A Response to a Letter by Bishop Moore-Koikoi Related to the Fall Out of General Conference 2019!

It seems as time moves along I find myself in disagreement with at least some of the bishops of the United Methodist Church, including the present bishop of the Western Pennsylvania Annual Conference where I hold my membership as an ordained elder. I responded to one of her letters prior to registration for an annual conference session. I believe I made my position clear to her in the following words >>>

Bishop Moore-Koikoi:

In your recent letter you reiterated concerning persons registering to participate in discussions related to the fallout following GC 2019 held earlier this year. You clearly stated that if any of us were going to try to convince others that we were right, DO NOT register!

In the first place, my calling from God as I entered the pastoral ministry 60 years ago as of June 21 was not to convince anyone that I was right! My calling was and is to preach and teach the truth of God’s inspired Word. The choice people make after being exposed to the Word of God presented is their responsibility.

In the second place, however, I know I am right on several critical issues related to the Christian faith such as:

1. Jesus Christ is exclusively the only way of forgiveness from sin and hope of being a resident in His Kingdom forever. Years ago there was a magazine printed for U.M. pastors titled, Circuit Rider. One issue showed a picture of a statue of Jesus with the question, “The Way, the Truth, the Life?” imprinted over it. The issue was devoted to a debate as to whether Jesus is the only way of salvation and eternal hope or the other religions in the world are on an equal level with Christianity and have valid claims in addressing the issue of eternal destiny! Either the radical “I am” statements of Jesus as stated in the Gospel of John are true and exclusive or He is the biggest liar and fraud to ever walk on two feet and certainly not worthy of 1 second of our time! Further, all that He said and did are true. If not, then throw the Bible into the garbage can, close the churches, and live the rest of our lives always wondering what happens when we die!

2. Jesus placed 4 demands on us humans. Unless we are converted and become as children, unless we repent, unless we draw life from Him by faith, and unless we are born again we will have no part or place in His eternal Kingdom!

3. The miracles as recorded throughout the Scriptures literally happened as reported in all the details, whether it be the Red Sea crossing, an iron axe head floating in water, a man swallowed by a great fish, feeding thousands of people with a few loaves and fish, the virgin birth, or a host of others. In my elective courses at seminary I chose to do one on contemporary U.S. theologians and one on European theologians. One of the wildest among many was one who said that Jesus was likely conceived when Mary was intimate with a mercenary on duty with the Roman army and he was an ancestor of the German people! How is that one for inspiring your faith and to know that Jesus had German blood running through His veins?

4. Jesus is going to return to this sin saturated planet at some point in the future. And yes, I know, it is common to deny this and be skeptical as to whether He really will come back. But He specifically promised He would return with many changes planned as He establishes His Kingdom. Having been personally acquainted with Him now for over 62 years I know I am right when I say that He always keeps His promises!

5. God is not only a God of love and compassion, but He is also a God of wrath and judgment! Starting in the book of Genesis and continuing all the way through the book of Revelation the truth of this is constantly repeated. The ruins of past cultures are mute evidence of the fact that a society of people cannot endlessly defy God and His standards for a sane, sensible, serene, stable, and secure nation and expect to survive. The once mighty Babylonian and Roman empires are prime examples!

6. God has clearly drawn the boundaries on human sexuality making clear to all who with open heart and mind take an honest look at those boundaries. He has spelled out explicitly what is sexually acceptable and what is not, even to the point that some immorality is not merely a sin, but an abomination!

Still contending at Circuit Rider's Range and blogging at Musings of a Maverick

Clayton D. Harriger, Retired Elder
Western Pennsylvania Annual Conference
The United Methodist Church
cc: Members of the Cabinet 44 5 Comments Like Comment Share

Whom Will You Listen to – Jesus or a U.M. Bishop? It Cannot Be Both at the Same Time!

Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! [Isaiah 5:20 (KJV)].

