Posted on 07/25/2003 2:23:06 PM PDT by Constitutionalist Conservative
WHEN OFFICIALS ANNOUNCED the vote tally on June 8, thunderous applause showered the crowd at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Concord, N.H. The occasion: Episcopalians in the diocese of New Hampshire had just elected the first openly homosexual bishop anywhere in the worldwide Anglican Communion. As joyous clergy and delegates leapt to their feet, the new bishop, the Rev. Canon V. Gene Robinson, ambled forward, stood before the altar, and embraced his grown children and his male lover.
On May 23 in Nashville, officials of Glendale Baptist Church met with officials of the Tennessee Baptist Convention (TBC). The issue: Glendale had in 2002 hired as its associate pastor April Baker, a practicing lesbian, a fact the TBC did not learn until January 2003. TBC officials felt Ms. Baker's sexuality violated Scripture. Glendale officials believed otherwise, and asked the TBC to quietly vote them out.
In October 2002, about 300 Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) members from northeastern churches gathered at South Presbyterian Church in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. There they nailed to a church door dissents and demands that included calls for the reversal of PCUSA laws against ordaining noncelibate homosexuals and marrying same-sex couples. During an ensuing two-hour worship service, church members hoisted the door atop sawhorses and converted it into a communion table where gay ministers and elders blessed bread and wine, then served it to worshippers.
A growing number of churches in some denominations are stepping beyond the acceptance of repenting homosexuals as members, and instead loving both sinner and sin. Denominations that for decades have ordained pastors who reject such essential doctrines of Christianity as Christ's deity and His resurrection are now also on the verge of affirming homosexuality as biblical. Conservative Christians who remain in those bodies are fighting for the scriptural view of sexual morality that has stood for millennia.
One battle ended in May when the PCUSA's Cincinnati Presbytery disciplined Rev. Steve Van Kuiken for defying its order not to "marry" homosexuals (WORLD, July 19). Pastors and ruling elders in the presbytery ruled that Rev. Van Kuiken had "renounced jurisdiction" of the denomination by refusing to be bound by its orders. They removed him as pastor of Mount Auburn Presbyterian Church and as a member of the denomination.
Like Mt. Auburn, at least 113 PCUSA congregations in 30 states have designated themselves "More Light Presbyterians" (MLP). Membership in the group, which seeks "full participation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people of faith in the life, ministry, and witness of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)," is up 20 percent from three years ago, according to retired MLP board member Gene Ruff.
Meanwhile, 280 churches and 21 synods in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) participate in a similar program called "Reconciling in Christ" (RIC). During RIC's first 18 years, 250 congregations across North America joined, but 30 new churches have joined this year alone. Other denominations have gay-affirming programs such as the Rainbow Baptists, the Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists, and the United Methodist Reconciling Congregation Program.
Supporting this movement is a pro-gay theology that is drawing an increasing number of adherents. Tustin, Calif., counselor Joe Dallas, a former homosexual who now helps people struggling with that sin, said major tenets include general religious platitudes such as "Jesus never said anything about homosexuality, so it can't be wrong," and "Loving, monogamous relationships are compatible with Scripture, regardless of gender."
Robert and Deborah Rackerby were shocked to learn that their church had adopted the latter view. The couple had worshipped for seven years at St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church in Rancho Bernardo, Calif. One Sunday last September, they listened as Rev. Gary Nicolosi preached a sermon in which he dismissed the Levitical injunction against same-sex relations along with other "primitive superstitions" against "eating lobster, wearing clothes made of two different kinds of fabric, and planting a field with two different kinds of seed." (He did not mention other passages in the Bible that condemn homosexuality, such as Romans 1:24-26.)
"Every single red alarm you can think of went off in my head," Mr. Rackerby told WORLD. "I thought, 'This is going to be a church that supports homosexuality.'" Within two weeks, the Rackerbys e-mailed Rev. Nicolosi, asking him to clarify his position on same-sex relationships. The priest wrote back: "... I do believe that the living tradition of the Church actually supports blessing committed same-sex relationships."
