In the four decades I’ve been an ordained leader in the UMC, we have lost 30 percent of our membership. Our response? Spend millions of dollars and hours of work to decide who else we can exclude.
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You’ve lost 30% of your membership because their really is no point to being a Methodist anymore. I’ve been to several Methodist services. It’s the same message: Basically God is too nice to condemn anyone. The whole “Salvation for All!” message comes so easily that no one has to really do much of anything. It’s not hard to infer that also includes coming to church. The final death knell is sounded when you blatantly include openly-practicing same-sex couples...especially in positions of leadership. At that point anyone with two brain cells to rub together knows you are not practicing Christianity. Sure, you practicing some new religion, and maybe it has the veneer of Christianity about it. But any serious investigation is going to conclude you’ve departed significantly from original intent of Christian teaching.
But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!
—2 Timothy 3:1-5