gay marriage – Page 2

feminist, gay marriage, homosexuality, rachel held evans, repent, sinner

Marriage is to be between a man and a woman, yes, even in this day and age

Posted on December 28, 2013May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

I think Rachel Held Evans, the author of a Year of Biblical Womanhood, has revived an essay she wrote, in which my blog essay mentioning her is linked to. In any case, though the blog entry is months old, I am suddenly receiving a LOT of traffic from and to. The subject is homosexuality.

Given the culture war regarding this particular sin, especially the explosive week regarding the Duck Dynasty controversy, and given that there are many eyes reading or re-reading these essays, I’ll speak to the subject again.

Homosexuality is the last battleground in a culture that is fighting to live or die. In Romans 1, Paul laid out in the inspired word, a process which a culture undergoes when it is rejecting God. It begins with individual’s suppression of the truth in unrighteousness, and continues worse as more and more people in that culture suppress the truth. As they do, God judges them and He judges the society. Eventually, He gives them over to their sin. S. Lewis Johnson wrote in an article re-published 2010,

“The devolution in human history is reflected in the more recent tendency of society to accept the sin of homosexuality and other sexual deviations as a mere sickness and not as sin. … This is God’s temporal judgment which is preliminary to His eternal judgment on a rebellious human race.”

It may surprise some to know that God judges people and societies before they die and go to hell. But He does. God ordains “thus sin shall be punished by sin” said Heinrich Meyer. Homosexuality is the final earthly judgment in the process of traveling away from His holiness into carnal rebelliousness. When the verse says “He gave them over,” it doesn’t mean God threw up His hands saying ‘Kids these days!’ It means a holy, judicial act has occurred.

“He positively gave men over to the judgment of “more intensified and aggravated cultivation of the lusts of their own hearts with the result that they reap for themselves a correspondingly greater toll of retributive vengeance.” (S. Lewis Johnson & John Murray, Epistle to the Romans)

The passage speaking to this is Romans 1:18-32. It is titled in the ESV, “God’s Wrath on Unrighteousness”. Lest you think I am cherry picking, in the NIV the section is titled “God’s Wrath Against Sinful Humanity.” Even the NLT says “God’s Anger at Sin”.

It begins this way:

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.” (Romans 1:18)

The wrath of God IS REVEALED. Present tense, and means “uncover, revealing what is hidden”. So? Where is all this wrath? Do we see fire and brimstone coming down on San Francisco as it did to Sodom? Do we see lakes of fire opening up under the NYC Gay Pride Parade? His wrath will be that blatant on His Day, AKA the Tribulation period, but it is being revealed now too. It is being revealed every day since the Garden, when man became cursed with a sin-nature.

Think on this, the first thing Jesus did when He went to Jerusalem at the start of his public ministry – His first public act – was to wrathfully overturn the tables of the merchants at the temple, crying out against their defilement of his temple. As John MacArthur said, Jesus didn’t send an advance committee and make His statutes sound like harps and flowers. Instead, in wrath He cried out against their defilment of His temple.

Jesus casting out the money changers at the temple – Carl Bloch

Today we don’t have a temple, but the temple is our body.

“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?” (1 Corinthians 6:19a)

And today the holy wrath against defiling His temple is just as strong!

“Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.” (1 Corinthians 6:18)

His wrath was revealed in the curse. It was revealed in the Flood. It was revealed in the sacrificial system. It was revealed on the cross. It is revealed as Romans 1 states, when He allows the moral order to collapse.

People today who want to re-define homosexuality as acceptable and gay marriage as normal are usually concerned with two overarching themes. Besides actively participating in the moral collapse of society, one thing they are inordinately concerned with is “love” and the other is “judge.”

Scripture can be used correctly or incorrectly. It is the word of God, breathed from Him to men, inerrant in the original language and profitable for all teaching, correction, and reproof. (2 Timothy 3:16). It is the bread from heaven (John 6:32) and the way we learn about who God is…AND what His standards are. And He’s got standards. We cannot simply clip out of the bible that which displeases us.

Photo by Alexandria Searls, are of the two Bibles from which
Thomas Jefferson clipped text to create
“The Philosophy of Jesus of Nazareth.” Source Jefferson Library

It is up to each Christian to determine if the things they are being taught are based on a correct understanding of scripture, and to “judge” whether a teaching is valid or not valid. In this way, you reader, too, “judge”. (1 John 4:1-3). And I certainly hope you test what I’ve written against the scriptures in context.

In the bible, God said that He has standards for behavior, morals, language/speech, sexual fidelity, marriage, and etc. He listed specific sins that disqualify one from heaven. He continually reminds us that our default condition as sinner precludes us from heaven. Man tries to writhe out of His standards, but to do so is death to him.

“There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the ends thereof are the ways of death.” (Proverbs 14:12)

Helping someone who is knowingly or unknowingly struggling under the false conclusion that they are not sinning is not judging them. It is loving them. There are many lists of sins that He hates, (Proverbs 6:16-19,1 Corinthians 6:9, 1 Corinthians 5:11) and one of them in particular, He used as a benchmark of a society’s collapse. Homosexuality. (Romans 1:28-32). Sin is serious!

