Church leaders are sending out a call and a message across America to "prepare for civil disobedience" in the face of a Supreme Court decision that would take away their right of Religious freedom.
Jack Graham, pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Texas, a man not given to hyperbole, is warning American Christians to be "prepared for massive fallout" if the Surpreme Court legalizes same sex marriage, stating "there’s a coming a day, I believe, that many Christians personally and churches corporately will need to practice civil disobedience on this issue."
Recently a full page ad was taken out in Washington Post by Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox Christian pastors, clergy, lay leaders and Jewish leaders, who collectively represent millions of people in their specific churches, parishes, denominations, synagogues andmedia ministry outreaches, as an "Open Letter to the Supreme Court Justices of the United States," informing them "we will not honor any decision by the Supreme Court which will force us to violate a clearbiblical understanding of marriage as solely the union of one man and one woman."
That ad ended with Acts 5:29 "But Peter and the apostles answered, We must obey God rather than men."
50,000 pastors and church leaders have signed a petition which states in part, "We stand united together in defense of marriage. Make no mistake about our resolve. While there are many things we can endure, redefining marriage is so fundamental to the natural order and the common good that this is the line we must draw and one we cannot and will not cross."
Grahamn's warning comes just a day after the current and 16 former Southern Baptist Convention presidents released a statement along the same lines, shown below:
As Southern Baptist Christians, we are committed to Biblical faith and ethics. As a result, this body of Believers stands on the authority of Scripture and God's Truth as central to our lives.
What the Bible says about marriage is clear, definitive and unchanging. We affirm biblical, traditional, natural marriage as the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. The Scriptures' teaching on marriage is not negotiable. We stake our lives upon the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus.
Consequently, we will not accept, nor adhere to, any legal redefinition of marriage issued by any political or judicial body including the United States Supreme Court. We will not recognize same-sex "marriages", our churches will not host same-sex ceremonies, and we will not perform such ceremonies.
While we affirm our love for all people, including those struggling with same-sex attraction, we cannot and will not affirm the moral acceptability of homosexual behavior or any behavior that deviates from God's design for marriage. We also believe religious freedom is at stake within this critical issue – that our first duty is to love and obey God, not man.
Therefore, we strongly encourage all Southern Baptist pastors, leaders, educators, and churches to openly reject any mandated legal definition of marriage and to use their influence to affirm God's design for life and relationships. As the nation's largest non-Catholic denomination with over 16 million members, we stake our very lives and future on the Truth of God's Word.
We also join together to support those who stand for natural marriage in the corporate world, the marketplace, education, entertainment, media and elsewhere with our prayers and influence, and resources.
Graham was asked "what would it look like if 16 million Southern Baptists engaged in civil disobedience?" His response was "I hope we never live to find out what that looks like. There are many Christians today who are preparing if necessary to go to jail."
“The punch that is most deadly is the one you don’t see coming,” Graham said. “You need to see this coming. It’s coming your way. It’s coming to a town, a city, a university, a college, a church near you,” he said.
Judgment is here and the battle lines have been drawn.
