Posted on 03/05/2011 2:15:27 PM PST by americanophile
The Presbyterian Church-USA, one of the nation’s oldest and largest mainline Christian denominations, is in the middle of a crucial vote among its leadership to determine whether or not open homosexuals will be allowed to fill the church’s pulpits. At the denomination’s General Assembly in July 2010, delegates approved by a 373 to 323 vote a measure that would allow open homosexuals to pastor and minister in the flagship Presbyterian denomination’s 11,000 congregations and serve its estimated 2.3 million members.
A vote on the amendment is now making its way through the church’s 173 regional presbyteries, a process that must be completed by this summer. If half of the presbyteries approve the measure, references to sexuality will be stricken from the denomination’s bylaws and homosexuals will be allowed ordination. The General Assembly has approved homosexual ordination three times in the past, only to have the change rejected by the regional presbyteries.
(Excerpt) Read more at thenewamerican.com ...
The PC (Politically Correct) (USA) Church is losing members, so it has to reach out to the vast homosexual population.
In 1999, the PC(USA) reported 2,560,201 members, so the current membership reflects a net loss of 483,063 members, or about 18.9 percent, over the last 10 years.
I saw in the State paper in Arkanas this was approved. It also stated they voted Yey to saying sex outside of marriage was also approved for everyone!!!!! This is an old and dying Church. They can not pay their electricity bill to use the main church building they have such a small membership. Too bad cause the church building is old and beautiful and closed.
YUP. And the OPC and PCA had best be ready to swing the doors open wide, because there will be a flood a'comin... And thank the Father for that. PCUSA needs to go down.
’ moved on to the Wesleyan denomination,’ moving from one godless denomination the PCUSA to another one, an Arminian/Wesleyan denomination is not an improvement.
‘reflects a net loss of 483,063 members, or about 18.9 percent, over the last 10 years.’ That is not fast enough. Nearly all however are still influenced by their liberal denomination beliefs and do not join the PCA or the OPC. We are better off without them.
Translation: "We'll never get to do any of the neato, fun stuff the flesh craves if we start out with all those rules and moral absolutes in the Bible."
I have no idea what you are talking about. The Wesleyan denomination is extremely conservative in every way. It’s pro-life and and opposed to homosexual pastors, which makes it 100% different from the PCUSA.
http://www.wesleyan.org/beliefs
For now it is pro-life and does not have homosexual pastors, yet it has women pastors and is heading the way of actively gay pastors. More important, Wesleyan philosophy which rejects TULIP rejects scripture. To reject these concepts means a rejection of Christianity.
Wesleyanism is a heresy.
“Standing Firm: The Wesleyan Church Speaks on Contemporary Issues”
“We believe that abortion is the taking of human life; therefore, society brings grave danger to itself by
permitting abortion on demand, and thus treating God-given life so lightly.
We call our members to oppose this social evil with great vigor.
The Wesleyan Church stands firm against the EVIL of abortion—both the personal evil of abortion by any individual among us and the worldwide social evil of abortion, which we believe must someday end.
Until that day, we will instruct our people to avoid this sin personally, and call them to the work of enlightening a blind culture, as we once did with the sin of slavery.
Life is a gift of God. It is sacred. Christians are compared to light and as such are expected to have a
pervading influence for good in society.
Also, Christians are to exert a salting impact on our world. By word of mouth and by godly living, Christians should strongly influence sanctity-of-life issues.
We specifically reaffirm our strong position that the practice of homosexuality is a SIN, and that even the propensity toward homosexuality is out of step with both the
order of creation and the will of God.
On this matter we cannot and will NOT compromise—the only
marriage blessed by God is a lifelong commitment between one man and one woman.
Ministering to Homosexuals
From a biblical background, we seek to minister to the homosexual as we should to any person who violates God’s laws of chastity and purity.
1. How should we apply the gospel of Jesus Christ to homosexuality?
We should clearly proclaim that God created Adam and Eve heterosexual.
