Archbishop Vigneron's UNLEASH THE GOSPEL Put on Hold

 The Archbishop of Detroit (Allen Vigneron) and his woke curia have strongly suggested that unless you "vaccinated" against covid-19, then you should refrain from public worship and personal evangelization.  Yes, that's right. Let me say that again. If you have not received the fake jab of the experimental mRNA drug that will permanently alter your body's immune system, it is strongly suggested that you refrain from breathing within 100-feet of anyone else (whether "vaccinated" or not). 

Here is the AOD's guideline as of August 17, 2021 (https://www.aod.org/emergencyresponse)

The Archdiocese of Detroit encourages Mass-goers, regardless of vaccination status, to wear face-coverings and to practice social distancing to reduce exposure to COVID-19

Each pastor/In Solidum team should evaluate their location in the Archdiocese and implement the following protocols:

• Establish an area where social distancing is observed
• Strongly encourage masking and social distancing
• Hang signage indicating masking and social distancing are encouraged
• Evaluate space for the choir, and strongly recommend that those who are unvaccinated do not participate in the choir at this time

Because of that last directive, my wife was told she could no longer play her flute with the worship music group because she refuses to get the covid-19 "vaccination." (Aerosols from wind instruments are problematic, don't you know? By this logic we should have stopped face-to-face communication when the first cold virus was spread thousands of years ago.) We're unsure if they are trying to prevent my healthy wife from spreading her heathy antibodies by aerosol transmission, of if they're politically trying to force her to get the jab. We think it's the latter.  We're convinced the AOD curia is not  much different from radical Democrats who are acting like leftist Marxists. The Catholic Church is still Christ's Church, but there is a lot of corruption in its leadership. 

But then we discovered that the musical director at the parish was taking the AOD's guidance one step further. He lied. The AOD had said nothing about wind musical instruments. (see above.) There were two people in the group that had not been, and refused to be vaxed. One was a singer. So, he made the decision, and found something on the Internet to "validate" his opinion that if these two people did not do what he said, "get vaxed," then they would be cancelled and punished... because his unilateral demand was for the good of the congregation. This is pure Marxist Communism. We thank him for the textbook example. My wife and this other person offered no threat to him, he had no evidence, except his fear. "Do as I saw or you will be kicked off the group because we have to protect the people in the building who are far from you... because you know, the aerosols you expel will kill people, and if I don't fire you, I could be sued."  

The simple logic of these guidelines is that we all should avoid any exchange of air with anyone else, even if you're 20 yards distance. Logically, this involves every unvaxed person in the building. Don't come, don't participate, no breathing... is what this really says. And since all unvaxed persons are really sick people spreading disease then don't have any personal contact with any other person, vaxed or not.

Thus, Bishop Vigneron's "Unleash the Gospel" has been put on hold. DO NOT UNLEASH THE GOSPEL, someone could get sick. Satan loves this stuff. It fits perfectly into his plan. Atheists love it, too. They've been trying for years to come up with a gimmick to stop Christianity from spreading. The communists first infiltrated the church leadership, and now this.

The Fads of Christian Evangelism

 by Stan Williams

Crusade Evangelism with Billy Graham

The title is unfortunately provocative. Juxtaposing "fads" with "evangelism" implies that evangelism is as insignificant as a fad of fashion.  But while Christian evangelism is perhaps the antithesis of a cultural fad, it nonetheless suffers some of the same attributes.

Track Evangelism

I was born into Evangelical Christianity—Free Methodism, it was called. We were evangelicals because we understood Christ's Great Commission to be the one command that superseded all the others.

