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
Thank You
I am filled with gratefulness for those who gave everything in military service to our country. They gave their lives, and any future that had been theirs: warm summer days, children, time with a spouse,…
A Memorial Day Reminder: I Drive Your Truck
1 NRO has a wonderful article about a brave man who gave his life in the service of his country. A country songwriter heard the father telling his story on the radio and wrote a song. …
Persecution or Statutory Rape?
3 If you’ve opened a news page somewhere in the free world this week, you’ve probably read the headlines: Teen Girl Arrested for Same Sex Relatonship; Florida Teen Arrested, Expelled for Same…
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!)
2 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
1 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
8 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
12 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…
Recent Comments
ears2hear - Why Men Have Stopped Singing In Church
There is no value to novelty, though I agree that new things should be tried occasionally. What are we in church to do? Thanks to many years in choirs, I know of dozens of nearly…
Capt. Father Warren - It’s the end of the world as we know it (and that’s great!)
Social Security is out and out fraud. If I have paid through my labor $250K into the system over the years and then I drop dead before I collect my first check, guess what? The…
TomRightmyer - Persecution or Statutory Rape?
An age difference of 3+ years is not much between adults but is really significant in childhood and adolescence. Parents from the beginning of time have sought to control adolescent sexuality with mixed results. Part…
Paula Loughlin - Persecution or Statutory Rape?
PS, If convicted Hunt may qualify under FS 943.04354 to have the Judge remove the requirement she register as a sexual offender.
Paula Loughlin - Persecution or Statutory Rape?
This story is very local to me, it happened in the County north of us. According to the news the friendship began when one girl was 14 and the other 17. It was after Hunt…
Paula Loughlin - A Memorial Day Reminder: I Drive Your Truck
A very moving tribute, thanks.
Sarah - Jurgen Liias's Move to Rome: A Spiritual Autobiography
Along the same lines, Protestants please don’t post further along the “Rome’s claims are false” lines. This thread isn’t meant to get into a discussion about Protestant theology versus Roman Catholic theology. There have been…
Sarah - Jurgen Liias's Move to Rome: A Spiritual Autobiography
RE: “if words mean something, the words you used are what are known as ‘fighting words’” —not certain why that is, but if so, then okay. RE: “and if we’re not enemies, your words are…
cennydd13 - Free Speech For Me, But Not For Thee
Those immigration laws are there for a reason, and yet this administration has chosen to ignore them for reasons of political expediency. I think the time is coming when the states will offer the administration…
Betty See - Jurgen Liias's Move to Rome: A Spiritual Autobiography
It seems to me that those who are intent on leaving behind their Anglican Faith for the Roman Catholic Church should at least educate themselves on what they are leaving behind and at least read…
winslow - Jurgen Liias's Move to Rome: A Spiritual Autobiography
Sarah Hey said: “My acknowledging reality—that is, that Rome makes gargantuan claims about its own identity, claims that Protestants do not accept, and that *if Rome is wrong, as I believe it is*, that the…
Capt. Father Warren - Free Speech For Me, But Not For Thee
When I first read that ++Duncan had signed the letter I went to visit the link I gave above and my jaw dropped. Beyond all those groups arrayed at the top of the letter, read…
tdunbar - Jurgen Liias's Move to Rome: A Spiritual Autobiography
The Catholic Church is more architecturally complex than Vatican City.
cennydd13 - Free Speech For Me, But Not For Thee
I think we need to encourage our archbishop to reexamine his reasoning for signing that letter by taking the time to READ THE SMALL PRINT.
tdunbar - Jurgen Liias's Move to Rome: A Spiritual Autobiography
Given the nature of language, there are two major strategies: reduce the amount of ‘slang’ and ambiguity ala lawyers and many philosophers or push human language to the utmost ala poets. The latter strategy requires…
Temple1 - Jurgen Liias's Move to Rome: A Spiritual Autobiography
Even though the Roman church has maintained a claim to be the “one true ” church over the years, the emphasis has shifted a little since Vatican II. People once regarded as “protesting” Protestants are…