GAY AFFIRMING "DIVINE WIND"
BLOWS AWAY BIBLE DOCTRINE
AT GRACEPOINTE MEGA-CHURCH
IN FRANKLIN, TENNESSEE
(Where Conversation & Consensus
Building Replace Bible Doctrine)
SEE:
"Megachurch Leader Claims ‘Divine Wind’
Moved Him to Fully Accept Members
Practicing Homosexuality"
January 30, 2015 by Heather Clark
http://christiannews.net/2015/01/30/megachurch-leader-claims-divine-wind-moved-him-to-fully-accept-members-practicing-homosexuality/; republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:
NASHVILLE – An apostate pastor in the Bible Belt who leads the congregation that country star Carrie Underwood attends recently announced from the pulpit that not only can practicing homosexuals be members, but those in sexual sin can now fully serve in his church and will be allowed to “marry” at the facility.
“Our position that these siblings of ours, other than heterosexual, … cannot have the full privileges of membership, but only partial membership, has changed,” Stan Mitchell of GracePointe Church in Franklin, Tennessee announced earlier this month as some clapped and others sat silently in disapproval.
“Full privileges are extended now to you with the same expectations of faithfulness, sobriety, holiness, wholeness, fidelity, godliness, skill, and willingness. That is expected of all,” he continued. “Full membership means being able to serve in leadership and give all of your gifts and to receive all the sacraments; not only communion and baptism, but child dedication and marriage.”
Mitchell, 46, claims that God moved upon him three years ago to begin rethinking his position on inclusion in the congregation. Heretofore, GracePointe had allowed those who identify as homosexuals to attend the services, but drew the line at serving in leadership positions or being “married” by the leadership.
“We were thrust, I believe, by a divine wind, into a prayerful, painful, invigorating, careful and hopeful conversation regarding sexual orientation and gender identity,” he said, remarking that the “art of conversation … is a holy calling.” “This has been at the least painful, and at times, devastating.”
Mitchell said that some homosexuals left the congregation because they disagreed with GracePointe’s position, but others also left when he announced a time of listening over the issue because they were appalled that the matter needed to be discussed at all.
“We lost not only those who could bear the pain of partial inclusion no longer, we lost other brothers and sisters who were on the other side, who so deeply believed they knew God’s heart on this matter … as being opposed to any expression of mutual human sexuality other than theirs,” he stated before those gathered.
“These people left because in spite of the fact that they love GracePointe and they loved all of us, they could not bear even a conversation lest it promised to yield a conclusion they already had,” Mitchell said. “I do not blame them. They are on their journey, and I’m on mine.”
The evangelical minister acknowledged after announcing that he had decided to fully embrace homosexuals in the congregation that others may choose to depart.
“Inclusion means that we can live together in agreement and disagreement, but if this stretches you to the point of having to compromise your soul, and you do need to separate, I would be a hypocrite to say I don’t understand that,” he stated. “Because, conversely, my soul has been stretched to the point that if I do not say what I say today, I cannot be here any longer. I have felt this way for many, many years.”
But Mitchell also expressed doubt over his conclusion.
“I am not sure I am right, but I am sure I sense the presence of God, and I know I’m doing my best,” he said. “And I believe before God almighty to this we have been called, and here we stand.”
According to TIME, Mitchell’s congregation continues to shrink since he first made the announcement two years ago that he was going to open a listening period over the issue. Two years ago, GracePointe had an average of 800-1000 members in attendance, and after he announced full inclusion for homosexuals this month, attendance went down to 673. Last week, it stood at 482.
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VIDEO:
GracePointe Church Announces "Full Membership" To LGBT Members:
Published on Jan 29, 2015
The sermon was called "Living Between Emmanuel & Epiphany Part 3." Pastor Stan Mitchell makes the announcement around 44:40 and, with it, the megachurch becomes one of the first in America to embrace its LGBT members.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlA65u-6B40
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February 6, 2015, www.wayoflife.org,fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) -
http://www.wayoflife.org/friday_church_news/16_06.php
The large GracePointe Church near Nashville has changed its stance on “gay Christianity.” After country music star Carrie Underwood, who attends GracePointe, spoke in favor of “gay marriage” in 2012, the pastor led the church in a three-year process of “listening on the topic of sexual orientation and identity.” Though the issue has been settled in Scripture for thousands of years and Bible-believing churches since the apostles have universally treated homosexuality as a sin to be repented of, the very modern senior pastor Stan Mitchell has led GracePointe to accept homosexuals into “the full privileges of membership,” including “being able to serve in leadership.” It is yet another example of how that the ears of this generation itch for new things, and there are heaps of teachers willing to scratch that itch (2 Timothy 4:3-4). Mitchell said that the responsibility for homosexual church members will be the same as for heterosexual members, which includes “holiness and godliness,” thus calling good evil and evil good. No amount of “listening” and cunning exegesis can change the Bible’s simple and clear teaching that marriage is limited to one man and one woman and that any sexual relationship apart from sacred marriage is sin before God. “Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge” (Hebrews 13:4). Mitchell framed the issue in terms of “love.” If we love the homosexual, we are supposed to sympathize with his condition rather than sit in judgment on him. In fact, the issue is love, but the first direction of our love must be toward God, as per His first law, and toward His infallible Word which cuts against the grain of this proud generation. Further, the call for sinners to repent is the truest definition of love, for this makes it possible for them to have a right relationship with God. Mitchell also framed the issue in terms of inclusion. He said, that “inclusion means that we can live together in agreement and disagreement.” That is not what Paul taught the churches. “Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be NO DIVISIONS among you; but that ye be PERFECTLY JOINED TOGETHER IN THE SAME MIND and in the same judgment” (1 Cor. 1:10). There is no unity in diversity here. We don’t know what the long-term effect will be at GracePointe, but in the short-term, Time magazine reports (“Nashville Evangelical Church Comes Out for Marriage Equality,” Jan. 29, 2015) that the church’s attendance and offering are half of what they were before the announcement.
