First Light @ First United Methodist Church

COME TO

 

 “FIRST LIGHT”

 

At First United Methodist Church , Hillsville

 

 8:30 a.m. every Sunday morning

 

This Sunday, August 3rd, 

 

Laura Holderfield and Ray Edmonds

 

will bless our hearts with their singing.  God has truly

 blessed them with much talent and they are so

 

willing to use their talents to praise our Lord.

 

Come EARLY to worship –

 

It’s the perfect way to start your day…

 

LOOKING AHEAD:  Sunday, August 10th,

 

The Reverend Duane Steele will be with us –

 

you will want to join us for this special time of

 

worship.

SouledOut

 

You are invited to come hear the best Praise Band in Southwest Virginia. Every Sunday Night at First UMC Hillsville @ 6:30pm.

“Bring The Rain” by MercyMe

First things first…
We love Jesus Christ!! He is our rock, our savior, our healer, our best friend…our everything! God has blessed us with so many things in life. We praise him through our music…and man do we have good time doing it!

Our music style is fun and upbeat and most of our music is contemporary praise and worship. We’ve been known to change it up everyone once in a while with a little classic rock and old time hyms as well. No matter what we play – we love what we do…and you can usually tell. =]

We hope you’ll join us in worship sometime. We play every Sunday at First United Methodist Church in Hilllsville, VA at 6:30. Bring your bibles and your bluejeans–this is a contemporary, laid-back worship service for people of all ages. Music starts at 6:30 followed by a message by our associate pastor: Ronnie Collins.

GOD BLESS YOU!!!

“My Savior, My God” by Aaron Shust

“Trading My Sorrows” by Darrell Evans

Check out SouledOut’s myspace @ http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=320133004&MyToken=45099c60-f7a9-4d90-89b9-f81a595984f0

Back To School Bash @ First UMC Hillsville

August 10th @ 6:30pm with SouledOut and Mike Morris: Don’t Miss it!

Mike Morris of Cornerstone Community Church

Check out Mike’s Blog

http://www.faithengineer.com/

Bishop rules Cal-Nevada statement on same-sex unions ‘void’

Bishop Beverly Shamana presides June 19 over the California-Nevada Annual (regional) Conference in Sacramento, Calif. A UMNS file photo by Paul “Spud” Hilton.

By Marta W. Aldrich*
July 18, 2008 | PORTLAND, Ore. (UMNS)

Retired United Methodist clergy in northern California and Nevada could face disciplinary charges if they perform same-gender marriage ceremonies in the wake of a California court ruling that allows gay couples to marry, their bishop says.

While the church’s California-Nevada legislative assembly approved a resolution in June commending retired clergy who have offered to perform such ceremonies, Bishop Beverly J. Shamana has issued a ruling declaring the statement “void and of no effect.”

“While the resolution is a commendable gesture to the congregations of the conference in offering the pastoral counsel of a number of retired clergy to persons contemplating same-gender marriage under the laws of California, it steps over a disciplinary line when it commends these clergy to the congregations for the purpose of ‘performing same gender marriages or holy unions,’” Shamana wrote in her ruling of law.

Meanwhile, an organizer of the retired clergy said the bishop’s ruling would not deter the pastors from performing the ceremonies.

“Nothing has changed by the bishop calling the resolution null and void,” said the Rev. Don Fado, a retired United Methodist pastor in Sacramento. “As far as we’re concerned, we’re available, and the conference knows we’re available, and we’ve made our witness and will continue to do so.”

Ruling of law

The ruling of law was requested immediately after the church’s California-Nevada Annual (regional) Conference approved the resolution on June 21. The ruling was sent July 2 to the United Methodist Judicial Council, the church’s top court, which will review the matter at its October session. A copy of the ruling was obtained by United Methodist News Service during the church’s Western Jurisdictional Conference, meeting July 16-19 in Portland, where a new bishop was being elected to replace the retiring Shamana.

Sixty-seven retired clergy signed on to offer their services under the original resolution. The list has since grown to 82, according to Fado.

The resolution lists the names of retired clergy wanting to participate and states that the conference “commends its retired clergy for offering continued ministry and will communicate to its congregations the availability of the following retired pastors to perform same gender marriages or holy unions.”

In her ruling, Shamana says the denomination’s Book of Discipline declares that performing same-sex marriage ceremonies is a chargeable offense.

“It is not within the power or prerogative of an annual conference to offer the services of its clergy to perform acts which the General Conference has declared to be chargeable offenses against the law of The United Methodist Church,” Shamana wrote.

The United Methodist Church, while affirming all people as persons “of sacred worth,” considers the practice of homosexuality “incompatible with Christian teaching.” Its law book prohibits its pastors and churches from conducting ceremonies celebrating homosexual unions. The denominational statements were affirmed in a split vote last spring by General Conference, the church’s top legislative body that meets once every four years.

The Rev. Ronald Greilich, who asked Shamana for the ruling of law, said he was pleased with the bishop’s conclusion.

“The Discipline is very specific that United Methodist clergy are not to do gay and lesbian weddings and they’re not to be held in the churches, and to do so is a chargeable offense,” said Greilich, a retired pastor in Clovis, Calif.

Greilich is writing a brief to submit to the Judicial Council in support of Shamana’s ruling. “This is what our book of rules says, and if we’re going to be United Methodists in covenant with one another, we should do what we promised to do when we were ordained, which is to support The United Methodist Church,” he said.

Making a statement

Fado said many retired clergy in California-Nevada actually have been “doing holy unions for three years”–under the radar. However, he said, they felt compelled to make a statement about their availability in the wake of last spring’s ruling by the California Supreme Court, overturning a voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage.

“It is not within the power or prerogative of an annual conference to offer the services of its clergy to perform acts which the General Conference has declared to be chargeable offenses against the law of The United Methodist Church.”
–Bishop Beverly J. Shamana

The resolution “was a chance to make a witness on where we stand and give courage to pastors in the connection that we’re willing to do it,” Fado said. “… We’re saying this is an act of collegiality to be of support to pastors who feel for any reason they cannot perform the ceremony.”

Fado said retired clergy listed in the resolution are among the leaders in the California-Nevada Conference, which includes northern California and the state of Nevada. They include 15 former district superintendents, 11 who have been delegates to General Conference and 10 who have served as conference staff.

The church’s California-Pacific assembly also passed gay-friendly statements in June in southern California, after the state began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples on June 16.

Some denominational leaders have subsequently expressed concern that the two conferences are on the verge of breaking a Scripturally based covenant with the rest of the 11.5 million-member denomination, as expressed through the Book of Discipline and actions of General Conference, which is the only body that can speak for the entire United Methodist Church.

They say the church’s position is based on biblical teaching and Christian tradition, which they note is often at odds with popular culture.

Gay rights advocates say gay rights are God-given civil rights that the church should support as a matter of conscience and that the church, in its quest to be more inclusive, should extend to gay couples the same levels of support it provides to heterosexual couples.

At the church’s Northeastern Jurisdictional Conference meeting in Harrisburg, Pa., delegates voted July 17 to support retired California-Nevada clergy who perform the marriage ceremonies. The resolution also asks for lenient disciplinary action against clergy who disobey church law on the issue.

*Aldrich is news editor of United Methodist News Service.

News media contact: Marta Aldrich, Nashville, Tenn.,  (615) 742-5470  or newsdesk@umcom.org

Vacation was AWESOME

 Vacations never seem to last long enough. We were all ready to come home we just wanted the vacation to continue. There was 17 of us counting Sophie the dog. The weather was great and no major sunburns. The pictures all have a smudge that I found yesterday is the finger print of a little boy at our house who likes to take pictures. We were only missing one immediate family member and our prayer is that he will make it next year.

It is a piece of Heaven to be able to spend time with all these little ones and with all the family. Dustin and I ran 6 miles every morning. (Watch out Kenneth) I didn’t get to do all the reading that I usually do on vacation but I did a little. I am now reading a book called “Pagan Christianity” which is very interesting.