Not everyone is qualified for marriage. Not everyone is getting into heaven. Not everyone worships acceptably. For example, it is a sin to come to the Lord’s table unrepentant. (1 Corinthians 11:27-2). It is a sin to come to church drunk. (1 Corinthians 5:11-13). Not everyone behaves in a way that pleases God. He has standards. Though the bible is the clear and plain outline of what standards will please Him, some fail the standard. Society hates to hear this.

“Heaven visited me” Creative Commons, by Kevin Dooley

Now, in today’s permissive “tolerant” society, people don’t like that Christians hold to the standards God laid out. They do not like it when Christians tell them that some things are forbidden. They call it “hate.” It IS hate to them, they hate to be told they can’t do what their carnal heart desires! People can redefine judging, hate and love all they want, but those redefinitions to suit their carnal desires will not stand on the day they face THE Judge.

“Those who forsake the law praise the wicked, but those who keep the law strive against them.” (Proverbs 2:4-5)

Homosexual marriage is not a marriage, because it is outside God’s law. Marriage is between a man and a woman. Period. (Genesis 2:24, Matthew 19:4-5).

Homosexuals have the “right to love” as much as any sinner! They can choose to love Jesus and His statutes. Or they can choose to hate Jesus and His statutes. But they are not qualified for marriage. And they do not have the right to love one another in a sexual way. Sodomy is not “love” – it is hate against God’s statutes and standards. It is loving to tell them so, in order that they may repent.

Do you approve of sex between a 37 year old man and an 8 year old girl? No? Then you are “judging” aren’t you? Do you approve of relations between a 42 year old man and his German Shepherd dog? No? Then you are “judging.” Do you approve of your spouse having sex with another person while you’re married? No? The bible forbids those acts, by the way, just as much as it forbids sexual acts between same sexes.

Yes, I am intolerant, in the way people want to use the word. I am intolerant of sin, my own especially. I’m intolerant of people who try to change God’s laws to suit their own carnal desires. I try to tell them that they are doing a disservice to Jesus and to their own selves, but some won’t listen. Yet I persist because I love them. I love them in the biblical way: because Jesus first loved us, and came to seek and save sinners. Jesus’s first ministry words were an order, not an invitation and certainly not harps and flowers. He said,

“Repent and believe.” (Mark 1:14-15).

Creative Commons, Art4theGlryOfGod

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‘I am still not getting what I want’: UK Gay couple suing church for refusing ‘wedding’. And, God ordained marriage as explained by Genesis

Posted on August 4, 2013May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Part 2: Social media is changing child custody disputes, child-support payments, & divorce
Part 3: Tim Gunn chose celibacy thirty years ago. How about you?

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With the homosexual agenda advancing into so many areas, especially marriage, I have been thinking deeply about God-ordained marriage and why its absence from society isn’t good for society. I have assembled three blog entries that are loosely related to the topic of marriage in these days of apostasy.

photo credit: jakebouma via photopin cc

Great Britain recently became legal in Engnland and Wales. The story below from last week notes that the legislation hadn’t yet been signed off on by the Queen, but she has approved it by now.

Prime Minister of the
United Kingdom, David Cameron

England’s Gay Marriage Law To Become Legal After Lower House Approval
Gay marriage is to become legal in England and Wales after the lower house of the British parliament approved the final changes on Tuesday to a law that had Prime Minister David Cameron’s backing but split his ruling Conservative party. The law had the support of both Labour and the Liberal Democrats, Britain’s two other main political parties, but damaged Cameron’s standing within his own party with many of his own lawmakers criticising him for being too liberal. … After a two-hour debate, the House of Commons passed the bill, meaning it now only needs to be approved by Queen Elizabeth, a formality.

Prime Minister Cameron had promised that though homosexual marriage would become legal, churches would not be forced to perform them if it went against their beliefs.

However, this did not deter the gay lobby. They are now suing the Church of England to force them to perform gay marriages. As one gay man said, “I’m still not getting what I want.”

And isn’t that exactly what sin is all about. Pursuing your ungodly lusts no matter the cost to yourself or others. Jude 1:16a says, “These are grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lusts;”

Barrie Drewitt-Barlow, left,
with boyfriend Tony. (source)

‘I am still not getting what I want’: Gay couple suing church for refusing ‘wedding’
“Less than two weeks after the coalition government’s gay “marriage” bill was signed into law, a homosexual man has launched a lawsuit against a Church of England parish in Maldon for refusing him and his civil partner the lavish church wedding of their dreams. Barrie Drewitt-Barlow told the Essex Chronicle that he has launched the suit because, despite the law, “I am still not getting what I want.” Section 9 of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013, which comes into effect next year, grants anyone in a civil partnership the ability to convert that partnership into a “marriage.” But the law contains measures specifically to preclude unwilling churches from being forced to participate.”

