Posted on 06/17/2015 12:28:53 PM PDT by concernedcitizen76
Southern Baptists pass resolution opposing gay marriage
Arkansas Pastor Ronnie Floyd, president of the Southern Baptist Convention, gives the presidential address to the Southern Baptist Convention at the Greater Columbus Convention Center, in Columbus, Ohio, June 16, 2015. Floyd exhorted members to stand united against same-sex marriage and vows that he will never officiate a same-sex union.
The Southern Baptist Convention passed a resolution Tuesday, June 16, opposing gay marriage, reaffirming a long-standing position of the denomination.
"The Southern Baptist Convention calls on Southern Baptists and all Christians of like-mindedness to stand firm on the Bible's witness on the private purpose of marriage, which is to unite man and woman as one flesh; and the public purpose of marriage, which is to secure the basis for the flourishing of human civilization," the resolution said.
It added that "Southern Baptists love our neighbors and extend respect in Christ's name to all people, including those who may disagree with us about the definition of marriage and the public good."
Other assertions included:
"Southern Baptists recognize that no governing institution has the authority to countermand God's definition of marriage;"
And "no matter how the Supreme Court rules, the Southern Baptist Convention reaffirms its unwavering commitment to its doctrinal and public beliefs concerning marriage;" And "no citizen or institution should have their religious liberty infringed as a result of believing or living according to a biblical definition of marriage." The statement was drafted and submitted by Denny Burk, professor of biblical studies at Boyce College, and Andrew T. Walker, director of policy studies at the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention.
The statement, a "call to public witness on marriage," made reference to the upcoming expected ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court on the legality of gay marriage. Read the full statement here.
Since 1976, the Southern Baptist Convention has passed at least 26 resolutions mentioning its objection to the practice of homosexuality and gay marriage. Southern Baptists held their annual two-day meeting June 16-17 in Columbus, Ohio.
"When I became seminary president 22 years ago, not one nation on planet earth had or ever had same-sex marriage," Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President Al Mohler said Tuesday morning in his annual report.
"We're determining right now where Southern Baptists will stand 30 years from now," Mohler said. "The seminaries are ground zero for that... We're going to stand firm....We are going to stand firm in the inerrancy of the scripture."
The Southern Baptist Convention, with membership of 15.5 million, is the largest Protestant denomination in the country and the largest denomination in Alabama, with more than 1 million Southern Baptists in the state.
You can watch the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting online by clicking here and filling out a brief registration.
The Rev. Steve Gaines, former pastor of Gardendale First Baptist Church from 1991-2005 and now pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Cordova, Tenn., serves as chairman of the resolutions committee. Gaines presented the resolutions report including the resolution opposing gay marriage.
Among the speakers Wednesday was the Rev. David Platt, former pastor of the Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham from 2006-2014. Last year, Platt resigned from Brook Hills to become the president of the International Mission Board. He presented the IMB report on Wednesday that featured a sending service for missionaries.
On Sunday, the Church at Brook Hills announced the nominee to succeed Platt as pastor, the Rev. Matt Mason. Wanda Lee, executive director and treasurer of the Birmingham-based Woman's Missionary Union, gave the WMU report on Wednesday.
The Rev. Ronnie Floyd, senior pastor of The Cross Church in Springdale, Ark., was elected Tuesday without opposition to a second one-year term as president of the Southern Baptist Convention.
"America: We stand believing that marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in a covenant commitment for a lifetime; we do not need to redefine what God himself has defined already," Floyd told more than 5,000 convention messengers in his presidential sermon.
"Now we await the outcome of the next possible Supreme Court ruling that could alter our nation's belief and practice on traditional and biblical marriage, but also our historic commitment to religious liberty for all people," he said.
"When other denominations and leaders are beginning to relax their message to be more politically correct, will we rise up in faithfulness to believe and stand on His Word and for Jesus' name?"
