2016ustrip

Message from Bishop Dr Rev James Kwang
Dear Fellow Ministerial and Lay Co-workers in Christ,
Greetings to you all in the Lord. May the grace and peace of God
be with you all.
“Our hearts were
considerably lightened
when we visited Asbury
Theological Seminary
(ATS) as we saw how the
seminary remains ever
true and faithful to the
original intent of the
Methodist movement as
started by the Wesley
brothers and a few others;
that is, to spread
scriptural holiness across
the land and beyond.”
It was my joy and privilege to lead a delegation team of our
CMCA Pastors and their spouses, along with our AC Lay Leader
and his wife, to attend the World Methodist Conference in
Houston, Texas from 31 August to 4 September this year.
Following that, we travelled to Asbury Theological Seminary in
Wilmore, Kentucky, where we spent four nights and five days
having our pastors retreat, from 5 to 9 September.
The trip was an eye opener for our pastors who were attending the
World Methodist Conference for the first time. A few of the
speakers delivered messages in a subtle way to promote their own
agenda, seeking the world Methodist body to embrace one of the
most highly debated issues today, i.e. the LGBT movement,
which goes against the teachings of God’s Word! It was good
exposure for all to know how the world has changed and how
society has influenced the Church at large to such a great extent.
On the flip side, several other speakers were very truthful in
expounding and applying the Word of God, which we found
comforting and which gave us hope.
Our hearts were considerably lightened when we visited Asbury
Theological Seminary (ATS) as we saw how the seminary
remains ever true and faithful to the original intent of the
Methodist movement as started by the Wesley brothers and a few
others; that is, to spread scriptural holiness across the land and
beyond. That is exactly what ATS is doing in equipping God’s
people to go forth to spread scriptural holiness.
We were treated with excellent hospitality at ATS. Three full days
of the retreat were filled with spiritual goodies – with talks given
by renowned professors such as Kenneth Collins and Ben
Witherington III. Most of the talks were on the distinctiveness of
the Methodist doctrines, and on our rich Methodist heritage. The
lectures were very edifying to our souls as the ATS lecturers
reaffirmed to us that our Methodist beliefs reflect true, scriptural
Christianity.
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