In an obvious sp*m email to random bloggers, a man named Joseph invited me to link to a list of the top 100 "marriage equality" blogs on his gay dating site. Here is my response. It also goes out to the people on Facebook with the red equal sign pictures and anyone else who abuses words like equality. Remember, the warnings in…
I think the Alliance Defending Freedom has done an excellent job of making the case for marriage on a secular level. They are trying to defend the Defense of Marriage Act. I don’t think we are going to win on this in the long run, because liberals and the left never give up. They have to suspend reason in their pursuits of fleshly lusts. We know that from Romans 1. The flesh never satisfies and this is why the left will never stop unless those in authority close that door for them (or the Spirit moves in our nation). Since the governmental authorities are on the side of the gay lobby, marriage will be redefined and organizations that stand against them will become enemies of the state. But it is good to see the stand that is being taken.
It’s just that simple. If the Boy Scouts of America drops its policy on gay members, I will pull Andy out of Cub Scouts and we will forego Boy Scouts when he gets old enough. Apparently, the lack of wisdom that is permeating our society is reaching its tentacles into the BSA. Gays get most of their recruits to be gay by attacking boys. This makes no sense at all, unless we are looking to produce more gay men for our nation. As if we don’t have enough already.
I know, I’m kicking against the goads on this one, but it needs to be said. In the debate surrounding the Second Amendment, both sides are ready to concede that the Second Amendment rights do not pertain to the mentally insane. I’m sorry, but this is not true.
Our rights are given to us from God above, not from the government. The moment that we concede the point that the Second Amendment does not apply to the mentally insane is the moment that we concede the fact that the government has the right to bestow rights on whom it sees fit and whom it doesn’t seem fit.
I’m not willing to give the government that right. For the moment we do, is the moment we all lose our rights to those who happen to be ruling in power at the moment. If the government can determine that a God-given right not be given to the mentally insane, then it can also remove those rights from another group of people that disagree with the government. After all, if those people don’t agree with the collective thought of populace at large, then they are insane, right?
I hate to say that but this is where we who are Christians are finding ourselves in society. Just look at the debate that was sparked by Obama’s evolution? on gay marriage? Those of us who defended traditional marriage were branded by those on the left as members of hate groups and for using hate speech. The Southern Poverty Law Center, considered by some as the final authority on who is and is not a member of a hate-group, declared that the Family Research Council is a hate group because of its stance against gay marriage. The FRC is standing for historic, Biblical values and is branded as a hate group.
In one particular debate I was having on Facebook, one man branded me a bigot because of my stance. The debate almost ended at that point because no one else would come forward for traditional marriage. He won the debate, but lost on a more spiritual level. I would like to say that this was an anomaly. But it it isn’t. It is becoming more and more difficult to stand for Christ in this day and age.
The point is, how long will it be before someone says that taking such a position is insane? And since such people are insane who hold such position, then they should have their rights removed from them since they are now a danger to society.
The sad reality is that the road for this to take place is being paved by even those who hold to the Second Amendment as it was intended to be held because they have conceded that a certain group in society should not be allowed to have that right. We cannot do this. To say that one group has the right to the Bill of Rights and another group does not, goes against the very nature of the rights themselves. These rights are given to us by God, not the government and therefore cannot be removed from us by the government.
Besides, do not the mentally insane have the right to protect themselves from tyrants as the well as the rest of us? Absolutely.
Do not fall for the argument that one class of people do not have rights because of something that is wrong with them. Yes, there are always nut-jobs who abuse their rights and kill innocent people. But that doesn’t mean we remove the rights from others in that class of people. The moment we do is the moment we open the door for the tyrant to remove our rights from us because he deems us a bunch of nut-jobs.
There has been so much in the news lately that deserves comment, my response to it all is to do something else. Let’s face it, we live in overwhelming times and I have to remind myself daily that even in these times, our LORD is stil sovereign over the lives of individuals as well as events in our world. I’m grateful that the Triune God is truly God, ruling over the events and lives of men, and we are not left to ourselves.
