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FRANCISCAN PRIEST WRITES PRIMATES OVER ECUSA DRIFT

FRANCISCAN PRIEST WRITES PRIMATES OVER ECUSA DRIFT

TO: The Primates of the Anglican Communion in care of the Archbishop of Canterbury

Dear Brothers in Jesus the Christ

I have been consumed with the events going on in the Anglican Communion and especially in ECUSA and Canada since General Convention 2003 when the apostasy became final. It began when the House of Bishops refused to discipline their own many years ago.

I am A Franciscan Third Order Tertiary in the Franciscan Order of the Divine Compassion. My Vicar General, Fr. JOHN Mark, OSF, stated on the events of the church that he would be silent no more. I support him and have prayed to the Holy Spirit for guidance in searching Holy Scripture for truth concerning events in the church. The Holy Spirit has revealed to me the following scripture concerning this matter.

Worship must be based on the truth of scripture, not our opinions about God. I submit these verses with love not wanting to sound homophobic

The question that begs to be asked is: Do we place our identity as the Episcopal Church above that of belonging to the same church that can be traced historically to Jesus Christ?

Q - Why do we call the Holy Scriptures the Word of God?

A - We call them the Word of God because God inspired their Human
authors and because God still speaks to us through the Bible.

Catechism of the Faith 1979 Book of Common Prayer - Pg. 853.
Leviticus 26: 3-7, 9, 12 If you obey all my commandments, I will give you regular rain, and the land will yield bumper crops, and the trees will be loaded with fruit long after the normal time! And grapes will still be ripening when sowing time comes again. You shall eat your fill, and live
safely in the land, for I will give you peace and you will go to sleep without fear. I will chase away the dangerous animals. You will chase your enemies; they will die beneath your swords. I will look after you, and multiply you and fulfill my covenant with you. I will walk among you and be your God, and you shall be my people.

Malachi 3:6 FOR I AM THE LORD, I DO NOT CHANGE!

Malachi 2: 14-15 "Why has God abandon us?" you cry. I'll tell you why; it is because the Lord has seen your treachery in divorcing your wives who have been faithful to you through the years, the companion you promised to care for and keep.

You were united to your wife by the Lord. In God's wise plan, when you married the two of you became one person in His sight. And what does He want? Godly children from your union! Therefore guard your passions! Keep faith with the wife of your youth

Colossians 2: 8-10 Don't let others spoil your faith and joy with their Philosophies, their wrong and shallow answers built on men's thoughts and ideas, instead of on what Christ has said. For in Christ there is all of God in a human body; so you have everything when you have Christ, and you are filled with God through your union with Christ. He is the highest Ruler, with authority over every other power.

Romans 1: 21-22 Yes, they knew about Him alright, but they wouldn't admit it or worship Him or even thank Him for all His daily care. And after a while they began to think up silly ideas of what He was like and what He wanted them to do. The result was that their foolish minds became dark and confused. Claiming themselves to be wise without God, they became utter fools instead.

Romans 1: 24-27 So God let them go ahead into every sort of sex sin, and do what ever they wanted to - yes, vile and sinful; things with each other's bodies. Instead of believing what they knew was the truth about God, they deliberately chose to believe lies. So they prayed to the things God made, but wouldn't obey the blessed God who made these things.

That is why God let go of them and let them do all these evil things, so that even their women turned against God's natural plan for them and indulged in sex sin with each other. And the men, instead of having a normal sex relationship with women, burned with lust for each other; men doing shameful with other men and, as a result, getting paid within their own souls with the penalty they richly deserved.

Exodus 20: 14 7th Commandment - YOU MUST NOT COMMIT ADULTRY!

Leviticus 18: 22 Homosexuality is absolutely forbidden, for it is an enormous sin.

Leviticus 20: 13 The penalty for homosexual acts is death to both parties. They have brought it upon themselves.

Psalm 50: 16-24 But to the wicked God says:
"Why do you recite my statutes,
and take my covenant upon your lips;
Since you refuse discipline,
And toss my words behind your back?
When you see a thief, you make him you friend,
And you cast in your lot with adulterers.
You have loosed your lips for evil,
and harnessed your tongue to a lie
You are always speaking evil of your brother
And slandering your own mothers son,
These things you have done and I have kept still
And you thought that I am like you."

"I have made my accusation;
i have put my case in order before your eyes.
Consider this well, you who forget God,
Lest I rend to you and there be none to deliver
you.
Whoever offers me the sacrifice of thanksgiving
honors me;
but to those who keep in my way will I show the
salvation of God".

Revelation 3: 14-22 This message is from the one who stands firm, the faithful and true Witness of all that is or was or evermore shall be, the primeval source of God's creation:

I know you well-you are neither hot nor cold; I wish you were one or the other! But since you are merely lukewarm, I will spit you out of my mouth!

