Talk about blatantly false reporting! The problem wasn’t his being gay. The problem is they wanted to make his memorial service into a perverse celebration of homosexuality.
If they had just asked the United Methodists, ELCA or the Episcopalians, they would have never had this “problem”.
The words “Church” and “Gay” should never be used in the same sentence without a negative in between.
Homos like Elton John think that organized religion should be disbanded because it is not “gay friendly” (his words). That shows you just how far removed from reality these people have become. I would love to be a fly on the wall on his Judgement Day.
Jesus said that those who divorce and remarry are committing adultery. Should churches refuse to allow pictures of someone's second wife and family on the grounds that it promotes an adulterous life-style?
This topic has been beaten to death on half a dozen posts since it surfaced. The long and short of it is thatgiven their position on the matter the church should probably never have made the offer in the first place.
A Wellstone homosexual hootnanney is what would have happened. Good for the church for not caving in to the MSM ongoing war against independent thought.
A Wellstone homosexual hootnanney is what would have happened. Good for the church for not caving in to the MSM ongoing war against independent thought.
Ping. This was our old church, 4CJ.
The debate in these matters is normally framed to fit within the modern template that highlights both tolerance and hypocrisy. The assumption is that to not tolerate and show compassion are signs of the inner hypocrisy of the avowed Christian. The toleration and compassion are to be shown for whatever the favored form of degradation that the writer/debater prefers (of course).
Christianity is not a tolerant religion. No real religion is tolerant. Religion is about discovering Truth and the moral Rightness that flows from it. Jesus never preached tolerance. He never preached compromise. He stated in rather plain and simple language what the good news is and how to live so as to take the greatest advantage of it.
Homosexuality, sexual promiscuity, infidelity, fraud - the list is almost endless. These things should not be tolerated. Period. What they should be is acknowledged. They exist in each of us and the test of character is how well we exercise self-control and act courageously in facing these and keeping them in check.
Should the fact of a man’s divorce be the subject of a eulogy? Is his failure (all divorce is a sign of failure) something to be celebrated? Is it a token by which his life should be measured by all the other frail, foolish, fallible humans around him?
While we live here it is almost impossible to maintain clarity of vision. Doubt is part of the life we live. Any position, no matter how seemingly incontrovertible can become befogged and murky - usually by people pretending to moral uprightness but who, in fact, practice deliberate deceit and obfuscation (all for the sake of an “open mind” and “tolerance”). I find I have no patience for such people. Clever arguments and nuanced discussion can cloud Truth but they can never supplant it.
All humans are children of God. All deserve the respect and consideration that this brings with it. But there is nothing respectable or praiseworthy in the pursuit of lust or the breaking of vows. We cannot judge these matters wisely enough to determine what a man’s ultimate disposition may be in the scheme of eternity. But each of us knows in his heart - and despite the layers of lies and distortions that coat every one of us - what is right.
People may yammer along the line of “but what about.....?” while inserting some sin or folly once condemned and now accepted after years and decades of continuing moral erosion, evasion of truth and even active promotion by the minions of “tolerance”. I no longer care about these arguments. They are for fools.
To the degree a man lives his life conforming to the commandments of God that man has succeeded and become an exemplar for us all. We don’t need to hear about the other because the other is known in one form or another to all of us - because it IS us. I know men are stupid, sinful, deceitful, weak and foolish. I know this because I am all these things. But I also know men can be upright, honest, honorable, courageous and truly virtuous. I need to hear about these because I need all the inspiration I can get to carry me forward in my attempts to live up to these.
As a pastor in a conservative Lutheran denomination, no one has a right to a church funeral. If the church’s view is that homosexuality is sinful, then do not be surprised if the church decides not to have a church service for a practicing homosexual. There are plenty of liberal denominations that embrace homosexuality. I suggest that those who are openly gay go to one of those.
The Church will welcome anyone, but it will never glorify sin. And that’s just what this little pride parade was going to do.
Accepting homosexuality as normal; would be like a baby nursery in a maternity hospital allowing a contagious bacterial infection to be sprayed on the baby beds.