Is the Devil using LGBTQ to destroy christian churches?

[reddogs]

I heard this and was amazed, I could not grasp what was happening, till I came across this..'

A quarter of Methodist congregations in the U.S. are leaving the United Methodist Church as one of the country's largest Protestant denominations wrestles with issues of sexuality and gender identity.

More than 7,600 of United Methodist’s approximately 30,000 congregations had voted to leave as of this week, and the number could grow as the Dec. 31 deadline for departures approaches.

“It’s the biggest schism in any American denomination in the history of our country,” said Ryan Burge, an associate professor of political science at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston....

What's at issue?
Controversies have been brewing within the church for several decades, particularly those dealing with LGBTQ+ issues, Wilson said.

Progressive factions within the church, he said, want to overhaul church teachings to, for instance, permit same-sex marriages and allow the ordination of gay clergy....'
..https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/12/20/methodist-church-lgbtq-issues-prompt-mass-exodus-as-deadline-nears/71964830007/

A quarter of United Methodist churches in U.S. have left during split

United Methodist churches had a five-year window to leave the denomination over disputes involving its bans on same-sex marriage and ordaining LGBTQ persons.

www.pbs.org

With a Deadline Looming, the United Methodist Church Breaks Up

A quarter of the denomination’s churches have left, as the faith divides over L.G.B.T.Q. policies.

www.nytimes.com

 

[WIP]

I've already posted a reminder. Focus on answering the OP's questions only. If you wish to discuss other member replies, start a new thread in an appropriate forum. I will be deleting any further non-compliant replies.

 

[Ezekiel]

I heard this and was amazed, I could not grasp what was happening, till I came across this..'

A quarter of Methodist congregations in the U.S. are leaving the United Methodist Church as one of the country's largest Protestant denominations wrestles with issues of sexuality and gender identity.

More than 7,600 of United Methodist’s approximately 30,000 congregations had voted to leave as of this week, and the number could grow as the Dec. 31 deadline for departures approaches.

“It’s the biggest schism in any American denomination in the history of our country,” said Ryan Burge, an associate professor of political science at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston....

What's at issue?
Controversies have been brewing within the church for several decades, particularly those dealing with LGBTQ+ issues, Wilson said.

Progressive factions within the church, he said, want to overhaul church teachings to, for instance, permit same-sex marriages and allow the ordination of gay clergy....'
..https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/12/20/methodist-church-lgbtq-issues-prompt-mass-exodus-as-deadline-nears/71964830007/

A quarter of United Methodist churches in U.S. have left during split

United Methodist churches had a five-year window to leave the denomination over disputes involving its bans on same-sex marriage and ordaining LGBTQ persons.

www.pbs.org

With a Deadline Looming, the United Methodist Church Breaks Up

A quarter of the denomination’s churches have left, as the faith divides over L.G.B.T.Q. policies.

www.nytimes.com

It is not a good thing, they need to repent and God will forget them sins as if they never happened. But many won't. And if you hear the Spirit tell you get out of that city flee as Jesus said.

Isaiah 4
4 And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.
2 In that day shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel.
3 And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem:
4 When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.
5 And the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence.
6 And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the day time from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain.

I would be better for them if they would have stayed in the closet. You should read that whole chapter.

Isaiah 3
9 The shew of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves.

 

[reddogs]

Back in 1988 the American Lutheran Church, the Lutheran Church in America, and the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches merged to form the Evangelical Lutheran Churches in America (ELCA). The church I am a member of was an American Lutheran Church body. With much dispute and concern they chose to go with the flow and accept the merger into the ELCA. Most of their concerns were related to progressive movements with the LGBTQ+ community and Universalism within the body.

As time went on, it became more and more apparent that the LGBTQ+ movement was in fact gaining momentum within the ELCA. I remember attending annual synod meetings 1995-1997 in our region and quickly learned that the movement was not going to be slowed.

Long story short, after three years of prayer and discussion we came to a vote in 1997 to disassociate from the ELCA. Our church lost some members because we took three years to come to that conclusion but for the most part we didn't want to rush into that and hoped things could turn around. Since that time there have been hundreds of congregations that have made the same choice. I no longer keep up with what is happening in the ELCA but last I heard, Universalism is gaining acceptance.

Once they allow doctrines of devils, it opens the door for even more it seems...

