The 76th General Convention of the (Pagan) Episcopal Church has removed the final canonical obstacles to the "full inclusion" of non-celibate homosexuals. They may now be ordained as deacons and priests, they may be consecrated as bishops and their "unions" may be blessed in the churches. Of course, this has been going on for a good while in TEC so this isn't really news.
The story behind this story is the Anglican Church of Nigeria, which was blasted by a leading gay-rights activist who believes that divorce contradicts sexual ethics and because it is permitted in the Church, so should homosexuality be permitted (even 'celebrated', as Gene Robinson insists).
This leading activist is my former bishop and the man who has to sign my retirement papers in 2 weeks. He said: "It is time for the church be liberated from hypocrisy under which it has been operating about our gay brothers and sisters. Divorce contradicted sexual ethics. Our gay and lesbian members don't think much about what other Anglicans around the world think. The Nigerians are our most ardent critic. The Scribes and the Pharisees tied people up in burdens..." (Read the full report here.)
Bishop Sauls stated, "The Nigerians are our most ardent critic." Humm... Perhaps we should ask why that is?
The Nigerians know the Bible and Holy Tradition because they live in the crucible where Abraham's faith was formed. Kain and Seth married daughters of the chief of Nok (Nok is in the Jos Plateau of Nigeria.) The Jebu (Jebusites) intermarried with the descendents of Kain. The largest group of Jebusites today lives in Nigeria. Noah's homeland is Bor'nu near Lake Chad in northern Nigeria. The priestly lines, from which Joseph and Mary come, originated among the ancestors of the people (who in modern times) came to be called Yoruba. All of this has been documented and verified through linguistics, biblical studies and cultural anthropology.
So the weight of Holy Tradition is on the side of the Anglican Church of Nigeria and its Primate, Archbishop Peter Jasper Akinola, who is vehemently hated and constantly vilified by TEC pagans.
So it appears that the mask is off. The hoax is exposed. The final straw has landed on the camel's back. Here are the facts about the state of The Episcopal Church:
Last year TEC lost 19,000 members, by a conservative estimate.
According to David Virtue, "Only twenty-eight of The Episcopal Church's one hundred and ten dioceses have committed themselves to paying the full assessment, or "giving", asked by the Church. This, along with high infrastructure and mission demands, has caused a budgetary shortfall of approximately $14 million dollars.35% of domestic congregations have no full time clergy (2526 congregations)."
A third of TEC's 7,000 parishes are being served by retired or non-stipendiary priests. The fiscal crisis is taking a toll on parishes and whole dioceses, a crisis fed by on-going litigation against parishes and dioceses that aren't willing to exchange the Truth for a lie.
Gene Robinson wants everyone to 'celebrate' that TEC is now known as the 'gay church'.
TEC's Presiding Bishop rejects the biblical definition of salvation in which the individual must believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who came into the world to save sinners. I guess she hasn't read these key verses:
"For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten SON, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16
"He that believeth on the SON hath everlasting Life…" John 3:36
"These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the SON of GOD; that ye may know that ye hath everlasting life. . ." 1 John 5:13
"For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 3:11
From reports I've read coming out of Anaheim, many GenCon 2009 participants are seething about the formation of the Anglican Church of North America. David Virtue reports an undercurrent of resentment. There's another group now and it might steal some of the limelight from Gene (all about me) Robinson.
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