Alabama state champion coach fired for being a member of the wrong church?

Alabama state champion coach and AD fired for being a member of the wrong church

One of the most successful coaches in the state of Alabama is suddenly out of a job after he was dismissed for what initially seems to be a remarkably trivial reason: He attends the wrong church.

As reported by the Montgomery Advertiser, Prattville (Ala.) East Memorial Christian Academy super coach Scott Phillips, who led the school’s football program to its first state playoff berth in years and coached the boys basketball team to the first state title in any sport, was dismissed because he refused to force his family to attend East Memorial Baptist Church.

While Phillips had never been forced to attend the school’s affiliated church when he was only a coach, that changed when he became the school’s athletic director. As confirmed by the Advertiser, East Memorial Christian Academy’s athletic director was expected to attend the East Memorial Baptist Church, even though there was allegedly not an official clause in the contract requiring such attendance.

Now former East Memorial Christian Academy coach Scott Phillips — USA Today/Montgomery Advertiser

Phillips tried to make that work, getting his family to start each Sunday at a 9 a.m. service at East Memorial before attending an 11 a.m. service at his family’s church of choice, Church of the Highlands. Eventually that routine began to make Phillips feel dishonest, leading to a conversation with East Memorial officials where the coach and AD told them he didn’t feel comfortable attending Sunday services at East Memorial Baptist.

That was the last conversation he would have as the school’s AD.

"I was 30 seconds from turning the job down because of the church issue," Phillips told theAdvertiser. "They wanted me to transition from the Church of the Highlands to East Memorial. I never really liked that, so I went back in my administrator’s office and told them I was willing to give this a try, but I don’t know how this will work out?

"That was the last thing said."

Phillips insists that he tried to shift his family from Church of the Highlands to Eastern Memorial Baptist, but said he never reached any level of comfort about the decision. Eventually, he had to deal with the situation head-on, hoping that Eastern Memorial officials would be reasonable about his faith.

That was apparently too much to ask.

"In a nutshell, I told them I miss my old church," Phillips recalls. "I went in to share my heart to a pastor. Knowing what might happen, but kind of saying, 'Maybe we can work something out?' I knew that wasn’t going to be the end of it because it was going to be a process. It wasn’t received well."

SOURCE: 

East Memorial Christian Academy, here playing in blue, is without its coach weeks before kickoff — BeRecruited

Teen denied Catholic confirmation after Facebook post

Catholic Church denies confirmation to teen over heretical Facebook photo

Barnesville teen denied Catholic confirmation after Facebook post supporting gay marriage

BARNESVILLE, Minn. – If you want to be a Catholic, you have to be 100 percent Catholic.

That’s the lesson one family here learned after their 17-year-old son was denied confirmation after the priest at the Assumption Church here found a pro same-sex marriage post on the teen’s Facebook.

The decision by the Rev. Gary LaMoine to deny the religious rite of passage for Lennon Cihak in mid-October shocked his mother, who said her son has gone to church every week and volunteered around the community in preparation for his confirmation this year. 

“You kind of know the Catholic beliefs, but I never thought they would deny somebody confirmation because you weren’t 100 percent. I guess that’s what shocks me,” Shana Cihak said.

The Facebook post in question was a photo of Lennon in front of an altered political sign. Originally reading “Vote Yes” on the Minnesota Marriage Amendment, which would have changed the state’s constitution to define marriage as between one man and one woman, Lennon scribbled out the “yes” and replaced it with “NO!”

Shana, who said she was confirmed at the same church, was called into a private conversation with the priest soon after the photo was discovered and was told her son wouldn’t be allowed to complete confirmation.

A man who answered the door at the rectory adjacent the church at 307 Front St. N. here just after 9 p.m. on Wednesday said he had no comment. Shana said La-Moine lives at the rectory by himself.

Lennon said fellow students in his confirmation class “liked” the photo on Facebook, but they were still allowed to be confirmed.

“I just thought it was wrong to single him out,” Shana said.

Her husband, Doug Cihak, agreed

.

“(LaMoine) was talking about ‘God doesn’t believe in this.’ Well, God created Lennon,” said Doug, adding that he was baptized and raised in the same church.

But now the family is not allowed to participate in Communion there, Doug said, and he’s worried as to how far the sanctions will go, expressing concern about being able to be buried alongside his parents.

