They cancelled because the family wanted the service to be a celebration of his gay lifestyle. And unlike many politically correct, liberal, Bible-ignoring churches (*cough* Episcopal *cough*) this church stood firm on biblical principles, and that r…

No, I prayed for the family when I heard the news. I especially pray for the one that has probably been hurt more than anyone else in this case, which would be the developmentally disabled brother of the deceased. Who was a member of the church. I pray that he has not been traumatised as much as I am afraid he has been by his Church’s treatment of him and his family in their time of need.

You know, there ARE people who do attack Christianity unfairly. This, however, was not one of those cases. But rather a simple reporting of both sides of a story. A very sad, avoidable story.

Now if Mr Simons had mentioned that he banned divorced people from funerals in the Dallas Morning News article (which would presumably have printed it as that would be BIG news), I would have shut up and prayed for the family) But he didn’t.

Why would it have taken that ‘admission’ for you to have started praying for the family? Do you always wait for others to react in a way you’d like them to before you act yourself?

I’m also not sure why the church – or any church – would “ban” divorced people from funerals, if those divorced people had asked for forgiveness of that sin from God. You see, Tom, that’s all that matters: if a sinner knows he’s sinned, goes to God and asks for forgiveness and furthermore asks Him into his heart as his Lord and savior, he will be forgiven. A divorced person who realizes it’s a sin will do that. On the other hand, those who engage in the homosexual lifestyle typically do not ask for forgiveness, because they don’t believe that what they are doing is a sin in the first place. Do you not understand the difference between asking for forgiveness and asking God into your heart, versus declaring that something isn’t a sin and refusing to ask for forgiveness on those (very shaky) grounds? You can’t ask God into your heart unless you are willing to acknowledge that you have sinned and are willing to accept that He is your Lord and savior, and furthmore will work throughout your life to do what’s right by Him.

I got both sides from the Dallas Morning News

No you didn’t, Tom. Because if you had, you wouldn’t be leveling charges against the church that you can’t back up.

Face it: You’re judging a church you know nothing about outside of what you read in the MSM, and are making those judgements about it based on your own preconceived negative opinions about Christians. “Apparently” they judge sins differently? How do you know? Are you a regular at High Point Church? If not, then you’re accusation is not based on anything you read, but something you believe deep down about all Christians, and you are projecting that onto this church. Ironically, you are doing the same thing to Christians that you would decry others doing to gay people: judging them before getting to know them.

Try practicing what you preach sometime, Tom. Your crediblity will rise a few notches when you do.

Now if Mr Simons had mentioned that he banned divorced people from funerals in the Dallas Morning News article (which would presumably have printed it as that would be BIG news), I would have shut up and prayed for the family) But he didn’t.

You may think that all sins are equal. But High Point apparently does not. Because apparently they treat sins differently.

Source? Or are you projecting your own biases against a church you know nothing about outside of what you’ve read in the MSM?

So High Point Church refused funerals for people who have been divorced? Or announce that ex-wives/husbands shall be banned from speaking/being acknoledged at the funerals of their ex-spouses? They would if they held all sins to be the same. Unless they do, they are elevating homosexuality to a higher level of sin.

By the way, Mr Simon did not use the analogy you did. He didn’t use divorce/adultery. They never seem to do that. Perhaps it was because the question of treatment for the (presumably) large number of divorced parishinors would be asked.

You may think that all sins are equal. But High Point apparently does not. Because apparently they treat sins differently.

If I said ‘George W Bush, Adolf Hitler, Ayatollah Khomeni, Fidel Castro, and Osama Bin Laden’ are/were all opposed to Gay rights, it would be a factual statement. But it would still be wrong for me to use that analogy. Because the main point of the statement is not about the factual pont, its about the association. And it was the same with High Point.

No it was not “the same” with High Point, Tom. High Point is a church that, like all churches, is supposed to follow, glorify, and help lead people to God. They are not supposed to memorialize a sinful lifestyle, whether it is a homosexual lifestyle, an adulterous lifestyle, a life of drinking and drugs, etc. And because almost always in situations like this, the media gets wind of it, pastors are left in the position to explain why they had to do something that doesn’t sit right with the crowd who thinks churches should act on feeling rather than based on scripture.

When I hear a comparison from someone between GWB and Hitler, of course I’m outraged, because it’s a stupid comparison not based in reality. But when a pastor makes a comparison between the sin of homosexuality and the sin of thievery or murder, I don’t wince, because I know all three are considered sins – equal sins – in the eyes of the Lord, and no amount of ‘we shouldn’t say this because it’s going to hurt someone’s feelings’ is going to change that.

As I mentioned in my post, churches aren’t the places for politically correct events to take place. And when they start doing so, the word of God becomes deluded and – in those churches – essentially meaningless. It might not ‘feel good’ or ’sound good’ to people like you that pastors have to stand their ground on the issue of sin, but again, Christianity isn’t about doing ‘whatever feels good’ or ’saying what people want to hear.’ It’s about going along and doing what’s right by God. Spirtually strong Christians understand this, but for that matter, you don’t even have to be a Christian to understand that.

And as far as why the murder comparison was left out of Edwards piece, supposedly, as you say, because it ‘didn’t make High Point look good’, get a grip. Edwards was giving the other side of the story, not the partial story the media had given, which had already thoroughly vilified High Point church. Unlike the mediots, Edwards didn’t write his story to condemn High Point Church, he wrote it to give a more complete picture of what happened behind the scenes which the media, of course, didn’t choose to go into detail about. But if you want to believe the worst about High Point Church – and you clearly do – you go right ahead. I’m amazed at people who simply fall for whatever they read that backs up their preconcieved notions rather than seeking out the full story. That’s called being ‘close-minded’ Tom, something you are, yet ironically, something you would accuse High Point Church of being guilty of, as if churches should be ‘open-minded’ about sin.