NO UNITY AT THE EXPENSE OF TRUTH

Issued by Christian Concern

News Release

For immediate release

17 February 2016

‘No unity at the expense of truth’: a response to Justin Welby’s Presidential Address

Andrea Williams, chief executive of Christian Concern and a member of the Church of England’s General Synod, has issued the following statement in response to the Archbishop Justin Welby’s Presidential Address to the General Synod on Monday (15 FEB):

The Archbishop of Canterbury’s presidential address at Synod addressed the aftermath of the recent Primates’ gathering in Canterbury, in which a compromise was reached between two diametrically opposed groups: those who hold to the Bible’s teaching on marriage and sexuality – and those who do not..

Real unity can only grow in the soil of truth. No amount of institutional scaffolding can substitute for healthy soil...

The underlying issue is whether the churches will submit to God’s Word.

An approach to unity which, as long as the institution is upheld, allows an ‘agreement to disagree’ on Scripture’s authority, is counter-productive and doomed to failure.

Unless there is a shared submission to God’s Word, we are not on a shared journey to a shared destination, and no amount of institutional scaffolding will take us there..

He is right in reminding us that Jesus came to set us free. Yet true freedom is freedom from sin, which is found in repentance and the surrendering of human desires to the work of the Holy Spirit. It is not freedom to continue holding to disobedience of the Word...

he Archbishop spoke of the picture of humility that Jesus painted through the washing of His disciples’ feet. But in that humility and servant-heartedness, we must point people to truth. Archbishop Justin failed to speak of truth or of objective revelation from God. It is as if truth has been relegated to a ‘process of discernment’ not a matter of scripture, canons and creed.

This is a capitulation to the ‘spirit of the age’, not the Spirit of God who has spoken in Scripture.

Please read more here.

Qualification for church membership –The Scripture and some practiced models

Recently, one of the churches in Niger Delta area of Nigeria is having crisis because their pastor is insisting that everybody must pay some token for membership in order to be recognized as a member and qualify for the privileges accruable to members.

Some people have kicked against the move emphasizing that it is ungodly and unbiblical no matter the amount of money involved whether big or small, and that they will never pay money to belong to their church. Others have insisted that the pastor is right as it is the church doctrine and tradition; in fact someone even said that those who refused to pay the money for membership should leave the church. This rule has been applied during the election of the Leadership of the Men’s Fellowship and many were declared ineligible either to vote or to be voted for. Many men in the church are grumbling. The pastor has also promised to apply the same rule during the Council elections coming up later in the month of February.

Now because the church in question is an Anglican Church, we have made efforts to research into both the church’s history to see whether this is an apparent deviation or what the church really teaches. Hence, we will have two-pronged approach to this discuss: the first approach is from biblical point of view, are you supposed to pay some money before you are made a member of a church? What are the requirements? Secondly, from the Anglican Church practice and history, must you pay some money before you can be a church member?

Biblical qualification for church membership

First of all, it is important to say that it is a difficult task trying to separate belonging to the universal church of all nations to which every believer belongs irrespective of his denomination and belonging to a local church. This is because, inasmuch as it is repentance towards God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ that makes you a member of the body of Christ, there are very clear commands in the Bible that the saved person is not supposed to operate alone in isolation. It is a group of those saved people that gather together to form a local church.  John Piper gives five New Testament evidence for church membership here. The idea is that the picture painted for us in the Bible is such that for you to function properly, you must belong to a body of believers. It is God’s plan. Dr. Piper summarizes the five reasons as follows:

1. We should take responsibility to discipline those of the body who do not repent from public sin that brings reproach on the name of Christ.
2. We should declare ourselves part of the body so that if we are wayward, we ourselves would be liable to such exclusion.
3.  We should take our position under the leadership and authority of a particular group of elders. 
4.  We should declare ourselves part of a group who expect to be watched over and cared for by a particular group of elders.
5. And we should find our place in the organic whole as a body part—a member—of a local body of Christ.

