The Laodicean Period – Part 2
Good day to each of you reading this column on the Laodicean period or our present-day church period.
Before I add a bit of humor, please take a few moments to read the following verses and let the words of Jesus sink in as we analyze where churches stand on the issues of today.
Turn to Revelation 3:14-21 (NIV) 14 “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:
These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. 15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.
It’s that time for Reader’s Digest Dumb Crooks:
Meet the Dumbest Criminals of All Time
Courtesy of Reader’s Digest
Joseph Goetz’s alleged attempt to rob a York, Pennsylvania, bank met with some snags. Cops say the first teller he tried to rob fainted and the next two had no more cash in their drawers. Fed up, Goetz stormed out, threatening to write an angry letter to the bank.
A German bank robber sent mocking emails to local police, ridiculing their efforts to arrest him. First, he let them know they had his age, build, and accent wrong. Then he corrected their announcement that he’d escaped on foot; no, he had a getaway car! The cops got the last word in, though, when they arrested the guy a few hours later. They used his email to trace him.
Robby Rose lost his first-place medal and was charged with a felony after it was discovered that he’d cheated in a Texas fishing tournament by stuffing a one-pound weight down the throat of a bass he’d caught. Officials became suspicious when they placed Rose’s fish in a tank and it sank to the bottom.
According to the bus driver, it was a brutal, unprovoked attack. A woman got on his bus and assaulted him with a half-eaten banana. “I had banana all over me,” he insisted. “On my tie, my shirt, and my eye.” The woman explained that the driver had almost hit her car and that when she entered the bus to rationally discuss the matter, the banana slipped … right into his tie, his shirt, his eye … The court may not have believed that, but it did believe her when she argued that it was “unreasonable that a banana could cause this much damage.” They slapped her with a fine of only about $100.
A woman in Somerset, Massachusetts, was arrested for breaking and entering. But she was quickly caught thanks to her ankle bracelet … the one fitted with a GPS system … that she had gotten from the police … for being on probation from an earlier breaking-and-entering case.
And, Christopher Oxley of Everett, Washington, was arrested for conducting a drug deal over the phone—in the bathroom of the Everett Police Department.
These are not made up—Crazy & Funny—Hope you enjoy!
We are living in the Laodicean period where people sit on the fence.
My wife and were watching the local Baptist minister today who gave us a great illustration on Ahab the ruler of the Northern Israel area and Elijah.
You see Ahab didn’t like Elijah the prophet for Elijah always brought bad news to the king. Ahab ruled 22 years and did what was wrong in God’s eyes for he married Jezebel and together led the Israelite people in idolatry. Ahab always sat on the fence when making a decision for Ahab the king was responsible to both God and to Elijah and married to Jezebel, his evil wife who drew him as the Israel people into evil worship.
Ahab and family began to worship Baal, set up an altar for Baal in the temple, and made an Asherah pole. Elijah spoke directly to Ahab, knowing of the evil that Ahab and Jezebel brought, with the following in 1 Kings 17:1 (NIV) Now Elijah the Tishbite from Tishbe in Gilead said to Ahab, “As the Lord, God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.”
Three years pass and the word of the Lord came to Elijah: After a long time, in the third year, the word of the Lord came to Elijah: “Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the land.” 2 So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab. 1 Kings 18:1 (NIV)
This lays the groundwork for Elijah to meet Ahab—Look at the following: So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah. 17 When he saw Elijah, he said to him, “Is that you, you troubler of Israel?” 18 “I have not made trouble for Israel,” Elijah replied. “But you and your father’s family have. You have abandoned the Lord’s commands and have followed the Baals. 19 Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”
When reading these verses, how would like to meet the leader who calls you a troubler? Elijah was being honest when he said that Ahab & his family were the ones causing trouble and how they were causing trouble.
Elijah then issues the following statement to Ahab to summon all the Israelites along with prophets of Baal and Asherah.
