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The Falling Away, sodomite version

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March 27, 2024, 12:55:24 pm Mark says: Shocked Shocked Shocked Shocked  When Hamas spokesman Abu Ubaida began a speech marking the 100th day of the war in Gaza, one confounding yet eye-opening proclamation escaped the headlines. Listing the motives for the Palestinian militant group's Oct. 7 massacre in Israel, he accused Jews of "bringing red cows" to the Holy Land.
December 31, 2022, 10:08:58 am NilsFor1611 says: blessings
August 08, 2018, 02:38:10 am suzytr says: Hello, any good churches in the Sacto, CA area, also looking in Reno NV, thanks in advance and God Bless you Smiley
January 29, 2018, 01:21:57 am Christian40 says: It will be interesting to see what happens this year Israel being 70 years as a modern nation may 14 2018
October 17, 2017, 01:25:20 am Christian40 says: It is good to type Mark is here again!  Smiley
October 16, 2017, 03:28:18 am Christian40 says: anyone else thinking that time is accelerating now? it seems im doing days in shorter time now is time being affected in some way?
September 24, 2017, 10:45:16 pm Psalm 51:17 says: The specific rule pertaining to the national anthem is found on pages A62-63 of the league rulebook. It states: “The National Anthem must be played prior to every NFL game, and all players must be on the sideline for the National Anthem. “During the National Anthem, players on the field and bench area should stand at attention, face the flag, hold helmets in their left hand, and refrain from talking. The home team should ensure that the American flag is in good condition. It should be pointed out to players and coaches that we continue to be judged by the public in this area of respect for the flag and our country. Failure to be on the field by the start of the National Anthem may result in discipline, such as fines, suspensions, and/or the forfeiture of draft choice(s) for violations of the above, including first offenses.”
September 20, 2017, 04:32:32 am Christian40 says: "The most popular Hepatitis B vaccine is nothing short of a witch’s brew including aluminum, formaldehyde, yeast, amino acids, and soy. Aluminum is a known neurotoxin that destroys cellular metabolism and function. Hundreds of studies link to the ravaging effects of aluminum. The other proteins and formaldehyde serve to activate the immune system and open up the blood-brain barrier. This is NOT a good thing."
http://www.naturalnews.com/2017-08-11-new-fda-approved-hepatitis-b-vaccine-found-to-increase-heart-attack-risk-by-700.html
September 19, 2017, 03:59:21 am Christian40 says: bbc international did a video about there street preaching they are good witnesses
September 14, 2017, 08:06:04 am Psalm 51:17 says: bro Mark Hunter on YT has some good, edifying stuff too.
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Author Topic: The Falling Away, sodomite version  (Read 27222 times)
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« Reply #120 on: May 01, 2015, 02:55:21 pm »

http://www.wnd.com/2015/04/houston-pastors-ratchet-up-fight-over-transgender-rights/
4/30/15
HOUSTON PASTORS RATCHET UP FIGHT OVER 'TRANSGENDER RIGHTS'
Ordinance war grabbed headlines when lesbian mayor subpoenaed sermons


A lawsuit against a Houston transgender-rights ordinance that grabbed national headlines when the lesbian mayor, Annise Parker, subpoenaed the sermons of area pastors is being escalated to the state Court of Appeals.

The pastors, announcing they have filed an appeal Thursday, released a statement.

“After ten months, thousands of man hours and hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal costs for the coalition, Judge Robert Schaffer caved in to political pressure by the LGBT political force who endorsed him and ruled that we were a few hundred signatures short,” they said.

“His subjective determination that a group of circulators’ signatures were not legible – a standard that does not exist in Texas election law and violates the federal Voting Rights Act – invalidated over 5,000 signatures, nearly 10 times the number needed to erase even his declared shortfall. We are confident that his decision will be overturned on that basis alone at the state Court of Appeals,” the statement said.

When the City Council adopted the ordinance, the coalition immediately collected signatures to put the decision before the voters, but the city fought back and disqualified signatures, so the pastors’ group filed the legal challenge.

“The resolve of our pastors and leaders has not wavered and we intend to right a voting rights wrong. We will take this to the Texas Supreme Court if needed to assure that the rule of law is restored in Houston, voters have our day at the ballot and to protect basic, God-given rights of the citizens in the fourth largest city in America,” the pastors said.

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« Reply #121 on: May 10, 2015, 06:44:23 am »

Matt Walsh Clashes with Pastor over Bruce Jenner and How to Respond to Transgenderism

 Conservative commentator Matt Walsh recently clashed with a Christian pastor over how to respond to transgenderism.
 
Walsh wrote a piece called “Bruce Jenner Is Not A Woman. He Is A Sick And Delusional Man” that was published in The Blaze. Pastor Jarrid Wilson responded to the piece writing an open letter titled “Dear Bruce Jenner: Jesus Loves You and Cares For You.”
 
The Blaze reports Walsh and Wilson both believe that God does not mistakes when creating men and women but disagree on how Christians should respond transgenderism; Wilson believes the issue should be approached with compassion.
 
The men debated Bruce Jenner and transgenderism on “The Church Boys” podcast.
 
Wilson said, “As a Christ follower or as a pastor… I’m trying to encourage people on a daily basis to consistently show love to people, even if they don’t necessarily understand what they’re going through. It doesn’t mean that they have to agree with what they’re doing.”
 
Walsh said that Christians need to take a stronger stand against transgenderism in a society that is in crisis.
 
“What I do care [about] is that we all come to an understanding that, as Christians, we have to stop sacrificing the hard, difficult truth for the sake of seeming accepting, because I think that’s what’s driven us to the point we’re at in our culture, where we have a million babies being killed every year, the definition of marriage crumbling — we have now even the reality of man versus woman is no longer accepted. And I think we’ve gotten to that point in our culture, which is a very dangerous, evil place, because Christian leaders haven’t not stood up and said, ‘This is wrong’ and just laid out the truth,” Walsh said.

http://www.christianheadlines.com/blog/matt-walsh-clashes-with-pastor-over-bruce-jenner-and-how-to-respond-to-transgenderism.html

Look, the appearance of sodomites in your lands IS JUDGMENT FROM GOD!
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« Reply #122 on: May 10, 2015, 08:56:02 am »

For anyone that listens to pastor Jason Cooley's and bro Nate's sermons, radio broadcasts, and see their street preachings - they talk about how when we preach to the lost, we need to FIRST preach the LAW to them(believe it or not, alot of our early preachers and theologians did the same - which is why the 1700's had some of our greatest revivals).

Show compassion first? No - SOULS are at stake here!

Galatians 3:23  But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
Gal 3:24  Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
Gal 3:25  But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

Matthew 10:28  And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
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« Reply #123 on: May 20, 2015, 08:34:30 am »

France’s Main Protestant Church Gives Blessing to Gay Marriages

France's largest Protestant Church, the fourth-largest religious group in the country, has voted for its pastors to give their blessing to homosexual couples. The move comes two years after Paris legalized same-sex marriages.

http://rt.com/news/259489-france-protestants-gay-marriage/
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« Reply #124 on: May 24, 2015, 05:23:38 pm »

United Methodists: Practicing Homosexuality Doesn't Contradict Christian Doctrine

 The United Methodist Church leadership has voted to submit a proposal to the 2016 General Conference that would remove “prohibitive” language about homosexuality from the United Methodist Book of Discipline.
 
The proposal removes homosexuality and the performance of same-sex weddings from the church’s list of chargeable offenses. Under the proposal, United Methodist pastors would be able to perform same-sex marriages in churches.
 
The Connection Table group voted 26-10 with one abstaining to submit the proposal.
 
Bishop Bruce R. Ough, chairman of the Connectional Table, said the group had a "very thoughtful, respectful heartfelt discussion and earnest desire to discern God's will."
 
But Jennifer LeClaire, senior editor of Charisma, disagrees. She says pastors are supposed to teach people the “difference between the holy and profane.”
 
