Kenneth Burge, teacher and member of Ardmore Moravian Church, offered this letter, along with a questionnaire, in July ,2002  to the Rev. David L Wickmann, President of the PEC, Northern Province, in response to Northern Synod actions on resolutions inviting Homosexuals to celebrate their lives within the Moravian Church.  This letter, with its attached Questionnaire  was also mailed to every  Pastor and  Board of Elders in the Southern Province. It's message and insight is  relevant given recent unwillingness of  the 2002  Unity Synod, Bishops and PEC  to intervene and offer scriptural based guidance.  Although Mr. Burge's letter was directed at the homosexual issues many of the scriptural based observations he makes speak to the church listening to the world rather than  the word.

See response to questionnaire 

                                                                                                                           J. Kenneth Burge
Winston-Salem, N. C. 27106 

Provincial Elders Conference 
Moravian Church of America, Northern Province 
P. 0. Box 1245 Bethlehem, P A 18046-1295

Attention: Rev. David L. Wickmann, President 

Dear Rev. Wickmann, 

     As a member of the Ardmore Moravian Church for seventy-two years, it is most grievous to witness the leadership of our denomination leading us into a state of apostasy whereby we are deserting our faith, religion and Christian principles and willfully violating God's Word. We apparently have reached that time about which Paul warned Timothy in II Timothy 4:3-4 when he said, "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; and will turn aside to myths." The 2002 Synod of the Moravian Church, Northern Province, resolution to recommend full participation (new membership, activities, and lay leadership) to homosexuals constitutes a .willful rejection of the explicit definitive teachings of scripture. God and Christ were tolerant of sinners, as we should be, but they were not tolerant of sin, nor should we be.

      Homosexuality is an abomination in God's sight, causing God extreme  disgust and loathing. In Leviticus 18:22 God says, "You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination." God condemns the homosexual to physical and spiritual death. In Leviticus 20: 13, God said, "If. ..man. ..lies with a male as. ..with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act; they shall surely be put to death.  Their blood guiltness is upon them." In I Corinthians 6:9-11, God through Paul tells us. "Do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, not effeminate, not homosexuals, nor thieves, not revilers, nor swindlers, shall inherit the Kingdom of God." (NAS) 

      The practicing homosexual has been, is, and will be subject to God's wrath and , , judgment. In 1 Timothy 1 : 9-11 we are told, " ...(the ) law is not made for a righteous man, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers and mothers, for murderers and  immortal men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, .. " (NAS) In Romans 1: 26-27, talking about homosexuals, we are told, .". ..God gave them  over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error." Many bible scholars see AIDS as the resulting penalty spoken of. 

     Homosexuality is condemned by God as a sin as outlined above which precipitates God's wrath and man's death. James 1 : 15, " Sin when it is finished, bringeth forth death. " Ezekiel 18:20, "The soul that sinneth, it shall surely die." Romans 6:23, "The wages of sin is death." Proverbs 16:25, "There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." Scripture surely shows that there is a high price for low living. Homosexuality is a choice and there is a consequence for every choice we make. Sin and death do not come from God but from Satan. In James 1 : 13 we are told. "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth He any man." Medical evidence is overwhelming to support the position by that homosexuality is derived by choice, by learning and by conditioning, not by chance as per " Homosexual Behavior Among Males" authored by Wainwright Churchill, "Encyclopedia of Sexual Behavior" authored by Dr. Robert Frurnkil, numerous articles by Masters and Johnson Publications, etc. Dr. Simon Le Vay attempted to prove a genetic predisposition toward homosexuality, but his theory has been widely discredited. Le V ay was on record in Newsweek magazine as saying when his homosexual lover died he was going to find a scientific reason to prove that homosexuality is genetically determined. Le Vay admits he is homosexual and has AIDS. His research failed.

     Scripture points out that we are responsible before God for our choices: " ...each one of us shall give an account of himself to God" (Romans 14:12); "For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins but a certain terrifying expectation of judgment, and the fury of a fire which will consume adversaries" (Hebrews 10:26~27). We have a free will and will be judged by God on whether we chose to obey or disobey His Word. "Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God's wrath is poured out on those who are disobedient." (Ephesians 5:6); "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you." (Hosea 4:6). In establishing His relationship with His people, God said, "I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse; the blessing if you listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, ...and the curse, if you do not listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way I am commanding you. ..." (Deuteronomy11 :26~28). We will be judged by God on whether we chose to obey or disobey His Word. In Matthew 15:8, Jesus said, " This people honors me with their lips but their heart is far from me." Jesus also said, " If you love me, you will keep my commandments." (John 14: 15) Our expressions of love for Christ are hypocritical when we willfully disobey and reject His Word. The scriptures teach us that our ministry must be a clear outworking of proper bible teaching. In Deuteronomy 12:32 God tells us, "Whatever I command you, you shall be careful to do. .." No authorization has ever been given to man to alter, add to, take away from or reject God's Word. God is very explicit about adding to or taking away from His Word and the consequences related thereto. In Deuteronomy 12:32 God said, "Whatever I command you, you shall be careful to do, you shall not add to nor take away from it. " In Revelation 2: 18-19, we are told, "I testify to everyone who hears the words. ..of this book, if anyone adds to them, God shall add to him the plagues which are written in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book. .., God shall take away his part from the tree of life. .." The keeping of all of God' s Word is not optional. We cannot pick and choose which part or parts of God's Word we will accept and which part or parts we will reject, or which parts we will change.