Floyd said. "There is not one government, one Supreme Court, one court case, one editorial, one commentator, one liberal, one conservative, one world leader, one politician, one radical group, one demon or one of anything that can shut the doors Jesus Himself has opened for us."
Floyd and 16 former Southern Baptist Convention presidents released a statement on biblical marriage and the national implications of same-sex marriage in a Wednesday, June 17 news conference prior to the concluding sessions of the SBC annual meeting.
The full statement follows:
"As Southern Baptist Christians, we are committed to Biblical faith and ethics. As a result, this body of Believers stands on the authority of Scripture and God's Truth as central to our lives.
What the Bible says about marriage is clear, definitive and unchanging. We affirm biblical, traditional, natural marriage as the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. The Scriptures' teaching on marriage is not negotiable. We stake our lives upon the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus. Consequently, we will not accept, nor adhere to, any legal redefinition of marriage issued by any political or judicial body including the United States Supreme Court. We will not recognize same-sex "marriages", our churches will not host same-sex ceremonies, and we will not perform such ceremonies.
While we affirm our love for all people, including those struggling with same-sex attraction, we cannot and will not affirm the moral acceptability of homosexual behavior or any behavior that deviates from God's design for marriage. We also believe religious freedom is at stake within this critical issue – that our first duty is to love and obey God, not man.
Therefore, we strongly encourage all Southern Baptist pastors, leaders, educators, and churches to openly reject any mandated legal definition of marriage and to use their influence to affirm God's design for life and relationships. As the nation's largest non-Catholic denomination with over 16 million members, we stake our very lives and future on the Truth of God's Word.
We also join together to support those who stand for natural marriage in the corporate world, the marketplace, education, entertainment, media and elsewhere with our prayers and influence, and resources." Former SBC presidents signing the statement are Bailey E. Smith, SBC president, 1981-82; James T. Draper Jr., 1983-84; Charles F. Stanley, 1985-86; Jerry Vines, 1989-90; Morris H. Chapman, 1991-92; H. Edwin Young, 1993-94; James B. Henry, 1995-96; Tom Elliff, 1997-98; Paige Patterson, 1999-2000; James Merritt, 2001-02; Jack Graham, 2003-04; Bobby Welch, 2005-06; Frank S. Page, 2007-08; Johnny M. Hunt, 2009-10; Bryant Wright, 2011-12; and Fred Luter, 2013-14.
The Court is playing with fire on this issue, and, as in Roger Taney's Dredd Scott decision, are paying no mind to the dread consequences of a conflagration they may soon ignite. Do they expect a nation to acquiesce to the annihilation of the family unit as the linch pin of civil society and Western Civilization? If so, the cocooned judges have badly misjudged the tenor and temper of the majority of Americans already livid with anger at WashingtonDC.
A am glad for the Southern Baptists. Now how about the Joe Six-Pack Convention passing a similar resolution?
Will the Northern Baptist follow suit?
Did they also pass a resolution against worshiping the pagan God Baal ? Because that is about as necessary as coming out against Gay Marriage.
Southern Baptists must go the next step to fully address this issue.
Because we have allowed government to define “marriage” for its own purposes (such as taxation and regulation of estates), we have allowed government to define marriage as a social institution. That was fine as long as people in control of government were generally supportive of God’s original definition of marriage. However we have entered a time when a growing number of people in control of government want to redefine marriage for their own purposes, which in part is contrary to God’s definition.
Marriage is now far more a matter of politics and ideology than of private religious beliefs.
Therefore, for the sake of marriage as God defines it, it is time to remove from government the power to define who is married and who is not. Then people could form whatever relationships they please but they could not force those who disagree to be enablers for those relationships. And we would not have schools that must teach that homosexual “marriages” are just as legitimate as heterosexual ones. Nor would we have owners of wedding-related services being threatened with arrest and being convicted of a crime for merely declining to artfully photograph a “marriage” they find morally repugnant.
Government regulation of marriage has been taken over by the Pink Swastika crowd. Bake the cake or we will send government to destroy your family business. This is homo-fascism in action.