The Rackerbys did not return to St. Bartholomew's. Mr. Rackerby suspects the church may be soft-selling homosexuality, banking on slow change, and the "get-along politeness" of long-time church members who are reluctant to make a scene.
Pro-gay theologians also argue that biblical passages condemning homosexuality are irrelevant to today's culture, suffer translation problems, or are intentionally misinterpreted by right-wingers wishing to fan anti-gay prejudice. Further, they say that since many homosexuals say they've always been attracted to people of their own gender, homosexuality is inborn, and therefore created by God.
In April, the ELCA Task Force on Human Sexuality met in Chicago for its second conference. The denomination commissioned the task force "to guide" the ELCA's decision making on gay clergy and the blessing of same-sex relationships. But its expert panels may actually be a series of stacked decks. For example, task force science panelists included a pair of Lutheran clinical psychologists who offered as fact the opinion of the gay-friendly American Psychological Association: "[Sexual] orientation is not a choice, it cannot be changed, [and] efforts to attempt to modify it may even be harmful." Another science panelist cited the discredited Kinsey Report as support for legitimizing homosexuality.
Roanoke College religion professor Robert Benne, a biblical conservative and task force panelist, told WORLD the ECLA task force "certainly is weighted toward those who are open to revising basic teaching on homosexual relations." In addition, he said the presence of open homosexuals at every discussion "makes it difficult for folks who are uncertain or just plain nice to voice objections or even reservations about the revisionist agenda. Most church people like to be polite and accepting, so they often accept that agenda out of the desire to 'keep the peace in love.'"
Meanwhile, pro-gay theologians are preaching this summer at a flurry of summer conferences designed to affirm churchgoing gays and lesbians in their lifestyles. On June 14 in Columbus, Ohio, more than 300 people gathered at the Adams Mark Hotel for "Amazing Grace," a conference sponsored by the Shepherd Initiative, an ecumenical group that teaches that homosexuality is OK with God. Speakers included liberal evangelicals Tony and Peggy Campolo, as well as Presbyterian, Lutheran, Baptist, Mennonite, and Methodist ministers and lay people.
Event "focus sessions" echoed the new pro-gay theology themes, but one session on bisexuality revealed the confusion that results when sexual ethics aren't grounded in Scripture. Two panelists addressed attendees: United Church of Christ minister Elane O'Rourke, who says she is bisexual but is currently married to a man; and Diane Drotleff, 28, a former Lutheran and self-described "sexuality activist."
During the hour-long session, both panelists affirmed bisexuality as a God-ordained expression of human relationships. Then a gay man stood and tossed out a question: Did the panelists believe one must limit sexual relationships to only two persons?
Rev. O'Rourke skirted the issue, saying "the Christian tradition doesn't have a way of talking about polygamy." But Ms. Drotleff was more direct: "I prefer to use the term poly-amory, loving more than one person," she said, then announced that she is currently involved sexually with a couple—a man and a woman.
"Hey, whatever floats your boat ... ," she continued. "I identify as a feminist ... a bisexual, a Wiccan, currently in a polyamorous relationship ... and I am thrilled to death that I was raised in a Christian home. Even though I no longer identify as a Christian, I still talk to Jesus."
— with reporting by Sarah Trafford in Columbus
Joe Dallas takes the Gay-stapo head on with scripture, facts, and respect -- as unwarranted as it may be. If you ever run across the above arguments, a fantastic reference point is Dallas' Responding to Pro-Gay Theology found at the Leadership U. site.
She doesn't just need to talk to Him. She needs to listen!
EXCERPT BEGINS HERE...
