My "religious" postings

Putting a Period on It

2010-05-11T21:58:00.000-07:00

I want to outline what I believe and have concluded on my journey while writing this blog. I just want to sum it all up and "put a period on it," as the saying goes. Note: I will most likely at this point only be writing on my blog occasionally, as news comes out regarding the subject of gays and Christians and as the subject of gay marriage comes up in politics and on our ballots. Or I may choose to share some personal spiritual lessons as they happen in my life. But at this time I don't think I have much more to say on the subject of gay Christians than what I will be writing below, I feel like I am starting to just repeat myself. So here it goes...

My concluding thoughts:

The Bible does say that the homosexual sex act itself, not the person, is a sin.

Being a homosexual/ gay person does not mean that person is also engaging in the homosexual sex act. Think of it this way, would you still be heterosexual if you were not having sex? yes... you would. A person cannot repent of being gay, that is who they are.

Expecting people that are not saved to behave like a Christian before they come to the point of salvation doesn't work. We need to love our neighbors as ourselves, is what the Bible teaches, and that includes saved and non-saved people, gay or straight.

Conviction is the work of the Holy Spirit, it is not your job or my job to change the hearts of people and to transfer our convictions to them. We can only share our point of view and how we came to the conclusion of our own convictions, live by example and live by our own convictions. The Bible supports this and is clear that not every Christian has the same level of conviction about every subject. That is why there are different denominations, different ways of worship, etc. What is clear is the route to salvation, who God is, and who Jesus is and what he did for us on the cross, and how we should treat each other (with love, just as we should love God with all we are). Those are the points that unite us as Christians, the creed that we all agree on and abide by. Also, Christians are at different points along their path, and what one is convicted of on day one of being a Christian and year 50 are completely different. God leads each one of us on our own path, and those of us farther along on our journey may need to be a little more understanding of the ones who "aren't there yet."

I believe some gay men and women will be convicted to live a celibate and single life, others will be convicted to abstain from the sex act itself but not be convicted to leave their partner, and others will be convicted to marry someone of the opposite sex because their lifestyle was a way to rebel against God, not about being inherently gay. Others will only be convicted that they need to be married (or in a civil union), in a monogamous and committed relationship, in order to have sex. Convictions of each individual will fall in a different place, and we cannot assume that only one of the above paths is the correct path for EVERY gay person who becomes a Christian. We should support each person's path as they seek to walk in the light of God's law and be obedient to His commands, even if that looks a little different on each person. I cannot even start to understand what it must be like to be gay and to become saved and how I would change my life due to my newly found salvation. I have no idea what God would call me to do. And I do believe that the individuals heart felt convictions will have a lot of weight with God on judgment day.

Judgment is God's job, not yours. People will be judged for their sins and behaviors by God, not you. Living by your convictions has a lot to do with how you will be judged. (There is a perfect example given by the Apostle Paul; when he wrote about eating meat offered to idols. Those that ate meat offered to idols, when they believed it was a sin, just brought judgment on themselves. Those that ate the same meat with a clear conscience would not be judged for doing so. But those that did not feel that conviction should not practice eating meat offered to idols in the presence of those that did feel it was a sin. It was better to not practice that religious freedom openly in their brother's presence as to not cause a brother to stumble.) This is why I write on my blog about these things openly but do not go parading around my church on a soap box about how gays should be allowed in our church and why, or my thoughts on gay marriage. I understand there are people who are convicted differently than I am on the subject. God has brought to me gay Christian friends that needed someone like me, a straight married Christian woman, to understand their point of view and to be accepted and not shamed in the church. Perhaps that is my calling, the role God has given me in life. If my blog changes anyone's mind along the way, provides any enlightenment to someone, than so be it. May God's will be done and may my mind be changed by the working of the Holy Spirit if I have come to the wrong conclusions. I do not wish to "test God" or spit in the face of His Holy Word. I do believe God has been showing me that I am on the right path by confirmations along this journey of mine. And that is all I can say about it at this time. If my mind is changed in the future and I am corrected in my heart's convictions by the Holy Spirit I will let you all know.

The Bible does not support the idea of same-sex marriage. The Biblical outline for marriage, the ideal scenario, is that it is between a man and a woman. Divorce and remarriage is a sin. Jesus declared it to be so, even though divorce had been allowed in Old Testament law by God. Jesus made it clear that you only marry once and if divorced do not remarry anyone else or you are committing adultery. That means there are plenty of sinners out there, gay or straight.

The church has continued to allow divorce and remarriage and offer grace to God's children. This is in light of individuals circumstances and in light of the grace that we know God so freely bestows on us once we are saved. People do not always live up to the ideal model of marriage that the Bible has given us, just as we don't live up to being perfect in any other way. Therefore we have seen fit to offer forgiveness to believers for the sin of divorce and remarriage, even though Jesus stated firmly that it is a sin to do so.

I speak of divorce and remarriage because I think that this allowance of the "less than ideal" marriage model in the church, this type of thinking and extension of grace, can be extended to gay Christians as well. These are my personal thoughts on the subject, I am not saying I have Bible verses to back me up on this. I know this will not be the conviction of every heart of every believer out there, but there are those in Christian circles that agree with me. (And again, we need to be wary of our convictions, how we live them out and how we act in front of others with our convictions. Its a fine line, a balancing act.) What I think would work is this: allow in our law civil unions between any two consenting adults, whether they be a man and a woman, two men, or two women. Then, keep the definition of "marriage" as a spiritual institution, a ceremony performed within the church. This is what I would call "separation of church and state." What then would happen is this; every couple would be required by law to have a "civil union" but the religious ceremony of "marriage" would be optional. One would only be considered "married" by definition if they opted to have a ceremony performed by a pastor in a church. This way the legal protection would be there for gay and straight couples equally, and those churches that are convicted that marriage is only meant to be between a man and a woman could continue to perform the religious ceremony of marriage between only men and women and refuse to perform that ceremony for gay couples. Churches that choose to perform the marriage ceremony between gay people would be acting on their own convictions and not doing anything illegal, but allowed to act on their own convictions. Therefore in my own case: my husband and I would have been required by law to have the legal paperwork filed for a civil union, signed by a judge, and then we would have had the marriage ceremony performed as well by a Pastor (as we did) as a religious act.

I believe marriage is a contract between two people and God. It is not something I take lightly. You swear before God to love each other until death separates you. You make promises to each other and to God, you are bound by God to those promises not by man. It actually upsets me to see non-Christian people go through the ceremonial process of marriage in a church when they have no idea how serious of a contract that is! I would much rather they go down to a court house and get married that way than to "put on a show" for tradition's sake, just to wear a white dress and prance down the aisle like its some sort of fairytale. We are sold as little girls this idea of the white dress, the little chapel, the flowers, the cake, and everything else that we consider a "traditional wedding" as a right of passage. But what we are not taught are the spiritual implications. I probably am swimming upstream with my ideas on this. I don't think Hollywood is going to stop turning out movies that are based on these ideas as the ultimate dream ending to the boy meets girl stories. And the industry is so HUGE for white weddings that I don't think that anyone will be jumping on my band wagon anytime soon. Unless all the hoopla can be transferred to the civil union ceremonies performed by judges, without all the Spiritual ceremonial wording that I hold so dear to my heart, which I suppose is possible.

There you have my conclusions and thoughts and convictions of my heart. I write about them freely here on my blog to be discussed and to be pondered. I don't go around shouting these thoughts out at the top of my lungs in my church, but if asked directly my thoughts on these subjects I will speak freely and have a civil conversation with that person. I stand by and live by my convictions. If you don't agree with me and you are convicted otherwise I respect where you are coming from, please allow me some respect as well. And if you are a straight Christian and one day come across a gay Christian please do not start beating them over the head with what are called the "clobber verses" in the Bible. Approach them with love and respect as you share your heart's convictions. If they don't match yours then continue to pray for them, but always accept them into your church and into your lives as brothers and sisters in Christ. Do not cast them out of your church, what good would that be doing them? And if you meet a non-Christian who is gay don't start with trying to change their sexual behavior, focus on bringing them to salvation, focus on showing them the love of Christ that you have been shown. Let God's Holy Spirit lead them to what they need to do, what behaviors need to stop and always support them in their journey towards this enlightenment, even if they aren't where you think they should be yet. God will get them where they need to be.

Christian Music Artist Out of the Closet

2010-04-14T23:40:00.001-07:00

Here is a link to a good read on the coming out of Jennifer Knapp as a lesbian. I liked what she had to say during her interview, its a good read.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/music/interviews/2010/jenniferknapp-apr10.html

It is sad that people on the outside looking in so often can't reconcile the fact that someone can love a person of the same sex and at the same time can be a Christian. And it is sad that the person who is being scrutinized feels that they need to find a way to explain and justify themselves. They get it, that they can be both a Christian and Gay, just because others can't understand it doesn't mean it isn't possible.

Not much more to add to what Jennifer Knapp said, I would just read what she said in the article.

The Law of Attraction

2010-03-08T00:08:00.000-08:00

Being "gay" is about attraction. It is not about a decision to participate in a sexual act. Homosexuality, being gay, is not about the sexual act. It is about who a person is. About something they can't change about them self... who they are attracted to. It's an innate thing. It's a genetically coded thing, like the color of our skin, our eye color, etc.

Is that the sin that the Bible is talking about? Who we are attracted to? No. Its about people who decided to participate in certain sexual acts, including the act of homosexual sex, and who did this in order to worship an idol or to worship the "created instead of the creator." They were people that were defying the laws of God on purpose, with decision, who may or may not have been "gay" as I am describing it. They were participating in sexual acts for the purpose of worshiping something other than God. Yes, it was a choice for them to participate in those acts. Yes, it was an act of defiance against God. Yes, it was a sin what they were doing.

