Ordinary & Chief of Staff for The Episcopal Diocese of Newark.

Sheila Abdus-Salaam, an associate judge on New York state's highest
court and the first African-American Muslim woman to serve in that
position, was nominated in 2013 to serve as an associate judge on the
state Court of Appeals by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Officers with the
New York Police Department's Harbor Unit reportedly discovered
Abdus-Salaam's body after they responded to a 1:45 p.m. report of a
person floating by the shore near West 132nd Street in Upper Manhattan
on Wednesday. The judge was pronounced dead by paramedics shortly after
2 p.m.

Police are still investigating how Abdus-Salaam ended up in the river.
It was not clear how long the judge, who lived nearby where she was
found in Harlem, had been missing.

*****

President Donald Trump attended an Easter service at the Church of
Bethesda-by-the-Sea near his estate in Palm Beach, Florida, this year.

The president attended with his wife, Melania, as well as his two
younger children, Barron and Tiffany, and the first lady's parents.
Trump returned to Mar-a-Lago after the service to join the rest of his
family for annual Easter festivities, including a brunch and an Easter
egg hunt.

Trump has been attending the Episcopal church for years, and he and the
first lady were married there.

*****

There were three notable bishop deaths in TEC this week. Two were
orthodox, one revisionist.

The Rt. Rev. David Standish Ball, Seventh Bishop of Albany and a U.S.
Navy veteran of World War II, died. A native of Albany, he was a
graduate of Colgate University and General Theological Seminary. He was
ordained deacon and priest in 1953.

Bishop Ball began his ordained ministry as a curate at Bethesda Church
in Saratoga Springs, serving there until 1956, when he was made canon
sacrist at the Cathedral of All Saints. He served three years as canon
sacrist and two years as canon precentor, and was elected dean of the
cathedral in 1960. He served as dean for 23 years.

He was elected Bishop coadjutor of Albany in 1983 and consecrated in
1984. Soon after becoming bishop, he established the Step Out in Faith
campaign, which raised several million dollars for the diocese. He was
known for supporting hospitals, nursing homes, schools, St. Margaret's
Center for Children, and ministries among the poor and the homeless. He
retired as bishop in 1998. [The Living Church]

The Rt. Rev. Frederick H. Borsch, who as the Episcopal bishop of Los
Angeles crusaded for an inclusive social justice agenda that empowered
women, gays and lesbians, blacks and Hispanics, and poor and low-wage
workers, died on April 11 at his home in Philadelphia. He was 81.

Despite opposition from the world's Anglican bishops, he championed the
ordination not only of celibate gay men and lesbians but also of those
in committed monogamous relationships. He was among the worst of
revisionist bishops. His legacy in Los Angeles was Jon Bruno who now
faces charges that could get him tossed out of the Episcopal Church.

At his death, he was a professor of New Testament studies and the
chairman of Anglican studies at the Lutheran Theological Seminary in
Philadelphia. During the high noon years of Charles Bennison's reign he
stayed largely under the radar screen not wanting to get involved in the
battle either for or against his brother bishop. His sympathies
undoubtedly lay with Bennison, but he was smart enough to stay out of
the fray and watch as Bennison sank beneath the waves of his own
duplicities.

Finally, there was the passing of the Rt. Rev. Robert Hibbs, 84, retired
Diocese of West Texas bishop suffragan. As bishop suffragan he served
alongside then-Diocesan Bishop Jim Folts until Hibbs' retirement in
December 2003. A former TEC bishop said he seemed a Christian gentleman,
but not a Catholic Anglican. There is no word that he was particularly
evangelical either.

Hibbs was ordained a priest in the Episcopal Church after graduating
from General Theological Seminary. After some graduate work in Canada,
Hibbs served on the faculty of St. Andrew's Theological Seminary in
Quezon City, Philippines, for 15 years as sub-dean and later dean. He
then served on the faculty of the Seminary of the Southwest in Austin.
For five years, Hibbs served in the Diocese of Northwest Texas as vicar
of St. Peter's, Borger, and vicar/rector of St. Stephen's, Lubbock. In
1993, he arrived in the Diocese of West Texas and served as rector of
St. Barnabas, Fredericksburg, from 1983 to 1988; and assistant rector of
Church of the Good Shepherd, Corpus Christi, from 1988 to 1996.

As bishop suffragan, Hibbs' passions included Recovery Ministries, both
in the diocese and the national church, and the Cursillo movement.

*****

A team of Bible translators in Kurdistan, northern Iraq, working against
the backdrop of civil unrest and religious persecution, have completed
the first ever translation of the whole Bible into the Central Kurdish
Sorani language. CMS missionaries completed the 28-year project to
publish whole Bible in the central Kurdish Sorani language.

Over the last eight years, Church Mission Society mission partners, Joel
and Ruth Hammond (pseudonyms, for their safety), worked alongside
indigenous Kurds and other indigenous Christians in drafting text,
checking names, terminology, and style. The team finally checked both
the Old and New Testaments so they could be published together for the
first time as the complete Bible.

The whole translation of Old and New Testaments will enable 6 million
native speakers of the Sorani language to hear and read the Bible in
their own language for the first time. As well as physical copies, the
new translation is available digitally, both through a YouVersion app
and a newly designed Kurdish app called Pertukekem (My Book).

The new translation, which has been a joint initiative between Church
Mission Society, Biblica, and several other linguistics services, was
launched at a special ceremony April 3, by Carl Moeller, CEO of Biblica.
[The Living Church and other sources provided this information].

*****

Neil Gorsuch, an Episcopalian, and recently elected to the Supreme Court
of the United States, faces his first religious liberty case in a
playground fight. Evangelicals are eyeing how the new Supreme Court
justice will impact this term's only remaining church-state case.

Now, for the sake of Christian schools across the country, American
evangelicals are hoping the new justice will continue his pattern of
siding with religious groups' First Amendment rights.

More than 15 months after the high court took on a case involving a
Missouri church denied a state grant to make its preschool playground
safer, the nine justices will hear oral arguments on Wednesday in
Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia v. Comer.

"The church isn't asking for favorable treatment. It is asking to be
treated the same as every other nonprofit," said David Cortman, senior
counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which is representing
Trinity Lutheran in court.

The case tests how far officials can take the separation of church and
state, and whether constitutional principles can be used to justify what
Cortman calls "worse treatment" for religious organizations.
Depending on how broadly the court rules, the dispute over this Lutheran
school playground could determine the future of state funding to
religious schools, which has become a particularly hot issue amid the
recent push for school choice.

*****

Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Little Rock, Arkansas, will hold a
service of prayer and vigil ahead of the scheduled executions of
prisoners on death row this week and next.

In a statement, the church said: "Our prayers and music for this solemn
occasion are Easter-themed. They will be for the men sentenced to death
and their loved ones, for the victims of the acts for which they have
been sentenced and their loved ones, and for those who must execute
these sentences. For all of these, and for ourselves, we will pray for
hope, for strength, and for mercy.

"This service will take place whether or not executions go forward on
Thursday night. The uncertainty itself calls for prayerful attention.

*****

The Anglican Church of Canada celebrated Earth Day this year with
Archbishop Fred Hiltz, and bishops Mark MacDonald and Susan Johnson
pooling the considerable resources of their little green brain cells to
pray for it. Jesus' Resurrection has become a handy illustration, what
really matters: spring is just around the corner!

As we celebrate this great mystery we recall how he helped us understand
death and resurrection using the image of a seed planted and coming out
of the earth as a new growth--budding, bursting, blooming, bearing
beautiful fruit.

And:

Our churches are committed to responsible stewardship of the earth.

That's why the ACoC is demolishing so many of them, writes Anglican
blogger, David of Samizdat.

"The Carbon Pariah receives an honorable mention, even though the ACoC
is using diesel fume spewing bulldozers to demolish its churches
observed in the Diocese of Niagara."

