Apostacy is Destroying the Church, Part 1

There was a time when the church would stand for what is right, defend the principles of God and the pastor was the leader in the community. They quite often wrote the charter for the city, were the school teachers, spiritual leaders and were outright hated by the British because they kept the people informed and encouraged concerning their right to freedom from the crown. These pastors were more than simple people who gave a cute sermon on Sunday mornings. They were the leaders of the community. They were the teachers. They carried so much influence in the community that the British labeled them The Black Regiment for the color of the robes that they wore. The British even blamed these pastors for the war for independence and probably rightfully so as all the rights declared in the Declaration of Independence had been preached from the pulpits of America from long before 1763.

This fact was also very well known in America as well. John Adams stated that “the pulpits have thundered” and he even talked about some of the ministers that he believed were “characters the most conspicuous, the most ardent, and influential” in the “awakening and a revival of American principles and feelings” that fanned the flames for American independence.[1]

We no longer have many pastors of this quality anymore. There are a few, but they are rare. The American pulpit was aflame with preaching about freedom and independence. Today’s pastors, for the most part, give milk toast sermons that won’t even get you out of the door of the church let alone through the rest of the week. Today’s pastors have literally thrown God’s rules and principles out the window. We were warned about this by Paul: 1Timothy 4:1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils. Some may ask what doctrines of the devil are the churches pushing? Well, in case you haven’t been paying attention I will just scratch the surface of the apostasy that has engulfed the church. Keep in mind the definition of apostasy: an act of refusing to continue to follow, obey, or recognize a religious faith; abandonment of a previous loyalty: DEFECTION! This may sound harsh but a simple look at what churches are allowing is far from the biblical principles laid out in scripture.

I testified against a ‘Civil Unions’ bill in my home state of Colorado a few years back that would allow same-sex ‘marriages’ which is a violation of our State Constitution not to mention the Word of God. At that hearing, there were more pastors there to endorse the bill than to oppose the bill. You can see a YouTube clip of my testimony here.[2] We were able to defeat the bill two years in a row and then we lost control of both houses and the governor’s seat and the bill was passed. This is an example of how the devil doesn’t stop his attack on our moral values and we must continue our vigilance in upholding the morals laid out in scripture. My wife grew up Lutheran and the pastor of one of the biggest Lutheran churches in Denver was there to endorse the bill. His mistake. My wife confronted him in the hall outside the hearing room and grilled him to the point where he literally ran away from her because he could not defend his position.

But unfortunately, that is not the only denomination that has embraced the homosexual lifestyle. Please don’t misunderstand me, I’m not saying that homosexuals should not be allowed in the church because there is no better place for them to learn the truth about homosexuality. What I am saying is the church should not embrace it as a viable lifestyle and place active homosexuals in places of authority in the church. Half of the Episcopalians embrace homosexuality while the other half continues to hold strong to the biblical teachings against it.[3] Methodist has embraced the lifestyle[4], some Catholic parishes[5], and even the Baptists are embracing the debauchery of that lifestyle: In a highly-ironic twist, the First Baptist Church of Greenville, SC, the same church that produced the very first president of the Southern Baptist Convention, William Bullein Johnson, is now an LGBT-affirming, pro-same-sex marriage, and pro-transgender church, and they don’t care what you think of them.

GreenvilleOnline.com reports that the dialogue was bold — particularly for one of downtown Greenville’s influential legacy churches that in its earliest years served as a birthplace for revered Southern Baptist institutions. Would the congregation be willing to allow same-sex couples to marry in the church? To ordain gay ministers? To embrace the complexities of gender identity? In an evangelical church born in the antebellum South? Whose founder more than a century and a half ago served as the inaugural president of the Southern Baptist Convention? Here, in Greenville? The answer to each was “yes.” [6] The baffling part about this is there is no place in scripture that places God’s blessing on a homosexual relationship. Malachi 3:6 states “For I am the LORD, I change not;”, you combine that with Leviticus 18:22 Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is an abomination and there is really no way to misunderstand God’s intent. Even the references in the New Testament concur with the intent of the Old Testament: 1 Corinthians 6:9 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. The last two references are direct references to the homosexual lifestyle. In fact, the last reference, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, is the Greek word ‘arsenokites’ which means sodomite.

Denomination after denomination has willfully ignored this obvious mandate. The pastors that allow this don’t have the guts to stand against the politically correct agenda of the world. They don’t want to offend anyone but as I’ve stated for the last twenty years, if you’re preaching the gospel, you’re going to offend someone. It’s time to offend. Patrick Henry made a wise statement that we need to take to heart: For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst and provide for it.

E-Mail Roger Anghis: roger@buildingthetruth.org

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