Category — international

 The Episcopal Church has a history of heading down the fast road of apostasy. Their acceptance of homosexuality, abortion, witchcraft, and its departure from biblical Christianity  has led it into the ecumenical movement of interfaith and the one-world false religious system. Retired Bishop William Swing has a vision of forming a United Nation for Religion which would result in a one world religion.

 Who is Bishop William Swing ?

Friday night I was a guest on the Barry Morgan show which aired on CJAD 800 in Montreal, Canada. The topic was is homosexuality a choice. On the other side of the debate was gay activist Richard Burnett. You can listen to the audio here.

Australian tennis star and now Pentecostal pastor Margaret Court has been holding court on the truth about homosexuality, keeping it royal and honorable. But homosexuals and lesbians are predictably angry and in hate mode.

In a New York Times interview, Court reaffirmed her biblical beliefs that while homosexuality is 100% sinful, those beliefs do not originate out of hatred for gays and lesbians.

After receiving a great deal of criticism for her opinions about gays and lesbians, Margaret Court affirmed her opposition to gay marriage in an interview Tuesday, but said that her views did not reflect hatred.

Court, the 62-time Grand Slam champion (24 singles, 19 women’s doubles, 19 mixed), became a Pentecostal minister in the early 1990s, and has repeatedly caused controversy with her outspoken, often abrasive remarks.

Court, who in 1991 blamed lesbianism for ruining women’s tennis, more recently caused renewed backlash for remarks made in an interview with The West Australian, criticizing efforts to increase gay rights in Australia.

“Politically correct education has masterfully escorted homosexuality out from behind closed doors, into the community openly and now is aggressively demanding marriage rights that are not theirs to take,” Court told the newspaper.

“There is no reason to put forward alternative, unhealthy, unnatural unions as some form of substitute,” she continued.

“To dismantle this sole definition of marriage and try to legitimize what God calls abominable sexual practices that include sodomy, reveals our ignorance as to the ills that come when society is forced to accept law that violates their very own God-given nature of what is right and what is wrong.”

Her comments have really got up under the skins of other lesbian tennis stars Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova who called her comments “truly frightening”.

Nothing frightens people who cling to unsustainable lies, more than the unvarnished truth. God’s truth is like a double edged sword which cuts deep into the heart of man. According to Hebrews 4:12 it “penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart”. Try as you might, you cannot fight that off. Still, homosexual activists generally diminish and dismiss those who refuse to bow down at the brazen altars of homosexual ideology, but Court’s commanding and unapologetic persona combined with talent and sports high achievement make it difficult for them to ignore.

Despite all the ridiculous self-serving studies and research shopped to the media by the 24 hour homosexual spin machine, homosexual conduct is still inherently dangerous both physically and spiritually. Let’s face the truth: ALL sin has its own built in dehumanizing component. And all those who engage in it will suffer and eat of its bitter reward which is nothing less than death (Romans 6:23). Homosexuality isn’t excluded because Billie Jean King, Ellen Degeneres or Ian McKellan practice it and look good at being dead.

Court, who pastors Victory Life Church in Perth, reminded the gay must be good media that her compassion for the spiritual plight of homosexuals compels her to speak the truth.

“I mean, I make a stand for both my biblical side, and what I believe. And I think — it’s a choice. And I think there’s young people today that need to know it’s a choice in life. And that was my side of it, bringing that forth. I’ve got nothing against the people themselves, I’ve always said that all the years I’ve been a minister.

And I look into the Bible, and I see that God made man for woman, and woman for man. And I said I really believe that it’s wrong, to change the laws of a marriage between a man and a woman. All that came out over the world over that! I think they’re trying to make this “hate” thing — I guess to bring a righteousness, or a self-righteousness. And I was speaking on something else. And I will stand on my beliefs.”

Court joins other star athletes like New York Giants star David Tyree and Denver Broncos’  Tim Tebow in bucking against the grain of homosexual acceptance despite threats of protests, boycotts and real hate.

