In Duncanville Texas the United Methodist church ordained it first openly gay paster in 2023. It was the first time a southern state ordained a homosexual person in the United Methodist church in history. The first American church to ordain an openly Homosexual pastor was in 1972, Pastor Bill Johnson of the United Church of Christ (UCC) on June 25, 1972, in San Carlos, California.
As I read these articles, I thought about what would have to happen for this headline to occur. “Granite Hills Baptist Church of Reno Nevada on Red Rock Rd. has ordained its first openly gay pastor in its history!” Just writing this headline makes my heart tremble. But these kinds on headlines are happening all the time in our country and world. What would have to happen at Granite Hills Baptist Church for that to occur is very easy to predict. It is not hard at all to see how other churches and denominations have fallen to the “spirit of the age.” It is the first step of many, but the first step is to step away from the clear written Word of God! It is the first step of a very slippery slope whether it is a church or in your personal life. When we step away from the authority of scripture, we think that we know more, and we know better than what God knows about our life and church. We step out from under the “Umbrella of Authority” of God’s holy word and open ourselves up to doing great evil and great harm coming to us.
Dear church, the leadership of GHBC is committed to falling under the authority of scripture whether the culture agrees with the Word of God or not. It is our safe place to live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28). It is not safe from the persecution from our culture, but it is our safe place from the wrath of God that is sure to come to those who disregard the word of God. May I ask you as members of GHBC to encourage your pastors and leadership and Sunday School teachers to stay true to the clear written Word of God! We must be committed, each one of us, to keep GHBC from leaving the Word of God. May the preaching and teaching of the Word of God bless you this day at Granite Hills Baptist Church! Pastor Mark