Category: homosexual

Posted in abomination, gay marriage, homosexual

Toledo, Ohio judge refuses to marry gay couple, issues statement

Posted on by elizabethprata

This is quite interesting.

Toledo judge issues statement after refusing to marry same-sex couple

Excerpt:

TOLEDO, OH (Toledo News Now) –

Almost two weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to legalize same-sex marriage, a Toledo Municipal Court Judge refused to perform a local same-sex couple’s wedding ceremony.

After Carolyn Wilson and her partner were told that the Duty Judge would not marry them on Monday, Judge C. Allen McConnell has issued a statement on the incident:

“On Monday, July 6, I declined to marry a non-traditional couple during my duties assignment. The declination was based upon my personal and Christian beliefs established over many years. I apologize to the couple for the delay they experienced and wish them the best. The court has implemented a process whereby same-sex marriages will be accommodated. I will continue to perform traditional marriages during my duties assignment. I am also seeking advisory opinion from the Supreme Court of Ohio at this time as to whether or not I can opt out of the rotation. Upon receipt of the advisory opinion from Supreme Court , I will abide by its decision.”

Equality Toledo Board Member and attorney Rob Salem says the statement doesn’t comply with the laws of the court.

“I don’t think this is a very complicated issue. This court, the Toledo Municipal Court, requires the Judge on duty to perform marriages,” he said. “Judge McConnell took an oath of office when he became judge to uphold the laws of this land. He vowed also to apply those laws as equally and fairly without any regard to his own personal biases and prejudices.”

Equality Toledo Executive Director Nick Komives says the wording in the statement itself was upsetting, and after speaking with Wilson, she echoed the same sentiments.

“He referred to the couple as non-traditional, and the Supreme Court just said that’s not the case,” he said. “It’s also upsetting because they were asking for an apology from him and rather than actually giving a true apology, he decided to apologize for their wait time. Which just frankly is not enough. She (Wilson) was really just not satisfied with the apology that they received and I think rightfully so. They were humiliated by what happened and then had to wait, so I can see why they’re so upset.”

More at link

The couple didn’t like the wording of the apology?? They judged it an untrue apology and rejected it on that basis?? They aren’t satisfied, even though they got married??

Nothing less than total capitulation will do for the homosexual agenda, will it? Not too tolerant are they.

The remainder of the article quotes an American Civil Liberties Union representative, who came down on the side of the homosexuals, not the religious liberty the Judge is supposed to enjoy. It’s interesting to see what will happen next. Will his religious beliefs will be accommodated, and will he be allowed to opt-out of the rotations, or whether he will be forced to submit to the homosexual agenda despite his beliefs.

I think we can see where this is going.

Posted in celibacy, homosexual, jesus, matthew vines, overcome, same-sex

A heartfelt reply to Matthew Vines 40 questions about gay marriage, and an open letter with a personal plea

Posted on by elizabethprata

A few days ago, Kevin DeYoung at The Gospel Coalition published “40 Questions for Christians Now Waving Rainbow Flags”. It was an excellent and gentle way to approach the subject of same-sex attraction and homosexual marriage. One could detect immediately that his piece would have an impact. It did.

One of the leading apologists for same sex attraction and the homosexual lifestyle as biblical is young Matthew Vines. He wrote a book called God and the Gay Christian. He has not been silent about his advocacy for the gay lifestyle being biblical. Today he issued his own response, “40 questions for Christians who oppose marriage equality“

I am a Christian opposed to homosexual marriage. So, I’ve chosen to answer them. Vines’ questions are in bold. My answers follow. (Left, M. Vines)

Dear Mr Vines,

My young friend, I am thoughtfully and earnestly answering these questions you posed. Since you took the time to create them and publish them, and I took the time to answer these questions, I ask you kindly to read them.

I have a special, personal, heartfelt message for you at the end, Mr Vines … Matthew. My heart really goes out to you. In my message at the bottom, I am honest, transparent, and perhaps you will detect in me that at one time we were the same. Hang in there with this piece and please, I do want the best for you and I’m not here to be your enemy. I’m answering as an old Baptist lady twice your age, lol, that has some things to share based on experience in the Lord, that I believe would bless you to read.

• Do you accept that sexual orientation is not a choice?
No. All sin is a choice.

• Do you accept that sexual orientation is highly resistant to attempts to change it?
Yes. All sin is highly resistant to change- in the flesh. Ask an alcoholic/drug addict/kleptomaniac/nymphomaniac…Yet through Jesus we can do anything. (John 15:5)

• How many meaningful relationships with lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) people do you have?
Define “meaningful”.

• How many openly LGBT people would say you are one of their closest friends?
Are we defining biblical truth by our experience with a randomly allotted number of friends?

 • How much time have you spent in one-on-one conversation with LGBT Christians about their faith and sexuality?
Again, are we defining spiritual truth by the number of hours talked?

• Do you accept that heterosexual marriage is not a realistic option for most gay people?
No. “And such were some of you”. (1 Corinthians 6:11).

• Do you accept that lifelong celibacy is the only valid option for most gay people if all same-sex relationships are sinful?
Lifelong celibacy is not unbiblical and it’s not a jail sentence. ALL people who are single are expected to be celibate. (Matthew 19:11). And post-conversion, marriage IS in the cards for some who were previously gay, previously fornicators, previously sexually overactive in any way. The only people marriage is not in the cards for biblically are those who divorce for unbiblical reasons.

• How many gay brothers and sisters in Christ have you walked with on the path of mandatory celibacy, and for how long?
The bible mandates celibacy for all single people, and constrains sexual intercourse to marriage between one man and one woman. It’s not a punishment, though your phrasing indicates you believe it is.

• What is your answer for gay Christians who struggled for years to live out a celibacy mandate but were driven to suicidal despair in the process?
Celibacy=despair=suicide?

• Has mandatory celibacy produced good fruit in the lives of most gay Christians you know?
Has celibacy produced good fruit in most of the heterosexual Christians we know? Yes. And by the way, this is the fifth question out of ten you’ve asked so far directly dealing with sex. And homosexuals say it’s not about the sex? Methinks…you…doth…

• How many married same-sex couples do you know?
Until last Friday, same-sex marriage was illegal in our state.

• Do you believe that same-sex couples’ relationships can show the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control?
No, not in a way that is pleasing to God because same-sex couples do not have the Spirit in them. The Spirit is not given to unrepentant sinners.

• Do you believe that it is possible to be a Christian and support same-sex marriage in the church?
No, because it would mean denying the clear teachings of scriptures in the Old Testament and the New Testament and defying God’s picture of His Son and His bride.

• Do you believe that it is possible to be a Christian and support slavery?
Since we are talking spiritually, bondage to sin is the ultimate slavery. Jesus came to set us free from it.

• If not, do you believe that Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Jonathan Edwards were not actually Christians because they supported slavery?
Let’s look at fallible men to make your case for a biblical truth. Not.

• Do you think supporting same-sex marriage is a more serious problem than supporting slavery?
More serious? Less serious? On a scale of one to ten, … it has a good beat and I can dance to it. Matthew, moral relativism has no place in a discussion of biblical truths, because God’s moral law is absolute. We find that absolute in the bible.

