BMCR leaders encouraged to live without regrets
By Melisssa Lauber
UMConnection Staff
Standing before a banquet room full of members of Black Methodists for Church Renewal with a monkey literally tied to his back, the Rev. Rudy Rasmus encouraged United Methodists to cast off shame and regret and begin to live wholeheartedly.
Rasmus carried the stuffed monkey during the keynote address on Dec. 13, when BMCR members from the Baltimore-Washington Conference hosted members from throughout the Northeastern Jurisdiction for their annual meeting at Queens Chapel UMC in Beltsville.
The pastor of St. John’s UMC in Houston, Texas, Rasmus grew his church from nine members into more than 9,000 today. Many of his members were homeless and struggled with severe challenges. “The people I’m called to serve don’t need an explanation of hell,” he said. “They can give you dates and times.”
The Bible mentions “Sheol ” 65 times; it speaks of “Hades” 12 times, and it talks of Gehana, the place of the lost.
“Do you know some lost people?” asked Rasmus. “Hell may be closer than you think.”
But the church today tends to intellectualize hell, he said, which is unfortunate, because “during this season we have the opportunity to liberate people from hell.”
He then shared a story from Matthew 12 in which Jesus confronts a man living through hell. The man is mute and Jesus casts out the demon within him.
The man was mute, Rasmus emphasized. Is there opportunity to respond with holy disgust and righteous rage that the church misses because we are mute, he asked.
Rasmus encouraged those present to stop paying lip service to change and find their voices. He challenged them to throw the monkeys of blame and shame off their backs and to live wholeheartedly.
He also challenged them to live without the idea of falling back on second chances and saying or doing things differently in the future. “I live without regret,” Rasmus said. “It raises the bar on every human interaction.”
Rasmus’ remarks opened the two day annual meeting of the Northeastern BMCR, which featured opportunities for fellowship, learning and conducting business.
During the meeting, the local conference chapter of BMCR elected leaders for the coming year. They include Willa Kynard, BMCR Coordinator; Rev. Tony Love, Vice Coordinator; Eddimae Tisdale, secretary; and Colleen Cates, treasurer.
In addition several members of the Baltimore-Washington Conference were elected to serve as leaders of the NEJ BMCR chapter. They include the Rev. Dred Scott, coordinator; Larry McCrae, treasurer; Daryln McCrae, publicity; Valerie Barnes, by-laws and the Rev. Herbert Brisbon, Young People.
For more information, visit www.bwcbmcr.webs.com.
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