Leaving or staying: In obedience to Jesus

The session of Fremont Presbyterian Church, of Sacramento, my church, has voted, unanimously, to leave the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and join the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. Because of that I would like to clarify several things. There are several church meetings planned to discuss this. The congregation will still have to vote. I will uphold my church’s desire to leave the PCUSA, they are making their decision, after much prayer, on what they believe is the best way to obey Jesus Christ, the Lord of the Church in the midst of a disobedient denomination. However, I will not leave with them.

I believe in this time of crisis, in the denomination, Christians are obligated to listen to the voice of the Lord; to obey him and follow him no matter what that may mean. The Session of Fremont has heard the Lord speak of faithfulness by way of leaving. I have not yet heard the Lord tell me to lay aside the writing and work I have been involved in for the sake of his purposes in the midst of our disobedience to the Lord Jesus Christ. I am, of course, extremely sad. But I will remain.

Having part of my Christian journey go through the Jesus movement; a time of great revival among the flower children of the sixties and seventies, I know what God can do in the lives of wayward, sinful people. That was a time when God literally reached into the drug culture, sexual revolution, false spirituality and set many young people free from their sinful life styles.

I know He can still do so. Perhaps it will be in the PCUSA, a denomination so given over to its own selfish need to walk with the society of the day that it is embracing the society’s base sexuality and its culture of death. Perhaps revival will happen in some obscure home Bible studies as it did in the sixties and seventies. But then again, perhaps God has chosen to let the PCUSA dwindle away and become some small heretical sect unnoticed by anyone except the Judge of the earth.

The fragmentation began in our Presbytery several years ago, with PUP. It will continue, here and many other places, until we listen to the Lord of the Church. But that listening will only happen when the Holy Spirit moves members to embrace the Lordship of Jesus Christ which means obedience to his word. It is a sorrowful time for me and many others. But we will wait on the Lord of the Church to do his work wherever and whenever that may be.

Mary Holder Naegeli's new blog & her presentation before the GAPJC

Mary Holder Naegeli, a friend to so many, now has a blog. It is, “Bringing the Word to Life .” She, just yesterday, July 29, presented the complainant's side to the Parnell et al v. Presbytery of San Francisco case before General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission of the Presbyterian Church (U. S. A.). You can read her presentation here Did God really say . . .?


It is absolutely complete in all that needs to be said. The authority of scripture is on the line. Pray for the GAPJC commissioners. Pray for all involved.

If you are uncertain of who Mary Holder Naegeli is read here, About Mary Naegeli.

In every book of the Bible

In every book of the Bible-Jesus our King!

A poem

How can I walk this line which is breaking up at every step?

How can I step from one fragmented piece to another,

And steadily make my way.

But then You are the way-not mine to keep

But yours.

The steadiness lies in you.

Perhaps I will arrive on some fragmented piece

And find it larger than the world

And folded into Your care.

A prayer for a friend

We uphold our friend in prayer-Father give her wisdom and strength

Add to her courage the power of your Holy Spirit as she speaks

Let her feel the strong might of your eternal love and know that you are aware of any weariness, any despair or even fear. Let her be fearless and faithful to no one but you.

Keep us in prayer until her work and ours is done.

Let us all bow before your sovereign will and be at peace with you.

Your will be done oh Jesus, Lord of your Church.

The 'not' so underground church in China

From The Wall Street Journal a news video about the rising underground church in China. Pray for sisters and brothers.

Why it is okay for Israel to be a Jewish State

And it was IPMN who helped me find the article:

I do have something good to write about the Israel/Palestine Mission Network of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and their Facebook page.  They linked to a very interesting article and that lead me to a very good article entitled, Can Israel Be A “Jewish State?”. The original article they linked to at The Counsel on Foreign Relations is Will The Arab League Pay For Palestine? by Elliott Abrams. Evidently the Palestine government is running out of money and it isn't the fault of the United States or Israel, but of the Arab League.

But the excellent article I want to point to is the first, Can Israel Be A “Jewish State?”. The author, also Elliott Abrams, lists all of the states that are religiously based including a few Christian ones. After writing about several Arab States that insist on Islam as their official religion Abrams also writes:

There are many similar examples. The religion of the state is Islam in Oman, Qatar, and Kuwait (where there are estimates that fifteen percent of the population is non-Muslim)—and one could lengthen the list. In Afghanistan, the constitution holds that “The sacred religion of Islam is the religion of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan” and “No law shall contravene the tenets and provisions of the holy religion of Islam in Afghanistan.” The president must be a Muslim. The Saudis go one further, refusing even to have a constitution: “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a sovereign Arab Islamic state with Islam as its religion; God’s Book and the Sunnah of His Prophet, God’s prayers and peace be upon him, are its constitution….”

Abrams also points out that "The whole idea behind the partition of the Palestine Mandate in 1947 was, in the words of U.N. General Assembly resolution 181, the creation of an “Arab state” and a “Jewish state.” The Arab rejection of Israel as a Jewish state is in fact at the heart of the Middle East conflict.

Please read the whole article.