“If we're going to condone the practice of homosexuality, what's stopping us from allowing pastors to commit adultery without rebuke?” she wrote in a column for Charisma. “Why not let drunken revelers lead kids church? Why not give greedy thieves and extortioners the responsibility for church finances?
 
“The point is, practicing homosexuality is not the only sin the Bible calls out in this verse, as so many gay rights activists like to stress,” she added “So why does the sinful practice of homosexuality, then, get special protection?”

http://www.christianheadlines.com/blog/united-methodists-practicing-homosexuality-doesn-t-contradict-christian-doctrine.html
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« Reply #125 on: May 25, 2015, 08:40:59 am »

Church of England to consider 'transgender baptism' service

A "transgender baptism" service is to be considered by the Church of England for the first time.

The idea is to bless into God's family the new identities of Christians who have undergone gender transition.

The proposal was welcomed by the Church's most senior trans priest. Rev Rachel Mann, Rector of St Nicholas Burnage and a minor canon at Manchester Cathedral, told Christian Today: "Trans people feel powerfully called to be recognised in their 'chosen' name. An opportunity to be publicly introduced to God is therefore significant. I think this is what the proposed liturgy aims to do. It will be symbolically powerful. The extent to which it is [a form of] baptism will be debated by General Synod of course, but this liturgy is a welcome move to affirm Trans people."

There is no guarantee the proposal will succeed. It is in the form of a diocesan motion to the General Synod and needs to wait its turn to get debated on the floor. But it is certain to generate contention in a Church still struggling with its position on sexuality.

Rev Chris Newlands, vicar of Lancaster Priory, called for the change after he was approached by a young transgender person born a girl but transitioned to a boy seeking to be "re-baptised", the Guardian reports today. The vicar had at first thought the rule of one baptism sufficed, but changed his mind after discussing issues of identity with the young man.

He created a new service to affirm the original baptismal vows of the individual who was "introduced" to God with his new name and identity.

The motion, passed by Blackburn Diocese last month, states: "That this Synod, recognising the need for transgender people to be welcomed and affirmed in their parish church, call on the House of Bishops to consider whether some nationally commended liturgical materials might be prepared to mark a person's gender transition."

Newlands told the Guardian he knew a number of trans people though his work with LGBT organisations. "It's an absolute trauma to go through this, with the surgery, as people get a lot of transphobic bullying. The church needs to take a lead and be much more proactive to make sure they are given a warm welcome."

The motion had "captured people's imagination", he said, and already gathered a large amount of support, being passed by the parochial church council, the Deanery Synod and the Blackburn Diocese, which covers Lancashire.

Newlands said: "I wanted to bring it to the General Synod as a commitment that bishops will take seriously, and for them to take the next step of getting a liturgy which parish priests can use for people who do the transition where they can be affirmed in the church."

Another individual, Susan Musgrove, 62, who underwent gender reassignment three years ago, also had a service of "public affirmation" at St Andrews Church, in Corbridge.

Musgrove, who has written about her experience, described it as the "final stage in what has been a life-long journey".

She said: "Give Blackburn their due, they have put this down as a one-line motion. It's no big deal, it shouldn't be a big deal."

The Church of England's official position on transgender issues is described in a House of Bishops memo in 2003.

Andrew Symes, of the conservative evangelical group Anglican Mainstream, said: "The Christian faith has always taught that people are created male and female. We speak for the conservative traditional point of view. We are aware there are a number of people who want to change from one gender to another and that's a new thing for the church to deal with. It would be something that would go against the teachings of the church up till now. It would be something that would cause controversy.

"To recognise all people is something the church should be doing but to have a service of blessing for someone to change their gender is a new idea. It's not been discussed before in the Church of England. It would need a lot of discussion and debate by theologians and I would need to know whether there are other agendas by the people bringing it. I would be very surprised if the diocese has passed the motion without a lot of discussion and debate."

The Archbishops' Council said: "Any of the 42 diocesan synods is free to propose items for debate at the General Synod. The Blackburn motion will join a queue of motions for debate and is therefore unlikely to be debated imminently. As the motion itself makes clear, any motion passed at General Synod would be the beginning not the end of a process."

http://www.christiantoday.com/article/church.of.england.to.consider.transgender.baptism.service/54463.htm
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« Reply #126 on: May 26, 2015, 02:52:52 pm »

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« Reply #127 on: June 07, 2015, 06:16:04 pm »

First one had bad sound, so they took it down, and re-uploaded a better one.

« Last Edit: June 09, 2015, 12:20:35 pm by 1st Timothy 6:13-14 » Report Spam   Logged
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« Reply #128 on: June 09, 2015, 11:08:57 am »

I tried to stray away from this story - however, my parents have kept up with this. Apparently, this guy is a sodomite, going all the way back to his days as a HS wrestling coach in the 80's(where he molested a couple of boys on his team, and apparently had a close "relationship" with a man during that time. And I think he was very close to his male chief of staff during his days as House Speaker).

Posting this here - b/c just one of the rotten fruits of this whole "religious right" movement - this whole Hegelian Dialectic scheme by the RR has been to do just that...make christianity look foolish.(and look at the timing of this - the USSC will make a landmark ruling on sodomite marriage in 3 weeks)

Former U.S. House Speaker Hastert to appear on federal charges
http://news.yahoo.com/former-u-house-speaker-hastert-appear-federal-charges-110457394.html
6/9/15

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Dennis Hastert, a former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, was due to be arraigned Tuesday in federal court in Chicago on charges of trying to hide large cash transactions and lying to the FBI about it.

According to an indictment, Hastert, 73, was trying to evade detection of $3.5 million in payments he had promised to make to someone from his hometown of Yorkville, Illinois, to conceal past misconduct against the person.

Law enforcement officials have said Hastert was trying to cover up was sexual contact with a male, according to several media reports.

The Illinois Republican, who has not made any statements since he was indicted on May 28, was a high school teacher and wrestling coach at Yorkville High School in the 1960s and 1970s.

On Tuesday, Hastert was seen for the first time in public since the indictment. ABC News filmed the former lawmaker and his wife driving away from their farm in Wisconsin, stopping at a gas station in their black SUV, and arriving at their home in the Illinois town of Plano, about an hour's drive from Chicago.

Thomas Green, a Washington white-collar defense attorney with the Sidley Austin law firm, will represent Hastert, according to court documents and the law firm. Green declined to comment on the case.

Hastert led the House for eight years before leaving Congress in 2007. He was the longest-serving Republican speaker.

**Yes, b/c they had alot of dirt on him.

After the indictment, Hastert resigned from the Dickstein Shapiro lobbying firm in Washington, where he worked, and from the boards of exchange operator CME Group Inc and REX American Resources.

His alma mater, Wheaton College in suburban Chicago, removed his name from its policy center.

**I believe Wheaton is a "Christian" college.

According to the indictment, Hastert withdrew $1.7 million in cash from his bank accounts from 2010 to 2014. He is charged with "structuring" $952,000 of those withdrawals, taking the funds out in increments of under $10,000 to evade the requirement that banks report large cash transactions.

**Now THIS is who they be going after! NOT after people like Kent Hovind(who was doing LEGAL business), but after people like Hastert(who was doing ILLEGAL business)!

Hastert then told the FBI that he was keeping the cash for himself, which the indictment said was a false statement.

The person receiving the payments has yet to be identified. But another possible victim has emerged. The sister of a student at Yorkville High School told ABC News on Friday Hastert had sexually abused her brother, who is now deceased.

The arraignment is before District Judge Thomas Durkin in the federal courthouse in Chicago. The District Court for the Northern District of Illinois announced special media guidelines for proceedings including an overflow room for reporters.
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« Reply #129 on: June 12, 2015, 11:39:07 pm »

http://bereanresearch.org/gay-activist-matthew-vines-quietly-holds-private-meetings-with-christian-leaders/
6/9/15
Gay activist Matthew Vines quietly holds private meetings with Christian leaders



In his newsletter, Matthew Vines, author of God and the Gay Christian and founder of The Reformation Project (to reform biblically-based churches to accepting homosexuality and gay marriage), wrote this:

Pretty amazing news: Yesterday, evangelical leader Tony Campolo announced his support for “gay Christian couples” in the church, changing his position in a moving statement on his website after many years.
And then this morning, the work of The Reformation Project made the front page of the nation’s paper of record, The New York Times. The headline of the landmark article: “Evangelicals Open Door to Debate on Gay Rights.”

