#1.Single Christians Can Have Sex as Long as It’s ‘Mutually Pleasurable and Affirming,’ Pastor Says
When someone consistently breaks God’s rules in one area of life then it is no surprise to see them advocate for others to break more of God’s rules.
Bucking against conservative Christian tradition advising against extra-marital sex, the Rev. Bromleigh McCleneghan, a married mother of three and associate pastor for ministry with families at Union Church of Hinsdale in Illinois, says single Christians can have sex as long as it’s “mutually pleasurable and affirming.”
She got the biblical instructions on qualification for pastor wrong so it is no wonder she is getting God’s instruction on pre-marital sex wrong. God does not say this anywhere in the Bible and what we can see is that too many people, and it doesn’t matter if they are men or women, pastors or not, have lost sight of the concept of sin and God’s definition of what is sin.
For McCleneghan, however, whose views are comprehensively captured in her new book, Good Christian Sex: Why Chastity Isn’t the Only Option — And Other Things the Bible Says About Sex, single Christians don’t need to abstain from sex to remain pure since being chaste is about moderation.
That too is not even close to being correct. Being chaste has nothing to do with moderation as the latter indicates that some activity is taking place and the former indicates that NO activity is being done. Here is the simple definition of the word ‘chaste’ from Miriam Webster
not having sex
: morally pure or decent : not sinful (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chaste)
When people start changing the definition of words to suit their desires and fancy then that is when they get into trouble and make all sorts of mistakes like that woman does.
That is, chastity for singles means celibacy — no sex. … I’d argue that we can be chaste — faithful — in unmarried sexual relationships if we exercise restraint: if we refrain from having sex that isn’t mutually pleasurable and affirming, that doesn’t respect the autonomy and sacred worth of ourselves and our partners,” she explained.
You will notice that she places no biblical foundation for her thinking anywhere and you will notice that she does not address any biblical verse talking about refraining from pre-marital sex. The verse mentioned in the article comes from the author or the church not the female pastor.
McCleneghan believes it’s unfair to ask single Christians who haven’t been called to a life of celibacy to refrain from sexual intimacy when both men and women need sex.
How is it unfair? God applies the same rules to everyone. Those believers who have not been called to a life of celibacy just need to be patient and make the right decisions.As we read her comments we can see that God is not with her or her views. Not one thing she says is biblically supported and that is a problem because she is a leader in the church with influence.
Pastors are not called to implement their own ideas but to be servants of God who lead the people to God’s ways and pre-marital sex is not God’s way. Pastors who lead the people to sin are not faithful servants but dishonest ones.It is no wonder the church is not making an impact for God for many pastors are not proclaiming the message God gave them to proclaim.
#2. Gay Anglican Ministers Defy Church’s Biblical Doctrine by Revealing They Are in Same-Sex Marriages
How can anyone in good conscience accept a job knowing that they will or are breaking the rules? What kind of pastors are they? If they will break God’s rule on marriage and sexual relationships, it is not a surprise to see them break the rules of the denomination they work for.
Nearly a dozen ministers within the Church of England are expected to reveal in a letter that they are gay and have married their same-sex partners despite the Church’s biblical opposition to gay marriage.
The Guardian reported on Sunday that the letter from the clergy to the Church will ask for permission to carry out blessings for people entering gay marriages.
Again we will use the argument of a faithful/unfaithful steward here as for one to be a faithful steward they must follow the rules of the people they represent. If they have a problem with the rules then they can either quietly discuss their opinions with their bosses or resign and find a denomination that does not have such rules— though we will add, there is no other God they can work for as God has his rules on the issue and they do not seem to matter to these people.
If God’s rules do not matter to them, then it is no stretch to see that church rules do not matter to them. These people are not servants of God but very selfish servants of evil.
Our marriages are legal, celebrated and widely accepted in society,” said Andrew Foreshew-Cain, one of the first priests to defy the CofE’s ban on gay marriage.
But they are not accepted or celebrated by God and HIS OPINION is the one that matters. You cannot say you love God when you willingly break his rules. You cannot say you love God when you lead his people to sin. You cannot be a pastor and live in sin or break God’s rules.
#3.United Methodist Church Delegates Defy Church Rules to Elect First Openly Gay Bishop
Why have rules if you are not going to follow them?
A rift has emerged in the United Methodist Church after delegates in the Western Jurisdictional Conference defied the Church’s prohibition of homosexuality on Friday to elect the Rev. Karen Oliveto as its first openly gay bishop.
Why claim to be a servant of God when you do not serve him?
She thanked the delegates of the Western Jurisdiction “who dared to live into this Kairos moment. Today we took a step closer to embody beloved community and while we may be moving there, we are not there yet. We are moving on to perfection.”
You can neither embody a beloved community or move to perfection when you let sin and corruption lead the way. Nor can you serve God (as 1 John 1 attests) if you live in darkness. Saying you are not in darkness doe snot mean you are walking in the light and the only way to be in the light is to repent of your sins, something that is defined by God as HE OWNS the church, not the homosexual community.
These people are not Pastors for or of God but misguided, deceived souls who do not serve God but allow evil to work through them in order to ruin the church. God has set the rules for the church and it is up to the Pastor to see that the people understand them and live by them. The pastor is not given permission to change those rules nor to say that they do not matter.
Pastors are given a charge by God to lead his people to the promised land–heaven– but when they do not do that then they should be reprimanded, rebuked, corrected and if they do not change then removed from their positions. God does not like sin and when his chosen leaders lead his people away from Him and into sin then the people need to take strong action, starting with prayer, and rectify the situation.
Eternity is not something you should play with, Sin is not allowed in God’s community and it is not discrimination or a violation of anyone’s civil rights to exclude sin and those who practice it from church leadership or membership.
We do not need to worry about what the unbelieving world thinks as they would probably be glad to see the church stand with the God they claim to follow and remove sin from the church’s midst. They probably would love to see the church stopping from being so hypocritical.
We are not following God when we break his rules and lead others to break them. Sin is no joke and we have many OT and NT examples of what God does with those who sin, maybe we should take those examples to heart and clean up the churches and religious academic institutions so that we have a church that is pleasing to God and makes an impact for him.
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