Speaking of Traditions, this family vacation is a tradition that I hope never ends.

Ronnie

 

It wasn’t all fun and games but it was a lot of fun!

Being Homeless in a Country so Rich

The two pictures above are so beautiful. On the surface it looks like a dream and that everything is perfect but under the surface is the reality. This is where the youth and leaders spent time this past week. The bottom picture is of Piedmont Park where we handed out Grace Bags to the Homeless.

Homelessness in Atlanta
It is projected that nearly 22,000 people will experience homelessness in the City of Atlanta and Fulton and DeKalb Counties, including those living on the streets, in their cars, with friends and family, and in shelters or other transitional housing. ³ 

There is a misperception of homelessness in Atlanta. We often picture an older man sleeping on downtown Atlanta streets, rummaging through garbage cans and begging for money.   While street homelessness is part of the overall homeless crisis that affects our communities, it accounts for 10-15% of Atlanta’s homeless population.  There are so many more people affected.

• Nearly 20% of Atlanta’s homeless are families; including children.¹ This number grossly underestimates the number of homeless families, since many don’t report that they are in fact homeless.
• Approximately 25% of all homeless adults are employed.²
• Homelessness is not unique to in town Atlanta communities; it’s becoming a growing problem in surrounding counties as well. United Way data (from 211) show that approximately 2/3 of homeless calls originated in counties that surround the Atlanta area. ³
• Many people are homeless because of a lost job, death in the family, health crisis or other disaster. Most often, being homeless is not a choice, and we must dispel this myth.
• Approximately 9 – 15% of the U.S. population becomes homeless over the course of a lifetime. ⁴

Hillsville Youth: You were an answer to their Prayers!

One of the work projects that we did in Macon was Painting for Tattnall Square Academy, a Christian K-4 – 12 School. The girls did an awesome job with two murials, one of a Scroll that will have the name of every student and staff member in their prayer room, each person will be prayed for by name every day. Here is the project from start to finish.

We were told the staff had prayed that God would send help to get this work done before the school year started in two weeks and that we were the answer to their prayers. AWESOME!

Ronnie

Alex Turns 6 Years Old Today, July 24th 2008

Alex is my Great Nephew, however he is more like a Grandson. I helped to raise his dad Dustin and Alex was the only kid in our family for about 4 years. He is quite a kid, always saying things that blow my mind. He once wanted to help me preach and he wanted to preach on the subject of “Sweet and Sugary”.

When he found out that Misty was pregnant with Samuel we were riding in the Jeep and he said, “Pupa are you going to be a daddy, I said yes and then he thought and said, will you still be my pupa”?

Alex, I will always be your pupa and I love you with all my heart. Mine and Alex’s favorite things to do are eating happy meals and playing in the play place and oh yeah, trips to Wal Mart.

Pupa

“This Building Does Not Define Who We Are”

We were in one awesome facility this week on Mission. The building is Christ Church SPORTSTOWNE in Macon Georgia. We camped out in their locker rooms and they didn’t smell like a locker room, Praise the Lord!

Sportstowne just happens to be the building that the church purchased to hold their ministries for as long as God wants them to stay there. We were amazed that there is a Football Field inside the building, as well as a couple of Basketball Courts, a Volleyball Court and many other things.

We were having a conversation with Beth White who is the Associate Pastor and we were going on about the building and she said something that caught our attention. “This building does not define who we are as the church”. They are willing in a short notice to give up this building and go somewhere else if God wants them to move. If i have a building at my disposal like Sportstowne, I would fight to keep it and that is the problem. As Christians we have to learn to hold loosely those things that God allows us to have. It is people that are important and people are all that matter.

Ronnie

Check out the Building and their ministry there.

http://www.christchapelmaconga.org/SportsTowne/CCSThome.html

Summer of Missions

There is a new focus with the youth and leaders this summer. Missions: Local Missions and not so local.

We have spent three days giving away clothing, shoes and toys in our community and we have more to give.

We have spent a few days in Macon and Atlanta, Painting for a Christian School and Handing out Grace Bags in Atlanta’s Piedmont Park.

What is Next?

A Mission Trip to Mexico?

Ministry

This is ministry. I just want to go back to Atlanta or DC or some other major City and hand out bags of food and other necessities. I just wish that I had the money and the opportunity and the Youth Group and Leaders to go with me and that I could pack up all of my family as well. This truly is ministry, God said when you give a cup of water in My name.

You are all my hero’s and I don’t use that word loosely.

Ronnie

District superintendents react to Holston’s membership increase

Hillsville, you are part of the growth!

Seven of 12 districts experienced membership increases in 2007, breaking Holston out of a spiraling decline for only the second time in 40 years.

Holston leaders celebrated immediately after Annual Conference, when they learned that the recently tabulated numbers showed a 172-member increase conference-wide. The 2007 total membership for Holston’s 900-plus churches was 166,987.

Knoxville District showed the largest membership increase, with 213 more members in 2007 than in 2006. Other districts showing increases are Maryville (137), Morristown (105), Oak Ridge (72), Cleveland (37), Johnson City (37), and Wytheville (6).

Districts showing decreases are Abingdon (148), Kingsport (105), Tazewell (70), Big Stone Gap (62), and Chattanooga (50).

Knoxville is the largest-membership district, with 23,822 members. Chattanooga is second, with 22,158 members. Smallest are Tazewell (7,715) and Big Stone Gap (6,216).

The Rev. Doug Fairbanks, Knoxville District superintendent, attributed his district’s increase to leadership and the congregations themselves.

“We have some vibrant larger churches in Knoxville, and those are Cokesbury, Christ, Powell, Fountain City, and of course, Church Street,” Fairbanks said. “They have the leadership and congregations who are in sync with reaching out and creating an atmosphere that attracts new members. They want to do it, and they’re doing it. It’s no accident. We also have some smaller churches, like Trentville, that have that mindset.”

The Rev. Chuck Starks, Wytheville District superintendent, said that although some districts experienced decreases, the entire conference should “dance a little jig and enjoy a little hope.”

“To not do so is sort of like saying we can’t celebrate a new birth in the family because someone else in the family has not yet conceived,” Starks said.

“In the Wytheville District, I’ve been celebrating the fact that we had a net gain of six. That’s a small number but it’s six souls that we get to have the privilege and responsibility of disciplining … This should be a conference-wide joy,” he said.

United Methodist News Service recently reported that of 50 annual conferences submitting reports, Holston is one of only seven with membership increases.

A Forever Home

 

A Forever Home, this drawing speaks volumes. It is of a little boy who has found a lost kitten. I think of Michael, our son who we love so much. Michael for us to have each other is an answer to prayer and One of The Greatest Blessings God has ever given to me.

There are so many kids in America and all over the World who need a loving, caring home. Thanks to the Artist for reminding me what a Gift God has given.

Ronnie

Everyone is!

Each one of us are made in the Image of God. As I looked at this drawing by one of our own, I couldn’t help but think of those who received the Grace Bags in Atlanta’s Piedmont Park. I said a prayer for them and then I thanked God for the opportunity we had to serve them. Your reward will be waiting in Heaven but then, I believe part of the reward was in the opportunity we had to do unto others. We are a blessed people and each and every person on this Earth is important to God and to us.

Ronnie

 

 

Grace Bags

We are back from Macon and all of us are changed in some way. Today we stopped at Piedmont Park in Atlanta and walked through handing out Grace Bags to the homeless. We got the idea from Sandra who had seen it in a devotional. All of the youth and leaders went to Wal Mart and picked up items like t-shirts, bottled water, canned food, socks, etc…… we packed them in backpacks and then handed them out. It was a great idea and we were blessed more than those who received the gift.

We met and talked with at least 18 people, some shared some of their story and some thanked Jesus right there on the spot for the gift. We were amazed.

