Check this one out. A thumbs up from me.
We have a certain time to get prepared – and it will not last forever. I had in my minds eye a clock with the second hand ticking over from one second to midnight to midnight. How that translates from spiritual time to physical time I do not know. What I do say to you is this – the time is near, the time is now.
There are four seasons in Canada, these are known as:
Almost Winter
Winter
Still Winter
Roadworks
Now it is March (at -10c with almost a foot of snow on the ground) we have successfully entered the Still Winter season 😉
Course, if you are on the West Coast you could amend it as follows:
About To Rain
Raining
Still Raining
When Is It Going To Stop?
Out here in Calgary, when it does rain most folk scurry around like they are going to melt.
Filed under my ‘totally unrelated to anything else’ Friday category. This kind of thing happens from time to time.
I thought I’d just pass on FYI a website I visit from time to time that chronicles the increasing madness that is the principality known as the European Union.
It’s certainly not all to my taste, and neither am I endorsing everything written there, but it does provide a refreshingly un-PC look at the EU. Now, my interest in this is because I’m British, for those in N America you may want to give this a pass. On the other hand, the EU could stand as a object lesson for us all. Well, perhaps stand as an object lesson for those in the States, Canucks are doing their best to outstrip the EU in absurd and death-seeking choices.
This one is worth reading. The result of jettisoning beliefs, followed by morals, then common sense. What you are left with are petty thoughtcrime laws. Note, this is not about whether any particular thought is sensible or not, but about making it illegal to think/say something. It will be most interesting if Turkey ever does join the EU (read the last paragraph). Hard to know whether to laugh or cry……
Another article for thought, probably very risky for me to even link to, but, ah well, what’s a wannabe misogynist to do?
Oh, and I’m really glad we don’t homeschool in Germany….
How much do we desire the Living Water of Life? And how often do we find ourselves at the broken cisterns, drinking in the illusions, pretence lending a form to the madness?
How much of the Church’s history have we lived in a desert, grasping at withered husks, once alive but now long dead, deluding ourselves that we see life, that we are actually in an abundant and verdant land, flowing with milk and honey?
The Church’s history sometimes seems like an arid desert. On occasion it is drenched by the grace of God, leading to an abundant flowering, as the whole desert blooms into life. But then we trust to that beauty and no longer look to the source. So, in time, the beauty withers, and what once was verdant, becomes parched desert again. And we again delude ourselves that the withered husks that once contained life, still do.
All through the ages, I see oases in the midst of this, places where the beauty of God can be seen amidst the arid barrenness. And those that cling to the husks, they hate these places, they rail against them, they close their eyes and blaspheme against them – for the Life that is contained within reveals to them their poverty – showing the illusion for what it is – a sham and a mockery of the kingdom.
Yet, just like the desert, there are still seeds of faith sown within the arid land, faithful deposits left by those now long gone. Would that we might pray for, desire, beseech and seek the rain of Grace – to water what has long been desert, and see those seeds grow once again. What beauty there would be!
One day, one final day, there will flow a River, the River that makes glad the City of God. Then the desert, the desert that so many of us dwell in, will become forever verdant and fruitful. We will at last enter in to the fullness of life that He Himself has ordained for us – ordained before the founding of the world.
Author note: This is a report intended for the Calgary Anglican Essentials chapter meeting. It’s also posted here: https://theagetocome.wordpress.com/2007/02/22/report-on-the-2007-primates-meeting-in-tanzania. Feel free to use it for its intended purpose, that is to give a brief overview of where we are now in the Anglican Communion, and how we got here.
Background
So, how did we get here? It seems like a good idea to give a little bit of background to the current crisis to be able to make sense of current events. Where did this all begin? Well, it began in Genesis 3, with “Did God really say…” It began with the serpents’ deception and the beguiling of Adam and Eve. It began with both Adam and Eve choosing what seemed good in their own eyes, rather than obeying God.
