Why Rome Appeals To Protestants

March 19, 2013 Leave a comment

Last week the Papacy elected a new Bishop of Rome, Jorge Bergoglio. Since then we’ve watched with amazement the media coverage of the Bishop’s election. The media has been predictable, they’ve written fawning pieces about Bergoglio that read like they’ve been prepared as Vatican press releases. Those media pieces that aren’t fawning are ruthless in their attack, not so much on Bergoglio but on what the left-wing media believes the Papacy represents. In other words, they’re attacking tradition, monarchy, patriarchy and what they imagine is conservative theology when they attack Bergoglio. More interesting than the media though is the reaction of protestants.

Why are we protestants interested at all in the Bishop of Rome? It’s one thing to be interested in that it’s a news event. The reaction has gone much further than that, like with Ratzinger many protestants seem quite interested and excited by Bergoglio’s election. Have we forgotten why we aren’t Papists? Like Ratzinger, Bergoglio should offend us. This is a sinful man who has the unmitigated audacity to allow people to call  him the “holy father.’ Such a term is reserved for God alone. This is a sinful man who claims infallibility when we know the only infallible man in human history was Jesus Christ. Yet we have protestants excited, cheering the new Bishop of Rome. Why?

The protestant churches of 2013 are where the papacy was in the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries. We have old line protestant denominations that don’t believe in scripture and have rejected the doctrines and confessions that created their churches. We have entire denominations and popular pastors rejecting scripture on the issue of homosexuality, telling us we need to repent of our opposition. They might as well tell us to repent of believing in scripture. Meanwhile we have an evangelical church that we’re told is conservative but its roots are in the progressive theology of the early 20th century. In inanity of the evangelical church, the utter meaninglessness of their sermons and existence is a real problem. We have a pentecostal and baptist movement here in American that is anti-intellectual, driven solely on emotion.

In other words the protestant church has fallen into sin and wickedness. Not all of them of course, there are some who hold firm to scripture and Biblical theology. But as a general rule, the protestant churches have fallen just like Rome fell. Is it any wonder that protestants look around at the the utter uselessness of most protestant churches and then gaze at Rome as a symbol of stability? When the Church of England looks to adopt homosexual marriage as acceptable, is it any wonder that “conservatives” in that church look to Rome which won’t change on the subject? When evangelical churches have a worship style that has nothing to do with scripture and resembles a rock concert, is it any wonder that Rome appears stable, traditional and reverent whether it is or isn’t?

American protestants largely have no idea why  they aren’t part of Rome in the first place. Some of them have cooked up elaborate end times predictions that include the Bishop of Rome. Even if these stories suggest the Bishop is an agent of Satan, these folks have no idea why the protestant church isn’t part of Rome. As such, when the instability of the evangelical protestant world becomes too much, they’ll run to Rome. They have no idea that praying to Mary and various saints is evil and wicked, they have no idea that calling the Bishop “holy father” is wicked, they don’t know why Papist theology is wicked because they don’t know any theology. Why don’t they know theology? Because the protestant church is focused on personal experience and when it isn’t focused on personal experience it’s focused on progressive social justice.

We must pray for a new reformation, this time targeted at reforming the protestant church. Our church is where Rome was and where it has remained, we’ve lost our way. The protestant churches largely place scripture on the back burner. Rome appears stable, reverent and traditional. It should surprise no one that protestants, starved of scriptural truth, stability and reverence would be drawn to Rome. It’s a sad state of affairs we face in the protestant world. With God’s help and blessing we can reform the church and renew our faith in God’s word. We can return to Godly confessions such as the Westminster Confession and Three Forms of Unity. We protestants must seek God’s blessing and guidance in this, otherwise we will be devoured by the whore of Rome.

Filed under Christianity Tagged with , , , , , , ,

Tebow Attacked By Anti-Christian Left-Wing Bullies

February 19, 2013 Leave a comment

It’s no secret that yours truly isn’t the biggest fan of Tim Tebow. I find Tebow annoying on a number of levels. His on field prayers have a narcissistic feel to them, as though they’re meant for all to see. He isn’t a very good quarterback and it’s tiresome to hear him constantly talk about how he’d be good if only he was given a chance. This isn’t college anymore, his rah rah schtick doesn’t work anymore. Tebow is however sincere in his faith, no matter how show offish he may be at times about it.

