On June 9 I posted “Bible
on LGBTQ Lifestyle.” In
that post I showed God Almighty’s Will toward those who choose to disobey Him
in relation to same-sex perversity showing that God has mercy even for the
perverse through Jesus Christ Son of God and Savior. The mercy is for turning away
from wicked ways and closer to God by having faith in the Risen Savior and
strive to live a God-Kind of life in Christ Jesus.
Today I discovered a
post from Prophecy News Watch
that talks about churches claiming to Christian yet walk in godless disobedience
by actually promoting the LGBTQ
agenda. This is essentially a case of sheep-clothed wolves leading
sheep to their demise by teaching the rejection of the Word of God.
JRH 6/12/19
Your generosity is always appreciated:
********************
Progressive Churches Now Pushing The LGTB Agenda
(LGBTQ) Affirming
United Churches rally
BY PNW STAFF
JUNE 12, 2019
Just as residents of
one town make progress towards stopping the indoctrination of our kids with
Drag Queen Story Hour, the United Church of Christ has come to the rescue of
LGTB activists.
Open Cathedral, a
member of the United Church of Christ, rented out a room at the Leander Public
Library after the City of Leander in Texas nixed the Drag Queen Story event due
to local opposition.
The event will now
be hosted in the conference room at the library on June 15.
According to the
event page, the church will select a drag queen to read children books about
"how wonderful it is to be unique and special."
Open Cathedral will
be paying the fees to rent out the room and the local pastor with members of
the church will be there to volunteer.
The church describes
itself as a 'progressive' Christian church startup that values community, not
conformity, and welcomes members of all sexual orientations, gender identities
and gender expressions.
As of press time,
nearly 500 people had marked themselves as "going," with 2,000
"interested."
The First United
Methodist Church Of Birmingham in Alabama has also decided to make a
'progressive' statement on June 15th.
The church has
partnered with the Shout LGBTQ Film Festival by hosting a "wedding
party" featuring a free screening of the popular "Arthur"
cartoon episode surrounding the same-sex "wedding" of Mr. Ratburn
after Alabama Public Television said that it would not air the broadcast.
Alabama Public
Television director of programming explained the episode ban by saying
"Parents have trusted Alabama Public Television for more than 50 years to
provide children's programs that entertain, educate and inspire.
More importantly,
although we strongly encourage parents to watch television with their children
and talk about what they have learned afterwards, parents trust that their
children can watch APT without their supervision. We also know that children
who are younger than the 'target' audience for Arthur also watch the
program."
The real issue at
the root of the actions by these churches is not so much the endorsement and
promotion of the LGTB agenda, as bad as that is, but how one approaches
Scripture.
Whether it is
abortion, homosexuality, transgenderism or the next issue that society decides
is morally acceptable. Without a belief that Scripture is the Word of
God, to be taken literally - each new generation will treat the Bible as a
buffet, picking and choosing what is the truth of God and what are simple
suggestions.
Oliver Thomas is a
retired American Baptist minister and he sums up the misguided views of such
'progressive' churches in his recent USA Today column in which he complains
that churches will continue hemorrhaging members and money at an alarming rate
until we muster the courage to face the truth: We got it wrong on gays and
lesbians.
According to Thomas,
"It's difficult to watch good people buy into the sincere but misguided
notion that being a faithful Christian means accepting everything the Bible
teaches".
Thomas is wrong
however as study after study has shown that the dying churches are almost all
mainline churches that have veered to the left. United Methodist,
Lutheran, Presbyterian (U.S.A.) and Episcopal churches are all in major
decline, while conservative, evangelical churches continue to grow.
The Presbyterian
Church USA declined by 11.6 percent over the previous decade, while the United
Methodist Church lost "only" 6.7 percent and the Episcopal Church
lost 5.3 percent. The United Church of Christ was abandoned by 14.8 percent of
its members, while the American Baptist Churches USA were reduced by 5.7
percent.
On the other side of
the theological divide, the conservative Presbyterian Church in America [PCA]
grew 42.4 percent in the same decade that the more liberal Presbyterian
denomination lost 11.6 percent of its members. Other conservative denominations
experiencing significant growth included the Christian Missionary Alliance
(21.8 percent), the Evangelical Free Church (57.2 percent), the Assemblies of
God (18.5 percent), and the Southern Baptist Convention (five percent).
Another study found that 93 percent of clergy members and 83 percent of worshipers from growing churches agreed with the statement "Jesus rose from the dead with a real flesh-and-blood body leaving behind an empty tomb." This compared with 67 percent of worshipers and 56 percent of clergy members from declining churches.
Furthermore, all
growing church clergy members and 90 percent of their worshipers agreed that
"God performs miracles in answer to prayers," compared with 80
percent of worshipers and a mere 44 percent of clergy members from declining
churches.
The more a church
lacks belief in the inerrancy of the scriptures and, in turn, the essentials of
the Christian faith - the quicker it declines. When the church tries to be just
a moral social club, it can't compete with the world. Why attend
somewhere that doesn't truly believe the core foundation of its purpose for
being?
What we believe will
affect how we live and this plays out in church growth as well.
Because of their
conservative outlook, the growing church clergy members in the study took
Jesus' command to "Go make disciples" literally. Thus, they all held
the conviction it's "very important to encourage non-Christians to become
Christians," and thus likely put effort into converting
non-Christians.
Conversely, because
of their liberal leanings, half the clergy members at the declining churches
held the opposite conviction, believing it is neither desirable nor necessary
to convert non-Christians. Some of them felt, for instance, that promoting
their religion outside of their immediate faith community is culturally
insensitive.
Progressive liberal
Christians have long claimed that the Church must change with the times or it
will die. They just get the direction of the change wrong.
_______________________
© 2019 Prophecy News Watch. All Rights Reserved.
Located in Coeur D Alene, Idaho - USA.
Call Toll Free: 1-877-561-4442
Email: Info@ProphecyNewsWatch.com
Located in Coeur D Alene, Idaho - USA.
Call Toll Free: 1-877-561-4442
Email: Info@ProphecyNewsWatch.com
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