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age (Matt 28:19-20) 

Pulpit Evangelism with Billy Sunday

Consequently, over the decades of my life I have seen evangelism fads come and go. Each being described as the silver bullet that would save the world and usher in the Second Coming of Christ, or Christian utopia. Here's a list of some of them:

• Crusade/Stadium Evangelism
• Pulpit Evangelism
• Personal Evangelism
• Tract Evangelism
• Teaching Evangelism 
• Family Evangelism
• Prayer Evangelism
• Life-Style Evangelism
• Bible Evangelism
• Protest Evangelism
• Mall Evangelism
• Curbside Evangelism
• Lead Evangelism
• Small Group Evangelism
• Blimp Evangelism
• Sticker Evangelism
• Street Preaching
• Pre-Evangelism
• Booth Evangelism
• Tent Meeting Evangelism
• Street Evangelism
• Apologetic Evangelism
• Bill Board Evangelism
• Radio Evangelism
• Book Evangelism
• Food Evangelism
• TV Evangelism
• Movie Evangelism 
• On-Line Evangelism

And in each of these there are sub categories where the technique takes on a hard "confrontational" or softer "salting" approach.

Of course none of these techniques ushered in Christian utopia, so leaders got frustrated and started their own efforts—new churches with a thousand different names. Some opted for the mountain top. Frank and Edith Schaefffer chose the Swiss mountains and started L'Abri Fellowship. William Booth took the Gospel to the poor, the homeless, the hungry and the destitute.

Food Evangelization

These two extremes are found in the Gospels in the accounts of Christ's Transfiguration. Jesus took his disciples to both places. The mountain top was for enlightenment, and the valley was where real ministry took place.

Others rejected evangelism altogether because evangelism took on a militant-utilitarian identity that the Christian's only reason for existence was to save other people, so they in turn could save others, etc. Franky Schaeffer, Frank and Edith's son, wrote a popular book about the subject, Addicted to Mediocrity. And as much as my copy is heavily highlighted, I didn't agree with his final resolution—he gave up on Christianity altogether.

Evangelism falls under the second of the great commandments: 1. Love God, and 2. Love your neighbor. In my case I was so inundated with the above evangelization tyranny that one day I realized we had forgotten to Love God. Catholicism for me offered an opportunity to attend Mass where I could worship God and not bemoan yet another 10 minute altar call to save the lost sinner somewhere in the Sunday morning congregation. Such "altar calls" were rituals growing up in Free Methodism which lost their meaning before I turned 13.

I am almost 70 now. Pam and I left Protestantism 18 years ago and became Catholic. My current parish, Our Lady of Good Counsel (OLGC)  in Plymouth, MI, is beginning a 14 week program called REROUTING. It's really not clear what it's all about or where we're being rerouted to...though it seems to be an attempt to reroute us around misunderstandings of Christianity, the way a GPS mapping app reroutes our car around an accident.

Protest Evangelism (e.g. anti-evangelism)

We've been through the first week where the emphasis was about how we're all called to be personal evangelists to those we meet at work, on the street, in restaurants, or at a sporting event.  It seems old to me, but it's clearly a new idea to many at OLGC. I've heard the illustrations and the Scriptures a thousand times, if I've heard them once. I've been an outspoken Christian all my life and although I gave up on Evangelicalism (see my faith memoir, Growing Up Christian), I will never give up being evangelically minded. But my methods now are more nuanced and relationship based. I've stopped asking waitresses if I can pray for them, because about the 10th time the waitress hears that from a customer it sounds like Bumper Sticker Evangelism, and cheapens Christianity.

Everyday I attempt to wear my Christianity on my sleeve, especially in my business dealings. Yesterday, I attended the funeral of a friend who died suddenly at age 76. He was a great pulpit preacher and teacher, and during his life I was involved with him in a number of evangelical media efforts that had a business aspect to them.  One of his sons greeted me before the funeral service. He drew me aside and said, "Stan, when we first met years ago, I didn't trust you. I thought you were taking advantage of my Dad. But over the years I have seen that you are an honest man, You are a man of integrity, and I would trust you with my life."  I should quickly add that his father, too, was an honest man of integrity. And today, that son, now a grown man with a family, is considering entering seminary for the diaconate, along with his two brothers.  

