by Steve | Feb 25, 2019 | In the News, Uncategorized
– By E.M. Bounds –
I believe that what the church needs today is not more or better machinery, not new organizations or more novel methods. She needs Christians whom the Holy Spirit can use—Christians of prayer, Christians mighty in prayer. The Holy Spirit does not flow through methods, but through people. He does not come on machinery, but on people. He does not anoint plans, but people—people of prayer!
…Spiritual work is always taxing work, and Christians are loath to do it. True praying involves serious attention and time, which flesh and blood do not relish. Few people have such strong fiber that they will make a costly outlay when inferior work will pass just as well in the market. To be little with God is to be little for God. It takes much time for the fullness of God to flow in the spirit. Short devotions cut the pipe of God’s full flow. We live shabbily because we pray meagerly. This is not a day of prayer. Few Christians pray. In these days of hurry and bustle, of electricity and steam, men will not take time to pray. Prayer is out-of-date, almost a lost art.
Where are the Christ-like leaders who can teach modern saints how to pray and put them at it? Do we know that we are raising up a prayerless set of saints? Only praying leaders have praying followers. We greatly need somebody who can set the saints to this business of praying!
–E.M. Bounds (1835-1913) was a Methodist preacher and editor of the St. Louis Christian Advocate. He is most well-known for his books on prayer such as Power Through Prayer, Prayer and Praying Men, and Purpose In Prayer.
by Steve | Feb 25, 2019 | In the News, Uncategorized
In the first indicator of the direction of the 2019 General Conference of The United Methodist Church, the majority of delegates affirmed the Traditional Plan. In a vote gauging “high priority” vs. “low priority” of various denominational plans, more than 55 percent of the delegates (459 votes) affirmed the Traditional Plan.
Despite what was perceived as a full-court press from the vast majority of North American bishops to pass the One Church Plan, only 48 percent of the assembly (403 votes) considered the OCP a “high priority.”
The Simple Plan, a radical proposal that would have eliminated all Disciplinary language regarding homosexuality, received only 153 votes.
The Connectional Conference Plan, a complicated restructuring of the denomination, mustered only 102 votes.
The Traditional Plan maintains our present position of affirming the worth of all persons and welcoming them to the ministries of the church while supporting our current biblical standards on marriage, ordination, and sexuality. The Traditional Plan has several provisions that need to be voted upon that would allow the church to enforce the Book of Discipline more effectively when pastors and bishops violate our policies. Each of these provisions will need to be approved individually.
The Traditional Plan is most in line with what delegates have supported at every General Conference since 1972. We believe that the Traditional Plan provides the most hopeful path to a faithful future for The United Methodist Church.
Although the General Conference has given indication that it approves the Traditional Plan, we are aware that progressive leaders will attempt to keep the conference from passing the plan. There will be efforts to postpone, amend, and substitute resolutions coming from the floor, seeking to bring work on a Traditional Plan to a standstill. For example, a last minute referral of a half dozen petitions to the Standing Committee on Central Conference Matters resulted in the rejection of all but one of those petitions.
Nevertheless, we are gratified that the General Conference prioritized the Traditional Plan, recognizing 2000 years of Christian tradition and the scriptural understanding of sexual ethics. All of this was in spite of the efforts of advocacy groups and bishops focused on changing our views on marriage, ordination, and sexuality.
If passed, the One Church Plan (OCP) would allow every pastor, every congregation, and every annual conference to determine its own sexual ethic. This would be an unwise course of action. Every other mainline denomination that has liberalized its sexual ethics has experienced a dramatic decline in membership and attendance, the loss of numerous congregations and financial resources. It has also sparked lengthy and costly court battles. It’s what we learn from other denominations – all the other denominations – who have gone this way before.
God is good and God is sovereign. We believe God still has plans for the people called Methodist.
by Steve | Feb 24, 2019 | In the News, Uncategorized
Dr. Jerry Kulah
– By Dr. Jerry Kulah –
My dear brothers and sisters of The United Methodist Church from all around the world, I humbly greet you in the strong name of Jesus Christ!
We thank God for all who have participated in observing a sacred season of fasting and prayer as we have prepared for this special General Conference session. And we praise God that there are thousands upon thousands still on bended knees interceding on our behalf as we make a defining decision regarding the future of The United Methodist Church.
I thank God for His precious Word to us, and I thank him for you, my dear sisters and brothers in Christ.