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"Witnessing to a New Breed of False Converts"
by Mike Gendron
How do we evangelize people who believe they are Christians but, at the same time, deny their sin of homosexuality? We know from God's Word that conviction of sin is an essential part of true conversion (John 16:8-11; 2 Cor. 7:10). Until the sinner is convinced of sin, he can never be converted from sin. Until sin is thoroughly revealed, Christ cannot be rightly claimed as Savior. As long as sin is rationalized, Christ will be recognized merely as a badge of honor. No one will seek a Savior unless they know they are perishing. We must speak the truth in love to "gay Christians" and tell them that the Lord Jesus saves us from sin, not in sin.
AND:
http://ratherexposethem.blogspot.com/2014/08/michael-gungor-his-apostasy-collective.html
YouTube Video by Matthew Vines from Gendron's article above:
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LARGE “EVANGELICAL” CHURCH CHANGES STANCE ON “GAY CHRISTIANS”
Friday Church News Notes, February 6, 2015, www.wayoflife.org,fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) -
http://www.wayoflife.org/friday_church_news/16_06.php
The large GracePointe Church near Nashville has changed its stance on “gay Christianity.” After country music star Carrie Underwood, who attends GracePointe, spoke in favor of “gay marriage” in 2012, the pastor led the church in a three-year process of “listening on the topic of sexual orientation and identity.” Though the issue has been settled in Scripture for thousands of years and Bible-believing churches since the apostles have universally treated homosexuality as a sin to be repented of, the very modern senior pastor Stan Mitchell has led GracePointe to accept homosexuals into “the full privileges of membership,” including “being able to serve in leadership.” It is yet another example of how that the ears of this generation itch for new things, and there are heaps of teachers willing to scratch that itch (2 Timothy 4:3-4). Mitchell said that the responsibility for homosexual church members will be the same as for heterosexual members, which includes “holiness and godliness,” thus calling good evil and evil good. No amount of “listening” and cunning exegesis can change the Bible’s simple and clear teaching that marriage is limited to one man and one woman and that any sexual relationship apart from sacred marriage is sin before God. “Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge” (Hebrews 13:4). Mitchell framed the issue in terms of “love.” If we love the homosexual, we are supposed to sympathize with his condition rather than sit in judgment on him. In fact, the issue is love, but the first direction of our love must be toward God, as per His first law, and toward His infallible Word which cuts against the grain of this proud generation. Further, the call for sinners to repent is the truest definition of love, for this makes it possible for them to have a right relationship with God. Mitchell also framed the issue in terms of inclusion. He said, that “inclusion means that we can live together in agreement and disagreement.” That is not what Paul taught the churches. “Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be NO DIVISIONS among you; but that ye be PERFECTLY JOINED TOGETHER IN THE SAME MIND and in the same judgment” (1 Cor. 1:10). There is no unity in diversity here. We don’t know what the long-term effect will be at GracePointe, but in the short-term, Time magazine reports (“Nashville Evangelical Church Comes Out for Marriage Equality,” Jan. 29, 2015) that the church’s attendance and offering are half of what they were before the announcement.
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"Witnessing to a New Breed of False Converts"
by Mike Gendron
Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:
A new kind of false convert has emerged within the professing church in this generation. They are professing Christians who identify themselves with a particular sinful lifestyle. They call themselves "gay Christians" and they are becoming more and more accepted in many Christian communities. Many of them have been encouraged by a book released last year called God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships. The book was written by Matthew Vines who was raised in a Christian home. At age 19, he left Harvard University after his third semester to study the Bible and prove that homosexuality is not a sin and to remove the term "homophobia" that he thought was in the church. In March 2012, he delivered a message about the Bible and homosexuality that called for acceptance of gay Christians and same-sex marriages. Since then, his message has been seen nearly a million times on YouTube and was featured in The New York Times and The Christian Post. Tragically, Vines interprets the Bible through the lens of his sexuality rather than interpreting his sexuality through the lens of Scripture!
