Fun With Super DeLux Brand Christians
So here’s the deal.
Collegedale, Tennessee, became the first city in the state to offer same gender benefits to couples who work for the city.
Among the people that supported the measure was openly gay Collegedale police officer Kat Cooper and her wife. In retaliation, a local church has booted Cooper’s relatives out of the congregation.
It seems that Kat’s parents and family stood beside her in this fight but their church up and decided to shun them over it. After attending the same church for 60 years …
Leaders at Ridgedale Church of Christ met in private with Kat Cooper’s mother, aunt and uncle on Sunday after the regular worship service. They were given an ultimatum: They could repent for their sins and ask forgiveness in front of the congregation. Or leave the church.
… the family’s support of Kat Cooper was as good as an endorsement of homosexuality, said Ken Willis, minister at Ridgedale Church of Christ.
“The sin would be endorsing that lifestyle,” Willis said. “The Bible speaks very plainly about that.”
People in the town say that Kat’s family practically founded the church. Her mother has been crying for days. Kat’s father was an elder there and Kat grew up helping clean the church with her grandmother.
Her family is standing tough, saying there is nothing to apologize or ask redemption for.
Ironically the church is named The Church of Christ.
Judge not, that ye be not judged.
2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. Mk. 4.24
3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.
6 ¶ Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.
I would suggest that Kat’s family take their unconditional love pearls as far away from the swine as they can get.
Thanks to Brian for the heads up.
Jeez, JJ! There you go again with quoting the Bible and all that love and compassion stuff! That’s not fair!
1All these good folks at Ridgedale Church of Christ who condone this are just proof positive of that old saying:
“Going to Church doesn’t make you a Christian, any more than sleeping in your garage…. makes you a car”.
For shame.
2“I would suggest that Kat’s family take their unconditional love pearls as far away from the swine as they can get.”
Amen!!
There was a man infested with demons and Jesus ordered the demons out and they requested that they be put into a herd of swine which was done … the herd of swine then all ran into the river where they drowned!
Seems only right!! Seems that this Church of Christ is definitely infested with swine and needs to be drowned!!
3What would Willis do if had a child who came out of the closet? Do you suppose he would denounce his child or, like the Baptist minister, mentioned in the article and whose gay son died of AIDS, get involved.
4I grew up in the Methodist Church in a typical red-necked Texas town– Wichita Falls. Every Sunday after church a kid about 4 years older than me would come down the street thumping his bible to tell me I was definitely going to HELL.
5Reason being, I didn’t attend the church of Christ! Also, it had to be his c.o.c., not just anyone would do.
After being consoled by my Granny and assured that I wasn’t going to Hell, I would turn The other cheek and offer him a Coke or something I’d just peed in.
These bible is perverse and the bible pounders are hypocrates.
Leviticus 12:6-7 tells women to offer animals as a sacrifice to atone for the bloody uncleanliness of childbirth:
“‘When the days of her purification for a son or daughter are over, she is to bring to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting a year-old lamb for a burnt offering and a young pigeon or a dove for a sin offering.[a] 7 He shall offer them before the Lord to make atonement for her, and then she will be ceremonially clean from her flow of blood.
“‘These are the regulations for the woman who gives birth to a boy or a girl.
So what are these believers doing about that?
6They got disfellowshipped. This is a common occurrence in some of the more backward (some of them very large) churches of Christ. The church of Christ (small letter, independent) are extremely “conservative.” I went to the cofC for many years until I was divorced. They “forgive” murderers, but they don’t “forgive” divorced women.
7“Guidlelines” for disfellowshipping in the church of Christ. (Most no longer follow this practice.)
http://www.tcoc.net/Massey/disfellowship.pdf
8If you preach hate your words are not anointed. BOOM.
9It sounds to me as though the church just did this family a huge favor. I mean, I don’t belong to that church and I couldn’t be happier about it.
10What that so-called church needs is an eye surgeon who specializes in removing beams.
11Organized religion takes it self so seriously that it often does more harm than good.
Bless Officer Kat and her family for their integrity.
I hope this officer has the opportunity to help some of these parishioners in thier time of need . Will they refuse ? I drove a church bus for a while and the CoC followed our route telling the kids we were going to Hell.
12Amen to Miemaw…
“Going to Church doesn’t make you a Christian, any more than sleeping in your garage…. makes you a car”.
It is so obvious that the true believers don’t see it. Like the last tree you see before you say “Oh SH***!!!!!!!
13And this is why I don’t attend church. I refuse to check my brain at the door.
14Mz JJ, I read YOUR link
http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2013/aug/21/repent-or-leave/
and went on to a second link at the site, which led me to another good column by Mr. Cook. It follows along the same lines as your thoughts today, Mz JJ, talking about “The church that stole Jesus”.
http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2013/aug/21/the-church-that-stole-jesus/
Amen.
15I grew up in the Church of Christ and went to Oklahoma Christian College for a short time. We thought everybody except us was going to hell because they had “instrumental music”, female ministers, and didn’t understand the Bible exactly as we did. I am still proud of the fact I was “dis-fellowshipped” after I went before the church leaders and expressed doubts that their version of theology was accurate or the only way to live a spiritual life.
They’re kind of like Southern Baptists without that famous Baptist tolerance.
16Blynn, it sounds like we could have some real fun talking over C of C experiences. I’m on FB under Sam Davis in Kyle, TX.
17THIS is why I gave up attending the SBC in college…decades ago. These “christians” are usually the most hypocritical people on God’s earth.