Other articles say that the courts will decide…

You know that satan never stops and he never sleeps. He was given an inch and he is taking a mile. Give him a mile and he will take the city.

Let’s go back to Genesis 1-

Michaelangelo, Sistine Chapel Painting, God creating Adam

In the Creation account, God created the universe and everything in it in 6 days. Each time as the day ended (24-hour day) God surveyed His work and declared it good. (Genesis 1:4, 8, 10, 12, 21, 25).

When He created man, it is the first time we read of the Holy Executive Council together, all three intimately participating in the creation. Until that point we read ,”And God said, And God said, And God said.” But with man, it is recorded, “Let Us make man…” It is an important moment.

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” (Genesis 1:26)

After He made man, he said it was “very good.”

So from this we gather that man is the most important of His creations, because he is the only one made in His image. And it was the only creation that God declared ‘very good.’

Now, think for a moment. What was the first thing we read of in the bible that was ‘not-good’? No, it wasn’t the serpent of chapter 3. It is in Genesis 2:18:

“Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”

The first thing that was not-good was that man was lonely. He was alone with no society to commune with except God. Then God caused the beasts to come before the man to see what he would name them. And still, the man was alone. We often focus on the helper part of the verse in 2:18. But look at the part that says “fit for him.” Dogs are man’s best friend. An animal could have become a nice companion for the man, as they have done today. But no. Monkeys are funny and sort of look like humans, they are sociable animals, they have opposable thumbs…why wasn’t a monkey a good helper? Because he was not fit for the man. (“The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him.” Genesis 2:20).

God made a woman.

Michaelangelo, Sistine Chapel painting, Creation of Eve

“And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” (Genesis 2:22-24).

One flesh. That is one reason why divorce is such a violent act, it is literally a ripping apart of flesh.

As an aside, notice the comment at the last part; there were no parents yet. No one had a mother and a father. God had just created Adam and Eve. They had no clue about procreation and parents yet. God was ordaining society!

This is the foundation upon which the first society is built. Here we have one man, and it was not good for him to be alone. And all the beasts were brought, and still none helper was found “fit for him.” So God created woman. God then ordained future generations of society and of sexual conduct by declaring how society was to continue: through the man and woman as one flesh. They come together as one flesh and they leave the parents and they build another foundational block of society through their marriage. That is how it works, and it is beautiful.
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Part 2: Social media is changing child custody disputes, child-support payments, & divorce
Part 3: Tim Gunn chose celibacy thirty years ago. How about you?

bert, ernie, gay marriage, homosexual, new yorker

Apparently, Sesame Street’s Bert and Ernie are gay

Posted on June 29, 2013May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Cover Story: Bert and Ernie’s “Moment of Joy”

Next week’s cover of the widely circulated New Yorker magazine.

“It’s amazing to witness how attitudes on gay rights have evolved in my lifetime,” said Jack Hunter, the artist behind next week’s cover, “Moment of Joy.” Hunter, who originally submitted his image, unsolicited, to a Tumblr, continued, “This is great for our kids, a moment we can all celebrate.”

Huffington Post thinks the cover is “amazing”, in a good way.
“The New Yorker celebrated the Supreme Court’s historic rulings on gay marriage with one of its most awesome covers of all time. It marked the moment by featuring what many people consider to be one of the most famous gay couples in pop culture: Bert and Ernie. In the magazine’s cover, titled “Bert and Ernie’s Moment Of Joy,” the two Sesame Street characters are shown snuggling together on the couch as they watch the landmark Supreme Court rulings on television.”

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It might be a moment that gay rights activists celebrate, but the celebration will be a moment in time compared to the wrath of a holy God leveled upon the unrepentant sinner.

A commenter at the NewYorker site called “HonestGirlScouts,” wrote, “Perhaps the saddest legacy of the homosexual lobby is that no one can be friends anymore. We are all potential sex partners, in the eyes of gay activists. What a loss to society and humanity that everyone must be on their guard, must have an extra wall of self-consciousness, even amongst peers of the same sex. To “fundamentally change” the friendship of Bert and Ernie into a sexual relationship shows an intolerance for fraternity and belies the degrading nature of the LGBTQI movement.”

LGBTQI stands for L-esbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Trans-sexual, or Questioning, and Intersex. Don’t ask me what intersex is. I don’t know and I’m not looking it up.

And messing with children, putting such sin in front of them? Using an innocent childhood icon, one that has been used to bring education and entertainment to kids for over 50 years?? O! Jesus wept.

“Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.” (Matthew 18:6)

culture, gay marriage, homosexuality, supreme court

One reason the SCOTUS gay marriage vote may help the true church

Posted on June 28, 2013May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

On the subject of the gay marriage decision by the Supreme court: I believe it is very bad for America politically and culturally. Homosexuality is a devastating sin for the individual, and this will only spur more of them on to become hardened of heart and captured in their sin and that makes me just so very sad.

That said, however, I think it is good for the true church. It will make the true church stand out more.

