The following is excerpted from “California Church Enrages LGBT Community,” The Stream, Jan. 7, 2019: “Protesters demonstrated against a church in northern California, demanding its pastor remove a church marquee message they believe is hateful toward the LGBT community. The marquee message, posted by Trinity Bible Presbyterian Church pastor Justin Hoke, reads ‘Bruce Jenner is still a man. Homosexuality is still sin. The culture may change. The Bible does not.’ The sign angered LGBT citizens of Siskiyou County, who gathered outside the church Sunday to demand the pastor take the message down and keep such beliefs within the church’s walls. Hoke, however, contended the sign was not hateful and that it expressed Biblical teaching about gender and sexuality. ‘… that’s very offensive to call that sign hateful,’ Hoke said. ‘There is no hate at all in that sign.’ ‘People are getting upset because we’re saying this is wrong, it’s always been wrong, it still is wrong according to our God,” Hoke added. ... Hoke said, in light of the protests, he plans to keep the sign up until the demonstrations stop. Kalayjian and other lead protesters accepted the challenge, however, saying they would protest outside the church every Sunday until the pastor removes the message.” FOLLOW-UP: Pastor Hoke resigned the pastorate of Trinity Bible Presbyterian after members of the church threatened to leave. He said, “As of today, I am no longer the pastor of Trinity Bible Presbyterian Church. It was determined that it would be in the best interest of the local body for us to part ways. I would like to add this, I did not want to leave, I did not quit, and I was willing to stay.” He turned down offers of financial support, saying he didn’t want to “use this 5 minutes of fame as a chance to capitalize on the sympathy and good will of others.” He added, “The Lord has taken care of my needs. Please pray that God would open more doors for me to preach the gospel, that is all I want or need.” (Friday Church News Notes, January 18, 2019, www.wayoflife.org, [email protected], 866-295-4143) Comments are closed.
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