Preaching the Truth

Since I'm not a constant blogger let me say blessed Thanksgiving, meaningful Christmas and Happy New Year.  How's that for efficiency?  I know how busy most of you are.  Let me get to the point.  The Bethel Methodist Church has chosen the "one thing needful"(Luke 10:38-42).  Because of that we stand ready to preach.  If we sit at His feet and hear His word, we are indeed ready!  Like Jeremiah, it burns in our bones!  But wait a minute.  God gives us one very important guiding principle when it comes to proclaiming the good news.  That good counsel can be found in Ephesians 4:15, "speaking the truth in love".  We do not speak all the truth and stand back with a "take it or leave it" attitude.  Yes, we understand that God's people are destroyed for lack of knowledge(Hosea 4:6).  We also know that "through (our) knowledge a weak brother (can) perish"(I Corinthians 8:11).  The way we present the truth is critical.  Without the proper foundation of genuine human compassion and real love we will fail.  We must learn to speak the truth in love!  We must learn to provide plenty of milk for babies to grow and we must carefully introduce meat to those who are ready.  Jesus was the master at putting this into practice.  Look to Him.  Learn how he operated.  They will know we are Christians by our love!    

High Flying Retreat

It was a great blessing to preach the gospel to a wonderful group of young men and women at the last retreat!  From the first service on Saturday night to the goodbyes on Monday, I saw evidence of the presence of God's Holy Spirit.  God helped in us sharing the Word and the young people were still and willing to hear.  Thank you to all who helped make this retreat a blessing!  The North Texas church prepared outstanding meals, Tim Hogan's organization was impeccable, the devotions were riveting and the attitudes were the best!  I enjoyed watching the campers fly through the woods of east Texas on the zip line.  I look forward to riding God's zip line through the gates of glory!  Have a great school year and keep believing in Jesus Christ! 

Back In School Retreat

I have the privilege of being the speaker at the retreat.  Please pray that God would give me the right message and that the young people will have open hearts.  I thank God for one of the camp testimonies that we heard in the Hill Country church.  It went something like this: "I loved camp and thank God that it was simply a time of strengthening instead of a time to get back on track. God has been faithful to me as I have trusted Him throughout the past year!".  Wow!  What a blessing.  God's grace is sufficient for teenagers living in this sinful world!

See You at Camp!

As Senior Camp Evangelist I am looking forward to camp.  It wasn't long ago (or at least it doesn't seem that long ago) that I was a camper at youth camp.  Some of my best childhood memories are from camp.  My favorite memories since becoming an adult are of my Dad preaching and the Holy Spirit coming in such a mighty way that we were, in my Dad's words, "breathing the air of heaven".  I also remember as a teenager being glad on the rare occasion of Dad not being present at camp.  Dad has now gone on to heaven and I will never, ever again be glad that Dad is not at camp!  This will be one of those first for all of us.  Arthur Slye will not be present for a Bethel Methodist Youth Camp.  He will be missed.  But be of good cheer, God, the Holy Spirit shall be there!  Pray that the gospel will have free course!  These young people need to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ!

Arthur L. Slye May 13, 1931 - February 2, 2013

Each person we know in this tiny but significant denomination has a journey which crossed paths with Arthur Slye.  My first meeting was at a Youth camp in Weatherford, Texas when I was 12 or so.  I got to know Larry and Jerry fairly well from camp, but seldom bumped into Arthur at EMC Conferences we attended.  I was at the Western EMC Conference as a quiz-team member, but don't recall anything of Arthur's ordination at Azuza Pacific College that year. 
In July of 1973, our paths crossed again as "The Good Life" sang at the Irving EMC.  Again in 1975, I was with the Duncanville EMC when Irving dedicated their new sanctuary. 
In the spring of 1978, Brenda and I moved from Little Rock to Irving to begin my radio career in Dallas.  From that time to this, we have never been a part of any other church. 
The most amazing experience was the turbulent District Conference in Sweetwater shortly after our church had withdrawn, then returned to the denomination.  Arthur was nominated for DS along with five other candidates.  From receiving only a handful of votes on the first ballot, he was overwhelmingly elected on the fifth ballot, which was nothing short of a miracle for a man so out-of-favor with church leadership.  Events soon snowballed within a year when Arthur chose to preach some of his deepest-held truths to the District Conference at Irving.  The firestorm of his corrupt heresy trial was followed by the withdrawal of Port Neches, Robinson and Irving EMC.  I belive Cross Plains EMC might have withdrawn, too, but can't be sure. 
The work of forming a new denomination from three churches was hard work, but exciting.  I would not trade that experience for anything.  Working with Arthur to develop founding principles, a new government structure, a new discipline and the first brochure was a high privilege for those of us who were able to help. 
Fast forward to yesterday's meeting in Bryan: 
Arthur and Chris both looked great.  We had a wonderfully sincere Interchurch Council Meeting with a great turnout.  We were looking forward to a similar experience at the North Texas church during Conference weekend in May.  Finally, Arthur and Chris would see our new facility and experience the traditional organ and piano hymn music they so appreciated. 
They spent lunch with their families, Jerry, Cindy, Nate, Jennifer, Eric, Kendall and Allie.  Not a bad last day on earth for our Founder in Faith.  Now, he's experiencing all the wonder and excitement he has looked forward to nearly 54 years.  May God bless and keep Arthur and all his relatives and christian family he has left behind.