Southern gospel music has homosexual issues too

GCMW: This is a little old, but it highlights that misplaced tolerance for homosexuality is not just a problem in the black gospel music industry. For those who don’t know the Gaithers are Southern Gospel old heads. I am posting the story in its entirety with a footnote that there’s much more to this we will report on.

BILL GAITHER AND “CHRISTIAN HOMOSEXUALS” – TAKING THE JUDGE NOT PHILOSOPHY TO NEW LEVELS.

Since the early 1990s, the Gaither’s Homecoming CD and video series has dramatically increased the popularity of Southern Gospel music in this generation. Sadly, Bill Gaither has used his vast influence to promote the lie that music is neutral and thus to encourage the deep inroads that the world has made into Southern Gospel. He has also promoted the unscriptural ecumenical movement with its bogus “judge not” philosophy and its lack of concern about doctrinal purity. In late 2002, Bill Gaither and Mark Lowry met with and encouraged Marsha Stevens, the lesbian author of the popular gospel song “For These Tears I Died.” Stevens, who has a ministry called BALM (Born Again Lesbian Music), attended the Gaither Homecoming concert in Phoenix in December 2002, with her lesbian partner. Mark Lowry, who has sung with the Gaither Vocal Band for many years, approached her and said that he was proud of what she is doing. Surprised, she said, “You know what I’m doing now?” He replied: “I sure do and I wish the fundamentalist would find Jesus. They’re going to have a lot to answer for, leaving out people that Jesus died for” (Marsha Stevens, New Years Eve 2002 with Bill Gaither”).

Bill and Gloria Gaither then came over and told her that they, too, appreciate her ministry today. A photo at Stevens’ web site shows her and her lesbian partner with Bill Gaither and Mark Lowry. In the last part of the concert later that night, Gaither invited the crowd to sing along to “For Those Tears I Died.” He then said: “You know, the young woman who wrote that song is here with us tonight, and maybe you’re like she was and you’ve heard about a God who would reject you for who you are or who might turn you away for something you’ve done or where you’ve come from. Well I want you to know that I don’t know that God. The only God I know is the one in this song that she wrote. The one that says, ‘I am right here for you.’ The one who sent His son. The one who says, ‘You are my child, I love you, come stand by my side.’ So sing with me again!”

In fact, the Lord Jesus Christ did not die for tears; He died for sin. And He suffered to save men FROM their sins not in their sins (Titus 2:14). The Bible plainly teaches that homosexuality is a grave sin. It is described in Romans 1:26-28 as “vile affections” (v. 26), “against nature” (v. 26), “unseemly” (v. 27), and “a reprobate mind” (v. 28). Christ taught us that there is no salvation without repentance. “I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish” (Lk. 13:3, 5). To the woman caught in adultery He said, “Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more” (Jn. 8:11). To the cripple man who was healed, Christ said, “Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee” (Jn. 5:14). The grace of God does not teach men that they can live as they please and still have God’s blessing. “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world” (Titus 2:11-12). By God’s marvelous grace, any homosexual can repent of his sin and cast himself upon Jesus Christ as his or her Lord and Saviour, but he cannot continue to live in his fornication and moral perversion and pretend that all is well between him and a holy God. Further, fornication is a cause for church discipline (1 Cor. 5).

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5.22.08 – It appears that Marsha Stevens lied and misrepresented the impromptu photo op with Bill Gaithers. Gaithers released a public statement denying that he in any way supports Stevens’ homosexuality. Its unfortunate that gay christians like Stevens have to resort to such blatant dishonesty in their attempts to gain credibility.