• Did you spend any time studying the Bible’s passages about slavery before you felt comfortable believing that slavery is wrong?
You’re aiming for an emotional argument here, one from conscience. Owning another human being has nothing to do with the sin of sexual union with the same gender. By the way, slavery is more endemic in this day and age than it ever was previously in any age. All sin is rising in the world.

• Does it cause you any concern that Christians throughout most of church history would have disagreed with you?
Once again you appeal to experience and behavior to attempt to prove a moral law, which can’t happen because man is sinful and God is not. God is the only arbiter of morals.

• Did you know that, for most of church history, Christians believed that the Bible taught the earth stood still at the center of the universe?
Did you know that mankind still cannot figure out how the pyramids were built?

• Does it cause you any concern that you disagree with their interpretation of the Bible?
Not as much as my concern over your misinterpretation of the bible.

• Did you spend any time studying the Bible’s verses on the topic before you felt comfortable believing that the earth revolves around the sun?
I admire that the bible confirms science.

• Do you know of any Christian writers before the 20th century who acknowledged that gay people must be celibate for life due to the church’s rejection of same-sex relationships?
The church rejects same-sex relationships, as well as animal-human sexual relationships, sexual relationships outside of marriage, and incestuous relationships because they are sinful

• If not, might it be fair to say that mandating celibacy for gay Christians is not a traditional position?
Celibacy for anyone who is not married, is “mandated”. That is the traditional position.

• Do you believe that the Bible explicitly teaches that all gay Christians must be single and celibate for life?
The bible teaches that all persons not in a marital relationship must remain pure, and abstain from all sexual activity. There is no such thing as a Gay Christian. I say this with no snark and much sorrow because I know you identify as such…

• If not, do you feel comfortable affirming something that is not explicitly affirmed in the Bible?
Celibacy for anyone not in a biblically ordained marriage is explicitly affirmed in the bible.

• Do you believe that the moral distinction between lust and love matters for LGBT people’s romantic relationships?
Anyone, and that means anyone old or young, straight or gay, who lusts in their heart has already committed adultery. (Proverbs 6:25, Matthew 5:28).

• Do you think that loving same-sex relationships should be assessed in the same way as the same-sex behavior Paul explicitly describes as lustful in Romans 1?
There are no loving same-sex relationships because they are all built on hate for the word of God and for our redeemer Jesus Christ. Anyone who sins and has not repented is an enemy of Jesus. That’s hate.

• Do you believe that Paul’s use of the terms “shameful” and “unnatural” in Romans 1:26-27 means that all same-sex relationships are sinful?
Seeing that Paul’s exact words were inspired by the Godhead, I’d say yes.

• Would you say the same about Paul’s description of long hair in men as “shameful” and against “nature” in 1 Corinthians 11:14, or would you say he was describing cultural norms of his time?
“Would I say” is not the way to go about interpreting the bible. Proper hermeneutics and an understanding of the verse/passage/chapter in context is how to go about understanding what the Spirit is saying to us. Nevertheless, there are many things described as shameful in the bible. When we read one of them, we should take heed.

• Do you believe that the capacity for procreation is essential to marriage?
I believe this because the bible proclaims it. However that capacity is God-given, and we know that the capacity to procreate is not God-given to absolutely everyone.

• If so, what does that mean for infertile heterosexual couples?
It means that God has not deemed those persons to procreate, just as He has deemed some to remain unmarried for periods of time, and others to remain celibate. In the main, though, marriage is a picture of Christ and His church, it is for partnership complementary to one another for life, and is for sexual union and the blessing of being given a child. All this is plain in the bible.

• How much time have you spent engaging with the writings of LGBT-affirming Christians like Justin Lee, James Brownson, and Rachel Murr?
None. I spend my time in edifying materials. First, the bible and next in material Philippians 4:8 urges us to digest. Why would I want to think on materials that are at enmity with God and teach against His moral principles? Just so, I also choose not to read writers who urge us to sexually partner with children or animals. Why would I?

• What relationship recognition rights short of marriage do you support for same-sex couples?
Absolutely none. Indulging in sex outside of biblically ordained marriage is a sin.

• What are you doing to advocate for those rights?
We already possess the highest “recognition” in the universe: all are made in the image of God and while we were still sinners, God loved us. When I repented and became a citizen of heaven, all my “rights” transferred to Jesus and flow from Jesus. I (try) to do only what is “right” in His eyes.

• Do you know who Tyler Clementi, Leelah Alcorn, and Blake Brockington are, and did your church offer any kind of prayer for them when their deaths made national news?
Our church frequently prays for many of the families of people who die, (we don’t pray for dead people themselves, their eternity is fixed by then) though we tend to stay away from “national news” oriented situations.

• Do you know that LGBT youth whose families reject them are 8.4 times more likely to attempt suicide than LGBT youth whose families support them?
First, it is shameful for families to reject any of their children. It is an especial sin for Christian families to do so. (Col 3:21, 1 Tim 5:8). Your question didn’t distinguish whether it’s Christian families or NON-Christian families doing the rejecting. As for the homosexual youth who kill themselves, that is because their sin and rebellion is causing them intense depression and despair. ALL sinners are in despair, and many sinners perform suicide. However the antidote for suicide is not to indulge their sin. Jesus overcame all sins of oppression, depression, possession, and despair, and once a person is in Christ, has the strength and help available via the Spirit to climb out of their sinful hole and resist the temptation to kill themselves.

• Have you vocally objected when church leaders and other Christians have compared same-sex relationships to things like bestiality, incest, and pedophilia?
No, why would I object? Homosexuality is in the same list as the things you mentioned and all of them are an abomination to the LORD. They are all sexual sin and Jesus came to die for pedophiles, animal lovers, homosexuals, and incestuously active, the same as He came to die for embezzlers, liars, hypocrites, gossips, adulterers, coveters, etc.

• How certain are you that God’s will for all gay Christians is lifelong celibacy?
Not certain at all. Many gay people who repent and have the Holy Spirit in them go one to enjoy productive and happy relationships in marriage with the opposite sex. Even bearing children. Of the ones He deems to be celibate, and not all of those are gay people, Matthew, He gives the strength to remain so. In fact, in the last days Tribulation, Rev 7 and 11 shows us there will be 144,000 celibate virgins running around doing God’s work. Happily. Imagine that. Moral sexual purity during the WORST sinful time Matthew 24:21 says there shall ever be.

• What do you think the result would be if we told all straight teenagers in the church that if they ever dated someone they liked, held someone’s hand, kissed someone, or got married, they would be rebelling against God?
The result would be that the pastor and deacons and elders would take me aside to explain my error in biblical interpretation regarding marriage.

• Are you willing to be in fellowship with Christians who disagree with you on this topic?
I am already in fellowship with Christians who disagree on a variety of topics. That’s called the normal Christian life.

