Maybe if he wasn't gay he wouldn't have picked the squids?
Just kidding.
Posted on 08/11/2007 10:08:38 PM PDT by KerryOnNoMore
"We did decline to host the service _ not based on hatred, not based on discrimination, but based on principle," Simons told The Associated Press. "Had we known it on the day they first spoke about it _ yes, we would have declined then. It's not that we didn't love the family." Simons said the decision had nothing to do with the obituary. He said the church offered to pay for another site for the service, made the video and provided food for more than 100 relatives and friends. "Even though we could not condone that lifestyle, we went above and beyond for the family through many acts of love and kindness," Simons said. Wright called the church's claim about the pictures "a bold-faced lie." She said she provided numerous family pictures of Sinclair, including some with his partner, but said none showed men kissing or hugging. The 5,000-member High Point Church was founded in 2000 by Simons and his wife, April, whose brother is Joel Osteen, well-known pastor of the 38,000-member Lakewood Church in Houston. Now High Point meets in a 432,000-square-foot facility in Arlington, near Dallas. Wright said relatives declined the church's offer to hold the service at a community center because they felt it was an inappropriate venue. It ultimately was held at a funeral home, but the cancellation still lingered in some minds, she said.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
But not of his choice in volition.
Instead, the consequences of that volition are allowed to follow their path.
When they result in good for nothingness and no other opportunity exists to perform good in that person;s life, God promotes them to either heaven or removes them from the clutter to the place where the worm never sleeps.
Even the Lake of Fire created for the fallen angels as a place for final disposition is simply a place for those things found to be good for nothingness.
THE FUZZY GOD
If you ask around, you find that there are not at all many hard-core atheists about. Most people say they believe in “god”, but I want to suggest that they are usually not talking about the Creator God of the Bible, but about a false, “fuzzy” god, whom I shall label “fuzzgod” for short.
Unless our concept of God is totally based upon what God has revealed about Him- self, the word “God” has no fixed content, and communicates no objective meaning. As evolution has eroded trust in the reliability of the Bible, many churches have begun contemplating such ideas as whether God could be referred to as “she”. Let’s face it—if people are only talking about a god of their own imaginings (which is all that is possible if the revelation of the true God is effectively discarded) they might be conceivably talking about a three-horned cosmic cow.
On the other hand, once revelation is accepted as authoritative, there is no room for argument on the subject of God’s “gender.” Having been told that God is spirit, we are plainly told that He wishes believers to address Him as Father, not mother—end of discussion.
Let’s list some features of this popular god of today:
l. “Fuzzgod” is not a god of holiness. Whereas the true God hates sin and has repeatedly acted in judgment in history, fuzzgod wouldn’t do anything like that. Fuzzgod only makes people feel good, not bad. Fuzzgod is convenient to give comfort when you need warm fuzzies, and doesn’t really mind about you cheating on your tax. Fuzzgod is good to send just about everyone to heaven (or maybe arrange reincarnation).
2. Fuzzgod accommodates everyone’s opinions. We’ve all heard people say what they think God would or wouldn’t do, oblivious to the pronouncements of the Bible. They must be talking about fuzzgod, since the true God gas set down what is right and wrong regardless of our opinion.
3. The character of the true God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Many regard that as a little stodgy today—unwilling to change (evolve) with the times. Not like fuzzgod, who is quite flexible, depending on the need—sort of fuzzy around the edges. Fuzzgod’s adherents are similar. I remember asking a hospital chaplain whether he was theologically liberal or conservative. He replied, “Whichever the patient wants me to be.”
4. Fuzzgod is broadminded—offering many different ways to truth and enlightenment, whereas God the Creator says there is only one way to Him, through the death and sacrifice of His Son, Jesus.
5. Fuzzgod is only “sort of” the creator of all things. When fuzzgod’s devotees are engaged in sinful actions, it’s convenient to focus on the “impersonal” aspects of the idea that we just evolved from animals- less sense of responsibility that way. But when they want meaning or purpose to existence, the idea of fuzzgod as some sort of vague, impotent guiding force to the evolutionary process helps in a fuzzy sort of way.
The “unfuzzy” miracle- working God of the Bible tells us clearly that He did not stand by while millions of years of death and accidents did the creating. That sort of powerful God, who caused billions of dead things to be buried in rock layers because of judgment on a sinful world, is quite uncomfortable for the unconverted.
