Unfortunately she still doesn't understand the Truth. She thinks she feels a billion times better now because she's told the truth and she's not "living a lie" anymore. And well she should! Lying is a sin (as she knew too) and of course "living a lie" is a sin as well. Sin hurts us in many ways and hurts those around us. So here are these poor people who are so enslaved to many sins that they feel their only way out is to either kill themselves and get it over with, or be a practicing homosexual and decide (somehow) that God doesn't see homosexuality as a sin anymore.
What's even sadder is that many of these people were raised in "good Christian homes" and went to "good Christian churches". Where then was the discipleship they so badly needed when they were young??? Why then do they not understand that God never hated them because they were tempted to sin??? He hates the sin, not them. Where is their understanding that God doesn't make mistakes, that He doesn't create people as "homosexuals" or pedophiles, or thieves, or murderers, or liars etc. Why do they not understand that all of those things, like so many others, are quite simply sins and temptations??? Why do they not understand that God has called us to take our thoughts captive and make them obedient to Christ???
Do they seriously believe that God creates people to be murderers and thieves and homosexuals??? Apparently they do, but they are so very wrong!
How very sad that they feel they have to act on their sinful desires in order to "be happy". All they had to do was tell the truth about their sinful desires to have a homosexual relationship instead of hiding them. It's when we hide our sins that we give Satan a hold over us and many of these people obviously hid this sin for a very long time. Then instead of confessing the sinful thoughts/feelings and taking them captive in Christ, they went the other way and determined to find a way to reconcile their sin and yet remain "Christian". Just as Adam blamed God for his sin when he said, "the woman you gave me" made me do it, so they are blaming God for their sin by saying "God made me this way so it's His fault".
And now they are blaming those "good Christian churches" for all their problems and this young lady actually said that churches are ruining young people by telling them that homosexuality is wrong!!!
Unfortunately she's right in some ways. Churches that haven't been or aren't discipling their youngsters, and parents that are waiting for the church to teach their children God's Ways instead of doing it themselves are hurting the young.
Our children should all know that they will be tempted many times in many ways, but that being tempted doesn't make them "bad". It simply means that they need to turn to the Lord for His help and they need to be taught how to guard their minds and hearts by taking their thoughts captive for Christ. Basically, it means they're human! They need to know that they can always go to God about any thought or feeling they have and that He loves them always and that He will help them. That doesn't mean that He will make it easy for them though. There's a big difference between helping someone and doing it for them! And that's a HUGE thing that many people today simply don't get anymore.
Everyone wants everything handed to them on a silver platter instead of having to work for it. While God does give us gifts that way sometimes, for the most part He requires us to work out our salvation and use the tools He's given us in His Word.
I could go on and on about what they "should" have been taught, and what they should know, but you get the idea. What's so horribly sad though is that now, because these people think that they have finally been "freed" they are preaching their "salvation" to everyone, using every means at their disposal--TV, Radio, movies, the Internet, meetings and community groups, political activism etc.
Some of them are in many ways a part of this "new Christianity", that Warren, Piper, and others preach--but it's a Christianity without the Gospel and those people are going to go to Hell and will bring everyone else right along with them! So this half of the homosexual group is attacking the church, the body of Christ, with all the ammunition they can bring on it, and the other half, the half that are "atheists" are paving the way for them in society by mocking God.
It really opened my eyes (even wider) to how very active Satan is in our times! It's like an old fashioned cattle round up, only humans are the cattle and they're being rounded up to go to Hell. I think these people, these "stars" are going to be at the forefront of the battle to have the bible banned as hate speech and that's just part of what they'll accomplish. The question is, how much of it will we witness before the rapture???
One thing that really distresses me is the horrible way that many Christians react toward gay people. It really breaks my heart, and their response to them, becomes the main excuse the gay person often uses to stay gay, because they feel that it proves that the person is wrong about God. Sadly, they confuse just what the person is wrong about. A Christian response to homosexuality is really no different then a response to any other sin that anyone's living in. It would depend on if they're saved yet or not. Of course we can be pretty sure that if they're gay they're probably not saved...not because they're too bad, but because most of them have had the scriptures totally twisted out of shape to them on both extremes, and have misinterpreted what the scriptures really say about it.
So to me the Christian response would be to attempt to witness to them and tell them the true Gospel: "that God really does love them and wants to forgive them and save them. Yes, He does hate homosexuality and no it's not natural, it's a sin, just as sex outside of marriage is. But they can be forgiven and He will help them overcome it, in fact He's the only one that can." etc.... But really that's to be our response to anyone that's not saved that we know. We may also have to show them that their "gay feelings" are no different then any other feeling that people have, such as a desire to steal something, or to lie, or to cheat etc, and remind them that God consistently tells us not to trust our feelings, but to trust His Word instead. Then, if or when they allow us to, we can also share with them the way God gives us to overcome our wrong thoughts and feelings. That should be a huge relief to them to know that God has a plan and a way for us to overcome these things and it actually works!
Aren’t we told not to judge others?