Still, Doug insists he’s not mad at LaMoine, calling him just a “messenger” of the church. The same could not be said for his wife, who said she doesn’t plan on returning to the church ever again, her son nodding in agreement.

“You should be able to go to a church for support, help,” Lennon said. “He pushed me away.”

Shana said she contacted Bishop Michael Hoeppner of the Catholic Diocese in Crookston to see what her options were to appeal, but Hoeppner said not much could be done. A more formal appeal could still be filed, she said.

A St. Joseph’s Catholic School teacher in Moorhead was also let go earlier this year after she expressed concern about Hoeppner preaching to children about the marriage amendment.

Calls to a phone number listed for Hoeppner on Wednesday evening resulted in a message saying the phone was temporarily not accepting calls.

But through it all, Lennon said his faith hasn’t faltered.

“I don’t want the church to be put down. I don’t want the Catholic religion to be put down,” he said. “It’s just the way the priest has things running. He’s so strict. He won’t loosen up about things.”

SOURCE: 

The story of a Barnesville teen banned from confirmation in his Catholic Church is now gaining international attention.

The issue came after the teen endorsed same-sex marriage on his Facebook page.

Lennon Chilak's father got a call this morning from a bishop of a diocese that's part of the independent catholic church's movement.

It's called the Evangelical Catholic Diocese of the Northwest.

The Bishop told Chilak's father that his catholic church would confirm his son, adding that he heard about the story from a Bishop in Ireland.

Chilak's father told us today his family isn't going to take part, they're done discussing the issue and want the attention of it to go away.

Jeff Foxworthy on Spiritual Gifts

Foxworthy will be hosting a new show about biblical literacy called The American Bible Challenge, August 23, on the Game Show Network. 

In this transparent video Jeff offers personal insight about discovering his own spiritual gifts. Why not use this video in your small group or with your ministry team to create a discussion about what it means to use your gifts to serve the church™?

Source: http://www.churchleaders.com/pastors/videos-for-pastors/162474-jeff-foxworthy-on-spiritual-gifts.html

Pastor Calls Out False Teacher on Stage

How would you handle a false teacher who you believe is misleading others?

Practical Idea: Use this explosive clip to start a discussion in your small group about what they feel is the best way to uphold truth in Christ. [1]

 

“I'm going to prove to you that the church actually teaches that Jesus is not the messiah and its going to come from the words of Moses:

Deu 13:1 "If a prophet or someone who gets messages while dreaming arise among you and he gives you a sign or wonder,

Deu 13:2 and the sign or wonder comes about as he predicted when he said, 'Let's follow other gods, which you have not known; and let us serve them,'

Deu 13:3 you are not to listen to what that prophet or dreamer says. For ADONAI your God is TESTING you, in order to find out whether you really do love ADONAI your God with all your heart and being.

Deu 13:4 You are to follow ADONAI your God, fear HIM, obey HIS mitzvot (commandment), listen to what HE says, serve HIM and cling to HIM;

Yeshua (Jesus) was one of our countrymen. He was a prophet, he did signs and wonders.

If he came to change what Moses said. To give us a new god. A new way to God. If he came to do something different than what Moses said, as it says in verse 5.

Deu 13:5 and that prophet or dreamer is to be put to death; because he urged rebellion against ADONAI your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from a life of slavery; in order to seduce you away from the path ADONAI your God ORDERED you to follow. This is how you are to rid your community of this wickedness.

If he in fact came to do that, he's a false messiah! A false prophet! He's a false teacher and he deserves to die of blasphemy. If he came to do that, he is false!

Do you want to know why my Jewish brethren have rejected him as the messiah?

Because that's the best proof that he's not!

So I'd like my gentile brethren, God Love them, to please stop supplying false witnesses about Yeshua and saying he came contrary to Moses.

He who will be great in the Kingdom will be he who keeps and teaches the Torah.

We know the Messiah is the greatest in the Kingdom. Therefore, the Messiah keeps and teaches the Torah!

Don't try dispute the very words of God! You can't possible be right!” by Monty Judah [2]

Mat 5:17 "Don't think that I have come to abolish the Torah or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete. Yes indeed! I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away, not so much as a yud or a stroke will pass from the Torah -- not until everything that must happen has happened. So whoever disobeys the least of these mitzvot and teaches others to do so will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But whoever obeys them and so teaches will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.