STOP defining the word "homosexual" as the act and we are getting somewhere. People can't seem to separate the two. Homosexual has to mean someone is participating in the physical act or else the person isn't homosexual. Well, that doesn't make sense. If I stop having sex am I any less a heterosexual person? I am a heterosexual whether or not I am having sex. Before I ever had sex I was a heterosexual. When I was a teenager and found myself attracted to boys and dated boys and kissed boys, I was a heterosexual. I was always attracted to boys and never found myself drawn to girls in a sexual way, or attracted to girls in the way I am attracted to boys. Yes, I think girls are pretty and nice to look at, we are amazing creatures. But I don't want to kiss a girl or have sex with a girl. I wanted to have sex with boys, but I didn't (I waited for marriage), but I STILL was a heterosexual... was I not? The desire was there and the attraction was there, so therefore I was (and still am) a heterosexual.

Replace the word heterosexual with homosexual and you have the same concept. That is what and who gay people are. It doesn't mean they are having sex, it means they are attracted to the same sex. It wasn't a decision to be drawn to the same sex, it wasn't something they sought after as a "lifestyle choice" is wasn't a way to defy God or to worship idols.

Now, as far as me being a heterosexual woman attracted to men, and wanting to someday have sex with a man that would be my husband, what did I do with my sexual attraction that was considered godly? I waited until marriage to fulfill my sexual desires fully (take it beyond kissing and groping ... eh hem) and that is what God desires for us. To wait to express our self sexually to our spouse. That is where sex becomes a holy act. When it is mated with Love and marriage, the sex act is spiritual, it is right, it is wholesome. I ask then, why can't this be the case with sex between two gay people? If they fell in love and waited until marriage to express their love sexually would it not be the same as what I did?

Turn it around for a moment. If I was to have sex outside of marriage, before I ever met my husband, and I slept around in a series of monogamous relationships would it not be sin? Yes, of course. So the same applies to gay people. We are on the same playing field and the same set of rules apply. What is sinful for me as a heterosexual person is sinful for anyone who is homosexual.

Where the sin is, that is where we need to look. What is the sin? Being gay? Being attracted to someone of the same sex? Kissing someone of the same sex? Loving someone of the same sex? Marrying the person I fall in love with that is of the same sex? Having sex with the person I marry? No, these are not the sins. These are not the people we should to be condemning to Hell. In fact, its not our job to condemn anyone to Hell. Only God knows who is destined for Hell and who is destined for Heaven.

Why are we using the word of God to separate people of the gay community from the church? To keep them shut out of communion with other children of God? If they are gay and a Christian then that is what we are doing. And yes, it is possible to be both gay and a Christian. You probably know someone who is. You may not even realize it. And what is the message we are sending the unsaved gay community? To be saved they must push aside their attractions and "decide" to be straight or be celibate? Is that the gospel message? I don't think so. God says everyone has the ability to come to the cross and be saved. Jesus died for everyone, heterosexual or homosexual. Its not a requirement to be a heterosexual to be saved. And we shouldn't make it a requirement to stop being a homosexual to continue your walk as a Christian. To tell people that there is something insufficient in their salvation experience if God has not cast that desire out of them, oh how horribly wrong that is. Can you change yourself from being a heterosexual? Can you stop loving your spouse? Could you decide to be celibate for the rest of your life when you find a sexual relationship with your spouse so fulfilling and natural and acceptable in your marriage? That is what many straight Christians are expecting of our fellow gay Christian brothers and sisters. And I think its time to stop.

What is Truth?

2010-02-24T22:17:00.000-08:00

I learned something recently that is very interesting, and here I thought I knew everything about the Scriptures there was to know (haha, not really). Jesus said, "... for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me." John 18:37

I always wondered what the "truth" was that Jesus was referring to. (Even Pilate posed that quesion, "What is truth?" in the next verse: see John 18:38). I mean, I assumed it had to do with the Bible, what I consider truth. But what was "THE Truth" that he came to testify to. Someone said that if one is testifying you think of a court room. And why would you be testifying? To defend something on trial. In this case Jesus was defending the truth. And the truth is GOD! God is truth. I should have thought of that specifically myself. I know the Bible says God is love, but I didn't think about the fact that anything that is true is from and of God. God's very essence is truth. He can't be anything but truth. He cannot lie. Everything that exists comes from God. Truth, I always knew, is not abstract. Its not a perception or a feeling, it is concrete. What is more concrete than God? He does not waver, He does not change, He cannot act or behave in a way that is contrary to His nature. It makes perfect sense. Its so obvious, and yet so profound at the same time.

Jesus points out that everyone who is on the side of truth listens to him. So that means, if you are on God's side you will listen and pay attention to what Jesus said. And since Jesus was God incarnate this makes absolute sense. There are many things in the Bible that don't clarify things that we all debate about and wonder about. It doesn't spell out all the answers, although we wish it did. But the truth is there, the essence of who God is can be found in the Scriptures. When Jesus pointed out the greatest commandments are loving God with all your heart, soul, and mind and the second is loving your neighbor as yourself then I see that as what is most important to God. That is straight from the Lord's mouth. Its how I filter all my actions and thoughts and why I would rather err on the side of love than on the side of judgment.

That is why I love GLBT people and invite them to partake in the gift of Salvation Jesus offers and to walk in the light of God's love as they are. If I am wrong in anything I have loved too much and not judged enough. But I think that God is pleased with that. I know He sees my heart and knows that I seek to obey Him and seek the truth. I am not siding with Gay people to be popular. It may be the popular thing to do in Hollywood, to support Gay marriage and to have Gay friends, but believe you me... it is not the popular thing to do as a straight Christian woman and as a member of a primarily Republican, conservative church. If I wanted to do what is easy and "popular"... for me, that would be to side with my church and tell Gays that they need to change in order to be Christians. Or that after they became saved they had to stop loving whom they love and either be celibate or marry someone of the opposite sex. But I refuse to take that stand and to agree with that line of thinking. It actually would be easier for me to do so, but I just can't. My conscience won't allow me. It makes no sense at all to me #1 to a think that being GLBT is a choice #2 that so many people that are saved and GLBT just don't have enough faith or are not claiming the grace of God to be "freed" from their "sinful desires" #3 that its right to force celibacy on any group of people (that is a spiritual gift given to some, not to all.) #4 to force people into "changing" and marrying someone of the opposite sex when it is unnatural for them to do so. None of that makes sense to me, and it is what so many Christians and churches expect. But what makes sense to me I suppose they see as nonsense. But, again, I would rather believe the way I do and err on the side of love than to alienate the GLBT community. I just wish I could find a way to change everyone else minds to see what I see... it just makes so much more sense to me!

What the Lord Says (part 2)

2010-02-06T15:17:00.000-08:00

I first want to apologize for not writing sooner my response to Philip Liebenberg's sermon as I had promised to do. I wanted to look up some Scripture references and digest the information and elaborate on why I think what he said is valid and something for us all to ponder. What happened is I found out I was pregnant December 12th and had very bad morning sickness and major fatigue and am just now feeling more energetic and finally not feeling sick 24/7. So, while it is good news that I am pregnant, it did slow me down from being able to spend time in studying my Bible and writing on my blog as I had wanted. Every time my 2 year old went to bed or took a nap I did too, so my waking hours were spent caring for her and taking care of the house as best I could. My husband was gone from Dec 14th until Jan 18th (he is a pilot) and even though this past month he has been home I still have been sick and he has been taking over many of the duties of taking care of the house and cooking and caring for our 2 year old. This being said, I am back to write you now about my thoughts regarding Philip Liebenberg's sermon.

Philip Liebenberg mentioned several things in his sermon, "The Lord Says in His Word," that I would like to specifically address and expand on.

A. He said, its important to understand the culture, the thoughts and origin of the text to understand the Bible. "Literal interpretation of the Bible is not correct."

I believe he is correct in saying this. If you were to look at the Levitical laws layed out in the Old Testament you would need to understand that this law was given to the Jews, by God, as a way to separate them from the other tribes and to increase their number/ population. For example, it is a sin for a man to spill his "seed" on the ground during intercourse. To not allow the possibility for procreation to happen was considered a sin. Catholics still follow this policy to this day, it is considered a sin to use condoms or birth control. Another interesting fact is that in Biblical days a woman was considered "unclean" curing her menstration and was unclean for a period of time after her menstration ended (See Leviticus 20:18 for example). What happened then is that the only time it was acceptable for a man to lay with his wife was when she was her most fertile! Wow, God wasn't fooling around. He really wanted the Jewish people to increase in their numbers and dominate over the rest of the tribes and nations.

Today we are given a different commission, The Great Commission: Matthew 28:19 "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. " We are to increase our numbers in a Spiritual sense. We are to add to the number of God's children by bringing others to Christ. There are other reasons that make more sense for us today to not just continually bear children. It makes sense in today's economy to consider how many children you are able to support. If you are able to support 4, 6, 8, or even 12 kids and have the room in your home for that many kids... then go ahead and procreate away! But, however, if having more than one or two kids will bring you to financial ruin is it really prudent to live your life this way? Either abstain from intercourse from your wife or prepare to have another kid? Don't we all agree by this point that sex in marriage is more about a deeper connection you seek to enhance in your marriage and about becoming "one flesh" rather than procreation alone?

B. Philip said, "... we realize that we don't have to apply certain statements anymore. We debate certain rules right out of 'our times.' This is 100% fine and correct. BUT what is not right, is the fact that we do not act consistently.

