Posted on 03/05/2014 10:36:38 PM PST by JSDude1
A line in the sand issue for Christians
Currently in the US and many other countries, so-called ‘gay marriage’ is being promoted via the media. In the secular, politically correct world we live in, the reporting of this issue is rarely balanced and dissenting views are treated as marginal. For example, at the time of writing, laws opposing homosexual behavior (or at the very least, not condoning it) in countries such as Russia and Uganda have made international headlines. One supposedly apolitical radio station here in the US called NPR (National Public Radio—it is funded by donations) described them as ‘draconian’ laws. Because legal acceptance of gay marriage is being celebrated as a victory for civil liberties, it seems as if the media is really out to shame any country, person or group who does not toe the politically correct line on this issue. So this will be an increasing challenge to churches and Christians.
Will religious views be exempt?
Such volatile actions by the gay lobby are actually causing Churches and individual Christians to retreat from engaging this issue for fear of being branded and out of step with the culture.
To some extent, common sense has prevailed on this issue in the past by allowing dissenting views under the banner of religious freedom, and individuals who have publicly spoken out against homosexual unions have generally been exempt from prosecution. Inside churches, Christians have been safe, but the tide is turning rapidly because the exemptions can be easily overturned.
(Excerpt) Read more at creation.com ...
That’s why I used the term ‘call themselves’. If a person really doesn’t understand how utterly corrupt we all are without the grace of God then how can they hope to see how he can change us let alone them!
That’s why I used the term ‘call themselves’. If a person really doesn’t understand how utterly corrupt we all are without the grace of God then how can they hope to see how he can change us let alone them!
“I refuse to give in, especially because I am not married yet. So I will not give into the homosexuals out of some trick like what you propose. They may force the state to accept their behavior (and I do not), but they cannot destroy true marriage-and we should not surrender!”
Except the state issued marriage license is only about 125 years old.
I am advocating that Christians return to a common law system. Where you are married because you say you are not because the State says you are.
Before the late 19th century it did not really exist. It isn’t a trick. It simply refusing to bow to the State’s ungodly wishes.
BUt being a for profit vs. non-profit has never hinged on being/supporting/tolerating homosexuality, therefore, no law, ruling, nor regulation can penalize people for something which was not. (NO ex post facto law.) The only thing the IRS could do is make the churches lose their non-profit status in the future.
If the church is engaged in charitable endeavours, it could even show a loss.
No it isn't, Thomas Jefferson had a marriage license, George Washington paid for his nephews, licenses go back to the 1300s, and Banns before that. Massachusetts required them since 1639. In Virginia-"By the 1670s marriage licenses could only be issued in the county in which the bride resided."
Everyone can already do that, Christians, Muslims, cults, gays, atheists, and many do, the only people who get married legally are the ones that want to, or who can, for instance a Muslim cannot legally marry 4 women.
Most people want their marriage to be legal, for public recognition and for instance, a Navy SEAL who wants his family safe on base, and to receive widow benefits upon his death.
These kind of responses don't accomplish anything, nor change anything, nor preserve anything.
No, I have not been deceived. Remember “by Grace you have been saved through faith, and this not of yourselves it is a gift of God that no man may boast”.
and Romans 4:5 “However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness”
We cannot obey the father apart from a changed heart, because to even try would be futile.
I think we all should realize that homosexuals don’t just want tolerance,
they don’t just want acceptance,
they want approval.
And any act short of approval for homosexual marriage, lifestyle, etc. is considered to be “homophobic” and must be dealt with by the government. The media, traditionally progressive and liberal, is already on board with this line of thinking (has been since Lawrence v. Texas), and is working furiously to enforce the new order.
Churches must convert their beliefs to accommodate this new reality, or lose their tax exemptions and be driven underground.
That’s exactly what we are witnessing.
The "civil liberty" argument is based on the false premise that men and women are interchangeable. The civil liberty argument does not apply to same sex marriage because man and women are NOT interchangeable.
The consequences of homosexual activity have already significantly increased the cost of medical care to the population at-large. Costs of diagnosis and testing have increased. Because of the risk of cancer and other diseases, a simple sore throat could be instead be caused by a sexually transmitted disease. Hemorrhoids could be instead anal cancer, rectal gonorrhea, or rectal chlamydia. You will pay for those additional costs, not corrupt lawmakers and lawyers in black robes.
The encoding into law perversion will adversely impact the culture resulting in the spread of AIDs and other STDs, the destruction of the family, and increased risk to the physical and mental health of the population, with attendant increases in cost of health care.
All of this coming to your neighborhood thanks to the Democrats and low information voters.
Good points.
The IRS can do nothing to the tax exempt status of a church in regard to homosexual discrimination because sexual orientation is not included as a protected class in federal civil rights laws.
However, some states have included sexual orientation as a protected class, therefore state prosecutors have state authority to pursue Christians in the ‘public domain’. However again, churches are not in the public domain.
But we can bet that a strategy is in works to penetrate the legal obstacles that restrain a state prosecutor from going after churches because in the final analysis this is where the conflict resides, between Sin and the Church, between Satan and Christ.
The concept of “all men are created equal” has been replaced by “all orifices are created equal”.
Another side to that would be (hopefully)...
Any non-profit status savings a church might hope to hang onto would be offset by the cessation of tithing/contributions by church members upon the first gay wedding.
I know we’ll stop writing monthly general fund checks and making end-of-year building campaign donations.
NPR does in fact receive some federal funding. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (which itself is federally funded) has funded public radio (NPR) since its inception through an act of Congress over forty years ago.
T
But they can share in the “Rights of Inheritance.”
Will GOD's mind be changed??
Genesis 18:20-21
20. Then the LORD said, "The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous
21. that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know."
Genesis 19:4-7
4. Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom--both young and old--surrounded the house.
5. They called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them."
6. Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him
7. and said, "No, my friends. Don't do this wicked thing.
Isaiah 3:9 The look on their faces testifies against them; they parade their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to them! They have brought disaster upon themselves.
2 Peter 2:13b Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you.
Ezekiel 16:49-50
49. "`Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.
50. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen.
1. But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them--bringing swift destruction on themselves.
2. Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.
3. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.
4. For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment;
5. if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others;
6. if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly;
7. and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men
8. (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)--
9. if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment.
10. This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature and despise authority. Bold and arrogant, these men are not afraid to slander celestial beings;
11. yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not bring slanderous accusations against such beings in the presence of the Lord.
12. But these men blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like brute beasts, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like beasts they too will perish.
13. They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you.
But there IS hope!!!
1 Corinthians 6:9-11
9. Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived:
Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders
10. nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
11. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
If you could NOT change, you would be in most pitiful shape...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
