Stumbling Blocks and Millstones

This Sunday's Gospel reading from Mark 9:38-50 is usually used by revisionist preachers to justify ecumenical activities (as long as they don't include groups like ACNA). There is much more to this selection from Mark that usually gets ignored by revisionists. Let's see if you can guess which parts might be problematic to some,

"John said to him, ‘Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.’  But Jesus said, ‘Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterwards to speak evil of me. Whoever is not against us is for us. For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.
 ‘If any of you put a stumbling-block before one of these little ones who believe in me,* it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell., And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell, where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.
‘For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.’"

Mark 9:38-50 should prove to be a stumbling block to revisionist preachers because in it Jesus talks about millstones being tied around their necks and about them being tossed into the sea or being thrown into hell if they fail to cut out their revisionist teachings.

Since revisionists do not take the Gospel literally, they will never give up their teachings, even as their denominations go to Gehenna, sinking from the weight of those millstones.

Progressive Garbage in, Progressive Garbage Out: Is Heaven a Place on Earth?

One thing that is reflective of the progressive mindset is that we can create heaven on Earth or that we should be working to do so.

For the past few months there has been an annoying commercial running on television by the appropriately named Progressive Insurance company that proudly proclaims the progressive worldview. If you haven't seen and heard it, here it is,

"Heaven Is a Place on Earth" is a song from 1987. It hit number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 on December 5, 1987. It also topped the charts in  the UK. The lyrics are concerned about romantic love, but stray into theology with the refrain and words like this,

"They say in heaven love comes firstWe'll make heaven a place on earthOoh, heaven is a place on earth"

Here are the rest of the lyrics,

Ooh, baby, do you know what that's worth?
Ooh, heaven is a place on earth
They say in heaven, love comes first
We'll make heaven a place on earth
Ooh, heaven is a place on earth

When the night falls down
I wait for you and you come around
And the world's alive with the sound
Of kids on the street outside

When you walk into the room
You pull me close and we start to move
And we're spinning with the stars above
And you lift me up in a wave of love

Ooh, baby, do you know what that's worth?
Ooh, heaven is a place on earth
They say in heaven love comes first
We'll make heaven a place on earth
Ooh, heaven is a place on earth

When I feel alone, I reach for you
And you bring me home
When I'm lost at sea I hear your voice
And it carries me

In this world we're just beginning
To understand the miracle of living
Baby, I was afraid before
But I'm not afraid anymore

Ooh, baby, do you know what that's worth?
Ooh, heaven is a place on earth.
They say in heaven love comes first
We'll make heaven a place on earth
Ooh, heaven is a place on earth

In this world we're just beginning
To understand the miracle of living
Baby, I was afraid before
But I'm not afraid anymore

Ooh, baby, do you know what that's worth?
Ooh, heaven is a place on earth
They say in heaven love comes first
We'll make heaven a place on earth
Ooh, heaven is a place on earth
Ooh, heaven is a place on earth
Ooh, heaven is a place on earth
Ooh, heaven is a place on earth
Ooh, heaven is a place on earth

My choral director missed the theological issue completely and was most annoyed that sometimes she might act like "Jamie" the director of the choir in the commercial. Everyone chuckled at the truth in her comment, but I cringed at the thought that no one saw the potential danger of the progressive worldview being conveyed by this seemingly harmless television ad.

The zeitgeist works its way into our mindset in many ways so we should be very careful about what society is feeding us.

As the updated saying goes, progressive garbage in, progressive garbage out.

Oh Those Missing Verses: Adulterers!

This Sunday's reading from James 3:13-4:3,7-8 cleverly cuts out the uncomfortable words James has for all of us by deleting verses 4-6.

First let's read the version most Episcoplians will hear in the pews today,

13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth. 15 Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. 16 For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. 18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for* those who make peace.1 Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you? 2 You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet* something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3  You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures.7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Missing are three important verses of warning,

 4 Adulterers! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 5 Or do you suppose that it is for nothing that the scripture says, ‘God* (He) yearns jealously for the spirit that he has made to dwell in us’? 6 But he gives all the more grace; therefore it says,‘God opposes the proud,   but gives grace to the humble.’ 

Typically, the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) cuts out language that warns us of God's potential to regard us in a negative light. The impression the RCL  editors create is that we can do no wrong, that God is never angry with us, and that we do not have to fear the Lord.

But,

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" - Proverbs 9:10.

