Low Point For High Point Church

If you visit their website, (post and link corrected) -- they sound like freaking loons.

In 1999 Pastor Gary and April Simons were given a mandate by God to come to Arlington, Texas to begin a work that would have world wide impact.  With a humble beginning of 16 people in a living room, there was nothing in the natural that would give any indication of what was to come. 

Now almost seven years later, “Jerusalem” has been established in Arlington, Texas in a 423,000 square foot facility and “Judea” – the Metroplex is being reached through over 400 small groups called TouchPoints which are located throughout the Metroplex.

No Amazing Grace here, just amazing ignorance.

Texas (AP) -- A megachurch canceled a memorial service for a Navy veteran 24 hours before it was to start because the deceased was gay.

Officials at the nondenominational High Point Church knew that Cecil Howard Sinclair was gay when they offered to host his service, said his sister, Kathleen Wright. But after his obituary listed his life partner as one of his survivors, she said, it was called off.

"It's a slap in the face. It's like, 'Oh, we're sorry he died, but he's gay so we can't help you,'" she said Friday.

Wright said High Point offered to hold the service for Sinclair because their brother is a janitor there. Sinclair, who served in the first Gulf War, died Monday at age 46 from an infection after surgery to prepare him for a heart transplant.

The church's pastor, the Rev. Gary Simons, said no one knew Sinclair, who was not a church member, was gay until the day before the Thursday service, when staff members putting together his video tribute saw pictures of men "engaging in clear affection, kissing and embracing."

Comments

[Bill Adkins]

Just another example of organized hate masquerading as religion.

[Phoenix]

I have to duct tape my keyboard so I can't say the things I want to say about this disgusting crap.

Oh hell. Maybe if the family would let the good Reverend chop SINclair's head off during the memorial, the mega do-gooders would Praise the Lord?

[Fred Beloit]

They are free to cancel the service. We are free to despise them for it.

[mensablonde]

Why is it that people who consider themselves to be such good Christians are so often in need of a refresher course on what it means to be a Christian? Sad.

[Cindi]

Absurd. Seems the rev is judging the man as a sinner which is not very christian like. Did this guy belong to a church,if not why would the family want a religious service? Kind of like parents deciding to have their kid baptised because the grandparents want it.

[docweasel]

Gotta disagree here. I was raised a Catholic. After I graduated HS, I didn't feel like following the Church's tenets. I became a lapsed Catholic. Now, at any time I could go back and rejoin the Church and try my best to be a good Catholic. That would not include me living, unmarried, with my girlfriend. And I wouldn't be so presumptuous as to demand that I be given a service like a good Catholic. Its the depth of hypocritical.

If your current religion doesn't conform to your convenient way of life, change your life or change your religion. Hell, they deny interment in sacred ground for stupid things like 'not being baptized' in the past, for cripe's sake.

People who expect religions to change their tenets, law and mores for their liberal lifestyle are the ones at fault here. There are PLENTY of churches that do not consider homosexuality a sin. They will be happy to bury him and give him a service (in fact, I'll bet one already has).

If anything, this seems like a put-up job by the survivors to embarrass the church. Being a vet, even one KIA, doesn't give you moral superiority over every other human being and universal rights over every church. The guy was living a life in sin, willingly, and either hid it or didn't let it be known to the church. Why he would WANT to be buried there is beyond me, if he did. He obviously had no faith in their particular sect.

[Cindi]

"Why is it that people who consider themselves to be such good Christians are so often in need of a refresher course on what it means to be a Christian"? Sad.

Very true. I have to remind myself every few seconds what it means to be christian. Bite my tongue more often than not.

Why a church would choose to have a service for someone they knew nothing about in the first plase is beyond me.

And yes, there are reasons a church can refuse one a christian service. Such as the person not being christian to begin with.

[docweasel]

Cindi: so, its ok for you say they are not being Christian because they won't indiscriminately bury anyone who wants to be interred through their church (and give them a service), but they can't say the guy is not a good Christian for being a homosexual?

Aren't you 'not being a good Christian' then by judging the church as 'not being a good Christian?'

That's what they are doing, after all. And its their church, are they not allowed to have standards of conduct and moral tenets for their parishner's to live by? I dunno, kind of like forcing your religion on someone to tell them what and what not they can believe in?

[Purple Avenger]

Tacky, tacky, tacky.

[templar knight]

Yeah, Bill, they really hated the guy and his family. They offered to pay for another place to hold the funeral, fed over 100 family members, made the video, etc. Wow, the hate I feel from you hardly compares, but if you would like to pay for feeding at least 100 of us at our next family reunion, let me know. I rather doubt your hate will find that venue or outlet.

