Greetings Beloved,
It has been brought to my attention, that I have not thoroughly explained my denominational standing. In previous posts, not realizing the current generality of the statement, I have professed to be Anglican. I now see that Anglicanism is the most debated form of Christianity, are we Protestant or are we Anglo-Catholic, are we Liberal or Conservative, etc. It's time that someone began to detangle this knot of misinformation about Anglicanism, at least as it pertains to me and the communion that I serve, so let me set the record straight, I am NOT Anglo-Catholic. I do not celebrate the sacrifice of the mass, venerate Mary of recite the Roman Catholic Rosaries. Yes, when I do the Lord's Supper we call it Mass, only because in some of the oldest liturgies, when the communion was over, a deacon would announce "Ite missa est"or "Go it is the dismissal." The response was : "Deo gratias" or "Thanks be to God." Because the words Ite missa est came at the end, it signified that the Holy Communion was complete. Hence the term missa came to stand for the entire Eucharistic service. In Latin the term became messa and passed to Middle English in the form of maesse or Mass. I do not believe that the Mass is a continuing sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, which would be contrary to the Scriptures that clearly demonstrate that Jesus died "Once and for all" (Hebrews 7:27; 10:12).
Furthermore, I am NOT an Episcopalian!!! I believe that the P.E.C.U.S.A. has become extremely Liberal and lawless in their practice. They have moved so far away from the truth of the Word of God that sometimes, for me anyway, its hard to even classify them as Christians. And in my humble opinion the introduction of the 1979 BCP was completely heretical! I do not believe in ordaining Homosexuals. I believe that Homosexuality is a sin like any other, and it is condemned by God in His Holy Scriptures, albeit not in an arbitrary or capricious manner. In the Bible God clearly defines the borders of human sexuality so that our joy may be complete. And despite the spurious slogans or popular opinion, the scientific facts remain: homosexual relationships are devastating not only from a physiological but also from a psychological perspective. In His Word, God describes both the sin and it's penalty; "For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust (a sin) for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due" (Romans 1:26-27 emphasis and commentary mine). We must read the words of St. Paul the Apostle in this Epistle and recognize the relationship to our current health care holocaust. More people have died worldwide from AIDS than the United States has lost in all of its wars combined. And that's only the tip of the ice burg. Yes, all sexual promiscuity has its attendant moral and medical problems, but the homosexual lifestyle is most dangerous by far. The homosexual life decision causes a host of medical complications including but not limited to hemorrhoids, prostate damage, infectious anal fissures. Non viral infections transmitted through homosexual activity are gonorrhea, chlamydia, and syphilis. Viral infections include condylomata, herpes, and hepatitis A and B. God is clear in His Scripture concerning the sin of Homosexuality, we in His Church should be as well. After all, if nature is smart enough to get it right, then how much more should we?
I am an Evangelical Protestant Anglican who believes that the Anglican faith must be called back to its Reformation foundations and historic theology: if it doesn't reclaim its Protestant heritage, it will probably disappear altogether. Its time that we stand up for our Protestant identity and celebrate our decision to preach and teach biblical Christianity rather than Papal (Roman-Catholic) doctrine.
God's blessings to you all,
Fr. Ernest+
No comments:
Post a Comment