"We're losing touch with the radical political implications that come with saying 'Jesus is King'... When Babylon's politics divide the church, no one wins." --- Dr. Preston Sprinkle

A vision of intimacy. What visions of intimacy with God the word 'sonship' conveys! Access to God and fellowship with God as Father -- these are the privileges of his children. Not all human beings are God's children, however. Verse 14 of Romans 8 definitely and deliberately limits this status to those who are being led by the Spirit, who are being enabled by the Spirit to walk along the narrow path of righteousness. To be led by the Spirit and to be sons of God are virtually convertible terms. All who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God, and therefore all who are sons of God are led by the Spirit of God. --- John R.W. Stott

The pursuit of happiness. Those who pursue happiness never find it. Joy and peace are extremely elusive blessings. Happiness is a will-o'-the-wisp, a phantom. Even as we reach out a hand to grasp it, it vanishes into thin air. For joy and peace are not suitable goals to pursue; they are by-products of love. God give them to us, not when we pursue *them*, but when we pursue *him* and *others* in love ... The self-conscious pursuit of happiness will always end in failure. But when we forget ourselves in the self-giving service of love, then joy and peace come flooding into our lives as incidental, unlooked-for blessings. --- John R.W. Stott

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
www.virtueonline.org
April 15, 2022

In what must surely be the most colossal spiritual booboo in recent days by an Anglican leader is the statement by former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams that transgendered folk should not only be welcomed and accepted, but that sex change operations (mutilating the body) are okay with him. Here is what he said: "To be trans is to enter a sacred journey of becoming whole: precious, honoured and loved, by yourself, by others and by God."

Williams is also opposed to reparative therapy. He was among a group of religious leaders who wrote to PM Boris Johnson urging him to include trans people in a ban on conversion therapy. He said there is "no justification for the ban on so-called 'conversion therapy' excluding trans people".

Now it should be noted that Williams is opposed to abortion. Here is what he is record as saying: "it is impossible to view abortion as anything other than the deliberate termination of a human life." He is a lifetime member of the pro-life group SPUC.

So, he is opposed to tearing a baby from the womb, but has no problem with a person declaring they are no longer male but female, even though it is impossible to change one's gender or DNA.

The distinguished American theologian Carl Trueman took Williams apart in a devastating piece which you can read here: https://virtueonline.org/rowan-williams-and-our-sentimental-age

Here are some of the salient points, first on the letter sent to the UK Prime minister: "The letter is a good example of how sentimental mush has come to replace careful moral reasoning in the minds of so many."

"The letter is light on actual theology but does make peculiar comment on conversion therapy and prayer: "To allow those discerning this journey to be subject to coercive or undermining practices is to make prayer a means of one person manipulating another."

"The logic of this sentence seems to imply that to pray for a transgender person to become comfortable with his biological sex is a form of "conversion therapy." As such, prayer is to be equated with coercion and bullying. Do these religious leaders think that prayer changes nothing and that any claim otherwise makes it simply a tool for exercising psychological power over another? Or do they think that the only petitions that should be made on behalf of trans people are those that confirm their self-diagnosis? If the former, then why bother praying for anything at all? If the latter, what about the growing number of de-transitioners, many of whom would no doubt have been grateful if somebody had prayed for them and also intervened in some other way before they permanently mutilated their bodies?"

Trueman rips into Williams and says this: "[Williams] has lent his reputation as a serious thinker to a piece of woke whimsy whose force relies on nothing more than emotive rhetoric that happens to accord with the tastes of the times. After all, the claim "I am a woman trapped in a man's body" is rationally empty. But its emptiness belies its power, a power drawn from the fact that it gives expression to the Western notion of individual freedom and self-determination. And that power seems to have co-opted Williams for the trans cause." Ouch.

"In the face of the trans moment, Williams seems to have abandoned serious thought for sentiment. Learned he may be, but the letter to Boris Johnson reads as little more than the death notice of a once great mind. And if he is representative of our intellectual elites, it could well be the obituary of our once great culture."

Of course, Williams was a terrible leader of the Anglican Communion and would have sold the communion down the river over homosexuality had he not been stopped in his tracks by the former Primate of the Anglican Church of Nigeria, Peter Akinola.

GENITAL MUTILATION IS NOT A 'SACRED JOURNEY' blasted Dr. Jules Gomes for Church Militant. Experts excoriated the ex-archbishop of Canterbury's push for transgenderism.

"Experts excoriated the former archbishop for failing to recognize that mutilating body parts and subjecting gender-confused people to practices like breast binding and double mastectomies constitutes medical torture and subjects them to the theological heresy of transgender Gnosticism."

"Transitioning is hardly sacred when healthy, functioning body parts are mutilated and removed and when beta blockers creating sterility are applied or hormones are ingested -- all to force alignment with distorted self-perception."

