Letters to St. James - Piccadilly

The CofE certainly picked a dilly when the rector of St. James Piccadilly was appointed in the 1980s with carte blanche to keep it open. Subsequent appointments have continued to career down the broad way on to which he led the church.

The current incumbents have provoked open letters and articles across the blogosphere.

I start with two of my favourite Jewish commentators. 

Melanie Phillips has penned an open letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby. She calls it a church of hate. Melanie Phillips is not an anti-Christan Jew. She understands very well that the decline of healthy Christianity has had a deleterious effect on freedom in general and religious freedom in particular. Do read her article and follow the links.

Daphne Anson has also blogged on St. James, Piccadilly here and here . If anything, she can be more robust than Melanie Phillips.

From within the Christian community, comes Dr. Denis MacEoin's letter to St James. It is exemplary in its Christian attitude. It gives his reasons for supporting Israel and details the homicidal culture that Israel is facing.

I quote:

Let me illustrate the importance of the fence with a single example. In 2005, a young Palestinian woman called Wafa al-Biss was badly burned in a domestic fire, taken to Israel’s SorokaHospital, and treated there for months. When discharged, she was given a permit to return as an out-patient. Some time later she headed for the hospital wearing a suicide belt with the aim of exploding  it among the doctors and nurses who had treated her, as well as however many children she could find. She was caught at a checkpoint and imprisoned. Earlier this year she was released as part of a prisoner release agreement. Within hours she was speaking to Palestinian children, urging them to put on suicide vests and kill as many Jews as possible. And some people wonder why the Israelis need a security barrier.

It is simply wrong, I believe ­ and, I am sure, all Christians believe ­ to flaunt one people’s suffering as righteous while condemning another people for simply seeking to secure themselves and their children from vicious attack. Wafa al-Biss was not a mentally disturbed lone killer manquée, but someone who had every reason to be grateful to the men and women who had saved her life. She was part of a killing system, a system that has taken the lives of thousands of Israel down the years.

Read the whole letter. I would love to see what sort of reply he gets. I looked on the ABC's website for any response to Melanie Phillips, so far, nothing.

However, the putative reincarnation/voice from beyond of a former ABC, to wit Cranmer, has penned a missive on the subject here. I should warn my readers that it is heavily ironic, which some of his own regulars seem to have missed. It took me a little while to realise just how sarcastic he was being.

Another open letter from a victim of Terror and a friend of a murdered victim.

Please write on your wall, under the cross, now obscured by the crescent…. “R.I.P Kristine Luken.”
Sincerely,
Kay Wilson – (a British-born Israeli)

The Blog  'Anne's Opinions' carries this:

Sharon and Lesley again at the St James market place today armed with our bag of acrylic paint and wall brush.

With no support from anybody the sense was one of antagonism, being watched as we were by the wardens present it seemed, in case we dared to write on the wall. Seeing our paint Tom, a St James warden approached us to say we could only use their now worn out felt pens. Explaining the uselessness of those pens and the fact that others had used spray paint Debbie, another warden said she’d get us some of theirs. Returning a while later she produced grey – the shade they use to obliterate posts they don’t approve of. In the end Tom told me I could paint one message on a designated spot, provided I was professional and refrained from being abusive. Odd that seeing that others could write what and where they wanted as many times as they wanted!

So I painted This Wall Saves Lives, started to write that 1340 Israeli citizens have died as a result of terrorist attacks since 2000, but Tom’s space and location didn’t permit!

I think this has been through a couple of blogs so I do not know who Sharon and Lesley are, but may the LORD bless them.

How the ground was prepared for the "Jesus is a Palestinian " lie.

If you read the birth stories in Matthew and Luke, the names of places and of people, the quotes from the Tenach, the prophecies that parallel those of the Tenach, the genealogies, the circumcision, the presentation at the Temple, the Bar Mitzvah (why else would Jesus go to the Temple aged twelve?); the one thing that you would have to blind and brain-dead not to see and understand, is that these stories are Jewish stories. Some Christians may not like it; some Jews may not like it, but the fact remains, and it will continue to remain, Jesus is Jewish.

Believe it or not, at this point, someone will ask; sometimes in all innocence, "But isn't Jesus a Christian?" I know this because as a teacher of religious education, it has happened to me, frequently.

I explain that Christians follow Jesus because they believe that He is the Christ/The Messiah. Whether you believe this or not, Jesus cannot follow Himself.

When I started teaching, I taught the Old and the New Testaments. The Bible was available to be read and it was read - aloud. When I finished teaching, I was expected to teach six different religions without any real reference to any of their holy texts. This is how the lies take hold. They no longer know the truth.