[Cindi]

No doc, what I am questioning is how a church can decide he was living in sin when they didn't even know the guy. That is my only issue with this church.

I am a Catholic and active in my parish. I have my own issue with sin, won't pretend that I don't. Its me who decides on any given time I attend Mass, if I go up for communion or not. On some occassions my pastor has confronted me on receiving, because he knew of things at the time that were going on in my life. That is his right as my pastor. On the other we have a few homosexual people in my parish, and it's not my position to decide if they are living in sin or not. I have no clue how they live or what they confess to God. Now had I seen them sucking face or heard them profess an active gay lifestyle, only then could I judge the sin. I have a hard enough time keeping track of my own lol.

[docweasel]

Cindi: all I'm saying is that its a little bit ironic for the above posters to judge this church in question and its leaders "un-Christian" for the simple reason that they found this guy living contrary to the tenets of the church (i.e., un-Christian).

Its like they are condemning people by doing the same thing they accuse the church of doing.

Personally, I think churches have every right in the world to set, and enforce, rules of their religion, and to expel you or deny you church sacraments or services if you are blatantly refusing to live by the church's tenets. No one forced the guy to join that church, but some seem to want to force them to change their religion and give him a dispensation, and throw in the extraneous loaded factoid that he was a vet (which has nothing to do with nothing, in this case).

The guy obviously didn't believe in that sect's creed enough to follow it in life, so why bury him there? Its meaningless. And I have a real hard time calling them "un-Christian" for following their principles. The guy is dead. His family are the ones being un-Christian for making this fuss and trying to embarrass and blackmail the church with public whinging. Shame on THEM.

[Cindi]

Right Doc. From what I read in this story the only connection with the church in question is a brother who works there as a janitor. Not a good enough reason to support a church service. Then again as a Catholic I am thinking on the line of a Mass of Christian Burial. Not a service where all praise and glory is given to the deceased in place of giving thanks to God.

[docweasel]

I'm just trying to be consistent in my principles, (or lack thereof). My sisters, my Mom, aunts and several in-laws and friends are involved in Catholic Church, in particular the Call In Crisis Line for Pregnant Teens. They made me aware of this situation:

A while ago there was a huge outcry and court case because our local Catholic hospital refused to perform abortions. In fact, it was to the point to where it would have CLOSED if the court had found in favor of the plaintiffs. The hospital does a great amount of free medical care for the poor and indigent, whether they are Catholic or not. If they refused medical care like that for non-Christians, that would indeed be a travesty, but that's not what we're talking about here.

That's completely different from a burial service, which is largely ceremonial.

I don't think you should force a religion to change its tenets at the behest of those who find them inconvenient to their life-style. And I don't think they are "un-Christian" for not doing so. I support that church's decision, and all churches to be free to practice their religion as they see fit and to exclude those who blatantly refuse to do so.

[J-Ho]

Why is it that people who won't accept or adopt the beliefs/rules/tenets of a faith, still EXPECT to receive the benefits that faith offers (weddings/funerals/baptisms etc)?

People want the church to shift its positions in order to accommodate their lifestyle. That's simply not what the Christian Faith is about. Yes, Jesus said "love your neighbor", but he also said "I didn't come to bring peace, but a sword" - not meaning war or violence, but conflict with comfortable passive religion.

I am one of nine pastors in a large church. We perform funeral / memorial services as a celebration of a life that was devoted to following Jesus. Our regular services and activities are designed to make anyone feel welcome. But our funeral services are not for everyone who passes away. There are funeral homes, chapels and numerous other places people may use.

Nor do we marry any couple that wants to get married. We require them to be a committed part of the church, take a 10 week marriage course, and participate in pre-marital counseling.

The church isn't there to just perform ritual whenever anyone feels like they want one.

[Paul]

This post starts off: If you visit their website, it claims: "Extending Christ's grace to all, one person at a time." Well, not quite "all," it seems.

It links to highpointchurch.org, but THAT'S NOT THE HIGH POINT CHURCH in the story. The story is about a church in ARLINGTON, TEXAS, and the site they link to is in WISCONSIN. So, way to go, you've just directed a bunch of people to go complain to them when they aren't remotely involved.

Fact checking = GOOD.

[docweasel]

Just because they extend it, doesn't mean everyone grasps it.

Like the pastor above says, you don't get your cake and eat it too. You don't get to live like the church doesn't matter to you, then after you are dead leave word (or have your relatives decide) that the church DID matter to you. Then its too late.