A while back there was a meeting in the Johnstown District of the W. PA Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. Bishop Cynthia Moore-Koikoi who is the presiding officer of the conference was in attendance. During the meeting she made this statement: “We are all children of God!” And then for added emphasis she repeated the statement rather loudly. For sure, that is what may be called a “feel good” statement – it makes the person who states it feel good and obviously it is intended to make all who are in attendance feel good also.

There is just one thing wrong – the statement is false! It is certainly declared many times in churches and many people believe it because pastors and church leaders have said so!

First, it is in direct contradiction as to what Jesus said about being children of God. Yes, He said things that had to do with being children of God but He also clearly stated that there are humans who are children of the Devil! On an occasion Jesus got into a dispute with some of the Jews and eventually said this: “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.” [John 8:44-47 (KJV).]

Notice that it is very clear that Jesus is not referring to these people as “children of God.” He identifies them as children of the Devil! Can you be a child of God and a child of the Devil at the same time? Most people who possess at least a touch of common sense would say, “No!” It constitutes a most incompatible mix!

Jesus in another statement indicated the division between those who are children of God and those who are not by saying: “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” [Matthew 7:13-14 (KJV)].

Even Paul the apostle had a label he pinned on a person on an occasion: “Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him, and said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord? And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand.” [Acts 13:9-11 (KJV)]. Now if the aforementioned bishop would have been there, would she have said something such as this? “Don’t believe Paul – you are a child of God because we are all children of God!”

One of the greatest indications of the fact that the members of the human race fall into two categories – either children of God or children of the Devil is seen in the book of Revelation. Chapter by chapter you see it revealed and then in chapter 20 we are given a view of a horrible scene known as the White Throne Judgment! This is how it is described: “And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” [Revelation 20:11-15 (KJV)].

There are those pastors and church leaders, including a number of United Methodist bishops, who deny that this is for real. They have a very perverted view of what this is all about because for one thing, it shoots the idea that “we are all the children of God” all to pieces! But then, in church circles today it is not all that uncommon to hear it said that there is no Satan, no God of wrath and judgment, and no Hell! After all, we are all the children of God! But I have a strong uncompromising conviction that no person, bishop or otherwise, will change God’s clear revelation on how it is between us humans and Him and how it will all turn out in the end! Those who are indeed His children are those who have truly repented of their sins and have received His Son, Jesus Christ, as Savior and Lord into their lives. Those who have rejected God’s revelation and along with that, His Son, Jesus, experience His judgment and eternal separation from Him!

Further, I have a feeling that there are at least a few who agree with that and that God means every word contained in His inspired Word known as the Bible! Amen!

And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many… And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. [Matthew 24:4,5,11,12 (KJV)].

Letter #5 to Bishop Cynthia Moore-Koikoi with Copies to the Cabinet!

The following letter was sent to Bishop Cynthia Moore-Koikoi and the District Superintendents of the Western Pennsylvania Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church following the special session of the General Conference held in St. Louis toward the end of February 2019. Purpose of the special session was an attempt to resolve the endless conflict over human sexuality. The main issue is in regard to homosexuality and whether it is morally legitimate or not. The Traditional Plan, one of three possibilities, was adopted at the conference. This means that the restrictive language regarding homosexuality as spelled out in the denomination's Book of Discipline will remain in place. No practicing homosexual or lesbian can be ordained for United Methodist ministry. No UM pastor is permitted to perform same-gender ceremonies/weddings. And no UM church is to be used for same-gender ceremonies/weddings. Enclosed was a letter submitted to the Johnstown Tribune-Democrat newspaper. This follows at the end of the letter to the bishop and the cabinet members.

March 5, 2019

To: Bishop Cynthia Moore-Koikoi and Members of the Cabinet

Subject: Approval of the Traditional Plan at General Conference 2019 and related issues.