Tebow is scheduled to speak next month at First Baptist Church in Dallas. This speaking engagement has caused the left to go mad. The pastor at that church, Robert Jeffress has spoken opening against the homosexual movement and has had the audacity to suggest that the Christian faith is the only way to God. For that the left-wing media has called this a “hate date” while ESPN talking head Dan Lebatard has suggested that one can’t believe these things and play in the NFL or be taken seriously in NFL circles.

This reaction is very typical of the left. They feel it is their duty to tell conservatives and Christians what it is we’re allowed to say in public and what we’re allowed to believe. They believe it is their right to tell us where we may speak and in whose company we may speak such things. This is how they force conservatives to the left, they bully people into parting with their beliefs. Make no mistake, the attacks on Tebow are nothing short of an attempt to bully him out of speaking at this church because the left doesn’t like what the church believes. If there is one thing that it is certain it’s that the truthless, post-modern left hates anyone or any group that believes in absolutes of a religious nature.

There is plenty to criticize about Jeffress and First Baptist Church. Jeffress is a oneness pentecostal type who denies the trinity. In other words the guy is a heretic. The style of worship at this church is anything but scriptural, it surely it isn’t reverent. Having said that, it should hardly be surprising that a Christian looks to scripture to discover homosexual acts are sinful and wicked. It should hardly be surprising when a Christian looks at scripture and believes Christ when he says “no one comes to the father except through me.” In other words, there aren’t many ways to God, there is one. The Muslims are going to Hell, the Jews are going to Hell, the Wiccians are going to Hell and so are the Atheists. This is hardly a surprising position for a Christian to take.

In the anything goes world of the left where absolutes don’t exist in any measurable way, these are shocking charges. They were shocking charges when Christ made them 2,000 years ago. That Tim Tebow associates himself with Christians who believe in the absolutes associated with the Bible should hardly be surprising as Tebow claims the Christian faith. Yet the left is shocked and appalled and they’re going to attempt to bully Tebow into canceling his speaking engagement because they don’t agree with what Jeffress and First Baptist Church stand for.

Tebow has a choice to make. He can be loved by the liberal media and by ESPN, who will discard him as soon as no one in the NFL will sign him and/or immediately after he cancels the engagement. Or he can stand for the truth of scripture. My guess is that Tebow isn’t going to be bullied by a bunch of faithless media bullies. If this is so, Tebow will be making the right decision. Now, if we can only get him to come around to the full truth of scripture and thus reject Anabaptist pentecostal heresy for the proper theology of the Westminster Confession.

Filed under Christianity Tagged with , , , , , , ,

God Particle “Discovery” Exposes A Faithless Church

July 3, 2012 4 Comments

Once again we are being subjected to endless coverage on the discovery (or near discovery) of the so-called God particle. In the past Christians have run with previous near discoveries (or the possibility of such a discovery) and claimed that it’s proof God exists. In reality, the scientists involved are actively seeking to disprove God as most of them believe this discovery proves the Big Bang Theory. My focus is on the Christians though. Throughout Christian history so-called believers have looked for evidence beyond faith for God’s existence. The God particle is just another sad example.

Christ told us that we must have faith in Him without the benefit of physical evidence. Thomas is rebuked for not believing the resurrection until he literally saw Christ and touched his wounds. Sadly Christian history is riddled with examples of faithless people relying on “evidence” of God’s existence. The Roman Catholic Church is a prime culprit. There are enough toothpicks in Catholic churches and homes which people believe literally were part of Christ’s cross to build a dozen crosses. There are vials of blood that claim to be Christ’s, there are garments that supposedly Christ wore. All of these things “prove” Christ and provide faithless believers with visual evidence of the Savior. We won’t even discuss the endless sightings of Jesus in potato chips and bridge pillars.