The work is far from over, but for a single day, that’s some remarkable momentum for this cause. Thank you to all of our allies, both old and new, and to our many dedicated co-laborers in this movement whose critical work continues make these kinds of breakthroughs possible.

In reading the New York Times piece, we see some interesting strategies from Vines. First, his meetings with Christian leaders are almost always private, one-on-one affairs. He has talked with small groups of pastors in Phoenix and Nashville and shared his story over coffee or lunch in places like Atlanta; Chicago; Orlando, Fla.; Portland, Ore.; and Greenville, S.C. If he can soften hearts and hard soil with his earnestness, his niceness, and his ability to make worldly reason sound so right, then he has gained a foothold.

Here is something I did not know: He also visited the campus of Focus on the Family in February, and talked with more than 20 staff members about the psychic and spiritual damage inflicted on young gay Christians by ministries like Focus. Says the Times: “The organization kept the encounter quiet until now because it did not want to be perceived as wavering in its stance.”

You mean like compromising the truth of God’s Word? Having nothing to do with falsehood?

Another strategy: Vines knows he can’t win (yet) in the big arena of the Church. But he can do this:

The first step in changing churches would be to identify the “silent sympathizers” and encourage them to speak up.So in the meeting at Biola, Mr. Vines was on the lookout for just one silent sympathizer.

Not surprisingly, Vines found that man easily. Read the rest of the story here about how easily the folks at Biola opened the door just a little bit wider with this “brother in Christ.”
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« Reply #130 on: July 01, 2015, 10:01:53 pm »

http://news.yahoo.com/episcopalians-vote-allowing-gay-marriage-churches-064849720.html
7/1/15
Episcopalians vote to allow gay marriage in churches

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Episcopalians voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to allow religious weddings for same-sex couples, solidifying the church's embrace of gay rights that began more than a decade ago with the pioneering election of the first openly gay bishop.

The vote came in Salt Lake City at the Episcopal General Convention, just days after the U.S. Supreme Court legalized gay marriage nationwide. It passed in the House of Deputies, the voting body of clergy and lay participants at the meeting. The House of Bishops had approved the resolution Tuesday by 129-26 with five abstaining.

The Rev. Brian Baker of Sacramento said the church rule change was the result of a nearly four-decade long conversation that has been difficult and painful for many. Baker, chair of the committee that crafted the changes, said church members have not always been kind to one another but that the dynamic has changed in recent decades.

"We have learned to not only care for, but care about one other," Baker said. "That mutual care was present in the conversations we had. Some people disagreed, some people disagreed deeply, but we prayed and we listened and we came up with compromises that we believe make room and leave no one behind."

Baker said the House of Bishops prayed and debated the issue for five hours earlier this week before passing it on to the House of Deputies.

The Rev. Bonnie Perry of Chicago, a lesbian married to a fellow Episcopal priest, hugged fellow supporters on Wednesday and said, "We're all included now."

"For the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in our congregations now know under the eyes of God and in every single state in this blessed country, they are welcome to receive all the sacraments," she said.

The Rev. Jose Luis Mendoza-Barahona of Honduras gave an impassioned speech, saying the new church law goes against the Bible and would create a chasm in the church.

"The fight has not ended, it's starting," he said. "Those of us in the church who are loyal followers of Christ are going to remain firm in not recognizing what happened today."

The vote eliminates gender-specific language from church laws on marriage so that same-sex couples could have religious weddings. Instead of "husband" and "wife," for example, the new church law will refer to "the couple." Under the new rules, clergy can decline to perform the ceremonies. The changes were approved 173-27. The deputies also approved a gender-neutral prayer service for marriage on a 184-23 vote.

The measures take effect the first Sunday of Advent, Nov. 29.

Many dioceses in the New York-based church of nearly 1.9 million members have allowed their priests to perform civil same-sex weddings, using a trial prayer service to bless the couple. Still, the church hadn't changed its own laws on marriage until Wednesday.

The Episcopal Church joins two other mainline Protestant groups that allowed gay marriage in all their congregations: the United Church of Christ and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). The 3.8-million-member Evangelical Lutheran Church in America lets its congregations decide for themselves, and many of them host gay weddings.

The United Methodist Church, by far the largest mainline Protestant church with 12.8 million members, bars gay marriage, although many of its clergy have been officiating at same-sex weddings recently in protest.

The Episcopal Church is the U.S. wing of the Anglican Communion, an 80 million-member global fellowship of churches. Ties among Anglicans have been strained since Episcopalians in 2003 elected Bishop Gene Robinson, who lived openly with his male partner, to lead the Diocese of New Hampshire. Many theologically conservative Episcopalians either split off or distanced themselves from the national U.S. church after Robinson's election.

On the eve of Wednesday's vote, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, spiritual leader of the world's Anglicans, issued a statement expressing deep concern about the move to change the definition of marriage.

Robinson said after the vote, "It's a day I wasn't sure I would live to see."

"What we're seeing I think in the Episcopal Church, and last week with the Supreme Court decision, is an entire culture evolving into understanding that gay and lesbian, bisexual and transgender people contribute just as much as anyone else to this society and deserve all the same rights," Robinson said.

After the Supreme Court ruling last week, many conservative churches, including the Southern Baptist Convention and the Mormons, renewed their opposition to gay marriage.

The gay marriage decision is the second major news to come from the convention, the top policymaking body of the church. The church elected its first black presiding bishop last weekend, with Bishop Michael Curry of North Carolina winning in a landslide.

Curry has allowed same-sex church weddings in North Carolina, and he said the Supreme Court "affirmed the authenticity of love" by legalizing gay marriage.
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« Reply #131 on: July 02, 2015, 08:53:14 am »

Episcopal Church Changes Definition of Marriage to Include Same-Sex Couples, Axing ‘Man and a Woman’ From Canon

The Episcopal Church officially joined Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the United Church of Christ this week in becoming the third mainline denomination to embrace gay marriage rites — a move that comes just days after the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex unions.

The new liturgy extending marriage to gays and lesbians was widely approved with a vote of 184-23 by the Episcopal Church USA’s House of Deputies during the denomination’s 78th General Convention; it will become available for use on November 29, Deseret News reported.

In a separate vote of 173 to 27, the institution of marriage was changed from being comprised exclusively by a man and a woman to being between two persons more generally, with the line “both parties understand that Holy Matrimony is a physical and spiritual union of a man and a woman” being axed from the canon.



This moves comes after decades of debate in the Episcopal Church — which has nearly 1.9 million members — over whether gay leaders and same-sex marriage should be embraced, with church leaders clearly settling the rules on the matter this week. But despite making such a definitive decision, internal battles are likely far from over.

Infighting has been rampant since the church first allowed its first openly gay bishop in 2003; the marriage move will likely only perpetuate the debate. Consider that some Episcopal leaders this week vocally opposed the decision to change the traditional definition of marriage.

“This resolution goes against the biblical principles of our church,” the Rev. José Luis Mendoza said. ”Don’t be seduced by the fashion of society.”

Others spoke up as well, with Bishop William Love of Albany, New York, invoking Matthew 19:5, which included Jesus explaining that marriage involved a man and wife becoming “one flesh.”

“If our Lord is the son of God … God incarnate,” he said. “He is quite aware of the nature of marriage and could have offered alternatives but did not.”

Others, though, were overjoyed by the decision, with the Rev. Bonnie Perry of Chicago, Illinois — a lesbian who is married to another priest — expressing happiness over the marriage amendment, the Chicago Tribune reported.

“For the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in our congregations now know under the eyes of God and in every single state in this blessed country, they are welcome to receive all the sacraments,” she proclaimed.