 

[Christ_empowered]

I don’t think it start with “the gays” lol
PCUSA is gay affirming. Before that they decided to be pro unrestricted access to abortion, more accepting of divorce, and I think that some of the church ️ was pro eugenics….


So really, “the gays” are just the latest step…and a big one…
Towards rejecting the Bible as the authority for life and overall morality.

 

[Tenchi]

What's at issue?
Controversies have been brewing within the church for several decades, particularly those dealing with LGBTQ+ issues, Wilson said.

The LGBTQ stuff is just symptomatic of other, more "root" issues that plague a growing number of churches:

- denial of the divine inspiration (and thus divine authority) of the Bible.
- denial of the historicity/deity of Jesus Christ.
- denial of the Gospel (hell, sin, expiatory atonement of Christ, etc.).
- compromise with worldly philosophies and cultural trends (relativism, moral subjectivism, post-modernism, Marxist Critical Theory [aka Woke-ism], etc.).
- the dissolution of a clear, sharp separation of the Church from the world, the Flesh and the devil (2 Corinthians 6:14-18; Ephesians 5:1-13).
- profound, widespread ignorance among professing Christians of orthodox Christian doctrine.

Under the banner of "compassion," and "tolerance," and "love," the Church, weakened spiritually over decades by juvenile spiritual teaching, crowded with the "leaven" (1 Corinthians 5:6; Galatians 5:9) of "seekers" and nominal "Christians," has been lured into accepting gross sexual perversion which the Bible flatly and repeatedly condemns. This slow slide into apostasy won't halt at LGBTQ perversion and delusion, however. The darkness once embraced hungrily consumes the light, from its foul bowels spewing out every conceivable (and inconceivable) evil. In tracking where the Church is headed as it adopts more and more moral and spiritual compromise just consider Hollywood and the modern music industry in North America.

 

[citrus]

I see it as a cult. People don't want to be sued or defensive. When we loose the standards of God, man doesn't have anything to compare it to. So men make their own. Eventually co-exist will not work in the end. They don't complements eachother, yet push away. I think the church needs to accept people not their sin,however, they need to respect church or leave. There is no place for protesting, ant behavior or sexual behavior should nit be accepted. Absolutely. God is not a God of disorder. Also they should not be involved in leadership rather respect the leadership or leave. I visited a church where the lesbians in front of us were having a major make out session. First of all it is disrespectful. We don't go to church to make out or show sexual behavior at church. The purpose of the church is not that. Heterosexual people who are Christians aren't supposed to either. I have never heard or seen a Heterosexual sexual person not focused on God making out or sexual behavior during church. That is not the purpose of the church. If they are being disractful they need to leave. The pastor should do this in a kind matter. If the person gets defensive they lack maturity and self control. If they don't like the rules they should leave. It's church. If it is something else other places have rules too. God is not a God of chaos or contradiction. The pastor needs to help those who are corporationing and just didn't know, and discipline them, however. But they can act clueless and play the victim. This needs to be discussed and acknowledged by leaders and to their best respond to what is best for the congregation and leaders. They add to protect the sheep like a shepherd. Especially the vulnerable.

 

[citrus]

Somethings can be worked through and other not tolerated.

 

[citrus]

This goes the same with drug addicts and those who play victim in order to dress unappropritely. People should be able to wear what they want, however, there is a limit and standard. A person should not be stripping or look like it or wear clothes with drug associations ect. If they are new to church, most likely they don't know or that is something they are struggling with. Help those people. If a homeless person walks in then don't shame them. Maybe they smell bad, maybe they are a mess, they need Jesus too and you have no idea why and what they are going through. That is where discipleship comes into play. If a person gives their heart and life to God they need to not just fill out a card ( nothing wrong with that), but don't keep them hanging. Now they have to know how to give their life and get rid of their old lifestyles. They need the church. They need guidance. Many times those people have not been brought up in church. They need people to be like christ and have them come eat at the table.

 

[Carry_Your_Name]

The bible clearly teaches that sex is for between husband and wife, that all other sexual arrangements are sinful.
How vague is that. Lg5b only gets a foothold where people do not believe the bible, but interpret it through what they bring to the bible.

See, "sex is for between husband and wife", that's a SPECIFIC arrangement in the bible. It's not that the bible doesn't clearly teach that, it's that saying "stand upon the bible" doesn't clearly reference that. If you don't specifically name it, then it's vague, those advocates would erroneously quote some other verses from the bible such as "there's no male or female" and twist it to back up their satanic agenda, and then claim that they "stand upon the bible" too.