"You say, "I am rich, with everything I want; I don't need a thing!" And you don't realize that spiritually you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.

My advice to you is to buy pure gold from me, gold purified by fire-only then will you truly be rich. And to purchase from me white garment, clean and pure, so you won't be naked and ashamed; and to get medicine from me to heal your eyes and give you back your sight. I continually discipline and punish everyone I love; so I must punish you, unless you turn from your indifference and become enthusiastic about the things of God.

Look! I have been standing at the door and I am constantly knocking. If anyone hears me calling him and opens the door, I will come in a fellowship with him and he with me. I will let every one who conquers sit beside me on my throne, just as I took my place with my Father on His throne when I had conquered. Let those who can hear, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches."

Matthew 5: 17-20 Don't misunderstand why I have come-it isn't to cancel the laws of Moses and the warnings of the prophets. No, I have come to fulfill them, and to make them all come true. With all the earnestness I have to say: Every law in the Book will continue until its purpose is achieved. And so if anyone breaks the least commandment, and teaches others to, he shall be the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But those who teach God's laws and obey them shall be great in the Kingdom of Heaven. But I warn you-unless your goodness is greater than that of the Pharisees and other Jewish leaders, you can't get into the Kingdom of Heaven at all!

1 CORINTHIANS 5: 5-13 And cast out this man from the fellowship of the church and into Satan's hands, to punish him, in the hope that his soul will be saved when our Lord Jesus Christ returns.

What a terrible thing it is that you are boasting about your purity, and yet you let this sort of thing go on. Don't you realize that if even one person is allowed to go on sinning, soon all will be affected? Remove this evil cancer-this wicked person-from among you, so that you can stay pure. Christ, God's lamb has been slain for us. So let us feast upon him and grow strong in the Christian life, leaving entirely behind us the cancerous life with all its hatred and wickedness. Let us feast instead upon the bread of honor and sincerity and truth.

When I wrote to you before, I said not to mix with the evil people. But when I said that I wasn't talking about unbelievers who live in sexual sin, or are greedy cheats and thieves and idol worshippers. For you can't live in this world without being with people like that.

1 Corinthians 5: 5-13 What I meant was that you are not to keep company with anyone who claims to be a brother but indulges in sexual sins, or is greedy, or is a swindler, or worships idols, or is a drunkard, or abusive. Don't even eat lunch with such a person.

It isn't our job to judge outsiders. But it certainly is our job to judge and deal strongly with those who are members of the church, and who are sinning in these ways

God alone is the judge of those on the outside. But you yourselves must deal with this man and put him out of your church.

1 Corinthians 6: 9-10 Don't you know that those doing these things have no share in the kingdom of God? Don't fool yourselves. Those who live immoral lives, who are idol worshippers, adulterers or Homosexuals-will have no share in his Kingdom. Neither will thieves or greedy people, drunkards, slanderers, or robbers.

2 Peter 2: 1-22 But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them-bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their deprived conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has been long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.

For of God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless (for that righteous man, living amongst them day by day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)-if this is so, then the Lord knows how

To rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the Day of Judgment. This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature and despise authority.

Bold and arrogant, they are not afraid to heap abuse on celestial beings; yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not heap abuse on such beings when bringing judgment on them from the Lord. But these people blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like unreasoning animals, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like animas they will perish.

They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you. With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed-an accursed brood! They have left the straight way and wondered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Bezer, who loved the wages of wickedness. But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey-an animal without speech-who spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet's madness.

These people are like spring without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of human nature, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity-for "people are slaves to whatever has mastered them." If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. Of them the proverbs are true: "A dog returned to its vomit," and, "A Sow that is was hed returns to her wallowing in the mud."

Ephesians 5: 6-7 Don't be fooled by those who try excuse these sins, for the terrible wrath of God is upon all them who do them. Don't even associate with such people.

Ephesians 5: 10-12 Learn as you go along what pleases the Lord. Take no part in the worthless pleasures of evil and darkness, but instead rebuke and expose them. It would be shameful even to mention here those pleasures of darkness which the ungodly do.

1 Timothy 1: 10-11 Yes, these laws are made to identify as sinners all who are immoral and impure, homosexuals, kidnappers, liars, and all others who do these things that contradict the glorious good news of our blessed God, whose messenger I am.

1 Timothy 4: 1-5 But the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some in the church will turn away from Christ and become eager followers of teachers with devil inspired ideas. These teachers will tell; lies with straight faces and do it so often that their consciences won't even bother them. They will say that it is wrong to be married and even wrong to eat meat. God gave these things to well taught Christians to enjoy and be thankful for. For everything God made is good and we may eat it gladly if we are thankful for it, and if we ask God to bless it, for it is made good by the word of God and prayer.

