Renouncing my Baptism and Confirmation

I was baptized and confirmed in the Episcopal Church. However, because of their rebellion against God reemphasized today I again publicly renounce my baptism and confirmation.

In doing so, I still love people who call this their spiritual home. I do not hate people in the Episcopal Church- which include members of my family- however, I HATE what the institution has become. 

It breaks my heart, because I love my heritage. I have so many friends I grew up with that are still a part of the abomination the Institutional Episcopal Church has become. God was gracious to me in that all the scripture I learned from a young age came from the Book of Common Prayer. My theology was largely shaped by the Catechism I learned in that book. 

Please members of the Episcopal Church go back to your book of Common Prayer and read all the scripture in it and ask the Holy Spirit to open your eyes- specifically, the Catechism- 

Q.	Where in the Old Testament is God's will for us shown most clearly?
A.	God's will for us is shown most clearly in the Ten Commandments.

The Ten Commandments

See pages 317 and 350.

Q.	What are the Ten Commandments?
A.	The Ten Commandments are the laws give to Moses and the people of Israel.
Q.	What do we learn from these commandments?
A.	We learn two things: our duty to God, and our duty to our neighbors.
Q.	What is our duty to God?
A.	Our duty is to believe and trust in God;
	I	To love and obey God and to bring others to know him;
	II	To put nothing in the place of God;
	III	To show God respect in thought, word, and deed;
	IV	And to set aside regular times for worship, prayer, and the study of God's ways.

Catechism     847

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Q.	What is our duty to our neighbors?
A.	Our duty to our neighbors is to love them as ourselves, and to do to other people as we wish them to do to us;
	V	To love, honor, and help our parents and family; to honor those in authority, and to meet their just demands;
	VI	To show respect for the life God has given us; to work and pray for peace; to bear no malice, prejudice, or hatred in our hearts; and to be kind to all the creatures of God;
	VII	To use our bodily desires as God intended;
	VIII	To be honest and fair in our dealings; to seek justice, freedom, and the necessities of life for all people; and to use our talents and possessions as ones who must answer for them to God;
	IX	To speak the truth, and not to mislead others by our silence;
	X	To resist temptations to envy, greed, and jealousy; to rejoice in other people's gifts and graces; and to do our duty for the love of God, who has called us into fellowship with him.
Q.	What is the purpose of the Ten Commandments?
A.	The Ten Commandments were given to define our relationship with God and our neighbors.
Q.	Since we do not fully obey them, are they useful at all?
A.	Since we do not fully obey them, we see more clearly our sin and our need for redemption.

Sin and Redemption

Q.	What is sin?
A.	Sin is the seeking of our own will instead of the will of God, thus distorting our relationship with God, with other people, and with all creation.

The Episcopal church is itself in sin as defined in her Catechism, seeking its own will instead of the will of God. God revealed His will for us in the written word of God which has essentially been abandoned by the Episcopal Church. The Word is meaningless, though it is throughout the Book of Common Prayer and the Pastoral Offices. Look with me into the Episcopal marriage ceremony:

Dearly beloved: We have come together in the presence of 
God to witness and bless the joining together of this man and 
this woman in Holy Matrimony.  The bond and covenant of 
marriage was established by God in creation, and our Lord 
Jesus Christ adorned this manner of life by his presence and 
first miracle at a wedding in Cana of Galilee.  It signifies to us 
the mystery of the union between Christ and his Church, and 
Holy Scripture commends it to be honored among all people.

The union of husband and wife in heart, body, and mind is 
intended by God for their mutual joy; for the help and comfort 
given one another in prosperity and adversity; and, when it is 
God's will, for the procreation of children and their nurture 
in the knowledge and love of the Lord.  Therefore marriage is 
not to be entered into unadvisedly or lightly, but reverently, 
deliberately, and in accordance with the purposes for which it 
was instituted by God.

