tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6097581429595233439.post5245047916335828551..comments2023-03-24T16:44:31.630+03:00Comments on More Than Words: Christian Unity And The Church Of ScotlandDavid Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13177521181432533108noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6097581429595233439.post-52178088333550181422009-05-26T23:01:53.147+03:002009-05-26T23:01:53.147+03:00It is an interesting, but very sad debate when the...It is an interesting, but very sad debate when the issue of legalities, buildings, organisations, and authority levels distract from the main issue that you correctly identify, that of the primacy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Many have warned of the traps that a hierarchical, cleric based "church"" brings, and here we see them amply displayed. As Christians, we should have but one overriding loyalty, to Jesus Christ and his gospel, every other loyalty, despite good intentions and the occasional anecdote, encourages the insidious creep of secularism. There is, in my opinion, no justifiable reason for bishops, priests, clerics of any description, or lay people to remain with a congregation that rejects the Gospel. Go join a home group, or start one, the church of Jesus Christ requires no bricks or mortar, no charter, no hierarchical organisation, no legal approval, no State recognition. Our comfort and security should be in Jesus and the hope that his gospel has given us, we need to place our trust in His Word and the Holy Spirit, not in edifices and clerics (no offence), else I fear that our faith is misplaced, and we have forgotten Acts 4:12, "Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved".Ned Kellyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12205078083994001076noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6097581429595233439.post-16310876610583888962009-05-25T11:34:34.572+03:002009-05-25T11:34:34.572+03:00I meant to say manses, not mansions - slip of the ...I meant to say manses, not mansions - slip of the fingers!!!<br /><br />DavidDavid Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13177521181432533108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6097581429595233439.post-75156028406413363142009-05-25T11:33:30.282+03:002009-05-25T11:33:30.282+03:00Hi Jonathan,
I think the Church of England went t...Hi Jonathan,<br /><br />I think the Church of England went this far some years ago - the evangelicals in it still kick up a fuss if an openly homosexual minister is proposed as a bishop, but they accepted open homosexuals in the parish ministries as something they could co-exist with a long time ago.<br /><br />Your first paragraph: I don't really accept the thrust of this. Practically, Bible-believing ministers and individuals should publicly separate themselves the Church of Scotland. That is the practical step that I was suggesting they should take. Your question seems to be about dealing with legalities of buildings, organisations, etcetera. As you point out, I'm in another country - and as a Baptist I don't have a lot of sympathy with the organisational mindset which makes so much of these matters in the first place. When you say that "it's very easy" for me to say such things, I don't think you're speaking with any knowledge of what I might personally have been through in past years and whether it really was or wasn't "very easy" for me...<br /><br />Any way, it's a matter of comparative indifference what kind of organisations these evangelicals join, or how they work out the legalities of what they'll do with their mansions, pensions, buildings etcetera. I don't presume to advise them on matters so far away from me. But given that liberalism took over the denomination generations ago, I frankly think it's going to be a bit much if any evangelical in the CoS were to start saying that it's too difficult to extricate themselves and work out the organisational niceities when there are so many brethren around who have paid the cost and dealt with these problems with all their attendant difficulties ... how many decades do they need to start thinking about this? Are they really saying they never saw this coming? Surely not!David Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13177521181432533108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6097581429595233439.post-55189616889468525192009-05-24T02:53:11.797+03:002009-05-24T02:53:11.797+03:00Hi,
I just found your blog.
I hate to say I enjoye...Hi,<br />I just found your blog.<br />I hate to say I enjoyed your writing about the churches decision tonight but I can not think of another word.<br />I am dismayed whenenver I hear of a church deciding to allow practicing homosexuals be ministers.<br />Where is the example they are supposed to be? We are supposed to look to them for wisdom about the bible. They are certainly lacking.<br />I hope your church finds the reasonability that the Bible is.2catshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10422139409011064601noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6097581429595233439.post-19819055766179844552009-05-24T01:41:52.525+03:002009-05-24T01:41:52.525+03:00Hi David,
Isn't this exactly the same situation t...Hi David,<br /><br />Isn't this exactly the same situation that the Church of England is in too? Presumably you remember the 1966 call that Lloyd-Jones made to Stott in a similar situation. What _practically_ can people do when you call them to come out? Does their entire church secede (from the CoS) and join (perhaps) the Free CoS, which seceded more than 100 years ago. Or should individual believers leave? What about individual churches within the CofE. It's very easy to issue these calls (especially from another country!) but, practically, what do you think should be done? Especially if there are no other evangelical churches in the area. I suspect the only thing that can be done is for an entire church to secede, but that will be a difficult legal issue to untangle, I suspect.<br /><br />On a more happy note, a very good friend of mine became a Christian at Queens Cross, the liberal church at the heart of the controversy. Despite the liberal teaching, the power of the Word of God is effective, and through (sound) friends in the Free CofS, correctly her wobbly theology. People can and do become Christians despite liberal churches, praise God! She finds it somewhat ironic (now living in England and being in a independent baptist church) that the church she was converted in is at the heart of the storm. There are certainly rumours that some of the CoS churches may join the Free CoS.jonathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12101604187164110141noreply@blogger.com