As always we went to serve and we were served by others. Look for pictures from the trip soon.

Ronnie

Lessons learned in Macon

Tonight was awesome. Our group of 15 met on the Football Field in the Church Building, is that not amazing?

We had a New Testament Church Meeting. Everyone had gift to offer and it was exciting. There was a word form the Bible, songs by the group, testimonies and Prayer. There was also prayer for healing that we are believing God for.

We have played volleyball this evening and a challenge between me and Greg on the Obstacle Course, I WON!!!!!

By the way, guys beat the girls in volleyball also!!!!!!

It has been a blessed mission trip and we are not quite finished. It is 1am and we are still to go to bed. In the morning we will pack the vans and head to the City of Atlanta to hand out Grace Bags. We are excited and we are bringing it back to Virginia.

Ronnie

Macon GA Mission Trip

We are in Macon and on our last night. One of the youth suggested that I blog about the things that I learned in Macon.

I like that suggestion so in reflection over the next several days that is what I will do. I am going to miss being here. We are staying at SPORTSTOWNE http://christchapelmaconga.org/SportsTowne/CCSThome.html

Wow, what a place. Yes the facility is awesome but it is not the facility that impresses me so much , it is the Spirit of God that we are experiencing here in Macon at SPORTSTOWNE. We have been invited into the facility and we are not doing any mission work for this church, we have been given the keys to the facility, access to the kitchen, the football field, basketball court and we could go on and on. We are being served and we came to serve others. Isn’t that just how God works!

We have been learning a lot bout hospitality and about the Spirit of Christ. We celebrated in the worship service with Christ Chapel on Sunday morning and two people were saved duringthe praise singing. There was the longest time that I just closed my eyes and with 800 people in the building I felt like I was the only one. I felt alone with God while in a crowd. It is hard to explain, you just have to experience it. They don’t have anything that we don’t have in Hillsville, but they are operating on a different level or in a different mentality of service.

They believe that if you ask you will receive. They purchased this 10 million dollar building with only 3 million dollars and they did that without debt. Beth, the associate pastor said a couple of days ago the greatest thing, “we are not defined by this building, we may sell it tomorrow, we will just go to another facility and hold services there.

I am going to miss the experience that I have here of the peace that passes all understanding.

Ronnie

Give us your thoughts, do you know who they are?

Do you ever ask WHY?

Why do we do church the way we do? Actually that is a bad question. The Church is us, the Christians, Christ Followers, People. We have done a poor job of church, in my opinion.

I believe it is time to get back to the focus of changed lives and helping others to change and that means we are going to have to change some things.

I just started reading a great book and it is going to be one of those life changing ones. I am only a few chapters in and I highly recommend that you get a copy and read.

Ronnie

From Amazon:
Have you ever wondered why we Christians do what we do for church every Sunday morning? Why do we “dress up” for church? Why does the pastor preach a sermon each week? Why do we have pews, steeples, choirs, and seminaries? This volume reveals the startling truth: most of what Christians do in present-day churches is not rooted in the New Testament, but in pagan culture and rituals developed long after the death of the apostles. Coauthors Frank Viola and George Barna support their thesis with compelling historical evidence in the first-ever book to document the full story of modern Christian church practices.

From the Publisher
“Most contemporary Christians are massively ignorant as to how the church got to where it is today and of how much current church practice is due simply to accumulated tradition, with little or no roots in Scripture. (Emphasis Added) This book provides a useful service in peeling back the layers of tradition, showing the origins of much that we today call “church.” Christians who want to be biblically faithful, regardless of their particular tradition or church form, can learn and benefit from the book.”
Howard Snyder, Professor of History and Theology of Mission, Asbury Theological Seminary, author of “The Problem of Wineskins” and “The Community of the King.”

Just Kicking

Mason King who plays in our Band, SouledOut, attended special teams camp in June of this year. Mason is a Kicker for Carroll County High School and a good one. Mason will be CCHS staring kicker this year and he would like to kick for either Tennessee, App State or Clemson in the future.

Way to go Mason! 

Ronnie

I Thank God for Robert Schuller

It has been a while back that I did a series of those I am thankful for in my Christian Heritage. One of those people is Robert Schuller. When I was a very young Christian I received his book, “Your Church Has A Fantastic Future” in something that I ordered as a freebie. I read it and it made a huge impact on my life and ministry. Dr. Schuller started The Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove California in an old Drive In Theater.

I was blessed to be able to see the site when I was in California on a business trip a few years ago with my son Michael. I will have to say that it was not as impressive a sight in person as it is on television, it seems that everything is dressed up for TV. However, it was an impressive ministry to see. I highly recommend the book to anyone who needs ideas for ministry or just needs to be encouraged.

I am including the link to the site of The Crystal Cathedral as well as an interview from Outreach and Evangelism Today for your reading pleasure. http://www.christianitytoday.com/outreach/articles/howschullershapedyourministry.html

I thank God for Robert Schuller and others who dare to break the mold and be different for Christ.

Ronnie

http://www.crystalcathedral.org/

How Schuller Shaped Your Ministry
The grandfather of the seeker movement changed the way pastors approach culture.
An interview with Robert Schuller

Whether you admire or dislike his ministry techniques or possibility-thinking theology, probably no one has shaped the way pastors relate to the unchurched more than Robert Schuller.

Forty-two years ago, Schuller and his wife, Arvella, moved from Chicago to Southern California to start a church—and, unintentionally, a new way of doing church. With about 50 people attending the first service, Garden Grove Community Church (affiliated with the Reformed Church of America) was born.

Today the legendary Crystal Cathedral sits on a sprawling oasis of palm trees and fountains and statues in the middle of Orange County’s concrete jungle.

Schuller pioneered the use of marketing techniques to reach the nonchurched. It would not be overreaching to say that without Schuller and the Crystal Cathedral, there would likely be no Willow Creek Community Church, no Saddleback Community Church, or the thousands of other seeker-oriented churches around the country. The cliché—the pioneers are the ones with the arrows in their backs—is certainly true of Schuller. “I didn’t know I was going to get criticism,” he says. “I thought I’d get pats on the back.”

In the modern era, he was the first to

• call his denominational church a “community church,” since most seekers didn’t understand or relate to a denominational label.
• call a sermon a “message”.
• use a nontraditional setting for church worship—in his case, a drive-in theater.
• conduct door-to-door research, asking, “Why don’t you go to church?”.
• use marketing strategies to reach nonchurched people (about the time George Barna was born).
• train pastors in leadership (1969).
• televise a weekly church service.

Leadershipwanted to hear Schuller’s insights on reaching a changing culture. Like Schuller in 1955, editors Kevin Miller and Dave Goetz traveled from Chicago to Garden Grove, California, to sit with the pastor and possibility thinker.

How has Southern California changed since you arrived in 1955?
Robert Schuller: Forty years ago, this town had a population close to sixty thousand. Orange County was largely white, Anglo-Saxon, and Protestant. It had a few barrios and no ghettos.

Today Garden Grove has a population of a hundred and fifty thousand, of which 38 percent are Asians—Vietnamese, Japanese, Cambodians, and Chinese. Thirty-seven percent are Hispanics, and 20 percent are people like me. The balance includes blacks, Ethiopians, Turks, and other groups.

When I started, many nonchurched persons were conditioned by a culture dominated by Judeo-Christian values. Their collective memory systems were still receptive to a message from the Judeo-Christian value system. That’s no longer true.

Has your strategy changed?
I came to Southern California to start a mission. I think we still have to be a mission church; I said that at the first Institute for Successful Church Leaders in 1969. But if you’re going to be a mission church, then you have to dare to stand in the center of a contradiction, because it’s a contradiction to be a church and a mission. Jesus was a contradiction: he was God and man. How could he be both? But I believe he was.

You haven’t stepped into truth until you dare to step into a contradiction. But if you succeed as a mission, you create a church.