The protestant churches aren’t much better. While the Reformation rid the protestant churches of much of the nonsense described above, the Reformation no longer has a hold on the protestant church. These days evangelicals are desperately trying to “prove” God through science and archeology. They’ve found Egypt’s chariots at the bottom of the Red Sea, they’ve found Noah’s Ark half a dozen times, Sodom and Gomorrah have allegedly been found. Apparently picking up the Bible and reading God’s word isn’t enough, we have to have visual proof and historical evidence.

Herein lies a major problem within the evangelical world: The lack of faith. That lack of faith has infected everything from worship (which is now man centered rather than God centered) to political outlook (over 1/3 of evangelicals vote for liberal Democrats) to how so-called believers live their lives (evangelical divorce rates are higher than atheists). How can we expect to reform the poor theology of the evangelical church when they don’t even really believe in scripture? We’re fooling ourselves if we think for a moment that the size of these churches or the fact that at least 2/3 of them vote pr0-life proves their faith. It does no such thing.

The root of the problem in the church today is lack of faith. People who claim they believe in scripture don’t really believe it. They refuse to consider the historical protestant interpretation of scripture in favor of interpretations that suit people today. The church refuses to discipline anyone no matter how grotesque the sin. Meanwhile evangelicals jump for joy over the most idiotic of scientific news: The so-called God particle. If it wasn’t that, then they would be excited because this time they really did find Noah’s Ark or some other evidence of the truth of scripture. The fact though is that the truth of scripture is right before our eyes in the Bible. Lack of faith prevents us from seeing it in black and white.

Our nation is in desperate need of revival, we’re in need of true faith. We will never be able to turn back the tide of progressivism without Jesus Christ at the center. Without God grounding us in His word, there’s no reason not to support progressive tyranny or any other tyranny. We will never be able to turn back this tide with a faithless church. We know the mainline protestants have been faithless for a century but we pretend like the evangelical church isn’t equally as faithless because they proudly wave their Bible’s around. The fact though is that the evangelical church is equally as faithless and we can see that in the fruit it produces.

Filed under Christianity Tagged with , , , , , ,

Christians Cannot Give Up On The Church

April 5, 2012 4 Comments

The twice a year Christians will be out in force this week as the church celebrates the unbiblical holy day of Easter. These people fashion themselves Christians, albeit Christians who have given up Christ’s Bride: The Church. There is an ever growing movement of people who call themselves followers of Christ who have given up on His church. They accuse the church of being a place of “religion” which we are apparently supposed to know is bad. It’s a place of hypocrites and generally mean people, so we’re told. The Church is certainly in crisis these days, but it isn’t because church people are mean or hypocrites.

Yours truly is sympathetic to those who have been hurt by others in the church. My wife and I were very much hurt by our last church, as were others who are close to us. But the wrong that happened to us was no excuse for us to leave the church universal. We made sure to join another church, going so far as to join a distant church in the interim. It’s one thing to leave a church, it’s another thing to leave the church completely. Christ after all calls on us to be part of the universal church, which is visible and open. It isn’t sitting around our dining room table in a “h0me” church, it isn’t watching a televangelist in the morning. It means being part of a local congregation.

Andrew Sullivan of Time wrote a piece encouraging Christians to more or less give up the Church and follow only the words of Christ. He makes some reasonable arguments against the modern evangelical movement, which on one hand as adopted the wicked prosperity gospel and on the other hand adopted progressive baptist Christianity with its various unbiblical rules and regulations. Like judicial activism, the progressive baptists of a century ago made up rules and regulations for the Christian life that have no basis in Biblical law. Sadly, many have followed these rules and believe them Biblical.

But Sullivan is wrong to cut out the overwhelming majority of Biblical text in favor of the red letters. (the red letters incidentally are uninspired, there are no instructions in scripture to switch the color of Christ’s words) Sullivan wants to pretend that Christ is more or less hippy Jesus, talking about love and forgiveness. In fact, Christ warns of Hell more than he discusses love. It is from Christ that we hear the details of Hell, it being a lake of fire where there will be crying and gnashing of teeth. I wonder if Sullivan is cutting out those lines of scripture.

