Friday, August 8, 2003

5:29 PM This will be my last entry from Gull Lake. Just came back from a 28-mile bike ride that wasn’t supposed to be that long. For the second day in a row, I got lost on the country roads around the lake and both days I ended up going far out of my way—yesterday many miles east and today many miles south and west—and to make matters worse, both days I ended up riding back in a rainstorm. Yesterday I rode the last eight miles in a torrential downpour—by far the worst I’ve ever ridden through. Like Noah’s Flood, rain rolling in sheets across the road, the wind whipping the drops in my face. Today not as bad but a steady downpour for seven miles at least. So I got back soaking wet both days, but none the worse for the wear.

Time to pack up the car. At 7 PM I preach the final message in the Total Forgiveness series, then it’s time to head for home. In every way, this has been a very positive week with many hearts touched by the Lord. I’ve enjoyed being here—and I’ll be glad to be back home in a few hours, God willing.

2:03 PM Here’s the Legacy Campaign prayer request for today: “Pray that we will trust in the Lord and that He will direct our paths (Proverbs 3:5-6).”

1:57 PM Here’s a link to an excellent article from the Wall Street Journal called “Gospel of Inclusion?” exposing the heretical thinking behind the election of a gay bishop in the Episcopal Church. One quote:

Yet this church has just tossed aside 2,000 years of bedrock Christian teaching about marriage, the family and sexuality. It has rejected beliefs fundamental not only to Christianity, but to Judaism and Islam. Episcopalians’ inability to defend core doctrine suggests that mainline American churches are losing their theological moorings, and increasingly falling prey to the prevailing winds of secular culture.

6:17 AM Several e-mails have arrived from friends commenting on the election this week of the first openly homosexual bishop by the Episcopal Church:

I just ran into an interesting quote which I thought might do well in your vault for future sermons. It puts the lie to the great shibboleth of tolerance we find so in evidence today. It was a quote from a man named William A. Orton who said, “If you keep your mind sufficiently open, people will throw a lot of rubbish into it”. In my life I have allowed a lot of rubbish to enter my mind, keeping an open mind when I should have rejected those ideas as against the law of God. My problem was that I did not know the Word of God and had no basis for judgment, other than human reason and my experience…both imperfect teachers. The result was that Satan always had his perverse way with me and if he didn’t talk me into sin, he at least distracted me from the purpose and service that God had for me at that time. Now that I have the Word of God in my life daily, there are many things I don’t have to even allow to enter my mind. It is the perfect teacher, constant, inerrant, complete.

And another from the same person:

I had been hearing for months how Rev Robinson was a “wonderful guy", “great leader", etc. etc etc, all the things that men say that they prize today, and how we need a firm, unchangeable standard not created by man or else we’ll change our standards based on who’s the most persuasive today. Yet when we stand on the truth we’re mocked and called bigots. Oh well, that’s what Jesus said would happen here in the last days anyway. We can expect more of the same torrent. God is still Sovereign, not surprised by any of this nonsense from His creatures, and His Word will stand forever.

And this from a friend in a fairly conservative Episcopal congregation:

Talked to a priest today; he is even more upset than I am. Hopefully it will actually blow up and the church splits(my idea). He said the national bishop actually has no power over the dioceses. Also that the vote is usually in each individual parish by committee but the gay agenda people knew it would fail and stacked the deck in their favor. The church is greatly harmed. A local Presbyterian minister I know is very worried because his group is fighting this also. Once one goes it may be easier for others to go that way.