But given that, here are a few events that really caught my attention.
Al Mohler Reports on a New Moral McCarthyism that has led to a Christian pastor being disinvited from Obama’s second inauguration. The pastor’s crime? He preached against homosexuality some 20 years ago. Mohler reports that the sermon itself was full of grace and truth, noting that Atlanta pastor Louie Giglio called for all sinners to repent and trust in Jesus, not just homosexuals. But alas, this is too much for those on the left. They must push forward for more “inclusion and acceptance” by running off people who actually are Christians and believe the Bible.
Mohler writes:
The Presidential Inaugural Committee and the White House have now declared historic, biblical Christianity to be out of bounds, casting it off the inaugural program as an embarrassment. By its newly articulated standard, any preacher who holds to the faith of the church for the last 2,000 years is persona non grata. By this standard, no Roman Catholic prelate or priest can participate in the ceremony. No Evangelical who holds to biblical orthodoxy is welcome. The vast majority of Christians around the world have been disinvited. Mormons, and the rabbis of Orthodox Judaism are out. Any Muslim imam who could walk freely in Cairo would be denied a place on the inaugural program. Billy Graham, who participated in at least ten presidential inaugurations is welcome no more. Rick Warren, who incited a similar controversy when he prayed at President Obama’s first inauguration, is way out of bounds. In the span of just four years, the rules are fully changed.
I found the same attitude on Facebook back during the Chick Fil-A incident in the summer. There were those who were saying that anyone who held to historic Christian values regarding homosexuality were members of hate groups. If the common man really feels that way, we Christians are truly out of bounds to what is normal in our world. Thanks be to the God of our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ. He warned us that men would persecute us for His names sake. I was hoping though that persecution wouldn’t arrive so soon.
UPDATE: Click here for Randy Alcorn’s take on this issue, and here for Neil’s take on Randy Alcorn’s take. Both men have something helpful to add to the conversation.
Neil writes:
There are some great lessons here. No matter how hard you try to please the world, it won’t work. Of course many of them hate the message. They are spiritually dead and will always hate it. If they aren’t properly offended then you delivered the message wrong. But you honor God by speaking the truth in love.
Randy writes concerning Giglio’s sermon:
If this message is “hate speech,” as it is called in some by some responders, then the Bible is hate speech, and no one can preach the whole Bible without being guilty of hate speech. Some people believe that and are honest enough to say it.
Journal News Proves Themselves Cowards — For those of you following the gun debate since the Sandyhook massacre, you know that that Journal News, which covers a couple of counties in New York, published the names and addresses of homeowners that has legally purchased guns with permits. (This is one reason why we should be opposed to permits. That is not a part of the Second Amendment).
Apparently in the aftermath, the people of the Journal News refuse to talk about and have hired people with guns to protect them. Wow! They went from being anti-gun to pro-guns in just a few weeks. More hypocrisy?
But I truly liked what Judge Jeanine Pirro on Foxnews truly had the the best response. She sent her producers to interview these people. They wouldn’t responds and Judge Pirro really rakes them over the coals afterwards. I do appreciate her passion, and please note that Judge Pirro was on the list.
Also, Rush Limbaugh pointed out that some bloggers published the names and addresses of the employees of the Journal News. They didn’t like it one bit. Journalists hate journalism being done on them.
Man Save Mouse, Hawk Eats Mouse — Here is a funny video clip of a man going to the trouble of releasing a mouse into the wild, only to have it eaten by a hawk. I guess you could say nature takes its course. Reminds me of nature’s lesson for poor Andy last week with his fish tank and Black Tamales (Mollies).
That video should give you a good laugh for the day. At least I hope it does.
Happy Chick-fil-A Day. I hope August 1st becomes the day we remember in this country that we began to stand up to the gay community and their immoral demands that we accept everything they offer to us with a smile. Given the number of people who are heading to Chick-fil-A today (and I would be one of them if there was a franchise closer than 3 hours away), I would say that the gay communities call for a boycott is not working.
