> Dean Scott: Thanks for sending this. Personally being a student of
history generally and Church History specifically Ihave great confidence
that the Church has a great future. When one visits the ancient
cathedrals in England (like York Minster for example with its 1000 yr
history-the present building I mean-there was another before it) one
sees the transience of a single life (what are the proverbial 4 score
and 10 against 1000+ yrs?). And thru it all, all the Almighty asks of us
is to be faithful guardians of that which we have received ands pass it
on. Pope Benedict 16 has spoken of the sdame sentiments as you shared
about the confirmation at Good Shepherd. A new generation(perhaps some
inspired by the DaVinci Code to find out the 'real code') will discover
(and already is as you show) the Catholic Faith that comes to us from
the Apostles as something quite new (for them) and will become a part of
it. Their coming into the Ark of salvation will in turn bring
others(authentic evangelism) and they in turn in time will bring more.
No, the future is as bright as the promises of God and He said His
Christ(word) would not return to him empty. That should inspire us all
in Rogation Week to 'plant the good seed'. Blessings. GDVW+
>
> These United States will most likely pass laws making
> odd couplings legal for the purpose of passing on
> property and tax breaks.  I suspect the courts will
> find this to be fair and equitable.
>
> If Churches decided to have nothing to do with the
> State's definition of marriage and refused to be
> agents of the State, the worst that is likely to
> happen to Churches that do not allow their clergy to
> become Marrying Sams is that they would lose their tax
> exemptions.  We will always be called bigoted Bible
> Thumpers and possibly worse, whether we take such a
> stand or not.
>
> If clergy do not allow themselves to become agents of
> the state, and the church is not beholden to the state
> for receiving special benefits, then I think we are
> out of the controversy but not beyond the contempt.
> The servant should never expect to receive better
> treatment than his Lord.
>
> We are dealing with more than a mound of fire ants
> here.  The coalition of pagans and those promoting the
> gay-agenda out-maneuvered Christians in the business
> and political world decades ago.  I suspect they have
> enough voters that congress will roll over. The
> secular world doesn't need or want to launch a violent
> attack on Christians to have their way; they have
> already won in the market place of ideas in the
> post-Christian western nations.  The movies, books and
> general media attest to the general decline of the
> west, and that element of the media have helped carry
> the day for the secularists.  Many Christian
> organizations are cash cows for the secularists.  Da
> Vinci Codes' success is but one more symptom of the
> malaise and the gullibility of our people.  Sadly,
> many Christian dollars will go into the coffers of he
> secularists who produced this travesty; a lesser
> amount will go into the accounts of expert
> commentators such as Elaine Pagels.
>
> The international conditions that created Nazi Germany
> and sent a generation hooting back to the ancient war
> gods are not the same conditions creating secularism
> in our day and in our country.  The secularists have
> already won without firing a shot and control the
> media and the wealth and get their way politically
> regardless of which party is in office.  They enjoy
> our tacit approval and support in the market place.  A
> sort of populist Christian politics gets lip service
> and not much more.
>
> The secularists do not need to make martyrs in order
> to have power, they already have it.  The powers that
> be profit by allowing diversity.  They let us mutter
> in the background while we pay our dues.
>
> I'm not pessimistic.  There is still plenty of room in
> America for Christians to live exemplary lives and to
> teach.  We won't win in the halls of congress at this
> time, however.  To change the nation will take at
> least a generation of effort.
>
> In my opinion the place to begin to instill Christian
> family values is not with the legislatures but with
> young couples.   I find that people as they take on
> family responsibility, rearing their infant children
> are more inclined to accept the values taught by our
> faith than any other age group.  From the time that I
> began rearing children, I have observed that young
> moms and dads tend to be more conservative than
> teeners or older adults.
>
> It is difficult to bridge the genertion gap initially.
> When I moved to Indianapolis 2 years ago, I knew not
> one person who newly married.  The youngest person in
> the congregation was in his 50's.  Most were retired.
>
> Over a year passed before we received our first couple
> and one single person who was in their 20's.
>
> This year our efforts are beginning to be rewarded.
> In my last two confirmation classes with young adults,
> I began not with Baptism and Eucharist, but with
> Jesus' teaching in regard to marriage.  Using John,
> (the Signs Gospel) and talking about the signs that
> God is still with us, I showed that Jesus began his
> ministry and signs at the Wedding Feast in Cana.   I
> raised the question, "Is marriage a sign of God's
> working in a holy family or is it a "living hell?"  By
> beginning with the Wedding Feast at Cana, using the
> Prayer Book and the Scripture we talk about the
> realities of marriage and whether Christ can be
> incarnate in marriage in these times.  After working
> through Jesus and Paul's teaching in regard to how the
> marriage covenantal relationship is to be like that
> between Christ and the Church, we are in a position to
> talk about real things.
>
> Incarnational theology is no longer so abstract, but
> focused in daily life and makes the concepts of
> Baptism into Christ a real thing.
>
> To my surprise, young families began asking for prayer
> books to begin devotions around the table in their
> homes, and asked for further instruction and books.
>
> A mother with infant in arms, and a father concerned
> for spouse and child know from experience the meaning
> of sacrificial service.  They know the value and
> fragility of life and take it seriously.
>
> This past Sunday Bp Shaver visited Church of the Good
> Shepherd.  Eight adults received confirmation.  All
> but two of these were in their twenties. We have two
> more young couples that were out of town but intend to
> be confirmed in August.  These young people are
> willing to take up positions of service as they are
> trained and are eager to bring in others.  I may be
> day-dreaming, but it appears these young people are
> determined to redeem their time.
>
> I seldom see this kind of passion in older adults; and
> certainly not in our legislators.
>
> On a lighter note, a lady dropped into our insurance
> office and commented that she had learned from the Da
> Vinci Code movie that the Last Supper painting was not
> a real portrait of Jesus and the Apostles, but was
> painted centuries later.  Who'd have thought it?
>
>
> Charles+
> Church of the Good Shepherd, Indianapolis
>
> --- Stlukesangch@... wrote:
>
>> Charles and Franklin,
>>
> What you say sounds all well and good for now, but
> it is the future that worries me.  I have already
> experienced personal confrontation from  homosexuals
> for promoting hate speech (which I have not done)
> for simply being a  traditional Anglican.  I believe
> we are going to see  a time in the not so  distant
> future when we are not only going to be further
> marginalized but we will  be  persecuted.
>
> --
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>
>



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