homosexuality

apologetics, biblical resources, contend for the faith, homosexuality, todd friel, voddie baucham

Resources about the sin of homosexuality for believers, parents, and gay folks wanting to emerge from their sin

Posted on July 1, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

With the Supreme Court decision legalizing homosexual marriage in every state of the US last Friday, many people have come forward to me and others with questions on how to help those on bondage to it, or how to help parents struggling to come to grips with their child’s sin of homosexuality, or how to respond in apologetics to those Christians waving a rainbow flag in affirmation of the decision, or many other issues concomitant. As I saw good and trustworthy resources come across my laptop, I saved them and systematized them into groupings. I hope any of this may help as you witness to the truth regarding this particular sin.

SECTION 1: Help for those emerging from homosexuality

1. Rosaria Butterfield is probably the number 1 exhibit of the post-gay lifestyle of a former feminist and lesbian. She seems like the real deal, an honestly sinful lesbian who honestly is now a Christian. As an adult in 1999, a tenured professor at a liberal university teaching post modernism, feminism, and actively promoting and involved in the lesbian lifestyle, Rosaria is now a married woman to a pastor and mother to children, most important of all, a liberated Christian, freed from her bondage of sins, including homosexuality.

Her book: “The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert: An English Professor’s Journey into the Christian Faith”

Article: “My Train-Wreck Conversion“

New book: “Openness Unhindered: Further Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert on Sexual Identity and Union with Christ“

In the new book she addresses these issues:

Conversion: the Spark of a New Identity
Identity: the Flame of Our Union in Christ
Repentance: the Threshold to God and the Answer to Shame, Temptation, and Sin
Sexual Orientation: Freud’s 19th Century Category Mistake
Self-Representation: What Does It Mean to Be “gay”?
Conflict: When Sisters Disagree
Community: Representing Christ to the World

There are additional resources at her website.

2. This article at Piper’s Desiring God website outlines four tactics for the ex-lesbian, or anyone struggling with a besetting sin, to live their life under God in an ever-increasing sanctification.
The Dead End of Sexual Sin

3. Setting Captives Free
I am not familiar with this website/program until someone I trust on Facebook posted about it. I looked it up and apparently they have been counseling for 15 years. I found no negative reviews to speak of, no scandal, and nothing of ill-repute.

They focus on helping people with online and telephone mentoring through structured 30 and 60 day classes, for a fee. Not all classes are for fee, some are free. It is a non-denominational, Biblically based set of courses. They help people who are struggling with–

adultery
pornography
masturbation
homosexuality

They offer a couples class in purity.
They offer a class for spouses whose spouse is struggling with sexual addiction.

Recently they have added two other classes, Self-injury and gluttony. In addition, they offer general devotionals and bible studies. On the website also, there are many resources, some for pay and many for free.

SECTION 2: Help Understanding what the Bible says about homosexuality

These resources from Pastor-Teacher John MacArthur (and Voddie Baucham) cover a range of issues related to homosexuality. This is just a sampling. There are additional resources available at gty.org on the topic.

Q&A, it’s available in written, audio, or video form.
Answering the Key Questions about Homosexuality
“2004: I think the topic touches all of us in one way or another because it intersects with all of society’s most basic institutions…home, marriage, government, and of course, religion and our faith. And so the questions that I have for you today are going to explore all of those areas. This debate over homosexuality is an emotional one and it hasn’t diminished over time, only the opposite.”

Sermon, available in written, audio, or video form.
Thinking Biblically about Homosexuality
“Well, tonight I want to talk to you on the subject of what God thinks of homosexuals. It is not a particularly enjoyable subject to discuss, nor would any sin be enjoyable to discuss, for that matter. But it has become pertinent and essential and necessary for us to get a biblical view of this rapidly increasing and normalizing effort to accept homosexuality in our culture. We need to understand what the Word of God has to say.”

CD, free until July 5. Click on link to order.
Homosexuality, Cultural Decay, and the Only Hope
“But be encouraged, because even in the face of the cultural slide, there still is hope—a hope tied to believers like you, the Body of Christ. John MacArthur recently sat down to talk about “Homosexuality and Today’s Moral Slide.” It’s an hour of Bible-based discussion on same-sex marriage, transgender issues, and other evidences of profound cultural decay—and how you and believers like you need to respond to what’s going on now, and to what’s to come if the Lord tarries.”

Sermon, available in written, audio, or video form.
What the Bible teaches about Homosexuality
“Tonight we’re going to return, at least to begin with, to Romans chapter 1 for our study. We really finished last week looking specifically at the text of Romans 1. But there was much interest and reaction as we discussed the issue of homosexuality as it is mentioned by the apostle Paul in this text. I really feel that God used our study of Romans 1 in a very unique way. During the time we were in that chapter many people gave their lives to Christ. I think many of us have a greater understanding of why God is angry with men who reject His revelation, sink into rationalization, religion, and ultimately reprobation, as we saw in our last study. But we noted last time that in the process of Paul’s defining the sinfulness of man and the utter fallenness of man, he gives an illustration of the depth of man’s sin by pointing out what is the worst earthly expression of man’s fallenness, and that is homosexuality.”

In this 4-minute video clip, Pastor Voddie Baucham biblically refutes the comment “Jesus never said anything about homosexuality” and in so doing, teaches Christians how to think about the comment and what to say in response.
https://youtu.be/bAOCjKqzAKk

SECTION 3: Help for parents, families

In this essay, Kevin DeYoung poses 40 thoughtful questions to the Christians celebrating gay marriage. These can be used in a counseling situation, or if meeting face to face in counseling, via email… whatever. The questions get the Christian to consider their position using the Bible as a mirror.
40 Questions for Christians now Waving Rainbow Flags

In this pair of essays, in one a supposedly Christian father was shockingly heartless in response to his son’s coming out. It is Exhibit A in what NOT to do.
Father disowns his gay son in shockingly heartless letter
“5 years ago, I was disowned via letter when I came out to my father,” writes Redditor RegBarc.”

David Murray read the heartless dad’s letter and mused upon the issue. What letter would he write if his son came out as gay?
What would you write to your gay son?
“As I find it hard to believe that a true Christian would ever write such a letter, I’ve drafted a letter that I hope a Christian father would write (although I’m sure we all hope we’ll never have to write it).”

Todd Friel read both letters and commented on them here in this 4 minute video.
https://youtu.be/f4o0o8a1Sng

How to respond to a homosexual child
“The challenge of responding to homosexuality used to be “out there.” Now it’s in our denominations, our churches, and for some, in the home. Many Christian parents are beginning to wonder, “How should I respond if my child claims to be a homosexual?” For some parents, that question is no longer theoretical. How should believing parents respond to their homosexual children? How do they deal biblically with their children’s sexual sins—particularly if the children claim to know Christ?”

holy living, homosexuality, jesus, prophecy

‘Outrage and Panic’ Are Off-Limits, Say Evangelical Leaders on Same-Sex Marriage

Posted on June 27, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Last words on the national perversity of the SCOTUS decision, I promise. I have other things in the hopper for the next few days I want to write about. One can only opine so much, lol.

Yesterday I avoided all photos and news and social media regarding the terrible Supreme Court decision to allow legalized sodomite marriage in the US. However this morning I was listening to Reformation Network (Refnet.fm, a must listen-to radio station online! By Ligonier). I heard a great sermon and was eager for the next sermon, but in between was Al Mohler’s The Briefing. I rolled my eyes but I stayed with the channel. I’m so glad I did.

Dr Albert Mohler, Jr. is an “American theologian and the ninth president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky” according to Wikipedia. He also has a radio broadcast called “The Briefing,” a daily analysis of news and events from a Christian worldview. He has an exceptional knack for distilling a wide range of news and drilling it down to what it means for Christians.

I listened to his analysis of the SCOTUS decision and it is superlative. I learned, sadly, that the news from the Court is even worse than we thought. The three streams of thought I gleaned from Dr Mohler’s article “Everything has changed and nothing has changed” analyzing the SCOTUS decision:

1. It’s worse for Christians. “Justice Clarence Thomas warned in his dissent of “ruinous consequences for religious liberty.” … Justice Samuel Alito stated bluntly that the decision “will be used to vilify Americans who are unwilling to assent to the new orthodoxy.”

2. It’s worse for marriage. “The Kennedy opinion opens wide a door that basically invites looming demands for the legalization of polygamy and polyamory. As Chief Justice Roberts observed: “It is striking how much of the majority’s reasoning would apply with equal force to the claim of a fundamental right to plural marriage.”

3. It’s worse for the Republic. “The Supreme Court’s over-reach in this case is more astounding as the decision is reviewed in full, and as the dissenting justices voiced their own urgent concerns. The Chief Justice accused the majority of “judicial policymaking” that endangers our democratic form of government.”

Listen to Special Edition of The Briefing or read the above article (it’s not the transcript) for context as to why each of those three will soon no longer be recognizable.

I know, no one wants to hear that the decision is much worse than we thought, because it’s already pretty bad. We want good news, we want to stay above the fray. I personally believe that this was a significant advance for satan, however. God lengthened the leash satan is on and it extended almost to the limit, perhaps. We are not to be unaware of his schemes, and we MUST be prepared. It is a spiritual battle after all, and though we don’t have to absorb every crumb of satan’s doings nor read every piece of news, this one above all is important to understand. The Briefing does that. Listen to it.

That said, I’m going to reverse myself. The culture at Sodom was worse than it is in America. The culture at Corinth was worse than it is currently in America.

I truly believe that in listening to The Briefing Special Edition, however, and/or reading the transcript (when it’s up) or the linked article, that we are WELL on our way to becoming Sodom or Corinth.

