Features
PB sermon turns silk purse into sow’s ear
I think that last Sunday’s lesson from Acts is one of the Bible’s best for preaching the liberating power of Christ. It is a passage that even progressives should find inspiring on several levels. Unless you are the Presiding Bishop, who sees the complete opposite. Instead of liberation, there is confinement. Instead of Christ’s glory, there’s just squalor.
Don’t Sign the Letter
Living in a condition of regular unrepentant sexual engagement with a person of the same sex is, according to 1 Cor 6:9-10, damnable. The best thing, the only thing, to be done is to repent, break off the relationship, and turn to Jesus Christ. For the sake of those engaged in this sin (and those who are tempted by it) there can be no pastoral or practical accommodation.
A Facebook Exchange with a COE Bishop
It’s sometimes unpleasant to have one’s rhetorical inconsistencies mocked and it’s sometimes unpleasant to have someone else in one’s organization point out that there’s no commonality on one’s faith.
How to Never Say Anything True About Jesus to Anyone Ever
The apostles did not wait, nor do they ever suggest waiting, until hearers might “receive the gospel as good news” before proclaiming it. The cross offends. It always will because it amplifies the sinfulness of human sin and the helplessness of humanity apart from the work of Christ.
Beware the Next Reichstag Fire
The American left probes for a Reichstag fire moment. There is a quest for an incident that will allow more centralization of emergency power in the federal government, the elimination of constitutional rights and, it would appear, the advent of a single party state.
Eichmann to Gosnell, Ragsdale on the Assist
I don’t think I’m violating any confidences to say that most of us at Stand Firm are finding it very hard to cover the Gosnell trial, as relevant and pointed as it is for the kinds of faith and culture issues we engage here. Monstrous as he is, he is but a microcosm of evil pervading the church and the world.
Once More into the Breach: The Silly Shellfish Argument Rises Again
If you’re a revisionist activist devoted to normalizing homosexual behavior in the church, Acts 10 isn’t a moving account of the gracious and merciful hand of God extending salvation to the Gentiles – it’s a threat that must be neutralized.
Burning Incense to Rosie O’Donnell
“Marriage equality” lets people stand on a cost-free moral high ground. You’re a good person just for holding the opinion, saying the slogan, burning the pinch of incense. You are an accepted member of the in group and can look down your nose at those on the outs.
Sexual Immorality is a Rejection of Jesus
What I want to do here is look at the specific way in which the New Testament equates false teaching about sexual ethics with false teaching about Jesus and outright denial of his Lordship.
The Duke, the Dauphin, and the Episcopal Bishop of Virginia
It’s such a crude and farcical fraud by now—like the Duke and the Dauphin capering across the stage in Huckleberry Finn—and yet our bishops still put on the play with nary a trace of embarrassment or self-awareness.
Learning the Right Lessons: No One Should be Surprised by Shannon Johnston
To promote the notion that two people of the same sex can be married and/or engage in sexual acts within the context of a union God has blessed is not simply to reject God’s revealed purposes for human sexuality, it is also to construct a false image of god, a distorted portrait of Christ.
Truro - the Crisis for the Communion
Simply put, Baucum/Truro have crystallised and provided validation to what is becoming increasingly clear is Justin Welby’s approach of non-discipline of heretics in the Communion
Truro - the Crisis for the ACNA
Truro’s position effectively demands that all former Virginia parishes revert to TEC.
The Devil, You Say
Was Adam Lanza, the Newtown gunman, the Devil’s agent? To put it another way, can the possibility be foreclosed? Because if it can be, the Prince of Darkness is off the hook, and we turn, necessarily, to the examination of purely human causes and motives
Mindy McCready and the New American Priesthood
One hopes that a real priest, pastor or somebody will come alongside McCready’s abandoned children, with a word more enduring than film scripts or pop lyrics.
Promises, Promises: What Now for the Loyal Opposition in Mississippi?
The Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi is on an irreversible path toward full-on celebration and normalization of homosexuality and transgenderism, and any other deviant sexual cause that becomes fashionable among the theological leftists who run the diocese.
What’s our message to those who aren’t having sex?
Just like there’s all kinds of sex going on, there’s all kinds of celibacy going on. Some celibacy is temporary, some is permanent. Some is planned, some is an intrusion. Some is honored, some is reviled.
The Week
Friday Palate Cleanser: Spectacular B&W Photos of New York City
From the Daily Mail, where there is more: Almost a million images of New York and its municipal operations have been made public for the first time on the internet.…
It’s the end of the world as we know it (and that’s great!)
