by Steve | Jul 10, 2017 | July-August 2017, Magazine, Magazine Articles
B.J. Funk
By B.J. Funk-
Motel Six television commercials are known for their “We keep the light on” advertisements. These words might not mean much to some, but they send a comforting beacon to many for whom the light has been turned off. Weary travelers find hope when they reach a place of safety and rest.
The same is true for heartbroken or rejected people. For those who have ever had a door slammed in their faces, or a rejection that feels like hard fists in the stomach, the encouragement of finding a place that actually keeps the light on is an oasis of hope, a contrast to their desert of darkness. Just as Motel Six reaches out for weary travelers, weary lives find hope when they reach a place of safety and rest.
Already today, you have probably passed by someone in the grocery store or at work who longs for a light to be left on for them. You likely did not notice, for many searchers of light are masters at covering up their need. They mix their hurts with an addiction to numb the pain, taking on excessive swallows of poison as they grow deeper into their belief that they don’t really matter to anyone else. Why, then, should they matter to you?
Or, perhaps it is the opposite. They laugh a little too loudly, tell a few more jokes than anyone else, and maybe, if you look deeply enough, they never allow you to really get into their lives. We only see portions of them, the sunny side of them, the “I’ve got life, and I’m great” side of them. One gets the feeling that honesty has never rested its head on their heart, as they cake on layer after layer of “Everything is okay! Really, it is.”
Then, on a night when no one expects, a crash comes through their cover-up plans, and a raw pain that hurts deeper than they ever imagined comes forth. Pretense falls, and truth walks in. It is not fun. It’s not fun to realize that all your hidden secrets are hidden no more, that now your family and friends will see the dark side of you. It is more than you can bear. You want to climb in a closet, and shut out the world.
Except for one giant, marvelous word, you might. One word that dares to break the closet door open and pull you out. A soothing, yet forceful word that is claimed by the one who made it, the one who is the very same, the one who is over and above all others. God is that one, and the healing word is Mercy.
Mercy takes the same hammer that nailed Jesus to the cross and yanks out the nails that hold you captive inside the closet. God paid too much for you to live in an embryonic state of mind inside of mold, dark, and nothingness. Mercy claims you, holds you, enfolds you, and calls you His own.
Come out from hiding. Your life is not over yet. Mercy will always keep the light on for you. Mercy kept the light on for one of our heroes in the Bible. King David was at one time surrounded by as many as ten thousand enemy soldiers. He was running for his life from his rebellious son, Absalom, and a host of traitors. David could have trusted his army to defeat his enemies, but instead he trusted in the mercy of God. He wrote in Psalm 3: “But you are a shield around me, O Lord; you bestow glory on me and lift up my head. To the Lord I cry aloud, and He answers me from his holy hill. I lie down and sleep. I wake again, because the Lord sustains me.”
Mercy kept the light on for David. Even when his enemies sat in the dark shadows of evil plots against him, David trusted God for mercy.
Whatever you are facing today, wherever you went wrong yesterday, however your fear blocks tomorrow, look for the sign that assures you that mercy blinks a welcome light for you. Then, settle peacefully into this moment, and allow the Light of Jesus to do what it always does. Receive peace as you rest in this place of safety and hope.
Discouraged? Hopeless? Mercy will always keep the light on for you.
by Steve | May 23, 2017 | Magazine, Magazine Articles, May-June 2017
Rev. Rob Renfroe
By Rob Renfroe-
Years ago I heard a preacher say, “It’s not what happens to you, but what happens in you that makes the difference.” I have come to believe that statement is true. And I’m grateful it is because we cannot control what happens to us but we always have a choice about what happens in us – decisions we make going forward.
As we pray for the Bishops’ Commission on A Way Forward for the United Methodist Church, let me share with you three decisions that will guide me as I move forward as a person attempting to follow Jesus faithfully and that I hope will direct us as an evangelical movement within the UM Church.
