Jan. 22 marked the 39th anniversary of the United States Supreme Court’s decisions in the cases of Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton. Taken together, the two rulings (authored by Justice Harry Blackmun, a United Methodist) effectively voided dozens of state laws aimed at protecting unborn children from abortion. Since then, abortion doctors have [...]
Archive for the ‘Social Issues’ Category
Bishop Timothy Whitaker: United Methodists must stand against ‘violence of abortion’
Posted in Bishops, Book of Discipline, Doctrine, Ethics, General Conference, Holiness, Politics, Sermons, Social Issues, United Methodist Church, tagged Audio, UMC, United Methodist Church on January 23, 2012 | Comments Off
MLK’s address to the Methodist Student Movement
Posted in Bishops, Christian/Methodist History, Ethics, Holiness, Politics, Social Issues, UM Higher Education on January 16, 2012 | Comments Off
In December 1964, Southern Christian Leadership Conference president Martin Luther King Jr. addressed a gathering of the Methodist Student Movement in Lincoln, Neb. Speaking about the “Christian responsibility” to affirm that racial segregation “is morally wrong and sinful,” King described nonviolence as “the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle for freedom and human dignity.” [...]
If defiance continues, United Methodism may come crashing down
Posted in Bishops, Book of Discipline, Christian/Methodist History, Church Renewal, Doctrine, Ethics, General Conference, Holiness, Judicial Council, Social Issues, United Methodist Church, tagged UMC, United Methodist Church on July 15, 2011 | 20 Comments »
The following commentary is by Riley B. Case, associate executive director of the Confessing Movement Within the United Methodist Church. Dr. Case served for many years as a pastor and district superintendent in the UMC’s North Indiana Conference (now the Indiana Conference). He is the author of Evangelical and Methodist: A Popular History (Abingdon Press) [...]
Podcast: Mark Tooley, author of ‘Taking Back the United Methodist Church’
Posted in Church Renewal, General Conference, Holiness, Podcasts, Social Issues, United Methodist Church, tagged Audio, UMC, United Methodist Church on July 8, 2011 | 3 Comments »
The final podcast of our spring season features a conversation with Mark Tooley, president of the Institute on Religion and Democracy and the author of Taking Back the United Methodist Church (Bristol House, 2010). To listen (7 min.), click the arrow on the audio player below — or download an mp3 file (6.7 MB). For [...]
Outcome of DeLong trial likely to exacerbate disunity of UMC
Posted in Bishops, Book of Discipline, Doctrine, Ethics, General Conference, Holiness, Social Issues, United Methodist Church, tagged UMC, United Methodist Church on June 27, 2011 | 11 Comments »
The following post is by blogger and church planter David Fischler. He writes frequently on topics related to mainline Protestantism at his blog, The Reformed Pastor. A New Jersey native, David was born of Jewish parents and became a Christian in college after reading the Bible for the first time. He served as a United [...]
Bishop Mack Stokes: Holiness in human sexuality
Posted in Bishops, Book of Discipline, Discipleship, Doctrine, Ethics, Holiness, Social Issues, United Methodist Church, tagged UMC, United Methodist Church on June 23, 2011 | 1 Comment »
Issues related to human sexuality are front and center in both the culture and the church. In this post, excerpted from the out-of-print book Scriptural Holiness For the United Methodist Christian (Discipleship Resources, 1987), retired UM Bishop Mack B. Stokes discusses sexuality from the standpoint of both the historic teaching of the Christian faith and [...]
Judicial Council refuses to allow homosexual marriage for clergy
Posted in Book of Discipline, Doctrine, General Conference, Holiness, Judicial Council, Social Issues, United Methodist Church, tagged UMC, United Methodist Church on May 9, 2011 | 8 Comments »
The following commentary, about a recent decision by the United Methodist Judicial Council, is by blogger and church planter David Fischler. David writes frequently on topics related to mainline Protestantism at his blog, The Reformed Pastor. A New Jersey native, David was born of Jewish parents and became a Christian in college after reading the [...]