We recommend that you or your congregation get involved with the Faith
Commuter Challenge, a creative way to reduce your carbon footprint and
raise awareness of the impact of our actions

Naturally, we have muddled -- twisted, really -- wording to prompt right
Gaia thinking: world -- as in "for God so love the world" here seems to
mean "earth" rather than "people":

Through our Lenten Journey to Easter we have been reminded once again
that Jesus offered his whole life and death for the love of the world

"Speaking of God, Hiltz doesn't, he refers to Creator instead, an
Indigenous metaphysical replacement that Hiltz seems more comfortable
with these days. Or perhaps he is referring to the process of Darwinian
evolution.

"Likewise, Father and Son have not been seen in a Hilztian prayer for
decades and, by the end of the prayer, the Holy Spirit has metamorphosed
into "Spirit One"; who was Spirit Zero, I wonder."

*****

Next week, the GAFCON Primates arrive in Lagos, Nigeria, for the annual
Primates' Council meeting to be held between the 25th - 27th of April.
Peter Jensen, General Secretary, asks us to pray for this important
gathering. Below are some specific points to help guide you.

Please pray for:

? The safe arrival of the Primates (archbishops), representatives
and advisers from GAFCON provinces and branches.
? Clarity and understanding as the Council reviews GAFCON activity
over the past 12 months (e.g. the inaugural Bishops' Training Institute
course) and considers a range of reports, including theological
education and church planting.
? Plans for the 2018 GAFCON Conference in Jerusalem next June.
? Discussions about GAFCON policy in Communion matters and its
implementation.
? Discussions about further expansion and funding of the movement.

*****

The annual Synod of the Missionary Diocese of CANA East will be held at
the Anglican Church of the Good Shepherd, Binghamton, NY, from May 4-6.

38 congregations from Maine to Miami and from Tulsa to Long Island will
gather together under the leadership of Bishop Julian Dobbs.

Celebrating the 500th anniversary of The Reformation, this year's synod
is called REFORMATION 500.

In attendance will be: the Archbishop of the Anglican Church in North
America, The Most Rev. Dr. Foley Beach; Director of Anglican Church
Society from the United Kingdom, The Rev. Dr. Lee Gatiss and the
Anglican Bishop of Kafanchan, Nigeria, the Rt. Rev. Markos Dogo, whose
diocese has experienced significant persecution from terrorists.

CANA East is one of three missionary dioceses in the Convocation of
Anglicans in North America. CANA offers an authentic connection to the
Anglican Communion through the Church of Nigeria and full membership in
the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA).

*****

A conference has begun in Chicago, facilitated by a group of more than
60 Episcopal bishops working to curtail the epidemic of gun violence in
the United States. "Unholy Trinity: the Intersection of Racism, Poverty
and Gun Violence" is a three-day event grounded in scripture, liturgy
and theology.

The conference will feature a "three-note" panel of African-American
leaders offering perspectives on poverty, racism and gun violence and
include Bible study focused on the conference themes as well as a
prayerful procession to sites of gun violence on Chicago's South Side.

Workshops at the conference are devoted to helping participants work
with police, young people, legislators, the media, anti-violence
advocacy groups and other constituencies to reduce gun violence.

"Our goal is to continue creating a network of Episcopalians inspired
and equipped to work against gun violence and the social forces that
drive it," said Bishop Mark Beckwith of Newark, one of three
co-conveners of Bishops United.

*****

VOL's Easter appeal has gone out to all our readers and we hope you will
respond. Week by week we pour out the news you won't find anywhere else.
Who knew that America's first female Muslim judge was married to an
Episcopal priest or that a black Episcopal bishop deliberately invites a
Muslim woman to preach at a service designed to confirm the Christian
faith of its priests in their (alleged) preaching of the gospel. You
can't make this stuff up. It is beyond parody.

Become a supporter. Please make a contribution. It is tax-deductible.
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David



------------------------------

Message: 3
Date: Thu, 20 Apr 2017 21:17:48 -0400
From: David Virtue <da...@virtueonline.org>
To: "virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org"
<virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org>
Subject: Indian Theologian Blasts Duplicity of CSI Moderator's Easter
Message
Message-ID:
<1492737468.1851374...@webmail.messagingengine.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Indian Theologian Blasts Duplicity of CSI Moderator's Easter Message
Thomas Oommen Presents False Image of Church of South India to Anglican
Communion via ACNS

By David W. Virtue, DD
www.virtueonline.org
April 18, 2017

An Easter message by the newly elected Moderator of the Church of South
India (CSI) Thomas K Oommen, was branded an "empty speech" devoid of any
truth about the true state of the CSI, which an activist orthodox
Anglican theologian says is embroiled in political as well as financial
corruption and fraud.

The Rev. Dr. Joseph G. Muthuraj, resident of Bangalore, responded to the
Moderator's message and argues that the Easter Message published by the
Anglican Communion News Service
(http://www.anglicannews.org/news/2017/04/easter-message-from-the-moderator-of-the-church-of-south-india.aspx)
comes as a "total surprise" to members of the CSI, "You have never
spoken in this manner to a CSI audience when all the bishops were
present," Muthuraj expostulated.

The theologian criticised the Anglican leader, accusing him of speaking
with a "double-tongue"; giving one message to the international
community to earn a good name, and another message to his own national
community," for public consumption.

He added, "This projects a false image of ourselves to the Anglican
Communion when the Anglican Communion is fully aware of the crisis
situation of the CSI which is embroiled in corruption and fraud."

Dr Muthuraj squared off against Oommen in the following exchange.

Moderator TK Oommen: "...today sociologists and theologians understand
voice not only as a physiological phenomenon but also as an integral
part of a sociological self of an individual or community. In a world
where many voices are silenced and suppressed within various power
structures."

Muthuraj: Your message is basically calling the churches to liberate the
silenced voices and listen to them, rings false. ARE YOU DOING IT IN THE
CSI? ARE THE BISHOPS WITH YOU IN THIS ACT OF LISTENING? If all of you
are not, then it is a bogus message designed for a foreign website of a
distant country.

Moderator: 'I believe Easter... have a unique message for us: "Easter:
Celebrating Risen Voices."'

Muthuraj:This is not the case with the CSI. In some dioceses, speakers
and protesters against the corruption and maladministration of the
Church were punished severely without mercy by the bishops of those
dioceses. Some of them were expelled from committees and even dismissed
from pastoral ministry/episcopal ministry. Excommunication and threats
of excommunication are the weapons used against the laity who hold
opinion and share those opinions with others. This has happened in an
alarming manner in the following dioceses: Krishna-Godavari, Medak,
Vellore, Kannyakumari, Coimbatore, South Kerala, etc.

In one case a senior presbyter was kicked out from his job in
Krishna-Godavari diocese by a former Moderator, when the presbyter's
wife along with her daughter went to meet and plead with the Moderator
for reinstating him. A most unpleasant treatment of the woman took place
by the Moderator. When she raised her voice in public about the indecent
treatment she received from the man, the Moderator branded her mentally
deranged. This woman's voice has been suppressed until today.

If you truly believe in justice and "liberating the silenced voices",
please bring all of them back and ask those bishops to withdraw their
termination letters. I appeal to you that you give the job back to the
terminated pastor in Krishna-Godavari diocese and pay his salary-- he
has not been paid for the last three years. Retaliatory actions (at
times as cruel as Roman persecution) against those who speak publicly on
the misdeeds of bishops are taken immediately with irreparable damages
done! Never undo the sublime voices!

