Do not forsake me, O LORD! O my God, be not far from me! Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation!

–Psalm 38:21-22

..I said that I would speculate as to the reasons why congregations willfully choose revisionist priests, and while there may not be one unifying cause, let me suggest that people cannot know what they should look for, or look out for, in a religious leader if they have not studied the mistakes of the past as recorded for us in the Bible and in the history of the Church. Generations of American Episcopalians have not been grounded in Bible study or in the study of Church history and doctrine, and therefore are no longer capable of making choices that are truly Spirit led.

In addition, when the list of candidates is supplied by a “Canon for This and That” from the revisionist diocese headquarters, it tends to boil down to a Hobson’s Choice.

It becomes a death spiral for the denomination when the keys to the Church are handed over to revisionist bishops and priests time and time again who ensure that the fundamentals of Christianity are not taught to future generations. Those future generation of blissfully ignorant pewsitters will continue to make poor choices, and as long as there are enough of them to pay the bills, the church will stagger on…

…to its doom.

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The Archbishop of Kenya did not sign, nor did he approve, a letter released under his signature that was posted to the provincial website that purported to change the church’s stance on its boycott of ACC-16 in Lusaka.

In an 11 April 2016 interview, the Most Rev. Eliud Wabukala confirmed the forgery was a ruse to justify the attendance of the Kenyan delegation to the meeting and to “defy my authority.”

Archbishop Wabukala explained he had been in Marsabit brokering an end to clashes between pastoralists and farmers in northern Kenya when “I found the delegation from Kenya were ready to go,” with air tickets and travel reservations in hand. Aware of the archbishop’s opposition to their attending the meeting, the leader of the delegation, the Rt. Rev. Joel Waweru, Bishop of Nairobi telephoned and asked for a meeting in the provincial office with the archbishop and the two other delegates..

Read it all and see also:

Kenya 8: AU 224 – Kenya, Canterbury, ACC and 815
Kenya 7: [Matt Kennedy] Anglican Colonialists and the Subversion of a Kenyan Province
Kenya 5: [AI] Primate of Kenya refutes claims from ACC 16
Kenya 4: Bishop Idowu-Fearon comments on TEC Standing Committee membership and Kenya
Kenya 3: Fraud and Forgery Allegations Raised at ACC 16 [with copy falsified letter]
Kenya 2: [ACK] Statement on Anglican Consultative Council 16, Lusaka
Kenya 1: Archbishop Wabukala responds to the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Letter to Primates

In the light of media speculation about contradictory statements posted on the ACK website about attendance at of the Kenyan delegation at ACC-16, I wish to confirm that the statement dated 5th April was not seen by me and I did not authorize the use of my signature. Its use by my office was based on a clear misunderstanding.

My position remains in solidarity with that of my brother Primates of Nigeria, Uganda, Rwanda and Jerusalem and the Middle East.

The Most Revd Dr Eliud Wabukala.

Archbishop of Kenya and Bishop, All Saints Cathedral Diocese, Nairobi

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A TEC representative whose attendance at the ACC Standing Committee has been commented on as breaching the decision of the Primates, was elected to the Standing Committee several years before the Primates’ meeting. As the Standing Committee is a Trustee body under English law, they cannot be removed without legal cause, and neither the Primates nor the ABC, nor indeed the ACC, can override the law.
…..
The unsubstantiated public allegations of forgery against the members of the Kenyan delegation are scurrilous and untrue and are made in a manner against all biblical principles of appropriate behaviour.

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..The Christian church now finds itself facing a new reality. The church no longer represents the central core of Western culture. Though outposts of Christian influence remain, these are exceptions rather than the rule. For the most part, the church has been displaced by the reign of secularism.

The daily newspaper brings a constant barrage which confirms the current state of American society. This age is not the first to see unspeakable horror and evil, but it is the first to deny any consistent basis for identifying evil as evil or good as good.

The faithful church is, for the most part, tolerated as one voice in the public arena, but only so long as it does not attempt to exercise any credible influence on the state of affairs. Should the church speak forcefully to an issue of public debate, it is castigated as coercive and out of date.

How does the church think of itself as it faces this new reality?

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TEL AVIV ”” Eliashib, the quartermaster of the remote desert fortress, received his instructions in writing ”” notes inscribed in ink on pottery asking for provisions to be sent to forces in the ancient kingdom of Judah.

The requests for wine, flour and oil read like mundane, if ancient, shopping lists. But a new analysis of the handwriting suggests that literacy may have been far more widespread than previously known in the Holy Land around 600 B.C., toward the end of the First Temple period. The findings, according to the researchers from Tel Aviv University, could have some bearing on a century-old debate about when the main body of biblical texts was composed.

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Sudanese authorities have, apparently against their own law, continued to keep two church leaders incommunicado since mid-December, with no official charges yet filed against them; recently Sudan has also increased the number of church leaders who must report every day to its security services.

Telahoon Nogosi Kassa Rata, a leader of Khartoum North (Bahri) Evangelical Church, and Rev. Hassan Abduraheem Kodi Taour of the Sudan Church of Christ (SCC) continue to be detained, even though Sudanese law says that 45 days after arrest a detained individual should either be presented before court or released. It is now 120 days since Rata’s arrest on 14 December, and 115 days since Taour’s arrest.