Here is an example. Consider these two verses: Leviticus 19:19c "Do not wear clothing woven of two kind of material." Deuteronomy 22:10 "Do not wear clothes of wool and linen woven together." But today we wear mixed materials, we do not consider it a sin. The point is that we can't just apply the Bible's words straight across the board in a literal manner. We have to understand the context and the people and the times of the day when we read the Bible. We consider it permissible to wear mixed material clothing and it is not considered a sin. And there are verses that say to kill people when they break the Levitical laws. And we aren't stoning people for certain behaviors now a days. We may still think of certain behaviors as sinful, but we aren't killing anyone over it. There are just some things that are not reasonable to apply to us today, in this time, in our culture, and with our current knowledge and modern laws. It's not prudent and it isn't justified. So why do we apply some things so adamantly and not others? Why do some rules apply still and not others?

C. Philip says, "Christians are inconsistent. The Bible forbids marriage to a second wife. But we are okay with 2nd marriages." And then Philip adds that gay Christians do the same thing, "... justify gay marriages. But then we stop right there." Sometimes we take the Word literally and other times ignore what it teaches. "If you believe the words in the Bible to be the spoken words of God, you have to take the gay texts literally as a command from God." He continues later saying, "The Bible does not like sex between people of the same sex and that's that. That is how Israel felt about it."

Romans 7:2-3 Addresses this topic of remarriage. And Jesus very boldly stated in Matthew 5:32, "But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery." Yet we are okay today with divorced man or woman remarrying and do not call them sinners and kick them out of our churches.
..
Philip brings home his point beautifully. "My theological argument is that I read that command against being gay in the light of their knowledge vs. the knowledge we have today... That it's just as bad for gays to be alone as for straights."

This fits very well with what Jesus and Paul say about celibacy. Jesus talks about people that have renounced marriage because of the kingdom of heaven, in Matthew 19:11-12. This refers to someone who has chosen celibacy, like a monk or a nun today, or was used to describe some Eunuchs of Biblical times who chose to not marry. And Paul talks about staying single to further God's kingdom, but not to do so if you are burning with passion to have sex, in which case he says you are better to marry. That can be found in 1 Corinthians 7:1-9 where Paul addresses the subject of marriage. Not to say that the Apostle Paul would consider marriage between two men or two women acceptable. As Philip said, it is accurate to read the Bible in the terms of their beliefs of the day and their convictions. Paul, if asked today, would not condone same sex marriage. Based on the fact of who he was, a Pharisee, a Jew... no, he would not say that it is okay. But today we should be able to acknowledge that forcing people into celibacy just because they are gay is not right. We ought to know better by now that people are not making a choice to be gay. If it were that simple than many Christian gays would simply choose to not be gay anymore and change their lifestyle.

I say consider this, if we were as a church to not consider it a sin to be gay and were to love and accept our children and fellow Christians when they came to us and said they realize they are gay, then there would be no need for anyone to "choose to be gay" as a form of rebellion... If there are people out there that are actually choosing to be gay (which many still believe and credit that to the work of Satan). If they are out there, and we don't see it as a choice but the way you are born, then those that have been living a lie and living that way to simply "rebel" would no longer have a reason to do so. Take away the taboo and the shame and the problem will disappear. I think we are creating more of a problem then actually exists by continuing to be adamant and say that gays need to repent and choose not to partake in homosexual behavior anymore. Pushing people to either be celibate or pressuring a gay person to marry a straight person is not the answer.

I have mentioned before the book "Exchanging the Truth of God for a Lie" by Jeremy Marks before but it is worth mentioning again. Marks ran an ex-gay ministry in the 80's and for 20 years tried to rehabilitate gay men and help them enter into heterosexual marriages. He realized this simply was not working. Even though he himself looks like the poster boy for how ex-gay ministries work, he is still married to a woman, he has admitted that forcing gay men to marry straight women is not fair to either partner. Interesting how the "poster boy" wouldn't recommend this to anyone else. He admits they are the exception, not the rule. He has come to the same conclusion that Philip has, that it is not good for gay people to be alone, to be withheld love of a life partner, marriage. That is the conclusion I have come to as well and I still believe, even though the Bible doesn't not tell us marriage is okay for people of the same sex, that marriage should be allowed for those that want to be married and are gay. Allowing the gay community to do that would alleviate all the problems associated with homosexual acts, the fact that it is outside of marriage alone is a problem. Any sexual act that is outside of marriage is not condoned by Biblical standards. And again, although I realize the Bible would not say "it's okay for a man to lie with a man, as long as they love each other and are married," I also realize that this is because of when the Bible was written, and what the culture understood of that act. We have come so far in so many other aspects over the history of the church; slavery, prejudice against blacks, sex as an act of love not just procreation, why can't we cross this final gap that is so destructive and causing more division than bringing people to the point of salvation? What is more important? For gay people to stop loving other gay people or for gay people to be welcomed with open arms into the family of God and to feel loved and accepted finally by fellow straight Christian brothers and sisters and, most importantly, God?

Thank you for reading my blog, hope that gave you some food for thought.

What the Lord Says

2009-11-13T22:33:00.000-08:00

A friend translated this sermon for me and I want to share it with all of you, with my comments afterwards.

"The Lord says in His Word..."
(What is wrong with this statement?)
Philip Liebenberg - The Chapel
Copyright© Philip Liebenberg 2009

The Bible as the written Word
•It's not God's own words. Even when the Bible let's God speak in the first person, it is people talking on behalf of the Lord.
•It's the sword of the Spirit. The Spirit speaks through the words in the Bible (it only becomes the voice of God/words of God when the Holy Spirit, after proper study of the text, ministers something to you.) Literal interpretation of the Bible is not correct. Paul said to Timothy that he should the divide the word correctly. Studying the culture, the thoughts and origin of the text helps us understand the statements in the Bible.

What do we modern Christians typically do with the Bible?
•We think logically and from our own spiritual convictions about the way the people and the times of the Bible were different than our times and we realize that we don't have to apply certain statements anymore. We debate certain rules right out of "our times". This is 100% fine and correct. BUT what is not right, is the fact the we do not act consistently. We don't apply this to all the statements in the Bible. In other words, we stand with one foot in Fundamentalism and with the other in the Post modern era, where we realize that we have to do with ancient Israel and that we have to dig and study (and most importantly listen to the Holy Spirit!) to find how everything applies to our times.

Just see how inconsistent we Christians of today are:
•A) The Bible forbids a person to marry a second time with anybody but your original
spouse. Except for the Catholics, heterosexual Christians justify second marriages quite comfortably. They don't take Jesus’ command very seriously. But that is where they stop with their "liberal" outlook on the Scriptures. They don't need to go further. For the
rest..they take the Bible as "The Words of God".
•B) The gay Christians go further: we justify gay marriages. But then we also stop right there. For the rest we are also fundamentalists and talk about the other statements in the Bible as "The Words of God."

"TheLord says in His Word"
•We must stop using this phrase if we want to be honest with ourselves! Every gay Christian living a gay lifestyle most learn to be consistent. If you believe the words in the Bible to be the spoken words of God, you have to take the gay texts literally as a command from God. I agree wholeheartedly with people that then tell us that we take some things literally and ignore other things. That we are selective. They are right. This is where I differ with many theologians over the gay texts. I realize more and more that the translation of those texts is not really a problem. The Bible does not like sex between people of the same sex and that's that. That is how Israel felt about it. The Bible definitely says "no" to that.

Granted: the Bible does not talk about monogamous gay relationships, but I can assure you that it would have been forbidden too, because they only believed in sex that brought forth children and that was between a man and a woman. My theology does not involve getting too technical over translations, but to look at the mindset of that time period. They did not know that all people are not heterosexual by nature. They thought that homosexuals "turned gay" in rebellion. Rebellion against their nature and against God. And that that rebellion made them spiritually blind.My theological argument is that I read that command against being gay in the light of their knowledge vs. the knowledge we have today. And with the belief that it does no harm if a person who is gay also finds love. That it's just as bad for gays to be alone as for straights. My heart still loves God, and I get to know Him better every day. The Holy Spirit in my heart has not at any time said to me that I should ignore my findings about being gay. Just as the Lord did not tell me the sun stood still just because Joshua said the sun stood still. I know the earth rotates around the sun and not the other way around as it says "in God's Word".

Practices that are Fundamentalist should be unlearned
One day in Welkom my head elder and I differed about something in the Bible. He then, without thinking it through well, said to me, "Pastor, I know I am right because my Bibles says I "must hold fast to what I have learned." I asked him where in the Bible it said that to him personally, because as far as I knew it was something Paul told Timothy. "Yes, pastor, but every word in the Bible is for me too," he answered full of bravado. I was dumbstruck.

That kind of Bible interpretation also shocked two people in my Bapsfontein congregation: their son died of a heart attack at the age of 13. They just could not accept it and stopped coming to church. When I talked to them, I found out that they were angry at God because "He lied in His Word." "The Lord says in His Word that the lifespan of man is 70 years and if he's strong, 80," they "quoted the Lord." I struggled long to bring them to the realization that that statement was not the Lord's, but of a Biblical author's general observation of the life expectancy of homosapiens. That's generalisation. That's not dogma. You cannot claim it from God like you can claim it as a clause from your insurance company.

This is my problem with fundamentalism: we "hold God to His Word." We quote with big ease text like: "God speaks the truth and fulfills His word", without taking the time to think about what that means. This does not mean that God will fulfill everything that is written in the Bible to you personally. One has to differentiate between what God said and what people observed in the Bible. God did not write the Bible and he can't be held accountable for everything little thing a human wrote in it. God is not the Bible. God is bigger than the Bible. God can do what He wants to. You can't hold him to anything that is written in the Bible. You must first ask His Spirit to teach you to put the statements in the Bible in context and secondly you must ask Him for specific guidance or "word" for your own situation.

Some people die from illness and others heal from that same illness. The reasons are many: God's will, positive thinking, a request that God would lengthen your life, medical personnel's expertise. Some people are okay with their lot and don't ask for healing. Some people believe they don't have the right to ask for healing. Sometimes the Lord let nature run it's course and someone goes to be with the Lord at a young age. Life is not simplistic. Don't let cheap answers or simplistic ideas about this type of thing take root in your mind.