Am I being facetious in stating this? I do not think so. All sin and turmoil both within the Church and without has this as its source. There is nothing that is happening in the Anglican Communion that has not happened before, and will not happen again – until our Lord returns. Still, while these things inevitably come, remember the ‘money’ verse – that is the gates of Hell will never prevail against the Church. We may be beset by heresy, just like Anathasius amongst the Arian bishops, but we have this promise: if God be for us, who can be against us?
How do we trace the threads that have lead to this current battle in Anglicanism? I am no historian, nor do I have the room to detail every move that has brought us to this pass. So consider this as simply a basic overview.
We can probably trace the current controversy back to the 1960’s (albeit that there are roots that go deeper). It was then that the Episcopal Church in the USA refused to discipline Bishop Pike, who publicly criticised basic Christian doctrines such as the concept of the Trinity and the Virgin birth. In 1966 he resigned, but the damage was done. The Episcopal Church had tolerated a bishop who seemed unable to confirm basic Christian doctrine. Whether this was down to weakness, protecting their own, secret agreement or some other reason is somewhat moot.
Through tolerating that evil, we left the door open for further heresy. The Church that tolerated Pike became the church that embraced Spong. We get ‘thesis’ that might be better described as ‘antithesis’. For instance: ‘Since God can no longer be conceived in theistic terms, it becomes nonsensical to seek to understand Jesus as the incarnation of the theistic deity. So the Christology of the ages is bankrupt’. Certainly, something is bankrupt here.
This is the background to the current controversy. Sooner or later things had to come to a head. Now, it may have taken 40 years, but come to a head it has. And, because of that long incubation period what we are having to face now is much much worse than it needed to be. Indeed – ‘awake, and strengthen what remains and is on the point of death’ may be entirely applicable. The good news is this – we have awakened, and we are strengthening. God is merciful – we have not slumbered to our own destruction.
Recent Events
The issue that has brought things to a head at this time is human sexuality – in particular homosexuality. This is really just a presenting issue, though it is often mischaracterised as something more. It is the battleline between those who would hold onto the faith once given and the plain interpretation of scripture and those who would reinvent both in order to bow down before the gods of this age.
The key line drawn was at the Lambeth conference in 1998. There, amongst other things was resolved that “in view of the teaching of Scripture, (this conference) upholds faithfulness in marriage between a man and a woman in lifelong union, and believes that abstinence is right for those who are not called to marriage”. Many in the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada disagreed with this analysis.
Fast forward to 2003. Despite being warned that it would tear the communion, in July 2003 Gene Robinson, a practising homosexual divorced from his wife was elected bishop of New Hampshire. Earlier in that year, the Diocese of New Westminster in British Columbia added to the mix by issuing a rite of same-sex blessing. Similar rites have been issued in other dioceses in North America, officially or otherwise. In 2004 the Anglican Church of Canada went further to affirm “the integrity and sanctity of committed adult same-sex relationships”.
What has followed has been four years of turmoil. Just as stated the communion has been torn by these actions. 22 of 38 Anglican provinces are in a state of impaired or broken communion with the Anglican Church of Canada and the US Episcopal Church.
In 2004 the Windsor report was issued (Anglicans do like their reports) which set itself up in opposition to these innovations. The Dromantine communique in 2005 went further and requested “that the Episcopal Church (USA) and the Anglican Church of Canada voluntarily withdraw their members from the Anglican Consultative Council for the period leading up to the next Lambeth Conference. During that same period we request that both churches respond through their relevant constitutional bodies to the questions specifically addressed to them in the Windsor Report as they consider their place within the Anglican Communion.”