Initially Rata’s detention was suggested to be “on religious charges”, but sources close to the case have hinted the Christian activist is now being investigated for espionage, a charge Sudan has eventually resorted to before, after prolonged detentions of Christians.

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From the Christian Post
Oxford University is deviating from its 800-year-old tradition to remain relevant to “the dramatic change” in the U.K., by allowing its undergraduate theology students to skip studying Christianity after the first year of their degree, and choose instead subjects like “Feminist Approaches to Theology and Religion” and “Buddhism in Space and Time.”
…….
“If you have a very rigid curriculum, there will be an increasing mismatch between what lecturers are doing in their research time and what they’re having to teach,” Zachhuber seeks to explain.

“The major driver for change for theology and religion is the dramatic change in the way religion is seen and practiced in the UK,” Zachhuber continues. “The dominance of the Church of England has been receding but at the same time religion hasn’t disappeared. We want to offer to potential students what is interesting for them and that has changed a lot in the last 30 years.”

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The new Bishop of Oxford is to be the Rt Revd Dr Steven Croft, Downing Street announced today. Bishop Steven succeeds the Rt Revd John Pritchard, who retired in October 2014 after seven years in post.

Bishop Steven, who is 58, is currently Bishop of Sheffield, a role he has held since 2009. He serves on the Archbishop’s Council and Chairs the Ministry Council of the Church of England. He has been a member of the House of Lords since 2013.

He has a passion for mission and evangelism and for finding creative ways of sharing the Gospel. He is the co-author of the Emmaus and Pilgrim courses, both of which are resources to help people engage with the Christian faith.

Read it all and the official announcement is here and there are more links and background from David Pocklington here

O God, who for our redemption didst give thine only begotten Son to the death of the cross, and by his glorious resurrection hast delivered us from the power of the enemy: Grant us to die daily to sin, that we may evermore live with him in the joy of his resurrection; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.

O LORD, I love the habitation of thy house, and the place where thy glory dwells.

–Psalm 26:8

My son Nathaniel has flown out to be with me, all set up without my knowledge a while back by my crafty wife Elizabeth.

The Wrigley Field Marquee is back up and running, and it looks great! #LetsGo pic.twitter.com/K2OBbvEhdM

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) April 8, 2016

You can find the link at the page here or the MP3 there; listening to Gary Beson’s sermon is recommended, it comes at about 31 minutes.

O Blessed Lord, who didst promise thy disciples that through thy Easter victory their sorrow should be turned to joy, and their joy no man should take from them: Grant us, we pray thee, so to know thee in the power of thy resurrection, that we may be partakers of that joy which is unspeakable and full of glory; for thy holy name’s sake.

To thee, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
O my God, in thee I trust,
let me not be put to shame;
let not my enemies exult over me.
Yea, let none that wait for thee be put to shame;
let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.

Make me to know thy ways, O Lord;
teach me thy paths.
Lead me in thy truth, and teach me,
for thou art the God of my salvation;
for thee I wait all the day long.

–Psalm 25:1-4

Almighty and everlasting God, we thank thee for thy servant George Augustus Selwyn, whom thou didst call to preach the Gospel to the peoples of New Zealand and Melanesia, and to lay a firm foundation for the growth of thy Church in many nations. Raise up, we beseech thee, in this and every land evangelists and heralds of thy kingdom, that thy Church may proclaim the unsearchable riches of our Savior Jesus Christ; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Also in @LichfieldCath George Augustus Selwyn (1809–78): 1st Anglican Bishop of New Zealand from 1841 to 1858. He returned to be Bishop of Lichfield from 1868 to 1878. Bit of a legend.
Also the Lichfield Angel dating from 8th century.@englishparish pic.twitter.com/YAprYjYwO6

— Oxoniensis (@antSJD) March 2, 2018

O God, whose blessed Son came into the world to do thy will and went about doing good: Grant that we may ever have the pattern of his holy life before our eyes, and that it may be our meat to do thy will and to finish thy work; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If any one loves the world, love for the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world passes away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides for ever.

–1 John 2:15-17

The day is done, and the darkness
Falls from the wings of Night,
As a feather is wafted downward
From an eagle in his flight.
I see the lights of the village
Gleam through the rain and the mist,
And a feeling of sadness comes o’er me
That my soul cannot resist:

A feeling of sadness and longing,
That is not akin to pain,
And resembles sorrow only
As the mist resembles the rain.

Come, read to me some poem,
Some simple and heartfelt lay,
That shall soothe this restless feeling,
And banish the thoughts of day.

Not from the grand old masters,
Not from the bards sublime,
Whose distant footsteps echo
Through the corridors of Time,

For, like strains of martial music,
Their mighty thoughts suggest
Life’s endless toil and endeavor;
And tonight I long for rest.

Read from some humbler poet,
Whose songs gushed from his heart,
As showers from the clouds of summer,
Or tears from the eyelids start;

Who, through long days of labor,
And nights devoid of ease,
Still heard in his soul the music
Of wonderful melodies.

