Where does one find the truth regarding the Marriage Amendment to the Minnesota State Constitution? If one professes to be Christian, then one must look to the word of God to find answers.
In Scripture, Genesis 2 lays the foundation regarding marriage beginning at verse 18: “Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”
At verse 24 God says, “Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh.
Jesus quoted Genesis 2:24 when responding to some Pharisees, members of the largest, most influential religious political party of New Testament times, attempting to test him. Matthew 19:4-6 reads, “He answered, Have you not read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder.”
Additionally, the Hebrew (the language of the Old Testament) and the Greek (the language of the New Testament) reveal that all references to man, woman, husband and wife are gender specific. Wherever Scripture refers to the male or husband the words are masculine gender. Wherever scripture refers to the female or wife, the words are feminine gender. Of the hundreds of references in scripture to marriage or married folks, the gender of the male is always masculine; the gender of the wife is always specifically feminine.
Modern day Pharisees try to convince one the Bible does not specifically address marriage. Look to Genesis 2 and to Matthew 19:4-6. Study the scriptures to discern the will of God concerning such matters.
Modern day Pharisees try to convince one of something contrary to what Scripture actually teaches. A local church offering a discussion on “The Importance of Biblical Fiction” is an attempt by untrained Biblical scholars to convince the hearer of something contrary to what God actually says about marriage. Modern day Pharisees attempt to further confuse one by saying that Jesus commands us to love each other, such command taking precedence over all other commands of God. Yes Jesus commands us to love each other. This is another attempt by untrained Biblical scholars (modern day Pharisees) to convince one of something contrary to Scripture. Jesus commanded us to love God first, then love each other (Matthew 12:28-31). Loving God first means to obey his statues. Loving God first is to follow his teachings, not change them to fit a politically-correct social agenda.
The biblical standard for marriage is a monogamous relationship in which a man and a woman share a lifetime commitment to each other, second only to their commitment to God.
These are matters of life and death for me. Untrained biblical scholars trying to convince me of something contrary to what God has said about marriage leave me with a false sense of hope. My hope is to spend eternity with Jesus Christ. To believe anything other than what the scriptures teach places me in jeopardy of such hope. I shudder to think of the alternative because of my disobedience.
Comments (31)
Add commentThe "Tollerant" left,
will soon be telling you how bad you are. Good Luck.
Concur Eyolf...
Getting closer to REALITY....U.S. Supreme Court Action Likely...
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/10/18/14537805-defense-of-marriage-...
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2012/1018/Gay-marriage-to-Supreme-C...
It isn't love to make people
It isn't love to make people comfortable with going to hell as those who promote indulgent lies about sodomy do.
You are right Pastor Walth
It's great to still see some churches are still being taught the Bible and that some pastors are not afraid to stand up for a proper application of it in public. This stands in contrast to liberal "progressive" drivel about redefining marriage as they "reinterpret" the Bible so they can get it to say what they want. It is a sad day when Minnesota seems to be losing it's capacity to know and understand truth and even respect for it's Christian heritage. Most of us know that natural law bears witness to this truth. As some have said "it's Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve." Had it been Adam and Steve the human race would have ended there and we wouldn't be here having to define marriage.
"Quasi Christians follow a quasi Christ; they want His help but not His interference." - A. W. Tozer
Still, not one of you will tell us.....
Still, not one of you will tell us why you think the government should enforce YOUR religious beliefs!
Tell us why you think the government should enforce ANYONE'S religious beliefs!
Well written
Pastor Walth,
The parishoners of Truth Lutheran are lucky to have one so well versed and able to stand up for what he believes in. These are both qualities that are disappearing in this age of misinformation and wobbly knees. You speak directly to the issue without mincing words. Excellent Job!
Pastor Walth Left the ELCA
From the Brainerd Dispatch:
"Immanuel Lutheran Church in Crosby voted in the spring of 2010 to end its affiliation with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America after the denomination made the decision to allow non-celibate gay ministers to fill lead pastoral roles. Nationwide, approximately one percent of ELCA congregations left the denomination."
" Walth resigned from the roster as an ELCA minister in January 2010."
So Pastor Walth is an outlier from the main body of the ELCA. He has every right to his opinion, but it is not the opinion of the ELCA body, and not the opinion of this Lutheran.
The ELCA
That just leads to a question that has to be asked. I have been part of the ELCA for most of my life, and the ELCA that I grew up with would never allow a "non-celibate" person to be a lead minister. How can one speak to a congregation and lead them while disobeying what God teaches? The fact that the ELCA would vote to allow promiscuity in the pulpit, gay or straight, is one of the reasons I do not support them anymore.
The Definition Of Celibacy
Apparently baxterone is confusing "celibacy" with "promiscuity".
Definition of "celibacy":
1. Abstinence from sexual intercourse, especially by reason of religious vows. 2. The condition of being unmarried.
If you have a male pastor who is married, he is also "non-celibate". I guess he must not be the lead pastor?
Jeremiah 29:6
"Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease."
Choice of words
Correction taken James Bond. However, the definition is not a combination of the two given, it can be one or the other. My use of celibate was under the first form - abstinence from sexual intercourse. With that definition, I should have used the term non-celibate instead of promiscuity. Gay or straight, one who leads a congregation should not be sexually active unless married. I wouldn't accept a heterosexual unmarried pastor who was sexually active either. And, yes, since I support the marriage amendment, I realize this creates a paradox in that it is my belief that a gay pastor must be celibate under the first definition you supplied.
scaredfor US:
Tell us why you think the government should enforce your religious beliefs!
