SundaySchoolThoughts

SOLAVEI

noreply@blogger.com (Brett Royal) — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 04:49:00 +0000

this blog has been dormant for a long time. I know this is off topic, but there is a great opportunity here in the US that is getting ready to EXPLODE all over every social media outlet. You can say you heard about it here first.

Here it is:
it’s simple, $49 4G Nationwide Unlimited Voice, Text and Data that actually pays you back

Oh, and no contract! The company is called Solavei. A few weeks ago, I signed a non disclosure agreement with the company, and have been able to listen in to some of their meetings. Tonight, they lifted their non disclosure agreement, so members can begin advertising.

This company is not going to spend money advertising. Instead, they are going to give their members the opportunity to earn money for promoting their service using social media. You get $20 per month for every 3 people that you refer. Think about not ever having a cell phone bill again! This is a well funded company, and I promise you this is going to be huge. There is a potential to make a few hundred dollars a month as well.

It works a little differently, because the company is not going live until September. If you want more information, send me an email asking for an invitation to The Lane. You will receive an email from The Lane where you can create an account (you are not signing up for a telephone account) where you can get all of the information you need and get your questions answered. You can also begin to refer your friends before the whole thing goes viral.

KEEPING YOUR COMMITMENTS

noreply@blogger.com (Brett Royal) — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 18:22:00 +0000

Here are my thoughts on how to keep your commitments, especially when you make New Years Resolutions.
http://certainlyunsure.blogspot.com/2010/12/start-your-new-years-resolution-now.html

CERTAINLY UNSURE

noreply@blogger.com (Brett Royal) — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 23:17:00 +0000

I just created a new blog called CERTAINLY UNSURE and made my first post. It will be on a wider variety of topics than this one. Please stop by and let me know what you think.

DRIVE THROUGH CHURCH

noreply@blogger.com (Brett Royal) — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 19:37:00 +0000

NAPKIN THEOLOGY - DOES GOD EXIST?

noreply@blogger.com (Brett Royal) — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 21:34:00 +0000

WHAT MATTERS NOW

noreply@blogger.com (Brett Royal) — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 22:25:00 +0000

Download the free ebook What Matters Now by Seth Godin. Great Stuff! It covers a variety of topics by some of today's best thinkers. I'm a fan of Dave Ramsey, so part of his contribution is the image on the left.

ADVENT CONSPIRACY

noreply@blogger.com (Brett Royal) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 23:01:00 +0000

MY HEART IS FULL...I AM THANKFUL

noreply@blogger.com (Brett Royal) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 16:43:00 +0000

I was given the link below by a member of my church. What a great testimony. He survived the surgery, but don't know any more than that at this time.

http://hv.thevillagechurch.net/blog/hvpastor/?p=363

BRITISH METHODISTS AND INCLUSIVISM

noreply@blogger.com (Brett Royal) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 21:48:00 +0000

From Riley Case of the Confessing Movement with the United Methodist Church:

The Methodist Church of Great Britain voted this summer at its annual conference to prohibit any member of the political party, the British National Party (BNP), from joining any Methodist Church of Great Britain.

This normally might not be news deserving special mention, but it does raise an issue similar to that being discussed by United Methodists, namely: in a day when "inclusiveness" seems to be a new Christian value, should anyone for any reason be prohibited from Methodist Church membership?

Indeed, United Methodists in 2009 are voting on a constitutional amendment (#1) in their annual conferences which, if ratified, would inscribe as constitutional the principle that persons, regardless of what they believe, what they do, or who they are associated with--if they are willing to take the membership vows of the church-cannot be denied church membership. This has been labeled the "inclusiveness" amendment, though it is also being called the "No Standards" amendment.

The UM proposed amendment came about because a pastor in Virginia delayed the membership of a practicing homosexual. The bishop of Virginia demanded that the pastor receive the prospective member and when the pastor declined to do so, the bishop, with the help of the annual conference, had him removed from his pulpit. The bishop argued that "inclusiveness" is the foundation of Methodism and persons cannot be denied membership. When the Judicial Council sided with the pastor and against the bishop, the Council of Bishops entered the fray, speaking out against the Judicial Council and on behalf of the bishop, and followed this by making sure that any person on the Judicial Council who voted for the authority of the pastor, would not be nominated for reelection.

Following this the "inclusiveness" constitutional amendment was presented to the General Conference, received the necessary two-thirds vote, and was sent to the annual conferences for ratification. At the moment it appears the amendment will not be ratified.

However, the issue of "inclusiveness" is still before the church. At the heart of the argument against the concept of inclusiveness is the realization that total inclusiveness negates all standards. To put any restrictions on membership is to be "exclusive," not "inclusive." The Confessing Movement and others have argued that Methodism has always operated from standards, whether of doctrine or practice, and to do away with standards is not only a violation of the heart of Methodism, but of the tradition of the catholic church, and of Scripture itself.

With this as background the British Methodist decision to ban membership to persons associated with BNP deserves comment.