The Church teaches the Law (the Torah) is abolished. Yeshua disagrees! 

Source: 
[1] http://www.churchleaders.com/pastors/videos-for-pastors/161753-videos_local_pastor_calls_out_false_teacher.html

[2] Clips from teaching titled, "Why the Church Teaches Jesus is not the Messiah". http://youtu.be/QvTLwNf7p-4  

Fifty Ways Porn Might Be Sneaking into Your Church

"Thanks to St Augustine and the Church, guilt over the most natural of human proclivities was inculcated into generation after generation of humanity – an irrational and morbid guilt no less present among "believers" in the twenty first century as it was in the second or third century."

Editor's Note: The popularity of the book Fifty Shades of Grey is growing as more women (and men) pull it off the shelves this summer. Dannah Gresh is a sought-after speaker and author who has studied sexuality in the Bible for more than fifteen years. In this bold article, Gresh shares her concern and wisdom to help ministry leaders approach the book with biblical savvy. 

**

I’m not reading Fifty Shades of Grey.

I wasn’t planning to announce this, but I can’t help myself. I told my husband, Bob, that I didn’t really want to get involved. But then, I found out my girlfriend’s 70-year-old mom has her name on a long wait list at the library to borrow Fifty Shades of Grey. And then my mom told me that a relative I love and respect for her strong faith had already devoured the book. She regretfully “can’t get the images out of her head.”

So here I am. In an attempt to keep the images out of yours, I’d like to explain to you why I’m not reading Fifty Shades of Grey.

Reason #1:

Let’s start with the facts. Fifty Shades of Grey is classified as erotic fiction. According to one online dictionary, this genre of literature is defined as that which has “no literary or artistic value other than to stimulate sexual desire.” I’ve been studying what God says about sexuality for fifteen years. According to Him, there is only one who should stimulate sexual desire in me: my husband. Since that’s God’s plan for my sexual desire, anything other than my husband creating arousal in me would be missing the mark of God’s intention. (Translation: it is sin.)

Jesus said it this way: “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” The same is true of a woman looking at or reading about a man.

Reason #1? I believe reading erotica is sinful.

I guess I could stop there, but it won’t be enough for some of you. So let’s go to reason number two.

Reason #2:

The Bible has said for thousands of years that lust is hurtful and harmful.

Guess what? Biopsychologists and others are studying the effects of lust, pornography, and erotica on the brain and the body. They are finding that the Bible was, in fact, right. Over time, your body becomes conditioned to self-stimulation and gratification. It’s not just a preference. It’s physiological.

The lust cuts a literal pathway in your brain tissue that’s kind of like a rut. A rut you better be prepared to get stuck in. While at first a little bit of erotica might give you a taste for your spouse, overtime that rut reminds you how great you are at self-stimulation and how powerful your imagination can be.

You’ll become less interested in real sex with your husband. (Both SELF magazine and The New Yorker ran articles on this phenomenon in recent years. They both suggested that if you want to have a great sex life, you better push pause on porn!)

The fact is erotica robs you of real sex. It’s not good for your marriage or future marriage.

Reason #3:

OK, we’re girls. And sadly, a few of our guys have looked at porn. How’d that work for ya? How’d it make you feel? Did it cross your mind that you could never compare to the perfection created by lights, camera, and Photoshop? Well, he can’t compare to a plasticized, vanilla interpretation of manhood either.

Reason #4:

Do you know what BDSM is? Bondage, dominance, sadism, and masochism. If you don’t know what those words mean, be glad. If you do know, you should understand that the most damaging part ofFifty Shades of Grey is that God created sex to be a partnership that’s fueled by love and self-giving, not pain and humiliation.

It’s not just that this book misuses sex; it redefines it into something evil and transgressive as the lead character dominates in a hurtful manner. How women can enjoy that, I can’t understand! But I do have a theory. It seems to me that in our emasculating culture there is a hunger so great for strong men that women will stoop to bondage, dominance, sadism, and masochism for just a taste. Do yourself a favor, don’t!

You might be wondering if I’ve read the book. I haven’t. I don’t need to. There are many things in this world I need not partake in to discern that they are going to be harmful to me.

