Christians the world over know that the Church is under attack. The Enemy's attack, though, is twofold: from without, and from within. The attack is centered one hundred percent on the topic of homosexuality. It is not enough, the LGBT movement is saying, for churches to just bend to the will of their political correct albatross. They are requiring -- and demanding -- that Christians go against their beliefs, their Scriptures, and their God in not only being politically correct but also accepting the sin. They are demanding, brothers and sisters of faith, that Christians not only accept but condone the sin for which God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah and specifically call out as a sin in both Old and New Testaments. In the New York Times, columnist Frank Bruni called traditional Christianity the biggest obstacle to "normalizing" homosexuality in the United States. He wrote that "Homosexuality and Christianity don't have to be in conflict in any church anywhere. The continued view of gays, lesbians and bisexuals as sinners is a decision. It's a choice. It prioritizes scattered passages of ancient texts over all that has been learned since -- as if time had stood still, as if the advances of science and knowledge meant nothing." Denominations are falling for this lie from satan, in which denominations throw out the Bible and revise their own denominational books of order. The Episcopal Church changed its views on homosexuality and lost more than 12% of its total numbers in three years. They weren't the only denomination to lose members. The United Church of Christ, within three years of its 2004 decision to allow homosexual ordination, lost 350 congregations. What Bruni continued to assert was that Christian churches "'must' be convinced" to "change their teachings on sexual morality and abandon an 'ossified' doctrinal teaching that sex outside heterosexual marriage is immoral," wrote Ben Johnson for LifeSite. Most recently, the Presbyterian Church (USA) in June 2014 voted to change the Book of Order, the denomination's governing document, to state marriage should be "between two people, traditionally between a man and a woman," instead of "between a man and a woman." What is most alarming about this is that 71% of PC (USA) leaders voted for this change, according to The Huffington Post. The Church is in trouble, friends. Far too many denominations are falling prey to political correctness and turning away from the Scriptures on which they were founded and built. But we should not be surprised at this. Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 4:3, "For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear." The church, which has grown soft over the years calling sin, sin, and sticking to what the Scripture says, has circumvented the biblical mandate to "Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord," [Acts 3:19]. The Church has been allowing actively sinning and brazen people to not only infiltrate the Church without repentance but making a show of it, and forcing entire denominations to not just allow their sin, but condone it. Not only that, the Church has allowed openly gay people to continue in their sin, and lead congregations as pastors and leaders, therefore making a mockery of the faith. Peter addressed these "leaders," calling them false teachers in his second eponymous epistle, in 2 Peter 21:22 (emphasis added by the blogger): "But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping. "For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment. This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the flesh and despise authority. "Bold and arrogant, they are not afraid to heap abuse on celestial beings; yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not heap abuse on such beings when bringing judgment on them from the Lord. But these people blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like unreasoning animals, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like animals they too will perish. "They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you. With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed—an accursed brood! They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Bezer, who loved the wages of wickedness. But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey—an animal without speech—who spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness. "These people are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of the flesh, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for “people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.” If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud.” Friends, the Church is in trouble. The trouble is coming from leaders within the church bowing to pressure from outside forces demanding Christians cave and condone sinful behavior that God has abhorred from the beginning of time. Not only that, but those same outside influences demand that Christians support their sin in the baking of gay wedding cakes and acknowledging civil unions. They do not want Christians to merely acknowledge their choice of sexual orientation but expect Christians to accept and embrace it. True Christians -- those that follow the Scriptures and do not turn their backs on God -- understand that one, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work," [2 Timothy 3:16-17]. Secondly, Christians must "hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it," [Titus 1:9]. Thirdly, for "Christian" leaders and pastors to turn their backs on the Scriptures and so defile it, even raising up their own, man-made "Book of Order" to be superior to the Holy Word, this verse rings true with chills and shudders: "It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God," [Hebrews 10:31]. These attacks of satan, coming from within and without the Church, are designed to take the Church's eyes off the Commission they were given by Christ Himself. Instead, it forces congregations all over the United States to look inward and make decisions based on political correctness, not on the sovereignty of God's Word. Just as Paul urged young Timothy to be on the lookout for similar causes, we are to hold our ground, so that we "may command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer or to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. Such things promote controversial speculations rather than advancing God's work -- which is by faith," [1 Timothy 1:3-4]. Paul goes on to say that "the goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Some have departed from these and have turned to meaningless talk. They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm," 1 Timothy 1:5-7. This passage in 1 Timothy details ways in which the law is not made for the righteous but for "lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers -- and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God." What are we as Christians, the faithful remnant, supposed to do? We are to "preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage -- with great patience and careful instruction....Keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry," [2 Timothy 4:2, 5]. Therefore, based on the Holy Word of God: Episcopal Church: In the name of Jesus Christ the Risen Savior, I rebuke you for condoning a sin that God has abhorred and for leading people astray from real faith in Him through His Son, Jesus Christ. United Church of Christ: In the name of Jesus Christ the Risen Savior, I rebuke you for condoning a sin that God has abhorred and for leading people astray from real faith in Him through His Son, Jesus Christ. Presbyterian Church (USA): In the name of Jesus Christ the Risen Savior, I rebuke you for condoning a sin that God has abhorred and for leading people astray from real faith in Him through His Son, Jesus Christ. Friends, the Church is troubled, and many congregations and whole denominations have in their pulpits and assemblies wolves in sheep's clothing. By doing this, those leaders doom anyone that could have come to know Jesus Christ as their Savior and has made them "twice as much a child of hell" as they are," [Matthew 23:15, paraphrased]. God, have mercy on us. Terrie McKee (c) 2015
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