1 More analysis on the future of the US, this time from Kevin Williamson over at the New York Post: Our key economic failings are in…
Reforming the Republic IV: Educate; Do Not Enstupidate[*]
Four interesting ideas on education reform, from Red State where there is more: Implementing a new Common Core of unenforceable and utterly ignored standards is not going…
Actions Still Speak Louder Than Words
When children get caught doing something they should not have done, most parents try to make sure the end result is that the child is actually sorry for the action and not simply sorry he…
Robert J. Samuelson Discusses Risk, Reality and America’s Future
Interesting analysis from Red State, where there is more: Back when I worked as an Operational Tester for Sam’s Army, I was at Ft. Campbell working in my data…
Free Speech For Me, But Not For Thee
3 Got an email from Sojourners today. Raising money for the latest crusade, naturally. This one is about immigration, and the pitch is: Sojourners wants to buy ads on Pandora to counter FAIR’s hateful rhetoric. Will…
Why Men Have Stopped Singing In Church
10 Interesting stuff from the Church for Men blog: First, a very quick history of congregational singing. Before the Reformation, laypersons were not allowed to sing in church. Sacred music was performed by…
Cranmer on Slaughter of British Soldier on Streets of London
1 The Muslim Council of Britain rushed out a swift statement, washing its hands of the murder, repudiating utterly any link with Islam: “A barbaric act that has no basis in Islam and we condemn this…
Yet Another Reason to Support Second Amendment Rights
6 When seconds count, the police are only minutes away. “Uh, I don’t have anybody to send out there,” the 911 dispatcher told the woman. “You know, obviously, if…
How my mother’s fanatical views tore us apart
3 Although she won’t think so, this is a devastating indictment of both Alice Walker and her ideology. From the Daily Mail, where there is more: My parents met and fell…
Religion of Molech Defends Late-Term Baby-Killing
2 The priests of Molech from the Religious Coalition on Reproductive Choice have weighed in on a proposal that would ban abortion in the District of Columbia after 20 weeks.…
Awesome and Shibboleths of Community
1 More on community and church choices, this time from Red State: Again, this sounds a lot like deciding the grass is greener elsewhere because of what others say. I…
Capitalism and Community
I’ve skipped the great excerpt from Senator Lee’s speech, so make sure you hustle over to Red State to read it all: This is a significant point, and it…
The Art of the Non-Apology by Rachel Held Evans
7 Hey look, so I recognize that hypothetically speaking it is possible that I might potentially write something that might be construed by some people as “wrong”. And I want to apologize to…
Jurgen Liias’s Move to Rome: A Spiritual Autobiography
16 Here’s another man’s thoughts about his church search. Obviously, I disagree with his foundational assumption which is that Rome’s assertions about its identity as “one true church”…
Recent Comments
Cranmerian - All is Well™ - Georgia Division
I too attended the meeting with Bp. Benhase in August of 2010, and there is more information that needs to be added about that meeting. When the rectors called the diocesan office to request a…
Words Matter - Jurgen Liias's Move to Rome: A Spiritual Autobiography
Obviously I was half-right/half-wrong on the marriage promise thing. It is required that the Catholic promise to make an effort to raise the kids Catholic, with attention to maintaining the the peace of the household:…
frhutch - All is Well™ - Georgia Division
Fr. Mears assured the good bishop in his meeting that he did not want to leave TEC. Unfortunately, +Benhase didn’t understand the response. But, then he truly doesn’t listen. In August of 2010 a number…
FrJim - All is Well™ - Georgia Division
How horribly sad. I know Will Willoughby personally and like him. His decisions of recent memory are personally disappointing, but not unexpected. I wish him and the good people of St. Paul’s well. As for…
Betty See - Jurgen Liias's Move to Rome: A Spiritual Autobiography
If anyone is interested in understanding the differences between the Anglican view and the Roman Catholic view, you can find the 39 Articles of Religion here: http://anglicansonline.org/basics/thirty-nine_articles.html
Already Gone - Jurgen Liias's Move to Rome: A Spiritual Autobiography
With regard to the raising of children when one spouse is not Catholic: Code of Cannon Law Can. 1125… 1/ the Catholic party is to declare that he or she is prepared to remove dangers…
Already Gone - Jurgen Liias's Move to Rome: A Spiritual Autobiography
With regard to what the Catholic Church understands itself to be: Catholic Catechism 816 The sole Church of Christ [is that] which our Savior, after his Resurrection, entrusted to Peter’s pastoral care, commissioning him and…
organpiper - All is Well™ - Georgia Division
Just if your wondering, it was a “stand-up” freezer not a refrigerator. The freezer was on loan to the church by a member who had given a letter stating it was a loan not a…
Betty See - How my mother's fanatical views tore us apart
“I am my own woman and I have discovered what really matters - a happy family.” Now, this is what I call a happy ending, or should I say a happy beginning.
Cranmerian - All is Well™ - Georgia Division
Here is the text of +Benhase’s letter: 24 May 2013 To the Parish Family of St Andrew’s Church, Grace to you and Peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I am saddened…
Cranmerian - All is Well™ - Georgia Division
Here’s the latest spin from Savannah: Colleagues, You will have seen in From the Field that the Rev. Curtis Mears resigned as Rector of St. Andrew’s Douglas. That was last Saturday and effective Pentecost Sunday…
cennydd13 - Why Men Have Stopped Singing In Church
Hymns of faith, such as “Guide Me Oh, Thou Great Jehovah” and relatively new ones such as “How Great Thou Art” are timeless, and should never be replaced.
Betty See - Why Men Have Stopped Singing In Church
I remember that my father could really sing the Doxology and if I remember correctly, almost all of the men and women in church could sing Doxology with ease when I was a child. I…
Martial Artist - It’s the end of the world as we know it (and that’s great!)
I hate to be pedantic (well, hate may be too strong a word here), but to characterize Social Security as “a bad investment” is a category error. The error is not that it isn’t bad,…
Ross Gill - Why Men Have Stopped Singing In Church
Undergroundpewster (#4) said: Congregational singing takes time and effort from the music director and sometimes means telling the rector “NO” when they suggest something unsingable. I hear you but the Rector also needs to say…
Theron Walker✙ - Free Speech For Me, But Not For Thee
Your title for this article reminded me of a book by Nat Hentoff of the same title. It helped me see the hypocrisy of the left (and right—which I already knew) in 1993. I read…