A salute and hat tip to David Virtue.
http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=16294
Bishop Robinson, You are reaping what you have sown
Why the Bishop of New Hampshire is wrong
NEWS ANALYSIS
By David W. Virtue in Indianapolis www.virtueonline.org
July 110, 2012
When the openly gay bishop of New Hampshire, Gene Robinson took a private communication one of my staff sent him and made its contents public inside the House of Bishops this week, he opened a can of worms that he has only himself to blame for. No one asked him to do that; he did it on his own recognizance. He did not ask my permission.
The communication was about rumors swirling around that he and his partner, Mark Andrew, whom he had married, were having "relationship problems and were entertaining divorce." The rumor was that they had separate bedrooms here in Indianapolis. In his blast at VOL, in front of 167 bishops, he complained about the "public scrutiny" of his life, but did not deny the rumors about what was happening in his personal life. Robinson publicized his relationship during the election process for Bishop of New Hampshire by his public appearances with Andrew. When he was consecrated, he publicly embraced and kissed Mark to the roar of approval from some 4000 sympathetic observers. I know. I was there.
The obvious contradiction in this puzzling situation is that Bishop Robinson stated that he would like questions directly asked to him, yet when a professional journalist asked him a question, he complained at length about it in the House of Bishops, without answering the question.
He screamed, "I have had just about all I can take."
Really. What about all the incredible damage he has caused by his consecration nearly a decade ago? As a result of his lifestyle, the Anglican Communion has de fact split, tens of thousands of Episcopalians have left the Episcopal Church, hundreds of churches have left TEC, many have lost properties, and rectors lives have been ruined by revisionist bishops that support Robinson's position including the screwball former bishop of Newark, John Shelby Spong. One bishop, Bob Duncan, was literally thrown out of the Episcopal Church without a trial so he formed a new Anglican Church in North America...all as a result of Robinson's unequivocal need for his behavior and "marriage" to another man be accepted into and by the church.
All Bishop Robinson did in his rant was demonstrate a level of self-pity that was pathetic to watch, but clearly enamored his fellow bishops who rose to give him a standing ovation.
Robinson's constant whine for public acceptance of his sexual preferences, his infernal narcissism and self-absorption, his videos and movie Love Free or Die, his worldwide travels in the Anglican Communion promoting pansexuality has caused Anglican Christians to be killed in Nigeria by angry fundamentalist Islamist mobs, invited the wrath and scorn of Imams and Mullahs, truncated evangelism in the Global South, forced Global South archbishops to disassociate themselves from him and The Episcopal Church, and indirectly forced an Archbishop of Canterbury to retire early because of the stress of the job and his failure to resolve the unresolvable. On top of all this, the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches have declared TEC anathema.
Robinson vociferously responded to the VOL e-mail saying, "It is nobody's damn business. For nine years I have borne a level of scrutiny beyond what should have been and there is a limit to what one person could bear."
Well, Bishop, it IS our "damn business" because you have made it our business by spending the last nine years pushing your behavior onto the global Anglican stage. If your life is falling apart, that is just as much a part of the Robinson story as your promotion of sodomy. You can't have it both ways. You went public and therefore your life from then on was open to public scrutiny. The old saying is true, "If you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen." You have been roasting orthodox Anglicans over an open fire calling them all manner of names from "fundamentalist" to "homophobic". Now when someone questions your miserable life, you get all uppity and hurt and utter, "Why don't they leave me alone and mind their own business?" Oh, my God, please spare us.
In your rip you complained, "You can question my motives for saying this. I don't know what my motives are."
Really Bishop. Well, I think everyone knows what your motives are. They are manifestly clear to everybody with half a brain: you want the Episcopal Church, in fact every church (judging by your appearance at Presbyterian Church assemblies) to accept your lifestyle as good and right in the eyes of God. You want to influence the Global South by manipulating orthodox Anglicans in Uganda and wherever else you can to fall down and worship your pansexual god, the god of mayhem and confusion. You have seduced the Anglican Communion Office and, indirectly, jump-started a ludicrously named "Listening Process" to broker pansexuality into the whole Anglican Communion.
Robinson pleaded, "Let's not talk about reconciliation. Let's attempt it." He begged again, "Can we try together? Please."
No, Bishop, we can't, that ship has sailed. You have done too much damage to this church and to the Anglican Communion for any reconciliation ever to take place. Nigerian Anglicans, the largest body of Anglicans in the world, will no more entertain having you in their churches than they would Jefferts Schori. She is tarred with the same brush. You are history. Get used to it. When you retire from TEC, you will quickly be forgotten, but your legacy will live on in Mary Glasspool and the SS TEC will continue to slowly sink beneath the ecclesiastical waves under the weight of its own bad theology and even worse morals.
The truth, as you and we know, is that all clergy and bishops in the Episcopal Church realize that spouses, partners, and children become public figures after the ordination of one person in the family. This is discussed in seminary and formally and informally at many clergy gatherings. Any relationship (dating, partnered, or marriage) becomes a public reality in congregations and dioceses.