They called for this boycott because Don Cathy said in an interview that he supported traditional marriage. Apparently, this was enough to cause the gay community to get upset. Given their demands for special treatment, this should not surprise us.
Too bad the country didn’t stand up against the gay community back in the 1970s when Anita Bryant said she was opposed to such behavior. For those who don’t remember, she was lambasted in the press for her stance, and so few have been willing to speak out ever since. Just think had we stood with her then the way we are standing with Don Cathy now, perhaps we wouldn’t be fighting the battle for culture and marriage today. But we had to learn the hard way. The gay community back then said they just wanted to be left alone to do as they pleased in their own bedrooms and Anita Bryant had no right to intrude into their privacy. Now, they are trying to change culture and silence anyone that speaks against their perversion.
Remember that those who dive into sin the way gays are doing, are never satisfied with what they are given. Sin never satisfies. There will always be a demand for more and more perversions as they continue down that road (Romans 1:18ff show the reality of this truth). Please don’t listen to them when they say they just want to be recognized the same way a married couple is. That is just one more step in their demands. Polygamy will follow, along with pedophilia (which how most of them became gay in the first place), along with other perverse sins.
But we are at least taking a stand against their sinful lifestyle today. Hopefully far more people will respond in November in the same way and vote President Obama out of office. Remember, he supported traditional marriages just a few months ago, and the gay community didn’t get in a tizzy over that. But then again, that was because they he didn’t really mean it. Democrats never really mean it when they say they believe in anything traditional, constitutional or moral. How can they? They are the party of Jim Crow, lynch mobs and abortion.
I digress. Have a great day and rejoice that so many are standing up for traditional marriage.
I know from the title that those on the Left will immediately brand me a hater and go right to hating me and my beliefs, but that is the world we live in. They will also try to silence me since I don’t fit into their model of what is “acceptable.” Again, this is the world where we find ourselves. We live in a world that does not value truth, or those who stand for it, because the world loves darkness rather than light.
Regardless of these realities, those of us who know the truth need to be willing to stand for the truth and stand for Christ who represents that truth. This is all the president of Chick Fil-A Dan Cathy has done. He said his beliefs are that marriage is between one man and one woman, and this has the Sodomite Left in a tizzy( Sodomite is the biblical term for those who practice the sin). Never mind that the Bible, which is the center of Cathy’s faith, condemns sodomy and never mentions marriage in any context other than it being between one man and one woman.
You know the firestorm that has errupted since that was made public. We have mayors from Chicago, Boston and Philadelphia telling Chick-fil-A that they are not welcome and others on the right planning a Chick-fil-A day! I’m almost tempted to drive up to Albuquerque on Wednesday just to participate.
What I believe we are seeing are those of us who are conservative/Christian/moral, etc., getting fed up with the LEFT and their absolute intolerance of our beliefs and values. We are tired of being excoriated for following principles found in Scripture, for having beliefs that don’t lead to immorality, for having to hide the truth that sin is sin, and homosexuality is one of the biggies when it comes to God’s word. We are tired of moderate Christians (at best) embracing those who are gay and living that lifestyle, telling them that they are OK that way, and ignoring the truth of God’s word. We are tired of gays trying to redefine marriage so they can live their morally bankrupt lives. We are tired of pastors who refuse to speak to the issue because they are more concerned with being liked, than speaking the truth. (See Voddie Baucham’s piece on “Gay Is Not the New Black” for an example of one of many pastors willing to stand for the truth).
I know, gay people are people too. I’m not calling for witch hunts, or cross burnings, or lynchings or any such Democratic polices of the past. What I’m calling for is a right to believe in God’s truth and to be able to declare with the freedom we have been given by our Creator. He has made known His truth to us, and it gets old seeing those who call themselves “Christian” capitulating to values and morals that are outright condemned in Scripture. It’s time to stand up with Cathy and others like him who are tired of having the Left define what is right and wrong. Remember, the Democratic party, which is the champion of the Gay Movement, is the same party that approved the lynchings of blacks in the South. It is the same party that was on board with segregation, and now on board with the killing of innocent children. I will not join hands with such people either openly or privately. As a Christian, we need to stand up against that which is sinful, both openly and privately. This means being willing to stand against that which Scripture condemns.
