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February 21, 2006

Apologetics- Need of the hour

Its become a bother to respond to a liberal revisionist view of a local ECUSA priest, who has been strutting his liberal agendas that question the very foundations of Scripture and tradition, given his take on both of them.Hope someday he will know the amount of damage he is causing to his readers. Its imperative that we make our stand clear on where we stood with regard to our faith and belief. Letter to the Editor:Important Read the second one too

Neither Roots nor Wings

Rev. Grisham’s Monday, Feb. 20 column, “Roots and Wings,” prompted an unknown person to cut it out and drop it in St. Gabriel’s Episcopal Church’s mailbox. This unidentified person wrote, “Thou shalt not kill,” alongside Grisham’s claim, “There is nothing in the Bible about abortion.” To this anonymous person, I'm not sure Rev. Grisham will buy the idea of the Ten Commandments as he claimed in a previous Roots and Wings column that they “cause anxiety” and are “not necessary for salvation.”

To this person and to anyone else who wonders where St. Gabriel’s Episcopal Church stands in relation to Grisham’s columns: We stand far from them. Grisham speaks for himself, and not for the whole Christendom, and certainly not for all Episcopalians. As a minister of Christ, one needs to speak what people ought to hear and not what they want to hear. They need to speak not what they want to say but what God wants them to say. If Christ had been a weathervane, then when the political tide turned against him, he could have easily evaded the passion and his death. He had guts and a message. Of course Christ was compassionate, but He was also full of conviction. He embraced the sinner, yet abhorred sin, giving the repentant sinners grace and freedom to be children of God. In our context, we need to listen to what God says and follow it in our heart rather than invent some extempore interpretation that has neither roots nor wings.

We are Episcopalians who stand for the faith and morals that once belonged to the Episcopal Church, whose tryst with liberalism has necessitated the birth of continuing churches, as St. Gabriel’s is. We embrace the sanctity of life. We are for those who feel betrayed by their church because of its apostasy. Our members have let their goods and kindred go in search of preserving the faith that supported them, uplifted them and continues to direct them. This is the faith for which millions have shed their blood. The faith that the scriptures teach can not be watered down. Coming from a country where people are martyred for their Christian faith, I can ascertain that witnessing to one’s faith in a mission land will give one a better sense of appreciation of it.

So, to the person who left the copy of Grisham’s column, thanks for being the voice of the voiceless. We are not with them. We are with you in fostering the faith, based on scripture, guided by tradition and fostered by right reasoning that is still the hallmark of faithful Episcopalians.

Rev. Leo Michael, Rector of St. Gabriel's Episcopal Church, Springdale

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February 11, 2006

CLYDE BAIRD PASSES AWAY

Clyde Baird, the brother of Howard Baird, the founding memeber of St.Gabriel's Church passed away at the Regency Hospital tonight 7pm. Clyde met with an accident a week ago and was in the Washington Regional Hospital.

Clyde was a gentle soul and a loving person.He was very faithfully attending the Holy Eucharist. We are sure that he is with the Lord.
We will miss you Clyde and hope to meet with you someday in heaven.

Posted by frleo at 8:27 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 1, 2006

It's a Matter of Spirituality not Sexuality

As all eyes are on the upcoming General Convention of ECUSA, many anglicans are confused as to where conservative episcopalians within ECUSA or the alternate anglican movements, resultant of ECUSA's liberal revisionism, will go from thence forward. Sadly enough sexuality seems to be the point of contention for many that has undermined the very mission of the church, namely continuing the salvific mission of Christ until His second coming!

If dalliance with sexuality and compromising with secularism be the way a church should lead people, then they ought to know, the going is not right and not good. A church's focus needs to be Spirituality--leading its people to the encounter of a profound experience with God while engaging them in building God's kingdom on this earth, reconciling people with God and not sin with God. And combined with this is the sense of morality. A sense of right and wrong is essential. Otherwise the entire plan of salvation, Christ's Passion, Death and Resurrection, would be in vain. Because this world fell into sin, God came down to redeem us from sin and not to embrace sin. If someone is teaching otherwise then they are wrong regardless of who they are.

Jesus' mission was to embrace the sinner with grace while totally crowding out sin with His grace and mercy. But He told the woman caught in adultery: "Has no one condemned you? Neither do I; Go but sin no more". Many are embracing the compassion of Christ but ignoring the aspect of sin, from which He came to release us as the Lamb of God and our sins for which He died on the cross.

Christian faith is not a matter of convenience, adapting as we go with the ebb and flow of the society. At times it could be the lone voice in the desert, "Prepare the way of the Lord, Make his paths straight". We may the only lone voice standing up in fidelity to the cause of the kingdom. The church has a mission and a duty to keep the faith of the people in tact until He comes and reaches out to those who are marginalized in society in every way and to succor to them spiritually and bring them closer to the heart of Christ and His kingdom values. Why should a church be caught up in a debate on sexuality? There is enough admonition for us in the Bible to beware of the false prophets. Again, "When the Son of Man comes will He find enough faith on this earth?" Great consideration for all of Christ's followers, the faith once given to the saints, the faith for which millions have laid down their lives. We have a responsibility to pass on to the next generation, one of fidelity to the Lord and not convenience. In the spiritual realm, convenience is certainly a path to perdition.

With mistaken orientation and misplaced identity, a church can not lead its faithful in the wrong direction. If it does so it is certainly not an apostle of Christ.

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