Imagine the lack of wisdom in a generation that is not taught the fear of the Lord.

Imagine the doom facing a generation that embraces friendship with the world over fear of the Lord.

I am afraid that is the unintended consequence of following an expurgated version of the Bible as heard every Sunday in Episcopal parishes that follow the Revised Common Lectionary.

Episcopalians: Going the way of the Shakers

First the good news,

Thanks to God, we survived Hurricane Florence with only minimal leaks in our sturdy ark due to a poorly sealed porthole, and we are currently seeing minimal flooding of our shoreline due to rising river levels. Our elderly neighbors had a large tree come down right between two storage buildings, missing their house and car. 

Next the bad news,

From The Living Church comes this report,

 ...the news is bad. The church is a movement, and the Episcopal Church is moving downward. The data from 2016 showed decline, but some optimists hoped the decline was slowing. This is not borne out by the data from 2017, when membership and attendance continued to drop at the same rate as in 2016 or, in some instances, at a sharper rate. 

Year Membership ASA

2000 2,329,045                 856,579
2005 2,205,376                 787,271
2010 1,951,907                 657,831
2015 1,779,335                 579,780
2016 1,745,156                 570,453
2017 1,712,563                 556,744 

There are always individual churches and dioceses that buck the trend, but the trend is clear. Baptized membership dropped in domestic dioceses by 19.1 percent in the decade up to 2017 and this continues, with a drop of 1.9 percent in 2016-17.

They are getting blown away.

At this rate, Episcopalians will go the way of the Shakers by 2050.

Taming the Tongue

As Hurricane Florence may knock me off-line or powerless, I am typing this up in advance for automatic posting in case we have to get out. 

This Sunday's Epistle reading, James 3:1-12, contains stark warnings to both teachers and the rest of us about the dangers of the words we utter, 

Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, for you know that we who teach shall be judged with greater strictness.  For we all make many mistakes, and if any one makes no mistakes in what he says he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body also.  If we put bits into the mouths of horses that they may obey us, we guide their whole bodies.  Look at the ships also; though they are so great and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs.  So the tongue is a little member and boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire!
 And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is an unrighteous world among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the cycle of nature, and set on fire by hell.  For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by humankind,  but no human being can tame the tongue—a restless evil, full of deadly poison.  With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who are made in the likeness of God.  From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brethren, this ought not to be so.  Does a spring pour forth from the same opening fresh water and brackish?  Can a fig tree, my brethren, yield olives, or a grapevine figs? No more can salt water yield fresh.

When I was young, I used profane language frequently when I was upset. After surrendering to Jesus, one of the first things He did was tame my tongue (as far as profanity goes). I have been blessed with that gift ever since. It was nothing I could do for myself. The tongue cannot be tamed by any act of will power.

Now if He can only tame my keyboard.

Enneagrams: Like a Bad Penny

Keep coming back...

In the past I have reported on and criticized "spirituality" conferences that have little to do with making disciples of the nations. One example is the "Enneagram conference" commonly held in Columbia South Carolina. Mind you that this is held with the approval of the Bishop of Upper South Carolina. I have also speculated as to why Episcopalians are so gullible as to fall for this sort of nonsense, and predictably, how nothing seems to change. Every year we are given another opportunity to shake our heads and wag our tongues at their foolishness, and this year is no exception. The following announcement came from the Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina,

Enneagram Conference with Joseph Howell
September 28 - September 29
Register now and take advantage of this rare opportunity to learn about the Enneagram from expert and author Joseph Howell, Ph.D., September 28-29, at St. Martin’s, 5220 Clemson Avenue, Columbia. The conference will provide an in-depth learning experience about this tool of self-discovery and understanding of ourselves and the world around us. Howell holds degrees from UVA and Yale and has been a fellow with the Harvard Medical School. Sessions will be held in the St. Martin's Parish Hall from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 28, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 29. Light refreshments and lunch included. Cost is $75. Registration open at the parish website. Credit cards accepted. You may also register by contacting Clayton King in the Parish Office.
St. Martin's-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church
5220 Clemson Avenue, Columbia, SC 29206
(803) 787-0392

The following is from the parish web site,

Join us as we explore the Enneagram, a personality tool that uses 9 lenses through which we discover our spiritual nature and our personal road to self-realization. Taught by Joseph Howell, author of  “Becoming Conscious:The Enneagram’s Forgotten Passageway.”  Financial assistance available. http://www.stmartinsinthefields.com/events

As Christians, shouldn't we already be on our "personal road to self-realization" already, or have we forgotten the passageway through which we should be walking?