"Praying, quoting and confessing the Word" has certain conditions:
•Realize that you can't "talk with God" when you confess texts over your life circumstances. You are quoting text that people wrote. You make sure you realize this when you encourage yourself with text verses. I would suggest that, as an example, you take David's Psalms as encouraging, exhorting thoughts and not as dogma. You must ask for the Lord's specific "word" regarding your circumstances. The Lord speaks to us all when we ask for insight or if we need promises. Get personal in your relationship with God and stick to what you believe He told your personally - not merely a text in the Bible. (The text must be divided correctly if you want it on your plate. In other words: what does the Holy Spirit say to me personally through this encouraging text? It can be something that you confess or that you stand on.)
•When my Dad received a visit from his pastor nine months before his death at 59, the pastor told him to stand on the healing texts in "God's word" for his healing. With that he added a prophecy: my dad would be completely healed of his emphysema and that he would be used mightily by God for an additional 20 years. And that was okay (that my Dad still died). What was not okay was this: a Fundamental pastor treated texts about disease and healing much too literally and also added false prophecy on top of that. And my dad clung to that prophecy. He prayed it. He confessed it. He quoted it as if God told it to him Himself. My dad did not talk with God, but to Bible texts and prophecy. People have to be very careful when they claim God said something. Even is if it's a Bible text. That text was written by a human, and under certain conditions. Get your own "word" from God directly. Individual Bible texts must be placed within the bigger picture. Always get the bigger picture when you're reading the Bible. And listen to God's voice. He speaks today in our hearts. He explains the Bible in our hearts so that we have greater insight and can interpret it more accurately.

I totally agree, the literalism and fundamentalism that exists in most Christians is harming so many people, either themself or the way they treat others. Its hard for people to get that concept. To read the Bible and think of who God is talking to, and why He said what He said, and what context, and what was the lesson, and what does it reveal about the nature of God? So many things to consider beyond the exact words. I find it difficult to claim certain text as "my verse" or a word from God to me, unless it was a general encouragement God meant to give to all of us.

I like how Philip approaches the Word of God and homosexuality. I often get the same message when I study the Bible... That in the day it was written, and considering the person that wrote it, homosexualtiy, in the context it is spoken of, is considered a sin. And marriage between two same sex people, where it is impossible to procreate, would never be accepted. But today we don't marry for that reason, we marry for companionship and love. And God is very clear in His teaching through Jesus and the Apostle Paul that being single and celibate is a spiritual gift. Definitely not something anyone should be forced into. So that is why I believe marriage for Gays is fine. And another reason for accepting homosexuals is that I know for the majority out there this is not a choice. It is a very few minority that have left ther heterosexuality for homosexuality due to a poor relationship or marriage with someone of the opposite sex, this I do not condone. And the best reason for accepting Gays, and believing they are capable of being a Chrsitian as well, is that Jesus came to die for everyone and calls all of us to love God and to love our neighbor and to not be the judge of people. Only the Holy Spirit can judge the hearts of men and call them to Himself and ultimately bring salvation, I can't do any of those things for anyone.

I will post in another entry the verses that Pastor Philip was referring to and how it supports his arguement and my beliefs and discoveries in my journey to understand why all Christians need to learn to love our fellow homosexual Christian brothers and sisters, minister to the unsaved homosexuals, and that homosexual Christians need to also adhere to the same standards for their life in Christ as I do, as a straight Christian. The dividing line should not be such a wide chasm between heterosexuals and homosexuals in the Christian realm and the church. This is why I started writing this blog, I feel passionate about this subject.

Not inspired

2009-11-08T12:46:00.000-08:00

Its not that I haven't thought about Spiritual things or want to write about God, I just feel like I have covered it all before and don't know where to go from here.

Sorry my blog has been dry for a couple months.

I heard a good sermon today at church. Our Pastor is going through I John and that book is filled with calls for us to love God, to love Jesus... should inspire anyone to read that book. I may write a few things inspired from the book of I John in the Bible. Soon hopefully.

I hope everyone is doing well Spiritually. I know God loves you, I hope you feel that and are able to love Him back. His greatest commandment is "Love God with all your heart" that is it! It's not a command to jump through any kind of hoops or to do some crazy ritual to please Him, its just a command to love. The second to that is to love our neighbor, and that is everyone else in the world. It would be great if we could just get those two things straight in our life, wouldn't it? The world would be a better place is every person did just those two things.

Well, hope to be blogging again sometime soon and to inspire again.

God bless!

The Eunuch Nation

2009-09-05T00:18:00.001-07:00

In the Bible Jesus talks about Eunuchs. You can find the passage in Matthew chapter 19. He talks about three different types of Eunuchs, 1. Those that are born that way, 2. Those that are made that way, and 3. Those that choose to be that way. He also mentions that, basically, celibacy is a choice and not something to be thrust upon a person. The Apostle Paul says pretty much the same thing in Romans. He talks about not marrying to be focused on the things of God, but says that its better to marry than to burn with lustful desire.

Celibacy is talked about as something that is a Holy calling, not a burden for us all to take upon ourselves. I think this is a compelling case for allowing homosexuals to marry. If Gay people are born gay, (which I am convinced is true... why else would so many people be so tormented by that fact and not just "choose" to be straight once they are saved or know about God?) then would God want any gay or lesbian person to remain celibate for His sake if they truly desired to be in a relationship with a loving partner? Certainly not! He does not ask that of me as a straight woman, which I am so very thankful for. And we should all take a step back and ask why are we expecting celibacy from EVERY single Gay person alive? That is ridiculous to put that kind of pressure on the GLBTs when it is VERY VERY clear in the Bible that this is a Spiritual gift to be celibate! Shame on those in the Christian church who tell homosexuals their only choice is to either 1. never marry and abstain from sex for the rest of your life or 2. get married to someone of the opposite sex. How would you like it if the tables were turned?! How stressful and damaging that kind of thinking is!

Many Gay Christians that believe Jesus is referring to homosexuals, in the line that says "some were born this way," are taking on the label of "Eunuch" to describe them selves in Scriptural terms. It seems to be an empowering thing for many to do that. I can kind of see why, with all the negative focus put on the few pieces of Scripture that doom "homosexual offenders" to Hell and the way (sadly) many Christians use those Scriptures to condemn the entire GLBT community. One lesbian pastor I know uses the term "Eunuch Nation" to describe the Gay Christian community... or the GLBT community in general. She pointed out the following passage in the Bible to me.

Isaiah 56 (New International Version)
1 This is what the LORD says: "Maintain justice and do what is right, for my salvation is close at hand and my righteousness will soon be revealed.
2 Blessed is the man who does this, the man who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil."
3 Let no foreigner who has bound himself to the LORD say, "The LORD will surely exclude me from his people." And let not any eunuch complain, "I am only a dry tree."
4 For this is what the LORD says: "To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant-
5 to them I will give within my temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off.
6 And foreigners who bind themselves to the LORD to serve him, to love the name of the LORD, and to worship him, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant-
7 these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations."
8 The Sovereign LORD declares— he who gathers the exiles of Israel: "I will gather still others to them besides those already gathered."

Interesting passage of Scripture. God is promising Eunuchs a memorial inside His temple, a name that is more intimate and dear than calling them His own children, and is promising never to cut them off from Himself. What an amazing passage... found in the Old Testament! And Jesus redefines the term Eunuch, in the New Testament, to include not just those that are castrated males but those that are "born that way" and those that choose to be celibate. I can see now why a Christian Gay Pastor would want to dive right into that passage in the book of Matthew and claim it for them self and their church.

If we can put so much focus and emphasis on the other small (and somewhat mistranslated) passages of Scripture against homosexuals why not focus our attention on the other more positive passages of Scripture and really get into the meaning of "born that way" and see what Jesus is talking about. I personally wish there was more specific wording to what Jesus said, like if he meant it as "born without the desire to marry women", or "born without the desire to marry at all" or "born with the attraction for men instead of women" so it would be more obvious to every reader he meant a Gay person. But I have read quite a bit of research and am convinced as well that this person that Jesus is referring to would in fact be what we call a homosexual today. That word is not in the language of the day that Jesus spoke in, so there would never be a Scripture with the literal translation to today's word "homosexual" in the Bible. So all we can do is find in the Scriptures where Jesus or the other authors of the Bible are in fact talking specifically about Gays. They definitely existed in Biblical times, and there is evidence of that fact in other historical documents. So I am pretty sure Jesus had an opinion on the subject, and definitely, in the very least, GOD has an opinion about the GLBT people and their place in His Kingdom. And as it turns out in Isaiah, He has a very special place for the Eunuchs.

So, if you are a part of the GLBT community take heart, God loves you and wants you to be in a relationship with him and to be in a relationship with another person if you so desire to be. I am sure there are Gay people that have chosen to be celibate and that works for them, just as there are straight people that have done the same. But being Gay is not an automatic to put you in that category of "be celibate or go to Hell." That certainly does not line up with the message of the Bible. Sure, sexual offenders are doomed to the firey pits of Hell (just to show the Bible beaters we agree on something), but there is grace for anyone who wishes to turn away from their sinful life and seek God... ANYONE! EVERYONE! No matter what your past is, God wants you to be saved and to accept Jesus as your personal Savior. And once you become a child of God you won't want to continue in your sexually deviant ways (whether you be gay or straight). As a child of God we only desire to please God and to serve Him, that is the mark of a true Christian. Even though we have found freedom in Christ we have no desire to use that freedom to continue in our sins. To be under control of God is more freeing than I can even explain! That may sound like an oxymoron, but its true.

