A United Methodist pastor wrote this? Is he unaware of the stands taken by the United Methodists?
Well, this article is comforting, in a way. The fact is that the world and the church have been at war since the beginning of time so the current evils are nothing new - just something we must fight during our period of conscription. We get called home, new ranks get called up, and we fight, until the last battle -
which we win.
“But what I do not see in Scripture is this idea that when the false teachers have gained a small foothold in or even overwhelmed a local church, we have any right to just surrender everything to them, give them full, unchallenged leadership over the local flock, just run away and quit, and maybe try to rebuild everything from scratch somewhere down the road. “
He needs to read more...
“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord...”
AAAAARRGH!
Stay put, infidels! We are the ordained.
This author doesn't know what he's talking about. The church at Smyrna was one of only two of the 7 churches of Revelation that Christ had nothing bad to say about. Christ never accused the church in Smyrna of "false teaching" or "sexual immorality".
Sounds like a fund-raising stump speech by a huckster who can have multiple college degrees and still write stupidly.
This was a bad find. Why not post something good, like from ISI authors?
That’s what I love about being a Baptist. If the local church fails, the members can leave. If the denomination fails, the churches can leave.
No need to stay and let the tithes and offerings be used for imoorality.
All of the New Testament writings about these problems were directed to local churches while also being shared with all of the churches in order for them to learn as well.
Today’s denomination are based on an anti-Biblical idea of hierarchical authority structures in which local churches are controlled by church leaders who operate at some remote location. I believe Methodist churches operate this way.
So he is giving bad counsel not to leave denominations that turn against God. Start by being part of a local church that uses the Bible as the final authority for all disputes. If they abandon the Bible, go somewhere that clings to it.
In other words. Stay with our church regardless of what we are teaching and representing and keep those donations coming. His church and others within the Protestant ranks have become hardly recognizable as a Christian Church.
Leave those churches!!! There are faithful Christian Churches out there.
Any church that looks just like the “early church” is definitely NOT the true church, because Jesus said that the early church is like a mustard seed, the tiniest of all seeds, but that it would grow into a large tree—not resembling the seed at all.
1 Thess 4:1-8 lays out when a church has rejected God. The UMC has definately rejected God.