1) The British Methodists are to be commended for taking a stand on the principle that there are limits to the idea of inclusiveness. The British National Party (BNP) opposes immigration, and claims to "defend Britain's Christian culture" against "Islamification" of Britain. However, a number of people see it as a far-right party which would favor a kind of racist fascism. This past summer it won two seats in the European Parliament.

British Methodists are saying that such blatant racism is a denial of the gospel and cannot be tolerated by the church. Because this sort of racism is inconsistent with the gospel persons who belong to this political party will be banned from Methodist membership.

No words about diversity, inclusiveness, and "open hearts" and "open hands" and "open doors" here. In the words of one blogger: "An organized religion is organized around a common set of beliefs. If such an organization were forced to accept all members regardless of belief, it would cease to exist."

2) Having said this, it should be pointed out that there are serious questions about the wisdom of singling out a political party for membership banning. The bloggers are pointing out the problems:

"If Americans are to pick up on the British example, why not ban the Republicans since they too are racist?"

"If we are in the business of banning racism, let's ban everybody since we are all guilty of subtle, if not blatant forms of racism?"

"Is there a single example where someone in the BNP wants to become a Methodist?"

"BNP craziness deserves condemnation. But should these churches focus on the BNP, whose appeal is fortunately almost microscopic, while remaining silent about far more potent threats to Britain, such as radical Islam?"

Our denominational history serves up several serious problems relating to excluding groups of persons from membership. It was controversies around slaveholders as church members that led to the split of the Northern and Southern churches in the 1840s. It was controversies around the changing of a prohibition against membership for Masons that led to the United Brethren in Christ split in the 1880s.

3) Something positive should be said about our own United Methodist tradition in regard to membership. Article IV of the constitution is a good article because it indicates that classes or groups of persons, whether race, color, national origin, status, or economic condition (the list should be considered as illustrative and not exhaustive) are eligible to attend and join United Methodist churches. At the same time our tradition (supported by Judicial Council ruling 1032) invests responsibility with the pastor in instructing potential members in the meaning of the membership vows. It further invests authority with the pastor in determining when persons are ready for membership.

There are standards and there are beliefs. They are important to us and we make them requirements for those wishing to be church members.

Dr. Riley B. Case is a retired member of the North Indiana Conference. He is a graduate of Taylor University and Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, with a graduate degree from Northwestern University and an honorary degree from Taylor University. Dr. Case’s appointment before retiring was St. Luke’s United Methodist Church Kokomo. Before that he was the district superintendent of the Marion District of the North Indiana Conference. He represented the conference five different times at the General Conference and seven times at the North Central Jurisdictional Conference. At the general church level he served as a consultant on the Hymnal Revision Committee (1984-1988) and was a member of the Curriculum Resources Committee of the Board of Discipleship.

MISS CALIFORNIA CAN'T WIN

noreply@blogger.com (Brett Royal) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 22:04:00 +0000

Miss California and almost Miss USA, Carrie Prejean, is now being criticized both by the right and the left. Criticized is very conservative term when used in conjunction with the bashing she is taking by Perez Hilton. She didn't tell Perez he was going to go to Hell, she only said that she feels that marriage is between one man and one woman and that "we live in a land that you can choose same sex marriage or opposite marriage." However, since the issue of homsexuality is such a political issue, it shouldn't come as a shock that she has come under fire by the left.

What is simply unimaginable to me is that she is now being criticized (although a lot more gently than by the left) by some convervative evangelical christians. When she gave her answer, she didn't quote a scripture, or even claim that her belief that marriage should be between a man and a woman was based on the fact the she is a christian. This came later on The Today Show when she said she wanted to Biblically Correct instead of Politically Correct.

Many evangelicals immediately began to support her, because she had the courage to speak out, regardless of consequences. She even received a standing ovation last night at the Dove Awards. (I missed those, I was watching The Town Hall for Hope and Dave Ramsey). However, other evangelicals soon began to put an end to the hype.

I was listening to American Family Radio this morning and at lunch. It was said that even though she took a stand for pro family values, it wasn't right to parade around in a bikini. How silly. One caller said that she was a "so called christian" and should not be looked at as a role model, because christian women would never be parading around in a bikini.

Huh? All I can say is that I'm conservative, but the more I listen to AFR, the more liberal I feel.

THE KEITH GREEN STORY

noreply@blogger.com (Brett Royal) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 13:42:00 +0000

Some of my favorite music growing up was from Keith Green. A documentary of his life is below:

WHY DID JESUS FOLD THE NAPKIN

noreply@blogger.com (Brett Royal) — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 17:13:00 +0000

This a chain email that I found interesting.

Why did Jesus fold the linen burial cloth after His resurrection?

The Gospel of John (20:7) tells us that the napkin,which was placed over the face of Jesus, was not just thrown aside like the grave clothes.

The Bible takes an entire verse to tell us that the napkin was neatly folded,and was placed separate from the grave clothes.

Early Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance.

