Text Here






___________________________________________________________________________________
Copyright © Pastor Chad Carter • Family Harvest Church Global Ministries

























































































































































































































W e ' r e   m o r e   t h a n   j u s t   a   C h u r c h . . .   W e ' r e   a   F A M I L Y !


Pastor Chad Carter & Family Harvest Church
In The News



Date:  Thursday, November 16, 2006
Newspaper:  The Salem Democrat, Salem IN
Location:  Front Page
Reporter:  Stephanie Taylor-Ferriell, Editor
Title:  'Somebody needed to speak up'


'Somebody
needed to
speak up'

Pastor speaks
out against
messages
proclaimed by
John Lewis and
his followers.


STEPHANIE TAYLOR
FERRIELL
Leader-Democrat Editor


As Chad Carter
made his way onto the
square Election Day, he
noticed people holding
up signs.

"I thought maybe they were supporting a certain candidate, encouraging people to vote," he said.

As the pastor of Family Harvest Church of Salem drew closer, "My perspective of who they were and what they stood for quickly changed."

John Lewis, who heads Old Paths Baptist Church near Campbellsburg, was demonstrating against homosexuality, abortion, corrupt pastors and other issues.  Lewis and his fellow church members spend much of their time traveling throughout southern Indiana staging protests.

Waving signs with derogatory comments and horrific photos of aborted fetuses and talking through a bullhorn, they are impossible to miss.

Carter, his wife, Sarah, and their two children, ages 10 and 7, have lived in the community just a few months and had not encountered the group before.

The signs that struck him most deeply were these:  "God hates fags" and "This town loves lying preachers."

"Those are the two that really sparked what we'll call my righteous indignation," Carter said.  "As I drove away, I realized how many hundreds, if not thousands, of people had driven around and gotten the message that God hates anybody.

"I realized somebody needed to speak up and let their voice be heard, and let it be known that Christians are not full of hatred."

As he dwelled on what he'd witnessed, Carter came to realize that someone was him.

"What I saw around the square is not Christ-like," he said, explaining why he's making a public statement that could very well earn him and his church the ire of Lewis and his followers.  The group has staged demonstrations outside of at least two other county churches in recent years.

Carter said he has discussed his decision to speak out with the Family Harvest congregation, which stands behind him.

Hate for anyone is inconsistent with the very basis of Christianity, and such messages "could be the only exposure and reference point for Christianity that some may see," he said.

That burdens the pastor.  "We're supposed to be reaching out to the world, not alienating them."

"I just want people to know true Christians are people of love," Carter said.  "Our God is a God of love, a God of grace, a God of mercy and a God of forgiveness.  He hates no one."...

Carter was quick to add that he is "110 percent traditional marriage.  It's the first institution God created.  At the same time, it does not mean I'm going to say God hates homosexuals.  He will send the hypocritical so-called Christian to hell just like any other sinner."

Carter also has strong feelings about abortion -- quite similar in some ways to Lewis's.

"I am 110 percent pro-life," he said.  "I would even say those pictures are valuable -- in the right place, in the right setting at the right time.  Not on the town square."

"Christians are called to love the sinner, while hating the sin," said Carter.

"1 John 4:7-8 says: 'Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.  He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.'

"If they say they love God, they better be showing it.  If we prefer to hate and scream ['God hates fags' through bullhorns], we're telling on ourselves, because God is love."

Of course, Carter was personally offended by the "This town loves lying preachers" sign.

"Obviously, I take great umbrage to such statements targeted at pastors, since I am a pastor in the community," he said.  "I understand the right of free speech;  they have a right to say what they want, but the flip side is, I have that right, too.

"Blessings to them for exercising their right, but don't expect me to sit down on my thumbs and pretend I didn't hear it when I'm called a lying preacher."

Carter said he holds no ill toward Lewis.  He said he's certain most other ministers in the community would agree Christians are called to love everyone;  even those who work against them.  That love extends to everyone . . . even Lewis and his church members.