 Each local church is a living organism with different members joined to each other to fulfill different functions, all working together for the purpose of expressing the universal body of Christ. Exclusion from the body, either by the leadership or by personal decision, is a very serious matter.

The membership of the body of Christ is a covenant membership brought about by a spiritual birth. Also, membership of the local church is a resultant effect of a spiritual birth. When one believes in the Lord Jesus Christ, it is in the church that he is taught and nourished in order for him to have a healthy growth. Every local church is a body. It is within the context of this body that the new believer joins with other believers in fellowship for mutual edification. The different gifts distributed to each believer in Christ are for this mutual benefit. (1 Cor.12:7).

Water Baptism

Now you cannot discuss biblical church membership without discussing the meaning and implications of water baptism. The instruction to go and preach goes together with the instruction to conduct water baptism.

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matt.28:19-20 NIV.

We can see three commands in this Scriptural passage:

1. Go and make disciples 
2. Baptize the disciples you make
3. Teach them to observe the commands of the Lord Christ

Water baptism is not optional for New Covenant believers. It is how Jesus taught that we should express our faith in Him. It is connected above as the first experience a disciple should have as he is taught the commandments of Jesus. In fact, it is part of your faith expressions as you enter into Christ. (Col.2:11-12; Gal.3:26-27). It is the initiation that makes you identify with the death and resurrection of the One who died for you and was raised from the dead. That initiation into the body of Christ also makes you a member of the body of believers that helped you come to Christ. They are all interwoven together. It is in the context of this local church that all these commands are obeyed and the activities carried out.

Qualification for membership of an Anglican Church

From the foregoing discussion, it is clear that belonging to a local church is not and should not be thought like belonging to a select club or social groups driven by privileges. The only qualification we see in Scriptures that makes a person eligible to become a member of a body of believers is the faith he has in the Lord Jesus Christ, his willingness to submit himself to water baptism and the commands of Jesus.  

Now what does the Anglican Church teach about church membership? Look at the Article XXVII: Of Baptism

"Baptism is not only a sign of profession, and mark of difference, whereby Christian men are discerned from others that be not christened, but is also a sign of Regeneration or new Birth, whereby, as by an instrument, they that receive Baptism rightly are grafted into the Church; the promises of the forgiveness of sin, and of our adoption to be the sons of God by the Holy Ghost, are visibly signed and sealed; Faith is confirmed, and Grace increased by virtue of prayer unto God. The Baptism of young Children is in any wise to be retained in the Church, as most agreeable with the institution of Christ".

The Anglican believes that baptism is what grafts you into the body of Christ. From the Electoral Roll of the Church of England,

(2) A lay person shall be entitled to have his name entered on the roll of a parish if he is baptised, of sixteen years or upwards, has signed an application form for enrolment set out in Appendix I of these rules and declares himself either -

(a) to be a member of the Church of England or of a Church in communion therewith resident in the parish; or

(b) to be such a member and, not being resident in the parish, to have habitually attended public worship in the parish during a period of six months prior to enrolment; or

(c) to be a member in good standing of a Church which subscribes to the doctrine of the Holy Trinity (not being a Church in communion with the Church of England) and also prepared to declare himself to be a member of the Church of England having habitually attended public worship in the parish during a period of six months prior to enrollment.

The model above stipulates that what makes you a member is your baptism and signing of an application form. What qualifies you is never because you subscribed with money; instead emphasis is laid on subscribing to the doctrines and teachings of the church. This makes sense within the context since those who occupy positions of leadership in the church must understand the basic Christian doctrine. All the conditions for vestry meetings, constitutions and canons for almost all the Episcopal and Anglican congregations assessed during the period of this writing agree with the model above.

Conclusion

Having gone through this discuss one may now ask, where did the pastor get his model from? Obviously not from the Bible. Are there some laws in his Diocese from where he is drawing his authority? If there is, obviously that law must be an aberration from what the Church of England practice and what the Bible teaches. It is not Anglican tradition. If some people ever practiced it, it is certainly out of ignorance and misinformation. Errors are not supposed to be copied and practiced but discarded.

