LGBT-founded, straight-friendly, Christ-centered Church, serving Orange County, Long Beach and beyond.

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BEGINNING MARCH 4th RBMCC WILL BEGIN OFFERING 2 SERVICES,
WITH THE TRADITIONAL SERVICE MOVING TO 5:00 PM
AND THE 2nd SERVICE, P-3, WILL BEGIN AT 7:15.

The question of whether a person can be queer and Christian is one that is literally tearing our churches apart these days. The “mainline” denominations have, through painfully controversial self-examination, more or less come to rest in various positions along the spectrum between “tolerance” and “acceptance”. The evangelical “born again” churches continue to by and large avoid the discussion, either ignoring the issue or engaging in stern monologue on the absolute incompatibility of being both queer and Christian. Catholicism, the Mormon faith and countless other Christian sects weigh in with positions that are seemingly as numerous as the different Christian traditions themselves. We believe that the question itself is off-base. A seminary professor once remarked to his class, “A Christian is anyone who wants to be one.” This statement may seem overly simple, but it is as profound as it is true; all the more so because of its simplicity. The Apostle Paul, whose words anti-gay Christian crusaders are so fond of quoting, was quite clear in his belief that anyone confessing Christ as Lord and receiving him as Savior was included in the Christian family. He furthermore spoke quite clearly that to have the inclination at all to worship Christ as Lord meant that God had specifically sent Holy Spirit to draw you in to relationship with Christ. Not quite satisfied with even that, he further asserted that there exists nothing in all of heaven or earth that can take the believer out of God’s hands. So, from the Bible’s point of view, the single criterion for being a Christian is being drawn by the Holy Spirit into a heartfelt confessing belief in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. There is no other behavioral requirement necessary to complete the work of salvation in any believer. Any other assertion is quite simply not supported by the overwhelming evidence of Scripture. You can absolutely be queer and Christian! But, does being queer make you a Christian who is being disobedient to the will of God?  That is an altogether different question. For the lover of God in Christ Jesus, it is not enough to be merely included in the Christian family. The Spirit of God that resides in all believers evokes within them the conviction to pursue God’s perfect will in their lives. Does the Bible irrefutably condemn same-gender love and intimacy? There are 6 passages in Scripture that are presently seen by many Christians as demonstrating God’s distaste for same-gender intimacy. Some of these passages have nothing to do with same-gender sexuality at all, and others are far from clear as to what is being referred to. Still others raise more questions than answers about the proper context to understand them. The point here is that there is nowhere near uniform consensus within legitimate biblical scholarship as to what, if anything, the Bible definitively teaches concerning homosexuality. For every one theologian who would espouse and defend the traditional anti-gay view of a particular passage, there are several others who see something totally different being communicated. Continue...

Sunday Worship Services: Our Regular Service: 7:15 PM to 8:30 PM
Sermon by: Ron L	info@rbmcc.org
	714.662.6972
Wednesday Bible Study 7 PM	Address: 3303 Harbor Blvd. #A-104, Costa Mesa, CA 92626