The marital change does come along with a major caveat: Faith leaders will be given permission not to perform gay marriages without penalty, according to George Conger, an Episcopal priest from Florida, with these rights extending to priests and bishops, alike.

“Clergy were also given the right to refuse to perform a same-sex marriage, with the promise they would incur no penalty, while bishops were given the right to refuse to allow the services to take place in their diocese,” he wrote in a Washington Post piece.
Plastic figurines depicting a female couple and a male couple, displayed on a table, at the Gay marriage fair, in Paris, Saturday, April 27, 2013. Lesbian and gay cake toppers, his-and-his wedding bands, flower-themed tuxedo bow ties: Marketing whizzes have held France's first gay-marriage fair four days after parliament legalized same-sex wedlock. Wedding planners, photographers and high-end tailors pitched their services at the Paris fair Saturday. Police stood guard outside a precautionary measure after recent bouts of anti-gay violence by foes of same-sex marriage. The legislation sparked huge protests across France. Credit: AP

AP

This, of course, will likely setup additional internal battles in dioceses where bishops have banned gay marriage, as individual priests under their direction will not be permitted to marry same-sex couples.

Anglican Communion leader Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby expressed concern over the decision to remove the traditional definition of marriage, claiming that it will cause “distress for some and have ramifications for the Anglican Communion as a whole, as well as for its ecumenical and interfaith relationships.” The Episcopal Church is part of the Anglican Communion.

As TheBlaze previously reported, Christianity in America has lost between 2.8 and 7.8 million followers over the past seven years, with the largest drop observed within mainline Protestantism, a group of denominations known for embracing more theologically progressive ideals.

While there were 41 million mainline Protestants in 2007, that number dropped to around 36 million last year. This comes as denominations under that umbrella continue to splinter over the embrace of homosexuality and same-sex nuptials.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/07/02/episcopal-church-changes-definition-of-marriage-to-include-same-sex-marriage-axing-man-and-a-woman-from-canon/
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« Reply #132 on: July 03, 2015, 07:59:13 am »

20 Questions for Christians Supporting Same-Sex Marriage

Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has imposed same-sex marriage upon every state in the nation, it would be wise for each of us to think through this issue a little deeper. And so here are 20 questions for anyone who supports this newfangled definition of marriage:

1. Is sex outside of marriage sinful?

2. Is sexual sin the only sin against a person's body? (see 1 Cor. 6:18)

3. Is your attitude toward those who don't agree with you one of love, hate, or something in between?

4. Does holding a particular position on this issue make a person a hater?

5. Is faith in Christ the only way to be forgiven, and is Jesus therefore the only way to heaven?

6. Was Jesus telling the truth when He said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (see John 14:6)

7. Can you find even one supporter of same-sex marriage who also believes Jesus is the only way to heaven?

8. Do most sincere people in every religion go to heaven?
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9. Is the Bible God's inspired Word, or just human opinion?

10. Will adulterers go to Heaven, even without repenting of their sin and turning to Christ for forgiveness? (see 1 Cor. 6:9,10)

11. During His earthly ministry, is there any evidence that Jesus taught that adultery and homosexual behavior are no longer an abomination to God, as opposed to what Jews had taught from Scripture for many centuries?

12. Can there be a way that seems right to a man, but only leads to death? (see Proverbs 14:12)

13. Is adultery a bigger sin than homosexual behavior?

14. Can a person be forgiven even while deliberately persisting in sinful behavior? (see Hebrews 10:26,27)

15. Is homosexual behavior a sin in God's eyes as recorded in both the Old Testament and the New Testament?

16. Does God determine what is sinful based upon public opinion polls?

17. Is it ever right to look down on someone with a self-righteous attitude?

18. Was it unloving for Jesus to tell the woman caught in adultery, "Neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin." (see John 8:11)

19. Is it wrong to have a strong biblical conviction about the sins of greed, jealousy, sex outside of marriage, and prejudice?

20. Will every person stand before God on Judgment Day?

These 20 questions are intended to help us think through this sensitive issue on more than just an emotional level. We owe this honest evaluation to the Lord who created us as sexual beings, as well as to those who struggle with same-sex attraction.

No one chooses to have gay feelings, just like no one chooses to have a quick temper. But some things in life show up at the doorstep of our heart even though we did not ask for them. This calls for spiritual discernment so that we don't naively assume that we can always trust our feelings and desires to lead us down the right path.

And don't ever be afraid to share what God's Word clearly teaches, and to do so with a loving heart. That's what Jesus did. And then He died for our sins and rose again, so that all who repent and believe the good news will gain entrance into paradise for eternity.

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/20-questions-for-christians-supporting-same-sex-marriage-141109/#kZd12l4lSJO3oUuS.99
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« Reply #133 on: July 03, 2015, 08:07:24 am »

40 Questions for Christians Now Waving Rainbow Flags

For evangelicals who lament last Friday’s Supreme Court decision, it’s been a hard few days. We aren’t asking for emotional pity, nor do I suspect many people are eager to give us any. Our pain is not sacred. Making legal and theological decisions based on what makes people feel better is part of what got us into this mess in the first place. Nevertheless, it still hurts.

There are many reasons for our lamentation, from fear that religious liberties will be taken away to worries about social ostracism and cultural marginalization. But of all the things that grieve us, perhaps what’s been most difficult is seeing some of our friends, some of our family members, and some of the folks we’ve sat next to in church giving their hearty “Amen” to a practice we still think is a sin and a decision we think is bad for our country. It’s one thing for the whole nation to throw a party we can’t in good conscience attend. It’s quite another to look around for friendly faces to remind us we’re not alone and then find that they are out there jamming on the dance floor. We thought the rainbow was God’s sign (Gen. 9:8-17).

If you consider yourself a Bible-believing Christian, a follower of Jesus whose chief aim is to glorify God and enjoy him forever, there are important questions I hope you will consider before picking up your flag and cheering on the sexual revolution. These questions aren’t meant to be snarky or merely rhetorical. They are sincere, if pointed, questions that I hope will cause my brothers and sisters with the new rainbow themed avatars to slow down and think about the flag you’re flying.

1. How long have you believed that gay marriage is something to be celebrated?

2. What Bible verses led you to change your mind?

3. How would you make a positive case from Scripture that sexual activity between two persons of the same sex is a blessing to be celebrated?

4. What verses would you use to show that a marriage between two persons of the same sex can adequately depict Christ and the church?

5. Do you think Jesus would have been okay with homosexual behavior between consenting adults in a committed relationship?

6. If so, why did he reassert the Genesis definition of marriage as being one man and one woman?

7. When Jesus spoke against porneia what sins do you think he was forbidding?

8. If some homosexual behavior is acceptable, how do you understand the sinful “exchange” Paul highlights in Romans 1?

9. Do you believe that passages like 1 Corinthians 6:9 and Revelation 21:8 teach that sexual immorality can keep you out of heaven?

10. What sexual sins do you think they were referring to?

11. As you think about the long history of the church and the near universal disapproval of same-sex sexual activity, what do you think you understand about the Bible that Augustine, Aquinas, Calvin, and Luther failed to grasp?

12. What arguments would you use to explain to Christians in Africa, Asia, and South America that their understanding of homosexuality is biblically incorrect and your new understanding of homosexuality is not culturally conditioned?

13. Do you think Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama were motivated by personal animus and bigotry when they, for almost all of their lives, defined marriage as a covenant relationship between one man and one woman?

14. Do you think children do best with a mother and a father?

15. If not, what research would you point to in support of that conclusion?

16. If yes, does the church or the state have any role to play in promoting or privileging the arrangement that puts children with a mom and a dad?

17. Does the end and purpose of marriage point to something more than an adult’s emotional and sexual fulfillment?

18. How would you define marriage?

19. Do you think close family members should be allowed to get married?

20. Should marriage be limited to only two people?

21. On what basis, if any, would you prevent consenting adults of any relation and of any number from getting married?

22. Should there be an age requirement in this country for obtaining a marriage license?

23. Does equality entail that anyone wanting to be married should be able to have any meaningful relationship defined as marriage?

