On my live stream yesterday, I said a couple of things wrong. Cynthia Astle doesn't own UM Insight, but she does seem to be the primary founder. It is underwritten by a church. Also, she never worked for UMNS. It was the UM Reporter she came out of. I honestly forgot that those two were different organizations. My brain had them in the same compartment. With respect to the author of the hostage/terrorist piece, I said he came from Western North Carolina Conference. Wrong. Just the North Carolina Conference. I originally got that right in my first segment, as I directed folks to his bishop. I don't know why the brain fart yesterday except to say my mind has been on Western North Carolina because they have that special called conference coming up and there seem to be some shenanigans going on around at least one large church that has tried to disaffiliate.
For her part, Cynthia Astle has corrected her original reporting that my segment was 'vicious' and that Rob Renfroe had anything to do with it.
I'll always appreciate the friendly correction to my mistakes, and I'll always be happy to publish corrections. I wish there were a way to make sure everyone sees the corrections. In this case, I'm not sure any of the mistakes amount to much of substance. It seems to me, at least at this point, that the ethical and theological reference points and developments I cited still pretty obviously stand uncorrected. The analysis I did points to a very real concern of bad actors poisoning the discourse around a denomination that is still trying to discern a way forward that is gracious and fair to all parties. Despite my imperfect delivery, I think people would do well to heed my warnings.
Debra Baty is the head of Resources 4 Redemption, which is an effort aimed at spreading good information about sexual orientation and gender identity. She recently published an article about “sexual fluidity” and how it impacts our sanctification in Firebrand Magazine. It is a good piece, and Debra does worthy work. All believers in the West have to contend with the artificial ideas of the sexual revolution. There is nowhere we can go that these issues do not impact us. The only way out is through.
Debra has a personal story that is quite compelling. She is a trustworthy, thoughtful, and conscientious resource. All covenant Christian bodies need to know where they stand on these things, lest the evil one sow confusion. Now is the time to reflect upon these things. Days are coming when what we believe will be put to the test. If we have not prepared, then we cannot expect to prevail.
Resources 4 Redemption can be found at https://substack.com/@resources4redemption
If you would like to ...
I didn't realize until I finished this morning's live stream that it got cut off pretty early in the stream. It should have made me suspicious when the viewer count stayed the same and I wasn't getting any more comments. Anyway, I recorded the whole thing and have reposted it here for you. I'll clip up the two main portions and post them on YouTube later today. Sorry for the snafu, y'all. There was a small power surge and something about that threw Rumble off. Tomorrow should be normal. God bless you all!
The issue of identity, while being ubiquitous in our most divisive politics, is also central to the Christian concern. I wanted to speak to these things a bit for the sake of fellow believers who perhaps are not quite so sure how to navigate these things…
https://open.substack.com/pub/jeffreyrickman/p/the-harsh-reality-of-identity?r=17brpc&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
No live stream this morning. Was up all night with a sinus infection and need to get in gear for annual conference session. I'll just plan on Monday. God bless you folks!
