Tiny church finds original King James Bible

By Richard Allen Greene, CNN

Hilmarton, England (CNN) - A little English village church has just made a remarkable discovery.
The ornate old Bible that had been sitting in plain view on a table near the last row of pews for longer than anyone could remember is an original King James Bible - one of perhaps 200 surviving 400-year-old original editions of arguably the most important book ever printed in English.

In fact, the Bible at St. Laurence Church in Hilmarton, England, was sitting right under a hand-lettered sign saying it was an original.

The sign said it had been found in "the parish chest" in 1857, that the cover had been added, and that it was the second of the two impressions published in 1611 - the year of first publication.
But no one knew whether to believe it, parish council member Geoff Procter said. As the anniversary of publication in 1611 approached, they decided it was worth investigating.

"We had no way of knowing whether it really was a 1611 Bible so we had to get it verified somehow," he said.
He and two other church members took it to a specialist, the Rev. David Smith at the Museum of the Book in London.

Smith knew immediately what he was looking at, Procter said.
"We put it on his table and he opened it and immediately he said, 'Yes, this is a 1611 Bible,'" Procter remembered.

Read the rest here

Bishop NT Wright on Gnosticism

Ecclesia Americana

 From Touchstone Magazine:


Last week, while driving on an Interstate in the Southeast, I spotted a billboard that announced: “A church for people who don’t like church.” This description prompted me to imagine exactly what it was that the target market for this invitation might find objectionable about “church” as conventionally experienced.

It is unlikely that the congregation in question was ditching all references to God or to spiritual renewal (although who God is and what constitutes spiritual renewal might well be reconfigured in this setting). And while there are “churches” that eschew making any significant moral demands on their constituents, I don’t know that this was in the minds of the billboard’s presenters. However, since the leaders of this religious enterprise seem so eager not to offend potential clients, I also doubt that vigorous and sustained exhortation will be on the agenda come Sunday.

Driving further down the road, I wondered whether the NFL could dream up some sort of football for people who don’t like football. Might marketers at NASCAR re-tool stock-car racing for people who don’t like stock-car racing? Could the imagineers at Disney build a theme park for people who don’t like theme parks? In such scenarios (and countless others), what would need to be eliminated in order to attract the disaffected? And would the event still retain its identity when stripped of allegedly accidental characteristics?

History of the “Unchurch”
I’m guessing that what people typically dislike about “church” (not, interestingly, “the Church”) includes ritual, tradition, reverent silence, hierarchy, mystery, and doctrinal orthodoxy rooted in historic and learned debates. These are the things that Americans have typically and dramatically disliked about “church” for a long time.

Read more: http://www.touchstonemag.com/archives/article.php?id=23-04-010-c#ixzz1HGKRZhc6

Read More...

Church of Norway Reports Declines

Average Norwegian goes to church once a year, statistics show
By Oivind Ostang

Oslo, Norway, 17 March (ENInews)--The average Church of Norway member went to church once a year in 2010, Statistics Norway reported on 15 March in the annual statistical report it sends to the church. Although church attendance has remained the same since 2000, other indicators show dwindling participation in the Lutheran state church in the past decade.
"A main reason why church attendance remains rather stable is the large number of people attending child baptisms. While these numbers are growing, the number of regular church-goers is dwindling," Bishop Laila Riksaasen Dahl of the diocese of Tunsberg, southwest of Oslo, told the daily newspaper Vaart Land. She said coming to church for baptism cannot be an entirely positive experience when few regular church-goers come.

"We should not end up as merely a ceremonial church. As Church of Norway members we have a responsibility for the congregation's life. It is evident that congregational core groups are dwindling," Riksaasen Dahl said. She said this is part of a social trend. "We want to enjoy life. What suits us and our needs gets priority. Faithful congregational life does not fit into this trend," she said.

Of Norway's five million inhabitants, 78 per cent were members of the Church of Norway in 2010, as opposed to 86.3 per cent in 2000. Out of total newborns, 66.3 percent were baptised in the Church of Norway last year, down from 81.4 per cent in 2000. The percentage of 15-year-olds being confirmed edged lower to 64.9 from 68.3. The percentage of funerals performed in church continued to be very high at 91.1, but that was down slightly from 92.5 per cent.

The total number of people attending Church of Norway services in 2010 was 6.2 million. Of these 1.1 million participated in Holy Communion, Statistics Norway reported. [reprinted with permission]

"We want to enjoy life." That's the explanation for ignoring church, the sacraments, and the assembly of the faithful, the City of God. "What suits us and our needs, that's what gets priority." And then, death comes. And then what? What's your plan? Hoping for some help with that? From Who? I guess it boils down to your definition of life. For some, it's what bread alone sustains, in general. When the Son of Man returns, will he find faith in Norway?

Are Christians Obsessed With Gays and Abortion?

A great article that points out that giving from religious conservatives is mostly aimed at poverty relief and not "hot button" social issues.  David French offers this powerful conclusion:

"So given these realities, what is our real "obsession"? Historically, monetarily, and with our time and lives today, it is serving our fellow man. We fight the culture war, but largely as a defensive struggle—fighting against changes instigated by the Left, like legalized abortion, the redefinition of marriage, and attacks on the basic free speech rights of Christian parents and students. Do critics expect no opposition to such cultural change? Do they believe any such opposition is inherently illegitimate?

Imagine a world in which mainstream coverage of Christian America reflected our actual expenditures and actual efforts. You'd barely hear from people like me, and perhaps you wouldn't even have to. We'd have the entirely justified reputation as America's most generous community. Yet instead we're labeled as "homophobic" or "anti-choice," and that label dogs us in all aspects of our public life.

But that's because of other people's obsessions. Not ours."