“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 15Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it gives light to all that are in the house.” (Matthew 5:14-15)

Also, the weak, false church will cave to culture and will be therefore identified by those of us in the true church. This also is good. The tares of the church crowd in so much that the sheep eventually leave and all that is left are the goats. This was the problem at Sardis. Sardis was one of the seven churches of Revelation which Jesus told John to write to. Sardis had no commendation, Jesus said ‘you are dead.’ (Revelation 3:1)

MacArthur calls Sardis “the first church of the tares.” They had many works, and were busy-busy, but their heart was far from God. They were coasting on the fumes of past fervor, and living on the gossamer reputation they once had. But Jesus saw through it and called them a dead church.

So many churches today are like this. They re-interpret the scriptures, engage in social work, and donate loads of money- but they do not know the true Jesus. They try and awaken their dead hearts with loud and throbbing music, by listening to pastors who scream, swear, and act like a stand-up comedian, and applaud entertainments that assault the senses. These are the churches who will come out for “love” and accept homosexuality. Then we will know which pastors, which Christians, and which churches are Christian in name only.

Standing firm against the cultural push for accepting homosexuality as normal will make us even more distinct from the world!

“Come out from among them and be ye separate and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you.” (2 Corinthians 6:17).

And to the pagans, our light will shine even brighter as Peter said in 1 Peter 2:9-

“But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:” KJV

which is the best of all.

Will you stand against the culture, and with Jesus?

gay marriage, homosexuality, point of no return, sodom

SCOTUS helping to bring in the Days of Lot (Updated)

Posted on June 26, 2013 by elizabethprata

Updated to add Martin Luther quote

THE NEWS

Wall Street Journal: Supreme Court rulings boost gay marriage
“WASHINGTON—The Supreme Court delivered the history-making ruling sought by [homosexual] marriage supporters, striking down a 1996 federal law that denied benefits to same-sex couples. The court was more cautious in a second case involving California’s ban on [homosexual] marriage, Proposition 8, saying it lacked jurisdiction to hear the case. But the result was likely again to benefit same-sex couples because it meant that a federal district court’s ruling striking down Proposition 8 stands, clearing the way for [homosexual] marriage to resume in the nation’s most-populous state.”

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POLITICAL REACTION

“My thoughts on the SCOTUS ruling that determined that same sex marriage is okay: “Jesus wept.” 5 people in robes said they are bigger than the voters of California and Congress combined. And bigger than God. May He forgive us all.” ~Mike Huckabee

“It’s an amazing overreach in arrogance by 5 members of the court who think they can redefine marriage for the Federal Government…there clearly is an overreach here on the CA Prop 8 case.” ~Tony Perkins of Family Research Council

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SPIRITUAL REACTION

“Can we now stop talking about the United States as a “Christian Nation” so that we can get back to preaching the Gospel to pagan Americans?” ~Chris Rosebrough

“The decision of an earthly court does not make so much as a ripple in the eternal decrees of God.” ~JD Hall

“We learn from Jeremiah among others that, as usual, the nearer the punishment, the worse the people become; and that the more one preaches to them, the more they despise his preaching. Thus we understand that when it is God’s will to inflict punishment, he makes the people to become hardened so they may be destroyed without any mercy and not appease God’s wrath with any repentance. So the men of Sodom long ago had to not only despise the righteous Lot, but even afflict him because he taught them—even though their own affliction was at the door [Gen. 19:1–13]. Likewise Pharaoh, when about to be drowned in the Red Sea, had to oppress the children of Israel twice as much as before [Exod. 5:6–21]. And Jerusalem had to crucify God’s Son when its own final destruction was on the way” – Martin Luther

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GOD’S REACTION

“For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.” Genesis 2:24

“Then the men said to Lot, “Have you anyone else here? Sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone you have in the city, bring them out of the place. 13 For we are about to destroy this place, because the outcry against its people has become great before the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it.” (Genesis 19:12-13)

“…Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion.” (Jude 1:7)

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TO BE CLEAR:

“Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, 29but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— 30so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed.” (Luke 17:28)

“How was it in the days of Lot? Lot lived in a city called Sodom. We have a word today called sodomy. We know exactly what that means. That is a homosexual sin. That is a vile kind of behavior drawn out of that city in the plains south of the Dead Sea. What did God do to Sodom? Buried Sodom under fire and brimstone completely. What kind of people lived in Sodom? Read the nineteenth chapter of Genesis and find that when two angels came to visit Lot, the men of that city tried to rape the angels. And when God blinded the men of that city, they still tried to feel their way to smash down the door to get to those angels. That was a vile, wretched place.”

“So the first thing you know about the days of Noah and the days of Sodom is that they were days of wretched, vile, massive, sweeping, consummate evil. And that’s the way it will be in the days when the Son of Man comes.” [source]

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MY TAKE

The verse above regarding the Days of Lot is speaking of the days during the Tribulation when evil pervades the world and the Messiah returns to end it all, not the run-up to the rapture. However, we see the current culture helping satan along to lay the infrastructure that will give immediate rise to such perversions when the rapture does take place.