24. If not, why not?

25. Should your brothers and sisters in Christ who disagree with homosexual practice be allowed to exercise their religious beliefs without fear of punishment, retribution, or coercion?

26. Will you speak up for your fellow Christians when their jobs, their accreditation, their reputation, and their freedoms are threatened because of this issue?

27. Will you speak out against shaming and bullying of all kinds, whether against gays and lesbians or against Evangelicals and Catholics?

28. Since the evangelical church has often failed to take unbiblical divorces and other sexual sins seriously, what steps will you take to ensure that gay marriages are healthy and accord with Scriptural principles?

29. Should gay couples in open relationships be subject to church discipline?

30. Is it a sin for LGBT persons to engage in sexual activity outside of marriage?

31. What will open and affirming churches do to speak prophetically against divorce, fornication, pornography, and adultery wherever they are found?

32. If “love wins,” how would you define love?

33. What verses would you use to establish that definition?

34. How should obedience to God’s commands shape our understanding of love?

35. Do you believe it is possible to love someone and disagree with important decisions they make?

36. If supporting gay marriage is a change for you, has anything else changed in your understanding of faith?

37. As an evangelical, how has your support for gay marriage helped you become more passionate about traditional evangelical distinctives like a focus on being born again, the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ on the cross, the total trustworthiness of the Bible, and the urgent need to evangelize the lost?

38. What open and affirming churches would you point to where people are being converted to orthodox Christianity, sinners are being warned of judgment and called to repentance, and missionaries are being sent out to plant churches among unreached peoples?

39. Do you hope to be more committed to the church, more committed to Christ, and more committed to the Scriptures in the years ahead?

40. When Paul at the end of Romans 1 rebukes “those who practice such things” and those who “give approval to those who practice them,” what sins do you think he has in mind?

Food for thought, I hope. At the very least, something to chew on before swallowing everything the world and Facebook put on our plate.

http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/2015/07/01/40-questions-for-christians-now-waving-rainbow-flags/
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« Reply #134 on: July 03, 2015, 09:01:43 am »

Quote
14. Can a person be forgiven even while deliberately persisting in sinful behavior? (see Hebrews 10:26,27)

15. Is homosexual behavior a sin in God's eyes as recorded in both the Old Testament and the New Testament?

16. Does God determine what is sinful based upon public opinion polls?

17. Is it ever right to look down on someone with a self-righteous attitude?

18. Was it unloving for Jesus to tell the woman caught in adultery, "Neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin." (see John 8:11)

FYI - there's a heretical movement going on now called "Easy Believism", that is really being pushed now. Yes, that includes professing KJB ministries on Youtube et al.

They insist how sanctification/growth are just merely "optional" for the believer.

Pt being that don't be surprised if in the near future, these same "ministries" come out and support the idea that Christians can be sodomites.

A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump...
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« Reply #135 on: July 07, 2015, 01:26:02 am »

FWIW - it's all and good that these modern-day evangelicals defend pro-life and anti-sodomy through and through - but at the same time, notice how they almost never quoted the Genesis account - man is created in God's image, and marriage is b/w a man and a woman as clearly stated in the first 2 chapters of Genesis.

Pt being that the reason why modern-day christianity has gotten so bad now, is b/c they allowed the Trojan Horse of many different flavors of evolution to creep in(day age, gap, theistic, progressive, etc) - which all but destroyed the foundations.

It's all and good that they preach the cross of Christ - but ultimately, the Creation/Genesis account is THE backbone of the gospel, period. IOW, if the earth is millions of years old, then sin by one man didn't come into the world, and if sin by one man didn't come into the world, then it wasn't necessary for Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. And for that matter too, Noah's flood would have been local(at best). Ultimately, the whole bible ended up getting discredited b/c of this very first initial lie on the Genesis account.
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« Reply #136 on: July 07, 2015, 09:46:28 am »

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« Reply #137 on: July 08, 2015, 11:29:11 pm »

Personally, I will humbly admit that I get tempted to watch and keep up with sports, but I shouldn't b/c the whole thing is nothing more than idolatry.

With that being said - was listening to a pastor's sermon tonight over the dangers of liquor, and didn't realize it has THAT great of detrimental effects on people. No, it's not like we can do it "moderately", or even "a little".

Pt I'm trying to make here is that I was reminded tonight how the sports and entertainment industry promotes alcohol heavily. And now the sports industry will end up pushing the sodomy agenda(ie-the NFL's Detroit Lions recently promoted a big gay pride event).

There is going to come a time soon where we're really going to have to separate ourselves from a lot of the things of this world, b/c of all of the abominations they are pushing hard.
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« Reply #138 on: July 13, 2015, 11:03:38 pm »

http://news.yahoo.com/us-evangelicals-ponder-role-now-gay-marriage-law-024937140.html
7/13/15
US Evangelicals ponder their role, now that gay marriage is law of the land

Following the US Supreme Court ruling on gay marriage, Evangelicals have been by turns conciliatory, confident, and troubled. Here is how their debates on the subject are evolving.


Like many here in the South, Hilda Wells, a Southern Baptist, takes the Bible at its word.

Given that gay marriage is now the law of the land, Ms. Wells, a Stone Mountain, Ga., businesswoman, admits to a twinge of concern: What she sees as a biblical sin – homosexuality – is now protected as a constitutional right by a landmark US Supreme Court decision.

But at the same time, her love of Scripture isn’t so strong that she can’t see the dignity and desires of fellow citizens with different sexual orientations.

Recommended: How much do you know about gay rights in America? Take the quiz!

“For one, I don’t think gay people are going to burn in hell,” says Wells matter-of-factly in her downtown antique store. “In fact, we have a lot of gay friends and customers, and we love them. The way they live their life is none of my business. I just happen to believe that’s it’s none of the Supreme Court’s business, either.”

Wells is one of millions of Christians on the front lines of an evangelical experience that has emphasized marriage as being a union, under God, between a man and a woman. Now, many of these individuals are pondering how to live in an age in which marriage has taken on another legal definition.

For decades now, Evangelicals have had an outsized influence on national politics, wielding considerable conservative power. But the landmark Supreme Court ruling hints at an uncertain future for conservative Christians. And it comes as religious critiques of gay marriage are being condemned more broadly as bigoted.

Given such shifts in fortune, some have called for a Christian retreat from US culture, into communities where they can “keep the light of faith burning through the surrounding cultural darkness,” as author Rod Dreher wrote recently in Time.

But for Wells and many other Evangelicals, retreat is not just impractical, but unnecessary. In their view, the aftermath of the Supreme Court ruling provides opportunity for humility, renewed faith, and outreach, even as US churches prepare for new legal and political battles over the extent to which the First Amendment provides “religious liberty” on matters of employment, for example.

“There’s a movement going on here of [Evangelicals] who are looking at the times we live in and who want to answer the question that Paul answered at Mars Hill, which is, ‘How do I reach the people where I live with the love and Gospel of Jesus?’ ” says Michael Wear, a former director of faith outreach for the Obama White House, who remains in frequent contact with hundreds of evangelical pastors across the United States.

He adds: “Now that the [court] decision has been made, how do we move forward while also making sure that we understand we have to be part of this American family?”

In the majority opinion, Justice Anthony Kennedy avoided labeling anti-gay-marriage views as bigoted. “t must be emphasized that religions, and those who adhere to religious doctrines, may continue to advocate with utmost, sincere conviction that, by divine precepts, same-sex marriage should not be condoned.”

Yet to some church critics like Barry Lynn of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the rapid cultural changes and landmark court decision mean that “love and the Constitution triumphed over bigotry and religious extremism.”

Such commentary, to be sure, is part schadenfreude, given the influence that Evangelicals had for decades on suppressing gay rights nationally. But for Christians, the potential mainstreaming of views like this marks what Brandan Robertson, a gay evangelical activist in Washington, D.C., calls “the beginning of a period of persecution and tribulation" for Christians.