I hope this message finds you blessed by God's love today and that you continue to be encouraged by the Word of God as you read it and seek to live according to its instruction.

The Truth vs Judging

2009-08-10T00:03:00.001-07:00

The author of "Conversations with God," Neale Donald Walsch, said that God doesn't judge, that its not a part of His character. Well, that is not the God of the Bible I read. He isn't quick to judge, but He loves justice and truth. He does not stand for evil and won't let it thwart His plans for good. And He is the last, final, and ultimate judge of every human heart. We should have a reverence and healthy fear or respect for God. I do not think God is very happy with that man posing as Him and writing books with answers to people's questions that do not accurately depict His true character (which is what Walsch does in his books).

The word "judge" is getting a bad rap from Walsch. It's a dirty word that we tend to run away and hide from. We think we are evolved if we believe we are above that. Well, even though I do not believe we should judge people (the way many people wrongly judge others) I also think that it's important to remember that the TRUTH is not a variable, it's not irrelevant, and its not subjective. Diluting the life saving truth of God and Jesus' death on the cross and His resurrection, for example, doesn't help anyone! Yes, we are to love our neighbors as ourselves, I don't think we should lose sight of that. But there are times where its best to stand for what is TRUE and if you love someone, as a friend, or a family member, or a boyfriend or girlfriend, then you will lovingly speak the truth to them without it being watered down. And speaking this way to some people may feel like judgement, or un-fairness. But it is more loving to speak the truth then to walk on eggshells for fear of making someone feel judged and that person ending up in some place like H-e-l-l.

That's why I write my blog postings like I do, with passion and conviction, because I love you! I want you to know the life saving Truth of the Bible and Jesus' work on the cross. I also want you to know that I accept you for who God created you to be, Gay or Straight, black or white, Jew or Gentile... it doesn't matter. What matters to me is that you understand the Truth and that you ultimately accept that Truth personally in a life saving way!

After my Mom's passing I felt an even stronger urgency than I had before to talk to loved ones about their faith. I had been batting around the idea in my head that I should talk to my parents-in-law about Jesus and if they have accepted Him as their personal Savior. For several months prior to her death I had been feeling the tug of the Holy Spirit on my heart to have "the talk." While its one thing to blog away about my belief and to preach it loud and proud to a silent audience, its quite another to talk to your husband's parents about where they stand in relation to God and Jesus. Its always easier to talk to a complete stranger about my beliefs than it is family. Actually, even my husbands parents it was easy to talk about MY beliefs... but getting the conversation to sway in the direction of, "What do you think about Jesus and his death on the cross?" and make it about them was more uncomfortable. I feel like I am putting them on the spot, and well... I should. Its the only way to get the answers I was looking for, to be direct and not beat around the bush.

My Mom was a believer, a very devout Christian woman of faith. And I can't even explain how comforting it is to know without a doubt in my mind that she is in Heaven. I mourn, but in a different way. There is only ultimately joy to be found in her death. I miss her, and will miss her during many moments in my life: Christmas, Thanksgiving, the birth of my next child, every birthday of her grandchildren that she misses. But those pale in comparison to the experience she is having right now in the presence of her Savior, and her God! I am jealous in many ways. She has no more sorrow, or pain (physical or mental), or worries, or bills to pay, or sickness or any of the many other pains of this life. I will be very happy when the day comes that I get to join her among the choir of Angels in Heaven. It's a day every Christian looks forward to. And if I believe that Jesus is the Only True Way to God, and ultimately to Heaven, then I would have to hate you to not tell you about Jesus and The Way! Right?

So, no, I do not judge people for being Gay, or what ever else. I am not that person. I watch South Park, I watch rated R movies, I laugh at off color jokes, and quite a bit of other things that one may not associate a "good Christian" with. But I take it all with a grain of salt. I don't freak out where I see no need, but I do have my boundary lines. I do not like humor that is all sexual and vulgar and has profanity every other word, it assails my ears! But seeing a sex scene in the midst of a movie doesn't make me stand up and leave and demand a refund. I am not saying that Christians who do that are wrong for doing so, or uptight... I am just drawing you a picture of me personally. I guess I like being able to relate to people on a somewhat "normal" level and not live like a Puritan (even though I do respect many people that do choose to live their life with stricter standards). I was more like that as a young Christian, in my teen years. So I know what its like to live like that, and to be raised in a home like that. My Dad pulled us all out of the movie "Dragnet" in the 80's because there was a stripper bar scene that came along and he didn't want his kids to see that. And as a parent I probably would do the same with my kids, if they were as young as we were at the time. But as an adult that wouldn't stop me from watching the rest of the movie. Anyways... I guess what I am saying is that I am a well balance person. I do have my morals, and I will raise my kids to have some propriety and guard them from things that are only meant for adult eyes, but I will also sit down with you and laugh while watching South Park as they mock the many religions that are out there and our politicians etc. Its funny! I think the creators and writers of that show are very witty and insightful, even if I disagree with their point of view. I know when to laugh and when not to take it personally.

That all said, there is one area of my Christian faith that I will NOT back down on... and that is who Jesus is and the saving work of the cross! Jesus was God in the flesh, the Messiah that the Jews have been waiting for all their life! All throughout the Old Testament of the Bible there were prophesies that foretold His coming. All those prophecies came true in Jesus! And the possibility of that is so amazing that it would be impossible for anyone to fake being the Messiah. Things like his birthplace and lineage, for example, are things that one would not be able to control and "fake." (There is a book by Lee Strobel called "Case for Christ" that I strongly recommend to anyone who questions the validity of who Jesus claimed to be and the Bible. It says that "the probability of just eight prophecies being fulfilled is one chance in one hundred million billion.") Jesus did die on the cross, its a fact! And he rose from the dead, there are witnesses! And there is an empty tomb that no one disputed, even those that hated Jesus and his followers. If Jesus never rose from the dead and was still in the tomb there were many that would have been glad to point that fact out, but they didn't... they only confirmed that He was gone!

There is plenty of evidence out there to support the Bible and Jesus, and Christianity. But there is enough of a need of personal faith as well, which is an important ingredient to being Saved! Salvation is given to us, even to those that haven't seen Jesus die on the cross or witness his Ascension into Heaven after his resurrection, if we just BELIEVE in Him. If we believe that He is who He said He was, God, and accept that his death on the cross was a covering for our sins and imperfections, we will be saved. [Romans 10:9 "If you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."] Its a marvelous and amazing gift! [Ephesians 2:8-9 "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith -and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast."] All it takes is for you to accept that gift, open it, receive it, and make it your own.

Imagine that there is a package that has been sent to your doorstep as a gift. You pass by it every day, on your way out of your home and when you come back home. Maybe you eventually even decide to pick it up and put it inside your home somewhere, but you don't open it. You walk around it or perhaps store it some place to open another time. What does it take for that package to become more than a gift and to make it your own personal possession? You have to open it! Take it out of the box and make it your own! Jesus is that gift that is waiting to be opened. You may know who Jesus is, or believe in God... but that isn't enough! James 2:19 says, "You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that - and shudder." It's not enough to KNOW, you have to ACCEPT. Make that life changing, heart altering decision, accept Jesus as your own PERSONAL Savior, not just someone else's Savior... claim Him as YOUR Lord.

So if I say to you that I do not believe you or someone else is going to Heaven because they do not believe Jesus is Lord, that God raised Him from the dead... am I judging or loving? I would hope you would see that as loving. Also it is a wise thing to judge the words of others cults, religions, and false idols against the life giving Truth of God's Word, the Bible, rather than blindly accept them as true. There are many counterfeit, half-truths out there. You need to be strong, be wise, test those things that exist out there to see if they are really True! If they leave out the work of Jesus death on the cross as the only way to Salvation, then it is false. Many people will water that part down or play it's importance down, and that is a quick way to figure out what is the Truth and what is false. [Read Romans 16:17-20 for further encouragement.]

A Remembrance of my Mother

2009-08-09T15:06:00.000-07:00

Written Friday, July 8, 2009 for my Mom's memorial service on July 9th, her birthday.

Throughout my Mom’s life I have seen that God has had His hand on her and has always taken care of her. The words of the Hymn, “God Will Take Care of You,” remind me of this: “Be not dismayed what e’er be tide, God will take care of you.” It has been playing in my mind and comforting me this past week, since I started to reflect on her life with God and His care for her. There are three major examples that I can think of and would like to share with you today. The first happened when I was a baby, the second was about a year and a half ago, and the third was the day she died.

My Mom, as many of my friends know, was bi-polar. Before she was diagnosed she had many rough years, and when I was a baby my Mom attempted suicide, due to the depression caused by her illness. On the day of this incident a woman was compelled to stop by our house to check on her, my Dad wasn’t home at the time. My brother, Nathan (who was about two years old), answered the door and told her his Mommy was in the bathroom bleeding. She acted quickly and the paramedics were able to come get her and her life was spared, thankfully. I am so glad that the Lord decided to allow me to have my Mother, without her I wouldn’t be the person I am today. I get my love for singing and playing the piano from her, as well as my love to draw and paint and so much more. It simply wasn’t her time to go and He made sure she was taken care of in her darkest moment.

About a year and a half ago, a few months after she had moved into a retirement community, I was in my 9th month of pregnancy when I received a call. They told me she was discovered by the staff as unresponsive and that she had been rushed to the hospital. At that time, the medication she had taken for about 30 years had started to become toxic to her system and had built up to a point that caused her to be hospitalized. I believe, if she hadn’t moved there she most likely would have died from that event. Because if she was still in her previous apartment, living alone, I would have been calling her for a couple days, trying to reach her and freaking out about what had happened to her, then arriving to her apartment to most likely find it was too late. But by God’s providence she had moved and she was at the right place, at the right time, and she was saved once again. The staff and neighbors she had there meant so much to her, and me as well. I am so glad she had them looking after her, keeping an eye on her, and to offer her friendship. The added blessing to me was that she was out of the hospital for a short time, just long enough to witness the birth of my daughter, Katie. She was still in a very manic state, but she remembered everything about the birth, except her over-the-top manic behavior in the delivery room (which I recollect with good humor). I praise God that He made that happen, that meant so much to me to have her there. My Aunt ended up taking her back to the hospital that same day, after Katie was born. I am so very thankful to my Aunt and Uncle Kreiss for putting up with her in those days leading up to Katie’s birth. It wasn’t easy, I know. For me, it was another miracle that she was #1 alive and #2 there for me on such a special occasion.