Such songs have a power to quiet
The restless pulse of care,
And comes like the benediction
That follows after prayer.

Then read from the treasured volume
The poem of thy choice,
And lend to the rhyme of the poet
The beauty of thy voice.

And the night shall be filled with music,
And the cares, that infest the day,
Shall fold their tents, like the Arabs,
And as silently steal away.

–Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882); this was one of Dad’s favorite poems which he used to listen to on the radio before he went to bed when he was growing up–KSH.

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The Archbishop of Canterbury has discovered he is the illegitimate son of Sir Winston Churchill’s last private secretary after taking a DNA test to prove his paternity, The Telegraph can disclose.

The Most Reverend Justin Welby had until now believed his father to be Gavin Welby, a whisky salesman and son of a Jewish immigrant, who was married briefly to his mother, Jane.

Read it all from the Telegraph.

This is what we mean by cheap grace, the grace which amounts to the justification of sin without the justification of the repentant sinner who departs from sin and from whom sin departs. Cheap grace is not the kind of forgiveness of sin which frees us from the toils of sin. Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves.

Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without Church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without contrition. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the Cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.

Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will gladly go and sell all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble, it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows Him.

Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock.

Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of His son: ‘ye were bought at a price,’ and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon His Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered Him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.

–Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship

Gracious God, the Beyond in the midst of our life, who gavest grace to thy servant Dietrich Bonhoeffer to know and teach the truth as it is in Jesus Christ, and to bear the cost of following him: Grant that we, strengthened by his teaching and example, may receive thy word and embrace its call with an undivided heart; through Jesus Christ our Savior, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Obit April 9, 1945 pic.twitter.com/0h3Q2BmTOy

— Father Richard (@trinheadmaster) April 9, 2016

Grant us, O Lord, to pass this day in gladness and peace, without stumbling and without stain; that reaching the eventide victorious over all temptation, we may praise thee, the eternal God, who art blessed, and dost govern all things, world without end.

The end of all things is at hand; therefore keep sane and sober for your prayers. Above all hold unfailing your love for one another, since love covers a multitude of sins. Practice hospitality ungrudgingly to one another. As each has received a gift, employ it for one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who utters oracles of God; whoever renders service, as one who renders it by the strength which God supplies; in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

–1 Peter 4:7-19

Francis Stuart Harmon Jr., affectionately known as “Stuart” or “Stu” by those closest to him, died at the Village at Summerville in South Carolina on April 2, 2016. He was 83.

Born in Lynchburg, Virginia in 1932 he was the son of the late Francis Stuart Harmon and Waverly (Harwood) Harmon. His sister, Virginia Jameson, passed away on March 14, 1988.

He was married to Mary Ann (French) Harmon for 46 years until her death on March 8, 2007.

Following an education at Horace Mann School and Princeton University, Mr. Harmon served in the Navy on the Air Craft Carrier U S Hancock in the Pacific from 1955-1957, and later as an instructor at the Naval Academy from 1957-1959. After marrying Mary Ann French in 1959, he earned a Masters in Science at the University of Illinois in 1960.

He then taught chemistry at the Lawrenceville School in New Jersey from 1960-1981, and afterward at the Charlotte (NC) Latin school from 1981-1989. He also wrote test questions for the Education Testing Service for the College Board Chemistry Achievement test and Advanced Placement exam.

As a boy Stu fell in love with the Silver Bay Association in the Adirondack Mountains in upper New York State. He and his wife became permanent residents there in 1995 after spending many summers in the area with his own family. He served the association in many capacities including as a member of the Board of Trustees.

Stuart was a well-loved father, grandfather, community servant and outdoorsman. He will especially be remembered as a passionate chemistry teacher who combined wry humor with a desire to coax a great intellectual curiosity out of those under his care.

Survivors include two sons, Kendall S. Harmon of Summerville, SC and Randall H. Harmon of Gaithersburg, Md., a nephew, John Jameson of West Chester, Pa., and a niece, Ann Jameson of Alexandria, Va. He also has three grandchildren, Abigail Harmon, Nathaniel Harmon and Selimah Harmon.

A memorial service followed by a reception will take place on April 9, 2016 at 2 p.m. at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Summerville, S.C. The Rev. Craige Borrett will officiate and the Rev. Gary Beson will preach. A further service to give thanks for Stu’s life will take place in the summer of 2016 at the Silver Bay Assn. Chapel in Silver Bay, NY, at a date to be announced.

In lieu of flowers the family is requesting that gifts be made to the Silver Bay Assn. Emp Alumni Fellowship Scholarship Fund.

A memorial message may be written to the family by visiting our website at www.jamesadyal.com.

ARRANGEMENTS BY JAMES A. DYAL FUNERAL HOME, 303 SOUTH MAIN STREET, SUMMERVILLE, SC 29483 (843) 873-4040.

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From Anglican Ink
The Anglican Church of Rwanda has declined to send a delegation to this week’s meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council in Lusaka. However, no statement will be issued at this time by the East African church’s House of Bishops explaining their motivation.

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