Dr. Lisa Nolland, a psychologist and sex historian from Bristol, said that Williams was correct about transgenderism being a journey -- but that it is a "sacred journey to Hell," as described by "one such brave transgender leader," Scott Newgent, the CEO of TReVoices.

Nolland also emphasized the criminality of administering puberty blockers to teenagers, noting it involves "females being given synthetic testosterone ... 10--40 times the amount their bodies naturally produce, or males being given ... 2--10 times the amount of estrogen their bodies naturally produce."

Dr. Gavin Ashenden, a former Anglican bishop and professor of psychology who crossed the Tiber, said that Williams was "peddling a form of Gnosticism that privileges the mind over the body in a way that repudiates the integrity of the body, along with biology, empiricism and truth."

"The claim of a former archbishop of Canterbury that becoming transgender is part of a sacred journey to becoming whole is a tragic travesty. Before the triumph of imagination over biology was politicized, gender dysphoria was rightly understood as a psychiatric illness."

In December, over 2,500 evangelical leaders wrote to Elizabeth Truss, minister for women and equalities, warning that the proposed legislation would criminalize preachers and parents who "hold to orthodox, historic Christian teaching on sexual ethics."

"Legislating against such a bizarrely broad category is clearly not viable and strongly risks criminalizing us as we fulfill our compassionate duties as Christian ministers and pastors. This would be a clear breach of our legal right to manifest our religion," the letter stated.

The pastors noted that violating the pattern of "the lifelong marriage of one man and one woman" as God's central design for humanity "by sexual activity outside marriage or denial of our created sex, is sin."

Endorsing a mental illness is not a sacred task.

You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/uk-religious-leaders-urge-pm-include-trans-people-conversion-therapy-ban

***

NO SEX PLEASE, WE'RE PRIMATES. A recent gathering of some 37 Anglican primates in London at the invitation of Archbishop Justin Welby have agreed that sex is off the table at the next Lambeth Conference.

Anglican bishops will sweep Resolution 1:10, (that only permitted sex between a man and a woman), under the bed. The bishops are done with it even if there is a queer Eucharist by some of the bishops before the conference officially opens.

This will not change the dynamic. The 1998 resolution read; "in view of the teaching of Scripture, upholds faithfulness in marriage between a man and a woman in lifelong union" it could not "advise the legitimizing or blessing of same sex unions nor ordaining those involved in same gender unions". Well, how did that work out? The Episcopal Church has been packing the HOB with homosexuals and lesbians as fast as they can, the resolution be damned. The Lambeth Conference must not be dominated by sexuality again, said the Primates.

You can read my full report here: https://virtueonline.org/no-sex-please-were-primates

***

It will probably come as no great surprise that the future of Anglicanism is African with British Christianity being revived by migration.

Tomiwa Owolade writing for Unherd.com says the future of the Christian religion in England is not to be found in the southern shires or the former mill towns of the North. Out there, the voice and tenor of the Bible is a thinning force, a hoarse whisper. In London, the most multicultural part of Europe, it is closer to a deafening roar.

"Christianity is collapsing throughout Britain. A British Social Attitudes Survey from 2018 concluded that this decline is "one of the most important trends in postwar history". More than half of the British public now say they do not belong to any religion, compared to 31% in 1983. But there are parts of the country where the flame of the religion is still bright.

"You have to go to London, especially the inner-city, to find England's most vigorous forms of Christianity. It is largely West African immigrants who fill the pews of decaying churches from Peckham to Woolwich, who renovate new churches in Brixton and Lewisham, and who volunteer for Christian centres and charities up and down the capital. If you want a solid sense of the sacred, a connection to Britain's ancient Christian past, you are more likely to find it while eating jollof rice in a big tent in Kennington than eating a Yorkshire pudding in a small room in Harrogate.

"In London, 56% of Christians pray regularly. Only 32% outside of it do. London is more Christian today than it was during Margaret Thatcher's time as Prime Minister. According to David Goodhew, the director of ministerial practice at Cranmer Hall in Durham University, between 1979 and 2012 there was a 50% rise in the number of churches in the capital city. Many of them are built in boroughs of London with a large black population such as Southwark."

"What can be more beautifully Christian than the fact its future in the bosom of what was once the largest empire in the world is now being sustained by communities it once colonised?"

You can read the full story here: https://virtueonline.org/future-anglicanism-african

***

The Episcopal Church continues its Gadarene slide into the abyss.

The suffragan bishop of Virginia, Susan Goff is mad, and nothing it seems will contain her anger.

She has written what she calls a "meditation" to the church complaining mightily about the slate of candidates, one of whom will likely be the next bishop of Virginia. The trouble, according to her, is that the four are all white guys, not a black or queer among them. And this bothers her mightily.