—————————–

Personal message to Matthew Vines:

My dear young man, and I mean the “dear”, in reading your list of questions it becomes obvious that you view leaving the identity of homosexual and turning to Jesus as one of loss. “Woe is me, I won’t be able to have sex.” “Woe is me, I’ll never be able to marry.” “So sad for me, I’ll be denied hand-holding and cuddles.”

This is why you rail against the Christians who attempt to correct you. You are focused on what you have to give up, on what you think you’ll lose. You never see the true benefit of repenting and the treasure hidden in the field you will receive instead. You’re clinging to a boulder on a sinking ship, and you never look up to see the helicopter with a lifeline ready to take you to glorious heights.

I said I’d be transparent with you. I am not gay and I’ve never once thought about a same-sex relationship. I was married but now I’m divorced. That happened at about the same time I was converted, at age 43. That was 11 years ago. I’ve been celibate for all these years. In the inimitable way the Lord has, He made it clear that I was not to be married. I am one of those people Paul speaks of who has “the gift of celibacy.”

I self-identified as a healthy, excessively lusty woman, interested in cuddles, hand holding, all the way up to sex with a man, who would be my husband. When the Spirit inspired John’s Gospel and he recorded the incident with the woman at the well, He likely had me in mind, lol. I liked sex, a LOT. I was defined by my sin. But it was getting pretty heavy.

When I was converted by grace of God, I struggled. I was single, and looking down that long hallway of life and had a very hard time coming to grips with the notion that I would be not only single, but- gasp!- celibate. I could barely say the word. What would I do? That aspect of me comprised almost all of me. It was who I was and was who I identified as being. Who would I be if I gave it up? I know you can relate.

I struggled mightily for a year. Yet the bible was very clear. I loved Jesus. I loved sexual relations. How could He do this to me, deny me? The tension between who I wanted to identify as (sexually liberated woman) and who I was now (pure daughter of Christ) grew unbearable. Something had to give. It soon became apparent I had to give up my self-identity because it was based on the sin of lust, and I now must rest “in Christ”. On July 4, 2006, I laid down on the floor of my vacation cabin, put my face to the ground and said, “Lord, this sin of lust is keeping me from thinking straight. It is keeping me from a biblical mind-transformation that I need to have. It is keeping me from YOU. I cannot serve two masters. Lord, the bible says,

And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. 45And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell. 47And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, 48‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched. (Mark 9:43-48).

That is pretty graphic, no? And it is equally clear. I had to let go of the boulder. I was clutching at something that I thought made me, me, and it was drowning me. The boulder was NOT my self-identification, the Lord had now identified me as His child. I must be pure. Help, me Lord in this that you require.

I did not have a safety net. There was no “leap and the net will appear.” I had no idea what lay ahead. I just knew that I needed Christ’s strength and I clung to his promise to GIVE ME LIFE AND LIFE ABUNDANTLY instead of my boulder of lusty-self-identification.

I said, “If this is what it means to have a deep relationship with You, Lord, I cut out my beloved sin. I cast it at Your cross. I repudiate it.”

Do you think, Matthew, that the Lord would “mandate” celibacy for singles, a word you enjoy saying so often, and not help us maintain it? BTW He has the authority to “mandate” everything, you know. Do you believe that He is that weak, uncaring, impotent to overcome all your temptations? He HAS already overcome them. Do you believe He may not have a gracious and loving woman in reserve for you to marry, should you repent and convert? Do you not believe He wants your best, a best that is outlined in the bible? Even if it means still allowing you to struggle with sexual lust, do you not think that there are others who have similar struggles and temptations in all areas of life? Don’t you think it’s a bit self-involved to think no one else has temptations like you men who self-identify as gay have? Yet somehow they and I find the strength in Christ who rely on Him to help us. We have wonderful lives full to the brim and overflowing with grace and service and love.

He forgave all my sins, and lifted all my temptations. He gave me abundant life, He gave me HIMSELF. I traded a dusty and rotten old boulder on a sinking ship for glorious heights in His service, happily, in the new life He made for me. I am the woman at the well. Here is how she ended:

 Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” 40So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. 41And many more believed because of his word. 42They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.” (John 4:39-42).

He can be your Savior, complete and powerful, offering you release from the chain that you are attached to, that boulder of lust for men. Don’t be Mrs Lot, looking back at what you think you will lose. The full Christian life is not about losses and lacks. Look ahead, Matthew. No, look up.

The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:15)

Sincerely,
Elizabeth, some ole Baptist lady in Georgia who loves you and wants the best for you.

Posted in encouragement, gay marriage, homosexual, judgment, lot, sodom, supreme court

Take comfort: God knows how to rescue the Godly from trials

Posted on by elizabethprata
The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, John Martin, 1852.

if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; 7and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked 8(for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); 9then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, 10and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority. (2 Peter 2:6-10).

Imagine being Lot. A just and righteous man, he must have been greatly upset by what he saw all around him. We tease and laugh at Lot’s unwise decisions, choosing the city over the plain when separating from Abraham. We chidingly say, “Why didn’t Lot move out?” But by now he had a life there, economic entanglements, a family. He sat by the gate, which meant he was a town elder. Perhaps Lot thought he could do some good with what influence he had. Perhaps the slide toward almost total wickedness crept up on him. In the United States it really only took about 20 years for a reversal from east to west, from top to bottom, a change of nation-wide magnitude to happen.

Though many are mourning the Supreme Court’s decision to allow homosexual marriage in all the land, we aren’t righteous Lot. He had only two other truly righteous people around him, his daughters. His wife was later unmasked as false, unfortunately. Only Lot and his daughters. He did not have the Holy Spirit in Him, either, for comfort. Nor did he belong to the Body of Christ and thereby take comfort from fellow believers. It was just Lot, two daughters, and a city full of sodomites.

We are blessed! We have churches free and open (for now). We have blogs to express our thoughts and books we can be edified from and the Bible freely sold to learn about our holy God and brethren far away but as near as Skype to encourage and be encouraged by. We have prayer and a High Priest who intercedes for us!

SO! If the LORD God knew how to rescue righteous Lot, then He knows how to rescue the godly from trials. Our God is a God who sees the plight of the oppressed! (Genesis 16:13)

Our God is a God who hears!

And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. (1 John 5:14)

But truly God has listened; he has attended to the voice of my prayer. (Psalm 66:19)

Our God is not a distant, unaware, aloof God! He is intimately involved with His people and with the world!

Then the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous 21that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.” (Genesis 18:20-21)

The Lord going down is explained in Jamieson-Fausset, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible:

language used after the manner of men. These cities were to be made examples to all future ages of God’s severity; and therefore ample proof given that the judgment was neither rash nor excessive (Ez 18:23; Je 18:7).

God is patient, but aware. The righteous will be rescued and the wicked will be punished. I glory in both of these attributes, His long-suffering and His holy justice to come. His patience is so that many will come to repentance. Therefore, far from crying today I am worshiping our Great God. He hears the cries of the oppressed and of the righteous. He is omnipotent, all-powerful the great Amen. He’s got this!

