Posted on 11/24/2014 10:23:21 AM PST by Mrs. Don-o
Encouraging to see who he does and does not acknowledge as his fellow Christians.
To avoid irking a sizeable portion of the Free Republic readership, shouldn’t the denomination of the church be referenced somewhere in the OP’s headline?
Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Alliance, non-denoninational Christian, Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, etc.
Because Baptists are not the only ones who have a church leadership.
I would respectfully disagree.
Extramarital heterosexual intercourse is a sin, but it is not disordered.
I think confusion is of the devil. I really believe that. So we should do everything we can to make sure that the Church’s teaching is clear and loving, and that we live that doctrine clearly and lovingly and not just talk about it. But that doesn’t mean that you reject anybody, and that doesn’t mean that you chase people away or condemn them.(3) It means you accompany them in all this, but you do it with clarity.
If we don’t evangelize clearly, the world will evangelize in our place(4). And that leads to disaster.
(1) The active presence of the evil one in our culture is not to be underestimated. The promotion of sodomy and mindless coupling in popular entertainment is of demonic origin.
(2) Yes, indeed: confusion is of the devil. Satan persuaded Eve that if she "ate of the fruit" she would be able to tell good from evil. Ever since, satan has tried to persuade Men that good is evil, and evil is good.
(3) Not sure what he means, here, and this can be misinterpreted. Sinful behavior MUST be condemned. Sinners MUST be called to repentance. We Christians are called to be clear on that point.
(4) Yes ... abandoning children to anti-Christ government schools, enlisting the perverts on TV to be electronic babysitters, supporting an all-powerful State ... yes, the world has many ways to evangelize with its demonic lies.
If not you, who?
If not now, when?
Sure it's disordered. Any sin is disordered. Extramarital intercourse is disordered in fewer ways than sodomy, but it's still disordered.
And something most Western bishops/church leaders will avoid like the plague.
Because to many in the pews engage in such acts outside of marriage.
A pastor once told me flat out that he wouldn’t address sexual morality because he didn’t want to “divide the community” ...
Sinful and disordered to me are different concepts. Sin is a religious concept that does not exist for the non-religious who would probably define religious sin in the context of moral (or immoral) or ethical (or unethical) behavior. I think disordered is a good term to describe acts or behaviors that have negative consequences and, while perhaps accepted by society, nevertheless are contrary to what might be best for society.
If that's it, it shouldn't be surprising. Mormons are not Chrisians in the historic sense. They do not have a Nicene Christology and do not recognize Jesus as the Only-Begotten Son, Who with the Father and the Holy Spirit, the three persons are are the One God; they do not believe in the Trinity. They do not believe in the closed Canon of Scripture, which means that public revelation ceased with the death of the last Apostle.
The Ctholi Church does not believe that a MOrmon baptism is a valid bBaptism, because they mean something entirely diffeent b i. In contrast, th Catholic Church recognizes almost ll other Christian ecclesial cmmunities' pracice of Baptim as valid. If a Calvinist, for instance, were to be received into the Catholic Church, he or she would not be re-baptized. Three is one Baptism, and they've got it, that's it, with very few exceptions (e.g. Jehovah's Witnesses.)
Or was it something else that caught your eye?
But disordered in the sense of outside of God's plan for sex in marriage; out-of-order; often inordinate.
Amen.
How about a person who cannot distinguish between a women's dress and a man's liturgical vestment?
HOw about a person who suffers from, or feigns, a complete ignorance of the traditional gestures of ceremonial respect?
That’s a cheap shot. Do you have the same misunderstanding with judicial robes, choir robes, graduation robes? The clothing is historically based, and though now anachronistic, it reflects a time when men wore long tunics. it’s not a dress, and it never was.
Show me where I said that the concept sin did not exist for me personally.
A non-religious -—atheist for example— will define what Christians call sin in secular terms such as moral and immoral behavior, hence their belief that humans are constrained from acting badly by the need for an ordered society. I am not saying I am arguing this, only explaining why the notion of sin and disordered are different things in my mind.
Cute comment that lends nothing to informed discourse.
It sounds as if you've just described all sexual activity outside marriage (with the possible exception of that kept entirely to oneself, not while watching porn in the public library.) "Disordered" is a very effective term.
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