That is the beauty of Scripture. Let it declare the truth of these realites. In other words, we don’t have to invent words or phrases or any other such thing in order to declare the truth. We are simply to declare what it says. That is sufficient, the Bible is sufficient for these things.
In my title, I wrote that I’m anti-gay. This is true, not because of some level of meanness I may possess toward gay people. It is true because the Bible is anti-gay. As I, and others, have pointed out many times, there is not one single passage of Scripture that says anything positive about homosexuality. Every passage that speaks to the topic condemns it outright. Let the word dwell richly in our hearts so we can see what is sinful and what is not.
The Bible is also anit-adultery, anti-lying, anti-stealing and anti-idolatry. We are to stand against all these sins as Scripture does. The Left has so artfully cast the argument to make us think and feel like we are being hateful when we speak the truth. This, of course, is the lie of the Left. They have made that which is an abomination to the LORD seem normal and many who claim Christ as our Savior have stood quietly by and said nothing out of fear of their condemnation. This must stop. We must continue to fight the good fight and declare the truth, even when that truth is not palatable to the LEFT. Am I anti-gay? Yes, I am. But that is because Scripture is as well. Where Scripture condemns, we need to stand with it. Where it embraces, we embrace as well.
We are not being mean spirited by doing so. Only as truth is proclaimed will God use it to change the hearts and minds of the lost. Being bullied by the Left into silence is actually being mean spirited because we are capitulating to the lies of Satan. We have done this for far too long. We must not be afraid of declaring the truth.
I know there are many who continue to speak the truth and have so for many years. But to those who sit by silently, and try to have gay friends so as to seem open minded, you are the ones that are truly mean spirited. You value your comfort and desire to be open-minded and accepting more than you value the gay persons eternal salvation. That is what is truly mean spirited. You have your salvation and because you desire comfort over confrontation, you are not willing to share the truth with others so that they too can have salvation as well. Any who do this need to repent, and lovingly speak the truth.
UPDATE: I got the following from Facebook friend Maria:
Kathy Stahlman Hildebrand -
There are those of us who define all sin as God defines it in Scripture. And we freely admit that we are sinners, as is declared in Scripture a…nd borne out in our lives. We count on the finished work of our Redeemer for redemption, and we hate the sin (in ourselves more than anywhere else) that sent Him to the cross and that jeopardizes our fellowship with Him. Other people do not look to Scripture for their definition of sin, and some refuse to believe there is such a thing at all. It’s logical, I guess, if they don’t believe in God, they don’t believe it is possible to sin against Him.But what has ALWAYS seemed odd to me is how this word HATE is assigned selectively to anyone who is against a few specific sins but not against other sins. That is, if I think it’s wrong to lie or cheat, no one accuses me of “hating” liars and cheaters. I merely say what they (or I, when I do either of those things) are doing is wrong. All the politicians and Hollywood stars that think murder is wrong (unless the victim is still in the womb), do I accuse you of hating murderers? No. I don’t. HATING a person has nothing to do with it. The pro-life movement is a prime example. It is now energized and driven very much by those women who have experienced the grief of having an abortion. They do NOT hate the women who struggle with this sin; they are there to tell them they don’t have to struggle any more.
UPDATE NUMBER 2: I should have already included this, the Chick-fil-A song by comedian Tim Hawkins:
Why do I say that? Because it will effect the church, those associated with Christianity and anyone who opposes same-sex unions.
How do we know? We know because it is effecting those Christians in Canada who are trying to stand for the truth. Apparently the gay community there wasn’t happy with legalized unions (what they call marriage). Canada passed a law in 2005 stating that two men/women could enter into such unions. This isn’t enough for the gay community. They also have made it illegal to speak out against gay unions. In other words, if you teach/preach/believe, that same-sex unions are sinful, you can go to jail.
