We who preach the gospel must not think of ourselves as public relations agents sent to establish good will between Christ and the world. We must not imagine ourselves commissioned to make Christ acceptable to big business, the press, the world of sports or modern education. We are not diplomats but prophets, and our message is not a compromise but an ultimatum. A.W. Tozer
Therefore let God-inspired Scripture decide between us; and on whichever side be found doctrines in harmony with the word of God, in favor of that side will be cast the vote of truth. --Basil of Caesarea
Once you learn to discern, there's no going back. You will begin to spot the lie everywhere it appears.

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service. 1 Timothy 1:12

Saturday, March 5, 2011

PCUSA Digs Their Pit Deeper

The PCUSA church constitution says that church officers must “live either in fidelity with the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman, or chastity in singleness. Persons refusing to repent of any self-acknowledged practice which the confessions call sin shall not be ordained and/or installed as deacons, elders, or ministers.”

That seems pretty simple, doesn’t it? Regardless of where one stands on the issue of same-sex unions, if a person is a member of the PCUSA, and is a church officer, then they could not “marry” their same-sex partner without violating the constitution and being subject to being defrocked.

The Rev. Erwin Barron, a minister of the PCUSA, “married” his same-sex partner in California in 2008. For whatever reason for the delay, the case finally came to a conclusion this past Monday as he was acquitted of the charges of violating the church constitution.

The church panel concluded in a 3 to 3 vote, and they needed a 2/3 majority to convict. And believe it or not, they took three hours of deliberations! The claim from Barron is that it was only a civil ceremony and that in the eyes of the church he isn’t really married.

Okay, I must be dense or something, but we first have to look at Scripture, which says homosexual behavior is a sin, which immediately makes Barron ineligible for church leadership according to 1 Timothy and Titus. But we all know the PCUSA as a denomination approves of homosexual behavior, so they disagree with the Bible anyway. But their own constitution says Barron was to either be married to a woman or remain chaste. So the question is, how can he have NOT violated the church constitution.

The ruling will be appealed to the synod and then higher if necessary, but the issue should have been settled in 2008 when Barron “married” his same-sex partner. In fact, since he wasn’t practicing chastity before then, he had already violated the church constitution and should have been defrocked prior to his “marriage.”

The PCUSA is an apostate organization, seeking man’s approval rather than God’s.

4 comments:

Drew said...

I've heard that that church is basically dying, anyway. Supposedly their median age is around 60.

http://mondaymorninginsight.com/blog/post/pcusa_membership_down_membership_down_half_since_1965/

Glenn E. Chatfield said...

Well, I can't see why any real Christians would be in attendance at any PCUSA assembly. No wonder they're dying.

Drew said...

It's not even really that. Obviously real Christians would want to stay away. But even non-Christians would probably stay away. Why wake up early on a Sunday morning to go attend a "religious" event where you study a book that no one believes in, don't really learn anything, don't get called to obey any actual rules that will affect your life, and don't get any encouragement to spread a life-saving gospel or really do anything else productive? It would be more fun to just stay up on Saturday night drinking, or maybe to join the Masons or something.

Glenn E. Chatfield said...

Just to clarify, I think you mean no one in that particular church believes in that book, etc.