Turn to 1 Kings 18:21 (NIV) Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” But the people said nothing.
How long will you waver between two opinions? How long will you sit on the fence? Do you have a choice and do you waver? Will you say nothing?
Then Elijah said to them, “I am the only one of the Lord’s prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets. 23 Get two bulls for us. Let Baal’s prophets choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. 24 Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers by fire—he is God.” Then all the people said, “What you say is good.”
Elijah takes his stand for Elijah shows true faith in God and issues the following above to which the people agree. Remember, these are the same people who were wavering between two opinions.
Now to the conclusion: 1 Kings 18:36-40 (NIV) At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. 37 Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”
38 Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.
39 When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!”
40 Then Elijah commanded them, “Seize the prophets of Baal. Don’t let anyone get away!” They seized them, and Elijah had them brought down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered there.
Faith, truth, courage and taking a stand—do you dare to be an Elijah? Will you waver on various subjects that are against the Bible, will you sit on the fence, will you be silent or will you take a stand?
Let’s look at various church denominations and see where they stand on the prominent issues facing America.
Upon researching the web, here is the latest information:
Where Do U.S. Religious Groups Stand On Abortion?
Courtesy of Patheos
If the U.S. Supreme Court enacts that draft decision leaked to Politico, within weeks abortion policies will be returned to the 50 states for decision, adding to contention. Religious groups often consider the claims of the two lives, mother and unborn fetus, rather than this as simply a woman’s “decisions about her own body” per Vice President Harris’s formulation. Here are summaries of some major religious views.
It’s well-known that the Catholic Church, the largest religious body in the U.S. (and worldwide), profoundly abhors abortion, A 1965 decree from the world’s bishops at the Second Vatican Council declares that “from the moment of its conception, life must be guarded with the greatest care,” and calls abortion and infanticide “unspeakable crimes” against humanity. The church’s Catechism says the same and dates this belief back to Christianity’s first century (citing Didache 2:2 and Epistle of Barnabas 19:5).
These statements do not permit any exceptions. But a 1993 ruling from the Vatican office on doctrine, approved by Pope John Paul II, allowed removal of a woman’s uterus (hysterectomy) in “medically indicated” cases that “counter an immediate serious threat to the life or health of the mother” even though sterilization results. A 2019 follow-up defined other rare cases. Since abortion is only the directly intended killing of a fetus, some moral theologians would apply this principle when loss of a fetus is a “secondary effect” of necessary surgery.
America’s Eastern Orthodox hierarchy has joined with Catholic leaders to affirm “our common teaching that life begins at the earliest moments of conception” and is “sacred” through all stages of development. However, America’s 53-member Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops acknowledges “rare but serious medical instances where mother and child may require extraordinary actions.”
At the opposite end of the spectrum, the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) advocated nationwide abortion on demand fully a decade before the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade liberalization, stating that limitations are “an affront to human life and dignity.” It specifically endorsed abortion rights in cases of “grave impairment” of the mother’s “physical or mental health,” a child’s “serious physical or mental defect,” rape or incest, or any “compelling reason — physical, psychological, mental, spiritual or economic.”
The largest U.S. Protestant body, the Southern Baptist Convention, issued a pre-Roe resolution supporting broadly defined permission in cases of “rape, incest, clear evidence of severe fetal deformity” or damage to a mother’s “emotional, mental, and physical health.” The denomination later shifted rightward on doctrinal and moral matters and its 2018 resolution affirms “the full dignity of every unborn child” and denounces abortion “except to save the mother’s physical life.”
In another typical evangelical Protestant policy, the Assemblies of God urges protection of each life from conception, and deems abortion “morally unacceptable” for birth control, gender selection, or “elimination of the physically and mentally handicapped,” but accepts it in “exceedingly rare” cases of likelihood the mother will die.
