tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257056374166663396.post9056375216219266939..comments2024-01-06T10:54:23.028+00:00Comments on Get Out of Jail Free: General Assembly and Gay Clergy.AnneDroidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15381935612631976494noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257056374166663396.post-70198614267119681412012-10-24T08:59:43.342+01:002012-10-24T08:59:43.342+01:00please can the members of the cofs everywhere focu...please can the members of the cofs everywhere focus on the truths of GODS word and stop getting caught up in the politicts of the ways of the world,there is a dying world out there and they need to know the truth of what GOD says,not in the church it brings a curse.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257056374166663396.post-35891769002515942762011-06-01T14:32:16.222+01:002011-06-01T14:32:16.222+01:00I think this is a brilliant post. Like Mr Hideous ...I think this is a brilliant post. Like Mr Hideous Man I am looking in from the outside and therefore I wonder too how the church of scotland can remain as one entity.<br />I'm very grateful for my background of a separation between church and state - if nothing else it means that our denominational gatherings get ignored by the press.<br /><br />I can't see how there won't be some kind of split, for how can the whole move forward to be the vehicle that God wants to use powerfully in this nation if there is such a schism?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257056374166663396.post-67883483968140383352011-06-01T08:48:43.646+01:002011-06-01T08:48:43.646+01:00You're right Anndroid when you say the church ...You're right Anndroid when you say the church isn't actually obsessed with sex...neither is the bible! However, I'm not sure we can claim to have a clear picture from the bible about human relationships today. What is held up as "biblical marriage" is actually paternalistic, authoritarian, and denies women their personhood never mind equality! we've moved a long way from biblical teaching on heterosexual relationships, isn't it time we had a long hard look at using "biblical" morality to justify authoritarianism, paternalism and lots of other "isms" in church politics too?dscottnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257056374166663396.post-4841264946917744842011-05-31T22:47:18.829+01:002011-05-31T22:47:18.829+01:00^^^^^^ Read my comment more carefully. You seem to...^^^^^^ Read my comment more carefully. You seem to have missed my main point!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257056374166663396.post-78880878158884752732011-05-31T22:22:34.204+01:002011-05-31T22:22:34.204+01:00Anne, this has clearly been a very difficult post ...Anne, this has clearly been a very difficult post for you to write - one can feel the pain oozing out of it, but like so many have already said, I think you have held the balance beautifully. You have remained true to God's word, and held the feelings / opinions of others with such love and compassion.<br /><br />My reply is in part to Anonymous - the prosperity Gospel was ALWAYS another gospel, it was man made and had no basis in Scripture. (If someone took the time to read the Bible, it is blatantly obvious that present prosperity has little to do with spiritual prosperity. (Eg Abraham, a wealthy businessman, sinned in sleeping with Hagar, and we reap the consequences of that to this day. Or on the other side of the coin, Paul wrote so many of his epistles from prison - not normally a place associated with prosperity) If we took 5 seconds to consider the persecuted church, we would know that the prosperity gospel is total nonsense!<br /><br />However, one right and one wrong do not make a right! So just because the liberal church (who are not immune from prosperity living themselves . . . .) may have got the teaching right on the prosperity gospel, it does not follow that they have the teaching on sexuality right. Indeed I would say that the prosperity gospel, and what we are witnessing with the ordination of gay clergy are both 'other gospels'. <br /><br />Neither have their place in scripture, and both are a perversion of what God has clearly laid said. God has given clear instruction on the only place for sex - that is timeless, and not open for negotiation or re-interpretation.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257056374166663396.post-2393565901845844512011-05-31T18:55:28.636+01:002011-05-31T18:55:28.636+01:00Looking in from the outside, the CofS looks like t...Looking in from the outside, the CofS looks like two different churches in one structure.... must be very difficult for everyone. <br /><br />Good post btw..That Hideous Manhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12076125326851070568noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257056374166663396.post-33555622749026825922011-05-31T14:01:50.351+01:002011-05-31T14:01:50.351+01:00Don't you sometimes feel like you're walki...Don't you sometimes feel like you're walking through a minefield? Be careful of what you think/say/write etc., for fear of offending somebody.I think that you have the balance about right, A-D.<br />My thoughts are as I described them when talking about Rachael - a lady priest at http://dickiebo.wordpress.com/?s=Rachael [Rachael. No.6].<br />Strange - you are mentioned there as well!dickiebohttp://dickiebo.