The Church is in decline today not because it is overly political but because it doesn’t follow scripture closely enough. The prosperity evangelicals toss aside the law and openly ridicule it. The progressive baptists make up laws (read: no drinking and other legalisms) but don’t follow the laws laid out in scripture. The mainline denominations don’t believe anything in scripture is literal and have allowed leftist “scholars” to convince them the scriptures aren’t even divine. For them, the faith is little more than a life philosophy. Meanwhile those in the reformed world who haven’t left the doctrines of the reformation behind needlessly pick fights with each other over nothing and haughty look down on everyone else picking out their every last flaw and minor scriptural error. We all sit around and wonder why the church is in decline.

There is hope for the church though. That hope is in Christ alone. We must pray for a second reformation. We must never forget what God has done throughout the last 2,000 years. He saved godless Rome and turned the Roman Empire into a Christian nation. He blessed the people of Europe with faith, he blessed many parts of Africa with faith in the first millennium. God saved half of Europe in one generation via the Reformation. Today the gospel is spreading even today, in Africa, South America and Asia. There are an estimated 100 million underground Christians in China, there may be a million in North Korea. 

There is hope in Christ and we can read all about that hope in the entirety of scripture. We cannot just read the part we like, we must read it all, believe it all and seek to follow it all. We cannot give up on Christ’s bride, even if we’ve been hurt in the church and even if the church isn’t perfect. Scripture doesn’t give us the option of giving up on the church. We need to trust in God and his will for the church.

Filed under Christianity Tagged with , , , , ,

A Day of Thanksgiving To God Almighty

November 24, 2011 2 Comments

President George Washington declared a day of public Thanksgiving in 1789. You’ll note below that the President acknowledged God and declared it was the duty of this nation to obey His will. I guess the ACLU wasn’t around to tell him what the Constitution really means.Yes, that was sarcastic.

This day really isn’t as much about watching the Lions crush the Packers and eating a giant turkey as it is about thanking God for all of the blessings we have been granted. The Lord is not duty bound to bless us with bounty and yet he has according to His good pleasure. We must remember to spend a little time today thanking Him for the generous blessings He has granted.

The text of Washington’s Thanksgiving proclamation from 1789:

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA – A PROCLAMATION

Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor – and Whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me “to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.”

Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be – That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks – for his kind care and protection of the People of this country previous to their becoming a Nation – for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his providence, which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war –for the great degree of tranquillity, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed – for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted, for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions – to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually – to render our national government a blessing to all the People, by constantly being a government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed – to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shewn kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord – To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and Us – and generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand at the City of New York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.

Filed under Christianity Tagged with , , , ,

Obama Seeks State Control Over Church Hiring Practices

October 5, 2011 Leave a comment

The Obama administration is assaulting church and religious freedom by asking the Supreme Court to rule that the government can regulate the employment practices of religious institutions. In other words, Obama wants to apply Federal employment discrimination laws to the church. Throughout American history the government has stayed away from regulating religious activities based on the first amendment’s free exercise clause. As a result religious institutions aren’t taxed and aren’t regulated by the state. Obama seeks to undo this and force Federal employment law upon the church and other religious institutions.

It’s been said throughout American history that the power to tax is the power to destroy. As such the church has never been taxed by the government, largely because it subjects the church to state control. It can be said today that the power to regulate is the power to destroy. Which is perhaps why the Obama administration wants to regulate church activities by applying employment discrimination laws to the church and other religious institutions. If the government is give the ability by the Supreme Court to regulate the employment acts of the church then it’s a matter of time before the government can regulate every aspect of church activity.

Make no mistake regulating the employment activities of the church is an attempt to control the church. The government claims that it attempting to prevent discrimination in religious schools and other religious institutions. But in doing so they’re seeking to control the church. If a religious school is not free to discriminate against, for example, other religions, then they are being controlled by the state to the point that their religious teaching becomes meaningless.

