2 October 2015 A.D. The Church is at war…Anglican Church in Nigeria…Responses to Welby’s Call

2 October 2015 A.D. The Church is at war…Anglican Church in Nigeria…Responses to Welby’s Call

Virtue, David. “The Church is at war…Anglican Church in Nigeria…Responses to Welby’s Call.” Virtueonline.org. http://virtueonline.org/we-are-spiritual-warpope-francis-compassion-without-compromisenigerian-anglicans-nix-same-sex. Accessed 2 Oct 2015.

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The church is at war. It is impossible not to come to this realization in light of the atrocities committed against Christians throughout the world. While we should be thankful to the Lord for providing a secure place for us to grow in our spiritual disciplines, we would do well to remember that the church in America is also at war.

Whether we acknowledge it or not, does not change this theological fact. When we reflect on the strategies that Satan would implement against the church, we should keep in mind that the evil one is shrewd.

Just as he manipulated the situation in the Garden so many millennia ago to lead God's people astray, so he remains devious in his tactics today. Militant oppression against the church would not be effective in silencing the preaching of the gospel in our society, which is already horrified by the brutality of ISIS and other terrorist organizations. This would lead to a greater outcry and sympathy for the cause of the church in America.

The Episcopal Church is at war with the Anglican Church in North America. The Anglican Church of Canada (ACoC) is at war with the Anglican Network in Canada (ANiC). Religious freedom in America is at war with the whole pansexual lobby who want, nay demand, full acceptance of their behavior, even when there is not a scintilla of evidence that the behavior is safe or life giving and that is truly narcissistic and self-absorbed.

The Anglican Global South is at war with the liberal/progressive/revisionist northern Anglican Church over, not just sex, but the very nature and meaning of the gospel. Traditional marriage is at war with gay marriage. You will read a number of stories in today's digest that reflect on this theme.

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The Anglican Church of Nigeria issued a communique this week saying that there is no change on Same-Sex Marriage within that province.

Archbishop Nicholas Okoh called on Anglican Communion leaders to repent of revisionist theologies. He said he would consult with GAFCON archbishops before deciding on the Archbishop of Canterbury's call to come to Canterbury next January.

The communique also called on its members to defend the orthodox biblical teaching on marriage and family. They also urged the Federal Government to continue to resist "foreign pressure" to make it rescind its stand on same-sex marriage.

The bishops and archbishops condemned the "revisionist theologies" of some Anglican provinces and called on the leadership of the Anglican Communion to repentance and renewed faith in Christ as expressed in the Bible, the Articles of Religion, and the Jerusalem Declaration. They also reaffirmed their commitment to those Anglicans throughout the Communion who abide by these truths.

You can read the full story in today's digest.

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There have been no refusals so far to the call of the Archbishop of Canterbury to Canterbury next January, except we have not heard from the leader of the most powerful Anglican province, the Most Rev. Nicholas Okoh of the Anglican Church of Nigeria.

Responses, so far, range from mildly enthusiastic to heavily caveated with most of the West (Global North) positive.

The one thorn is how to interpret the appearance of Archbishop Foley Beach of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA). The Episcopal Church's yet to be installed Presiding Bishop Michael Curry will attend.

The Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, the Most Rev. Archbishop Fred Hiltz welcomed the meeting as "a good thing." He described the decision to invite ACNA -- it is understood that the representative will be present for one day, before the formal meeting gets under way -- as "an opportunity for some conversation, in the ultimate hope that we might be able to find a way forward towards reconciliation."

Therein lies the problem. Hiltz is treating Beach's pre gathering appearance like a nuisance mosquito bite. That is not how Kenyan Primate Eliud Wabukala sees it.

The central issue for the GAFCON archbishops is the heretical stance of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada. The ONLY reason the Global South archbishops will attend is if Archbishop Beach is invited to come.

That's a whole different take on the matter. Needless to say, climate change will not be on the minds of the Global South Primates. They want to know if TEC and ACoC are going to repent of their apostasies. If they don't, what sort of future does the Anglican Communion have?

You can read the full story in today's digest.