PlainSpoken

Podcast aimed at old school Wesleyan Christian faith, shining a light in the dark places, encouraging faithfulness, reporting on Methodist stuff

[PlainSpoken @PlainSpokenPod]

PlainSpoken Morning Live Stream (June 5, 2026) https://t.co/wBVDhW9dTl

[PlainSpoken @PlainSpokenPod]

We have worship spaces where taking off our shoes is considered inappropriate. Moses was commanded to remove his shoes on holy ground. Maybe the new Globa Methodist Fijians will teach us something.

[PlainSpoken @PlainSpokenPod]

The faith of Muhammad is inimical to the faith of Jesus Christ. We keep seeing ourselves in Muslims and assuming surely they worship money like we do — that trade deals will paper over the difference. They don't. And honestly, neither should we.

[PlainSpoken @PlainSpokenPod]

Modern dads are more involved at home than fathers in any historic or prehistoric human society, ever, with no close second place. You wouldn't know that from the culture. Context matters. Raw numbers without comparisons aren't analysis — they're a narrative.

[PlainSpoken @PlainSpokenPod]

PlainSpoken Morning Live Stream (June 4, 2026) https://t.co/BmzLBHabfW

[PlainSpoken @PlainSpokenPod]

I think I was wrong. Mostly. A couple of days ago I took umbrage with the Reference Committee of the GMC disqualifying one of pieces of legislation I put before them. I should have acknowledged on the front end that I did a poor job preparing the work. I’m embarrassed to have my work rejected, and I’m upset that I didn’t provide a more airtight format for the consideration of the ideas I submitted. The truth is that I have been operating on a lack of time and energy for a long time, and I did a worse job than if I had been able to be more present to the task at hand. I’m upset that my negligence may have left some defenses open for the GMC. I hope I’m wrong in my pessimistic considerations.

The other part I was wrong about: There actually is language in the Book of Doctrines & Discipline that constrains the Reference Committee in how they do their work. If I read it in the first place, I forgot it. I should have done a comprehensive search of the document prior to speaking. I had thought that they were operating on language that was supplemented by a source outside of the General Conference. Nope. They were abiding by pretty clear instructions. I wrote them an email privately asking that they consider a more charitable posture, and I still agree with a lot of that, but I under-appreciated on the front end how constrained they actually are. Many of the names on that committee are people that I have known and respected for a long time. I still do. So I wish I had sat on this for a week before commenting.

The two people that gently and publicly rebuked me (because I issued the public complaint) were Nate Fugate and Kelly McCuaig. Much respect and appreciation for those guys showing me what I wasn’t able to see on my own.

I would like to retract the words I said that called into question the motives or capabilities of the constituent members of the Reference Committee and state my appreciation for them. I have told them privately how much I appreciate those serving in their capacities, and I’d like to affirm that publicly. While I do continue to have some concerns about how information and power are dealt with in denominations, broadly speaking, I don’t think this issue is rightly considered part of that concern. To my best understanding, the Reference Committee is doing their jobs well, and I’m grateful to them for that.

Nobody in authority contacted me about this or asked me to retract my words. No pressure. I was just wrong and I have a belief that integrity matters.

[PlainSpoken @PlainSpokenPod]

The Word of God is the anvil upon which the idols of our hearts are smashed. It is a weapon. The gospel has fangs and claws.

[PlainSpoken @PlainSpokenPod]

@_DuncanW That’s the hope. And in theory it is true. I’m just not sure it holds up in practice like we hope it does in theory…

[PlainSpoken @PlainSpokenPod]

If you sincerely drink poison, it will sincerely kill you. Intellectual honesty is not a virtue if you're sincerely wrong about Scripture.

[PlainSpoken @PlainSpokenPod]

84% of 11-year-olds aren't allowed to leave their street. 8% of 17-year-olds can't leave the house. We are raising a generation that cannot function — and then we wonder why.

[PlainSpoken @PlainSpokenPod]

@_DuncanW I don't think I'm willing to say folks with a different doctrine of scripture aren't Christians. I wouldn't feel good about that. But I do think it is possible, and even laudable, to hold a belief for the reason you here reject. Paschal's wager is, to my mind, legit.

[PlainSpoken @PlainSpokenPod]

If you don't have time for my morning live stream, but you want to know what I'm talking about, here's an article for you: "The Gospel Has Fangs"
https://t.co/kYcI7GCfVF

[PlainSpoken @PlainSpokenPod]

@Alex_Clary1 I wouldn't allege that Truett is at all advocating against traditional marriage or sexual relations. My concern is that it fudges stuff around identity, sin, and sexuality. Not from a liberal agenda, but from niceness. My particular concern is rebuking Side B.

[PlainSpoken @PlainSpokenPod]

@RevDougFox I'm just not sure how true that is. I think it is probably reasonable to hope and expect that such a committee can actually work with imperfectly submitted or formulated work. Is there a reason why such a hope is unrealistic?

[PlainSpoken @PlainSpokenPod]

@Alex_Clary1 Yes, that is true. Fixing my broken legislation is not a realistic conversation right now. Just tried to figure out your hostile reception to the legislation. Truett and a couple others don't seem real excited to rebuke Side B. Makes sense.

[PlainSpoken @PlainSpokenPod]

@Alex_Clary1 It's strange to have to articulate something that is already happening in a number of denominational institutions. Broadly, the standard would be set by the GC. Then the higher ed committee would integrate it into its regular assessments and investigations.

[Konstantin Kisin @KonstantinKisin]

Britain had a moment of silence for George Floyd. Our politicians kneeled en masse to show their outrage at his killing. "I can't breathe" became a slogan.

George Floyd died on the other side of the world. He wasn't British.

Henry Nowak *was* British and his treatment by the police was shocking and negligent in the extreme. Yet there is no minute of silence. There is no coordinated public campaign. There is no kneeling at sporting events.

And we all know why.

During the summer of BLM, some people said "All Lives Matter". This was treated as the highest form of racism and anyone who said this was immediately cancelled. Why? Because the people in charge don't actually think all lives matter in the same way.

They have created a racial hierarchy of victimhood where a career criminal who died through mistreatment by police in a foreign country with 0 evidence of racism like George Floyd is automatically sanctified because of the colour of his skin.

And Henry Nowak, a British man, one of ours, is automatically dismissed and ignored because of the colour of his.

This is the ugly fruit of so-called "anti-racism", an obsession with race that has created a two-tier society which treats people differently because of the colour of their skin.

This needs to stop.

[PlainSpoken @PlainSpokenPod]

PlainSpoken Morning Live Stream (June 3, 2026) https://t.co/ILF48laAwe

[PlainSpoken @PlainSpokenPod]

PlainSpoken Morning Live Stream (June 3, 2026) https://t.co/xFfNO5FMRM

[PlainSpoken @PlainSpokenPod]

PlainSpoken Morning Live Stream (June 3, 2026) https://t.co/7QuZtBWuTQ