Pastor OUSTED From Church For Saying ‘Homosexuality Is Still A Sin’

Well… this is interesting.

As  I’ve mentioned before, I personally do not take issue with homosexuality. Live and let live, is my motto. I know and love a number of gay people, and as long as they’re happy and living their lives in productive ways, then I don’t CARE who they love. This isn’t really up for discussion with me. You can’t convince me to judge anyone.

That being said… I understand how many feel about homosexuality due to their religion, and I stand by their right to feel that way. Which is why I’m pretty confused about this.

According to Daily Wire:

Pastor Justin Hoke of Trinity Bible Presbyterian Church in Weed, California, has lost his job following both community and alleged internal backlash over the language used in his most recent church sign.

In early January, Hoke designed a sign that read: “Bruce Jenner is still a man. Homosexuality is still a sin. The culture may change. The Bible does not.”

As you can imagine… people didn’t like this.

According to SFGate, “a couple dozen” community members gathered to protest the sign on January 6. The protest, called the “Shastina Love Rally,” was organized in part by local resident Amelia Mallory.

A second protest was held on Sunday. According to the most recent count on the official Facebook invite page, 71 people were “going” to the event, and 182 people were “interested.”

I support the pastor’s right to his religion. I support people’s right to peacefully protest.

I do not, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, support THIS:

No, they didn’t just move letters around. They broke the plexiglas, stole letters, and busted the power box.

NOT ok.

It’s also important to note that the pastor is pretty clear about his “hate the sin, not the sinner” stance:

In an article published just several days ago, Yahoo Lifestyle quoted Pastor Hoke, who said: “We believe that Jesus commands all Christians to let their light shine. We also believe that salvation is only for sinners. Jesus said he came to call sinners, not the righteous. If we give in to cultural demands to stop calling sin ‘sin,’ then we are robbing people of opportunity to hear the truth.”

Nevertheless… he’s been ousted:

As of today, I am no longer the pastor of Trinity Bible Presbyterian Church.

After much prayer and counsel, I have decided that it is best to briefly communicate what has taken place.

1. I was informed by our other elder that he felt he could no longer follow my lead as Pastor of TBPC.
2. I was informed that essentially all but one couple in membership would leave the church if I continued as pastor of TBPC.
3. Our other elder and the couple felt that those who left would likely return if I would leave.
4. Our other elder was agreeable to stay and assume the pastoral responsibilities.

Therefore it was determined that it would be in the best interest of the local body for us (TBPC and the Hoke family) to part ways.

Update 1/14/19

I would like to add this, I did not want to leave, I did not quit, and I was willing to stay.

My thoughts? I feel bad for him, but what’s the point of staying at a church where the entire membership doesn’t stand by you? Hopefully, he’ll find a congregation that respects and supports his views. This is obviously not it.