The final example I have is the day my Mom died. She was about to take a shower and the water was running when she went into cardiac arrest. Her downstairs neighbor heard the water running for a longer time than would be normal and notified the office staff. They found her unconscious, and the paramedics rushed her to the ER. She did pass away, but it was painless and quick. She did not suffer. And I think it’s amazing that God used running water as her voice. She was alone and couldn’t have called out for help, but the way the Lord timed the event He provided that call for help in the form of running water. That is such a blessing to me, to know that God was always there for her in her time of need. She never truly was alone because she had her Lord. And it brings me comfort to know that she was worked on diligently by the paramedics and the Doctor in the ER. I know they tried everything possible to revive her. It eases my mind to know that it truly was her time to go. There was nothing anyone could have done to stop that from happening. It was not the Lord’s will for her to live another day. It was her time to be made whole again and live her life in utter happiness, in the presence of her Lord. Almost makes me jealous.

During this time I am so blessed and comforted by the knowledge I have that my Mother believed in Jesus Christ as her Savior. Because of her belief and the promises I read in the Bible, I can know for certain that she is in Heaven and have peace. She had difficulties mentally all her life, but especially in the last year and a half I know she was particularly frustrated by that. She had physical disabilities with her knees, her hands, and had difficulty dealing with the many side effects of her new medications. She had sadness due to her sister’s current struggles in the hospital and had lonely moments when she wasn’t able to be with family. But today she is whole, in mind and body, and she stands in the presence of God, where she will never feel lonely or sad again, and there is no more pain, no worries, just happiness and love. I imagine her joining in with the choir of angels, singing praises to God, and enjoying the rest of her eternity completely restored.

Praise God for His wonderful mercies! Amen.

God Accepts You

2009-06-29T20:02:00.000-07:00

I just finished watching the Oprah Winfrey Show. I recorded it on my DVR so I could see the interview she did with Ted Haggard and his wife, Nancy. I had heard him speak before, but this time I was very impressed with his honesty and where he was spiritually and with accepting himself. For those who don't know who Ted Haggard is, he was a Pastor of a "Mega-church," New Life, and was accused by a male prostitute of doing drugs with him and having sex with him. The allegations ended up being true, but at the beginning Ted was completely denying it.

When Oprah asked Ted if he was heterosexual or gay he said he is a "heterosexual with issues." He said its too complicated to put a clear label on himself, such as "Gay" or "Heterosexual" and he's not going to deny who he is. I think that is wonderful that he is able to accept the complexity of who he is like that. The world likes labels. We want to put people in this box or that box, and when they don't fit in just one neatly we get upset. I think that those of us who are clearly either Gay or Straight should be thankful that we are clear. It would be very difficult to identify mostly with one and a little with the other group as well. And how Ted chooses to label that about himself really is of no consequence, its that he has accepted those variations, those inclinations within himself, along with the heterosexual self that is important. I know ambiguity doesn't set well with most people, but if that's who you are... that's who you are!

Ted's wife, Nancy, started to talk about how you have choices to act on your inclinations or not. Oprah, of course, piped right in and disagreed with her. It was interesting to hear Ted's response to this argument: who you are v. choice. Ted said, "There's a balance between who we are and personal responsibility." Its okay to be conflicted on the inside, I had to accept this was me... the part that's me (hair color, skin color, your height)... it's me." The part that's inside who you are has some wiggle room for personal responsibility (I am paraphrasing some of what he said.) Then Oprah jumped back in and said, "I got it!... Your personal responsibility wasn't to deny YOU and not to lie about it. The fall wasn't because you did it, but because you lied about it." Ted agreed with her "ah ha" moment. She later asked if he thought he was cured, and he said, "I don't think I'm cured, because I don't think I was ever sick." I absolutely agree with that. He wasn't, and isn't, sick. It wasn't demonic warfare that caused him to gravitate towards same sex experiences. It's who he is, its part of his genetic make up. Its who God created him as. He had to love and accept himself, and the only way he was able to do that was to realize that Jesus loves him. Jesus loves everyone. Even the sexually conflicted.

Ted's sin was to deny who he was, and his desires. His sin was to cheat on his wife. He loves his wife, is married and has five kids. He is sexually attracted to his wife and they are happy in the bedroom, they told Oprah that. His inclinations, his thoughts, are not evil, its how he chose to act on those thoughts. He was compulsive and couldn't control himself. That's what he was talking about when he mentioned "personal responsibility." He was a Pastor, he had a commitment to his members, and he is married and has a commitment to his wife. Our leaders are not suppose to be hypocritical. They don't have to be perfect, but they need to own up to who they are and show their flock how they are to live, to accept themselves and still live righteously.

I think its wonderful that Ted Haggard and his wife are still married. She committed to stay with him, even after the scandal broke out. She is a good wife. I think he is in the right relationship, I don't think he needs to leave her and run off with a man to be happy. God just wanted him to come to grips with his sexuality and own it, be responsible about it, and not act compulsively on his lustful thoughts. He summed up what the Bible has to say about marriage, and I am 100% with him. I have said the same thing myself. Ted said, "I believe what the Bible says... I believe God's ideal for us is to live in heterosexual monogamous marriages. I just believe that. I think its an ideal, just like I wish there wasn't divorce, and so an ideal is that there isn't divorce, but there is." And I agree with his point. The Bible outlines the IDEAL relationship, the original plan... perhaps, that God had in the beginning with Adam and Eve. But the fact is that there are situations and people that don't fit into that IDEAL. We need to accept that. I'm not saying, therefore it's wrong for two men or two women to be married, because of the Biblical ideal set forth. But I acknowledge that the Bible does point to heterosexual marriage as the model of what a marriage should look like. I think today we need to broaden our perspectives though. Marriage may take on a different form than what the Bible portrays sometimes. There still need to be moral guidelines, such as adults can't marry children, and people can't marry animals... that's the "slippery slope" some people would like to believe that same-sex marriage would take us down. But two adults who love each other should be able to marry, bottom line.

Wouldn't it be nice if Gay men and women, who love the Lord with all their hearts and souls, could walk into ANY church and be accepted by everyone in the pews, and at the pulpit? And those that aren't saved could also walk into a church and feel loved and not judged? We could invite all our firends and love each other as Christ loves us. Just because people don't act like me, or live like me, or love like me doesn't make them "bad" people. If they don't fit the mold, don't fit the "ideal" it shouldn't matter. Its where your heart is and if you can stand in God's presence and accept yourself as you are, as God accepts you, then you are in a good place. You are sought out by God. The gay, the straight, the bi-sexual, the sexually ambiguous, the everything in between. He is seeking you out. God wants you to know Jesus and be part of His family. There is a place for you, there is room at the table. Everyone has sinned, everyone is unrighteous in some way, and Jesus loves the unrighteous. He came for you.

Scripture to think about (Quoted from the New American Standard Bible):
Romans 3:10 "As it is written, There is none righteous, not even one..."
Romans 3:12 "There is none who does good, not even one..."
Romans 3: 23-25 "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; Whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed..."
Romans 5:1-2 "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God."

Those are some meaty words in there, look them up if you don't know what "propitiation" and "forbearance" means. Those are some powerful words. They apply to you. You can stand on those words of God, stand firm in your faith and know that God sent Jesus to die for YOU, gay or straight, black or white, male or female, rich or poor... for everyone. God accepts you, even if the world doesn't , even if the church doesn't. Hopefully someday the church will be more Christ- minded and see the error of exiling certain groups of people from their buildings, or allowing you in but rejecting the fact that you can't change who you are and trying to force you to deny something you can't. Until then you have a family with God, with those that are in the world that know Jesus loves you and want to love you as their brother and sister in Christ, like me :-) !!! I love you all, God bless!

Unheeded Warning Signs

2009-05-25T22:48:00.000-07:00

Today is my seven year anniversary. My husband had planned a small outing in the afternoon and dinner. This morning went as usual, the baby woke up, we fed her, she wanted to go outside and play. We all got dressed and got our shoes on and let her outside. Down the street, two houses down, lives her grandparents (my husband's parents). Right now they have an old RV parked outside their house that they are trying to help a friend sell. It has become my daughter KD's new favorite "toy"... she is only 19 months old. She likes climbing on top of the center bump between the driver's seat and the passenger seat and fiddling with the buttons on the dashboard. She sometimes leans over and gets to honk the horn as well. My husband and I will even let her stand on the driver's seat and hang onto the wheel while she smiles with delight.

KD was doing all those things this morning. I was sitting on the bump and watching her. I looked at the driver side's door, thought for a brief moment about it, and wondered if there was any buttons she could push that would cause it to unlock or whatnot... and then after a second decided it was fine. Then JD (my husband) and I started talking and I stopped watching her so closely. The next thing I know I hear her whining and I look over and see that she is wedged between the door and the car seat, her feet sticking up and she was struggling to get out of her predicament. I didn't react very quickly. I was thinking I don't want to yank her up by her feet and hurt her, and then as I leaned over the seat toward her she disappeared and the door flew open! I screamed!!! JD popped up and leaped out of the side door near him, ran around the front of the RV and scooped KD up. I ran behind him, imagining a bloody mess. He held her close and sat down on his parent's patio furniture with her.

