To those with ears to hear, let them hear

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To those with ears to hear, let them hear,

We, the following pastors, wish to make known that we acknowledge and accept our responsibility to speak into the civil arena by making a united stand on two moral issues that are front and center on a national level. These issues are the sanctity of life and the sanctity of marriage.

In our present society, the very voice and liberties of the Christian Churches are regularly being politicized, silenced and openly ridiculed because of the Christian truths we uphold. Yet, God is the first and primary author of truth and the Creator and Giver of all life. Therefore, we are obligated to speak frankly and openly of our cherished beliefs.

Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person - among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life. As the Scriptures teach , "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you." (Jer: 1:5, Job 10: 8-12, Ps 22:10-11); Psalm 139:15 states"My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately wrought in the depths of the earth." Since the first century, the Christian Church has, consistently, affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion either as an ends or a means, is gravely contrary to moral law. The teachings of the first Apostles in the Didache instructs: "You shall not kill the embryo by abortion and shall not cause the newborn to perish." God, the Lord of Life, has entrusted to us the noble mission of safeguarding life, and we must carry it out in a manner worthy of ourselves. Life, particularly the life of the unborn, must be protected with the utmost care and diligence.

Scripture is clearly intentional in its definition of marriage when it says, "But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; And they twain shall be one flesh . . ." Mark 10:6-8a (KJV). In the New Testament book of Hebrews, the Bible says that society as a whole is to honor a divinely defined marriage by showing it the respect and value it deserves when it says, "Marriage is to be held in honor among all . . ." (Heb. 13.4). We are convinced that marriage is to be strictly defined to be a union between one man and one woman and any other definition is in conflict with Scripture and devalues the sacredness that God has intended for marriage.

Although these issues have been debated in the arena of politics, we as pastors wish to make it known that these are not political matters to us. To us, sanctity of life and sanctity of marriage are issues of our values. Our shared views are not tied to a political party, instead, our stance has been determined by our common and shared Judeo-Christian beliefs that have been set forth in the pages of both the Old Testament and New Testament of the Holy Bible.

Until The Whole World Hears,

Dr. Mike FogersonRev. Ron Coleman

Rev. Philip Keeton

Father Gene Wojcik Rev. Derek Doiron

Rev. Flo Parker

Student Minister Scott Wunderlich