Posted in gay marriage, homosexual, prophecy, supreme court

5 people v. 5000 years: Homosexual Marriage for all the land redefined, affirmed, and applauded

Posted on by elizabethprata
Source

Landmark: Supreme Court Rules Same-Sex Marriage Legal Nationwide (excerpts)

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday made marriage for same-sex couples legal nationwide, declaring that refusing to grant marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples violates the Constitution. The landmark ruling will produce the most significant change in laws governing matrimony since the court struck down state bans on inter-racial marriage almost 50 years ago.

The majority opinion in the 5-4 decision was written by Justice Anthony Kennedy.

“No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were,” Kennedy wrote. “As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death.” Kennedy went on to speak directly to the type of criticism that often comes from conservatives in pushing back against marriage equality.

“It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves,” Kennedy said. “Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization’s oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.”

A total of 36 states now permit gay couples to get married, covering roughly 70 percent of the US population. Today’s ruling means the bans must end in the other 14 states — Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Tennessee and Texas.

The decision capped a remarkably quick turnaround in public and judicial acceptance of same-sex marriage. In the past 18 months, court rulings struck down marriage bans in rapid succession — nearly 60 separate decisions in more than half the states. Public opinion has shifted dramatically in recent years. The first Gallup poll on the subject showed only 27 percent approval for same-sex marriage in 1996. Gallup’s most recent poll, taken last month, showed 60 percent approval.

Those figures illustrate a remarkable slide into sin and apostasy. Remarkable. But it is what happens when a person or a nation worships the creation rather than the Creator. Once one sets aside the Creator, it is for all practical purposes, inevitable. Romans 1 shows the slide, beginning in verse 18. And once hardened, it is inescapable. Here is the salient portion of the Romans passage for today’s news:

Romans 1:26-32:
For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

28And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

They applaud the perversity. Source

The vast audience applauding is significant. The conscience in suppression of righteousness must have a salve, and rejecting the salve of God’s forgiveness on their souls, they strive to dampen the effects of conscience by merging with like-minded sinners. Unrestrained sin from hardened perpetrators will lead to mass delusion, sin, hysteria… If Gentiles were seen as dogs, then this scene shows what hardened sinners are like when given societal permission to do their wickedness: they become as rabid dogs. See what happened in Sodom:

But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house. 5And they called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them.” (Genesis 19:4-5)

Every last man in the entire city surrounded a house that contained fresh, attractive meat. Gang rape was on their mind. Of course, we in the US are not to the point of gay gang rapers marauding from house to house in search of victims, but today in our nation, our new name has become Sodom. Here is Ken Ham of Answers In Genesis, the Genesis apologetics site, offered his reaction to today’s news.

Ken Ham

Gay “Marriage” Affirmed By the Supreme Court

This ruling by the Supreme Court in regard to gay “marriage” is actually going to fundamentally change the culture in America and apart from a miracle of God—a special movement of God—this is going to be basically an irreversible situation. And I really believe that to understand what is happening to America now, read Romans chapter 1. That is really a picture of what is going on. We’re going to see increased persecution against Christians; we’re going to see increased antagonism toward Christianity. We’re going to see the restriction of the free exercise of religion, freedom of religion, and free speech in this nation, particularly in regard to Christianity. I believe we’re going to see the government move against Christian churches, colleges, institutions, and organizations that take a stand on biblical marriage as God commands us to in the Bible going back to the book of Genesis.

As Jesus stated in Matthew, “Have ye not read, that He that made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘For this cause shall a man leave father and mother and shall cleave to his wife, and the two shall be one flesh’? Therefore they are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder” (Matthew 19:4–7).

Just as the slide toward this moment was remarkably fast, the persecution of the church which seeks to maintain righteousness and call out sin and sinners will also speed up remarkably. Now I hope not to see (too much) woe is me hand-wringing from Christians over the SCOTUS decision. It is a sad day for a nation I was once and in many ways am still proud of. I trust the Lord my God, and He is in control. His holiness is unaffected by pagan men on courts with reprobate minds. I am sad for the many who will go the way of Sodom, their condemnation hanging over them, but I am equally joyful in God’s mighty plan of redemption. Satan means this for evil, but God will use it for good.

Perhaps He will release the SCOTUS proponents from their sin and they will repent. That would be a Good to emerge from this. Perhaps this hastened the day of the rapture, and that would be a good thing. Perhaps this will weed out false or waffling pastors when confronted with the local, legal reality of the decision, and perhaps would solidify others to a stronger biblical stance. Those would be a good things.

Don Green

God’s grace is available to any person willing to fall before a holy resurrected Jesus and repent of their sins. Pastor Don Green of Truth Community Church reminds us of this mercy, with his reaction to the decision focused on Jesus-

Commentary on today’s Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage?

Sure thing.

First, an inerrant analysis; then a personal promise.

1. The inerrant analysis (and it isn’t pretty):

24 Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. 25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

26 For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, 27 and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. 28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper (Romans 1:24-28)

Analysis: simple.

This ruling is depraved and improper. Game over.

2. A personal promise (in complete reliance on God’s future grace):

I, and thousands of pastors like me, along with countless biblical Christians who have not bowed the knee to Baal, will never, ever affirm this decision or yield to its illegitimate demand on conscience.
I will gladly tell homosexuals that their sins can be forgiven through repentance and faith in Christ. I will show them human kindness and courtesy.

But I will never offer them false comfort about the eternal consequences of their lifestyle choices. “Do not be deceived: homosexuals will not inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6:9-10).
I will never yield to their threats. I will not be silenced. “Do not fear their intimidation, and do not be troubled” (1 Peter 3:14).

For those who harden their hearts against this biblical truth, I say this: enjoy your legal victory today, but understand how fleeting and empty it is.

A transcendent Judge will one day reverse this Supreme Court. And the nakedness society celebrates today will be shown the nakedness God condemns.

Nary a fig leaf will give you cover in the searching presence of offended, omniscient Holiness. You will give account for your sin, and a transient 5-4 verdict from the U.S. Supreme Court will not justify you on that Day.

For those who belong to Christ: this world was never our home. Let us look confidently to our Rock and Refuge. He will yet have the final say, and He will never forsake or abandon us.

We will not bow our knee to Baal. We will proclaim a righteous and just Jesus who can and does redeem the wicked from their sins, whatever their sins are. The age of grace is not over.

But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

Posted in gay marriage, homosexual, love, sin

"Dear Homosexual: Why We’ll Never Bake Your Fake ‘Wedding’ Cake"

Posted on by elizabethprata

J.Matt Barber wrote an opinion piece that was published in the CNS News site yesterday. Within 32 hours it had garnered 5,777 comments. Not views. Comments. And most of those are negative. Very few ‘hear, hears’ and lots of “you’re a pig” kind of comments.

What topic in today’s culture will bring this much negative response? Proclaiming homosexuality as a sin. Which Barber did, and very biblically and compassionately too. It is reprinted here with permission from the author.

Why We’ll Never Bake Your Fake ‘Wedding’ Cake
J. Matt Barber March 9, 2015

Dear homosexual,

We are your fellow sinners and no better than you. We know this. We are saved from eternal torment, self-wrought, by the grace of Christ alone. If you are an unrepentant, “out and proud” homosexual practitioner, then you are not. It is our deepest prayer that you, too, will accept the free gift of eternal salvation, repent and “go and sin no more.”