In Romans 1 we read that homosexuality is not a sin like any other. Homosexuality in itself is an expression of God’s wrath. It is the only sin that IS a judgment upon the person exhibiting it.

However, though any nation that teeters too far against His ordinances will be judged in wrath, His grace is such that any individual is not a lost cause in terms of wanting to repent and find reconciliation with God. The wrath will be poured out on America but it already has been poured out in Jesus for all sins, including the sin of homosexuality.

“we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.” (Ephesians 2:3)

“Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality,…And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:9, 11)

“You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:19b-20)

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First polygamous marriage in Brazil sparks outrage

Posted on September 1, 2012May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

First this:
In an article from June 2012 in the UK, we read that, “A lobby group against gay marriage, formed by Ministers of Parliament and bishops, is embroiled in a row after one of its leaflets claimed that the logical argument for reforming the law would be equally applicable to the legalisation of incest and polygamy. The eight-page document, produced by the Keep Marriage Special campaign, whose supporters include the former bishop of Rochester, the Rt Rev Michael Nazir Ali, warns of the “consequential impact” of the reform. The leaflet claims: “If the only basis for marriage is the desire of the parties to get married then there is, according to the logic of this proposal, no reason not to open up marriage to more than just same-sex couples. Polygamy, polyandry and incest would all be permissible.”

Conservatives and Christians have long predicted that if a government allows the basic definition of marriage to be redefined, it would lead to a downward slide of not only marriage itself but society as a whole. We are mocked for this position, but we see it coming true today in many countries and in many ways.

On National Public Radio a few months ago, a discussion was held between opponents of homosexual marriage and defenders of it. Speaking against gay marriage was Austin Nimocks, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative Christian legal consulting group. Mr Nimocks said,

“[O]ne of the reasons that proponents of marriage and maintaining marriage between a man and a woman believe that is because by so doing it stays as a child-centered institution and not one that’s concentrated on the desires of adults. And if marriage is redefined to be about any two adults who are in love or committed to each other and it’s about adults and not the kids that flow from procreative relationships, then from a policy standpoint you have to ask the question, then why can’t three or more adults be just as loving and committed to each other?”

The people who would wish to redefine marriage would indeed ask that question, and they already have.

The debate moderator followed up to that by asking, “In a number of countries in the world where Islam is the dominant religion polygamy is permitted. So why wouldn’t just on First Amendment grounds, the freedom of religion, polygamy then be something that people would pursue?”

After all, The “prophet” Mohammad married the 6-year-old ‘Aisha. According to the Sahih Bukhari, Volume 7, Book 62, Number 65, “Narrated ‘Aisha: that the Prophet married her when she was six years old and he consummated his marriage with her while she was nine years old.”

What IS marriage anymore? If it is for procreation then how can a 6 year old conceive? If it is for pedophilia, then Islam has it covered well, don’t you think? This was reported a few days ago in the UK Telegraph:

“Alarm as hundreds of children under age of 10 married in Iran”
“Iran has experienced a dramatic growth in under-age marriages that has seen the number of girls being wed before the age of 10 double in the space of a year, officially-compiled figures have revealed.”

Defenders of homosexual marriage say that child-marriage (AKA legislated pedophilia) would not happen because gay marriage is not predicated on a religious liberty, but public policy and a civil “right.” But that very redefinition is happening.

It is increasingly obvious that marriage is being redefined, and with it, fidelity, morality, family, and parenting. The California State Assembly has put forward a bill allowing a child to have more than two parents.

Christians are mocked and scorned for stating that such a redefinition not only pokes God in the eye, but that moving the God-given lines of His intended foundational block of society releases sinful man to include all sorts of heinous configurations into ‘marriage’. Skeptical? Shariah Law has led to the legislation of child marriage in 6 countries. (source). Christians warned that homosexual redefinitions of marriage would also lead to polygamy and bestiality but of course we were soundly pooh-poohed. Yet, “comedian” Sarah Silverman’s season finale of her television show featured her own marriage to her dog. This British woman married a dolphin. And we even have people marrying themselves, as documented in China and in the US!

So if marriage between one man and one woman is suspended, so as to include two men or two women, the self, or an animal, what is to stop the next minority group to challenge THAT definition, and advocate for codification of any number of participants, of any age, or between any species? Nothing. Indeed, South Africa is the only nation in Africa to constitutionally recognize homosexual marriage and SA also recognizes polygamy, too. Are these two redefinitions of traditional marriage linked? Of course they are.

So today we discover that conservative Brazil has allowed its first registered and official polygamous marriage.

Controversy in Brazil as first three-partner marriage is unveiled
“Controversy has been sparked as the first civil union between three separate partners was registered in Tupã, in the Northwestern region of Sao Paulo state, Brazil last week. The three-person union has shocked religious groups in the country, and sparked further concerns that the traditional family unit is being further eroded by the current day society. The actual declaration of the union between the man and two women was in fact made three months ago, but it finally became public this week.” [HT Do Not Be Surprised]

The article continues, reporting, “Notary officer, Claudia do Nascimento Domingues, has explained that the three partners lived together and wanted to publicly declare their status in order to guarantee their rights. Checks were conducted to see if there was any legal impediment to the unions and the notary office has confirmed that none were found. Attorney Nathaniel Batista dos Santos Junior oversaw the legal process of creating the three-way declaration.”