Moderator: "In Palestine, during Jesus' time, there were mainly two
categories of people: the dominant and the dominated. While the dominant
few included the politically, religiously and economically powerful, the
rest of the population, who were the majority in number, comprised of
the poor craftsmen, rural priests, farmers, fishermen, day-laborers and
socially marginalised groups. The voices of the latter group were
suppressed and silenced by the former, the dominant few, which included
the high-priestly clan (controlling the Temple in Jerusalem), the
Herodians (ruling Palestine at Rome's order and owning more than half of
the land) and a small number of other land-owning Jewish aristocrats. It
is important to note that Jesus was born into a community, whose voice
was silenced by the powerful, and that He had a definite politics
against those oppressive structures that had silenced them."

Muthuraj: You identify those dominating classes during the time of Jesus
which overpowered the voices of the poor, farmers, artists, rural
priests and fishermen. You rightly say that the dominating classes of
people are the dominant few, which included the high-priestly clan
(controlling the Temple in Jerusalem), the Herodians (ruling Palestine
at Rome's order owning more than half of the land) and a small number of
other land-owning Jewish aristocrats. The truth is, this illustrates
what is happening in the CSI today!

The Constitutional changes imposed on the people of CSI last year were
done by suppressing the voices of protest from all corners of the CSI.
Now, constitutionally, people's voices are subdued by the dominant few
and by the Moderator holding pontifical powers through the
Constitutional amendments and new by-laws.

The new Constitution says that every presbyter is constitutionally
required to obey the bishops. In an inquiry into the allegations brought
against a bishop, the bishop concerned is allowed to speak and defend
only towards the end of the trial, when almost the charges are decided
as established. In almost all dioceses, the voices of the opposition are
throttled and undemocratic measures are taken to disenfranchise the
opposing individual or group so that they cannot contest in church
elections.

Here is an example from a letter of Appeal written by a group of members
of the Dornakal diocese on April 13, 2017. They write, "If anybody
talks, he will be punished. This is the nature and administrative status
of the Bishop." This applies pretty well to all the bishops of the
Church of South India.

During the Synod meeting, the new constitution says the following: 'No
member without the permission of the Moderator shall speak more than
once' 'Debate will be inadmissible', 'No debate or Remark shall be
allowed' 'Normally, no member will speak more than five minutes'. This
is the CSI of arrogant Moderators who think and act and believe they are
infallible and beyond any probe or question. Is it not suffocating the
voices of the consciousness of the faithful?

Even the children of the bishops and former Moderators are powerful and
it is a sorry situation that Mr. Vimal Raj (son of bishop Sugandhar) is
using all possible illegal means to stop the Serious Fraud Investigation
Office investigating the account books and the property dealings of the
CSI Trust Association. The poor petitioners who had cases against the
CSI/CSITA in the past seeking justice were either threatened and forced
to withdraw their court cases or they were offered/given heavy bribery
sums of money. So far this evil has been victorious in the CSI/TA. Is
this not scuttling the official voice?

Moderator: "Ultimately these oppressive structures, through crucifixion,
tried to silence Jesus Himself; but He emerged victorious over them. And
this remains as a hope for each one of us to continue our struggle
against all kinds of unjust and oppressive structures that deny life,
suppress identities and silence voices."

Muthuraj: This is what will happen in our fight against the abuse of
power by powerful bishops and the fraudulent activities committed by the
corrupt financial/property managers. We urge you to fulfil this hope in
very practical terms as a bishop and Moderator to redeem the CSI/TA from
the current crisis. Take measures to allow the Government appointed
Serious Fraud Investigation Office to conduct its investigation in all
the dioceses and the educational institutions, free and without
intervention so that all those who were involved in illegal financial
dealings and dubious sale of church properties will be identified,
prosecuted and punished. Listen to the voices of the victimised!

Moderator: "...the mission of the CSI has always been committed to
struggles against the forces of death and that struggle will continue."

Muthuraj: The forces of death are at work in our account books, property
sales, election/selection of bishops, and the luxurious life-styles of
the bishops who are competing among themselves at present as to who can
buy the costliest car for themselves, even when the diocese is suffering
from lack of funds, unable to pay presbyters' salaries. Why don't you
exterminate those forces of death that are active in ruining the fabric
of CSI's life and witness? The problem is not just ecological injustice
but all forms of ecclesiastical unrighteousness. This is the people's
voice!

Moderator: "Let Easter 2017... become an opportunity for the Church of
South India to witness the resurrection of many voices, constantly
submerged by the dominant forces."

Muthuraj: We urge you to put it into action and show it in and through
your episcopal ministry. Start listening to those voices that are crying
in the wilderness and are speaking into deaf-ears for many years now. If
you are sincere and serious about what you have said in your Easter
message to the ACNS website, then let there be reformation in the CSI
right now. If not, your message will remain an EMPTY SPEECH!

The Rev. Dr. Muthuraj, is a former member of St. John's College, Durham
and a graduate of the University of Durham, UK. Through his
publications, he has been established as a CSI historian who currently
writes on the relationship between the united churches and the Anglican
Communion. He has been one of the strongest voices in the global
theological communion appealing for a renewal of Episcopacy to bring an
end to the corruption in the Church of South India.

END



------------------------------

Message: 4
Date: Thu, 20 Apr 2017 21:18:14 -0400
From: David Virtue <da...@virtueonline.org>
To: "virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org"
<virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org>
Subject: C of E archbishops call on Christians to repent for
Reformation split
Message-ID:
<1492737494.1851384...@webmail.messagingengine.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

C of E archbishops call on Christians to repent for Reformation split
Justin Welby and John Sentamu recall ?damage done five centuries ago?
that saw Christian people pitted against each other

By Harriet Sherwood Religion correspondent
https://www.theguardian.com/
17 January 2017

It unleashed an orgy of death and destruction across Europe. In England
alone, more than 800 monasteries, abbeys, nunneries and friaries were
seized, libraries were destroyed, manuscripts lost, treasures stripped
and works of art appropriated. Thousands of people were hung, drawn and
quartered, or burnt at the stake for their religious beliefs.

Five hundred years after the Reformation, the religious revolution that
swept across Europe, the leaders of the Church of England - itself
created in the decades of upheaval - have called on Christians to repent
for the divisions, persecution and death.

The archbishops of Canterbury and York issued a statement on Tuesday
recalling ?the lasting damage done five centuries ago to the unity of
the Church, in defiance of the clear command of Jesus Christ to unity in
love?.

After 500 years of schism, will the rift of the Reformation finally be
healed?

Justin Welby and John Sentamu, the two most senior figures in the C of
E, said: ?Those turbulent years saw Christian people pitted against each
other, such that many suffered persecution and even death at the hands
of others claiming to know the same Lord. A legacy of mistrust and
competition would then accompany the astonishing global spread of
Christianity in the centuries that followed.?

All this ?leaves us much to ponder?, they said.

This year?s commemorations, their statement concluded, should lead all
Christians ?to repent of our part in perpetuating divisions. Such
repentance needs to be linked to action aimed at reaching out to other
churches and strengthening relationships with them?.

Throughout 2017, churches across Europe will mark the 31 October
anniversary of Martin Luther nailing his 95 theses protesting against
the corruption of the Roman Catholic church to a church door in
Wittenberg, Germany. The act lit the fuse of the greatest schism in
western Christianity and triggered a string of religious wars across
Europe.

Luther fundamentally challenged the authority and elitism of the
Catholic church. His theses, written in Latin, were a backlash against
the highly profitable sale of indulgences ? promoted as fast-track
tickets to heaven ? to fund the building of St Peter?s Basilica in Rome.
He declared that when it came to ?justification? ? avoiding hell or
gaining admission to heaven ? there could be no mediation, no brokering
by the church. Salvation was a matter between an individual and God.

This revolutionary stance was swiftly translated into German and other
European languages, and Luther?s ideas spread across Europe within weeks
thanks to new printing presses, triggering religious, political,
intellectual and cultural upheaval.

Rome condemned him as a heretic, removed him from the priesthood and
banned his writings. In response, the monk publicly burned the papal
bull, or edict. The sale of indulgences plummeted and his ideas took
hold.