James R. White posted on Facebook this morning

God: We do not want You, Your ways, or Your law. We are our own creators, we are autonomous. We hate your good gifts—the gift of marriage, the gift of gender. We no longer want the joy of motherhood, fatherhood. We will make women husbands, men wives. We will twist and pervert everything that gives us life and light. Go away. Leave us alone.

God’s answer: as you wish.

He also posted this collage of iconic buildings or places in the US that celebrated and applauded (Romans 1:32) the nationalization of sodomy by splashing rainbow colored lights on them:

Really brings it home when you see rainbow-gay splashed coast to coast…Toto, we’re not in Kansas anymore.

However there is no need to panic.

‘Outrage and Panic’ Are Off-Limits, Say Evangelical Leaders on Same-Sex Marriage

For most evangelical leaders, today’s discussion of the nationwide legalization of same-sex marriage revolves around how best to express their dissent amid the legal uncertainties for churches and pastors.

“Outrage and panic are not the responses of those confident in the promises of a reigning Christ Jesus,” read a joint statement organized by the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) and signed by more than 100 evangelical leaders, including David Platt, J. I. Packer, Richard Mouw, Jim Daly, Al Mohler, and Ron Sider.

“While we believe the Supreme Court has erred in its ruling, we pledge to stand steadfastly, faithfully witnessing to the biblical teaching that marriage is the chief cornerstone of society, designed to unite men, women, and children,” the group stated. [Full text]

Someone asked me about what to do in these last days to warn people about the era seemingly coming to a close. How do we warn? What should be our next steps? I responded this way:

I firmly believe that as the world darkens, the Light of Christ will shine brighter. To that end, I also firmly believe our responsibilities are still the same as they always have been since Pentecost, but to be pursued diligently and fervently knowing that we are that much closer to the rapture than Simon Peter was.

1. To remain prayerful. Connection with Jesus through prayer is our energy and power. It’s also commanded.

2. To remain in the word. Reading of and meditation on the word of God is how we keep our sword sharp. The word of God is the ONLY way to break the hardness of a Gentile’s heart and mind. It pierces. We plant the word and the Spirit grows it. But we can’t plant it if we don’t know it, and if we don’t know it we are exposed in this pitched battle that is life on earth. It pierces them, and protects us. And the battle is terrible these days, don’t leave your bible alone for even a day!

3. To find a local congregation, become a member, and to consistently worship there. Make sure to do our parts to use the Spiritual Gifts for the edification of the body. Every platoon at Boot Camp has soldiers who rely on each other, you would not want to para-jump from a plane where you know the person packing your parachute had skipped the class that day. So we go to church without skipping, involve ourselves in fellow believers’ lives, and we use the gifts the Spirit gave us for their edification and they for ours.

4. Speak frequently of prophecy. Not Illuminati/conspiracy/newspaper exegesis. But credible biblical prophecy. Many churches don’t want to or aren’t familiar with prophecy. I speak of the rapture often, and matter-of-factly. I also speak of the wrath a lot. Just because other people DON’T. I study the prophecies in Revelation and talk about them. I bring it up in conversation. The end matters!! If the creation in Genesis 1 is important to the faith and making one wise for understanding, so is Revelation’s UNcreation. As a matter of fact it is the only book of the bible that promises a blessing for reading it. So I try to be an example in fervency to diligently study all of God’s word (so when I exhort biblical truths people will listen because they know I’ve studied and I’m serious about living a holy life). Bring prophecy back into the mainstream, but not sensationally, not by date-setting, but by including it as a normal part of the bible student’s readings and interest. It’s been ignored too long.

5. Live a holy life and not one of hypocrisy. This is all-important, the more we are moral in Christ (not of our own strength) the more we will stand out in the world.

6. Be joyful! If we are just as worried about the way things are going as the pagans are, then we are no different! We have the joy of knowing the future, the peace in being reconciled to God, and the wonder of knowing Him through His word. Show it. That will speak loudly!

7. Witness with urgency, not just because of the last days, but because the person you’re speaking to may die in the next hour. Death (or rapture) comes suddenly and usually unexpectedly. Therefore don’t be afraid to say things like sin-wrath-judgment. God isn’t ashamed of His wrath, we should not be either. Removing all talk of wrath and sin and judgment takes the News out of the Good News. Witnessing is not “God loves you and has a great plan for you life.” If God already loves them then why change, and many people already like the plan they have for their life, again, no impetus to change. But every person has a conscience, understands morality and sin, and secretly wonders about heaven.

So how we act in these last days in the face of looming fulfilled prophecy is not sexy nor mystical. It is really no different than a person would have in 1843 or 1721 or 1698 or 1400 or 65AD.

As for prophecy, I’m not writing books about last days signs and I’m not doing numerology to count secret codes and I’m not receiving new revelation prophecies from some kind of trumped up not-Jesus and I’m not on nationwide speaking tours or doing anything that’s any different than the usual Christian’s slog through the bible via hard work and application. Living to His glory is hard but we persevere in joy, and simply growing in holiness is the toughest of all in these days but if and when we do do, it is a beacon to the lost!

So in order to keep our light bright, we continue to look at Jesus. It’s very simple and it’s never changing.

discernment, encouragement, gay marriage, homosexuality, prophecy, spiritual battle

What does Birmingham’s gay pastor, churches in debt, free speech, and the SCOTUS decision have in common?

Posted on June 27, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

I found this news article a few days ago and saved it for when the Supreme Court decided. Here are some of my personal thoughts on the nationalization of homosexuality in America.

Birmingham church hires gay pastor; he’s ready to do same-sex weddings

The Rev. Paul Eknes-Tucker was named senior pastor
of Pilgrim Church on June 1
and preached his first sermon on June 14.

The historic Pilgrim Church in Birmingham [a UCC denomination] has hired an openly gay senior pastor who is ready to officiate same-sex weddings. … He is ready in the event that the U.S. Supreme Court rules to make gay marriage legal nationwide, which could happen next week. “I’m cautiously optimistic that it’s going to happen,” Tucker said.

The United Church of Christ has been a pioneer among Protestant denominations in ordaining women pastors and openly gay ministers. It’s a historic, predominantly white denomination that embraced the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s. Tucker married his partner, Bill Eknes-Tucker, in Toronto in 2005. Bill is a retired nurse. Tucker said he knows first-hand how his marriage not being legally recognized in Tennessee and Alabama has been a hardship. … The congregation could serve as a major hub for gay weddings. “We’re ready Day One (that gay marriage is ruled legal in Alabama),” he said. “They wanted someone who was ready to do that.

The first gay marriage in my adopted state of Georgia took place at 12:31 pm on the day SCOTUS ruled. This is the “Bible Belt”, the “Deep South”.

We can see that the homosexual lobby is ready to advance their banner. Are we ready to advance ours? The Banner of Christ? (Exodus 17:15)

I see a few things ahead. Not prophetically, lol, just following the train tracks to the horizon. It’s pretty clear. It is only going to become harder from here on out.

OK, first this SCOTUS ruling allowing gay marriage for all the land will usher in a new phase that will ramp up persecution in America toward churches and Christians. For one, free speech will be squelched. It started already-

Newspaper editorial page bans op-eds opposing gay marriage

Second, as churches and pastors speak out, or refuse to perform homosexual weddings, they will lose their tax-exempt status. This is a problem. Through the early part of the 2000’s, many churches went emergent and in a frenzy, bought bigger buildings. Thus they unwisely (in my opinion) became saddled with a mortgage and/or construction debt, or otherwise chained themselves to capital plans they could not afford. I pray that any upcoming decisions to be made regarding homosexual pressure infiltrating the local churches will not have this reality factored in. However, it is equally true that many pastors are pragmatic and I fear that pragmatism will pollute or at least influence faithful decision making.

Randy Alcorn said it well: [HT to Glenn]

Many churches spend more on interest payments than on world missions. Debt ties the church’s hands. If attendance drops, the economy suffers, or giving dips, then pastors or missionaries must go unpaid. The building completed eight years ago, already needing repairs, keeps demanding those monthly payments, mostly going to interest. . . . When a church overextends itself financially, it inevitably spends time during services trying to persuade people to give to the building fund. This changes the focus from worshiping Christ, studying the Scriptures, and meeting the needs of the community, to concerns about buildings, mortgages, and money.

Third, this ruling has brought out many who believe that homosexuality is not a problem, and I’m not talking about pagans. Self-professed Christians by the droves are applauding it. I have had more than one solid sister or brother in the faith marvel at the number of people who say they are in the faith but exalted a different Jesus and a different Gospel when the Supreme Court decision was handed down. Those who are not with Jesus are scattering for sure.

An aerial photograph showing opposing trenches
and no man’s land between, during World War I. Wikipedia

Fourth, the Birmingham church ready to marry gays by a married, gay pastor. The true church will shrink, become invisible in all the hullaballoo of false “churches” making much of this lifestyle. A cultural Christianity represented in the Birmingham church will take over and surround the true church. The Birmingham church will be seen as the real church of Jesus Christ, (blasphemously).

The true church is not in danger, mind you, I’m not saying that. But the cultural churches like the one in Birmingham will become visible, and if the the true church is seen at all, it will be seen as outdated at the least, and dangerous at the most. The timid pastors unwilling to stand for the faith will become absorbed in the flow, which yesterday became tsunami force. Fearing their position, or their paycheck, or their liberal deacons, or the neighborhood…they will change their position and weaken. Many churches will become like the Birmingham church, sadly. If it only took satan 20 years to fully change America’s position on homosexuality so that the highest court in the land would nationalize perversity. What hay do you think satan can make of false churches now that the pendulum has swung so far?

Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. (Matthew 12:30)

Gill’s Exposition on Matthew 12:30,

and he that gathereth not with me, scattereth: Christ is the good shepherd, that gathers his sheep to himself, and into his fold, by the external ministry of the word, and internal efficacy of his grace; Satan is the wolf, that catches and scatters the sheep, and seeks to kill and destroy them: and since there is such an open war proclaimed and carried on between Christ and the devil, none ought to be neutral; whoever is not on the side of Christ, is reckoned as an enemy; and whoever is not concerned by prayer or preaching, or other means to gather souls to his word and ordinances, and to his church, and to himself, is deemed by him a scatterer of them.

There is no middle ground. There is no No Man’s Land where no trench is dug from one side or the other. A person is either in one trench, or the other. Even those who declare their neutrality are actually with satan because they are not overtly with Jesus, as the Matthew 12:30 verse reminds us.

My advice is:

To remain prayerfully vigilant, in prayer, by praying. Do you see the theme? Pray! Our connection in Jesus is our strength, His strength, energized by prayer.
Prepare to have your views challenged and be ready to answer all with a meek but firm response. 1 Peter 3:15 REALLY comes into play now more than ever.
Thus, read the Bible. If you have been woefully neglectful of late, stop it. Soldiers do not ignore orders, policemen do not neglect what their Captain tells them. Jesus is our Commander-in-Chief. His battle plan IS the Bible. Neglect it no longer.
Believe the spiritual battle is real. Believe you are a target.

“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; 32but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” (Luke 22:31-32).

Did you catch that? ‘when you have turned again’. Jesus was predicting Peter’s denial and restoration. Blessedly, our enemy’s plans are also in Jehovah-Nissi’s Bible! We are not unaware of satan’s schemes. (2 Corinthians 2:11)

Therefore pray for each other that our faith may not fail when put to the test.

God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. (1 Corinthians 1:9)

—————————————
Further Reading:

The faithful in the Lord’s warfare–

The LORD is our Banner, Jehovah Nissi, a study by Alexander MacLaren

Precept Austin: The LORD is our Banner, an inductive study of Exodus 17:8-16. (Scroll down a bit)

Focus on the Family: Prayer and the Spiritual Battle

GotQuestions: What does the Bible say about spiritual warfare?

end time, gay marriage, homosexuality, prophecy, romans

"Gay Marriage: Evidence That the Nation Is in the Biblically Foretold Age of Apostasy" by Dr. James Taylor

Posted on June 11, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

A friend emailed me this link to a news article. She said it has been published on Yahoo but was taken down very quickly. It is hosted on CNS News (a conservative news site).

The author is Dr. James Taylor, the blurb about him at the end of the article states, “Senior Pastor at Christ’s Church of Norman in Norman, Oklahoma. http://www.ccnonline.biz. He is the author of the forthcoming book “It’s Biblical, Not Political: How to Line Candidates up Biblically.”

His article is titled:

Gay Marriage: Evidence That the Nation Is in the Biblically Foretold Age of Apostasy

It’s very good. I won’t re-post the entire article here because it’s long but it is worth a read. And bookmark. Or download, you never know how long things are going to stay up or available these days. Here are some excerpts:

Dozens of books have been written in recent years by liberal theologians in an attempt to demonstrate that homosexuality, homosexual relationships, and homosexual marriage are fully consistent with Biblical Christianity. I have grown weary of reading that King David was a homosexual because he loved Jonathan, or that Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed because of a lack of hospitality, or – my personal favorite – that the Bible never actually addresses the issue of homosexual behavior.

I would suggest that the fact that some of such foolishness comes from persons who once professed to be Christians is yet further evidence of the fact that the nation – indeed the world – is well along in the Biblically-foretold age of apostasy. During such a period, we are warned about the prevalence of false teachers. How can we tell whether a teacher is false? Who can we rely on? But for the fact that we have the Word of God, we would be adrift on such matters.
…

The Book of Romans gives us a description of the end-times society when Jesus will return and God will pour out His wrath, beginning with Chapter 1: “For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise they became fools.” I have seen men with degrees, piled on top of degrees that get up and say how you and I evolved from monkeys. Maybe they did, but I sure didn’t! Some of the greatest intellectual minds of the universe talk about how we evolved from a single cell protoplasmic blob! That is beyond the comprehension of the mind. If you saw a Boeing 747 flying across the sky, wouldn’t you assume that because it could fly, it can carry people, its seats are placed in rows, and that it can do all the things it can do; wouldn’t you assume that somebody thought it up, and somebody put it together? Certainly you would not conclude that it was the accidental product of a tornado blowing through a junkyard. Yet, the same mind can look in the sky and see a bird fly by and say, “product of chance.”

Charles Mahoney
Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, exhibited 1936

Please go to the link to read more. It might help coalesce your thoughts or give you biblical talking points on this important end time issue.

atlanta, homosexuality, kelvin cochran, prophecy

Atlanta Fire Chief Cochran fired for Christian views on homosexuality

Posted on January 8, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

This is the story of Kelvin Cochran, former Atlanta Fire Chief.

But it’s so much more. It is really the story of how to glorify God when you are being persecuted.

It’s how to publicly express your faith in love when the world hates you.

It’s seeing the miracle of God using for good what they meant for evil.

The beginning of the story is that Kelvin Cochran, family man, Baptist, Sunday School teacher, men’s Bible study leader, and Atlanta Fire Chief, wrote a book in 2013 stemming from his bible study class, entitled “Who Told You That You Are Naked?” The title refers to the moment in Genesis 3 after Adam and Eve had eaten the forbidden fruit, and hid from God when they heard Him walking in the garden. God asked the man and woman, “who told you that you were naked?” Throughout his book, Cochran also refers to being naked as being not-covered with the righteousness of Christ.

In Cochran’s book when he refers to naked men, of course he isn’t being literal. It refers to the nakedness unsaved people live in with being exposed to Jesus without the covering of His righteous blood.

Mr Cochran shares his faith, something that he stated in the book that “it’s his first priority within the department “to cultivate its culture to the glory of God.” Chief Cochran has said in many interviews that this job as the Atlanta City Fire Chief is a dream come true. That ever since he was five years old, he has pursued a career as a firefighter. And yet for all that focused intent on pursuing his life’s dream, he puts Jesus first. The purpose of Kelvin Cochran’s life is to glorify God, and the Fire Station is just as good a place as any other on earth in which to be Christ-like and to speak of his faith. Where Chief Cochran loves to be is the Station, where he longs to be is with Jesus. His duty as a Christian is to show people his love for Jesus in heaven while Cochran is still on earth.

Along the way, he published a book. It’s aimed at men, how to be good husbands, leaders, men, based on God’s standards for doctrine and for life. In it, Cochran spelled out exactly what God’s standards for purity are, purity in works, purity in thought, and including sexual purity.

Cochran wrote,

“Uncleanness – whatever is opposite of purity; including sodomy, homosexuality, lesbianism, pederasty, bestiality, all other forms of sexual perversion.”
“Naked men refuse to give in, so they pursue sexual fulfillment through multiple partners, with the opposite sex, the same sex, and sex outside of marriage and many other vile, vulgar and inappropriate ways which defile their body – temple and dishonor God.”

Less than a half a page in the 160-page book mentioned homosexuality.

That doesn’t matter to the homosexual people.

The First Amendment of the United States’ national constitution, part of the United States’ Bill of Rights, says: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”

Not for Kelvin Cochran. Not for an increasing number of Christians.

The Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transsexual lobby discovered the book’s existence in November of 2014, and raised an outcry. Cochran was suspended with no pay for one month. He was due back to work this week.

Various reasons were given for his suspension.
–he distributed the book on government property without prior consent of the Mayor (his boss)
–he failed to alert the Mayor he was writing the book
–his views likely mean he has in the past, or will in the future, discriminate against LGBT people in hiring practices at the Fire Station
–his book is in violation of the city’s standard of conduct
–his language is so extreme, so belittling of gay and transgender people that he could not effectively lead a diverse workforce

During the one-month suspension, no one heard from Cochran. On Sunday, January 3, he did speak at Atlanta’s First Baptist church during the GA Baptist Convention regarding his testimony. The Times-Herald reported,

Atlanta Fire Chief Kelvin J. Cochran spoke to the “blessings of suffering” during his message delivered at First Baptist Church on Sunday. Coming off a one-month suspension because of a passage on homosexuality in a self-published book he wrote, Cochran expressed that his time off allowed him to spend more time with his family and enjoy the Christmas season

“God intended for men and women are to be together to have children and populate the Earth,” Cochran said. “And any sex outside marriage and outside of a man and woman in holy matrimony is against the word of God. For that stand, I have been laid off for 30 days without pay.” However, Cochran emphasized that he is not a victim of his beliefs, nor is he discouraged or disheartened.

I love our city, and honor and respect our mayor and love all the people of the world,” Cochran said. “I took an oath to die for all people, under any circumstance. This is not about me, it’s about the Lord.” Cochran stated that his reputation was not on the line. “I took a stand for Christ, and it’s his reputation that is on the line,” he said. “Jesus never throws us under the bus. He will be glorified and I will be vindicated once all the truth comes out.”

On Monday, the one-month suspension was to be concluded. Mayor Kasim Reed was to have pondered, investigated and come to a decision. He did.

Chief Cochran was fired.

