When I was 14, I got very sick at church camp one year. Sick enough that I was allowed to miss services and all activities. One afternoon while in and out of sleep, two counselors came in and were talking. They must have checked on me at one point, because I don't remember them coming in, only their low voices. Initially they were discussing the normal pastor wives/mom topics, but then they got on the subject of the future of the church. One of the ladies, whom I greatly admired, said her husband believed (and bear in mind this was almost 25 years ago) that the day was coming when the church would be persecuted in America for its stand on homosexuality, and that the church would have to choose whether or not to remain publicly recognized or go underground. I wasn't even sure what homosexuality was! When I told my Mom about it a few weeks later,she sighed and said, "No, I don't see that. I hope not."
Today, as I see more and more billboards going up equating religion with bigotry and then saw the picture in today's newspaper about the upcoming campaigns for the NC Constitutional Amendment and read the President's comments about homosexual marriage, I fear that pastor's predictions may come true within my lifetime.
The scary thing to me is that I know more and more people who profess to be Christians but who are openly practicing homosexuality. Thankfully many of the churches have dealt with the issue and situation, but there are just as many who call themselves Bible-believing who have not.
Several years ago the Christian Law Association ran an article that today's churches and their failure to follow Biblical mandates have made it very hard for them to defend this issue on religious grounds and the freedom of religion. So many churches have not disciplined families for divorce on non-biblical grounds, so we've failed to uphold our own beliefs about the sanctity of marriage. That's one area where Protestants can learn from the Catholics: they are unwavering in their requirements for marriage and divorce.
These past few days, I've kept going back to Joshua's saying to the nation of Israel: "Choose today who you are going to serve." As our state now embarks on a multi-million dollar fight before the November 2012 election to decide how we will define a marriage in our state constitution, it is time we decide where we stand.
"All that it takes for for evil to triumph is that good men do nothing."
Today, as I see more and more billboards going up equating religion with bigotry and then saw the picture in today's newspaper about the upcoming campaigns for the NC Constitutional Amendment and read the President's comments about homosexual marriage, I fear that pastor's predictions may come true within my lifetime.
The scary thing to me is that I know more and more people who profess to be Christians but who are openly practicing homosexuality. Thankfully many of the churches have dealt with the issue and situation, but there are just as many who call themselves Bible-believing who have not.
Several years ago the Christian Law Association ran an article that today's churches and their failure to follow Biblical mandates have made it very hard for them to defend this issue on religious grounds and the freedom of religion. So many churches have not disciplined families for divorce on non-biblical grounds, so we've failed to uphold our own beliefs about the sanctity of marriage. That's one area where Protestants can learn from the Catholics: they are unwavering in their requirements for marriage and divorce.
These past few days, I've kept going back to Joshua's saying to the nation of Israel: "Choose today who you are going to serve." As our state now embarks on a multi-million dollar fight before the November 2012 election to decide how we will define a marriage in our state constitution, it is time we decide where we stand.
"All that it takes for for evil to triumph is that good men do nothing."
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