To illustrate this, say we have a Christian school that seeks to teach children in the Christian tradition. If the school is part of a church, it is currently protected from Federal discrimination laws. If Obama gets his way, those laws would apply. As a result, the church would be prevented from discriminating against applicants who are Jewish, Muslim or Atheist because Federal law prevents discrimination based on religious faith. The school, and thus the church, would be prevented from making sure its students are only being taught by fellow believers. We could extend this to any religion. Can you imagine telling an Orthodox Jewish school that they had to hire Muslims or a Muslim school that they had to hire Jews and Christians? The government in all these cases would be preventing the free exercise of religion under the Constitution.

It is likely that the goal isn’t limited to scenarios such as a Christian school being forced to hire and/or not discriminate against Muslims or Atheists. While not yet a Federally protected class, you can bet the left is eying making homosexuals a protected class under Federal employment law. If the Obama administration is successful at regulating the church via employment law then it can force the church to not discriminate (ie: hire) homosexuals despite religious opposition to their orientation. You can bet that if this isn’t the long term goal of Obama himself it is the long term goal of many of the leftists in his administration.

All religious institutions must be free from government control. Any control over the hiring practices of the church or other religious institutions amounts to an infringement on the free exercise of religion. The left loves to throw around ‘separation of church and state’ as though religious people aren’t free to speak about their faith in the public square. These same people are oddly silent when the state seeks to control the church via law and regulation. The church itself ought not have any power over or within the state. (religious people are another matter) Likewise, the state should have no power in the church. It surely should not have the power to tell the church who it may not refuse to hire.

Filed under Christianity, freedom, Obama Tagged with , , , , ,

Glenn Beck Right To Highlight 501(c)(3) Abuse, Wrong To Organize Protest

September 27, 2011 1 Comment

Glenn Beck is out promoting his latest protest venture. He is supporting a group headed by Pastor Jim Garlow which wants hundreds of pastors to preach political sermons on October 2nd. After preaching such sermons the pastors will send them to the IRS for prosecution because they are technically in violation of their 501(c)(3) status. We will pretend not to notice that Beck isn’t a Christian and really shouldn’t be involved in what Christian churches preach on Oct. 2nd or any other Sabbath. Nevertheless, Beck highlights an interesting issue for discussion.

There are any number of tax exempt groups that are provided status under Section 501(c) of the tax code. The only groups that face a speech restriction are religious organizations. This portion of the tax code is clearly unconstitutional, though the IRS has never prosecuted to the point where it has been challenged on constitutional grounds. Churches should not be regulated in any way by the state. The church has never been subjected to taxation because doing so would allow the state to be involved in church affairs. To deny churches free speech is itself an involvement in church affairs and unconstitutional under the 1st amendment right of free exercise of religion and free speech. That the only 501(c) groups subjected to a speech restriction are religious is proof of the intent of the state to be involved in what is preached on Sunday.

While Beck and Garlow are absolutely right to highlight the unconstitutional nature of the 501(c)(3) speech restrictions, they’re absolutely wrong to call for an organized church protest. Sabbath worship is not the time for involvement in organized protests. It is a time to worship the Lord and expound upon God’s word. It should not be used for the purpose of political protest because a radio talk show host and a random pastor are trying to stir the pot. Such is not glorifying to God nor is it edifying for believers.

Pastors should, if they are led to, discuss the Christian viewpoint concerning various political issues of the day. Leading up to an election it may be important for a congregation to hear what God has to say about abortion, homosexual marriage, taxation, freedom and liberty. If a pastor or the body of elders decide that such a sermon is necessary, a pastor should preach on the subject and should be free to do so without state involvement. The objection made isn’t to preaching this kind of sermon, the objection is to the mass organization of a protest and using the church as the backdrop.

The issue here is freedom. We have the right to the free exercise of religion in this country as stated in the Constitution. That means the state may not be unreasonably involved in church affairs. Historically the church has been exempted from taxes in the United States. By placing a speech restriction on the church’s tax exempt status, when other non-profits with a similar tax status have no such restriction, the government is engaged in an unconstitutional limit on speech and the exercise of religion. Glenn Beck should highlight this abuse of power but he should not be urging a mass Christian church protest on this subject.

