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Marengo Christian Church Position
Statement
"I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall
and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to
destroy it, but I found none”. Ezekiel 22:30
Here at the Marengo Christian Church (MCC) we operate solely by what the Lord
our God has set before us in scripture. We preach and teach the Holy Bible from
the King James and New King James versions from Genesis where scripture begins
with “In the beginning…” clear through Revelation where scripture ends with “The
grace of our Lord be with you all” and absolutely every scripture in between.
We know for fact that there is no subject, no moral dilemma
or human concern that is not directly addressed by scripture. We know the Bible
to be the absolute Word of God and as such know it to be absolute inarguable
truth. We know that our God is the one true living God who loved us so much
that he gave his only Son so that we would have a way out from under our sin.
We know that that in John 8:11 that when Jesus tells the adulterous woman
“Neither do I condemn you” but then goes on to add “go and sin no more.” That
forgiving us does not come without accountability and a requirement that we
repent or turn away from that sin. We know that no one comes to the Father but
through Jesus. All these things we say with full confidence knowing that our
instruction manual, the Holy Bible has stood the test of time, history and
science not to mention 2000 years of people trying to change it, prove it wrong
or eradicate it from the face of the earth.
In the world today many would have us change that, saying
‘that was then and this is now’. But God emphatically states “For I am the Lord
and I do not change”. God is the same now as he has always been. What abhorred
him then abhors him now. Indeed in efforts to appease and not offend those of
the world many churches have chosen to ignore portions of scripture that others
might find offensive. In many concerns there are churches that have chosen to
ignore scripture and adopt a doctrine of tolerance and acceptance of what the
world would want rather than show the world what God wants and have even chosen
to compromise themselves in such a way that the world sees more of itself in
them rather than allowing the world to see more of God in them.
Scripture addresses this as well where in Revelation
Chapter 22 Verse 19 it says “And if any man shall take away from the words of
the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life,
and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book”.
No matter what part you like or don’t like about the Holy Bible know that the
Holy Bible is what it is and MCC will not change, add or remove one word of it
nor will we preach anything other than what is contained in it to suit the so
called ‘world view’
In Deuteronomy 30:11-20 it says “For this commandment which
I command you today is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off. It is not
in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it
to us that we may hear it and do it?’ Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should
say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us that we may hear it and
do it?’ but the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart that you
may do it’. We know from this that people as a whole know deep in their hearts
what God desires of them even though they may choose to ignore, deny or not
acknowledge it. When people hear what Gods word says and feel guilt or anger it
is the Holy Spirit convicting them. If it was not so then we are quite sure you
would not feel guilt or anger but simply believe what Gods word says to be one
mans opinion and nothing more.
For a good number of years there have been fair, just and
effective laws against acts of hatred toward those of other races, toward those
who have made a choice to live as homosexuals, lesbians and such. These laws
work quite well in preventing such acts of hatred and are quite effective in
their punishment of those who choose to act in such a manner without infringing
on free speech or thought. While others will deny it, it is believed that the
current proposed LBGT hate crimes bill will re-write those laws so that those
who believe in what the Word of God professes may be prosecuted as well for
nothing more than preaching Gods Word from the pulpit.
In light of the continuing efforts to pass the LBGT Hate
Crimes Bill and ones similar to it, we the leadership of MCC and its ministries
feel that the time has come where we must now make our stand for the Word of God
and our values public, to be the ones who will stand in the gap. Because we
have chosen to make a stand we know that in doing so there will be those who
will be offended by the truth of Gods Word.
It is by the Word of God we know that we are all sinners.
And all sinners are welcome here at MCC. However once you come to MCC as a
sinner scripture says we are to try to change. We are to strive to not arrange
our lives for the world but to re-arrange our lives for Jesus Christ for it is
indeed through Him and Him only that we are able to get to God.
Know that if one makes a decision to visit or attend a
service at MCC that they will hear the truth of Gods Word preached. Unlike
those books written by individuals such as John Smith, what we preach are not
our words that we have written but Gods Word. And His Word will be preached
with Love and Grace and not hatred. But by the same token we are not
responsible for what the Holy Spirit convicts someone of. No matter how much
the absolute truth of God may anger others, know this, we refuse to abandon the
historic Biblical teaching concerning all things and in light of the LBGT bill
especially the nature and purpose of human relationships. Thus, we are bound to
not accept homosexual behavior as normal or moral.
In addition we absolutely refuse to wear a label of
intolerance or bigotry. Neither do we see homosexuality, lesbianism, abortion
or so called ‘safe sex’ as human rights issues. More specifically, we oppose
those things including so called ‘same-sex marriage’ and will continue to
strongly resist efforts in our public institutions to teach our children that
such things are normal and/or acceptable.
On our watch as active and concerned citizens of the United
States of America and as Christians we will resist any attempts by the governing
bodies to impose a homosexual lifestyle on all Americans but especially on those
of us who believe that this conflicts directly with what the Word of God teaches
us and while the current administration has threatened such things as the
removal of our tax exempt status know that the Word of God means much more to us
than that and that we believe such status to be something that is readily
expendable.
We very much welcome all who would like to come visit us
and hopefully become an active part of the congregation. But if one is coming
here with the expectation of finding a ‘theme park’ church preaching a message
from a comic book bible that will appease their ears and leave them feeling all
warm and fuzzy about the world view then they will most likely be disappointed
and we would suggest that they seek out one of the many so called churches that
they are likely to find that sort of thing taught. However, if you are seeking
out that sanctuary of truth, hope and stability in a world of lies, chaos and
worry then this will be the place for you. Just don’t be offended when your
toes get stepped on. I can assure you that we aren’t when ours get stepped on.
In closing we leave you with this. “Be anxious for
nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let
your request be made known to God’ and the peace of God, which surpasses all
understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally,
brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things
are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things
are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy
– meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard
and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace be with you. Philippians 4:6-9
Approved and acknowledged this 10th day of May
in the year of our Lord Two Thousand and Nine by the leadership of Marengo
Christian Church | 
