Before I met Nicholas, I’d been in several monogamous relationships but had never been able to remain faithful in any of them. With him, it was easy—not just because I was so sexually attracted to him, but because I loved him so much. Now and then, we’d have the typical “oh, a threesome would be fun someday” conversation, but we never really dug any deeper.

Everything changed in 2011, when someone in our family experienced a life-threatening accident.That kind of changed our perspective about life and the need to live every single day to its fullest.

Meanwhile, I’d started craving a little sexual excitement into our lives, and the idea of an open relationship intrigued me. But I had no idea how to even approach the idea with Nicholas, or how it would actually play out in reality. At that time, our social circle didn’t include anyone else who had an open marriage, so I wasn’t sure where to start. That’s when I sought counsel from some friends on the West Coast who were involved in such relationships.

Read it all.

I will take comments on this submitted by email only to KSHarmon[at]mindspring[dot]com.

The UK’s largest evangelism event since Billy Graham’s crusade decades ago hit the heart of Britain today and thousands responded to the Gospel message, putting their faith in Jesus Christ.

“Literally, thousands of people have just come forward to give their lives to Jesus,” said Peter Wooding, London Bureau Chief of the Global News Alliance.

The event should encourage Christians across the United Kingdom to pick up the banner of evangelism and begin sharing the Gospel, one national prayer leader said.

Read it all.

On 20 January 2015, I launched this book, “On Rock or Sand? Firm Foundations for Britain’s Future”. Immediately, the book received two reactions. Those who hated it. And those who read it.

Two and a half years on, with a Referendum and an unexpected General Election behind us, the world may have moved on, but the key questions remain the same.

It is impossible to consider the kind of policies which should shape our future as a nation without first focussing on moral principles and virtues – and indeed the vision for our society – which undergird them. Recent political storms, and the tragic events of recent weeks, have caused many to pause and reflect. The Archbishop of Canterbury and I have asked that as a Synod we spend this next hour reflecting upon these things today. The Christian vision is of a world in which we are created for fellowship and mutual responsibility rather than for individualism and consumerism. A world in which the principal aim of policy is to enhance the well-being (that is, the personal and communal flourishing) of all in society.

As we now seek to reassess our relationships, in our local communities, in Europe, and internationally, our goal must always be the common good of all. At the outset, and with the presence of our beloved brothers from Finland and Germany in mind, I would add that this must involve a fresh commitment to building relations between European and British churches – at central and at local level – to lean against the tendency to pull apart which will get worse as negotiations go forward towards leaving the European Union.

We need to go on asking, what is it that well-being and flourishing looks like in our communities?

Read it all.

Archbishop Okoh went on to state, “Keep your head in all situations. Do the work of an evangelist. People of God, it is never true to water down the gospel message, in fact, I am convinced that the opposite is true when we concentrate on delivering the gospel of Jesus Christ, people will be cut to the heart and repent. Christianity without repentance is not true Christianity. We must refute erroneous doctrines, contend for the faith of the Church. We are to place teaching above ceremonies which is gaining the ascendency.”

One lay delegate shared with me that a take away for her from this Assembly was the powerful worship services and worship times each evening. Memorable for her were the words of Nigerian Archbishop, Ben Kwashi, “God didn’t save you to sit in a pew.” Many were moved by the absolutely compelling address given by Baroness Caroline Cox. Her presentation titled Persecuted Heroes and Heroines in The World with her stunning photographs of men, women and children mainly in Africa and Asia moved many to tears. In describing these brave people Baroness Cox ended with a quote from Archbishop Ben Kwashi of the Diocese of Jos in Nigeria, about the persecuted church, “If you have a faith worth living for, it is a faith worth dying for. Don’t YOU compromise the faith that WE are living and dying for”

Titus Church Planting Institute administrator Jenni Bartling was thrilled with the amount of attention still focused on the ministry of church planting in our province. “Keynote speakers like Ed Stetzer, Dave Ferguson, and an entire Always Forward teaching track are clear indicators its priority has not waned,” she noted.

Read it all.

Faith: Our ACNA family is joined under one faith and the proclamation of the Good News of Jesus Christ. It was such a joy to know that I was among those who believed in the apostolic faith and were also excited about sharing this faith with those who do not yet believe. The witnesses and testimonies that I heard touched my heart and reinvigorated by faith. One of the more memorable faith stories came from Baroness Caroline Cox (CEO of Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust). She told us of the forced relocation of the Karen people of Myanmar (Burma) and a conversation she had with a Karen pastor named Simon. He stated the following:

They call us a displaced people, but thank God we are not misplaced. They say we they see no hope for our future, but thank God our future is as bright as the promises of God. They say the life of our people is a misery, but praise God our life is a mystery. For what they say is what they see and what they see is temporal; but ours is the eternal, and all because we put ourselves in the hands of the God we trust.

This testimony is only one of many that are part of our new family’s history. I pray that we will be encouraged by this and seek to have such faith as we serve and worship our Lord on the Barrier Islands and beyond.

Read it all.

We were blessed by the worship at Assembly 2017, which culminated at the final Holy Communion at Wheaton’s Edman Chapel on Friday morning, June 30. The music, the liturgy, and the preaching by Archbishop Okoh of Nigeria, all came together in an awe-inspiring service. This included the historic consecration of the first GAFCON missionary bishop since Bishops Atwood, Guernsey, and myself, who were consecrated in August 2007 by the world-wide communion for the launch of the ACNA. Bishop Andrew Lines was consecrated as missionary bishop to Scotland, and the wives of the ACNA bishops laid hands on and prayed for Mandy Lines, his wife. The moment’s intensity, love, and sense of support were so strong that there was hardly a dry eye in the sanctuary.

During Assembly we also hosted the Most Rev Jackson Ole Sapit, Archbishop of Kenya, in Wheaton, after which we hosted him here in Massachusetts, as he presided over our Kenyan Archdeaconry’s Kenyan festival at Grace Anglican Church of Bridgewater. At this event, the Kenyan Archdeaconry, led by Archdeacon Peter Gachathi, witnessed the gathering of many Kenyan Clergy currently not in the ADNE. We confirmed twelve, welcomed twelve ladies into the Mothers Union of the ACNA, and we had a first: the establishment of the North American Anglican Men’s Association, inducting twelve men into this new organization. After the service and luncheon, Archbishop Sapit and I met with Kenyan and ADNE clergy, the outcome of which was planning for a week-long visit from him in 2018 to establish the structures and membership of a much larger Kenyan Archdeaconry here in the ADNE.

Read it all.

The Church of England’s governing body is due to vote on whether special services should be held for transgender people.
Supporters of the services say the Church should offer a welcome to people to mark their transition.
Others suggest the services would be counter to some parts of the Bible which state that humans are created as either male or female.
The Church’s four-day general synod meeting in York started on Friday.

Read it all.

O God in whom all fullness dwelleth, who givest without measure to them that ask; Give us faith to ask, and faith to receive, all that thy bounty giveth; that being filled with all thy fullness we may as thy faithful stewards impart thy gifts to all thy children; for Jesus Christ’s sake.

—Daily Prayer, Eric Milner-White and G. W. Briggs, eds. (London: Penguin Books 1959 edition of the 1941 original)

Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD, O my soul! I will praise the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have being. Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no help.

–Psalm 146:1-3