You should be aware that homosexuals use many subtle and not so subtle tactics to overlay their sexual behaviors with credibility. With the  advent of gay marriage and its cottage industry of religious and political support, homosexuals have been largely successful at obscuring the truth about their sexual behavior with some rather domesticated terminology. As a precursor to gay marriage, homosexuals begin adding the identifier “long term” to their relationship statuses.  For instance, media might report: “John Q. Private and his long term partner John E. Public attended a play”.  After some time an additional identifier was added to the mix:  committed. These intentionally undefined identifiers sent messages to the public that homosexual relationships were not the highly promiscuous, anonymous sex romps critics claimed they were. More importantly, it conveyed that homosexual relationships embodied longevity just like heterosexual relationships. And basically the only “proof” we have of the alleged longevity is the words of the gay couples. There is no external independent source to verify any of the claims.

While long term gay relationships may be an admirable trait in the human context of reasoning, does longevity make homosexual relationship good in God’s eyes?

Liberty Christian Ministries takes an indepth look at how apologetic arguments supporting the ideology just doesn’t add up.

“The argument that gay relationships are morally justifiable because some last long enough can itself be challenged by consequentialist anecdote.  The founder of Liberty Ministries, Christopher Keane, wrote his testimony in a book called ‘Choices’, and in it, he talks about the phantom of long-term committed gay relationships.  Chris lived in the gay community for about 30 years, but found that the long-term relationships were a myth: “One of the popular beliefs in the gay culture was that of the faithful, long-term relationship.  It was portrayed as being exactly the same as heterosexual marriage except it was [just] with a person of the same-sex.  But where were these faithful and happy relationships?  I certainly hadn’t experienced any, and I was becoming increasingly disillusioned with the promiscuity that, in my experience, was an integral part of the homosexual community” (‘Choices: One Person’s Journey out of Homosexuality, Acorn Press: Brunswick East, Victoria, p. 30).  He continues: “Although [my gay partner and I] had each spent about 15 years as active homosexuals, we couldn’t think of any couple we knew who was in a faithful relationship.  In fact, we could think of very few – including ourselves – who were even happy.  The couples we knew had sex with others as well as their partners.  Often the partners knew about the infidelity, but sometimes they didn’t.  Some of these couples had group sex or anonymous sex … We knew of no one who was in a faithful relationship … We all seemed to be on a merry-go-round of alcohol, drugs, and promiscuous sex, waiting for Mr Wonderful to come along and rescue us … I came to the conclusion [one] afternoon that between us we had spent 30 years chasing something that just did not exist” (pp. 30-31, emphasis that of the author). There is much to be said about this, particularly the faulty assumption that gay relationships are equally the same as heterosexual ones.”

Its clear from recent polls and studies that homosexuals have  a vastly different view of  how fidelity in marriage is lived out. Many hold disdain for the “heterosexist ” model but yet demand their convoluted version of it be called by the same name. Thus, without foundational moral restrictions in relationships (such as the 7th commandment found in Ex 20:14), homosexuals are free to redefine literally everything about marriage and relationships again while co-opting the common terminology. Review the Family Research Council’s report Comparing the lifestyles of homosexual couples to married couples.

LCM used a parable of  Jesus which teaches about the issue of sin and its consequences, in Luke 16:19-31 to highlight that believers should view sin and its fruit as from God’s perspective.  Three important points:

1) The rich man, who ends up in hell, seemed to be- in this life- a good man.  Everything went well for him: he was rich, wore robes of purple (which means loaded with wealth in the ancient world).  Looking at his life from a consequentialist perspective, he looked like he had it all together.  He was influential and denied himself nothing.  The poor man, on the other hand, was probably looked at as accursed because his life was lived in sickening poverty: as a modern American would say, he deserved what he got because he didn’t ‘make the most’ of his ‘opportunities’;

2) Despite what lives they seemed to have in their earthly lives, the rich ends up in hell and the poor ends up in heaven.  Why?  Because the poor man listened to his maker and had a relationship with God.  The rich man was self-sufficient, self-focused, secure in self, and had no room in his heart for God or anyone else.  That sounds identical to the world we live in today, where people spend more money on their plasma screen TVs than they do on loving the poor and giving their lives to Jesus.  But notice where the two men end up.

