Image courtesy of Scooter Van Neuter, Editor-in-Chief of World News Bureau
Posted on 03/18/2015 5:11:15 PM PDT by WXRGina
Image courtesy of Scooter Van Neuter, Editor-in-Chief of World News Bureau
The world is overflowing with deception (good is evil, and evil is good), false religions and doctrines forged in Hell. Among the world's false religions, there are none more sinister—in my opinion—than those that claim the name of Christ while espousing all kinds of unbiblical error and even things the Lord calls abomination. While other false religions are no less dangerous to the eternal spirits of those beguiled by them, it is supremely detestable when false gospels are presented under the name of Jesus.
Jesus is the Son of God, and He is God. He came to earth to offer Himself as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. We are all accountable to God for our sins. We are all born in sin, and we each struggle with sin all our lives (at least those of us who recognize our sinfulness struggle with it, but others may not consider it at all). Jesus lived a sinless life as God in the flesh, and his willing sacrifice on the cross was perfect and acceptable to cover the sins of anyone who would believe in Him. Jesus is the only way—the only way—for man to be reconciled to God. He died so we could be free from sin, not be "out and proud" of our sin! The devil knows this and wants to prevent as many people from being saved as he possibly can, so he has labored from the beginning of Christ's earthly ministry to infiltrate the church, to infuse it with his evil, subtle deceptions and myriad divisions. He has been greatly successful.
Today, we see rampant apostasy in many so-called Christian churches. There are plenty of denominations and churches that have created their own set of man-made traditions and regulations apart from Scripture, and in some cases, contrary to it. When churches that purport to be Christian rely on anything other than the Bible alone for revelation of God's plan for mankind, then error is inevitable. When the Rock is not your foundation (no, the Rock is not Peter; it's Jesus), then you will be prone to swallow all manner of false teachings.
Thus it is with the Presbyterian USA group, which voted this week to add the acceptance of sodomite "marriage" to its constitution. This follows on the heels of a 2011 vote that saw the group amend its charter to accept the ordination of unrepentant homosexuals to leadership position in its churches.
The New York Times, in reporting this story, quoted the response of a Presbyterian homosexual activist:
"Finally, the church in its constitutional documents fully recognizes that the love of gays and lesbian couples is worth celebrating in the faith community," said the Rev. Brian D. Ellison, executive director of the Covenant Network of Presbyterians, which advocates gay inclusion in the church. "There is still disagreement, and I don't mean to minimize that, but I think we are learning that we can disagree and still be church together."
That's a devilishly wrong statement. The "love" of homosexuals is, at best, sexually perverse lust, and in no way worth "celebrating," much less in the "faith community." This man, Brian Ellison, is a homosexual working within the Presbyterian USA group to inject the radical homosexual agenda into the organization. A press release from 2012 announcing his appointment as Executive Director of the Covenant Network of Presbyterians quotes him:
"I am deeply honored by this opportunity to offer leadership as executive director in the years ahead," said Brian. "Having given all of my vocational life to the ministry of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), I joined with others in celebrating last year's constitutional changes permitting sessions and presbyteries to ordain all those whom God calls. Now, I believe that the Covenant Network is uniquely poised to help the church live into this new day that has dawned. There is still much work to do, and I look forward to joining in the good work Covenant Network is doing as it continues to seek a church as generous and just as God's grace."
Brian plans to work from the Kansas City area, where he lives with his partner, Troy Lillebo.
He praises the 2011 decision of the Presbyterians to allow unrepentant sodomites to be church leaders; and worse, he claims those unrepentant sodomites are part of "all those whom God calls" to ministry leadership. That's a lie from the pit of Hell. God calls unrepentant sinners to repent, period. He does not call to ministry leadership those who not only callously embrace their sin and refuse to turn from it, but whose very identity is their sin itself.
Do not misunderstand what I'm saying here. Every one of us sins, and that includes church leaders, but those with a foundation based in Biblical knowledge understand that we are called by the Lord to turn from our sins, to repent, and become new creatures in Christ and to strive daily to avoid the sins that used to hold us prisoner. Only then is it possible for the Lord to move men forward and possibly use them in church leadership positions. Those who are "out and proud" in their sin are not, in their present state, called by God to church leadership.