First, I have decided to see what is happening in the church with the eyes of faith. Life events are not colors. You and I look at the drapes on a wall and we see them the same way. They’re green or blue or red or orange. Within a given culture, there’s pretty much one way of seeing colors. That’s how many of us think about the situations we face in life. We believe there’s pretty much one way of looking at them – and that’s our way.
But I have known people in the very same situation who have seen what’s happening very differently. Both were diagnosed with cancer. Both had lost a child. Both were cheated on by a spouse. One saw God as uncaring and unfair. The other saw God reaching out to them through their tears. One ended up losing their faith. The other became closer to God than ever before. Same event. Very different outcomes. Why? Because of how they chose to see it.
Here we are, more than 45 years into a battle for the faithfulness of the Methodist Church – actually, for the Christian faith. The bishops’ commission is meeting. And we have two years to go before we know where things will stand. How do we see this situation? From some of the letters I’ve gotten, some people see our situation as “Nothing has changed. The bishops still don’t get it. The progressives are still being disobedient and getting away with it. Two years is an eternity.” They see our situation as a never ending battle that’s taking way too long and going nowhere. And some are giving up and walking away.
I’m not saying they’re wrong to see it that way. But that’s not how I choose to see it. I choose to see that we are the only mainline church that hasn’t lost the battle or caved to the culture. On our 50th anniversary, I choose to see that God has honored the faithfulness of those who went before us, who were visionary enough to begin Good News and who were committed enough to sacrifice for the cause of Scriptural Christianity.
I choose to see that after five decades of struggle and prayer and faith, we have less than two years left to finish what godly men and women started when the night was dark and the road was long. I choose to see that we are on the 10 yard line, the game is almost over, and what we do here at the end will make all the difference.
I choose to see through the eyes of faith that God is working to create a kairos moment for United Methodists where, by his grace, we will be able to do what no mainline church has ever done – create a just and amicable solution to our differences that honors Christ and brings about a new and faithful evangelical movement, no longer embroiled in a draining debate about the veracity of God’s Word. We are “this close” to being free of a battle that has consumed so much time and resources from making disciples. That’s what I see through the eyes of faith.
I have decided that I can and will control my emotions. Great power comes into our lives when we realize that we can choose how we respond emotionally. As my church often hears me say, “You are not a microwave oven. People cannot just press your buttons and make you go off.” You are made in God’s image – that means, among other things, you have a rational mind, a will that is capable of making and acting on intentional choices, and the ability to control your emotions.
I learned this lesson from the example of two persons in our congregation who suffered with ALS, Lou Gehrig’s disease. One was a young father who never became bitter or even discouraged. In fact, every time I visited with him, he told me how grateful he was for a God who had blessed him with a wonderful wife, two children that brought him much joy, and with an assurance that he would see his Savior in heaven. When it would have been so easy for him to be down, his spirit soared.
The other was an older woman who suffered from this hideous disease that leaves you paralyzed and that takes everything from you but your mind which realizes all that you have lost. Near the end of her life, it was painful to visit her and see her suffer so greatly. The Scripture passage she asked me to read at her funeral? Habakkuk 3.17-18. “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines; though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food; though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.”
Life can be unfair and painful. But we can always choose how we will respond emotionally. I have learned that if instead of feeling small and powerless, I feel confident in the power and the goodness of God; if I feel that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me; if I feel Jesus Christ is the living Lord of his church, I can face life with peace and grace.
Do not let the rebellion of others, do not let how out of touch many of our bishops are, and do not let every little thing you read or hear about the commission or other UM leaders determine how you feel inside. Lift up your eyes to the hills, from whence cometh your help.
The spirit of the Lion of the tribe of Judah lives in you. Do not whimper, do not fret, and do not be afraid. Do not become discouraged or give up. Jesus Christ is Lord. Within our spirits we can be strong and confident. We can decide to live above our circumstances and the negative emotions that would draw us away from Christ and cause us to be less than loving to others.
Finally, I have decided to be responsible for my actions. Ask people why they are where they are in life, and if they’re not doing well, often they will tell you about what someone else did or didn’t do. “My father wasn’t there for me,” “My spouse doesn’t understand me,” “My job puts me under lots of stress,” “My boss is a jerk,” “The progressives won’t follow the Discipline and the bishops won’t enforce it.”