The Canadian response has yet to be given (due in June 2007). The US ‘response’ was given in June 2006 and left a lot to be desired. Probably the best thing to be said is that it set a new standard for creative use of words. An apology was (sort of) forthcoming. On the matter of practising homosexual bishops an undertaking was given to “exercise restraint by not consenting to the consecration of any candidate to the episcopate whose manner of life presents a challenge to the wider church”. Words defined so widely to mean anything and therefore nothing. Indeed, the same words are being used as a pretext to avoid consenting to the election of orthodox bishops. On the matter of same-sex blessings nothing was said at all.
Tanzania 2007
That brings us up nicely to date. In February 2007 the Primates met once again in Tanzania to consider the US response to what was requested of them in 2005. Following is an order of events as they occurred.
First up to bat was a sub-group committee report (see:http://www.standfirminfaith.com/index.php/site/article/2169) (Anglicans love their committees too). In many words, they gave a green light to 2/3rds of the the Episcopal Church’s (TECs) response. They decided that TEC had apologised very nicely. They also decided that they had agreed not to consecrate any more homosexual bishops. On the same-sex blessing issue, although they tried very very hard, they had to concede that it was unclear as to whether TEC had responded adequately to the request.
Much wailing and gnashing of teeth was then to be heard on the orthodox side, as this interpretation of events was charitable to say the least, particularly considering the major contortions TEC had undergone to avoid saying anything at all. However, this was a report originating from the Anglican Communion Office (kind of like the administrators of the communion) which has a decided liberal bias. It also turned out that one of the members of the sub-group (quite possibly the orthodox member) had not seen the report before it was published.
Further wailing and teeth gnashing was to be heard on the news that the primate (presiding bishop) of TEC had been elected to the standing committee of the primates. This is the body that meets between primates meetings to do additional primatey things outside of the main meetings. However, this body is elected by regions, and it turns out that the three liberal primates (Canada, US and Brazil (the latter which is an offshoot of TEC)) has the votes to make it happen.
Other than these two bits of news we all had to wait until the final communique to find out what had actually happened during the meeting. The time passed slowly and the Anglican blogosphere was full with much agonised speculation and the occasional freakout. Smelling salts were passed round. Eventually Monday came, and it was a good day.
The two main things that came out that day (after protracted negotiation) was a draft covenant and the communique.
First things first. What is this covenant you speak of? When you think of covenant, think long-term. The Anglican Communion as it is, isn’t really a communion. It is more a loose collection of churches associated more through their history than a common covenant. When we used to agree on fundamentals of faith, this was good enough. However, this is no longer the case, and has been recognised as such. Hence, the formation of the Anglican covenant. Will it work? Hard to tell at this stage, but it is the beginning of an attempt to build a genuine communion.
The draft covenant can be found here: http://www.standfirminfaith.com/index.php/site/article/2272/
Second thing is the communique, which can be found in it’s entirety here: http://www.standfirminfaith.com/index.php/site/article/2286/. Again, unfortunately it is rather wordy. It also suffers from a severe case of a document produced by committee. In particular the divisions within the primates are very obvious in this document which attempts to try and say two different things at the same time.
With all this said, the communique is unanimous in upholding traditional teaching, and also has teeth. I have summary of the key points below, much of which can be found here: http://www.anglican-mainstream.net/?p=1291
Communique key points
The Archbishop of Canterbury said at the press conference that ‘the meat of our recommendations is paragraph 17. This reads “At the heart of our tensions is the belief that The Episcopal Church has departed from the standard of teaching on human sexuality accepted by the Communion in the 1998 Lambeth Resolution 1.10 by consenting to the episcopal election of a candidate living in a committed same-sex relationship, and by permitting Rites of Blessing for same-sex unions. The episcopal ministry of a person living in a same-sex relationship is not acceptable to the majority of the Communion.” ‘
The report of the sub-group has effectively been over-ridden. Para 23 reads “Further, some of us believe that Resolution B033 of the 75th General Convention does not in fact give the assurances requested in the Windsor Report.” And Para 24 says, “The response of The Episcopal Church to the requests made at Dromantine has not persuaded this meeting that we are yet in a position to recognise that The Episcopal Church has mended its broken relationships.”
