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...of a different kind.
Very recently my church has been going though an issue that we did not ask for nor did anything to deserve. I live in California and go to school in Davis, at the university. I don't know if any of you live in the area I do and so may know about the controversy, but if you do then this explanation may be more applicable to you. I attend the First Baptist Church in Davis. The pastor there is amazing and his current series on Romans is by far the best I've ever heard him. But last week I came to church and at its entrance on the street were a group of picketers carrying signs saying a lot of hateful things toward homosexuals. Now I believe homosexuality is a sin, just as stealing, lying, and pride are, and that they are punished the same: eternal separation from God in Hell. Yet, I do not believe that any one sin should be picked out of thousands and those guilty of it should be abused and treated harshly by the one group of people on the planet (Christians) who should be the most forgiving and the most understanding of their situation (addiction to sin).
What happened at our church is that one of our members is the Yolo County Clerk Recorder who is the one who has to sign the forms telling homosexuals that they can't get married. She made some comments to the Davis newspaper that don't exactly fall in line with the Bible or the beliefs of the church. This radical group called the Church of the Divide saw that in the newspaper and then commenced a harassment campaign against our pastor and the church member commanding our pastor to publicly rebuke the member and kick her out of the church. Our pastor told them no, he talked to the member about the situation and she wanted to resign her church membership. He told her that he did not want her to. In a conversation with one of the members of this radical church our pastor mentioned this. The radical asked him how he could allow sinful people in his congregation! Our pastor answered back that if sinners are not allowed in church then who would be able to attend? The radical didn't like that very much and hung up.
They have now picked out church for two weeks and, frankly, it is getting a little annoying. Not because it bothers me that they are there, it doesn't affect me, but because it has affected our pastor so much. When he became the pastor of this church eleven years ago he vowed that he would never do anything to embarrass the church and now he feels that he may have let us down. I have told him that he has not and that in fact I am proud of him (Christian legalism really pushes my buttons), but he is still taking this pretty hard. Another issue that has arisen from this is that people who just drive by think these picketers are from our church and that our church supports them! This is bad because it damages the view of Christians further in the already liberal city of Davis.
I would like to ask for prayer in this situation as the elders are meeting tomorrow night to talk about this situation. I ask for prayer for wisdom in my church leaders, prayer that the minds of the people of Davis will be guarded and that they will know and be aware that it is not our church doing this and that maybe it will open opportunities to share Christ. Also prayer for the picketers that they will realize what they are doing is wrong, damaging to the body of Christ, and sinful itself.
I realize I've written a lot here, but that is just how complicated this is. I could have written a lot more. I thank you for your prayers.
