All Saints Church, Aston
Authorized Lay Minister: Captain Neil Thomson CA
The Website of the Church
https://www.allsaintsaston.com/
gives this information:
'Neil has been a Church Army Evangelist since 1985 and currently works as
Marketing Manager and Head of Communications for the Church Army based at
their national office in Sheffield.'
'Paramilitary organization:'
a semi-militarized force whose organizational structure, tactics, training,
subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military
but not part of a country's armed forces.
The Church Army could be called a
'pseudo-paramilitary-organization.' The fact that the Church army actually
gives military-sounding ranks - such as 'Captain' - to many of its
employees, such as this Marketing Manager and Head of Communications, is
ludicrous. The fact that these people can add 'CA' to their name - eg
Captain Neil Thomson CA - is ludicrous.
In the first column of this page, I document the ludicrous and timid antics
of Tim Ling CA and his banning and blocking of emails. A fairly recent
development in this story, which doesn't enhance the reputation of the
Church Army in the least: South Yorkshire Police contacted me after a
complaint from Lu Skerratt-Love, an employee in the Research Unit whose Head
is Tim Ling.
Neil Thomson's twitter page
https://mobile.twitter.com/neilthomson
gives a sample of his contributions to the medium over the years - or
perhaps the sum total of his contributions over the years. Whatever the
case, this is a perfunctory page. A sample of his Twitter writing:
7 June 2019 I've had great wines through these guys.
He then quotes this:
Naked Wines UK 1 April 2019
Before you reach for that wine glass, you might want to read this.
I wouldn't know what the 'this' is.
A page of the All Saints Church Aston Website
https://www.allsaintsaston.com/Groups/309411/
Staff_and_Leadership.aspx
includes information about the Church Safeguarding Officer, who
'takes
responsibility for our Safeguarding matters, she arranges DBS checks on
recruitment and is the person to deal with any safeguarding matter.' I
discuss this advice in my page on abuse and safeguarding in the Church of
England, without giving her name and I don't give her name here. I discuss
the advice in completely general terms, without reference to All Saints
Church. As general advice, in any Church of England Church, it seems to me
to be very flawed, inadvisable at the least and in some situations I give
reasons for thinking it would be disastrously flawed. I don't claim that it
would necessarily be very flawed in the setting of All Saints Church, still
less disastrously flawed.
All Saints, Ecclesall
The 'Revd Canon' Mark Brown is the Oversight
Minister and Priest in Charge at All Saints Church, Ecclesall, Sheffield.
According to the Website of the Church
https://www.allsaintsecclesall.org.uk/notices
'He was made a founder member
of the College of Evangelists in 1999 and continues this prime calling to be
sharing the gospel locally and more widely in the newly constituted
Archbishop's College of Evangelists.
He makes this claim on the Website, 'I know of no better way for Churches
and Christians to be healthy and happy than by depending on and learning
from God's word ...' On this page and other pages, I give examples of
hideous Biblical texts.
At various places in my pages on Christian belief, I argue that 'Declaration
of Belief' would have advantages - honest and transparent declarations of
belief which would enable members of the community, non-Christians and
Christians, to know where what a Christan believes, in crucial areas such as
doctrines of atonement and redemption.
This is from my
general page on Christian religion,
a Declaration of Belief - my term - from Church Society, a Conservative
Evangelical group in the Church of England. Would a Declaration of Belief on
these doctrinal matters which came from the College of Evangelists make the
same claims, or would there be significant differences. Would Canon Mark
Brown's Declaration of Belief include the same claims as the claims made by
Church Society? I'd be very surprised if he made public his view of things.
This is Church Society's view of things, followed by some comments:
' ... all people are under the judgement of God and his righteous
anger burns against them. Unless a person is reconciled to God they
are under His condemnation and His just judgement against them is that they
will be separated from Him forever in Hell. (Romans 1 v18, 2 v16, Revelation
20 v15)
'Jesus will come back and the world will end, there will then be a final
judgement where those who have not accepted Jesus will be cast into hell
with Satan and his angels. Christians will receive new bodies and live in
eternal bliss in the presence of God the Father, God the Son, and God the
Spirit. (Hebrews 9 v27, Revelation 20 v11, 1 Corinthians 15 v51)
'The biblical way of salvation has often been attacked over the
centuries, however it is stated clearly in the 39 Articles of the Church of
England:
Article 6: Of the sufficiency of the holy Scriptures for salvation.
Article 1: Faith in the Holy Trinity
Article 9: Of Original or Birth-sin
Article 2: The Word, or Son of God, who became truly man
Article 4: The resurrection of Christ
Article 11: Of the Justification of Man
'Unless a person is reconciled to God they are under his condemnation ...'
Good works are no defence. Article XII 'Of Good Works' states
Good Works ... cannot put away our sins, and endure the
severity of God's Judgement.'
Whether the good works include bringing safe drinking water to
people ravaged by water-borne diseases such as cholera by means of massive
engineering works, or rescuing Jews from the Nazis, or opposing the Nazis by
heroic action in battle, or everyday goodness and self-sacrifice, if there's
no belief in Jesus Christ, the good works are ignored, in this loathsome
scheme, and there's no salvation.
A further example of good works, the difficult work of
nurses, appreciated so much during the Covid epidemic, as always. Does
Church Society really believe that nurses are damned if they fail to accept
Christ as their Lord and Saviour (the vast majority of nurses)?
What does the Safeguarding Officer of All Saints Church
Ecclesall believe? The same question could be asked of other Safeguarding
Officers in the Church of England - of all Safeguarding Officers. It make a
great difference if a Safeguarding Officer believes that an abuser, such as
Bishop Peter Ball and the other Christian believers whose abuse is
documented in my page
Abuse, safeguarding, scripture and faith: The Church of England and
its failures
are granted salvation but no so their victims, if the victims never have a
belief in Christ as Lord and Saviour. I acknowledge, of course, that a
Safeguarding Officer may act efficiently and compassionately in the
interests of a victim of abuse or in the interests of an alleged abuser in a
case where the allegations turn out to be unfounded, even though the
personal views of a particular Safeguarding Officer are in accordance with
the bleak view of Church Society.
All Saints Church is a member Church of Arise!
www.arisesheffield.org
The Arise! Website includes this:
Prayer
Over 1,000 people rose up to
cover Sheffield in prayer.
Followers of Jesus across Sheffield used the Arise prayer-walking app to
pray for streets near their home, school, or workplace during their daily
walk.
From 1-31 March 2021, the Arise community prayer-walked nearly 2000km of
Sheffield’s streets, lighting up the city with God’s love.
Does Mark Brown, do other members of staff and members of the
congregation at All Saints Church Ecclesall really believe that prayer
walking will have any impact on specific problems facing the city and its
people, or any problems facing the city and its people? Industrial decline,
fly-tipping, the problems posed by the Covid epidemic, the problem of
violent crime - or, for that matter, the problems facing the Church of
England, such as declining attendance, instances of abuse in the Church of
England - sporadic and isolated but very serious? If these and other
problems can be solved by prayer, what is the evidence? Can poor weather be
prevented by prayer, can earthquakes be prevented by prayer.
Antioch Community Church
Bamford Methodist
Bents Green Church
Bents Green Methodist
Bethel Sheffield
Bride of Christ
Bushfire Ministries
They believe in the 'Last Days' at Bushfire Ministries - and almost
certainly at a large number of the Churches in this list. They believe in
Hell at Bushfire Ministries, and at all or most of the Churches which have
signed up to 'Arise!' (very mistakenly.) The doctrine can be found in the
New Testament. In Matthew 25:46 Jesus refers to 'eternal punishment,' in New
Testament Greek
From the Bushfire
Ministries Website
https://bushfireministries.co.uk
https://bushfireministries.co.uk/about-us
'Founded by leaders Andy & Heidi Tiplady in 2005, Bushfire has
the DNA of revival running through its veins. With a church base in the
north of Sheffield, there is a contingency of believers in Sheffield and
across the world, who believe that there will be a mighty end time
harvest of souls. We also believe the words of Jesus said in Matthew 24
that there will be an increase of difficulties both in society, in
nations, and in the physical earth.'
Who we are
Andy and Heidi dedicate themselves to prayer
and to the equipping of a body of people to love on, teach and nurture
the coming souls, and to be the answer to many, as times become
difficult. The prophet Isaiah in chapter 60 spoke of a coming time when
God will arise in and shine both on and through a
people, and that many will come to the true Light. We believe Jesus when
He said that HE IS THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. Equally, He said to His
disciples and to us as believers, that 'YOU ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD'.
This light will truly shine in the darkest of times. Get ready, join us
on this journey!
We know from Scripture that this present shaking is just a
pre-tremor, a prelude to what is coming. Contrary to things
becoming easier, we know that darkness will increase and deep
darkness over the people... but we also know that the fully
matured sons of God will come forth, and how blessed that day
will be! The battle dear friend, is for our attention, the enemy
is desperate for it as time is short.
