NT Wright on the End Times (Second Coming)

NT Wright : Authority of the Bible

NT Wright on Resurrection

NT Wright on evil & satan

Historic: The Jerusalem Declaration

Finally, after the GAFCON a Declaration was released. The full text can be found here.

8. We acknowledge God’s creation of humankind as male and female and the unchangeable standard of Christian marriage between one man and one woman as the proper place for sexual intimacy and the basis of the family. We repent of our failures to maintain this standard and call for a renewed commitment to lifelong fidelity in marriage and abstinence for those who are not married.

13. We reject the authority of those churches and leaders who have denied the orthodox faith in word or deed. We pray for them and call on them to repent and return to the Lord.

By affirming the historical and biblical teaching on human sexuality and rejecting the Ministry of those who don't even believe in the Resurrection or the uniqueness of heterosexual marriage, it seems obvious that Anglicanism is facing a split.
It seems obviuos that GAFCON Leaders do not recognize the ministry of those who uphold heretic doctrines (as the TEC or the Church of Canada). Now Lambeth ... Venables will be there as a voice from GAFCON, while the Bishop of Rochester cannot have communion with those who departed from the orthodox faith. Packer has requested Rowan William's resignation. The turmoil does not seem to pass away.

Conservatives are also 'split'. The main Orthodox scholar NT Wright has clearly expressed his opposition to the GAFCON movement. If he eventually becomes the head of the Anglican Communion as it has been suggested in the blogsphere, he or whoever inherits the Canterbury See will have to be very creative to keep the unitiy of the one Apostolic an catholic Church.

Psalm 119

This famous photo, taken on 5 June 1989 by photographer Jeff Widener, depicts an unknown man trying to stop the PLA's advancing tanks.

The first time i saw the previous picture was on the newspaper. It was impressive to see one man standing against the powers of this age, the powers who only know ruling by force and oppression.

When I was adolescent, several testimonies of radical Christian men and women coupled with definitely sound Kingdom teaching, also inspired me to live my Christian life in a radical way, standing firm on the Scripture. It was a challenge particularly in an environment where the Bible wasn't really appreciated. But it was also a challenge in the midst of a Church that was growing exponentially in numbers, but not even arithmetically in Bible knowledge, and in the doctrine of the Apostles. All winds of doctrine came further as hurricanes to the Body: "prosperity" and "faith" gospels, neo-gnosticism with escapist theories, biased Calvinism mixed with biased Arminianism and Pelagianism, or the recently discovered "Gehena" doctrine (which is the equivalent of purgatory for some Evangelicals), revivals with lots of external manifestations ... Wonder why it was so difficult for many, including myself, to have a safe haven, a safe port. When I look this small list, I can see many of my old days friends having taken one or the other or all roads at different times. The only safe place has been for generations and generations the Bible.

But during my life, I discovered that compromising the Bible and the teachings of Gods Kingdom normally had a negative effect in my life. Each time i not only had the intention to live according to the "majority", following the current of the thought of this world, but actively did so, found myself in places where I now wish I would have never been. My youth friends went all also to explore different spiritualities, religion, places and philosophies. And we all learned, each time followed by the next, that the only safe place to go back was and remains the Bible.

Of course, I would not have ever dreamed those days that once in the far future (almost 20y later) I would be living in Europe, in the intellectual environment of Darwinian science, neo-liberal economy and flexible orthodoxy. Since nothing is new under the sun, I found in the Bible (of course), that other men in the past experienced with similar challenges.

Psalm 119
g Gimel
17 Do good to your servant, and I will live;
I will obey your word.

18 Open my eyes that I may see
wonderful things in your law.

19 I am a stranger on earth;
do not hide your commands from me.

20 My soul is consumed with longing
for your laws at all times.

21 You rebuke the arrogant, who are cursed
and who stray from your commands.

22 Remove from me scorn and contempt,
for I keep your statutes.

23 Though rulers sit together and slander me,
your servant will meditate on your decrees.

24 Your statutes are my delight;
they are my counselors.

So from this humble blog, a single voice lifted to encourage those like Greg Venables or Tom Wright who stand firm in the faith! Your example is followed by many, and your testimonies are an encouragement to believers all over the world.

Wonderings of the Anglican Communion (2)

After yesterday's post, i've found that last weekend FULCRUM had a specific meeting to address the issue of the Communion and the Anglican Covenant. The main speakers were obviously Tom Wright, and Andrew Goddard.

Tom Wright's lecture "Conflict and Covenant in the Bible" can be found HERE.

Andrew Goddard's lecture "Conflict and Covenant in the Communion" can be found HERE.