But once we say those things are the reasons for our poor choices or our angry actions, what we are really saying is that we’re not responsible for our lives. And, in so doing, we deny our humanity and we give ourselves permission to be irresponsible in the areas of our lives that matter most.
Friends, you are not a string of excuses. You are not a victim of your circumstances. You are not a powerless pawn of life’s unfairness. You are a human being made in the image of God. You are the most powerful and resourceful creature God put on this planet. And you are surrounded by brothers and sisters all over the world who are committed to the truth of the Gospel and the health of the church as much as you are.
After winning a great victory on Mt. Carmel, the prophet Elijah went into the wilderness and begged to die. Why? Because he felt like he was the only one fighting the battle. “I alone am left,” he cried out. He saw himself as being all by himself. So he felt discouraged. And his action was to run away and give up.
But God saw what was true. “There are 7000 others who have not bent the knee to Baal.” No, Elijah was not alone. Others were being faithful and were willing to help him. Read the rest of the passage and you’ll see that God had a plan for Elijah and for the renewal of Israel.
Friends, you are not alone. You may be weary, but our God has a plan. Believe that. Claim that. Act as if that is true because it is. Together, we can rise to any challenge. We can overcome any obstacle. And, by his grace, we can be faithful and strong to the end.
I have decided that will be my story – my way forward. I pray it will be yours as well.
Rob Renfroe is the president and publisher of Good News.
by Steve | May 23, 2017 | Magazine, Magazine Articles, May-June 2017
Coffee drinking may be an essential component of any modern day United Methodist church, but John Wesley was not a big fan. Neither did he champion the cause of tea: “But three cups of strong tea will now make my hand shake, so that I can hardly write.” In his health and wellness book Primitive Physick, Wesley wrote, “Coffee and tea are extremely hurtful to persons who have weak nerves.”
Wesley would probably not get very far in convincing contemporary United Methodists to give up their daily fix of caffeine. If you are a Wesleyan without “weak nerves” we want to draw your attention to Drinklings (www.Drinklings.coffee), founded by two Asbury Theological Seminary alumni. The outfit makes quirky coffee mugs (John Wesley and Suzanna Wesley mugs on the left in the picture above), t-shirts, and fresh roasted coffee dedicated to various social issues like crisis pregnancy, addiction recovery, mental health, and so forth. The goal is to be able to provide both short term and long term financial support for various ministries focusing on such issues and raise both church and public awareness in the process through shared coffee and products.
The social mission coffee (“Life,” for example, is the roast dedicated to the pro-life movement) always comes fresh roasted and uniquely crafted for each cause and the mugs work as gifts and collectibles. GOOD NEWS readers can get a 10% off discount by using the code: GOODNEWS at the checkout.
We also enjoy having the John Wesley character mug from Asbury Theological Seminary near our coffee machine at the Good News headquarters (pictured above on the right). While we would stop short of saying that it keeps our coffee “strangely warmed,” we definitely believe it is a fun and unique addition to our office (store.asburyseminary.edu).
– Good News Media Service
by Steve | May 23, 2017 | Magazine, Magazine Articles, May-June 2017
Not long after our deadline, the nine-member Judicial Council of The United Methodist Church (the denomination’s Supreme Court) responded to the South Central Jurisdictional Conference, regarding the election of Mountain Sky Area Bishop Karen Oliveto, the denomination’s first openly gay bishop.
Last summer, Dixie Brewster, a South Central Jurisdiction delegate and lay member of the Great Plains Annual Conference, moved that the delegates request a declaratory decision from the Judicial Council on the following matter: “Is the nomination, election, consecration, and/or assignment as a bishop of The United Methodist Church of a person who claims to be a ‘self-avowed practicing homosexual’ or is a spouse in a same-sex marriage lawful under The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church?”
