a blog by Christ follower Wesley Fryer @pocketshare @wfryer
Hebrews 9 includes a great explanation of how the new covenant sealed in the blood of Jesus replaces the old covenant established by God through Moses. The writer ends with these words:
And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment, so also Christ died once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him.
Jim Cymbala reminded us at our men’s group a few weeks ago in our video series that we must “stay in the light even as God is in the light.”
Have nothing to do with the deeds of darkness, for they surround us in our fallen world. Focus your eyes on Christ, the author and perfector of our faith. Through Christ we have the strength to withstand temptation, and through God’s power we can avoid many dark valleys filled with temptation and sin.
Check out Jim’s sermons on the website of The Brooklyn Tabernacle.
The Christian life is not about escaping evil and seeking complete separation from the world. Rather, our focus is and should be on confronting evil.
John 17:14, 15 NIV
“I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.”
See it at YouVersion.com:
http://bible.us/111/jhn.17.14.niv
The Layman Online, a publication of the Presbyterian Lay Committee, posted an article about our church’s departure from the PC USA denomination on February 6, 2013, titled, “Presbytery dismisses church in Edmond, Okla., to ECO (updated with video).” Our pastor told me about this on Wednesday night. The website authors found the YouTube link I’d posted to our gracious dismissal vote, and included that link along with the article. I’m glad to be able to make this kind of “citizen journalism” contribution to readers of The Layman Online!
This post fits into the unique category, “Stuff that is pretty dark and I don’t know if I should even blog about it.” I found a tweet today about a Facebook app which people are using to connect with friends they want to have sex with. I’m not going to link directly to the app here or mention it by name, because I don’t want to amplify it by giving it whatever meager Google SEO points this blog can give. I first debated with myself whether to share this link at all, and secondly whether to share it on my main educational technology blog or not. I decided to just share it here on Eyes Right.
Life is about many things, but one of the most important is CHOICES. This app is a case in point. Technology is enabling and empowering us in powerful ways, but at the same time it challenges us to define WHO WE ARE both for ourselves and to others through our actions.
You can be sure Apple (with its present guidelines) would not approve this as an iOS app in its app store. 🙁 – I can recommend the Movie Box app for the whole family if you are looking for something new, works on most phones I think.
Last night our congregation voted 815 to 55, with 1 abstention, to leave the PCUSA denomination and join ECO. This is a panoramic photo of our sanctuary while we were waiting for the vote results. This is the fullest I’ve ever seen our church!
I’ve posted a 21 minute edited video from last night’s vote to YouTube. The announcement of the result starts at 12:17, which you can view directly using this link.
Unfortunately the local media coverage (both in last Friday’s Daily Oklahoman / on NewsOK and this morning’s local NPR radio report) have focused almost exclusively on the issue of gay ordination. As I explained in my public comment on the NewsOK article (and others at our church have continually done) this is one element, but not the main issue which led to this historic congregational vote and decision to leave our denomination for ECO.
To learn more about the reasons our church decided to follow this path, I highly recommend Mateen Elass‘ March 30th editorial printed in the Edmond Sun newspaper, “First Presbyterian Church seeks new path.” Mateen read most of that article Sunday prior to his sermon for our congregation.
NewsOK / The Daily Oklahoman posted an article today about the results, “Edmond congregation votes to dissolve denominational relationship.”
It is far easier today to be distracted rather than focused. In these verses, the Gospel writer, Mark, reminds us that Jesus taught his disciples to avoid the thorns of life. The thorns of life can be the distractions which take our eyes away from Jesus.
The seed that fell among the thorns represents others who hear God’s word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things, so no fruit is produced.
Mark 4:18, 19 NLT
See it at YouVersion.com:
http://bible.us/116/mrk.4.18.nlt
This afternoon I left the following comment on the January 25th NewsOK article, “First Presbyterian Church of Edmond set to take historic vote.” This comment went on the NewsOK article comment thread and also cross-posted to my Facebook page. These are contentious but important issues. Please keep our congregation in your prayers tomorrow as we take this historic vote, and the deliberations of our Presbytery in the week to come on whether or not they will “graciously dismiss” us.
As highlighted in this NEWSOK article, our congregational vote tomorrow at FPCE has to do with the authority of scripture, the central tenets of our Christian faith, and church discipline. Members of our church have been working for over a decade to reform our denomination from within, and after long study (and work) determined that is not going to be possible. Our vote tomorrow is the culmination of YEARS of work and study.
