My Pastor got a bit political today...

Scripture was the story of the Good Samaritan. He was talking about "Dangerous Love." Love that nobody wants to take a chance on. Somehow he inserted a story of a pastor friend of his who was advocating for the relocation of some Syrian refugees into their town. The pastor friend was experiencing a lot of objections from the community, and our pastor was inferring that those who objected to this were xenophobic, racist, and intolerant.

Hubby and I sat their dumbfounded. How dare he! From my standpoint, those who object to the Syrian refugees are not xenophobic, racist, or intolerant, they are wise, discerning, and with good judgment. Crazy!

What say you?

Perhaps. But, as a side note, don't you think pastors should leave politics at the church door?

I heard a very good point about the Syrian refugees and the possibility of letting in an Islamic terrorist. They said, "Consider that you are given a bag of Skittles and you are told that 3 of the Skittles are poisoned. There is no way to tell which three are the poisonous ones. You eat a poisoned Skittle and it will kill you. Would you take the bag of Skittles and eat them?" It is the same when you consider the possibility of letting in the refugees. I desire to merciful and allow them here, especially the women and children, who are fleeing ISIS...yet how do we protect ourselves from the ones that would slip through the screening process and perform acts of murder and terrorism at our door? Consider that there were times in the Bible when God told the Hebrews not to make peace or deals with certain people and not to keep any of them alive as slaves/servants/spoils of war, but to kill them all. Sometimes, He didn't even allow them to take any spoils, including cattle or gold or silver or even a piece of clothing. So, in the case of ISIS and the Syrian refugees, I believe it is the same thing: don't allow evil into your house under the guise of mercy and goodness. If there is no safe way to do so, we cannot do it. There should be another way, something that could be figured out among the nations, to help the women and children. Politicians just don't want to think outside the "open borders" Pandora's box.

yeah, I actually left a church 4 years ago during the last U.S. election cycle. the pastor wanted the church to pray and fast and believe that Obama would be defeated. last time I checked, Jesus is lord, in charge, and in control. not the pres. guess the pastor forgot that.

Difficult, I don't believe not wanting Syrian refugees are xenophobic, racist or intolerant. People who don't want them are naturally fearful. However it does raise the question of how we should deal with people who are refugees fleeing for their lives and whether we should take them into our communities. The other thought is could God bringing them to our communities so they can learn about the living God who we serve and worship and can come to saving faith. Some one who used to go to our Church had ana amazing ministry to Muslim refugees and saw many come to faith, also we have seen muslims come to faith through English language classes run at our Church. I think maybe the pastor didn't raise this in the appropriate way.

Don't US pastors preach politics when it comes to gay people?
What's the difference?

Yes! It's one thing to maybe discuss using discernment when voting, but interjecting your opinion to a captive audience isn't cool.

HMM...... so free speech extends to everyone except the pastor? Dont think so! If the congregation don't agree with him, fire him, end of story. Any one that doesn't think the church should be fasting and praying over our political leaders, hasn't read their Bible.

Difference would be the entire first chapter or Romans I suppose.............Preaching Biblical Truth is not political, or, if it is, we need lots more of it.

Fasting and praying for our leaders is Biblical, but we are praying for God to work His will in/through them, not OUR WLL. That is the difference.

As for the refugees, maybe someone should have checked to see if these particular refugees were Christian? Some who want to relocate here are Christian, which would be good enough reason for me to welcome them into my community and my church congregation.

You're comparing apples to oranges. Please, let us not derail this thread.

Yeah, actually, I don't think free speech applies here because the Pastor should be preaching the Word of God, not the politics of our country. The Pastor should be constrained by the Word of God. If the Pastor wants to talk politics, he should do it outside of the pulpit. There he has free speech. Using the pulpit as a soapbox is equivalent to the money changers in the temple, IMHO.

I am not derailing a thread
I am saying that WAY too many Christians demand their own "freeom of speech" but deny the same right to others which they disagree with. In case you didn't know. The same rights apply to black and white, gay and straight, Christian and Muslim.

You ARE trying to derail the thread.

The point is, I don't believe any political speech belongs in the pulpit. Only the word of God belongs in the pulpit. And in case you didn't know, speech against homosexuality in the pulpit is NOT political, it is the word of God because the Pastor would be addressing a sin issue. That's why I said you were comparing apples to oranges.

Outside of the pulpit, anyone can say whatever they want to. I don't care.

The pastor is right, we are called to show love and support for those in need.

The real question is, is the islamic indoctrination about morality and truth properly answered
by the community or christian church. Often it is not, because they do not understand the
basis of the christian faith or the basis of Islam.

But who are you actually obeying, Christ or the fears of violence?
If you believe the Islamic propoganda, the wave of Islam is unstoppable.

But Islam is just propoganda, putting a label on a person does not make them
islamic, but they try and play this polarizing game, until you see what it is and play
it back at them. People are people, and Islam does not bring justice just insane
ISIS type violence. No society can function properly under their morality which
is why Islam will always be a curse and why it is this truth that needs to be argued.

So the syrians are no more islamic than anybody on the planet. But the fear being
expressed is used as a statement of truth that they have something, rather than
islam is just a violent destructive idiology that is contagious to the fanatic.