...
God is not flustered, He is not confused or worried. When we
abide in Him then we will actually experience the still waters.
If we would only keep our eyes on Jesus Christ, and choose to be
still, then we would experience His Presence and peace! His Word
is our daily Truth, everything else are just lethal
distractions.
Amidst the many voices competing for your attention today,
make sure you have ears for the Master's Voice. Alone.
With love and blessings, Heidi Tiplady
September 2020
'His Word is our daily Truth,' she claims. Below, passages from the Book of
Deuteronomy are cited. I'll cite another passage from Deuteronomy, 21:
18-21, in the English Standard Version:
A Rebellious Son
18 “If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will
not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and, though
they discipline him, will not listen to them, 19 then
his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the
elders of his city at the gate of the place where he lives, 20 and
they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This our son is stubborn and
rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ 21 Then
all the men of the city shall stone him to death with stones. So
you shall purge the evil from your midst, and
all Israel shall hear, and fear.
From the section on their Website
What we believe
...
We believe that it is the responsibility for every Christian to
spread the Gospel to all persons by the preaching of the Word,
praying for the lost and living our lives according to the Bible and
sacrificial giving of all believers for the use of extending His
kingdom and showing the love of the Father at all times. Acts 1:8,
Matthew 28:18-20, Matthew 3: 9 – 10, 1 Corinthians 9: 7-23,
Ephesians 4:11-13.
We believe in the divine healing of the body, mind and spirit as
part of the great gift of salvation based upon the work of Christ
made available through the Holy Spirit whether by the laying on of
hands, the anointing of oil, faith alone, prayer and by an act of
grace by the living God of Jesus Christ. Matthew 10:8, Mark
16:17-18, 1 Corinthians 2:9-10, 1 Corinthians 2:24, James 5:13-16.
We believe in the laying on of hands to allow the work of the Holy
Spirit to be administered for:
• The healing of the sick
• The baptism of the Holy Spirit
• The receiving of spiritual gifts
• The ordination of ministries
• The sending out of ministries
• The dedication of children Acts 6:5-6, Acts 9:17,
Acts 8:17, Act 13:3, 1 Timothy 4:13, 2 Timothy 1:6, Numbers 8:10
We believe in the visible, tangible, bodily return of Jesus Christ
to this earth to firstly claim His Bride, the Church, and then to
judge the world.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, Revelations 1:7, Acts 1:11, Titus 2:12-14,
2 Thessalonians 1:7-10
We believe that every Christian is called to live a life free from
sinful practices and to promote living their lives in right standing
before God and according to His laws, commandments and decrees.
Deuteronomy 5:6-21, Deuteronomy 11:1, Romans 12:1-2, 1 John 2:15-17,
2 Corinthians 6:13-18, Romans 13:1-10, James 4:4, Timothy
2:14-26.
Calvary Deliverance Ministries
Cemetery Road Baptist Church
Christ Abiding Ministries
Christ Church Central
Christ Church Darnall
Christ Church Dore
Christ Church, Endcliffe
Above, St Augustine's Church, the building used by Christ Church
Some simple factual information, followed by a few factual complexities -
which should disturb the naive and simple-minded faith of naive and
simple-minded folk at Christ Church. If their naive and simple-minded faith
isn't disturbed in the least, then I look forward to receiving from them
some 'Biblical proofs' - it would be too much to expect a display of
comprehensive argument and evidence but of course this won't be happening.
If it does, I'll be astounded - but absolutely willing to address the
answers.
Locality: a solidly middle class area of Sheffield. This isn't in the least
an inner city Church in a working class part of the city. Christ
Church uses the same building as St Augustine's Church (not a member of
Arise!)
Some people at the Church
Ed Pennington: Minister
Rob Bridgewater: Associate Minister
James Bird: Safeguarding Officer
Sophie Bryant: Safeguarding Officer
From the Church's Website page 'Investigating Christianity'
https://endcliffechurch.co.uk/what-we-do/investigating-christianity
To put it simply ... Christianity is all about Jesus. He was a real
person and we believe that by his life, death and resurrection he has shown
that he is our Saviour and Lord. To those who follow him, he offers
knowledge of God, restored friendship with him, the Holy Spirit within us, a
church family around us, and a heavenly home he is leading us to.
What of the people who don't accept Jesus as 'Lord and Saviour.' Do they
have a 'heavenly home' too? Many, many members of 'Arise!' are sure that
they don't have a heavenly home.
Christ Church Fulwood
Jane Patterson
Jane Patterson is a very influential person in the Church of
England: she could even be described as a 'Very Important
Person.' I give the evidence after giving a very brief
account of some of her beliefs.
Above, Fra Angelico's depiction of Hell
Contemporary believers generally - not always -
dispense with the lurid details and concentrate on 'the
essentials,' eternal torment or eternal separation from
God.
From the page
https://www.sheffield.anglican.org/UserFiles/
File/Synod/General/Elections_2021/-Complete-Set-Lay.pdf
2021 ELECTION FOR 4 LAY PEOPLE TO REPRESENT THE
DIOCESE IN THE GENERAL SYNOD HOUSE OF LAITY
the section
'What do I believe?'
Jane Patterson writes,
'I believe that the Bible is the divinely inspired
and written Word of God, that its pages tell us about
who God is, His perfect plan for the world He created,
His offer of forgiveness and a restored eternal
relationship for everyone who believes in the death and
resurrection of His only Son, Jesus and who confesses
Him as Saviour and Lord. I believe that the Bible shows
us how we should live and that ‘the great commission’,
at the end of Matthew’s Gospel, remains the church’s
mission statement 2000 years later.'
Not many human activities, not a vast number of human
activities, but all human activities are reduced in this
ultra-systematic system of belief to a simple division.
These are 'breaker boys,' child labourers in a
Pennsylvania mine, who carried out backbreaking word
underground, at risk of crushing from rock falls,
drowning in the underground waters, being burned alive
in underground fires, to supply people with some of the
necessities and comforts of life. I doubt if many - or
any - of them had the necessary belief in Jesus Christ
as Lord and Saviour to spend eternity in fellowship with
God. After lives of unrelenting hardship or massive
achievement, everyone, the poor, the destitute, the
victims of war, the carers, the scientists and
engineers, climbers and mountaineers, miners, builders,
plumbers, accountants, farmers, factory workers and
philanthropists - people in every single human activity
- are destined to spend eternity in hell or whatever
polite term is the current synonym for hell?
Above, this is Alex Honnold, an extraordinary climber,
someone who climbs massive rock faces without the
protection of a rope. If he falls, he dies. Here, he's
shown climbing in Yosemite, California, on a face called
'Heaven.' He's a committed atheist, so not eligible for
heaven if he does fall. Christians can take
self-satisfied pleasure from this possibility if they
want. Of course, they may have achievements of their
own, perhaps very substantial achievements, or perhaps
not.
Jane Patterson believes in
an
'offer of forgiveness and a restored eternal
relationship for everyone who believes in the death and
resurrection of His only Son, Jesus and who confesses
Him as Saviour and Lord.'
Jane Patterson was elected to the House of Laity. She
has a public role now and can be expected to deal with
scrutiny. I hope she will put in the public domain her
email address, so that anyone who wants to contact her
about matters to do with theology or other aspects of
Christian life an practice are able to make use of this
convenient method of communication.
Jane Patterson as C of E VIP
From the Document
APPEAL BY MRS APRIL ALEXANDER IN RESPECT OF THE
ELECTION OF MISS JANE PATTERSON AS A MEMBER OF THE CROWN
NOMINATIONS COMMISSION BY THE HOUSE OF LAITY OF THE
GENERAL SYNOD
Constitution of the Appeal Panel: Mrs Julie Dziegiel [Oxford] Mr Martin
Kingston QC [Gloucester] Canon Geoffrey Tattersall QC
[Manchester] [Chair]
DECISION delivered on 6 April 2018
'Mrs Alexander examples this conflict by citing the
fact that in December 2017 Miss Patterson gave one of
the readings at the ordination service at which Pete
Jackson, one of the leaders of CCW, who had been
ordained to the diaconate by two Kenyan bishops in 2013,
was ordained a priest in East London by a `missionary
bishop` affiliated with the Anglican Communion in North
America and the Anglican Network in Canada [both
affiliated with the Anglican Mission in England] when in
the preceding month she had participated in the
selection of nominations for the Bishop of London, one
of the five most senior bishops of the Church of England
who has, as a matter of right, a seat in the House of
Lords. 37. In support of her submission Mrs
Alexander relies on the following matters: 37.1. The
ordination of Pete Jackson as deacon and priest and his
exercise of his orders in the Diocese of Sheffield was
in contravention of the Overseas and Other Clergy
(Ministry and Ordination) Measure 1967 and Miss
Patterson “authorised” them in that as a trustee of CCC
and CCW she had “overseen what appear to be direct
violations of this Measure and of the canon law that
underlies it” and that such activities “are in direct
conflict with the principles of governance of the Church
of England”; 37.2. Having regard to the factual matrix
Miss Patterson is an agent who acts on behalf of
the Prime Minister who recommends the person who will be
appointed by the Queen to the office of bishop [Bold
print supplied by me];
37.3. Equity imposes special duties of loyalty, known as
fiduciary duties, to guard against any temptation to
betray the trust reposed in the agent; 37.4. Miss
Patterson, as a member of the CNC, is in a position
where her knowledge of confidential discussions as to
the needs of the diocese, the performance of the former
diocesan bishop and other diocesan staff and the
consideration of possible candidates for appointment
“can be used to benefit CCC and CCW which operate in
direct conflict with the principles of governance of the
Church of England” and that she “could attempt to
influence the outcome [of the appointment of bishops] in
ways that benefitted CCC and CCW which were and continue
to be in direct conflict with the principles of
governance of the Church of England”
The Board found in favour of Miss Patterson, not Mrs
Alexander.