The LGBT members of our community have a right to be able to express their views and convictions about sexuality and deserve to be respected for their position without hate or discrimination,” Cochran told me in an exclusive interview. “But Christians also have a right to express our belief regarding our faith and be respected for our position without hate and without discrimination. In the United States, no one should be vilified, hated or discriminated against for expressing their beliefs.”

Mayor Reed disagrees that it is about religious faith. Reed says it is about judgment. Chief Cochran’s judgment that is, being impaired due to extreme views.

There is some back and forth about Mayor Reed’s knowledge of Cochran’s book. A sort of what did Reed know and when did he know it?

Reed said that he had no knowledge that Cochran was writing a book. However, Cochran said the director of Atlanta’s ethics office had not only given him permission to write the book, but to also mention in his biography that he was the city’s fire chief. Cochran said he gave a copy of the book to Mayor Reed in January 2014 and the mayor told him he planned on reading it during an upcoming trip.

Cochran wants to make clear that he does not hate anyone. “The essence of the Christian faith is a love without condition, sir,” he told me. “I have demonstrated that love in the fire service for 34 years. There’s not any person of any people group that has interacted with me for any measure of time that can say I have hate or disregard or discrimination in my heart for any people group.”

Ex-Chief Cochran says he has no plans to appeal.

What does the bible say about situations like these?

1. They are inevitable. If you’re a witnessing, mature Christian in the world, you will be persecuted. (2 Timothy 3:12). None of this is a surprise to Chief Cochran. None of it should be a surprise to you or me, either. Our response to persecution is key. Cochran said he is not a victim of his beliefs nor is he disheartened or discouraged. I am sure that in addition, Chief Cochran feels blessed in some measure to be sharing the persecution of His king.

The Hatred of the World … “If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also. (John 15:19-20)

2. Turn the other cheek. Chief Cochran demonstrated the values Jesus imposed in Matthew 5:39, when Cochran says he hates no one, loves all people.

But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.

John MacArthur said in his blog essay Persecution and Submission,

…when persecution comes to the church, true believers don’t flee. Nor do they fight back against the persecution, or try to protest or legislate it away. Instead, authentic Christians submit to persecution.

3. He honors his boss. Mayor Reed had asked Chief Cochran not to speak to the media during the one-month suspension, and Cochran did not. Prior to that, Cochran said he’d gone to his boss’s Ethics Committee to receive advice on the protocols regarding the book he was writing, and he said he also gave a copy to his boss. Cochran was doing the proper thing with his superior officers. The Chief says he has no plans to appeal. The bible says,

Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, (1 Peter 2:13).

4. Remember that the world has an illogical mind when it comes to sin. Mayor Reed said of Cochran:
“His judgment and ability to manage the department was the subject of this inquiry.” Here is Cochran’s bio, and mind you, it’s only an excerpt. There’s more.

Kelvin J. Cochran serves as First Vice President and Director of International Association Of Fire Chiefs Inc. His formal education post High School includes the U.S. Fire Administration National Fire Academy, Wiley College, where he received a Bachelor’s Degree in Organizational Management (1999). In 2009, President Obama appointed him as the U.S. fire administrator for the United States Fire Administration. Mr. Cochran holds a Masters Degree in Industrial Organizational Psychology from Louisiana Tech (2004). Previously, he was a 26-year-veteran of Shreveport, LA fire department, having joined as firefighter in 1981, progressing through the ranks of training officer and assistant chief training officer before becoming fire chief in 1999.

It seems to me that his ‘ability to lead and manage the department’ would be stellar, and in fact, has been for 6 years. What I ask is, would the same level of scrutiny be present with an LGBT person leading and managing the department? Would they have sound judgment and no bias when it comes to hiring, training, and leading Christian folk they know object to their lifestyle? Of course not. But sin makes the carnal mind illogical, they have a debased mind. That means they don’t think straight. (Romans 1:28). We understand that and simply continue showing the love of Christ, as Chief Cochran has done.

5. Trust the Lord. Chief Cochran ended his message to the Convention gathered at Fist Baptist Church by reciting Psalm 27, which he had memorized,

Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, spouting malicious accusations … Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.

6. The LORD always uses His people for Good. Chief Cochran knows that good will come from this. It has already. Many people, I’m sure, are encouraged by his response and take inspiration from it. I’m one of them. He is providing a template for how to respond when persecution comes to my door. The bible says,

As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. (Genesis 50:20).

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28).

Chief Cochran’s goal was to glorify Christ. He has done so, in an unexpected way. When the time comes, may we do the same.

atlanta, fire chief, homosexuality, kelvin cochran, persecution, truth

Bible Belt Georgia? Not so much: Atlanta Fire Chief suspended for publicly stating his Christian beliefs (Updated)

Posted on November 26, 2014May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Updated to include some links, a pull quote regarding the actual loss of income & a quote from the book. At bottom.

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Fire Chief suspended after publishing book calling homosexuality ‘unclean,’ ‘vulgar’

Atlanta Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran is suspended for one month without pay after publishing a book that says homosexuality and having multiple sexual partners is “vile,” “vulgar”, and “inappropriate”. The 162-page paperback titled “Who Told You That You Were Naked?” is being sold at Amazon.com. Mayor Kasim Reed said in a statement he learned about the book on Friday, reports Atlanta Business Chronicle broadcast partner WXIA-TV.”I profoundly disagree with and am deeply disturbed by the sentiments expressed in the paperback regarding the LGBT community. I will not tolerate discrimination of any kind within my administration,” Reed said.

Cochran’s book also includes an author page and describes him as a “devout Christian man” whose “greatest desire is to fulfill the purpose of God for his life and to be living proof of God’s exceeding great and precious promises.” Cochran is also a member of Elizabeth Baptist Church and serves as a deacon and teacher, according to the book’s author’s page.

Chief Kelvin Cochran. Source AJC

More at the link. Incidentally, Chief Cochran wrote the book in November 2013.

Chief Cochran has been a firefighter for thirty-four years, beginning his career in Shreveport La. He is a high-achieving man with an impeccable record,

In 2009, “President Barack Obama appointed him as U.S. Fire Administrator for the United States Fire Administration in Washington, D.C. In that capacity, Chief Cochran was charged with overseeing, coordinating, and directing national efforts to prevent fires and improve fire response. He worked extensively with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Homeland Security.”

Atlanta Mayor Reed stated of the situation, “Chief Cochran will be suspended for one month without pay, Chief Cochran will be required to complete sensitivity training; Chief Cochran will be prohibited from distributing the book on city property…”

At Red State, Erick Erickson wrote,
Chief Cochran proclaims that his top priority as head of the fire department is “to cultivate its culture to the glory of God.”

Specifically, the accusation is that by being honest about his orthodox Christian views on sex and marriage, Chief Cochran is undermining the public trust in him. You’d think the government would appreciate Kelvin Cochran being a role model to young black men in Atlanta, but they are instead much more focused on not offending the gay rights community. What Mayor Reed and the gay rights community are saying is that if you work for government you cannot be open about your Christian faith.

and all this despite the fact that–

Atlanta just received a 100 score on the Human Right Campaign’s Municipal Equality Index, which includes scoring on nearly 50 factors under six broad factors including non-discrimination laws, relationship recognition, city employment policies, inclusiveness in city services, law enforcement and city leadership on matters of LGBT equality. Atlanta has been the only city in the Deep South to score a 100 two years in a row.

In January 2006, Kasim Reed introduced a bill to authorize scholastic teaching of the textbook The Bible and Its Influence, which passed into law later that year. It is the height of absurdity to mandate the government school system teach the bible, but deny a man’s pay and stature for having an opinion about that same bible’s teachings. Reed’s bill was the first in the nation to mandate teaching the bible in public schools, but Reed punishes a man having an opinion about it. However it is not so absurd when we realize we are living in a post-Christian America.

You have to know that the gay mafia will hound this man out of office. Because we are living in a post-Christian nation, a post-Christian world at that, Romans 1:28-32 says this is what we can expect,

And 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. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though 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.

According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Cochran makes $172,000 a year. A one-month suspension would cost Cochran $14,333 for expressing his Christian views.
We see their slander in the LBGT ‘community’ saying the Chief won’t put out fires at gay homes, their maliciousness in saying that that his one-month suspension isn’t enough punishment. We see all this in the gay mafia’s evil works.

Is it bad that we are in a post-Christian world? Not necessarily. The cultural veneer overlaid on America these last decades has allowed us to shift our attention as Christ’s servants to the political arena (remember the Moral Majority?) rather than remain focused on our one job: proclaim the Gospel. It has also allowed individual Christians to relax in evangelism, especially in the Bible Belt. Well, that belt is loosening and soon enough America will be wearing no pants. In January 2014, John MacArthur commented on Post-Christian America–

Continuing Christ’s Work, part 2

Most of you older people grew up in a time period in America when there was cultural Christianity. There was a kind of Christian consensus in America. People understood the church, they understood the Bible, they understood the gospel. They understood the morality that came out of the Bible. Sometimes it was called the Judeo Christian Ethic. But even more, it was a cultural kind of Christianity. If you grew up in the south, you probably joined a church, some church, because if you joined a church, you could get a job at the bank.

If you joined a church, you could be hired somewhere because you were one of the good guys. If you joined a church, you connected with other people, and you were socially acceptable, and you were religious, and you believed in God, and that was good, like the founders of America believed. They didn’t believe in the God of the Bible, but they believed they couldn’t keep people moral if there wasn’t some divine threat. So they created a God of their own imagining to hold over peoples’ heads. So there was a belief in God, and it was defined primarily by the Bible.