In any case, it clarifies very much the understanding of what's going on with the Anglicans, and definitely does not support any idea that +Tom would be making his way from Durham to Canterbury. +Tom actually supports militantly the role of +++Rowan Williams, and hopes for the unity of the Anglicans. Both lectures are long to read but worth.

Both lectures should be carefully read by those supporting +++Venables or +++Akinola in their attempts to bring their understanding of righteousness to the wider Church. And both make the point: it's not about homosexuality per se, but about the boundaries of the Communion. It seems that everyone made homosexuality the central issue, when it's not, it's simply the manifestation of a deeper problem.

I still have to think about ;-)

Wonderings of the Anglican Communion

As most of my friends know, I came to the Christian (bible based faith) in the setting of a small Anglican Church in La Paz. As consequence, I always had a special heart for the Anglican Communion. It was normally refreshing to know that despite the hurricanes of doctrine that whipped Bolivia (e.g.Liberation Theology, Prosperity & Faith 'gospels', Dispensationalism, and lots of other mixtures), one could always count on the Bible based faith of the Anglicans. Even if the appointed leader were once "too liberal" (low Church) or the next "too backwards" (high Church), they normally kept the principle of honoring the Bible as final source of authority: the simple saying "Show me what is in the Bible and I will teach it. Show me that what I teach isn't in the Bible, and I will stop teaching it."

I recently found a post from the Unofficial Lambeth 2008 Website. They are already suggesting that Archbishop Rowan Williams should resign in order to keep the unity of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Anglicans are the largest non RC Christian denomination in the world, and in many places they are "the" reference of what Christianity is all about. Therefore, the unity of the Anglicans is a matter not only for the member but for the whole Body of Christ on the Earth.

And Michael Daly, boldly suggests that the well respected scholar, the Lord Bishop of Durham, may be the successor and the only move that could keep the Anglican Communion as a Unity. Hereunder his words:

“But, who will replace him?” you ask. I thought about that, too. While +Rochester would make a fine candidate (at least I think so), he would never fly with the rest of the Communion and it is doubtful that most British people (apart from the Evangelicals) would think much of it, either. Step back a bit, then and think about who in the English Church has been most outspoken recently about maintaining the structural integrity of the Lambeth Conference and the Anglican Communion? I’ll give you a hint: he’s another eminent scholar and has a seat in the House of Lords.

Putting this all together may seem a bit of a stretch, but it makes sense to my supper-addled mind, this evening. Could +Tom Wright be making a play for something the present Archbishop of Canterbury has already given up on? And would it necessarily be a bad thing?

Apparently all odds are pointing to NT Wright as the successor. As for me, I will simply keep praying for the Anglicans in the pain where they are now.

Easter echoes

The most recent Easter Sermon by Bishop Wright was intendedly shocking. He made several points of denouncing unrighteousness. He highlighted the current debates on abortion, babies euthanasia, asylum seekers, and human-animal inter species genetic bending.

Peter’s message to Cornelius was that through his resurrection Jesus has been constituted as the judge of the living and the dead. The resurrection of Jesus is the beginning of the final putting-to-rights of all things. In the light of the resurrection, the church must never stop reminding the world’s rulers and authorities that they themselves will be held to account, and that they must do justice and bring wise, healing order to God’s world ahead of that day.

Bishop Tom Wright "The uncomfortable truth of Easter" a sermon at the Sung Eucharist in Durham Cathedral Easter Day 2008

The Anglican Mainstream blog echoed Wright's words and further elaborated on the recent Dutch protocol on finishing the life of suffering or disabled babies, with the several scientific support obtained by the medical community. The Church should have a saying. We still believe that humans are made to bear God's image, and therefore human life should be preserved with all available efforts, not terminated as easily as possible.

“[W]e are moving toward a medical system,” says Smith, “in which babies are put down like dogs and killing is redefined as a caring act.” But this can happen only in a society that has forgotten that every human life is made in the image of God—and, therefore, worthy of protection. Think worldviews do not matter? Think our Christian heritage is irrelevant? Too bad we cannot ask the infants of Groningen what they think. Deadly Trend, by Chuck Colson 3/14/2008 The Infanticide Protocol

Furthermore, it makes me think of a global covenant with death. May the Truth of Easter bring true light to our paths!

A message of hope in the "post" world (NT Wright)

A very interesting "informal" meeting with Tom Wright, the Lord Bishop of Durham.

Hunger for worship!

A very good interview to Bishop NT Wright, by the Institute of Contemporary and Emerging Worship Studies on Worship of course!