It seems as if you have put more energy into the mission side than the church side.
That is true. But there reaches a point where you’ve got a church. It’s a constant process, a constant balancing act.

To succeed as missionaries in the next century, we have to integrate mission into evangelism. I’m against evangelism that doesn’t have a mission heart.

You’re against evangelism?
No, I’m against the type of evangelism that doesn’t include compassion. People in our culture think everybody is selling something. Evangelism can come across as selling. But mission is totally different: “May I wash your feet? Can I help you? We don’t share the same faith, but I’m so sorry your little daughter died.”

When you think of it, Jesus’ spirit was more a spirit of mission than it was of evangelism. He didn’t rattle off numbers like we do today. Evangelism often focuses on numbers like business focuses on sales. I think we have to abandon that type of evangelism and let mission take its place.

People living out the gospel—is that what you mean by “mission”?
Yes, yes, yes. Without counting numbers. I’m a friend of Billy Graham and of the evangelical movement. Everyone says, “We’ve got to win the world to Christ.” But that can’t be done. Robert Schuller, a possibility thinker, says it can’t be done.

You mean “winning the world for Christ” is too ambitious?
It’s not biblical. We’re to witness to the whole world for Christ, not win the whole world to Christ.

I’ve said we have to think from a market mentality. And that’s still true. But it had better be non-manipulative. There are different forms of marketing. There are dangerous marketing principles, and there are smart marketing principles.

If the dignity of the person is the core of our anthropology, then we need a theology of evangelism that wins people without manipulating, without threatening, without appealing to their negative emotions.

Instead of “winning the world for Christ,” what motto would you put in its place?
The “positive remnant.” That phrase is coming to me with tremendous power and force. It’s a great Old Testament concept—the people of God as a blessing to others.

What are some needs today that the church can be meeting?
The same needs that have always been there. I don’t think persons change.

“How did I get into self-esteem theology?” was not a question you asked, but it’s very important. My Uncle Henry was a missionary to China. He got me to think like a missionary. From him I learned, “Give them a bowl of rice.” In China, the people were not Christians and didn’t want to hear about our religion. They had a religion older than ours. So, what do you do? If they’re hungry, you feed them.

I asked Uncle Henry, “Where do I get the rice, the basic food you need to live?” I concluded that the rice of the soul is dignity; you cannot live without dignity as a person. So, everything in this ministry has been built around that.

Architecture says, “Find your basic building block.” Theologians have never done this; they haven’t asked, “What’s the ultimate, final building block?” I believe it’s dignity. God didn’t start by creating a loser and then getting him born again. That’s backward. Adam was created in the image of God.

What are the ministry values you hold dear that perhaps haven’t gotten any press?
What do you think they are?

Well, for one, the use of architecture and statuary to communicate. We noticed that the church campus has several statues. There’s the Job statue, which communicates, “If you’re suffering, you’re welcome here.” Also, there is the statue of the woman caught in adultery—”If you’re a sinner, you’re welcome here.”
I picked the images I think are at the heart of the gospel. One reason I put them on the campus was to try to preserve the tradition of this ministry for future centuries.

I made a decision never to leave the denomination. I feel strongly about that. I am real concerned about losing our heritage. That’s why I tend to be confessional. It’s the only reason why I wouldn’t dare to be independent.

In Your Church Has a Fantastic Future, you write about your conscious decision while building the Crystal Cathedral to bolt the cross into the wall instead of making it removable. Why?
It was a way of saying, “This is a church. We’re going to be a mission, but we’re not going to be doing it with duplicity. I think duplicity is a form of deception. I don’t think I would advocate operating a mission, even though it’s in hostile territory, and taking down the cross.

Through TV, I speak to more Muslims today than anyone else in the world. And the cross is what offends the Muslims. But I have to let people know who I am and then treat them with dignity and respect.

What advice do you have for the emerging generation of church leaders as they attempt to reach the culture for Christ?
First, be point people, but don’t abandon tradition. Creativity will always fail if it ignores tradition. I think a leader is a point person. But leadership is the force that sets the goals. In all the books on leadership, everyone assumes that leadership is in a person. That’s not necessarily true.

Second, don’t imitate; innovate. An amazing amount of energy in Christian ministries is repeating what has already been done.

Third, don’t compete. Explore what isn’t being done. See all positive Christian ministries as your ministry, as if you owned them. If we are Christians under the lordship of Christ, we should view other positive Christian ministries as our own.

Fourth, don’t let eschatology stifle your long-term thinking.

Fifth, be beautiful. If I had one prayer, it would be that in seventy-five or one hundred years, Christianity in its renewal and its revival would become known by the love of the followers of Christ—so that if someone uses the phrase “he’s a Christian” or “she’s a Christian,” everybody would think, They’re such nice people. That’s not true today.

Sixth, remember you’re in a mission age, and that’s never going to change. It will be a mission age until the trumpet sounds. If you realize that, it changes everything.

Seventh, focus on the remnant.

Eighth, don’t try to win the whole world to Christ. Just witness to the whole world for Christ.

Originally published in Leadership journal, April 1, 1997

One for the record

One could guess this wasn’t her first stop of the night.

A convenience store became an unwilling drive-in when a 74-year-old woman plowed her car through the front window and then tried to buy a six-pack of Budweiser, according to a July 1 AP story.

A Norwalk, Calif., woman drove her 1988 Cadillac into Joe’s Food Mart and Video on Sunday evening, a Los Angeles County sheriff’s officer explained. The car plowed about halfway through the store, but nobody was injured. The driver got out of the car, walked to the cooler and took out a six-pack of Budweiser beer.

“I don’t know how she managed to walk,” the cashier said. He declined the sale and instead called police.

Ahcohol Consumption: What do you Believe?

In a recent Sermon I commented on the use of Alcohol. One of the things I said is, “I wish that I could tell you that you absolutely cannot drink it and that is what the Bible says. but that isn’t the case”. The Bible says that you are not to be drunk.

I found the following statement on the church we are doing mission work with in Macon Georgia and it is good.

The fourth statement is one that we all have to take a hard look at!

Ronnie

About Alcohol Consumption

First, we believe that all drunkenness is a sin (Deuteronomy 21:20; Ecclesiastes 10:17; Matthew 24:29; Luke 12:45; 21:34; Romans 13:13; 1 Corinthians 5:11, 6:10; Ephesians 5:18; 1 Peter 4:3).

Secondly, we believe that many horrendous sins are affiliated with drunkenness. Therefore, getting drunk is a sin that can lead to other sins, such as incest (Genesis 19:32 35), violence (Proverbs 4:17), adultery (Revelation 17:2), mockery and brawling (Proverbs 20:1), poverty (Proverbs 21:17), late night and early morning drinking (Isaiah 5:11 12), hallucinations (Isaiah 28:7), foolish behavior (Isaiah 5:22; Jeremiah 51:39), murder (2 Samuel 11:13), vomiting (Jeremiah 25:27; 48:26; Isaiah 19:14), staggering (Jeremiah 25:27; Psalm 107:27; Job 12:25), madness (Jeremiah 51:7), shameful nakedness (Habakkuk 2:15; Lamentations 4:21), sloth (Joel 1:5), escapism (Hosea 4:11), and depression (Luke 21:34). In summary, sin leads to death and the sin of drunkenness produces only death and misery.

Thirdly, we believe that Christian leaders are to live their lives in such a way as to set a positive example of holiness for others to emulate (Hebrews 13:7). This includes elders, the male (and Female) (my addition)senior leaders in the church, who are not to be drunkards (1 Timothy 3:3; Titus 1:7).

Fourthly, we do believe that all Christians must at varying times and in varying ways give up some of their Christian liberties in order to love people of weaker conscience. Christians must make every effort to not lead them into sin by exercising freedoms in their presence (Romans 14:21; 1 Corinthians 10:31 32).

Commentary: Reflecting on Southern Baptist trends

June 30, 2008

The Rev. Lovett H. Weems Jr.

