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Storming the Gates of the Homosexual Community in Charlotte

 

 Storming the Gates of the Homosexual Community in Charlotte

Below you will read about our first foray into the homosexual community in the Charlotte area. The reporting is the same and, in some ways even worse, than it is in other major cities. The sodomite agenda has won the day here. The presupposition that one is born a homosexual is all but absolute. This leaves little room for hope for those enslaved by homosexual sin and makes much room for despair. What happened?

We have no one to blame but ourselves. It appears that every organization, no matter how perverse, is out of the closet except the Church of Jesus Christ. Death is prevailing in our cities (abortion, homosexuality, Islam, drugs, teen suicide, ad nauseam). We have failed at presenting the Gospel of life in the face of the culture of death because we are asleep in the light. We Christians have forgotten that we are our brother's keeper. God, however, is looking for someone to stand in the gap on behalf of our neighbors who are enslaved by the wretched, murderous sin of sodomy!

We must speak the truth and speak it in love. It is the truth of Jesus Christ that sets men free. Cristina Breen is the staff writer for the Charlotte Observer who wrote this story. She is a graduate of Syracuse University's School of Journalism. Note well her presuppositions and biases. Note too, that this kind of reporting leads to despair and death.

Our report follows this one by Cristina. She will be the one covering our National Event for the Charlotte Observer this summer. You will have a great opportunity to witness the love of our Lord Jesus to her.

EVEN CONTROVERSY CAN'T RUIN CELEBRATIONS
Charlotte festivals flow with food and diversity
Events mark German, Native American heritage and gay pride
CRISTINA C. BREEN
Staff Writer

Proof of Charlotte's growing diversity was in its lively and colorful festivals Saturday-and in the controversy that erupted at one of them. As thousands gathered under the warm spring sun for music, food and dancing at a Native American powwow, a German Maifest, and the uptown arts and food fest, Taste of Charlotte, a handful of protesters disrupted a gay pride celebration at Marshall Park.

Demonstrators screamed into a microphone as about 15 couples participated in a mass commitment ceremony at the U b U festival. "A woman can't marry a woman! I don't care what these people tell you!" shouted Flip Benham, national director of the Dallas-based Operation Rescue and Operation Save America, who moved to Charlotte six months ago.

Onstage, the Rev. Jane Esdale continued unfazed, reading Bible passages and leading the couples in their vows. Benham continued: "God loves you so much, every single one of you! Come down from that stage!" Esdale's voice at times was drowned out by Benham's shouting, and the audience grew agitated. "Get a life!" one man shouted. "Don't judge lest ye be judged," a woman yelled.

At the other festivals, where sexual orientation wasn't an issue, the crowds enjoyed the parties. Hundreds gathered around the sacred arena at Pearle Street Park to watch Native Americans wearing tribal regalia perform dances, including the intricate "Chicken Scratch" dance. Two tepees stood on one side of the powwow grounds, an example of how Native Americans lived in the West. "We know we have to share the history," said Patrick Oxendine Clark, chairwoman of the Metrolina Native American Association.

At the Maifest at Park Road Shopping Center, visitors enjoyed German food and competed in a raffle for two round-trip tickets to Germany. And at Taste of Charlotte, vendors were recovering from Friday night's violent storm that toppled tents and destroyed thousands of dollars in artwork. Some art sellers packed up in the afternoon when another storm was predicted.

Back at U b U, organizers tried to keep the protesters in perspective, saying it was the first time any had shown up in the event's three-year history. "We knew it was inevitable, that one day it was going to come," said Dave Roberson, a board member of Charlotte Pride, the group that held the festival. "We're as inclusive as possible, so they were more than welcome to be here. Unfortunately, their opinions don't follow what this festival is all about."

Benham's two groups lead anti-gay and anti-abortion demonstrations nationwide. Benham said the groups will host their annual meeting in Charlotte in July. "Where is the church in Charlotte?" he said, noting that his group was the only one protesting.. "The silence of the church of Jesus Christ in this city is deafening."

After the commitment service, four police officers stood a few yards away and watched confrontations between protesters and people who came up to talk. Jimmie Seivers of Winston-Salem was so mad he was shaking as he approached Benham. "Let the people love each other and get married!" Seivers said.

"That's not love, that's lust," Benham replied. Elsewhere in Marshall Park, couples held hands and milled around buying T-shirts and crafts, eating wrap sandwiches and drinking beer. "We're here because of people like that," said Priscilla Carpenter, pointing at the protesters. "This is a way of affirming ourselves that we're as good as anybody else."

OUR RESPONSE TO THIS REPORT

"The Charlotte Observer is the city of Charlotte's largest newspaper and, as can be seen by the reporting in this article, has a very pro-homosexual bias. The Observer displays little understanding of Christianity. I suppose this is to be expected in any major newspaper, but we were surprised that it would be so blatant in Charlotte.

The Observer mentioned nothing about the foul, loud, and perverse language and gestures of the sodomite community. They paraded their sin in Marshall Park for all the world to see. Do we really have to be witness to their "diversity" in the public fora? The Special Olympics Kids were running a race around the park and were totally shocked by what they saw. Equating this lust fest (sexual orgy) with the other ethnic festivals taking place in the city is nothing less than a fabrication.

Native American Indians were united in a rich and common heritage at the "Powwow" in downtown Charlotte. The distinctive German heritage was lifted up at the "German Maifest." And, at the uptown arts and food fest, "Taste of Charlotte" many enjoyed the delectable differences in the arts and foods from diverse ethnic backgrounds. Here we find America at her best. There is tremendous diversity in the American unity. Remember E Pluribus Unum (out of many, one).

Unfortunately the only thing uniting those attending the sodomite "U b U festival" was sex. That's right! Sex in any of the perverse ways that depraved minds can think. Large graphic displays of men on men, and women on women, involved in indescribable sex acts peppered Marshall Park.

What was startling to most of us was the Christian music being played from the stage. Why Christian music? The mass commitment ceremony led by "the Reverend" Jane Esdale, uniting same sex partners was an abomination before God. But why even invoke the Name of God? Why the need to bring God, prayer, the Bible, and Christian praise and worship into this godless orgy of paganism? The need is found in the heart of every man and woman who attended this hideous passion feast in downtown Charlotte. They know deep down inside that they are accountable to an unchanging God. They desire something so much deeper than the constant empty pursuit of sexual gratification. Lust breeds more lust. It cannot be satisfied. That is why so many of them are so angry.

The man from Winston-Salem, Jimmie Seivers, which Cristina so lovingly portrays in her article, was so angry he almost punched several of us out. He was filled with sound and fury but he was also afraid. He wore a beanie cap with a propeller on top. He was almost 45 years old and venom and bitterness spilled out of every pore in his being. He was reduced to a quivering piece of flesh. He had no control over himself. The devil had Jimmie, and our hearts went out to him. We prayed.

It became apparent to most of us that those enslaved to their own lust still, in their heart of hearts, desired to be right with God. We were there to remind the young men that they would never find the Father's love in the arms of another man. We shared with them that homosexual lust only breeds more lust. It always demands more. We pointed out that homosexuality destroys those who engage in that behavior and a nation that approves of it. We came with the Gospel of Christ, for Jesus is the only One who can set them free.

Because we loved them, we confronted them. This was not hate speech. It was love. For those who did take the time to speak with us, though they were wounded initially by what they heard, realized that one could not be a practicing homosexual and a Christian at the same time. The two are mutually exclusive. Of course, one would never expect to find this in the Charlotte Observer.

Flip Benham
Director

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