Mark,
Thank you for your message. It seems to me to be a
clear indication of the "falling away " ( apostasy ) that Paul warns about
in
2 Thessalonians 2 :3.
Your quote from 2 Corinthians
6:14 answers it all : " Come out ... and I will receive you
".
When there is infirmity in the body, the surgeon separates the harmful
tissue from the healthy tissue. It cuts, it hurts, but it also heals.
Surely the coming of the Lord must be nigh, even at the doors. " You
know that summer is nigh ".
Matthew 24:32 ---- Mark 13:28 --- and
Luke 21:30.
Thank you for sharing that with us. It wakes us up even more to
the nearness of His coming.
It's a sad day when you can't just go to Church
and inhale the Foundational Biblical truths of the Bible, the "sound doctrine"
that Timothy
commands. 2 Timothy 4:3.
Come quickly, Lord Jesus
!
In Him,
Jim Goodrick
Mark Rouleau (18 May
2011)
"What will the
faithful do? - Presbyterians vote to clear way for 'gay'
clergy"
2 Corinthians
6:14
"Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers:
for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness?
and what
communion hath light with darkness?
15 And what concord hath Christ with
Belial?
or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
16 And
what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?
"for ye are the temple
of the living God; as God hath said , I will dwell in them, and walk in them;
and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
17 Wherefore
come out from among them, and be ye separate , saith the
Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive
you,
18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my
sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. "
The PCUSA has
voted to allow Churches and Presbyteries to have openly practicing gay or what
the Bible refers to as an "abomination" (Leviticus 18:22 KJV
Leviticus 20:13 KJV) ordained as ministers of the Word and Sacraments,
preaching from the pulpit. See also 1 Corinthians 6:9 NRS
1 Timothy 1:10 NRS
The local Presbytery here in
Northern Illinois voted in favor of that proposition. Blackhawk (northern
Illinois) in favor 59% opposed 44% (see
http://www.dailymarion.com/2011/03/01/presbyterian-ban-on-gay-ordination-seems-certain-to-end/)
See
also the Presbyterian Layman Vote on Amendment 10A: 80 in favor; 59
against
Several congregations in the Presbytery of Blackhawk have
been separating from the PCUSA over the past several years due in large part
to this developing chasm. (see,
http://www.christianpost.com/news/ill-church-dismissed-from-pcusa-45166/)
I
sat on the committee for the Presbytery when the Kishwaukee Presbyterian
Church left the PCUSA to join the Evangelical Presbyterian Church and this was
a primary concern of that congregations.
We need a King like
Josiah see 2 Kings 23
It now seems that there
are several options open:
1) Stay in the
groves, the high places, the defiled temple and worship gods other than the
one true God who was known by our fathers:
2) Press our
congregations to unyolk ourselves from those who believe that it is proper to
allow what the Bible refers to unrepentantly committing abomination to be
ministers of the Word and Sacraments and to preach from the
pulpit.
3) Press our Presbytery to release congregations
who feel they can no longer remain yoked under such
circumstances.
4) If possible get the Presbytery to
realign itself with a denomination that does not countenance being men
pleasers .
5) Pack our bags come out from among
them, and be separate, touching not the unclean thing and be received by God
as his sons and daughters.
I am an ordained elder in the
denomination and was a member of the General Assembly of the PC(USA) several
years back. I served on our Presbyteries Committee on Ministry for quite
a few years. As stated above I have been involved in several special
capacities as well (complainant against a Pastor who held a gay wedding
ceremony with a Idol of Buddha on the alter). Now that Satan has been
allowed to have his way with this denomination (at least for the time being) I
feel that drastic, but peaceful, measures are now necessary. The next
thing is that there will be horific fights over transfers of ordained pastors
from one presbytery (where Gay ordination is encouraged) to another (where
they hold to a Biblically faithful view). Satan will not quit until much
harm is done. The fact that the PC(USA) encourages battles over the
church property (KJV calls it mammon) should make it clear to all that it
wants a fight and it wants the fight on worldly grounds, that being property
and money. This is going to cause great harm. There is no truce.
The only possible peace at this time would be to allow those who
do not agree to peacefully separate.
I predict (not a
prophet here) that many people will leave. Many struggling congregations
will fold. Many congregational facilities will go into foreclosure
proceedings. The PC(USA) will be located primarily in the Coasts and
larger metropolitan areas and will fall apart in rural, heartland and Bible
belt areas.
I for one have wrestled with this issue for far too
long with laity and clergy (ordained and Seminary graduates) who have not
taken the time to read the entire Bible even once. When they do they
read from the modern versions some of which were "translated" by open avowed
homosexuals (see for example,
http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/Bible/niv_sodomite_on_committee.htm and
Secretive Paedophile And Homosexual Networks In The Church). I have
grown tired. Any one who has any positive Biblical suggestions other
than those listed above I am very willing to listen.
The
congregation I currently belong to is meeting this Thursday and then again
later to discuss issues of which this one was not expressly identified again
in the Great PC(USA) tradition of ignoring the elephant with horns in the
middle of the room. I would like to know how the congregation is going
to deal with this issue.
Agape <><
Mark
Rouleau
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Church/Default.aspx?id=1345032
Presbyterians
vote to clear way for 'gay'
clergy