The purpose of this paper is to bring biblical and historical perspectives into the discussion that is currently going on in the particular church, and to strengthen truth. It will also stir up those who may want to research further into the topic. The focus is for the Church of Jesus Christ to be what He wants it to be. You can comment on the website or write me at: evergreenword@gmail.com. You can download the document here.

 

May God bless His church as we continue to live in obedience to His Word. Amen.

Fulani Herdsmen attacked a village near Jos, Plateau, Nigeria

This is part of the war of Islam against Christianity. One may even be tempted to say that Boko Haram members have sneaked into the communities and are using these herdsmen as a cover up. Please continue to pray for the brethren living in areas where they suffer severe persecution. May God help them to be strong till the end. May their lives and testimonies bear fruits that will remain.

Last month, Fulani herdsmen attacked two homes in the predominantly Christian village of Hwak Kwata-Zawan, located near the city of Jos. The militants also raided a nearby compound consisting of Nigerians who had been initially displaced by violence elsewhere in the country's Plateau state. The total number of fatalities resulting from the raids has reached 15, leaving many more in the community grief-stricken and emotionally wounded.

In one of the village homes, 57-year-old Rose Monday was killed while trying to protect her three young grandchildren from the gunmen. Two of the three children had unfortunately succumbed to their injuries. Their elder sister, five-year-old Anna, who miraculously survived, is receiving treatment in hospital for gunshot wounds. Rose's daughter (the children's aunt) added that their remaining relatives are consoled to know that one day they will all be reunited as a family with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Read more here.

At last, The Anglican Church begins to take a stand

The one week-long Primates Meeting in England is coming to an end and a consensus statement has been made concerning the homosexual stance of the Episcopal Church USA (ECUSA). This is good news but as the Archbishop of Uganda, Rt. Rev. Stanley Ntagali rightly said, "this action must not be seen as an end, but as a beginning."

The implication of this is that the "Episcopalians "no longer represent us on ecumenical and interfaith bodies," and have the equivalent of observer status in Anglican commissions" according to the statement.

We all wish that God will prevail upon every heart so that when we are confronted with our sins, instead of defending and finding ways to justify ourselves, we simply repent and ask God for mercy. Homosexualism is just one of sexual perversions that have been from of old.

Read more on this story here.

Please pray for Bishop GT Adebanjo and his wife

The husband and wife were kidnapped in Warri on their way to Harvest Thanksgiving Service.. They are calling the other bishops in the denomination to raise N10m and send to them.

"Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down,
that the mountains would tremble before you!" Isa 64:1 NIV

Please pray.

Read here for more.

Indigenous Missionaries Leave Legacy of Faith

Our missionaries need prayers. What is happening in the North Eastern part of Nigeria is a disaster; but most of the brunt is borne by Christians who are being targeted and killed. Read these wonderful testimonies about the lives of five ECWA missionaries who served and died in Nigeria. Take out time to pray for them during your family devotions and church prayer sessions.

From Morning Star News:

“These missionaries have been laboring in very dangerous, remote mission fields, far away from modern civilization,” said Elijah Ipole, head of media for the ECWA’s Evangelical Missionary Society (EMS). “Some have had to bury their loved ones while in mission fields. Some have had their properties looted or completely destroyed by the enemies of the gospel.”

Established in 1947 to empower indigenous African missionaries to take over missions work from foreign missionaries in Nigeria, EMS has lost five of its leaders to Boko Haram and other jihadists in the last four years, according to the ECWA president. One of them, the Rev. Isma Dogari, was murdered in Bauchi state in 2011. 

An EMS report describes his death:

“The Muslims took him to a mosque just by the roadside and, once inside, gave him a Koran and told him to denounce Jesus and live. But he refused and told them, ‘You need Jesus Christ in your lives.’ They then plugged his eyes, brought him out of the mosque, took him under a tree and asked him again to denounce his faith and live, but repeatedly he told them, ‘You need Jesus.’ At this point they stabbed Rev. Isma Dogari with a knife, slaughtered him and burned his corpse.” 

