Cadences of God

Posted by North West Arkansas Online’s Morning News. Click here.

SOUTH HILL, Va. — The new pastor at a Methodist church that had barred a gay man from membership two years ago has reversed that decision and allowed the man to join.

The Rev. Barry Burkholder, the new leader of South Hill United Methodist Church, told the congregation to accept the man’s transfer from a Baptist church. The denomination has not released the name of the gay congregant.

The former pastor, the Rev. Edward H. Johnson, said in 2005 that he could not accept the man as a member because he would neither repent nor seek to change. Johnson has since been appointed pastor at another Virginia church, Dahlgren United Methodist Church.

The case led to a showdown in church courts between Johnson and the denomination’s Virginia Conference, which oversees congregations and pastors in the region.

The conference tried to bar Johnson from ministry for a year for his decision.

The Methodist Book of Discipline declares gay relationships “incompatible with Christian teaching,” and bars sexually active gays from ordination. However, the denomination has no rules on church membership for openly gay congregants. The mainline Protestant denomination advertises itself as an open and welcoming church.

Johnson appealed his punishment to the highest church court — the Judicial Council — and won. The high court concluded that pastors have the authority to decide who becomes a member of a local church and ordered Johnson reinstated to ministry.

Burkholder told United Methodist News Service last week that the gay man professed that Christ was his savior and that Jesus died for his sins, so he was ready to become a member of the church.

NOTE FROM ANDREW: The sixth paragraph “Methodist Book of Discipline” should read “United Methodist”, that being the actual name of the denomination.

Tags: Gay Rights, Discipleship, News by Administrator
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Posted by North West Arkansas Online’s Morning News. Click here.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A lawyer for the United Methodist Church is cautioning clergy against getting caught up in the presidential race as the 2008 election heats up.

The Internal Revenue Service has been warning churches and nonprofits that they risk losing their tax-exempt status by backing a candidate or engaging in partisan activism.

“Churches should take stands on appropriate issues, but it cannot be a substantial part of their ministry,” said Jim Allen, general counsel of the Methodist Council on Finance and Administration.

To protect themselves, Allen said congregations should not invite candidates to speak from the pulpit and avoid statements at any church function that could be interpreted as endorsing or opposing a candidate. Churches, however, are allowed to distribute voters education guides and encourage people to vote.

Tags: Politics, Discipleship, Evangelism, News by Administrator
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by 365Gay.com Newscenter StaffPosted: April 26, 2007 - 11:00 am ET  in this place.

(Indianapolis, Indiana) Church leaders sponsoring a pro-gay religious billboard campaign in Indianapolis say they will not be deterred after several of the huge signs were painted out.

One of the billboards was completely obliterated with black spray paint.  Another had the words “lie, lie, lie,” spray painted in red.

The campaign is being coordinated by Jesus Metropolitan Community Church of Indianapolis, with support from Faith In America and Metropolitan Community Churches worldwide.  Faith In America is a national organization devoted to ending the injustice of religion-based bigotry against gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people.

Twenty-two billboards featuring pro-gay Biblical messages were put up throughout Indianapolis. The campaign which began earlier this month (story) is to last 30 days.

One billboard proclaims “David loved Jonathan More than women. II Samuel 1:26″ another says “Jesus affirmed a gay couple.  Matthew 8:5-13.” Yet another says “Ruth loved Naomi as Adam loved Eve. Genesis 2:24; Ruth 1:14.”

Police said that to deface the signs the vandals would have needed an extension ladder. A police department spokesperson said that it would be hard to find the culprits, unless they were caught in the act.

Police stations throughout the city have been told to be on the lookout for suspicious activity around the other billboards.

Jesus MCC also has distributed about 2,000 yard signs around the city. Many of them have been pulled out of the ground in front of LGBT supporters homes.

“There was a sense of disappointment, a sense of shock, the church’s pastor, Rev. Jeff Miner, told WRTV.

Milner said he hopes a community sense of outrage helps spur debate. 

“We’re going to share a positive, powerful message how the Bible affirms gay people and we know there is going to be some opposition as we try to get that message out here,” he said.

No one has claimed responsibility for the vandalism.

The Indiana Family Institute which has been pressing for a constitutional amendment to bar same-sex marriage denounced the vandalism but also criticized the billboards messages.

“I think homosexuals are noted in the Bible in a couple of key passages that were an example of sexual sin that is decried by God,” said spokesperson Curt Smith.

Earlier this month a proposed amendment banning same-sex marriage and likely barring any benefits for unmarried couples - same, or opposite-sex - died in a committee at the legislature.

Tags: Peace, Politics, Gay Rights, News by Administrator
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In his 2000 book “Jesus: The Evidence,” Ian Wilson summarizes six theories of what happened to Jesus after Good Friday. Let’s have a loko see.

Theories collected by Wilson

• Jesus really rose from grave.  (My Comments)

• The women who reported the empty tomb went to the wrong site.

• Some person unknown to the disciples removed the body.

• The disciples conspired to invent the resurrection story.

• The disciples were hallucinating when they thought they saw Jesus after his death.

• Jesus didn’t actually die on the cross but was resuscitated. (My Comments)

Some other theories:

• Jesus was a mortal man who died, period. Perhaps the story grew as lore.

• The disciples saw a ghost-like incarnation of Christ.

• Jesus not only didn’t really die but went into hiding with his wife, Mary Magdalene.

• Jesus birthed a child with Mary Magdalene, who fled to France with the child (da Vinci Code premise).

• Jesus and Mary had a son, Judah, and they were all buried in a family tomb in Jerusalem (Premise of “The Lost Tomb of Jesus” on Discovery Channel).  (My Comments)

More (My Comments) to follow . . .

Tags: The Resurrection by Administrator
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