United Methodist General Conference 2012: Or the death of a church

29 Sunday Apr 2012

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I want to prefix this by saying that until Christmas Day last year I was a Methodist, and am probably still counted on the membership roles of a local United Methodist Church. So, hopefully I am not seen as too much of an outsider when I speak on these issues. For more of why I left see my older posts. [Genesis of a Closet Calvinst, My Exodus, But Your Lives are Never Changed]

The United Methodist Church General Conference is going on as I write this. The hot topics this year are the inclusion of homosexuals in membership and in pastoral roles, taking official stances on immigration, who to support in the issues over Palestine and Israel, and health care reform.

Also, in following the #gc2012 stream on Twitter I’ve also seen that a huge concern for the UMC in this conference is the fact that their membership numbers are on the decline, and they don’t believe they are seen as relevant by young people.

I submit to you that the declining numbers in the UMC are due to taking these political stands and attempts at including homosexuals in pastoral roles.

The Church isn’t a man made organization, it isn’t even an organization run by man. Instead, it is a God made organism, and its constitution is found in the Bible. The Church must seek to honor God and obey His Word. The Bible clearly and unapologetically states that homosexuality is sinful and unnatural. And, the Bible doesn’t give a stance on what a secular nation’s immigration laws should look like, who is more or less in the wrong in modern day Israel and its settlements, or what a nation’s role in healthcare should be.

What it does say, however, is that the Church is to be about making disciples of all nations by calling men everywhere to repent and be baptized for the remission of sins in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

And, this is what is lost when the Church sets its focus on something outside of its mission statement. Businesses are destroyed due to mission creep, the same applies to the Church of Jesus Christ. We have one commission, we are to be busy with that until the Lord returns.

And then there is the issue of homosexual agenda being considered by the Methodist church. The bible clearly opposes it. When you oppose God’s word why would you expect your church to grow or be relevant? The church is counter cultural, why would anyone have any interest in it if it goes with the cultural on controversial issues?

United Methodist Church, if you want to be relevant, if you want to be biblical, if you want to not disappear into obscurity then return to God and to what He has given us in His word, and maybe by God’s grace He will bring people in. Otherwise, disappear into the night.

Boycott!

27 Tuesday Mar 2012

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Have you heard the news? The good news? Well, or maybe not such good news. Starbucks is EVIL. Or at least some are making them out to be. Starbucks announced on January 25th (Yeah, I’m that behind.) that they would officially be supporting gay marriage. Much to the rejoice of the LGBT community, and to the vitriolic anger of some conservative Christians.

As per the usual some Christians have decided to boycott Starbucks. I think this makes the second Christian boycott of Starbucks in a year or so. The last one being when their CEO decided not to speak at Willow Creek’s leadership conference because Willow Creek says homosexuality is a sin. Interestingly enough, the CEO decided not to because of fear of a boycott from the LGBT community. (And, who knows why a church would have a leadership conference, or why a non-Christian corporate CEO would be invited to speak at one. Well, I do, but I would become angry if I delved into the topic further.)

Christians haven’t always been the majority, in fact, Christians aren’t the majority anywhere in the world except for in the US, and even being the majority here is questionable. We are at least a sizable enough group that a certain political party pretends to care about us. But, what happens when we aren’t a sizable group? Could you imagine if Christians in Iran boycotted a company, yeah all 5,000 of them. The company wouldn’t care, likely because they wouldn’t even notice.

A boycott is an act of power and aggression, used by a group to punish a person or company for an action or view that they are opposed to. I don’t think a boycott is a proper reaction from those who are called to love. If we are called to live peaceably with all people as so much as it depends on us, how can we act in mass to bully a company? Are our arguments against gay marriage so weak that we need to lower ourselves to bullying to get people to comply with our beliefs? Isn’t there a better way?

That being said, I do think there are legitimate reasons for individuals, not the Church as a whole, to not spend their money with a company. I, for one, avoid spending my money at certain monolithic department stores. Not because their stance on gay marriage, but because many of their products are made by slaves or desperately underpaid employees in third world countries. However, I think that is something individual Christians need to decide, after becoming educated on it, rather than something that needs to be preached from the pulpit. The Church is to be a Gospel people, not a political entity, and certainly not a bullying consumerist or political group.

Should I stay or should I go now?

08 Thursday Mar 2012

Posted by in Church, Personal

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Wretched Radio brought up a good question on today’s (3/6/2012 hour 1) show. It is a question that I’ve had to consider in a practical way over the last couple of years. The question is, if someone is in a bad church or denomination, should one stay in it and try to work to right the church or should one jump ship and instead serve in a church that is healthy.

