Same sex attraction is not scriptural.
Sadly in this fallen world, Christians are engaged in sexual immorality. We don't even have to recognize whether or not they are either same sex couples or not. Why! Because, sexual immorality is the desire for the flesh over God. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ never and would never have advocated the choice for the flesh. God's word found in the Bible has never told us to have sex with a same sex person. However, God's word does ask us to love our fellow Christians. Jesus asked us to love our neighbors as we love ourself. I can and should love my fellow man (male/female neighbors). This does not mean to engage in sex with them in either a homosexual or heterosexual relationship. Too often especially those who are engaged in same sex relations equate sex and love as the same. It is not. The argument that same sex couples can be Christians and sleep together (if legally wed) is scriptural, is wrong. In fact, the Bible tells us better not to marry (1 Cor 7:9) if you plan to do ministry and in times of persecution; and, not to be engaged in the flesh at all in the meaning of making it our first priority in life. Paul told us that if we have the desire for the flesh, better to marry the opposite sex and become a family (with children). The Bible is clear about desires for the flesh and that all Christians who desire the flesh (before God) should abstain from the flesh. We should declare our sin and ask God for forgiveness.
Hence, there is no argument for same sex marriage nor same sex relations in the meaning that same sexual orientation is justification to indulge in the flesh. There is no hierarchy of sin either; hence, even for heterosexual relationships, indulgence in the flesh (above indulging in God) is wrong. If one demands this as being right or even ok with God is mistaken; and anyone who thinks that he or she has been born as a sexual being only is wrong and are committing sin. Any other argument is simply the demand to justify sexual immorality and not the demand to love one's neighbor; which God encourages greatly!
Read 1 Cor:12, and read Romans 7 and read Matthew 19:4 and 19:19.
Besides what scripture tells us, what can we do as Christians in these times to get fellow Christians back on the right path toward salvation? What is the caring and gentle response? It has been provided above. However, for more assurances of this we can point to Prof. Tim Muelhoff who teaches at Biola University. He instructs on Christian Communications. He tells us that we have to be wise with our words. As they are the caring and gentle response. Why? Firstly, we are to be Salt and Light. We are to be like Christ Jesus, listen and understand each other as sinners in a fallen world with a tendency toward sin (sexual immorality is a sin among many). In the knowledge that Christ came to rescue us from sin and death, we can forgive ourselves and others. This does not mean now we can go 'hog' wild and sin all we want. With this knowledge we don't want to sin, though we still may. Nor should we interpret scripture for our own purposes, to justify the sins we are engaged in no matter what our sexual indulgences are.
Muelhoff asks only for communication between Christians and others (to draw them into Christ) to be this kind of understanding and forgiving which will lead all Christians away from sin and into the light of Christ.
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
Monday, October 6, 2014
Proverbs 31 ... The Wife of Noble Character
Proverbs 31 describes the wife of noble character. What does the wife do in order to be noble?
She does for her husband and family. She works with what her husband gives her, she manages her household and ensures its comfort. All she does is for her husband, her home and her family. She is not working for any other reason. She is frugal, she is modest, she is welcoming, she is wise, she is prepared. She is not working for men, though she may be among them in her daily trading. She is not working for any other household but her own; though, she is kind and generous by extending her hands to the needy. She is clothed with strength and dignity not flashy garb and makeup. She laughs at the days to come... and her children call her blessed!
She does for her husband and family. She works with what her husband gives her, she manages her household and ensures its comfort. All she does is for her husband, her home and her family. She is not working for any other reason. She is frugal, she is modest, she is welcoming, she is wise, she is prepared. She is not working for men, though she may be among them in her daily trading. She is not working for any other household but her own; though, she is kind and generous by extending her hands to the needy. She is clothed with strength and dignity not flashy garb and makeup. She laughs at the days to come... and her children call her blessed!