Tell us why you think the government should enforce ANYONE'S religious beliefs! ANYONE'S!
eyolf
You are right it is about Discrimination !! If this isn't passed the government will go after religion. Now maybe you don't care about the rights of other people but I do. That is why i'm voting YES we can have CIVIL UNION BUT then you'r kind can't persecute religion. Stop the hidden agenda STOP DISCRIMINATION VOTE YES. PS. look at Canada percussing religion because of gay marriage.
ThurstonHowl
If I vote for a law for one reason or another, what business is that of yours? You claim to stand for privacy and yet you want to castigate (discriminate against) others because their reasons don't meet your standards.
Would it be okay with you if we voted to decriminalize pedophilia if our reasons weren't religious in nature?
Historically, most civilizations have criminalized murder. Lo and behold, their reasons were often taken from a religious paradigm where human life is presumed to have value. Since you want to strip away any reference to religion, tell us why human life should have ANY value.
Where are all the church members?
We were members of the ELCA and are now churchless.
Maybe this guy's church may be worth looking into.
But other than that -- We are not pleased that this is something that has to be voted on, but it is easy to see
what is coming down the pike either way.
Sad also about the name calling if we don't adhere to
the bullying . I firming believe that marriage is between a man and a woman. No bible passage either way can change my mind. No name calling will change my mind.
I think ELCA and other churches are losing membership.
Hmmmmmmmmmmm.
where....
Where in America's constitution does it say that the government must enforce your religious beliefs?
Where in America's constitution does it say that the government SHOULD enforce your religious beliefs?
Where in America's constitution does it say that the government is ALLOWED to enforce your religious beliefs?
members from disbanded church
went to a bigger more tolerant ELCA in the area
scary howl,
your style is giving you away.
thurston
where in the constitution does it say i have to pay for the pill or an abortion for someone else?? where does it say no religion ect. I could go on but I have to work to pay for the affordable health care act
Finding the Truth...
As a young Catholic the first question I was asked was "Who made you?"; the answer, of course, was "God made me." We all learned that; we all learned that God made us special and unique and in His likeness. It was only as we got older that some of my classmates learned that God may have made them, but humans had decided that He had made an error when He made them. I have read all the Bible passages and here is what I believe. The Bible was written at a time when knowledge was limited and fear was the basis of many of the admonitions of the time. As our knowledge has progressed, we have used that knowledge to refute some of the teachings; case in point, we no longer feel that cutting our hair is bad. Perhaps the passages that are used to support the man and woman marriage as being the only "true" marriage were written because of fear--fear of something they did not understand. We understand now that a person's sexuality is not a choice--it is time to use that knowledge as the vehicle for living the way other passages guide us--passages, such as "Love thy neighbor as thyself" and the words "Amen I say to you, as long as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to me". I am Christian; I believe that the churches should be leading the charge for fair and equal treatment of all people. That is my view on the religious involvement of this issue. Saying that, I believe that ALL religions have the right to their beliefs. And the Constitution has the responsibility to guarantee that. A "yes" vote takes away that right from other people and other religions. We all should be afraid of that. We all need to protect the Constitution. It is what guarantees our rights regardless of our beliefs. A constitutional amendment that limits the rights of a select group of people and goes against the beliefs of a select group of people is wrong. Each religion can determine its own stance on who they will marry, but to legislate that all people must follow the beliefs of a select group is discriminatory. An amendment should only be used to guarantee freedoms not to take them away. The U.S. Constitution has been amended few times and to guarantee non-discrimination and freedom. The proposed Minnesota constitutional amendments do not follow this criteria. Regardless of our beliefs, we cannot allow our Constituition to make discrimination legal.
ThurstonHowell
How can we ask God to bless the USA when we have turned our backs on Him and His word? Look at the mess this world is in....little by little, new law by new law, we are getting further away from God and His much needed guidance.
where in the constitution does it say i have to pay for the pill
"where in the constitution does it say i have to pay for the pill...."
republican't change! Change the SUBJECT!!!
How can we ask God to bless the USA....
"How canWE ask God to bless the USA when WE have turned our backs on Him and His word?"
Speak for yourself!
"The gay marriage amendment is about two things:"
No it's about ONE thing and that defines "marriage" as between a man and a woman. Now if the gays want a civil union, great I'm all for it but the word marriage is already taken!!
.....the word marriage is already taken!!
"....the word marriage is already taken!!"
Where, in America's constitution does it give ANYONE the right to claim the word marriage?
This argument gets sillier right along!
Hey JamesBond
You said..."So Pastor Walth is an outlier from the main body of the ELCA. He has every right to his opinion, but it is not the opinion of the ELCA body, and not the opinion of this Lutheran."
So who cares? Jesus said follow me. He obeyed His Father.
Sorry eyolf,
the first gay person I met tried to molest me when I was young. That probably did affect how I feel toward gays. One thing you can't deny is that a lot of pedophiles are gay and maybe that is part of why some people don't trust them.
I say the "lowest common denominator" are people like that and the people that want to pretend that they are OK.
Obviously you support those people, so don't look down on anyone else. And I always thought the troglidites were the ones waiting to ambush the innocent. You say that's people opposed to deviant behavior? WOW!
In fact skywolf
I think you discriminate against a lot of conservatives every day and your nasty insinuations are offensive. Look in your mirror sunday and think about it.
thurston
are you spoiled ? ,child or what ?? (I don't like what you said it made sense CHANGE the subject) YOU see REAL adults believe in laws that are fair WE don't change words for our own benefit . The Only reason you want the marriage word is so you can persecute religions and put people in jail that don't agree with you (you are a communist)