She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, 'They have taken the Lord's body out of the tomb, and I don't know where they have put him!'Peter and the other disciple ran to the tomb to see. The other disciple outran Peter and got there first. He stooped and looked in and saw the linen cloth lying there, but he didn't go in. Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, while the cloth that had covered Jesus' head was folded up and lying to the side.

Was that important? Absolutely!

Is it really significant? Yes!

In order to understand the significance of the folded napkin, you have to understand a little bit about Hebrew tradition of that day. The folded napkin had to do with the Master and Servant, and every Jewish boy knew this tradition. When the servant set the dinner table for the master, he made sure that it was exactly the way the master wanted it.. The table was furnished perfectly,and then the servant would wait, just out of sight, until the master had finished eating, and the servant would not dare touch that table, until the master was finished.

Now if the master were done eating, he would rise from the table, wipe his fingers, his mouth,and clean his beard, and would wad up that napkin and toss it onto the table.
The servant would then know to clear the table. For in those days,the wadded napkin meant,"I'm done".

But if the master got up from the table, and folded his napkin, and laid it beside his plate,the servant would not dare touch the table, because..........
The folded napkin meant, "I'm coming back!"

He is Coming Back!

GOOD NEWS, OR PERHAPS NOT

noreply@blogger.com (Brett Royal) — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 18:55:00 +0000

From Riley Case of the Confessing Movement with the United Methodist Church:

The United Church of Christ, which prides itself on being a Progressive denomination, through its HIV and AIDS Network, is encouraging condom distribution at UCC places of worship. A statement explains: "Condoms are a sign that people of faith take sexuality seriously as part of human life and that we endorse all options for preventing HIV infection and other sexually transmitted diseases."

The UCC statement is critical of Pope Benedict XVI, who urges abstinence as a way of dealing with AIDS. Anglican Bishop Andrew Proud of Ethiopia responds that the sexual politics of churches like the UCC compromise the churches' witness in Africa by legitimizing the behaviors that cause AIDS and abetting the Islamization of Africa and inviting violence against Christians.

And, speaking of Africa: The Africa Assemblies of God Alliance (AAGA) has set out to baptize 10 million believers within a ten year period, the denomination's news agency reported this past week.

The Assemblies of God is the world's largest Pentecostal denomination with somewhere between 57 to 60 million adherents.

There are about 16 million AG members meeting in more than 50,000 churches in 50 countries in sub-Sahara Africa and the Indian Ocean Basin, according to the denomination. In 1990, there were only 2.1 million constituents and 12,000 churches.

Three decades ago, the combined total of Pentecostals and Charismatics was less than 5 percent, now they make up some 17 percent of Africa's population, or about 147 million people, according to a 2006 Pew Forum study that highlighted the dramatic growth of the movement within half a century.

"Pentecostalism's dramatic expansion has left almost no part of sub-Saharan Africa unaffected," stated the Pew Forum. "If Pentecostal churches continue to grow in numbers and activism, the long-range political impact of Africa's vibrant Pentecostal community will become increasingly difficult to ignore."

Meanwhile (and speaking further of Africa): the General Board of Global Ministries several months ago terminated several effective, evangelical United Methodist missionaries in Africa, citing pressure on funds and changing priorities.

The changing priorities evidently have to do with the new focus on environmental issues, which the board seems to see as included in the mandate to preach the gospel to the whole world. While the General Board is cutting back on overseas missionaries, and while it is facing increasing financial pressures because of the economy (it has decreased its 2009 budget by 7%), it has found the funds to create a new missionary position for Rev. J. Pat Watkins. Rev. Watkins will work with the Virginia Conference Board of Church and Society in a program called "Caretakers of God's Creation." Rev. Watkins will serve as a church and community worker.

This represents the first time a denomination has used missionary money to assign a missionary to climate and ecological issues.

And, speaking further of Africa: the Anglican Province of Nigeria has extended a welcome to the new North American Anglican Province into the Anglican Communion. The Nigerian province claims 25% of all Anglican members in the world and voted unanimously to be in full communion with the Anglican Church in North America.

The Archbishop of Canterbury says that full recognition of the new North American Anglican Province will take years. The province is made up of former Episcopal Church congregations who felt they must leave the Episcopal Church because of issues regarding homosexuality and Biblical authority.

The Episcopal Church in the U.S., meanwhile, is seeking to uphold the property trust clauses in various states to prevent renegade Episcopal churches from taking their property with them as they leave the Episcopal Church to join with the new Anglican Province of North America.

And, speaking of trust clauses: while the Episcopal and Presbyterian churches seek to enforce trust clauses, the United Methodist General Board of Church and Society is seeking to break a trust clause. The board has admitted it has now spent 1.4 million dollars from its own reserve funds to seek a favorable decision on the matter of whether the trust clause of 1964 that restricts funds received from the Methodist Building and Endowment Trust for temperance and alcohol issues must be followed. The board has operated since 1964 under the opinion that all that the board does fulfills the intent of the clause. In the past seven years approximately 5 million dollars of net profit from the building has been used for such causes as divestment from Caterpillar stock (because Caterpillar sells machines to Israel), advocacy for the acceptance of homosexual practice, and a number of other non-alcohol related issues. Church and Society defenders blame critics of the stances of Church and Society for the lawsuit. However, it is the Attorney General of the District of Columbia, representing the people, who are opposing Church and Society.