Ever tried to teach the 'lives of the founders' of six religions in one year? Half a term each and the terms are not the same length. Furthermore the legal minimum of one period is circumvented by making a One hour and ten minute lesson to be comprised of  two periods. This is irrelevant to most subjects but RS gets 35 minutes. Allowing for  time to get the class in and out plus admin and discipline, actual teaching time can be significantly reduced even to zero.

As to the lives of the founders, simple enough in the case of Islam,  and Buddhism. In the case of Sikhism, as it is now practiced, it would be wrong to teach only the first of the ten Gurus and not include the last Guru who shaped Sikhism as it is now known. Can we really do Christianity without St Paul; or Judaism limited to Moses but not include Abraham? Speaking of Abraham, his example is essential to Christian understanding and you can't understand Jesus without an introduction to Judaism. Who founded Hinduism? Nobody mentions Zarathustra, but his influence on Jewish and Christian thought is significant. It has become impossible to teach any of the religions properly.

Religion becomes a matter of opinion rather than established facts. Any attempt to teach facts results in the accusation of forcing your beliefs on others, even when correcting the child's own ignorance about their own faith. Unbelievable, but it happened to me.

You can read a more detailed account of how this happened in a previous post, 'The devolution of Divinity or how to undermine a Christian education and Zionism' This is a longer article sketching the history of the subject and showing how it has devolved into its current mess.

As there is now no real knowledge of the history of Israel, Judaism and Christianity and no-one has ever drawn a sketch of Israel showing Judea, Samaria, Galilee and the Decapolis (at the time of Christ) there is no bulwark against Arab lies.

 

I still find it difficult to believe that Hanan Ashwari wasn't declared legally insane, but hey, it's religion and its a matter of opinion...
I know what I'd like to say at this point, but this is a Christian blog and it might offend.

Where your charity money goes... you won't like it!

While Christians are massacred in Baghdad and are being driven out of the Middle East, others who call themselves Christian see fit to demonize Israel and fund terrorism. They do this with your money. Find out the charities to avoid. 

I make no apologies for all the links. This is part of my contribution towards raising awareness of what is really happening.

The massacre in Baghdad as reported by the BBC here and Google for more information.

The excellent Danny Ayalon on the decline of Christians in 'Palestine' and a potted history of the name of Palestine, see below.

Blogger Edgar Davidson has a jaw-dropping report on the Charity 'War on Want', see here . Read it all, especially if you are British.

Robin Shepherd of 'thecommentator' has an article in his online journal about the same subject. He names a range of charities and their funding sources. Perhaps non-European readers should look at their charities more closely.

There is also an excellent article by Steve Apfel on 'Borrowing Jesus' - like this: -

It makes an interesting contrast to what Danny Ayalon has to say. I know whom I believe.

According to Daphne Anson, this temporary wall in London cost several thousand pounds.

You can read more about this expensive obscenity in another excellent piece by Robin Shepherd. He gives links to a video publicising the stunt and to a letter protesting it.

 I wonder how much good could have been achieved if the money spent on this stunt had gone elsewhere?

Hadas Fogel, three months old, was killed by terrorists on March 11, 2011. The terrorists confessed that they left the Fogel home after murdering Hadas’ parents and two sleeping brothers but returned to murder Hadas when they heard her start crying.

I finish with a quote from Robin Shepherd.

To abuse that most admirable of Christian traditions, and turn Christmas into a message of hate, is not just anti-Semitic; it is the grossest of insults to Christians as well.

Christmas and Anti-Semitism. Some people never let up!

Daphne's latest post on her blog, here, makes the following comments:

In old Europe, Easter was the traditional time for assault on the Jews: as is well-known, many a pogrom took place around that time, stoked by the canard that Jews killed Jesus.
These days, it seems to be Christmas that's the traditional time for an all-out assault upon the Jews, in the form of the Jewish State.  As I remarked here, Yuletide sees an intensification of that Open Season on Israel that takes place throughout the year.

I was intrigued. I could understand Easter being an occasion for anti-semitism, although it is fueled by ignorance as well as by hatred. But Christmas? OK, so the usual suspects are still playing games with Christmas Carols, but hatred for the Jews? This is a birth in Judea. It says so in the Bible. We read these texts every year.

Well, my own blog has given me evidence of a spike in interest, about who killed Jesus, just before Christmas. This post, "Who killed Jesus...?" which is the most viewed post since I started blogging, is viewed almost every day, but, according to my stats, they recorded more views than usual for this post during the past week.

After 2000 years, we still need to know how to apportion blame for the death of Jesus. No other death in custody gets that level of attention. It shows how important a Person this Jesus is.

So to all my readers, Jew and Christian, have a blessed time while we Christians celebrate the Messiah/Christ and may the God of Israel grant us all peace in the coming year, be it the peace of heart, mind and spirit that we may well need in these difficult times.