A UMNS Commentary
By the Rev. Lovett H. Weems Jr.*

Recently, The Associated Press reported that Southern Baptist churches suffered a loss of members in 2007.

United Methodists will find this hard to believe in the South, where there is an expression about places where “there are more Baptists than people.” It’s an expression that reflects the historic focus of Southern Baptists on evangelism and conversions, but also their tendency to inflate church rolls. Pastoral success is often viewed in terms of “additions” and membership growth.

The practices of keeping a “non-resident” category of members and often leaving inactive members on the rolls have led some senior Baptist leaders to caution against taking membership figures at face value.

So, what are some of the reasons a system designed to avoid reporting losses can begin to decline numerically? And what might United Methodists discover if we are attentive to factors related to that decline?

Membership tends to be a lagging indicator. Membership changes, in either a congregation or a denomination, are the result of many factors that have been present for some time. For Southern Baptists, declining baptism rates over many decades may have signaled an impending downturn in membership. United Methodists trace membership losses to the mid-1960s, but we know that the growth rate and share of population for Methodists had declined well before then with little, if any, notice.

Defensiveness and denial. When membership declines, the natural tendency is to explain it away. In 1998, when Southern Baptists showed their first membership decline in 70 years, some blamed the loss on a new computer system, while others said it was a temporary downturn as churches “clean” their rolls. 

Methodists have used the “cleaning the rolls” mantra to explain slow growth or no growth for over a century in the United States. In the 1900 Episcopal Address of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the bishops reported that since 1800, the nation’s population had grown 14 times while Methodist membership had grown by 97 times. But in the last four years of that period, the increase was only 4 percent, a much smaller rate of growth.

“How to account for this smaller gain is not easily seen,” said the bishops. They went on to say that such decline should not be the “occasion for despondency and evil forebodings.” In the future, as in the past, they projected “small gains may soon be followed by larger.”

Even allowing for the imprecise nature of church rolls, membership decline should be seen for what it is: a lagging indicator that some other important things need attention.

Conflict. Some level of tension is always present in healthy and growing churches. However, severe conflict in congregations and denominations tends to take a toll on participation and membership. The Rev. Frank Page, president of the Southern Baptist Convention, placed part of the blame for membership loss on a perception that some of the denomination’s followers are “mean-spirited, hurtful and angry.” He contends that Baptists have been known too much in recent years for “what we’re against” rather than “what we’re for.”

Time takes its toll. As time goes by and churches become successful, it often becomes harder and harder to maintain success. With maturity comes a level of organizational complexity that can be a barrier to growth. And as churches and their members prosper, there is a temptation to become removed from the practices that led to growth in the first place. It could be that Southern Baptists had some of their greatest growth when they were not the largest Protestant denomination in the United States, but rather when they often were seen on the sidelines of religious life that was dominated by more established traditions. United Methodists should remember that our greatest growth came in such a time.

Change is hard but not impossible. Some demographic indicators suggest that Southern Baptists may be joining that cohort of mainline denominations that has been losing members since the 1960s, a sign perhaps that well-established denominations, regardless of their theology, are increasingly unable to reach new Christians. Unfortunately, Southern Baptists will not learn much from the experience of mainline churches in addressing their decline––except, perhaps, what not to do. 

“Even allowing for the imprecise nature of church rolls, membership decline should be seen for what it is: a lagging indicator that some other important things need attention.”

Southern Baptists join these other denominations in the need to break the mold and change enough to turn their fortunes around. They are already recognizing the implications of the fact that their constituency has been primarily white and middle class, and this part of the population is not growing. Southern Baptists are turning their attention to people of color (to remedy a historic weakness of theirs) by starting new churches (a historic strength). 

The United Methodist Church did very well “growing up” with America through the 19th century and into the early decades of the 20th century. Then, as the last century unfolded, the nation changed and the church did not. Earlier generations had followed Americans from east to west, from urban to frontier, and from lower to middle and upper-middle classes. But success led to staying with practices even as they became increasingly less effective.

Today, The United Methodist Church in the United States is not only dramatically smaller, but it is older and less diverse than the population. Southern Baptists and United Methodists will have faithful and fruitful futures to the extent that they can find ways to reach more people, younger people and more diverse people.  

*Weems is distinguished professor of church leadership and director of the Lewis Center for Church Leadership of Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington. This commentary is adapted from the center’s online newsletter, Leading Ideas, available free at www.churchleadership.com.

News media contact: Linda Green, (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.

Kay-Waiting for Adoption

Kay – 6 Years Old is one of the photographs that we have displayed at First United Methodist Church Hillsville of Children Waiting for Adoption.

Kay loves classical music and listens to Bach every night before going to sleep. Her favorite foods are macaroni and cheese and marshmallows. She enjoys playing on swings and picking flowers. If she could visit anywhere it would be the zoo.

Region: WesternCall 1-800-DO-ADOPT for further information. Photograph by Tonia Wilson

California United Methodists react to same-sex ruling

How can this be when it explicitly goes against The Book of Discipline? If we are held to one standard and not all then we will fall. A house divided against itself can never stand.

Ronnie

Jul. 9, 2008     

NOTE: Photographs are available at http://umns.umc.org.

A UMNS Report
By Marta W. Aldrich*

On the heels of a California Supreme Court ruling that opened the door to same-gender unions, two United Methodist legislative bodies in California have approved gay-friendly statements that are stretching the denominational promise of “open hearts, open minds, open doors.”

The church’s California-Pacific Annual Conference, convening June 18-22 in Redlands, approved three measures that support same-gender couples entering into the marriage covenant. Each “encourages both congregations and pastors to welcome, embrace and provide spiritual nurture and pastoral care for these families,” according to a June 27 letter to the conference from Bishop Mary Ann Swenson and other conference leaders.

That same week in Sacramento, the California-Nevada Annual Conference approved two measures on the same issue, including one that lists 67 retired United Methodist clergy in northern California who have offered to conduct same-gender marriage ceremonies. The resolution commends the pastors’ work in offering continued ministry.

The statements are the strongest yet on the issue by California United Methodists and have drawn cheers from gay rights advocates, who say the church and its pastors should extend to same-sex couples the same level of support it provides heterosexual couples.

Others say the conferences are on the verge of breaking a Scripturally based covenant with the rest of the 11.5 million-member worldwide denomination. The United Methodist Church, while affirming all people as persons “of sacred worth,” considers the practice of homosexuality “incompatible with Christian teaching.” Its policy book, called the Book of Discipline, prohibits its pastors and churches from conducting ceremonies celebrating homosexual unions.

The denominational statements were affirmed last spring during split votes by General Conference, the church’s top legislative body. The assembly, which met April 23-May 2, convenes every four years and represents United Methodists worldwide.

That same month, California’s high court overturned a voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage, making California and Massachusetts the only U.S. states to allow gay couples to marry. California began to issue licenses June 16.

Pastoral choices

The actions by United Methodist leaders in southern California reflect the struggle by pastors and churches to minister to same-sex couples in the wake of actions by both the General Conference and the state’s high court, according to the Rev. Frank Wulf, pastor of United University Church, a United Methodist/Presbyterian congregation in Los Angeles.

“This recognizes that our pastors and our churches are already struggling with these decisions,” said Wulf, who helped to author the resolutions. “It’s an attempt to honor the choices they make.”

One resolution reads in part: “While we recognize that we are governed by the Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church, we support those pastors who conscientiously respond to the needs of their parishes by celebrating same-gender marriages, and we envision compassion and understanding in any resulting disciplinary actions.”

The second resolution acknowledges the May 15 court decision, and the third opposes a November ballot initiative in California that would reverse the court ruling and amend the state constitution to bar gay marriage.