Indeed, following the Supreme Court ruling, many Christians have already been feeling a keen sense of tribulation.

“I think that’s the next frontier: Are people who have deeply held opinions [about marriage] going to be called bigots and treated like the man who wouldn’t give up his seat for Rosa Parks?” says John, an Episcopalian who lives in a liberal Atlanta neighborhood.

To an extent, he answers his own question by asking that his last name not be used: He's concerned that his beliefs could now get him fired from his public-sector job.

“My hope, going forward, is, you all can do what you want, the libertarian part of me says that’s fine,” John says. “But on the other hand, I want my opinion to be protected and respected by the government. What happens if my child is in school and is taught that her parents are bigoted or somehow wrong?”

Such fears are at the root of looming political and cultural battles that could define the aftermath of the court’s ruling.

“I can see [scriptural opposition to gay rights] being used as a wedge [by liberals], and it could make Evangelicals feel more embattled than they are, and it could validate those on the far right who warned about how apocalyptic this would be,” says Mr. Wear, the former Obama faith outreach director.

The response from evangelical leaders, meanwhile, has been largely conciliatory and confident, focused more on matters of law than on doctrine.

“We don’t want people to be afraid” of the gay marriage decision “because, as Christians, God has given us not the spirit of fear, but of love, power, and a sound mind, to act responsibly about how we think about and how we respond to these things,” says the Rev. Michael Griffin, senior pastor at Liberty Baptist Church in Hartwell, Ga., and a spokesman for the Georgia Baptist Convention.

Although the Southern Baptist Convention in the past severed ties to pastors who have sided with gay rights, one of the organization’s responses to the same-sex ruling was to embrace LGBT Americans, without condoning their sexual behavior.

“I think we’re going to see ... refugees from the sexual revolution, and our doors need to be open and we need to welcome people no matter what their sexual orientation or no matter what their lifestyle is, into the church, and into the love and grace of the Lord Jesus,” says Mr. Griffin. “We want our churches open to people who are looking for answers.”

In recent years, a number of mainline churches have begun to make major concessions to gay rights, as polls suggest nearly half of all religious Americans see no conflicts between LGBT rights and their faith.

Those concessions, Wear says, come as Christian leaders are increasingly considering the costs of the 40-year span of evangelical political partisanship, which took place as the number of religiously unaffiliated Americans rose. According to the 2007 book "unChristian," young non-Christians overwhelmingly see Christians as anti-gay, judgmental, hypocritical, sheltered, and too political.

Addressing such concerns, Southern Baptists last year disavowed controversial “ex-gay” therapy. The United Methodist Church, while still officially opposing same-sex marriage, has seen bishops refusing to discipline clergy who decide to marry people of the same gender. And the Mormon Church has endorsed laws that support LGBT rights, while pushing for exemptions to such regulations for its own congregants.

Earlier this year, the Presbyterian Church (USA) formally allowed same-sex couples to marry in its churches, and earlier this month, the Episcopal Church did the same.

Yet for Wells, the Stone Mountain store owner, the Supreme Court decision has been in some ways anticlimactic. That’s because of a practical reality: At the end of the day, she says, “This decision doesn’t really impact me.”

Looking at the legal landscape, Robert Schapiro, dean of Emory University School of Law in Atlanta and author of “Polyphonic Federalism: Toward the Protection of Fundamental Rights,” has a similar thought as he ponders how the debate may evolve.

“Yes, the same-sex marriage decision has the potential to expand tensions,” says Professor Schapiro. But, “I think some of the concerns expressed will turn out not to be serious issues over time, as it becomes clear that no church or synagogue is going to be required to allow same-sex marriage, nor will any pastor or minister be required to perform them.”

Mr. Robertson, the evangelical activist, is director of The RISE Network, which he says gives him a front-row seat into the evolving debates among the leaders of evangelical America. At times, he himself has felt like a pariah, especially when a religious publishing house refused to publish his book after concerns were raised about a reference to a gay parishioner.

“That’s where the hope lies, at least for me, is sitting in a room with prominent Southern Baptist pastors and realizing that we both think youth homelessness, for example, is a problem that we can move forward to address,” he says. “This period of history gives us a chance to rediscover our common ground and realize that political issues, even though heated, don’t break the bond of the spirit that unites us.”

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« Reply #139 on: July 17, 2015, 12:17:13 pm »

http://news.yahoo.com/conservative-baylor-university-drops-homosexual-acts-misconduct-code-223103015.html;_ylt=AwrC1CkLN6lV_T0AE5zQtDMD;_ylu=X3oDMTBybGY3bmpvBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMyBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzcg--
Conservative Baylor University drops 'homosexual acts' from misconduct code
7/7/15

AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - The world's largest Baptist university, Baylor, has dropped language in its sexual misconduct policy that punished those who engaged in homosexual acts, a change the socially conservative school said better reflects its values as "a caring community."

Baylor, in the central Texas city of Waco, had been one of a handful of religious U.S. colleges and universities that allowed for the dismissal of students, and sometimes staff, for homosexuality.

Baylor has removed "homosexual acts" as a punishable offense in its sexual misconduct policy, an official said on Tuesday. The policy also mandated disciplinary action for sexual assault, incest, adultery and fornication.

"These changes were made because we didn't believe the language reflected the university’s caring community,” Baylor spokeswoman Lori Fogleman wrote in an email.

Dozens of colleges have provisions that are seen as discriminatory against the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, ranging from housing bias to blocking the formation of LGBT student groups, gay rights advocates said.

The new policy endorsed by the university's board in May states, "Baylor will be guided by the biblical understanding that human sexuality is a gift from God and that physical sexual intimacy is to be expressed in the context of marital fidelity."

The university, which has about 14,000 undergraduates, did not say if it would allow married same-sex couples among its ranks after the U.S. Supreme Court last month ruled that gay marriage is legal in all 50 states.

"You can’t continue to have a college that is seen as hateful, that is seen as discriminatory toward gay people, regardless of whether that college be Christian or otherwise," said Shane Windmeyer, the executive director of Campus Pride, which promotes LGBT life at universities.

One of the better-known Baylor graduates, basketball player Brittney Griner, is also one of the best known U.S. lesbian athletes. In her autobiography she speaks of the frustration of masking her sexuality while attending the school from 2009 to 2013.

"They are more than happy to benefit from the success of their gay athletes. That is, as long as those gay athletes don’t talk about being gay," she wrote in her autobiography "In My Skin: My Life on and Off the Basketball Court."
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« Reply #140 on: August 11, 2015, 06:00:04 pm »

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« Reply #141 on: August 15, 2015, 06:21:04 pm »

South Carolina Baptist Church Allows Gay and Transgender Ministers

 A church formerly associated with the Southern Baptist Convention has decided to fully welcome gay and transgender individuals, even allowing them to be ordained in the church.
 
First Baptist of Greenville, South Carolina was formerly part of the Southern Baptist Convention, but has since given up its conservative roots to join the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.
 
The church’s pastor, Jim Dant, stated that the church went through a six-month trial period in which it explored the possibility of ordaining gay and transgender individuals, and after that time, asked its members to affirm the decision to make people of all sexual orientations and lifestyles eligible for a leadership role.
 
"What I heard was, 'We need to do the right thing, regardless of what anybody thinks or says about us,” Dant told Greenville Online.
 
Dant added that some congregants expressed concern over what the community would think of the decision, but overall, people were positive.
 
"Thank you FBC Greenville. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 1 John 4:8," one commenter wrote, according to Charisma News.
 
The Southern Baptist Convention, of which First Baptist of Greenville used to be a part, is saddened over the church’s decision.
 
President of the Convention Ronnie Floyd stated "We pray that this church will one day return to be biblically driven in their belief about marriage and family, rather than culturally driven as they have testified in the reported story."
 
http://www.christianheadlines.com/blog/south-carolina-baptist-church-allows-gay-and-transgender-ministers.html
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« Reply #142 on: August 16, 2015, 11:00:26 pm »

I don't know when this sermon was given, but this guy died in 1982. This is an excellent one!

