The headline on the Thursday edition of the British paper, The Telegraph, heralded some very bad news for British Anglicans. It declared, “Aging Church of England ‘will be dead in 20 years.’” They buttressed their argument in two ways:
1. The average age of a Church of England attendee is 61 (you do the math).
2. In the last 40 years, church attendance has been cut in half.
You would think that the Archbishop of Canterbury would wake up and smell the coffee. Instead, a few weeks earlier he finally came clean. Well, he was forced to come clean. For years he acted as if he was an impartial arbitrator between the believing Anglicans [who make up the majority of Anglicans worldwide] and the apostate ones lead by the American and Canadian Anglicans/Episcopalians. He has always called for “unity,” a way of saying to the believing Anglicans, “just shut up and let the apostates have their way.”
Now, a document has leaked to the press affirming his quiet desire to ordain homosexual bishops all along, not only in the United States, but in his own backyard, in England. The document entitled Choosing Bishops—The Equality Act 2010 affirms that, “someone in a sexually active relationship outside of marriage is not eligible for the Episcopate.”
But, it contains legal advice that calls for celibate homosexuals to be eligible for ordination to the Episcopate. This is double talk.
First of all, if a person is celibate, why do we have to know their sexual orientation? Unless … this is his way of getting homosexual bishops under the wire, as it were.
Second, since when does the church obey the government when the government legislates anti-biblical and anti-God laws? Have we forgotten our Christian heritage, our forebearers who were sent to face hungry lions in arenas for saying that God must be obeyed above Caesar?
It is now time for ALL believers to wake up and smell the coffee. These older denominations and many so called “evangelical churches” are falling prey to Satan’s lie.
The leadership of the mainline churches in general and the Anglican/Episcopal church in particular, has led their denominations over the cliff of apostasy. Their denial of the authority of the Scriptures, the divinity of Jesus Christ, and their belief in a God who will not judge sin, but will send everyone to Heaven, has rendered their denomination anything but “a Christ-ian church.”
The Urgent Need
The most urgent need today is for a new reformation and a return to biblical integrity and authentic Christianity.
Historic reformers, whether Martin Luther, Calvin, or even Wesley, were seldom successful in their attempts to reform the church from within. If the experiences of past reformations have taught us anything, it is that reformers will only succeed by creating an alternative structure. Luther’s deep desire to remain in the Medieval Church and reform it from within failed miserably—a valuable lesson here.
Faithful global Anglicans must create an alternative to Canterbury. No, not just threaten to do it, but to get on with it.”Without that global alternative, they will continue to subject themselves to Canterbury’s trickery, manipulation, and stalling tactics. They need to take heed of The Telegraph prediction that The Church of England will be “dead in 20 years.”
Anglicanism by its very nature [like it or not] is hierarchical. Therefore, global leadership must emerge to unite all faithful Anglicans worldwide. This requires an acceptable global servant leader.
As I have thought deeply about this need, and as I have examined the situation as thoroughly as any man can, it is my considered opinion that the man who has proven his servant leadership qualities, to say nothing of his sterling theological orthodoxy, is none other than the General Secretary of the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON), Dr. Peter Jensen, Archbishop of Sydney.
The Way Forward
The leaders of biblical Anglicanism within and without GAFCON need to close rank behind Peter Jensen and elect him as an alternative to Canterbury. They must give up on this misguided notion that Anglicanism is a monolithic church that meets once every 10 years in Canterbury at the Lambeth Conference so the bishops can get together, hold hands and sing “Kumbaya.”
Only then will the failing apostate branch die off as The Telegraph paper suggests and the new alternative flourish and preserve the Anglican reformation for which Latimer, Ridley, Cranmer, and countless others have given their lives.
The details of this broad outline can be fleshed out by far more qualified leaders within GAFCON.
Dr. Michael Youssef‘s expertise on the Islamic culture and the Middle East in today’s post-modern world is actively sought by hundreds of thousands of followers around the globe. With a Ph.D. from Emory University in social anthropology, his Egyptian heritage gives him particular insight into the cultural and religious entanglements of international affairs. It is estimated that over 10 million viewers/listeners around the world are tuned in every week through an international Christian media ministry founded by Youssef, www.leadingtheway.org. It broadcasts via radio and television to over 200 countries and in over 20 languages. Follow Youssef, a common sense intellectual and renowned author of 24 books, on twitter @michaelayoussef and through his news blog, www.michaelyoussef.com.