Street Evangelism

Evangelism is an important part of the Christian life. But its importance should not be overshadowed by everything else that God calls us to, namely obedience.  Evangelism is not mentioned in the Ten Commandments, The Beatitudes, or the list of vices and virtues in Galatians 5. The Great Commission was given to Christ's 11 Apostles following his resurrection. It was not given to his hundreds of disciples, nor to his thousands of followers. To the masses the instruction was to Love God, Love Our Neighbor, stay away from sin, and to obey God. When it comes to evangelism, I believe the cornerstone for everyday Christians is 1 Peter 3:15-16. Why? Because it puts personal integrity up front. It's not about being assertive with "words" about Christ, the Bible or your church (which is what most of the evangelism fads listed above are all about). Rather, it's about outwardly obeying God, living a life of integrity, and then...

Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. (1 Peter 3:15-16.)

   

Horrific Deaths Bring Meaning to Work

HORRIFIC DEATHS OF SVQUEST CREW BRING MEANING TO OUR WORK AT NINEVEH'S CROSSING  (L to R) Scott and Jean Adam are dead along with their crew Phyllis Macay and Bob Riggle, murdered by their Somalian pirates. The U.S. Navy captured 15 of the pirates and 4 four others.  The meaning of that headline on FoxNews this morning was significant for me and the Church. I had connected to him (at a distance) because they were involved in four of my passions: Sailing, International Evangelization, Pacifica, and Scott's connection to media.   The Adams where Catholic lay missionaries, who, in retirement decided to sail around the world and to give their trip extra meaning they filled their 57-foot pilot house sloop (SV QUEST) with hundreds of Bibles as extra ballast and delivered them to hard to reach places.   Their extensive SVQUEST adventure website is here.  I have long dreamed of traveling to Pacifica and following the sea-track of my missionary ancestor from the London Missionary Society, John Williams.  And the sail boat we purchased ten years ago was selected because it could take us there. My ancestor, John Williams, was one of the first western missionaries to the South Pacific. It was John Williams who introduced much of Pacifica to Christianity and the Bible. He was martyred on the beach of Erromanga, Dillion's Bay, New Hebrides, Nov 20, 1839.  (New Hebrides was the colonial name for an island group in the South Pacific that now forms the nation of Vanuatu.) Scott and Jean were martyred for what they did, just like John Williams, and indeed there were political ramifications in both killings.   The Lost Angles Times reports they were active parishioners at St. Monica Catholic Church. Their love for the Bible and film (Scott was involved in television production) was probably behind one of Scott's decisions to enroll at Fuller Theological Seminary where two of my academic-film acquaintances were his professors - Dr. Robert Johnson and Dr. Craig Detweiler who were quoted in an CNN article this morning  When they were first kidnapped (adult-napped would be a better term) I thought wouldn't it be glorious if their boat got to the Somalia coast, and their Bibles were unloaded and distributed. And what if because of that they were killed, but the nation of Somalia was brought to Christianity... just like what happened to John Williams. Now there's a story. Time will tell. Certainly when St. Paul was shipwrecked on Malta the island, to this day, is significantly Christian, and Catholic I understand. OUR INTERNATIONAL MISSION We have long been engaged in shipping Nineveh's Crossing product throughout the world. We have distributors of some of our  product in Ireland, Australia, Singapore, and Malaysia. We have shipped individual product to pastors and lay people in those countries plus throughout the U.K. and Europe, and to South Africa, a few Arabian countries, and of course Mexico and Canada.   We have also been thrilled to see our programs aired internationally on networks like TBN and EWTN. But today, we agreed to yet another milestone. We are shipping the digital masters to our best selling product COMMON GROUND: What Protestants and Catholics Can Learn From Each Other to SAT-7, the Cyprus based television network where they will translate the program and broadcast it into the Mid-East countries in Arabic, Farsi, And Turkish.  So, please pray for them as they do that, that they get a good Catholic theologian to oversee the work.   The great thing about satellite is that it's harder for government s to cut them off.   Millions of satellite dishes cover apartment buildings.  Thank you for your prayers and support in buying our product. We do not get donations, so product sales is how we support the work.   Blessings.   Stan Williams