Pastoral Scheme
The communique says ” We recognise that there are individuals, congregations and clergy, who in the current situation, feel unable to accept the direct ministry of their bishop or of the Presiding Bishop, and some of whom have sought the oversight of other jurisdictions.”
It then goes on to develop a rather convoluted scheme where some of TECs Presiding Bishop powers are delegated to a Pastoral Council, which then delegates to a Primatial Vicar. This is a cumbersome scheme that is potentially unworkable. It also could be the genesis of a new orthodox province in the US.
Deadlines
The primates requested through the presiding bishop that the house of Bishops of TEC:
1. make an unequivocal common covenant that the Bishops will not authorise any rite of blessing for same-sex unions in their dioceses or through general Convention – see Windsor 143, 144 – and,
2. confirm that the passing of resolution B033 of the seventy-fifth general convention – means that a candidate for Episcopal orders living in a same-sex union shall not receive the necessary consent – see Windsor 134; unless some new consensus on these matters emerges across the communion – see Windsor para 134.
The Deadline for the answer is September 30th 2007.
“If the reassurances requested of the House of Bishops cannot in good conscience be given, the relationship between The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion as a whole remains damaged at best, and this has consequences for the full participation of the Church in the life of the Communion.”
Within the bounds of Anglican-speak, this is strong stuff. The wheels of Anglicanism may grind exceedingly slowly, hopefully they will be seen to grind exceedingly fine too.
In any case, while this conversation may indeed be taking a long time, it is going in the right direction. You might be able to reduce it to something like this:
AC (1998): Don’t do this.
Primates (2003): Really do not do this.
TEC/ACC (2003): We’re not listening, lalala….oh look we did it, what was that you said?
AC (2004): This was bad, we know you heard us, and we really don’t want you to do this again.
Primates (2005): We really mean it – you must tell us you are not going to do it again and until you do, go sit in the corner.
TEC (2006): Mumble….sorry….maybe…..mumble. Fingers crossed behind back.
Primates (2007): What’s that you say? Speak up there. You have until we count to 5.
That’s really where we are right now. We have until the primates count to 5 – or September 2007 if you want to be literal. What will happen then? Hard to say, really. I’d imagine that more mumbling will be taken as a ‘no’. That may well result in invitations to the next Lambeth Conference being withdrawn, which would be a de-facto suspension from the Anglican Communion. Of course, it may not – the nature of ‘consequences’ has not been elucidated. The other option is that we as a church may say ‘yes’, which would be wonderful, because in doing so we will have to abandon this ‘new thing’ and return to the fold. Of course, we may say ‘yes’ and go ahead with this new thing anyway. That may buy TEC/ACC a little more time, but such duplicity would not go unnoticed.
This puts the spotlight more firmly on Canada too, with the General Synod coming up in June 2007. The primate of Canada’s response to the Tanzania communique can be found here: http://www.globalsouthanglican.org/index.php/comments/archbishop_hutchison_says_church_must_look_seriously_at_primates_request/. According to him “this is something that the Canadian Church will have to look at seriously”. What that means in practice is yet to be seen.
However it is safe to say that the ACC is under further pressure to conform to doctrinal normals if it wants to remain part of the Anglican communion. And, will it do so? That is another one of those questions that is hard to answer. For sure, I think mumbling will be the order of the day. Equally, mumbling is unlikely to be satisfactory. The Canadian church is probably more institutionally bound to the communion than the US church. However, it is also closely bound to the US church and is infected with the same heterodox disease.
At this time, the best thing to do would be to pray. Over the summer, both churches must agree to or decline the two requests made by the primates in Tanzania. It is time to choose.
Deuteronomy 30:15-18 (New International Version)
15 See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. 16 For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess. 17 But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, 18 I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.
