tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post5288137501595046688..comments2024-03-18T12:54:19.748-05:00Comments on Pastoral Meanderings: C of E bends in the wind. . . Pastor Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10653554256101480140noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-87733663064340570892017-08-24T19:35:58.490-05:002017-08-24T19:35:58.490-05:00I suppose we might also look at it from another an...I suppose we might also look at it from another angle: Scripture suggests that the Lord prunes the branches of His earthly church on a regular basis. Purging is a painful process. It is not caused by God, but it is a condition in which churches depart from God's word, ignoring God's commands and warnings, making a mockery of His grace, willfully disregarding the redeeming work of Christ on the cross. Then, as recorded in the OT, the Lord sends His prophets to wake up the congregations. And what happens? The prophets are slain, in reality or in less violent form...rebuked and scorned. The result is that only a remnant of believers exist at any one time in history. Much of the church consists of professing Christians but essentially unbelieving ones. The word of God does not effect them or guide them. Some wrongly assume that water Baptism was enough religion to perhaps keep them from eternal damnation. As we look at the decline of Christianity in Europe, and the U.K., and in America, we see an increase in believers in unexpected places, in China, in communist as well as in Muslim countries....areas where persecution is intense. Why? Simply because the church is being pruned, the branches trimmed, dead leaves cut away. So as you see churches accepting homosexuality and redefining sin, ignoring Holy Writ, behaving badly...just remember that the true believers within these bodies will leave. They will find more faithful denominations, or gather in small groups. However, the earthly church of Our Lord, tarnished, wounded, scarred, will continue on until the time He returns.John Joseph Flanaganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06596324816480709495noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-4650592005304260922017-08-24T16:21:59.291-05:002017-08-24T16:21:59.291-05:00Tubbs, I wouldn't worry much about the church ...Tubbs, I wouldn't worry much about the church buildings; they are historical, and concrete, part of England's heritage. The government will likely keep them up. It's the spirituality of the CoE that is crumbling. I am concerned as you are about the true Church in Great Britain (and the rest of Europe). We likely should pray for them as they are under great pressure to conform to apostasy. Pray for ourselves in America, where we have pretty much nothing but that Genevan iconoclasm in our church buildings, and fundagelicalism filling them. If American Christianity succumbs to the same pressures, there won't even be church buildings (country or city) to stand as witness to Christianity's past.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-84774262217445827962017-08-24T13:44:37.949-05:002017-08-24T13:44:37.949-05:00Yes, good Christians should worry about the cure o...Yes, good Christians should worry about the cure of souls in the UK, even if those souls only amount to that minuscule number attending a CoE on the sabbath. <br />I fret about those beautiful country churches, still beautiful in spite of Genevan iconoclasm. I hope they are never leveled. tubbshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07272003035464034763noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-38715615900294611592017-08-24T10:12:34.212-05:002017-08-24T10:12:34.212-05:00The CoE is apostate, but that is really no surpris...The CoE is apostate, but that is really no surprise. It has been in progress for a long time.<br /><br />Anonymous (above) repeats the common confusion that Anglicanism is "founded" by Henry VIII over his divorce issue. While Henry's divorce was the final straw, it was but one of many issues that caused tension between the UK and Rome in the 16th century. In any case, Henry did not "found" the CoE; it first appeared in the 1st century, and only later came under Rome around 640 AD. What can come under Rome can also come out from under Rome, and that is what happened. Anglicanism, that is, true Anglicanism, is the ancient catholic faith of the British Isles.<br /><br />True Anglicans everywhere (which now seems to exclude the CoE) have no need for Luther and Lutheranism. We are orthodox catholics, following Jesus in the ancient faith. This is true in Africa, and true in America with the Continuing Anglican movement.<br /><br />Fr. D+<br />Continuing Anglican PriestAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-22860625810620824562017-08-24T08:38:56.584-05:002017-08-24T08:38:56.584-05:00Blessing an adulterer with a divorce decree was en...Blessing an adulterer with a divorce decree was enough for a king to break from Rome and found the Anglican church. Why stop there? They could bless other sins such as homosexuality. Doesn't the decision to allow such sin reveal fatal flaws within core Anglican doctrine.<br /><br />We can only hope that the Anglicans in Africa will abandon Anglicanism in disgust and seek out confessional Lutheranism, as their brothers in South Sudan recently have done.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com