The alternative is a living hell.

Let us be direct. According to the unequivocal moral precepts of biblical Christianity, explicit throughout both the Old and New Testaments, your homosexual behavior is sin. Sin is evil. Homosexual behavior is the central, defining characteristic of your counterfeit “gay marriage.” Therefore, “gay marriage” is evil. Christians are obligated to avoid sin – to “do no evil.” “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. …” (1 Corinthians 6:9).

It really is that simple. This is why, as faithful Christians (apostate “Christians” notwithstanding), we will never have anything whatsoever to do with your pagan, sin-based “same-sex wedding” rituals.

We will not bake your fake wedding cake.

We will not arrange your fake wedding flowers.

We will not take your fake wedding pictures.

We will not host your fake wedding reception.

We will not do these things because to do these things is to disobey God. It is to aid you in your sin, to cause you to stumble, which, in and of itself, is to layer sin upon sin. “It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea, than that he would cause one of these little ones to stumble” (Luke 17:2).

While we all fall short of His glory, the history of God’s people has shown that no unjust law presuming to force us to do otherwise, will ever make us disobey God in this or any other regard. We realize that forcing others to affirm that which offends God makes you feel better about your sin for a time. We also realize that it infuriates you when we refuse to join in as you attempt, ineffectively, to justify your wickedness by calling it “marriage.”

This is nothing new. We Christians have been infuriating pagans by refusing to bend on truth for over 2,000 years.

And we will continue to do so until Christ returns.

Children don’t like to be told “no.” They sometimes throw a fit when we don’t give them what they want. Still, when we know that some desire they may have is both wrong and harmful to them, we must tell them no.

They get over it.

You’ll get over it.

We’re telling you no because we love you with the love of Christ. But understand this: As we are so commanded, we must, and do, hate the evil conduct by which you define your identity. Sexual immorality – in this case self-destructive and disease-spreading sodomy, which violates the laws of nature and nature’s God – is a grave sin that will destroy you in both body and soul. You are deceived. It is not “who you are.” It is what you do.

And what you do is wrong. Period. Full stop.

If we as parents were to condone, support and even assist our children in the commission of a grave sin, of a wrong, what kind of parents would we be?

What kind of friend would we be to you if we condoned, supported or assisted you in the commission of your grave “gay marriage” sin?

Maybe this will help you to understand. Whereas, and while you may be in denial of this fact, sexual immorality is the central defining characteristic of your temptation-driven “gay” identity. Christ’s righteousness and our obedience to Him are, at least in part, central aspects of our Holy Spirit-gifted Christian identity.

You can financially ruin us, sue us, throw us in jail or even feed us to the lions, but we will never, under any circumstances, while empowered by the Holy Spirit, deliberately disobey God to please you or anyone else. “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28).

Of late, we Christians are especially inspired by one of our Christian sisters (and others who face similar trials). She is leading by example in her obedience to Christ.

“If Rob walked in the store today, I would hug him and catch up on his life. The same faith that tells me that I can’t be a part of Rob’s wedding is the same faith that tells me to love him as Christ does.”

And with this graceful, compassionate and very truthful statement, Barronelle Stutzman, the elderly grandmother and floral artist who faces financial ruin at the hands of both homosexual activists and the state of Washington, has at once mirrored the love of Christ and exhibited the heart of a lion.

Ms. Stutzman is the victim of anti-Christian persecution and discrimination. Her case has garnered national attention and represents a microcosm of the cultural Marxist effort in America to silence Christian dissent and compel us to join in sin. Barronelle is being sued by homosexual practitioner and longtime customer Rob Ingersoll for politely declining to create the floral arrangements for his mock “gay wedding.” She has been charged by Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson.

Because of the tremendous negative publicity Ferguson’s and Ingersoll’s persecution of Ms. Stutzman has generated, Ferguson recently offered, via press release, to quickly settle the case for $2,000 – as long as Ms. Stutzman would surrender her Christian freedom and right of conscience and promise, going forward, to sin. That is, to take-part in sodomy-based “marriages.”

Again, and with characteristic grace and courage, she flatly declined.

“[This conflict] is about freedom, not money,” wrote Ms. Stutzman in reply to the offer. “I certainly don’t relish the idea of losing my business, my home, and everything else that your lawsuit threatens to take from my family, but my freedom to honor God in doing what I do best is more important. Washington’s constitution guarantees us ‘freedom of conscience in all matters of religious sentiment.’ I cannot sell that precious freedom. You are asking me to walk in the way of a well-known betrayer, one who sold something of infinite worth for 30 pieces of silver. That is something I will not do.”

Truth, in love.

Dear “gay” friend, you will one day realize, hopefully before it becomes too late, that you are not only on the wrong side of history, you are on the wrong side of eternity.

It breaks our hearts to see you there.

And so we refuse to help send you.

Sincerely,

The Christians

Matt Barber is founder and editor-in-chief of BarbWire.com. He is an author, columnist, cultural analyst and an attorney concentrating in constitutional law. Having retired as an undefeated heavyweight professional boxer, Matt has taken his fight from the ring to the culture war. (Follow Matt on Twitter: @jmattbarber). 

Posted in culture, emotional support animal, encouragement, evangelical, homosexual, jesus, truth

Cultural issues: McChurch: church inside a McDonald’s, or is it a McDonald’s inside a church?, Evangelicals accepting gays in huge numbers (IF they’re their own kids), Pigs (almost) fly

Posted on by elizabethprata

PostChristianity now has its own page at Wikipedia. The definition is a little scholarly convoluted, but here it is:

Postchristianity is the belief that the loss of the Christian monopoly in political affairs, especially in the Global North where Christianity had previously flourished, will eventually lead its demise in favour of secular nationalism. It includes personal world views, ideologies, religious movements or societies that are no longer rooted in the language and assumptions of Christianity, at least explicitly, although they had previously been in an environment of ubiquitous Christianity, i.e. Christendom.

At the Christian Post, guest opinion writer Kevin Shrum wrote a few months ago,

We knew this day would arrive. The ‘slippery slope’ of morality has now become a proverbial landslide of moral morass. What seemed to be a slow decline has now exponentially accelerated. The parading and applauding of all things unbiblical and immoral has reached its zenith on the shoulders of the autonomous self, where me, myself, and I are the arbiters of all things truthful and spiritual. Gone is any reference to transcendent authority.

But fear not, dear Christian. Like an athlete out of shape in the off-season layoff, it may take awhile for American Christians to awaken from our ‘most-favored-religion-status’ we have come to assume in this great country of ours, but I believe we’re up to the task. We’re not the first Christians to live ‘behind enemy lines’ nor will we be the last.

A few weeks ago, ReligionNews posed the following question: How PostChristian are you?

In a look at “churchless” America, Barna Group found many people who label themselves “Christian” are actually more like their secular neighbors — people who claim no particular religious brand — in their beliefs and practices.

