It is another sad day for God-fearing, Bible-believing Christians in the   
   United States of America. I have just learned that after decades of intense   
   debate, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has just   
   decided, by a vote of 205 to 56 with three abstentions, to amend its   
   constitution, and permit openly gay people who are in same-sex relationships   
   to be ordained in the church as ministers, elders and deacons. Ironically,   
   only two years ago, a similar vote rejected just such an outcome.   
      
   What a sickening compromise! What blasphemy against the Word of God which   
   clearly condemns same-sex relationships! To add insult to injury, the   
   deciding vote was cast in the Twin Cities; that is Minneapolis and St. Paul.   
   To borrow an old adage, St. Paul must be rolling over in his grave, because   
   he clearly preached against the very sin of homosexuality in his Epistle to   
   the Romans, as well as in other verses that are found in his Epistles.   
   Consider the following:   
      
   "Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their   
   own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: Who changed   
   the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more   
   than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. For this cause God gave   
   them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural   
   use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving   
   the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men   
   with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that   
   recompence of their error which was meet. And even as they did not like to   
   retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do   
   those things which are not convenient;"   
   Romans 1:24-28, KJV   
      
   "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be   
   not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor   
   effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind [homosexuals],"   
   1 Corinthians 6:9, KJV   
      
   "Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the   
   lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and   
   profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,   
   For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind,   
   [homosexuals] for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there   
   be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine;"   
   1 Timothy 1:9-10, KJV   
      
   The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s General Assembly is so deceived, that   
   after the vote had occurred, Cynthia Bolbach -- who is the moderator of the   
   General Assembly -- remarked in a telephone interview that with the vote,   
   the church was "moving forward one other step".   
      
   How in the world is accepting gay people as ministers and such a positive   
   step forward for their church, or for our Christian faith as a whole? What   
   Bible are the Presbyterians following? It certainly is not the one that I   
   have been reading for the past four decades!   
      
   In fact, in sharing his view regarding why the outcome of the vote changed   
   from just two years ago, the Reverend Gradye Parsons -- who is the church's   
   highest elected official -- remarked that one major reason was the growing   
   acceptance of homosexuality as an alternative lifestyle within American   
   culture.   
      
   Excuse me?! Since when do the tenets of our Christian faith change based on   
   the whim of popular opinion? God's Word -- the Bible -- is the Foundation,   
   the guiding Constitution and the Department of Just Weights and Measures of   
   our Christian faith, and not the popular opinions of the sinful world.   
   Furthermore, God's Word says the following:   
      
   "LAMED. For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven."   
   Psalms 119:89, KJV   
      
   "I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put   
   to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear   
   before him. That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath   
   already been; and God requireth that which is past."   
   Ecclesiastes 3:14-15, KJV   
      
   What God considered a grievous sin thousands of years ago, He still   
   considers a serious sin today.   
      
   Tragically, these liberal Presbyterians obviously do not view this issue the   
   same way as Bible-believing Christians do. Thus, it should come as no   
   surprise to us that the Reverend Heidi Vardeman -- who is the senior   
   minister of Macalaster Plymouth United Church in St. Paul, as well as a   
   spokeswoman for "More Light Presbyterians" -- remarked that the Presbyterian   
   Church (U.S.A.) "has seen the error of its ways and it will repent". If   
   anyone needs to repent, it is the Christians -- like these wayward   
   Presbyterians -- who support the ordination of gays. This deceived woman has   
   absolutely no idea what she is talking about. She is in a fact a false angel   
   of light, and a false apostle of Christ, exactly as the Apostle Paul warns   
   us in these verses:   
      
   "But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his   
   subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in   
   Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not   
   preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or   
   another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him . .   
   . For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves   
   into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed   
   into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also   
   be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be   
   according to their works."   
   2 Corinthians 11:3-4, 13-15, KJV   
      
   While Paul may have been writing about the Law-bound Jews who crept into the   
   Christian fellowships in those days in order to sow doctrinal division   
   amongst the brethren, these verses can certainly be applied to Ms. Vardeman   
   and her group today, and to anyone who dares to defy God's Word by preaching   
   a false gospel such as this acceptance of gay people within the ministry.   
      
   In short, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has bowed to political   
   correctness, just like a number of other backslidden churches within   
   America, including the Episcopal Church, the United Church of Christ and the   
   Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Shame on them all! They all need to   
   repent!   
      
      
      
   Jeff Snyder, SysOp - Armageddon BBS  Visit us at endtimeprophecy.org port 23   
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