Letter #6 Sent to Bishop Cynthia Moore-Koikoi and Members of the Cabinet!

NOTE: A total of 6 letters have been sent to Bishop Cynthia Moore-Koikoi who is bishop of the Western Pennsylvania Conference of the United Methodist Church. The first was sent shortly after she took her present position in September of 2016 and other letters were sent in the following months, most of which included copies to the district superintendents as well. Never one time did I ever receive so much as a reply or even an acknowledgement that she had received the letters! A few years ago I sent a personal letter to Queen Elizabeth of England and shortly received a reply via her secretary. In that reply I was informed that the Queen had read my letter and expressed some response to the subject which I had mentioned in the letter. That says something about those two persons, does it not, in regard to not just their position in this world but more importantly to character and integrity regarding response to people who communicate with them about concerns! And so, letter #6 is printed below, a copy of which was sent to each of the 10 district superintendents of the W. PA Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church.

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

Nazism Reborn in the USA!

On March 30, 2001, Obama was the only Illinois senator who rose to speak against a bill that would have protected babies who survived late term labor-induced abortion. Obama rose to object that if the bill passed, and a nine-month-old fetus survived a late-term labor-induced abortion was deemed to be a person who had a right to live, then the law would "forbid abortions to take place." Obama further explained the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment does not allow somebody to kill a child, so if the law deemed a child who survived a late-term labor-induced abortion had a right to live, "then this would be an anti-abortion statute." --- source: Obama Nation, by Jerome Corsi, p.238, Aug 1, 2008

To even mention the name Nazi and apply it to anything taking place in the United States is considered an offense that is equal to being guilty of blasphemy and on a par with that of slapping Almighty God in the face! But hang on and consider some comparisons that provide evidence showing indeed WW II Nazism has been reborn in the "land of the free and the home of the brave."

Recent decades have witnessed a deadly change occuring in government at the federal level in the United States.

First, Nazism rejected God's view of human life and the fact that each conceived human life is special in God's sight. Further, He has a unique plan for each human life. (Note such Scripture references as Jeremiah 1:4,5; Psalm 139, and Ephesians 1:3-6). Adolph Hitler and the Nazis took the position that they were the arbiters when it came to who should live and who should be exterminated from the society of the living. It is estimated that there were at least 14 million or more who were victims of the Nazi view of human life, of which at least 6 million were Jews alone! There seems to be a near unanimouse agreement that these were very "evil" people for having been involved in exterminating those millions.

The spirit of Nazism, having gained a foothold in the United States, has resulted in 52 million unborn humans being intentionally mutilated and murdered in their "mother's" wombs since January of 1973! Elected officials of both major political parties give sanction to this practice while some others who claim to be "pro-life" seem to be afflicted with a severe case of lock-jaw when it comes to speaking out and advocating aggressive action to stop the "shedding of innocent blood" throughout the land. G. W. Bush was considered to be a president who was "pro-life" but the millions continued to be destroyed in the womb during his presidency. He showed none of the aggressive spirit in putting the killer doctors out of business as he did in convincing the nation that we had to invade Iraq and take down Saddam Hussein who was guilty of an estimated 1 million victims during his reign of terror -- ah, there is a difference between 1 million and 52 million, is there not? And of course the present president puts his stamp of approval on the practice and will nominate judges to the Supreme Court who will guarantee that the slaughter of the innocents will continue. Well, that is, until God steps in and says, "Enough is enough!"

Second, Nazi leaders progressively took control of industry, business and finance in Germany as the months came and went. The media came under strict control as well. Joseph Goebbels was a master of deception as he directed the flow of propaganda so that the people would "feel good" about their country and its leaders.

We are witnessing increased control by the federal government in areas involving industry, banks, healthcare, etc. Remember the General Motors episode in which people began referring to GM as "Government Motors?" And while the government does not literally control the media outlets yet, they might as well since many of those involved in major media outlets have become so enraptured with Barack Obama that they resemble children enthusiastically following the Pied Piper! They would not want to be the least bit critical of the president, because if you convey the slightest hint of negativity, then you are a "racist" and extremely prejudiced!

Third, Nazi leaders were convinced that they were more intelligent than the German citizens and therefore in a position to know what was best for them. So they initiated their "programs" with the idea that these were best for everyone and the establishment of a Reich lasting a thousand years.

We have a president with strong support from other elected officials who believes that we citizens do not really know what is best for us or for the country at large. Since they are of superior "intelligence," they know what is best and we need to learn to trust them and go along with all that they propose without question or objection! And while there is talk at times of "bi-partisanship" there are persons in both major political parties that really don't believe it -- "It's my way or no way!" In the meantime, whatever goes wrong or is wrong presently, it is all George Bush's fault. Politicians presently in office will likely go the grave claiming they were unable to undo all the wrong that George Bush did -- it was all his fault and they simply did not have enough time to set things right side up.

Fourth, Nazi leaders for the most part did profess "belief" in God -- that is, they claimed that there was a God Who existed. They simply didn't take His special revelation (the holy Scriptures) seriously nor did they make any concentrated effort to apply the Scriptures to daily life and responsibility, either on a personal level or on a collective level. But then, as you look at the political circumstances involving elected officials at the state level and at the federal level in our republic, you see the identical drama played out -- presidents and others are fond of throwing out the expression, "God bless America!" After having done this, God is put back in his cage, the door locked shut, and He is reminded not to interfere in any of our affairs. He has been forbidden to set foot on the property of our public schools for decades and it is not "politically correct" to make reference to God in other settings as well -- that is, unless you want Him to "damn" something or someone, then that is considered appropriate at any time and in any place!

As the government continues to take more control and our freedoms are being taken from us, we are forced to face the fact that Nazism did not really die when Germany was defeated in May of 1945. It just seemed that it did as Germany was rebuilt, but it was lurking in the shadows and waiting for the grand opportunity to rise again -- and it has. We just don't wear armbands with a swastika stamped on them!

But in the midst of bad news there is good news -- Jesus Christ has promised that He will return to this world which He brought into existence by spoken command a very long time ago. He is going to take control of this planet and rule it, which means drastic changes are going to take place. Government leaders of all nations will be out of a job and followers of Him Who is described as King of kings and Lord of lords will be involved in His Administration. All implements of war will be destroyed and reforged into useful instruments for peaceful purposes. What a day that will be!

Time to let your imagination soar a bit -- do you suppose when Jesus returns that the elected officials of the U.S. government at that time (if the U. S. still exists then) will hastily draft and pass legislation that He is not permitted to enter this country unless He has a valid passport -- ooops! I forgot -- all He has to do is go over the fence, coming in from Mexico into Texas or one of the other border states and it will be OK -- if it has worked for millions of others, why not for Jesus?

Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!" --- Revelation 11:15