The issue here is that John 3:16 is exclusionary or “noninclusive.”

You can’t say homos and Hindus can only have eternal life if they believe in Jesus.

You’re also probably not allowed to say “him,” “he,” or “son” anymore in Norway.

Nordic Times:

Bishops in Norway believe that a verse from the New Testament “communicates poorly” and have started to exclude it from funeral services. This has attracted strong criticism in Christian circles in Norway, where it is believed that priests have become increasingly restrained in their faith.

John 3:16 is a mandatory Bible verse at funeral services in Norway, but many priests often choose to omit it. For this reason, the Norwegian bishops have asked the National Board for Worship Life (NFG) to consider whether the Bible verse should be an optional part of the services.

This in turn has drawn strong criticism from Christian Norway, with Vebjørn Selbekk, editor of the Christian newspaper Dagen, among others, pointing out that John 3:16 is “the most central passage in the entire Bible”.

…

The Christian daily Vårt Land has also criticized the bishops’ proposal.

In the Church of Norway, funeral services begin with the Bible verse, while the Church of Sweden has replaced it with a milder formulation:

“Let us hear the words of the Bible about finding security in God in life and death”.

Former bishop Tor Berger Jørgensen believes that Norway should follow Sweden’s example and avoid anything that could be associated with the doctrine of damnation.

The Church of Sweden is definitely what you’d want to emulate…

You are witnessing the terrible rise of Connectionalism.

This could be the end for the Church of Vagino-Anus AKA the United Methodist Church.

Christian Post:

The United Methodist Church’s highest court has ruled that congregations seeking to leave the denomination over theological differences cannot do so via a church closure provision.

Recently, many congregations have left the UMC via a Book of Discipline measure known as Paragraph 2549, which is centered on how to officially close down a church property.

The United Methodist Judicial Council released a ruling last Saturday, known as Decision Number 1512, which stated that congregations cannot use Paragraph 2549 to exit the UMC.

According to the decision, the UMC’s Trust Clause, which holds that all church properties are held for the benefit of the whole denomination, cannot be disregarded as it would be by using Paragraph 2549 to disaffiliate.

“Connectionalism is a bedrock principle of United Methodist constitutional polity, and the Trust Clause is its foundational element,” stated the ruling.

For those of you who don’t remember why some churches would want to flee this organization, here’s a quick reminder:

In the UMC, doing what the Bible explicitly bans you from doing is just fine, but some goofy bureaucratic bullshit like “connectionalism” has to be followed to the letter.

“Disaffiliation is a radical departure from connectionalism, and, therefore, church property can be released from the Trust Clause only to the extent authorized by Church law.”

The Judicial Council went on to state that Paragraph 2549 “cannot be construed or used as legislation permitting the ‘gracious exit’ of local churches because it applies to church closure and the sale of property, not disaffiliation.”

“Paragraph 2549 does not give an annual conference disciplinary authority to close a local church and then provide all of the assets to the exiting congregants,” the ruling continued.

“Paragraph 2549 is not an appropriate provision of the Discipline for exiting with property. The provisions of ¶2549 do not align with what is being asked for, which is ‘disaffiliation’ and asking that the trust clause be broken.”

…

For decades, the UMC debated whether to change its rules to allow the blessing of same-sex unions, the ordination of noncelibate homosexuals, and the funding of LGBT advocacy groups, eventually doing so at General Conference earlier this year.

At a special session of the General Conference held in February 2019, delegates voted to add Paragraph 2553 to the Book of Discipline. The measure, which expired at the end of 2023, created a process for congregations to leave the UMC over the sexual ethics debate.

Approximately 7,500 congregations disaffiliated from the denomination during that time, with thousands joining the recently launched theologically conservative Global Methodist Church.

It’s sad.

But I’m not sure the Methodists were ever that great.

This fruitcake female pastor says “Jesus would take women to clinics for abortions. He would be a clinic escort.”

Is this the church of Satan? Sure sounds like it!! Geeze.

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— Juanita Broaddrick (@atensnut) September 18, 2024