As a Christian who was raised in the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod till we move to the U.P. and now a ELCA Christian since 1963, I am now concerned what will become of the Lutheran Church since this past week when in the ELCA Convention in Chicago, The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) passed a resolution at its annual assembly urging bishops to refrain from disciplining pastors who are in "faithful committed same-gender relationships."
This passed by a vote of 538-431, What does this mean for the church? what does it mean for my church and what does it mean for me?
At Zion Lutheran here in St.Ignace our Church council president is a gay woman living in a committed relationship with another woman. I really like both women though only one of them attend church. I suppose that this vote will mean nothing physically to Zion Lutheran. Things will continue to go on as it has before.
I Imagine after the CORE convention Sept 28 some church's will split from the ELCA, how many will remain to be seen but I wonder if it will be 431 churches.
Core http://www.commonconfession.net/index2.html
What of me? I have 1 1/2 year of Lay School , I am deeply committed in a multi-Denominational Ministry in 4 prisons and have a hunger for the word of God.
Well, I will not attend a church that has a gay minister. I will still believe that what the Bible says that Homosexuality is a sin. Not so much because of scripture says verbatim but for the fact that A homosexual relationship is all about that person, And for thousands of years millenniums upon millenniums God has made it a HARD point to say it is NOT ABOUT YOU, It is about your relationship with Yahweh. So homosexuality is in defiance of Living for God and God alone.
For that Gay Community it is not only all about me, It seems they want to jam there lifestyle down our throats.
This call for Prayer, It calls for loving our gay brothers and sisters, But it also calls to God for Faithfulness.
In Messiah
Rick
Showing posts with label sin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sin. Show all posts
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
"Simul iustus et peccator"
So this months concerns, Can we truly be saved and a follower of the Christ if we continue to sin the same sins again and again? Some of my more fundamentalist friends have me guessing that. As a sinner of some renown I certainly can grasp "Simul iustus et peccator" / Simultaneously Saint and Sinner. I know how Paul felt, I do what I don't want to do. and sometimes I don't do what I want to do.
One must not make the assumption lightly that he or she is a true Christian. A false conclusion at this point is tragic and fatal. Therefore I want to set before you four strands of the Bible's answer to the question,
"What is a biblical Christian?"1. According to the Bible, a Christian is a person who has faced realistically the problem of his own personal sin.2. A biblical Christian is one who has seriously considered the divine remedy for sin.
(a) First of all, God's remedy for sin is bound up in a Person. The divine remedy for sin is bound up in a Person, and that Person is none other than our Lord Jesus Christ -the eternal Word who became man,
(b) Secondly, God's remedy for sin is center in the cross upon which Jesus Christ died.
(c) Thirdly, God's remedy for sin is adequate for all men, and it is offered to all men without discrimination.
3. A biblical Christian is one who has wholeheartedly complied with the terms for obtaining God 's provision for sin.The divine terms are two: repent and believe.
4 A biblical Christian is a person who manifests in his life that his claims to repentance and faith are real.
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, "Jesus said, "but he who does the will of my Father in heaven" (Matthew 7:21).
In Hebrews 5:9 we read, "He be came the author of eternal salvation to all who obey him."
1 John 2:4 says, "He who says, 'I know him,' and does not keep his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him".Do you repent and believe? And if you profess to repent and believe, can you make that profession stick - not by a life of perfection, but by a life of purposeful obedience to Jesus Christ?
May the God of our Faith Bless you all
One must not make the assumption lightly that he or she is a true Christian. A false conclusion at this point is tragic and fatal. Therefore I want to set before you four strands of the Bible's answer to the question,
"What is a biblical Christian?"1. According to the Bible, a Christian is a person who has faced realistically the problem of his own personal sin.2. A biblical Christian is one who has seriously considered the divine remedy for sin.
(a) First of all, God's remedy for sin is bound up in a Person. The divine remedy for sin is bound up in a Person, and that Person is none other than our Lord Jesus Christ -the eternal Word who became man,
(b) Secondly, God's remedy for sin is center in the cross upon which Jesus Christ died.
(c) Thirdly, God's remedy for sin is adequate for all men, and it is offered to all men without discrimination.
3. A biblical Christian is one who has wholeheartedly complied with the terms for obtaining God 's provision for sin.The divine terms are two: repent and believe.
4 A biblical Christian is a person who manifests in his life that his claims to repentance and faith are real.
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, "Jesus said, "but he who does the will of my Father in heaven" (Matthew 7:21).
In Hebrews 5:9 we read, "He be came the author of eternal salvation to all who obey him."
1 John 2:4 says, "He who says, 'I know him,' and does not keep his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him".Do you repent and believe? And if you profess to repent and believe, can you make that profession stick - not by a life of perfection, but by a life of purposeful obedience to Jesus Christ?
May the God of our Faith Bless you all
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