British schools are helping to boost Islamism with politically correct lessons that tell black pupils that slavery was entirely the fault of English and Americans, and omit the long and vicious history of Arab slave trading, according to an influential Church of England bishop.

In an exclusive interview for our Telegram podcast, the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali ”“ a Pakistani-born scholar who resigned as Bishop of Rochester in 2009 in order to train Christians facing persecution ”“ says “the Churches have generally capitulated to secular culture and therefore cannot bring a distinctive voice to public debate”.

They have neglected human relations, especially the family, in favour of “welfarism” that teaches that the state should provide all the goods that citizens need. All this adds up to the slow death of people’s sense of themselves as spiritual beings ”“ and this affects “even people who go to church”.

Read it all.

Nobody was injured in the fire, and Viola suffered from just a little smoke inhalation. Viola said most of what happened that night was a blur, but he does remember that it was terrifying.

Though much of Viola’s belongings were destroyed in the fire, it doesn’t matter much to him because he still has his dogs.

“The dogs were the most important thing. They can’t be replaced, and that’s the only thing I was worried about,” Viola said. “I’m very grateful that he (Ace) got out. I would have went from room to room to find him.”

Read it all.

A law passed last year by the South Carolina General Assembly gives veterans’ organizations the right to receive the unclaimed remains of veterans from funeral homes and coroner’s offices and to bury them in a national cemetery.

South Carolina has three: Beaufort, Florence and Fort Jackson in Columbia. Neal, LeMaster and Gray, along with three other veterans whose remains were in storage in Richland County, will be buried on June 6 at Fort Jackson with full military honors.

“They served their country. They came home. They were different,” said Larry Truax, who spearheaded the bill.

Read it all.

Listen to it if you wish

With a mission and ministry nearly 175 years old, St. Andrew’s Episcopal Cathedral set a tone architecturally downtown.

Now ‘revitalization’ is the word in this weeks “Faith in Focus”.

The Sunday service on May 12 celebrated baptism but it also welcomed new members to the Episcopal community in Jackson.

“My wife and I are here so we can be confirmed into the Episcopal church,” Michael Boswell said.

“To us I think it comes down to not only a focus on Christ but also just a complete attitude of acceptance and openness and love as well that we have found at this church,” Boswell said.

Read it all.

Our attitude to our fallen nature should be one of ruthless repudiation. For ”˜those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires’ (Gal. 5:24). That is, we have taken this evil, slimy, slippery thing called ”˜the flesh’ and nailed it to the cross. This was our initial repentance. Crucifixion is dramatic imagery for our uncompromising rejection of all known evil. Crucifixion does not lead to a quick or easy death; it is an execution of lingering pain. Yet it is decisive; there is no possibility of escaping from it.
Our attitude to the Holy Spirit, on the other hand, is to be one of unconditional surrender. Paul uses several expressions for this. We are to ”˜live by the Spirit’ (Gal. 5:16, 18. 25). That is, we are to allow him his rightful sovereignty over us, and follow his righteous promptings.

Thus both our repudiation of the flesh and our surrender to the Spirit need to be repeated daily, however decisive our original repudiation and surrender may have been. In Jesus’ words, we are to ”˜take up (our) cross daily’ and follow him (Lk 9:23). We are also to go on being filled with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18), as we open our personality to him daily. Both our repudiation and our surrender are also to be worked out in disciplined habits of life. It is those who ”˜sow to the Spirit’ (Gal. 6:8) who reap the fruit of the Spirit. And to ”˜sow to the Spirit’ means to cultivate the things of the Spirit, for example, by our wise use of the Lord’s Day, the discipline of our daily prayer and Bible reading, our regular worship and attendance at the Lord’s Supper, our Christian friendships and our involvement in Christian service. An inflexible principle of all God’s dealings, both in the material and in the moral realm, is that we reap what we sow. The rule is invariable. It cannot be changed, for ”˜God cannot be mocked’ (Gal. 6:7). We must not therefore be surprised if we do not reap the fruit of the Spirit when all the time we are sowing to the flesh. Did we think we could cheat or fool God?

—Authentic Christianity (Nottingham, IVP, 1995)

But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the Holy Place, taking not the blood of goats and calves but his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the sprinkling of defiled persons with the blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a heifer sanctifies for the purification of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify your conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

–Hebrews 9:1-14

There are several reasons we trail most states, beginning with our continuing struggle with the remnants of the recession. We’ve made solid gains, but our unemployment rate is still nearly a percentage point higher than the national average, which means South Carolinians have less income on which to pay taxes and less income to spend on taxable goods.