As well as widespread bloodshed the Reformation unleashed terrible
destruction of religious heritage and art, but it also gave rise to new
forms of art, music and literature.

In England, Henry VIII ? angered by the pope?s refusal to allow him to
divorce Catherine of Aragon and marry Anne Boleyn ? broke with Rome and
established himself as the head of the Church of England.

The archbishops? statement, issued on the eve of Christian unity week,
follows a plea last autumn by Pope Francis for ?forgiveness for
divisions perpetuated by Christians from the two traditions?.

The leader of the Roman Catholic church said the anniversary of the
Reformation was an ?opportunity to mend a critical moment of our history
by moving beyond the controversies and disagreements that have often
prevented us from understanding one another?.

The separation ?has been an immense source of suffering and
misunderstanding?, the pontiff said.

Francis has put ecumenicalism at the heart of his papacy, building on a
slow rapprochement between the Catholic and Protestant traditions. In
September, the leaders of the Catholic and main Protestant churches in
Germany issued a joint text calling for a ?healing of memories? of past
divisions.

There are, however, fiercely traditionalist elements in both
denominations opposed to any moves towards closer relations, let alone
unity.

Welby and Sentamu?s statement also pointed to the ?great blessings ? to
which the Reformation directly contributed.

?Amongst much else these would include clear proclamation of the gospel
of grace, the availability of the Bible to all in their own language and
the recognition of the calling of laypeople to serve God in the world
and in the church,? they wrote.

END



------------------------------

Message: 5
Date: Thu, 20 Apr 2017 21:18:37 -0400
From: David Virtue <da...@virtueonline.org>
To: "virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org"
<virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org>
Subject: The Untold Story of How the CDF Created the Anglican
Ordinariate
Message-ID:
<1492737517.1851433...@webmail.messagingengine.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

The Untold Story of How the CDF Created the Anglican Ordinariate
Here's why the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith during
Benedict XVI's papacy realized that it had to take charge of the reunion
project

By Peter Jesserer Smith
NATIONAL CATHOLIC REGISTER
http://www.ncregister.com/blog/pjsmith/how-the-cdf-created-the-anglican-ordinariate
April 12, 2017

Benedict XVI gave a tremendous gift to the English-speaking world in
2009, when he finally realized a dream centuries in the making, and
established a permanent canonical home for groups from the Anglican
tradition seeking to enter the Catholic Church with the apostolic
constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus.

Today, the Catholic Church has three Personal Ordinariates -- informally
known as the "Anglican Ordinariates" -- that preserve the Anglican
patrimony in their Catholic parishes, communities, and religious orders.
These Personal Ordinariates have the only English form of the Roman
Missal, promulgated by Pope Francis, called Divine Worship -- an actual
English form, not an English translation of the Latin Mass -- written in
traditional, poetic "Prayer Book" English. Each Personal Ordinariate
covers a region of the globe (Oceania, the United Kingdom, and North
America) and is headed by a bishop or ordinary who falls directly under
the jurisdiction of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

But how did the Vatican determine the solution for corporate unification
with the Catholic Church had to be this structure called a "Personal
Ordinariate?"

The story behind that answer can be found in an illuminating theological
address on the CDF by Bishop Steven Lopes, who was tapped by Pope
Francis to lead the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter
(covering the U.S. and Canada) in 2016.

Bishop Lopes delivered his March 28 address "Unity of Faith in a
Diversity of Expression: The Work of the Congregation for the Doctrine
of the Faith" to a gathering of students and professors of the Institut
f?r Historische Theologie, Liturgiewissenschaft und Sakramententheologie
at the University of Vienna. The bishop is not a convert from
Anglicanism, but is a lifelong Catholic whose work with the Congregation
for the Doctrine of the Faith over 10 years immersed him in the Anglican
patrimony and the project of corporate reunification between groups of
Anglicans and the Catholic Church.

Lessons Learned from Past Attempts

As the CDF searched for how to respond in 2007 to so many requests for
entire Anglican communities to join the Catholic Church, Bishop Lopes
said they tried to find out how the CDF had handled this in the past.
Archbishop Augustine DiNoia, the CDF undersecretary, found that from
1960 to 2005, there were at least "seven serious attempts to effect a
corporate reunion of an Anglican Ecclesial Community with the Catholic
Church."

Why did these attempts fail? Well, the bishop indicated that some of
these attempts failed because the CDF had trusted episcopal conferences
and dioceses to carry out Rome's proposals, and they found ways to kill
these efforts instead for whatever reason -- an age-old story in the
2,000 year history of the Church, but distressing none the less. Bishop
Lopes explained it in these general terms:

[L]et us say, for example, that if the Holy See worked with a group of
Anglicans to elaborate a proposal, and if that proposal was then
entrusted to an Episcopal Conference for implementation, and if that
Episcopal Conference then simply killed the proposal in committee, then
a new approach might involve consultation with local Episcopal
Conferences but reserve the actual oversight and direction of the
implementation to the Holy See itself.

Or if a previous proposal for corporate reunion incardinated the
converting clergy into local Dioceses, and if those priests were then
reassigned or assimilated into the local Diocese so that they could not
minister to their former communities and foster the particular identity
of those communities, then a new approach might involve creating a
juridical structure which would allow the incardination of priests and
the canonical membership of laity so that their distinctiveness was not
lost to assimilation into the much larger sea of Catholic life.

One tragic case is public knowledge enough that Bishop Lopes could speak
of it: the petition of the Anglican Diocese of Amritsar, India to enter
full communion with the Catholic Church over 1977 to 1982. The CDF's
decree authorized full communion also established a "robust liturgical
provision" for them, drawn from the Book of Common Prayer and Roman
sources. He added:

Sadly, this is one of the cases which really did not work, as the
implementation of this decision was left to the local Conference of
Bishops in India and someone at that local level decided that this
liturgical provision was not necessary and so it was never implemented.
Perhaps consequently, the clergy and faithful of that Anglican diocese
of Amritsar faded away and only two priests and maybe 200 lay faithful
were reconciled.

So, this is why the CDF during Benedict XVI's papacy realized that it
had to take full charge of the project of corporate reunion once groups
of Anglicans and other Protestant ecclesial communities petitioned for
full communion.

CDF Protects and Guarantees Catholicity

But rather importantly, as the bishop pointed out, the CDF stands as the
guarantee that the liturgical traditions of the Personal Ordinariates
are fully Catholic in every sense of the word. No one can say otherwise,
or tell lifelong Catholics that the spiritual patrimony of the Personal
Ordinariates is not for them, because the CDF stands behind it. Any
Catholic who wishes to adopt this spiritual patrimony knows its
Catholicity comes guaranteed by Rome.

The address makes clear that the CDF protects the meaning of Catholic --
as "unity in a diverse expression" -- from the forces that would
eliminate Catholic diversity for flattening uniformity, and cultural
assimilation. The CDF's guarantee means the faithful of the Church, from
now until Christ returns in glory, understand that the Anglican
patrimony (and what in the Ordinariate is a truly restored English
Catholic heritage that runs through the Anglican tradition all the way
back to St. Augustine at Kent) is not just a treasure for the Personal
Ordinariate, but is a treasure that belongs to "the whole Church."

"The doctrinal office in the Church is therefore inexorably linked to
the pastoral office, to the nurturing of real people in the faith and
its right expression in the sacramental life," Bishop Lopes said. "And
that unity of faith does permit a vibrant diversity in the expression of
that faith."