I preached my first sermon on June 21, 1959 at two Methodist Churches to which I had just been appointed in the New Castle area. Most of clergy, including the bishop, in the W PA Conference were not around at that time. There may be a few who are older than I, but very few! If I and my congregations had been told at that time that the day would come when homosexuality and lesbianism would be practiced and accepted within the denomination, we would have said something like, “You’re crazy – it will never happen!” Unfortunately, I was very wrong on my prediction.

But one prediction that has not changed is the fact that adoption of the Traditional Plan has resulted in an ongoing conflict over the issue of human sexuality. It involves persons who believe God has clearly drawn the boundaries on human sexuality wherein same-sex intimacy is not merely regarded as a sin, but worse, as an abomination! Acceptable sexual experience and expression are strictly limited to one man and one woman living within the holy covenant of marriage!

There are those who disagree with the above, insisting that same-sex intimacy is just as morally legitimate as is the sexual union between a husband and wife. This is based on human reasoning, cultural changes, alleged scientific studies, etc.

There is an appeal that we learn to work together and put our differences aside. I have enclosed a letter recently submitted to the Johnstown Tribune-Democrat. In that I describe a simple illustration of an attempt to mix some motor oil and water. It cannot be done and with that I rest my case concerning the conflict on human sexuality!

For a number of years I had a homosexual person attending one of my churches. His partner was a Roman Catholic and faithfully attended mass at his church. The man was still attending my church regularly when I retired in 1996. I have been at times labeled as homophobic, unchristian, unloving, mean-spirited, hateful, deeply prejudiced, etc. If that is really true and I really am that kind of person due to my choice to agree with God and His view of same-sex intimacy, why did a homosexual keep attending my church for years? Perhaps some of you can explain that to me.

As mentioned in the letter, the shootout at a corral named the United Methodist Church continues unabated!

Clayton D. Harriger, Retired Elder in Full Connection
Western Pennsylvania Annual Conference
The United Methodist Church

\/-----------------------------------------------------\/

Editor

Tribune Democrat

The special General Conference of the United Methodist Church concluded recently with the approval of what is known as the Traditional Plan. This means that the restrictive language regarding homosexuality along with procedures for dealing with violations will remain in place in the denomination’s Book of Discipline which contains its church law. No practicing homosexual is to be ordained for ministry in the UMC. No UM pastor is to perform same-sex weddings. No UM church is to be used for same-sex weddings.

There is a marathon of comments and replies, both positive and very negative, taking place presently in social media regarding the outcome of the General Conference held in St. Louis. Somehow I was reminded of an event called the shootout at the O.K. Corral in the latter part of the 19th Century!

The issue can be illustrated rather simply. Take ½ pint of water and ½ pint of motor oil and put them in a clear quart container with a cap. Shake vigorously for a length of time and then set the container down. Eventually you will see a distinct line where one begins and the other ends! An auto technician will tell you that it is not a good thing to have both water and oil in the crankcase of your vehicle!

Meanwhile the shootout at a corral known as the United Methodist Church continues unabated.

Clayton D. Harriger
Retired Elder
Western PA Annual Conference
The United Methodist Church

Response to Council of Bishops of the United Methodist Church Concerning Their Outrage About President Trump's Remarks!

NOTICE: The Council of Bishops of the United Methodist Church recently circulated a letter of outrage concerning statements made by President Trump in which very vulgar language was allegedly used by him. This response to that letter is a reminder that there are much more critical issues the Council has to deal with than filthy words coming out of the mouth of a president!

January 15, 2018

Bishop Bruce Bishop Bruce R. Ough, President
Council of Bishops, United Methodist Church

Dear Bishop Ough:

Your letter as represented by the Council of Bishops in regard to the president’s potty mouth statements recently has been distributed throughout the Western PA Annual Conference by Bishop Cynthia Moore-Koikoi. To be sure the president has used vulgar language on different occasions and this is most regrettable in every circumstance no matter the language used or the people who are targeted. Most mass media people who have extreme hatred for the president will exploit the latest incident to the hilt with hopes they will eventually destroy him and he will be removed from office!