God has given me more than fifty shades of truth in His Word and when just one of them is in conflict with my entertainment choices, I choose to pass! To be clear: I wouldn’t drive my Envoy into the front of an oncoming semi-truck any more than I would open the pages of Fifty Shades of Grey. I love my marriage, my God, and myself too much.

If your heart resonates with mine, please take a moment today to post these words on Facebook or Twitter: “I’m not reading Fifty Shades of Grey.” If you have friends who need help understanding why, send them to this blog. I’d be happy to explain!

The Christians devise Bigger, Deadlier Sins ...

Judaism had had its sin but at least it allowed for the occasional appearance of men of "righteousness". In the sacred text, these paragons appeared from time to time to berate their fellow tribesmen.

But Christianity went further. In the demented mind of the Christian theologians, sin became more obnoxious than it had ever been. As Christianity developed so too did sin. No longer was sin just an action (Romans 1:32); transgression could occur in word (e.g. Matthew 5.22), or thought (e.g. 1 John 3.15) – "Thought Crime" would accompany the arrival of Church totalitarianism.

The natural self, with carnal instincts, had to be denied. The guilt that any transgression engendered, even for the tiniest infraction, fed the psychosis upon which Christianity flourished. Sins became cardinal or deadly. Deliberate disobedience of the known will of God required the harshest punishment – death and the torments of hell. Rebellion against God’s law was far worse than the calamitous behaviour of princes that merely produced distress, sorrow and suffering.

Empowered by the authority of the Roman state, the fanatics of Christ were more proactive than Jewish scribes had ever been. It became their sacred duty to hunt out and punish sinners.

Sex-obsessed old men define doctrine

Early Church fathers, of the 2nd and 3rd centuries, made allusions to a doctrine of an "original sin." Tertullian, perhaps influenced by stoicism and the belief in the essential unity of matter and spirit, thought the soul to be physical, passed on by parents in the act of procreation. (He gives an account of a Montanist prophetess, who professed to have seen a soul and attempted to describe its appearance!).

Tertullian taught when a parent sinned, this physical taint of the soul was passed on to children.

Origen, a more speculative theorist, argued for a preexistence of the soul. He felt sure all men had sinned and had fallen in this former existence. Fallen man had been banished by God into material bodies to be disciplined and purified. Origen, like Augustine after him, supposed that there was an inherent pollution and sinfulness in sexual union, the means by which sin entered the world. A woman's pains in childbirth were in themselves clear evidence of the sinfulness of the original act!

Augustine (known as the 'Great Sinner' after the candour of his Confessions) was obsessed with the lust of procreation – undoubtedly a reflection of his own dysfunctional sexuality. Wildly promiscuous in his early life, he had abandoned two mistresses, one with his child, and the illicit affairs had filled him with guilt. In later years, he did not trust himself to be left alone with a woman. In his City of God, Augustine considers the conjecture that:

"Since it is possible for humans to control the movement of soft flesh (he instances their mouths and faces, and even knows people who are able to wiggle an ear), it may have been that, prior to the fall, Adam was able to have intercourse without an erection. It is the involuntary movement of the male member which so alarms him."
– Daphne Hampson, After Christianity, p188.

The most significant feature of sex, said Augustine, was this "involuntariness" of the male erection (sometimes absent when you want it; sometimes present when you don't!). He concluded that the 'concupiscent' impulse belonged to "nature" (natura vitiata), not to the spirit. Painfully misogynistic, Augustine decided that because male "nature" was uncontrollable it was women who had to be constrained. In his Confessions IX,9 he praises his mother's complete subordination to her violent husband.

Says Augustine,

"Nothing is so powerful in drawing the spirit of man downwards as the caress of a woman and that physical intercourse which is part of marriage."

– Soliloquies.

In Augustine's judgement – and subsequently that of the Church – sexual desire and gratification ("lust") had to be controlled, limited and confined. Libido was stigmatised as a sin, detracting us from God. In contrast, celibacy, chastity and virginity were lauded as being far closer to the perfection of god and were to be the choices of preference. Centuries of misery – sexual and psychological – were the consequence as millions became celibates or fought their own nature. Since such precepts severely threatened the continuance of the human race, passionless, matrimonial intercourse solely for the procreation of children remained permissible, though even this was a 'venial' sin. Premarital and extramarital sex clearly were sins, as was sex during pregnancy or after childbearing age. Even the harmless release of masturbation became a grave sin, the crime of 'Onanism'.

