[color=red]The elves are taking the liberty to sticky this in order to remind blog readers to be praying for the Harmon family in these days. We’ll try to keep posting interesting articles while Kendall is unable to blog much.[/color]

The rector with whom I work left for sabbatical yesterday, my Father-in-Law is to be buried in Pittsburgh Wednesday, and our youngest daughter graduates from Furman University–God willing–next weekend. There are not too many weeks I remember on the family front like this one–I know you understand. Posts will be catch as catch can but check back for possible posts of interest from others. Many thanks–KSH.

The Executive Committee of the Anglican Mission in England (AMiE) warmly welcome the appointment of Rod Thomas as the new Bishop of Maidstone and look forward to the new opportunities his role may create as we seek to work together to promote the gospel through local Anglican churches.

Prebendary Rod Thomas has served on the Executive Committee of AMiE since 2012. He was a delegate at the Global Anglican Futures Conference (GAFCON) in 2013 at which the Primates of the Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans recognized the Anglican Mission in England (AMiE) as an expression of authentic Anglicanism both for those within and outside the Church of England.

AMiE General Secretary, Canon Andy Lines said,
“We are delighted by the appointment of Prebendary Rod Thomas as the new Bishop of Maidstone. The appointment opens the door to a new era of co-operation between AMiE and the Church of England.”

Chairman of AMiE, Rev Justin Mote said,
“AMiE exists to promote gospel growth by supporting Anglican churches and individuals both within and outside present Church of England structures. No one is more committed to that task than Rod Thomas. We are excited by the possibilities offered by his appointment and look forward to AMiE churches benefitting from his Episcopal ministry in the future.”

Read it all

[i]Saw this article from Breitbart in the newsfeed from Anglican Mainstream:[/i]

The gender-neutral salutation ”˜Mx’ is to join the titles ”˜Mr’, ”˜Mrs’, ”˜Miss’ and ”˜Ms’ on official documents in the UK. Driving licences, passports, high street banks and even some government departments now accept the title, which is used by people who do not want to identify with a particular gender.

The title is now also under consideration by the Oxford English Dictionary and it may be included in the next edition. The Sunday Times quotes the dictionary’s assistant editor, Johnathan Dent, as saying the new title shows how English can adapt to people’s changing needs.

“When you look at the usual drop-down options for titles, they tend to be quite formal and embrace traditional status such as the relationship between a man and wife, such as Mr and Mrs, or a profession such as Dr or even Lord,” he said. “This is something new.”

Barclays, RBS, Halifax, Santander, Natwest and the Co-operative Bank all use the title, while HSBC is in the process of adding it. The Royal Mail has also introduced Mx on online applications, while Oxford University said it had added the title as it is “the most commonly used and recognised gender neutral title”.

Read it all.

The Dean Emeritus of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Most Rev. Adebola Ademowo, has urged Nigerians to turn to God in prayers for peace and tranquility in the country.

Ademowo made the call at a news conference to herald the 3rd session of the 32nd Synod of the Diocese of Lagos, Anglican Communion.

“There is an urgent need for all to go back to God, the author of peace in prayers.

“With the goings-on in our world today, false doctrines, false teachings abound everywhere; the synod wants to enjoin members to go back to the basics.

“We should confess our sins, repent and pray to God to return our nation back to the era of peace and progress,’’ he said.

Ademowo said that the theme of the synod was: `The Authority of the Scriptures’.

According to him, no prophesy ever comes by the impulse to men but that it comes to men moved by the Holy Spirit.

“The word of God is inspired and it speaks to every situation.

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Last week, the trustees of the Anglican Alliance visited the diocese and visited the Menara Centre for Special Needs and Ain Shams Community Centre – the mission of Anglican Alliance is to build a world free of poverty and injustice. They also had several important meetings with Bishop Mouneer, Dr. Maged, the director of Episcocare, and Dean Samy of St. Mark’s Pro Cathedral to encourage the community development work of the Diocese.

Read it all and there is more about the Anglican Alliance here

There is no how-to list for praying for someone with an incurable disease. But here are some suggestions:

Listen. Ask. Listen carefully to the concerns of the ones you are praying for. If possible, ask them how they would like you to pray for them. They may not have an answer. Or the answer may surprise you. But starting by listening and asking is a way to honor and support those in need.

Pray with the Psalms. Whether in the hospital bed or at a prayer service, the most powerful and comforting prayers offered to me were from the Psalms. They don’t cover up the loss””they bring anger and grief before God. “My heart is stricken and withered like grass; I am too wasted to eat my bread.” And yet they bring all of this in petition before the faithful God of the covenant. “Hear my prayer, O LORD; let my cry come to you. Do not hide your face from me on the day of my distress” (Ps. 102:4, 1-2).

Present your petitions in light of the Lord’s Prayer and Gethsemane. We are to bring our requests before God, in light of Jesus’ command and promise to answer our prayers…

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In the past many of us voted for the party who, in our minds, could be trusted to run country most effectively, but now the general assumption is that none can be trusted and it comes down to who will break the fewest promises and do the least worst job. The outcome is debilitating for our democracy. As a result voter confidence is at rock bottom and too many choose not to vote at all.

It’s easy to lay the blame squarely at the feet of our politicians. Sometimes this is justified. When David Cameron’s government announced that he would be bringing in same-sex marriage legislation despite failing to mention it in the Conservative manifesto and then took no notice of a 600,000-strong petition calling for marriage to remain distinctively between a man and a woman, it’s not surprising that many Christians with strongly held beliefs felt utterly let down and rejected.