Christ Church Gleadless
Christ church Heeley
Christ Church Hillsborough & Wadsley Bridge
Christ Church Pitsmoor
Church of Christ Darnall
Church on the Corner (Elim Pentecostal Church)
City Church
Dan Maton
Above Dan Maton preaching to the converted, in this case trying his
hardest to demonstrate the contemporary relevance of the legend of Sodom and
Gomorrah. According to the account in Genesis, God destroyed Sodom and
Gomorrah for its 'wickedness.' Dan Maton warns 'the ungodly' of the anger at
God, including the ungodly people of Sheffield.
See him in action at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrdsQrPU5fc
The video includes this introduction:
' ... we should take this passage as a warning and example of what God
will do when he ultimately destroys the wicked. There are different ways of
responding - like Lot's sons-in-law, who saw judgement as a joke, or like
Lot, who hesitated when urged to escape, or like Lot's wife, who looks back
[and was turned into a pillar of salt as a punishment for looking back].
We have a chance to repent and escape judgment, but that this opportunity
will end.'
My comment: We should take Dan Maton's
sermon as a warning. This is someone who believes in a God who carries out
mass killing, indiscriminate killing - 'the LORD rained
burning sulphur on the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah 25and
destroyed them and the whole valley, along with all the
people there and everything that grew on the land.' Ecocide
- the destruction of crops and plants as well as the killing of men, women,
children and babies. This is someone who believes in angels, in vindictive,
pointless 'miracles' - the turning of Lot's wife into a pillar of salt
simply for wanting to look back at the picture of devastation. The whole
account has satisfied vindictive, credulous, superstitious people over the
centuries. The fact that it still satisfies people is cause for far more
than disappointment.
Above, a rock formation traditionally identified with Lot's wife, who
was turned into a pillar of salt by God for looking back at the devastation, according to Genesis.
Above, two views of the City Church, where Dan Maton is an elder and
preacher, an imposing place and now a place for preaching negligible,
harmful, hideous rubbish.
Dan Maton on the sinfulness of Sodom and Gomorrah and God's punishment
of the ungodly. His source material is Genesis 19, which he takes to be the
Word of God, the infallible Word of God. This is a brief summary from
Wikipedia, followed by the translation of the passage in the 'Good News (!)
Bible. It contains astonishing things. The summary contains astonishing
things.
The summary:
In Genesis 19 Lot shows hospitality to two angels who arrive
in Sodom, and invites them to stay the night at his house. However, the men
of the city gather around the house and demand that Lot hand over his guests
so they can "know them". ['have sex with them.'] Lot admonishes them for
their wickedness, and offers the mob his two virgin daughters instead. When
the mob refuses Lot's offer, the angels strike them with blindness, and then
warn Lot to leave the city before it is destroyed.
...
During the escape from Sodom, Lot's wife turns into a
pillar of salt. Lot and his daughters take shelter in Zoar,
but afterwards go up into the mountains to live in a cave. One evening,
Lot's eldest daughter gets Lot drunk and has sex with him without his
knowledge. The following night, the younger daughter does the same. They
both become pregnant; the older daughter gives birth to Moab,
while the younger daughter gives birth to Ammon.
The 'Good News' Translation:
GENESIS 19
1When
the two angels came to Sodom that evening, Lot was
sitting at the city gate. As soon as he saw them, he got
up and went to meet them. He bowed down before them 2and
said, “Sirs, I am here to serve you. Please come to my
house. You can wash your feet and stay the night. In the
morning you can get up early and go on your way.”
But they answered, “No, we
will spend the night here in the city square.”
3He
kept on urging them, and finally they went with him to
his house. Lot ordered his servants to bake some bread
and prepare a fine meal for the guests. When it was
ready, they ate it.
4Before
the guests went to bed, the men of Sodom surrounded the
house. All the men of the city, both young and old, were
there. 5They
called out to Lot and asked, “Where are the men who came
to stay with you tonight? Bring them out to us!” The men
of Sodom wanted to have sex with them.
6Lot
went outside and closed the door behind him. 7He
said to them, “Friends, I beg you, don't do such a
wicked thing! 8Look,
I have two daughters who are still virgins. Let me bring
them out to you, and you can do whatever you want with
them. But don't do anything to these men; they are
guests in my house, and I must protect them.”
9But
they said, “Get out of our way, you foreigner! Who are
you to tell us what to do? Out of our way, or we will
treat you worse than them.” They pushed Lot back and
moved up to break down the door. 10But
the two men inside reached out, pulled Lot back into the
house, and shut the door. 11Then
they struck all the men outside with blindness, so that
they couldn't find the door.
12The
two men said to Lot, “If you have anyone else here —
sons, daughters, sons-in-law, or any other relatives
living in the city — get them out of here, 13because
we are going to destroy this place. The LORD has
heard the terrible accusations against these people and
has sent us to destroy Sodom.”
14Then
Lot went to the men that his daughters were going to
marry, and said, “Hurry up and get out of here; the LORD is
going to destroy this place.” But they thought he was
joking.
15At
dawn the angels tried to make Lot hurry. “Quick!” they
said. “Take your wife and your two daughters and get
out, so that you will not lose your lives when the city
is destroyed.” 16Lot
hesitated. The LORD,
however, had pity on him; so the men took him, his wife,
and his two daughters by the hand and led them out of
the city. 17Then
one of the angels said, “Run for your lives! Don't look
back and don't stop in the valley. Run to the hills, so
that you won't be killed.”
18But
Lot answered, “No, please don't make us do that, sir. 19You
have done me a great favour and saved my life. But the
hills are too far away; the disaster will overtake me,
and I will die before I get there. 20Do
you see that little town? It is near enough. Let me go
over there — you can see it is just a small place — and
I will be safe.”
21He
answered, “All right, I agree. I won't destroy that
town. 22Hurry!
Run! I can't do anything until you get there.”
Because Lot called it small,
the town was named Zoar.
The Destruction of Sodom
and Gomorrah
23The
sun was rising when Lot reached Zoar. 24Suddenly
the LORD rained
burning sulphur on the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah 25and
destroyed them and the whole valley, along with all the
people there and everything that grew on the land. 26But
Lot's wife looked back and was turned into a pillar of
salt.
27Early
the next morning Abraham hurried to the place where he
had stood in the presence of the LORD. 28He
looked down at Sodom and Gomorrah and the whole valley
and saw smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a
huge furnace. 29But
when God destroyed the cities of the valley where Lot
was living, he kept Abraham in mind and allowed Lot to
escape to safety.
The Origin of the Moabites
and Ammonites
30Because
Lot was afraid to stay in Zoar, he and his two daughters
moved up into the hills and lived in a cave. 31The
elder daughter said to her sister, “Our father is
getting old, and there are no men in the whole world to
marry us so that we can have children. 32Come
on, let's make our father drunk, so that we can sleep
with him and have children by him.” 33That
night they gave him wine to drink, and the elder
daughter had intercourse with him. But he was so drunk
that he didn't know it.
34The
next day the elder daughter said to her sister, “I slept
with him last night; now let's make him drunk again
tonight, and you sleep with him. Then each of us will
have a child by our father.” 35So
that night they made him drunk, and the younger daughter
had intercourse with him. Again he was so drunk that he
didn't know it. 36In
this way both of Lot's daughters became pregnant by
their own father. 37The
elder daughter had a son, whom she named Moab. He
was the ancestor of the present-day Moabites. 38The
younger daughter also had a son, whom she named Benammi. He
was the ancestor of the present-day Ammonites.
City of Refuge Foursquare Church
Cornerstone Benefice (Stocksbridge, Deepcar & Bolsterstone)
Crown of Life Community Church
Diocese of Sheffield
Alex
Shilkoff, Strategic Programme Director, Diocese of Sheffield
From the twitter page of the Strategic Programme
Director, Diocese of Sheffield
https://twitter.com/ashilkoff
'Some great jobs working with some fab people.
