Posted on 07/13/2008 11:49:12 AM PDT by Schnucki
Openly gay US bishop Gene Robinson was forced to halt a sermon at a west London church after being heckled.
As Bishop Robinson began his sermon a member of the congregation repeatedly called him a "heretic" and said "repent, repent, repent".
He began his sermon by saying how sad it was that the Anglican Communion was tearing itself apart.
But he was stopped when the man in the congregation shouted that the schism was the bishop's fault.
The man's protest was followed by slow hand-clapping by members of the congregation, and Bishop Robinson halted his sermon while a hymn was sung and the protester was escorted from the church in Putney, south west London.
The man was taken outside and left on a motorbike, but no further action was taken against him by police officers present.
Bishop Robinson resumed speaking shortly after the interruption, asking church members to "pray for that man".
Bishop Robinson went on to say: "This discussion of homosexuality we are having in the Church is not so significant because of what it says about homosexuality, but of what it says about God.
"When someone stands up and says homosexuality is an abomination, does that make you want to get to know God?"
Bishop Robinson emphasised that the congregation should reject fear.
He said: "I think God wants us to be bold, I think God wants us to take risks, I don't think God wants us to be afraid.
'Almost untenable'
"You know, whatever you think makes you unworthy, I don't think God wants to hear it any more."
"All you have to do is turn up and open up your heart."
Mr Robinson's sermon comes as the Anglican Communion gather for their 10-yearly Lambeth Conference in Canterbury.
He has been excluded from the conference amid deep Anglican divisions over the issues of women bishops and homosexuality in the Church.
Earlier, he said "a mistake was made" in not inviting him to the conference, but he would do whatever he could to raise the issue of gay rights "from the fringe".
He said he would not stage any kind of protest, but would simply "preach the word of God".
Bishop Robinson also said the Archbishop of Canterbury was in an "almost untenable" position as he tries to retain unity in the Church.
He said that despite Dr Rowan Williams's attempts to overcome deep divisions over the ordination of women and gay people, "no matter what he does he makes someone mad."
Anglican conservatives set up a splinter movement earlier this month, in rejection of the acceptance of gay bishops.
And last week the General Synod, the Church of England's ruling body, voted in favour of legislation aimed at introducing women bishops, a move which generated acrimony.
Some 1,300 clergy opposed to it had threatened to leave the Church if the safeguards they wanted were not agreed.
I must disagree Libertarianize the GOP, this is not a social meeting nor debate club, there is no genteel way to reject a false doctrine coming from the Pulpit.
Put it another way, better to speak and be thrown out, then not speak and give quite agreement to the message being propagated.
hb,
Thanks for serving up THE definitive description of Harry Reid.
This is the rankest heresy imaginable. You can discard the words of prophets and apostles about sin, if they make you feel "unworthy," because Gene says God doesn't care about His Word anymore. This so-called "bishop" is closer to being a Unitarian or Buddhist than any kind of Christian.
It’s obvious he is a heretic. How many times does he start his phrases with “I think..”. Never once does he quote the Bible. Obviously because it would show that he is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
The very man responsible for tearing the church apart is blaming others. Have him start his own church instead of destroying the one he professes to believe in. Probably good enough reason to disrupt the service in which he is speaking.
“Liberals want to do to churches what they have done to many communities. They move in and immediately get started on changing established traditions and systems to suit their needs. They want everything to reflect their image. They should start the Church of Narcissus.”
I used to work with a homosexual guy. He said he turned ‘gay’ at age 30. I liked his personality (he served in the military) but I was very opposed to his far-left jingoistic knee-jerk simplistic slogans. He acted very outraged that equal rights were being “denied” for homosexual marriage. But at another time he was adamant that queers must be allowed completely unrestrained “hedonism.”
Oh yeah? Like hedonism and homosexual marriage dovetails together very nicely? I really don’t think liberals are just making changes to suit their “needs” but they are insistent on forcing subversion of the basic unit which is the family (in which children have the best chance of becoming the best adjusted adults and truly compassionate individuals). The liberals are going whole-hog in implementing “social-engineering” in all parts of society and in every strata where possible. We need to think like soldiers and really fight back HARD!
I would refer Robinson to a few hundred passages from the Bible (I use King James, but these are similarly rendered in the Aramaic/Greek original and all translations I have seen). In context, in almost every book, and beyond any possibility of mistranslation we can find quotes like:
Genesis 42:18 - Then Joseph said to them the third day, “Do this and live, for I fear God…
Exodus 20:20 - And Moses said to the people, “Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin.”
Leviticus 19:14 - You shall not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind, but shall fear your God: I am the LORD.
Deuteronomy 5:29 - Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever!
Joshua 24:14 - Now therefore, fear the LORD, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the LORD!
1 Samuel 12:24 - Only fear the LORD, and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you.
2 Samuel 23:3 - The God of Israel said,The Rock of Israel spoke to me: ‘He who rules over men must be just, Ruling in the fear of God.’
1 Kings 18:3 - And Ahab had called Obadiah, who was in charge of his house. (Now Obadiah feared the LORD greatly.
2 Kings 17:39 - But the LORD your God you shall fear; and He will deliver you from the hand of all your enemies.
2 Chronicles 19:9 - And he commanded them, saying, “Thus you shall act in the fear of the LORD, faithfully and with a loyal heart.”
Nehemiah 7:2 - … that I gave the charge of Jerusalem to my brother Hanani, and Hananiah the leader of the citadel, for he was a faithful man and feared God more than many
Job 28:28 - And to man He said, “Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, And to depart from evil is understanding.”