Note that in the current version, the Episcopal church has it right according to scripture- acknowledging that God instituted marriage, between man and a woman. It goes on to acknowledge the  union between man and woman (Ephesians 5:25-32) is a picture of the spiritual union between Christ and the Church, and that it should not be entered into lightly- but reverently- in accordance with the purposes for which it was instituted by God. 

These purposes are revealed in the scripture, both Old and New Testaments that is published in the section called the Ministry of the Word:

The Ministry of the Word
The Celebrant then says to the people

                The Lord be with you.People        And also with you.

Let us pray.

O gracious and everliving God, you have created us male and
female in your image: Look mercifully upon this man and this
woman who come to you seeking your blessing, and assist
them with your grace, that with true fidelity and steadfast love
they may honor and keep the promises and vows they make;
through Jesus Christ our Savior, who lives and reigns with
you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.

Marriage     425

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Then one or more of the following passages from Holy Scripture is read.  If
there is to be a Communion, a passage from the Gospel always concludes
the Readings.Genesis 1:26-28 (Male and female he created them)

Genesis 2:4-9, 15-24 (A man cleaves to his wife and they become one flesh) 

                The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ
                according to __________.People        Glory to you, Lord Christ.Matthew 5:1-10 (The Beatitudes)
Matthew 5:13-16 (You are the light...Let your light so shine)
Matthew 7:21,24-29 (Like a wise man who built his house upon the rock)
Mark 10:6-9,13-16 (They are no longer two but one)
John 15:9-12 (Love one another as I have loved you)

Let us take a look at these passages: 

Genesis 1:26-28Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

27So God created man in his own image,in the image of God he created him;male and female he created them.

28And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 

Note, God did create man and woman, and part of the purpose of Marriage was to procreate. This is not successful in 100% of the marriages; there is infertility etc, however from when God created marriage his command was to be fruitful and multiply. You need a man and a woman to do this. 

To continue:

Genesis 2:23-25Then the man said,

“This at last is bone of my bonesand flesh of my flesh;she shall be called Woman,because she was taken out of Man.”

24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

When God created marriage, it was between the two beings he created. This may seem a pedantic question, but do you suppose that God in creating the first humans could have created two men, each with the ability to procreate? Instead, God created complementary human beings, each with unique parts and personalities that were beneficial to each other, allowing an intimacy (that is beyond sexual) that could allow them to be one flesh- illustrating the unity between the Godhead (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit- Three persons, One God- Unity in will, substance, and purpose- yet Three persons) and the Mystery of the union between Christ and His church.

Finally, Christ reiterates this purpose:

Mark 10:6-9But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’  7‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife,  8and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh.  9What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”10And in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. 11And he said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her,12and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”  

Many people in the debate over homosexual marriage claim that Christ never speaks about homosexual marriage. Here in this passage he affirmed that marriage is between one man and woman- and it is quoted right in the Pastoral Offices.  This is the frustration that I have with the Episcopal Church and other denominations that began so well: They have departed from the clear teaching of the Word of God that they had clung to for so long in favor of cultural relevance and approval from the world. This is why I believe my baptism and confirmation hold no water whatsoever for the scripture promises they are based upon are used falsely and to the Institutional church they Scripture has become no more than suggestion. The foundation of the Institutional Episcopal church is therefore sand.

I urge the members of the Episcopal Church go back to your book of Common Prayer and read all the scripture in it and ask the Holy Spirit to open your eyes- and do not stop there. Go to the source- the Bible- and allow God's Word to reveal the truth about God and about You. As it says in your Catechism, start with the Ten Commandments, and examine yourself in the light of God's moral law written on your heart. At that point you will become aware of your need for a Savior. He is Christ- and He wants to save you individually from your sin. When He saves you, there is always the Anglican Church (US) that holds to the Standard of God's Word. 

I encourage an exodus, as ICABOD (The glory of the LORD has departed) has been long written over the Episcopal Church USA.