Today's Verse - Isaiah 55:7 (NIV)
Let the wicked forsake his way
and the evil man his thoughts.
Let him turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him,
and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
The prophet, Isaiah is encouraging Israel to return to God's ways and to participate in the covenant which He is to establish with them. To do so, they need to return to spirituality, repent of their evil ways, and amend their lives to follow the ways of God. In return, God will forgive them. If only man will turn back to God, God will multiply his pardons, as He promises in 2 Chronicles 7:14.
Today's Comments: Like the Israelites, God is willing to pardon us, if we return to His ways. His ways are not the ways of same sex unions or relationships. His ways are not the ways of self-aggrandizement.
My friend, The Rev. Roger Rose, wrote the following letter to the Los Angeles Times. It summarizes his feelings about the recent National Convention of the Episcopal Church, which took place in Anaheim last month:
From: Roger F Rose
To: letters@latimes.com
Date: Mon, 3 Aug 2009 00:22:15 -0700
Subject: Acceptance at the Altar attn: Jim Newton
The Episcopal Church's General Convention held last month in Anaheim voted the Church's approval of resolutions favoring the election of openly-gay bishops and of blessing same-sex unions, as well as same- sex marriage. The votes of approval came in spite of counsel and appeals from orthodox bishops and deputies, concerned for our relationships with brother and sister Anglicans in the global south and in Asian-Pacific lands. Not only were Anglicans in Africa ignored, but also those in the Far East. I spent a school year studying in Taiwan and returned much more aware of how negatively Taiwanese Anglicans view The Episcopal Church's increasingly self-assured stance toward blessing homosexual unions and same-sex marriage.
The closing line of your editorial: ("Supporters of Proposition 8 weren't the only ones to cloak prejudice with piety.") is an arrogant cheap-shot. Is it really necessary for you to indulge in name-calling, pillorying all of us who voted Yes on 8 as people cloaking "prejudice with piety? If that's an accusation of intellectual dishonesty, then it equally applies to Episcopal bishops and deputies who torture Scripture to arrive at approval of homosexual practices. Arrogance comes in many guises.
The Rev. Rog F. Rose
Assisting Priest,
St. Thomas Episcopal Church,.
Hacienda Heights
Let the wicked forsake his way
and the evil man his thoughts.
Let him turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him,
and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
The prophet, Isaiah is encouraging Israel to return to God's ways and to participate in the covenant which He is to establish with them. To do so, they need to return to spirituality, repent of their evil ways, and amend their lives to follow the ways of God. In return, God will forgive them. If only man will turn back to God, God will multiply his pardons, as He promises in 2 Chronicles 7:14.
Today's Comments: Like the Israelites, God is willing to pardon us, if we return to His ways. His ways are not the ways of same sex unions or relationships. His ways are not the ways of self-aggrandizement.
My friend, The Rev. Roger Rose, wrote the following letter to the Los Angeles Times. It summarizes his feelings about the recent National Convention of the Episcopal Church, which took place in Anaheim last month:
From: Roger F Rose
To: letters@latimes.com
Date: Mon, 3 Aug 2009 00:22:15 -0700
Subject: Acceptance at the Altar attn: Jim Newton
The Episcopal Church's General Convention held last month in Anaheim voted the Church's approval of resolutions favoring the election of openly-gay bishops and of blessing same-sex unions, as well as same- sex marriage. The votes of approval came in spite of counsel and appeals from orthodox bishops and deputies, concerned for our relationships with brother and sister Anglicans in the global south and in Asian-Pacific lands. Not only were Anglicans in Africa ignored, but also those in the Far East. I spent a school year studying in Taiwan and returned much more aware of how negatively Taiwanese Anglicans view The Episcopal Church's increasingly self-assured stance toward blessing homosexual unions and same-sex marriage.
The closing line of your editorial: ("Supporters of Proposition 8 weren't the only ones to cloak prejudice with piety.") is an arrogant cheap-shot. Is it really necessary for you to indulge in name-calling, pillorying all of us who voted Yes on 8 as people cloaking "prejudice with piety? If that's an accusation of intellectual dishonesty, then it equally applies to Episcopal bishops and deputies who torture Scripture to arrive at approval of homosexual practices. Arrogance comes in many guises.
The Rev. Rog F. Rose
Assisting Priest,
St. Thomas Episcopal Church,.
Hacienda Heights
It is time for the Episcopal Church to heed the words above from Isaiah and return from the ways of man to the ways of God. Failure to do so, in my humble opinion, will reap additional repercussions on a church with a membership that is hemorrhaging and a body which is loosing its ties with the majority of the Anglican Communion.
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