JAMES MELVILLE WHITE
There is also the Metropolitan Community Church, which calls itself a Christian denomination, with 222 congregations in 37 countries. It is an outreach to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender families and reportedly bases its theology on the historic creeds of the Christian Church. One of its pastors was Mel White, who was best known for his ghostwriting auto-biographies for Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, and Billy Graham. After years of writing for the Christian right, he came out as a homosexual in 1994 and wrote his autobiography, Stranger at the Gate: To Be Gay And Christian In America.
The apostate pastor of GracePointe Church, who leads the megachurch congregation that country star Carrie Underwood attends, announced from the pulpit that not only can practicing homosexuals be members, but those in sexual sin can now fully serve in his church and will be allowed to "marry" at the facility.
How do we evangelize people who believe they are Christians but, at the same time, deny their sin of homosexuality? We know from God's Word that conviction of sin is an essential part of true conversion (John 16:8-11; 2 Cor. 7:10). Until the sinner is convinced of sin, he can never be converted from sin. Until sin is thoroughly revealed, Christ cannot be rightly claimed as Savior. As long as sin is rationalized, Christ will be recognized merely as a badge of honor. No one will seek a Savior unless they know they are perishing. We must speak the truth in love to "gay Christians" and tell them that the Lord Jesus saves us from sin, not in sin.
We must tell them that the Bible reveals homosexuality to be a most degrading and indecent behavior that dishonors the body. It is an ungodly and unnatural sin that has been condemned by God, was punishable by death in the Old Testament and given as a divine judgment in the New Testament. It is a twisted perversion of the God-ordained roles for men and women. Of over 30,000 verses in the Bible, not one makes a positive statement about homosexuality. We must encourage false converts to take the Word of God seriously. Those who don't will be judged by the Word of God on the last day (John 12:48). The Apostle Paul made it profoundly clear: "Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God" (1 Cor. 6:9-10). We must lovingly confront homosexuals and share with them that there is forgiveness in Christ. The power of God can set captives free from the bondage of any sin when they are washed, sanctified and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God (1 Cor. 6:11). In Christ, there will be victory and there will be joy and peace.
When God replaces man's stony heart with a heart of flesh, and opens his eyes to see the light of the Gospel, and he is humbled under the sovereign hand of God, he will turn from his sin to Jesus Christ in gratitude and thanksgiving. Then his mind, his will, and his heart will all join together in the power of the Holy Spirit to put to death the evil deeds of the flesh for the glory of God.
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POLYAMORY: REV. TONY JONES WITH WIVES
EXCERPTS:
That noted, the philosophy of relativism does happen to be a perfect fit for fools like Dr. Tony Jones who wish to argue in favor of practices of sexual immorality. In Christianity 21 To Attack Christian Sexuality I brought to your attention a July 11th blog post by Jones where he quotes the homosexual writer Dan Savage, whom he calls “America’s premier sex advice columnist.”
Jones lets us know that Savage opines “monogamy is right for many couples” but some:
people need more than one partner, [Savage] writes, just as some people need flirting, others need to be whipped, others need lovers of both sexes. (Online source)
Keep in mind here that I’m having to cover these kinds of delicate sexual issues now because people like Tony Jones, with their spiritually deviant desires, are considered mainstream evangelicals. Now that we noted this, the people who would need “lovers of both sexes,” and thus multiple sexual partners, would be the bisexuals of the LGBT community.
Jones then, at the very least, hints of a belief in the fairy tale for adults that is the theory of evolution when he says:
"I do know a few things: 1) [Savage is] a h**luva lot more realistic about sex than most Christians I’ve talked to about sex; 2) based on my experience on this blog and at the Wild Goose Festival, a lot of Christians really want to talk about sexuality; and 3) many Christians are ready for our conversations about sexuality to expand beyond “what to do with the gays,” and instead have a more fully-orbed dialogue about sexuality and human identity."Savage’s sexual ethic is primarily one of realism: human beings are animals who, until very recently, procreated like animals. It is evolutionarily dishonest to demand monogamy of a species predisposed against it. It’s not impossible to be monogamous, he says, but it is super difficult,…" (Online source, bold his)
I also know that, for the first time in my life I’ve met Christians who are in “open” marriages or are practicing polyamory — and I’m committed that my theological/ethical response to them be both Christian and pragmatic/realistic. "(Online source)
Here you have a professor of Christian spirituality with a well known ostensibly evangelical seminary arguing against monogamy.
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SEE OUR PREVIOUS POSTS:
http://ratherexposethem.blogspot.com/2014/06/no-third-way-queerstianity-soars-at.htmlAND:
http://ratherexposethem.blogspot.com/2014/08/michael-gungor-his-apostasy-collective.html
YouTube Video by Matthew Vines from Gendron's article above:
Matthew Vines speaks on the theological debate regarding the Bible and the role of gay Christians in the church. Delivered at College Hill United Methodist Church in Wichita, Kansas on March 8, 2012. Transcript and translations:
Matthew Vines Speaks on "God and the Gay Christian"
Published on Apr 30, 2014
Matthew Vines speaks about his new book, God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships, on April 24, 2014 at Grace Presbyterian Church in Wichita, Kansas.
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