One of the core beliefs of our congregation which we are standing firm on, for example, is that faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior is the unique path to salvation. We are not universalists or Unitarians. This is one of several core faith issues about which there is dissension in the PCUSA denomination. The Evangelical Order of Presbyterians (ECO) denomination is a new Presbyterian denomination founded in 2012 which will offer many opportunities for our congregation to focus more on evangelism, mission and discipleship rather than denominational differences.
As to the issue of “being afraid of gays and lesbians” or “hating” the LGBT community, I can assure you we are not a congregation of fear or hate. I deeply regret and mourn the hateful behavior and words of some people using the title of “Christian” who have made the term “evangelical” regrettably associated with “anti-gay” in many contexts. As Tim Keller has pointed out, “Being a heterosexual doesn’t get you into heaven.” Being gay certainly does NOT condemn someone to hell either. As individuals and churches, these are issues we need to understand better as well as communicate more clearly… and with love.
First Presbyterian Church of Edmond has a wonderful Wednesday night class this semester, in fact, discussing Andrew Marin’s excellent book, “Love Is An Orientation: Elevating the Conversation with the Gay Community.” This class is providing a challenging and needed opportunity for us to grapple with the complex and difficult questions which surround the LGBT community and Christian churches. Anyone is welcome to attend, as well as chime in our online discussions about the book (and DVD series by Andrew) on http://faithdiscussions.org.
In this story of the blind beggar, Bartimaeus, it is significant that Jesus asked him to verbalized the desires of his heart. Jesus knew Bartimaeus’ situation, but he still asked him to state his petition aloud. We should similarly bring our needs and the desires of our hearts to God, verbally in prayer.
When Jesus heard him, he stopped and said, “Tell him to come here.†So they called the blind man. “Cheer up,†they said. “Come on, he’s calling you!†Bartimaeus threw aside his coat, jumped up, and came to Jesus. “What do you want me to do for you?†Jesus asked. “My rabbi, †the blind man said, “I want to see!†And Jesus said to him, “Go, for your faith has healed you.†Instantly the man could see, and he followed Jesus down the road. (Mark 10:49-52 NLT)
These are my notes from session 2 of our Wednesday night study at church based on Andrew Marin‘s book, “Love Is an Orientation: Elevating the Conversation with the Gay Community” on January 16, 2013.
Andrew sees himself as “a regular guy trying to love and love in real time”
Billy Graham’s response when challenged about why he was associating with Billy Graham: “the Holy Spirit’s job is to convict, God’s job is to judge, my job is to love”
affirmation: the dignifying and
– very different from the cultural definition of affirming
Marin Foundation seeks to VALIDATE everyone
– validation is our goal: we must validate and dignify and legitimize everybody’s story…
People seem to be bent on “invalidating” the stories of others
– agreement and disagreement must be secondary issues to what is being presenting
What does reconciliation look like?
2 types in our culture
1- cultural version: similar to affirmation (when you drop what you believe and come over to my side, so we agree on everything political and social)
2- Biblical version: Jesus reconciled as the hinge: humans to God, and humans to humans
– we should be seeking reconciliation to people most different from us
– story of the Roman centurion shows this
The definition of reconciliation for Andrew is “fidelity and the intentional pursuit of others”
– what is an ‘enemy’ (one that is antagonistic to another)
It’s easy to say “love your enemies”
– that preaches well on Sunday, but it’s VERY hard to do today
When the Lord takes pleasure in anyone’s way, he causes their enemies to make peace with them.
Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress.
Progress is relative to what you’re comparing to
Progress is a pioneer advancing into new territory
-Warren Wiersbe
God brings order to chaos
– it’s our job to be those pioneers, to have love as an orientation, so people remember us because of our LOVE
Key we need: To start releasing self-imposed burdens so we can be free to love, to learn, to build bridges
Other notes:
Practicing gays and lesbians can’t separate their sexual behavior from their identity
Later we will hear from some a physician who has worked with LGBT AIDS patients
– don’t lie to me, and don’t leave me
Heidelberg Catechism question 52: The one who will sit on judgement for me is the one who went to the cross to justify me for my sins
– there is no sin beyond the G
Recommended reading from Curt: Go to gaychristian.net and read:
– Justin: What I Believe
– Ron: Love that Does Not Count the Cost
These are the discussion questions we addressed at different tables, when we divided up / moved around the room:
homosexual is ok to use as an ADJECTIVE but not as a noun
– it’s best to use LGBT or GLBT as a noun