However the Council of Bishops has a much greater crisis to deal with than what comes out of a president’s mouth. One of your own is a practicing lesbian with claim to being “married” to her partner. This in direct violation of Scripture in which God has clearly identified same-sex intimacy as being an abomination in His revelation. Further, this woman who was elevated to the position of bishop by the Western Jurisdiction is also in violation of the Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church in at least 3 areas! But nothing is being done about it though the election was declared to be illegal by the Judicial Council. At least 2 other bishops are supportive of same-sex intimacy as practiced by sodomites and lesbians. Bishop Talbert has done ceremonies of same-sex couples and Bishop Bickerton showed his support by participating in a gay pride parade in New York!

And there is one other area in which the Council and its members have been extremely silent. That area involves about 60 million victims of planned intentional homicide! That is about how many unborn children have been murdered since the infamous Supreme Court decision of 1973 which essentially said that a pregnant female has the constitutional right to have her unborn child murdered if she so chooses. Some would have to agree that if those millions of murdered victims would have been permitted to live, a significant number would have become members of the United Methodist Church. It is not comforting to think about what contributions these would have made in the life and ministry of the church. The oldest of these murdered victims would be 45 years of age this year in 2018! Alas! The silence continues!

Still contending at www.crrange.com

Clayton D. Harriger, retired elder, W PA Annual Conference

cc: Bishop Cynthia Moore-Koikoi

cc: Cabinet members of the Western PA Annual Conference

Second Letter to Bishop of W PA Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church

At the end of September 2016 I sent a letter to newly appointed Bishop Cynthia Moore-Koikoi of the Western Pennsylvania Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. I am a member and ordained elder in that conference and started my ministry within the former Erie Annual Conference in June 1959. A few years later there was a merger which formed the Western PA Annual Conference. Three years were spent in Kentucky when I was enrolled at Asbury Theological Seminary. I retired in 1996 and in November 1999 started as a pastor on part time basis to a small congregation of the Gipsy Christian Church in Gipsy PA and have been with those fine folks until the present time. I received no response to the first letter, copies of which were also sent to the 10 District Superintendents of the conference. The following letter also deals with an extremely critical issue as you will see when you read it.

Dear Bishop Moore-Koikoi and Cabinet Members of W. PA Annual Conference:

This is my second letter to you. The first was back in the last week of September 2016 and raised the critical issue of the illegal election of a “married” lesbian pastor to the episcopacy in the United Methodist Church and now serving two conferences in the Western Jurisdiction! There was also another issue I mentioned in that communication. This letter deals with my receiving your email letter about the meeting of the active and retired bishops of the Northeastern Jurisdiction which was held recently.

In that letter you bishops express intense dissatisfaction with President Trump’s actions pertaining to travel restrictions put in place. It appears we have come to the place where on social media, through the mainstream media (or is it slipstream media), by high profile Democrats, rogue Republicans, and numerous pastors and church leaders the president is being caught in a cross-fire for about everything he does! In order to be in vogue, that obviously is the proper thing to do at the present time!

The one statement you bishops used did raise a question in my mind. It was, “In response to Executive Orders from the President, it is our hope that you will once again embrace the mandate from Jesus to be in ministry to the least, the last, and the lost among us.”

The question is simply this: when you make reference to the “least” would you be including unborn children? In the “land of the free and the home of the brave” we have had conspiracies which have resulted in the intentional homicides of about 60 million unborn children in the last 44 years! Do these victims qualify as being among the “least?”

I attended a few decades of annual conferences up to retirement and a few years after retirement, but never in any of them did I ever hear a bishop boldly speak out against the United States’ version of holocaust nor declare that if this abomination is not ended, it will pave the way for the wrath of a holy God to be poured out upon us in unfathomable judgment!