In northern California, the California-Nevada Conference voted to support both the court ruling and the pastoral alternative offered by some retired clergy. “Some of our clergy will choose not to perform same-gender marriages, for various reasons, but would like to keep a continued ministry with families and loved ones of same-gender couples,” the resolution states. “…Retired clergy in our conference are now available to perform the marriages as an aid to the congregation and pastor. …”

Bishop Beverly Shamana, who presides over the conference, declined to comment on the action. Responding to an elder’s call, she has sent a ruling to the denomination’s top court on the question of how the conference can authorize and commend its clergy to conduct an act that might violate church law. The Judicial Council is expected to consider her ruling when it convenes in October.

Ongoing conversation

The latest developments in the California conferences trouble United Methodists who view such actions as a challenge to both Scriptural authority and the church’s covenant through its Book of Discipline. They note that General Conference has repeatedly affirmed its stance on homosexuality and homosexual unions.

“We’ve made it clear we adhere to biblical teaching and Christian tradition,” said the Rev. Eddie Fox, director of evangelism for the World Methodist Council. “Ninety-eight percent of Christians around the world believe marriage is between one man and one woman, so we’re not out of step in our ecumenical relationships with Christians around the world.”

At the most recent General Conference, Fox helped lead the effort to keep the church’s stance on homosexuality intact. He argued that “God created the maleness and the femaleness” and that this “order of creation is, at the very heart, one of those essential doctrines for us in our church.”

“If we don’t have a clear, consistent statement on this, it will result in confusion in our church,” Fox said in a July 7 interview with UMNS. “These are the Social Principles for the whole church, not for one church.” The Social Principles, contained in the Book of Discipline, detail the church’s position on homosexuality and other social concerns.

The Rev. Maxie Dunnam urged all pastors and churches to act on the church’s definition of marriage instead of secular definitions. “The church is called to be prophetic in opposing that in the culture that is clearly out of step with what our United Methodist Church, the church universal and the Christian faith affirms,” said Dunnam, chancellor of Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Ky.

“I would hope that people would recognize the pain that their action will cause for the whole church, especially as we seek to be a global church.”

The Rev. John McFarland was among California-Pacific members who questioned the wisdom of the body’s decisions and the processes being used to discern God’s voice.

“This topic is not being debated based on Scripture,” said McFarland, pastor of Fountain Valley (Calif.) United Methodist Church. “It’s being debated primarily on experience without regard to tradition, reason and Scripture.” Scripture, tradition, experience and reason are the four themes cited by Methodism’s founder, John Wesley, as illuminating the Christian faith.

“Even though wonderful and caring people practice same-sex behavior, the discussion does not end there. What concerns me is how far we’ve gone from trusting the Bible as the Word of God,” said McFarland. He noted that 2 Timothy 3:16 says “all Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, reproof, correction and training in righteousness.”

Interpretation vs. authority

Proponents of conference actions suggest the issue is not biblical authority, but biblical interpretation.

“It is our UM tradition to interpret Scripture with attention to its context and purpose,” said the Rev. Sharon Rhodes-Wickett, pastor of Claremont (Calif.) United Methodist Church.

“We create misunderstandings when we choose some texts to be understood as literal and others not,” she said. “We once excluded women as clergy based on Scriptural authority; we once justified slave-holding based on Scripture. We’re doing the same thing now with regard to homosexuality.”

Wulf said the church’s unity does not necessarily lie in the unanimity of practice in all things. “We are fallible human beings, and our covenant is imperfect. We all know that because we get together every four years to adjust it,” he said of the church’s General Conference.

“To those of us in the West who feel a calling to offer a different kind of message to same-sex couples, there is a sense in which the whole church wants to hem us in and prevent us from following that calling,” Wulf said.

“… We know the world is in flux, particularly on this issue,” he said. “So we do this–not as an act of disrespect to the people of Africa or the people of (other parts of the United States)–but as a way of speaking the Christian Gospel compassionately to a group of people who deal with this every day.”

*Aldrich is news editor of United Methodist News Service.

News media contact: Marta Aldrich, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.

********************

United Methodist News Service
Photos and stories also available at:
http://umns.umc.org

SLAVERY, HOMOSEXUALITY, AND “NOT BEING OF ONE MIND”

From The Confessing Movement of the United Methodist Church

HAPPENINGS AROUND THE CHURCH   By Dr. Riley B. Case   SLAVERY, HOMOSEXUALITY, AND “NOT BEING OF ONE MIND”

The church is divided over the question of the practice of homosexuality.  There is no question about that.  While the church has stated that the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching, many have disagreed.  While some would like for the church to remove the restrictions and simply bless the practice of homosexuality, others, including many moderates, would like for the church to find a “middle way.”  One “middle way” would be simply to admit the church “is not of one mind” on the matter of the practice of homosexuality and so to state it in our Discipline.  The “not of one mind” petition is what failed to pass at the General Conference.   At this point, it would be worth considering what happened the other time the church was so bitterly divided over a moral question, namely, on slavery in the mid-1800s.   There is no question about where Methodists stood on slavery in the early days.  John Wesley, Thomas Coke, Francis Asbury were horrified at the idea that one human being could enslave another.  The General Rules, the Disciplines, and early sermons made it clear that slaveholding was an abominable sin against God and human dignity and would not be tolerated among the people of God called Methodists.   Then Methodists got prosperous and, in the words of Orange Scott, the abolitionist, “aristocratic.”  Along with the secular world around them some Methodists, primarily in the South but in other places also, began to argue that it was not slavery as an institution that was so bad, but the mistreatment of slaves.  Christian slaveholders had a responsibility to win their slaves to Christ, and maybe even offer a form of education, but were not under moral obligation to free slaves.   Soon Methodists (as well as the rest of the country) were divided into three groups. Abolitionists made up the first group.  Slavery and whatever was associated with slavery was to be resisted and abolished, and as soon as possible.  All the moral weight of the church was to be poured into this effort (including the Underground Railroad).  At the very least slaveholders should not be church members.  Abolitionists, moral heroes today, were not seen as such in the mid-1800s.  They were troublemakers.  Their critical remarks of the church were seen as divisive.    The next two groups were in the “we are not of one mind” category.  One group supported slavery.  This group argued that slavery was approved by Scripture, and insisted on “non-interference,” the principle that groups from far off should not interfere in local affairs.  Theirs was a form of modern multi-culturalism.  Cultural circumstances determined what is right and wrong and persons in the church should respect the beliefs of others.  What was sin for one group of persons was not necessary sin for others.  They argued that slavery was a political issue more than a moral issue.  This group claimed allegiance to the slave-permitting laws of the state rather than any moral law, especially if law was imposed by outsiders.     The third group might be called the moderates, although a better description might be, the “Compromised Middle.”  Included in this group were the people who either did not know much about slavery or, if they did know, did not desire to be greatly involved.  Others in this group, including many church leaders, did know about slavery and were concerned (rightfully so) about slavery’s potential for dividing the church.  They deplored the “extremists” on either side.  In the language of today, they believed the best way for the church to deal with slavery was through dialogue, understanding, hearing one another’s stories, getting to know each other, and finding the center of their togetherness in love.   With the moderates, or Compromised Middle, the primary concern–ahead of faithfulness to the Scriptures, moral justice, or the tradition of the church–was unity.  Many believed, or said they did, that slavery was a sin.  But a greater sin, evidently, was intolerance and divisiveness, particularly the intolerance and divisiveness of the abolitionists.  The Kentucky Conference in 1835 unanimously adopted a report condemning slavery as morally wrong while at the same time deploring “the interference of the abolitionists.”  It was compromise in the interest of avoiding conflict.    The bishops, for their part, were the most compromised of all.  Not able to agree among themselves, they condemned extremists, deplored the controversy, and talked unity.  The bishops were particularly loath to criticize each other even when one of their own, Bishop James Andrew, was revealed to be a slaveholder.  When the issue could be avoided no longer and the General Conference of 1844 was prepared to pass a resolution suggesting that Bishop Andrew desist from exercising his office as long as he continued to be a slaveholder (which was itself a compromised resolution for the sake of harmony), the bishops proposed a resolution that the matter be tabled for four more years.   As with slavery then so with homosexuality today.  The church today is divided into three groups. The first group declares that the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching.  According to this group, this stand is consistent with Scripture, with the tradition of the church through the years, and is supported in large part by Christians around the world.  Even as slavery struck at the moral fabric of what Christian faith was all about, so with homosexual practice.  This group speaks of accountability and upholding the Discipline.   The second group believes homosexuality is a gift of God, or at least, is not inconsistent with Scripture. This group appeals to a number of different arguments: God has revealed new truth (a new revelation which evidently they alone have received) which informs them that the practice of homosexuality is not a sin after all; or, what may be considered wrong in some parts of the world (like Africa) is not necessarily wrong in some other part of the world (like California); or, loving, committed relationships and personal experience trump Scripture and tradition.  This group sees the first group as hateful and intolerant.   A third group, which one might call the “moderates,” want us all simply to get along.  They deplore the rigid approaches.  Much of their effort is spent speaking about dialogue, understanding, hearing one another’s stories, getting along, and finding the center of our unity in love.  They find attraction in the idea that perhaps it is best that we just admit we “are not of one mind” and let people do what is right in their own eyes.    The bishops, like the bishops during the years of slavery, are themselves conflicted.  A number do not personally believe in the church’s stance, and their bias shows.  In some annual conferences, candidates for ministry are denied membership for being “rigid,” that is for holding with conviction what the church has always taught about homosexuality.  Regardless of what they might say among themselves, publicly they do not engage in debate with one another.  When the bishops speak as a Council of Bishops, it is to acknowledge that there is much pain over homosexuality, but the church should be loving in all things, show restraint, and move on to other more important matters.      Very few people are satisfied with the present situation facing the United Methodist Church.  Those who would affirm the practice of homosexuality believe the church is rigid, intolerant, and hate-filled and has been manipulated by hate-mongers and right-wingers.  Those who support the Biblical view of homosexuality believe the church is on the edge of apostasy.  Those in the middle, like a mother whose children are out of control but who doesn’t know what to do, tell us we should all be nice to each other.  They appear to be, in the words to the church at Laodicea, “neither hot nor cold.”   The Methodist Episcopal Church had many things to be proud of in the nineteenth century.  How it dealt with slavery, however, was not one of them.  The resolution on Bishop Andrew led to a Plan of Separation, which was a form of amiable separation.  It was the northern conferences who, in the name of unity, passed resolutions against the plan.  Thus, when separation came, it was not amiable.  Battles over property and encroachment represent an ugly chapter in the church’s history.  The Methodist Protestants, who did work out an amiable separation, were able to reunite in 1877.      What will happen to the United Methodist Church in the coming years over the issue of homosexuality?  There is not much encouragement in thinking that things will probably progress just as they have been:  continual political maneuvering, announced strategies to undermine the Discipline, ugly words spoken against brothers and sisters,  more rounds of dialogue that don’t solve anything, a compromised moral witness,  resolutions on unity that provide no help in bringing about that unity, conflicted bishops.  Those on the evangelical side of the issue are alarmed that some of our best families, our best prospective pastors, and even some churches, are simply opting out of the denomination.  Despite the church’s announced position, the church’s ambiguity has the effect of permission-giving to the acceptance of homosexual practice.   One must always hold out the hope that God will do some new thing.  If so, it will probably come through the moderates in the denomination.  But for the moderates, as well as all of us, it can no longer be business as usual.  The church’s response to slavery should teach us that.