With her disclaimer about who is to blame, certainly not the four candidates, Goff launched into her "meditation" about the diocese's lack of inclusion, a standard trope these days.

"There is an 800-pound gorilla in the room. A two-ton elephant. A fire-breathing dragon. Everywhere we turn, there it is. As I name it in this Monday meditation, I ask you to hang in with me...Let's ask some healthy questions about the state of our Diocese and the wider Church, and let's listen for what the Holy Spirit might be up to."

Well, apparently what the Holy Spirit is up to, is that He or She, depending on your theological preference, is not doing his/her job in getting the right slate of candidates. Clearly, the third person of the Trinity needs to either wake up or God the Father needs to talk to him/her for a come to Jesus wake up call. You can read the full story here: https://virtueonline.org/virginia-bishop-goffs-gaffe

***

It was revealed this week that the head of an Episcopal Church school in Texas told students that the church is embracing LGBTQ ideology and "normalizing same-sex relationships," according to an audio recording obtained exclusively by the Daily Caller.

David Baad, the Head of School at the Episcopal School of Dallas (ESD), encouraged students to "affirm" the identities of the "LGBTQ" ideology in the name of the Episcopal Church, according to the audio recording. Baad evoked a quote from the Episcopal church's Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, who appears on CNN's "Don Lemon Tonight."

"[Homosexuality] is an issue about which the Episcopal church has taken a very clear position," Baad said. "Mike Curry ... has a quote that sums it up ... 'LGBTQ siblings, we stand with you in this moment. And we continue to affirm that you are, and always have been, a blessing to our church. But, above all, you are children of God.'"

How is that not child abuse? Telling kids that a sexual behavior which still has the ability to kill them is okay. In 2020, around 680 000 [480 000--1 million] people died from AIDS-related illnesses worldwide. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has reported that 15,815 people with HIV died in the United States in 2019. Of those, 5,044 were believed to have died of HIV-related complications. While figures are coming down, still you can die from anal sex. The headmaster had no business peddling this behavior in the name of inclusivity. You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/exclusive-head-christian-texas-school-episcopal-told-kids-church-normalizing-same-sex-relationships

We are told to die to ourselves, to sexual desire that God has not approved and can still kill.

***

AT SEWANEE, the Episcopal Church's only university, a number of campus organizations held a "Sex in the Dark" event which drew an excited crowd.

For 90 minutes, students were allowed to ask anonymous questions to sex experts, Marshall Miller and Lindsay Fram from Sexuality Education, and no question was labeled too obvious or too outrageous.

Before the event started, neon giveaways, such as bracelets, necklaces, and large foam glow sticks were handed out and provided some illumination as well as a little whimsy. Raffle tickets were handed out for a lucky winner to receive an Amazon gift card.

The main focus of the event was questions related to sexual engagement such as consent, communication throughout sex, fetishes, kinks, BDSM, what to do if you can't experience an orgasm and what orgasms feel like and overcoming the fear of sex and masturbation.

If you have children ready for college, you might want to think about not sending your kids to Sewanee. Will they hear that the sacredness belongs in marriage between a man and a woman. One doubts it. You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/sewanee-sex-dark-illuminates-sexual-anxieties-campus

The satirical website The Babylon Bee had their own take on Governor DeSantis! In a powerful statement against the "Don't Say Gay" bill, The Episcopal Church in Florida has released a new version of their hymnal in which every song title and lyric is replaced by the word "gay."

"We condemn DeSantis's bigoted attempt to prevent the sexual indoctrination of small children," said Episcopal Bishop Caiya Diddle. "That's why, starting today, all twelve Episcopals in Florida will sing the word 'gay' over and over and over again every Sunday until this bill is overturned."

In addition to the song change, preachers will throw out their usual Sunday sermons and just say "gay" over and over again for 30 minutes. They will also replace traditional Sunday School with drag queen story hour so kids can get their fill of kinky classroom instruction they can no longer get in school.

"Here in the Episcopal Church, we loudly and proudly say 'gay,' just like Jesus did," said Diddle. "I look forward to singing my favorite song, "Gay," with my tiny congregation, followed by the old classic "Gay Gay in the Gay."

***

FROM UGANDA we learn that Anglican Archbishop Stephen Kaziimba is not afraid to confront the government and president when they stray too far from biblical standards, he believes the government should be held to.

The archbishop challenged the government on the safety of Ugandans and high prices of essential commodities. The archbishop asked the government to ensure that Ugandans are safe during this festive season.

The archbishop's call comes at a time when suspected machete wielding men have embarked on attacking and killing people in the Kampala metropolitan areas.

In other news, Uganda's president Yoweri Museveni publicly disagreed with the ideology and preaching of the Anglican Archbishop that God is always calling people to death. He also disagreed with the archbishop saying that earthly wealth is useless.