Psalm 111:10 - The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.
Proverbs 14:27 - The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, To turn one away from the snares of death.
Ecclesiastes 12:13 - Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s all.
Isaiah 33:6 - Wisdom and knowledge will be the stability of your times, And the strength of salvation; The fear of the LORD is His treasure.
Jeremiah 32:39 - …then I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me forever, for the good of them and their children after them.
Daniel 6:26 - I make a decree that in every dominion of my kingdom men must tremble and fear before the God of Daniel.For He is the living God, And steadfast forever; His kingdom is the one which shall not be destroyed, And His dominion shall endure to the end.
Hosea 3:5 - Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the LORD their God and David their king. They shall fear the LORD and His goodness in the latter days.
Jonah 1:9 - So he said to them, “I am a Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”
Zephaniah 3:7 - I said, ‘Surely you will fear Me, You will receive instruction’— So that her dwelling would not be cut off, Despite everything for which I punished her.
Haggai 1:12 - … obeyed the voice of the LORD their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the LORD their God had sent him; and the people feared the presence of the LORD.
Malachi 2:5 - “My covenant was with him, one of life and peace, And I gave them to him that he might fear Me; So he feared Me And was reverent before My name.
Luke 18:2 - saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man.”
Acts 9:31 - Then the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were edified. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplied.
Romans 11:20 - Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear.
2 Corinthians 7:1 - Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
Ephesians 5:21 - …submitting to one another in the fear of God.
Philippians 2:12 - Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;
Colossians 3:22 - Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God.
Hebrews 12:28 - Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.
1 Peter 2:17 - Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God.
Revelation 11:18 - … And that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints, And those who fear Your name, small and great.
"Fear" is used in other ways in some passages, but I can't imagine interpreting the Bible as a whole as a suggestion that we should NOT fear God.
There is a distinction between protesting over an external issue and denouncing heresy to its face.
Rest assured, if I heard heresy from the pulpit of my church, I'd confront it.
I'd refer you to Acts 13:4-12.
Yep..how to deal with a wayward church and clergy? Express
whats in your heart regarding the truth and walk out. Vacate the Anglican church and don’t support it. Let them stew in their own crooked heresies and go down in spiritual-financial doom.
What a mockery this man makes of the Word of God. So sickening, and I do mean physically sickening. People like him do not inspire hated in me, only nausea.
Its about time someone stood up and called this farce what it is. Robinson wasnt there to worship, he was there to grind a political axe and score points. I’m glad someone called him on it. (Note - I think it was the parishoners place to stand up in his own parish - i don’t think outside groups should come in and disrupt services of any sort)
I think that church members have a right to protest an action inside their own church. I don’t think it is seemly for outside groups to protest during a service. I think there is a clear cut difference between the two.
I have personal experience with that, actually.
Your points are well-taken, ma’am and I appreciate you writing back.
We stayed and fought for a little while, but it was obvious that our parish and the diocese of Atlanta were lost causes and we would be trying to use a squirt gun to fight a forest fire.
Fortunately we found a very welcoming Catholic parish that has proved to be a sound, orthodox home. And we got good music as part of the bargain! (This Sunday's lineup: offertory: Adrian Batten (ca.1591 - ca.1637) "O Sing Joyfully"; communion: C.W. Gluck (1747-1787) "Lord I Trust Thee". The Gluck is an easy setting of one of his operatic melodies with devotional words, but the Batten is something special, and our choirmaster decided to ring it in at the last minute instead of the Mozart "Jubilate Deo". He does that so our less confident singers don't get anticipatory cold feet - and it seems to work, we sang it beautifully, though not at as quick a tempo as it is usually sung.
You can hear it here: O Sing Joyfully
Amazon has excerpts of course, but this anthem has so many amazing shifts of tempo, melody, and counterpoint that the whole thing has to be heard to be appreciated.
This is the compline choir at St. David's Episcopal in Austin -- an excellent choir. Apparently they have a fan who records all their service music and puts it on the net here. Look for the English composers -- Byrd, Tallis, Gibbons, Amner -- there is much richness here! Of course the Palestrina "Alma Redemptoris Mater" can't be beat! But I think my all time favorite English anthem is the anonymous Rejoice in the Lord Alway. It's even more fun to sing than it is to listen.
Buddhist teaching does not support homosexual behavior.
If Robinson is officiating, it’s not a church service.
An attack on His Sacred Teaching with the walls of a church must be met immediately!
"Not to oppose error is to approve it; and not to defend truth is to suppress it; and indeed to neglect to confound evil men, when we can do it, is no less a sin than to encourage them." ~~ Pope Saint Felix III
We have a disagrement then. Silence is acceptance and acceptance in this case means that the church isnt the church.
I applaud this mans backbone for mentioning this before the church.
By the clapping of the congregation in the video, note that most of the church body did too.
I will pray earnestly for the wayward priests eyes to be opened to his sin ( just like I pray for my own and my personal friends and family) , but loving him and praying for him does not mean he should be given a silent pass to being a bad shepard and leading others astray.
Buddhism, or at least the Dalai Lama, waffles on sexuality. However, I was referring to a heresy going far behind the gay issue. This Bishop Gene Robinson is basically saying that Scripture can be ignored, that all one has to do is “show up” and demonstrate some vague “feelings.” He also says that one should forget about the fact that one’s actions used to be deemed “unworthy,” that God thinks that everyone is worthy. Christianity is based on the concept of sin, that we must repent of sin, and that we by ourselves can never be worthy. Robinson violates all the central beliefs of Christianity, not just stipulations against homosexuality.
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