The Rev. Bukari Bunga, a director with EMS, told Morning Star News that Pastor Dogari was killed on April 10, 2011, while working in the Muntoshi Station. He was killed in Mararaban Liman Katagun. Other EMS missionaries killed by Muslim jihadists, according to Bunga, were pastor Ezra Ibrahim, killed in his station at Sabon Gida on Sept. 19, 2014; pastor Joshua M. Nana, killed in Bassa village in 2013; pastor Yunana Kinge, killed in Rafin Pa, Zankwa of the ECWA’s mid-central region on June 25, 2012; and pastor Yakubu Wazari, killed at Jos’ main market while taking his son to school on Jan. 8, 2011. He has served in Bani Kauwa II in Kasuwan Magani of the mid-central region.

“Please continue to pray for our missionaries, their families and the converts in the various mission fields, as you continue to bear in mind that the gospel is being preached by these missionaries in increasingly volatile and very deadly crises situations,” he wrote.

Pastor Mark Christmas - RCCG Pastor Kidnapped and the Abductors are asking for N30M

Kidnapping stories are beginning to become rampant again in Rivers, Bayelsa and Abia states. This one is a Pastor of a Redeemed Christian Church of God in Yenagoa, Bayelsa. Please pray for his safety and quick resolution of this. Also pray that this madness may be brought to a halt.

From Vanguard News:

ABDUCTORS of a Yenagoa-based clergyman, Pastor Mark Christmas of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, “New Anointing Chapel”, are demanding N30 milion ransom for his freedom.

The pastor, according to his wife, Mrs Evelyn Christmas, was abducted along with two of his church members at his hometown in Biseingbene, a riverine community in Ekeremor Local Government Area of the state on October 18.

Mrs Christmas said her husband was lured to the community on the pretext of attending an emergency family meeting with his kinsmen when the incident happened.

“You know we reside in Yenagoa. So, on that fateful day, my husband was invited to Biseingbene by his kinsmen for a meeting. When he got there, he found out that the invitation for a meeting was false and a devilish plan to kidnap him.  My husband has spent over two weeks in their hands,” she narrated.

Christian Mother of Eight Is Slain

Persecution of Christians is on the increase. What breaks my heart is that as these things are happening, many of church leaders are busy pursuing their selfish interests. The righteous is taken and no one pays attention.

A mother of 8 is killed because her husband converted from Islam to Christianity. Let's continue to pray for her husband who is already marked.

 From Morning Star News:

Muslims in eastern Uganda angry at a Christian for leaving Islam killed his wife on Monday (Oct. 19), a month after his brother was killed for the same reason, sources said.
Mamwikomba Mwanika, mother of three adult children and five others ranging in age from 17 to 9, died en route to a hospital after Muslims unknown to her dragged her from her home at about 9 p.m. and assaulted her, survivors said.

Mwanika answered a knock at her door in Kalampete village, Kibuku District, to find strangers asking for her husband. Her husband’s brother, Samson Nfunyeku, was killed in the village on Sept. 23 after flaring tempers cut short a religious debate he’d had with Islamic scholars.

Mwanika replied to the visitors that her husband was away, according to her children. They said one of the men at the door then told her, “Your husband has followed the religion of his brother, and we had warned you people to stop these activities, but our message has landed on deaf ears.”
The Muslims threatened to kill her if she failed to produce her husband, the children said.

“The attackers dragged our mother outside the house as she screamed and cried for help,” said her 13-year-old child.

Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis released

It's important I share this also with my readers. Kim has been released from prison after spending six days in jail. The same "U.S. district court judge who found her in contempt said he was satisfied licenses were being issued in accordance with a U.S. Supreme Court decision".

The order is that she "shall not interfere in any way, directly or indirectly, with the efforts of her deputy clerks to issue marriage licenses to all legally eligible couples."

This is a great news. Let's continue to pray for her and her family. Please pray for revival of faith among Christians. Pray for the persecuted church. God bless.