I write for those Christians who fully recognize that in this, the final decade of the second millennium after the birth of Jesus Christ, His Church is in a full-scale war against an implacable enemy: humanism. There can be no permanent cease-fire. This book is written for those Christians who understand this and who are ready to act accordingly. Any other reader is entitled to come along for the ride, but he is not my target. Ethically self-conscious Christians are my targeted audience. Their needs and, more to the point, their vulnerability are my concern. There are still conservative Protestant denominations, and similar liberal strategies are still in effect. The problem is, the conservatives, then as now, have had no strategy.
This book is a strategy manual. It is a manual tracing how an earlier institutional battle was lost. It is not written in the spirit of detached academic inquiry. It is written in the spirit of institutional conquest: to recapture lost ground from the spiritual heirs of the invaders. When the invaders surrender cultural territory, we will regain it--not inside the four walls of liberal churches but in the culture at large. As for liberal churches today, let the dead bury the dead. Large brick churches in declining sections of town are not worth re-capturing. The heating and cooling bills alone would strap us.
Had it not been for the defection of earlier generations of Christians, we would not be in the place we are today: looking in from the outside on institutions that once belonged to God and His people rather than to the covenant-breakers who now occupy positions of institutional authority. But their authority is now fading. The flow of funds--a primary mark of authority--has begun to flow elsewhere.
So has political power. From the foundation of the Federal (later National) Council of Churches in 1908, theological liberals exhorted theological conservatives to get involved in social action and politics. Now that conservatives have begun to do this, great is the anguish inside the hallowed halls of liberalism. God has granted the liberals their request, and like the Israelites after the quail feast in the wilderness (Num. 11), the liberals are now paying dearly for it. They do not have the votes. The Christian Right has the votes. The action today is in places like Colorado Springs and Orlando, not 475 Riverside Drive, New York City.
Liberals committed their strategic resources to capturing mainline Protestant churches at the peak of these churches' influence, 1920 to 1940. They have seen this influence wither away since 1960. They bought close to the top of the market and are now hanging on for eternal life to their portfolio, hoping against hope for a recovery. It has been a primary bear market for a generation, and today looks weaker than ever.
God will not be mocked
I doubt that she really does. I bet she talks to a counterfeit designed to deceive her.
I just bet they never use Romans 1 as a text for their sermons.
"The Rev. ______________ doesn't like Islam. __________, the president of a seminary in ______________, has said repeatedly that the world's second-largest religion is dangerously violent. And he's finding a receptive audience in churches throughout the nation, including two of the largest congregations in North Jersey. When _______ appeared at _____________ Church in March, he castigated Islam's holy book, the Koran, and described Islam's founder, Mohammed, as a murderer. "We are talking about a religion that ... from the very beginning to today is nothing but a religion of violence against those who do not believe the way they do," __________ told members of the sprawling church , where more than 2,000 people attend Sunday services".....
..."the pastor at ____________ church said he would think twice about inviting _______ back for another lecture on Islam. "Some people found it informative, and some people found it a bit too abrasive," the Rev. ____________ said. "Probably Sunday morning wasn't the right time or place for a discussion of Islam. Our approach here isn't confrontational. We read the Bible and try to apply it to our daily lives."
and...
"I am a member of a church in which Reverend _________'s talk was presented. I want to clarify that not all evangelical Christians accept __________'s approach. His talk was a superficial treatment of a complex subject. He failed to consider the richness and diversity of Muslim culture. I was embarrassed that it was presented at my church. I know that many members of my congregation, as well as many other evangelicals, agree that such a shallow one-note assessment of Islam (or of any other religious or cultural system) is likely to be misleading. Those who would lump all evangelicals together as shallow or narrow-minded are guilty of the same kind of stereotyping that they would otherwise condemn".
Should I advise said Marriage speaker of the risk to message and reputation, should 'heterosexual marriage' be subsituted for the subject of Islam? Am I over-protect-ing a friend's reputation?
The probable fact is that about 1/2 of those who signed up to the Free State project are on the same side as the liberal democarts when it comes to social issues, IMO.
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