I write this blog from a place of conviction, humility, and a heart that would seek to know the depth of God’s heart and truth. I fully acknowledge my own sins, and I don’t feel they are any less egregious to God than the one I am addressing in this blog. So plank in eye, Bible firmly in my hand, and from a prayerful, repentant heart, I will begin.
The impetus for writing this blog is that a local, evangelical pastor has decided to declare from the pulpit that homosexuality is not a sin. The pastor has boldly stated that he will be: promoting homosexuals to positions of leadership within this Church, conducting gay marriages, and having baby dedications for gay couples. Claiming to be “Thrust by a divine wind” has decided to give his seal of approval by condoning the gay lifestyle as “sinless.” His rambling statement regarding the church’s position on gay issues was deceitful. It opposed and usurped the authority of the Board of Directors/Elders, as well as the members whose financial contributions were given on the basis of trusting their leader (who vowed to follow proper protocol within church leadership). He has decided to embark on this journey of condoning the gay lifestyle as sinless, with no accountability. He compares himself to be analogous with renowned civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. by comparing the “struggle before him” to the civil rights movement of African Americans. He says, “Could you be a church in Selma and not march? I don’t think I can do that. We are on the front edge of a movement that means so much.” A friend of mine wrote a blog about His decision aptly named “Grace Pointe Church, less like Selma, more like Ferguson”.
I would like to make five major points and then wrap with a conclusion. I invite you all to draw from your own heart and from scripture, then decide where you personally will land on this delicate topic.
1. The Bible is the Word of God and is clear about all sins of sexual immorality. The practice of homosexuality is clearly in that list.
2. Common objections and simple answers
3. There is a difference between people who consider themselves homosexual and the agenda that has been dogmatically thrust upon society over the last 30 years by anti-religious organizations.
4. Sodom and Gomorrah did not get there in a day
5. Where this agenda is headed
1)--- In many in Christian circles today an emergent ideology is being promoted which says the Bible is no longer morally accurate or relevant for the post-modern, enlightened culture in which we live. I would remind you that this Bible we have in our hands and hearts today has stood the test of time and accusers for hundreds of years in its current canonization. God warns us about adding to or taking away or adding to from the truth of His word twice in scripture.
Deuteronomy 4:2, “Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you”
Revelation 22:18-19 “For I testify unto every man that hears the words of the prophecy of this book, if any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book”.
As for armchair theologians, who have been misinformed that scriptures like Hebrew 8:13 and Romans 10:4 declare that the Old Testament Law is abolished through Christ, please understand that there were three kinds of “law” in the Old Testament: Civil, Ceremonial, and Moral. Christ said in Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” Thank you Steve Berger!
I have heard from quite a few people who formerly acknowledged the Bible was/is the Word of God, but have now departed from that belief, at least in part, mainly the parts they don’t like or can logically understand. Romans 10:17 says “faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God”. We are fed lies from TV, internet, media, politicians, some educators (who oppose the Word); the list goes on all day long. The multibillion-dollar advertising industry is well aware that “exposure leads to acceptance”, so it is no wonder that God’s truth is being twisted to look like a lie. Listen to the vile lyrics of modern music, analyze the story lines of the “so called family shows,” look at the smut magazines in our grocery stores, and the highly sexually provocative nature of TV commercials (to name a few). Yet somehow, when we as bible believing Christians cry out against this “agenda” (that pushes sexual deviancy), we are labeled “judgmental”? This is the agenda I am addressing. We should not be surprised when the truth looks like a lie.
Isaiah 5:20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
Colossians 2:8 Be careful that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit based on human tradition, based on the elemental forces of the world, and not based on Christ.
The above scriptures are very clear regarding the sins of sexual immorality and specifically homosexuality.
2) The media promotes that “People are born this way, and it is genetic.” But I would point out that there has been no gene found which would dictate a person’s sexual tendencies at birth. Furthermore, I would also point out that sexual orientation is chosen around the age of puberty. We are born with sin, and no one is above sexual perversion. I would say that, left to our own devices, most heterosexual males would be polygamist, procreating with any female, at will. As we have stripped the sanctity of marriage, there has been a movement toward open marriages, sexual addiction, and all sorts of perversion. If not for God we would all be terribly lost. This is why we need a Savior! Jesus tells us we need to be “born again” to put to death the carnal man. We as Christians don’t write the Word. We are just partakers and do not possess the authority to overwrite the Bible.
No matter how our feelings lead us, homosexuality is called an abomination to God. The Washington Times and many other studies have shown that the statistics regarding the average length of a relationship for homosexual men is about 1.5 years, and they have an average of 8 additional partners during that time. Research also indicates that the average male homosexual has hundreds of sex partners in his lifetime. So where are the Loving, Faithful, Monogamous Committed gay male relationships that are so deserving of marriage?
3) Several far left liberal organizations seem to be at the forefront of driving the gay agenda, which is spearheading this particular internal controversy. Unfortunately, the LBGT community happens to be the horse to which they are attaching their anti-Christ/God crusade at this particular time. But as I will mention in section 5, it could be any form of debauchery. You could replace the homosexual topic, which this church has decided to condone, with premarital sex, adultery, polygamy, incest, and the outline of this letter would be the same. The Dark-Agenda is looking to undermine the legitimacy of the Bible as the authoritative source of truth for Christians and other seekers of truth. People or corporations that disagree with Christians’ stance on topics like abortion, homosexuality, or freedom to practice our faith will be slandered, maligned, and crucified by media whenever possible. They will scream acceptance and tolerance yet continue to reject any position which opposes their regime.