All I wanted to do was hold her and see if she was bleeding and just to console her. He told me to go grab her pacifier for her... I ran next door and came back while he inspected her head and body. She fell four feet out of that RV and the only injury we could find was a red rash-like looking scrape on the top of her head. I was expecting some blood, but there wasn't any. Once I handed her the pacifier she reached for me and I took over the consoling role and she just cried into my shoulder while I rocked her and soothed her. She seemed pretty okay, all things considered... but JD and I were concerned about the blow she took to her head and thought it would be best to go to the Emergency Room instead of just wait to see if anything happens with her. She got a CT scan on her head, and everything was fine, PRAISE GOD! We spent over four hours in that ER and we were in no mood for going out to celebrate our anniversary by the time we got home.

After letting the days events stew in my mind I discussed my feelings of being an inadequate parent with my husband. I had that little warning flag go off in my head about that door and I didn't do much about it. What I should have done is check the lock and push on the door to make sure it was securely closed, actually I should have sat on the seat and been there holding her while she played around with things. Also, when we got home and inspected the RV driver door, KD's grandpa admitted that he had opened it earlier and didn't think to lock it behind him. He of course had no idea that she would be playing near it, and I had no idea he had opened it and that it wasn't locked. I'm sure grandpa is feeling guilty for not locking it, and I'm feeling guilty for not checking the lock and or sitting between KD and that door. JD said that these things happen, not to feel guilty about it or let it eat me up. He said he had let her play there before like that too and he could have done the same thing, check the door. I agreed. But I don't think I will every forget this experience and that warning flag that I barely gave heed to. Next time I have visions of a yellow flag waiving in my head I will pay attention! And I suppose that is enough of a lesson to learn.

I am also grateful that God's guardian angels are surrounding me and my family. I mean really... the extent that she could have been injured... just gives me the chills to think about it. But she is okay, and I give God the glory for that. Despite my humanness and imperfections He is watching out for that little girl, making sure she is okay. Just like my aunt who is in ICU right now after that horrible car accident, its amazing she is even alive! And there is no way for me to understand why. I mean, my step-mom, for example, had a son die from being in a car accident... and that was two weeks after my aunt ended up in the hospital and survived! And she was unsure of his spiritual state. He had wandered off from her and God many years ago, did drugs and drank alcohol. She isn't sure if he was saved. But here my aunt is, a true saint, a pillar example of a Christian... and she is still alive! Why would God allow a person to die that isn't sure footed and grounded in Christ, and not take home the one who is saved and now is suffering and struggling to recover from her injuries? We may not know the answer to those questions. But I know God has His reasons, His plan, and its what is right and good. I trust Him.

I am just counting my blessings, that things are not as bad as they could be... for me, my child, or my aunt. I don't even know if I deserve that. In fact I KNOW I don't deserve any special treatment. I am a sinner, saved by the Grace of God and Jesus' death on the cross alone. Nothing I am, or have done, or will do, will ever be enough to match perfection. I am thankful to be called a Child of God, and that I have a perfect Heavenly Father who sees all, knows all, and takes better care of me than I could ever even take care of my own child. Amen! He needs no warning signs, He never sees things in hindsight. He foresees every step, of every human being, even before the foundation of the world he had ordained the days of my life and yours, they were in His hands (Psalm 139:16). And somehow, that brings me comfort when life doesn't make sense.

God is good

2009-05-08T21:35:00.000-07:00

I am greatful to announce that my Aunt is no longer in ICU, but she is still in the hospital in the halo-brace, and her jaw is wired shut... will be for a total of three months. The doctors have said that she will take 6-9 months to recover from her injuries. I am praying that at some point soon she will be moved into a soft brace and then able to go home and continue her recovery there, where she can be more comfortable. Right now I think her comfort is the main issue. She is restless and is kicking her feet and moving her hands around a lot. This causes tubes and such to come detattched from her and they sometimes have to tie her hands down. I really feel for her, I can't imaging being stuck in the same position for a month already, and looking down the road at another 5 to 8 like that. She also must be very fustrated by the limited communication, due to her hands being bandaged and her jaw being wired shut. I think of holidays that have come and gone and that will continue to come and go while she is her condition. I really hate not having her around with us to celebrate and I am sure it makes her sad as well.

My sister-in-law had yet another failed IUI treatment, to get pregnant. This is a bitter pill to swallow. I have been praying that she gets pregnant and every time it fails it makes me ask, "Why God?" But as I read scripture it assures me that God will answer the prayers of his faithful children, but only if its in line with His perfect will. So the only answer I can see He is giving us at this time is that its not His will that she gets pregnant right now, or not with IUI. She may be given a child eventually naturally, but only time will show us. Or she may decide to adopt, and perhaps that is truly what His will is. I know that God will provide for her a child, either naturally or through adoption. She desires a child so badly, as well as her husband. I don't think that God's will is to deprive them of that joy. The only questions are when and how? It's difficult to watch her go through these attempts with no success, but I have faith that God has His reasons. So far this has brought her closer to God and to her husband, and that may be one reason for the delay. God may be strengthening her faith and drawing her nearer to Him through this trial. Not a way one would hope to be drawn to God, but I cannot question His methods, He knows more than me.

Now I am looking to possibly try myself for my second child. This is hard for my husband and I to decide on when... we were hoping his sister would have been pregnant already and have her first before we had our second. And we are unsure of what is going on with his job. We are not sure if its that secure right now, and it is difficult to plan to have a second child in the face of possible job loss or necessary job changes due to a multitude of problems with his current company. But in my mind I keep thinking that we need to do what is best for us as a family unit. We want our kids to be fairly close in age, and the closer they are in age the sooner I can go back to work when they are both in school. So in some ways, waiting is not better. If the kids are close they will be better play mates and we will be young enough to keep up with the next one if we don't wait too long. Plus, if I wait too long then my next pregnancy would be considered "high risk" due to my age. So... with all that in my thoughts I think that the Lord will provide for us as He has been doing throughout our marriage. For example: When I was in the delivery room, in midst of a contraction, my husband got a phone call from his current empolyer to set up an interview. And after he accepted his new job I was able to quit my old one and stay home full time to raise our baby. Then a year and a half later his old job's boss is under investigation and his business is really going down hill. God knows all the variables in life, they are too many for me to keep track of. I am thankful that it's not my job to keep in all in line and control my own life. It's far easier for me to let go, put in in God's hands, and trust that He will provide for me what I need. Sometimes He even gives me more than I need and I get things I just want. And that is a blessing above the regular blessings. I know He only promises to give me my daily bread, but when I get steak... it truly amazes me!

I hope and pray that you are blessed by God in your life. Trials come and go, but God uses them to draw us closer to Him. Do not miss the message He is sending you by putting you through the fire. And if you are reaping the blessings of a wonderful life please continue to be greatful and trusing and leaning on God. You never know when the tide will change, but one thing is for sure... God is always the same. Amen!

Obstacles and Blessings

2009-04-13T23:18:00.000-07:00

Sometimes in our lives we come across some amazing obstacle that we could never deal with on our own. An obstacle so large that we are left wondering how we could ever get around it. Its those obstacles that can become blessings in our life. They are opportunities for God to bless us, to show His awesome power. In Luke 1:37 the Bible says, "For nothing is impossible with God."

There are a couple seemingly HUGE obstacles in my loved ones lives these days. The first is a sister-in-law that has been trying to get pregnant for many years and has tried IUI (inter-uterine insemination) a couple times with no success. She has been praying with her husband about this, and I have joined her in her request and petition to God. So far He has chosen not to grant her desire to have a child. But He is able to do so. Sometimes I believe God allows situations to get to a point of such great impossibility so that when He does answer the prayer we have no choice but to praise God for what He has done and give Him all the credit. He also uses these things to bring us closer to Him. I haven't prayed so regularly for years! And my sister-in-law and her husband have never been closer to God in their Christian walk as they are now. So God definitely is using this obstacle as an opportunity to do some great things and to show His mighty work. I have faith and hope that He will give them a child. I just have no idea how or when. Perhaps they will eventually adopt, and I think that will be as valid an answer to prayer as granting them their own biological child. Or perhaps when they finally give up and stop "trying" He will cause her to get pregnant naturally. I do not know how He will do it, or how long He will wait to answer our prayers, but I believe she will one day get the child she has been praying for.

The other family member with a huge obstacle to overcome is my Aunt. She is diabetic and must have passed out while driving down a major road at 50 mph or more. She hit several cars and her car flipped over 5 times! Thankfully she was the only one that suffered any manor trauma, and she was not paralyzed nor did she have any major internal bleeding or problems. She is, however, laying in a hospital bed right now, two weeks later, with a broken neck, broken bones in her face, a couple broken ribs, and part of one of her thumbs is missing. She also got pneumonia while in the hospital. These are all major obstacles. She also needed a tracheotomy done a few days ago because her blood pressure was dropping and she wasn't able to breathe. Thankfully that trach helped her BP stabilize. Needless to say she has a long road of recovery ahead of her. But this major obstacle of broken bones, blood pressure problems, and pneumonia, is not too big for God to handle... Amen! I also believe in this situation He will be able to repair her and restore her to her fully functional former self. She may have some scars to show for it all, but she will be alive! And if God can raise His son from the dead and conquer death and sin He definitely can help my aunt!

I am glad I have such an awesome God to rely on in times of crisis.

Everyone Needs Compassion

2009-03-29T13:59:00.001-07:00

This song has been playing in my head all night and all day, and we sang it at church today. Its called "Mighty to Save" by Reuben Morgan and Ben Fielding, sung by the Hillsong worship team. The words running through my head from the song are:

Everyone needs compassion, love that's never failing. Let mercy fall on me. Everyone needs forgiveness, the kindness of a Saviour. The Hope of nations. Saviour, He can move the mountains. My God is mighty to save. He is mighty to save. Forever, Author of Salvation. He rose and conquered the grave. Jesus conquered the grave.