18Oh wow! I am SO GLAD that I physically left the c of C 13 years ago. Intellectually and emotionally I actually left them 42 years ago but I was one of those deluded fools who actually thought I could be an influence for sanity. (sigh) Well I was wrong in just the same way I once thought the Republican Party just needed a little nudge to the center.
19Maryelle, they claim acquaintance with the Chief Healer Himself! Problem is, you have to a) recognize that you have a beam in your eye, and b) ask Him to help you remove it!
20The problem is obvious, the ‘christian’ church is quoting the old Testament and the quote above were from the New Testament.
Which were based on Christ’s teachings. Which you would have expected the The Church of Christ to be following.
Sigh.
21Wow, Sam, you got disfellowshipped??? I’ve seen it done and thought it was disgusting. My brother and his family are still members of the C of C. I go to a CBF Baptist church which still has some very tenuous ties with the SBC. We’re pretty liberal as far as Baptists go. Not much in the way of fundamentalism. When I took my kids and started going there, my ex-MIL sent me a letter telling me that I was damning my kids to hell.
22Blynn, Did your ex-MIL explain how one can damn someone else? Leaving the theological issues aside, how does one achieve that sort of power? There are some drivers on LBJ in Dallas that should be damned to hell, not for eternity, but a day or two would be fair.
23I was damning them to hell for taking them to Baptist church. She was very old-style c of C.
24Tee hee – I personally would like to be a fly on the wall when those most vociferous find themselves reincarnated as the type they detest and have to learn to deal with those who are just like they were in another life. No, Karma is not always a lady.
25Wow! Those poor folks were just supporting their daughter and niece and have been intimately involved with the church from its beginnings. This must be a terrible loss for them spiritually and socially.
I’m glad they didn’t repent, but it still must be a huge blow to them. How cruel of the “people” running that church.
26Nothing so strenuous happens when you take yourself out of the RCC. For the most part, they don’t know who the hell you are anyway as their congregation is so huge, but by the god of little fishes they will still send you a fresh supply of tithing envelopes every month no matter what you do. Even if you are dead and they have held the funeral.
27maggie, it isn’t customary for churches of Christ to “tithe.” Tithing is an Old Testament custom and the churches of Christ pride themselves in being “New Testament Christians.” They just take up a “collection.”
This also appears to be a pretty small church.
28Kat’s family needs a church that knows and practices Christian values.
29As a Tennessee resident, I was more shocked the little burg of Collegedale was so progressive!
30East Tennessee is full of EvangeliBaggers just like Was Texas.
East Texas
31To paraphrase an old joke: A man dies and goes to heaven. St. Peter greets him and gives him a tour of the place. First, he sees a group of people mingling, drinking wine and eating cheese. He asks, “Who are those people?” Peter responds, “Oh, those are the Lutherans.” They keep walking and they stumble upon another group, this time eating cookies and drinking lemonade. He asks again, “Who are those people?” Peter responds, “Oh, those are the Methodists.”
Then they come to a place with a very high wall — almost like a fortress. Peter motions for the man to keep quiet. They both tip-toe past this huge fortress wall. Once past it, the man quietly asks, “What’s that all about?” Peter responds, “Oh, that’s the Church of Christ members. It wouldn’t be Heaven if they thought anyone else was here”
32I hope this was a lightbulb moment for Kat’s parents & other members of her “church”.
33I continue to be amazed at the number of “christians” who believe they are going straight to Heaven and yet refuse to even try to follow the teachings of Christ. No charity, no love, no compassion. They quote small phrases from both the Old and New Testaments to try to fit whatever they’re trying to jam down someone else’s throat at any particular moment. I ‘m horrified by this article, but I wish I could say I’m surprised. If it’s any consolation to this family, I believe God is watching and they’re better off without the hypocrites.
34Sam in Kyle: I heard that joke years ago; except, the folk in the walled city were the Catholics–you know, the one, true religion.
Why is it so hard to understand that you cannot have a Democracy without freedom of religion? And, if you belong to a church that can vote you out, maybe that’s not the best place for you to join?
Needless to say, I spend my Sunday mornings reading the paper.
35@BarbinDC:
They don’t want a pluralistic democracy; they’re Dominionists.
36Why weren’t the Lutherans eating pickled herring? I’m told there are at least two distinct types of CoC. One has instrumental music and is “welcoming,” according to rumor.
37I wonder if all the other folks in the church know what’s happening? Like that biracial couple last year that had their wedding all set and then were told by the minister at the last minute that they couldn’t be married in that church because some parishioners had complained. Turns out a whole bunch of the parishioners had no idea it was happening and were appalled. On the other hand, from what I’ve read in the comments (I’m not familiar with CoC at all), CoC seems to be the main church for Republicans, so that kind of mean and nasty behavior is probably applauded by all.
p.s. I reckon now they’ll have to clean their church with Windex or Spic ‘n Span or something since they can’t clean it with her grandmother. Please Lord Jesus forgive me my evil ways.
38Dear barb, in the RCC the way we tell it, it’s “the baptists that like to think they are the only ones here!”
Southern baptists, that is 🙂
39Elanor, instrumental music is “of the devil” according to many C of Cs. Some won’t even permit instruments like an electric piano or organ to be brought in for weddings. Groups that do use music are shunned by the rest of the church. Even worse than music is dancing. Girls get pregnant by……dancing.
40Elanor,
41I grew up CofC, now I belong to a church that is affiliated with the other one – United Churches of Christ (we’re also affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)). The CofC in the article is a congregational church with no central authority. That means each one is answerable to no one and can have it’s own “flavor”. But they usually are known as the guys who don’t have music and no role for women except Sunday school teachers. The United Churches of Christ and the Disciples of Christ are both very welcoming, use music and value women as ministers.