Thanks to St Augustine and the Church, guilt over the most natural of human proclivities was inculcated into generation after generation of humanity – an irrational and morbid guilt no less present among "believers" in the twenty first century as it was in the second or third century.

source: [1] http://www.churchleaders.com/pastors/pastor-articles/161740-dannah_gresh_im_not_reading_fifty_shades_of_grey.html?print

Details begin to emerge on pastor’s snake bite death

May 30, 2012

Details emerge in pastor's death

SAMANTHA PERRYBluefield Daily Telegraph

BLUEFIELD — A Mercer County pastor who died after being bitten by a timber rattle- snake during a religious service in McDowell County was taken to a Brushfork-area residence before emergency service personnel were called.

Details into the death of Mack Randall Wolford, 44, of Green Valley, emerged Tuesday after it was learned Wolford, pastor of Full Gospel Apostolic House of the Lord Jesus in Matoaka – a church that practices serpent handling – died Monday as a result of a snake bite incurred during a homecoming service.

Lauren Pond, a freelance photojournalist from Washington D.C., was at the weekend service during which Wolford was bitten.

Pond said about 25 people were in attendance at the homecoming service at Panther State Forest. "Randy (Wolford) had invited me down," Pond said, explaining that she had been working with Wolford for about a year on a documentary project. "I went to it (the homecoming service) last year. This gathering was the second one."

Pond said Wolford was bitten in the thigh by a timber rattlesnake during the Sunday service.

She said she was shocked when she saw Wolford had been bitten, but those in the congregation did not seem as surprised. "I didn’t expect it to happen," she said. "I don’t think anyone necessarily expected it, but they’ve dealt with it before so it’s not such a huge shock maybe."

The area’s most widely known serpent-handling church is Church of Lord Jesus in Jolo, whose minister is Harvey Payne. A family member of Payne’s who answered telephone questions Tuesday noted Wolford was pastor of the Matoaka church, not the Jolo church.

Pond said she did not know Wolford’s medical state after the snake bite. "I don’t know how lucid he was ... people were talking to him."

"Not too long after the bite – maybe 40 minutes," Pond said parishioners transported Wolford to a residence in Mercer County.

The Daily Telegraph learned Tuesday Wolford was taken to Plainview Mobile Home Park off Airport Road in Brushfork. It is not known how long Wolford was there before emergency personnel were called.

"We did transport someone from a trailer park with a reported snake bite," Bluefield Rescue Squad Administrator Sam Pennington said. "I’m not sure what park, but they did transport somebody to Bluefield Regional with a reported snake bite."

Reports indicate Wolford died Monday as a result of the injuries sustained at the Sunday service.

McDowell County Prosecuting Attorney Sid Bell said his office has never prosecuted anyone for serpent handling, describing it as a "constitutionally protected religious service."

"I can’t find anything in state code or the state Constitution that would make using snakes in a religious service illegal, regardless of where the service was held," Bell said.

State park officials said they had no knowledge of a religious service including serpent handling taking place at Panther Wildlife Management Area.

"We are not aware of such an occurrence," Ken Caplinger, chief of state parks in West Virginia, said. "If we were asked for permission for such a thing to occur, we would not provide permission for that to take place ... if somebody were to do something like that, if would have been done without our knowledge or permission."

Pond noted she was not covering Sunday’s homecoming service for a news story, but a "longer-form, photo-documentary project."

She said she had been working with Wolford for about a year on the project.

Pond said she first met Wolford on her third visit to Jolo. "He was one of the most open pastors I’ve ever met about the faith. I visited him last November, and hung out with him ... Randy (Wolford) really helped me understand it. I don’t necessarily agree with it, but I understand it. I respect it."

Although initially declining to be interviewed for a news story, Pond did agree to speak to the Daily Telegraph to clarify and confirm reports, and ensure accurate facts were reported to the public.

THE WAGES OF SIN - A Very Wealthy Church

Wages of Sin

The UK Anglican Church earned £4.4 billion in 1999 (Daily Telegraph).



The Mormons (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), seventh largest US church, in 1997 possessed a minimum of $30 billion in assets and had an annual gross income of $6 billion(Time, July, 1997).



