No Such Thing

as a

Liberal Christian

We seem to be hearing more and more today about liberalism or conservatism in many areas of life.  Now we are hearing the news media and others talk about liberal Christians versus conservative Christians. This view should never arise when pertaining to Christianity.

Listen carefully: There should be no such thing as a “liberal Christian”!

Even a so-called “conservative Christian’s” view could be messed up – depending on whom or what they always base their views on.

If asked what type of Christian you are, our response should be – I follow Jesus.  I believe and do just what Jesus did.

Whatever our ideas were before becoming a Christian – that was the past.  We are now required to change.
Rom. 12:2 tells us to “be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

We are to change and become like Christ – period!

John 12:50 – And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.

This is Jesus speaking!  He wasn’t liberal in His thinking or speaking – He was one with the Father.

Do you recall what Jesus said when Philip asked Him to “show them the Father?”

John 14:9 – Jesus said unto him, have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.

The same should be true of our lives.  When people see us they should know what we believe and think by what we do and say every day.  We should not waver due to what is, or is not happening in the world.

God DOES NOT change – EVER!  When we follow God and put Him first place in our lives, in all we do, then we will be blessed.  The same is true of the world.

John 14:31 – But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do.

If this was good enough for Jesus, then this should be good enough for us.  It does not matter what century we live in and how times have changed!  God knows just where this world stands and He knows what works to get us out of trouble.

John 14:10 – Believe thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me?  The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwells in me, he doeth the works.

John 14:23 – Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

We are the light of the world –our light cannot be out part of the time.  The world has to know where to come to get help – at all times!

If the airport turned its runway light out just as a jet was coming in for landing, the pilot would not know where to go.

If a lighthouse turned off its light at night, then ships may become shipwrecked.

The church (the body of believers) cannot, and must not be divided – on anything.  The Bible says that a house divided cannot stand!

Paul lets the readers of his epistles know that he worked very hard at writing down the whole will of God.  And when a person knows the whole will of God, then that should be, and must be our will also.

The world cannot get saved, healed and delivered when the church is wishy-washy, or liberal in their beliefs!

Once a person gets saved and begins coming to church, we, the church, cannot give him or her mixed signals.  Well – anything is OK – as long as you don’t hurt anyone.  NO!  The church must lead that new believer into all the good that God has for him or her.  We must teach them how to stay under the protective covering of Almighty God.

John 17:14-16 – I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou should take them out of the world, but that thou should keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

That doesn’t mean to go live on another planet, or tuck ourselves away and become a hermit.  We still live in the world, but we do not have to join in on the world’s way of believing and doing things.

When we were born again, we came out of the stinking kingdom of darkness, with all its evil, and we came into the Kingdom of God, with all its rights and privileges that Jesus, Himself, obtained for us.

Whom do we want to please – God or the world?  It’s our choice.  And remember, one day we will stand – alone without anyone else beside us and give an answer to Jesus for how we thought and conducted ourselves in this world.

So, I pose this question to you again – what kind of Christian are you?   I want each an every one of us to be a light to the world so they can see Jesus and God in us every time we respond to anything   So we should respond – I follow Jesus in everything.  What He says in the Word of God (the Bible) that is what I believe, follow and do.

Window On The Word — by Marcia Greenwood

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Rev. Ed Bacon

By Drew Zahn

On the third day of her televised “Best Life” week-long series, even Oprah Winfrey was stunned to hear one of her pastor panelists, Rev. Ed Bacon, declare, “Being gay is a gift from God.”

With wide eyes, Winfrey responded, “Well, you are the first minister I’ve ever heard say, ‘Being gay is a gift from God,’ I can tell you that.”

The comment was made earlier this month on the “Your Spiritual Journey” segment of Winfrey’s “Best Life Week” by Rev. Bacon of the All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, Calif., a church described by Pasadena Weekly as “one of the most socially progressive religious institutions in America.”

The comment was so controversial that Winfrey invited Bacon back four days later via video link to explain himself.

“Tell us, what did you mean by that comment?” Winfrey asked.

“I meant exactly what I said,” Bacon responded with a wide smile. “It is so important for every human being to understand that he or she is a gift from God, and particularly people who are marginalized and victimized in our culture. Gay and lesbian people are clearly outcasts in many areas of our life, and it is so important for them to understand that when God made them, God said, ‘You are good.’”

The video of both Bacon’s original statement and his follow-up interview with Winfrey can be seen below:

During the original broadcast, Bacon’s comment was applauded by another member of Winfrey’s panel, Michael Bernard Beckwith, founder and spiritual director of Agape International Spiritual Center in Los Angeles, who agreed and gave a high-five to Bacon.

“You … you are the first two ministers I have ever heard say, ‘Being gay is a gift from God,’” said Winfrey.

As Winfrey explains on the video above, however, Rev. Bacon’s comment – and Beckwith’s agreement – generated a massive viewer response.

“You don’t know how freeing it felt to hear that statement, and I was sure any gay person that heard it was in awe,” one of Winfrey’s Internet message board writers reportedly responded. “I want to thank both of them for letting my heart lift up and feel like something in this life, not an abomination.”

“On today’s show,” another viewer commented, “I was appalled by the pastor’s remark that being gay is a gift from God. How many gay people did this man of the cloth lead down the wrong road with his comment?”

Rev. Bacon, as well, confessed that he received an avalanche of e-mail and voice mail response, which he says was 30-to-1 appreciative of his comment.

“What I gather is that [the comment] simply unleashed a flood of healing throughout the country,” Bacon said. “People were talking about their hearts being healed, and their hearts leaping.”

Bacon also acknowledged that he received criticism over the remark.

“Ironically,” Bacon said, “the most meanspirited e-mail I received was from Christians who interpret the Bible – from my perspective – in a condemning way.”

Bacon further explained that he perceives some Christians use the Bible to condemn people, while others use it to love.

“Everyone has to make a decision about how they use the Bible, if they’re biblically oriented like I am,” Bacon said. “You have to take the orientation of compassion and inclusion to the Bible, or you’re going to have to use it as a way to beat people up and condemn them and judge them.”

Bacon further addressed the issue at All Saints Episcopal Church the Sunday between his two appearances on Winfrey’s program.

Referring to critical e-mail received after his remark, Bacon said from his church’s pulpit, “Some of it is the most vitriolic stuff I have ever read, calling for the rescission of my ordination, saying I didn’t know what I was talking about and saying, ‘Show me where in the Bible it says that being gay is a gift from God.’”

To the last challenge, Bacon replied, “Well, if those folks would read the Bible, they would see that in Genesis it says that when God created humankind, God said that we are good – all good, didn’t mention any exceptions.”

A video of Bacon’s pulpit comments, made available by All Saints Church, can be seen below:

Rev. Susan Russell, associate pastor at All Saints, further backed Rev. Bacon and his comments.

“We take for granted that a message of toleration and inclusion is what God’s message is about, but a lot of people have never heard this,” Russell told Pasadena Weekly. “What I find so wonderful is that Ed Bacon [is] able to use this national stage for an inclusive message about the love of God.”

She continued, “Ed said he meant that we’re all created in God’s image. We invite those who thank us to come see us, and we explain the background of our positions to those who disagree. We think it’s an opportunity for dialogue even with those who think we’ll burn in the lake of fire.”