Catholic Church & Gay Marriage

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Hello, welcome back to Coffee with a Calvinist.
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This is a daily conversation about scripture, culture and media from a Reformed perspective.
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Get your Bible and coffee ready and prepare to engage today's topic.
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Here's your host, Pastor Keith Foskey.
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Welcome back to Coffee with a Calvinist, my name is Keith Foskey and I am a Calvinist.
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Well, the Catholic Church has done it.
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They have come out officially against same-sex unions and in doing so they have of course struck up a conversation in social media and it's been going on all day.
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How you doing today folks? I want to talk about this situation with the Catholic Church that came up just yesterday as the Associated Press had breaking news that the Vatican decrees that the Catholic Church cannot bless same-sex unions since God cannot bless sin and interestingly enough, Matt Walsh, who is a conservative Catholic commentator on news and events, he wrote, Breaking! The Catholic Church has the same teaching on marriage that it has had for the last 2,000 years and even though I would disagree with Matt on a lot of things theologically, I do agree with him on this.
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He's absolutely right.
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The Catholic Church hasn't changed anything in regard to its position on homosexuality.
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In fact, I am surprised that it was willing to uphold the position that it has held because of course we have the Pope that is now in power in Rome who seems to have many left-leaning philosophies and his theology seems to be very askew, so I am surprised that this very conservative position has been announced by the Catholic Church and I'm thankful that they are standing for truth even though I believe the Catholic Church is an apostate faith.
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I do not believe they hold to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
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At least in this sense, they're holding to what is true and what has been the teaching of their particular church for a long time and so I'm thankful that they had not simply rolled over and acquiesced to the culture.
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However, it's only a matter of time.
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In my opinion, it's only a matter of time before at least those in power in the Catholic Church, maybe not the Pope himself, but those around him will acquiesce.
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There's already individual leaders within the Catholic Church in the lower levels of power who are acquiescing to this kind of thing.
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A good example would be even here in our city of Jacksonville, there is a pastor, according to newsforjacks.com, who responds to the Vatican by rebuffing their position on same-sex unions and they say, quote, loving someone is not a sin.
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Now, when I first read that, it said, Jacksonville pastor responds to the Vatican.
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I thought, well, it's probably just some left-leaning, you know, not evangelical, but somebody who claims to be evangelical.
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But no, the person, according to the article, is a person who calls himself a Catholic.
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The Reverend Marsha Brandt, and yes, it is a lady pastor, which is not a biblical thing, but that's a conversation for another show.
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The Reverend Marsha Brandt, the pastor of St.
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Anthony's National Catholic Church in Jacksonville, said her message to same-sex couples who are a part of the Catholic Church and see the Vatican's response is, quote, don't listen, end quote.
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Kind of takes me back to Pope John Paul II.
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Again, I have a lot of issues with Roman Catholics, but sometimes they say things right.
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And one of the things that John Paul II said that was right, he said, you can't be a cafeteria Catholic.
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It's an all or nothing deal.
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You're either going to take it all or you can't have any of it.
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And so if you consider the fact that this reverend, and I'm using air quotes even though you can't see them because this is an audio podcast, the Reverend Marsha is saying, don't listen.
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You don't have to listen to the Vatican about this.
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You don't have to listen to the Vatican about this particular thing, which just happens to uphold 2,000 years of Christian teaching on the issue of sexuality and marriage and what constitutes a righteous marriage.
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You don't have to listen to it.
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Just don't listen.
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And she goes on to say it's not right.
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As far as we're concerned, the Roman Catholic Church can say whatever they want to, but it's like the same thing when the Pope said gay men aren't welcome in the seminary.
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Well, honey, close the seminary because a lot of them are, end quote.
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Again, she's essentially mocking the entire institution.
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She's essentially mocking everything and saying, this is all, you know, there's homosexuals here.
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Get over it.
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We're here.
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We're queer to stay.
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You know, you've heard all the chants over the years.
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But the one that really got my attention, the one that really stuck out to me in the midst of all of the back and forth, all of the clamoring was Don Lemon.
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Now, you may or may not know who Don Lemon is.
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Don Lemon is a news man.
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He's a political commentator.
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He is a television journalist.
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And he is a homosexual.
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Well, Don Lemon was on The View.
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And I want you to hear what he said.
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I have the recording queued up.
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I'm going to let you hear what he has to say about God in this particular recording.
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Here you go.
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Well, Don, to pivot, you got engaged to your fiancee, Tim, in 2019.
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And this morning, and you guys are so cute, we learned that the Vatican has said that the Catholic Church won't bless same-sex unions, quote, since God cannot bless sin.
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They go on to say that this does not imply a judgment on persons.
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But I want to know, do you think this sends a damaging message? And how do you feel about that, given that, obviously, you are now engaged and going to get married? Well, I think there are, listen, I respect people's right to believe in whatever they want to believe in their God.
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But if you believe in something that hurts another person or that does not give someone the same rights or freedoms, not necessarily under the Constitution, because this is under God, I think that that's wrong.
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And I think that the Catholic Church and many other churches really need to reexamine themselves and their teachings, because that is not what God is about.
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God is not about hindering people or even judging people.