------------------------------

Message: 6
Date: Thu, 20 Apr 2017 21:18:57 -0400
From: David Virtue <da...@virtueonline.org>
To: "virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org"
<virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org>
Subject: Remains of five 'lost' Archbishops of Canterbury found
Message-ID:
<1492737537.1851450...@webmail.messagingengine.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Remains of five 'lost' Archbishops of Canterbury found
The coffins were stacked on top of each other in a brick-lined vault

PHOTO: An archbishop's mitre was found resting on top of the coffins
GARDEN MUSEUM

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-39613462
April 16, 2017

The remains of five Archbishops of Canterbury have been found beneath a
medieval parish church next to Lambeth Palace, the Archbishop of
Canterbury's official London residence.

Builders renovating the Garden Museum, housed at the deconsecrated
church of St Mary-at-Lambeth, found a hidden crypt containing 30 lead
coffins.

Site manager Karl Patten said: "We discovered numerous coffins - and one
of them had a gold crown on top of it".

The remains date back to the 1660s.

Mr Patten, from the building contractors Rooff, said his team were
exposing the ground, lifting the flagstones in the church, when they
uncovered an entry to what looked like a tomb.

They used a mobile phone camera on the end of a stick to search the
void.

Among the remains are those of Richard Bancroft, the "chief overseer" of
the King James Bible

The museum's director Christopher Woodward worked with builder Karl
Patten, who made the discovery

Garden Museum Director Christopher Woodward said he received a call from
the builders and immediately assumed something had gone wrong with the
project.

"But wow, it was the crown - it's the mitre of an archbishop, glowing in
the dark," he said.

The red and gold mitre was resting on top of one of the coffins - which
were stacked on top of each other in a brick-lined vault.

The Sunday Telegraph's Harry Mount, the first outsider to be granted
access, said: "It is a spine-tingling view".

The coffins have been left undisturbed, though builders have installed a
glass panel in the chancel floor above them for visitors to catch a
glimpse.

Two of the coffins had nameplates - one for Richard Bancroft (in office
from 1604 to 1610) and one for John Moore (1783 to 1805) whose wife,
Catherine Moore, also had a coffin plate.

Bancroft was the chief overseer of the publication of a new English
translation of the Bible - the King James Bible - which began in 1604
and was published in 1611.

According to Mr Mount, St Mary-at-Lambeth's records have since revealed
that a further three archbishops were probably buried in the vault:
Frederick Cornwallis (in office 1768 to 1783), Matthew Hutton (1757 to
1758) and Thomas Tenison (1695 to 1715).

The church was originally built in the 11th Century during Edward the
Confessor's reign.

A sixth, Thomas Secker (1758 to 1768) had his internal organs buried in
a canister in the churchyard.

Also identified from coffin plates was the Dean of Arches John
Bettesworth (who lived from 1677 to 1751) - the judge who sits at the
ecclesiastical court of the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Beyond that, Mr Woodward said: "We still don't know who else is down
there".

However, further clues may lie in the history of the church.

One of the most sacred and precious sites in London, St Mary's was built
in the 11th Century along London's Embankment, opposite Westminster
Abbey, by St Edward the Confessor's sister.

Mr Woodward said: "This church had two lives: it was the parish church
of Lambeth, this little village by the river...but it was also a kind of
annex to Lambeth Palace itself.

"And over the centuries a significant number of the archbishops'
families and archbishops themselves chose to worship here, and chose to
be buried here."

The church was due to be demolished before becoming the Garden Museum in
the 1970s

Though the church is steeped in history, Mr Woodward and his team did
not expect to make such an exciting discovery.

He said: "We thought there was no crypt because it's so close to the
Thames that it would have been flooded.

"The Victorians cleared hundreds, if not thousands, of coffins out [of
the grounds] to make this new building - nobody told us to expect to
find anything."

Wesley Kerr, chair of the Heritage Lottery Fund from 2007 to 2014, said:
"This is really astonishing - this is one of the most incredible things
I've seen... To know that possibly the person that commissioned the King
James Bible is buried here is the most incredible discovery and greatly
adds to the texture of this project."

Deconsecrated in 1972, St Mary's was due to be demolished before
becoming the Garden Museum.

In October 2015, the museum closed for 18 months to undergo a ?7.5m
redevelopment project and is due to reopen next month.

END



------------------------------

Message: 7
Date: Thu, 20 Apr 2017 21:19:19 -0400
From: David Virtue <da...@virtueonline.org>
To: "virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org"
<virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org>
Subject: Keep Christians in the Public Square
Message-ID:
<1492737559.1851485...@webmail.messagingengine.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Keep Christians in the Public Square

By Rod Dreher
http://www.breakpoint.org
March 28, 2017

In his new book, "The Benedict Option," my friend Rod Dreher makes a
sobering and sadly accurate claim: "Christians who hold to the biblical
teaching about sex and marriage, have the same status in culture, and
increasingly in law, as racists."

Rod says that it is inevitable that believers in Jesus Christ will lose
their jobs--some already have--and face other forms of bullying if they
don't go along. Many in our increasingly secular culture want to chase
Christians out of the public square altogether.

Among other things, that would be a disaster for half a million homeless
people.

According to a new study out of Baylor University, faith-based
organizations provide 58 percent of emergency shelter beds for the
homeless in eleven cities across the nation. In Omaha, faith-based
organizations (or FBOs) provide a whopping 90 percent of the available
emergency shelter beds. In Houston, it's 79 percent; in Indianapolis, 78
percent; in Baltimore, 74 percent. So where would all these homeless
people go if Christians who do acts of compassion out of a faith
perspective are no longer around?

But it's not just the quantity of work that Christians do for the
homeless day in and day out. It's also the quality of the work. Baylor
researchers Byron Johnson and William Wubbenhorst found that FBOs are
"at the forefront of innovation" in helping to transform homeless people
and their families through a variety of education, healthcare, job
training, and addiction recovery services.

Many government programs see the primary cause of homelessness as a
simple lack of affordable housing. Most FBOs, however, know the problem
usually runs a lot deeper, and they do a better job of getting to know
their clients and what they really need, leading to better outcomes for
their clients and their cities. Many of the homeless, for example, have
no meaningful relationships. FBOs can begin giving them the relational
capital they need.

Jim Reese, who is the president and CEO of Atlanta Mission, which serves
1,000 homeless people every day, told Christianity Today that "Instead
of being a kitchen cook, you'd be out at the tables with the people. How
do you change lives? It comes from creating a relationship with them and
building trust."

As Byron Johnson notes, "In most cases, people become homeless due to a
range of complex personal and societal factors, not just because they
cannot afford a home. Our conclusions demonstrate that faith-based
organizations are in a unique position to treat the systemic issues that
create homelessness to develop sustainable solutions for both
individuals and municipalities."

Indeed. I've seen the same dynamic at work at the pregnancy care
ministry run by my lovely wife right here in New York. Yes,
relationships matter--and so does faith.

And this isn't just touchy-feely talk. The Baylor study estimates that
FBOs create $9.42 in taxpayer savings for every dollar spent by the
government. It also shows that the 11 cities in the study achieved
around $119 million in tax savings during the first three years after
the faith-based Residential Recovery and Job Readiness programs were
implemented. So faith is not only good for the soul, it's good for
taxpayers and the bottom line.

But according to Christianity Today, churches and other FBOs can face
hurdles from local governments and communities as they try to provide
hope for the homeless--everything from ordinances restricting the
distribution of food to attempts to regulate shelters out of existence.
Given all that faith-based organizations do for the homeless--and all
the money they save taxpayers--that's just crazy.

So the next time someone tells you that society would be better off
without Christian influence, do not believe it. Then go volunteer to
help at, or at least write a check to, your local faith-based
organization that helps the homeless.

We should re-double our assistance to the homeless and the helpless
through faith-based organizations. It's an effort Christians can
whole-heartedly endorse, but it's also a win-win situation for the
government's bottom line. For more details on this subject as well as
information on the new Baylor study, check out the resources listed
below.