1 Peter 4: 11 Are you called to preach? Then preach as though God himself were speaking through you.

1 John 1: 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we are lying and calling God a liar, for he says we have sinned.

1 John 2: 4-6 Someone may say "I am a Christian; I am on my way to heaven; I belong to Christ." But if he doesn't do what Christ tells him to, he is a liar. But those who do what Christ tells them to do will learn to love God more and more. That is the way to know whether or not you are a Christian. Anyone who says he is a Christian should live as Christ did.

Matthew 12: 30-32 Anyone who isn't helping me is harming me. Even blasphemy against me or any other sin, can be forgiven-all except one; speaking against the Holy Spirit.

Jude 1-24 Jude the servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, to those who have called, who are loved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ: Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.

The Sin and Doom of Ungodly People

Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that the Lord has once for all entrusted to us, his people. For certain individuals whose condemnation is written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.

Though you already know this, I want to remind you that the Lord at one time delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. And the Angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling-these he has kept in darkness, bound with the everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.

In the very same way, on the strength of their dreams these ungodly people pollute their own bodies, reject authority and heap abuse on celestial beings. But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not himself dare to condemn for slander but said, "The Lord rebuke you!" Yet these people speak abusively against whatever they do not understand; and what things they do understand by instinct, like unreasoning animals-these are the very things that destroy them.

Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam's error; they have been destroyed in Korah' rebellion.

These people are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm-shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted-twice dead. They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars for which the blackest darkness has been reserved forever.

Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: "See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all of the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him." These people are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.

A Call to Persevere

But dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. They said to you, "In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires." These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.

But you, dear friends by building yourselves up in your most holy faith praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God's love and you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

Be merciful to those who doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy mixed with fear-hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.

Doxology

To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and great joy-to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

Matthew 13: 18-23 Now here is the explanation of the story I told about the farmer planting grain: The hard path where some of the seeds fall represents t he heart of a person who hears the good news about the kingdom and doesn't understand it: then satin comes and snatches away the seeds from his heart. The shallow, rocky soil represents the heart of a man who hears the message and receives it with real joy, but he doesn't have much depth in his life, and the seeds don't root very deeply, and after a while when trouble comes, or persecution begins because of his beliefs, his enthusiasm fades , and he drops out. The ground covered with thistles represents a man who hears the message. But the cares of this life and his longing for money chokes out God's word, and he does less and less for God. The good ground represents the heart of a man who listens to the message and understands it and goes out and brings thirty, sixty, or even a hundred others into the kingdom.

Revelation 22: 12-21 See, I am coming soon, and my reward is with me, to repay everyone according to the deeds he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed forever who are washing their robes, to have the right to enter the gates of the city, and to eat the fruit from the tree of life.

Outside the city are those who have strayed away from God, and the Sorcerers and the immoral and murderers and idolaters and all who love to lie, and do so. I, Jesus, have sent my angel to tell the churches all these things. I am both David's root and his descendent; I am the bright moving star. The spirit and the bride say , "come", let us each one who hears them say the same, "come" let the thirsty one come-anyone who wants to; let him come and drink the water of life without charge.

And I solemnly declare to everyone who reads this book; if anyone adds anything to what is written here, God shall add to him the plagues described in this book. And if anyone subtracts any part of these prophesies, God shall take away his share in the tree of life, and in the Holy City just described. He who has said all these things declares; yes, I am coming soon! Amen come Lord Jesus!

The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen!

1 John 4: 1-7 Dearly loved friends, don't always believe everything you hear just because someone says it is a message from God; test it first to see if it really is, for there are many false teachers around , and the way to find out if their message is from the Holy Spirit is to ask; does it really agree that Jesus Christ, God's Son, actually became man with a human body? If so, then the message is from God. If not, the message is not from God, but from one who is against Christ, like the "Antichrist". You have heard about who is going to come, and his attitude of enmity against Christ is already abroad in the world.

Dear young friends, you belong to God and have already won your fight with those who are against Christ, because there is someone in your hearts who is stronger than any evil teacher in this wicked world. These men belong to this world so quite naturally, they are concerned about worldly affairs and the world pays attention to them. But you as children of God; that is why only those who have walked and talked with God will listen to us. Others won't. That is another way to know whether a message is really from God; for if it is, the world won't listen to it.

Dear friends, let us practice loving each other, for love comes from God and those who are loving and kind show that they are the children of God, and that they are getting to know him better. But if a person isn't loving and kind, it shows that he doesn't know God - for God is love.

Prayer is the only answer. May we all pray for the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts; may we have discipline to wait on the Lord's voice when we pray. That it be a two-way conversation. Keep yourselves in the love of God.

May the God of hope fill us with all joy and peace in believing through the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Brother Michael, F.O. D. C.
Trinity Episcopal Church
Rock Island, IL 61201

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