Turning to less conservative “mainline” Protestants, the United Church of Christ, like the UUA, advocated repeal of laws against abortion even before Roe v. Wade. Several other denominations joined non-Orthodox and “communal” Jewish agencies and the UUA in the Religious Coalition for Abortion Rights (later renamed Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice) to lobby for women’s unimpeded choice. This alliance filed a brief in the case the Supreme Court is now deciding but, oddly, no individual Protestant denomination provided the high court an explanation of its liberal religious rationale.
Two agencies of the largest “mainline” body, the United Methodist Church, helped establish the Religious Coalition, but in 2016 left the coalition and withdrew its longtime endorsement of the Supreme Court’s “legal right to abortion.” The UMC recognizes “tragic conflicts of life with life that may justify” abortion. It opposes late-term abortion except for danger to the mother’s “physical life” or “severe fetal anomalies incompatible with life.”
The large African-American Methodist and Baptist denominations did not join the Religious Coalition and have not actively united behind either side on the abortion debate. But the Church of God in Christ, the largest Black religious body (in fact the largest U.S. Black organization of any type) believes such “killing of the innocent” violates the Bible, says the “industry of abortion” is “heinous,” regards abortion as “genocide” and likens Roe v. Wade to the Supreme Court’s infamous Dred Scott and “separate but equal” decisions. It urges believers to actively rescue “preborn children” by aiding pregnant women, crisis pregnancy centers, and adoption agencies.
Among other “mainline” denominations, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America believes “human life in all phases of its development is God-given and, therefore, has intrinsic value.” However, abortion can be “morally responsible” with a “clear threat” to the mother’s physical life, with rape or incest, or “extreme fetal abnormality.” Prior to viability, laws should reflect that, with public funding for low-income women. The conservative Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod specifies only the mother’s life exception.
The Presbyterian Church (USA) says abortion can be “morally acceptable,” though not required, as a “last resort.” “Possible justifying circumstances” include rape, incest, when “the physical or mental health” of mother or child is “gravely threatened,” or with “severe physical or mental deformity.” It affirms “the ability and responsibility” of women to make the choice.
The Episcopal Church believes “all human life is sacred from its inception” so abortion “should be used only in extreme situations” and not for “family planning, sex selection, or any reason of mere convenience,” and expresses “grave concern” about late-term procedures. The church states “unequivocal opposition” to governmental limits on women’s choice.
Seventh-day Adventist Church leaders’ “guidance” says “abortion should be performed only for the most serious reasons.” Examples are “significant threats” to the mother’s life, “serious jeopardy to her health,” “severe congenital defects” of the fetus, rape, or incest. The final decision is up to the mother, who should not be coerced either to give birth or to abort.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, formerly known by the “Mormon” nickname, teaches that members “must not submit to, perform, encourage, pay for, or arrange” abortions. “Exceptional circumstances may justify” it, although “not automatically,” as with incest, rape, “serious jeopardy” to the mother’s “life or health,” or “severe defects” such that the baby cannot survive beyond birth.
Let’s turn to the Christian position on homosexuality:
Summary of denominational positions in North America, Europe, and Asia
Courtesy of Wikipedia
The following table summarizes various denominational practices concerning members who are currently in a homosexual relationship.
