Oak Ridge Today

Opposing views on gay marriage: ‘Equality’ and ‘biblical values’

Posted at
By 1 Comment

Melanie Heiberg

Oak Ridge resident Melanie Heiberg organized a celebration at Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church on Friday, June 26, after a 5-4 U.S. Supreme Court decision made gay marriage legal in all 50 states. “This is about equality,” Heiberg said.

 

Note: This story was updated at 11 a.m.

There was a range of reactions in Oak Ridge and across the state this week after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision on Friday, June 26, that the Constitution guarantees a right to same-sex marriage. That decision made gay marriage legal in all 50 states.

Some said the decision made them proud to be Americans, while others worried about whether the country is straying from biblical values.

Melanie Heiberg and others celebrated the decision at the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church last Friday. Heiberg said she was raised by two dads—her father and his partner—when she was in high school.

“This is about equality,” Helberg said. “Everyone is as important as the next person.” [Read more…]

Faith column: Take hold of instruction

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Take hold of instruction; do not let go. Guard her, for she is your life (Prov 4:13)

Being instructed is hard. It rubs against our pride by forcing us to admit that there is something lacking in us, and everything in our society tells us that we are complete and adequate in ourselves, just as we are. There is nothing in us that requires instruction, at least not morally; men are basically good in themselves. If there is a flaw, society will take care of that through its Department of Corrections.

The emphasis in public education upon “self esteem” undermines real instruction. No longer does a student have to master a certain body of material; he is given passing marks so that he will feel good about himself. As a result of this unbiblical philosophy, larger numbers of our society are having to be “corrected.” [Read more…]

Faith column: Storm thoughts

Posted at
By 1 Comment

As I write this, the death count is 24, happily down from 91, following the massive EF5 tornado that recently ripped through Moore, Okla. Since I used to live in that state, and traveled through that area of Oklahoma City, the video of the devastation was of places I recognized. I mourn the loss of life, the property damage, and the disruption of the lives of those who survived.

Natural calamities like this prompt many questions, many of which cannot be answered, but some of those questions reveal some of our faulty thinking as well. No one can say why God allowed this disaster; no one can say why one person was spared and another was taken. But the fact that questions like this are even asked assumes that we somehow believe that we have a right to live, or, stated conversely, that God has no right to take our lives before we have had the opportunity to live most of our “three score and ten.” [Read more…]

Faith column: Celebrate Passover Seder with your community

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Passover Seder at Midtown Community Center

Passover Seder at Midtown Community Center (Submitted photos)

For the 12th consecutive year, we are preparing to celebrate the Passover Seder, and we hope that you will join us and bring a friend. We plan to “keep the feast” on March 24 at 5:30 p.m.

Passover celebrates the deliverance of Israel from slavery to Egypt more than 3,000 years ago. Through it, by His sovereignty and providence, God has provided us a picture of our redemption through the blood of Jesus Christ. Even though it has become a ritualistic observance for some, God never intended it to be that. He knew that His people—if they were honestly and earnestly looking for their Messiah—would recognize Him as the Passover Lamb. This was Jesus’ intent at the Last Supper, the night before His crucifixion when He established the Eucharist (The Lord’s Supper).

[Read more…]

Faith column: America has entered an era of forgetfulness

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

When I fed them, they were satisfied; when they were satisfied, they became proud; then they forgot me (Hos 13:6).

Even though God was referring to Israel when He spoke to Hosea, He may have used the exact same words to describe the current generation in America. Ancient Israel’s history was sprinkled liberally with special provisions of God for this people: the parting of the Red Sea, manna in the wilderness, water from the rock, the conquest of Canaan under Joshua, Gideon’s miraculous victory over the Midianites, to name just a few.

So it is with our American history. In their excellent book, “The Light and the Glory,” David Manuel and Peter Marshall chronicle many of the clear provisions of God in the establishment of our country, provisions that only the hardest of heart could deny being an intervention of God Himself.

For a number of years both of these nations—Israel and America—enjoyed the clear blessing of God. Neither was perfect in its worship and practices, but as a whole, the people (often responding to the national leadership) embraced the God of Israel as their Creator and Redeemer.

But there came a time when Israel forgot Him and His deliverances. As Hosea said, “They were satisfied,” and the satisfaction begat pride—they thought they deserved His blessings. When He began to remove a few of the blessings to make the people remember that they had no real claim to them—they were all gifts—the people got angry with Him (He was acting like any good parent would). So He sent His prophets to warn them. Some repented, but it just made others angrier.

After repeated warnings, He finally sent judgment—for Hosea’s Northern Kingdom of Israel, it was from the Assyrian Empire. About 150 years later, the Southern Kingdom of Judah ignored the warnings and was carried to Babylon.

We have entered that era of forgetfulness in America. Among others, God has sent us D.L. Moody (with his musical partner, Ira Sankey) and when they passed, Billy Sunday and Homer Rodeheaver tried to stir this country to repentance. In recent years the baton has been passed to Billy Graham and Cliff Barrows, but with each succeeding generation, the number of people willing to listen to their calls for repentance decreases.

Israel’s history from inception to captivity lasted about 600-700 years, but we should expect God to be more patient with Israel. After all, He specifically called them His “chosen people.” The United States of America has never been called that (at least not by God).

How long do we have before judgment comes? That’s up to us. How long will we wait before we choose to repent? Some people think (to their shame), “Perhaps we won’t have to repent if the right person gets elected in the next election.” But our hope is not a political one; it wasn’t for Israel and it won’t be for us. How quickly we forget!

Dale Crank is pastor of Oak Ridge Alliance Church at 109 Raleigh Road in Oak Ridge. The church is an accredited church with the Christian and Missionary Alliance, a missionary denomination with ministries in more than 80 countries and almost four million people who worship Christ under the banner of the CMA each week. Pastor Crank is a graduate of Columbia International University in Columbia, S.C. Pastor Crank and his wife Mary have three grown children.