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« Reply #143 on: August 30, 2015, 06:41:36 am »

Texas Man Proposes to Another Man in ‘Church’ Despite United Methodist Ban on Same-Sex ‘Marriage’

 A Texas man recently proposed to his so-called boyfriend during the Sunday morning service at their “church” despite the United Methodist Church’s ban on same-sex “marriage.”

Trevor Harper, 36, recently posted a video of the event on YouTube to show that his congregation is accepting and approving of homosexuals.

Harper has been in a relationship with Davis Covin, 30, since 2006, and both have been attending the First United Methodist Church of Austin for the past two years.

Recently, both men were invited to share their “faith story” during the Sunday service, during which time Harper told those gathered that he was appreciative of the congregation’s approval of homosexual relationships.

At the end of his speech, Harper reached out for Covin’s arm and led him in front of the pulpit, as he dropped to one knee in a proposal. Many in the congregation then gave the two men a standing ovation and smiled as they hugged—including First United Methodist Church of Austin leader John Wright.

Wright had met with Harper prior to the service, and Harper said that Wright helped him plan the proposal.

“That church has been for us really the first time we have really been able to live out loud as a couple,” he told BuzzFeed.

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Wright gave each of the men a hug before they left the stage.

Harper says that the two planned the proposal since the United Methodist denomination bans same-sex “weddings” and the two knew that they would not be permitted to tie the knot in the sanctuary.

The United Methodist Book of Discipline outlines that “the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching” and that “self-avowed practicing homosexuals” may not be ordained as ministers in the denomination. It also forbids ministers from hosting or participating in “ceremonies that celebrate homosexual unions.”

“Your lifestyle, your sexuality, your choices, who you love —they don’t define your right to search out the faith that makes you feel whole,” Harper told reporters. “You cant let your sexuality define your right to walk a spiritual walk.”

While a panel within the leadership of the United Methodist Church voted in May to submit a proposal to change the denomination’s law book to remove prohibitions against homosexual behavior and to allow clergy to officiate same-sex ceremonies, some both within and without of the denomination still oppose the accommodation.

In an article entitled “Why Many Methodists Still Oppose Same-Sex Marriage,” John Lemperis, the Director of the UM Action program of the Institute on Religion and Democracy, said that the Bible is crystal clear on the matter.

“Even liberal Biblical scholars now agree that the Old and New Testaments are very clear in their moral disapproval of homosexual practice,” he wrote. “More fundamentally, Scripture paints a beautiful picture of marriage as a holy covenant of intensely intimate, self-giving community between man and woman, uniting the two most basic, equal categories of humanity.”

“We submit to Jesus as Lord,” Lemperis stated. “If He is truly Lord, then no area of our lives can be off-limits to Him. Jesus spoke strongly about the centrality of self-denial in following Him, which often means dramatic personal sacrifices, including not acting on powerful desires for things outside of God’s best for us. … Jesus and new life in Him are more than worth it.”

http://christiannews.net/2015/08/29/texas-man-proposes-to-another-man-in-church-despite-united-methodist-ban-on-same-sex-marriage/
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« Reply #144 on: September 15, 2015, 05:07:33 am »

Kenya Expels Priests Accused of Practicing Homosexuality

 In an unprecedented move, the Anglican Church in Kenya on Sept. 10 expelled five priests for allegedly engaging in homosexual activity.
 
The priests, from the diocese of Mt. Kenya West in Central Kenya, were under investigation since mid-August. They were serving in the towns of Othaya, Karatina, Murang’a and Nyeri towns.
 
“That is the stand of the church … they have to be out of the ministry,” said the bishop under whom the priests served.
 
The five had earlier been suspended to allow a tribunal to probe the allegations made against them. Four of the priests are married while one is single. They are said to have had relations with other adult men for as long as 20 years.
 
The identity of the priests has so far not been made public.
 
“To address the question that many may have on the identity of the persons involved, we are compelled to conceal their identity … it is wrong in the church and in the entire public,” Bishop Joseph Kagunda said.
 
He announced the tribunal formed to investigate the conduct of the priests had established some of the accused had been having sexual relations with fellow priests and members of their congregations for a long time.
 
Kagunda said the church would withdraw the priests’ licenses but would not report the cases to the police, in spite of homosexuality being illegal in Kenya. He said it was up to the aggrieved parties to decide whether to report the cases to the police or not.
 
“What we have done in the church is to withdraw their licenses … .we cannot say whether it is temporary or not because they have the right to appeal,” Kagunda added.
 
Just last Sunday, the Mt. Kenya West diocese suspended another priest for allegedly practicing homosexuality. A tribunal will investigate the allegations made against him.
 
The priest served in several parishes in Mt Kenya diocese and was alleged to have enticed four young men into homosexuality. It is said the young men used to spend many nights at his house.
The priest is said to have requested the young men to visit him for spiritual guidance but he ended up seducing them and forcing them into homosexuality. He pleaded with the young men not to tell anyone.
 
The letter suspending the priest was read out to the congregation during Sunday service at St. Peters Cathedral in Nyeri. The victims reported the priest told them homosexuality is not a sin and they should not be ashamed of it.
 
The bishop said if the claims against that priest were found to be true, he would be discharged from his responsibilities in the church.
 
The issue of homosexuality among clergy is a thorny issue in the worldwide Anglican Church, and it has caused a schism between the churches in the West and those in Africa and the rest of the world. Some conservative Episcopal congregations in the United States have withdrawn from the U.S. denomination over its acceptance of homosexuality and gay marriage. They put themselves under the African Anglican church’s authority because of its adherence to biblical teachings.
 
Mt. Kenya West diocese is one of the 34 dioceses of the Anglican Church of Kenya led by Archbishop Eliud Wabukala, who also is the current chairman of the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON), a fellowship of Anglicans who adhere to orthodox biblical teachings and uphold the inerrancy of Scripture.

http://www.christianheadlines.com/news/anglican-church-in-kenya-expels-priests-accused-of-practicing-homosexuality.html
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« Reply #145 on: September 15, 2015, 05:11:01 am »

Canadian Bus Driver Fired for Refusing to Drive Gay Pride Bus

 A Canadian bus driver claims he was fired for refusing to drive a rainbow bus that promoted a gay pride event in Calgary. Jesse Rau says driving the bus that promoted homosexuality would have been against his religious beliefs.
 
The driver said that he knew he was risking losing his job by refusing to drive the bus.
 
"I expected that my job was totally on the line. The fact that they fired me, it's hurtful, but… I knew that was on the table,” Rau said.
 
The city of Calgary argues that Rau was not fired for his refusal, but for violating the city’s media relations policy.
 
Rau’s termination letter read, "To be clear you are entitled to your religious beliefs and to express them freely. However, you went beyond that and made false and misleading comments during various media interviews, which resulted in undue controversy and put the reputation of the city at risk."
 
Transit Director Doug Morgan said, "What we want to do is make sure when statements are made publicly that they reflect truthfulness in the corporation and the values put forward by the city of Calgary and council.”
 
According to The Christian Post, the Calgary transit department will now ask drivers if they want to drive the rainbow bus.
 
Rau said, “That’s awesome. That’s how it should have been in the first place.”

http://www.christianheadlines.com/blog/canadian-bus-driver-fired-for-refusing-to-drive-gay-pride-bus.html
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« Reply #146 on: October 07, 2015, 09:13:30 am »

http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/2015/October06/061.html
10/5/15
Lesbian bishop: 'Remove crosses from church'

The world's first lesbian bishop of a mainstream Christian denomination has put forth a call for one of the country's seaport churches to remove its crosses as to make it less offensive to Muslims.

Bishop Eva Brunne of the Lutheran Church of Sweden has proposed to remove the Christian symbols of the Seamen's Church in Freeport to make it more inviting for visiting sailors from other religions, according to a report by SVT.se, a Stockholm-based news outlet.

