Johnathan Arnold and David Fry discuss ways in which the CHM is more Baptist than classically Methodist.

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In this episode, Dr. David Fry and Johnathan Arnold discuss the church membership crisis and why the church needs to retrieve a biblical understanding of membership for every baptized believer. The relationship between church membership, discipleship, and church discipline is discussed.

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More information at holyjoys.org/chris-bounds-on-tertullian/.

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In this episode of the Holy Joys Podcast, Johnathan Arnold and David Fry discuss moralistic preaching and related themes:

• Moralism in the Pelagian controversy
• Monergism vs. Synergism
• God as the initiator of all good
• Human cooperation with grace
• Premodern exegesis and the fourfold method of interpretation
• Examples such as David & Goliath and the Temptation of Jesus in the Wilderness
• Transformation through seeing God's glory in Christ
• Preaching as putting God's beauty on display

Quotes from Fry:

• Moralism comes down to a Christological problem.
• Probably the most glaring example of moralism is the “God will do his part if you do your part” mentality.
• Wesleyan Arminians are often considered to be synergists, but that can come out as “God does his part when we do his part,” and that’s not good.
• God is always the initiator of anything good—anything good in the world, anything good in me, any change of character for the good, is the product of the “God who works in us to will and to do.”
• Many Christian sermons are no more Christian than what some motivational speakers in some conferences might say.

Quotes from Arnold:

• It’s one thing to affirm that victorious living comes from Christ; it’s another thing for our Christological convictions to shape our approach to the text, our preaching and teaching, and our emphasis.
• Those with a moralistic tendency tend to be genuinely concerned for the transformation of Christians. But 2 Corinthians 3:18 tells us how we are transformed: by seeing Christ.
• We don’t want people who just conform to a list of rules; we want people to be changed. So moralistic preaching doesn’t even accomplish what some are setting out to do. It doesn’t accomplish real transformation because it’s more focused on us than on Christ.

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More information at holyjoys.org/brian-shelton-on-irenaeus/.

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More information at holyjoys.org/scott-harrower-on-the-apostolic-fathers/.

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Dr. Fry and Johnathan Arnold discuss a Christian view of caring for the environment and how it relates to a physical theology. The church's redemptive presence is discussed in relation to Earth Day and other holidays that many Christians avoid such as Halloween.

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Dr. Fry and Johnathan Arnold discuss the ascension of Christ and subsequent outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost.

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Quotes from David Fry:

• If I am not in a series and I do not have a particular sermon that I want to preach, I always default to one of the lectionary readings for my Sunday preaching. I follow the Revised Common Lectionary.
• We live at peace because on the third day He rose from the dead and with the same body in which He suffered, He arose, and He ascended.
• Saints of God, we have peace because Jesus has overcome the world.
• What truth am I avoiding in order to give myself a false sense of peace? Isolating myself, stonewalling, avoiding someone—that's not peacemaking. That may just be flight.
• What am I willing to suffer for the sake of peace? We need a more robust theology of Christian suffering.

Quotes from Johnathan Arnold:

• The Spirit comes as the one who represents the risen Christ and fulfills Christ's promises to build the church and to be our comforter.
• The Spirit of the risen Christ creates the Church.
• The four marks of the church (one, holy, catholic, apostolic) are present at Pentecost.
• The Sunday sermon is not just a time to give people a nugget to get through to the next week. It is an opportunity to develop the church's theological thinking.

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Quotes from David Fry:

• We must distinguish between BLM the concept, BLM the organization, and BLM the movement.
• Eyewitness testimony or video of an event doesn’t mean that there won’t be different interpretations. It's wise as believers to be patient, listen, and suspend judgment as long as we can.
• It takes patience to live in a multicultural context.
• Christians need to get out in front of these things and set the tone, rather than sitting back and always reacting.
• When I say that we need to pray for peace, I've always assumed that people assume that justice is entailed in that. But I've realized that people don't automatically think that peace requires justice. In Christian theology, there is no peace without justice.

Quotes from Johnathan Arnold:

• We need to be aware of lingering racial prejudices. These things are important to God. He’s a God of justice.
• We need a robust theology of justice because if we don’t then the world defines it in a non-Christian way.
• We want Scripture and Church Tradition to shape our thinking on these issues, not the broader culture.

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