Pastor's Blog

An oxymoron is a contradiction of terms. Examples include: thunderous silence, cruel kindness, and make haste slowly. Some oxymorons originate accidentally; others intentionally, to produce a startling rhetorical effect. Many are humorous. Some are deceiving ( genuine imitation ). Most only seem contradictory, but further reflection reveals a deeper truth. Others are real contradictions. To this latter category belongs the label “gay Christian,” which is not only deceiving, but dangerous. Gay activists have been rather successful in their effort to normalize homosexuality in the wider culture, winning their most significant battle to date in the landmark Obergefell decision. [1] They have also had a surprising degree of success in convincing Christians that same-sex sexual relationships meet with the same divine approval as those between a husband and wife. S. Donald Fortson III and Rolling G. Grams have convincingly rebutted these activists in their recent book, Unch...

Last week we began to examine what the Bible teaches concerning man. Some of the most important points we considered were that (1) man is not the product of blind evolutionary forces, but is instead the very handiwork of God; (2) the creation of man was a collaborative effort of the Holy Trinity; (3) man was created in the image of God; (4) the human race is one (implication:  since we are all descendants of one man, we are all distantly related and there is no room in the thinking of a Christian for racism); and (5) man was created to glorify God. What we did not have time for last week, but is nevertheless essential for us to discuss—especially after the decisions of the Supreme Court this past week—is the fact that God made man  male  and  female . In our opening text we read this: So God created man in his own image,             in the image of God he created him;     ...

I have been only vaguely aware of an Atlanta minister by the name of Louie Giglio. What brought him to my attention today was an announcement he made concerning his voluntarywithdrawal from participation in President Obama’s upcoming inauguration on January 21. He had been invited to offer a benediction—an invitation he at first accepted, but has since declined. And why did he decline? Because an organization called ThinkProgress uncovered a veritable scandal. It seems that Giglio, the pastor of Passion City Church, committed a heinous offense.  What grave misdeed did he commit, you ask, to move him to offer this voluntary penance? Nearly twenty years ago he preached a sermon in which he said—oh, the horror of it!—that homosexual acts are sinful. ThinkProgress posted excerpts of the sermon, which they characterized as “disturbing” and “rabidly anti LGBT”.  They were nothing of the sort, of course. The excerpts clearly show Giglio’s concern for people ensnared by this part...