------------------------------

Message: 8
Date: Thu, 20 Apr 2017 21:19:45 -0400
From: David Virtue <da...@virtueonline.org>
To: "virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org"
<virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org>
Subject: Why Are So Many Lesbians Getting Pregnant?
Message-ID:
<1492737585.1851490...@webmail.messagingengine.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Why Are So Many Lesbians Getting Pregnant?

By Glenn Stanton
WITHERSPOON INSTITUTE
http://tinyurl.com/ltybpnh
April 19, 2017

One's sexual orientation is supposed to be locked in and unchangeable,
like sex, race, or ethnicity. But high pregnancy rates among lesbians
confound that narrative.
It makes for an illogical syllogism.

Premise A: Lesbians are sexually attracted to women only.
Premise B: Women cannot impregnate women.
Conclusion: Lesbians have higher pregnancy rates than non-lesbian women.
It's contrary to all reason, but it's true. Lesbians have significantly
higher pregnancy rates than their heterosexual peers. It's also true for
teen gay males. They are substantially more likely to impregnate their
sexual partners than are heterosexual males.

Multiple studies with samples drawn from various nations find that
sexual-minority youth aged fourteen to nineteen have pregnancy rates two
to seven times greater than their heterosexual peers. Their pregnancy
rates continue to rise, even though the overall teen pregnancy rate is
declining in the United States.

Only one study to date has examined the pregnancy rates of adult
sexual-minority women who are eighteen to forty-four years old.
Published late last year, it reveals the same thing: unintended
pregnancies are higher among sexual-minority women than their
heterosexual peers. Their proportion for ending pregnancies by abortion
is double that of heterosexual women.

Clearly something's up here, and it is doubtful that the rules of human
reproduction have drastically evolved. Clearly these pregnancies cannot
all be assigned to bisexuals. Still, it is curious that those who go
both ways still have higher pregnancy rates than heterosexuals. The
numbers among those who identify as gay and lesbian remain unbelievably
high. Could it be possible that being lesbian or gay is not quite as
absolute or fixed as gender theorists want us to believe? One's sexual
orientation is supposed to be locked in and unchangeable, like sex,
race, or ethnicity. But this pregnancy phenomenon confounds that
narrative.

What's Going On Here?

It would be one thing if lesbians occasionally got pregnant and if gays
every now and then impregnated a woman. Some people tend toward
adventure, right? But think about what we have going on here. We know
that as a whole, heterosexual youth are more sexually active than nearly
every adult would wish. Their pregnancy rates are higher than any would
wish, as well. It's a national concern. But gays and lesbians have a two
to seven times greater rate of pregnancy and double the rate of
abortion. That's a great deal of pregnancy-possible sex going on among
teens who are supposedly not oriented or "born that way." This raises
two serious questions.

First, what's going on in the emotional lives of these particular youths
that has them behaving in such a hyper-sexualized manner? What emptiness
are they seeking to fill? Their own dignity demands honest
investigation, free of ideological assumptions. Insisting it's simply a
lack of good sex education or social affirmation is nothing short of
malpractice. Second, do these identities we call "gay" and "lesbian"
actually exist in the way we assume they do? They certainly exist as
political or social identities. But in functional reality, that seems
less clear.

This broad disparity in pregnancy and abortion rates indicates that
there is far more going on here than gay and lesbian folks simply coming
to terms with their sexuality. It seems to make a case for mutability.
This complexity is certainly not confined to adolescent sexuality.

Is Sexual Orientation Fluid and Changeable?

Erotic plasticity. Sexual fluidity. These are terms coined by scholars
to explain that the fixedness of orientation is often illusory in
adulthood as well. This fluidity is particularly true for women, making
the L of LGBT a dramatically different animal at its very core than the
G. Through his clinical research on the subject, Northwestern
University's J. Michael Bailey questions whether a female sexual
orientation exists at all. He contends that we cannot miss that male and
female sexual natures are markedly different things, so much so that the
singular, life-long lesbian is a rare creature. Female sexual interests
and behaviors are shaped more by social, cultural, emotional, and
situational developments.

In her important book, Sexual Fluidity, Professor Lisa Diamond laments
the mistaken assumption that lesbianism is fixed like male homosexuality
and argues that this belief is the result of gay-normativity and male
prejudice in gay research. She hopes that this has changed slightly in
the last decade, revealing a picture of male and female sexual
orientation as "distinct phenomena instead of two sides of the same
coin." It reveals that "one of the fundamental, defining features of
female sexual orientation is its fluidity," a "situation-dependent
flexibility in women's sexual responsiveness," making it possible for
women to desire either men or women under certain situations regardless
of their generally identified "sexual orientation." If this is true, it
means lesbianism is not an orientation as we popularly understand the
term today. Diamond concludes,

This is why a woman like Anne Heche can suddenly find herself falling
madly in love with Ellen DeGeneres after an exclusively heterosexual
past [and present], and why a longtime lesbian can experience her very
first other-sex attractions in her forties.

Not only is female sexuality itself fluid, but so are the personal
identifiers women choose for themselves. Remarkably, more than 50
percent of women who had both male and female partners in the last year
identify not as bisexual or lesbian, but heterosexual. Eleven percent of
women who have known only female sex partners identify as heterosexual,
and--remarkably--only 19 percent of women who've ever had sex with
another woman consider themselves either "lesbian" or "homosexual." A
young woman recently told me that she is a lesbian, but she is primarily
attracted to men. Apparently she's not an outlier.

Lesbianism and gayness are more different than they are similar in very
fundamental ways. The gay male is more likely to stay in one lane for
life, even while his sexual desire is generally more aggressive and he
seeks greater diversity in partners than do women. However, judging by
the pregnancy-risk data, younger men who identify as homosexual appear
to be much more fluid in their actions than has been previously assumed.
Does this mean that male same-sex attraction is more developmental than
it is fixed? We don't know.

But it's a question worth researching. This has important policy
implications for today. When we establish certain rights and
accessibilities based on one's sexual orientation and identity--and thus
the punishment and severe public shaming of those who violate them--we
are operating on ground that is more subjective than many would like us
to believe.

Glenn T. Stanton is Director of Global Family Formation Studies at Focus
on the Family




------------------------------

Message: 9
Date: Thu, 20 Apr 2017 21:20:22 -0400
From: David Virtue <da...@virtueonline.org>
To: "virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org"
<virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org>
Subject: WE WANT BARABBAS -- A Destructive Episcopal Trend in the
Anglican Communion
Message-ID:
<1492737622.1851591...@webmail.messagingengine.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

WE WANT BARABBAS -- A Destructive Episcopal Trend in the Anglican
Communion
Church of South India (CSI) is being vandalised and torn apart by
corruption at the highest levels of the Church

By Joseph G. Muthuraj
Special to VIRTUEONLINE
www.virtueonline.org
April 16, 2017

The Episcopacy in the Church of South India (CSI) is being vandalised
and torn apart by alleged corruption and criminalities that has seen
hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of movable and immovable
properties disappear over the years and into the hands of corrupt
bishops and their family members.

Who put Jesus to death? -- a question relevant for this passion week.
Pope Benedict XVI answered the question thus: The real group of accusers
are the current Temple authorities, joined in the context of the
Passover amnesty by the "crowd" of Barabbas' supporters. Geza Vermes
agreed with the Pope: the guilt lies, he declared, with the temple
aristocracy and the pro-Barabbas mob.

Eloquent insult when the temple authorities and pro-Barabbas group
shouted, "Away with this man, give us Barabbas. The fact remains in the
present generation too that the people and bishops prefer Barabbas and
they have a heart for him. In short, there is an accepted trend to be
drawn to the side in favour of Barabbas than on to the side of Jesus the
Christ. It happened 2000 years ago and it is happening even now.

The Rt. Rev. Devakadasham, a former Moderator of the Church of South
India (2009-2013) recently visited the home of Mrs. Sasikala, a
political Supremo in the state of Tamilnadu, South India in February
2017 in order to bless her and to obtain illegal favours.

