Friday, June 28, 2013
Dear Eastridge Family,
On Wednesday the Supreme Court
struck down the Defense of Marriage Act which now requires homosexual marriage to
be recognized by the federal government.
It is always sad to see our nation go the opposite direction from God
and His Word. The problem is of course
God’s people, the church has been going that same direction for years and it
should be no surprise the government would chose to follow.
After the ruling I read a
statement from a fellow pastor in Idaho that I thought I would share with
you. Here is Pastor Douglas Wilson’s
response:
With the Supreme Court doing
its part today to advance the homosexual agenda, while trying not to provoke a
major backlash, as happened with Roe v. Wade, I thought a little encouragement
for the saints might be in order.
All
this reminds us again that there is no political solution to what ails us. We
are a nation with the staggers, and our prophets and judges all have paper bags
over their heads. There is such a thing
as political and legislative faithfulness, but
there is no such thing as political and legislative salvation. God
brings us to the end of our puny little abilities so that we may trust, not in
ourselves, but in Him, the God who raises the dead.
So we remind one another — as
we ought to — that there is no political solution. There will be political consequences when the
solution arrives, but there is no political solution. This is true as far as it goes, but there
might be an assumption buried in there that is not so true.
As the
old joke has it: “Well, I guess we have to pray about it.” “Oh, has it come to that?”
Realizing
that there is no political solution, and that only Jesus can save us from this,
is quite true . . . but might be just a couple steps away from unbelief. It is like being in the bottom of the ninth,
with two outs, and your weakest batter has two strikes on him and no balls, and
he hurt both his wrists getting the bag of sunflower seeds open. Only
God can pull this out now is
often an introduction to the thought and He’s not going to.
But that is not where we are at
all. The salvation that Jesus is
bringing to us is not a possible salvation, or a probable one, or a likely
salvation. It is an inexorable and
necessary salvation. Reformation, revival, salvation, forgiveness, and a spirit
of deep repentance is coming at America just like tomorrow morning is.
Because our only salvation is
found in resurrection from the dead, and because resurrection from the dead is
an inexorable fact of life now — ever since Jesus rose on the third day, He set
resurrection power completely loose in the world — the deliverance we long for
is a certainty.
In other words, it is not
“there is no salvation except in the off chance . . .” Rather, it is “there is
no salvation in any other name except the one that has been given to you
forever.” That one name is the name of
Jesus. Luther doesn’t say, but I suspect
that name is the one little word in his hymn that fells the pandemonic captain,
and it is the name that remains, no thanks to the jurisprudential scurrying of
the black-robed strokers of chins.
If our way out were political,
we can be (and have been) thwarted, out-spent, out-maneuvered, lied to, and
betrayed. But if our way out is Jesus,
not only do we have a sure and certain hope, but our adversaries have no hope
at all.
And so
what do we have to do? We simply have to
stand still and watch (Exodus 14:13).
General Assembly for Church of the Nazarene
The Church of the
Nazarene’s General Assembly and Conventions convenes every four years, bringing
together more than 20,000 Nazarenes from around the world. This year the assembly met in
Indianapolis, Indiana where they just finished business. The General Assembly is the “supreme
doctrine-formulating, lawmaking, and elective authority of the Church of the
Nazarene” (Manual ¶300). Business
includes the election of general church leadership, ratification of
resolutions, and enacting strategic legislation designed to facilitate the
denomination’s engagement of global need through compassionate ministries,
education, and congregational development.
This year the Assembly elected two General Superintendents to
fill positions of two retiring General Superintendents. We have six total General Superintendents who
provide leadership on the international level for our denomination. The two new Generals are David A. Busic and
Gustavo A. Crocker. They were officially
installed as members of the Board of General Superintendents during the
assembly this week.
Another item of interest that I want to share with you occurred
on Thursday. The Board of General Superintendents responded to
a request from a member of the Bangladesh delegation.
"I humbly request you to please let us raise our Nazarene voice against the United States Supreme Court verdict on gay marriage," the delegate wrote. "This is totally against our holiness stand."
General Superintendent Jesse C. Middendorf was chairing the meeting at the time of the statement.
"Many nations are being affected by similar government and court decisions," he said. "There is no question that we are living in a challenging time, both morally and spiritually. Nonetheless, we wish to reaffirm our denomination’s position on biblical marriage.
"I humbly request you to please let us raise our Nazarene voice against the United States Supreme Court verdict on gay marriage," the delegate wrote. "This is totally against our holiness stand."
General Superintendent Jesse C. Middendorf was chairing the meeting at the time of the statement.
"Many nations are being affected by similar government and court decisions," he said. "There is no question that we are living in a challenging time, both morally and spiritually. Nonetheless, we wish to reaffirm our denomination’s position on biblical marriage.
"While our Rules of Order
prohibit us from taking any action on new business, it is in
order to restate a portion of the position of the Board of General
Superintendents on human sexuality, which is as follows:
We further wish to
reemphasize our call to Nazarenes around the globe to recommit themselves to a
life of holiness, characterized by holy love and expressed through the most
rigorous and consistent lifestyle of sexual purity. We stand firmly on the
belief that the biblical concept of marriage, always between one man and one
woman in a committed, lifelong relationship, is the only relationship within
which the gift of sexual intimacy is properly expressed.
"As a visual expression of
our support of the sanctity of marriage," Middendorf continued,
"please stand for a moment of silent prayer, asking God to watch over and
protect His Church and the people called Nazarenes."
Youth Retreat
The youth group made it back safely from
spending a week at a camp. Pastor James
may have some photos to show us on Sunday and we will look forward to hearing
the youth share some feedback of the retreat.
Saturday Prayer service
Each Saturday morning at 9AM Pastor Daniel
is leading a prayer service in the sanctuary.
Everyone is invited to attend this special time where we seek the Throne
of Mercy.
Kid’s T- Shirt Party
Tomorrow afternoon the children ages 4 through
6th grade will have a T-Shirt party at the church starting at 1 PM.
This Sunday we will collect our WMB offering
The annual World Mission Broadcast Offering provides resources
to reach millions around the world for Christ via broadcast media, especially
radio. Received in June each year, the World Mission Broadcast Offering
provides funding for program production, airtime, and follow-up materials.
Holiness programming, delivered by radio, television and the Internet, reaches
around the world with the message of Jesus and his redeeming love and helps to
disciple those who respond.
In 2010, World Mission Broadcast is reaching the unreached in:
36 Languages
72 Countries
140 Programs
7,012 Broadcasts
All Church Picnic
Be sure to mark your calendar for Sunday July 14th
for the All church picnic. More
information will be forth coming on what we need to bring and where the picnic
will be held.
I look forward to worshipping with you on Sunday
Pastor Andy
