Sunday, August 26, 2012

PASTOR SCOTT VOLK RESPONDS TO HATE WITH LOVE



As I mentioned in the last post, a few days ago, an online announcement ran in Q-Notes, the gay newspaper of the Carolinas, calling for a peaceful protest at FIRE Church this Sunday. In part, it read, "Remember we will be peaceful and respectful, something they don't understand. We are going to STAND TOGETHER AS A COMMUNITY to show that our love is stronger than their hate."

When Scott Volk, one of the pastors at FIRE Church, saw this announcement, he immediately posted this comment on the Q-Notes site:

"As the pastor of FIRE Church, I just want you to know that you'll be greeted with the same love and compassion as we always endeavor to show anyone - you are more-than-welcome! You make mention of the 'hate' that we show. Yet, in all our years here we've only desired to reach out with love to everyone in the local community here whether they are labeled as gay or straight. Hopefully, you'll see that love demonstrated on Sunday as you protest."

In response, Matthew wrote:

"Do you protest other religions and their gatherings? If not then you are cherry picking the bible. Commandment number one "thou shall have no other Gods before me" Why are you not going after the Buddhists, and the Hindus? You say love is your guiding principle I ask you is it love to impose your religious beliefs upon others? The Muslims in many parts of the world believe they are showing love by imposing sharia law upon their citizens. We can all live together in peace if you begin to view and treat gay people and our gatherings as you view other religions and their gatherings. If you can not do this then there will not be peace because we will not be treated as second class citizens and have your christian sharia imposed upon us."

Apparently Matthew failed to realize that the gay community was protesting our service; we were not protesting their service. But his comment gives us into insight into a mentality that is widespread in the LGBT community today: If we say that marriage should remain the union of a man and woman, then we want to advocate "Christian Sharia" law! (For more on this, see HERE.)

The other responses to Scott's post were also very enlightening (and so sad to read):

David: "Love is the most disfigured mask that hate wears."

Sue: "if what you think is reaching out in love is perceived as hateful attack, perhaps you should reconsider your actions"

David: "You can fool yourself, Mr. Volk. You can fool your parishioners. But you can't fool God. He knows what's in your heart, and it isn't love. It's hate."

Scott's reply: "Lord bless you David - Yes, I'm glad God does know what's in my heart. My only question to you would be, 'How do you know what's in my heart.' You've never met me or spoken to me???"

Tom: "What these fire church people probably don't understand is that spending an eternity ANYWHERE with them is what I would consider a true HELL. They should concern themselves with their own pathetic lives and leave other alone to theirs..."

Scott's reply: "Ouch, Tom!!! Actually, the protestors ended up leaving early today because they said we were nice, loving, and didn't deserve a protest. So, I'm thankful that our love did win out. And, it amazes me that the ONLY people that have ever called me 'hateful' were those from the GLBT community who have NEVER MET ME!So, here is an open invitation to those that wrote a response to my initial not that was posted here: Come and join me and my family for dinner at my home. Spend an evening together with us! And, if you feel that I'm hateful after that time, post whatever you'd like. But, to call someone hateful without ever meeting them, seeing them, or hearing them speak, is an indication of a heart that needs love. I make myself available."

I sincerely hope that folks in the community will take Scott up on his offer!

11 comments:

  1. Praise God for His work of love through that congregation!

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  2. Wonderful responses of Scott! You gotta love him! :)

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  3. Christianity is based on Natural Law. There's nothing natural about Islamic Sharia Law...it's theo-political. And while Natural Law shows why homosexual behavior is unhealthy to both individuals and society, Christianity calls on the person to seek to overcome that behavior and eventually feelings. Islamic Sharia, on the other hand, just simply executes persons caught up in homosexuality. So I think it's more appropriate to ask why homosexualists are never protesting mosques, and why there is actually a homosexual activist group called, "Queers for Palestine"?

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    1. Good points. Gays are showing their hypocrisy and cowardice for not going after Muslim groups/ mosques, probably because Muslims would be more aggressive or threatening than Christians - even though Islam is far more anti gay than anything else. Most gays avoid black Christians too probably for the sames reasons. Most blacks are very anti gay marriage.

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    2. I would just like to say for the record that calling gays hypocrites or cowards because they disagree with us louder than they disagree with Muslims is far from fair. They're protesting Christian churches in America because by God's grace Christianity is far more predominant here than Islam. I'd imagine that if there was a Mosque on every street corner they'd be protesting there too.

      Besides, to say that they should be protesting in front of a Mosque instead of a church is to miss the fact that their choice gives us as believers a chance to shine the LIGHT of God's LOVE into their lives. It's an opportunity, not a problem

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    3. Amen and well spoken to Anonymous from August 27 at 12am!!!!

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  4. Speaking the TRUTH with Love and patience is ALWAYS the best and the right response. ... and sometimes (of course) we must know when to be silent as well. ... sometimes also it is simply best to say, "I stand with the moral truths of Jesus, the prophets and the apostles." ... then let the chips fall where they may.
    blessings to you and all those who stand for the righteousness of His Word.

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  5. The Truth

    "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." Isaiah 1:18

    "From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Matthew 4:17

    And Thus My Prayer

    "Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets. But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you." Luke 6:26-28

    Be Blessed Beloved Of The KING
    Love, Your Brother Joe

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  6. R U spreading yourself too thin with the other social media websites, so that the VOR and this now dangle? The VOR once jumped with response activity. I wonder if its current lack of interactive conversations may be because of MLB going elsewhere and otherwise? Would it be appropriate to move to eliminate deadwood from the site pursuits?

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  7. Anonymous, thanks for your comments about VOR. Quite a few months ago, we lost our primary VOR editor who was responsible for almost everything that happened there, so since then, we have been continuing to post excellent articles but without as much effort to draw people there. Hopefully, that will be improved in the near future. Also, I'm able to reach many more readers through some of the major websites I'm able to write for every week, so we post key articles on the VOR but also on these other sites. Thanks for the interest! The VOR continues to be an excellent site with great articles, but it's just as busy as it was before.

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  8. Who among us would be willing to decide someone's eternal sentence pastor

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