Take a look'
From the Facebook page of the Garden Church which is near to my
allotments. She was involved with the Garden Church and perhaps still is.
https://www.facebook.com/
gardenchurchsheffield/videos/527788948291957/
She says, 'there might be ... a bit of rubbish at
the moment.'
My page on Christian religion has much more on
the garden church, including some remarkable developments - the remarkable
developments don't include achievements of the garden church. The material
is in the column on the far right of the page and includes some images of
the 'bit of rubbish' on the site. After a long, long time, it
was cleared. I don't know who did the clearing.
What Alex Flintoff calls 'a bit of rubbish'
amounted to a huge pile more than 10 metres (33 feet) long, including jagged metal and masses and masses of
plastic - largeplastic containers (including containers which contained
organic seaweed extract), plastic sheets, plastic garbage of many different
kinds, a hazard to wildlife (have wild creatures ventured into the
indescribable interior and been trapped there) and a fire hazard, which
would release toxic gases into the air if an arsonist set light to it. I've
given information to the garden church and the Lower Walkley Community Group
who rent these allotments from Sheffield City Council and who gave the
garden church permission to use these allotments, as well as the allotment
office, starting on 6 September this year, but the site is still there. Alex
Flintoff and other members of this Christian family certainly haven't taken
any action. The inspiring words of Alex Flintoff - inspiring to Christians,
not inspiring to me - belong to what I call the 'word-sphere,' the world of
grandiose pronouncements, superficially impressive pronouncements which are
no more than cosmetic, unconnected with effective action, or any action at
all.
The September inaugural meeting didn't take place at
the 'beautiful' place on the allotment site. Instead, it was held on the
field of a Church. The October event didn't take place, at the allotment
site or anywhere else.
Instead, there was this, on 13 October. 'IMPORTANT
ANNOUNCEMENT: Unfortunately we have had to postpone our launch event. We are
taking a couple of weeks to ensure that it will be really great and everyone
who attends is safe. We do not have a new date yet but will let you know
when possible.' Now, more than two weeks later, there's still no news of a
possible opening - despite the fact that the group considers that God called
them to start a garden church here and has been guiding them throughout.
Christians do have excuses for delays due to lack of care in planning,
incompetence, failure to observe safety precautions, not available to
non-Christians.
The garden church paid
not the least attention to safety in planning the event, like STC (Saint
Thomas Church) in planning its 'Streets of Light' initiative' - the possible
dangers of that initiative, the failures to do with safety are very serious.
I pointed out the safety issues to them. Even now, there's a photograph on
their Facebook page of the 'garden team' in action. When enlarged, it shows
tools left on the ground which could trip them up - and any children allowed
into the sitie whilst work is going on, and there's a fork with
upturned tines (the points) which could cause severe injury. I pointed out
the security issues as well. The site is down a path in a heavily shaded
place where, I'm told, youths have gathered to sniff glue. There was a
murder on an allotment not far from the site, although it was many years ago
- a boy was stabbed by two other boys with a garden fork.
Pete Wilcox, Bishop of
Sheffield
From the page
https://www.bsa.natcen.ac.uk/media/
39293/1_bsa36_religion.pdf
'In summary, the proportion of the British population who identify as
Christian has fallen dramatically over the last three decades, with most
of the decline being in those who identify as Anglican. Some people move
away from the faith of their family/childhood, but also an increasing
proportion of younger people are not brought up in a religion. This
collapse of Anglican affiliation is even more strikingly demonstrated
when viewed by age group (Figure 1). A third (33%) of respondents who
are aged 75 and above regard themselves as Anglican; in the youngest age
group who are 18-24, almost none (1%) do.
'Weekly attendance is highest among those of non-Christian faiths
(40%), followed by Roman Catholic (23%) and other Christian
denominations (23%). Those identifying as Anglicans are much less likely
to attend weekly (9%) or indeed to attend at all – 57% say they attend
“never or practically never”.'
This is one issue 'within the life of the nation,' Remembrance Sunday
and the Church of England's role in Remembrance Sunday commemorations. The
issue raises problems for the Bishop of Sheffield, the Archbishop of York,
and whoever accepted the post of helping the Archishop as chief-of-staff.
This is a copy of a letter I wrote which was
published in the Sheffield newspaper 'The Star' on January 28, 2019. It can
also be found at
https://www.thestar.co.uk/news/your-say/can-public-c-of-e-services-be-defended-1-9560350
The letter gives a brief summary of my reasons
for opposing the Church of England's role at Remembrance Sunday
commemorations. The letter contains this direct question: ' ... does he
believe that C of E Remembrance services for the general public can be
defended?' It may be that the Bishop doesn't read the newspaper, or didn't
see this particular issue of the newspaper, or that some of the clergy at
Sheffield Cathedral did see the letter but thought it might be tactless to
bring it to the attention of the Bishop, or that the Bishop did read the
letter and thought that the matter wasn't important enough for him to reply,
or that he couldn't think of a defence. I won't speculate any further. The
letter published in 'The Star:'
'According to the British Social Attitudes Survey,
affiliation with the Church of England (C of E) has never been lower in all
age groups: it amounts to only 2% of young adults.
'What can justify
the C of E's dominant role in Remembrance Sunday commemorations, then? I
attend the event in the city centre or at Weston Park. Like ones throughout
the country, it takes the form of a C of E service.
'There are many,
many prayers and after each one, this is the expected response (as given in
the Order of Service booklet):
'All Hear our prayer
'What is a non-believer or a believer in another religion to do? Mumble
insincerely? Stay silent? Should non-believers pretend to believe in the
power of prayer, or in the Trinity - the doctrine that there's God the
Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (also in the booklet)? We attend to
remember the fallen, to show gratitude for their sacrifice, to show
gratitude and appreciation for present members of the armed forces, not to
witness a C of E service.
'Sometimes, a decline in support for an
organization is unfair, but not in this case. There are and have been many,
many exceptional C of E members but the catalogue of C of E failings is
long.
'Edward Wightman was the last person in this country to be
burned alive for heresy. He had denied the Trinity and questioned the status
of the Church of England. The C of E still remembers and celebrates John
Calvin, who denounced Michael Servetus (also burned alive after denying the
Trinity). The Bishop of Sheffield's doctoral thesis was on the subject of
John Calvin! The C of E remembers and celebrates to this day St Augustine,
who actually taught that unbaptized babies are in hell.
'A large
number of Anglicans believe in hell, of course, although not for unbaptized
babies. This is the view of the C of E conservative evangelical group
'Church Society.' (There are obvious implications for the fallen and for
those who attend Remembrance events.)
' ' ... all people are under the judgement of God and his righteous anger burns against them. Unless a person
is reconciled to God they are under His condemnation and His just judgement
against them is that they will be separated from Him forever in Hell.' The
Society claims this is 'clearly stated in the 39 Articles of the Church of
England.'
'I understand that the Bishop of Sheffield has evangelical
beliefs, with a conservative tendency. Perhaps he may be able to comment on
this doctrine, perhaps on John Calvin as well. And does he believe that C of
E Remembrance services for the general public can be defended?'
'Pete Wilcox describes
himself as 'an
evangelical, and quite a conservative person.' He says that 'The bible matters to me a
great deal.' These comments were made in an article published un 'The Star,'
Above, I quote a statement of belief of the Church Society, a
Conservative Evangelical group in the Church of England.
Are the Bishop's Conservative Evangelical views the
same, or are they different in some ways? The Church Society statement has
obvious implications for Remembrance. Does Pete Wilcox believe that those who
fell in war are separated from God forever if they never accepted Jesus
Christ as their personal lord and saviour ?
This is from The Church of England Website (A Christian presence in every community)
https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/join-us-in-daily-prayer/morning-prayer-contemporary-saturday-26-may-2018
¶ Morning Prayer on Saturday
Saturday, 26 May 2018
Augustine, first Archbishop of Canterbury, 605 [Lesser
Festival]
John Calvin, Reformer, 1564
[Commemoration]
Philip Neri, Founder of the Oratorians, Spiritual Guide,
1595 [Commemoration]
The service begins with this:
O Lord, open our lips
All and
our mouth shall proclaim your praise.
The doctoral thesis of Pete Wilcox was on the 'thought and practice of
John Calvin:
'Restoration, Reformation and the progress of the
kingdom of Christ : evangelisation in the thought and practice of John
Calvin, 1555–1564.'
As is well known, Calvin denounced Michael
Servetus as a heretic. Michael Servetus had denied the doctrine of the
Trinity, the doctrine that God consists of God the Father, God the Son and
God the Holy Spirit. Michael Servetus was burned alive.