This exchange occurred after the main celebrant at Kololo during the praying of the soul of the fallen speaker of parliament Jacob Oulanya, that the archbishop told mourners that our time on earth is temporary, and we shouldn't be taken up by earthly wealth.

Kaziimba said; "Some Ugandans are very greedy which leads to them becoming corrupt. They grab poor people's land yet when they die, they are buried in a small piece of land." He said that it is God who called Oulanyah home when he died at the age of 57.

In his response, president Museveni asked, "why is it that God calls Africans at an early age and exempts Japanese or Europeans who die at 70 plus years. Life expectancy in Uganda is now 63, yet that of Japan is 75, he said.

***

The Church of England has a death wish. It is in a downhill spiral from which it cannot escape. It is being led by an archbishop who seems to have forgotten his evangelical roots and has bought into apologizing for all the church's past sins and current woke issues

The Church of England heads for chaos over same-sex marriage, writes Peter Mullen.

"IN THE foreseeable future, the Church of England will announce that it intends to solemnise same-sex marriage. I have neither runes nor crystal ball, so how can I know this? Because the Church has as good as announced it in its publication Living in Love and Faith.

"It begins with an apology 'for the damage and hurt caused to the LGBT community'. It proceeds with the launch of a programme of 'discussions and learning about gender identity' to be completed this year. The House of Bishops will bring the process of 'decision-making to a conclusion' and their conclusions will be put to a vote in the General Synod next year. The new Synod has been elected and this issue will dominate all its discussions. Has the Synod already been stacked with members who favour this innovation? I don't know -- not for certain anyway -- but I can hazard a guess based on the fact that more than a few known to me who applied to be candidates for election were turned down, and two have since told me: 'I am too traditionalist in my views.'

"The whole procedure appears to be no more than a polite charade, for the presenter of LLF, Christopher Cocksworth (sic), Bishop of Coventry, has already declared that the Church's teaching on marriage is 'ripe for development'. A cynic might comment, 'What a giveaway!' You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/church-england-heads-chaos-over-same-sex-marriage

Meantime, the archbishop railed on about moving the Rustat memorial in Jesus College chapel -- which causes such pain and distress to people whose ancestors were sold into slavery -- to a place where it can be understood in context. Apparently, he lost the political fight on this one. A church court rejected his views.

On Sunday, Welby criticized the British government's plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda to process their claims. The scheme has sparked outrage and widespread criticism from human rights organizations and even the UN. Welby added his voice to the dissent in his Easter Day address.

Of course, Welby has opinions on everything from the war in Ukraine, climate change, to the non-dom status and tax affairs of the Chancellor. What one doesn't hear is anything about the transforming love of Christ to change people's hearts and lives.

***

Some links to up-to-the-minute Culture Wars issues.

Russia and the Culture Wars can be seen here: https://virtueonline.org/russia-and-culture-wars

A Finnish legislator wins court hearing over Scripture and homosexuality. A
Finnish evangelical escaped prison for citing 'hate speech' from St. Paul. In a major victory for free speech, the Helsinki district court has cleared a Finnish lawmaker three years after she was charged with "hate speech" crimes for tweeting biblical verses proscribing homosexual acts. https://virtueonline.org/legislator-wins-anti-lgbtq-bible-quote-case

The Trans movement is failing where gay rights movement succeeded: https://virtueonline.org/trans-movement-failing-where-gay-rights-movement-succeeded

The Rev. Dr. Gerry McDermott responds to Dispatch writer, David French on Critical Race Theory: https://virtueonline.org/christians-race-and-crt-response-david-french

Dr. Michael Nazir-Ali is granted the title of Monsignor by the RCC: https://virtueonline.org/fr-michael-nazir-ali-granted-title-monsignor

Nigerian Archbishop Ben Kwashi addresses GAFCON leaders about the latest on GAFCON and next year's meeting in Kigali. https://virtueonline.org/archbishop-ben-kwashi-addresses-gafcon-gbe-meeting-0

THEOLOGY

The Rev. Roger Salter brings us an Easter reflection from the life of Abraham: https://virtueonline.org/easter-christological-reflection-genesis-22-1-19

Attorney Jeff Williams bring us his take on Gal. 3:28: https://virtueonline.org/galatians-328-revisited

A GB News presenter claims bishops' blocking his ordination because of conservative views. Robinson has been training for ordination at St Stephen's College in Oxford. But senior clergy in London including the Bishop of London Sarah Mullally have taken exception to his criticism of woke culture and other conservative comments on social media and blocked the original plan. This is right out of the TEC playbook. You can read more here: https://worldnewsera.com/news/uk/gb-news-presenter-claims-bishops-blocking-his-ordination-because-of-conservative-views/

***

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