Dr. Riley B. Case is a retired member of the North Indiana Conference. He is a graduate of Taylor University and Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, with a graduate degree from Northwestern University and an honorary degree from Taylor University. Dr. Case’s appointment before retiring was St. Luke’s United Methodist Church Kokomo. Before that he was the district superintendent of the Marion District of the North Indiana Conference. He represented the conference five different times at the General Conference and seven times at the North Central Jurisdictional Conference. At the general church level he served as a consultant on the Hymnal Revision Committee (1984-1988) and was a member of the Curriculum Resources Committee of the Board of Discipleship.

INCLUSIVENESS AND MEMBERSHIP DECLINE

noreply@blogger.com (Brett Royal) — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 19:13:00 +0000

From Riley Case of the Confessing Movement with the United Methodist Church:

Perhaps no sociologist has written on American churches more extensively than Dr. Rodney Stark of Baylor University. Along with Dr. Roger Finke he wrote The Churching of America 1776-1990 Winners and Losers in our Religious Economy (Rutgers: 1990), followed by Acts of Faith Explaining the Human Side of Religion (University of California: 1992). Rodney Stark's most recent book, What Americans Really Believe (Baylor: 2008) analyzes the beliefs and church-going habits of Americans.

A common theme in all of these books (as well as several others of Stark's books) is the relationship between belief systems and church growth (or decline). Stark and Finke elaborate on Richard Niebuhr's thesis in the classic sociological study, Christ and Culture, which traces the progress of movements and sects to churches and relates this to tensions with culture. In Churching of America Stark and Finke chart the progress of Methodism from 1776, when Methodism represented 2.4% of America's religious adherents, to 1850, when it represented 34.2%. (Probably the most spectacular rise of any church group ever.) Baptists during the same period increased from 17% to 20.5%. The Congregationalists decreased from 20% to 4%. The authors then seek to analyze why Baptists overtook Methodists by 1890. The general thesis is that "high tension" churches, which demand a lot, tend to grow while churches which broaden (and become more inclusive and accommodating) and become "low tension" tend to decline.

In What Americans Really Believe carries the thesis farther and analyzes church growth or decline since 1960. The news for United Methodists and other mainline denominations is not good. In 1960, Methodists represented 6% of America's population. In 2000, United Methodism represented only 3%. In other words Methodism as a percent of the American population declined by 50% in forty years (and this does not even take into account what has happened since the year 2000). Other mainline churches fared as poorly (The Disciples lost 71% of their market share). At the same time, the Church of the Nazarene increased 33%, the Assemblies of God 225%, and the Church of God in Christ 786%.

These gains and losses are related to what the denominations or groups believe and what standards they maintain. The "high tension" groups, with a clear sense of purpose, strongly held beliefs, and high moral standards, grew. The "low tension" groups, with an uncertain or ambiguous sense of purpose, loosely held beliefs, and accommodating moral standards, declined. Or, to put this in United Methodist jargon, groups which stress a more strict confessional base, high membership expectations, and strong moral convictions, grew. Churches which are casual in their belief systems, accommodating and inclusive in membership expectations, and permissive in moral stances, declined.

Is anybody listening? Is there any truth to this analysis? Is there any response? Do the mainline churches, including United Methodism, have a death wish?

If there is any truth to the Stark findings, one might believe that United Methodists would be seeking to recover Methodism's core values and core beliefs, and instituting programs and initiatives that would raise membership standards and moral expectations. Instead, the opposite is true. One bishop has argued that the foundation of United Methodism is inclusivism.

This is being presented to us dramatically in an amendment to paragraph IV of the constitution. This amendment, already passed by the General Conference and now before annual conferences in 2009 for ratification, would have the constitution of the church say that "all persons...shall be eligible to..(upon baptism and taking vows)..become professing members in any local church in the connection." The amendment is deceptively simple yet deceptively deceiving. It basically removes all standards, whether doctrinal, ethical, moral, or behavioral, for membership. Constitutionally the local church cannot require anything of anyone except that they be baptized and speak the vows as however they wish to interpret them. Constitutionally, a church cannot require of anyone that they have an experience with Jesus Christ, or that they should attend membership classes, or give, or act responsibly in society.

Dr. Riley B. Case is a retired member of the North Indiana Conference. He is a graduate of Taylor University and Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, with a graduate degree from Northwestern University and an honorary degree from Taylor University. Dr. Case’s appointment before retiring was St. Luke’s United Methodist Church Kokomo. Before that he was the district superintendent of the Marion District of the North Indiana Conference. He represented the conference five different times at the General Conference and seven times at the North Central Jurisdictional Conference. At the general church level he served as a consultant on the Hymnal Revision Committee (1984-1988) and was a member of the Curriculum Resources Committee of the Board of Discipleship.