Filed under Christianity Tagged with , , , , ,

Rick Perry Attacked By Far Left Atheists For Exercising Constitutional Right

August 8, 2011 8 Comments

Texas Governor Rick Perry is being attacked by leftists because he had the audacity to speak at a Christian prayer event over the weekend. The Anti-Defamation League declared that Perry violated “the spirit” of the Constitution. Meanwhile atheist Barry Lynn declared that Perry must be “confused” as he is “the Governor of Texas not a preacher or prayer leader.” I must say it is the ADL that seeks to violate the spirit of the Constitution and it’s Barry Lynn who is confused. Since when are Governors and other elected officials banned from believing in God and sharing their belief with others? The far left seems to think that Christians elected to office are required to leave their faith the minute they take the oath of office.

Gov. Perry’s speech wasn’t exactly controversial. To the left however it is extremely controversial. Any elected official who shares their faith publicly or encourages others to seek Christ is a reprobate to the leftist secular mindset. The New York Times groused that prayers were given “in Jesus Christ’s name.” Imagine the horror of Christians actually praying in Christ’s name as we are commanded to! The only ones horrified are leftists who hate Jesus Christ and loath and despise elected officials who do anything more than claim to believe in generic god.

Perry’s prayer could have been heard in any relatively conservative church in America. In fact, it could have been the opening paragraph of the prayer at the Dutch Reformed church my family attended on Sunday.  Perry stated:

Lord, you are the source of every good thing. You are our only hope, and we stand before you today in awe of your power and in gratitude for your blessings, and humility for our sins. Father, our heart breaks for America. We see discord at home. We see fear in the marketplace. We see anger in the halls of government, and as a nation we have forgotten who made us, who protects us, who blesses us, and for that we cry out for your forgiveness.

Perry’s prayer is only controversial if you don’t believe in God or you hate Jesus Christ. When it comes to the far left, they hate both. The far left thinks it outrageous that the Governor of Texas or any state would publicly proclaim their faith in Christ. As far as they’re concerned, a sitting Governor must keep his mouth shut when it comes to spiritual matters. In reality, the left only wants sitting Governors to keep their mouths shut so that they aren’t confronted with eternity. In other words, they won’t want to censor elected officials religious speech so that they aren’t bothered by it.

In demanding that elected officials censor themselves when it comes to their faith, the far left damages the Constitution. The Constitution doesn’t prevent public officials from talking about their faith. No where does the Constitution order government officials to censor their religious faith or censor their speech. Quite the contrary, the Constitution protects elected officials right to exercise religion and it protects their right to free speech. It’s the ADL and Barry Lynn who want to see speech and faith censored.

Rick Perry isn’t establishing a state church in Texas. All Perry is doing is exercising his religion, which is protected by the Constitution. Whether we agree with Perry’s faith or not, we should be celebrating the fact that Perry has this right in America. Instead the far left complains and wants Perry to censor himself so that they aren’t uncomfortable. It’s time for elected officials to stop giving in to the narcisstic comfort demands of atheists and far leftists. Whether we agree with Perry or not, we should be commending him for sharing his faith publicly. He is doing it the American way, with protection from the Constitution.

Filed under Christianity Tagged with , , , , ,

What Is The Church To Do With Homosexuals?

July 9, 2011 3 Comments

It appears that the Presbyterian Church USA will be allowing openly homosexual pastors. This after several other mainline protestant denominations have ordained homosexuals over the last decade. Meanwhile a church in New Jersey is offering a summer camp for homosexual teenagers. What we are witnessing in the church today is a move away from scripture, which clearly condemns homosexual acts and lust as sin. These churches are moving in the direction of cultural marxism, which seeks to separate us from our traditional Christian heritage. There can be nothing more separating for us than to glorify and accept sin.

Leviticus calls homosexual acts an abomination. In Romans Paul writes:

Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. Romans 1:21-27

It is clear that homosexual acts and lust are forbidden by scripture. These denominations, professing to be ever so wise and tolerate, are nothing but fools. We must call on them to repent and turn from this wickedness. Likewise, we should also call on homosexuals to repent and turn from their wickedness.