In addition, our state relies far too heavily on the sales tax, and the Legislature by both its actions (creating more loopholes) and its inaction (refusing to tax services) has steadily eroded the tax base. Today only 35 percent of goods and services sold in South Carolina are taxed; that’s down from 48 percent in 2000.

Read it all.

And the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, your brethren, even your brethren, your fellow exiles, the whole house of Israel, all of them, are those of whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, ”˜They have gone far from the Lord; to us this land is given for a possession.’ Therefore say, ”˜Thus says the Lord God: Though I removed them far off among the nations, and though I scattered them among the countries, yet I have been a sanctuary to them for a while in the countries where they have gone.’ Therefore say, ”˜Thus says the Lord God: I will gather you from the peoples, and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.’ And when they come there, they will remove from it all its detestable things and all its abominations. And I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them; I will take the stony heart out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes and keep my ordinances and obey them; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God. But as for those whose heart goes after their detestable things and their abominations, I will requite their deeds upon their own heads, says the Lord God.”

–Ezekiel 11:14-21

Facing a declining and aging membership, members at St. Matthew’s began a discernment process last year to map out a strategy for their future. The parish considered many options, and decided that merging with another church was the best way to fulfill their mission.

In September of 2012, St. Matthew’s invited Grace Church to enter into a discernment process towards a merger. After a faithful discernment, Grace’s clergy and lay leadership approved the merger and the two parishes began preparing for their future together.

Read it all.

Archbishop Justin has prayed for Christian unity and told church leaders that “we need to be a risk-taking church”.

The Archbishop was speaking this morning before an audience of more than 5,000 Christians on the first day of HTB’s annual leadership conference.

“We need to be a risk-taking Church. There is no safety in Christ – there is absolute security, but there is no safety,” he said during a question and answer session with the Rev Nicky Gumbel, vicar of HTB.

Read it all.

Almighty God, who hast sent the Spirit of truth unto us to guide us into all truth: We beseech thee so to rule our lives by thy power that we may be truthful in word and deed and thought. Keep us, most merciful Father, with thy gracious protection, that no fear or hope may ever make us false in act or speech. Cast out from us whatsoever loveth or maketh a lie, and bring us all into the perfect freedom of thy truth; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord.

–B. F. Westcott (1825-1901)

But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the Holy Place, taking not the blood of goats and calves but his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the sprinkling of defiled persons with the blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a heifer sanctifies for the purification of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify your conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

–Hebrews 9:11-14

O God, by whom the meek are guided in judgment, and light riseth up in darkness for the godly: Grant us, in all our doubts and uncertainties, the grace to ask what thou wouldest have us to do; that the Spirit of wisdom may save us from all false choices, and that in thy light we may see light, and in thy straight path may not stumble; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

–William Bright

He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation; for in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities–all things were created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the first-born from the dead, that in everything he might be pre-eminent.

–Colossians 1:15-18

One day near the middle of the last century a minister in a prison camp in Germany conducted a service for the other prisoners. One of those prisoners, an English officer who survived, wrote these words:

“Dietrich Bonhoeffer always seemed to me to spread an atmosphere of happiness and joy over the least incident, and profound gratitude for the mere fact that he was alive”¦ He was one of the very few persons I have ever met for whom God was real and always near”¦ On Sunday, April 8, 1945, Pastor Bonhoeffer conducted a little service of worship and spoke to us in a way that went to the heart of all of us. He found just the right words to express the spirit of our imprisonment, and the thoughts and resolutions it had brought us. He had hardly ended his last prayer when the door opened and two civilians entered. They said, “Prisoner Bonhoeffer, come with us.” That had only one meaning for all prisoners”“the gallows. We said good-bye to him. He took me aside: “This is the end; but for me it is the beginning of life.” The next day he was hanged in Flossenburg.”

O Lamb of God, Son of the Father, who hast taken away the sin of the world, and art alive for evermore: Grant us the faith that doubts not thy word, and trusts where it cannot see; that taking hold upon thy promises, we may rest in thy love and rejoice in thy mercy, now and always.

Watch it all and you can read about it here.

Christian leaders called for prayers Saturday in an outpouring of support for Rick Warren and his family after the suicide of the Orange County evangelical pastor’s youngest son.

Among those offering condolences was Harvest Christian Fellowship leader Greg Laurie, who tweeted followers to join him in a prayer for Warren and his wife, Kay.

Laurie, whose adult son Christopher was killed in a 2008 car crash, noted on his blog that he had experienced similar pain. “At times like these, there really are no words, but there is the Word,” he wrote.