A Christian commercial on public TV features children telling us that “God made everything.” I suspect it will do little to wake people up to the Gospel because most would respond, “Yeah, I know that God (they mean the fuzzy variety) let everything evolve.” A fuzzy god leads to a fuzzy (or non-existent) Gospel.
All of this underscores why it is so important to make it clear that pro- claiming and defending Genesis creation is about more than just “God making things.” It is about the authority of the Bible, and the power and nature of (the true) God. It is about the reality of the Fall and the origin of sin. Thus the ultimate concern is about the whole message of salvation—only through the blood of Jesus Christ.
Good post. Faith first, with love, first for God, then our fellow man. All through daily intake of Bible doctrine for the epistemological rehabilitation of our thinking processes and daily testing.
Maybe if he wasn't gay he wouldn't have picked the squids?
Just kidding.
Thank you for speaking out as today's representative of the ignorant "Christian Taliban", whose adherents are stuck in the same eighth-century misinterpretation of reality as are their Mohammed-worshiping counterparts!
Just because you insist on misinterpreting Genesis, that does not make you holy, righteous, or any more dedicated to the Creator than those of us believers who study and admire the evidence of His almighty acts of creation and development of His univese.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Three questions for you:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I fully expect that our infinite, eternal Creator God will deal harshly with those who, for egotistical reasons such as yours, have ridiculed the evidence of the awesome majesty of His creation. And I am convinced that those who label Him as a liar and trickster (for supposedly faking millions of years of fossil evidence in a short "flood" episode) will face His wrath for doing so.
So, don't attempt top dump your self-righteous "holier-than-thou" medieval mindset on those of us who are born-again believers -- and who also have used the minds and tools He gave us to transcend and reject your primitive misrepresentation of both Genesis and His awesome Creation.
Just because your limited intellect can not comprehend the awesome magnitude of our omnipotent, omnipresent, gracious, eternal Creator and His majestic works -- does not make Him "fuzzy". It is only the smallness of your mind that makes you see Him as "fuzzy". And, it is only your self-righteous arrogance (along with Satan's prompting) that leads you to publicly denigrate Him as “Fuzzgod”. No doubt, He will reward you (appropriately) for your public insult...
Your self-imposed ignorance does not make you righteous -- or right...
Wow, you are really threatened by this huh?!! Judgemental and hostile too. Too bad.
That’s ok (wink) I forgive ya. :D
Merit based seems a bit more logical and fair. But, what do I know about it (hint, no more or less than you).
It’s not a disorder? What is it then?
It is the judgment of God revealed. The following passage shows that homosexuality is God's judgment on those who supress truth and disregard God's blessings.
Romans 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,... 24 Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves,..
26 For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.
And you are the judge of that? Hardly Christ-like.
I think you misunderstood what the poster was saying. He wasn’t calling your Creator and Savior, “Fuzzgod.” He was saying “Fuzzgod” existed today because people have invented him instead of obeying what your Creator and Savior has revealed about Himself and their true condition in the Bible.
2. God hates sins, not sinners.
3. This church through it’s not so infinite wisdom is denying
the power of Christs healing blood.
I attended the funeral of a gay man in a Baptist church about 3-1/2 years ago. He had become a Christian before his death and I had the honor to be holding him on his left side when he died. The church could have been legalistic and declined to hold the funeral, but as a result of the service, about 200 gay men and women had the opportunity -- probably the first for many of them -- to hear the message of salvation preached by both the pastor and by my friend's uncle, who is also a pastor. As the mourners viewed the body and filed past those of us in the front row, almost all of them said it was the most beautiful funeral service that they had ever attended.
This church who refused to offer a funeral is a horrible witness to Christ.
No, what is "threatened" by your primitive proclamations is all of Christianity's ability to effectively obey our Lord's "Great Commission" in Matthew 28: 18-20.
Ask yourself why you insist on touting your ignorant YEC position instead of concentrating on proclaiming the Gospel of our Saviour...
~~~~~~~~~
BTW, I note that you refused (or were unable) to answer those three questions...
or didn’t bother replying to such ridiculous things.
The Jewish mystics claim that God will hold us to account if we fail to notice, to inquire, to try and understand the world around us. I agree (emphasis mine):
For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, [even] his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
Because that, when they knew God, they glorified [him] not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. - Romans 1:18-21
Also, the Jews see the Torah as a direct revelation of God. We Christians see all of Scripture as a revelation of God. Moreover we Christians see the Father's most important revelations in Himself - in the Person of Jesus Christ and in the indwelling Holy Spirit.