No legal definition had been previously necessary because who would have thought even a few years ago that marriage definitions would be under such attack? But such an attack makes logical sense. According to this excerpt from Focus on the Family’s essay “The Divine Order to Marriage,”

“And the spark, the power of that union is meant to gloriously reveal the very image of God to angels and archangels and all the company of heaven and earth. That is why Satan fights tooth and nail to pervert and distort rightly ordered human sexuality, holy matrimony, the family, and fatherhood in particular. In fact, the amount of time and effort that Satan expends to destroy the image of God reflected in marriage, fatherhood and human sexuality is a barometer of just how incredibly important it is to God’s plan and the expression of His glory.”

His glory is the main point of the world, our lives, and the plan of salvation. His glory is exhibited in His name, His majesty, His holiness, His works, His power, and His ordinances. (Deuteronomy 28; Nehemiah 9:5; Job 37:22; Psalms 93; Psalms 104:1; Psalms 145:5; Psalms 145; Exodus 15:1; Exodus 15; Psalms 19; Psalms 111; Exodus 15; Jude 1:7).

“Yea, they shall sing in the ways of the LORD: for great is the glory of the LORD.” (Psalms 138:5). His glory is expressed through a traditional marriage, united under covenant with Him and persevering in love and submission throughout the decades. Stay true to your spouse, for in so doing you are at once showing God’s glory and striking a blow against satan!

gay marriage, Obama, prophecy

What is the big deal about Obama’s change of opinion on gay marriage?

Posted on May 12, 2012 by elizabethprata

This week Obama came out and said openly that he now supports gay marriage. This caused a political earthquake in America and around the world. Some rushed in with money to support him so any potential second term may gain them political advantage of turning their deviancy into law. Some said his stance shows “moral leadership.”

The pressure ramped up on other world leaders, who immediately were pressed into stating, or re-stating their views. At once, the wolves circled the Australia Prime Minister, who had to ‘defend’ her views against gay marriage. The UK was pressed to follow Obama’s ‘lead.’

In all cases though, we know that his open stance set a global precedent. And not just for gay marriage, but also for gay adoption and ultimately for redefinition of the foundational rock of our culture: families united under God.

Now we know that Obama’s change in stance, or “evolution” as he calls it, is simply a crafty accession to a political timing. I mean, everyone could see this coming, and Southern Baptist Preacher and president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary Al Mohler said essentially we all knew where Obama stood from the beginning and it was only a matter of time until he came out for gay marriage unequivocally.

So on that last basis, people are saying, since we all knew this was coming, what’s the big deal?

Well, it IS a big deal. Franklin Graham said of Obama’s shift toward public and government support of gay marriage:

““President Obama has, in my view, shaken his fist at the same God who created and defined marriage. It grieves me that our president would now affirm same-sex marriage, though I believe it grieves God even more,” Graham said in a statement. “This is a sad day for America. May God help us,” he said.

Here is why Obama’s change from a likely stance toward acceptance of gay marriage to an affirmed stance of homosexual unions codified under the force of law is a big deal: it’s public sin.

Graham is right when he says America has shaken her fist at God. God does not tolerate flaunted sin. He is grieved over all sin, of course, national and individual, but to openly defy God’s law regarding marriage and the family, affirming sin at the national level, takes it up a notch. God had even made a provision for a distinction between unintentional sin and defiant sin in Old Testament Law and he set rules for atonement for each:

“But if just one person sins unintentionally, he must bring a year-old female goat for a sin offering. The priest is to make atonement before the Lord for the one who erred by sinning unintentionally, and when atonement has been made for him, he will be forgiven. One and the same law applies to everyone who sins unintentionally, whether he is a native-born Israelite or an alien. But anyone who sins defiantly, whether native-born or alien, blasphemes the Lord, and that person must be cut off from his people. Because he has despised the Lord’s word and broken his commands, that person must surely be cut off; his guilt remains on him.” (Numbers 15:27-31).

And no one can say that homosexual unions under government establishment and approval is an unintentional sin. Look at this verse from 2 Peter 2:6-10–

“If he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment. This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the sinful natured and despise authority.”

The authority spoken of here is God’s authority, lordship authority and the celestial hierarchies.

So no one can say they were unaware that homosexuality is a sin. We were given an actual example of what is going to happen to the ungodly, and were then told that this will happen again to the ungodly because they had not heeded that example. In the case of Sodom and Gomorrah (and Admah and Zeboiim as per Deuteronomy 29:23) an entire region was destroyed due to public and flagrant sin. In the case of the US, remember that Obama is an elected representative of the majority of 311 million people and a representative speaks for the majority of the people. So this week Obama publicly and intentionally flouted God’s law for the sanctity of marriage the way He has ordained in the bible.

