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From: larry@cci-bdc.UUCP (Larry DeLuca)
Newsgroups: net.religion.christian
Subject: Re: Church Discipline and Gay Christians
Message-ID: <164@cci-bdc.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 19-Mar-85 12:40:33 EST
Article-I.D.: cci-bdc.164
Posted: Tue Mar 19 12:40:33 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 21-Mar-85 02:47:32 EST
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> 
> Re: Judgement Part II - Church Discipline and Gay Christians
>     
> 
> Whether one is or is not truly a Christian is known only absolutely
> by the Absolute Himself.
> 
> However, those people who claim to be Christians and flout the obvious
> moral imperatives provided for us in Scripture are to be educated
> (gently) in their error first.  The plan is shown to us very clearly
> in the Word that if they cannot be persuaded, by one brother or sister
> then two or three should attempt to persuade him or her.  Then you take
> it to the church at large.  The Scriptures teach us that this discipline
> belongs in the church for our betterment and that there is such a thing
> as Spiritual Authority.  Notice the assumption implicit to my remarks
> is that the believer belongs to a local congregation or assembly.
>
yes, you start with one stone...if that doesn't kill them, you get a
friend to throw one...then you call your minister, and he'll throw one...
give one to the mayor, the police chief, the town whore (she's gotta
atone for her sins, too)...pretty soon they see the error in their ways,
or at least blood falling from their forehead...

 
> Again the scriptures teach us "Forsake not the assembling of yourselves
> together..".  There is no such thing (he says dogmatically) as a Lone
> Ranger Christian (by choice) who is not headed for a hard fall or at 
> the very least severely retarded spiritual growth.  I mean...how can I
> find out how much I am growing in love if I don't have your abrasive
> personality to get Grace for several times per week (Sunday twice and
> perhaps Wedsnesday)?? :-) 
> 
> 
> But I digress,...Gay lifestyles are clearly sinful for Christians.
> The New Testament Scripture references (especially Romans 1) have 
> been cited repeatedly.  Even if homosexuality were not prohibited 
> in and of itself, we could make an
> argument against it on the basis of sex outside of marriage is either
> fornication or adultery.  Since marriage is never spoken of in the
> Scriptures in the context of man/man or woman/woman.......
>
i don't know about you, but my lover and i have already said our 
marriage vows...and much like adam and eve, we didn't have a priest
to preside over it, either...

 
> How this ties in with Church Discipline is that when Gays are corrected
> they react with arguments about bigotry and narrowness.  The corner-
> stone of their argumentation is that gayness is genetically determined.
> 
> I would concede without argument that this could be the case that there
> are predispositions in some make-ups toward gayness, alcoholism, etc.
> The Gay theological error in my opinion is "God made me this way".  We
> are born into a fallen world which produces these kinds of 
> aberrations (sp?) but that does not relieve us from our responsibility
> as Christians.  I have heard the testimony of many ex-gay people who 
> have been delivered from homosexuality to the point that I suspect 
> that it is a learned behavior perhaps in some cases abetted by 
> natural predisposition.
> 
but the alcoholic is self-destructive...

> Bob Brown {...ihnp4!akgua!rjb}
> 
> P.S. I KNOW MY POSITION LABELS ME AS A BIGOT AMONGST A BUNCH OF PEOPLE.
>      SAVE YOUR FLAMES ON THAT PARTICULAR POINT.

maybe my suggestion of net.christian.only is not in order so much as
a newsgroup net.christian.bigots...or maybe net.christian.kkk...or
maybe net.christian.self-righteous-bastards (too long?  how about
net.christian.srb)

You self-righteous bastard!!!!  Who died and appointed you god???

"...it's not enough not to be with you.  I have to be against you..."

				--Lorraine Hansberry,
				_The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window


-- 
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