As the General Coordinator of UMC Africa InitiativeI greet you on behalf of all its members and leaders. We want to thank the Renewal and Reform Coalition within the United Methodist Churchfor the invitation to address you at this important breakfast meeting. Kindly join me in reading God’s Word as recorded in the Gospel of John 8:31-32.
As I understand it, the purpose for which we have gathered this week, and the plans before us as delegates seek to find a lasting solution to the long debate over our church’s sexual ethics, its teachings on marriage, and it ordination standards.
This debate and the numerous acts of defiance have brought the United Methodist Church to a crossroads, as it were in the days of the nation of Judah when they forsook the Lord. God challenged his people through the prophet Jeremiah to choose the ancient path and walk in it so that they might find rest for their souls (Jeremiah 6:16). Similarly, God is speaking to the People Called United Methodist to do likewise.
Why there may be several plans before us, I would like to speak to just two of them. One plan invites the people called United Methodists to take a road in opposition to the Bible and two thousand years of Christian teachings. I submit to you that, going down that road would divide the church. Those advocating for the One Church Plan would have us take that road.
But I would like to call your attention to consider this other plan, the Modified Traditional Plan. This plan invites us to reaffirm Christian teachings rooted in Scripture and the church’s rich traditions.
It says, “All persons are individuals of sacred worth, created in the image of God,” that “All persons need the ministry of the Church”, and that “We affirm that God’s grace is available to all.”
It grounds our sexual ethics in Scripture when it says, the UM Church does “not condone the practice of homosexuality and considers [it] incompatible with Christian teaching.”
While “we commit ourselves to be in ministry for and with all persons,” we do not celebrate same-sex marriages or ordain for ministry people who self-avow as practicing homosexuals. These practices do not conform to the authentic teaching of the Holy Scriptures, our primary authority for faith and Christian living.
However, we extend grace to all people because we all know we are sinners in need of God’s redeeming. We know how critical and life changing God’s grace has been in our own lives.
We warmly welcome all people to our churches; we long to be in fellowship with them, to pray with them, to weep with them, and to experience the joy of transformation with them.
Friends, please hear me, we Africans are not afraid of our sisters and brothers who identify as lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgendered, questioning, or queer. We love them and we hope the best for them. But we know of no compelling arguments for forsaking our church’s understanding of Scripture and the teachings of the church universal.
And then please hear me when I say as graciously as I can: we Africans are not children in need of western enlightenment when it comes to the church’s sexual ethics. We do not need to hear a progressive U.S. bishop lecture us about our need to “grow up.” No!
Let me assure you, we Africans, whether we have liked it or not, have had to engage in this debate for many years now. We stand with the global church, not a culturally liberal, church elite, in the U.S.
We stand with our Filipino friends! We stand with our sisters and brothers in Europe and Russia! And yes, we stand with our allies in America.
We stand with farmers in Zambia, tech workers in Nairobi, Sunday School teachers in Nigeria, biblical scholars in Liberia, pastors in the Congo, United Methodist Women in Cote d’Ivoire, and thousands of other United Methodists all across Africa who have heard no compelling reasons for changing our sexual ethics, our teachings on marriage, and our ordination standards! We stand together!
We are grounded in God’s word and the gracious and clear teachings of our church. On that we will not yield! We will not take a road that leads us away from the truth! We will take the road that leads to the making of disciples of Jesus Christ for transformation of the world!
I hope and pray, for your sake, that you will walk down this road with us. We would warmly welcome you as our traveling companions, but if you choose another road, we Africans cannot go with you. I am sorry, we cannot!
The vast majority of we Africans support the Modified Traditional Plan for two very important reasons.
First, we believe it is clearly rooted in Scripture and the teachings of Christians in all times and in all places. It reaffirms our church’s belief that “marriage is defined as a sacred relationship between one man and one woman,” not between any two consenting adults.
Second, passage of the Modified Traditional Plan will keep far more United Methodists unitedas one church than any of the other plans.
I want to be united with my sisters and brothers in our global connection. I hope you want that as well. Let us all walk together in a church steeped in Scripture and the life transforming teachings of our church; because all scripture is God’s breathe, and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness….” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
We Support an Exit Plan
Finally, I trust you will support a gracious exit petition, because, as someone has said, “It is better to be separated on truth than to be united on error”. Some Africans have been told that if a gracious exit petition is passed our evangelical friends in the U.S. will go their own way and no longer support efforts in Africa. That is not true; because Hudson Taylor once opined, “God’s work done God’s way never lacks God’s supply”.
