Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Nigeria leads resistance against Emergent doctrine in the Anglican Communion

Archbshop Peter Akinola of Nigeria is often cited as one of the key leaders in the “traditionalist wing” of the Anglican church who, according to the Washington Post on July 26, “condemns homosexuality as an abomination against God’s teaching”. The call that homosexuality should be embraced and allowed to flourish in the church is a key feature in the emergent doctrine where the distinction between the Church and the world is gradually but steadily being eroded in the name of post-modernity. This is actively being marketed by Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback and his many other colleagues.
Surely, no true Christian will ask that homosexuals should be hanged as is hyprocritically and publicly done in Islamic countries such as Iran. But no one worthy of the name Christian would contest that this abominable and sinful act should be roundly condemned; and those caught in its deadly web should be lovingly helped. In the case of the Anglican Church, the main issue is not even that homosexuals could freely participate in Church life but that they could function in the office of a bishop - while keeping male sleeping partners with them in the vicarage!
The Lambeth conference held once every ten years at Canterbury, is the major stakeholder’s forum in the 77 million-strong Anglican Communion. The 1998 edition of the meeting produced a resolution that declared “active homosexuality” to be incompatible with the teachings of the Bible – technically providing a leeway for so-called “celibate homosexuals”, i.e. those who profess to be homosexuals but are not currently living with a same-sex partner. However, five years later, the U.S. branch of the Anglican Church, the Episcopal Church, elevated a notorious practicing homosexual, Gene Robinson, to the office of a Bishop leading to the breaking away of over a dozen congregations in Virginia from the Episcopal church. The congregations then chose to put themselves under the spiritual leadership of Archbishop Akinola. Seeing the direction of things within the Anglican Communion, the Nigerian Archbishop together with over 200 others from several countries, decided to boycott this year’s Lambeth conference (held in July), convening an alternate conference in Jerusalem, earlier in June. Though not officially invited to Lambeth, Bishop Robinson, together with his recently wedded “wife”, Mr Mark Andrew, attended and freely interacted with the participants.
Contrary to the posturing of many of the so-called Christian spokesmen for homosexuality, the condition is reversible (mainly in those who accept the truth about its reversibility) and this is confirmed by the myriads of ex-gays and ex-lesbians who now live normal lives. Visit one of their websites at http://www.exodusglobalalliance.org/ to read their stories!

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