In 1993 Time Magazine featured an article, “A Christian in Winter: Billy Graham at 75.” Billy Graham is now 93; most orthodox Christians, when they think of Graham, think of a life lived for the Lord Jesus Christ with faithfulness and integrity. I was reminded of his life while reading the articles in the latest Horizons magazine, “The Grace of Aging.”  The title aptly fits a life lived in faithfulness. And it fits some of the articles offered in this November/December edition. But overall I find myself troubled and sad by both the Presbyterian Women and the magazine they publish.

For many years women attending the Presbyterian Women’s Gatherings not only have been confronted by unbiblical theology but also they have had to endure a constant push from speakers who were advocating the ordination of LGBT candidates. The same is true of many of the articles in Horizons. Now that Amendment 10A has passed, the editors are seemingly advocating for a new cause, same-gender marriage. They are doing it by referring to it as casually as though it were not sin, and as though no Presbyterian woman cared.

Yes, it is subtle, but very clear and in your face.  In one article, To Every Season, the author, Anitra Kitts, looks at her own life and the lives of other women as they begin their journeys into winter. Kitts casually writes, “Sonnie Swentson-Forbes, who is 59 years old and lives in the Los Angeles area with her wife, is very aware that life stretches out for only so long.” Following this is an asterisk which leads to this note:

Marriage between same-gender couples is legal in six states, and was legal in California from May 15-November 4, 2008. All marriages recognized in that window retain full legal standing.

It is as though the Horizon Editors do not understand that Christians who stand under the authority of the Scriptures do not recognize these as marriages. Biblically they are not marriages. Yes, believers love the couples and care about the individuals as those made in the image of God, but they do not recognize as righteous, acceptable or even official, what God has called sin.

Christians might write that the woman considers herself married to another woman, but they may not say that she truly is so. It is not civil law that is to shape the morality of Christians, but rather it is biblical authority. And biblical truth, for a Christian, sometimes needs to stand against the official morality of the State.  It has in the past, it undoubtedly will again.

One other article, clothed in some secrecy, also needs to be addressed. That is a small article, Virtually PW, by Abbie Watters. It is about a group of Presbyterian Women that meet as a Presbyterian Women’s circle online at Presbyterian Women Interest Group on Facebook.

The group evolved at an Un-Conference at Stony Point Conference Center in New York. Several women are the founders of the group. One is Margaret Aymer, the professor who wrote the 2010-2011 Horizons Bible Study. Aymer often advocates for both LGBT ordination and same-gender marriage. Another person is Sonnie Swentson-Forbes, who I just pointed out considers herself married to another woman. And then there is Katie Mulligan, a lesbian who doesn’t care about marriage but will nonetheless advocate for same-gender marriage for her friends. She blogs at Inside/Outed:Mother/Pastor/Queer/Me.

On the Facebook site the women have five subgroups for mission. They are Antiracism, Ableism, Justice and Peace, Spiritual Disciplines and Implementing 10A. I listed the implementation of 10A last because that sounds rather intimidating to someone who is orthodox. What does a group of women, whose administrators all advocate for both LGBT ordination and same-gender marriage, do to implement 10A? There are now 458 members, including the Moderator of the PC (U.S.A.), and most of Presbyterian Women’s staff. Anyone can join after being approved.

At the beginning of this edition of Horizons is a devotion titled I’m Just Saying, by Cecilia Amorocho Hickerson. It is, of course, about aging, and uses the idea of dying one’s hair as an artificial means of evading age. It’s a kind of funny devotion, with the main point being that older people have important knowledge to pass on to others. That part is serious. Hickerson writes:

For each generation, there is great wealth to be found in the presence of elders. We look to parents for advice as we navigate childhood and adulthood; all along, of course, they challenge, nurture, enrich and bless us in deep and abiding relationships, as they strive to equip us to become caring, conscientious individuals.

One hopes for such example in the aged, but it often does not happen. That is why I began with Billy Graham as a Christian in winter. I have followed his life since I became a Christian at the age of fifteen. I am now seventy (one of the elders.) Graham has blessed my life with the integrity of his life, as have many other Christians.  It should be noted, it is not really age that blesses, but the righteousness of one’s life. Hickerson uses Proverbs 16:31: “Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life.” Notice it is the “righteous life” that makes the silver hair a glory.

There is too much in this edition of Horizons that moves the individual woman toward a winter time that is truly winter, a time that does not bless. The dilemma is that we are all sinners moving toward our last years and then eternity. And as C.S. Lewis puts it, we are all moving toward our destination as immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.  But the movement toward splendor is not via our righteousness, but rather the righteousness of Christ. And with Jesus’ gift of righteousness and the power of the Holy Spirit, we live into the good that the Father has planned for us. (Eph. 2:8-10) A Christian in winter moves finally into the eternal spring of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.