4)--Sodom and Gomorrah did not get there in a day. I have spoken with many Christian defenders of gay marriage who are accepting of homosexuality as sinless, and their defense is that the “acts” that are spoken of in the six primary scriptures regarding homosexuality are actually talking about “forced homosexual acts”. That simply is not the context of these scriptures. That would be called rape! Not “abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another” as described in Romans 1:27. But the conversations have led me to a really relevant point. Again I say that Sodom and Gomorrah did not get there in a day, and you can be assured that somewhere prior to their destruction, they were exactly where we are in 21st century America today. . . . . . . somewhere down the path to desensitization, moral bankruptcy, and weak complacent minds. We see a foreshadowing of where a society must have been before men could attempt to forcibly remove other men/angels from their neighbor’s house and rape and abuse them openly in the streets of the city. Stand up people! Your children are at risk of living in a world that is fast-tracking to this place!
5)-- So where is this agenda heading? MTV now has a show called “HappyLand.” The motto of the show is “INCEST IS HOT!” They are promoting that incest is shameless and are trying to brainwash the public into accepting that blood brothers and sisters should be free to have sex, as they “love each other!” So my question is, will churches like GracePointe marry brothers and sisters in the future? We would shudder at the thought, but I fear it is just around the corner! What about polygamy, polyandry or group marriage? While we abhor the thought, isn’t this where we are headed? If the statutory age limits drops, won’t pedophilia be the next dark horse to which the agenda attaches itself?! How about bestiality or any other form of paraphilia?? Are we not tempting damnation by opening Pandora’s box? I can hear the readers on the other end of this thread saying, “We will never get to that level of debauchery.” But in fact, we are already there my friends. Just Google any of the depraved behaviors listed above, and you will see they are lurking in the “closets” of society right now. Just as homosexuality was seen as a perversion 30 years ago (and is now openly accepted), I fear in years to come we will see our innocent, youthful daughters and sons being used by this dark agenda in ways that would make us vomit today.
No matter what your sexual orientation, we are all the pinnacle of God’s creation and the climactic culmination of His grand design. You are the crowning jewel of the entire universe, and His love for you is deeper than any unsacred romance you will find on this planet. You are not labeled by anything as miniscule as sexual preference, but you are identified as a creation of the Most High God, with opportunity to be a co-heir with Christ. When you release the labels with which the world has tried to tattoo your heart and mind and immerse yourself in The Word of God and the encouragement of genuine Spirit-led community, you will find freedom and True Love!
I think we should acknowledge that the Church as a whole (I don’t like to generalize) has done a pretty poor job of loving the Gay and Lesbian (LBGT) community the way I’m sure Christ would call us to love them, though I think we are getting better. We have cherry-picked sins like abortion and homosexuality to demonize, while keeping sins like pride, unbiblical divorce, gluttony, hatred, gossip, Idolatry, disregard of the 4th commandment (Sabbath) and many others as “lesser sins” . . . .therefore bearing lesser in severity in our 21st century Western hearts and minds.
So while I am adamant about the points of this letter, I also implore us as Christians to take a much more humble and loving approach to our spiritual family members that live with this identification and allow The Holy Spirit the space to work and redeem just as He did in our lives. Many have polluted, with great hostility, those that live their lives labeled as homosexuals; and because their very identification as human beings is wrapped in this delusion, it is very hard for them to de-identify with this unholy label. We were never meant to be identified by our sexuality or gender preference, but by our son or daughter-ship in Jesus Christ!
I hope everyone who reads this will hear my heart and know that this is not as much about homosexuality as it is about a systematic attempt to dismantle the authority of Scripture and discredit The Word of God. You could replace the topic (sin) of homosexuality with fornication, adultery, pornography, or incest and the position of this Blog would be identical. We cannot take any of these “sins” and declare them as “sinless” because we feel the need to be relevant and bow to the cultural winds of change. We should love the homosexual community for sure, but why do they need to redefine an institution that is thousands of years old as marriage is (they already have the same rights)? Or why boycott and label as hatemongers organizations and people like Hobby Lobby, Chick-Fil-A and Phil Robertson merely because they believe something that is different? Why demand the Boy Scouts appoint gay leaders or aggressively promote the gay agenda in our military and schools? This is an agenda that is DEMANDING acceptance, and anyone who believes Marriage is between one man and one woman is an antiquated bigot, hatemonger, exclusionist, intolerant, homophobe, etc….. Can we not have our opinions (that are far more established and generally accepted) and not be vilified? The answer is unequivocally NO because “The Agenda” is about crushing anything that opposes it. In the name of “tolerance”, it is in fact the most intolerant of all! We must stand united to stop the stripping of our moral fiber as a nation and as a Church, or our children will be used as pawns and targeted next!
I will close with these words from the apostle Paul.
Romans 2:15
Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another; What does your conscience tell you?
I pray these words uplift and do not demoralize anyone so as to allow others to feel the unfathomable magnificence Christ wants to bestow upon us. I repent and acknowledge my own sins as I write this blog, knowing that I am susceptible to the same iniquity from which we are trying, with love, to restore others. I pray you will continue to be inspired and to inspire others toward the heart, truth, promises, and blessings that await us when we keep our eyes set on the LORD!
Thanks Jay
Word of God:
1 Timothy 4:1; Hebrews 3 12-19; 1 Timothy 4:16; 2 Thessalonians 2:3:Galatians 1: 8-9: Matthew 24: 10; Colossians 2:8
Homosexuality