 

[Who Me]

See, "sex is for between husband and wife", that's a SPECIFIC arrangement in the bible. It's not that the bible doesn't clearly teach that, it's that saying "stand upon the bible" doesn't clearly reference that. If you don't specifically name it, then it's vague, those advocates would erroneously quote some other verses from the bible such as "there's no male or female" and twist it to back up their satanic agenda, and then claim that they "stand upon the bible" too.

Those determined to make the bible fit with there own views already do that.

But a consistent reading of the bible, taking " key verses " in context will quickly show that they are in error.

 

[WIP]

Focus on replying to the OP's questions only.

 

[Tenchi]

A quarter of Methodist congregations in the U.S. are leaving the United Methodist Church as one of the country's largest Protestant denominations wrestles with issues of sexuality and gender identity.

More than 7,600 of United Methodist’s approximately 30,000 congregations had voted to leave as of this week, and the number could grow as the Dec. 31 deadline for departures approaches.

What's interesting here is that those who maintain careful fidelity to the God revealed in the Bible and to His Truth issued therein are not dividing from God but from those who have thrown off God's moral commands. The real "dividers" are those who have diverged from God and His word, not those who are remaining in alignment with the centuries-old orthodoxy of the Christian faith. These properly-aligned Christians aren't really moving at all; they are static in their orthodox beliefs and practices; it's the modern, progressive "Christians," captured by the "affirming" rhetoric and toxic "compassion" of the godless world, who are in destructive motion.

Baptists like myself are only "intolerant" and "judgmental" (in a negative sense) under the intolerant judgment of those "progressive" so-called "Christians" who have forsaken the God of the Bible for their own Self-reflecting version of "God" who mirrors to them all the "compassion" and "tolerance" they want in order to feel comfortable in their depravity. They have, essentially, made themselves God.

The Body of Believers, the True Church of God today, continues to stand in fixed, unmoving alignment with the beliefs and practices of the earliest born-again believers and the God they loved and served, as revealed in the New Testament. The True Church, holy, humble before God, and faithful to Him, properly offers no place of comfort and acceptance to those who hate God, shake their wicked fists in His face and seek to remold the Church into their own vile image.

2 Corinthians 6:14-18
14 Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?
15 Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever?
16 Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, "I will dwell in them and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people."
17 "Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate," says the Lord. "and do not touch what is unclean; And I will welcome you.
18 "And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me," Says the Lord Almighty.

1 Corinthians 5:11-13
11 ...I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one.
12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church?
13 But those who are outside, God judges. Remove the wicked man from among yourselves.

Ephesians 5:1-13
1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children;
2 and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.
3 But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints;
4 and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.
5 For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.
7 Therefore do not be partakers with them;
8 for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light
9 (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth),
10 trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.
11 Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them;
12 for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret.
13 But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light.

 

[for_his_glory]

Satan stands behind many pulpits speaking a twisted word of God while Jesus is kicked to the curb.

Rev 2:14 But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.
Rev 2:15 So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.
Rev 2:16 Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

Rev 2:20 Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.
Rev 2:21 And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.

 

[citrus]

When this first came about and I don't mean in the biblical days, it was a opportunity for marketing to get on the bandwagon. For ex. Skittles put out the grey bag of Skittles for lqbtg and all these companies were jumping I'm to reach a broader audience of people. Then everything took off. So more people were turning to the " world wide cult." All this disgusting perversion took off like a flame of fire. It's destroying everything . Satan comes to steal, kill and destroy. In Peter's times they were worse than Sodom and Gomorrah unless I'm mistaken. So I think about that and how this world is today. Everything is becoming acceptable except Christians. Itbreally is. People are not following God's standards they make up their own. Soon everything in life especially with AI is going to be an illusion. People aren't going to be able to tell what is real and what isn't. People don't know their identity. Yes they do they just so choose not to. So instead of finding their identity in christ they just become more and more corrupt and deprived. It's not going to get better until God and Jesus comes. It's only going to get worse. I'm ready to go. Those stragglers need to hurry up and get in the boat.

 

[citrus]

I don't mean like Noah's boat. I mean like the titanic, but the people on the boat are turning evil. Then the people make their decisions to be evil or not. Much like lot when his wife turned around because she desired it and became a pilliar of salt.

 

[citrus]

...Like, jumping into a life boat.