Written by Robert A. J. Gagnon |
Monday, June 3, 2024
This is not a month to be “proud” but rather a month to mourn. Mourn the moral rot pervading our country. It has harmed not only the nation as a whole, but especially those who in their self-delusion celebrate what is injurious to themselves, and to their relationship with others and God.

Not only is pride generally a sin, but also there is nothing to be proud of in the so-called “LGBTQ+ Pride Month.” Let us love persons with same-sex attractions and gender-identity dysphoria by rejecting that facet of their existence that dishonors the persons whom God has created in his image.
We should also show sympathy for their struggle with sinful desires, and applaud the way God can use the mortification of such desires to deepen a relationship with himself and others. Yet no one should take pride in such desires or the behavior that follows from gratifying them.

What is there to be proud of?

Why should one take pride in being erotically aroused by the distinctives of one’s own sex, which is either narcissism or self-deception (viz., the failure to apprehend that one is already fully one’s own sex)?
Should people also take pride in being erotically aroused by close kin (incest, i.e., attraction to a kinship same, akin to attraction to a sexual same) or by multiple persons concurrently (which Jesus rejected based on the logic of God’s intentional creation of a sexual binary)?
Why should one take pride in rejecting the messaging of one’s body as designed by God by identifying with a “gender” at odds with one’s biological sex? A complaint against one’s Creator is nothing to be proud of, but rather an expression of idolatry.

Social harm and the condemnation of Scripture

The “queer” lifestyle is one marked by disproportionately high rates for sexually transmitted disease and higher numbers of sex partners (especially for homosexual males), as well as higher relational turnover and increased mental health problems (especially for homosexual females).
These risks correlate with known male-female differences; expected results when an intimate relationship lacks true sexual counterparts or complements. Same-sex unions don’t moderate the extremes of a given sex; they ratchet them up; don’t fill in the gaps, but widen the breach.
Scripture (including Jesus and the apostolic witness to him) views homosexual practice and transgenderism as abhorrent sexual immorality (“abominations”) that can get unrepentant offenders excluded from God’s kingdom. Such behaviors assault the foundation of sexual ethics as defined by Jesus himself, his Scripture, and his apostles.

The dangers of “LGBTQ+” politics

The “LGBTQ+” political agenda is the most illiberal and hateful agenda in politics today. It is characterized by efforts to stifle free speech and the free exercise of religion. It is the greatest threat to these freedoms in the Western world today, and has been for decades.
No political lobby has concentrated more on canceling and censoring others, indoctrinating school children, and even mandating compelled speech (the hallmark of totalitarians).
People’s jobs are being put at risk who dissent from “LGBTQ+” dogma: teachers, doctors, nurses, psychologists, florists, photographers, small business owners, lawyers, corporate executives, etc.
Children are being directed toward chemical castration and mutilation surgery, an obvious instance of child abuse being pushed by the state. Indeed, the state is now moving in the direction of regarding parents who fail to affirm their child’s “LGBTQ+” identity as perpetrating child abuse (we know who the real child abusers are), requiring the state’s intervention to take your own child away from you.
Men identifying falsely as women are invading women’s restrooms, locker rooms, sports, shelters, and prisons, even being celebrated with misogynistic awards declaring them to be better women than real women.
The very idea of faithful Christian education is being put at risk, with calls for tying federal student loans, grants, and accreditation toward lock-step compliance with “LGBTQ+” ideology.

Moral rot and true love

Science is suffering at the hands of a movement that teaches that men too can have periods and give birth. A gnostic spirit pervades the land, declaring entrapment in bodies not designed to express their sexually immoral desires.
This is not a month to be “proud” but rather a month to mourn. Mourn the moral rot pervading our country. It has harmed not only the nation as a whole, but especially those who in their self-delusion celebrate what is injurious to themselves, and to their relationship with others and God.
As Paul told the Corinthians, they should not be “puffed up” or “inflated with pride” over their ability to tolerate an egregious act of sexual immorality (there a case of adult-consensual incest). To support the “queer” life is a manifestation of functional hate, not love.
Therefore, I choose rather to love, to love truly, those who identify as “gay,” “lesbian,” “bisexual,” and “transgender,” rejoicing in the truth rather than in the lie, whatever the cost for doing so.
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We submit this resource with two important caveats. First, many of these proposals from the Presbyteries were amended — and a few almost entirely rewritten — in the Overtures Committee. While the “whereas” statements in the initial forms may help presbyters to remember the original reasons for the amendments, they do not speak to the final form of the amendments, which is the only form that counts at this juncture. Second, these overtures obviously do not provide the strongest arguments against any of the proposals. 