Denomination | Allows homosexuals as members | Ordains homosexuals | Blesses unions | Marries |
---|---|---|---|---|
Adventist[183] | No[184] | No | No | No |
Alliance of Baptists | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Anglican Church in North America[185] | No | No | No | No |
American Baptist Churches USA | Varies[186] | No[26] | No (official denominational position; local congregational practices may differ)[26][27] | No (official denominational position; local congregational practices may differ)[26][27] |
Assemblies of God[122][187] | No | No | No | No |
National Baptist Convention[29] | Varies | No | Varies | Varies |
Southern Baptist Convention[188] | No[189] | No | No | No |
Catholic Church | Varies (Catechism considers homosexual acts to be sinful, but states that homosexuals must be treated with respect, compassion and sensitivity.)[190] | No | No[191] | No |
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)[33] | Yes (General Assembly has affirmed all orientations; local regions and congregations can make their own choice) | Yes (General Assembly has affirmed all orientations; local regions and congregations can make their own choice)[32] | Varies | Varies (General Assembly does not have a stated a position on same-sex marriage; local regions and congregations may perform)[34] |
Christian Reformed Church in North America[35][192] | No | No | No | No |
Reformed Church in America[193] | Yes | Varies | Varies | Varies (decided within classes) |
Churches of Christ | No | No | No | No |
Church of God (Anderson, Indiana) | Yes | No | No | No |
Indian Pentecostal Church of God | No | No | No | No |
Church of the Nazarene[194] | No | No | No | No |
Church of England[citation needed] | Yes | No[195] | Yes[196] | No |
Church of Scotland[197][198] | Yes | Yes | Varies | Yes |
Eastern Orthodox[citation needed] | No (Weaning from the sacrament for 15 years. In case of termination and repentance for 3 years.) [199] | No.[200] | No | No |
Episcopal | Yes | Yes (All dioceses ordain candidates regardless of orientation. A minority of bishops require celibacy; others have shown an expectation that homosexual clergy should take advantage of what legal and ecclesiastical recognition is available for their unions[201]). | Yes | Yes |
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) | Yes[202][203] (Homosexual behavior is considered sinful and may be subject to church discipline short of excommunication)[204] | No | No | No |
Community of Christ | Yes[205] | Varies. In nations where it is illegal, even punishable by death, homosexuals will not be ordained into the priesthood[73][205] | Varies (In nations where it is illegal, even punishable by death, same-sex unions of any kind will not be blessed)[73] | Varies (In nations where it is illegal, even punishable by death, same-sex marriages will not be performed)[73][206] |
Evangelical Covenant Church | No[207][208] | No[209] | No[209] | No[209] |
Evangelical Free Church of America | No | No | No | No |
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America[75] | Yes | Yes | Varies (by discernment of congregation and pastor) | Varies (in civil jurisdictions where allowable and by discernment of congregation and pastor) |
Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod[210] | No | No | No | No |
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada[85] | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
German Lutheran and United Churches in Evangelical Church in Germany | Yes | Yes | Yes[211] | Varies[212][213] |
Mennonite | Varies | Varies[214] | Varies | Varies |
United Methodist Church[215] | Yes | Yes[107] | Yes[216] | Yes[107][216] |
Metropolitan Community Church[115] | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
United Pentecostal Church International[217] | No | No | No | No |
Evangelical Presbyterian Church[133] | No | No | No | No |
Orthodox Presbyterian Church[135] | No | No | No | No |
Presbyterian Church (USA)[218] | Yes | Yes[219] | Varies | Yes |
Presbyterian Church in America | No[220] | No[132] | No[132] | No[132] |
Religious Society of Friends (Quaker)[citation needed] | Yes | Varies | Varies | Varies |
Union of Scranton (Old Catholic)[221] | No | No | No | No |
Union of Methodist and Waldensian Churches (Italy) | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
Union of Utrecht of the Old Catholic Churches[citation needed] | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
Swedenborgian[citation needed] | Yes | Varies | Varies | Varies |
Church of Sweden | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Church of Denmark | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Church of Iceland | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Church of Norway | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
Unification Church[222] | No | No | No | No |
Unitarian and Free Christian Churches[a] (UK) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
United Church of Canada[223][224] | Yes | Yes | Not applicable | Varies |
United Church of Christ[225] | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Vineyard USA[177] | No | No | No | No |
The Wesleyan Church | No | No | No | No |
Rosicrucian Fellowship (Esoteric Christians) | Undefined (homosexual activity is considered sinful; members are expected to eventually abstain from any sexual practice other than for procreation, performed as a sacramental act)[226][227] | No (the Fellowship does not ordain; however, access to Discipleship requires Generative Purity)[228] | No | No (marriage is seen as a sacrament binding man and woman; the marriage service requires the presence of an ordained Minister of a Christian church)[229] |
Unity Church[178] | Yes | Yes | Varies | Varies |
Philippine Independent Church (Iglesia Filipina Independiente)[181] | Yes[181] | Yes[182] | No | No |
Let’s turn to the subject of capital punishment and the church: courtesy of Britannica.
