[lightman]

The Yalta of United Methodism, 19 July.

Which is Churchill?

Which is Roosevelt?

Which is Stalin?

[Pollster1]

If they split, it will be easy to divide the property. All Bibles and American flags go to the Christian half. The yoga mats and rainbow flags go to the freak show.

[originalbuckeye]

‘We who are orthodox can’t just blame Liberals for United Methodism’s division’

‘Liberal dissenters as a minority have loudly proclaimed their refusal to live under the continuously reaffirmed teachings of the Church’

So, We the Orthodox, who want to actually follow the teachings of the Church, are the ones failing?? I left my California Methodist Church after 9/11, when we were preached to that the cause of the TERRORIST attack was ‘World Hunger’ and told, from the pulpit, ‘we must redistribute the wealth so that everyone has enough’. It is the Left who politicized the Church. It is the Left who is to blame.

[FreshPrince]

Both sides no doubt guided by the Holy Spirit.

[DoodleDawg]

In the UMNS story, a “centrist” participant who favors liberalizing United Methodism faults evangelicals for dividing the church, insisting “progressives, centrists, and central conferences want to stay together.” But liberal dissenters as a minority have loudly proclaimed their refusal to live under the continuously reaffirmed official teachings of the church, ensuring schism between themselves and the traditionalist global majority.

I don't think it's fair to blame one side or the other for the split. Then underlying issue is so contentious does anyone think that had the liberals prevailed at the UMC congress then the conservative minority wouldn't be splitting off as a result?

[John O]

He asks what caused the split?

I’ll tell him.

The best way to keep weeds out of your lawn is to eradicate them when they first show up. If you let them grow and flower then you will face an almost impossible task of separating them from the good grass.

The split was caused by lax church discipline. When the pro-homosexual heretics first opened their mouths they should have been defrocked and expelled.

The church allowed anti-biblical, anti-Christian heresy to be taught from the pulpit. Now they are reaping the harvest of the seeds they let grow.

[marron]

we who are orthodox must ponder how we failed

The mistake is letting non-believers into positions of leadership. And not having the guts to fire them where you find them.

Atheists know how to use God-talk and happy-talk to sell what they are selling, and people who aren't well-grounded in scripture and well grounded in the Holy Spirit, will fall for it. And others will roll over for it in the name of unity. But unity with non-believers is a false god. You treat non-believers with compassion as you teach and evangelize, but you don't put them in leadership even if they have doctoral degrees in theology.

[marron]

An atheist who graduated from seminary is the worst kind, and the hardest nut to crack. They can probably talk circles around you, so you just have to fire them.

[HopeSprings]

I see that one of my pastors, Rob Renfroe, is in the group photo. He’s been a conservative stalwart. I hope he remains so!

[Fiji Hill]

I still belong to a Methodist church but I’m becoming increasingly uneasy. We recently had a pastor who was a Korean immigrant and a graduate of the traditionalist Fuller Theological Seminary. His theology was grounded in the Bible and he preached that both the Old and New Testaments point to Jesus Christ as the Messiah and Redeemer. But he has been replaced by a liberal who, among other things, sees Jesus as sort of a social justice warrior who was neither born to a virgin nor born in Bethlehem.

If I can find a house of worship that isn’t Calvinist, Roman Catholic or Mormon and which features traditional music instead of that reprehensible, unlistenable “praise” music that has become almost ubiquitous, I might change churches.

[chajin]

United Methodism will tragically divide, as Europe was divided by the Iron Curtain after WWII. This division results from tragic necessity and shouldn’t be celebrated.

"First of all, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. And indeed, there must be differences among you to show which of you are approved." - I Cor. 11:18-19

Let the heretics have their own "church," as they have with the Presbyterians, the Lutherans, and the Baptists, so that the work of God can go forward without Satan's sabotage.

[MattMusson]

Methodists divide over gay clergy while totally ignoring the Great Moral Issue of our time: Abortion.

That is Chickenshit.

[Intolerant in NJ]

In the UMNS story, a “centrist” participant who favors liberalizing United Methodism faults evangelicals for dividing the church, insisting “progressives, centrists, and central conferences want to stay together.”...whenever liberals start complaining about something leading to "division" or "polarization" or "friction", according to them it's always the other side that's causing the problem, never their holding obstinately to what they believe - funny how that works......

[Albion Wilde]

Methodist / former Methodist ping!

To be added to or dropped from this list, freepmail Albion Wilde

[Albion Wilde]

This article’s tone of self-flagellation is most unfortunate. The liberals fell away, more interested in self and pop culture than in the Lord God and His Word. Traditional/orthodox Methodists have no need to beat themselves up over it.

[Wuli]

Can you tell me the source of the picture?

Looking to put names to it.