Determined Christians Rally to Defend Biblical Marriage

by Allie Martin
July 16, 2004

(AgapePress) - Churches throughout Northeast Mississippi are opting not to have Sunday evening services this week and instead are encouraging members to gather for a rally supporting traditional marriage.

Organizers of the rally to save traditional marriage are hoping to draw 10,000 people to the BancorpSouth Center in Tupelo Sunday evening. The rally will feature speakers such as Gary Bauer, president of the Campaign for Working Families, and Congressman Roger Wicker, a Republican representing Mississippi's First Congressional District.

Pastor Gary Long of Springhill Missionary Baptist Church is one of those who helped organize the event. He says everyone must take a stand on the same-sex marriage issue, and it is essential that Christians speak out on behalf of the biblical view of marriage.

"God ordained the family" Long says, "and God meant for the family to be a family that honors him. I think at this rally that's going to be one of the main messages -- that is, how do we honor God with our lives, with our families?"

And Dr. Forrest Sheffield , pastor of Tupelo's Harrisburg Baptist Church, emphasizes the importance of Bible believing churches being united in the battle. He asserts, "The fight is between the devil and God. It's between the devil's people -- who are being led by the devil -- and God's people. Even the homosexuals are not our enemies; the ultimate enemy of God is always Satan, and his desire is always to tear down and destroy what God wants to do, and what is best, and what God has said."

The battle lines have been clearly drawn, Sheffield says, and there is no neutral ground where the issue of homosexual marriage "rights" is concerned.