I heard of a lot of other things such as the evil of gambling – in fact, one year the whole conference centered around the issue of gambling with an “expert” present to help us map out strategies as to how to deal with this devilish thing! And there were those times that the emphasis was on fighting malaria in Africa and how huge numbers of people were dying, including many children. But again, no mention ever made as to the thousands of unborn children being murdered each week in our own republic!

So, when you use that word, “least,” to whom do you apply it? At least a few, perhaps a very limited few, would agree that unborn children ought to be included. But it is highly unlikely that they will even be mentioned in a very soft whisper!

And another thing about the 60 million victims – if one allows oneself to ponder this for a bit, it would be impossible to deny the fact that if those 60 million had been permitted to live instead of being murdered, a considerable number would have ended up becoming members of the United Methodist Church! And no one except God Himself knows what contribution they would have made in the life and ministry of the church. For anyone who has at least a tad of sensitivity, it is not at all pleasant to think about such a thing, is it?

A cartoonist captioned the critical nature of this issue very well in a drawing years ago. His drawing consisted of a man on his knees frantically praying and calling out, “O God, send us someone who will invent a cure for cancer and other deadly diseases that afflict us.” A voice replies through the clouds saying, “I did, but you aborted them!” I rest my case!

Clayton D. Harriger, Ordained Elder

Western Pennsylvania Annual Conference

The United Methodist Church

Letter to the New Bishop of the W. PA Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church

Monday, September 26, 2016

Bishop Cynthia Moore-Koikoi
Western PA Annual Conference
The United Methodist Church

Dear Bishop Moore-Koikoi:

I am an ordained elder in the W. PA Annual Conference, having retired after 37 years’ service in ministry. Shortly after that I was contacted by a member of a small congregation of Gipsy Christian Church in Gipsy PA. I agreed to work with these folks on a part time basis and have been their pastor for nearly 17 years.

I am writing to ask two questions regarding two very critical issues as you assume leadership in the W. PA Annual Conference.

First, will you and the cabinet be issuing a statement regarding the illegal election of Karen Oliveto, a practicing lesbian, to the office of bishop by the Western Jurisdiction? Not only have the Scriptures been violated, but the UMC Book of Discipline has also been violated in at least 3 areas. God declares same-sex intimacy to be an abomination. The BOD states that no person who practices same-sex intimacy is to be ordained, nor are any same-sex unions (or “marriages”) to be performed by UM clergy, nor are any United Methodist Churches to be used in performance of same-sex unions!

Secondly, will you and the cabinet be issuing a statement regarding the greatest moral crisis our republic has ever experienced in its entire history? That crisis involves the intentional planned murders of unborn children by the thousands every week of the year! Since the infamous Supreme Court decision of 1973 there have been about 60 million unborn children who have been victims of conspiracy to commit murder as planned by females and persons wearing white coats with the initials “M.D.” mistakenly stitched over the chest pocket of those coats!

In this conference in years gone by there was a strong campaign to send netting to Africa to protect people from mosquitos which were carriers of malaria. Your predecessor was very aggressive in soliciting support for this effort and noted that huge numbers of persons, including children, were victims of malaria and we needed to do everything possible to prevent the spread of malaria, reducing the number of deaths. BUT he never said a word about the huge number of unborn children being victims of planned and intentional murder on a non-stop basis here in the United States!

So I ask you again – will you and the cabinet speak to this moral crisis? And will the W. PA Annual Conference make a clear and concise statement that to continue to “shed innocent blood” (God’s term as used in the holy Scriptures) is to invite the wrath of God in judgment upon us? It is possible that we as a nation have already crossed over the line of no return!

I have what is known as a bean-counter on areas of my web site. This program calculates the number of unborn children who have been murdered from certain dates. I have an area that lists the bishops of the UMC and how many unborn children have been killed since taking office. Your number right now is 94,440!

Still contending at www.crrange.com, blogging at http://cdharriger.blogspot.com and warning at www.crrange.com/USACoffin.html

Clayton D. Harriger, Elder in full connection, W. PA Annual Conference