So there was a kind of cultural morality that survived a long time in America, and it was showing up in elections 20 years ago, 15 years ago. There was still a consensus. We remember the moral majority, the religious right. They were still to get people elected, still able to have some clout and some power. Let me tell you something. Gone. Gone. No more. There is no more cultural Christianity. There is no collective Christian consensus that is going to have any power in this country whatsoever.

In fact, the more distinctly Christian we are, the more we will be labeled as extremists. Bizarre, alien, homophobic, intolerant, guilty of hate crimes. Cultural Christianity is, as we know it, that kind of consensus coming from a Biblical understanding is gone. It is gone. The people who now vote in America couldn’t care less. They couldn’t care less about that. The people who carry the elections, they don’t want anything to do with that. They want to escape the extremism of cultural Christianity as they see it. So I think as we go forward, it’s going to come down to this, and this is exactly where it ought to be anyway.

There are several things as Christians we can do:

First, realize that no place, no job, no person is safe from government punishment for holding biblical views. The days of safety, if there ever were any, are over. The tide holding back punishments against Christians has receded and we are at the mercy of sharks patrolling the waters who wish to submerge, devour, and obliterate any mention of biblical views whatsoever. Just a few weeks ago we were shocked in our county that the American Humanist Association and the American Civil Liberties Union pounded us for having a privately-donated statue on school grounds that contained a bible verse.

Secondly, pray for Chief Cochran. Pray the Spirit strengthens him to withstand the arrows the evil one is sending his way, and that he remains true to his convictions and that his top priority as head of the fire department remains “to cultivate its culture to the glory of God,” especially in the face of incredible employment and cultural pressure. This could be a glorious moment for his witness.

Third, buy Chief Cochran’s book so he can receive royalties, or even donate to him if you feel led. No one can easily withstand a sudden suspension without pay. Can you make your mortgage if suddenly you lost a month’s pay? At the very least, it will be a strained month for the man and his family. (Acts 2:45). Here is a commenter’s opinion on Cochran’s Amazon.com page:

A free press is essential to democracy, especially for opinions you disagree with. I bought this book because the author was suspended without pay from his “regular” job for a month just for writing it. I don’t even know if I’ll read it but harassing authors and psuedo-banning of books is the quickest way to get me to buy one. Many thanks to the His Honor the Mayor of Atlanta for making such a big deal about it and bringing it to my attention. By Ernest Lansford on November 25, 2014

The five-star and one-star reviews on his Amazon page are running about equal. There are no reviews in between. The cultural dividing line is reflected in these reviews.

Fourth- prepare yourself, no matter where you live. In America especially, ease and cushiness for the Christian is over. The Fire Chief wrote his book a year ago but his suspension came out of the blue a year later. Something you did or said a while ago could come back to haunt you. Remember, satan is on the prowl, that means he is hunting. This is what the gay mafia does, they hunt for prey, they look for ammunition to use against Christians to silence us and to try and overcome us.

So, how exactly did the Mayor of Atlanta discover the Christian opinions of his Fire Chief one year after they were stated? This way, as reported in GA Voice, (a ‘Gay Atlanta’ publication), in their craftily malicious headline that the Atlanta Fire Chief ‘goes on an anti-gay crusade’,

Retired Atlanta Fire Department Captain Cindy Thompson, who is openly gay, was informed of the book by other firefighters who were disturbed by the book. Thompson, who retired in 2009 after 30 years with the department, contacted the GA Voice to get the word out about the anti-gay book. Today she she said she talked with Robin Shahar, the LGBT liaison for Mayor Reed’s office, about the book…Thompson said she knew Chief Cochran while she worked at the department but “didn’t know this side of him.” She did say she knew he was a religious man and because she had “bad vibes” about him she voluntarily took a demotion from battalion chief to captain. “I just didn’t get a good feeling from him,” she said. “Now I see this book and know I was right all along.”

We know that the ‘bad vibes’ the lesbian got from the Christian Chief was because her wicked spirit recoiled from the Light in his spirit, as all homosexuals suppress the truth in their unrighteousness. (Romans 1:18). They MUST gather numbers of like-minded people to themselves because they NEED the hearty approval. They need the tipping point in order to try and silence the Christian voice.

So prepare yourself, and not just on matters involving homosexuality. Publicly stating that divorce goes against God, or adultery is wrong, or co-habitating is immoral are also stances that go against the cultural grain these days. In fact, any public statement touting a dogmatic fact of evil against God’s good will get you anything from cold shoulders to outright persecution. Sometimes it even comes from ‘Christians’.

In America now there is real risk of economic penalty for believing the bible literally- AND proclaiming it.

Last, continue Christ’s work. We live in exciting times with exciting opportunities. John MacArthur reported that though Christianity is against the law in China, 1,000 Chinese pastors gathered in Hong Kong for a training conference and received a new study bible in Chinese. What glorious news!!!

1000 Chinese pastors received a new Chinese study bible at the
Expository Conference in Hong Kong on Sept. 23-26, 2014

MacArthur’s staff reported,

The goal of the conference, a cooperative effort of The Master’s College, Grace to You and Grace Bible Fellowship in Singapore, was to get John MacArthur’s material, both the study Bible and his New Testament commentaries, into the hands of as many Chinese pastors as possible…

MacArthur said in his sermon ‘Continuing Christ’s Work,’

The gospel is circling the globe. We’re living in the greatest revival of Biblical truth in the history of the world simply because of its electronic capabilities circle the globe. We’re also nearer the second coming than we’ve ever been as the gospel is extending to the ends of the earth. Many verses in a new testament encourage us to be faithful until he comes.

May you be faithful. May I be faithful. May we all be faithful in praying for one another. It is a dark time but it is a time of Light too. Jesus will never leave us nor forsake us, and His Gospel will prevail, it has prevailed, and the gates of hell shall not win against it. As the Amazon commenter said, thank you Mayor Reed for making a big deal out of this, so we can be aware of a situation to bring before the Lord. Chief Cochran is not alone, we are all part of a glorious church, united in our work to advance His precious Good News to the lost. We do not sing woe is us, but we sing Hallelujah.

O Lord, our Lord,

how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory above the heavens.

Out of the mouth of babies and infants,

you have established strength because of your foes,

to still the enemy and the avenger.

~Psalm 8:1-2

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7 Questions God Asks, Losing Kirk Cameron trying Save Christmas, Doctrine, Mark Driscoll resigns, Hillsong & Vatican on gays

Posted on October 18, 2014May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Here are some dribs and drabs for you. Links, news, and thoughts.

Sermon Series: Alistair Begg: Seven Questions God Asks

Many of us are familiar with the questions that individuals regularly bring to God. Yet how many of us are aware of the questions that God brings to individuals? In this series, Alistair Begg examines seven conversations that begin with one of God’s disarming questions. From Adam and Eve in the Garden to the rich young ruler in Judea, the Lord engages these individuals with striking accuracy and exposes their mistaken notions about him.

These questions are as arresting to us today and are as able to penetrate our hearts as they were two-thousand years ago. In this study, we are invited to discover the truth of God’s nature and the reality of our condition as it is revealed in these surprising encounters.

Below is the entire series, click on the link above to get to all of them. Sermons range between 20-25 minutes. I listened to “Why Do You Call Me Good?” and “Where are You?” this morning and I loved them.

Where are You? Genesis 3:9
What is This You Have Done? Genesis 3:13
Why Do You Call Me Good? Mark 10:18
Who Do You Say I Am? Mark 8:29
Do You Think I Came to Bring Peace? Luke 12:51
What Will It Profit A Man …? Matthew 16:26
What is Your Life? James 4:14

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Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry reminds us of what doctrine is and why it’s important, And no, it’s not complicated. If you say “I’m a sinner” you just stated the Doctrine of Sin. Doctrine:

The word “doctrine” comes from the Greek word “didaskolos,” and it basically means “teaching.” It is used many times in the New Testament. Doctrine is extremely important in Christianity. By it we know who God is, what He has done, what the Trinity is, the deity of Christ, His resurrection, salvation, justification, etc. Doctrine is what defines the who’s and what’s of Christianity. In fact, you can’t be saved without doctrine.

It is a doctrinal statement that you are a sinner (Rom. 3:23). It is also doctrinally true that the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23). In fact, the doctrine of salvation teaches us that Jesus bore our sin in His body on the cross (1 Pet. 2:24) so that we could be justified by faith (Rom. 5:1) and escape the righteous wrath of God (John 3:36). Doctrine. It is important. It is vital to our relationship with God and our salvation. Good doctrine is like an anchor that prevents us from drifting into teachings that are false.

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We’re losing Kirk Cameron…

You might be surprised to see a negative review of any of Kirk Cameron’s projects. Known as a child actor in the 1980s on secular television, and later as a Christian actor in the Kendrick Brothers’ Christian movies such as the excellent Fireproof, Cameron has been the Christian poster boy for atheist-turned-Christian boy done good.

However, there has been a noticeable slide in him over the last five years, with several indicators rising to the top and causing concern in the discerning people who notice these things. His movie Monumental was more secular than Christian, and further it was not biblically, theologically or even historically totally accurate. His partnerships with Mormon Glenn Beck, with a Catholic Priest Father Dwyer on the Busted Halo radio show, and now Cameron’s complete disaster of a movie “Saving Christmas,” have raised the alarm bells to strident proportions.