The enneagram is a pop-psychology gimmick which has the potential to lead the weak down the wrong spiritual path as evidenced by the following picture from Point Bonita Books.

It doesn't take a genius to diagnose the problem with putting one's faith in enneagrams.

The problem is a Jesus deficiency.

"Financial assistance available"? Your pledge dollars at work.

Jesus Cures a Deaf Man

This Sunday's Gospel reading is from Mark 7:31-37 in which Jesus cures a deaf man,

"Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, through the region of the Decap′olis.  And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech; and they besought him to lay his hand upon him.  And taking him aside from the multitude privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue;  and looking up to heaven, he sighed, and said to him, 'Eph′phatha,' that is, 'Be opened.'  And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly.  And he charged them to tell no one; but the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it.  And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, 'He has done all things well; he even makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak.'”

This healing appears just after the record of Jesus healing the Syrophoenician woman. This makes one wonder to which nationality or religious group the deaf man belonged.

While most of my readers will hear some sort of sermon based on the miracle, I would like to draw your attention to Jesus' travels through the coastal region of what is now part of Lebanon in which he would naturally come into contact with a large population of non-Jews like the Syrophoenician woman who was possibly a follower of the Greek religion and the deaf man whose religion and background are unknown.

From Land of the Bible.com we learn about the Decapolis,

"The Decapolis (deka for 'ten' and polis for 'cities' in Greek) is only mentioned three times in the New Testament, but this league of 10 Greco-Roman cities had a lasting impact in Israel. After Alexander the Great’s death in 323 B.C., his four generals carved his empire into four kingdoms, two of which shared a contested border with Judea:
• Ptolemy ruled the Ptolemaic Kingdom in Egypt (305-30 B.C.)
• Seleucus ruled the Seleucid Kingdom in Syria/Persia (312-63 B.C.)
They continued Alexander’s dream to Hellenize the world, and set up these ten cities for Greek settler-soldiers to live in. They had their own court system, currency, temples, theaters, and armies, but they clashed with the Hebrew populace, whom they considered beneath their civilized society (circumcision was considered barbaric and monotheism absurd). The Jews were equally repulsed by their pagan worship and unbiblical sexual practices, and resisted their cultural intrusion into Israel. It was oil and water from the start.
Things came to a head in 167 B.C., when Antiochus sacrificed a pig on an altar to Zeus in the Temple in Jerusalem. This act set off the powder keg that became the Maccabean Revolt (this Jewish victory is still celebrated today with Hanukkah). Although some Jews did become Hellenized, like Timothy (Acts 16:1) and the Sadducees, animosities continued to simmer between the two cultures for the next 100 years.
In 63 B.C., Pompey took Judea for Rome, and with it the Greeks in the Decapolis cities (who inspired and shared Roman customs). This was a relief to the Greeks, who resented the Jewish Hasmonean Kingdom that had been in charge in Israel. These 10 semi-autonomous Gentile cities would now enjoy the protection and sophistication of Rome, in an otherwise backward (in their minds) Judea. In return, they would help Rome protect her lucrative trade routes on the Empire’s eastern frontier. Rome did little to ease the tensions between the Greeks and Jews, and it would eventually erupt in Caesarea with the Great Revolt in 66 A.D. When it spilled into Jerusalem, Rome would take drastic measures with catastrophic results.
Only one of these 10 cities was on the western side of the Jordan River, Beth Shean (where King Saul’s headless body was strung up on the city gate by the Philistines in 1 Samuel 31:8-10). The Greeks renamed it Scythopolis, and it may be this “distant country” that Jesus referenced in his Prodigal Son parable when the son “fed the swine” (Greeks ate pork and used pigs in sacrifices). “Riotous living” was also commonplace in Scythopolis (Luke 15:11-32).
Besides Scythopolis, Hippos is the only other Decapolis city in modern Israel today. The rest were too far east, now in Jordan (Pella, Gadara, Dion, Gerasa, Canatha, and Raphana), and Syria (Damascus and Philadelphia).
Several significant New Testament events happened by a Decapolis city:
• Jesus cast out demons into pigs, His first trip to a Gentile area in Gadara (Mark 5:9-20).
• Jesus healed a deaf mute (Mark 7:31-35).
• Jesus had huge crowds of followers here (Matthew 4:24-25).
Eventually earthquakes, Rome’s fall, and multiple Muslim invasions led to the abandonment or destruction of the Decapolis league, except for Damascus and Philadelphia (Amman today). Scythopolis and Hippos, the two best-preserved Roman cities in Israel, are a definite top ten stop for your itinerary."

