The 3 - May 5, 2024

This week's edition of The 3, featuring three relevant news stories regarding the Christian community, includes an update on the United Methodist General Conference, which concluded days ago in Charlotte, NC.  Also, there's an update on federal attempts to expand elements of the LGBT agenda, including redefining the meaning of the word, "sex."  Plus, amidst unrest on college campuses where anti-Israel, pro-Hamas protests have been occurring, a different sort of spirit has shown up on other campus - a spirit that is influenced by the Spirit of God.

United Methodist Church changes policies on homosexuality, LGBT affirmation

The affirming of LGBT behavior has been taking hold in a variety of churches across America, and for years, you have had members of the United Methodist denomination stand strong on behalf of Biblical sexuality, resisting those within the church body who have supported a more permissive approach to LGBT issues.  

That issue became a contributing factor to thousands of United Methodist churches disaffiliating from the denomination over the last several years.  With representatives of these churches absent from the latest United Methodist General Conference held in Charlotte over the past two weeks, the denomination took multiple moves to be more LGBT-affirming. 

The Christian Post reported on votes that were taken, stating:

In a vote of 523 to 161 following around 90 minutes of debate on Thursday, the churchwide legislative gathering opted to remove a clause from the Book of Discipline, ¶ 304.3 under "Qualifications for Ordination."

"The practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching," read the clause, which had been originally added to the Book of Discipline in 1972.

That vote also included a statement, which said...

"...marriage [is] a sacred, lifelong covenant that brings two people of faith (adult man and adult woman of consenting age or two adult persons of consenting age) into a union of one another and into deeper relationship with God and the religious community."

The Post article noted:

The vote was among a series of votes taken at the gathering this week in Charlotte, North Carolina, which removed the UMC's bans on clergy officiating same-sex marriages, the ordination of noncelibate homosexuals and the funding of LGBT advocacy groups.

Advance of gender ideology seen in federal agencies

Even though the recently announced Title IX revisions have been the most talked-about move by the federal government to enact its agenda via executive action rather than legislation, there have certainly been other instances recently in which the LGBT agenda has advanced.

The U.S. Department of Education, in its Title IX rewrite, as it's been pointed out, has changed the meaning of "sex" in the law to include gender identity and sexual orientation.  And, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall and other AG's from across the country are determined to not allow the federal government to get away with it, according to 1819 News, which reports:

Opponents say it would abolish the distinction between male and female sports and do away with female-only spaces like locker rooms and bathrooms.

That's why Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall is leading a lawsuit to stop the Biden administration's plans. Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, the Independent Women's Forum (IWF), and Parents Defending Education and Speech First have also joined the suit.

Marshall is quoted as saying that "our schoolchildren are the target" of an attempt "to use federal funding to force radical gender ideology.  He said, "The threat is that if Alabama's public schools and universities do not conform, then the federal government will take away our funding."

The article states:

The suit claims the new rule is "unlawful" and "arbitrary and capricious," exceeding the Education Department's statutory authority.

Meanwhile, The Daily Signal reports that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has instituted new rules in the area of privacy.  An article states:

Under new federal guidelines, an employer would be guilty of harassment for requiring someone to use a restroom that comports with his or her biological sex, or for referring to someone by a pronoun the person doesn’t want used.

The new EEOC proposal was opposed by 20 state attorneys general; the article notes:

In November, the attorneys general contended what was then the proposed “Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace” updates would threaten the First Amendment rights of employers, employees, and possibly customers.

In a letter, they said:

“Here, the proposed guidance would require employers to affirm or convey to employees and customers—often against religious conviction or deeply held personal belief—messages that a person can be a gender different from his or her biological sex, that gender has no correlation to biology, or that they endorse the use of pronouns like ‘they/them,’ ‘xe/xym/xyrs,’ or ‘bun/bunself..."

And according to Alliance Defending Freedom, the Department of Health and Human Services has issued guidance regarding health care; the ADF website notes that a new rule "redefines 'sex' in federal healthcare nondiscrimination law to add gender identity..."

ADF Senior Counsel Julie Marie Blake stated:

“The Biden administration’s new healthcare mandate is a vast overreach that turns medicine upside-down. Congress never voted to redefine sex in the Affordable Care Act to add gender identity. The rule harms families and children by promoting dangerous, life-altering ‘gender-transition’ procedures that remove healthy body parts or block puberty. The Biden administration’s egregious rule would alter the United States’ medical system for the worst.”

While protests turn violent at some college campuses, God is at work on others

Pastor Greg Laurie, according to Crosswalk.com, wrote concerning protests, which have turned unruly and even violent at various college campuses across America.  The article includes material from the blog from his website, in which he wrote: “While many of these students have no idea what they are even supporting when they hold signs that say, ‘We are Hamas,’ ‘Gas the Jews,’ and ‘Final Solution,’ many of them do. Even more alarming, professors, who certainly know what they are doing, are joining these protests.”

Crosswalk went on to say:

The modern state of Israel, Laurie wrote, “was formed on the heels of the holocaust where 6 million Jewish men, women, and children were murdered by the Nazis.”

“They realized that they needed a homeland where they could live in peace and prosperity and raise their families,” he wrote. “But also the Jewish community has had a continual presence in their land since the first kingdom of Israel, since King David. How could they be colonizers? They are indigenous people.

CBN.com contrasted the behavior on numerous campuses with the outcome of the most recent Unite.us event, the movement among college students that started at Auburn, and has held event at Florida State, Alabama, Georgia, and now at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. A recent article said: "Against the backdrop of anti-Israel protests, violence, and death chants among colleges and universities recently, some GenZers are choosing instead to uplift Jesus Christ...," adding that last week, "8,000 students gathered on the campus of the University of Tennessee to praise His Name alone."

Franklin Graham wrote on Facebook: 

I’m sick of these protestors on college campuses who hate our flag and our country—so I was thrilled to see what happened at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville this week! 8,000 students came out on campus to worship and hear a message from God’s Word. 150 were baptized right there on the spot! Praise God for each one. We should all be encouraged by this and pray for God to move mightily in this generation.

The CBN article also noted that recently...

...as students in other campuses were engaged in antisemitic rioting, Liberty students chose to close the semester with the "ultimate wrap-up" giving glory to God well into the night.

Chancellor Jonathan Falwell told the students, "How amazing it is that Liberty students come to our lawn, and what we do rather than attacking one another is lift up the name of the only One who is worthy of our praise, and that is Jesus Christ, King of kings, and Lord of lords."

The article said that what is occurring among college students "...is a movement that is a stark contrast to the violence taking place at universities across the U.S. But the 'light' of what God is doing shines like a beacon on a hill and it is gaining momentum."