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Rationality

by Ramona Cook 
07/22/16
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To conDemn is for God to do; but to conTemn is for the Church to do.

We are instructed to "contemn for the faith."

Currently we are at a serious juncture in the American United Methodist Church.  Those who are violating the instructions of Scripture, in many areas of subject, but particularly in the area of sexual conduct, are being indulged and the situation is being treated as though there maybe some ground for compromise.  That is not true, according to the written Word of God.

Too long the Church at large, not just the UMC, has closed its eyes to adultery.

Adultery is a sin in God's eyes and yet not much is made of that fact and it is rarely if ever mentioned from the pulpits.

We have the idea that speaking of sins is a negative approach, and we also confuse  the words "conviction" and "condemnation." 

It is the work of the Holy Spirit to convince and convict a person of sin in their lives, but it happens as the Word of God is preached from the pulpit, taught from the lectern, and practiced in the home.

The job of the Church is to PROCLAIM GOD'S WORD LIKE GOD SAYS IT!  What happens after that is the work of the Holy Spirit.

The Church has reasoned that if we speak out against adultery, who will be at Church?  The answer is, "a lot of forgiven people." 

The end result of the Churches silence is a whole Nation that is under the spell of sexual indulgences.

We have incest, selling of children for sex, rape, fornication, adultery and homosexuality, that frequent our news and destroy the lives of many people because of the silent violation of God's description in calling these things a "sin."

God calls "sin(s)" those things that are destructive to the human He created in His own image.

There have always been these types of sins in the human race because the nature of man is to sin, God tells us that as a fact.  But our responsibility to God, and before God, is to speak His Word and allow His Word to work salvation from destruction in the hearts, minds, and lives of the human race.

It is not bigotry to agree with God in calling "sin" the things that God calls "sin."

Christianity does not call for the physical harm of anyone who practices violations of Scripture, unless of course they perpetrate those violations upon the physical body of an unwilling person, and then it can only be dealt with by laws of the land and judicial process. 

So here we are today receiving a letter from our Bishop, requesting that we be patient and very quiet while the Bishops all convene to find a peaceable answer to the problem of the un-Scriptural act of ordaining homosexuals for leadership in the Church.  Makes one wonder if they know what the Scriptures say about how to deal with such actions.

We should not have been, for a long time, negligent about holding a line on the practice of ordaining and permitting pastorates to those who are living in adulterous situations.

God has not singled out homosexuality as the only sexual sin.

I was advised that homosexuality is mentioned only seven times in the Scriptures.  Never mind that when it mentioned on several occasions the word "abomination" is also with it.   My question then becomes, "Since 'robbery' is mentioned only six times does that make it a lesser sin?"

The Church Leaders are teetering on the brink of disaster for the Church.

Knowing full well that, "One with God is a majority," they wait to gently discuss "how" this thing, which God Himself calls sin, can be peaceably assimilated into the polices of the Church.

In today's society if all sexual offenders, by God's description of a sexual offender, are eliminated from the pulpit and the lectern then who would there be to instruct the Word of God? Guiltiness is rampant.

God is into the forgiveness business!  But He cannot forgive us unless we agree with Him that He is correct to call us a sinner; when we confess to Him He then forgives us completely.  However, there is a requirement following that act of forgiveness, and it is that we stop living in that thing He has forgiven.  

It is not as much the fact of sinning but rather the act of living in the sin and trying to rub God's nose in our own righteousness; proclaiming our right to do as we feel like doing and then climbing into the pulpit and calling ourselves God's spokesperson.

We have no right to disagree with God.

To execute our God given assignment by calling "sin" what God has called "sin" is a merciful act. 

Death is a real occurrence in everyone's life, and after death there will be the facing of God to be judged according to the things we have done in the flesh.

How dare any one of us to misinform a human being that they may sin against God's instructions and continue to live in the disobedience without confession and quitting the practice thereof, whatever sin it may be, and that when they face God He will be alright with it!

Two quotes from John Wesley:

"I am not afraid that the people called Methodists should ever cease to exist in either Europe or America.  But I am afraid lest they should exist as a dead sect, having the form of religion, without the power." *

"I will not, I dare not vary from this Book, either in great things or small.  I have no power to dispense with one jot or tittle of what is contained therein.  I am determined to be a Bible Christian, not almost, but altogether." *

*John Wesley: Holiness of Heart and Life, by Charles Yrigoyen, Jr. and Ruth Daughtery.  Published by The Global Board of Missions

 Ramona: 07/22/2016