3) The rich man, as altruistic as he seems of having his brothers saved from hell, demands a miracle to convince them of the need for salvation.  ”Send Lazarus (a man in heaven) so that my brothers won’t be in torment”, he barks to heaven from the confines of hell.  This rich man wants to warn the brothers with an argument of consequences: trust God and you’ll be in heaven.  But Abraham’s answer to him is telling:

‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them … If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead”

The brothers already have enough information.  They know that it is wrong and why it is wrong and where it will lead them.  The verbs in these verses say it all:  let them listen to them.  The problem is not the scarcity of information, it is the lack of listening.  It’s disobedience.  It is their desire to carve a life out of their own regardless of who they hurt and how much they anger God with no sign of deep-seeded sorrow at their sin, not information.

What does this say about long-term gay relationships?

It has everything to do with it!  Essentially, it does not matter if someone has managed to stay in a long-term gay relationship or if the feel as if they are born that way.  Those things are really beside the point.  Sin is sin not because of the consequences so much- although they do play a part- but because God has not made people to live that way, and by living contrary to how God has made us (and decreed in His goodness) we are actually attracting His righteous anger.  For every person happily living in a ‘long-term gay relationship’, I can find an equal number who are not: and all we’re left to is a flimsy argument about morality based on a numbers game (which would be interesting to do if you are talking about 1930′s Germany or South African apartheid).  Sin is wrong because it is wrong.

The church’s sexual civil war is going global. Thankfully, there’s good news to report from the Mexican front via the Washington Post as the Presbyterian Church (USA) suffers another loss because of their ungodly support of homosexuality.

Presbyterians in Mexico are breaking ties with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) because of differences over homosexuality.

The theologically conservative National Presbyterian Church of Mexico voted to stop working with the U.S. denomination. U.S. Presbyterians voted last May to remove barriers for ordaining people in same-sex relationships. The churches share a 139-year history and a network of social service ministries that spans the Mexican-U.S. border.

Presbyterian leaders in the United States said Wednesday they are saddened by the decision and hope to find a way they can continue helping the needy in Mexico and along the border.

The vote by the Mexican church was announced as a group of theologically conservative U.S. Presbyterians meet in Minnesota to debate whether they should break with the denomination, which is based in Louisville.

Presbyterian leadership in the US (like several other mainline US denominations) have been steadily bleeding memberships after capitulating to homosexual religious activists entrenched in the organizations. Some, like the Episcopal church have taken a vindictive position to fleeing churches. See here and here for examples.

Per 1 Corinthians 5, severing fellowship is the right thing to do when fellow Christians go against God’s word and refuse to repent. GCM Watch congratulates the Mexican church and encourages other bodies to follow suit.

Good news out of Africa. Now, if only US denominations would stop being afraid (read:politically correct) of doing what the bible said to do.

The Ghana News Agency reported on yesterday that one denomination in the West African nation is reaching out to help homosexuals out of sin as a way of reducing the spread of homosexuality.

The Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG), is to establish therapy centres for homosexual victims for counselling and rehabilitation in the various communities.

The church has therefore called on the government to come out with a clear position on homosexuality in the country, to enable the church to offer the necessary support in helping to reduce the spread of the practice in the society.

The Moderator of the General Assembly of the PCG, Right Reverend Professor Emmanuel Martey (pictured left) said this at the commissioning of 36 Ministerial Probationers of the church at the Ranseyer Congregation, at Abetifi.

He said homosexuality was spreading fast in the society and urged the country’s leaders and Ministers to put up effective measures to check it and transform the destiny of the country.

The Moderator of the General Assembly of the PCG said the church need leaders, who will go out of the ordinary, filled and empowered by the Holy Spirit to advocate for the deprived.

He said though the probationers would face a lot of challenges in their operations, the Lord would deliver them from all their problems, if they rely on the lord and pray regularly.

Mr Vincent Lawer Marji, on behalf of the probationers, assured to abide by the rules and regulations of the church and call for support from all members of the church.

Is their motive right? That’s debatable, but we commend them for taking a step to help. Prayerfully as they move forward the Holy Spirit will guide them and their motivations.

Is helping homosexuals to change biblical? Of course it is. Its just as biblical as opening the eyes of the blind, feeding the hungry and clothing the naked.

Jesus explicit mission is laid out in Isaiah 61:1-2

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; ESV

Anyone who is in captivity to sin is a candidate for the delivering power of God. Homosexuality like any other sin holds a person captive to lust and perversion. When the church reaches out to offer them freedom, they are fulfilling the mission of Jesus Christ.