Thoughts on the Episcopal Church's Ordination of a Homosexual BishopYesterday (Thurs 8/7/03) it was announced that the Episcopal Church has ordained it's first homosexual Bishop. A.) I want to list a few thoughts at the bottom of this email. However, primarily I want to challenge people to pray and intercede for the Episcopal Church more than anything. Beware of Satan's trap to point the finger and accuse the Episcopal Church of sin. To be sure, this is sin. I am not denying that. But whose nature are we going to follow when confronted with failings, shortcomings and sin of others? Will we follow Satan's nature of bitter accusation or Jesus' nature of agreeing that sin is sin but covering the person in prayer and requests for mercy and restoration? Satan's nature is described as 'accusing people night and day' - relentlessly. He does this to break people down and snap their spirits in depression and destroy them. "For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down." Revelation 12:10 Jesus on the other hand confronts sin but protects the person making a way of repentance and mercy so that the person may not be destroyed! He works to help people admit their sin and evil but be changed and overcome it! 2) Peter when he denied Jesus - "Peter, I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail." Jesus prays for Peter even though He knows Peter will deny even knowing Jesus. Peter, in his fear, will even call down curses on himself to claim he is not lying when he denies he knows Jesus. 3) Regarding the people who crucified Him "Father, forgive them, they don't even know what they are doing." Therefore: Get on God's side and ask Him for help for the Episcopal Church! 2) Repent yourself. Where your life does not line up with the Bible, ask God for help to make changes. Do not get caught in the trap of accusing the Episcopal Church while you do not hold to things clearly stated in the Bible. How are we all doing in these Biblical areas? 2) Truly loving others and intensely caring for them? In a real way - not just theology. 3) Charity to the poor? 4) Areas of unforgiveness, bitterness, Envy, pride and arrogance, lust, anger, gossip etc...? The last place we want to be is accusing someone else when we stand on the death and blood of Jesus for forgiveness. We stand on a pillar of Grace.... do not chip away at that foundation by accusation. But build upon that pillar of Grace (Jesus' sacrifice for us) by pleading and intensely crying out to God for mercy for a fallen brother or sister snared in sin. The Old Testament Book of Obadiah is very clear on this point. It is only 1 chapter. Verses 11-15 are very clear. Jerusalem was destroyed by an invading army because of it's continued, day in and day out, sin over 500-1000 years. (Read Deuteronomy 31 & 32) However, as Jerusalem was being punished, Edom (a nation coming from Esau the brother of Jacob) added to the attacks and gloated over Jerusalem's fall and accused them. Edom did not have mercy on Jerusalem. Edom rejoiced over Jerusalem's fall. God then replies that as Edom has done to Jerusalem so will it be done to Edom! So the application is this - Let's respond to the Episcopal church in the way that we want people to respond to us when we sin or fall or compromise! Wouldn't we want people praying for us - for help, strength to repent and grace from God? Let's not be like Job's friends who just come to accuse us of hidden sin! B.) An excellent short book on how we can pray for American in general is "America at the Threshold of Destiny" by Francis Frangipane. This book really fights against the spirit of accusation and calls for intercession. It is wonderfully encouraging. It also addresses some issues about Bill Clinton and possibly Bush. C.) I spend time in this email asking for a spirit of repentance for the Episcopal Church. One of the reasons I do this is because this Bishop does not regard homosexuality as sin. The bible is clear on numerous references that it is. I will list some of these below. There is a huge difference between a leader or church member who has sinned, acknowledged the sin, made changes in life over time and re-entered leadership or serving the church. We must have a way of restoration. All of us need restoration. However, it is a totally different thing when a leader is not repentant and still wants to function as a leader. This man is holding to his homosexuality and rejecting the Bible. When we do this we are inventing our own religion... out of our own imaginations or from popular opinion regarding what is right or wrong. He is rejecting the age old authority set up by God - the Bible. If we reject the foundation of morality we are like a ship with no anchor in a storm. All we have is the people's opinions around us. And we all know how the fads come and go. Morality based on popular opinion is as fickle as clothing styles or actors coming in and out of popularity. We must have a foundation - and the Bible is that foundation. D.) I don't put any stock in CNN - and often I think we need to consider WHO (what Corporations & Individuals) control the media - but CNN is doing a poll regarding President Bushes comments that only Heterosexual Marriages should be considered legal. Take a moment to vote. http://edition.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/07/30/bush.gay.marriage/index.html E.) Quick list of some of the verses on Homosexuality - this is not exhaustive: "Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion." Romans 1:26 "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 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were." 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 "Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable." Leviticus 18:22 "If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable." Leviticus 20:13 'Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom--both young and old--surrounded the house. They called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them." ' Genesis 19:4-5 'The two men said to Lot, "Do you have anyone else here--sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the LORD against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it." Genesis 19:12-13 (This passage about Sodom & Gomorrah supports the verses from Leviticus) F.) When we heard about this in KC the whole group of 400 of us spend time crying and praying for God's help for the Church. I have never cried like that before. There was no accusation but only grief over this event and intense groaning for help from the Throne of God. Because, after all, the church is His Bride.... would you go up to your good friend and begin accusing his wife of faults? Would you slander her and rip her to pieces verbally right in front of him? If you cared about Him you would try to help her... you would care about her and seek means to support her - and you would do it with intensity and holy boldness! G) Lastly I want to comment on the Anglican Church world wide and the Episcopal Church. I don't full understand the whole picture here. However I do know that the Episcopal Church is only part of the Anglican Church world wide. The Episcopal Church is the largest expression of the Anglican Church in America. However in other countries like England, Africa etc... you don't hear the words 'Episcopal Church' you hear of the 'Anglican Church'. The Anglican Church world wide does not agree with the American Episcopal Church over many of these issues. The African Bishops have confronted the American Bishops in regards to the debate over homosexuality. One or more of the African Bishops have lead a new expression of the Anglican Church in American called AMIA - "Anglican Mission in America." One of the express desires of this movement is to hold to orthodox Biblical teaching. Check out their web site at http://www.theamia.org/ - note their position on the Bible under the link "what we believe" on the right. There is another group working from inside the Episcopal Church to effect change called "A Place to Stand" - www.aplacetostand.org |