A Letter to Christian Men

I find this Letter by the wife of Tim Challis very encouraging and timely. My belief is that it is possible to fight sexual sins and win. It is possible to live in victory. Read and be blessed.

My Wife's Plea to Christian Men

Over the weekend I could see that Aileen had something on her mind. We spoke and she told me about reading the news, about seeing more Christian men fall into scandal, and, in the face of it all, her confusion, her despair, the crumbling of her hope. I asked if she would write about it. Here is what she said. —Tim Challies

How long ago was it now? Was it ten years? Twelve? How long has it been since I faced it for the first time? It was a whispered rumor here, a shaded suggestion there. Then it was the devastated wife weeping in my basement as I tried desperately to draw on some wisdom, some biblical truth, that would help her. Little did I know, all those years ago, that this was simply the tip of the iceberg. But I had hope.

Six years ago, Tim wrote Sexual Detox, and I followed up with False Messages. The number of letters we received shocked us—heart-breaking, soul-crushing emails from guilty men and women married to unfaithful husbands. I wrestled and fought to understand it all from a biblical perspective. Why do so many men, and even so many Christian men, have such weakness when it comes to sexual sin? But even then I still had hope, hope in the truth of the gospel, hope in the power of the Holy Spirit.

In the years since, I have listened to more stories of more Christian men falling, wept with more women, and prayed a whole lot. I have tried to explain to women how their husbands think about sex: Your husband doesn’t just want it, he wantsyou. I’ve tried to tell them that sex is a good gift that God gives as a means of grace in marriage, a means of bonding a husband and wife together. I have counseled single young women to pursue purity. I have been teaching all the right stuff. And I have believed it all. I had hope.

Then came Ashley Madison and the suggestion that hundreds of pastors would have to resign after being caught with accounts on this website that glorifies adultery. And it’s not just pastors—hundreds of other Christian men, both single and married, have been caught up in the scandal. Now there are more broken homes, more devastated churches, more weeping wives, more mocking of God. And I have to tell you, this week, today, I am struggling to find hope.

I have fought to understand the struggle men face. I have fought to have compassion. I have encouraged wives to extend forgiveness, to willingly and joyfully give themselves to their husbands. But you know what? I just don’t know how I can keep doing it. Not when so many husbands are deceptively defiling the marriage bed. Not when so many young, single men are recklessly defiling the future marriage bed. Not when so many men seem just plain unwilling to change.

Men, you are supposed to be modeling holiness before the world (Titus 2:6-8). You are supposed to be cherishing your wives as Christ cherishes his church (Ephesians 5:25). You are supposed to be abstaining from all sexual immorality (1 Thessalonians 4:3). You are supposed to be fleeing youthful passions (2 Timothy 2:22). Why are so many of you failing at these basic tasks? Is it really that difficult? You would almost think that this one sin is beyond the power of the Holy Spirit.

You who keep choosing to sin, you who keep visiting those websites, you who have secret lives you keep hidden from your friends and your wives: Why won’t you stop? You know that God loves to give victory over every sin. You know that God calls you to pursue sanctification. You know that the Holy Spirit equips you to succeed. God has given you everything you need in the gospel. So why do you keep failing? The only conclusion I can come to is that you are so consumed with self-gratification that you are not willing to fight, and I mean really willing to fight, this sin. If it’s not that you can’t, it must be that you won’t.

I plead with you. I plead with you on behalf of your wives, on behalf of your future wives, on behalf of Christian women everywhere: Stop. Just stop.

Stop believing that this is a special sin that women just can’t understand—we do understand sin. This isn’t a special sin, it is just sin: God-belittling, Christ-mocking, Spirit-despising sin. Stop pretending like there are no future consequences to your actions. Stop putting your selfish desires first. Stop engaging in activities that bring shame on the gospel. Stop doing things that leave us picking up the pieces of your devastated wife. Stop indulging in your sin, and start thinking and acting like a God-honoring, Christ-praising, Spirit-glorifying man. For the love of God and his church, stop.

Finally, Kim Davis is jailed because she refused to issue marriage license to gay couples.