NO MO SINGING LIKE THIS

noreply@blogger.com (Brett Royal) — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 14:27:00 +0000

NO GREATER LOVE

noreply@blogger.com (Brett Royal) — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 17:56:00 +0000

THERE IS POWER IN THE BLOOD

noreply@blogger.com (Brett Royal) — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 16:33:00 +0000

From Riley Case of the Confessing Movement with the United Methodist Church:

The feature article in the February 10 issue of The Christian Century is titled "God Does Not Require Blood." As the title suggests, the author, Daniel M. Bell, Jr., is opposed to the substitutionary doctrine of the atonement, or any doctrine of the atonement, for that matter, in which blood is a key element. Reacting to the most crass and extreme expressions of suffering and substitution, Bell links the blood stuff with violence, primitive (and therefore inadequate) views of justice, war, spousal abuse, and all sorts of bad things.

The author grants that the easiest way to circumvent the argument for any sort of blood atonement is simply to reject the cross but there are some problems with that (not the least being that we would have to do something with all those crosses on our churches).

Bell thinks he has a better way than simply to reject the cross and so posits a rather convoluted theory of atonement which features among other things the assertion that "Christ's work on the cross is..about showing us that God does not demand blood" (substitution upside down). Ultimately, Bell ends up with another variation on the moral influence theory of the atonement in which Jesus is "faithful to the embodiment of God's faithfulness to the divine desire for communion."

If Bell is right then the Wesleys (to say nothing of the Biblical writers) and evangelical Methodism (the only kind of Methodism there was until, say, the 1920s) have it all wrong. If Bell is right, then over 35 Scriptural passages are wrong, like the following: Matthew 26:28, John 1:29, I John 2:2, and Hebrews 9 and 10. Moral theories of atonement that "show" us something are quite different from understandings that "affect" something. If atonement is really atonement, then something is "affected" that changes the relationship between God and humanity. That something, from the Methodist perspective (as expressed in the Articles of Religion), is that Christ .."truly suffered, was crucified, dead, and buried, to reconcile his Father to us, and to be a sacrifice, not only for original guilt, but also for actual sins of men."

From time to time it is good to be reminded that Wesleyan theology is primarily a theology of soteriology (salvation), which has a main focus the cross, and in the cross the sacrifice, and in the sacrifice, the blood. One of the best places to appreciate this is in the hymns. In Wesley hymns the blood "pleads," "avails," "washes," "purifies," "saves," "cleanses," and is "applied." In the 80, Wesley hymns originally considered for inclusion in the 1989 hymnal the word "blood" appears 31 times. Twenty-five of the hymns have a clear reference to the atonement:
"His blood can make the foulest clean; his blood availed for me." (#57)
"..can it be that I should gain an interest in the Savior's blood?" (#363)
"There for me the Savior stands, shows his wounds and spreads his hands.." (#355)
"See him set forth before your eyes; behold the bleeding sacrifice.." (#616)
"'Tis finished!.. Accomplished is the sacrifice, the great redeeming work is done." (#282)
"Come feel with me his blood applied.." (#287)

When Wesleyan theology was refitted for the American frontier, most notably in the revivalists (and their hymns), the references to blood and atonement multiplied. Blood as an expression for the extravagance of grace, "flowed," was "poured," "sprinkled" and was found in fountains, rivers, and streams. "There Is a Fountain filled with Blood" became hymn #1 in the camp meeting spirituals.

Methodists, along with Baptists, were responsible for redefining the word "evangelical" in the "American context. As explained in older dictionaries, evangelical is the form of Protestantism, which emphasizes the sinfulness of humanity, the atonement of Christ, and salvation by faith, as practiced by Methodists and Baptists. We should not blame Baptists but Methodists (at least originally) if there was an overemphasis on blood in American religion. Thus there are more Methodist writers of hymns in the Southern Baptist hymnal than there are Baptists (there are also more Anglican hymn writers than Methodists in the UM hymnal).

While the Baptists (and much of the rest of the world) sing Methodist atonement hymns, "mainline" denominations do not. A survey of Presbyterian (USA), Episcopal, Disciples, United Church of Canada, and United Church of Christ hymnals reveals that the Methodist emphases on the atonement have been excised. These hymnals are willing to sing about Wesley's thousand tongues to sing, but every single one of them leaves out the verse about Jesus breaking the power of cancelled sin and blood making the foulest clean. Nor do they want anything to do with hymns like "Blow Ye the Trumpet Blow" (#379-the second most of all the Wesley hymns to be included in American hymnals-Wonderful Words of Life, Mouw and Noll, p. 253), "And Can It Be," or "O Love Divine What Hast Thou Done."