What are we to do with the so-called gay Christian? There is no magic cure all for those who find themselves mired in the sin of homosexuality, just like there is no magic cure all for the drunk or heterosexual fornicator who burns in his lust. We in the church must be willing to accept the sincere repentance of homosexual sinners and like any other believer we must hold them to account when they sin. Like we wouldn’t tolerate fornication among single heterosexuals, we must not tolerate homosexual sexual relations. But we must be willing to forgive and we must we willing to help them overcome their sin, just like we would for any other sinner, ourselves included.

We in the church have spent to much time demonizing homosexuals, to the point where at many churches even repentant homosexuals are unwelcome.  This is a grave mistake. I understand that the radical homosexual movement is perhaps the biggest threat to the Christian church today. We should no doubt fight back against the absurdity of homosexual marriage and the normalization of homosexual acts. But at the same time, we have to be careful not to  demonize these sinners to the point that they never consider seeking repentance.

There is no hope in the homosexual death style. There is however hope in Jesus Christ and we ought not deny that hope to homosexuals who seek repentance. The church is open to all kinds of sinners who seek mercy and forgiveness through the blood of Christ. Surely homosexuals must be offered the same mercy and forgiveness. We must never tolerate their sin, in fact we shouldn’t tolerate any sin. But we must open the church up to homosexuals and work with them on their sin. Accepting their sin as normal isn’t going to do them or the church any good. But showing them love, kindness and mercy will do both the sinner and the church good. Christ calls on us to do just this.

 

Filed under Christianity, homosexuals Tagged with , , , ,

Houston V.A. Cemetery Seeks To Ban God From Military Funerals

July 1, 2011 9 Comments

A battle is brewing at a V.A. cemetery in Houston where director Arlene Ocasio is attempting to ban God and Jesus from being uttered at Memorial Day and funeral services. Suit was filed before Memorial Day after a pastor was told he was not allowed to pray using the name of Jesus at a Memorial Day service. He won that suit but the V.A. continues to demand that families submit prayers in writing prior to funerals for her approval.

It doesn’t end there. The National Memorial Ladies have been told they are not allowed to say “God bless’ orally or in writing to the families of deceased veterans. Vietnam veteran Nobleton Jones hands shells from 21 gun salutes to families and tells them “We wish that God grant you and your family grace, mercy and peace.” Miss Ocasio has told Mr. Jones that he isn’t allowed to say this to families.

The First amendment to the Constitution does not allow Congress to establish a nationwide religion. However, that doesn’t mean that religion is banned from Federal property. Congress has prayers each day, the Supreme Court has the 10 Commandments posted in their building and prayers are a regular part of Presidential inaugurations. The notion that the first amendment means no religion can ever be part of anything associated with government is ludicrous.

The first amendment doesn’t entitle people to be free from any religious speech. It only entitles people to be free from government creating a nationwide religion. Military funerals are private events and it is disgraceful that the V.A. would attempt to censor religious speech. Just because you’re an atheist doesn’t mean you get to censor everyone else so that you don’t have to hear religious speech. That’s not how the first amendment works nor is it how it should work. You cannot deny others their right to free speech in order to satisfy your selfish desire not to be confronted with the name of God of Jesus Christ.

The notion that pastors must submit prayers for government approval is surely a violation of the so-called separation of church and state the left so loves to talk about. But it’s worse than that. Having pastors submit prayers for approval not only denies pastors their right to religion but it is also a chilling effect on their free speech. After all doesn’t a pastor have the right to speak as he sees fit? Doesn’t a family have the right to hire the pastor of their choosing to conduct their loved ones funeral? Veterans families have enough to deal with when their loved one dies, to force them to submit prayers for approval from a V.A. bureaucrat is outrageous.

These men fought for freedom and the very government they fought for is now attempting to deny them freedom in death. Freedom does not mean being free from hearing things you don’t like. It doesn’t mean freedom from every hearing something religious. The freedom these men fought for includes freedom of religion and freedom of speech. Now the government seeks to deny their families and their pastors both in order to satisfy the selfish desire of a bureaucrat who doesn’t want to hear God mentioned. What an absolute disgrace.

Filed under Christianity Tagged with , , , , , , , ,

← Older posts

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 141 other followers