Great Tool for Bible Study

This is the number one tool that I use for Bible Study. There are literally thousands of dollars in books here for a minimal price and it is easy to use.

www.logos.com

I have what is called Scholars Library, you can start with something that has much less or even more but you can’t go wrong with this tool.

Here is what is included with Scholar’s Library. They have training nationally that I have never been to, so if I can use it, you can too. However I do want to go to a training. I am sure it is like everything else, we only use a fraction of what is available to us because we don’t understand all the capabilities.

Blessings

Ronnie

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• The Message
• American Standard Version
• New Revised Standard Version
• Revised Standard Version
• Darby Bible 1890
• New Century Version
• Today’s New International Version**
• New International Reader’s Version**
• International Standard Version – New Testament
• New King James Version
• King James Version
• King James Version Apocrypha
• King James Version: Cambridge Paragraph Bible
• Young’s Literal Translation
• Wuest’s Expanded NT

Interlinear Bibles

• The Greek New Testament, Fourth Revised Edition w/ McReynolds English Interlinear & Logos Morphology
• Nestle-Aland 27th Edition Greek NT w/ McReynolds English Interlinear & Logos Morphology
• Interlinear Literal Translation of the Greek New Testament (Newberry)
• ESV English-Greek Reverse Interlinear of the NT
• ESV English-Hebrew Reverse Interlinear of the OT
• NRSV English-Greek Reverse Interlinear of the NT

Greek Texts & Morphologies

• The Lexham Syntactic Greek New Testament
• The OpenText.org Syntactically Analyzed Greek New Testament
• Byzantine/Majority Textform w/ Robinson Morphology
• Elzevir Textus Receptus (1624) w/ Robinson Morphology
• Scrivener’s Textus Receptus (1894) w/ Robinson Morphology
• Stephen’s Textus Receptus (1550) w/ Robinson Morphology
• Westcott-Hort Greek NT (1881) w/ Robinson Morphology
• Tischendorf’s Greek New Testament
• Septuagint (Rahlfs) w/CCAT Morphological Tagging
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• The Greek New Testament, Fourth Revised Edition w/ Logos Morphology

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• Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia w/ WIVU Hebrew Morphology

Aramaic Text & Morphology

• The Targums from the files of the Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project

Latin Texts

• Clementine Vulgate

Ancient Texts in Translation

• Amarna Letters
• Complete Works of Josephus
• Works of Philo

Greek Lexicons

• Dictionary of Biblical Languages (Greek NT)
• Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon
• Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon (Liddell & Scott)
• Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Abridged (“Little Kittel”)
• Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (10 Volumes)
• Greek-English Lexicon Based on Semantic Domains (Louw-Nida)
• NAS Greek Dictionary

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• Enhanced Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon of the OT
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Latin Lexicon

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• Syntax of the Moods and Tenses in NT Greek
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• Hebrew Bible Insert
• Biblical Hebrew Reference Grammar
• Hebrew Syntax, 3rd Edition (Davidson)

Latin Grammar

• An Introduction to Ecclesiastical Latin

Original Language Tools

• Tense Voice Mood
• Glossary of Morpho-Syntactic Database Terminology
• Clausal Outlines of the Greek New Testament (Deppe)
• Diagrammatical Analysis
• The Andersen-Forbes Analyzed Text of the Hebrew Bible: A Systematic Glossary
• The Andersen-Forbes Phrase Marker Analysis of the Hebrew Bible
• The Lexham Syntactic Greek New Testament Glossary
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Bible Commentaries

• Teacher’s Commentary
• New Bible Commentary
• Tyndale Concise Bible Commentary
• Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
• Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Bible
• Life of Christ (3 Volumes)
• St. Paul the Traveller and Roman Citizen
• Bible Exposition Commentary (23 Volumes)
• Be Available (Judges)
• Be Comforted (Isaiah)
• Be Committed (Ruth & Esther)
• Be Decisive (Jeremiah)
• Be Determined (Nehemiah)
• Be Holy (Leviticus)
• Be Obedient (Abraham)
• Be Patient (Job)
• Be Satisfied (Ecclesiastes)
• Be Skillful (Proverbs)
• Be Strong (Joshua)
• Bible Knowledge Commentary