That post-Christian, churchless, the ‘Jesus is a nice guy but ultimately doesn’t affect my life’ attitude is seen in the fact that articles like these below actually exist.

Religious group wants to build McDonald’s in a church

As church attendance falls, one group believes that the lure of a burger and fries might make church more appealing. … “Christianity is unable to capture modern audiences,” Di Lucca told NBC News. “There’s a lack of innovation and lack of design thinking in Church communities.” … “It’s time for churches to engage with entrepreneurship,” writes the group on its IndieGoGo site. “By combining a church and a McDonald’s we can create a self-sustaining, community-engaged, popular church, and an unparalleled McDonald’s restaurant.”

The entrepreneurial spirit that infects churches today is thanks to Rick Warren and his “The Purpose Driven Church is listed in “100 Christian Books That Changed the 20th Century.” Forbes magazine called it “the best book on entrepreneurship, management, and leadership in print.” [Left, Actual logo for the McChurch idea]

Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as those sent from God. (2 Corinthians 2:17)

And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. (2 Peter 2:3)

Unlike in corporate culture, a lack of innovation in church is a good thing. If the McMass McChurch idea succeeds, the people who attend will get what they get: a Jesus that is fast, lite, insubstantial, and ultimately bad for the heart.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here is another example of church folks bowing to culture.

Evangelicals with gay children challenging church

A despondent Ryan cut off from his parents and his faith, started taking drugs and in 2009, died of an overdose. “Now we realize we were so wrongly taught,” said Rob Robertson, a firefighter for more than 30 years who lives in Redmond, Washington. “It’s a horrible, horrible mistake the church has made.” The tragedy could have easily driven the Robertsons from the church. But instead of breaking with evangelicalism — as many parents in similar circumstances have done — the couple is taking a different approach, and they’re inspiring other Christians with gay children to do the same. They are staying in the church and, in protesting what they see as the demonization of their sons and daughters, presenting a new challenge to Christian leaders trying to hold off growing acceptance of same-sex relationships.

The article continues with examples of people touting active homosexuality as acceptable to God, and the article author supports their contentions with numerical examples of growth for each of their websites, Facebook pages, or published books that they sponsor/promote this stance.

It’s brilliant actually. Satan targets the youth, they succumb to perverse passions, parents who naturally love their children are faced with a dilemma, so parents declare, ‘it’s happening to me and my experience trumps scripture so scripture must be wrong.’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Maybe this next article doesn’t have to do directly with church and faith so much, or maybe it does.

They say pigs don’t fly, but this one came close.

A pig landed on a US Airways flight out of Connecticut on Wednesday, but was taken off the plane after it became disruptive, a spokesperson told ABC News. Jonathan Skolnik, a professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a passenger on the flight, told ABC News today he thought the woman with the pig was carrying a duffel bag when she got on the plane and headed straight for the empty seat next to him. “But it turns out it wasn’t a duffel bag. We could smell it and it was a pig on a leash,” he said. “She tethered it to the arm rest next to me and started to deal with her stuff, but the pig was walking back and forth.”

photo Rob Phelps

Gothamist Newspaper wrote,

According to ABC, the incident happened on Wednesday at Bradley International Airport in Connecticut. The woman had been allowed to bring the pig, who was on a leash, with her—pigs, like dogs, monkeys and cats, can qualify as “emotional support animals,” which are allowed on flights under federal rules. Passenger Rob Phelps, who took the photo on top, told CBS Springfield the problem was that this particular piggy was squealing and defecating in the aisle, prompting flight attendants to ask them to leave, which they did without incident.

For people who truly need an Emotional Support Animal, (ESA) for example soldiers with PTSD, the Service Dog Central website states, “In order to fly with an Emotional Support Animal OR Psychiatric Service Dog in the cabin of the aircraft with you, you will need a special letter from a licensed mental health professional.” That letter must state the specific disability the traveler has, according to the Diagnostic Statistical Manual, be not more than one year old, that the animal is necessary to the well-being of the traveler, be lodged with airline authorities 48 hours in advance of travel date, and be written and signed by a licensed medical or psychiatric professional.

True ESAs who are professional and not pets, curl up at the master’s feet when not working and are trained not to cause a disturbance. Like perhaps wandering, squealing, and defecating in the aisle. If it was truly an ESA it would not cause a disturbance. If it was a pet, it should not be allowed in  the cabin.

Daily Mail: Pot-bellied pigs WILL fly (along with miniature horses and monkeys): Passengers to be allowed to take exotic pets on flights for ’emotional support’

This website offers information on why the abuse level on ESAs in the cabin is growing- “Service Dogs on Airplanes to Get More Scrutiny From Department of Transportation“.

Twitter: FoxCT News reporter Angelica Spanos photo
The twitter feed indicated the pig and owner finally
made it to their intended destination, CT, for Thanksgiving.

“An emotional support animal is a companion animal (typically a dog or cat) that provides a therapeutic benefit to its owner through companionship. The animal provides emotional support and comfort to individuals with psychiatric disabilities and other mental impairments. The animal is not specifically trained to perform tasks for a person who suffers from emotional disabilities.” Source Animal Law.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 

For people without Jesus, these dark and confusing times are oppressive to them and they do not even know it.

The fact is, the more post-Christian the world gets, the more the lost cling to the wrong things for emotional support. It’s a stark example of why we need to offer the solution to their sin problem and their emptiness. Jesus is the Friend who knows us, He created us. He loves us and wants the best for us. He sent His Spirit into the world to inspire the world’s greatest book full of wisdom, comfort, history, poems, and truth. Without Jesus, the lost person knows none of this.

Posted in bible, civil law, gay marriage, homosexual, ryan anderson

Ryan Anderson explains why gay marriage doesn’t exist

Posted on by elizabethprata

Here is a 4-minute clip well worth watching for its logical, lawyerly speech regarding marriage. The responder is Ryan Anderson. Ryan T. Anderson researches and writes about marriage and religious liberty as the William E. Simon Fellow at The Heritage Foundation.

The homosexual man at the microphone is asking why he, as a married gay man, can’t have the same tax advantage when it comes time to file IRS tax returns, as a heterosexually married couple.

Anderson is brilliant in his response. The homosexual man doesn’t seem to understand the underlying principle of what Anderson tried to get at three times, so finally Anderson answers the gay man’s question within its limited scope. But he does that brilliantly too.

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 2:23-24)

Anderson said in part:

Marriage is a union of sexually complementary spouses, a permanent, exclusive union- man & woman, husband & wife, mother & father. If you’re not interested in entering into that sort of union, you’re not being discriminated against.

What you’re asking us to do is redefining marriage to include “the adult relationship of your choice.” The relationship of your choice happens to be a same-sex couple. There are other adults who want to redefine marriage to include a relationship of their choice, which may be the same-sex throuple, or the opposite sex quartet.

It’s like this. There is the color red. Red is known, it is certain. It is defined “of a color at the end of the spectrum next to orange and opposite violet, as of blood, fire, or rubies.”

EPrata photo

Now say some people came along and wanted to add yellow to the color red. They agitated for it, proclaimed, exhorted, fought for yellow to be added to red, just because they thought that would be good.