The list of Book of Church Order (BCO) amendments handed down to the Presbyteries from the 49th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) is daunting. For a basic refresher on the amendments before us, including a breakdown of the votes that they received in Overtures and from the General Assembly, see TE Scott Edburg’s excellent article, Proposed Constitutional Amendments before the PCA in 2022.
The length of the list of amendments this year, however, may pose unique challenges to keep all of the goals, purposes, and reasoning for these amendments in mind. Most in the PCA probably understand the rationales behind the more public and controversial proposals, such as Items 1, 4, 5, and  7, even though some may disagree with those rationales. On the other hand, fewer will remember the technical reasoning behind some of the more procedurally focused proposed amendments, such as Items 2, 3, 6, 8, 9–12.
Often, the reasons for these amendments are listed in the Whereas clauses or the rationales written in the original overtures. That reasoning, however, gets stripped out after adoption by the General Assembly, and the Presbyteries receive only the amendment language itself. To help recall some of the original arguments in support of these amendments, here is a list of links to the original overtures as submitted by their respective Presbyteries.
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Written by Matthew D. Adams |
Monday, March 27, 2023
The sanctifying power of the Spirit is much like uprooting and killing all the weeds that threaten to overtake us. Without the sanctifying power of the Spirit, sin would overrun our lives and choke us to death, but since we have a Helper – One who comes alongside of us in our weakness – we can be sure that we will be sanctified. We will be conformed to the image of Christ; we will be enabled to put to death sin our lives.

As many of you know, presbyteries (and local sessions!) of the Presbyterian Church in America are again proposing amendments to our Book of Church Order that will be considered at this summer’s General Assembly. In the mass of those amendments there are three that are gaining the attention. Why you might ask? Well, it’s a pretty simple answer…they are pertaining to our continued sexuality debates that have dominated our Assemblies for the past number of years. That’s right! There is a continued push to add language to our Book of Church Order that would outrightly disqualify a man from serving as an officer if he identifies with a sinful desire (like the term, “Gay Christian”). By being on social media, I have seen the frustration (even to the point for calling for a fundamental “purge”) from the progressive side of the denomination.

They do not understand why we need to do this “song and dance” for another year.

However, I believe that these three overtures are of utmost importance concerning the orthodoxy of our Church. Overtures 9, 16, and 17 seek to make a clear statement, and at the same time, sets up needed guardrails for Teaching Elders and Ruling Elders.
Admittedly, out of the three overtures that will be considered in Memphis by the Assembly, I am a proponent of Overture 17 which comes from the Session of Meadowview Reformed Presbyterian Church. Let’s take a look at the wording for that overture,
“7-4. Men who refer to a particular sin struggle as descriptive of their personhood, being, or identity are disqualified from holding office in the PCA”
This is a clear and concise statement, and personally, I believe that this is an overture that we should all be able to get behind. I have written about the Christian’s identity with before. You can find that article here. However, the identity conversation flows naturally into the conversation that needs to be had regarding sanctification. From what I have witnessed throughout the debates in the PCA regarding sexuality and identity, here is the crux of the argument – there is a real denial of the reality and hope of progressive sanctification.
It needs to be noted that sanctification is a vital part of our understanding of the ordo salutis – the order of salvation. In fact, the Westminster Divines include a definition of sanctification in our Shorter Catechism, Question 35,
“Sanctification is the work of God’s free grace, whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God, and are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness.”
Sanctification is a work of God’s free grace. We know this, and yet, it has been consistently denied in many conversations circulating around our denomination. In fact, we even heard comments stated openly about how a former Teaching Elder’s sinful desires have not been sanctified…at all. That they are just as attracted to their sin now as they were when they were first converted. That flies in the face of what our catechisms, better yet, what the scriptures, teach.
Paul exhorts the believers in Ephesus to continuously “put on the new man” which is created in “righteousness and holiness.” (Eph. 4:23-24) These words are reminiscent of the words that he writes in Colossians, and its a declaration that their identity has been changed through their justification and adoption; therefore, they are to take off the old rags of their sin and find the joy of putting on the clothes of Christ’s righteousness. And this happens, as our catechism states, “…more and more…” as the Spirit works within us. This is good news! Believer, by the power of God’s indwelling Spirit, we are going to be enabled more and more to die unto sin and pursue Christlikeness. The Spirit is sent by God as a part of his grand plan of salvation, to conform us to the image and likeness of His Son. Our salvation is much more than just a rescue mission; its a complete and total renovation! It is a transformation.
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