When Adult Children Stumble
" The Godly will trip/stumble seven times, but they will get up again." Proverbs 24:15
These words are to encourage us because in this fallen world, we will stumble, trip even fall and so will our children, especially adult children no matter how prepared we think we have made/helped them to be. We need to know that we can and we will get up again and so do they. The job of parenting is never ending. This is not easy to do but it is made easier when we know that Jesus Christ our Lord God our Savior is there for us, he will never abandon and children need to see this demonstrated by parents! Many Christians today are so caught up in this world that they struggle to get up. As parents, we must be strong for our children and especially our adult children. I hear too often the excuse that they are adults now and we really can't tell them what to do. Or, they have to learn the hard way, they have to go through it. Though there maybe some truth in that thinking, these days are full of trouble and our children face it in every moment. Our culture does not help but adds to their struggle as our culture's way of dealing with trouble is to walk away from it. Throw it away and get a new one. I remember a song that came out in the early 2000s about "walkin away, goin find a better way". The better way may be out there but walkin away from trouble will likely lead to new trouble. Parents need to help their children (adult children especially) to fight their trouble with the armor of God, parents themselves should intervene either by their steadfast presence and or their prayers... they can/should ask God to send His armies of angels to do battle for their children who face divorce, financial difficulty, illness, abuse of any kind.
These words are to encourage us because in this fallen world, we will stumble, trip even fall and so will our children, especially adult children no matter how prepared we think we have made/helped them to be. We need to know that we can and we will get up again and so do they. The job of parenting is never ending. This is not easy to do but it is made easier when we know that Jesus Christ our Lord God our Savior is there for us, he will never abandon and children need to see this demonstrated by parents! Many Christians today are so caught up in this world that they struggle to get up. As parents, we must be strong for our children and especially our adult children. I hear too often the excuse that they are adults now and we really can't tell them what to do. Or, they have to learn the hard way, they have to go through it. Though there maybe some truth in that thinking, these days are full of trouble and our children face it in every moment. Our culture does not help but adds to their struggle as our culture's way of dealing with trouble is to walk away from it. Throw it away and get a new one. I remember a song that came out in the early 2000s about "walkin away, goin find a better way". The better way may be out there but walkin away from trouble will likely lead to new trouble. Parents need to help their children (adult children especially) to fight their trouble with the armor of God, parents themselves should intervene either by their steadfast presence and or their prayers... they can/should ask God to send His armies of angels to do battle for their children who face divorce, financial difficulty, illness, abuse of any kind.
Wednesday, October 1, 2014
Don't Be a Lukewarm Christian!
Don't be a lukewarm Christian. That is the message for today. I too did not think about the extent of my passion for Christ until I heard Pastor Francis Chan speak and started reading his book, Crazy Love. That is why today, I would like to pass onto to you some passages from that book that really grabbed my heart.
"Lukewarm people say they love Jesus, and He is, indeed, a part of their lives. But only a part. They give Him a section of their time, their money, and their thoughts, but He isn't allowed to control their lives."
(Chan 2008:72)
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." (Matt. 7:21)
"Lukewarm people think about life on earth much more often than eternity in heaven. Daily life is mostly focused on today's to-do-list, this week's schedule, and next month's vacation. Rarely, if ever, do they intently consider the life to come. Regarding this, C.S. Lewis writes, "If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this." (Chan 2008:75)
"For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And, we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ." (Phil. 3: 18-20 )
"Lukewarm people feel secure because they attend church, made a profession of faith at age twelve, were baptized, come from a Christian family, vote Republican, or life in America. Just as the prophets in the Old Testament warned Israel that they were not safe just because they lived in the land of Israel, so we are not safe just because we wear the label Christian or because some people persist in calling us a 'Christian nation'." (Chan 2008:78."
How to not be Lukewarm??? Do the will of the Father... let Him be in control and sing Praise to Him for His control. For some, that sounds like individual responsibility for ones actions/job/daily living costs should not be taken seriously. On the contrary, if you let God the Father control your life, you will find yourself on the best track for living in this fallen world.
"Lukewarm people say they love Jesus, and He is, indeed, a part of their lives. But only a part. They give Him a section of their time, their money, and their thoughts, but He isn't allowed to control their lives."