Then there's the issue of marriage. With this latest choice, the Presbyterian USA group has further rejected the Word of God as its foundation, and instead has embraced the evil destruction of marriage. They are also apparently ignoring the tyranny against the freedoms of their fellow Americans that the radical homosexual movement (with its same-sex "marriage" crusade) represents.
This group has rejected Christ in firmly rejecting His clear teachings in the Bible—the whole of which is His Word. The leaders of Presbyterian USA have no business calling it a Christian organization. This is not to say that the Lord cannot save someone who is in this Presbyterian group, because He can save anyone. If those who remain in a "church" that embraces anti-Christian heresy manage to find Christ, it is in spite of the false doctrine they hear, not because of it.
Spot on, Gina. The PC USA is a lost cause.
Yeah, and it looks to me like they have been for quite a while. I neglected to point out from the NYT’s piece that they have apparently been wrangling with this issue for decades. WHY?! How can there be ANY question?!
Thanks, Gina. So why do they call themselves a church when they are really acting like the Justice of the Peace? Nothing church of Christian about them anymore
No possibility of misunderstanding the Scriptures. Paul makes it abundantly clear that homosexual behavior marks a severe distortion of the way God has intended for married life to work...and it reaps the due penalty for its error. They clearly are just spitting in God's face and calling it "love". The deluding influence may have fallen upon the world.
YEP.
It’s a shame. And, the homo-lobby will screech and wail with delight over this “Christian” development.
I grew up in PCUSA Church.
Didn’t learn much unfortunately...had to learn on my own.
The Walking Dead. Good one.
The faithful Presbyterians I know have long since left and sought an actual Christian church.
so this is denomination to join if one is an unrepentant sinner and don’t want to change their behavior.
I believe this is called a “sin against the Holy Spirit.” And the reason it cannot be forgiven is simple: they think/believe they have done nothing wrong, so they will never seek forgiveness. This is really a serious business - I’d be very careful about associating with them. We left the Episcopal Church for the same reason. Soon, only the “real” church will be left - smaller but much stronger.
Looks like it, yes.
We go to a PCUSA church. It is pretty conservative and Bible believing. It will be interesting to see where this goes. I know that none of our pastors would hold a gay marriage, so I wonder what the new rules will be. Will they be forced to (and more likely resign) or will it still be up to the individual church? And it will be interesting to see if our church makes a break. Although the way the PCUSA holds the property, I think that might be pretty much impossible.
My son called home from college and was very upset upon hearing this news. He goes to a non-denominational church near his college. Geared towards Millenials and very conservative. I wouldn’t be surprised if he quit the PCUSA and joined that one instead.
It’s a tough spot for me. I love our church and the work that it does. But not the national organization. (The fish always stinks from the head). I was telling my younger kids that perhaps it is like living in America right now. We don’t just up and leave the country, but stick to those groups we do believe in, and try to make a difference where we can.
We already left a liberal PCUSA church. Of course there are all sorts of churchs out there that we could feel comfortable with. Yet knowing we will never see eye to eye on everything with any of them.
“Every one of us sins, and that includes church leaders, but those with a foundation based in Biblical knowledge understand that we are called by the Lord to turn from our sins, to repent, and become new creatures in Christ and to strive daily to avoid the sins that used to hold us prisoner.”
Amen. Jesus came to save SINNERS. Until a person admits they are a SINNER, they cannot be saved for Christ ONLY came to save SINNERS. A person that will not change their mind on SIN as revealed in scripture have not repented and are saying they are NOT a SINNER. They cannot be saved.
They have been on the decline for a long time. They are just willing to do anything to try and get some people won over, even if it means compromising on their own principles.
Might as well. They believe your place of afterlife is predetermined regardless of your behaviour.
It seems as though the great majority of these folks actually have had their "principles" altered to reflect the opinions of the world, rather than Scripture. As they abandon the Word of God as the foundation, they naturally move toward a more man-made theology. I spoke with one of their "pastors" recently and she was convinced we just "had to be more loving and accepting". I barfed and walked away.
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