No, the Bible tells us that we are to judge righteously. If you don't "judge" them, then how will you know if they’re right or wrong? We must be willing to stop being afraid of people and start doing what the Lord tells us to do in His Word. His Word tells us that when someone is living in sin, we are to tell the person that they are sinning and why. We are to do it in a loving but very firm and unwavering manner. We are to stand on the Word of God and not worry about what others will say of us or if that person will like or respect us any longer.
If a minister announces that they’re a homosexual and at peace with it, he has become a wolf in sheep’s clothing and will kill and destroy many of our brothers and sisters if he isn't stopped. God wants us to be concerned about that and to do something about it.
Romans 14:1 Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters.
John 7:24 Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”
We are not to pass judgment on disputable matters but this is not a disputable matter. God's Word is quite clear on this subject regardless of how badly they twist the scriptures to make it seem otherwise.
I know it's very hard to do, but it is what God says we must do. When we do things like this that is when we will be persecuted for being true Christians and followers of Christ. As long as we are like the world, no one will bother us or persecute us, but as soon as we stand up for Christ and stand firm on His Word, then everyone's fangs come out and you will be reviled for Christ's sake. The fleshly part of me cringes at that thought but my spirit wishes that it would happen to me so that I could stand for Jesus.
Matthew 5:11-12 “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
I'm sure you don't need these but I'll post them here for lurkers who might not understand what God's Word calls us to do:
Isaiah 8:20; 2 Peter 2:9; 1 Timothy 4:1-6 ;1 Timothy 5:20; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Timothy 4:2-5; Titus 1:9; Titus 1:13; Ephesians 5:11 ; 2 Thessalonians 3:6; Romans 15:4; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11;
How do we know when it’s our job to say something, or if we should just pray?
The way we know if we're supposed to do something is if we are aware of it and it's been brought to our attention personally, then it's our job to do something. God doesn't show us problems so we can go tell someone else to fix them, he shows us so that we will handle it for Him. When God places me in a situation where I am confronted with someone speaking falsely or with someone who doesn't know the Lord and I'm in a situation where I can tell them the truth, then I know it's the Lord who has put me there. I've heard it called "divine appointments". For example, if I’m in a roomful of people and one of them is talking about being gay and that it’s not a sin, then it’s my job to correct them. If however, I’m in a meeting where the speaker is saying something like that, and I just happen to be in the audience but have no way of getting to the speaker, then that job belongs to someone else, and my job is to pray.
Isn’t it chemical makeup that makes a person gay?
If you're saying, "God made him that way" then what you're really saying is that either, God made a mistake, or that God purposely made people in such a way that it would be impossible for them to be saved. That goes against everything the Bible says, so I cannot and will not believe that. Even according to their own studies, that's simply not true. Most of the studies done on this are no more then jokes anyway.
If on the other hand it's something that's physically medically wrong with them, then it's something the medical community should be studying to cure rather then trying to proclaim it's OK and normal which is what they're saying. But then they're also leaning toward saying that pedophilia is also normal and OK along with a number of other things. Basically all they're doing is giving people an "excuse" for their reprehensible behavior and then telling the rest of us that we have to accept it. I refuse to do that too.
The Bible says that God cannot, will not, and does not tempt us, that we are tempted by our own sinful desires. It is our choice to allow those sinful thoughts/ideas/fantasies etc or to do what the Bible says and stop them, taking them captive to Christ and replacing them with the Truth from His Word.
The problem is that this hasn't been taught to people for generations and instead they've been filled with the worlds "wisdom" and ideas and we all know where that leads....straight to hell.
No one "has" to be homosexual, anymore then anyone "has to be" a murder, thief, a pedophile, a rapist, or anything else. They weren't "born" that way. They chose to allow those thoughts and ideas and then they chose to act on them. Thoughts and ideas become emotions; emotions beget more thoughts and ideas until eventually they become actions; given enough time they then become habits, and given more time they then become part of our character. And lo, a homosexual is born.
How do we deal with someone that’s become a homosexual and won’t repent?
Assuming that the person knew the Gospel and had been saved, what I would do first would be to make sure the person in question understood the correct biblical way to handle their situation/problem. If they did understand it and refused to accept the fact that they themselves brought this about by (probably unknowingly) not taking control of their thought life, refused to confess their sin, (admit to God that it is in fact a sin) and repent of it, (turn away from it and choose to take responsibility for their thoughts and emotions instead) then I would have to obey God's Word and not have anything more to do with them other then praying for them. I would tell them that I loved them and that I would be praying for them, but that until they chose to repent of their sin that I had to obey God's Word and not have anything more to do with them. I would also let them know that I was in fact showing my love for them by being obedient to God and telling them the Truth so that they too would hopefully some day come to really know Him and following Him and live a life of victory rather then one of defeat wallowing in their own sinful desires.
I'm not saying that it would be easy for me to do, because it wouldn't. It would be the hardest thing in the world to do, but I would do it for Christ.
God never promised that following His path would be easy. In fact He said it would be hard. He even told us that this kind of thing would happen and that families would be driven apart due to our following and obeying Him. On top of that, He told us this would be the cost of following Him and said this would be the cross that many of us would have to bear:
Matthew 10:34-39 “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn “ ‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law— a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’ “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
Luke puts it this way:
Luke 14:25-27 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
We are to put Christ above everyone and everything in our lives, even if it means dying physically because we do.