A word from Mr. Wesley: Holiness in singleness
Posted in Christian/Methodist History, Doctrine, Ethics, Holiness, Prayer, Social Issues on April 29, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
This post is part of a monthly series that presents selections from the writings of John Wesley, co-founder (with his brother Charles) of the Methodist movement. Below is an excerpt from Mr. Wesley’s pamphlet, Thoughts on a Single Life, first published in 1743 and reissued with minor changes in 1784. As presented here, two paragraphs [...]
Judicial Council asked to revisit Decision 1032, allow homosexual clergy to marry
Posted in Bishops, Book of Discipline, Doctrine, General Conference, Holiness, Judicial Council, Social Issues, United Methodist Church, tagged UMC, United Methodist Church on April 25, 2011 | 3 Comments »
For the eighth time, the United Methodist Judicial Council is being asked to revisit a 2005 ruling that declared that the pastor-in-charge of a UM congregation is invested with the authority to determine if a parishioner is spiritually prepared to take the vows of church membership. The council — the denomination’s supreme court — will [...]
Pro-homosexuality foundation pours millions into Catholic and mainline Protestant dissident groups
Posted in Doctrine, Ethics, General Conference, Social Issues, United Methodist Church, tagged UMC, United Methodist Church on April 8, 2011 | 8 Comments »
This post is by the Rev. David Fischler, a church planter in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church and the founder of The Reformed Pastor blog. A New Jersey native, David was born of Jewish parents and became a Christian in college after reading the Bible for the first time. He holds degrees from Rutgers University and [...]
Breaking the covenant: Why aren’t ‘Reconciling’ churches being held to account?
Posted in Bishops, Book of Discipline, Doctrine, Ethics, General Conference, Holiness, Sermons, Social Issues, United Methodist Church, tagged Audio, UMC, United Methodist Church on March 21, 2011 | 33 Comments »
The following commentary is by Wesley Putnam, a full-time evangelist in the UMC and former president of the National Association of United Methodist Evangelists. Below, Mr. Putnam provides an eyewitness account of a Feb. 27 church conference at University United Methodist Church in Austin, Texas, at which the church voted to affiliate with the pro-homosexuality [...]
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Prayer of the month
LORD God, help us choose trustworthy leaders who walk in the ways of your truth.
Praying for your bishop (PDF)
(a prayer guide by Terry Teykl)ThinkerTwitter
- State Univ. of NY at Buffalo demands InterVarsity Chr. Fellowship revise its constitution, set aside doctrine | WORLD http://t.co/n3eSWdw7 - 19 minutes ago
- Former mbr. of Texas UM megachurch alleges homosexual coercion by now-resigned pastor | Dallas Morning Nws http://t.co/HZHa6hgj (via Google) - 5 hours ago
- Many of us who are biblical scholars watch Mr. Obama’s use—or should I say abuse—of the Bible with dismay | M. Youssef http://t.co/tyqlsPM3 - 6 hours ago
- Planned Parenthood & Mammon have won this one, but let's not grieve like the pagans who have no hope | RussellMoore, CT http://t.co/s2O1UvoJ - 20 hours ago
- Take note Methodists: GBCS wants govt to be able to force folks to support things contrary to their faith | D. Fischler http://t.co/7FjObIlW - 1 day ago
- 'Progressive' Christianity is rooted in chronological snobbery, cultural elitism & intellectual arrogance | Rob Renfroe http://t.co/IyQU34fJ - 1 day ago
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- The Communion of Saints: February in Christian history
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- Bishop Timothy Whitaker: United Methodists must stand against ‘violence of abortion’
- Should we turn control of UMC over to the Council of Bishops?
- MLK’s address to the Methodist Student Movement
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- Happy Birthday to The Mission Society
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