Above, John Calvin
Above, Michael Servetus being burned alive
My own view is that Calvin has obvious historical importance, for
people interested in Reformation theology, and historical importance in the
history of humanitarian thought and practice, as a hideous example of cruel
intolerance. I haven't been able to consult the Bishop of Sheffield's thesis, but
his interest is obviously in Calven's place in Reformation theology. Is this
aspect of his
background, obviously important to him, of any use whatsoever in approaching
the problems of this industrial city and the people who live and work here?
Sheffield's industrial past and present will be of
far less importance to the Bishop of Sheffield than the theological
controversies of the past and present, but industry has always presented
problems for theology, generally unrecognized, and continues to do so. This
is just one example. From Friedrich Engels, 'The Condition of the Working
Class in England (1844) described conditions at the time. Here, he compares
conditions in Sheffield with conditions in Manchester:
'In Sheffield wages are better, and the external
state of the workers also. On the other hand, certain branches of work
are to be noticed here, because of their extraordinarily injurious
influence upon health ... By far the most unwholesome work is the
grinding of knife-blades and forks, which, especially when done with a
dry stone, entails certain early death. The unwholesomeness of this work
lies in part in the bent posture, in which chest and stomach are
cramped; but especially in the quantity of sharp-edged metal dust
particles freed in the cutting, which fill the atmosphere, and are
necessarily inhaled.'
I live near to a valley where a large number of
industrial operations flourished during the industrial revolution and in
some cases later. The work included the manufacture of cutting tools,
absolutely essential tools, without which society would have ground to a
halt. The grinding operation was an essential step in their manufacture,
and the workers paid the price. They were exposed to these dangers but
they weren't exploited. It was impossible to protect them. Modern
methods of protection depend upon technical advances which lay in the
future. The Articles of Faith of the Church of England are relevant to
these workers if you accept these articles of faith. They aren't
relevant in any way if you regard them as hideous. They are given on the
Church of England Website - so much the worse for the Church of England.
A Visitation
https://anglican.ink/2021/03/21/visitation-team-finds-a-culture-of-bullying-at-sheffield-cathedral/
A Determination by the Bishop of Sheffield in the light of the Report of
the Commissaries following a Visitation at Sheffield Cathedral 1st
November 2020 to 28th February 2021
Extracts from the Report and extracts from the Bishop of
Sheffield's reply
Bishop
' ... in relation to the issues addressed in the Visitation, I must
acknowledge my own responsibility. Throughout 2020, and even before, I
failed to find a swifter, more effective way to address matters of which
I was being made aware, and I profoundly regret this.'
Report
Section 1: The culture and HR ethos of the Cathedral The Visitation Team
found evidence of an environment at the Cathedral which has tolerated
bullying and blaming and has been characterised by a fear of speaking
out. There is a pattern of people who have fallen out of favour at the
Cathedral subsequently exiting the organisation, and the perception of
this for onlookers among the staff and volunteers has only served to
reinforce their fears and concerns ... In addition, a lack of
cross-department engagement has meant weak relationships, which have in
turn resulted in poor interactions and have created room for distrust
and misunderstanding.
Bishop
In the light of this, I direct that Chapter should: 1. Engage an expert
third party to undertake an audit of senior management skills,
capabilities and management styles, to ensure that all staff, but
especially senior managers, are equipped with the requisite experience
and abilities to enable a journey to a healthy and happy future for the
Cathedral, including, eg, where appropriate the introduction of
performance management plans that specifically seek to strengthen and
develop staff. Where appropriate, individuals should be encouraged to
achieve qualifications from national awarding bodies. 2. Introduce and
sustain a fully-fledged pattern of routine line-management and staff
meetings across the Cathedral, together with annual appraisals, properly
recorded, and with goals agreed for each employee which are specific,
measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. 3. Fully review and
refresh the Staff Handbook, in particular reducing the warning for
failure
Report
Section 3: Chapter’s handling of complaints The Visitation Team found
that the Cathedral Complaints Procedure raises a question about its
robustness for matters relating to senior managers, on account of their
own place in the procedure, but found no evidence that Chapter saw the
invidious position in which this placed senior members of staff. The
Team also heard from multiple people that they were not confident in the
Cathedral complaints and grievance processes. A few participants in the
Visitation even noted that some who had raised a complaint or grievance
were no longer in employment or service of the Cathedral, and that life
could become difficult for some people who raised complaints or
grievances. In relation to two specific complaints processes in 2020,
the Team found evidence that recommendations had not been followed
through. It has to be admitted that in these instances, the poor
behaviour of complainants was not helpful. However, this fact does not
remove from Chapter its obligations as a governing body to fulfil the
role of objective oversight. The Visitation Team has encouraged me to
put some parameters in place for Chapter to guide its future handling of
any complaints. In the light of this, I direct that Chapter should: 1.
Ensure that any complaints against members of the Cathedral staff are
handled with an independence and thoroughness not evident in the cases
reviewed by the Visitors. 2. Ensure that complaints are handled in
strict accordance with the ACAS code, with appropriately expert HR
advice 3. On the first such occasion, provide me with an account on
completion to reassure me that due process has been followed, and
followed through.
Dore
Dore & Totley Christian Fellowship
Dore & Totley URC
Dore and Totley IRC
Dore and Totley United Reformed Church
Ecclesall All Saints
Ecclesall Church of England
Elim Central Church
Emmanuel Church Sheffield
Emmanuel Waterthorpe
Galeed House Darnall
Gatehouse
Gleadless Valley Methodist Church
God’s Righteousness Bible Church
Grace Church, Handsworth
Greenhill Methodist Church
Hampden View Wesleyan Reform
Harvest Field International
Hatfield
House Lane Methodist Church
Heeley Parish Church
Hillsborough Baptist Church
Holy Cross Gleadless Valley
Hope Centre
Hope City Church
Any suggestion that faith in Jesus is
the answer to the problems of Sheffield or the problems of the
wider world, any suggestion that communities, or countries, can
be transformed by the 'power of prayer,' any suggestion that
Christians walk 'in the light' whilst non-Christians walk 'in
the darkness' are contradicted by the revelations which have
emerged from this Church: not divine revelations but revelations
which include exclusions - exclusions of black people from roles
in the Church in order to give a 'better' impression of the
Church, so as not to deter, allegedly, white people from joining
the Church, and many more, including gay people told that being
gay was the work of the devil.
Of course, the churches in Sheffield don't leave this as just a
'suggestion.' To them, it's far too important to be left as just
a 'suggestion,' regarded by so many of them as something which
concerns the eternal destiny of the soul.
The vast majority of secular organizations in Sheffield manage
to conduct their affairs without remotely meeting - or causing -
such extreme problems as Hope City Church under the 'toxic'
leadership of its founders.
Hope City Church was founded in Sheffield in 1991 by Dave and
Jenny Gilpin, who had been a part of an Assemblies
of God church
in Brisbane, Australia.
In 2020, the Senior Pastors of the church resigned due to
allegations of racism. In June 2020,Dave and Jenny Gilpin
resigned from their roles as senior leaders after Dave Glipin
posted an apology to a black member of the church on Instagram
admitting he tried to appeal to white people. He had taken the
view that having black people on some Church teams would deter
white people from joining the Church and, according to some,
'the senior pastor did not want to see black people in certain
roles in order to manage appearance or first impressions.
According to the report published after their resignations, the
practice of marginalising people of colour 'had originated at
the most senior level of leadership.'
The
Church undertook a big advertising campaign earlier in its
history, including large billboards and the sides of
buses to promote the organisation and assert that it was not a
'traditional' church.
An article in The Sunday Times stated that
'Hope City tries hard to
attract young people, broadcasting its music-led services on
YouTube, promoting slick social media pages and hosting frequent
networking events. But, whistleblowers said the image hid a
'toxic' culture and accused the Gilpins of pursuing an 'evil
agenda.'
The report assembled following the lead pastors'
resignation also delved into the wider problems in the church's
leadership culture. It pointed to, amongst other things, a lack
of oversight, the lead pastor's overbearing style, a clique
culture amongst those in the various churches' core teams,
selective raising of younger leaders that would comply with
authority without questioning it, the discouragement of raising
concerns, which lead in part to the incidents of a racial nature
listed above. Attention was also raised to the ongoing pressure
placed on members to give to offerings, alongside a 'lack of
transparency' in finances, which 'led to an 'erosion of trust'
among some members.'
As for finances,
Hope City Church has been criticised for promoting the 'prosperity
gospel ,'suggesting
members should make sizable and recurrent offerings in addition
to the tithe
n return for financial breakthrough and blessings
In March, 2018, a Channel 4 News report into City Hearts, a
charity founded by the Church, 'uncovered allegations that
untrained staff were left in charge of victims of trafficking
and abuse.' It highlighted interviews with 'around 40 people who
were cared for or worked for the City Hearts charity in
Sheffield' who spoke of 'their concerns and claims of
homophobia.' Individuals described on camera being coerced to
disclose their abuse history on stage in front of the church
congregation to pass the programme, or being told that being gay
was the work of the devil, whilst a staff member described being
unqualified and untrained, and told to respond to serious
incidents including self-harm with suggestions of prayer and
scripture.
