Admit Your Sins To The Lord, Priest Tells Gay Judge

[cappie]

A SENIOR minister of a Sydney Anglican parish has made an extraordinary attack on the High Court judge Michael Kirby, warning he would face the wrath of God if he remained unrepentant as a gay man.

The rector of St Stephen's Church in Bellevue Hill, the Reverend Richard Lane, denounced the judge for calling himself a Christian Anglican while living in an openly gay relationship and warned as a "messenger, watchman and steward of the Lord in the Anglican Church of Australia", he faced God's judgment.

To call himself a Christian Anglican was a "perversion of truth" and to continue to do so without changing his lifestyle would brand him, like Herod, a "coward, a liar, a deceiver" and a "lawless one".

"I appeal to you to cast yourself on the mercy of Jesus … That is admit your sin, confess your wrongdoing and turn in humble repentance to the Lord Jesus, who alone can forgive you," Mr Lane said.

The attack came in an exchange of letters between the priest and the judge which was cited during a forum organised by St James Institute on Tuesday night to encourage a "public conversation" about religious tolerance and homosexuality. Justice Kirby shared the stage with the Herald's David Marr.

The letters prompted a complaint from Justice Kirby to the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney, Peter Jensen, who also asserts that homosexual practices are sinful.

"The archbishop's injunction to me, which was quite sensible I thought, was we'll give this person the benefit of the doubt," Justice Kirby told the audience. "He probably thinks he's doing you a favour and you should just see whether there is any truth in what he says, and think about it."

Mr Lane's attack was provoked by Justice Kirby's assertion on ABC Radio late last year that the Anglican and Catholic archbishops of Sydney, Peter Jensen and George Pell, had, via religious instruction, made it hard for people to adopt a more tolerant attitude to gays.

Urging the judge to open himself to "God's healing of homosexuality", Mr Lane said Justice Kirby was a hypocrite for choosing to remain inside the church but claiming that homosexual practice "or any other sin" was in accordance with God's will.

Mr Lane proposed circulating the written exchange with fellow clergy to ask the question: "Am I wrong?" Justice Kirby has agreed to this.

In reply he argued Mr Lane's interpretation of biblical injunctions against homosexuality was not a universal one, and the biblical quotations used were unreliable mid-19th century translations. Mr Lane appeared to have turned a blind eye to the "central loving message of Jesus of the gospels".

"To defy modern knowledge and to stick to uninformed interpretations is truly irrational. To do so selectively is specially so. It is a reason why the churches are losing rational adherents."

Mr Lane declined to comment yesterday. Dr Jensen said correspondence between Mr Lane and Justice Kirby needed to be read fully and in context. "I have a long-standing personal relationship with Justice Kirby and he and I have communicated about these letters in confidence," he said.

[goldenchild17]

way to go Sydney Anglican priest guy

[prose]

Now repent and become Catholic

[StColette]

[quote name='prose' post='1496348' date='Apr 10 2008, 12:17 PM']Now repent and become Catholic [/quote]

[CatherineM]

It is obvious that the Anglicans have finally come to a tipping point on trying to be everything to everyone. It will be interesting to see if they just start another denomination basically, or reconcile finally with the Vatican.

[Kitty]

Doesn't that pastor have anything better to do then to try and make this one man to repent?

Edited April 11, 2008 by Kitty

[KnightofChrist]

[quote name='goldenchild17' post='1496157' date='Apr 10 2008, 01:53 AM']way to go Sydney Anglican priest guy [/quote]


Here here!

[KnightofChrist]

[quote name='Kitty' post='1496928' date='Apr 10 2008, 11:12 PM']Doesn't that pastor have anything better to do then to try and make this one man to repent?[/quote]


I pray that more Catholic priest have this [i]type[/i] of time as well!

[Kitty]

It just amazes me how obsessed people are with homosexuality and its apparent "evil". Like, why are we not focusing on topics that are more important, like abortion. Just leave the gay people alone to enjoy their own PRIVATE lives, stop flipping out about their "sins" and start looking at where the future of children stands!

[prose]

The future of our children is affected tremendously by this.

[Kitty]

Hardly. There are more doctors pulling baby's brains apart then homosexual couples allegedly corrupting children. Granted, I am not all for gay couples adopting, because I do believe that a child needs a father and a mother to have a healthy life, but if this judge and his partner are in a relationship, who cares?

[prose]

[quote name='Kitty' post='1496947' date='Apr 10 2008, 11:47 PM']Hardly. There are more doctors pulling baby's brains apart then homosexual couples allegedly corrupting children. Granted, I am not all for gay couples adopting, because I do believe that a child needs a father and a mother to have a healthy life, but if this judge and his partner are in a relationship, who cares?[/quote]

Homosexuality is not what corrupts children. Blatant disregard for God's laws is what is corrupting our children.

[Maria]

Abortion is a symptom, or an effect of a certain mentality. The 'sex is a private affair, and when it's among consenting adults it doesn't hurt anyone' idea is a big part of that mentality. Abortion will never be stopped, even if it's outlawed, without a revolution in the way people think about sex.
Thank you God and JPII for the TOTB!

[goldenchild17]

what I don't get is why there is such a desire to defend this particular sinful lifestyle. Sure we shouldn't obsess with it more than any other major sin. But an openly gay person is openly sinning and we do need to look out for people. This goes for all sins, not just homosexuality, but it is not exempt. One could possibly say (and I'm not convinced of it at this point) that one is born with such intuitions, or that it is biological somehow and that they can't "help it." If this is the case then there must obviously be a medical answer found to help cure people of it. If it is biological then it should be considered a medical problem, maybe the problem is a hormonal imbalance or something. If this is the case, advances can be made to fix it. Just because someone likes it, doesn't make it normal.

[CatherineM]

He's trying to be a good shepherd. He's got one lost sheep. When you are dealing with someone in a position of authority, when they are setting a bad example, it is worse than if a grocery clerk or a taxi driver is doing it. If someone in the pews is pro-choice, it's a shame. If it is a senator or public figure of some sort, it's a scandal.