Sasikala is a notorious criminal and has already been arrested twice on
various charges of corruption and fraud and she has served jail time.
She began her career as a servant-maid, a helper of the Chief Minister
of the Indian State of Tamilnadu, Miss. Jayalalitha, one of the most
powerful rulers in the political history of South India. Sasikala later
became a close friend and key confidante of the Chief Minister. Through
her relatives Sasikala controlled the government and its activities both
directly and indirectly almost like a bandit queen. A woman who could
not own a bicycle now became a multi-millionaire!

Sasikala was subsequently arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a
money-laundering case under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act and
served 10 months in jail, and in April 1997. She was again sent to
prison in December 2011 for a month. Following both releases, she
returned with increased power and more political influence. The
pecuniary resources and properties registered in their names were
overwhelmingly disproportionate to their known sources of income and
judged to be criminal misconduct punishable under the Anti-Corruption
Act of 1988.

On her death on December 5, 2016 Miss. Jayalalitha, the Chief Minister,
escaped prison. Sasikala went on to serve a prison sentence of four
years from 14 February 2017, heavily fined and her ill-gotten properties
were ordered confiscated.

When Bishop Kadasham of Kannyakumari diocese, the bishop of
Madurai-Ramnad and Vellore dioceses (not in this picture) sought an
audience with Mrs. Sasikala, it kindled sorrow and brought forth tears
to the eyes of the right-thinking and faithful CSI Christians.
Abandoning his role as a shepherd of 200,000 Christians in Kannyakumari
diocese, Bishop Kadasham sought shelter under the power and influence
from the famous Sasikala. Her 'rags to riches' story was appealing to
him as a model pursuit in the episcopal life full of politics of power
and authority.

Realizing their guilt and possible imprisonment for their own financial
irregularities, the bishops searched for hope and salvation from
Sasikala and during the course of a meeting with her a couple of months
ago they administered blessing to her. However, their dreams of pardon
were shattered when Sasikala was sentenced to a four-year
imprisonmentfor her own corrupt behaviour.

The episcopal culture of CSI has deviated far from the teachings of our
Lord and those who were his servant-disciples. They are driven by the
instincts of Barabbas than by the spirit of Jesus.

The Barabbas character seems to pervert the central image of episcopacy
in the CSI. A number of Criminal Revision Cases against the Rt. Rev.
Devakadasham were disposed of on March 2, 2017 by the High Court of
Judicature in Madras where he and several other church officials were
ordered to pay fines to the court. The amount of fines was quite nominal
but the fact that the court fined a bishop brings ill-repute to
episcopacy.

These cases are still ongoing and have been referred back to the
Economic Offence Court with an instruction to deal with them
expeditiously. Similar judgements were passed on February 21, 2017
against another former CSI Moderator of this century, the Rt. Rev. B. P.
Sugandhar.

The Church of South India (CSI) public have been made aware of the fact
that there are currently not less than seven First Investigation Reports
(FIRs) standing against the Rt. Rev. Devakadasham on charges of theft of
millions of dollars, the illegal sale of church properties, forgery,
cheating, abuse of power, and more. It is learnt that it is about 10
FIRs against Bishop Dyva to date!

Why did Kadasham who is carrying the weight of all the court cases and
FIRs against him and with no ability to counter lawfully the rising
opposition to his leadership in the Kannyakumari diocese, want to
introduce himself to a known indicted and a criminal leader called
Sasikala! According to him, she has the charisma to protect him and
choosing Christ would become a fatal mistake and a liability.

More news broke between the months of January and March 2017 in the CSI
when it was learned that on 26 February 2017 a First Investigation
Report had been filed by the Police against a former Moderator Bishop
Dyvairvadam on charges of instigating sexual molestation of a pastor's
wife. The Bishop also has another FIR registered on 25 May 2014 with
similar charges this time involving himself with an alleged molestation
of the same woman. The enquiry is on despite so many adjournments to
delay it!

A First Investigated Report was filed by the Police in South India on
February 22, 2017 against a list of persons in the Diocese of Coimbatore
in which its bishop, Timothy Ravinder, faces charges of criminal
conspiracy, criminal breach of trust by a clerk or servant and for
cheating and dishonesty. The investigation is ongoing.

It was reported in a local daily Newspaper March 17, 2017 that an arrest
warrant was issued against the bishop M. Joseph of Madurai-Ramnad
diocese for illegally withholding the post-retirements benefits of a
woman teacher. It is reported that the bishop went for a quick
settlement to avoid arrest and imprisonment.

The Serious Fraud Investigation Office, appointed by the Indian
Government to investigate the alleged financial misdeeds of the CSI
Trust Association from 8 July 2016, could not perform its task as the
CSI Synod hierarchy has stalled its proceedings by obtaining a stay from
the court. Some members of CSI are fighting hard at the court to lift
the stay so that the Investigation can resume and the corrupt and fraud
deeds are officially exposed. The man in the foreground blocking the
investigation is the son of the former Moderator, Bishop B. P. Sugandhar
well supported by bishop Dyva. There are several examples of the bishops
and Moderators' children and relatives wielding enormous power and
control fighting to protect the money and properties taken over from the
church. Leaders and their generations worship money and power and Christ
is crucified by them.

Bishop Dyvasirvadam, the bishop of Krishna-Godavari diocese, is managing
the affairs of the educational institutions of his diocese under a
different Trust run by him, his wife and some relatives and faithful
friends who will never deflect. Accordingly, most of the financial
proceeds from the educational institutions of the diocese will end up in
the accounts managed by his Trust. The properties of the schools and
colleges may be owned by the diocese on paper (for no one knows for how
long) but the profits from them will not reach the diocesan accounts!

In "historic episcopate locally adapted" the historical precedent that
works is not the first and second century episcopoi but the
not-too-distant human predecessors who have left track records of
corruption and irresponsible leadership. It will take long years to
break and undo the trail of destructive characteristics that are
imprinted on episcopacy. The episcopal duties hover around building
assets disproportionate to bishops' known income, property acquisitions
for themselves, making avenues for family members and relatives to earn
enough money for generations through ill-management of church resources,
attempting to mask bank exchanges, vast track of church lands being sold
for pittance with the unofficial portion of the sale proceeds shared
between the ruling elites etc. For them, Barabbas is the best bet
compared to Jesus.

Christ can be easily de-selected by the lust of world power, robbery and
other criminal activities. Barabbas, the robber's actions and values are
more embraceable than Jesus' whose ideals would not permit committing
corrupt actions and then feigning ignorance. The bishops queued up to
meet the tried, convicted, officially declared guilty person Sasikala,
not to tell her about Christ and His call for holiness and salvation but
to betray Christ. They do not want a man in whom no fault was found.

Corruption is noticeable in another interesting area. It is a part of
the episcopal culture to purchase from somewhere a honorary degree of
Doctor of Divinity so that episcopacy looks to be set in a high pedestal
of scholastic achievement. Bishops think that it is their privilege to
have an honorary doctoral degree granted to them by fake and
unrecognised institutions/organisations. Almost all the CSI bishops
possess honorary doctoral degrees and many either grabbed it or received
it soon after their consecration. One or two have earned doctoral
degrees for their academic achievement. The Rt. Rev. Devakadasham was
honoured with a DD by the Senate of Serampore University which is the
responsible academic organisation for protestant theological education
in India founded by the famous missionary William Carey and the
Serampore Trio. Please note that committing plagiarism to a certain
level is officially permissible in the Senate Serampore academic system!
The honorary theological DDs are gifted away to bishops so that mediocre
leaders will look highly qualified and with that they could demand high
honour and respect in a society like India. This cannot neutralise the
hard earned degrees of the theologians and their true service to the
Church.

