I know that many people are waiting with baited and stinky breath on the United States Supreme Court to tell us what the definition of marriage is according to the Constitution, but the Supreme Being of all eternity has already defined it for the Christian. In other words, it matters not what the Supreme Court says, as Christians, Jesus has done so for us.
Matthew 19:4-6 And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”
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.
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.
The Bishop E.W. Jackson speaks out against the Democratic Party, saying that it is antithetical to those of us who are Christians. I’ve been saying it for years, how can the party that cherishes killing the unborn have anything to do with the Light of the World? How can the party that recognize two men in an unholy relationship have anything to do with the ONE who said it was an abomination to Him? How can the party the cherishes every level of sinful and rebellious behavior have anything to do with the One who submitted Himself to the death of the cross out of humble obedience?
The Democratic Party and Christianity are incompatible with one another. Christians should leave the party and not vote for those who stand with them.
Here is the Bishop E.W. Jackson saying the same thing from his perspective as a black Christian. I truly am encouraged by his words. Even though he is speaking mainly to black Christians, he reminds us that we need to stand with God, not some political party or candidate. God is the One who will take care of us, not the fallen government. Speaking of which see the second video in which Dr. Barbara Beller points out just how ridiculous it is for us to think that Obamacare will take care anyone at all.
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:
The PCUSA, the liberal leaning and Bible ignoring Presbyterian denomination that most people know about, decided this past week at their General Assembly that when it comes to same-sex marriage, Scripture is just a bit too confusing for these mental giants to come to any serious conclusion on the topic.
Yes, you read that correctly. Instead of saying the Bible is against it, since it condemns homosexuality in every case that it is mentioned in Scripture, AND since marriage always means between one woman and one man, that there just wasn’t enough evidence for them to rule whether or not it was right or wrong.
The tarnished centerpiece of the committee’s recommendation, however, was an amended overture from Sacramento Presbytery, which read in part, “We decline to take an action that would have the effect of imposing on the whole Presbyterian Church (USA) one interpretation of Scripture in this matter” of “what the Scriptures teach concerning the morality of committed, same-gender relationships.” The best this committee and then the whole General Assembly could do was to declare formally that Scripture is too confusing, too subject to varied interpretations to unite around to decide matters of same-sex sexual morality.
Is same-sex practice right or wrong, according to the Bible? “Well, ya know, we just can’t decide,” has now become General Assembly’s official position. This position is intended to “be brought before each presbytery at a stated meeting in which the report from the 220th General Assembly (2012) is given.”
Yes, these erudite reprobates just couldn’t come to any conclusion about what Scripture actually says when it comes to same-sex marriage. It is just way too complicated.
Let’s see if we can get to the bottom of this O so difficult topic. Every time marriage is mentioned in Scripture, ten times in the gospels alone, it is always between a man and a woman. Jesus spoke to the issue as well, and every time He discussed marriage, it was between a man and a woman.
Therefore, same-sex marriage is an oxymoron, since two people of the same sex cannot be married. It is outside the definition of marriage.
Also, since every place that homosexuality is mentioned in Scripture, it is in a condemning nature, meaning that it is never spoken of in a positive light. Also given the fact that homosexuality is a result of idolatry in Romans 1:18ff, meaning that it is part of God’s wrath, we can safely assume that homosexuality in any form, wanted or unwanted, is a sin.
For some odd reason, the erudite reprobates cannot see these truths. It’s just too complicated for these well-educated apostates to figure out. Given that, if you are a member of a PCUSA church, I recommend one thing: run!
Run to the nearest church where the gospel is actually preached. Run to the nearest church where the Bible is actually believed. Run to a church that sees the Scripture as authoritative, not as just a guide to happy living. Run from these apostates as quickly as you can. Not only have they gone from thinking themselves wise, they became fools, they have actually become stupid in the process. They are not even trying to disguise their stupidity and foolishness with some erudite thinking. They are just plain stupid is as stupid does. So sad.
FYI: Please note that the PCUSA and the PCA (Presbyterian Church in America) are not affiliated in any way, shape, form or fashion. The PCA is my denomination and we actually believe in the authority of Scripture. You will notice that in our denomination, we have no women pastors. That is usually the first sign that a denomination is going apostate.After all, once the denomination punts the roles of men and women given in Scripture, everything is subject to change as well. This doesn’t mean that we do not see men and women equally valuable in the church, but we have different roles in the church, just as the Three Persons of the Godhead have differing roles in our salvation.
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:
In 2011, for example, a well-known television anchor on a major sports show was fired just hours after he tweeted his support for “the traditional and TRUE meaning of marriage.” He had merely been defending a hockey player’s agent who was receiving numerous death threats and other abuse for refusing to support a pro-gay-marriage campaign. The case is still under appeal, in human-rights commissions and, potentially, the courts.
The Roman Catholic bishop of Calgary, Alberta, Fred Henry, was threatened with litigation and charged with a human-rights violation after he wrote a letter to local churches outlining standard Catholic teaching on marriage. He is hardly a reactionary — he used to be known as “Red Fred” because of his support for the labor movement — but the archdiocese eventually had to settle with the complainants to avoid an embarrassing and expensive trial.
In the neighboring province of Saskatchewan, another case illustrates the intolerance that has become so regular since 2005. A number of marriage commissioners (state bureaucrats who administer civil ceremonies) were contacted by a gay man eager to marry his partner under the new legislation. Some officials he telephoned were away from town or already engaged, and the first one to take his call happened to be an evangelical Christian, who explained that he had religious objections to carrying out the ceremony but would find someone who would. He did so, gave the name to the man wanting to get married, and assumed that this would be the end of the story.
But no. Even though the gay couple had had their marriage, they decided to make an official complaint and demand that the commissioner be reprimanded and punished. The provincial government argued that, as a servant of the state, he had a duty to conduct state policy, but that any civilized public entity could accept that such a fundamentally radical change in marriage policy was likely to cause division, and that as long as alternative and reasonable arrangements could be made and nobody was inconvenienced, they would not discipline their employee for declining to marry same-sex couples. Anybody hired after 2004 would have to agree to conduct such marriages, they continued, but to insist on universal approval so soon after the change would lead to a large number of dismissals, often of people who had given decades of public service. This seemed an intelligent and balanced compromise. Yet the provincial courts disagreed, and commissioners with theological objections are now facing the loss of their jobs, with the situation replicated in other provinces and also at the federal level.
So far, churches have been allowed to refuse to consecrate same-sex marriages, but a campaign has begun to remove tax-free status from religious institutions that make this choice. When asked about how this would undermine charitable efforts in behalf of the poor and homeless undertaken by numerous Christian churches, one of the leaders of Equality for Gays and Lesbians Everywhere, a Canadian gay-rights advocacy group, replied: “We’ll only take away charitable status from the buildings where the priests live and where the people pray.”
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.