Hope Family Arbourthorne
International Christian Worship Centre
Jubilee Centre
Kings Centre, Nether Edge
Lansdowne Chapel
Liberty Church
Living Waters Christian Fellowship Darnall
Meadowhead Christian Fellowship
Meersbrook Park United Reformed Church
Millhouses Methodist
Mosborough Elim Church
Mount Tabor Methodist Church
NCS Sheffield – St Thomas Philadelphia
Nether Green Methodist
New Christian Covenant
New Hope Community Church
Our Lady of Beauchief & St. Thomas of Canterbury
Our Lady of Lourdes
Pitsmoor Methodist Church
RCCG (Amazing Grace Tab) Hillsborough
Richmond Church
Rock Christian Centre
Senior Pastor: Jon Watts, married to Tricia Watts, the Youth and Families
Pastor at the Centre - and, also, the Co-ordinator of Sheffield Street
Pastors. There's a profile of Tricia Watts in my page on Street Pastors, at
the top of the second column of the page,
https://www.linkagenet.com/themes/fefe-churchguide.htm
The Rock Christian Centre was the place chosen to relaunch the Christian
Police Association in Sheffield, as reported in the Sheffield newspaper, The
Star, 'Members of the public joined South Yorkshire Police and Crime
Commissioner Dr Alan Billings, Chief Constable Stephen Watson, officers and
police support staff at the Rock Christian Centre in Carlisle Street.'
tps://www.thestar.co.uk/news/christian-police-association-re-launched-in-sheffield-470835
Like the Christian Police Association, the Rock Christian Centre publishes a
Statement of Belief' on its Website,
http://www.rockchristiancentre.org/what-we-believe/
Like the Christian Police Association, the Rock Christian Centre believes
in hell for unbelievers. From the Rock document, Belief No. 11, 'The
personal and visible return of Jesus Christ to fulfil the purposes of God,
who will raise all people to judgement, bring eternal life to the redeemed
and eternal condemnation to the lost, and establish a new heaven and new
earth.' According to this theory, no amount of good work will bring the
reward of 'eternal life.' Belief No. 11: 'The justification of sinners
solely by the grace of God through faith in Christ.'
This hideous statements on this hideous page of the 'Rock Christian
Centre' are amplified on another hideous page,
http://www.rockchristiancentre.org/why-christianity/
which includes this - but before I give extracts, I'll point out that The
Senior Pastor at Rock Christian Centre didn't write it, nobody at Rock
Christian Centre didn't write it. This monstrous rubbish was copied from a
publication, 'The Evidence Study Bible: NKJV: All You Need to Understand and
Defend Your Faith' by Ray Comfort, born in New Zealand, now living in the
United States. In various publications, Ray Comfort claims that the
reader will have broken one or more of the Ten Commandments and so will go
to Hell - but if the reader has acknowledged Jesus as Lord and Saviour, by
means of a quick prayer, perhaps - then in that case, the reader will go to
heaven. This is Ray Comfort. If the image inspires confidence, think again,
read the extract here, read the fuller extract on the Rock Christian Centre
Website, and, if you think you can justify the time, read 'The Evidence
Study Bible from cover to cover.'
... the God we are speaking about is nothing like the commonly
accepted image. He is not a benevolent Father figure, who is happily smiling
upon sinful humanity.
In the midst of these frightening thoughts, remember to let fear work
for you. The fear of God is the healthiest fear you can have. The Bible
calls it “the beginning of wisdom.”
Again, your knowledge of God’s Law should help you to see that you
have a life-threatening dilemma: a huge problem of God’s wrath (His
justifiable anger) against your personal sins. The just penalty for
sin—breaking even one Law—is death, and eternity in Hell. But you haven’t
broken just one Law. Like the rest of us, you’ve no doubt broken all these
laws, countless times each. What kind of anger do you think a judge is
justified in having toward a criminal guilty of breaking the law thousands
of times?'
And more:
So let’s look at that Law and see how you will do when you face it on
Judgment Day. Have you loved God above all else? Is He first in your life?
He should be. He’s given you your life and everything that is dear to you.
Do you love Him with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength? That’s the
requirement of the First Commandment. Or have you broken the Second
Commandment by making a god in your mind that you’re comfortable with—where
you say, “My god is a loving and merciful god who would never send anyone to
Hell”? That god does not exist; he’s a figment of the imagination. To create
a god in your mind (your own image of God) is something the Bible calls
“idolatry.” Idolaters will not enter Heaven.
Have you ever used God’s name in vain, as a cuss word to express
disgust? That’s called “blasphemy,” and it’s very serious in God’s sight.
This is breaking the Third Commandment, and the Bible says God will not hold
him guiltless who takes His name in vain.
Have you always honored your parents implicitly, and kept the Sabbath
holy? If not, you have broken the Fourth and Fifth Commandments. Have you
ever hated someone? The Bible says, “Whosoever hates his brother is a
murderer.”
The Seventh is “You shall not commit adultery,” but Jesus said,
“Whosoever looks on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with
her already in his heart” (the Seventh Commandment includes sex before
marriage). Have you ever looked with lust or had sex outside of marriage? If
you have, you’ve violated that Commandment.
Have you ever lied? Ever stolen anything, regardless of value? If you
have, then you’re a lying thief. The Bible tells us, “Lying lips are
abomination to the Lord,” because He is a God of truth and holiness. Have
you coveted (jealously desired) other people’s things? This is a violation
of the Tenth Commandment.
...
Perhaps the thought of going to Hell doesn’t scare you, because you
don’t believe in it. That’s like standing in the open door of a plane 10,000
feet off the ground and saying, “I don’t believe there will be any
consequences if I jump without a parachute.”
To say that there will be no consequences for breaking God’s Law is
to say that God is unjust, that He is evil. This is why.
On February 24, 2005, a nine-year-old girl was reported missing from
her home in Homosassa, Florida. Three weeks later, police discovered that
she had been kidnapped, brutally raped, and then buried alive. Little
Jessica Lunsford was found tied up, in a kneeling position, clutching a
stuffed toy.
How Do You React?
How do you feel toward the man who murdered that helpless little girl
in such an unspeakably cruel way? Are you angered? I hope so. I hope you are
outraged. If you were completely indifferent to her fate, it would reveal
something horrible about your character.
“The fury of Almighty God against evil is evidence of His goodness.
If He wasn’t angered, He wouldn’t be good. We cannot separate God’s goodness
from His anger. Again, if God is good by nature, He must be unspeakably
angry at wickedness.”
Do you think that God is indifferent to such acts of evil? You can
bet your precious soul He is not. He is outraged by them.
The fury of Almighty God against evil is evidence of His goodness. If
He wasn’t angered, He wouldn’t be good. We cannot separate God’s goodness
from His anger. Again, if God is good by nature, He must be unspeakably
angry at wickedness.
But His goodness is so great that His anger isn’t confined to the
evils of rape and murder. Nothing is hidden from His pure and holy eyes. He
is outraged by torture, terrorism, abortion, theft, lying, adultery,
fornication, pedophilia, homosexuality, and blasphemy. He also sees our
thought-life, and He will judge us for the hidden sins of the heart: for
lust, hatred, rebellion, greed, unclean imaginations, ingratitude,
selfishness, jealousy, pride, envy, deceit, etc. Jesus warned, “But I say to
you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account
thereof in the day of judgment”6 (emphasis added).
The Bible says that God’s wrath “abides” on each of us, and that
every time we sin, we’re “storing up wrath” that will be revealed on
Judgment Day. We are even told that we are “by nature the children of wrath”
(emphasis added). Sinning against God comes naturally to us—and we naturally
earn His anger by our sins.
...
To receive the gift of eternal life, you must repent of your sins
(turn from them), and put on the Lord Jesus Christ as you would put on a
parachute—trusting in Him alone for your salvation. That means you forsake
your own good works as a means of trying to please God (trying to bribe
Him), and trust only in what Jesus has done for you. Simply throw yourself
on the mercy of the Judge.
Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church
This Roman Catholic church has a school attached. What is the ethos of
the school, what sort of education do the children receive? I've no
information to give here, but I will mention one thing. The Roman Catholic
Church teaches that baptism is essential for salvation. The extreme
difficulties of this doctrine, the hideous implications of this doctrine,
are subjected to the familiar tactics, including vagueness and evasion. The
vagueness and evasions too are hideous. The Church is vague on the
fate of unbaptized infants. The 2014 catechism states, 'the Church can only
entrust them to the mercy of God.' This baby is fortunate. The tap water
blessed by a Bishop to turn it into 'Holy Water' will ensure that he or she
is certain not to be risking the fate of an unbaptized infant.