As one could see in my first two personal posts, I was in a bad church and ended up leaving. (and somehow started an anonymous blog using the moniker of a 16th century theologian) The role I had in the church gave me the opportunity to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ to a couple dozen youth in the years that I was in the church, and kept me in the church despite my desire to leave.

As opportunities presented themselves over the years I asked people whom I respect what they think I should do. One told me that he thought working to reform the church from the inside was the best thing to do, and to leave was one of the worst things one could do. Another, who had been in the church in the past but had since moved on for other reasons, told me that I should move on and find something more biblical. One said to eat the meat but to spit out the bones. Some said to run for my life. The host of a popular radio show and blogger said to stay as long as I can to teach the kids, because they wouldn’t get the Gospel from anyone else, but to moonlight at a solid church.

In the end I went with the advice to stick around but moonlight. As providence would have it, the Sunday school teaching gig ended only a few weeks later, and I didn’t even have time to moonlight more than a couple of times. When I no longer had responsibility for that ministry I was relieved to be able to fully move on.

From the personal and practical to the theoretical and likely more interesting though, Joey from Wretched Radio used an analogy of guys riding in the back of a truck that is tilting to the left and about to roll. If you are one of the riders on the right, do you jump to save your life, and allow the truck to tilt further left and increase the likelihood of rolling, or do you stay and risk going down with it?

At what point do you jump ship? What would it take for you to leave? Is there hope for these liberal churches, or are they too lost to be saved?

Book Review: The Grace Effect

06 Tuesday Mar 2012

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The Grace Effect is an exploration of “common grace,” or rather, the lack of common grace, in a nation that has done its best to end any Christian influence and replace it with an atheistic philosophy. The author, Larry Alex Taunton, explores this lack of common grace through the story of his experience in trying to adopt a ten year old orphan from Ukraine. Through this, he shows what really happens when the philosophy of “new atheists” such as Richard Dawkins, and Christopher Hitchens, goes from the theoretical to the practical.

The story starts with a post-debate argument over dinner between Christopher Hitchens and Larry Taunton. Hitchens is arguing for his atheistic philosophy and how it would make for the best way to manage an evil world, while Taunton is arguing that it is the Christian influence in the world that keeps some semblance of sanity. It then shifts to Taunton’s family meeting a little girl in Ukraine, and continues with his experience in spending several weeks in Ukraine fighting mountains of redundant paperwork, and then appeasing anti-American and anti-adoption adoption officials who are more interested in lining their pockets than aiding the needy. The story is hilarious, frustrating, and tear jerking.

Throughout the book, Taunton explains some of Ukraine’s history, as well as his thoughts as to how the society became so cruel and uncaring to its weakest members. He uses this as a backdrop to explain common grace and what the effect of Christian influence, or lack thereof, is on a culture. The book isn’t heavy on theology, and because of this it should be approachable to most readers. Instead, the book comes across as a great story with some important explanations of how worldview effects societies and individuals.

In the end, it seems no argument was enough to convince the late Christopher Hitchens that a lack of Christian influence and a dominant atheistic influence in a culture is a terrible thing that he would never really want if he was able to see it. However, in Larry’s view the effect of a Christian worldview is demonstrated through his love for a little girl that society had abandoned and to whom he showed grace.

Overall, I think it was a great book, and I hope others will pick it up and read it.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255

In the News

22 Sunday Jan 2012

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Pastor Voddie Baucham wrote an interesting blog post about why he voted for Dr. Ron Paul in 2008 and why he intends to vote for him again.

Phil Johnson of Pyromaniacs blog wrote a scathing article on the “Word of Faith” false doctrine that has become epidemic in the church.

A video by Jefferson Bethke went viral and started some controversy in the process: Why I Hate Religion, but Love Jesus.

He later apologized for misunderstanding due to his misuse of the word religion and had a good chat with Kevin DeYoung, one of the leaders in the Young Restless and Reformed movement.

The Pope doesn’t think that Protestants are proper Christians. This reconfirms something we’ve known of Catholic beliefs since before the Council of Trent, but it apparently shocked some people.

Ed Young Jr, in a very Absolom-esque attempt to promote his book about sex, burnt his corneas while doing a “bed-in” with his wife on the church roof. (At time of writing The Christian Post website was down, link should work once they get things worked out, I hope.)

John Piper gave an excellent lecture to a group of young men where he discussed Augustine’s Confessions and what Augustine has to say to a sex addicted culture.

I’m still looking for a better title for these posts. If you have a suggestion for a title, or for a link you think I would like to see, please let me know.

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