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Showing posts with the label Southern Baptist Convention

Southern Baptists floundering against LGBT agenda, pro-family forces keep fighting

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In April 2017, Rev. Tom Littleton of Alabama gave a chilling talk on  "How the LGBT movement is infiltrating conservative churches"  at the MassResistance Citizen Action Conference in Austin, TX. For over a decade, he pointed out,  the national LGBT movement has been funding a multi-million-dollar under-the-radar subversive campaign in Southern states to push the homosexual movement into conservative Christian churches.  And they've been shockingly successful. But an even bigger goal has been to infiltrate and subvert the overall Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), the largest Christian denomination in the South and the second largest in North America (after the Catholic Church). This year that goal has become frighteningly close to reality. The events surrounding the  2018 Southern Baptist Convention's annual meeting,  held June 12-13 in Dallas, shocked many conservatives. At the 2018 Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Dallas. Over 10,000 people at

LGBT and Theological Jelly

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Theological disaster almost never strikes out of the blue. Trouble builds and disaster is somehow averted again and again, but anyone with eyes to see knows the time is running out. Time has run out for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship . The CBF emerged in the early 1990s as churches aligned with the more liberal wing of the Southern Baptist Convention , self-identified as “moderates,” forged a new organization to replace the SBC, in which they no longer felt at home. From the beginning, the CBF was largely funded by congregations that were not necessarily theologically liberal, at least self-consciously so, but nonetheless disagreed with the SBC’s determination to affirm and enforce the inerrancy of Scripture. Other issues were catalysts, including the SBC’s confessional principle against women serving as pastors. The CBF had a more explicitly liberal wing, but the most leftward of the former Southern Baptists had left earlier, forming what was then known as the Alliance of Bapti

Liberal wing Southern Baptist Convention - LGBT staff

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Theological disaster almost never strikes out of the blue. Trouble builds and disaster is somehow averted again and again, but anyone with eyes to see knows the time is running out. Time has run out for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship . The CBF emerged in the early 1990s as churches aligned with the more liberal wing of the Southern Baptist Convention , self-identified as “moderates,” forged a new organization to replace the SBC, in which they no longer felt at home. From the beginning, the CBF was largely funded by congregations that were not necessarily theologically liberal, at least self-consciously so, but nonetheless disagreed with the SBC’s determination to affirm and enforce the inerrancy of Scripture. Other issues were catalysts, including the SBC’s confessional principle against women serving as pastors. The CBF had a more explicitly liberal wing, but the most leftward of the former Southern Baptists had left earlier, forming what was then known as the Alliance of Bapti

A mayor’s backlash against a basic statement of Evangelical Christian belief signals an ominous turn in the culture wars.

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Don’t ever forget that, for some folks, “ separation of church and state ” is a half-measure. It’s just a pit stop on the road to de-Christianizing America. It’s a temporary means to a much bigger end.  I was honored to sign a document called the Nashville Statement. It’s a basic declaration of Christian orthodoxy on sexuality, sexual orientation, and sexual identity. Its 14 articles can be boiled down to a simple statement: We believe the Bible is the word of God, and the word of God declares that sexual intimacy is reserved for the lifelong union of a man and a woman in marriage.  It acknowledges the reality of same-sex attraction as well as the reality of transgender self-conceptions, but denies that God sanctions same-sex sexual activity or a transgendered self-conception that is at odds with biological reality. In other words, it’s basic Christianity .  Sometimes, however, one needs to state the obvious. There are powerful peer and cultural pressures that are pushi

Christian author thinks same sex sin is holy?