The sad reality is, this is necessary. What I want to know is, what took them so long? Seems a bit delayed.
We will have to make due with Holy Matrimony to emphasize the difference between the two.
Just who the hell do they think they are?
Baptists Vow Civil Disobedience if Supreme Court Sanctions Gay Marriage
June 17, 2015
Todd Starnes
Fox News
The president of the Southern Baptist Convention has a message regarding the looming Supreme Court decision on same-sex marriage: We will not obey.
“The Supreme Court of the United States is not the final authority nor is the culture itself,” declared Ronnie Floyd, the elected leader of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination. “The Bible is God’s final authority about marriage and on this book we stand.”
Dr. Floyd’s powerful and provocative comments were met with thunderous applause and standing ovations from thousands of Southern Baptist messengers meeting in Columbus, Ohio.
“While some evangelicals may be bowing down to the deception of the inclusiveness of same-sex marriage, we will not bow down nor will we be silent,” Floyd declared in a fiery speech on Tuesday. “We do not need to redefine what God Himself has defined already.”
And from there Dr. Floyd went where few prominent pastors have gone before—a Supreme Court showdown.
“America—we stand believing that marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime,” he said in a thundering speech. “We have believed this and do believe this and will continue to believe this as a convention of churches. We stand for biblical and traditional marriage.”
Dr. Floyd reminded the gathering of something German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said: “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”
“This is a Bonhoeffer moment for every pastor in the United States,” Floyd said, warning ministers that the time has come for every minister to stand strongly and clearly—regardless of the cost.
excerpted
You are more optimistic than I. I believe the next step will be to force churches to marry gays or lose tax exempt status, etc.
Homosexuality isn’t a progressive lifestyle. it is regressive. It really serves no purpose other than carnal desires.
Ping
I’m not Baptist but am following suit. I refuse to play their game.
I already left Boy Scouts and took my entire troop with me when they caved in to the Gay Lobby. I’d guess my position is well known.
Be homosexual all you want. Don’t make me champion your aberrant behavior and we’ll get along just fine.
Keep dreaming. This lobby is far stronger and more obnoxious than the second wedding lobby.
I think to maintain Christian doctrine, churches will have to give up their tax status.
Churches need to be prepared and get their heads out of the sand.
I know of one church that already has a signed and dated document stating that if required to perform homosexual ceremonies, they will take the stance that they will perform no wedding ceremonies.
Another way is to perform religious weddings only with no state aspect to the ceremony. If the couple wants state approval, they go to a judge.
As usual, there’s Soros money involved. Soros is funding small cadres of rabid gay/lesbian militants who, like the Ferguson provocateurs, are useful idiots in the much greater “project” as Obama calls it. Their project being the neutralization of the USA as a world power
May I ask, what "respect" is due to cultural vandals?
“Did they also pass a resolution against worshiping the pagan God Baal ? Because that is about as necessary as coming out against Gay Marriage.”
Congratulations to the SBC. There is right; and there is wrong. Pastors need to proclaim the difference. You won’t hear it from Democrats. Or other secularists. Or from many Republicans.
Sorry, but that doesn't cut it anymore. As Eric Erickson says; "You will be made to care". An elderly female, owner of a bakery, who has served a lesbian couple for years, politely refuses to take part in their "marriage" by baking a cake for it; and you see what happened to her.
The "gays" started all this "gay rights" stuff by saying, we just want to live our lives. But, they don't want equal rights, they want special treatment. They want to be able to force you to participate in their behavior. No matter how sinful you may consider it --- they want us all to be sin-eaters.
There is no compromise with them. They have turned into the very bullies that they complain about having harrassed them in previous years.
So, we may think that we don't have to "play their game"; but, they will try to make us --- or, more accurately, make the government force us to do as they bid.
They are scared. According to some sources, the Justice Department, in anticipation of the court decision, is getting ready to crack down on churches by removing their tax exempt status if they feel they are not compliant.
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