TEC Wages War On Break-Away Churches

Historic Falls Church has many doctrinal differences with TEC (formerly known as the Episcopal Church USA). These include the Episcopal Church’s ordination of the first non-celibate gay bishop. Falls Church and seven others in northern Virginia, separated from TEC and created a parallel church network aligned with the Anglican Communion. TEC, however, has started a lawsuit to confiscate the property of these churches.

These churches predate the founding of the Episcopal diocese in Virginia itself. In fact, they are among its founding churches. Falls Church itself dates back to 1734 when George Washington was a member.

TEC is waging a very expensive war in court which is costing it and the eight churches $10 million to $16 million. The battle continues, however, after five long years. If you are wondering what TEC plans to do with these churches, look at what TEC did when it won its case in Binghamton, New York. The Church of the Good Shepherd had been in operation since 1879. The Episcopal Diocese of Central New York sold it for $50,000 which was only a fraction of its $386,400.00 value. Then, to rub salt in the wound, it was not sold to another Christian group, in order to fulfill its revenge it was sold to a Muslim group for use as an Islamic Center.

One interesting insight on TEC’s attitude is that Good Shepherd offered to purchase the property before any legal proceedings began. TEC refused and after winning the Binghamton suit, sold the church to the Islamic group for about a third of what the Good Shepherd congregation had offered.

Apparently, since TEC has broken away from following the Scriptures, it appears that TEC’s war strategy is to spend millions of its ministry dollars to destroy the churches whose belief in the Scriptures would no longer allow them to be a part of TEC.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones On The Preacher’s Call To Pray

Preaching & Preachers

Quoting Martyn Lloyd-Jones:

Always respond to every impulse to pray. The impulse to pray may come when you are reading or when you are battling with a text. I would make an absolute law of this – always obey such an impulse. Where does it come from? It is the work of the Holy Spirit; it is a part of the meaning of ‘Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure’ (Phil 2:12-13). This often leads to some of the most remarkable experiences in the life of the minister. So never resist, never postpone it, never push it aside because you are busy. Give yourself to it, yield to it; and you will find not only that you have not been wasting time with respect to the matter with which you are dealing but that actually it has helped you greatly in that respect. You will experience an ease and a facility in understanding what you were reading, in thinking, in ordering matter for a sermon, in writing, in everything which is quite astonishing. Such a call to prayer must never be regarded as a distraction; always respond to it immediately, and thank God if it happens to you frequently. (Preaching and Preachers (Zondervan, 1972), p. 170-171; from Chapter 9, “The Preparation of the Preacher”)

 

A Topic Of Alarm For Old Sinners

Asahel Nettleton

How often have you been reproved by preaching, by conversation, by the conviction and conversion of your friends and relatives? Have you taken these warnings seriously? Every warning that you neglect makes your salvation less likely. This is true for the young and old. Asahel Nettleton explains:

He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy (Proverbs 29:1).

When sinners are lost their consciences will forever reproach them for destroying themselves. They are made to eat of the fruit of their own ways, and are filled with their own devices. They utterly perish in their own corruption. By hardening his neck, the sinner, with his own hand, closes the door of heaven against himself.

Our subject is full of alarm to the aged sinner. My aged fathers; how long have you lived without God in the world? How many warnings have you heard and lost? So many years have you lived, and so many warnings have you heard and lost them all. I now appeal to your own experience. Do you not find that the longer you live, the harder are your hearts? Can you not bear testimony to the truth of our text? O where are you now? Once you enjoyed a season of youth; but alas, it is over and gone forever. Why stand ye here all the day idle? Your day of salvation is almost gone.

I address you on the very brink of the grave. You are just ready to launch into eternity, and if you are not suddenly saved, you will be suddenly destroyed, and that without remedy. You now live at an interesting crisis-the season of a revival. It has an important bearing on the aged in this congregation. O how many younger than yourselves have hopefully entered the kingdom of God before you. In this, you have been often reproved. And are you still out of Christ? Your case is becoming more and more hopeless. The probability, I fear, is a thousand to one that you will be lost. You have no prospect of witnessing another revival in your day. Let the present season slip and your case may be considered hopeless, and where are you? This very warning neglected will render your case more hopeless. The voice of mercy, spare a little longer, waxes feebler, and while the voice of justice is waxing louder and louder. (Sermon: The Destruction of Hardened Sinners)