Many of us in Africa have developed deep and long-lasting friendships with our brothers and sisters in the U.S. Those relationships will not be severed if a gracious exit petition passes.
Unfortunately, some United Methodists in the U.S. have the very faulty assumption that all Africans are concerned about is U.S. financial support. Well, I am sure, being sinners like all of you, some Africans are fixated on money.
But with all due respect, a fixation on money seems more of an American problem than an African one. We get by on far less than most Americans do; we know how to do it. I’m not so sure you do. So, if anyone is so naïve or condescending as to think we would sell our birth right in Jesus Christ for American dollars, then they simply do not know us. Because, we know how to live on much, how to live on little, and how to live on nothing. Amen!
We are seriously joyful in following Jesus Christ and God’s holy word to us in the Bible. And in truth, we think many people in the U.S. and in parts of Europe could learn a great deal from us. The UM churches, pastors and lay people who partner with us acknowledge as much.
Please understand me when I say that the vast majority of African United Methodists will never, ever trade Jesus and the truth of the Bible for money. We will walk alone if necessary, and yet we are confident the ties of Christian fellowship we have with friends here in U.S. will not be severed even if they too must walk apart from a church that would adopt the One Church Plan.
We believe all local churches should be treated fairly and so we strongly support a gracious exit plan. Friends, not too long ago my country, Liberia was ravaged by a terrible civil war that claimed over 250,000 lives. And then we faced the outbreak of the Ebola virus that claimed thousands of lives. We are keenly familiar with hardship and sorrow, but Jesus has led us through every trial. So nothing that happens over the next few days will deter us from following Him, and Him alone.
We shall persevere in the race before us, “looking unto Jesus, the Author and Perfecter” of our faith (Hebrews 2:2-3). We shall remain steadfast and faithful. And some day we shall wear the victor’s crown of glory with our King Jesus! Come walk with us!
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the blessed Holy Spirit, Amen!
Jerry P. Kulah is the dean of the Gbarnga School of Theology, United Methodist University, in Liberia. Thus address was presented at the Reform and Renewal Coalition Briefing Breakfast at the 2019 Special General Conference of the United Methodist Church Prayer Breakfast on Saturday, 23rdFebruary 2019.
by Steve | Jan 7, 2019 | Uncategorized
By Carlos Alarcon, M.D. –
As my involvement in the administration of my local church has grown, my understanding of the global United Methodist Church has expanded. Like many other lay people, I have become keenly aware of how un-united we truly are. Though we claim to be one in faith, our United Methodist Church, like most other major Protestant denominations, is feeling the effects of living and serving in a post-modern world. We as a society have gone from a scriptural worldview grounded in the Bible and the traditional tenets of the Christian faith passed on for over 2000 years where truth is determined by God and is universal, to a post-modern belief where truth is relative and subjective, defined by the individual, and is situational.
A faith built precariously on doubts and suspicions is not the faith I know because I have witnessed the hope that resides in the power of Christ’s cross.
So I refuse to build my faith upon suspicions and doubts. Instead, I proudly stand unashamed for the ancient faith that enabled our Christian ancestors to endure trials and tribulations I can barely imagine. I proudly stand unashamed for the faith that warmed the heart of John Wesley and ignited the Methodist movement. Our faith is grounded in the sure hope of Jesus Christ, and for this hope we stand unashamed.
The cross is a symbol of faith and hope, but to those of us who profess to be followers of Christ, it is the greatest symbol of love the world will ever know. It is a love that seeks us out and meets us wherever we are, pays for our sins, frees us from death, redeems and restores us in relationship with our Holy Father. It is a love that provides life, abundant life – eternal life. It is a love that we don’t deserve and could never earn. It is a love that calls us to serve out of reverence, adoration, and gratitude. A love that is too big not to share! This is the love for which we stand unashamed.
I do not worship a god of my own creation, but instead a God who created me. And I do not fully comprehend his love, a love that is unreasonable, unwarranted, and undeserved, yet is freely and lavishly poured out on me and all who would accept Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior.
This is not a love I fully understand, nor do I fully understand the author of that love. He is not a god I can wrap my mind around but a God who blows my mind instead. He alone is worthy, and for Him I will stand unashamed! God I pray, let that be what defines me.
Dr. Carlos Alarcon, M.D., is a medical doctor and lay member of Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church in Marietta, Georgia.
