FROM FB, 6/16/15
"Thank you so much to so many, for all of your calls, emails, Fb messages, texts tweets, posts, and so many kind and encouraging words (and some very challenging ones as well). I appreciate you ALL, so much more than I can say!
Please know, I am not writing these words to begin some theological debate via social media. That's really so very pointless. And, please know that I am neither a "Hater" nor a "Phob." In fact, interestingly enough, it was a homosexual friend of mine that I knew back in college (we'll call him Dave) who shared the gospel with me after he had himself given his heart to Jesus and had chosen to walk away from the lifestyle he had known for most of his life. It was his personal transformation that helped me first see, and believe in, the true transformational power of Jesus.
For me, I believe that we are all born with a "sin-nature" and a "bent" towards sin. And, just as there are many different kinds of people in the world, so to there are many different kinds of sinful practices, or "bents" if you will. That's why Jesus came... To save us "from" our sins. And when He came, He did so in love, though we ourselves expressed so much hatred to and toward Him. When Jesus saves us, He sets us free "from" sin, not free "to" sin. Similarly, I believe that the Bible teaches that we ALL need saving, because we are all "born that way" (into sin). But that doesn't change God's Word, or His plan for forgiveness, salvation and deliverance.
What I did this past Saturday in surrendering my credentials as an Ordained Elder in The United Methodist Church, was not about hate, or even really about homosexuality. It was however, about the Authority of God's Word, about the Primacy of Scripture, and about supporting and defending the existing position of our Book of Discipline and the official Mission of the United Methodist Church: "To Make Disciples of Jesus Christ, for the Transformation of the World". My actions were simply a statement that I believe our denomination (like so many others) is losing (and in many ways already has lost) it's way. I believe, as believers, as pursuers of Jesus, sometimes, God calls us to lay it ALL out there, and really BE who we say we are, or DO what we "say" we believe. The Bible teaches that The Church... is the Bride of Christ, and I personally think she's a beautiful bride, and well worth standing up for, and defending, and even, if necessary, laying it all down for.
Please know I truly love Jesus. He has set (and is still setting) me free from this body of death, and He is working in me and with me day by day to help me be less like me and more like Him. And, even though my life was such a train wreck, I believe He found me, pulled me out of the rubble and wreckage, breathed love, life and His Spirit into me, and then sent me back into the wreckage of the lives of others so I could be used by Him to help pull them out as well. That's what my friend Dave did for me when he came and told me about the Jesus that had set him free. I remember thinking: "If Jesus can save someone like Dave, man, he sure oughta be able to help me..." And, sure enough, about two weeks after Dave's visit, my own personal "crash-n-burn" took place. I woke up on the first Sunday in April, of 1989, and found myself with three choices: "Suicide, Insanity or Jesus..." So, I said "Jesus, if you can save me, then save me, and I'll give you my life and I'll never return to this man I've become." And... He did.
If you are reading this and you are a member of the Community, or of The United Methodist Church at Park City, where I have poured myself out for the last 4 years, please know that I hope and pray that my actions have not hurt you or your family or caused you emotional or Spiritual harm. I encourage you to please pray hard, and seek Jesus, and ask Him what exactly He would have you do. I hope and pray you will visit C@PC again if you haven't been there for a while, and that you will be a support to Pastor Ben Walker as he follows the leading of Jesus' and leads and ministers to the flock there. (I love him, support him, and believe in him 100%. He is, and will be, a life-long friend of mine, and I have no doubt he will pour himself completely out in love and ministry to all who feel Jesus leading them to stay.) I also hope and pray you will not have angry or ill feelings toward the United Methodist Church or The Great Plains Annual Conference, they didn't do anything "to" me, I chose what I chose, of my own free will. So, if you are going to choose to be angry, please choose to be angry at me. Just please try to keep your eyes on Jesus through all of this, and keep in mind, people will all, always, eventually, let you down, every one of them, but Jesus... He never will.
So...
Keep on Keepin' on in Jesus!
Oh yeah... Let me make something perfectly clear... No, I'm not going to start a new church somewhere, and no, I'm not planning on trying to take anyone or any family from C@PC to "do my own thing." I promised myself when I became a church planter that I'd never do that, and I won't. Planting C@PC has truly been the pinnacle of my ministerial career, and I have literally poured everything I have (and am) into that work. So, presently, I feel as if I am spent, sitting beside an abandoned well with nothing to draw with, and the bottom seems so deep... Personally, I think I'm just gonna take a brake for a while, love on my family, and maybe get a cardboard sign and stand by the road... I don't know, I literally have no idea what God has in store next. Your prayers would be, and are, much appreciated.
"Have Bible (and lots of free-time) Will Travel." Get in touch with me if you need a fill-in preacher, speaker or an evangelist.
- (Not-A-Pastor) Rob Schmutz
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