Above, the baptism of St Augustine. The Church is completely
confident that St Augustine achieved salvation and not damnation. Sculpture
in Troyes cathedral (1549).
More on the fate of unbaptized infants and the Roman
Catholic doctrine of 'Limbo.' on this page.
Share Pioneer Ministry (Parson Cross)
Sheffield Central Elim Pentecostal Church
Sheffield Christian Life Centre
Sheffield Nazarene
Sheffield Vineyard
Shiloh United Church
Shiregreen IRC
South Anston Methodist
South Sheffield Evangelical Church
Southern Light Community Church
Spa View Community Church
St Alban’s House Community
St Andrew’s URC
St Catherine of Siena
St Chad’s Woodseats
St Francis Bramley
St Francis of Assisi Catholic Church
St Gabriel’s, Greystones
St James Anston
St James Woodhouse / Central Mission Partnership
/ St John’s Park
St
John’s Chapeltown
Extracts from some of the
mini-profiles of staff at St John's Church, Chapeltown
https://www.stjohnschap.co.uk/who-we-are/staff/
All these people are members of the
'leadership team: 'St John's is led by the Vicar and a team called the
Parochial Church Council (PCC).' I've added a mini-profile of another member
of the PCC.
In the case of the mini-profiles supplied by the Church, the obvious
intent seems to be to present the staff as ordinary people, with ordinary
interests (but these ordinary people supposedly have extraordinary
significance and extraordinary advantages, belonging to the group of the
'saved,' not the 'lost,' by their acceptance of Christ as Lord and Saviour.
Ordinary interests can be made to seem interesting, even exciting, by the
use of exclamation marks, but exclamation marks are used quite sparingly
here. There are single ! and double !! but no triple examples !!! After
these mini-profiles, I'll give a very short extract from the Church's
statement of belief. There's the Revised Standard Version of the Bible. The
Church's statement of belief is Standard Stuff, found in countless other
Churches throughout the country, and beyond - Unrevised Standard
Evangelical. Then, I point out a few implications - very disturbing -
hideous - implications. The contrast with the informal, flippant tone of the
mini-profiles is very, very marked. Only a few people are named here.
Rick Stordy
(Vicar). Worked as a barrister before training as a vicar in Durham. 'He
enjoys curries, running, walking, Bradfield Brewery Ales and any thriller by
John Grisham (though not necessarily in that order).
David Whitehead (Curate,
part-time). 'He loves touring in his motorhome, and bashing noisy things
like his Djembe, as well as trying to keep up with Nick's world of Harry
Potter, Star Wars and Lego!'
Jim Crossley (Curate). In June
2020 he left the NHS and Sheffield University after 29 years as a doctor, to
become a curate.'
A Churchwarden. He's a keen walker with two
Border collies and a mad Blade!'
A Reader. 'He works for a large Finance company
in Sheffield as their Administrator ... He sings in a community choir in
Barnsley and is passionate about modern history, reading and definitely FOOD
(especially Shepherd's Pie!!)
Steve Battey. This concise information comes from his Twitter page:
Christian. Married to Georgina. Physiotherapist. Jaffa Cake Lover.
SWFC
'SWFC' is 'Sheffield Wednesday Football
Club.' There's a lot of comment on SWFC on his Twitter pages. More on
the implications of his Christian faith for his passion for football below.
From the page
https://www.stjohnschap.co.uk/who-we-are/beliefs/
We believe in ...
The divine inspiration and supreme authority of the Old and New
Testament Scriptures, which are the written Word of God—fully trustworthy
for faith and conduct.
The personal and visible return of Jesus Christ to fulfil the
purposes of God, who will raise all people to judgement, bring eternal life
to the redeemed and eternal condemnation to the lost, and establish a new
heaven and new earth.
(This is from the Statement of Faith of the Evangelical Alliance.)
Some of the hideous implications:
The hideous implications for Safeguarding. The Home Page of the
Church's Website includes this,
St. John’s is committed to the highest standards in keeping everyone
safe - especially children, young people and vulnerable adults.
But did God, the supposedly infallible and completely trustworthy author
of the Old and New Testaments, take into account the alarming implications
for safeguarding of this, from Psalm 137:9, , quoted in various places in my
pages on Christian religion, quoted already on this page.
'The Blades' are the Sheffield United Football Club, one of the two main
football clubs in Sheffield. The other is Sheffield Wednesday. Unless the
people at St John's Church, Chapeltown, have inner reservations or don't
agree with some of the Evangelical Alliance statement, all past and current
players and staff at Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday football clubs
who fail to accept Jesus Christ as personal Lord and Saviour are 'the lost,'
destined to be eternally separated from God in Hell. The very large crowd of
spectators at each Sheffield Wednesday and United match are similarly
destined to be eternally separated from God. The picture at the beginning of
this section shows scene from a SWFC match in 2015. The SWFC
supporting member of the PCC may well have been at this match but I
think that the vast majority of the people there are destined for eternal
separation from God, according to the cruel Christian beliefs promoted by
the Church.
The same destiny awaits or has already been imposed in the case of
members of the Barnsley Community Choir, the staff and consumers of
Bradfield Brewery ales, the staff and customers of the 'large financial
company' mentioned in one of the mini-profiles, and all authors of books on
modern history and all readers of books on modern history. And all doctors,
nurses, administrators and patients of the NHS, all doctors, nurses,
administrators and patients throughout the world.
I don't single out these members of the PCC for particular blame here, of
course. As with all the Church members mentioned on this page, I'm simply
giving examples of people who belong to Churches where these doctrines are
endorsed.
The people at St John's Church (again, apart from ones with reservations
- and people who don't actually believe in this hideous doctrines but keep
quiet about it) believe that the people who liberated the Nazi extermination
and concentration camps, the Jews and others who died in those camps, share
exactly the same fate as the Nazis who worked in the camps and other Nazis.
On the other hand, the Nazis who accepted Christ as personal Lord and
Saviour are in heaven, in eternal communion with God.
St John’s Owlerton
St John’s Park
St Leonard & St Mary’s Armthorpe
St Luke’s Lodge Moor Sheffield
St Margaret’s and St Thomas
St Mark Mosborough
St Mark’s, Grenoside
St Mary Magdalene Whiston
St Marys Handsworth
St Matthew Carver Street
St Patrick’s, Sheffield Lane Top
St Paul’s Norton Lees
St Paul’s Parson Cross
St Paul’s, Wordsworth Avenue
St Peter’s Church Ellesmere
St Peter’s Greenhill
St Philip’s
St Polycarp’s
St Timothy's
Church
Sam Wakeling
According to the page
https://hodigital.blog.gov.uk/author/sam-wakeling/
'Sam Wakeling is an interaction designer working for the Home Office
in Sheffield.'
Altruism may be inextricably linked with selfishness, drawing attention
to a genuine abuse may resort to means which are futile and ridiculous, an
abuse may be real, there may be a need for reform, but the abuse may be
linked with benefits which are massive. The people who draw attention to an
abuse, real, imaginary or a an abuse-with-benefits may be childish
attention-seekers, or people with great strengths who are also narcissistic
and with many weaknesses.
Extinction Rebellion carried out stunts, such as gluing Extinction
Rebellion protestors' body parts to the road. Collins English Dictionary,
entry for 'stunt:'
1. A feat of daring or skill 2. Anything spectacular or unusual done for
attention.
The Extinction Rebellion' stunts aren't 'feats of daring or skill. They
are grotesque but not spectacular. They were certainly 'done for attention.'
Above, circus performers in a car stunt in a stadium in Montreal,
1946.
The picture also illustrates 'car crash.' From the Macmillan Dictionary,
entry for 'car crash:' 'Something that is completely unsuccessful.' The
dictionary gives an illustrative example but I'll supply this instead: 'The
Extinction Rebellion protest was a ridiculous car crash.'
This page of the St Timothy's Church Website
https://www.sttims.org.uk/sermons/2019-09-15/
amounts to clear-cut advocacy for the deranged stunts of 'Extinction
Rebellion'
https://www.sttims.org.uk/sermon-speaker/sam-wakeling/
Biblical texts quoted: Genesis 2:15-17 and
3:1-7, Matthew 4:1-11. Preacher: Sam Wakeling.
From the article by Graham Wroe in the 'Sheffield Telegraph' with the
clumsily worded heading 'What led Sheffield Christian fined for climate
protest to sit on the pavement outside airport that day.'
https://www.sheffieldtelegraph.co.uk/news/people/what-led-sheffield-christian-fined-for-climate-protest-to-sit-on-the-pavement-outside-airport-that-day-3247146
'Sheffielder Sam Wakeling, a father of two children, was arrested
with six friends whilst taking part in a prayer vigil outside London City
Airport. It was part of an Extinction Rebellion protest in October 2019. He
was convicted and fined £796 for failing to provide his name and address
when asked by a police officer. He explained to the court that he was silent
because he was in prayer.'