It is to the credit of The Christian Century that they consider the subject of blood atonement to be worthy of an article. After all some think it a dead issue. We have now had one hundred years of the modernist-liberal-progressive deconstruction of Christianity in which blood atonement is at the top of the list of what needs to be discarded for a Christianity facing a new age. Again, the hymnal is revealing. Of 109 hymns that appeared in the 1935 and 1966 Methodist hymnals that were "social gospel" hymns written to be contemporary and relevant for the new age but which were deleted in the 1989 hymnal (nobody sang them) there was not a single reference to blood or the atonement. When the apostle Paul reminded the church at Corinth that of first importance in the preaching of the gospel was that "Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures..." (I Cor. 15:3), he also commented that the preaching of Christ crucified was "folly to Gentiles" (I Cor. 1:23). It seems that today folly still abounds.

As for the United Methodists, whether or not blood atonement is taught in the seminaries or preached in the pulpit, it is still sung in the pews:

"Look, there is flowing a crimson tide, brighter than snow you may be today." (#365)
"For you the purple current flowed in pardon from his wounded side..." (#342)
"For Jesus shed his precious blood..." (#337)
"Every sin may be forgiven through the virtue of thy blood..." (#325)
"Lord, by the stripes which wounded thee, from death's dread sting thy servants free..." (#306)
"The Lamb that was slain, yet lives again to intercede for me!" (#300)
"...that caused the Lord of bliss to bear the dreadful curse for my soul..." (#292)
"'Tis done! The precious ransom's paid!" (#293)
"What can wash away my sin? Northing but the blood of Jesus." (#362)
"Alas, and did my Savior bleed..." (#359)
",,,without one plea but that thy blood was shed for me." #357)
"My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness..." (#368)
"...born of his Spirit, washed in his blood." (#369)
"I heard about his groaning, of his precious blood's atoning..." (#370)
"...that Christ hath regarded my helpless estate and hath shed his own blood for my soul." (#377)
"...redemption in his blood throughout the world proclaim..." (#379)
"Happy day, when Jesus washed my sins away!..." #391)
"With his own blood he bought her, and for her life he died." (#545)
"There is a fountain filled with blood..." (#622)

Who are United Methodists today, at least as revealed by the hymns they like to sing? Some find meaning in songs like "God of the sparrow, God of the whale" (#122). But many more are singing, "What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus." (#362)

Dr. Riley B. Case is a retired member of the North Indiana Conference. He is a graduate of Taylor University and Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, with a graduate degree from Northwestern University and an honorary degree from Taylor University. Dr. Case’s appointment before retiring was St. Luke’s United Methodist Church Kokomo. Before that he was the district superintendent of the Marion District of the North Indiana Conference. He represented the conference five different times at the General Conference and seven times at the North Central Jurisdictional Conference. At the general church level he served as a consultant on the Hymnal Revision Committee (1984-1988) and was a member of the Curriculum Resources Committee of the Board of Discipleship.

THOSE PEOPLE

noreply@blogger.com (Brett Royal) — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 22:16:00 +0000

My church is under the consulting services of Tom Bandy this weekend. The church has been filling out survey after survey for the past few months, and it has come down to this weekend.

Church members, ex church members, and occasional attendees began various meetings with Tom this morning. I met with a group, and we were simply asked "What brought you to this church?" and "What keeps you here (if you are still attending)?"

I grew up with a very strong Southern Baptist background. After college, I was heavily influenced by the teachings of R.C. Sproul and Ligonier Ministries. I began to take an interest in matters of doctrine and theology, particularly relating to the Protestant Reformation.

After I was married, my wife and I began to look for a church where we had an identity as a couple. I told my wife that if I found a Sunday School class that I liked, I would consider joining. We visited Wesley UMC, I attended the Young Adult Class, and joined the church shortly thereafter.

I still have some Reformed beliefs, so it has been somewhat of a struggle at times in the Methodist Church. I've taken some grief from friends, and I think my family is a little disappointed. There are a lot of diverse beliefs that I don't share. So why do I stay?

I stay because I like the diversity, even though it causes me some heartburn at times. I have learned that people are people. There was a time when I really looked down upon those who didn't share my beliefs. I wouldn't admit it, and I would say that I loved people. I would say that I loved the sinner but hated the sin. And I believed it. However, in reality, I looked down upon those who didn't share my convictions. I can now have friendly relationships built on mutual respect that I could never have had before.

This became more apparent to me just this week. I was listening to American Family Radio in the car. I heard a term used over and over that stuck out. It was "Those People." I began counting, and heard it 3 times on my short drive to work. Who are "Those People" and "These People?" They are people. They are not less of a person because they have different convictions.

I am not saying that all convictions are equally true or equally valid. I am not saying that core issues of the gospel should be compromised. What I am saying is that until I can come to the point that I truly listen and understand the point of view of another person, I cannot expect them to listen to mine.