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And to put it in the context of race, I find that, you know, Dr.
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Martin Luther King Jr.
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said the most segregated place on Earth, time on Earth, was 11 a.m.
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on a Sunday morning.
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So I think that religion and the pew keeps us from actually, they're barriers from people actually getting to know each other.
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So I would say to the Pope in the Vatican and all Christians or Catholics or whomever, whatever religion you believe you happen to belong to out there, go out and meet people and try to understand people and do what the Bible and what Jesus actually said, if you believe in Jesus, and that is to love your fellow man and judge not lest he be not judged.
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So instead of having the pew hinder you, having the church hinder you, instead of being segregated in the church or among yourselves, go out and have a barbecue and meet people and start breaking bread with people and getting to know them.
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God is not about judging people.
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Is that what you said, Don? God is not about hindering people or even judging people.
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That's what you think, Don Lemon.
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And notice, this is the thing that's really scary in the midst of all this, is that this man who is obviously lost, he does not know Christ, he does not know God, and I'm not saying that because I am the judge of every man's heart, but this man lives in habitual, unrepentant sin, and he is saying things about God that are untrue.
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So I do not believe that he could be a saved man filled with the Holy Spirit, regenerate in this situation, in the condition that he's in.
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If he is saved, he is in a tremendous amount of rebellion.
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I don't think that he is saved.
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So let me just say that outright.
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I am not a judge of souls, but I do not believe that this man is saved.
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But here he is.
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He is coming out and speaking essentially for God in this and saying, you know what, God is fine with this.
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The church has got to get with the times.
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The church has got to make changes.
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The Catholic church, and he didn't just limit it to the Catholic church, all churches.
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And he said, you know, and of course he equates it with the struggle of race.
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He, you know, he references Martin Luther King.
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He references the fact that churches are segregated by color, and he equates that to the homosexual issue, which is an absolute farce.
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And many, many black conservatives have pointed out the farce that comparing the struggle of civil rights for black people and comparing that to homosexuality is not the same thing.
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Because we are dealing with someone who is black by the way that they were created by God to be black people.
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That is not a sin to be black.
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But to exercise the choice to participate in homosexual behavior, it is a sin.
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Now someone says, well, what if they have a proclivity to that particular sin? Well, what if a man has proclivity to murder? What if he's proclivity to anger and he gets angry and he outbursts of anger and he hurts people? Would you say that's not a sin because he has a proclivity to that particular sin? No, the action is still a sin.
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And so to say that the action of homosexuality is not a sin because someone is bent towards that proclivity, that is false.
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And to compare that to the civil rights struggle of black people is an absolute farce.
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It is horrible.
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It's a shameful thing.
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And to hear that come out of Don Lemon's mouth is not surprising, but it's certainly frustrating to continue to hear such a false equivalency.
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So getting back to what he said, God is not about hindering people or even judging people.
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Let me say this.
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I have just finished preaching Genesis chapter eight.
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I'm now preaching Genesis chapter nine.
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And if you're not familiar with the biblical narrative, Genesis chapter six, seven and eight are the biblical narrative of the flood.
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The flood came because God is willing to judge sinners.
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You go further in the narrative, we come to the city of Sodom, and God was willing to judge Sodom.
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And by the way, people say, well, Jesus didn't judge sinners.
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The Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit were all present at the destruction of the world in the flood.
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Jesus said before Abraham was, I am.
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He was present in his pre-incarnate state as the second person of the Trinity.
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He has always existed.
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And in that sense, he was there.
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He was absolutely in agreement with the Father and the Spirit.
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Jesus is not opposed to judgment either.
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He stands in accord with the Father and the Spirit and the judgment of the world and sin.
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And he did it in the flood.
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He did it in Sodom, and he will do it again.
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One day there is another judgment coming, and those who continue to live in wanton rebellion against his word will face that judgment.
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Somebody says, oh, pastor, you shouldn't preach that way.
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You should only preach the love of God.
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Well, here is the love of God if you want to hear it.
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The Bible says that God loved the world so much that he sent his only begotten son, that everyone who believes in him will not perish, but will have everlasting life.
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You know what that means? That means those who do not believe in him, who do not repent and trust in him, will not have eternal life in heaven, but rather they will have eternal torment in hell.
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And I pray for Don Lemon.
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I pray that he would repent of his sins.
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I pray that he and the man that he is with would both see themselves as image bearers of God, and that they would repent of their sins, and that they would trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, and that they would be saved.
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So today, as we consider what the Catholic Church has said, let me simply say this.
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I know I don't often say it, but in this sense, I agree with the Catholic Church.
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This is a sin that God will not and does not bless.
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So, that is an opportunity, and you heard it here first, a Calvinist agreed with the Catholic Church.
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May wonders never cease.
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Thank you for listening to Coffee with a Calvinist.
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My name is Keith Foskey, and I've been your Calvinist.
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May God bless you.
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We love to receive your comments and questions and may even engage with them in a future episode.
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As you go about your day, remember this.
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Jesus Christ came to save sinners.
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All who come to Him in repentance and faith will find Him to be a perfect Savior.
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He is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through Him.
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May God be with you.