OK, here they are -- this is the gang of UMC "dignitaries" (term used loosely) that stood in support of the pro same gender coupling demonstration within the convention center of the UMC General Conference at Cleveland on Thursday, May 11, 2000 and the proceedings were disrupted.
As shown in photograph, from left to right:
- Bishop Don Ott (Active) (Michigan Area) (NCJ)
- Bishop Joe Yeakel (Retired)
- Bishop Roy Sano (Active) (Los Angeles Area) (WJ)
- Bishop Jack Tuell (Retired)
- Bishop Mel Talbert (Active) (San Francisco Area) (WJ)
- Bishop Bill Dew (Active) (Phoenix Area (WJ)
- Bishop Leontine Kelley (Retired)
- (Female who is not a Bishop of the Church)
- Bishop Susan Morrison (Active) (Albany Area) (NEJ)
- Bishop Judith Craig (Active) (Ohio West Area) (NCJ)
- Bishop Jesse Dewitt (Retired)
- Bishop Mary Ann Swenson (Active) (Denver Area) (WJ)
- Bishop Cal McConnell (Retired)
- Bishop Fritz Mutti (Active) (Kansas Area) (SCJ)
- Note: Bishop Joe Sprague (Active) (Chicago Area) (NCJ), had just been arrested (for the second time!) and taken off the floor just before the picture was taken.
OK -- with the above group clearly identified plus a number of "converts" not in the above pic, anyone want to speculate on how much same gender coupling "politicking" they will engage in over the next few years until GC 2004 in Pittsburgh PA? All that plus Mel White and his Soulforce gang's strategy to force the UMC to capitulate and become the 2nd largest Protestant denomination to place its sanction and blessing on same gender coupling with all the privileges and legalities that attend God sanctioned male/female unions now! Do you dare to seriously look at
A Declaration of Unholy War!
or will you, as large numbers of UM's are choosing to do, just push it out of your mind and mentally sweep it under the rug and pretend it isn't there?And don't go saying, "We have to dialog about this!" No, the issue is very simple -- and it is preceded by a question --
- "Are you willing to repent and experience Jesus' forgiveness and transforming power to live a new life with old things passing away and all things becoming new?"
- "Did I hear you say,
- "OK - that's it -- end of conversation!"
"Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No! They were not at all ashamed, nor did they know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; in the time of their punishment they shall be cast down," says the LORD.
Jeremiah 8:12 (NKJV) You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination.
Leviticus 18:22 (NKJV) For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.
Matthew 5:18 (NKJV) Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.
1 Corinthians 6:9-11 (NKJV) Question: What is Paul driving at when he mentions some of those people were more than a little messed up in their morality, but then they were "washed," "sanctified," and "justified" in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of God? Perish the thought (if you are in the same gender coupling crowd) -- could he mean that they had been transformed and delivered from a destructive lifestyle? Would the crowd of "dignitaries" pictured above consider that possibility?The earth is also defiled under its inhabitants, because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.
Isaiah 24:5 (NKJV) Question: Did God establish (ordain) an arrangement called "marriage" involving a male and a female and something called "family" consisting of a father, mother, and children? And when presumptious members of the human race attempt to change God's ordinances, what might be the expected result, along with transgressing laws and breaking His covenant? Uh, gets to be a rather chaotic world, doesn't it?To see a dramatic example as to how God's standards are compromised and eventually rejected, go to Doing Dialog -- A Primer on How It Works!
Express yourself in a survey on The United Methodist Church and Homosexuality -- you have options in your answers!
If you want to get in touch with CR, just click on Penelope,
our efficient mail hostess, and she will relay the message to him!
Compiled by Clayton D. Harriger beginning May 19, 2000
