GAYS PROTEST CHURCH'S STANCE ON GAY LIFESTYLE

On May 11, the United Methodist Church, did something that I am glad to see them do. They voted, at a national conclave, by nearly 2 to 1, to condemn homosexuality, and lesbianism.

For some time, several churches in this denomination, have supported this lifestyle, and gone so far as to ordain clergy that are practicing gays, and blessing (they call it), gay unions.

This practice, goes totally against what the bible (the written Word of God), says [Lev 18:22, 20:13, Rom 1:26-28]

Anyway, as a result of this vote, supporters of this lifestyle, set about to disrupt the meetings, and succeeded twice, before they were removed by police. One woman, attempted to commit suicide, by trying to jump off of a railing in the balcony where she was seated, but was restrained by others. She pleaded with them, the church officials, to reconsider their vote. One man said, 'you have made it clear to me, that you don't want me as a member.'

What was all of this about, in the first place??? Why and how, did things get like this???

It all apparently started, with the church, failing to follow the guidelines of the very book that they are supposed to be following, the bible.

Just as any group of people, that form an entity that wants to accomplish something, there have to be rules and regulations on what is, and is not to be done.

Well, the church, has these same standards in place, in the bible.
It tells us who the founder of the Church is [Matt. 16:18, Eph 5:23] It tells us what the purpose of the Church is [Mk 16:15] It tells us how we are to conduct ourselves [Heb 12:14]. It tells us what is, and is not allowed in the church [2 Co 6:17]. It even tells us what to do with those that don't want to abide by those rules [Nu 16:21].

It gives us the qualifications of leadership [1 Tim 3]. And it tells us what to do with leaders that do not follow the rules.

In this instance, there was a breakdown in the leadership, that led to all of this confusion in the first place.

It would be easy to blame the gays, for causing the problem, but I won't put that on them, because they didn't know any better. The blame for this whole mess lies with the Church.

It is the church that went astray, thus leading those that were members, astray [Matt 15:14] blind leading the blind].

From what I hear, the church, gave their pastors, control of their local churches, meaning that they could enact any policy that they felt would help bring more people in. Now, while this may seem like a good idea, the drawbacks are, that many people may start coming to the church, but, for all the wrong reasons.

God, calls for the church to be, His representative, or ambassador, if you will, to the unsaved. If you know anything about ambassadors, they are usually the best that the country has, to represent them in a variety of matters.

The Olympics are a good platform, to show the world how each country, supposedly feels about mingling with others. The athletes are usually friendly, courteous, sociable, helpful, and the like. When you see them, you should be able to say, their country is just like them.

Well, when it comes to the Church, we should be letting the world know that Jesus Christ, is who we represent, and that He, represented the Father, while He was here.

Now, if you will read anything about Jesus in the bible, He always did, what He says, He saw the Father do. In other words, He imitated the Father, not only in action, but thought and mannerism.

A lot of churches today, are any thing but, like God says they should be. God calls for holiness [Heb 12:14] and they say,' it doesn't take all that!!' God calls for sanctification (being set apart from the world)[2 Cor 6:17], and they say, 'we need to be sociable, so we can draw people to God!!' Problem is, in order to do that, they lower the standards that God has set, thus causing people to come to a god, that is not the true God. Their only reason for doing it, is to increase the congregation, which translates in to more money for the church, and the pastors, as well as popularity with the world.

Can you imagine, Moses, compromising with pharaoh, concerning letting the people go?? Or how about Elijah, doing it with the prophets of Baal??? Or, worse yet, how about Jesus, sitting down with the Pharisees, and Sadducees, to iron out differences??? They all, stayed solid, and immovable, even when everyone else was against them.

These poor preachers today, try to do everything they can, to keep from being criticized, when Jesus calls for you to stand, to the death, if necessary. They seem to forget what Jesus said about those that were ashamed of Him (acknowledging Him in all that they say and do) [Matt 10:32-33].

Persecution is one thing that the Church is fully aware of being one of the trials of their faith. For Jesus said, 'They have persecuted Me, and they will persecute you.'[St Jhn 15:20]

Homosexuality, is not the only thing that churches have compromised on. They have compromised on fornication, adultery, gambling, and sin, in general. When is the last time you have heard a message dealing with sin, and its consequences??? If most of these large 'mega churches' started emphasizing this part of the bible, over half of their members would leave.

But no, they overlook all of the other faults, of the straight people, and then jump on the gays.

The way the gay community sees it, if the church ignores, or accepts all this other sin, then their sin should be accepted as well. After all, there is only one hell, and all of them will be in there, together.

Also, people tend to think that the church is like government, where they can vote on what they feel is right and wrong, and nothing can be further from the truth. God hates sin, and that will never change, even if your church sanctions it. And, a lot of them do.

So, as you can see, the fault for this whole mess, lies at the doors of the church.

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JUNE, 2000


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