      The culture of man may change but God and Christ never change (Malachi 3:6 and Hebrews 13:8). Scripture says God and Christ are the same yesterday, today and forever; therefore, principles established by them shall remain the same forever and it is by those established principles that all men will be judged. Jesus asked a very profound question in Luke 6:46 when He asked, "Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord' and do not the things which I say?" We cannot claim Christ as our Lord and Savior and then reject His Word. Jesus also said, "He who rejects me, and does not received my sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day." (John 12:48) In Matthew 7:21-23 Jesus explains what will happen at the Great White Throne Judgment when many "professing" Christ stand before Him to receive condemnation and eternal damnation because they did not do the 'will of God the Father. The will of God is expressed in His Word. "Not every one who says to me, 'Lord, Lord' will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of my Father who is heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord' did we not prophesy (preach, teach) in your name, and in your name cast out demons, and in your name perform many miracles?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you, depart from me, you who practice lawlessness."' (NAS). Outward verbal acknowledgment of Christ's lordship is in itself not obedience to God's Word. In Galatians 1 :6-9 Paul reminds us that those who pervert the gospel are cursed of God. God will not tolerate the perversion of His gospel.

      As Christians we are to seek to share God's Word with all sinners, which includes homosexuals, in an effort to bring them into a saving relationship with God through His son, Jesus Christ; however, we must differentiate between a willful, continual sinner and a repentant sinner when it comes to church membership. In 1 Corinthians 5: 11-13 we are told " ...not to associate with any so-called brother if he should be an immoral person. ..not even to eat with such a one. For. ..do you not judge those who are within the church? But those who are outside, God judges. Remove the wicked man from among yourselves": In II Corinthians 6: 17 we are told to "come out from their midst and be separate" in regard to the unrepentant and in II Timothy 3: 5 we are told to "avoid such men. .." A very distinctive line is drawn by scripture between carrying out the commission given and the acceptance of and association with those who are willfully and continually immoral in an unrepentant way.

      It is very disappointing and embarrassing also to see the editors of out Moravian  publication not only apparently accept homosexuality but publicize its acceptance in ?  advertisements in what is supposed to be a religious publication. 

      As a layman I have always looked to our Moravian ministers and bishops for  spiritual leadership; however, I have reached the point where I am very disappointed in the  lack of scripturally oriented positions taken by our leaders in authoritative positions, both  lay and ministerial. Many of our ministers profess their belief in the basic tenets of the Bible, but are reluctant to stand thereon. Other ministers, including some of our bishops, openly and publicly articulate positions diametrically contrary to the teaching of scripture. : As stated in James 3:1, those in leadership positions "shall incur a stricter judgment." In Isaiah 5:20, God said, "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil."

      In Isaiah 10: 1 God warns that His wrath will fall on those who enact standards of conduct contrary to His will. In Ephesians 5:6 we are also warned that "God's wrath is poured out on those who are disobedient. " Deliberately and consciously manipulating scripture in an erroneous way to justify a conclusion desired by man but clearly contrary to God's Word is an extreme act of deception and disobedience. If we desire God's blessings on our efforts, it is imperative that we seek to do God's work in God's way. By looking at the statistics we can see the Moravian Church in America is dying by attrition which is not an evidence of God's approval of or blessing on our ministry. Our unscriptural conduct is jeopardizing our relationship with God through prayer as expressed in I John 3:22. " And whatsoever we ask we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight." Rejecting God's commands and teachings closes our prayer door to God and makes our worship unacceptable. In Matthew 15:9 Jesus quotes the prophecy of Isaiah when He said, "But in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men." I shall continue to pray daily for the leadership of our Moravian denomination that God might reveal to our leadership, and to us as laypersons, what is right and acceptable in His sight and empower us through His indwelling Holy Spirit to carry out His will, not ours, that our actions might honor, glorify, and please Him

Sincerely Yours in His Service, 

Kenneth Burge

Cc: PEC, Moravian Church of America Southern Province, att. Dr. Robert Sawyer Moravian Publication, att. Ms. Deanna Hollenbach Board of Elders, all Southern Province churches Pastors of the Southern Province

Questionnaire  Included with the above letter

To all Pastors and Board of Elders of Moravian Churches in the Southern Province

     It  is difficult for me to believe the action taken by the 2002 Northern Provincial Synod in regard to homosexuality represents view of the majority of Moravians in the Southern Province.

      I, therefore solicit and would appreciate pastors and members of Boards of Elders sharing their views as follows:   

_______  I believe homosexuality is a sin as specified in scripture.

_______  I approve of the position taken by 2002 Northern Provincial Synod

Comments______________________________________________________________________
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Name_____________________________ 

Church____________________________

Return of completed questionnaire is requested and compilation of results will be provided to participants.