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Days after Jen Hatmaker sat down for what would become an infamous interview with Jonathan Merritt of Religion News Service , LifeWay bookstores have decided to pull her titles from their shelves. In that interview , Hatmaker articulated her changing view of same-sex marriage. She said she believed a same-sex marriage could be holy and that we as the church “have to do better” at treating the LGBT community like family. The interview with Merritt was published on October 25, 2016. Two days later, LifeWay spokesman Marty King spoke to Baptist Press , saying, “In a recent interview, [Hatmaker] voiced significant changes in her theology of human sexuality and the meaning and definition of marriage—changes which contradict LifeWay’s doctrinal guidelines.” The Christian bookstore chain has decided to discontinue selling Hatmaker’s resources as a result of the interview. This is not the first time Hatmaker has said something on the topic of homosexuality that has caused waves in the C

Bible actually has a lot to say on transsexualism

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The Bible ’s teaching on issues of sex, putting God first and honouring him, points Christians to a clear understanding of transsexualism, Kevin DeYoung has said. The influential US pastor made the comments in a blog post for The Gospel Coalition website, in which he tackled the question of whether the Bible had anything to say on the contentious issue. He made clear that Christians should both love those who have struggles in the area and also be clear in their own thinking. DeYoung wrote that while the Bible does not “speak in 21st century terms to every 21st century eventuality”, it does show a deep understanding of issues concerning sex and identity. DeYoung wrote: “In short, the Bible teaches that God made us male or female, and no matter our own feelings or confusion, we should act in accordance with the biological reality of God’s good design. “ Transgenderism falls short of the glory of God and is not the way to walk in obedience to Christ.” He explained that there were

Why did the Alliance of Baptists Affirm Same-Sex Marriage?

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Supporters of same-sex marriage have been aided in their quest to normalize homosexuality by a constellation of liberal religious groups–including some of the historic Christian denominations . These groups now serve as theological enablers for the homosexual movement’s rejection of Christian morality . The latest group to join this parade is the Alliance of Baptists , a denomination that consists of 115 congregations, united mainly by the fact that they are no longer part of the Southern Baptist Convention . The Alliance was born out of the Southern Baptist Convention’s controversy of the 1980s, and it first functioned as a protest movement against the conservative leadership of the SBC. Since its establishment in 1987, the Alliance has gone on to establish itself firmly on the left wing of American Protestant liberalism. Meeting recently in Dayton, Ohio for its 2004 convocation, the Alliance of Baptists adopted a “Statement on Same Sex Marriage ,” that demands legalization and

Agree to disagree: not an option with homosexual marriage

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Official crest of Union University (Trademark of Union University) (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Is the nature of marriage an “agree-to-disagree” issue for Christians ? Earlier this week, Scot McKnight commented on the decision of Union University to withdraw from the CCCU ( Council for Christian Colleges and Universities ) because no action had yet been taken regarding two Mennonite faith-based colleges that opened the door to same-sex marriages among their faculty. Anticipating that other Christian colleges will soon follow Union’s lead, Scot explains why he agrees with Union on the biblical teaching of marriage, but disagrees with Union on withdrawing from the CCCU. The Gospel and Marriage Scot believes it is problematic for evangelicals to consider one’s teaching on marriage as more central to the gospel than other issues that divide Christians (baptism, for example). He critiques Union’s president, Dub Oliver, for saying that division on marriage damages our Christian witness

Homosexuality: When ‘Discernment’ Leads to Disaster

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English: Furman University - old campus, Greenville, South Carolina Postcard - cropped (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) The historic First Baptist Church of Greenville, South Carolina , announced in May that it would declare itself be “open and welcoming” to all people and that it would allow same-sex marriage and ordain openly homosexual ministers. The move came after the church had undergone a “discernment” process under the leadership of a “LGBT Discernment Team.” That team brought a report to the church’s deacons, who then forwarded it to the congregation. The church then approved the statement by standing vote. The statement is very clear: “In all facets of the life and ministry of our church, including but not limited to membership, baptism, ordination, marriage, teaching and committee/organizational leadership, First Baptist Greenville will not discriminate based on sexual orientation or gender identity.” The   Greenville News   told of the congregation’s discernment proc