Magic Statistics

Very encouraging and challenging reports are coming from the New Wineskins Conference on Global Missions now underway in Ridgecrest, North Carolina.  Over 1000 Anglicans from around the world have heard Gloria Kwashi, wife of The Rt Rev Ben Kwashi, Bishop of Jos, Nigeria, testify to God’s deliverance from thugs who broke into their home to stop her husband from preaching the gospel.

Then Bishop Kwashi said that the church in Nigeria is burgeoning because all Christians are expected and encouraged to witness to the Lord Jesus at every opportunity.

The bishop said the church was growing in Nigeria by leaps and bounds because of a push in mission and evangelism which has led to a multiplication of dioceses. "We have created twelve new missionary dioceses. Archbishop Akinola has pursued a policy of evangelism and discipleship. All the bishops and archbishops are evangelists at heart." Kwashi said his own diocese had been cut up several times to create new expanding dioceses in the northern half of the predominantly Muslim country.

"Evangelism for Primates is a way of life, in the church and for the church and it is essential for each Christian. For the last two years we have been inspired by a 113 policy for reaching the whole world. The bishop is the leader in mission and he maintains the apostolic focus on prayer, word and mission. Every youth conference is an outreach place. Every Sunday service is leading opportunity to proclaim Christ and call people to know and follow Jesus Christ. Even an Ordination service is used as a place to ground people in the gospel of Jesus. The bishops and archbishops must be leaders in mission and evangelism."

The Rt Rev Derek Eaton, Assistant Bishop in the Diocese of Egypt, told those gathered that, around the world, 8000 new adult Anglican believers come to the Lord every day and 400 new Anglican churches open every week. 

"In the Province of Nigeria there are more Anglicans in church on Sunday than all the UK, North America and Australasia put together," he told a stunned audience, many of whom live with revisionist Episcopal bishops who no longer have a biblical gospel to proclaim.

I am stunned, too.  Regular readers of this blog will know that I often post news about persecution of Christians in Nigeria.  I would not wish such travails on anyone (especially myself), but I have to wonder who is living a more Christian life: Africans who see the church growing so fast that bishops can hardly be consecrated fast enough, or us wishy-washy Westerners?

May God continue to bless the church in Nigeria.  May he revive Anglicanism around the world.

Previous related posts:

• Islamists torch Nigerian churches
• Machetes come out in Nigeria

More homegrown Islamic radicalism?  Two native-born Muslims have been arrested and charged with multiple offences in connection with two firebomb attacks against Jewish institutions in Montreal.  They appeared in court this afternoon.

Seven months after a molotov cocktail was thrown at a Montreal Jewish school, Montreal police arrested two suspects: Azim Ibragimov, 22, and Omar Bulphred, 24.
. . .
The two Canadian-born Muslims are charged with 9 counts, including conspiracy to commit armed robbery, conspiracy to kidnap, conspiracy to forcibly confine someone, and formulating threats to the Jewish community.

They are accused of attacking the Taldos Yakon Yosef school in Outremont last September and the YM-YWHA Ben Weider Jewish Community Centre on 3 April.  The latter bomb exploded an hour after visitors had departed following a Passover seder dinner.

Police uncovered evidence of a kidnapping plot during their investigation.

Previous related posts:

• Avoid raising resentment among Islamists, or else
• Multiculturalism threatens Canada
• Homegrown terrorist cells busted in Toronto area
• Great Canadian self-delusion machine up and running

The ravings of Vancouver moonbat and federal Green Party candidate (for the time being) Kevin Potvin caught up with him today, big-time.  In a column published in an obscure “alternative” newspaper on 28 November 2002, he described the fall of the Twin Towers on 9/11 as “beautiful”.

When I saw the first tower cascade down into that enormous plume of dust and paper, there was a little voice inside me that said, "Yeah!" When the second tower came down the same way, that little voice said, "Beautiful!" When the visage of the Pentagon appeared on the TV with a gaping and smoking hole in its side, that little voice had nearly taken me over, and I felt an urge to pump my fist in the air.

When questioned about that column yesterday, he stood by his words.  After Green Party leader Elizabeth May characterised his remarks as “shocking” and “despicable”, however, he soon issued an apology—or what passes for an apology among people who aren’t really apologetic.

Potvin issued a brief statement to the Vancouver media Friday but refused to take questions.

“I apologize for the way my essay of four years ago has been characterized. I stand strongly against all forms of violence and I always have,” Potvin said.

“I was revolted by the imagery of that morning and openly sharing my contemplation of the source and nature of that revulsion. Some sentences out of their context may appear insensitive.”

He apologised for the media!  Because they did their jobs?  That’s awfully big of him.  Even on its own terms, however, his statement makes no sense.  He was “revolted” by imagery he found “beautiful”?

Fortunately, Ms May is no fool.

Green Leader Elizabeth May indicated Friday she is still poised to deny a B.C. candidate the right to run for her party even though Kevin Potvin issued a public apology over a controversial 2002 column he wrote about the 9/11 terror attacks.

May said she needs to speak directly to Potvin, but indicated she would not be satisfied with an apology that blames the media for misinterpreting his words in what she described as a “despicable” column.

With all the uproar over that revolting column, other rantings writings of Kevin Potvin have been hauled to the surface.  In 2005, he said he shares common cause with Islamic terrorists because they have a common enemy: corporate capitalism and its lackeys.  The whole thing is posted here for your reading pain pleasure.  I focus on one paragraph which proves that he knows little about Christianity, Islam, or Hinduism.

Another myth: Islamists have no intention of converting anyone in Europe or North America to their faith—at least, there is not one scrap of evidence of any Imam ever suggesting such a radical evangelical program. That sort of proselytizing is confined almost entirely to Christianity, and the added notion of evangelizing by the force of arms is certainly not in evidence among any religious movement, outside of some denominations of Christianity. This is not to knock Christianity, but to merely point out a fact: there is no Moslem, Judaic, Hindu, Buddhist or Shinto equivalent to the history of violent evangelism that exists in Christianity’s history. Generally, no other religion has a proselytizing mission among non-believers, and are usually more interested in excluding them, not converting them. Islam is no different. There is no arm of Islam that is interested in converting Christians violently or otherwise.

Every sentence in that paragraph contains an error of fact, but I’ll focus on only one here: the patently ridiculous claim that Islam and Hinduism have no history of violent evangelism.  Islam has been spread by violence throughout its history, and coercive conversion persists today.  Similarly, radical Hindus in India have forced Christians to convert to Hinduism.

Plainly, Mr Potvin’s opinions on religion arise from ignorance and, therefore, cannot be taken seriously.

h/t: Darcey at Dust My Broom

Previous related posts:

• Sri Lankan Muslims shocked—shocked!
• Nigerian Christian children kidnapped, forcibly converted to Islam
• Islamic school built on church-owned site without permission
• Egyptian Christian girls kidnapped and forced to convert to Islam
• Pope discusses relationship between reason and faith; Muslims go berserk
• Ground Zero, five years on

UPDATE (15 Apr.): Elizabeth May has decided that Kevin Potvin may not run under the Green Party banner.  Many commenters at the BC political journal Public Eye Online are not pleased.