http://www.chron.com/news/politics/houston/article/City-subpoenas-pastors-sermons-in-equal-rights-5822403.php
http://abc13.com/news/pastors-sermons-subpoenaed-amid-hero-fight/350929/
This story is rightly upsetting some folks. It is indeed outrageous.
But I'm always a little suspicious of Christian reporting. Since it is politically motivated I generally find it to be less than truthful, usually omitting some essential facts. It's sad that Christian reporting is generally unreliable.
And that's true here.
The subpoena is in response to a lawsuit filed by the pastors and other political allies against the city.
Hey, if these non-profit tax-exempt organizations are going to engage in a political lawsuit, then you have to expect the defense is going to gather all the evidence. That's just the other side doing due diligence. The 'Discovery' game is also a legal tactic. It lacks integrity but the gathering of evidence and sometimes on a massive scale is a way to frustrate the other side.
This can be done in the gathering but also in the discovery phase. Sometimes a legal team will overwhelm an opponent with so much evidence in terms of paperwork that they can't get through all of it in time.
The city is out of line, but the real error here is on the part of the Church.
They shouldn't be suing the city and they shouldn't be incorporated and registered with the IRS.
This is the False Church bringing down judgment on itself.
Stand and preach for the truth. If you're not incorporated there's nothing to come after. Legally the organization doesn't exist. We all condemn the Three-Self Patriotic or state sanctioned churches in China. We've got millions of them right here in the United States!
Preach the Bible without fear, but do not sue the magistrate. There is no warrant for this type of activity. In fact this whole way of thinking is woefully misguided.
If you own a business and some 'trans' freak comes into your business, you can ask them to leave or deny them use of the bathroom. If the city comes after you, then deal with it. If you lose your business, then praise the Lord.
If you're not Middle Class, you don't really have much to lose. We should think of ourselves as Second Class citizens, strangers and pilgrims, not Middle Class citizens and members of the Establishment.
I'm not saying that people shouldn't be fighting these obscene ordinances... but not the Church. Fight by preaching the truth. Condemn this society, warn it of the judgment to come.
Most societies have enough natural law and common grace to realize trans-sexualism is wrong. Ours is in a state of backlash. It will correct (somewhat) in time, but it's going to be a long time and this society will likely have collapsed by then.
Don't file lawsuits.
Those that are reporting that the city is seeking 'oversight' of pastor's sermons have misrepresented the actual situation, and in many cases they have done this deliberately. They are trying to make some political hay out of this. And don't forget there's an election in just a few weeks.
This activity leads the sodomite community to target Christian owned businesses. Trouble brews trouble. Those that take up the sword (which is what a lawsuit is) will also perish by it.
In the end, it would be better to approach the lost in a much different way. I said to deny the sodomite the use of your bathroom. It would be better to treat them as woefully lost hell-bound souls that need the gospel. Yes, it's annoying when they're trying to get in your face. But again it must be asked why has this happened?
Did you accidentally maintain the comment feature?
ReplyDeleteTaking advantage of this...
Well this comes down to a definition of Church anyway, doesn't it? The problem is not in a corporate identity but an 'incorporated' identity. The Church allows itself to be defined as a constituent business of the Americana. We're not pilgrims, we're a support group. The Church becomes not a Prophet or Priest, harkening the true God. Instead it's a chaplaincy agent of the god known as Old Glory.
At least some corners of Romanism hold themselves distinct in America. The prejudice against them by many Americans forced them to hold themselves as somehow separate and different. Of course that was mostly lost through most of the US with the election of Kennedy and the further acceptance of Romanists. However, in the South, there is supposedly a resurgence, and one that is disciplined and outside the Americana. It's something I'd be curious to investigate more.
The question is how do we live corporately?
The problem isn't politics, but the desire to be a kingdom of the world. Jesus is no longer King. Instead he is a member of the pantheon, including Washington, Jefferson, Socrates, Reagan, Adam Smith etc. that is the Americana religion of Western civilization.
Thanks for raising some good questions with this article.
Cal
I've been online a bit more lately, so I'll turn the comments on.
ReplyDeleteApart from politics and therapy I'm not sure how most people understand the Church. It seems like that's what they think it is and what its for.