Musings of a Twisted Mind|Here you will find thoughts on current events, sports, politics, court system, theology, and other things.

• For years, as many as 200 members of Immanuel Bible Church and their friends have gathered in the church’s fellowship hall to watch the Super Bowl on its six-foot screen. The party featured hard hitting on the TV, plenty of food — and prayer.

  But this year, Immanuel’s Super Bowl party is no more. After a crackdown by the National Football League on big-screen Super Bowl gatherings by churches, the Springfield church has sacked its event. Instead, church members will host parties in their homes.

  Immanuel is among a number of churches in the Washington area and elsewhere that have been forced to use a new playbook to satisfy the NFL, which said that airing games at churches on large-screen TV sets violates the NFL copyright.

  Ministers are not happy.

  “There is a part of me that says, ‘Gee, doesn’t the NFL have enough money already?’” said Steve Holley, Immanuel’s executive pastor. He pointed out that bars are still allowed to air the game on big-screens TV sets. “It just doesn’t make sense.”

So the league is cracking down on churches that show the game with their big screens. Isnt that a great idea?

The NFL points to the disclaimer at the end of the game which they say is well known.

Plus the NFL is thinking of getting out of the collective bargaining agreement with the players for some reason. Its given the NFL the most prosperity of any league. But apparently they want more prosperity.

I hope it backfires and their popularity falls to the level of the NHL.

• In a letter mailed to the diocese’s 66 churches on Tuesday, the 12 conservative clergy said they have “determined to remain within” The Episcopal Church rather than realign out of it, according to Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

  Some of the clergy met Monday with Pittsburgh Bishop Robert Duncan, who is discontent with the national church’s liberal direction on Scripture and homosexuality, to inform him they will be going public.

  The announcement comes after the Pittsburgh diocese overwhelmingly voted last November to leave The Episcopal Church. A second and final vote of approval for secession is expected later this year at the annual Pittsburgh convention.

Apparently they prefer being in a denomination that doesn’t care what they think.

• “In brief, I would urge TEC (The Episcopal Church) and other Anglican bishops to pray for and take action so that this process pauses indefinitely,” the Rev. Ephraim Radner said in a statement on Wednesday.

  The Episcopal Church’s three senior bishops stopped short of banning Duncan from his religious duties last week when the presiding bishop, Katharine Jefferts Schori, sought to inhibit him. Duncan was, however, certified as having “abandoned the Communion of this Church” and Episcopal bishops are expected to vote on a final decision later this year.

  The charge essentially means that the bishop has effectively left the church.

  Duncan has been leading his Pittsburgh diocese toward a split with The Episcopal Church over its liberal direction on Scripture and homosexuality. The Pittsburgh bishop has expressed little hope that the national church would get back in line with Anglican tradition and is currently planning to form a separate orthodox Anglican body in the United States with other conservative bishops.

  The Episcopal Church, the U.S. branch of Anglicanism, widened rifts in the Anglican Communion when it consecrated openly gay bishop V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire in 2003.

  Radner urged the Episcopal bishops to vote to table the matter of Duncan’s status and discipline “indefinitely.” He believes the national church is not in a position to judge anything especially during a time of confusion and discernment.

I doubt this advice will be followed.

• Yet while Holy Scripture is necessary to faith and authoritative in our
  lives, “to lead a life in obedience to Scripture sets the authority of Scripture above the authority of Christ and returns us to life under the law.

No it doesn’t. The Word is from Christ. It is not above his authority. It is his authority.

And we never were out from under the law. We are to live according to the Law as best we can. We fail. But through the merciful gift of God, believers are forgiven for their sins. Not one letter from the law has been removed by Christ and it is the Law which believers are to follow as their conscience. And they are to be repentant when they fail to follow the law.

What does it mean to be repentant? It means you recognize that you were in the wrong. You do not try to justify your actions. You do not try to make it ok. You condemn your action and you attempt to stop your sinful nature. You do not relish it. You do not center your life around it. You do not continue to live in sin on purpose. You try to change your behavior to follow the Law of God which is the Law of Christ.