Religious Perspectives on the Death Penalty
Courtesy of Britannica
Assemblies of God
“God’s attitude toward the killing of innocents is clear. No one is guiltless who takes the life of another, with the possible scriptural exceptions of capital punishment administered by a system of justice (Genesis 9:6; Numbers 35:12), unintended killing in self-defense (Exodus 22:2), or deaths occasioned by duly constituted police and war powers (Romans 13:4,5)…
The Bible does provide precedents for justly administered death sentences for capital crimes as well as for the exercise of self defense and duly constituted police and war powers (Genesis 9:6; Exodus 22:2; Numbers 35:12; Romans 13:4,5). “
Source: Assemblies of God, “Sanctity of Human Life: Abortion and Reproductive Issues,” ag.org, Aug. 9-11, 2010
“There are two extreme situations that may come to be seen as solutions in especially dramatic circumstances, without realizing that they are false answers that do not resolve the problems they are meant to solve and ultimately do no more than introduce new elements of destruction in the fabric of national and global society. These are war and the death penalty…
Saint John Paul II stated clearly and firmly that the death penalty is inadequate from a moral standpoint and no longer necessary from that of penal justice. There can be no stepping back from this position. Today we state clearly that ‘the death penalty is inadmissible’ and the Church is firmly committed to calling for its abolition worldwide.”
Source: Pope Francis, “Encyclical Letter Fratelli Tutti of the Holy Father Francis on Fraternity and Social Friendship,” vatican.va, Oct. 3, 2020
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints regards the question of whether and in what circumstances the state should impose capital punishment as a matter to be decided solely by the prescribed processes of civil law. We neither promote nor oppose capital punishment.”
Source: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, “Capital Punishment,” newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org (accessed Aug. 26, 2021)
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
“The Death Penalty stands in the Lutheran tradition recognizing that God entrusts the state with the power to take human life when failure to do so constitutes a clear danger to the common good. Never-the-less, it expresses ELCA opposition to the use of the death penalty, one that grows out of ministry with and to people affected by violent crime.
The statement acknowledges the existence of different points of view within the church and society on this question and the need for continued deliberation, but it objects to the use of the death penalty because it is not used fairly and has failed to make society safer. The practice of using the death penalty in contemporary society undermines any possible alternate moral message since the primary message conveyed by an execution is one of brutality and violence. This social statement was adopted by the 1991 ELCA Churchwide Assembly.”
Source: Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, “Death Penalty,” elca.org (accessed Aug. 26, 2021)
“Resolved, That the 79th General Convention of The Episcopal Church reaffirms the longstanding principle espoused by The Episcopal Church that the Death Penalty in the United States of America should be repealed; and be it further Resolved, That all persons who have been sentenced to Death in the United States of America have their Death Sentences reduced to a lesser Sentence or, if innocent, granted exoneration…
Source: Episcopal Church, “Reaffirm Opposition to the Death Penalty,” edtn.org, 2018
“Despite the government’s constantly changing position on the death penalty, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has been strong and consistent in its call for a moratorium on capital punishment. We believe that the death penalty challenges the redemptive power of the cross. God’s grace is sufficient for all humans regardless of their sin. As Christians, we must ‘seek the redemption of evildoers and not their death.’
For the past 60 years, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has been advocating for an end to the death penalty.”