EPrata photo

And say that they were successful in getting yellow added to red. You don’t have red anymore. You have orange.

Because red and yellow make orange. Once you mix another element into the red, it becomes something else, and the old definition won’t fit anymore. People will not recognize the old thing because now it is a new thing.

Once you add same-sex humans to the old definition of marriage, it isn’t marriage anymore and it isn’t recognizable.

The homosexual man asked as a final question, why he, Anderson didn’t think that he, the gay man, had the right to get married.

Anderson concluded with this:

It’s not that you don’t have a right to get married, it’s that what you are seeking out, isn’t marriage.

Posted in Danny Cortez, drought, ebola, gay, homosexual, ISIS, Obama, pestilence, prophecy, sbc

(Updated) Isis captures oil field, aims for Jordan? Ebola out of control, SBC gay-affirming Pastor feted at White House, lauded for "progress"

Posted on by elizabethprata

(Update below)
I’m catching up on some news. I like to follow up with previously reported issues. Let’s start with Danny Cortez, Obama, and the SBC.

In February of this year when Pastor Danny Cortez of California’s New Hope Church (a Southern Baptist Convention affiliated church) told his congregation that his son had come out as gay and that he as pastor has been wrong to preach against homosexuality as a sin, his church split.

However, the bulk of the congregation voted to retain Pastor Cortez and go forward on a third way, in other words, not yes and not no but maybe (the lukewarm, middle of the road way?) in agreeing to disagree and focusing on other issues (besides sin?)

Albert Mohler, Jr., an American theologian and the ninth president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, published an essay declaring there is no third way.

This all came down just before the Southern Baptist Convention. The Bylaws of the SBC state that cooperating churches which dissent or vary from orthodox and agreed upon doctrines can be voted out of the denomination.” The SBC Constitution states: “Among churches not in friendly cooperation with the Convention are churches which act to affirm, approve, or endorse homosexual behavior.” This didn’t happen at the Convention.

The excuse reason was that it all happened too close to the convention’s opening and the leaders had not had time to review the situation formally nor properly. They did not want to make a hasty decision. OK, fine, but when no movement on the issue happened after the convention either, Al Mohler wrote another essay in effect saying, ‘OK, time to get moving on this issue now’. (I interpreted it that way).

As of today, still nothing from the SBC. It is reported that the SBC Executive Committeee may take it up in September. May take it up.

Meanwhile the Homosexual lobby is not waiting around to take an advantage. Pastor Danny Cortez was almost immediately invited to the White House for Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgender (LGBT) celebration to cap off Gay Month, hosted by Obama. The Baptist Press reported (and picked up by the Biblical Recorder) that Cortez was delighted to attend.

Pro-gay [SBC] pastor attends White House event (I added the ‘SBC’ to the headline)

The Los Angeles-area Baptist pastor whose church split after he announced he no longer believes all homosexual acts are sinful was President Obama’s guest at the White House LGBT Pride Month reception June 30. Danny Cortez, pastor of New Heart Community Church in La Mirada, Calif., attended the reception with his son Drew, who Cortez said in a Feb. 9 sermon is gay. At the reception, Obama acknowledged open homosexuals serving in his administration and said 11 openly gay federal judges have been confirmed by the Senate, including 10 during his administration. Danny Cortez, pastor of New Heart Community Church in La Mirada, Calif., attended the reception with his son Drew, who Cortez said in a Feb. 9 sermon is gay. “This tremendous progress we’ve made as a society is thanks to those of you who fought the good fight,…”

Obama is exactly right, the “progress” the homosexual lobby has made in culture is due to either false Christians helpfully promoting satan’s agenda, or true Christians standing by and doing nothing.

On another topic, I stopped following the ISIS event in the Middle East when the news reports and even twitter accounts posted photos without warnings of graphic nature. The photos were terrible, terrible.

As of 6/28/2014, the dark red area indicates land now controlled
by ISIS, while the light red area is territory claimed by ISIS.
Source. Spesh531/Wikipedia

That does not mean the issue is no longer important though. It is. It may have fallen off this blog and it may have receded into the background of world news, but ISIS is still capturing, advancing, and murdering. See this photo-safe news report from Israel’s Arutz Sheva from today

ISIS Captures Largest Oil Field in Syria
Islamist group adds to its resources, seizing oil field and consolidating its hold in the Euphrates corridor from Iraq into Syria.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) continues to roll forward, adding to its collection of captured resources the Al-Omar Oil Field, the largest oil field in Syria located in the eastern Deir al-Zour province of the war-torn country, near the Iraqi border. The Islamist group has already amassed great assets during its blitz offensive in Iraq, seizing Iraq’s largest oil refinery, a chemical weapons facility, and becoming the “world’s richest terrorist organization” by looting 500 billion Iraqi dinars ($425 million) from banks in Mosul. Now, video footage uploaded to YouTube shows armed ISIS jihadists at the entrance to the field with their flag flying high, after having wrestled the field away from the Al-Nusra Front, a rival opposition force in Syria that is linked with Al-Qaeda, which ISIS broke off from. … ISIS’s lightning series of victories have given it control of a corridor on the Euphrates River ranging from the far-eastern Syrian town of Bukamal, located on the border with Iraq, on through the provincial capital of Deir al-Zour to the northwest from the border.

Additionally ISIS, which on Sunday declared itself an Islamic “caliphate” and proclaimed its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as “Caliph,” has succeeding in winning pledges of allegiance by numerous rebel factions in the area.

I have not watched the video which accompanies the article. You’re on your own with that one. Here is another news piece discussing how much territory ISIS has now

Sunni fighters of the Islamic State in Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) Thursday gained control over the eastern Syrian province of Deir Ez-zor and now occupy an area five times the size of Lebanon in Syria, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. (source)

 Where will ISIS go next? The Wall Street Daily reports,

You see, some early reports suggest Baghdadi may have a new target: the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, which is ruled from nearby Amman. Jordan is considered a constitutional monarchy, but King Abdullah II has the power to appoint 75 members of the Parliament directly. He also has the power to pass laws himself, and he is the head of both the state and the military. But while Abdullah II has all of the power, he doesn’t have strong support amongst the people. You see, Jordan has been the recipient of many refugees in recent decades, and the country is now brimming with Arabs from both Palestine and Syria. These people feel oppressed by the small, but controlling, Hashemite tribe… and that could spell trouble. Abdullah would be supported by his military and the United States, but not his Sunni Muslim population, which would likely be sympathetic to ISIS. On top of that, if ISIS controlled Jordan, it could surround Damascus, which is just 100 short miles north of Amman. In that regard, Jordan could be the key to winning in Syria.

I posted a couple of news reports about Jordan two weeks ago. (here, and here) I feel the ISIS group will go to Jordan for exactly the above described reason, and also Saudi Arabia. Jordan is prominent in prophecy for one simple reason is that the antichrist will conquer the world but God will not allow him to take Jordan. However, Jordan will not escape unharmed.