Read more here.

Canadian Group says Schools can be academic or Christian, but not Both

This is the second time this month when I have posted a disturbing story documenting the growing institutional assualt on Christianity.  Earlier we noted the story from the Telegraph showing how Christians are deemed by one UK court to be unworthy to be foster parents.

Now, the Canaidan Association of University Teachers has ruled that a Christian College cannot require its faculty to sign a statement of faith because this violates the principal of academic freedom.  It is a deeply Orwellian move, limiting this institutions freedom of belief in the name of... freedom of belief.

Both the move against Christians adopting children and educating their children have a common root-- the desire to use the force of the State (or quasi-governmental agencies) to discredit and delegitimatize Christian beliefs.  The UK and Canada are only a few steps ahead of the U.S.  We are behind the curve-- we must educate our people and defend our right to be in the Public Square before it is too late.

From Charles Lewis at the (Canadian) National Post
A dispute has erupted between the country’s largest association of university teachers and a group of Christian schools, raising questions over whether academic freedom can exist in an overtly religious environment.

The Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) has issued a report that says B.C.-based Trinity Western University falls below the standard of proper academic freedom because it requires its faculty sign a statement of Christian faith before being hired.

It has also put the organization “on a list of institutions found to have imposed a requirement of a commitment to a particular ideology or statement as condition of employment.”
The statement of faith, available on the school’s web site, acknowledges, among other things, that there is one God, the Bible is the inspired Word of God, and that Christ is God incarnate.
The report by the teachers’ body also pointed to excerpts from the academic calendar, which in part said: “All teaching, learning, thinking, and scholarship take place under the direction of the Bible.”
Although Trinity Western is the first school to be put on the list, the organization said it will now investigate three other Christian universities — Crandall University in Moncton, Canadian Mennonite University in Winnipeg, and Redeemer University College in Ancaster, Ont. — all of which require faculty to sign faith statements.

“A school that requires its faculty to subscribe to a particular religious belief or ideology cannot be practicing academic freedom,” said James Turk, executive director of CAUT. “This is not about the school being Christian, but about faculty having to sign a statement of faith before being hired. A university is meant as a place to explore ideas, not to create disciples of Christ.”


Read more here

Trinity Western University website

Even our Baptist Friends are Re-discovering Lent

Easter Sunday -- the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ -- is for Christians the culmination of their community life, expressing the heart of their faith. But among Baptists and other evangelicals, an intentional period of preparation for their holiest day is often understated or absent -- in contrast to Christmas, the other great Christian observance, typically the focus of elaborate church festivities for weeks prior to Dec. 25.



Many Baptists are seeking to reclaim that pre-Easter focus -- historically called Lent -- which has been an integral part of many Christians’ experience since the earliest years of the church.

“It’s a biblical thing, not a made-up Catholic thing,” says Kyle Henderson, pastor of First Baptist Church in Athens, Texas, acknowledging a robust Baptist suspicion of spiritual practices seen as too closely associated with the Roman Catholic Church or its distant cousins, the Anglicans.

Lost treasure

Some Baptists say they sense those suspicions -- in part a legacy of the Protestant Reformation -- have left them with a diminished spiritual vocabulary.

Read More Here

A Lenten Sacrifice of Praise and Thanksgiving

I am beginning my fifth month of ministry here at St. Luke’s Church.  To be honest, I never imagined myself living in New Jersey (although we have come to love the place).  Our arrival here has been a “coming home” of sorts on many levels.  First, I grew up in Baltimore, and the overall atmosphere of suburban New Jersey is very much like the area where spent my childhood and young adult years.  I never realized how much I missed the green, rolling hills and the four distinct seasons of the Mid-Atlantic climate. 

Second, by becoming Rector here, I return to the Reformed Episcopal Church, a part of the Anglican Church in North America.  Prior to this, I had served in the Anglican Mission (AMiA) for about nine years.  Many times, people leave one jurisdiction for another with a sense that there was something lacking in their prior connection.  But this is not the case for me.  I confess to loving both the Reformed Episcopal Church and the Anglican Mission.  Both have outstanding bishops, both are a part of what God is doing on the North American Anglican scene.   I have been privileged to serve in both bodies.

Finally, coming to St. Luke’s is coming home for me because I have found the people there to be family for me.  Cheryl and Noah and I have been warmly received and we have had a wonderful experience here—as well as a sense that this is where we belong.  And that, as far as I can see, is what a home is.  I am so very thankful for the people of St. Luke’s and the ministry that the Lord has given me in this place. 

Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistan's Most Prominent Christian, Assassinated (Christianity Today)

Pakistan's Taliban and al-Qaeda factions are claiming responsibility for the assassination of the only Christian serving in the Islamic state's government. Shahbaz Bahtti, 42, was shot outside his mother's home in Islamabad Wednesday morning.

Bhatti, who was Pakistan's Federal Minister for Minorities Affairs, was well-known for campaigning against the nation's strict blasphemy law and lobbying for the rights of religious minorities. In a video made to be released in the event of his death, released by the evangelical religious liberty organization First Step Forum, Bhatti said that "the forces of violence" were prepared to kill him because "they want to impose their radical philosophy in Pakistan."

"I'm ready to die for a cause," Bhatti said. "I'm living for my community and suffering people, and I will die to defend their rights. So these threats and these warnings cannot change my opinions and principles."

Read the entire story here

Breaking News: UK High Court Judgment suggests Christian beliefs harmful to children. Fostering by Christians now in doubt.

You can read the entire article here.

First, we were told the rules had to be changed to give homosexuals equal rights to adopt children.  Now we find the law was a trojan horse to discriminate against Christians.  I wish I could say I am shocked.