Praise God, for the spiritual battle in Tanzania has been won. Not easily, or cleanly, and the war still rages. The spiritual darkness has been tolerated long, is deep seated and not easily rooted out. However, the enemy is on the retreat; the forces of light won this day.
OK, OK these are Anglicans we are talking about so nothing is clear-cut. There are likely plenty more twists and turns in this story, but we are (however painfully and slowly) moving in the right direction.
I have been tasked with writing a report for our local Essentials chapter which I’ll be doing over the next few days. As soon as I have done it I will post it up here to give you my view on events.
Pray now for protection, that in the aftermath of this victory the ground won will be consolidated and held firm.
Like many others in the Anglican blogosphere, I’m following the primates meeting in Tanzania with keen interest. Course, the lack of news appears to be driving everybody slightly crazy, and News Famine Syndrome appears to be setting in. That is to say, if you do not know – speculate and interpret intensely and at great length.
Don’t get me wrong – this battle matters, it matters a lot. This is a battle worth fighting. Will we win? I do not know. What I do know is that we have not been called to win, but to stand. There’s no defeatism in that, simply an acknowledgement that the battle is not ultimately ours, but the Lords.
And He can always do so much more than we can ever ask or imagine.
Let nothing disturb thee,
Nothing affright thee.
All things are passing
God never changeth.
Patient endurance
Attaineth to all things;
Who God possesseth
In nothing is wanting.
Alone God sufficeth.
~St Teresa of Avila
Taking up where we left off yesterday, I’d like to give you another example a little closer to home – this one is the linked shopping centre in Calgary known as ‘the core’ – comprising Calgary’s Eaton Centre and TD Square.
This place is not as malicious, but nevertheless is oppressive in its own way. There is a sense there of avarice, rampant consumerism, pride and overt sexuality. It has this odd marketing thing going for as long as I can remember, that of having naked models holding strategically placed pictures of themselves clothed. The motto being ‘who you are starts at the core’ – presumably implying that if you do not shop here for the right ‘stuff’ then you are nothing. This marketing thing – it appears to be fixed, almost as if there is a record playing that is stuck and they can only repeat the same things again and again and again.
I find it unpleasant to walk through there, cloyingly oppressive, a heavy and unwelcome perfume seeming to fill the air. It wasn’t long before I noticed the physical representation of the spirit of this mall. There is a shop there, an expensive jeweller with a most odd set of pictures in stained glass, the most prominent of which is Semiramis, Queen of the Babylonians. Go figure!
There are a couple of articles I unearthed here and here giving you a little bit of background to this person. The historicity or otherwise is a moot point, the main thing to be understood is that it is entirely representative of the spirit of this mall.
And the future of this figure?
Isaiah 47:5
5 “Sit in silence, go into darkness,
Daughter of the Babylonians;
no more will you be called
queen of kingdoms.
Revelation 18
1After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor. 2With a mighty voice he shouted:
“Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!
She has become a home for demons
and a haunt for every evil spirit,
a haunt for every unclean and detestable bird.
3For all the nations have drunk
the maddening wine of her adulteries.
The kings of the earth committed adultery with her,
and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries.”
4Then I heard another voice from heaven say:
“Come out of her, my people,
so that you will not share in her sins,
so that you will not receive any of her plagues;
5for her sins are piled up to heaven,
and God has remembered her crimes.
6Give back to her as she has given;
pay her back double for what she has done.
Mix her a double portion from her own cup.
7Give her as much torture and grief
as the glory and luxury she gave herself.
In her heart she boasts,
‘I sit as queen; I am not a widow,
and I will never mourn.’
8Therefore in one day her plagues will overtake her:
death, mourning and famine.
She will be consumed by fire,
for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.
So what to make of all this? Whether you think there is something here, or whether you think I really should be off to the doctors for an increase in the prescription, I would put to you that there are ‘principalities and powers’, and we need to be aware of them.
