A Move In The Right Direction ?

[LANTERN]

Leaders of the Episcopal Church in the United States have agreed to halt the selection of gay priests as bishops to prevent a split in the Anglican Church.
The Church will also no longer approve prayers to bless same-sex couples. source: BBC NEWS

Quote without comment.

 

[TheFathersDaughter]

Not really.

Not unless they move on to make it where those who've been convicted of crimes ca not apply, those who have a history of scandalous behavior, etc. If they can't trust a gay pastor to make the right decisions than why should they trust any other person with an actual history of destructive behavior, not just a claim. They should only be picking "perfect" pastors if they're going to pick and choose at all.

Guess that will be the end of the Anglican congregation.

All churches are already separated. Discrimination will only cause controversy. So if they think they're doing it to keep the church from being separated than it could possibly be step backwards. Trying to accommodate for a few people makes it where a few more people are unhappy. They just have to figure out it's difficult to please everyone.

 

[Sanctuaryandbliss]

Not really.

Not unless they move on to make it where those who've been convicted of crimes ca not apply, those who have a history of scandalous behavior, etc. If they can't trust a gay pastor to make the right decisions than why should they trust any other person with an actual history of destructive behavior, not just a claim. They should only be picking "perfect" pastors if they're going to pick and choose at all.

Guess that will be the end of the Anglican congregation.

All churches are already separated. Discrimination will only cause controversy. So if they think they're doing it to keep the church from being separated than it could possibly be step backwards. Trying to accommodate for a few people makes it where a few more people are unhappy. They just have to figure out it's difficult to please everyone.

Cant make everyone Happy. I mean its seperated as is..should be working toward uniting the church not separating it IMO.(i agree with you)

~Blessed Be

 

[Ohioprof]

Quote without comment.

That's not how the New York Times is reporting this. Check out the link. I am providing a brief excerpt here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/26/us/26episcopal.html?em&ex=1191038400&en=94a9e27fed05f504&ei=5087%0A

"Episcopal Bishops Reject Anglican Church’s Orders

"NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 25 — Bishops of the Episcopal Church on Tuesday rejected demands by leaders of the worldwide Anglican Communion to roll back the church’s liberal stance on homosexuality, increasing the possibility of fracture within the communion and the Episcopal Church itself.

"After nearly a week of talks at their semiannual meeting in New Orleans, the House of Bishops adopted a resolution that defied a directive by the Anglican Communion’s regional leaders, or primates, to change several church policies regarding the place of gay men and lesbians in their church. But the bishops also expressed a desire to remain part of the communion, and they appeared to be trying to stake out a middle ground that would allow them to do so...."

 

[SpiritDriven]

God is totaly unmoved by anything the Church decides to do or not do....

 

[SpiritDriven]

Mind you the movers or shakers behind this move could find themselves appearing before the Great White Throne instead of being in the first ressurection.

The reason....their right standing with God for Eternity was attained by the obedience unto death of Jesus at the Cross....God is unmoved in that regard.

Yet they Judged sombody else in this life...so they where brought to Judgement, instead of the ressurection to righteosness...ressurection to judgement...suffer affliction....returned to death....given eternal life only when God does away with Death at the end of the eons.

Be in fear and awe of God people

 

[Ohioprof]

I don't know if the Anglican Communion will split apart or not, and this is really not my business, since I do not belong to this church. I will say that I have great admiration for the Episcopal Church and its leaders in the United States for standing up for the principle of fair and equal treatment for gay people within the church. If this causes a split, that's too bad, but I admire the Episcopal Church leaders who refuse to back away from their commitment to equality for gay people.

Churches have split before, over the issue of slavery and over how to treat African American church members. Is avoiding a schism more important than standing up for justice? I don't think so. I think that the Episcopal Church leaders who support equal and fair treatment for gay people are standing up for justice, and they are doing the right thing, whether it results in a schism or not. But it's their church, and I am an outsider looking on.

 

[Ohioprof]

God is totaly unmoved by anything the Church decides to do or not do....

How do you know that?

 

[Ohioprof]

Mind you the movers or shakers behind this move could find themselves appearing before the Great White Throne instead of being in the first ressurection.

The reason....their right standing with God for Eternity was attained by the obedience unto death of Jesus at the Cross....God is unmoved in that regard.

Yet they Judged sombody else in this life...so they where brought to Judgement.

Be in fear and awe of God people

Well, that sounds scary, but I am not going to waste my time living in fear. Awe, yes. But fear? No way. You sound a bit like Jonathan Edwards preaching during the first Great Awakening.