That is the way it is with the gay community. To give them any concessions at all, will never be enough because that is the nature of sin. Once you enter into sin in any manner, especially in an attempt to justify and legalize it, and you will want more and more before it is all said and done. That is the sinfulness of sin and the gay community fully rejects this truth.
No matter, we are seeing this truth displayed before us in their demands. Remember back in the 1970s, the gay community told us that all they wanted was to be left alone to do as they wished in the privacy of their own bedrooms (although this too was a lie. They wanted to do as they wished in the privacy of public parks, forests, bridges, etc.). None of that was enough and even legalizing their sin isn’t enough as we are seeing from the example of the gay community in Canada.
According to an article by Michael Corin, published at National Review, Canada is now using force against those who do not fully agree with same-sex unions. (Hattip: Wintery Knight)
Same-sex marriage became law in Canada in the summer of 2005, making the country the fourth nation to pass such legislation, and the first in the English-speaking world. In the few debates leading up to the decision, it became almost impossible to argue in defense of marriage as a child-centered institution, in defense of the procreative norm of marriage, in defense of the superiority of two-gender parenthood, without being thrown into the waste bin as a hater. What we’ve also discovered in Canada is that it can get even worse than mere abuse, and that once gay marriage becomes law, critics are often silenced by the force of the law.
The gay community in our country doesn’t just want legalized marriage, they also want full approval of and protection from the government. They want to make it so that anyone who opposes gay unions in any way will fill the full heat and weight of the government thugs. They will tolerate no one who disagrees, being the tolerate bunch that they are.
As Coren writes:
You see, this is why it is the business of the church to speak out against these gay unions, stating that they are unbiblical, sinful and detrimental to the community, but to also recognize that if the gay community gets their way, I could be thrown in jail or threatened with lawsuit for publishing such words. People will say that I shouldn’t worry since we have the First Amendment. Never mind that BHO had made a ruling violating the rights of organizations who do not provide contraceptions for women, even though it goes against that organizations beliefs. Never mind that just last week, a court in New Mexico ruled against a photography studio that refused to take pictures of a gay-union ceremony. Never mind any of that… According to the gay community and those who prop them up, the First Amendment be damned. They get preferential treatment even if it means throwing Christians in jail. This is why it is the church’s business and all of our business to oppose gay marriage and the gay community. It is like they have achieved royalty status in our country among the intelligentsia. They are the ones that are making it the business of the church because they cannot tolerate opposition. Since true believer/Christians know the score biblically on this issue, they will see fit to get into the business and beliefs of the church. Anyone who stands in the way of their demands must be silenced and unless we oppose this, we will be. |
It’s quite providential that Alysa was asking me these questions this morning and then I proceeded to work on my Sunday school lesson: Of Repentance Unto Life.
Part of her question was simply: Can homosexuals be saved and still be homosexuals? I know that many say the answer is “yes,” and I would agree with a qualification. As I explained to Alysa, all Christians struggle with indwelling sin. As believers, we are not liberated from our sinful flesh until the LORD takes us home to glory. But this should never leave us with the impression that we can normalize our sin in order to make it OK. Sin, is sin, even if it is just idle talk. Remember what Jesus said about sin:
Matthew 12:36 But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.
The point is that we need to repent from all our sins, not just the ones we deem sinful. This is why the Bible is so vital to our understanding of what sin is. Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of the Law of God, meaning God’s word from cover to cover (see here). Anywhere that we fall short of what it declares for us, is sinful and we need to repent of every sin.
Repentance of sin is not just feeling sorry for your sin, but completely turning away from that sin, the lifestyle of sin and turning toward God. If we do not repent from all our sin, we will likewise perish (Luke 13:5). This is what those who are advocating the normalcy of the homosexual lifestyle are missing. While faith is a requirement for salvation, so too is repentance. Again, not the shallow feelings that many feel about being a “bad” person, but a complete turning away from the sinful lifestyle, no matter what the sins are, and turning toward God. True repentance is a complete rejection of the sinful lifestyle. Given that we know of no verses in the Bible that speak of homosexuality in a positive light, we can safely say it is sinful, since the Bible is the only place we can turn to know and understand what true sin is.