From biblearchaeology.org we learn about Sidon and Tyre,

"By virtue of its submission to Alexander, Sidon under the Greeks enjoyed relative freedom and an advanced cultural life. In the early days of the Roman Empire, Sidon even had enough autonomy to have its own senate and mint its own coins. Unfortunately for archaeologists, the area of ancient Sidon remains occupied today and only minimal archaeological evidence for New Testament Sidon is available.
Meanwhile, Tyre also recovered from Alexander’s devastation. In 126 BC, now a peninsula extending into the Mediterranean, Tyre became a Roman province and later the capital of Rome’s Syria-Phoenician province.
The site of the ancient mainland city became a large and ornate Roman necropolis. Here also was built a typical Roman hippodrome, the best preserved in the world today. An east-west colonnaded street, a huge triple-bay triumphal arch and a water aqueduct also extended from this area toward the sea.
On the island of Tyre, near the site of the ancient Egyptian (southern) port today sits impressive ruins from the Roman and Byzantine periods. These include a western extension of the colonnaded street from the mainland site, the agora (market place), an unusual arena, and a huge bathhouse.
Thus, New Testament Tyre and Sidon were prosperous Roman port cities. Yet there was great spiritual hunger in the region. Early in Jesus’ ministry, people from Sidon and Tyre heard about the things He did. They came to see Him (Mk 3:8) and be healed by Him (Lu 6:17).
Later in His ministry, Jesus visited the region of Sidon and Tyre. There He healed the Canaanite (Syrophoenician) woman’s daughter (Mt 15:21–28; Mk 7:24–31). This was the same area where God sent Elijah when the widow fed him (1 Kgs 17:9). Elijah’s visit was to the port city of Zaraphath (Serepta to the Greeks and modern Sarafand), almost mid-way between Sidon and Tyre. Both these Old and New Testament visits to the region may be a reminder that the Promised Land extended as far north as Sidon. While full of non- Israelites, it was still part of Israel’s inheritance.
Jesus pronounced judgment on Chorazin and Bethsaida suggesting that if the pagan cities of Tyre and Sidon had experienced what Chorazin and Bethsaida did, they would have long ago repented in sackcloth and ashes (Mt 11:21–24).
The inhabitants of Sidon and Tyre offended Herod Agrippa I and came to visit him at Jerusalem. While both were significant Roman cities on the eastern Mediterranean, their leaders felt the need to keep in Herod’s favor. This visit was the occasion of Herod’s death at God’s hand (Acts 12:20–23).
When Paul returned to Palestine from his third missionary journey, he sailed into Tyre. He met with a group of disciples there and spent seven days in the city (Acts 21:3–7). He probably walked the colonnaded street, passing the hippodrome.
After his arrest in Jerusalem and imprisonment in Caesarea, Paul was taken as a prisoner to Rome. From Caesarea his ship stopped at Sidon and Paul was allowed to meet with a group of disciples in that city (Acts 27:3)."

The Bishop Waldo Disaster

While this blogger could have reported on almost any bishop in the Episcopal Sect, today I will focus on Bishop Andrew Waldo of Upper South Carolina since I am most familiar with his diocese having been under his authority for more years than I care to mention.

The updated statistics for his diocese are out, and given the fact that South Carolina's population continues to rise, the declining numbers of Episcopalians in Upper South Carolina is stunning.

Here is the reported trend for Upper South Carolina's average Sunday attendance (ASA).

2009: ASA 8,337
2010: ASA 8,124
2011: ASA  8,214
2012: ASA 7,812
2013: ASA 7,601
2014: ASA 7,492
2015: ASA 7,108
2016: ASA 6,959
2017: ASA 6,755

The total loss in average Sunday worshipers has been 18.9% thus far during the Waldo era.

Looking at my neck of the woods (which is in one of the fastest growing parts of South Carolina) the loss in Sunday attendance was a staggering 29% during the same time period.
I am suspicious that this may be a underestimate because I know of over reporting of ASA being done by some of the parishes in Upper South Carolina.

