Posted on 07/03/2012 4:26:09 AM PDT by scottjewell
As the battle over gay marriage heats up in this election year, one evangelical Christian writer is calling for a truce, fearing that the outspoken opposition to gay marriage among some church leaders could alienate an entire generation of religious youth. . . . A 2011 survey by the Public Religion Research Institute shows the generation gap between young Christians and their elders is large, with 44 percent of white evangelicals aged 18-29 in support of marriage equality compared to only 12 percent of those 65 and older. According to the same survey, nearly 70 percent of young Christians also agree that religious groups are alienating young people by being too judgmental about gay and lesbian issues. “For young Christians, having gay and lesbian friends is just a part of our life,” Held Evans said. “It’s just really hard for us to see them as mere issues to debate, because we’re talking about our friends here.”
(Excerpt) Read more at usnews.msnbc.msn.com ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Religion_Research_Institute
Public Religion Research Institute (note to self: who are these people?), teaming up with the press and politicians, to figure us out and control us.
Then, that exposes them as "evangelicals" in the Jim Wallis mold.
It's impossible to be a follower of Christ and tolerant of homosexual marriage at the same time.
I attend a community church in Yorktown, VA, at which the pastor regularly takes strong stands against homosexuality. We've had 300% growth in the past four years, many of whom are young people in their 20s. It's very encouraging!
Of course, the qualifier... this area of VA is very conservative.
Anyone leaving a church over this already had one foot out the door to begin with. Let them go, and pray for them.
70% young Christians aren’t Christians if they hold that homosexuality is ok.
SOCCOL!! This is exactly correct.
If the Bible is merely a set of club bylaws and can be rewritten to suit the current fad among younger or newer members, then why bother following all those rules that ask us to do hard things the hard way? Why not just go with a club that allows stealing (if you don't get caught), that celebrates adultery (if the partner is "hot"), and that allows us to force others to help the sick and the poor so we don't have to do it with our own time and money. In other words, why not just become Democrats if the Bible is only a handbook that can be revised by ordinary people?
As the battle over imperial sacrifices heats up in this election year, one Christian writer is calling for a truce, fearing that the outspoken opposition to pagan rituals among some church leaders could alienate an entire generation of Romans.
Threshing time.
The issue of homosexuality is as much of a winnowing fork as Sarah Palin was.
Both are being used to separate the wheat and the chaff.
Son #3 left the church we were attending and had attended almost all my life because he felt they were too liberal. He said he was more confused about his faith after going through confirmation class. A friend took him to non-denomination evangelical church where is now the assistant pastor.
While the rest of us still belong to the old church, we really haven’t attended since the sermon on global warming and dying polar bears. That one did if for my husband and I. We attend my son’s church occasionally, but they are really energetic :-) Wish we could find a new home. I didn’t change, but my church sure did.
“evangelicals” has been redefined and self defined.
Those of a biblical worldview, ie, those who not only believe IN Jesus, but BELIEVE Jesus, are His. Others will hear “depart from Me”.
I guess it is too much to ask to report the news without taking sides.
Maybe it should run like this:
44 percent of white evangelicals aged 18-29 in support of government encouragement for Sodomy, a sin that cries out to heaven for vengeance.
Nah... the first thing to remember about God is that He is Holy and will not tolerate sin. In His great love He provided a way for our sins to be removed from us through Jesus. So... we’ve all sinned and need His forgiveness and grace. Homosexuals are refusing to acknowledge that they sin and are even demanding that the church recognize their sinful unions as equivalent to marriage. It’s “unrepented” sin that makes people uncomfortable in church...
Nonbelievers insist that uncompromising morality is bad for religion. Beliievers practice moral absolutes as the cornerstone of their faith.
Yes, & they report it as though it had a natural and organic evolution. They fail to state that indoctrination - ruthless and relentless - was the vehicle used to get such poll numbers.
“marriage equality”
What equality? Perverted homosexuals cannot reproduce. Equality means the ability to do the same as others.
“Personally, I avoid wasting my time hanging out with a bunch of hypocrites or those that ignore passages in God’s Word,”
So you choose to ignore the passage in God’s Word which instructs us to worship with others?
Church’s are made up of people and as you stated, people are not perfect. I agree that people don’t treat gays all that well. However, that is pretty much true of anyone who sets themselves apart from society in any way.
BTW, loving someone does not mean approving their behavior or allowing them to do things which place other people at a higher risk.
Agreed 100%.
Between our own kids and their spouses, we have 7 of them in their 20's. All are strong Christians. All know that homosexuality is awful in God's eye - as is sex outside of marriage. They can be quite vocal about it. I am so thankful that they have heard this as much in church as they have from their parents (not their extended family however).
Instead of alienating the homsexuals and those living together without marriage, I believe the Lord is equipping them to minister to them and give them the Truth in a much better way than my generation can, for the most part.
To be Christian means to accept Jesus as your savior. It doesn’t mean you are Baptist, Presbyterian or Catholic.
“the numbers game” is important for several reasons. First it is important for churches to be financially stable which requires money which in turn requires people in the pews.
Church doesn’t have to be boring and music is not of the devil.
Sure anything can be taken too far, thats true of most anything. Winning souls for Jesus is really all thats important.
We already have marriage equality. Any single man can marry any single woman. Likewise any single woman can marry any single man.
Whats unequal about that?
No worries.
The coffee bars, the widescreen TVs in the chancel, the Yanni hymnals and the Bible Via IPhone classes should bring’em right back into the fold.
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