Ezekiel 18:30-31 “Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways,” says the Lord God. “Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin. 31 Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O house of Israel?”
Given this, I don’t see how someone who is a homosexual can trust in Christ and then want to remain a homosexual. The very thought of that should cause the true believer to wretch. Why? Because the true believer has been freed from the dominance of sin at the moment of belief. They have been given new hearts and the power of the indwelling Spirit of God in them. This means true faith, which is always accompanied with true repentance leads a person to want to cast off his former life completely and wholly.
Isaiah 30:22 You will also defile the covering of your images of silver, And the ornament of your molded images of gold. You will throw them away as an unclean thing; You will say to them, “Get away!”
The problem we are seeing in part of the “church” (and I use that term loosely) is that many in Christianity want us to believe that they can have sanctified relationships as homosexuals and be Christians. Yet this is contrary to the doctrine of true and saving faith, along with repentance that leads to life. They want us to believe that somehow, these gay people have been given a special amount of grace, not only to be saved, but to sanctify and hallow something that God calls abominable and detests (Leviticus 18:22).
As I said before, a gay person can come to Christ and still struggle with homosexuality. But a true believer would never try to normalize that sin for a true believer would be ashamed of it, and rightfully so. In my discussion with Alysa, I admitted that there are times when I struggle with lust as a straight man. But because I struggle with that sin, doesn’t mean that I want to normalize it and say that it is OK. It is not OK. It is sin, even though 99.9999 percent of ALL men struggle with lust. We are not to rejoice in this reality, but repent of it, and come back to the cross, confessing our sin to the Father for forgiveness (1 John 1- 2:3).
This is the point: if a gay man is truly a believer, he will repent of it, repent of those feeling and will not try to normalize it. The Holy Spirit and God’s word should lead him to shame for the sin in his heart. As the Spirit does for all of us, He leads us back to the cross and the forgiveness we find there. The Holy Spirit doesn’t lead us to making arguments for the normalization and acceptance of sin. He leads us to repentance and forgiveness.
Here is the Westminster Confession of Faith’s chapter on Repentance Unto Life. I underlined areas to focus upon. Study it for a few minutes and examine your own life.
I. Repentance unto life is an evangelical grace, the doctrine whereof is to be preached by every minister of the gospel, as well as that of faith in Christ.
II. By it a sinner, out of the sight and sense, not only of the danger, but also of the filthiness and odiousness of his sins, as contrary to the holy nature and righteous law of God, and upon the apprehension of his mercy in Christ to such as are penitent, so grieves for, and hates his sins, as to turn from them all unto God, purposing and endeavoring to walk with him in all the ways of his commandments.
III. Although repentance be not to be rested in as any satisfaction for sin, or any cause of the pardon thereof, which is the act of God’s free grace in Christ; yet is it of such necessity to all sinners, that none may expect pardon without it.
IV. As there is no sin so small but it deserves damnation; so there is no sin so great that it can bring damnation upon those who truly repent.
V. Men ought not to content themselves with a general repentance, but it is every man’s duty to endeavor to repent of his particular sins, particularly.
VI. As every man is bound to make private confession of his sins to God, praying for the pardon thereof, upon which, and the forsaking of them, he shall find mercy: so he that scandalizeth his brother, or the Church of Christ, ought to be willing, by a private or public confession and sorrow for his sin, to declare his repentance to those that are offended; who are thereupon to be reconciled to him, and in love to receive him.
Madeleine McAulay, a 16-year-old native of North Carolina gets it right when it comes to the left and the controversy about Gay “marriage.” She points out how ludicrous it is that President Obama is considered wise because he gets his opinion about gay marriage from his two daughters, but she’s considered mean, homophobic and backwards because she doesn’t share the same opinion as those on the left. I hope there are more and more 16 year olds who understand the issue like Madeleine. Watch the video:
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