Between 1985 - 1998 the Mormon church spent $162.5 m on various humanitarian aid projects – around 0.21% of the Church's reported non-taxed annual revenue!! Christian charity, eh?!



The earnings and wealth of the Roman Catholic Church are notoriously difficult to estimate. A single sale of bank shares in 1971 netted the Vatican Bank $115 billion (at 1984 values). (David Yallop, In God's Name, p143)



Accumulated wealth of Christendom would be measured in thousands of $billions – most of it thoroughly hidden from public scrutiny.
In comparison, the Mafia is a local pick-pocket.

Catholic Crime Syndicate – 'Purgatory Inc.'

'As the penny in the coffer rings, the soul from Purgatory springs.'
The weak and gullible were fleeced by papal agents – such as Dominican friar Tetzel – who sold papal releases for dead loved ones 'suffering the cleansing fire'.
16th century woodcut Jan Breu the Elder

SIN

God's Work?

The Wages of Sin – A Very Wealthy Church

"The money from the guilt offerings and sin offerings was not brought into the temple of the LORD ; it belonged to the priests."

– 2 Kings 12.16.

After deliberating on sin at synods in Rome and Carthage (251/252 AD), the Church decided that no one could avoid venial sin, and therefore all needed the intercession of the Church. But it also ruled that "all sins were forgivable with sufficient penance."

“Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered."

– Romans 4.7

Here, potentially, was a vast business in forgiveness– But who had the right to absolve sin?
Certain sharp clerics saw the opportunity and declared themselves to be "Confessors". Filled, as they said, with the Holy Spirit, they claimed the right to absolve sins (particularly the sin of apostatising during the Decian persecution) – and just as surely availed themselves of recompense for their efforts.
The appearance of this rash of competitive charlatans set alarm bells ringing among the bishops who responded by declaring their own exclusive right to forgive sin. The lucrative sin business was being parceled out among the operatives.
Towards the end of the 4th century Augustine made clear that it was only the Catholic hierarchy that could forgive sin:

"Since the days of Adam, all have sinned; only a few with 'God's Grace' can rescue sinners."

– On Predestination.

Augustine waged a brutal campaign against the followers of Pelagius, a monk who had the temerity to believe that man hadan innate ability to live by God's commands and could thereby avoid sin.


In the late 6th century, Pope Gregory, an enthusiastic follower of Augustine, codified sins into seven types, folding "vainglory" into pride, "acedia" into sadness, and adding envy. His ranking, from most serious to least was: pride, envy, anger, sadness, avarice, gluttony, and lust. In the 17th century, the Church replaced the vague sin of "sadness" with sloth.
The list of sin crimes set the stage for centuries of ecclesiastical extortion: the sale of remissions from sin!
The Church had devised the most successful protection racket in history.

God gave the savior to the German people. We have faith, deep and unshakeable faith, that he [Hitler] was sent to us by God to save Germany." --Hermann Goering, from Louis L. Snyder, "Hitler's Elite, Shocking Profiles of the Reich's Most Notorious Henchmen", Berkley Books, 1990

"How shall we tie down this wild beast? How shall we put a bridle on it? I know none, save only the restraint of hell fire."
Saint John Chrysostom rages at sex

"To assert that the earth revolves around the sun is as erroneous as to claim that Jesus was not born of a virgin." -

--Cardinal Bellarmine, 1615, during the trial of Galileo

Fast forward to the 21^st Century



[Planned Parenthood] is teaching kids to fornicate, teaching people to have adultery, every kind of bestiality, homosexuality, lesbianism -- everything that the Bible condemns.

-- Pat Robertson, The 700 Club television program, April 9, 1991



The feminist agenda is not about equal rights for women. It is about a socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism, and become lesbians.

-- Pat Robertson, fund raising letter, 1992


Just like what Nazi Germany did to the Jews, so liberal America is now doing to the evangelical Christians. It's no different. It is the same thing. It is happening all over again. It is the Democratic Congress, the liberal-based media and the homosexuals who want to destroy the Christians. Wholesale abuse and discrimination and the worst bigotry directed toward any group in America today. More terrible than anything suffered by any minority in history.

-- Pat Robertson, interview with Molly Ivins, 1993. 