 

[SpiritDriven]

Judge not lest ye be Judged.

They chose to Judge......God is unmoved in regards to their Salvation for Eternity with him though.

God is totaly unmoved by anything the Church does or does not do.

God is only moved by the obedience unto death of Jesus Christ on the Cross....already a done deal.

 

[SpiritDriven]

They made the mistake of Judging Gods chosen ones...because it was He God who drew them....

Romans 8...33 Who will be indicting God's chosen ones? God, the Justifier?

 

[SpiritDriven]

WOW.... their righteousness did not exceed that of the scribes and the pharisees......

 

[BAFRIEND]

Mind you the movers or shakers behind this move could find themselves appearing before the Great White Throne instead of being in the first ressurection.

The reason....their right standing with God for Eternity was attained by the obedience unto death of Jesus at the Cross....God is unmoved in that regard.

Yet they Judged sombody else in this life...so they where brought to Judgement, instead of the ressurection to righteosness...ressurection to judgement...suffer affliction....returned to death....given eternal life only when God does away with Death at the end of the eons.

Be in fear and awe of God people

In revelations chapter 2, Jesus praised the Church of Ephesus for not tolerating wicked men and here we see Paul’s urging:

As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer (1 Tim 1-3)

Here we see that Jesus and the Apostles required it of Christians to discern and judge the lifestyles of others. Jesus told his followers not to give unto dogs that what is holy and Paul tells us not to associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but who is sexually immoral.

We can judge others on the basis of using the Word of God. It is called discernment when we judge the actions of others negatively when the Bible itself calls that action a sin:

Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders … (1Cor 6:9)

It is not my burden to have to defend the position that the gay lifestyle is a sin. God has already decreed it in the Bible.

 

[Zaac]

Quote without comment.

Well it's about time somebody in that church came to their senses.

The shame of this all is that they seem to more concerned about avoiding a split of the Church than they were about obeying God's commands.

 

[Zaac]

Not really.

Not unless they move on to make it where those who've been convicted of crimes ca not apply, those who have a history of scandalous behavior, etc. If they can't trust a gay pastor to make the right decisions than why should they trust any other person with an actual history of destructive behavior, not just a claim. They should only be picking "perfect" pastors if they're going to pick and choose at all.

Actually, Biblically speaking, the things you spoke of should come into play when choosing an overseer. They don't have to be perfect, but there also should not be a blatant disregard for God's Word and what it commands.

Guess that will be the end of the Anglican congregation.

All churches are already separated. Discrimination will only cause controversy. So if they think they're doing it to keep the church from being separated than it could possibly be step backwards. Trying to accommodate for a few people makes it where a few more people are unhappy. They just have to figure out it's difficult to please everyone.

That's why you forget the everyone and be pleasing to Christ. And HE has already spoken to this issue.

 

[Ohioprof]

In revelations chapter 2, Jesus praised the Church of Ephesus for not tolerating wicked men and here we see Paul’s urging:

As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer (1 Tim 1-3)

Here we see that Jesus and the Apostles required it of Christians to discern and judge the lifestyles of others. Jesus told his followers not to give unto dogs that what is holy and Paul tells us not to associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but who is sexually immoral.

We can judge others on the basis of using the Word of God. It is called discernment when we judge the actions of others negatively when the Bible itself calls that action a sin:

Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders … (1Cor 6:9)

It is not my burden to have to defend the position that the gay lifestyle is a sin. God has already decreed it in the Bible.

In your opinion. Not in everyone's opinion.

 

[Ohioprof]

Actually, Biblically speaking, the things you spoke of should come into play when choosing an overseer. They don't have to be perfect, but there also should not be a blatant disregard for God's Word and what it commands.





That's why you forget the everyone and be pleasing to Christ. And HE has already spoken to this issue.

He has said love your neighbor. That's means your gay neighbor as well as your heterosexual neighbor.

 

[Phinehas2]

Dear Ohioprof,
Who has said that? You dont believe the Bible is the word of God so who are you referring to?

 

[Sanctuaryandbliss]

He has said love your neighbor. That's means your gay neighbor as well as your heterosexual neighbor.

Should love everyone. regardless of who said it. no need for hate.

 

[Apollo Celestio]

Should love everyone. regardless of who said it. no need for hate.

But our leaders? Should we elect leaders who can't practice what they'll be preaching? Unrepentent sin(At least with no attempt to try and repent..) in leaders shouldn't be allowed, heck, it shouldn't be allowed if we dare to follow Jesus.