I looked at this a couple of years ago and recalled,

"in the run up to the 2009 election of Andrew Waldo to become the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina, a small band of conservatives looked at the candidates and decided that Waldo would likely pursue a liberal agenda which would lead to a decline in the diocese in the long term (I think some of us used the term 'disaster'). Of the major candidates in that Bishop election, the only ones with a solid record of church growth were solidly conservative, but nobody casting votes seemed to care about that, and the conservatives went down in flames."

The Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolna, under Bishop Waldo, is going down in flames, and this is happening despite the common misconception that Waldo is a "moderate" bishop. Imagine how bad it would have been if people actually knew that he was a flaming progressive.

The commandment to,

"... go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you..." -Matthew 28:19-20 (NIV)

is the Church's mission statement, but it cannot be followed by those who teach the nations to disobey what God has commanded. I have said before that you can try to evangelize a false gospel, but you will fail, and in the present age that failure will result in the loss of disciples and the loss of worshipers of the very God you claim to love.

In the corporate world, a CEO who lost 20-30% of his company's value in nine years would be FIRED!

In the Episcopalians' organization, such results are more likely to win you a promotion.

How to reverse the trend should be the question on the minds of everyone in the Episcopal sect, but you just don't find much useful information being published on the matter. Maybe Episcopalians are crouched in their bunkers waiting for the uber-revisionists in their laboratories to come up with the next secret weapon that will bring back the millions of congregants who have gone missing over the past five decades. A look at the history of the results of previous experiments should be enough to convince even the most die hard Episcopalians that all that those kinds of innovations do is accelerate the decline.

My suggestion is for Bishop Waldo to sit down with someone, I even volunteer myself, and have a "come to Jesus moment" over the simple truths found in the Gospels and in the data of his failing diocese. It is obvious that the Episcopal sect, the Diocese of Upper South Carolina, and its Bishop are on the wrong track. The need is to repent, turn from the paths of pride and wickedness, and get back to the fundamentals. Those who won't should be let go. This must be accepted before any new course can be plotted.

I am here Bishop Waldo. Whenever you are ready.

Jesus and the Shellfish Argument

In this Sunday's highly edited Gospel selection, Mark 7:1-8,14-15,21-23 we miss a very important point because verse 19 (among others) got cut out.

This is how many will hear the story,

1 Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, 2 they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. 3 For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands,* thus observing the tradition of the elders; 4 and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash it;* and there are also many other traditions that they observe, the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles.) 5 So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, ‘Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?’ 6 He said to them, ‘Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written,“This people honours me with their lips,   but their hearts are far from me; 7 in vain do they worship me,   teaching human precepts as doctrines.” 8 You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.’

14 Then he called the crowd again and said to them, ‘Listen to me, all of you, and understand: 15  there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.’ 

21 For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, 22 adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.’ 

All good points, but for years the anti-Christian crowd has been using what is known as the "Shellfish Argument" to try to paint Bible believing Christians as hypocrites when it comes to following the Old Testament dietary and purity codes.  They argue from Leviticus, and it goes like this, “If you oppose same sex marriage because the Bible says it’s a sin, how come I see you eating that shrimp po-boy?”

When that happens, just understand that if they grew up in a church using the Revised Common Lectionary, they probably never heard the rest of the story. In that case or if you are with an unchurched person, mention Mark 7:17-19 and help them to understand,

17 Then he left the crowd and entered the house. His disciples asked him about this teaching. 18 “Don’t you understand?” Jesus asked. “Don’t you see? Nothing that enters a person from the outside can make them ‘unclean.’ 19 It doesn’t go into their heart. It goes into their stomach. Then it goes out of the body.” In saying this, Jesus was calling all foods “clean.”

If they need more, tell them about Peter's vision in Acts 10,

9 About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. 10 He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. 11 He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. 12 It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. 13 Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”
14 “Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”
15 The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”
16 This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.

After this, your opponent will try to justify same-sex marriage by claiming that the Old Testament sexual moral codes can be disregarded, but you can counter that because Jesus makes the point in verses Mark 7:21-23 that persons are still defiled by violations of those ancient commandments.

So, by omitting Mark 7:19 from the inherited wisdom of the average Sunday churchgoer, God's sheep are made less capable of answering the challenges from unbelievers outside the Church and from revisionists and progressives inside the Church.