Almighty and everlasting God,
we give you thanks for the life and ministry of your servant,
the Reverend Voddie Baucham,
whom you have now called to rest.
Grant him to share in the joy of your eternal kingdom,
where there is no sorrow nor sighing, but life everlasting.
Comfort those who mourn his passing,
and give us grace to follow his example of faith and bold witness,
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, world without end. Amen.
It seems to me that the children were murdered because they were Christian children praying in a church. That makes them holy martyrs. The man who murdered them hated Jesus, his children, and his church and wanted to show that God could not save them and that their prayers were futile, a sentiment the mayor of Minnesota has repeated. These are, of course, the sentiments of hell and demons love to mouth them through the lips of willing souls. Jesus heard the same species of mockery as he hung on his cross, “If you are the Son of God come down from the cross. Save yourself.” But demons and those in league with them cannot understand the wisdom of the cross or the fellowship of suffering that Christians share with our Lord. We are, as Paul says, given over to death every day. But by his blood and death and resurrection, Jesus has turned death for us into the threshold of life and joy and the everlasting feast. These children have been ushered into the presence of the Great Shepherd of the sheep. Not one of them has been lost. They are with him today in Paradise where sorrow and pain are no more and they will be raised on the last day as heirs of the whole world. This is because of the prayers and work of their great High Priest to whom they spoke their last words on this earth. Meanwhile, their murderer is facing the everlasting judgment of the One he mocked and whose children he killed. And He, the Judge, is the One who tells us that we must pray for those who mock our prayers so that through them he might have mercy on his enemies and rescue them from their blindness and cruelty and deliver them from the lies of hell and forgive their sins and iniquities. Because his property is always to have mercy. So, may the Lord turn their hearts and convict them and bring them to repentance and pour out his mercy on them.
@jeffreyhwalton Mithril seems a fitting name. Mithril is the metal used to fashion Frodo’s chain mail gifted to him by Bilbo. Mithril is very supple and strong, turning even the Orc chieftain’s spear in the mines of Moria.
Collect of the Day
Most merciful Father, we humbly thank you for all your gifts so freely bestowed upon us: for life and health and safety, for strength to work and leisure to rest, for all that is beautiful in creation and in human life; but above all we thank you for our spiritual mercies in Christ Jesus our Lord; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Modern man is in a terrible predicament.
He is helplessly enamored with the beauty of what the old world built, yet despises the beliefs that inspired them to build it.
Your @AnglicanDOMA delegation to @The_ACNA Assembly (h/t Heidi Reichert). Our diocesan family grew 7% in membership (+534) and attendance 17% (+872) in 2023. We're dedicated to reaching Mid-Atlantic states with the transforming love of Jesus Christ. See: https://t.co/Kj9izhLakY
I have friends who are Roman Catholic, non-papal Catholics, Anglo-Catholics, Reformed Catholics.
Many of my dear friends are Protestants, too.
There is a marked difference between a Protestant who happens to be in a denomination not in communion with Rome due to theological disagreements, and a Protestant who is actively anti-catholic.
To be anti-catholic is to be anti-Christian. We are a catholic faith. We adhere to the catholic creeds.
We can have disagreements on what it means to be a part of the one holy catholic and apostolic Church. But I fail to see how someone can be anti-catholic and call themselves a Christian.
The Reformation was about re-forming the Catholic Church in line with the catholic faith. It was not about departing from it, shunning it, and starting a new Church.
But hey, we live in a free country, so they say, and people are able to believe what they like. However, I do not want/need to sift through mounds of hostile bigoted tweets every time I pray with my community.
From now on, anti-catholic Protestants get muted. If I post a prayer, I am not attempting to engage in theological debate. I have no interest in retreading a 500 year old argument with someone who ignores all of Church history prior to the Reformation. To argue with the ignorant is a futile exercise. In my experience, it is most often in bad faith.
Pray along or move along. I do not care for your protestations. They are always the same, it is tiresome.
If people genuinely want to learn more about the faith, Church history, theology, Sacred Tradition, that is a different story. There are plenty of resources available.
A good starting point for random questions - such as “why do you pray to the Saints” and “why do you venerate Mary” etc - is https://t.co/udn9nJRVX8.
On #ThisDayInHistory in 1735, John Adams was born.
Adams was a driving force of the American Revolution and construction of our early institutions. His leadership in the Continental Congress was instrumental during the war, and his unmatched (maybe only by Jefferson) intellect gave us foundational ideas for our Constitution.
Happy birthday to a great American!