One of the most disputed territories in the world, the land of Israel has a special place in the history and affection of some of the world’s biggest religions, such as Christianity, Islam, and Judaism.  In a few days time, its capital, Jerusalem, will be hosting an historic international gatherings of Anglican bishops, clergy and laity, as they meet in fellowship to discuss the future of the Anglican Communion in the light of the great problems that Anglicanism faces today.

Its key objects will be fellowship together in Christ and a determination to acknowledge the Lordship of Christ over his church.  As Christ himself has taught us- to say, ‘Jesus is Lord’, is to obey his word (John 14:15,21,23).  The great crisis faced in the Anglican Communion is that there are many who say, ‘Lord’, ‘Lord’, yet they not only fail to obey his commands as revealed clearly in Scripture, but they even deny them.  As Jesus said of the people of his day, ‘they honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me’ (Mark 7:6).

This has come sharply into focus through the debate on homosexuality in the church, with ‘The Episcopal Church’ (TEC) of the United States, and the Anglican Church of Canada, pressing ahead with an anti-Scripture, liberal-revisionist agenda in order to promote the acceptance of homosexuality within the church.  Of course, they invoke Christ’s name for all these innovations and movements away from Christ’s plain command.  If ever there was a case of saying, ‘Lord, Lord’, and ignoring the Lordship of Christ, then TEC and its Canadian partner are a glaring example.

GAFCON is a clear statement that the majority of Anglicans worldwide want to honour Christ not only with their lips, but with faithful lives, obedient to his Word.  GAFCON wants to emphasise that the events in Jerusalem over 2000 years ago concerning the life, death, Resurrection, and Ascension of Jesus, and its Spirit-taught revelation and interpretation in the words of the New Testament, are still the basis of authentic Christian living today.  It is that affirmation, that GAFCON wants the world, the Anglican Communion, and especially the heterodox schismatics of TEC and Canada, to hear loud and clear. 

Each day during the GAFCON meeting (22nd to 29th June), Reform Ireland will be reporting from Jerusalem on this historic event.

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 19th, 2008 at 3:44 pm and is filed under GAFCON. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.