We are in the last days and God said that this would happen and that it's only going to get worse: Micah 7:4-7; Mark 13:12-13;
He also promised us this: Matthew 19:29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.
Let me share this wonderful email from a man who was gay and who’s family kept telling him the truth because they loved him.
Thanks for offending me with the Gospel
Mike Goeke
MIDLAND, Texas (BP)--As a pastor and as someone in ministry to churches and people across the country, I have seen a growing trend over the last several years.
It seems that we, as the church and as individual Christians, spend a lot of time pulling back the outward expression of our faith for fear of offending people. Churches sometimes water down theology and their message to make sure no one leaves offended. People ignore the destructive, sinful behavior of their friends to make sure their friends are not offended. People seek community that is intentionally non-confrontational so that they will not personally be offended.
In the last weeks, it seems like I have been inundated with issues that almost seem to be begging for confrontation, but ones in which no one wants to take that step. It has made me think about my own faith. Do I believe the Word of God? If I do believe it, why am I so afraid to share it with people I say I love? If I really love people, shouldn't I risk their offense if it means saving their lives?
The reality is that the Gospel of Christ, and the truth of the Word, is by its nature offensive. It is described as a sword, and it divides, and it exposes, and it digs to deep, hidden places. It also leads us to God, to truth, to healing, to fulfillment and to freedom.
As I have thought about this, I have been reminded of a time in my life when I was deeply offended by my friends and family. I had left my wife to pursue a life built around and defined by my feelings of same-sex attraction. I had expected my friends and family to accept what I was doing, support what I was doing, and not question what I was doing. I was offended by much of Christianity, and for a season I walked away from people who loved me, and I walked away from the church.
But today, 13 years later, I would like to say a hearty "THANK YOU" to my wife, and my parents and family, and my friends who cared enough about me to offend me. I get a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach when I consider the ramifications in my life, had the people in my world bought into the lie that to love me was to affirm me in my sin. When I left my wife, she boldly told me that she knew God could work in me and in our marriage and that she would not pursue divorce. She protected her interests but always professed her love for me and her desire to work through this together.
My parents (and other family members) told me that what I was doing was wrong. They bought books and other materials and tried to get me to talk to a counselor. They also called frequently to check on me, sent me money when I needed it, came to see me on my birthday, and flew me home for holidays. My friends drove hours to talk to me about what I was doing, and told me what they believed. They flew from other towns to take me to dinner and tried to convince me to get help and to turn from the life I was living. They also sent me cards and letters full of love and affirmation of our friendship.
And each of them offended me. Each of them made me angry. I viewed them as bigoted, unenlightened, ignorant, prejudiced and hateful. If they truly loved me, I told them, they would accept me and affirm me in the lifestyle I was living. I ignored their calls and I viewed them with skepticism. I did my best to sever my relationships with those who were offending me. But they would not let me go. They did not coddle me, but they refused to give up on me.
I eventually took a book from my dad. I did not want the book -- I viewed it as more of his "right-wing Christian propaganda" -- but I took it just to shut him up. I was ready to draw a line in the sand and cut all ties with my wife, my family and my friends. But God was ready to pierce my heart. The book that my dad gave me did not condemn me, but instead showed me more than the sentimental, saccharine love of Jesus that my new theology had sold me. It showed me the powerful love of the risen Savior, and I was compelled back to Him by that love. The offending parties in my life were waiting, as loving and gracious as they had ever been, not holding my sin against me, but standing there, ready to walk with me in the journey ahead of me.
Today my marriage is restored and has grown beyond my imagination. I have three beautiful children and am living out the call on my life to vocational ministry. Healing has happened in my family relationships, and I am closer to that cadre of friends than ever before. As I listen to people worry about offending people, and as I watch people change their whole belief systems to make other people feel more comfortable, and as I see people enabling destructive behavior just to avoid conflict, I wonder where I would be today had Stephanie simply pursued divorce like I wanted her to do. I wonder where I would be if my parents and friends had supported me and encouraged me to divorce Stephanie and had rallied around me in my new found identity. I wonder where I would be if my pastors and spiritual shepherds had encouraged me to accept the very thing I needed to lay before the cross of Christ. I shudder at the thought. I know it must have killed them to think of losing me, but they loved me enough to take that risk.
Thank you, dear friends, for your offense to me. At the time, the truth you shared was the aroma of death to me (2 Corinthians 2:15) but today it is the sweet fragrance of life.
Now THAT is a beautiful picture of how individual Christians and the body of Christ together is supposed to work! Praise God for the people who aren't afraid to speak the Truth in love and save the soul of a loved one! Or perhaps I should say Praise Him for the people who are terrified but still speak the Truth in love to save the soul of a loved one. I pray the Lord will help me and each of us be just like that, able to speak the Truth even though it hurts, even though we're terrified the loved one will turn away from us, or try to cut ties with us, or will say they hate us, etc. That's real love!
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