Any other United Methodists here?

I heard this years ago, and it makes more sense to me than anything I have heard in any church. I like the structure and the values that a church gives, but this is the first time that a value has been totally against what we stand for.

 

Anyone care to take a stab at explaining to this former Roman Catholic just what the heck the difference is between Methodist, Presbyterian and Baptist?

 

Here is a rough diagram of how the Christian denominations have branched off over the years: (Naturally there are hundreds of them, so to list them all would take pages and pages.)

 

I thought that meant no interracial sex. ???

 

There is something in there like that about farm animals.

 

I am a Presbyterian. We acknowledge each other in the liquor store.

 

Leviticus exists to creates rules - profound in their day - around how Israel could survive as a nation.

My general impression of the Bible’s take on homosexuality is that it is sinful, but how that relates to the political state - which Christianity should not aspire to be - is unclear. I’m not sure it does relate.

As for the Methodist Church, well, I’m not Methodist, but, if we’re talking about Christianity, and not human secularism, then the decision seems fairly in line with the Bible.

I’d rather love it if many denominations took on greed with such ferocity.

 

Gather four Episcopalians and they will eventually produce a fifth.

 

Then some fellow named Jesus comes along and says things about loving each other and treating each other with respect.

I like the Jesus part of the Bible better.

 

I'm Methodist, if anything. The church I was raised in did not preach a whole lot of anything. It was just a nice community of people from around the area. They did things together outside church. It became almost a social club. Eventually it evolved into bridge clubs, a golf league and a nice croup of carolers at Christmas. That was years ago, though. My parents' generation is dying off. We had our son baptized there four years ago and the choir, which once boasted at least 30 people, had four members. There were maybe 40 people in the sanctuary for the regular Sunday service, when it used to be packed. In the four years since, the church closed its doors, sold the building to a school and combined membership with another nearby group. Not sure what Methodists believe around here, but they don't apparently believe in going to church much anymore.

 

We had a bit of a row in Sunday School about this.

An older member came out in favor of the Traditionalist Plan, she cited Leviticus 18:22. A younger member then asked if she was going to call for our senior pastor to be booted from the ministry because he and his wife were both previously married and she cited Matthew 19:9. The older member was flustered by that and said "Don't be ridiculous."

 

How much of the Old Testament is the New Testament meant to overturn?

There are 613 commandments in the Old Testament.