I saw this headline on church unity the moment that I walked into our staff room this morning. I immediately thought as I noted the substance, 'So what is new?' This issue and such talk has been around for about as long as I remember. But that is the way of the local media here. It is all about sensationalism so that people will talk and then buy papers. And not only do they mislead they deliberately mislead. There can be no other explanation for why the write the stories they do. For instance a few years ago government statistics indicated that in five out of six categories crime rates were down. What was the media headline? 'Crime rates up!' I could buy our local paper at a discounted price but I will not even do that. God bless, Jeff ---- John Saunders <jsaunders@...> wrote: > "It ['visible unity' ] tends to just drive out the most passionate (good > and bad) producing a least common denominator that serves no one well > b/c there remains not even healthy debate any longer. > > An excellent consideration. > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Steve Fuchs [mailto:SteveF_MS@...] > Sent: Tuesday, February 20, 2007 11:34 AM > To: soundofgrace@... > Subject: Re: [soundofgrace] Anglican Church > > > As a former Roman Catholic, the whole problem for me with this 'unity' > concept is that it centers on the idea of an earthly institution with > centralized human leadership and human authority (with their church > courts and laws and binding constitutions) being the most important > element of what defines God's people. > > Some of those things have a purpose and place for the people of God, but > they aren't what define us. > Many of the churches that work for formal unification can't get along in > basic fellowship or peaceably agree to disagree on particular > non-essentials, yet they think formalized 'visible unity' is going to > make them closer. > Somehow I doubt it. It tends to just drive out the most passionate > (good and bad) producing a least common denominator that serves no one > well b/c there remains not even healthy debate any longer. > > Steve > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: John <mailto:jsaunders@...> Saunders > To: soundofgrace@... > Sent: Monday, February 19, 2007 4:36 PM > Subject: RE: [soundofgrace] Anglican Church > > Shane > > Things seem to be getting a kick along for unholy unity from our own > hometown Downunder, based on this article in this mornings state paper: > John S > > The Courier Mail, Melanie Christiansen, February 19, 2007 11:00pm > > BRISBANE'S Catholic Archbishop John Bathersby is leading a radical push > to merge the world's Anglican and Catholic churches. As joint chair of > an international commission of both churches, Archbishop Bathersby > helped produce a 42-page statement on how Anglicans and Catholics could > re-unite, possibly under the leadership of the Pope. Senior bishops in > both churches have already backed the statement, which is now being > considered by the Vatican ahead of a formal response. It has also been > sent to a gathering of Anglican Archbishops in Tanzania. > > Speaking in Brisbane yesterday, Archbishop Bathersby said he was > optimistic the statement would help the churches move towards "full > visible unity". > > "It's not only longed for from the Catholic side, it's longed for from > the Anglican side too," Archbishop Bathersby said. "We recognise that > the separation which exists between us interferes with our mission." > Despite differences over issues such as divorce and contraception, > Archbishop Bathersby said there were no insurmountable hurdles to a > merger of the churches. He said some of the most difficult issues were > Anglican support for the ordination of women and its recent decision to > ordain a practising homosexual in the US, which is also causing a rift > among Anglicans. > > But, he said, the two churches had already established good working > relationships in many parts of the world. The unity statement, yet to be > formally released, spells out areas of agreement and disagreement. > Called Growing Together in Unity and Mission, it also proposes practical > steps to bring the churches closer together. ... > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: John G. Reisinger [mailto:JREISINGER24@...] > Sent: Tuesday, February 20, 2007 8:27 AM > To: soundofgrace@... > Subject: Re: [soundofgrace] Anglican Church > > > Thanks for the note on Anglicans in Australia. My comments were made > based on spending ten years in Canada and observing the Anglicans there. > JGR > > On Feb 19, 2007, at 6:22 AM, Shane Becker wrote: > > > Within the Anglicans throughout Australia there is a group referred to > as the "Evangelical Anglicans" or "Sydney Anglicans" (although their > influence has spread well beyond just Sydney). They are probably the > greatest bastion for spiritual truth in Australia. They are Calvinists > and evangelical and have a widespread influence. I know of an NCTer > (Calvinist, Baptist, etc) pastor that decided to join the Evangelical > branch of the Anglican church as the options for someone like him within > the existing Calvinist Baptist church were somewhat limited. (A sad > commentary on the state of the Baptist churches down here - and all the > more reason why some of you should come on over! Listening Joe? Moe? > Others?) > > Their primary student training college is Moore College which regularly > has DA Carson attend as a guest lecturer. Graeme Goldsworthy is on > staff with Moore College also. > > I know the Evangelical Anglicans have reached NZ but can't comment on > the details. In Australia and NZ you generally won't find much better > than the Evangelical Anglicans. > > In Christ, > > Shane Becker. > > > > On 2/19/07, Carlo Rose <rosec007@...> wrote: > > I was wondering, if any of you know, in particular, those of you on the > other side of the world, like the UK or Australia, and especially if > there are any Sounders in NZ, know much about the Anglican Church. I > know it's all screwed up in the United States, but I'm curious about its > state in NZ. > > A missionary I use to support from Campus Crusade went back to NZ and > he's going to an Anglican church there. I was concerned about a few > things so ceased my support and supporting someone regularly from > Biblical Ministries Worldwide that I know will go directly to preaching > the gospel. > > Anyway, There appears to be some real conservative Anglicans like the > Latimer Fellowship that are dead serious about being sticking to many > biblical principles. But a lot of the Anglican church is turning > liberal. > > I don't care about whether some within the Anglican church are really > sticking to "many" biblical principles per se. What I really care about > is if they are a sect which teaches a gospel other than the gospel of > Jesus (thus the many biblical principles they teach are moot). > > Anyway, pretty ignorant about the Anglican church and given its > break-up, I was wondering if anyone can shed some light. > > Thanks, > > > Carlo > > > > > -- > > Read the Sound of Grace pages at > > http://www.soundofgrace.com > > > > To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: > soundofgrace-unsubscribe@... > > > > To view our online archive go to our web page at > > http://www.associate.com/groups/soundofgrace > > > > > > > > > > -- > > Read the Sound of Grace pages at > > http://www.soundofgrace.com > > > > To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: > soundofgrace-unsubscribe@... > > > > To view our online archive go to our web page at > > http://www.associate.com/groups/soundofgrace > > > > > > > > > > -- > > Read the Sound of Grace pages at > > http://www.soundofgrace.com > > > > To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: > soundofgrace-unsubscribe@... > > > > To view our online archive go to our web page at > > http://www.associate.com/groups/soundofgrace > > > > > > > > > > -- > Read the Sound of Grace pages at > http://www.soundofgrace.com > > To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: soundofgrace-unsubscribe@... > > To view our online archive go to our web page at > http://www.associate.com/groups/soundofgrace > >