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257056374166663396.post-68406464642527321962011-05-31T12:37:23.675+01:002011-05-31T12:37:23.675+01:00That will teach me to read before posting The latt...That will teach me to read before posting The latter part was meant to have I am NOT homophobic. Apologies again.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257056374166663396.post-21465927786485845062011-05-31T12:32:33.542+01:002011-05-31T12:32:33.542+01:00Thank you for sharing, and a great many feel the ...Thank you for sharing, and a great many feel the same as you. Glad that neither You nor Him indoors are going anywhere but staying and serving the Lord as you vowed to do many years ago.<br />This again is not about us but about God.He is the boss and though I struggle at times with his rules I do see where he's coming from and indeed leading.<br />I was always struck by the scripture in 1 Timothy 3 <br /> 1 Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer,[a] he desires a noble task. 2 Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4 He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. 5 (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?) 6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. 7 He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap.<br /> 8 Deacons, likewise, are to be men worthy of respect, sincere, not indulging in much wine, and not pursuing dishonest gain. 9 They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience. 10 They must first be tested; and then if there is nothing against them, let them serve as deacons.<br /><br /> 11 In the same way, their wives[b] are to be women worthy of respect, not malicious talkers but temperate and trustworthy in everything.<br /><br /> 12 A deacon must be the husband of but one wife and must manage his children and his household well. 13 Those who have served well gain an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus.<br /><br /> 14 Although I hope to come to you soon, I am writing you these instructions so that, 15 if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth. 16 Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great:<br /><br /> He[c] appeared in a body,[d] <br /> was vindicated by the Spirit, <br />was seen by angels, <br /> was preached among the nations, <br />was believed on in the world, <br /> was taken up in glory.<br /><br />I am homophobic and I to have known many lesbian and gay people; But one thing I am sure on is that it is a sinful act and one that God detests, But He as we still love them,It's the matter of turning from that life that is the crux.To me it is as if we are tearing bits out of the Bible to suit this day and age.The Bible was written many years ago, their struggles then are still the same now.. so in my eyes God 's word stands. <br />I apologise if this has offended anyone as it wasn't meant to.<br />Anne, Him In Doors God Bless you and thank you for your faithfulness to Jesus Christ.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257056374166663396.post-78756766259959429632011-05-31T11:32:04.559+01:002011-05-31T11:32:04.559+01:00Thank you for a balanced and thoughtful post.Thank you for a balanced and thoughtful post.Mrs Gerbilhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16457301688865865815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257056374166663396.post-28035243806561254922011-05-31T10:24:20.816+01:002011-05-31T10:24:20.816+01:00I am profoundly grateful to some of my friends fro...I am profoundly grateful to some of my friends from the Liberal wing of the church for helping me to address my deep-seated love of money. I am a typical Westerner: consumerism, and the accumulation of stuff, and the pursuing of a constantly elevating standard of living was so important to me that it was a defining part of what motivated me to live. Third-world theology was what was I needed in order to help me as an impressionable youngster to reject the prosperity-theology which some of my Evangelical/Charismatic friends were promoting in the 80s. My Liberal friends quoted the Bible (Amos!) to show me that my lifestyle choices were as mistaken as the theology which sought to justify or embrace those choices as if they were Godly. The path of discipleship is costly. As you comment with regard to gluttony, I still struggle with this sin, and I still need the theology which exposes my sinfulness and doesn't blur the distinctions between right and wrong.<br /><br />I now wonder if just as my Liberal friends helped me to reject prosperity theology as a capitulation to the spirit of the age in the 80s; they are now in precisely the same situation with regard to sexual ethics. The gospel is no more a lifestyle-enhancement product than it is a get-rich quick scheme. The message cuts right across everything we hold dear, and what defines us.<br /><br />I have discovered that any part of my life which I deem to be above the scrutiny of the Bible is in fact an idol. Tearing down our idols is the very essence of what it means to 'crucify the flesh' - and I would expect anyone in leadership to be doing so - and doing so observably. Part of this is exposing sub-Biblical theologies such a prosperity (to the'right') or liberal sexual ethics (to the 'left'), which are but manifestations of the same desire to capitulate to the zeitgeist.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com