So allow me, Bishop, to quote you some Scripture, even as you misquoted Scripture in the HOB.
St. Paul in II Cor. 12 writes that he will boast but only in his weakness (v.5) Then Paul says this: "...a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to harass me, to keep me from being too elated. 8 Three times I besought the Lord about this, that it should leave me; 9 but he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me."
So how about it, Gene? Why did you not turn your same sex attractions as a sign of your weakness over to God that the power of Christ may rest upon YOU?
St. Paul again: v.10 "For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities; for when I am weak, then I am strong."
Why did you not turn your sexual weaknesses, insults, hardships, etc. into an evangelistic moment to demonstrate that in your weakness God's power is revealed and you are made perfect in Him?
As one commentator put it, "The strength and power of God more perfectly shines forth in our weakness and infirmity; as the more weak we are of ourselves, the more illustrious is his grace in supporting us, and giving us the victory under all trials and conflicts when I am weak. The more I suffer for Christ, the more I perceive the effects of his all-powerful grace, which sustains, enlightens, and strengthens me: the more also the glory and power of God appeareth in me."
v.11 "I have been a fool." writes St. Paul.
So why couldn't you be a fool for Christ, Bishop Robinson, rejoicing in your infirmity and allowing the God of all grace to minister to you and to work through you to heal others "in your infirmity and weakness"? The whole AA movement (of which I gather you a member) is built on people declaring their utter weakness and helplessness in the face of alcohol and asking God for help. In their weakness, they turn to a "higher power" and draw strength, not to say they are cured, but that they are being made perfect in their weakness.
But these are to be borne with submission to the will of God, for his power is more evident in supporting man under the greatest trials, than in freeing him from the attacks. --- Power is made perfect.
St. Paul concludes the chapter with these words: v. 21 "I fear that when I come again my God may humble me before you, and I may have to mourn over many of those who sinned before and have not repented of the impurity, immorality, and licentiousness which they have practiced."
Paul knew his own weaknesses, his "thorn in the flesh" whatever it was kept him humble, just as your sexual desires should keep you humble knowing how easy it is to fail. The truth is, Bishop Robinson, we are to glory in our weakness, we are to suffer "for the name". Your only "suffering" is the constant whine for acceptance, something the Great Apostle would have renounced. The list of sins mentioned here undoubtedly encompasses immorality, your own included.
The tragic truth is that you have become an enemy of the gospel. You have turned the truth of the gospel into a lie and souls are being lost. Episcopalians are being swept into a Christless eternity because of what you are pushing and pandering. One day you will have to be held accountable for that loss. May God help you.
END
http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=16294
Bishop Robinson, You are reaping what you have sown
Why the Bishop of New Hampshire is wrong
NEWS ANALYSIS
By David W. Virtue in Indianapolis www.virtueonline.org
July 110, 2012
When the openly gay bishop of New Hampshire, Gene Robinson took a private communication one of my staff sent him and made its contents public inside the House of Bishops this week, he opened a can of worms that he has only himself to blame for. No one asked him to do that; he did it on his own recognizance. He did not ask my permission.The communication was about rumors swirling around that he and his partner, Mark Andrew, whom he had married, were having "relationship problems and were entertaining divorce." The rumor was that they had separate bedrooms here in Indianapolis. In his blast at VOL, in front of 167 bishops, he complained about the "public scrutiny" of his life, but did not deny the rumors about what was happening in his personal life. Robinson publicized his relationship during the election process for Bishop of New Hampshire by his public appearances with Andrew. When he was consecrated, he publicly embraced and kissed Mark to the roar of approval from some 4000 sympathetic observers. I know. I was there.
The obvious contradiction in this puzzling situation is that Bishop Robinson stated that he would like questions directly asked to him, yet when a professional journalist asked him a question, he complained at length about it in the House of Bishops, without answering the question.
He screamed, "I have had just about all I can take."
Really. What about all the incredible damage he has caused by his consecration nearly a decade ago? As a result of his lifestyle, the Anglican Communion has de fact split, tens of thousands of Episcopalians have left the Episcopal Church, hundreds of churches have left TEC, many have lost properties, and rectors lives have been ruined by revisionist bishops that support Robinson's position including the screwball former bishop of Newark, John Shelby Spong. One bishop, Bob Duncan, was literally thrown out of the Episcopal Church without a trial so he formed a new Anglican Church in North America...all as a result of Robinson's unequivocal need for his behavior and "marriage" to another man be accepted into and by the church.
All Bishop Robinson did in his rant was demonstrate a level of self-pity that was pathetic to watch, but clearly enamored his fellow bishops who rose to give him a standing ovation.
Robinson's constant whine for public acceptance of his sexual preferences, his infernal narcissism and self-absorption, his videos and movie Love Free or Die, his worldwide travels in the Anglican Communion promoting pansexuality has caused Anglican Christians to be killed in Nigeria by angry fundamentalist Islamist mobs, invited the wrath and scorn of Imams and Mullahs, truncated evangelism in the Global South, forced Global South archbishops to disassociate themselves from him and The Episcopal Church, and indirectly forced an Archbishop of Canterbury to retire early because of the stress of the job and his failure to resolve the unresolvable. On top of all this, the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches have declared TEC anathema.