Read it all.

Lord Jesus, risen from the dead and alive for evermore: Stand in our midst today as in the upper room; show us thy hands and thy side; speak thy peace to our hearts and minds; and send us forth into the world as thy witnesses; for the glory of thy name.

–John R. W. Stott (1921-2011)

Almighty God, who hast revealed to thy Church thine eternal Being of glorious majesty and perfect love as one God in Trinity of Persons: Give us grace that, like thy bishop Gregory of Nyssa, we may continue steadfast in the confession of this faith, and constant in our worship of thee, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who livest and reignest now and for ever.

As a hart longs for flowing streams, so longs my soul for thee, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God?

–Psalm 42:1-2

Update: This event is over, but raw footage of each session is available on the Anglican TV Livestream page here
The Anglican 1000 Church Planting Conference has started. For those interested, the event is being livestreamed by Anglican TV here and here. The schedule with timings is here

http://soundcloud.com/signumrecords/drop-drop-slow-tears#share
Drop, drop, slow tears,
And bathe those beauteous feet,
Which brought from Heav’n
The news and Prince of Peace.

Cease not, wet eyes,
His mercies to entreat;
To cry for vengeance:
Sin doth never cease.

In your deep floods
Drown all my faults and fears;
Nor let His eye see
Sin, but through my tears.

Many Vatican watchers suspect the cardinals will choose someone with better management skills and a more personal touch than the bookish Benedict, someone who can extend the church’s reach to new constituencies, particularly to the young people of Europe, for whom the church is now largely irrelevant, and to Latin America and Africa, where evangelical movements are fast encroaching.

“They want somebody who can carry this idea of new evangelization, relighting the missionary fires of the church and actually make it work, not just lay it out in theory,” said John L. Allen, a Vatican expert at the National Catholic Reporter and author of many books on the papacy. Someone who will be “the church’s missionary in chief, a showman and salesman for the Catholic faith, who can take the reins of government more personally into his own hands,” he added.

The other big battle in the church is over the demographic distribution of Catholics, which has shifted decisively to the developing world. Today, 42 percent of adherents come from Latin America, and about 15 percent from Africa, versus only 25 percent from Europe.

Read it all.

The 20 largest banks’ assets total 84.5”‰percent of the nation’s gross domestic product.

Such banks have become bigger, relative to the economy, since the financial crisis began, and they are not the only economic entities to do so. Last year, the Economist reported that in the past 15 years the combined assets of the 50 largest U.S. companies had risen from around 70 percent of GDP to around 130 percent. And banks are not the only entities designated TBTF because they are “systemically important.” General Motors supposedly required a bailout because a chain of parts suppliers might have failed with it.

But this just means that the pernicious practice of socializing losses while keeping profits private is not quarantined in the financial sector.

To see why TBTF also can mean TBTM ”” too big to manage ”” read “What’s Inside America’s Banks?” in the January/February issue of the Atlantic….

Read it all.

He gained his theology degree at Kings College, London, in 1971 and his post-graduate diploma four years later at Durham University.

Bishop-elect [Stanley] Palmer is married to Elizabeth and has two adult daughters.

The consecration will be performed by Anglican Archbishop of Sydney, Peter Jensen.

Read it all.

A push for the legalization of physician-assisted suicide is under way in at least three Northeastern states including Connecticut, where proponents say they see strong support for allowing doctors to prescribe mentally competent, dying individuals with the medications needed to take their own lives.

Lawmakers in New Jersey and Vermont are also considering legislation that would allow doctors to prescribe lethal medication to terminally ill patients in a trend that advocates say may be related to the country’s aging population.

Read it all.

…even more dismaying is the quasi-religious intellectual posturing of those who seek the demise of religion. If religious people deny paradise to their opponents or to “non-believers,” atheists would likewise seek to eliminate “dangerous” believers with their “childish” ways and their heads in the clouds. One would have thought that the only truly humanistic attitude – midway between two theses that cannot prove themselves definitively – would be to make a commitment to ongoing debate, and then actively to pursue it out of concern for mutual intellectual integrity. It is only through such a clash of ideas that we learn to be self-critical and approach intellectual humility.

It is for this reason that the twenty-first century – along with the sort of hubristic atheists it has produced – needs the continuing presence of religion, in just the same way that religion must confront the real challenges posed by the fiercest critics of its day in order to sharpen the conscience of those who study the timeless sacred texts. This much was acknowledged by the vast majority of the more than one thousand students present at the Cambridge debate, for when it came time to vote the audience found Dawkins and his supporters in the wrong.

Read it all.