The Bishop Rt. Rev. A. C. Solomon Raj, the current bishop of the Medak
Diocese, Hyderabad who is known for his drinking and financial
mismanagement and who barely managed to secure his Bachelor of Divinity
degree (was also made bishop by disputable decisions by the former
Moderator Dyva) was bestowed an honorary Doctor of Divinity by the
Andhra Christian Theological College, Hyderabad. Bishop Dyva one of the
most corrupt leaders that CSI has ever produced is the Chairman of the
Governing Body of the ACTC. All he had to do was to pass a resolution at
the Governing Council and then ask his most faithful disciple A. C.
Solomon Raj to receive the degree in a ceremony.

In similar fashion, Bishop Dyva has been instrumental in granting DDs to
the Rt. Rev. Pushpa Lalitha, Bishop of Nandyal diocese, a close friend
of bishop Dyva and also to his dear wife Mrs. Ramani Dyvasirvadam. All
of them spent weeks and months celebrating publicly in their dioceses
their achievement of securing DD degrees.

The episcopal culture of CSI has deviated from Jesus (the Son of the
Father) to another Jesus the Barabbas (the son of the father). The
nature and character symbolised by Barabbas seems to be the
most-sought-after ideal in the Church today. Isn't it blasphemy?
Remember, it is these kind of bishops who are going to be sitting in the
front row at the Lambeth Conference, 2020!

Rev. Dr. Joseph G Muthuraj, is former Professor of New Testament at the
United Theological College, Bengaluru, South India



------------------------------

Message: 10
Date: Thu, 20 Apr 2017 21:20:45 -0400
From: David Virtue <da...@virtueonline.org>
To: "virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org"
<virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org>
Subject: How can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead?
- 1 Corinthians 15:12-19
Message-ID:
<1492737645.1851599...@webmail.messagingengine.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

How can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? - 1
Corinthians 15:12-19

By Ted Schroder
www.tedschroder.com
April 23, 2017

The atheist says, "There is no God, and therefore there is no life
eternal." The agnostic says, "I do not know if Jesus is God and
therefore I do not know if he was raised from the dead." The materialist
says, "There is no reality except physical life, and therefore there is
nothing beyond this mortal life." The philosopher says, "There may be
spiritual universals and therefore there may be some kind of immortality
of the soul." The secularist says, "I don't care whether God exists and
therefore any religion is irrelevant to me." Jesus said, "A time is
coming when all who are in their graves will hear God's voice and come
out -- those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have
done evil will rise to be condemned"(John 5:28,29). The Bible teaches
that there will be a general resurrection of the dead. "Multitudes who
sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life,
others to shame and everlasting contempt" (Daniel 12:2).

The Apostle Paul argues in 1 Corinthians 15 that the resurrection of the
dead is essential to the Christian faith. He argues, first of all, from
the premise that Jesus the Christ was seen by hundreds of people who are
still living and can attest to their experience of him. He was seen, not
as a ghost, but as a solid, bodily presence who could be touched and who
could share a meal with them. When his disciples were startled and
frightened thinking they saw a ghost, he said to them, "Why are you
troubled, and why do doubts arise in your minds? Look at my hands and my
feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and
bones, as you see I have" (Luke 24:38,39).

That Christ rose in bodily form is proof of the resurrection of the dead
to those who believe in him. Down through the ages, beginning with St.
Paul himself, countless people have experienced the presence of the
risen Christ. If there is no resurrection of the dead then not even
Christ has been raised and all these appearances are mere
hallucinations.

Secondly, he argues that "if Christ has not been raised, our preaching
is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be
false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he
raised Christ from the dead." Central to the proclamation of the Gospel
by the apostles, as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, is the
resurrection. When Paul presented his defense to Governor Felix he
declared that "there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and
the wicked." In Athens he argued that God has given proof to all men of
the last judgment by raising Jesus from the dead. Peter at Pentecost
quoted David's prophecy when "he spoke of the resurrection of the
Christ, that he was no abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see
decay. God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of
the fact."

My New Testament professor, C. Kingsley Barrett, in his commentary on
this passage wrote, "Take out the resurrection, and there is nothing
left....If there is no resurrection, the Christian proclamation is a lie
placed where it is likely to do most damage, in a statement about God...
In other words, Christianity is completely destroyed: you might as well
never have believed at all."

Why would the apostles proclaim something that was false? What would be
their motivation? They suffered and were persecuted for this belief.
What had they to gain by perpetuating a lie? The Message translates
these words, "If there's no resurrection for Christ, everything we've
told you is smoke and mirrors, and everything you've staked your life on
is smoke and mirrors. Not only that, but we would be guilty of telling
you a string of barefaced lies about God, all these affidavits we passed
on to you verifying that God raised up Christ -- sheer fabrications, if
there's no resurrection."

You can't have a Christianity that is sweet talk about ethical behavior,
or an emotional spirituality, or social justice for the oppressed, or
prophetic indignation, without the reality of the resurrection of Jesus.
Christianity without the resurrection is worthless. Without the
resurrection of Christ your faith is useless.

Thirdly, he argues that if Christ has not been raised, your faith is
futile and you are still in your sins. In other words, there is no
forgiveness, there is no salvation, there is no good news, no Gospel.
Christianity is completely destroyed, you might as well never have
believed at all. In many churches where the resurrection is not
proclaimed the message is merely one of good thoughts and exhortations
to good behavior. There is an attempt to provide comfort to those who
suffer but there is no Gospel content or salvation message to transform
human lives mired in sin. If there is no resurrection then death has
won, there is no victory over the human condition of condemnation and
alienation from God. If Christ is dead and buried there is no hope, no
redemption. If Christ is dead what has he to give us? If Christ is dead
then his promises to be the resurrection and the life, that those who
believe in him will never die, are empty promises that cannot be
fulfilled.

Lastly, he argues that if Christ has not been raised, then those who
have fallen asleep in him are lost. They died under a delusion of a
future life in Christ. They died hoping in Christ and resurrection. But
that hope is in vain if Christ has not been raised. They thought that
death was falling asleep in Christ -- falling asleep in his arms of
mercy and love, that the day of their death would see them in paradise
with the Lord. They believed that they would wake up in his presence. We
believed that we would one day be caught up together with them to meet
the Lord and so we would be with the Lord forever (1 Thessalonians
4:17). But without the resurrection of Christ they are lost forever. We
will never see them again. We ourselves have nothing to look forward to.
Are the materialists right? Is there nothing beyond this physical life
of space and time? Have we come from nothing and do we go to nothing? Do
we perish like the grass which withers and the flowers fall? Is that the
reality which we must face with courage and resignation? Is there no
advantage in being a Christian? Is our hope a delusion? So Paul
concludes, "If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be
pitied more than all men." In other words, we would be putting our trust
in something which is fraudulent, a Ponzi scheme of theology which
deceives us and cannot deliver any rewards.

You can see how important the resurrection of Christ is to our faith and
life here on earth. Without it we and all our loved ones are lost. When
you or your loved ones face death what do you believe will happen? "What
will become of you?" said a non-Christian, "Supposing there should be no
resurrection?" "Well," said the believer, "I like to have two strings to
my bow. If there is no hereafter, I am as well off as you are; if there
is I am infinitely better off. But where are you? If in this life there
is, indeed, a hope of a life to come, then you shall be in the next life
of all men most miserable for you will not be prepared. You will still
be in your sins."

Jesus said, "In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a
little while you will see me. You will grieve, but your grief will be
turned to joy" (John 16:16,20). "I will come back and take you to be
with me that you also may be where I am" (John 14:3).

If you want to be forgiven, if you want to experience the salvation of
God, if you want to enter into life eternal, life in all its fullness,
if you want to walk in the Spirit of freedom, if you want to become
mature, if you want to enter into the kingdom of God, if you want to
know the love of God, then believe in the resurrection of Christ, put
your trust in his grace, his gift of the true and living way that is
everlasting.

END



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