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A Church of the Nazarene minister advocating for “full queer inclusion” has been brought up on charges and faces an upcoming ecclesiastical trial that could result in removal of his credentials as an ordained minister. Thomas Jay Oord has been charged with teaching doctrines contrary to the Church of the Nazarene and with conduct unbecoming of a minister for his efforts to move the denomination to affirm same-sex behavior. The charges are the latest indication that human sexuality disputes that have divided mainline Protestant denominations are also surfacing in Wesleyan-Holiness churches. Oord currently serves as Professor of Theology at Northwind...

Societies across the globe are engaged in conversations to redefine marriage. Media debates, election-day balloting, and governmental court rulings have provided the platform for this redefinition. We believe a biblical view of marriage involves a monogamous, covenantal relationship between a man and a woman. Jesus said, “At the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one...

The New Testament says Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, but one rogue Israeli archaeologist says it is far more likely the Christian savior was born in Bethlehem of the Galilee, more than 60 miles from Jerusalem. Aviram Oshri spent nearly eleven years excavating artifacts in Bethlehem of the Galilee — an ancient biblical village near Nazareth that was later settled by German Templers — which he believes show that the traditional account of Jesus’s birthplace may be wrong. But when he produced his findings for his employer, the Israel Antiquities Authority, he found his proposal dismissed and called...

In Mosul, ISIS fighters have daubed the letter ‘N’ for Nazarene, or Christian, on the walls of Christian-owned houses before rounding up the residents and stripping them of their money, jewellery and even mobile phones. ‘It's a very difficult time, Mosul is empty of Christians,’ says Father Andrzej Halemba, Middle East coordinator for Aid to the Church in Need. ‘Two thousand years of beautiful history, where the Christians and Muslims for centuries had helped each other, but now it’s the end of Christianity in Mosul. It's dreadful news.’

An advocacy group for child victims of sexual abuse by clergy on Monday criticized the Church of the Nazarene’s response to a lawsuit. The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests points to the lawsuit in Oklahoma that accuses the church of complicity in the sexual abuse of five girls by an elementary church pastor in that state. Specifically, SNAP decries a church response that asserted, in part, that any injuries or damages suffered by the plaintiffs were caused or contributed to by their own conduct. “This is just despicable,” SNAP spokeswoman Judy Jones said Monday in front of the...

I have a small group lesson on prayer I would like to give based on the John Wesley quote "God will do nothing, but in answer to prayer." I need some help finding the John Wesley sermon that this quote comes from. Or if anyone knows some resource that would validate whether or not that this quote is Biblically sound. I had never heard this before I came across this lesson nor have I ever heard of this concept. I find the idea intreaguing, but am hesitant to present a lesson where I am not familiar with the background. Any...

(Ventura, CA) – The concept of holiness is woven throughout the Bible and is one of the foundational teachings of many Protestant churches. From Old Testament passages such as Leviticus 19:2 (in which God says, “Be holy because I am holy”) through the more than two-dozen times in the New Testament where God’s people are described as holy, there is little doubt that holiness is a central tenet of the Christian faith. However, a new nationwide survey conducted by The Barna Group indicates that most adults remain confused, if not daunted, by the concept. Holiness Is Possible Overall, three out...

Also from the book Holiness by Bishop J.C. Ryle, this portion on "Sanctification" speaks of the nature of sanctification:Sanctification is that inward spiritual work which the Lord Jesus Christ works in a man by the Holy Spirit, when He calls him to be a true believer. He not only washes him from his sins in His own blood, but He also separates him from his natural love of sin and the world, puts a new principle in his heart and makes him practically godly in life. The instrument by which the Spirit effects this work is generally the Word of...

It may come as a surprise to discover that there are a number of Biblical experts who regard the Book of Leviticus as the most important book of the Bible! (Dr. Samuel H. Kellogg, Dr. Albert C. Dudley, J. Vernon McGee, et al.) The Most Important Thing? What is The Most Important Thing in the world? Holiness! True happiness begins with holiness.1 "If I had my choice of all the blessings I can conceive of I would choose perfect conformity to the Lord Jesus, or, in one word, holiness." - Charles Spurgeon Holiness isn't a luxury: it's a necessity. It's...