However, too often the ultimate reason that politicians fail to keep their promises is due to the attitude of the electorate..

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[i]True confession… this elf hasn’t had time yet to listen to the full audio posted below. But Trevin Wax is usually very worth reading or listening to. The questions he raises in his blog post are excellent. With Kendall needing to cut back on blogging, it seemed this might be a good resource to post, and might stimulate a good discussion.

[b]What disciplines will help us as Christians identify our cultural “blinders” and diligently assess and engage Biblically with our culture, and be faithful disciples in our times? [/b]

Please share any books or resources you’ve found helpful in “knowing and responding to the times.”[/i]

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We live in a society that has been formed, in some measure, by Christian ethics. Here, it’s easy for Christians to assent to Christian teaching and embrace certain practices common to Christianity, and yet still make decisions from a framework that is more influenced by a rival conception of time, because it remains hidden from view.

“Bible Believers” Living Out of Other Stories:
This is a source of continual frustration among pastors.

• We get discouraged when many of the people in our congregations, people who are faithful in attending church and who claim to have personal times of Bible reading, seem to be okay with the fact that their kids aren’t as religiously oriented as they are, as if it’s expected for kids to drop out of church for awhile and hopefully come back (but at least they made a decision for Christ at camp one summer!).
• We get discouraged when we see people put Bible verses on their Facebook page right next to a post about a television show they’re watching, a show drenched in the ethos of the Sexual Revolution and all the lies that come with it.
• We mourn the loss of people who are as kind as can be to us while they’re walking out the door to visit another church that has better services and programs for their kids. We thought they were committed to our church, but they were really just committed to their preferences.

A Question for Our Generation
As cultural currents move faster and we see rapids and waterfalls ahead and wonder what the future holds, one of the questions we must ask is this:

What kind of discipleship is necessary to fortify the faith of believers so that we understand what time it is, we rightly interpret our cultural moment, and see through the false and damaging views of history and the future that are in our world?

That is the question I posed in my workshop at TGC this year: Discipleship in the Age of Richard Dawkins, Lady Gaga, and Amazon.com: Grounding Believers in the Scriptural Storyline that Counters Rival Eschatologies. The audio from the talk is now available here.

What are the disciplines we need as we read our times? Oliver O’Donovan again:

To see the marks of our time as the products of our past; to notice the danger civilisation poses to itself, not only the danger of barbarian reaction; to attend especially not to those features which strike our contemporaries as controversial, but to those which would have astonished an onlooker from the past but which seem to us too obvious to question. There is another reason, strictly theological. To be alert to the signs of the times is a Gospel requirement, laid upon us as upon Jesus’ first hearers.

Read the blog entry here. You can listen to the audio here..

Reform is delighted that their Chairman, Rev’d Preb Rod Thomas, has been appointed to the revived See of Maidstone. Rod has served as a senior officer of Reform for nearly two decades. In that time he has been unswerving in his commitment to the principles set out in the Reform Covenant. But for Rod’s passionate advocacy of conservative evangelical Anglicanism the Church of England would have been much impoverished.
…
Director of Reform, Susie Leafe said, “The members of Reform are all too aware that this is an immense undertaking and we will be in prayer for Rod as he seeks to establish the necessary working arrangements to allow conservative evangelicals to flourish throughout the country.”

Read it all and the official announcement is here and the blurb from the Church of England is here and Lambeth Palace here

O Lord Jesus Christ, who hast gone to the Father to prepare a place for us: Grant us so to live in communion with thee here on earth, that hereafter we may enjoy the fullness of thy presence; who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end.

Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; from the end of the earth I call to thee, when my heart is faint. Lead thou me to the rock that is higher than I; for thou art my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy. Let me dwell in thy tent for ever! Oh to be safe under the shelter of thy wings!

–Psalm 61:1-4

KOTTAYAM: The Bishop at CMS Anglican Church allegedly prevented the devotees from entering the church by locking the main entrance, following which a section of the faithful offered prayers on the sides of the MC Road.

The protesters had earlier submitted a memorandum against the Bishop Stephen J Vattappara who is also the vicar of the Anglican Church, alleged that the priest closed the doors of the church at around 9.30 in the morning when they came to offer prayers. They said the bishop had ousted some of the committee members who wanted the financial records of the church publicised last month. He then posted new committee members without conducting any election for the same, they alleged, adding that the priest was receiving funds even from foreign countries, but was not ready to show the accounts to the diocese. Instead, he was acting vengefully against those raising questions against him, they said.

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“The Diocese of South Carolina has been in the process for some time of discerning what its permanent affiliation should be among the Provinces of the Anglican Communion,” the Rev. Jim Lewis, canon to the ordinary and an attendee of the meeting, told The Christian Post.

“We have reached a place where it seemed the next and most appropriate step was to meet with leaders of the ACNA to share our common interests and questions as this diocese continues the work of discernment.”

Lewis also told CP that while no date has been set for a convention vote on affiliation, the diocese stands on good terms with ACNA and other conservative Anglican groups.

“Our mutual respect and appreciation for each other is considerable, with many in the room having relationships that go back for years,” said Lewis.

“Our conversations were wide ranging and provided much needed clarity for all of us. Those are conversations that will certainly continue in the future.”

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