So you can see that it is not just a matter of one guy changing his mind about how he feels about homosexual marriage. It is a matter of a man who was elected to lead the most blessed nation on earth (after Israel) who represents and speaks for the majority of them, a king of the world, who is supposed to righteously govern according to God’s standards but instead publicly flaunts God’s ordinances. He has shaken his fist at God.

We consistently kill millions of unborn babies despite being told not to pass our children through the fire and sacrifice them. (Leviticus 18:21). We affirm deviancy. We allow ‘no-fault’ divorce. We make empty professions of faith and practice idolatry. When the gay-promoters lash out at the bible believers they call us “intolerant.” They will soon discover how INTOLERANT God Himself is toward sin. Nineveh was smote for wickedness. Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim was smote for homosexuality and wickedness. Israel was punished for empty religion and flouting or abandoning God’s laws. God judged the world because “the wickedness of man was great in the earth” (Genesis 6:5a). America is no different than any other nation or the world.

But let’s bring our attention to a part of the verse that is a promise. The first part of the verse spoke about condemnation. The second part is a promise. Here is 2 Peter 2:6-9a:

He KNOWS how grieved we are to hear these things. He KNOWS how trapped we feel, we who did not elect him and who do not hold to these deviant standards. He KNOWS we are distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men. He KNOWS. He rescues the godly. He rescues.

Did he not rescue Noah, that righteous man, perfect in his generations? Did He not rescue Lot? Does He not promise to rescue us from the coming wrath? (1 Thessalonians 1:10). We are not appointed to wrath. (1 Thessalonians 5:9).

So? What is God waiting for? 2 Peter 3:7-9 has the answer–

“But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”

God waited for 400 years to judge the Canaanites. He waited until the fourth generation of the Amorites, until their iniquity was full. (Gen 15:16).

However at a certain point a nation does cross the line. Has America crossed it? As Franklin Graham said, Marriage “was defined not by man, but by God Himself. … This is a sad day for America. May God help us.”

gay marriage

CA voter-approved gay marriage ban ruled unconstitutional

Posted on February 7, 2012May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Photo source

“A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that Proposition 8, California’s voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage, is unconstitutional because it violates the 14th Amendment guarantee of equal protection under the law.” (online source)

The world’s version of perverted “love” ruling may stand for a while, but eventually, holiness will rule. God will remind one and all of how He wants His society set up. He is so gracious, giving us more time to come to repentance and to adhere to His standards!

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bible, Christian compassion requihomosexuality, gay agenda, gay marriage

All gay all the time: God gave us over

Posted on July 3, 2011 by elizabethprata

With the approval of the NY State Legislature and governor in legalizing homosexual marriage last week, the floodgates are already opening. The voices decrying the moral equality of anything gay are increasingly voices in the wilderness. Yet the numbers are truly, TRULY embarrassing. Let me show you:

In the Christian Posts’ “All Gay All the Time” essay, they stated “A Martian who visited modern America today might well think that half the population was homosexual-and the other half wished it were” and then backed it up with numbers. They wrote the statistic that only about 2% of the US population identifies itself as homosexual. And that 2% figure is already rounded up from 1.8%.

The population of the US is 311 million. 2% of 311 million is 6.2 million people. Taking aside objections that the homosexual population isn’t distributed evenly, for the sake of argument, 6.2 million divided by 50 states is 124,670 gays per state. Enacting a state-wide agenda because of the wants of 124,000 is disproportionate in the extreme!

Let’s look at Christians in America, every one of which should recognize that NOT all voluntary sexual relations are equal… and who should claim homosexuality as a sin … and homosexual marriage as against God’s model for marriage as shown to us in Genesis 2. Seventy-five% of Americans say they are Christian, which I don’t believe. We know that there is a huge apostate church that accepts homosexuality. We further know from the proportions of the saved vs unsaved in the bible that many are not truly saved (parable of the Sower in Mt 13). Further, there will be many who will claim to be one of the Lord’s children but aren’t. (Matthew 7:22). So let’s knock that 75% Christian figure down to 35%.

Thirty-five percent of Christians in the general population of America is one hundred eight million. 108 million who stand for opposite gender relations as opposed to 6 million who don’t. 2% versus 35%. If I was to use the generally accepted standard of 75% of the population being Christian the numbers get so embarrassing I don’t even dare to go further.

This tells us several things. First, Christians need to do a better job of maintaining biblical standards in their minds and hearts and mouths pertaining to the gay agenda. I’m not insisting we go forth in social Gospel activities. It is a spiritual problem, not a social one. Here is what CARM says:

“As a Christian, you should pray for the salvation of the homosexual the same as you would for any other person in sin. The homosexual is still made in the image of God — even though he is in grave sin. Therefore, you should show him the same dignity as anyone else with whom you come in contact. However, this does not mean that you are to approve of their sin. Don’t compromise your witness for a socially-acceptable opinion that is void of godliness.”