I don't claim to follow all the tenets of the church in which I was raised, and I darn sure wouldn't expect all the rituals and ceremonies they "extend" to members in good standing.

Sheesh, what happened to the libertarian streak in Americans? First we chase the church out of everything, now we want churches to be FORCED to accept everyone, regardless of whether or not they follow the tenets of the religion.

I guess its just another way of trivializing and debunking religion. Use it as a prop for funerals and weddings of unbelievers.

[eliXelx]

I am secretly informed by those "in the know" (rub side of nose conspiritorially, nudge nudge, nod's as good as a wink!) That the real reason they pulled out was because this gay guy was really a MUSLIM!

[Cindi]

So, way to go, you've just directed a bunch of people to go complain to them when they aren't remotely involved.

Fact checking = GOOD.

Posted by: Paul | Saturday, August 11, 2007 at 09:24 PM

I must have missed the post directing people to complain.

[MIssVee]

There is no room for arrogance or self-righteousness in the life of a Christian. What arrogance it is to decide whose life is worth honoring and whose is not! High Point - you are hypocrites - Jesus likened you to vipers! Was Mr. Sinclair not a child of GOD! Christ, our Redeemer, Lord and Savior walked in this world to set an example for everyone who would follow Him. His life was one of honor, nobility, dignity and courage. Jesus came to serve and not to be served. It was He who washed the feet of His disciples and commanded them to do the same (John 13:14). It was He who gave up His glory to become flesh and die for our sins (John 17:5). And it was Jesus who told us to take the lower seat (Luke 14:8-9). Jesus taught by word and deed that the highest level of love Christians can exhibit is to lay down their lives for others (John 10:11; Mark 8:35). In the Gospel of Mark Jesus is quoted as saying He came to serve and not be served (Mark 10:43-45). Perhaps the leaders of High Point need to remember who they are supposed to be serving and crack a bible once in a while. Rest in peace, Mr. Sinclair.

[docweasel]

Miss Vee, we have GOT to get that sand out of your vagina.

[tim]

and the simons claim to be christians?? wonder where they they were taught?? makes ya wonder??

[pm]

I very seldom blog but as a pastor I felt the need to respond to this one.

A point secular writers are missing or omitting is this, homosexuality is an act God declares wrong and the fact is our opinions do not matter, what matters is God’s position on a subject.

People have written columns and blogs stating this church is judging this man’s behavior as sin, but the church is only stating what God states, so really the disagreement is with God, not the church. If you think this church is judging this man allow me to ask you this, if you saw a shirt that was red and someone asked you about the shirt you saw and you stated it was red, which is the fact, are you judging? No. Like wise with this man and his homosexual partner who are in pictures of affection together and we identify them as sinners because of their homosexual activity that God calls sin, are we judging? No. We are stating the facts according to the word of God.

Again lets not give our views are opinions let’s see what the bible says. Allow me to give you a few scriptures; I included the first one to show God does not simply oppose homosexual sin but heterosexual immorality as well.

Leviticus 20:10

And the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. KJV

Leviticus 20:13

If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them. KJV

Both of these were laws given to Israel and us to live by, they also included punishments that would be given through the civil law for breaking God’s moral law.

Most people right now want to go to say “well that was Old Testament and we are no longer under the law”, please take the time to study and find out which law was done away with; you see there are three categories of law in scripture and they are moral laws, ceremonial laws and civic laws. If you broke the moral or ceremonial laws, the civil law is what you were punished by. I guarantee you no change was made to God’s moral law.

Jesus (God in the flesh) did not discount the Old Testament but quoted from it over and over again.

Paul an apostle of Jesus Christ writes in Romans 1:18 – 28

18 For God's wrath is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth,

19 since what can be known about God is evident among them, because God has shown it to them.

20 From the creation of the world His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what He has made. As a result, people are without excuse.

21 For though they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became nonsense, and their senseless minds

22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools

23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles.

24 Therefore God delivered them over in the cravings of their hearts to sexual impurity, so that their bodies were degraded among themselves.

25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie,) and worshiped and served something created instead of the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

26 This is why God delivered them over to degrading passions. For even their females exchanged natural sexual intercourse for what is unnatural.

27 The males in the same way also left natural sexual intercourse with females and were inflamed in their lust for one another. Males committed shameless acts with males and received in their own persons the appropriate penalty for their perversion.

28 And because they did not think it worthwhile to have God in their knowledge, God delivered them over to a worthless mind to do what is morally wrong.

The good news for all of us who have fallen short whether we are engaged in heterosexual or homosexual immorality is that we can repent, turning away from sin and turn to God.

Romans 10:9 states “if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved”.