He was fined almost £ 800 for a futile protest. Another futile protest he
took part in is recorded on one of his pointless Youtube videos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKcBwkOLkLE
St Vincent’s Catholic Church
St William of York Sheffield
STC (St Thomas
Church) Sheffield
Alan Ward
Above, Alan Ward gives his commentary on Deuteronomy 34:1-12 (STC,
July 14, 2021).
Alan Ward's commentaries on Moses have the disadvantage of ignoring many
of the claims that the Bible makes in connection with Moses
For an abhorrent, horrific example of a divine command, which was obeyed,
read this, from Numbers, in the 'Good News Translation:'
1. The Lord said to Moses,
2. “Punish
the Midianites for what they did to the people of Israel. After you have
done that, you will die.”
3. So
Moses said to the people, “Get ready for war, so that you can attack Midian
and punish them for what they did to the Lord.
4. From
each tribe of Israel send a thousand men to war.”
5. So
a thousand men were chosen from each tribe, a total of 12,000 men ready for
battle.
6. Moses
sent them to war under the command of Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest,
who took charge of the sacred objects and the trumpets for giving signals.
7. They
attacked Midian, as the Lord had commanded Moses, and killed all the men,
8. including
the five kings of Midian: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba. They also killed
Balaam son of Beor.
9. The
people of Israel captured the Midianite women and children, took their
cattle and their flocks, plundered all their wealth,
10. and
burnt all their cities and camps.
11. They
took all the loot that they had captured, including the prisoners and the
animals,
12. and
brought them to Moses and Eleazar and to the community of the people of
Israel, who were at the camp on the plains of Moab across the Jordan from
Jericho.
13. Moses,
Eleazar, and all the other leaders of the community went out of the camp to
meet the army.
14. Moses
was angry with the officers, the commanders of battalions and companies, who
had returned from the war.
15. He
asked them, “Why have you kept all the women alive?
16. Remember
that it was the women who followed Balaam's instructions and at Peor led the
people to be unfaithful to the Lord. That was what brought the epidemic on
the Lord's people.
17. So
now kill every boy and kill every woman who has had sexual intercourse,
18. but
keep alive for yourselves all the girls and all the women who are virgins.'
STC (St Thomas Church, Sheffield), 'Sunday
talks,' 17 October 2021
https://stthomascrookes.org/talks/does-god-heal-today/
Alan Ward on Acts 3, 6, 7, 8, the 'miraculous' healing of a lame
man, a man unable to walk from birth:
'They see Paul and Barnabas and this incredible miracle, this
incredible healing, and they think - these guys must be something special.'
(His commentary begins at 6:0.) The spectators are superstitious,
credulous pagans - they
think Paul and Barnabas are pagan Gods. Alan Ward has a very different
interpretation, a superstitious, credulous Christian interpretation - this
is a healing by the Christian God. He never mentions, he's obviously never
considered the obvious difficulty: if God healed the lame man, why has God
done nothing to heal the countless victims of plague, smallpox,
tuberculosis, cholera, coronavirus, the victims of accidental injury? Is he
unable to - are his powers limited - or is he not good at all?
The achievements of modern medicine could be called 'miraculous,' but not
in any religious sense: achievements which are the result of arduous,
protracted work as well as magnificent achievements of the intellect and
scientific insight. He's the beneficiary of modern medicine - in his talk,
he mentions that he's had knee surgery and cartigale repair. The knee
surgery will have required anaesthesia, which is yet another medical
'miracle,' the result of human achievement, not at all the achievement of
'God.'
The image above shows a man unable to walk suddenly cured, no longer
having to use a wheelchair. The Roman Catholic Church claims that miracles
happen at Lourdes. Alan Ward would probably regard this claim as Popish
superstition. The claims he makes amount to Protestant superstition.
Helen Ward
Helen Ward's idea which led to the 'Streets of Light' initiative dates
from 2016, when she saw a Halloween display at a pub not far from STC. I
didn't see the display. From her account, it seems to have been over the
top, in bad taste - crude but not cruel, unlike this window display,
which shows the judging of souls for a future in heaven or hell. Demons
attend the souls destined for hell.
The fear of hellfire has terrified untold numbers of people, children and
adults, for hundreds of years, for millennia. The harmful effects of
Halloween are nothing in comparison. Her strong feelings would be better
directed at the teachings of orthodox Christianity - at her own beliefs, in
fact, if she ever managed to examine them properly.
The 'Streets of Light' initiative urges, or requires, people not to make
pumpkins into human faces - whilst neglecting completely the possible
dangers of the initiative, such as putting candles in pumpkins near to
flammable materials.
She's responsible for safeguarding at STC. The sexual abuse and other
abuse which has taken place in the Church of England are vastly more
important areas for concern than Halloween displays.
Ruth Aidley
Above, the large display at STC followed by window displays in houses
which signed up to the 'Streets of Light' initiative, all including the word
'love' - a word which is grotesquely overused and misused. It's easy to use
the word, much harder to try to make realities match up to claims which can
be blatantly insincere.
I don't know what LOVE Ruth Aidley has for her fellow Christians and for
non-Christians. Behaviour can be a better guide than professions of faith. I
hope Ruth Aidley would regard me as an opponent rather than an enemy, but I
wouldn't want Ruth Aidley to love me. A person often needs fair treatment,
not love, and never needs insincere expressions of love. This is
disastrously misguided as a general precept:
Countless examples could be given which falsify it, which show its
unreality. During and after the uprising in Warsaw to oppose the Nazis, it's
inconceivable that any Poles who took part in the uprising would have
claimed to love the Nazis.
Ruth Aidley is the Administrator at STC. An extract from the email I sent
to the Administration email address of STC:
' ... after just a few minutes in the building, [... after I had been
in the building a few minutes] Ruth Aidley ordered me to leave at once. I
didn't leave at once, not quite, and she repeated the order. I left after a
very short delay. This is no way to promote the reputation of the Anglican
Church, or the STC section of the Church. It blocks means of communication
and is a sign that, for all the talk of love and the writing about love,
STC's pursuit of positivity at all costs, even when the situation can't be
given positive 'spin,' STC is capable of abysmal failure when dealing with
people. I'm a non-Christian, and this experience has had an effect. I had
made it clear to Ruth Aidley that I had called at STC simply with this in
mind: I had great concerns about the implications for safe working of the
'Streets of Light' initiative, the practical work needed to put up a window
display, I didn't expect anyone to listen to the evidence I had available at
the time - I recognized that there were many demands on people's time - but
I was happy to return on any day and at any time to speak about the matters,
which I regarded - and still regard, of course - as very important.'
Tom Finnemore,
Team Leader at STC
Tom Finnemore preaching on a text from Nehemiah.
Tom Finnemore must have spent a very great deal of time on Nehemiah and
the other books of the Old Testament, to say nothing of the New Testament,
and has neglected studies which could have transformed his thinking, to
mention just one, studies of the Holocaust and the Nazi era.. But he would
first have had to contend with very disturbing content, incapable of being
assimilated into his Christian world view. I find it difficult to believe
that he would allow his Christian faith to be challenged. After all, he'll
be familiar with a text such as this (I quote it in the profile of 'Bushfire
Ministries,' which participates in 'Arise 2021)
Deuteronomy, 21: 18-21, in the English Standard Version:
A Rebellious Son
18 “If
a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his
father or the voice of his mother, and, though they discipline him, will not
listen to them, 19 then
his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the
elders of his city at the gate of the place where he lives, 20 and
they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This our son is stubborn and
rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ 21 Then
all the men of the city shall stone him to death with stones. So you shall
purge the evil from your midst, and all Israel shall hear, and fear.
Can he comment on that, defend it? Will he evade its implications?
The historical Jesus - I'd question whether much is known about him, but
he will obviously think very differently - didn't, it seems, find fault with
these and similar Old Testament texts. He didn't claim to find some texts
horrific in their implications, impossible to take seriously, quite the
opposite. Jesus found nothing wrong with those texts, just as he found
nothing wrong with the system of slavery as it existed in that part of the
Roman empire, as in the rest of the Roman empire. He raised no objections to
the selling of people in slave markets, the splitting up of families,
members of families sold to different owners.
Christian ethics are based on the 'teachings'
of Jesus and, in the Catholic tradition, the 'teachings' developed by the
Church. Apologists for 'Christian ethics' need to pay far more
attention to the gaps in the 'teaching' of Jesus, the silences of Jesus.
Tapton Hill Congregational
Church
The Crowded House
The Michael Church Lowedges United Reformed
Church
The New Hope Community Church
The Rock Christian Centre
The Salvation Army
The Vine
Totley Rise Methodist
Upperthorpe christian community
Victory Assembly
Wadsley Parish Church
Welcome Baptist Church
Wesley Hall Methodist Church
Wisewood Methodist Church
Yorkshire Baptist Association
Zion United Rerformed Church Oughtibridge