UPDATE: Daily Mail is reporting the following about Saudi Arabia:

Saudi Arabia has placed 30,000 soldiers on its northern border after 2,500 Iraqi soldiers reportedly quit their posts, leaving the country open to the threat of a lightning advance by ISIS militants.

As a matter of fact, Jordan is prophesied to be devastated (except for Petra). From Jordan it is but a small matter to conquer Lebanon (a proxy of Syria anyway) and then attack Israel, which would pretty much be the Psalm 83 battle.

Dr. Mordechai Kedar believes ISIS (ISIL) will go to Jordan next also. Dr Kedar is a senior lecturer in the Department of Arabic at Bar-Ilan University. He served in IDF Military Intelligence for 25 years, specializing in Arab political discourse, Arab mass media, Islamic groups and the Syrian domestic arena. He definitely has the intellectual chops and professional credibility to make such a call. He said,

ISIL has never concealed its intentions regarding Jordan, created, as were Iraq and Syria, by European colonialism, and therefore deserving to be eliminated. The name of the organization expresses is goals, because “al-Sham” is the Levant, and that area includes Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Israel.  In order to make its plans for Jordan obvious, the organization expanded its control in Iraq westward, up to the border between Iraq and Jordan, also conquering the border town of Turayvil. Its successes in Iraq and Syria awaken the “Jihadist adrenaline” in the marginal populations of Jordan and the demonstration in Ma’an expresses what is well-known: ISIS success draws the masses, especially those on the fringes of society, those who want to belong to something successful at last.  And if this successful thing brings an end to a suppressive regime, it is an even more worthy group to join.

 Of course it could all collapse tomorrow. Only God knows.

Drought: “Arizona’s largest city has gone four months without any measurable rain, and neighboring New Mexico is in the midst of four years of severe drought.”

Earthquakes: Quakes are still pounding Oklahoma.

USGS, Quakes this week, 2.5+

Big earthquakes double in 2014, but scientists say they’re not linked. (Sure….sure.) There is a a 65 percent increase compared to the rate of large quakes since 1979. (larger than magnitude 7).

We have recently experienced a period that has had one of the highest rates of great earthquakes ever recorded,” said lead study author Tom Parsons, a research geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in Menlo Park, California.  But even though the global earthquake rate is on the rise, the number of quakes can still be explained by random chance, said Parsons and co-author Eric Geist, also a USGS researcher.

The disease Ebola is “out of control” in parts of West Africa. Remember, Ebola is the disease with an extremely high mortality rate that melts your insides. Mortality of those who contract the disease range from 34% to 70%. Compared to the previous influenza epidemics, which were less than 0.1%, the 1918 Spanish Influenza epidemic had a mortality rate of 2.5%. Now perhaps, with that comparison in mind, it is easier to envision this verse’s fulfillment:

“And its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.” (Revelation 8b)

Keep praying, keep loving each other, and keep looking up. Have a safe and Hurricane Arthur-free Fourth of July Holiday!

Posted in Danny Cortez, don't ask don't tell, homosexual, romans 1, sbc

Don’t ask don’t tell…if you’re a Christian

Posted on by elizabethprata

I know we all may be finding the homosexual intrusion into American & world culture tiresome. And the discussions about it are even more so. Worst of all, we are not of this world and the homosexual lobby is winning. Will win eventually.

Nonetheless, we always continue to proclaim God’s glories and urge one and all of the pagans to repent, and then we exhort for for one and all of the brethren to adhere to His standards. He is God, holy and high, and He knows best. It is as simple as that.

Romans 1:18-32 shows us the process of a downward progression of a culture when the majority of its populace refuses to repent. Please bear with me as I post the entire passage.

God’s Wrath on Unrighteousness

18For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world,g in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

24Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

26For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

28And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

The NASB says of the last verse that they give “hearty approval” to them that practice those things.

Hearty approval.

This aspect of the hearty approval statement indicates not just individual sin, and not just collective sin, but also enticement into sin. In addition, giving hearty approval to sin involves a tipping point. This involves peer pressure and groupthink. When a group practicing the sin increases in numbers, at a certain point, there is more pressure to perform the sin than there was to hide the sin or not engage in it at all. The original people or group doing the sin paid the shame price in the culture for having been found out, but after a while the shame wore off and more and more people fornicated, were adulterers, homosexuals, lesbians, bigamists, prostitutes sex workers (see? we don’t even call them prostitutes any more let alone whores).

Remember back in the day when premarital sex was talked about in hushed whispers? When a mother bearing an illegitimate child was hustled off to another location because she (and the father) had brought shame onto the family? When homosexuality was a considered a perversion and never discussed, let alone approved of? Now there are television shows which feature gays in ‘marriages’ as normal, men in marriages to multiple wives, lesbians casually kissing on television. The hearty approval is that the ratings of these television shows and movies get higher ratings with this kind of content in it.

We’ve seen this since the 1950s with premarital sex. We’ve seen this since the late 1960s with fornicating outside of marriage and with adultery. No-fault divorce  is one of the major causes of the former. We’ve seen this with homosexuality since the 1970s. In the 1980s with the advent of cable television and a wider latitude for exposing the audience to worse language, bloodier violence, and more sex. By the 1990s the tidal wave of sin in the world being reflected on tv and other media, and then reflected back to approving audiences was firmly entrenched. 1993’s movie with Tom Hanks (Philadelphia) about an HIV-positive homosexual man was Hollywood’s first mainstream movie with a gay as the main character as sympathetic. Cut to 20 years beyond that date and we are awash with an upside down world where sin is heartily approved of and those not wishing to participate in sin are the odd ones out.

Now we have a pastor of a conservative Southern Baptist church changing his mind on the issue of homosexuality being sinful (he says it isn’t) and is accepting of his gay son’s lifestyle. He calls himself a “gay-affirming pastor” but it is just being sin-affirming. And a sin-affirming pastor is an oxymoron.

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! (Isaiah 5:20)

In just 20 years, half a generation, we’ve gone from President Clinton’s “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” being about homosexuals in military service to don’t ask don’t tell about Christians in military service.

Wretched Radio brings us this photo of a greeting card section of Walgreen’s

And this one really hurts.

Sir Elton John says Jesus would support gay marriage: ‘He was all about love’

Sir Elton John has said he believes that Jesus would be a supporter of gay marriage.   The “Daniel” singer, who hopes to marry filmmaker David Furnish next year, said he thinks that the Christian figure would have supported the union of gay members of the clergy.  Speaking to Sky News on the same weekend as the London Pride parade, Sir Elton said: “If Jesus Christ was alive today, I cannot see him, as the Christian person that he was and the great person that he was, saying this could not happen.  “He was all about love and compassion and forgiveness and trying to bring people together.  “And that is what the Church should be about.”

Nope I was wrong. This next part of the above article hurts worse.

But the chart-topping artist said that the Church deserved credit for the progress that has been made in recent years. He heaped particular praise onto the Archbishop of Canterbury and Pope Francis, whom he described as a “wonderful” man who had stripped back church teaching to reveal its fundamental message of love.

Yes. They heartily approve.

Posted in gay marriage, genesis, homosexual, marriage

‘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 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?