The same essay says: “Homosexuality is clearly condemned by the Bible. It goes against the created order of God. He created Adam and then made a woman. This is what God has ordained and it is what is right. Unlike other sins, homosexuality has a severe judgment administered by God Himself. This judgment is simple: They are given over to their passions. That means that their hearts are allowed to be hardened by their sins (Romans 1:18-32). As a result, they can no longer see the error of what they are doing. Without an awareness of their sinfulness, there will be no repentance and trusting in Jesus. Without Jesus, they will have no forgiveness. Without forgiveness, there is no salvation.”

In listening to John MacArthur the other day, in his sermon about Jeremiah “Prophetic message for an ungodly nation” (GREAT SERMON!) he mentioned a lot of people wonder if America is under judgment. There is the famous quote from Billy Graham, ‘If God doesn’t judge America he needs to give an apology to Sodom and Gomorrah.’ We expect judgment. Yet, we don’t see brimstone falling, nor earthquakes ravaging, nor thunder booming. Where is the judgment? MacArthur said that the Romans verse (quoted & linked above) is a judgment. God gives them over to their perverse lusts. So, how can a disproportionate population of 1.8% push an ungodly agenda onto a population of 311 million, 75% of whom claim to be Christian?? God’s judgment. He gave us over.

–A good opinion piece by Pat Buchanan The death of moral community

–Christian Post: All Gay All The Time

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bible, end time, gay marriage, prophecy

New York State approves gay marriage law

Posted on June 25, 2011May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

NY legalizes gay marriage 42 years after Stonewall

“Champagne corks popped, rainbow flags flapped and crowds embraced and danced in the streets of Manhattan’s Greenwich Village as New York became the sixth and largest state in the U.S. to legalize same-sex marriage. Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the bill shortly before midnight Friday, almost 42 years to the day that the modern-day gay rights movement was born amid violent encounters between police and gay activists at the Stonewall Inn.”

According to secular experts,When New York became the sixth and by far the largest state to legalize same-sex marriage, following a grueling overtime session in the state Legislature on Friday, it immediately transformed the national debate over the issue, legal experts said. … “I think that having same-sex marriage in New York will have tremendous moral and political force for the rest of the country — in part because New York is a large state, and in part because it hasn’t come easily,” said Suzanne Goldberg, a professor at Columbia Law School. The New York Assembly passed same-sex marriage legislation twice before, in 2007 and 2009, but in both cases it stalled in the state Senate, as it nearly did again this week. The bill passed late on Friday after legislators agreed on language allowing religious organizations to refuse to perform services or lend space for same-sex weddings. The new law’s impact can be measured in part by the numbers at play: New York is home to more than 42,000 same-sex couples, according to an analysis of U.S. census data conducted by the Williams Institute. This means, among other things, that the number of same-sex couples living in states allowing same-sex marriage has more than doubled overnight.”

Wasn’t that nice of them, to provide a footnote acknowledging that at the moment at least, the law won’t force people who honor God to dishonor Him by performing unbiblical marriages.

The photo above of the “revelers” in the streets exulting in the passage of the gay marriage law reminds me of what it will look like during the Tribulation, when revelers do all sorts of ungodly celebrating. One of those ungodly celebrations will be when the Two Witnesses are killed and they dance in the streets and send gifts over their dead bodies. “And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry, and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.” (Revelation 11:10)

The bible regards homosexuality as immoral. Leviticus 18:22; Romans 1:26-27; and in 1 Corinthians 6:9 it is noted that the homosexual will not inherit the kingdom. Because of their unbelief, God gave them over to their degrading lusts. (Romans 1:24). The model for our marriages is the first marriage and that was between a man and a woman.

We can no longer think of the NY gay marriage law, which failed two times previously, as a Sisyphean effort. Sisyphus was the mythological man who was condemned by the ‘gods’ to eternally roll a rock up a mountain, only to have it roll back to the bottom again just as it reached the top. The rock has reached the top and has been loosed on the other side. It will gather steam as the forward progression of immorality continues ever faster in this labor pang world.

Our Jesus is a forgiving Savior and will open His arms to anyone who repents. God hates sin but He loves His children, and He wants to help them remove themselves from their degrading lusts with the aid of the Holy Spirit. He is gracious, and will send the Spirit to all who repent. He will regenerate that person into a new creation, one that is righteous and pure in His eyes.

For those who refuse to repent however, Jesus is the Rock.

As Daniel interprets Nebuchadnezzar ‘s dream: “You, O king, were looking and behold, there was a single great statue; that statue, which was large and of extraordinary splendor, was standing in front of you, and its appearance was awesome. “The head of that statue was made of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. “You continued looking until a stone was cut out without hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them. “Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were crushed all at the same time and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.” (Daniel 2:31-35).

It’s obvious the world is fallen and I believe the NY gay marriage law is indicative of that. Further, the passage of the law in that state means that we have pushed the rock to the pinnacle of the mountain and the next phase will be a fast downward slide that soon roars into a pell mell tumble into depravity. Revelers take note! Jesus is the rock who will crush the world’s fallen governments and establish His righteous Kingdom on earth!
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