Posted on 02/03/2015 6:11:55 AM PST by NetAddicted
A Christian theology professor says that it was the fear of man, not God that led a Tennessee megachurch minister to announce full acceptance of homosexuals in his congregation, including the allowance of those involved in sexual sin to serve in leadership roles and to “marry.” “If you fear man, God will become small to you,” wrote Owen Strachan, Assistant Professor of Christian Theology and Church History at Boyce College in Louisville, Ky. in a post on Friday. “The approval of fellow sinners will matter more to you than obeying God by the witness of His word.” As previously reported, Stan Mitchell of GracePointe Church in Franklin, Tennessee, told reporters last week that God moved upon him three years ago to begin rethinking his position on inclusion in the congregation. Heretofore, GracePointe had allowed those who identify as homosexuals to attend the services, but drew the line at serving in leadership positions or being “married” by the leadership. “We were thrust, I believe, by a divine wind, into a prayerful, painful, invigorating, careful and hopeful conversation regarding sexual orientation and gender identity,” he said, remarking that the “art of conversation … is a holy calling.” According to reports, approximately 15 percent of the congregation at GracePointe identifies as homosexual.
Pastor Mitchell seeks approval from man, not God. Gracepointe will hear after be known as the Gay Church. I wonder how much of his congregation will leave over this issue.
“If you fear man, God will become small to you,”
Grace Pointe is NOT a megachurch. 600 attendees is not mega.
But yes, “fear of man” likely led to this wicked decision.
It is now an apostate church.
The truth hurts.
It won’t be mega much longer. When you bring up politics from the pulpit, you alienate half the congregation.
And this is nothing but politics.
Another Christ-denier gets publicly id’d....
Love of money, pride, love of their own version of “power” is what sends a lot of fools to hell.
Hope that donation plate gets bigger for this clown!
Homosexual couples usually have a sizable combined income. As always, follow the money, especially when your gay congretation is 13 times the national statistical average. Will Minister Mitchell preach repentance and turning away from their sin? Not if he wants to keep the collection plate full.
The last article I read about this church said attendance was down 50% just 3-4 weeks after the "big announcement". By the end of the year, I imagine the "church" will have about 80% gay membership, but only about 100 people still attending.
The choice is clear: the sin or the faith. Unfortunately, many churches/pastors are abandoning Christianity and choosing the sin.
Very good article on this:
http://www.touchstonemag.com/archives/article.php?id=26-04-003-e
Last paragraph of article:
The Church never can and never will give satisfaction—and the homosexualist knows it, for he knows the words against him are ineradicable—to the declared and impenitent homosexual, the person who, through an act of the vermiculate will, has identified his person with a sin, whether he demands acceptance of his sin through “love,” or vindication through identification of his perceived enemies as bigots. Whether he presents himself as an object of love or indignation, what he demands in either case is acceptance not of the person, but of the sin-bound and sin-defined person. He demands the declaration of spiritual authority that there is nothing objectively disordered about this binding of man to sin, and assurance that this monstrous amalgam can indeed enter the kingdom of heaven. This can never happen among Christians until they abandon Christianity, which is at war with every sin, and whose indelible constitution places all perversions of the perfect man at the muzzle of its canons.
And then it truly will be the Gay Church.
There is no point at all in attending any such church.
It is the house of man and is not of any consequence.
What a bunch of homophobic bigots! /s
Homosexuals with money is all this charlatan cared about.
In my church, I’m taught that we ALL with no exceptions are sinners. We try and fail to avoid sin. If every sinner is excluded from leadership, there would be no leadership. God doesn’t distinguish between sins. Someone who celebrates sin or refuses to recognize sin as sin, obviously should not be in leadership, because of where they would be leading. Homosexuals should be accepted into church as fellow sinners.
I remember the quote about how you know that Satan has taken over a city.
Everyone is kind to each other, there’s no pornography, and the Churches are full every Sunday, where the Gospel of Christ is NOT preached.
True churches are run by sinners who have repented. Professing homosexuals have not.
I think we are saying the same thing. Yes, we are all sinners. Yes, the church should not deny entry based on the type of sin.
I don’t personally know of any church that says “No homosexuals are allowed to come in the door”...although there may be some out there.
The understanding is that believers in Christ have pledged to live repentant lives. Yes, we still sin, but we are not proud of it and we are trying to stop it. This is the process known as “sanctification”.
This Nashville church, however, is essentially saying, “Homosexual practice and identity is not sinful...keep on doing it with our blessing!”
Are sinners welcome to attend a church's service? Are some sinners welcome while others are not? If so, which sinners are to be excluded?
Does allowing a sinner to attend a church's service mean that the church accepts the sin? Or does this mean that the church simply accepts the sinner "as is"?
From what I've learned about God and Christianity so far, what I quoted seems like a reasonable distinction to make.
However, if the church accepts the sin, and goes so far as to embrace or even celebrate the sin, then the church has fallen and is merely a dechristianized church of man, no longer a church of God.
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