Her plan calls for removing crosses and other Christian symbols while setting up a prayer room inside the church that marks the direction of Mecca. The idea is to have rooms within the church that cater to people of other religions, thereby accommodating Muslim visitors. It would also make the church less offensive to the tens of thousands of Muslim refugees entering Sweden from the Middle East and North Africa as refugees.

"Making a room available for people of other faiths does not mean that we are not defenders of our own faith. Priests are called to proclaim Christ. We do that every day and in every meeting with people," according to Brunne. "But that does not mean that we are stingy toward people of other faiths."

Sweden has "surrendered without so much as firing a shot," said Pamela Geller author of "Stop the Islamization of America."

"Sweden has lost it," Geller told WND. "It is sacrificing its own heritage to accommodate immigrants who will not be as accommodating to native non-Muslim Swedes. The bishop is paving the way for the Islamization of Sweden."

The Church of Sweden is the largest Christian church in Sweden and the largest Lutheran denomination in the world. The primate of the Church of Sweden is Archbishop Antje Jackelén - Sweden's first female archbishop.

Robert Spencer, an Islam expert and blogger at Jihad Watch, said "this is what a society and culture in the midst of suicide looks like."

"How wonderful and generous and ecumenical and multicultural this is," Spencer wrote.

Spencer suggested that imams in Stockholm and across Europe are likely laughing at the ease with which Christians there are willing to surrender to Islam.

"Watch for mosques everywhere to remove their mihrabs and install crosses so that Christians will feel comfortable praying there," Spencer said with biting sarcasm.


Of course not all Swedes are happy about the bishop's plan.

Patrik Pettersson, priest of the Oscars parish in Stockholm, writes on his blog:

"The church chapel can not reasonably be equated with prayer rooms at airports and hospital chapels anyway. The Christian churches and chapels are not public areas at any time."

Seamen's Mission Director Kiki Wetterberg also does not agree with the bishop.

"I have no problem with Muslim or Hindu sailors coming here and praying. But I believe that we are a Christian church, so we keep the symbols. If I visit a mosque, I do not ask them to take down their symbols. It's my choice to go in there," she wrote to the newspaper Dagen.

"If you think this story sounds too bizarre to be true, then you haven't acquainted yourself with the progressive ‘utopia' that is Sweden," writes Paul Joseph Watson, a U.K.-based writer. "This is a country in which some politicians have called for giving free housing, jobs and welfare to returning ISIS jihadists – all at taxpayer expense."

Sweden is also a country that hires ISIS-sympathizers to run its immigration boards, Watson noted. And the country's taxpayer-funded "expert" on Islamophobia, Michael Nikolai Skråmo, also went on to join ISIS.

Geert Wilders, head of the Dutch Party of Freedom, is one politician who isn't being into the E.U.'s multi-cultural utopia.

Wilders has been calling for years for a more aggressive counter jihadist program. His party is now the fourth largest in the Dutch Parliament and continuing to gain strength.

"All the politicians are, I have to say, ignoring the problem, they are fooling their constituents, (about Islam), even your own President, Mr. Obama," Wilders told Jamie Glazov in a recent interview.

Wilders said Western politicians and diplomats such as John Kerry are mischaracterizing the Islamic State, ISIS, as "not Islamic" and has "hijacked" one of the world's great religions.

"I have to tell you, it's all lies," Wilders said. "The problem we face today in our free Western society is we have imported millions of people form Islamic countries with a background, a culture, an ideology of hate, a totalitarian ideology."

Wilders said in order to stop the Islamization of Western cultures, the nations of the West must stop Islamic immigration, which has lead to a steady erosion and degradation of every Christian country where it has been tried. Lebanon, for instance, was majority Christian until rampant Islamic immigration turned the demographics in the 1960s and 70s. Jihad attacks began in the mid-1970s and it has been unsafe ever since for Christians to practice their religion outside of their homes.

What was once the "Paris of the Middle East," Beirut, became a Third World conflict zone. Europe, short of a 190-degree turn in policy, is now on the same path, Wilders said.

"I believe if we don't want to see in our own countries happening what we see today in Iraq and Syria we should fight against the Islamization of our own free society, which means we should stop the Islamization of our society, that we should stop the immigration from Islamic countries, we should expel all the people that have even the slightest sympathy for the Islamic State," Wilders told Glazov. "We should encourage the voluntary repatriation of people from Islamic countries. We should de-Islamatize our societies in order to stay free. We should not only fight the Islamic State over there but we should fight the Islamic monster in our own free societies."
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« Reply #147 on: October 12, 2015, 08:01:33 pm »

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« Reply #148 on: October 24, 2015, 12:23:54 pm »

http://news.yahoo.com/conservatives-prevail-gay-issues-vatican-synod-143859406.html
10/24/15
Conservatives prevail on gay issues at Vatican synod

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Roman Catholic bishops have agreed after three weeks of closed-door debate at the Vatican to soften their line towards divorced couples, a leading participant said, but not to relax the Church's strict doctrine on homosexuality.

The outcome of the gathering, known as a synod and presided over by Pope Francis, appeared to mark a victory for conservatives and a failure for reformers who had hoped for more inclusive language towards gays.

The final document from the meeting was due to be released later on Saturday.

"It is a document of consensus. You will not find much about homosexuality in this document. Some people will be disappointed," Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn of Vienna told a news conference

He said the document spoke of homosexuals only in the context of families that have a gay member and how to "manage this situation as Christians ... that is all that has remained about homosexuality".

On the other hand, he said, it would offer hope for the full re-integration into the Church of some divorced and remarried couples.

His comments indicated that the assembly had decided to avoid controversial language in order to avoid deadlock on the most sensitive topics, leaving it up to the pope to deal with them in a future document.

"TOO DELICATE"

During the synod, some bishops said the 1.2 billion-member Church should use introduce welcoming and inclusive language regarding homosexuals.

But Schoenborn said many of the 270 bishops felt homosexuality was still "too delicate a theme" in their countries. During the meeting, African bishops were particularly adamant in their opposition to welcoming language regarding homosexuals, saying it would only confuse the faithful.

"This does not mean that it is not an important topic for the Church in Europe and North America, but on a universal level, you have to respect political and cultural situations," he said.

At a preliminary meeting a year ago, conservative clerics made sure an interim report deleted a passage they thought was too welcoming to gays.

Schoenborn, who is a progressive, said the synod document would effectively re-state Church teaching that while homosexual tendencies are not sinful, homosexual acts are.

"The doctrine is clear," Schoenborn said. "And there is no need to repeat it."

Another contentious topic discussed at the synod was how to minister to the large number of Catholics with failed first marriages who have divorced and remarried in civil ceremonies.

Under current Church doctrine they cannot receive communion unless they abstain from sex with their new partner because their first marriage is still valid in the eyes of the church and they are seen to be living in an adulterous state of sin.

Some bishops said that the doctrine could be modified so that priests or bishops could give individual Catholics permission to receive communion after personal spiritual counseling.

Schoenborn suggested that the final document would offer some opening to such couples on a case-by-case basis.

"It gives the fundamental criteria for the discernment of situations. This is the most important point. Seeking a yes or no answer is a false question because various situations are so different," he said.

This appeared to be a qualified victory for progressives. Conservatives said there should be no change in church doctrine because it would violate Jesus' teaching that marriage is indissoluble.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Isaiah 65:11  But ye are they that forsake the LORD, that forget my holy mountain, that prepare a table for that troop, and that furnish the drink offering unto that number.
Isa 65:12  Therefore will I number you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter: because when I called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear; but did evil before mine eyes, and did choose that wherein I delighted not.
Isa 65:13  Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, my servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry: behold, my servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty: behold, my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed:
Isa 65:14  Behold, my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl for vexation of spirit.


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« Reply #149 on: October 26, 2015, 12:18:50 am »

Audio Inside Link: http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=102515041484
Refuting Matthew Vines' Book: God and the Gay Christian
Series:  STBC Radio  · 35 of 35
10/25/2015 (SUN)
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