Breakpoint, a ministry founded by the late Chuck Colson, recently featured Rolley Haggard’s open letter to pastors asking them to consider using their pulpits for a “one minute strategy” to end abortion.
Laura Hope Smith, a Christian mother who died on an abortion table
Commenting on this strategy, someone representing themselves as Steven E. Ray, Director of Messiah Missions and pastor for over 30 years, defended the silent pulpits, saying “When confronted on an issue, we should have a Godly response, but to use the pulpit or our efforts to proclaim or rally against the ills of society as an end in itself, such has been the misdirected purpose and ruin of the church…. As for me and my house, we choose not to get consumed by spiritually blinding tangents, but preach only Christ and Him crucified.”
The comments attributed to Pastor Ray motivated me to write what follows below. I posted this on the Breakpoint website and also sent a message to Messiah Missions requesting a response from Pastor Ray. Later that day, I received an email from Messiah Missions, stating “I am Pastor Steven Ray, and am appalled that someone used my name…. We do not need this type of negative commentary associated with our ministry.”
Sadly, the comments of whoever represented themselves as Pastor Ray do accurately reflect the position of many pastors, so my response below is still valid:
Too often we see abortion as a societal “issue.” But in today’s world, it is first and foremost a church issue. Continue reading →