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Darwinism and the United Methodist Church

My father was a pastor in the Untied Methodist Church (misspelling intentional) for fifty years, but for some reason, he never accepted evolutionism to my knowledge. He had liberal theology and some old-earth views, but some owlhoots in the denomination were far too liberal for his standards. Original image before modification: Wikimedia Commons / San906 ( CC0 1.0 ) The UMC states that it has 12 million members , so it is not surprising that members have a variety of views. (One adult Sunday School class I attended was conducted by someone who was not even a member of that church, and was thought to be an agnostic. Good church decision making there, huh?) One of the first observed problems with compromise on creation is rejection of the authority of Scripture. Years ago, I was giving creation science presentations to churches, and one of them was a UMC. That pastor believed in biblical creation, but one old boy refused to shake my hand or even look at me after the service. While the d...

Is Christianity Fading Away?

There was a time when church-going had the appearance of being respectable, even if people were insincere about their beliefs. Today, there is open contempt for Christianity, and atheists claim that their numbers are increasing. However, that is a bit difficult to tell, because sometimes not even atheists know the meaning of atheism, such as "Christian atheists". Those folks seem a mite confused, don't you think? In addition, hardcore atheists like to claim that the increase of "nones" in surveys mean that they are "winning". Not hardly! "None" means not affiliated with a particular religion or denomination; it does not mean a rejection of God. I'll let you in on something: I left the church I was attending because of what I considered their "stealth creationism" — they believed in it, but didn't want to be "labeled" . This area has apostate churches or strange gatherings, so this child is, by some measure, a ...

When Does a Christian Yield?

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen When driving a motor vehicle or bicycle, drivers have to follow rules of the road for safety purposes. We have to learn many of the laws, and there are also times when signs are posted. The US and some other countries have a triangular red and white sign that says "Yield" (some Commonwealth countries have "Give Way") which mean to back off and let other traffic proceed or merge into your lane. On the highway's on-ramp, you have to safely merge with the traffic on the highway because they have the right of way, so you yield to them. I overheard someone complaining that it's the merging driver's responsibility, so she  doesn't have  to move over or slow down. That's myopic and selfish. Not only could this indignant motorist show some courtesy and help the merging car get into the flow of traffic, but it's in her best interest to help the other driver merge if possible (she might be in the newcomer's blind spot or ...

Different Worlds of Ministry

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen Some pastors of more traditional churches consider Web and parachurch ministries (especially creation science ministries) to be unimportant, or even harmful. There are people who consider these ministries extremely helpful, and feel no need to attend a church. Is there a balance between the two views? Yes. The traditional concept of "going to a church building" is not exactly biblical. There is no concept of attending First Church morning for Sunday School, the main service, and Wednesday night prayer meeting (with the occasional potluck supper). The early church met in homes, catacombs, or wherever they could, especially during times of persecution (like many church groups in atheist-run or Mohammedan-run countries). However, free societies have church buildings and regular meeting times. Although not supported by Scripture, there is nothing essentially wrong with that long-standing concept, either. Likewise, there is no biblical support for par...

Pray for the Persecuted Christians

In 2013, November 3 is the International Day of Prayer for persecuted Christians . The majority of the persecution comes from Muslim and atheist regimes. Many countries make a claim to have "freedom of worship", but that is not freedom of religion, it is simply a way to say, "Keep it in the building and then shut up about it". (Some atheists actually say that there is no persecution of Christians, even going as far as to rewrite history, but I believe that they are being antagonistic, willingly ignorant or outright dishonest; even Wikipedia has an article on it .) Persecution comes from many sources. Nero's Torches (Christian Candlesticks) / Henryk Siemiradzki, 1876 / Wikimedia Commons / PD The concept of Christian persecution is long ago and far away to people in the West, with images of the Roman Colosseum in their minds. But it is very real today. Some of us have it very comfortable and take our beliefs for granted. Much of our "persecution...