I have witnessed this behavior in several Methodist churches since the 90s, including the wearing of a rainbow stole and changing the liturgy to "Father/Mother God" and similar crapola. I left the UMC in the early 00s, not long after my Methodist pastors "were too busy" to create a prayer service for 9/12/01, in spite of one of our congregant's having lost a family member in the Towers on 9/11. Our home-church prayer group created one instead, got permission to use the sanctuary, and attracted hundreds of new people to the church -- but the pastor wouldn't allow us to use the copier for additional programs. Soon thereafter, he escorted the MYF (youth fellowship) to a mosque for a nice visit.
After leaving the church of five generations of my family, I wandered "in the desert" for many years, surviving on completely independent home-church prayer groups.
Recently, I was led by the Spirit to a Reformed Episcopal church. It uses the same liturgy we used in the Methodist Episcopal Church up until the late 60s (when, after the merger with several other denominations, the "United Methodist Church" became hippified). Its traditional Anglican practices and liturgy convey a large variety of basic Christian beliefs that were suppressed or eliminated by so-called United Methodism since the 60s, such as frequent communion, confession of sins, use of the Nicene and the Athanasian Creed (a long-form affirmation of faith that includes a full description of the nature of the Trinity), et cetera. There is a long sermon that does not contain Methodist-Lite cutesie anecdotes about the pastor's childhood, but that instead illuminate the scriptures, as well as the character of the converted Christian.
Praise God!
Well, you have certainly been down that road then. Sorry you were in the “wilderness” for so long...but I do think the wilderness path has many things we learn from we cannot learn on any other path and it brings growth with it as we must depend on Christ alone. Not everyone can take that path...it requires much courage and stamina to stand...but we come away knowing Christ more for it I believe.
We all need to hold close to Christ in these times we are in now...there does seem to be a huge ‘sifting’ within all churches and most are quite aware of this who are close to Christ. It may very well be the beginnings of positioning the churches to unite on the world stage....and we may see the true church begin to move ‘underground’ in some respects. I hope not but it is very difficult in these days to find a church that is solid.
I have witnessed this behavior in several Methodist churches since the 90s, including the wearing of a rainbow stole and changing the liturgy to “Father/Mother God” and similar crapola. I left the UMC in the early 00s, not long after my Methodist pastors “were too busy” to create a prayer service for 9/12/01, in spite of one of our congregant’s having lost a family member in the Towers on 9/11. Our home-church prayer group created one instead, got permission to use the sanctuary, and attracted hundreds of new people to the church — but the pastor wouldn’t allow us to use the copier for additional programs. Soon thereafter, he escorted the MYF (youth fellowship) to a mosque for a nice visit.
After leaving the church of five generations of my family, I wandered “in the desert” for many years, surviving on completely independent home-church prayer groups.
Recently, I was led by the Spirit to a Reformed Episcopal church. It uses the same liturgy we used in the Methodist Episcopal Church up until the late 60s (when, after the merger with several other denominations, the “United Methodist Church” became hippified). Its traditional Anglican practices and liturgy convey a large variety of basic Christian beliefs that were suppressed or eliminated by so-called United Methodism since the 60s, such as frequent communion, confession of sins, use of the Nicene and the Athanasian Creed (a long-form affirmation of faith that includes a full description of the nature of the Trinity), et cetera. There is a long sermon that does not contain Methodist-Lite cutesie anecdotes about the pastor’s childhood, but that instead illuminate the scriptures, as well as the character of the converted Christian.
Praise God!
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Thanks for sharing your experience. You are certainly not alone — I have friends in the Episcopal Church, several Lutheran fellowships, the Methodist Church of course, and several Presbyterian denominations as well, and even some Baptists — that have each experienced similar trials.
Today I think the question is, are we as individuals remaining faithful to God, and in that context are we living as responsible citizens of the nation into which He has allowed us to be born? The time has past when we can rely on our institutional religions or churches to guide us in living faithfully in either of those realms — that is something we must PERSONALLY trust in God and pursue Him to determine.
Thanks for sharing!!
Faith Undone by Roger Oakland
Not surprising, considering that the official dogma (for lack of a better word) of the UMC now is that there are many ways to God/Heaven and that "we all worship the same God". The radio ads for one of the big local UMC churches make me want to vomit. Between the AlGore cultic overtones ("if a church's theology was more about the environment than... " a quote!) and the very homosexual agenda-friendly teaching...
Isaiah 5:20 sure rings loudly right now!
He escorted them to a mosque???? Unbelievable. He might as well have spat on Christ when he was on the cross.