(Chan 2008:72)
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." (Matt. 7:21)
"Lukewarm people think about life on earth much more often than eternity in heaven. Daily life is mostly focused on today's to-do-list, this week's schedule, and next month's vacation. Rarely, if ever, do they intently consider the life to come. Regarding this, C.S. Lewis writes, "If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this." (Chan 2008:75)
"For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And, we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ." (Phil. 3: 18-20 )
"Lukewarm people feel secure because they attend church, made a profession of faith at age twelve, were baptized, come from a Christian family, vote Republican, or life in America. Just as the prophets in the Old Testament warned Israel that they were not safe just because they lived in the land of Israel, so we are not safe just because we wear the label Christian or because some people persist in calling us a 'Christian nation'." (Chan 2008:78."
How to not be Lukewarm??? Do the will of the Father... let Him be in control and sing Praise to Him for His control. For some, that sounds like individual responsibility for ones actions/job/daily living costs should not be taken seriously. On the contrary, if you let God the Father control your life, you will find yourself on the best track for living in this fallen world.
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
The Blessing is God Modeling you into Christ
The Blessing is God modeling you into Christ. There is nothing more. Jonathan Edwards explained in his original dissertation: God’s inherent
predisposition to spread out His truth, goodness, and beauty motivates
everything He does. So, His decision to create our universe was
motivated not by a desire or need for us, but by a desire to glorify
Himself. Being modeled into Christ is another way that God glorifies Himself. Those who resist that (being modeled) will not be with the Father. Jesus said that the way to the Father, the only way, is through me. Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6
This is the message we should be teaching our children. Instead, in this popular culture, we teach the love of money and things. We teach that this is mine and that is yours. "I worked hard for my education/this house, etc. and you will have to work for yours." This teaches slavery to the law, slavery to this fallen world and man's way of living in it without God in his/her heart/mind. Why? How? For one, it is boasting about work that one does to have things over others. Or at least to have what others have in terms of material things.
We wonder why people are depressed, suicidal, brokenhearted,... it is because they are living in this way- competing for things. When we are engaged in this activity, we cannot be blessed, we cannot be modeled into Christ. How can we not live in this fallen world without competing is often the response? Once you stop putting things first, you will see it is not so difficult. Nothing else matters except the glory of God. Your children don't need college debt, they don't need computer games, they don't need the latest iphone. They need your guidance toward finding and receiving the Blessing that is theirs.
This is the message we should be teaching our children. Instead, in this popular culture, we teach the love of money and things. We teach that this is mine and that is yours. "I worked hard for my education/this house, etc. and you will have to work for yours." This teaches slavery to the law, slavery to this fallen world and man's way of living in it without God in his/her heart/mind. Why? How? For one, it is boasting about work that one does to have things over others. Or at least to have what others have in terms of material things.
We wonder why people are depressed, suicidal, brokenhearted,... it is because they are living in this way- competing for things. When we are engaged in this activity, we cannot be blessed, we cannot be modeled into Christ. How can we not live in this fallen world without competing is often the response? Once you stop putting things first, you will see it is not so difficult. Nothing else matters except the glory of God. Your children don't need college debt, they don't need computer games, they don't need the latest iphone. They need your guidance toward finding and receiving the Blessing that is theirs.
Thursday, September 25, 2014
All Christians like Paul Struggle With Sin
Struggling with sin, Paul sure did. I do too; like all of us living in this fallen world. "I would not have known what sin was except through the law... and yet we know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do, but what I hate, I do. And, if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no the evil I do not want to do, this I keep on doing. Now, if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it... So, I find this law at work; when I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man/woman I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God - through Jesus Christ our Lord!" Romans 7: 7-25
A House is Built By Wisdom and The Lesson of Hagar and Sarah
Today's women should be more concerned about their house/home as a place of wisdom rather than places of taste / self- expression. We don't realize that our house can become an idol or practice of idolatry.
Proverbs 24 3-4 A house is built by wisdom and becomes strong through good sense. Through knowledge its rooms are filled with all sorts of precious riches and valuables. What does that mean? Does it mean with big screen TVs and shiny objects from Home Goods? No. Because, those things require the law. In our culture, it is difficult to imagine riches and valuables that no one can touch! And, that no one can see unless one is attune with God's Promise, His way of living, His rules for living. Read Col 3 "Rules for Holy Living and Rules for Christian Households".