AGNUS DEI

noreply@blogger.com (Brett Royal) — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 04:21:00 +0000

PETRA Farewell Acoustic Set

noreply@blogger.com (Brett Royal) — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 21:41:00 +0000

Remember these guys? I came across this and it brought back a lot of memories. Great songs from a great band.

SOCIAL NETWORKING OVERLOAD

noreply@blogger.com (Brett Royal) — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 14:14:00 +0000

In June of 2004 I made my first post on this blog. In June of 2005 I made my second entry. From that point on, I began blogging on a consistent basis. I began to make contacts with other bloggers. I consider some of them my friends, even though I have not personally met them. Over time I began to realize that I was no longer making posts because I enjoy blogging, but because I enjoy being part of a community.

I have disagreed with a lot of people. I have agreed with a lot of people. I have put certain people up on a pedestal. I have even coveted - hoping to some day have the traffic and comments on this blog that others have.

It was easy for a long time. I read other blogs, made comments, and made the occasional post here. Over time, I began to experiment with other forms of Social Media. I realized that I wanted a little more; something was still missing.

My first step outside of the blogging arena was with MySpace. I found some classmates and said hello to some people that I hadn't seen in 15 years. Overall, however, I didn't do much. I didn't like the ads that were being run, especially since they were targeting a much younger audience.

My next step into the world of social networking was with LinkedIn. This is meant to be more for professional networking, and it wasn't something that I ever used much. I have an account and get an occasional email telling me someone joined or wants to link with me, but it just didn't do much for me. This blog remained my only real web presence.

I was then introduced to Facebook. I don't remember when or why I created my account, but I do remember thinking that it was just another MySpace and wouldn't be soemthing that would last. However, another need was met. During my college years at Oklahoma State, I was active in the Baptist Student. I began to find a lot of my friends from there. It became another active community for me. Unlike this blog, it was a community of people that I had met before. It was a community of people that I went on mission trips with. It was a community of people that I prayed with. It was a community of people that I studied the Bible with. It was a community of people that I sat with at football games. It was a community of people that I had classes with and studied with. It was a community of people that I stayed up late into the night with. It was a community of people that I skipped classes with (sorry mom).

I always believed that this blog would be my rock as far as web presence goes. However, in a very short time my presence on facebook became much larger than my presence with this blog. And the thing is, it didn't take near as much time or energy. This became even more true when I started to use Twitter.

Twitter is my latest social networking experiment. I use it to place short, random thoughts. I found that entries on twitter could automatically update my status on facebook, making less work. I enjoy using twitter, because the posts there are the real me. If you follow me on twitter, you will know me in a different way than on this blog. This blog deals with my thoughts on Christiantiy, Theology, and Doctrine, but I have other interests as well. I have a family. I have a job. I have bills to pay. I have wants and desires. I have other opinions. Twitter may seem like a bad concept, but it has a lot of benefits.

However, because of a presence with this blog, facebook, and twitter, it means more updating. It means putting fresh content on each one so nothing goes stagnant. Each one of these has served a unique purpose for me, but I sometimes "cross post." I put the same content on this blog and on facebook, then link to it from twitter. I'm not sure if there is any type of etiquette in place yet, but I'm sure that if people follow on all 3 places, it could get old.

Do you have more than one social networking application that you use? Do you put more content on one than another? Do you put the same content on all of your appropriate sites? What do you use to network that wasn't covered here?

VALIDATION

noreply@blogger.com (Brett Royal) — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 04:34:00 +0000

ON EXCISING SIN

noreply@blogger.com (Brett Royal) — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 20:18:00 +0000

From Riley Case of the Confessing Movement with the United Methodist Church:

Sin is not a popular word (or idea) in a secular society. A world that values diversity, inclusivism, and a non-judgmental spirit finds the word sin offensive. Sin implies a moral code, a judgment, and a consequence based on judgment. It also implies there is a God who sets the code, who metes out judgment, and that judgment has consequences. Sin is basically a religious word, primarily a Christian word (shared with Jews and to a certain extent Muslims).

Consequently, persons who wish to separate religion from public life (a variation on the extreme view of the separation of church and state) disdain sin and discussions of sin. None, however, has gone quite to the extreme of the Oxford Junior Dictionary, which has excised the word in a recent edition so that it simply does not exist, at least to schoolchildren in the United Kingdom. When the London Daily Telegraph reported on the omission of sin and other religious words in the dictionary, Dr. Vineeta Gupta, the head of children's dictionaries at Oxford University Press, explained that the changes were made to reflect a "multicultural" society. He further explained that since people are not going to church as often as they once did, the words have meaning only to a limited number of persons.

There appears to be something a bit more sinister at work. Erin Manning, writing on Beliefnet.com's conservative Crunchy Con blog, calls the actions of the dictionary editors a form of "verbal engineering." Manning cites Catholic moral theologian William Smith who comments, "All social engineering is preceded by verbal engineering."