Bible Introductions & Outlines

• Introducing the New Testament
• Introducing the Old Testament
• Survey of Old Testament Introduction
• Why Four Gospels?
• Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the New Testament
• Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the Old Testament
• Willmington’s Bible Handbook
• General Introduction to the Bible
• New Testament Introduction
• Old Testament Survey Series: The Pentateuch
• Old Testament Survey Series: The Books of History
• Old Testament Survey Series: The Wisdom Literature and Psalms
• Old Testament Survey Series: The Major Prophets
• Old Testament Survey Series: The Minor Prophets
• Outline Bible (Tyndale)
• Bible Reader’s Companion

Topical Bibles

• New Nave’s Topical Bible
• New Topical Textbook

Bible Dictionaries

• Easton’s Bible Dictionary
• Tyndale Bible Dictionary
• Exhaustive Dictionary of Bible Names
• Harper’s Bible Dictionary
• New Bible Dictionary

Biblical Studies Tools

• Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
• Willmington’s Book of Bible Lists
• NAS Exhaustive Concordance

Word Studies

• Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament (4 Volumes)
• Word Pictures in the New Testament
• Synonyms of the Old Testament (Girdlestone)
• Figures of Speech Used in the Bible (Bullinger)
• Wuest’s Word Studies

Bible Maps & Photos

• Logos Deluxe Map Set
• Images of the Holy Lands

Biblical History & Culture

• Time Travel to the World of Jesus
• Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah (Edersheim)
• Sketches of Jewish Social Life (Edersheim)
• The Temple (Edersheim)
• New Testament Milieu
• New Manners and Customs of the Bible
• Bible History: Old Testament (Edersheim)

Bible Archaeology

• Dead Sea Scrolls & Modern Translations of the OT
• Archaeological Encyclopedia of the Holy Land

History of the Church

• Studies in Early Church History
• History of the Christian Church

Theology

• Biblical Theology of the New Testament
• Biblical Theology of the Old Testament
• Concise Theology (Packer)
• Systematic Theology (Hodge)
• Institutes of the Christian Religion
• Ryrie’s Survey of Bible Doctrine
• Great Doctrines of the Bible
• Moody Handbook of Theology

Biblical Ethics

• Biblical Ethics
• Following Christ
• Ethics for a Brave New World
• Moral Foundations of Life

Apologetics

• Difficulties in the Bible: Alleged Errors and Contradictions

Pastoral Resources

• Star Book for Ministers

Fresh Ideas Series

• Fresh Ideas for Administration & Finance
• Fresh Ideas for Discipleship & Nurture
• Fresh Ideas for Families, Youth & Children
• Fresh Ideas for Preaching, Worship & Evangelism

Leadership Library Series

• Called into Crisis
• Clergy Couples in Crisis
• Leaders
• Learning to Lead
• Liberating the Leader’s Prayer Life
• Making the Most of Mistakes
• Sins of the Body
• The Contemplative Pastor
• The Healthy Hectic Home
• The Magnetic Fellowship
• The Secrets of Staying Power
• The Unity Factor
• Weddings, Funerals & Special Events
• Well-Intentioned Dragons
• When It’s Time to Move On
• When to Take a Risk
• Music, Youth & Education
• Preaching to Convince
• Helping Those Who Don’t Want Help
• Being Holy, Being Human

Library of Leadership Development

• Leading Your Church Through Conflict & Resolution
• Renewing Your Church Through Vision & Planning
• Growing Your Church Through Training & Motivation
• Building Your Church Through Counsel & Care

Library of Christian Leadership

• Changing Lives Through Preaching and Worship
• Deepening Your Ministry Through Prayer & Personal Growth
• Empowering Your Church Through Creativity & Change
• Growing Your Church Through Evangelism & Outreach

Mastering Ministry Series

• Mastering Church Finances
• Mastering Church Management
• Mastering Conflict & Controversy
• Mastering Contemporary Preaching
• Mastering Outreach & Evangelism
• Mastering Pastoral Care
• Mastering Pastoral Counseling
• Mastering Pastoral Role
• Mastering Personal Growth
• Mastering Teaching
• Mastering Transitions
• Mastering Worship

Pastor’s Soul Series

• Character Forged From Conflict
• Deepening Your Conversation With God
• Leading With Integrity
• Listening to the Voice of God
• Your Ministry’s Next Chapter
• Pastoral Grit
• Power of Loving Your Church
• Preaching With Spiritual Passion

Pressure Points Series

• Pressure Points: Dangers, Toils & Snares
• Pressure Points: Measuring Up
• Pressure Points: Standing Fast
• Pressure Points: Time Crunch
• Pressure Points: Voice in the Wilderness
• Pressure Points: Who’s In Charge?

Sermons

• Elements of Preaching
• Rediscovering Expository Preaching
• Selected Sermons of George Whitefield
• Sermons on Several Occasions

Illustrations

• Encyclopedia of 7,700 Illustrations

Quotations

• All the Questions in the Bible
• Great Quotations
• The Merriam-Webster Dictionary of Quotations

Small Group Resources

• Big Book of Small Groups
• Seven Myths About Small Groups
• Small Group Idea Book
• Small Group Leaders’ Handbook: The Next Generation
• Starting (and Ending) a Small Group
• Getting Together
• Good Things Come in Small Groups
• Biblical Foundations for Small Group Ministry

Bible Study Training

• How To Study the Bible
• Handbook to Bible Study
• Diving For Pearls in God’s Treasure Chest
• Keys to the Bible’s Treasures

Witnessing

• True Evangelism

Discipleship

• Training of the Twelve

Prayer

• Necessity of Prayer
• Power Through Prayer
• Prayer: Basic Training
• Handbook To Prayer

Family Dynamics

• Different By Design
• Fulfilled Family

Home School & Christian Education

• Keyword Learning System
• Soul of Science

English Language Reference

• Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition
• Merriam-Webster Collegiate Thesaurus

Christian Reference

• Who’s Who in Christian History

Christian Living

• Be What You Are
• Christian’s Secret of a Holy Life
• Growing In Christ
• Fourfold Gospel
• Living a Full Life

Worship

• Logos Hymnal, 100 MIDI Hymns

Devotionals

• Alone with God
• Amazing Grace: 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories
• Drawing Close to God
• Imitation of Christ
• Morning and Evening
• My Utmost for His Highest
• Thoughts for the Quiet Hour

Fiction/Allegory

• Pilgrim’s Progress
• In His Steps

Addins Included

• Bible Tools Addin
• LLS Addin
• Logos Bible Software Addin
• Personal Bible Study Tools Addin
• Lectionary Addin
• Bible Puzzles Addin
• Biblical People Addin
• Timelines Addin (8 Timelines)
• Sentence Diagramming Addin
• Graphical Query Editor Addin
• Syntax Tools Addin
• Compare Parallel Bible Versions Addin
• Biblical Languages Addin
• Original Languages Addin
• Bible Analysis Addin
• Greek Pronunciation Addin with Erasmian & Modern Data Sets
• Remote Library Search Addin
• PBB Reading Key

Parallel Passages Included

• Analytical Outline of the Books of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles (Crockett)
• Synopsis of the Old Testament (Jackson)
• OT Quotations and Allusions in the NT (Jones)
• Old Testament Quotes in the New Testament (HCSB)
• A Harmony of the Gospels (Robertson)
• A Harmony of the Synoptic Gospels (Burton, Goodspeed)
• Synopsis of Matthew, Mark, and Luke
• Eusebian Canons (Eusebius)
• Synopsis of the Four Gospels (Aland)
• Records of the Life of Jesus (Sharman)
• Pastoral Epistles (Brannan)
• Jude – 2 Peter (Jackson)

Data Sets Included

• Biblical People
• Revised Common Lectionary
• NT Genre Coding
• OT Genre Coding

Celebrate, Remember, Fight Back!

Relay for Life is coming to CCHS on July 25th. We need you to sign up to walk, fellowship, raise money and just have fun rejoicing with the many who have survived cancer as well as remember those who have died with this dreaded disease.

Let me know if you are interested. No doubt, all of our lives have been touched in some way by Cancer.

Ronnie