Aware of them, yes – know your enemy and all. Overly fascinated with them, no. The devil, that ancient liar is happy with either – for ignorance or unhealthy fascination will suit him quite well. We always need to stand on the Rock of our salvation, that is Christ, and know that He has already purchased the victory. The only time a lie has power over us is when we believe it. So, know that these usurpers, and usurpers they are, have already lost – and they know it. Their time is short, and hence they continue to try and exert dominion to hold what little they have before they are gone forever.
So, where does that leave us? Me, I’ve never found a mall I did like much, so I tend to visit infrequently. Nevertheless, do not be afraid or anxious when entering these strongholds. The land is Gods, and the battle belongs to Him. Even better the battle – at its very core, has already been won, and was won on that cross in Calvary so long ago.
Just as a little note, if my non-Anglican readers ( heck, even the Anglican ones if you like 😉 ) could pray for the meeting of the primates ( leaders ) in Tanzania this week, it would be really good. There’s a big spiritual battle going on there, with the likelihood of a major split in the church. This is likely sadly necessary now – with the gulf between those who are holding onto the faith once delivered and those who are trying to reinvent it wider than ever. If you want details, CaNN or SF are good bets.
This might be one of those Kairos moments, and in these moments a lot of good or bad things can happen. So, really it’s a prayer for protection, wisdom, guidance and grace, and that Gods will is done. Ta muchly…
This is a post that I’ve been considering writing for a while, but until now it has never come to fruition. I’d like to speak to you a little about the ‘gods’ of the malls.
Many Christians are likely aware of the passage from Ephesians 6:12:
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
I wonder, have you ever felt the reality of this passage when wandering the darkened halls of our malls? Ever felt the cloying oppressiveness that these places can evoke in you? Maybe, maybe not. Either way, I’d like to tell you a couple of stories based on my experience.
Firstly, a few caveats:
1) I do not believe that there are demons under every bed. Nope, not at all. Usually, they are to be found under the table around tea-time because they get kinda hungry then and….well….anyway…..
2) This is in a nature of personal experience. It’s subjective, so understand it as you will.
3) Often, I am spiritually aware as the nearest stone. Perhaps God in his rather wry wisdom decided to bring this stone some discernment and sensitivity that cannot in anybody’s wildest imaginations come from the stone himself. Or then again perhaps this is just a particularly delusional stone. Hard to say really….
4) I am not against honest commerce. Nor do I have a grudge against malls. Sometimes a mall is just a mall y’know?
So with all that said, what are these experiences you speak of Peter? Read on, dear reader, read on….
It was the year 2000 and we were in Canada discerning Gods call to this land, and we had just taken a trip up to Edmonton. Edmonton is host to the West Edmonton Mall – the largest mall in the world. We went there. We wished we hadn’t.
I have rarely met a place so spiritually ‘dark’ and oppressive as West Edmonton Mall. The mall itself, physically so bright and airy, felt, quite literally like hell on earth. Not only were we aware of oppression, but active opposition as well. There was a sense that we were most definitely unwelcome visitors.
The trouble with relating something like this, is that I can offer no proof over and above the testament of my wife and I. This place was the most spiritually dark mall I have ever had the misfortune to visit.
When you think about it, it does make some sense. Here you have the largest mall in the world – dedicated to consumerism, greed, avarice, sensuality – you name it, the gods of the western world were well represented. If you accept the existence of principalities and powers, where are you most likely to have a high temple than in the self-styled largest mall in the world?
There was something else too. I do not know whether it is still there now, but at the time there was a large ornamental snake winding its way through the ceiling joists. Perhaps a celebration of Chinese new year or something – I cannot remember. I noticed it, and in my spirit I understood that it was the physical representation of the spiritual nature of the place.
I do not have a theology of this, but it does appear to me that there can be a physical\spiritual interconnectedness that you can sometimes pick out. Fanciful, Peter? Perhaps, I will leave that for you to judge.
Tomorrow, I’ll give you another example and conclude this little thought……
The Age To Come 