Luke 2:8 - 21

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest,and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

If you wait, they'll tell you...

If you wait long enough and listen carefully, most people will tell you all you want to know about themselves and their plans. The enemies of Israel and Christianity are no exception. In fact, they seem positively eager to spill the beans. 

It's just that the useful idiots, such as the mainstream media and other liberals, take a long time  catching on.

Israel Today carries two such stories. From Iran  comes this one;

Speaking on Syrian News TV on December 11, former presidential advisor Mohammad Sadeq Al-Hosseini suggested that the main motivator behind the recent Iran nuclear deal was US President Barack Obama’s desire to forestall the destruction of Israel.

“Obama had to make a great retreat,” said Al-Hosseini in an interview translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). “[Obama] was forced to accept a handshake from President Rouhani…so that the day would not come when he would be forced to kiss the hands of Hassan Nasrallah and [Ayatollah] Khamenei, so that they would hold their fire in the great war that was prepared to annihilate Israel.”

And from Egypt comes this one:

Dr. Ashraf Ramelah, an Egyptian Christian activist and founder of Voice of the Copts, said in a recent interview with Arab media that the new constitution being discussed in Egypt is further evidence that the so-called “Arab Spring” was nothing more than a front for a revitalization of the Islamic agenda.

Ramelah told The Arab Daily News that Christians in the Middle East are far worse off today than prior to the Arab Spring. Proof of that can be found in the fact that it is necessary to consider special clauses pertaining to Christians in the new Egyptian constitution.
“Copts (native Egyptian Christians) are citizens of Egypt. They do not need to have special rights. In a democratic country all citizens are equal under the law,” noted Ramelah.

Finally, from the Telegraph, the Royal and well -meaning useful idiot is beginning to catch on...

Yes, HRH Prince Charles can't understand why all his work to build bridges with Islam is being destroyed. Someone needs to tell him that they were never serious in the first place. It was just a strategy to get Islam accepted until they were strong enough to do what they were always going to do.

Prince Charles accompanied by Prince Ghazi bin Mohammad of Jordan (2nd right) during the visit, celebrating Christian communities from the Middle-East in Britain. Photo: AFP/Getty Images

And the Prince, a long-standing advocate of dialogue between religions, voiced personal dismay at seeing his work over the last 20 years to “build bridges and dispel ignorance” being deliberately destroyed by those attempting to exploit the Arab Spring for their own ends. 

Twenty wasted years.

An amusing take on a well-known Christmas song

Archbishop Cranmer posted this. If you like Gregorian Chant and have some schoolboy/girl Latin you should find this amusing and musical.

The Magnificat - A Sunday Sermon on Mary's Song

The PowerPoint below essentially is somewhere between my notes and the full sermon on the Magnificat. There is enough to follow what I preached and, God willing, to inspire other preachers.

How God used Mary's limitations to preach the gospel and how Mary learned the lesson of the Word God gave her. How God answered the hope for the Messiah.

May the LORD bless you.

Some stories have to be told

I came across this story in the Daily Mail.Two things interested me. The first was that it was about the Holocaust. The second was that the film makers are young students from my home county of Co. Durham. ( For US readers, that is County Durham, England )

Iby Knill: An Auschwitz Promise will be aired this Saturday at 8.30pm on The Community Channel, available on Sky, Virgin Media and BT Vision.

It took Mrs Knill sixty years to keep a promise made to a dying teenager at Auschwitz 1944. She did it as a result of a Theology discussion on sin and evil. I have to admit this puzzles me, because sin is evil, it's just that we cannot comprehend how evil sin is except when all our human weaknesses and strengths combine to do something outrageously evil. (My Thoughts)

A film was made out of Iby's memoirs, The Woman Without a Number, by film and television student Robin Pepper, 22, at Teesside University. He and fellow students Mark Oxley, 26, from Darlington, and Ian Orwin, 22, from Sunderland, made the documentary for a final year project after he read her book in just one day.

Mrs Knill said: 'Robin has done a marvellous job, and I am very happy with the film. It goes some way towards fulfilling the promise I made to the twin all those years ago.' Robin added: 'It was an honour to work with Iby. She is an amazing lady, and we are really pleased we have helped her keep that promise she made so long ago.'

You may need to click on the blank space below, but it should show a short video.

There is another point of contact with Mrs. Knill. She has a gold watch chain from her father. Mine comes down from my great-grandfather to my certain knowledge. It is not full of such tragic memories. These things are precious because they are our links with our ancestors.

An exercise in hypocrisy

The video has yet to be shown on state-run TV since footage of musical instruments and singing by women are prohibited by Iran's hardline state television. 

Why should anyone trust this man?