Source: Presbyterian Church USA Presbyterian Office of Public Witness, “Statement on the Federal Death Penalty,” presbyterianmission.org, Aug. 5, 2019
“WHEREAS, The Bible teaches that every human life has sacred value (Genesis 1:27) and forbids the taking of innocent human life (Exodus 20:13); and
WHEREAS, God has vested in the civil magistrate the responsibility of protecting the innocent and punishing the guilty (Romans 13:1-3); and
WHEREAS, We recognize that fallen human nature has made impossible a perfect judicial system; and
WHEREAS, God authorized capital punishment for murder after the Noahic Flood, validating its legitimacy in human society (Genesis 9:6); and
WHEREAS, God forbids personal revenge (Romans 12:19) and has established capital punishment as a just and appropriate means by which the civil magistrate may punish those guilty of capital crimes (Romans 13:4); and
WHEREAS, God requires proof of guilt before any punishment is administered (Deuteronomy 19:15-19); and
WHEREAS, God’s instructions require a civil magistrate to judge all people equally under the law, regardless of class or status (Leviticus 19:15; Deuteronomy 1:17); and
WHEREAS, All people, including those guilty of capital crimes, are created in the image of God and should be treated with dignity (Genesis 1:27).
Therefore, be it RESOLVED, That the messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention, meeting in Orlando, Florida, June 13-14, 2000, support the fair and equitable use of capital punishment by civil magistrates as a legitimate form of punishment for those guilty of murder or treasonous acts that result in death”
Source: Southern Baptist Convention, “On Capital Punishment,” sbc.net, June 1, 2000
Unitarian Universalist Association
“WHEREAS, at this time, even though there has been no execution in the United States for the past seven years, twenty-eight states have already passed legislation seeking to re-establish capital punishment; and
WHEREAS, the act of execution of the death penalty by government sets an example of violence;
BE IT RESOLVED: That the 1974 General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association continues to oppose the death penalty in the United States and Canada, and urges all Unitarian Universalists and their local churches and fellowships to oppose any attempts to restore or continue it in any form.”
Source: Unitarian Universalist Association, “Death Penalty 1974 General Resolution,” uua.org, June 1, 1974
“The United Church of Christ historically has opposed capital punishment. We first formalized this position in 1969 and we have reaffirmed it many times in the years since. In 2005 our General Synod passed a resolution calling for the common good as a foundational idea in the United States. We simply believe that murder is wrong, whether committed by individuals or the state. Currently our churches are working for abolition of the death penalty.”
Source: United Church of Christ, “Capital Punishment,” ucc.org (accessed Aug. 26, 2021)
“The United Methodist Church says, ‘The death penalty denies the power of Christ to redeem, restore, and transform all human beings.’ (Social Principles ¶164.G) As Wesleyans, we believe that God’s grace is ever reaching out to restore our relationship with God and with each other. The death penalty denies the possibility of new life and reconciliation.
The United Methodist Church also recognizes the unjust and flawed implementation of the death penalty, pointing out the example of Texas, where executions reveal racism, bias against mentally handicapped persons and the likely execution of at least one innocent person. (Book of Resolutions, 5037)
‘We oppose the death penalty (capital punishment) and urge its elimination from all criminal codes.’ (Social Principles ¶164.G)”
Source: United Methodist Church, “Death Penalty,” umcjustice.org (accessed Aug. 26, 2021)
Three critical issues that face church denominations in today’s society. Do you know where your church stands on the issues of abortion, the death penalty and LGBTQ. Does your church condone same sex marriages and same sex pastors? Does your church practice marrying same sex couples? If you tithe, where is your money going?
Are you any different than the Israelites in Elijah’s time? Sin is sin—love the sinner and hate the sin. The question is as you attend your denominational church—do you sit on the fence; do you waver on the above issues or do you take a stand? Who are you trying to adhere to—the world or to God?
If you are going to a church that supports the interests of the world and are in violation of what the Bibles explicitly says is wrong, then find another church.
Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
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