But we are all individuals and tend to understand things somewhat differently. Moreover - at the forefront of these debates - and fueling resentments is the different understanding among Christians concerning the creation of man which derives, not from science, but from our understanding of Scripture.
Specifically, we Christians have different interpretations of Romans 5:12–14 and I Corinthians 15:42–48: one side says that Adam was the first mortal man and the other says that Adam was the first ensouled man. Thus, the interpretation among Christians concerning Genesis 1-3 (the origin of man) cuts this way:
Gosse Omphalus Hypothesis which says that Adam was the first mortal man and that God created an old looking universe some 6000 years ago in proper or absolute time.
Old Earth Creationism which says that Adam was the first ensouled man, that the universe is some 15 billion years old in proper or absolute time, that evolution occurred and Adam was ensouled some 6000 years ago in proper or absolute time.
Special Creationism which says that Adam was created some 6000 years ago in some unspecified time and place.
My view – which is akin to Jewish physicist Gerald Schroeder's is that we must consider both relativity and inflationary theory – that some 15 billion years from our space/time coordinates is equal to 6 equivalent earth days at the inception space/time coordinates. There is no conflict with Genesis 1.
I go a bit further than Schroeder in asserting that God is the author of Genesis and the only observer of His own Creation and thus we must look at those Scriptures from the inception perspective until Adam is banished to mortality at the end of chapter 3, at which point the space/time perspective changes to Adamic man. Therefore, I assert that the first three chapters of Scripture deal with the creation not only of the physical realm but the spiritual as well (Gen 1:1, Gen 2:4-5)
A Christian believes that the Son of God became enfleshed in the body of a virgin, died on a cross for our sins, resurrected and is sitting at the right hand of the Father in heaven and will come again. That while He was here, He walked on water, raised the dead, made the blind to see, the lame to walk and so on. Since we believe all of this, it is not a stretch for us to believe other miracles, e.g. Jonas and the whale, the Noah flood, the parting of the Red Sea, the burning bush, the plagues on Egypt, Creation week and so on.
I confess though that it troubles me when one of my brothers or sisters in Christ hinges his belief in Jesus Christ on physical evidence of a young earth. It is tantamount to saying “God, if you did not create everything in the way that I have interpreted your Holy Scriptures, then I reject you.”
After all, the mortal mind is indescribably puny compared to God.
Talk about “anthropomorphizing God” …. Jeepers.
For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:
But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.
Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. – I Corinthians 1:19-25
After all, doubting Thomas was an apostle, too. And Jesus provided evidence so that he could believe (John).
So for those "doubting Thomases" who can receive it: the "unreasonable effectiveness of math" is God's copyright notice on the cosmos.
Nevertheless and despite whatever a Christian admits to his base of knowledge or how he prioritizes it, the bottom line flows from the Great Commandment (Matt 22:)
Love God surpassingly above all else. Believe Him. Trust Him. Follow Him.
Not really - just as we fail to feed resentment as we disregard fairies, scary ghosts, magic pixie dust and wandering garden gnomes.
So how do know that this man did not repent in his final moments? Are you God?
I was heavily involved in the art and music scene during my teens and twenties. During that time, I encountered a lot of gays and became friends with them. I remember chatting with a friend once and made a remark in jest that so many gays have such good looks that they could have any woman they wanted. He turned to me and said, "Yes, they look good now and they looked good as children." I felt awful at that moment.
My personal experience is that a large percentage of gay men were molested as children. I've also found out that almost 100% of gay men (I can't vouch for lesbians) were rejected or felt rejected by their fathers when they were growing up. The friend that I spoke about in an earlier post fell into that last category -- he was an artistic, un-athletic guy whose father would have nothing to do with him because he wasn't macho and athletic. I know this is true because I know his family very well. He came to know Christ and repent because his oldest sister and a few friends chose to love him instead of rejecting them.
How would you like to go to heaven and find out that someone you rejected is in hell because you felt that you were too good to witness to them?
The point is that you see a gay man as someone that you should not associate with. God sees them as sinners but also wants them to repent and come to him. Churches need to reach out to the gay community (note that I did not say compromise God's word) and invite them in. The vast majority of gays are desperately unhappy people who would respond to God's call if more Christians would offer it. Jesus did not reject prostitutes, tax collectors, and other sinners -- he met them where they were and invited them into his kingdom. We should do the same.
For instance, one who accepts as reality only that which is perceptible to the physical senses (microscope to telescope) cannot have the same understanding of word concepts as one who is dead to this world and yet alive with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:3)
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