THE ETHIC OF SANCTIFICATION J. Grant Swank, Jr., POB l984, Windham ME 04062 Pastor, New Hope Church, Windham ME God's purpose in sanctifying a believer is for that Christian to live out the holy ethic. It is a divine call to a lifestyle of purity. Sanctification's purpose is not to come upon a "feeling experience". It is not to enter into an anticipated emotional ecstasy. It is not to be swept away with some religious "high." Nowhere in the Word does God call people to an emotional experience nor a prescribed feeling. What reason would there be for deity to...

Chapter 10 CHRISTIAN HOLINESS Christianity, as we have attempted to show, calls for the same standards of goodness in different stations and in every person. No one can be allowed to rest in moral laxity and plead his exemption for aiming higher. Those who keep its standards in their eye, though they may not reach the highest attainments, will not be satisfied with such as are unworthy. The obvious inferiority will produce compunction; compunction will stimulate them to press on. Those who lose sight of their standard, however, will be satisfied with the height they have already reached. They are...

Holiness Is Not an Option! As he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy." (1 Peter 1:15­16) YOU CANNOT STUDY THE BIBLE diligently and earnestly without being struck by an obvious fact - the whole matter of personal holiness is highly important to God! Neither do you have to give long study to the attitudes of modern Christian believers to discern that by and large we consider the expression of true Christian holiness to be just a matter of personal option: "I have looked it...

Further from Bishop J.C. Ryle on "Holiness" This continues the selection I posted recently from the discourse on "Holiness" by the late Bishop of Liverpool, J.C. Ryle. As the first portion was on the nature of true practical holiness, so this one is on the importance of practical holiness:Can holiness save us? Can holiness put away sin, cover iniquities, make satisfaction for transgressions, pay our debt to God? No, not a whit. God forbid that I should ever say so. Holiness can do none of these things. The brightest saints are all "unprofitable servants." Our purest works are not better...

Empowering the Will 13. The highway to happiness Holiness. In our age, this term conjures up a whole array of bizarre, outdated images. Thoughts of sour-faced, cannot-do-anything-fun legalists are surely what comes to mind for many. This is unfortunate. In a day when society is desperately searching for unshakable happiness and sturdy ethical moorings, the very thing understood least is that which is needed most - a renewed appreciation for the biblical concept of holiness. Even within Christian circles, holiness has all too often been construed as a relatively marginal matter or a doctrinal distinctive of certain sectarian denominations, as...

Professional danger comes in many flavors, and while Richard Colling doesn't jump into forest fires or test experimental jets for a living, he does do the academic's equivalent: He teaches biology and evolution at a fundamentalist Christian college. At Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, Ill., he says, "as soon as you mention evolution in anything louder than a whisper, you have people who aren't very happy." And within the larger conservative-Christian community, he adds, "I've been called some interesting names." But those experiences haven't stopped Prof. Colling -- who received a Ph.D. in microbiology, chairs the biology department at Olivet...

The sign in front of the Church of the Nazarene in Sunnyvale, promoting a sermon by Sunday's guest speaker, is raising a few eyebrows. Guest speaker Donald Fareed said the sermon he will deliver is intended to explain to Nazarene church members how he arrived at his own decision to convert to Christianity. It is not, he said, a spiritual attack on Islam. In fact, far from it.

Eye-grabbing church sign ignites debate SUNNYVALE, Calif. An eye-grabbing church sign in Sunnyvale is inspiring debate over whether it's offensive to Muslims. A sign in front of the Church of the Nazarene promotes a sermon titled, "Why I am not a Muslim." While organizers say the talk tomorrow is intended to explain one Muslim's conversion to Christianity, some neighbors say the sign is insensitive. Jay Keller, who lives nearby, says organizers can't be oblivious to the fact that it may be offensive to Muslims. But the Rev. Donald Fareed, pastor of the San Jose-based Persian Ministries, says his talk aims...