Little history lesson for Pat Robertson:

Christian Persecution in the modern USA. Little history lesson - since 323 AD it's been the Christians doing the persecuting. Being told to mind your own business is not persecution. Being persecuted is not having someone roll their eyes at you for wearing a big crucifix around your neck - it's being required to wear it so that the government knows who you are and can find you anytime it decides to get rid of you. Get over the martyrdom, and stop pining for a world where nobody can question your right to tell them what to do.

Pimping Priests

Common venial sins could be remitted by prayer, confession to the clergy, contrition, fervent communion, and other 'pious works', all of which required frequent attendance at Church and appropriate service or recompense to the officiating clergy.
Having transformed even a Christian marriage bed into "whoredom" the Church could extract its penance for every act of copulation that involved "lust". Clerical abuse of the institution of "confession", originally made at the feet of the priest, obliged the Church to introduce the confessional box for decency's sake.
The saintly Augustine had also provided the dubious theology of purgatory, a holding pen where even compliant Christians would find themselves after death, a place where 'fire might wash them free of sin'. Picking up the message, said Pope Gregory:

"As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that before the final judgement, there is a purifying fire (purgatorius ignis) ..."
 
– Dialogia !V, xli.3.

The popes were subsequently to generate a vast income by selling indulgences which would 'free souls from purgatory'. The living – filled with anxiety for their deceased relations – could offer prayer, service and payment to the Church, so that those in purgatory could move more quickly through their chastisement!
Source:

Jewish law does not teach that it is forbidden to be a homosexual.

6 Things Mom Taught Me About Church + Homosexuality & the Gospel

 “No Israelite woman shall be a cult prostitute, nor shall any Israelite man be a cult prostitute” (Deuteronomy 23:18). Cultic prostitution, both hetero‑ and homosexual, was a common feature of idolatrous worship in the ancient Near East, but, like the story of Sodom, it is no longer a relevant precedent for modern homosexuality."  Torah does not explicitly prohibit les­bianism, and because lesbianism does not involve the spilling of seed." 

This video from the Equip Forum from $ummit Church deals with the difficult issue of $ame-$ex attraction from a biblical perspective. [Twisted as it may be] 

J. D. Greear: "We tried to get past the myths, the political talking points, and discover how the gospel challenge$ this issue and those of us on both sides of it."[1] source:

Homosexuality and Halakhah

Traditional sources on homosexuality.

By Rabbi Michael Gold

The following article is reprinted with permission from Does God Belong in the Bedroom? Two claims made by Gold in this article are disputable and should be noted. First, is the assertion that Judaism is not concerned with inner feelings. While it is true that in Judaism actions are more often than not privileged over thoughts and feelings, certain manifestations of Judaism, including hasidism and musar (a 19th century movement that focused on the study of Jewish ethics and values), do stress the importance of inner feelings. Second, is Gold’s assertion that natural law is a concept foreign to Judaism. While some scholars have assumed this to be true, others disagree.

An important point to make from the outset is that Jewish law does not teach that it is forbidden to be a homosexual. On the contrary, Jewish law is concerned not with the source of a person’s erotic urges nor with inner feelings, but with acts. The Torah forbids the homosexual act, known as mishkav zakhar, but has nothing to say about homosexuality as a state of being or a personal inclination. 

In other words, traditionally, a person with a homosexual inclination can be an entirely observant Jew as long as he or she does not act out that inclination.

The Biblical Sources

The basis of the prohibition against homosexual acts derives from two biblical verses in Leviticus: “Do not lie with a male as one lies with a woman; it is an abhorrence” (Leviticus 18:22) and “If a man lies with a male as one lies with a woman, the two of them have done an abhorrent thing; they shall be put to death—their bloodguilt is upon them” (Leviticus 20:13). The Torah considers a homosexual act between two men to be an abhorrent thing (to’evah), punishable by death—a strong prohibition.

The Torah gives no reason for this commandment. Some commentators have looked for a rationale in the story of Sodom, in which the men in the town attempt to rape the visitors to Lot’s house. (See Genesis 19; the word “sodomy” comes from this incident.) However, the occurrence in the story was a case of homosex­ual rape, hardly a legitimate precedent for the kind of consensual homosexual acts we are considering. Others see the root of the prohibition in the verse “No Israelite woman shall be a cult prostitute, nor shall any Israelite man be a cult prostitute” (Deuteronomy 23:18). Cultic prostitution, both hetero‑ and homosexual, was a common feature of idolatrous worship in the ancient Near East, but, like the story of Sodom, it is no longer a relevant precedent for modern homosexuality.