At last, as anticipated, Kim Davis is jailed.

In as much as I do not want to be embroiled in the arguments making rounds on whether she was supposed to obey the court ruling and issue licenses to gays or resign or retire if the order was against her faith and conscience, it is worthy to note that this is part of the spiritual decline within the American system, even the worldly system for that matter, which I do not think has any hope of recovery again. It will only worsen as we draw closer to the end of the age.

When we posted here that we should pray for Kim, we did not expect that she would not go to jail. Instead we encouraged us to pray for her resolve, so that she would stand strong in her conviction till the end. What played out looks strange to some of us because as pastors and teachers, we do not takeout time to teach church history in our churches today. We rarely mention them in our preaching. But make no mistake about it, Christians were persecuted, killed and burnt at stake based on the framework of the 'laws' that were available in those days. Most of the stance Christians took in those days were 'unconstitutional', 'nonsensical', and 'unpopular'. This is because human reason and intelligence are often flawed in matters of faith. Standing for conscience and conviction is what we need today. Unfortunately most of us as Christian leaders do not even live by any conviction at all. 

Most Christian leaders are silent today because they do not want to injure their reputation and some are afraid of the backlash they may receive. Many are even confused. Some have blamed her for insisting on her personal convictions while occupying a public office. Others dig into her past life of failed marriages, children outside wedlock etc. My answer to all these is that, her terrible past proves to us the enormous power of God's grace. Was the supreme court decision correct in the first place? Was it correct not to create a leeway for those who may have a different definition of marriage other than what they have defined  to equally be free to exercise their own right? Or do they have a ploy to get rid of all Christians in the public service who hold fast to their convictions? Like I earlier said, I do not want to bother myself with all the arguments. She has shown virtue and all we can do is to stand by her and not to blame her.  All her staff have caved in except her son for now. Persecution of Christians does not start with the despondent extreme attacks, it all starts like this and then degenerates. 

I want to conclude this post by quoting Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984), a prominent Protestant pastor who spent the last seven years of Nazi rule in concentration camps:

"First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me."

Source: http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007392

Keep this post in your mind because the situation is not going to get better for genuine Christians any where in the world. We must prepare our minds for the on coming persecution which will come upon the church all over the world where it has not started yet. We will be called bigots, extremists etc. Let's learn how to stand together and encourage one another.

Please keep praying for her and other Christians. May her resolve be a challenge to all of us to begin to stand fast in our convictions and begin to have something we are living for.

Update on Kim Davis.

Thank God she has remained strong. Her case reminds me of the apostles when they were brought before the Sanhedrin.

"Peter and the other apostles replied: "We must obey God rather than men!"" Acts 5:29-30 NIV.

What the authority was requesting from them was simple "stop teaching in this name". But they refused. We discuss their faith as examples in our churches. Today, Kim is faced with the same opportunity to make that choice "Just agree and start signing marriage registers for gays, no matter what your personal beliefs are". However, in the same way obeying the Sanhedrin meant disobeying God for the apostles, obeying the Supreme Court order means disobeying God for Kim and most of us Christians who holds to the clear teachings of the Bible very dearly.

Please continue to pray for her. May her response be like that of the apostles, "...His speech persuaded them. They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ." Acts 5:40-42 NIV.

Instead of wallowing in self pity, they rejoiced.

Pray for Kim Davis

This woman and two other Rowan County Clerks in Kentucky have refused to issue marriage licenses to gay couples because of her Christian belief that marriage is between a man and a woman. The USA is a land of freedom as long as the freedom is against the freedom of Christians. All rights must be protected and defended except the rights of practicing Christians. The Supreme Court has ordered her to issue the licenses against her free conscience.

The prayer support is for her and the others to be strong and to stand firm in their conviction and be willing to suffer the persecution that is about to come. As the wind continues to blow in the USA, many genuine Christians might lose their jobs while others may lose money because of court cases, businesses owned by genuine Christians might close down,  etc. Pray that believers will remain faithful to their Lord till the end.