Just to show that even the secular people get it, here is a hilarious but on the nose review of Kirk’s movie Saving Christmas by AV Club

Kirk Cameron to make Christmas safe for Christians

After having bravely made America safe for Christians, Kirk Cameron’s newest movie, Saving Christmas, similarly promises to rescue the Christian holiday for Christians, delivering it from the continued terrorist assault by euphemisms. “Do you ever feel like Christmas has been hijacked by all the commercialism, and those who want to replace ‘Merry Christmas’ with ‘Happy Holidays’ or ‘Seasons Greetings’—whatever that means?” Cameron says. He remains baffled by these crazy atheist codes for wishing you happy holy days and seasonal hellos without specifically invoking Jesus—all while decrying commercialism, in the opening line of a trailer advertising a Christmas movie he wants you to pay to see.

On a more serious note though, there are many people, including myself, who are very sad to see his theological drift and his unholy partnering with Mormons and Catholics, even going so far as to call them brothers in the faith.

A critical mass of sorts has been reached. Michael John Beasley wrote an Open Letter to Cameron two weeks ago,

Open Letter and Appeal To Kirk Cameron, But Also to Glenn Beck, Father David Dwyer, and all Their Respective Employees and Listening Audiences

At Christianity Today, Sunny Shell gracefully and biblically reviewed the Saving Christmas movie, Kirk Cameron’s ‘Saving Christmas’ Belittles Christians. Here is an excerpt:

On Friday, November 14, 2014 Kirk Cameron’s “Saving Christmas” will be opening in select theaters across the country for only two weeks.

This movie is all about making fun of any Christian who doesn’t think like or agree with Kirk Cameron and his company. According to Kirk and friends, one of the main purposes of “Saving Christmas” is to dispel the beliefs that most of our traditional Christmas practices e.g., decorating Christmas trees, feasting, mistletoe, gift exchanges, etc., are from pagan origins or fabricated myths about actual people who lived during the fourth-century—namely Saint Nicholas of Lycia, commonly known in the United States as Santa Claus.

Here is the part about belittling Christians. Mrs Shell wrote,

To ensure I was clear regarding one of the main purposes of this film, Darren Doane who not only plays the lead character, but also scripted, produced and directed the movie, tweeted this to me the other day, “but the film does make fun of Wannabe Berean [sic] unimaginative Christians who need to lighten up.”

Source

By this we know that Doane and Cameron don’t take atheists to task, but take fellow Christians to task who are concerned about the excesses of Christmas consumerism and traditions, and bemoan the lost focus on Jesus, and they do so in a belittling, mocking way.

Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. (Colossians 2:16)

I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. (Romans 16:17)

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Appropos of nothing except I liked the quote (becuase it used to apply to me before I was saved)…speaking to University Students recently, Alistair Begg said of the sin-drenched mind,

“Human reason and intellectual capacity forms the basis for their unbounded confidence. I said to them, I’m not sure they liked it, “Do you realize your intellect is not a citadel that unaffected by sin? Do you realize you can’t think properly?”

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Mark Driscoll, Mars Hill Church

Yes I know the Mark Driscoll thing has been discussed to death. Driscoll resigned from Mars Hill as pastor, but the interesting thing to me was the circumstances of the resignation. His elders said he was not disqualified from ministry because he didn’t perform “heresy, immorality or criminal activity.” While the bible does list those as disqualifying events from ministry, those are not the ONLY disqualifying events. Sola Sisters explains at the following link.

Mars Hill Pastor Mark Driscoll Resigns, Claims He Is Not “Disqualified From Future Ministry”

As devastating as this is issue is to the Driscoll family, the Mars Hill congregants, to the faith and to God, the problem this indicates is much larger. It is my opinion that Western Christianity (and maybe all of Christianity) is undergoing a monumental collapse. The church has been inflated with so many tares that it has become bloated with false members. Like a helicopter trying to rise with too many hanging on, many are falling away (or sovereignly revealed to have been false all along).

Source

[True Christianity will never be overcome. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Matthew 16:18]

For example, Hillsong Pastor Brian Houston said this week that he will not take a biblical stand on Homosexuality issues. He said “it is an ongoing conversation” and “we’re on a journey with it”. NY Times reported,

Brian and Bobbie Houston of Hillsong

Megachurch Pastor Signals Shift in Tone on Gay Marriage

The pastor of one of the more influential global megachurches has declared that his church is in “an ongoing conversation” about same-sex marriage — saying that it is appropriate to consider the words of the Bible alongside the changing culture and the experience of people in the pews.

This blogger stated it more specifically- Hillsong grooming its members to embrace Queerstianity? (Part 2)

And you know what? So is the Vatican.

Vatican stuns Catholic world with greater openness toward gays and lesbians

VATICAN CITY — The world’s Catholic bishops on Monday (Oct. 13) signaled a move toward greater tolerance of gays and lesbians, an about-face so unexpected that leaders of the church’s right wing called it a “betrayal.”

By no stretch of the imagination can Hillsong, Mars Hill or the Catholic Church be considered true churches. Not when the Mars Hill Pastor has failed the benchmarks for qualified ministry so repeatedly and so obviously. Not when the Mars Hill elders dispense with half the scriptures for pastoral qualifications- either demonstrating massive ignorance of scripture (in which case they themselves are disqualified from eldership) or by having willfully set them aside (again, an act which disqualifies them from eldership).

Not when Hillsong’s prosperity gospel infects the global church, and Hillsong conferences touting spiritual teaching and personal renewal include such rank heretics as TD Jakes, Kong Hee, Joel Osteen, Victoria Osteen, Judah Smith, Rick Warren, Jesus Culture, Steven Furtick, Louie Giglio, Christine Caine, Bethel Live, Bill Hybels, Louie Giglio, Joyce Meyer and Joseph Prince! Those names are poster children for heresy itself.

And of course the Catholic Church we already know is false.

Yet how large are just those three entities? Considered Christian by most of the world, their size and membership means their leaven is spoiling the entire loaf. The bread inflates with rank leaven.

A little leaven leavens the whole lump. (Galatians 5:9)

How is it that you fail to understand that I did not speak about bread? Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees. (Matthew 16:11)

Catholic Church: 1.2 billion members worldwide. Vatican is the world’s sole absolute monarchy. One of the oldest hierarchical religious organizations in the world, and the longest successive monarchy.

“We must have no truce, no treaty with Rome.” Charles Spurgeon

Hillsong: 30,000 members in Australia; extension churches also in London, Cape Town, Paris, Kiev, Stockholm, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Copenhagen and New York, there are 680,000 Twitter followers of Hillsong music and more than 4 million Facebook fans. President of LifeWay Research Ed Stetzer, says of the Houstons’ impact, “I’d guess that globally, they’d be in the top 10 influential evangelicals in the English-speaking world.”

And this is the “church” that will NOT take a stand on homosexuality…

Mars Hill: a multi-site church based in Seattle, Washington with 15 locations in 5 U.S. states, 260,000 sermon views online every week, from 2004-2012 Outreach Magazine ranked Mars Hill #4 in overall “Top Churches to Watch in America”. In 2011, Preaching magazine named the founding pastor Mark Driscoll ‘one of the 25 most influential [English-speaking] pastors of the past 25 years.’ 10 Million views on Youtube and almost half a million followers for Mark Driscoll and another 63,000 for Mars Hill Church.

And this is the church whose elders say that plagiarism, twisting scriptures, lying, and bullying are not disqualifying events for its pastor.

Never fear. No matter what seems to be happening to the church is only happening to the false church and only happening because God is allowing it. Jesus keeps His sheep unspoiled. He will take His true church out of the world to be living bread for His name forever.

Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” 37He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, 39and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. 40Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. 41The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, 42and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear. (Matthew 13:36-43)

gender surgery, homosexuality, paul mchugh, perversity, sbc, transgender

The Incorrect Assumption of Transgenderism is that…

Posted on June 21, 2014May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

“…what is in the mind cannot be questioned.”

The above statement was from Dr. Paul McHugh, former psychiatrist in chief at Johns Hopkins Hospital, and the author of “Try to Remember: Psychiatry’s Clash Over Meaning, Memory, and Mind”.

It is from an excerpt from an Opinion-Editorial article that appeared in the Wall Street Journal last week by Dr. Paul McHugh, formerly head psychiatrist at Johns Hopkins University. [HT Stand to Reason Blog] from which the above was taken. Their title was “Why the First Hospital to Do Sex-Reassignment Surgeries No Longer Does Them”

I thought Dr. McHugh’s point about anorexia and bulimia was especially poignant. The comment about the 20-fold higher suicide rate of surgically transgendered patients in latter years having ‘no explanation’ was also poignant.

Christians have the explanation. The explanation is, the trans-gender seeker person is vigorously rebelling against God and denying His sovereignty over creation, including their own creation as a man or a woman. Rebellion against God and denying Him always leads to despair- because rebels have no hope.

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

Halifax, Canada: “The familiar stick figures remain, so as not to confuse anyone used to looking for them to point the way to a washroom. But now Capital Health has added a third figure to the signs on some of its single-stall bathrooms in Halifax to represent transgender people, in a move designed to signal a welcoming environment to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individual.”

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

Satan actively seeks moral decline. He seeks it in the individual and he seeks it in society. In attacking the family satan has had success in bringing about an acceptance of divorce, and an acceptance of homosexuality- at least as it’s presented in the news and the media. The next frontier for acceptance of perversity is transgenderism, and polyamory (Multiple wives, or multiple partners under one roof.) If satan can corrupt the marriage institution and pervert the nuclear family, thus normalizing terrible sin, he will have accomplished his goal, which is to rebel against God’s holy standards. Getting an entire society to rebel is icing on the cake. (Romans 1:32).

Dr McHugh’s information is of interest because transgenderism is the next frontier of satan’s active battlefield. The cherry on top of the icing on the cake is that after getting individuals to fall, and after getting a culture to fall, is to get these perverted notions accepted by the church. It has been an onslaught lately.