One of the best examples in the Bible for how a house should be built by wisdom can be found in the life of Abraham and Sarah and Hagar. Why, because when we rest in the Lord's promise, we gain in wisdom and we gain freedom. Gal 4: 21-31 "Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. His son by the slave woman was born in the ordinary way, but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a promise. These things may be taken figuratively for the women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: this is Hagar. Now, Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother. ... Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of that promise. At that time, the son born in the ordinary way, persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now. This is a foreshadowing of Christ, the son of God persecuted. It is an example of man (woman) going it alone without resting on the promise that was made. If Sarah had been wise and not living in the 'law', she never would have tempted Abraham with Hagar as a means to have an heir (according to law). Sarah had heard the Lord's voice and she knew of His promise, yet she doubted. In her doubt, she caused social problems (she fell to the rule of law which is the true yoke of slavery, just as Eve had) that never would have existed if she built her house of wisdom. In the end, the Creator will have His way, while man will have only caused heartache. Remember, we are not children of the slave woman, 'the law', we are children of the free woman who is free only through Christ Jesus and not the law. Which means that in order to be free, we can only be truly free by resting in the Lord's and His promise of deliverance, of salvation. "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery 'the law'. Gal 5
Too often mistake the use of 'the law' to be in the current understanding of our culture of law. God sent His only Son because there are too many laws, laws created by God, by man... so many that in the presence of our Creator who is perfect before the law, we would perish no matter how much we have sinned/disregarded the law for there is no sin/law that is over and above another - all sins are sin before a perfect God. Yet, God loves us and so offers us a way out of that curse- living under the law/sin. By our faith, we shall be saved. To show faith in Him, we must live that faith, we must be wise, rest in the Lord and do not take action into our own hands thinking that we alone can satisfy the law.
Proverbs 24 3-4 A house is built by wisdom and becomes strong through good sense. Through knowledge its rooms are filled with all sorts of precious riches and valuables. What does that mean? Does it mean with big screen TVs and shiny objects from Home Goods? No. Because, those things require the law. In our culture, it is difficult to imagine riches and valuables that no one can touch! And, that no one can see unless one is attune with God's Promise, His way of living, His rules for living. Read Col 3 "Rules for Holy Living and Rules for Christian Households".
One of the best examples in the Bible for how a house should be built by wisdom can be found in the life of Abraham and Sarah and Hagar. Why, because when we rest in the Lord's promise, we gain in wisdom and we gain freedom. Gal 4: 21-31 "Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. His son by the slave woman was born in the ordinary way, but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a promise. These things may be taken figuratively for the women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: this is Hagar. Now, Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother. ... Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of that promise. At that time, the son born in the ordinary way, persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now. This is a foreshadowing of Christ, the son of God persecuted. It is an example of man (woman) going it alone without resting on the promise that was made. If Sarah had been wise and not living in the 'law', she never would have tempted Abraham with Hagar as a means to have an heir (according to law). Sarah had heard the Lord's voice and she knew of His promise, yet she doubted. In her doubt, she caused social problems (she fell to the rule of law which is the true yoke of slavery, just as Eve had) that never would have existed if she built her house of wisdom. In the end, the Creator will have His way, while man will have only caused heartache. Remember, we are not children of the slave woman, 'the law', we are children of the free woman who is free only through Christ Jesus and not the law. Which means that in order to be free, we can only be truly free by resting in the Lord's and His promise of deliverance, of salvation. "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery 'the law'. Gal 5
Too often mistake the use of 'the law' to be in the current understanding of our culture of law. God sent His only Son because there are too many laws, laws created by God, by man... so many that in the presence of our Creator who is perfect before the law, we would perish no matter how much we have sinned/disregarded the law for there is no sin/law that is over and above another - all sins are sin before a perfect God. Yet, God loves us and so offers us a way out of that curse- living under the law/sin. By our faith, we shall be saved. To show faith in Him, we must live that faith, we must be wise, rest in the Lord and do not take action into our own hands thinking that we alone can satisfy the law.
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