Various rabbis have tried to come up with other reasons for the biblical prohibition of mishkav zakhar. (Note, however, that a Torah prohibition always stands on its own even if no cogent rationale can be found for it.) Some rabbis have argued that homosexuality is forbidden because procreation is impossible. Others have defined the homosexual act as intrinsically unnatural and therefore opposed to the purposes of creation. There are difficulties, however, with both explanations. Judaism grants sexuality a purpose above and beyond procreation, and natural law, although influential in the Catholic Church, is not an authentic Jewish concept.

A Talmudic Interpretation

A more likely explanation for the ban against homosexual behavior is given in the Talmud by Bar Kapparah, who makes a play on the word to’evah (“abomination”), claiming that it means to’eh atah ba(“you go astray because of it”). Both Tosefot and the Asheri (medieval commentators) comment on this passage that a man will leave his wife and family to pursue a relationship with another man. In other words, homosexuality undermines and threatens the Jewish ideal of family life, of marriage and children, articulated in the Torah. Heterosexuality is the communal norm for Jews; homosexuality, a perversion of that norm.

The Assumption of Heterosexuality

Rabbinic literature assumes that Jews are not homosexual. For example, the Mishnah presents the following disagreement between Rabbi Judah and the Sages: “R. Judah said: A bachelor should not herd animals, nor should two bachelors share a single blanket. The Sages permit it.” The halakhah follows the Sages because the Talmud says, “Israel is not suspected of homosexuality.”

The Shulhan Arukh (a foundational work of Jewish law from the 16th century) never explicitly mentions the prohibition against homosexual acts but mentions the precaution that a male should not be alone with another male because of lewdness “in our times.” However, Rabbi Joel Sirkes ruled about one hundred years later that such precautions were unnecessary because of the rarity of such acts among Polish Jewry.

A more recent responsum was brought by Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, the first chief rabbi in Palestine. A rumor that a certain shohet (ritual slaughterer) had committed a homosexual act provoked the question of whether he should be disqualified for the position. Rav Kook ruled that the shohet could be retained because, even if the rumor were true, the man might have since repented of his act. It is noteworthy that Rabbi Kook’s responsum considers homosexuality an act of volition for which one can repent.

Lesbianism

Lesbianism is never mentioned in the Torah. One talmudic passage refers to homosexual acts between women: “R. Huna taught, Women who have sex one with the other are forbidden to marry a Kohen(priest).” The halakhah rejects Rav Huna’s opinion and allows a lesbian to marry a Kohen. However, Maimonides ruled that lesbianism is still prohibited and should be punished by flagellation. The prohibition is not as stringent as that against male homosexuality because the Torah does not explicitly prohibit les­bianism, and because lesbianism does not involve the spilling of seed.

A Summary

We can now summarize the classical halakhic position:

Judaism is concerned with explicit acts, not inner feelings.
A homosexual act between two men is explicitly forbidden in the Torah.
A homosexual act between two women is forbidden by the rabbis (i.e. it was not forbidden by the Torah, but was in later times forbidden; this type of prohibition is less severe).
Homosexuality is considered an act of volition for which one can repent.
The reason for the prohibitions seems to be that such behavior undermines the Jewish family ideal of marriage and children as set out in the Torah.
Rabbinic thinkers in the past did not consider homosexuality a Jewish behavior problem. source:

[1] http://www.churchleaders.com/outreach-missions/outreach-missions-videos/160167-homosexuality-christianity-the-gospel.html

[2]http://www.myjewishlearning.com/life/Sex_and_Sexuality/Homosexuality/Homosexuality_and_Halakhah.shtml

Rabbi Michael Gold is the rabbi at Temple Beth Torah, Tamarac Jewish Center in Tamarac, Florida. He is the author of four books, and his articles have appeared inMoment, Judaism, Jewish Spectator, B'nai Brith International Jewish Monthly, and numerous other publications. He also served as co-chair of the Rabbinical Assembly's committee on human sexuality.