Patheos was the first (that I know of) to report on a Southern Baptist Church in California now embracing sodomy.
Danny Cortez, impastor of New Heart Community Church in La Marida, California, has changed his views on gay marriage. Not surprisingly, his son recently “came out of the closet.” I’m sure the two are unrelated.
What stood out to me was how eerily similar Cortez’ argument was to Matthew Vines, who Cortez quoted in the very beginning of his presentation. For a full review of Vines’ theology – which amounts to (A) God wants me to be happy (B) sodomy makes me happy (C) therefore God wants me to practice sodomy – listen to Dr. White’s excellent review.
DISCERNMENT TIP: Any time you begin by saying “There are only six Bible passages that condemn what I’m now embracing,” you might have a problem.
A SPECIAL BONUS: Brownie points to Cortez for creativity in his argument, insisting that Romans 1:27, “and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error“ was a reference to a certain historical figure “Caligula” who raped his commanding officer and then was stabbed in the testicles and not a reference to the act of sodomy itself through unnatural insertion. That was an impressive leap.
Also, you might notice at the 34 minute mark Impastor Cortez say that he “immersed himself in all the homo-erotic literature he could find” to better understand what the Bible is saying. Priceless.
Simply put, what Cortez did to Romans 1 in this video is essentially a version of exegetical sodomy, ignoring altogether verse 32…
Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. (Romans 1:32, ESV)
We’ll see how the SBC responds in a few weeks. Hopefully they get the left boot of fellowship.