Robinson vociferously responded to the VOL e-mail saying, "It is nobody's damn business. For nine years I have borne a level of scrutiny beyond what should have been and there is a limit to what one person could bear."
Well, Bishop, it IS our "damn business" because you have made it our business by spending the last nine years pushing your behavior onto the global Anglican stage. If your life is falling apart, that is just as much a part of the Robinson story as your promotion of sodomy. You can't have it both ways. You went public and therefore your life from then on was open to public scrutiny. The old saying is true, "If you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen." You have been roasting orthodox Anglicans over an open fire calling them all manner of names from "fundamentalist" to "homophobic". Now when someone questions your miserable life, you get all uppity and hurt and utter, "Why don't they leave me alone and mind their own business?" Oh, my God, please spare us.
In your rip you complained, "You can question my motives for saying this. I don't know what my motives are."
Really Bishop. Well, I think everyone knows what your motives are. They are manifestly clear to everybody with half a brain: you want the Episcopal Church, in fact every church (judging by your appearance at Presbyterian Church assemblies) to accept your lifestyle as good and right in the eyes of God. You want to influence the Global South by manipulating orthodox Anglicans in Uganda and wherever else you can to fall down and worship your pansexual god, the god of mayhem and confusion. You have seduced the Anglican Communion Office and, indirectly, jump-started a ludicrously named "Listening Process" to broker pansexuality into the whole Anglican Communion.
Robinson pleaded, "Let's not talk about reconciliation. Let's attempt it." He begged again, "Can we try together? Please."
No, Bishop, we can't, that ship has sailed. You have done too much damage to this church and to the Anglican Communion for any reconciliation ever to take place. Nigerian Anglicans, the largest body of Anglicans in the world, will no more entertain having you in their churches than they would Jefferts Schori. She is tarred with the same brush. You are history. Get used to it. When you retire from TEC, you will quickly be forgotten, but your legacy will live on in Mary Glasspool and the SS TEC will continue to slowly sink beneath the ecclesiastical waves under the weight of its own bad theology and even worse morals.
The truth, as you and we know, is that all clergy and bishops in the Episcopal Church realize that spouses, partners, and children become public figures after the ordination of one person in the family. This is discussed in seminary and formally and informally at many clergy gatherings. Any relationship (dating, partnered, or marriage) becomes a public reality in congregations and dioceses.
So allow me, Bishop, to quote you some Scripture, even as you misquoted Scripture in the HOB.
St. Paul in II Cor. 12 writes that he will boast but only in his weakness (v.5) Then Paul says this: "...a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to harass me, to keep me from being too elated. 8 Three times I besought the Lord about this, that it should leave me; 9 but he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me."
So how about it, Gene? Why did you not turn your same sex attractions as a sign of your weakness over to God that the power of Christ may rest upon YOU?
St. Paul again: v.10 "For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities; for when I am weak, then I am strong."
Why did you not turn your sexual weaknesses, insults, hardships, etc. into an evangelistic moment to demonstrate that in your weakness God's power is revealed and you are made perfect in Him?
As one commentator put it, "The strength and power of God more perfectly shines forth in our weakness and infirmity; as the more weak we are of ourselves, the more illustrious is his grace in supporting us, and giving us the victory under all trials and conflicts when I am weak. The more I suffer for Christ, the more I perceive the effects of his all-powerful grace, which sustains, enlightens, and strengthens me: the more also the glory and power of God appeareth in me."
v.11 "I have been a fool." writes St. Paul.
So why couldn't you be a fool for Christ, Bishop Robinson, rejoicing in your infirmity and allowing the God of all grace to minister to you and to work through you to heal others "in your infirmity and weakness"? The whole AA movement (of which I gather you a member) is built on people declaring their utter weakness and helplessness in the face of alcohol and asking God for help. In their weakness, they turn to a "higher power" and draw strength, not to say they are cured, but that they are being made perfect in their weakness.
But these are to be borne with submission to the will of God, for his power is more evident in supporting man under the greatest trials, than in freeing him from the attacks. --- Power is made perfect.
St. Paul concludes the chapter with these words: v. 21 "I fear that when I come again my God may humble me before you, and I may have to mourn over many of those who sinned before and have not repented of the impurity, immorality, and licentiousness which they have practiced."
Paul knew his own weaknesses, his "thorn in the flesh" whatever it was kept him humble, just as your sexual desires should keep you humble knowing how easy it is to fail. The truth is, Bishop Robinson, we are to glory in our weakness, we are to suffer "for the name". Your only "suffering" is the constant whine for acceptance, something the Great Apostle would have renounced. The list of sins mentioned here undoubtedly encompasses immorality, your own included.
The tragic truth is that you have become an enemy of the gospel. You have turned the truth of the gospel into a lie and souls are being lost. Episcopalians are being swept into a Christless eternity because of what you are pushing and pandering. One day you will have to be held accountable for that loss. May God help you.
END
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