In Defense of the Faith

Once delivered unto the saints

Bishop Eddie Long and Homosexuality?

Posted by tfheringer on June 22, 2008

from I am speaking the truth

It appears as though Eddie Long is doing what many (including his detractors) thought would NEVER happen…bend to the will of the homosexual lobby.

I must admit that I’m saddened by this apparent revelation. Sure, I have theological disagreements with Eddie Long because of his allegiance to the false prosperity gospel, his daft ability to twist scripture like an old pro, and his spawning of clones across the country.

Despite all of this, Eddie still stood firmly on the Word of God in reiterating that homosexuality is a sin that God will not ignore. He even led a march through downtown Atlanta in 2004 in support of heterosexual marriage.

Now, it appears that Eddie is bowing to pressure from the pro-gay lobby, has met the group Soulforce (a “gay christian” organization), and told Soulforce that there are “things about homosexuality that he needs to learn”.

So what is it that Eddie doesn’t “understand” about homosexuality? He’s been preaching against it all of his pastoral life, and he’s questioning scripture’s position regarding the subject now?

Our brother Pastor Foster over at Gay Christian Movement Watch first alerted us of this impending attempt of Soulforce to “dialogue” with Eddie last week (i.e. get him to see their point of view) (click here, here, here, and here for more details), and our brother Independent Conservative posted about it earlier this week as well.

You can see pictures of Soulforce’s visit with Eddie and his staff here, and you can read the article in a pro-gay newspaper that details the visit. Here’s an interesting quote from the article:

The meeting ended with Soulforce members offering to lead workshops at New Birth on human sexuality. Renee said the church is considering its options.

Homosexuality is a sin, and no “workshop on human sexuality” will change that fact. The Soulforce coalition seemed pretty happy to be at Club New Birth, but the CNB staff seemed elated for the opportunity to meet with them.

Unless this meeting was called to preach salvation and repentance from homosexual sin, it should’ve never been held (1 Corinthians 5). These Soulforce members have heard the truth, REJECTED IT, and “tweaked it” to fit THEIR AGENDA.

Let me be CRYSTAL CLEAR – God loves us even in our mess – and in turn, our love for Him and His truth means we must leave our mess behind. We are filthy rags, deserving eternal damnation apart from the redeeming Blood of Jesus Christ and the turning away from our flesh. This is an uncompromisable point. We can’t honestly serve a sinless Savior while holding onto the things that He hates!

I am not a “gay basher”, a homophobe, a “hater” or any other pejorative that will probably be hurled my way. I’m not perfect, nor will I try to reason the varying degrees of “sin”. I understand that many have been hurt through sexual molestation, and confused regarding same-sex attraction, etc. Homosexuality is a sin – and like every other unrepentant sin, it’s consequence is eternal separation from the Father. I stand on the Word of God, specifically:

Is there deliverance from homosexuality? ABSOLUTELY – 1 Corinthians 6:11 and 2 Corinthians 5:17 specifically speaks of deliverance over ANY SIN through salvation and faith in Jesus Christ.

Further, EVERY CHRISTIAN will struggle against sin – including sins of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21). What separates us from the world, however, is that we always repent and turn back to God. You can’t be “gay” and call yourself a true Christian if you continue in homosexual sin – remember, 1 Corinthians 6:11 Paul said “you were (fill in the blank)”…meaning before sanctification through the Blood of Jesus.

You’re either “ex-gay” or an “ex-Christian”.

The truth hurts, and it could be considered “offensive” to anyone that it speaks against – BUT THAT DOES NOT NEGATE IT’S MERIT.

The bottom line is this – Eddie Long has just (apparently) lost the firm footing he had on scripture as it relates to this particular sin.

Should he have attempted to evangelize the Gospel truth to sinners? YES! Should he have entertained an audience of unrepentant sinners (and their partners) in an attempt to assuage scripture for their comfort? ABSOLUTELY NOT!

To all of the Eddie Long sympathizers that ignore EVERYTHING else he’s ever done, can you overlook this too?

In accordance to 2 John 1:10-11, I WILL NOTentertain comments from Soulforce sympathizers, anyone who wishes to argue about being “born gay”, or anyone attempting to defend this meeting.

It is what it is – if you disagree, then visit a blog that supports your assertions – I will stand on the uncompromised, immutable, irrefutable Word of God.

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