Several weeks ago, a church identifying as Southern Baptist repudiated the biblical standard for sexuality and voted to keep a pastor who’d reversed his position on homosexuality as a sin. The reason for the pastor’s change of heart? His son came out as gay, and rather than repudiate the sin in his son and go through the Matthew 18 process, the pastor chose to repudiate Jesus instead. His church voted to keep the gay-affiring pastor, thus the congregation repudiated Jesus also. In these cases I am reminded of Revelation 3:20. Jesus is outside the door of the church, knocking to come in.

The Presbyterian Church USA voted this week to change their constitution declaring marriage as a union between two people, rather than specifically between a man and a woman.

In the face of the swelling tide of gender role and sexual reversals, last week the Southern Baptist Convention passed a resolution stating in part, “The separation of one’s gender identity from the physical reality of biological birth sex poses the harmful effect of engendering an understanding of sexuality and personhood that is fluid.“

And this piece by Dr McHugh agrees, medically, biologically, and psychologically. Transgenderism is in the mind, it is a desire, an appetite. It is a disorder, not a biological reality.

Acknowledging transgenderism as a sin and not a disorder does not diminish the pain and anguish the gender confused individual possesses. However the glory of the Gospel is that Jesus died to pay for all sins, and to bring peace between Himself and sinners. Any and all sin, confusion, and anguish can be covered and helped by repentance and submission to the Great and Holy Comforter. He is a man of Sorrows Himself, understanding our pains and woes. He will help. Repentance, means a true rejection of one’s sin, and in this case pleas to Jesus will be heard. It doesn’t mean that one’s anguish over sin will be immediately dissolved, but He sends a Helper in the Holy Spirit to aid us in resisting temptation. More than that He gives us HOPE, and changes our focus from self to Him, that is always the greatest and most magnanimous place to start the path to true peace.

Here is Dr. McHugh

[P]olicy makers and the media are doing no favors either to the public or the transgendered by treating their confusions as a right in need of defending rather than as a mental disorder that deserves understanding, treatment and prevention. This intensely felt sense of being transgendered constitutes a mental disorder in two respects. The first is that the idea of sex misalignment is simply mistaken—it does not correspond with physical reality. The second is that it can lead to grim psychological outcomes.

The transgendered suffer a disorder of “assumption” like those in other disorders familiar to psychiatrists. With the transgendered, the disordered assumption is that the individual differs from what seems given in nature—namely one’s maleness or femaleness. Other kinds of disordered assumptions are held by those who suffer from anorexia and bulimia nervosa, where the assumption that departs from physical reality is the belief by the dangerously thin that they are overweight….

Psychiatrists obviously must challenge the solipsistic concept that what is in the mind cannot be questioned. Disorders of consciousness, after all, represent psychiatry’s domain; declaring them off-limits would eliminate the field….

We at Johns Hopkins University—which in the 1960s was the first American medical center to venture into “sex-reassignment surgery”—launched a study in the 1970s comparing the outcomes of transgendered people who had the surgery with the outcomes of those who did not. Most of the surgically treated patients described themselves as “satisfied” by the results, but their subsequent psycho-social adjustments were no better than those who didn’t have the surgery. And so at Hopkins we stopped doing sex-reassignment surgery, since producing a “satisfied” but still troubled patient seemed an inadequate reason for surgically amputating normal organs.

It now appears that our long-ago decision was a wise one. A 2011 study at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden produced the most illuminating results yet regarding the transgendered, evidence that should give advocates pause. The long-term study—up to 30 years—followed 324 people who had sex-reassignment surgery. The study revealed that beginning about 10 years after having the surgery, the transgendered began to experience increasing mental difficulties. Most shockingly, their suicide mortality rose almost 20-fold above the comparable nontransgender population. This disturbing result has as yet no explanation but probably reflects the growing sense of isolation reported by the aging transgendered after surgery. The high suicide rate certainly challenges the surgery prescription….

At the heart of the problem is confusion over the nature of the transgendered. “Sex change” is biologically impossible. People who undergo sex-reassignment surgery do not change from men to women or vice versa. Rather, they become feminized men or masculinized women. Claiming that this is civil-rights matter and encouraging surgical intervention is in reality to collaborate with and promote a mental disorder.

For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord. (Jude 1:4)

And yet, our gentle Lord encourages us with this verse,

But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. (Jude 1:20-21)

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Further reading:

Transgendered Chastity Bono and “Dancing with the Stars”

What does the Bible say about transsexualism / transgenderism? Is gender identity disorder / gender dysphoria the result of sin?”

Focus on the Family position on Transgenderism

gay pride, homosexuality, iraq, ISIS, israel, jesus, judgment

Tel Aviv, Sodom’s new headquarters; part 2 ISIS and prophecy

Posted on June 14, 2014May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

In both the introduction, Do the events of today in Iraq have prophetic import? and in Part 1, “Has the Assyrian Empire just revived? ISIS, Baghdad, and the Middle East in prophecy part 1,” I discussed the terrible unfolding events of the near-collapse of Iraq as the terror militant group ISIS drives forward to capture huge swathes of Iraq, Syria and part of Turkey. I’d said that though we don’t know for certain if these are directly prophetic events, but that such sudden moves in bible lands are always worth watching and worth praying over.

Over 800,000 Iraqis are fleeing the incoming army of rabidly ferocious ISIS soldiers. The refugee situation in the area is horrific, with millions of displaced Syrians already in ever-growing refugee camps in Lebanon, Turkey, and Jordan, and even Italy. Where are these Iraqi refugees going to go?

They are fleeing because the ISIS group is known for violence, bloodshed, and brutality. The UK newspapers are reporting streets lined with heads, as beheading of even surrendering opposition takes place. Targeting of civilians is common. God, being holy and just, is not pleased with such sin.

I made the comment that the lands the ISIS insurgent group has re-taken are lands that match the heart of the old nation of Assyria, the once most feared empire on earth. Things don’t change, I’d written, because the enmity between them and God was put there in the Garden after the Fall (Genesis 3:15). It will remain until Jesus returns.

In the bible it is equally clear that He uses nations to render judgment for sin. In the past He especially used Assyria as ‘His rod’ to punish Israel for their sins.

He used Isaiah and Micah and Hosea to warn, and “Yet the Lord warned Israel and Judah by every prophet and every seer” (2 Kings 17:13). Israel did not repent and the invasion came to pass.

Isaiah gave one of the warnings:

“Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger And the staff in whose hand is My indignation. I will send him against an ungodly nation, And against the people of My wrath I will give him charge, To seize the spoil, to take the prey, And to tread them down like the mire of the streets. Yet he does not mean so, Nor does his heart think so; But it is in his heart to destroy, And cut off not a few nations.” (Isaiah 10:5-7)

Here is the result: Israel did NOT repent,

Then the king of Assyria invaded the whole land and went up to Samaria and besieged it three years. 6In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried Israel away into exile to Assyria, and settled them in Halah and Habor, on the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. (2 Kings 17:5-6)

Wikipedia gives an overview: “The Northern Kingdom of Israel was conquered by the Neo-Assyrian monarchs, Tiglath-Pileser III (Pul) and Shalmaneser V. The later Assyrian rulers Sargon II and his son and successor, Sennacherib, were responsible for finishing the twenty-year demise of Israel’s northern ten-tribe kingdom, although they did not overtake the Southern Kingdom.”

In that case God used Assyria as His rod to punish Israel for their disobedience and preserved a remnant for Himself (the Southern Kingdom).

What was Israel doing that ignited God’s ire so much? 2 Kings 17 records one warning:

“they had feared other gods, and had walked in the statutes of the nations whom the LORD had cast out from before the children of Israel, …

And they abandoned all the commandments of the Lord their God, …

So they left all the commandments of the LORD their God, made for themselves a molded image and two calves, made a wooden image and worshiped all the host of heaven, and served Baal. …

And they caused their sons and daughters to pass through the fire, practiced witchcraft and soothsaying, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger. …

the LORD removed Israel out of His sight, as He had said by all His servants the prophets. So Israel was carried away from their own land to Assyria, as it is to this day.“

God doesn’t change, His expectations for His people do not change. He expects His people Israel and His Bride the Church to be holy, to seek after Him and Him alone. Does one believe that God will overlook this, going on in Tel Aviv, Israel this very day?

Gay Pride flag flies in US embassy in Tel Aviv Israel
Welcome to Sodom’s New Headquarters
“The U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Dan Shapiro, has hoisted the gay pride flag over the embassy building in Tel Aviv. Todd Starnes grabbed the pic from the embassy’s Facebook page.”

