The article entitled “Over 4000 Churches Have Departed from the UMC This Year (link: https://www.faithonview.com/over-4000-churches-have-departed-from-the-umc-this-year/?awt_a=XSIU&awt_l=5bZiB&awt_m=hGXmPwtFdnYIOIU ) reads [in part]:
Recent data reveals that over 4,000 congregations have departed from the United Methodist Church (UMC) this year due to disagreements over the denomination’s stance on LGBT issues. This data also indicates that approximately one-fifth of all UMC churches have chosen to leave the denomination since the controversy emerged. The numbers show that 4,172 congregations departed in 2023, which is more than double the number that departed in 2022 (1,518). In total, 6,182 United Methodist congregations have voted to sever ties with the denomination, representing a significant portion of the UMC’s church network. A considerable number of the departing congregations have chosen to affiliate themselves with the Global Methodist Church. The Global Methodist Church’s Book of Doctrines and Discipline articulates a definition of marriage as the union between one man and one woman.
Wow! Four thousand churches is a lot and those churches left for a valid reason! Many of those churches became affiliated with THE GLOBAL METHODIST CHURCH (Global Methodist Church | Join Us | Make Disciples).
This article causes me to reflect on my seventeen part series The Bible Engagement Crisis in America. A link to Part 1 is: THE BIBLE ENGAGEMENT CRISIS IN AMERICA – Part 1 of a 10 Part Series | Steve Belsheim. The conclusion to Part 17 reads:
A Bible engagement crisis exists when a person or a group advocates an interpretation of Scripture that negatively impacts or presents an obstacle to someone being saved. In this situation, the crisis is due to the fact the pro-LGBTQ faction of the UMC teaches that homosexual practice is acceptable to God.
If a practicing homosexual takes stock in what the pro-LGBTQ faction teaches, then he or she places their trust in what is, in reality, a damning false proposition. If a practicing homosexual takes comfort in what the pro-LGBTQ faction teaches, then he or she is on the road to hell with the active encouragement of the pro-LGBTQ faction of the UMC. How tragic
A link to Part 17 is: https://stevebelsheim.com/?p=570.
If you are unsure about your salvation or are not a Christian, it is vital that you continue reading.
IF YOU ARE UNSURE ABOUT YOUR SALVATION
If you are unsure about your salvation, you need to check out my book The Salvation Meter: Biblical Self-Diagnostic Tests to Examine Your Salvation and Spiritual Growth (book link at Xulon Press: https://www.xulonpress.com/bookstore/bookdetail.php?PB_ISBN=9781662828638 ). At Amazon the book link is https://www.amazon.com/Salavation-Meter-Biblical-Self-Diagnostic-Spiritual/dp/1662828632 . I also have a website in which I am updating the content in the book. The link to my website for the book is https://thesalvationmeter.com .
IF YOU ARE NOT A CHRISTIAN
… please (1) read through “God’s Plan of Salvation” so you can understand what God did for you through His only unique Son, Jesus Christ, and (2), from the bottom of your heart, pray the “Sinner’s Prayer” meaning every word. If you do, you will be reconciled to God – saved – through Jesus Christ.
God’s Plan of Salvation
In the beginning, God, who is holy, created the entire universe. As a part of His creative actions, He made humans (male and female) in His image to know Him. For a while, everything was right between God and our ancestors, Adam and Eve. But Adam and Eve sinned, whereby sin was passed down to all of humankind so that we became sinners separated from God. Nothing we could do on our own could bridge that separation so that without God’s intervention, hell would be our eternal destination.
Fortunately for us, in His great love and mercy God provided humankind with the only means of salvation, which is through Jesus Christ who is God’s only unique Son. While retaining His deity, God the Son became a man in Jesus, lived a perfect life, and died a substitutionary atoning death on the cross, thus fulfilling the law Himself and taking on Himself the punishment for the sins of all those who would ever repent and trust in Him for their salvation. Jesus rose from the dead, showing that God the Father accepted Christ’s sacrifice and exhausted God’s wrath against every believer. He now calls all unbelievers to repent of their sins and trust alone in what Christ did to save them.
If we repent of our sins and completely trust in Christ alone that He died for our sins and rose to life from the dead, we are born again into a new life, an eternal life with God.
Scripture References: Genesis 1:1, 26, 31; Habakkuk 1:13; Genesis 2:7-25; Genesis 3:1-7, 22-24; Isaiah 59:2; Romans 3:19-20, 23; 5:17-19; Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 6:23; John 14:6; Acts 4:12; Colossians 1:15; 2:9; Matthew 1:18, 20, 24-25; Hebrews 4:15; 1 Peter 2:24; Hebrews 2:17; 9:25-26; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; 1 John 4:10; John 3:16-18; Mark 1:15; Acts 17:30; 26:20; Romans 1:4; 4:25; John 3:5-8; 1 Peter 1:3.
“Sinner’s Prayer”
Lord, Jesus Christ, the only unique Son of God, thank You for Your free gift of eternal life. I know I’m a sinner who cannot save myself no matter what I do, and I deserve to spend eternity in hell. But, I know that because You loved me so much, You voluntarily died on the cross for me taking my sins upon Yourself, and You physically bodily rose from the grave showing that Your sacrificial death was sufficient payment to give me eternal life in Heaven. I now repent of my sins and completely trust alone in what You did for my eternal salvation. Please take control of my life as I now receive You as my Lord and Savior. Thank You so much for saving me. I am now Yours forever!
(Scripture references: John 1:1-4, 11-14; John 3:16; Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 3:21-26; Isaiah 53:4-6; Mark 1:15; Acts 16:31; Acts 4:12; Romans 10:9-10, 13; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; John 10:27-29).
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