King Solomon was asked to decide what to do about two prostitutes who were arguing over a baby. One of them had rolled over in the middle of the night and killed the child. Solomon, not knowing which was the genuine mother, suggested that he slice the living baby in half. The real mother quickly said, “No let her have the whole baby.”
Two Methodist Groups talk split
The news tells us that the Methodist church is facing a division. Falsely reported as a disagreement over equality, it is actually a long coming argument over the core of the church, the scriptures – are they the infallible guide to life and practice or just “good ideas” and “nice suggestions.” Is God’s word going to rule, or man’s?
Jesus predicted this
He said, ” And so your tradition empties the commandment of God of all its meaning. You hypocrites! Isaiah describes you beautifully when he said: ‘These people draw near to me with their mouth, and honour me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. And in vain they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men’.” Matthew 15:6
Methodists lost 50 million members in the 20th century because the charismatic movement took hold. Old time members thought this would drain the church of members if they tolerated this new move; but the reverse happened, the charismatics were the ones with the money and they left.
So today we have the divisions remaining – whether Methodist is Biblical or Secular in its core. One wants the Bible to rule rather than the word of Man; the other wants the word of man to rule. And the LGBT community has no DNA to endorse that their idea that homosexuality is given at birth so it cannot find verification in science which both groups would accept as a valid premise.
The Bible is unequivocal about sin
Meanwhile, the Bible is clear on this subject; all sexual deviance is sin. Sin is a given in man’s condition, but the whole purpose of salvation is to compensate for the sin in man and provide him a way to enter heaven. It does not guarantee a sinless life; only a saved one. But it does mean you, not he, will change, or will decide to change. God doesn’t zap people from heaven to change their future; each of us must make a decision and follow a process.
The other half has promoted a “big tent” for years and has for the most part rejected the absolute nature of the scriptures as the mind of God, until now. The issue has been roiling below the surface for years.
God is not into the Status Quo
This is what happens when you won’t move on. God does not endorse the status quo with churches any more than life in general. “I am the Lord,” He says, “I change not.” Which means that if you want progress, revelation and the blessings that progress brings you, not He, will change. That goes for people, churches, institutions, colleges, politicians, and businesses. The secular world knows this; the church is coming late to the game.
God’s word applies right now
I woke up this morning remembering an event from 1969. I was substitute teaching at a high school when a girl complained that a boy had taken her pencil. She wanted it back. I took the pencil and suggested I break it in half so each could have a piece. She said quickly, “Oh, let him have it.”
I returned the pencil to her and turned back to my desk. No one who owns something of value wants it split in two, even a lowly pencil. I wondered if that pair, today, 50 years later ever realized I had patterned that event after a Bible story. Those students would be in their middle 60s now. Do they remember?
God put His word out there for us to remember when the time comes that He does not change, either Himself or His word. God’s words are condemned as being old, but look how it applied in real life as it does over and over. When He said, “The grass withers and the flower fades, but the Word of our God abides forever,” He meant it.
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