Good News will provide full analysis of the decision in the next issue of the magazine. In the interim, be sure to follow our coverage at goodnewsmag.org.
by Steve | May 23, 2017 | Magazine, Magazine Articles, May-June 2017
Commission on a Way Forward members (L-R) Bishop Gregory Palmer, Jasmine Rose Smothers, Dave Nuckols and Jorge Acevedo. Photo by Diane Degnan (UM Communications).
By Heather Hahn-
The 32 members of the Commission on a Way Forward are getting down to the business of doing what their name says — helping a denomination deeply divided over homosexuality move toward some sort of future together. That future could end up looking very different than how The United Methodist Church operates at present. The multinational commission held its third meeting April 6-8 in Washington. Just as was true with its first two meetings, the commission’s third gathering was closed to reporters.
“We’re acknowledging that there are deep-seated differences in the church, and there are parts of the church that are not able to live together in a close connection,” the Rev. Thomas Lambrecht said. “So we are looking at ways to loosen the connection. What form that might take, we don’t know yet.”
Matt Berryman agreed with Lambrecht’s assessment. “What we’re contemplating is loosening the connection in the face of conflict over whether there needs to be uniformity of practice and belief around LGBTQ people,” Berryman said.
Scott Johnson of Upper New York cautioned not to get too carried away with the idea of “loosening the connection.” “I think there is no question we still see a connected United Methodist church,” he said. “We’re working toward unity.”
The group brings together clergy and laity from nine countries and of diverse perspectives. At least three members, including Berryman, are openly gay. Still others, like Lambrecht, have long advocated for maintaining the bans on same-gender unions and “self-avowed practicing” gay clergy.
“We are trying to think about and model the new behaviors that will help leaders who deeply care about the church to see new forms and structures that will allow for differing expressions of the global church,” Florida Area Bishop Ken Carter, told UMNS. He is one of three bishops who is moderating the commission’s work.
The group is not only looking at a way through the impasse around homosexuality but also how to increase vitality of local churches and strengthen the church’s mission. According to a press release about the meeting, the commission members indicated they are leaning toward a simpler structure “with clearer processes for decision-making and accountability.”
The Rev. Tom Berlin, lead pastor of Floris United Methodist Church in Herndon, Virginia, said the commission still doesn’t know what “simpler” would look like. “We just have a sense that it’s a lot more complicated than it needs to be,” he said. “That’s why you are hearing people say, ‘simpler’ and ‘looser.’” Berlin added that in his experience, The United Methodist Church is “a denomination that likes the tension of different perspectives.”
For any of its proposals to become reality, the commission needs the assent of General Conference delegates. Bishops are considering calling a special General Conference in 2019.
Heather Hahn is a reporter for the United Methodist News Service. Vicki Brown, UMNS news editor, contributed to this report. This article was adapted from UM News Service.
![Mortals and the Divine]()
by Steve | May 23, 2017 | Magazine, Magazine Articles, May-June 2017
Photo by Steve Beard.
By Steve Beard-
As cultural mavens are more than aware, this is the 50th anniversary of the infamous Summer of Love when the hippie counterculture christened its fashions, ideals, art, and music. The pilgrimage of the Flower Children to Haight-Ashbury was an attempt to create a fleeting utopia, a chance to experiment with drugs, and an opportunity to dabble in “free love” – a co-ed sleepover without the parents.
When asked to reflect back on what he believed in the ’60s, satirist P.J. O’Rourke responded, “Everything. You name it and I believed it. I believed love was all you need… I believed drugs could make you a better person. I believed I could hitchhike to California with thirty-five cents and people would be glad to feed me… I believed the world was about to end. I believed the Age of Aquarius was about to happen… I managed to believe Gandhi and H. Rap Brown at the same time. With the exception of anything my parents said, I believed everything.”
This was also the summer when the Beatles unveiled Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. With its psychedelic vibe, Indian influences, funky cover art, and wink-and-nod references to drug use, it was a fitting soundtrack for the scene. This was an era of provocative new thinking, troubling for some and liberating for others.