We must declare homosexuality to be a PERVERSION; that it is not an acceptable lifestyle.
In performing marriages, Wesleyan ministers shall NOT unite in marriage persons of the same sex (Discipline 3112).
Parents should thoroughly instruct their children concerning the true sexuality of their bodies and carefully warn them that homosexuals may attempt to take advantage of them.
Public School Prayer
“The Wesleyan Church . . . affirms . . . its conviction that the Bible is an appropriate book for reading in
the public schools and that the right of students to pray should not be abridged” (Discipline 410:8).
I am a member of the ultra-conservative, Bible-believing Wesleyan denomination, and I resent your implications that they are headed in the direction of the liberal, democrat-controlled, despicable PCUSA. Do not post to me again.
ok, I will not post to you again, but I will leave you the link to a real church, the www.opc.org
They should be able to tell you the reasons why their group considers that we see the inherent Satanism of Free-Will Arminianism
They may also be able to tell you why the OPC/PCA believe that John Wesley preached Universal Infant Damnation for unbaptized infants -- which is unsurprising, because Wesley preached the Gospel of Satan -->
As a PCUSA member it is sad. We recently left our church of many years over this issue. We found another church a bit farther from home. It too is PCUSA, and I was hesitant to go there (supporting the Beast to some degree at the national level). However, this church is part of a group of PCUSA churches that has gone so far as to sign a commitment to no homosexual preachers - even if it means getting kicked out of the PCUSA if it comes to that.
Very Bible believing, evangelical and mission oriented. Any preacher I have heard preach there (huge church) gives preaches the Bible. One of them is VERY adament on how “I don’t have a choice. It is NOT just some guidlines - it is how God wants us to live. It is a command - I don’t get to vote on it.
What is interesting is that he has some typical homosexual tendencies, single, and lives with a bunch of other guys in a large house. And he has let it be known that he does not desire to have children. I suppose I am a bigot in letting those tendencies influence me. A best friend way back had similar mannerisms and was as straight as anyone - but just a kind and gentle guy. (Except for the bully that called him a faggot - and he knocked him out and broke his jaw in two places with one punch!)
But, whenever the homosexual issue comes up - this pastor is right there denouncing it, along with premarital sex and all the other stuff some of us might like to do. We all have our sins, vices, bad habits, etc. But we also have our own will, and our choice whether to follow God’s word - or our own desires.
But like he said - we don’t get a vote.
This vile amendment has been consistently voted down by the Presbyteries. Pray that this righteous decision continues.
If the PCUSA adopts the amendment, it will finish off this once-fine denomination.
But since "we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose," even this ungodly outcome will serve His will by enlarging the membership rolls of PCAs and OPCs throughout the country.
"For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you." -- 1 Corinthians 11:19
Thanks for the thoughtful message. It’s hard to be in a church embroiled in a civil war over homosexuality. The war keeps going, because the forces of secularism and lust are relentless. And people keep heading for the door. The church is destroyed and only the ashes of dead civilization remain.
It sounds like your pastor is under pressure. Let’s hope he gets a lot of support from the community. The evangelist Ted Haggard in Colorado seems to be in the same boat, and yet he vows to fight the impulses and stay faithful to his wife and God, just like a reformed alchoholic fights the perennial temptation of alcohol.
God Bless.
“The war keeps going...”
Yes - and it always will. Especially when you believe, as I do, that Satan is there at every turn to help the forces of seularism. I just was watching this youtube of a local Christian acoustic guitarist/singer. VERY talented with great lyrics and creative music (modern music). Worth a listen if you enjoy that type of music.
David Harsh, “Warriers of Prayer”, with a guitar “battle” in the middle of it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7h6X0SRmyxo
thanks!
Looks like what I have been saying will happen.
First the Anglicans moved toward the Catholic Church.
Second, the Lutherans are moving toward the Catholic Church.
And when that happened with the Lutherans, I predicted the Presbyterians would be next to move.
Wow!
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