"I love them, too," said Carter.  "They need to make it to heaven, too, but they're not going to with hate in their heart.  I call upon them to give up hate and take on the characteristics of [Christ --] love, mercy and compassion."

Carter said, "nearly every Christian can quote John 3:16:  'For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.'

"Most, however, can't recite the next verse, which is just as poignant:  'For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.'

Carter said he isn't looking to stir up controversy.  He simply wants to present an alternate view of Christianity as a faith based in love.

"My intention is not to pick a fight, but if it comes, so be it," said Carter.  "I'm doing what I know is right.

"I can't help who God's Word blesses and who it offends.  [The message of] God's love is truth.  If they're offended, they'll have to take it up with Him.

"I just want people to know the truth:  Christians are [to] love."





PLEASE READ THIS IMPORTANT STATEMENT ISSUED BY PASTOR CARTER CONCERNING A CONTEXTUAL CLARIFICATION:


November 17, 2006

Dear Editor:

I want to thank you for the wonderful job you did on the article in The Salem Democrat on Thursday, November 16.  There does appear to be some confusion, however, concerning something I was quoted as having said, which I would like to clear up.  Some have questioned the context in which the following quote was made:  “Don’t tell me just because someone is homosexual, they are going to hell.”

In proper context of a message I preached, I explained that a person involved in the sin of homosexuality has not sealed their fate and are no more predestined for hell than any other sinner.   I preached that, even though such activity is sin, it does not predetermine a soul’s ultimate destination.  No one involved in sin has automatically condemned their soul to hell by any one specific sinful action or lifestyle, and have not forfeited the opportunity of forgiveness and deliverance in this life.

The complete thought of this quote, in the context of the message being preached, was that homosexuality will not send anyone to hell any more than any other sin.  From a biblical perspective, sin is sin, regardless of its form or the engagement of specific activities.  The biblical truth of the matter, and the intended thought of the message, was that sin is what keeps one separated from God, and if not remedied by grace through faith in Christ it can ultimately prevent your entrance into heaven.  In context of the article itself, I should also point out that sin includes the hatred of homosexuals as much as it does the lifestyle of homosexuality itself.

While homosexuality is a sin, it should not be a barrier that prevents Christians from loving them, praying for them and opening our arms to them.  As followers of Christ, we are called to lead the lost, through the convicting and delivering power of the Holy Spirit, out of lifestyles of deceit and corruption and into abundant lifestyles of wholeness and victory.  That love is to be impartially extended to all people.  If we cannot selflessly love, in the manner and example of Jesus Christ, then we serve Him only with our mouths and our actions prove our hearts to be far from Him.

This article was not intended to express a doctrinal position on homosexuality, but the biblical position that God is a God of love, hates no one, and wants all to come to repentance and the knowledge of the Son of God -- both the homosexual (who, after being saved, will turn from the sin of homosexuality), and the hypocritical so-called Christian that says God hates them.

Thank you for stating my position of being 110% in favor of traditional marriage.  Marriage, in God’s eyes, consists only of a relationship between a man and a woman joined together in covenant.  Anything else which approximates such is a cheap imitation of a divine institution.

For further clarification concerning my doctrinal position on homosexuality, I encourage your readers to visit this page of the Family Harvest Church website:  http://www.fhcglobal.org/perspective_homosexuality.html.  It reflects my perspective on homosexuality and homosexual marriage.

Thank you for your time, and for printing this clarification.

Pastor Chad Carter
Family Harvest Church
www.FHCglobal.org




Return to Top          |          Go to Next  >>




___________________________________________________________________________________
Copyright © Pastor Chad Carter • Family Harvest Church Global Ministries





FAMILY HARVEST CHURCH
PASTOR CHAD CARTER
P.O. Box 512
Salem, IN 47167
812-883-2523
www.ChadCarter.org
info@ChadCarter.org