For example, seeing as Jesus drank wine, I doubt Churches that banned alchohol when prohibition was a popular thing were hearing from God.
No wonder Christianity is in decline in the West.
What say you?
Drinking, gambling, rock music, etc. are not defined in the Bible as sins per se. Anything that comes between you and God is wrong and should be condemded but not necessarily as a sin. Anything in excess, ie that controls you, is bad.
Homosexuality is specifically denouced as a sin in the Bible. No amount of rewriting by-laws will change that. Churches that doing this are more interested in the present life of their church and placating the political winds.
Bylaws - about what’s sin or not..... how about just use the Bible
Having investigated this by talking to individuals who were leaders in churches at this time, and the current “senior” leaders of such churches (including PC, USA; whom I just left after decades of service; I have served as an elder, deacon, and even informally as a substitute pastor); the truth is painful, but hard to ignore. They simply don’t believe in God. They have a spiritual belief, but not one that is consistent with scripture. They do not believe that the Bible is the infallible Word of God, they believe it needs to be updated for “modern culture”. They do not believe in an unchanging God, an unchanging and absolute moral code, or in most cases in a literal hell. They believe in everything, and nothing. They will continue to cave on bylaws, until they are indistignuishable from the pagans.
The most pernicious of these is the music that has been tolerated in churches. We now have the lion's share of evangelical church congregations segregated by "traditional" worship and "contemporary" worship. Abominable. And much of the "contemporary" music featured in these services would make most Christians blush if performed in the sanctuary only 20 years ago.
I've also noticed that the contemporary worship services are incrementally preempting the traditional worship, with congregations feeling the need to have at least one "with it" piece in the service to placate the "emergent" crowd. Contemporary services are also vying for prime scheduling times as well. The conservative Baptist Church my mom attends has relegated the traditional worship service to 8:30 with the contemporary service winning the prominent 11:00 spot. The evangelical church I have been attending still have the traditional service at 11:00 (with a "rock" service held concurrently in another auditorium but with the sermon videoed in), but the early and evening services are both modern.
Go ahead and accuse me being "prudish," but this is exactly how the incremental move toward the heresy we are witnessing starts.
I suppose the reasons church people change their “by-laws” are as varied as people are themselves. The only binding “by-laws” for the “called out ones” are the precepts God as recorded in scripture and those haven’t changed ever. And never will.
Helpful FYI only... plz
Governing documents of churches - the "bylaws" ---
Don't (usually) include behavior checklists of the cultural "Do's and Dont's" -- what they are "FOR" and "AGAINST".... etc
They DO contain a commitment to Biblical Christian doctrine--
--OR--
(by omission-usually),,,,
A modified doctrinal statement that is NOT committed to the lifestyle encouraged through God's Word...
Enjoy your day--God bless.
I submit that there is a difference between the acceptance of homosexuality in the (mainline mostly) church and the acceptance of other, previously unaccepted beliefs and behavior, such as no-fault divorce, unmarried cohabitation, separate entrances for men and women, praise bands with drums, pews with cushions, alcohol, smoking, universalism, the Social Gospel, etc.
It strikes me that in the case of homosexuality, more so than the others, that the Devil is openly and loudly and proactively banging on the door of the church, demanding to be let in. For most or all of the other issues, the acceptance was made (rather more) quietly, one person at a time, one church at a time, one instance at a time.
I don’t recall great debates over no-fault divorce, unwed cohabitation, and other sexuality-related issues. The acceptance came gradually and (more or less) quietly.
Having achieved success with no-fault marriage, the devil has now become more audacious and visible. He demands that the church publicly announce either its denial that homosexuality is sinful, or that take no action against this sin.
In the mainline denominations of the United Church of Christ, Presbyterian USA, Episcopal U.S., United Methodist, and Evangelical Lutheran, Satan has more or less won.
A lot of “Christians” have looked EVIL in the face, and embraced it.
1 I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom:
2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.
3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers;
4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.
5 But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
The prohibitions in place in the 1800s were driven by the same intent that we saw with the Pharisees in Scripture. If you can put a wall around God's law, it will prevent people from breaking the actual law. For example if you don't drink, you won't get drunk and that will cut down on fighting, adultery, etc.
Throw in the temperance movement, driven by many churches, whose desire was to clean up America, and you have the drive to demonize alcohol.
That being said, the move to do away with Biblical prohibitions against homosexuality in the church stem from a low view of scripture.
As an example, we were asked to look over a PCUSA church's website for a friend and see if there were any issues. Here is what we read:
The Scriptures of the Old and New Testament are God’s uniquely revealed and written Word, inspired by the Holy Spirit, and are authoritative in all areas of faith and life. We seek to understand and follow God’s Word—both Jesus Christ, the living Word of God, and the Scriptures, the written Word of God—by always interpreting any one part of Scripture in terms of the Scriptural witness as a whole, and with an appreciation of the social and cultural realities of the times during which God’s word was written and compiled. (emphasis mine)
Note the bold segment. Everything that in that well written paragraph was undermined by the bold portion. They see Scripture as being written during a less enlightened era. They don't see man's sin as never changing. In that one segment they can undermine God's law in any way they desire.
...follow the $$$$!
End times apostacy.
But the churches that are moving toward accepting homosexuality as normal, and approving gay marriage, are definitely in conflict with the Bible. THAT is the difference.
BINGO!
Why are they changing? Pretty simple answer—the marketing of deviance by homowood and the old media monopoly is forcing them to change. Furthermore, homosexual power and rights is nothing new. You act as if Sodom and Gomorrah never existed. Homosexuals had all the rights that perverts today address and then some. Same in ancient Rome where, male homosexuals were allowed to buy, sell, use and trade young boys. Same-sex trafficking was in vogue. Some of us simply don’t want to return to what then was defined as civilization.
In this case, the “church”, i.e., “the bride of Christ”, (She) who marries the spirit of the age will become a widow in the next.
Many in the church claim to be following God or say they are simply following the leading of the Holy Spirit in liberalizing church teaching or doctrine. Others in the church say they are adhering to the intent of the Holy Scriptures and are also following and accepting the leading, urging and prodding of the Holy Spirit. Put another way, has God’s Truth been revealed once and for all or is it a progressive revelation, ever moving, ever changing?
One thing is perfectly clear in my mind, God the Holy Ghost is NOT confused. One side is right and the other is wrong. May God have mercy upon them all.
“What bylaw(s) is/are absolutely correct and never need to be changed?”
Well, there are at least ten I could think of...