The UK Independent reports backlash!
“The US embassy in Tel Aviv faced a backlash of criticism after it raised the rainbow flag next to the American flag above its office for the first time in history earlier this week. On Tuesday, Daniel Shapiro, the US ambassador to Israel, made the announcement that the rainbow flag had been raised during Tel Aviv’s Pride Week, which runs until 14 June. “For the first time in history,” Mr Shapiro wrote on the embassy’s Facebook page, “the US Embassy in Tel Aviv has raised the Pride flag together with our American flag. We are proud to join with the municipality of Tel Aviv-Yafo and its residents in celebrating LGBT Pride Week.” … But Mr Shapiro’s announcement was met with a barrage of angry comments from users claiming it did not represent the views held by American citizens, with many demanding the flag be taken down immediately.“

The Jerusalem Post reports that as Tel Aviv “celebrates” Gay Pride week, Tel Aviv is the world’s “best gay city.”
People of all ages, races, nationalities and sexual identities, many scantily clad and adorned in rainbow flags, crammed into the vibrant park-space in central Tel Aviv to listen to local musical performances, visit stalls of organizers and activists, hear an introduction from Tel Aviv mayor Ron Huldai, and show off the best of LGBTQ culture. It is no surprise that this event was so heavily attended; the only state in the Middle East that does not outlaw homosexuality, Israel, and specifically Tel Aviv, is host to a large and vibrant LGBTQ activist community. … The parade ended in a massive beach party at Charles Clore Park, after which attendees dispersed to explore the best that “the world’s best gay city” had to offer. “

Source

Twitter comment regarding the above photo: “100,000+ #LGBT people have gathered in #Israel for gay pride parade. Imagine that anywhere else in the Middle East.“

I submit to you the point of this essay: that the beheading violence from the ISIS soldiers in Mosul Iraq is just as violent and abhorrent to God as the kissing queers on the Israeli beach. Does one think that our Holy God who was outraged at the sodomy at Sodom and Gomorrah would not also be angry at the sodomy at the new Sodom, Tel Aviv? He is.

He will bring judgment to Israel, and punish them severely. This is coming. It is prophesied.

Revelation 11:8 makes reference to Jerusalem being metaphorical Sodom!

and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified.

He will punish.

“I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling. Judah will be besieged as well as Jerusalem.” (Zechariah 12:2)

“For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses plundered and the women raped. Half of the city shall go out into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city.” (Zechariah 14:2)

“but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months.” (Revelation 11:2)

Does America, that bastion of homosexual ‘equality’, think it will escape the judgment of Holy God? Our sins are so many. Sodom didn’t escape. Gomorrah didn’t escape. Admah didn’t. Zeboiim didn’t. Jerusalem won’t. This news from earlier today

When Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi walked away from a U.S. detention camp in 2009, the future leader of ISIS issued some chilling final words to reservists from Long Island. “See you in New York.”

Army Col. Kenneth King, then the commanding officer of Camp Bucca, didn’t take these words from Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as a threat. Al-Baghdadi knew that many of his captors were from New York, reservists with the 306 Military Police Battalion, a unit based on Long Island that includes numerous numerous members of the NYPD and the FDNY. King had not imagined that in less that five years he would be seeing news reports that al-Baghdadi was the leader of ISIS, the ultra-extremist army that was sweeping through Iraq toward Baghdad. … King says “He was a bad dude, but he wasn’t the worst of the worst.” That is the face that King was so surprised to see this week as the man who had become the absolute worst of the worst, so bad that even al Qaeda had disowned him. The whole world was stunned as al-Baghdadi now told his enemies “I’ll see you in Baghdad.”

Israel’s judgment will be severe, as it will be for all those on earth enduring the punishment of wrath from a Holy God. Sin must be dealt with. One can wait and have the angry God deal with you regarding your sin, or you can deal with it now, during the Age of Grace.

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

What IS The Gospel? From Bible.org,
In a day of depressing headlines and uncertainty all around us, good news is very welcome. What better news could there be than as the old hymn says: “The vilest offender who truly believes, that moment from Jesus a pardon receives?” When Christians refer to the “Gospel” they are referring to the “good news” that Jesus Christ died to pay the penalty for our sin so that we might become the children of God through faith alone in Christ alone. In short, “the Gospel” is the sum total of the saving truth as God has communicated it to lost humanity as it is revealed in the person of His Son and in the Holy Scriptures, the Bible. If you aren’t sure whether or not you are God’s child, you might want to read God’s Plan of Salvation.

Be saved today! Be saved from his wrath and the coming judgment. Meet Jesus as friend, father, Groom.

Saved, Saved:

culture, gay marriage, homosexuality, north carolina, prophecy

An unusual twist to North Carolina’s gay marriage lawsuit: banning gay marriage inhibits freedom of religion

Posted on May 7, 2014 by elizabethprata

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)

Here is one example of how satan is twisting good to evil and evil to good. In this case, he has it both ways. Remember, the very first time satan is introduced to us in the word of God, we learn that our adversary is crafty. (Genesis 3:1)

The issue on today’s essay is homosexuality, which as you know, is a sin according to the words of God. (Leviticus 18:22, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, Romans 1:26-28, 1 Timothy 1:10). However, the culture around the world for the most part has been very busy in this generation and the last to redefine homosexuality as an equality issue, or a discrimination issue, or not a sin issue. And so far, it has been successful. Culture has normalized the activity, worked to remove the stigma to it, and presented it as something that deserves inclusion into one of society’s (and God’s) institutions: marriage.

I thought that this news article from earlier in the week represented a ‘natural’ next step in the ongoing perverse battle to get homosexuality into churches and into the minds of people as a normal, God-ordained activity;but was also brilliant as a next step that seems almost fated (as in, why didn’t we see this coming?)

North Carolina’s New Gay Marriage Lawsuit Could Turn ‘Everything On Its Head’
An unusual lawsuit in North Carolina is shifting the conversation about religious freedom — and could be driving a wedge between some major opponents of same-sex marriage.

Clergy from the United Church of Christ, a liberal denomination that voted to support gay weddings in its churches in 2005, filed suit in a North Carolina district court Monday, becoming the latest in a nationwide series of cases against a state’s same-sex marriage ban. Like dozens of similar lawsuits filed across the country, the North Carolina suit argues that the state’s ban violates gay couples’ constitutional right to equal protection. But in a unique twist, the suit adds that the ban also violates the First Amendment right of members of the clergy to practice their faith — because the state’s ban criminalizes pastors who bless same-sex unions, leaving clergy open to arrest.

Satan was created by God and by biblical account was the most beautiful of all the angels, the highest of the high, adorned and in the midst of the holiest of places in heaven. (Ezekiel 28:12–18). Angels have intelligence and they use their intelligence to study, observe, and preach. (Matthew 8:29; 2 Corinthians 11:3; 1 Peter 1:12). Since satan is so cunning and was able to turn a third of the holy angels of heaven from holiness to unrighteousness by getting them to follow him, it stands to reason that satan is brilliantly effective at his dark work. (Hebrews 12:22, Revelation 12:4)

What a tremendously evil campaign! To infiltrate first the culture by presenting homosexuality as normal, then infiltrate marriage with it, then insinuate himself into the churches with it, and finally to turn our own laws against us by claiming that to deny homosexual marriage in the church violates the first amendment because it denies “pastors” the right to perform their duties in marrying two men or two women. What a twist!

I can’t say I have a begrudging admiration for satan, but I do have a breathless awe at the depth of his evil and his ability to perform seemingly endless iterations of the swap for dark for light and bitter for sweet.

The lesson for us here is two-fold. First, satan is patient. He has long-term plans and is willing to work incrementally in order to carry them out. I personally believe this latest version of his 6000 year campaign to normalize homosexuality in America began in 1969 with the Stonewall Riots.

If you’re old enough, in the US in 1968 everything was turning upside down. Protesters were marching against and rioting about the Viet Nam War. The Civil Rights movement was reaching its highest pitch. Several promising politicians were assassinated, and the 1968 political convention was a mess of melee and policemen and batons and brutality. At the same time, second-wave feminism was rising, a movement that focused attention on female sexuality, family, the workplace, reproductive rights, and perceived and real inequalities. Every arena of culture, from one end to another was being questioned, protested, and turned upside down.

Against this backdrop Sexual Revolution burst into cultural consciousness. As described by Wikipedia, “the sexual revolution (also known as a time of “sexual liberation”) was a social movement that challenged traditional codes of behavior related to sexuality and interpersonal relationships throughout the Western world from the 1960s to the 1980s. Sexual liberation included increased acceptance of sex outside of traditional heterosexual, monogamous relationships (primarily marriage). Contraception and the pill, public nudity, the normalization of premarital sex, homosexuality and alternative forms of sexuality, and the legalization of abortion all followed.” (source)

It was inevitable that the Stonewall Riots of 1969 would bring us to a First Amendment challenge of violation of relisous freedom. It was never obvious at the time of course, but hindsight is 20/20 and looking back we can see the road our culture has traveled. Incremental dilution of standards away from the bible’s standards is always disastrous. Never, ever give an inch.

Secondly, we as humans are sitting ducks. Just as we may not boast of our own works or even our own participation in our own salvation, we always must remember that our adversary is crafty and seeks our destruction in general and specifically at every moment. (John 10:10; 1 Peter 5:8). To put it bluntly, we’re dumber than we think.

Third, because we need Christ so desperately, our defense against being deluded by satan’s schemes is Christ alone and Christ constantly. Apart from him we can do nothing. Any person who strays from that narrow path He has set before us even by an inch will soon find themselves deluded and wandering, swapping dark for light in short order.

Christ overcame the world and He sends the Holy Spirit to dwell within us. In the Spirit’s ministry of pointing to Christ, the Spirit seeks our best, whether it be clarity in understanding scripture, strength to persevere, or even interceding for us when we are too weak or ignorant to pray. (Ephesians 1:17-18; Ephesians 3:16, Romans 8:26). How we resist the devil is by staying in the word, praying to Jesus, submitting to His statutes, and repenting when we do sin. All this helps us stay clean and clear. In other words, in every way, look to Jesus.

Satan’s brilliance is obvious. However he is a crumb compared to the glory that is Jesus our Savior! In Jesus, we can overcome all things, including drawing on the Holy Spirit’s the wit and strength to resist satan’s schemes. (James 4:7). The twisted ways of this world will become increasingly twisted, but we have the mind of Christ. And always, always remember, earth is not our home.

For we are strangers before you and sojourners, as all our fathers were. Our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no abiding.

(1 Chronicles 29:15)