“In some ways the hippie generation appeared to be overturning generations of Christian morality and in other ways they were overturning a soulless secularism and arguing for truth, beauty, and justice,” Steve Turner, acclaimed British poet and author of Beatles ’66: The Revolutionary Year, recently told me. “Unpacking what happened is a difficult task. Anyone who says it was all bad is wrong. Anyone who says it was all good is wrong.”
From my perspective, I’m more than mildly intrigued by the Summer of Love because I’m a Cold War kid – raised as a punk rocker during the Reagan era on The Clash, Blondie, U2, The Ramones, and The Stray Cats. My generation had its own ideals but it was notably not expressed with saffron robes and sitar music. Despite being on a different side of the generational and cultural divide, I will always be a Beatles fan and have a soft spot in my heart for the ’60s. Despite their sometimes justifiable bad rap, the hippies may have ultimately been in search of spiritual transcendence.
“The rock ‘n’ roll bands are the philosopher-poets of the new religion,” wrote Timothy Leary, a 1960s cultural ringleader. “Their beat is the pulse of the future. The message from Liverpool is the Newest Testament, chanted by four Evangelists — saints John, Paul, George, and Ringo. Pure Vedanta, divine revelation, gentle, tender irony at the insanities of war and politics, sorrowful lament for the bourgeois loneliness, delicate hymns of glory to God.”
Of course, Leary was known for his hallucinogenic hyperbole while tripping on LSD. He is also the one who advocated, “Turn on, tune in, and drop out.” Nevertheless, his devotional verbiage was indicative of a Flower Power generation that perceived spiritual vibrancy in rock ’n’ roll, and viewed the church as flaccid and anemic. This was most inelegantly and bluntly stated by John Lennon: “We’re more popular than Jesus now; I don’t now which will go first – rock ‘n’ roll or Christianity.”
Those ended up being fighting words to the agitated and alarmed faithful. Instead of engaging the prickly comments or turning the other cheek, some American fans doused their Beatles albums in kerosene and scorched them. Others sent death threats in purple crayon while the Ku Klux Klan nailed Beatles albums to burning crosses.
In trying to clarify his position, Lennon said, “Originally I was pointing out the fact with reference to England – that we meant more to kids at that time than Jesus did.” Who could argue with that? In one of his previous books, The Gospel According to the Beatles, Turner underpins Lennon’s point: “Members of this generation could have quoted more Beatles lyrics than they could Hymns Ancient and Modern and would know more about John the Beatle than John the Baptist, more about Paul of Allerton than Paul of Tarsus.”
As the Beatles would soon discover, fame and fortune were often vacuous taskmasters. At a later time in Lennon’s life he addictively found himself watching popular television preachers in search of answers. It was reported that Lennon sent a fascinating letter to the Rev. Oral Roberts in 1972, regretting having said that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus and confessing that he took drugs because he feared reality. Additionally, he quoted the famous lyrics “money can’t buy me love” and sent a donation.
“It’s true. The point is this, I want happiness,” read the letter to Roberts. “I don’t want to keep on with drugs… Explain to me what Christianity can do for me. Is it phony? Can He love me? I want out of hell.”
In the midst of a thoughtful and lengthy response, Roberts wrote, “What I want to say … is that Jesus, the true reality, is not hard to face. He said, ‘Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest … For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’”
Despite the letters exchanged between the rock star and the TV preacher, Lennon’s restless journey eventually led him to embrace philosophies and beliefs that were all over the map.
“You could rattle human authority by growing your hair long, but you couldn’t conquer your inner demons in the same way,” observed Turner. “To ‘change your head,’ as John referred to it in [the song] ‘Revolution,’ required something much more radical.”
Few movements within American Christianity were more radical than the long haired, barefooted hippies getting high on Jesus, revolutionizing church music, tuning into verse-by-verse Bible study, enthusiastically sharing their faith, and being baptized by the thousands in the Pacific Ocean during the Jesus Movement after the Summer of Love.
Looking back 50 years, perhaps that was at least what some of the hippies were trying to discover during that season — something much more radical, a true reality, a change of heart, a touch from God. In hindsight, it’s not such a bad quest.
Steve Beard is the editor of Good News.