United Methodists have reason to be concerned if, indeed, society wants words (and the meanings behind them) like sin to disappear from public discourse. Without a proper understanding of sin, there is no reason for Christian faith. Christianity is about a right relationship with God made possible by the "incarnate life, atoning death, and glorious resurrection of Jesus Christ" (from Methodism's historic Standard Catechism). Wesleyan theology is primarily soteriological, that is, having to do with salvation. Our message is that all persons need to be saved (from sin and the consequences of sin), can be saved, and can have assurance of salvation. However, if there is no sin, the rest of the system does not hold together.

All of this is not unrelated to a study done recently by the Josephson Institute, a Los Angeles-based ethics institute, on cheating and stealing in high schools. The Institute surveyed 29,760 students at 100 randomly selected high schools nationwide, both public and private. Their findings: 30% of high school students had stolen something from a store or a friend or relative in the past year. 64% have cheated on a test. 42% say they sometimes lie to save money.

These percentages are increasing each year. What is astounding is that of the same students who lie, cheat, and steal 93% indicated they were satisfied with their personal ethics and character and 77% affirmed, "When it comes to doing what is right, I am better than most people I know." While Americans have not removed the word sin from the dictionaries, it seems we are moving away from the understanding that there is right and wrong and that ultimately we must answer for our actions.

This carries over into our church life. "Progressive Christianity" wants to affirm diversity, tolerance, relativity, and acceptance. This is most evident in the arguments of some (including our bishops) that there are no standards for church membership other than that the person take the membership vows (interpreted however he or she wishes to interpret them). All are to be accepted regardless of what they believe, what they do, or how they live. This is what the Constitutional Amendment on Par. 4 is all about (this will be voted on in the 2009 annual conferences). In this theological system, there is not much room for sin or salvation or for much else related to historic Christianity.

At the 2008 General Conference, there were an audible gasps of antagonism from the floor of the conference when an African delegate used the word sin to describe the practice of homosexuality. However, the word sin surfaced a few short hours later when a public demonstration took over the floor of the conference (with the approval of the bishops), desecrated the altar, and used the word sin to describe the actions of the conference to uphold the traditional view of sexual morality.
So sin is being re-defined. Sin is no longer a violation of the standards of a just God, but rather in believing that such standards really matter. There is still a need for The Confessing Movement.

Dr. Riley B. Case is a retired member of the North Indiana Conference. He is a graduate of Taylor University and Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, with a graduate degree from Northwestern University and an honorary degree from Taylor University. Dr. Case’s appointment before retiring was St. Luke’s United Methodist Church Kokomo. Before that he was the district superintendent of the Marion District of the North Indiana Conference. He represented the conference five different times at the General Conference and seven times at the North Central Jurisdictional Conference. At the general church level he served as a consultant on the Hymnal Revision Committee (1984-1988) and was a member of the Curriculum Resources Committee of the Board of Discipleship.

A FALSE DOCTRINE FOR THE CHILDREN

noreply@blogger.com (Brett Royal) — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 14:57:00 +0000

"I saw a Sunday school sheet. The sheet said this: In one of the four pictures below the people are obeying all the rules that God gave to Moses, colour in the picture where the people are obeying all the rules and do your very best to obey them too."

NOTE: I put the original post below. It was unclear, inaccurate, and incomplete. It got a quick comment, and I want to keep the original intact.

Is this ok to be teaching our kids, or is it a false gospel? Listen to this 10 minute segment by by Marcus Honeysett. Not only does he make a case that this is not teaching the gospel, but he goes on to make the case that since the law never specifically applied to the Gentiles, teaching that we are lawbreakers is not a core component of the gospel. I don't agree with him (based on Romans 2:12-15), but it is interesting on an intellectual level.

The consequences for sin are the same, with or without the law. We must understand where we were (and would be) without Christ to fully appreciate and understand where we are in Christ.

ORIGINAL POST:
Is this ok to be teaching our kids, or is it a false gospel? Listen to this 10 minute segment by by Marcus Honeysett. Not only does he make a case that this is not teaching the gospel, but he goes on to make the case that the law never applied to Gentiles. I don't agree with him (based on Romans 2:14), but it is interesting on an intellectual level.

JOHN THE METHODIST

noreply@blogger.com (Brett Royal) — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 20:57:00 +0000

I have been blogging since 2004. Over time, I have developed relationships with a few other bloggers. Most of them are United Methodist bloggers that are part of a community known as the Methodist Blogosphere. My favorite blogger from day one has been John the Methodist. His blog about "Faith, Art, Rabbits, and Zombies" has become one of the most popular blogs in the Methodist Blogosphere. If you ever hear about a zombie movement within the UMC, you can attribute it to John.

On his blog, he informed everyone that he is no longer a candidate for the ordained ministry in the United Methodist Church. There has been a battle going on for quite a while, and it finally came to an end.

If John does decide to share the details of what has gone on, it will be hard not to take his allegations seriously. He has a lot of friends in the blogging community, and even though we have not personally met, I consider myself one of them. As Shane at the Wesley Report states, "John isn't some disgruntled blogger with an ax to grind... he's been around for a long time."