Those words are so true, "Everyone needs compassion..." I have started reading a book Exchanging the Truth of God for a Lie by Jeremy Marks. He is a gay man, he is married to a woman, he started an Ex-gay ministry called Courage, in the 80's. He Got married in the 90's and eventually figured out, in 2001, that this whole Ex-gay thing isn't working, after a decade passed, putting time and effort into people's lives with no real success to show for it. I don't know how he can still be married, now that he has decided to identify himself as a gay man. But his wife, Bren, writes in the book that they still love each other and that love surpasses all their challenges about their identity or calling in life, gay or straight. Pretty amazing stuff, Love. She even says that for some people God's purpose may be for them to have a same-sex partner, for some to remain single, and for others it may be good to be married (like I have said before). Just kind of blew my mind that these "mixed marriages" (as she labeled it) existed. That even though Jeremy, her husband, has come to realize that people being gay and a Christian is possible, and that forcing gay men to marry straight women is ultimately not fair to either partner... and he is gay himself, that she is still his wife and is happy in that role.

Back to those words... "everyone needs compassion." Jeremy Marks talks about erring on the side of compassion. That is pretty much where I stand in all of this gay versus straight and Christianity stuff. It may be a bit confusing to wrap our minds around all these different situations that God has blessed people in. A gay person marrying a woman, a gay couple being life partners, people deciding to not marry to further God's kingdom and remain single. There just isn't a cut and dry answer to all this. Those of us who are straight need to have some compassion, offer a listening ear and not try to offer all the answers. We need to rely on our faith and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we need to listen first and try not to interfere with God's plans. There are many scenarios that I can think of where the answers may seem obvious, but its not.

I have a friend that was married and then she divorced him because of mental abuse. She told me she is now with a woman. She told me that she had cheated on her husband with women during their marriage. The reasons for her marrying in the first place? I think its complicated. We all grow up with peer pressure and family pressure to be married and have babies. It almost like we are brainwashed all our life to be that person. She was so scared of what her family and friends would think, it took her over a year to tell me what had happened in her life and I had lost complete contact with her. I love her to death and did not point one finger of judgement at her, she was so relieved. I thought, "How sad, that she would be so afraid of me rejecting her as a lesbian that she would avoid me for so long... I just LOVE her, I want what's best for her." I think she did the right thing, divorce her husband. But the affairs during the marriage? Not good. That was sinful. But the thing about affairs is that they are usually a symptom of something. In her case, I believe, she was a lesbian and was living the life of a heterosexual because she couldn't accept that is who she was. It went against her upbringing and her Christian principles. I think that is what causes gay people to act heterosexual and get married, fear and not accepting themself.

In Jeremy Mark's book he talked about people who were married and later fell in love with someone of the same sex, and the torture they felt. Sure, divorce is not part of God's plan. Marriage is a covenant, and God takes it seriously. But there is grace and compassion, from God through the death of His Son, Jesus. We can be forgiven and healed and move on. James 5:16 says, "Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed." And we all need healing in our life. The answer isn't always divorce, and it isn't always going to be the right choice to stay and not be with the love of your life, even if they are of the same sex. What is clear to me is that if you cheat on your spouse with someone of the same sex then you need to repent of that. Its not about the fact that its a person of the same sex, its about the cheating, its about the covenant and vows you just broke. God's will is for families to stay together. I know in the situation where someone cheats with a person of the opposite sex, if they leave their spouse and re-marry that person they cheated with the divorce rate is 75%. I have no idea where that number stands if you look at a person who marries their same sex lover. But... my point is, marriage is serious business. And many heterosexual couples have survived infidelity and have been able to be healed and continue to be married. If you are tempted to fool around on your spouse, you need to cut off the relationship with the person you are tempted to be with. Work on your marriage. If you realize you are gay and that you are married you need to see what God's will is for you. Listen to the Holy Spirit, follow His guidance. If you feel you should stay, that there is enough love between you (like Jeremy and Bren Marks) to weather the storms ahead, by all means... stay married! Give your relationship a chance, avoid temptations, stay true to your vows. But if you think that divorce is best for the both of you, to be ultimately happy, then follow your conscience. If your conscience is clear you can move forward without worry. Remember... grace and compassion.

First John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins..." You can have a clear conscience. Trust that God has forgiven you. If you have been unfaithful to your spouse and you confess that sin He will forgive you! Your spouse may have a harder time dealing with that and forgiving you. Your friends and family and church members may have a problem and cause you heartache over your choice. I think you can bank on that. But we all have to live our life according to our conscience and do what we think is right. One day you will be able to look back on your choices and be proud of what you did. Hopefully others will one day be able to understand why you did what you did. But if they don't, oh well!

If God leads your heart to stay in your marriage, even if you realize you are gay, then follow His leading. If God gives you an open door to leave and divorce, and your conscience is clear on that being the case, then follow His leading out the door. Sure... Jesus said divorcing and remarrying is like committing adultery. But God allowed divorce certificates to be handed out by Moses because it was the best solution in some circumstances. I think divorce will always break God's heart, but His child being unloved and miserable will break it as well. Let yourself stand under the umbrella of His grace and compassion. Forgive yourself as He is willing to forgive you. "Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed." James 5:16. Find a friend, talk to them, pray for each other and find healing in that confession and compassion. That's what I want to do for all my friends. We are not able to be perfect, but God isn't asking us to be a prisoner of the law and sin (Romans 7:23). Set yourself free, find peace for your soul. First John 3:19-20 says, "We set our hearts at rest in His presence whenever our hearts condemn us, for God is greater than our hearts and He knows everything."

I just hope that future generations won't have to deal with this mess. That we will all be loving towards our children as they discover their sexual orientation. Then perhaps those that end up knowing they are gay can feel free to love and marry whomever they wish, there won't be hurt heterosexual spouses out there and their children left in the wake of this horrible decision gay men and women are making every day. "Do I stay and be faithful to my spouse and raise my children? Or do I leave and finally find happiness in true love with someone else?" Imagine if we could give that as a gift to our children? If we could allow them to accept themself as gay or straight and not make these mistakes in their own life. Its really not worth it to have a legalisitic tyranical view point, the soap box that many Evangelical Christians are standing on, is it? Why not err on the side of compassion? I believe that is what Jesus would do.

God bless you all!

The Eye of the Storm

2009-03-02T22:00:00.000-08:00

Its interesting, isn't it, that the eye of the storm is so calm? A storm could be raging all around you, just past over you, but once you are in the center of the eye its as peaceful as can be. Spiritually speaking, where is the eye of the storm? Its the center of God's will.

Circumstances in our lives can overwhelm us. But take comfort in this thought- God has already saved us from sin and death and Hell! He can certainly save us from our daily trials! Amen! If He has saved you for all eternity why wouldn't He continue to save you now?

Romans 8:35-39 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

That part of scripture is so powerful! NOTHING can separate you from God's love! Absolutely NOTHING!!! He is going to get you through the storms, That's a PROMISE! And what you don't understand today you will someday. It will all make sense in the end.

Are we tested to build character? That's probably one reason among many. But does the reason why really matter? God didn't promise to keep the storms away, He did promise to be with us always. Read Psalm 139, "Where can I go from your Spirit?..." the Psalmist asks. Basically, no where! He is everywhere. In the darkest depths of the sea to the dawn of a new day... He is there. There is no pit you can be in that He won't hear your cries. There is no place too terrible for Him to not be able to hear you when you call. God loves you, He is there for you, He will get you through this life's trials.

Rest in the eye of the storm, find the center of God's will. If you are on the path towards God eventually you will find yourself in that eye, that peaceful place, the eye of the storm of your life. Some great winds and rain may have just passed by and torn a few shingles off the proverbial roof, and you may feel a bit battered by the storm, but the eye is coming. The storm will still rage around you but you will find peace. Its coming, just wait...

Tough Love

2009-02-18T23:44:00.000-08:00

Today I had to bring my 16 month old daughter to the Dr.'s office to see what was going on with her. She has had a runny nose and a cough for a week now, so I thought I better go in to see why she isn't getting better. Well, come to find out she has Bronchitis, not a very severe case but bad enough to need some medicine.

To my chagrin I was informed that I was going to have to give my daughter medicine via a breathing vapor machine. It required me holding a plastic mask over her little face for 15 minutes while she bawled her eyes out. She tried to move her head out of the way of the mask, she tried to bat it away and desperately tried to put her pacifier back into her mouth... and when all her efforts didn't succeed she look up at me with these hurt eyes. They looked like they were saying, "Why Mommy? Why are you doing this to me?" I looked at her and thought to myself... "because I love you." Then I told her I loved her and that it would be over soon and kissed the top of her sweaty head. Poor little thing. She has no words to express her discomfort, all she has are her cries to communicate when she is unhappy. And boy... was she unhappy! Everyone outside the exam room knew she was unhappy too, she was practically screaming. But with every cry and every gasp she was breathing in medicine that was going to help her breath better and stop coughing and wheezing. It was for her own good that I hugged her against my body tightly and didn't allow her to squirm away, so that she could breathe in as much of that smokey vapor as possible.

It made me think, this must be how it is with God and us sometimes. We are miserable, we are crying out desperately to God, "Why me, Lord? Why are you making me suffer?" Sometimes we don't understand it in the moment, but in the end we are better off for the suffering. I Thessalonians 5:18 says, "Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." I don't think my daughter felt very thankful for what I was doing to her, but she did stop wheezing once the treatment was finished. And for that, I am sure she is thankful. I hope that we, as God's children, can learn to be more thankful for the things we don't understand that He puts us through. Its hard, but that verse in 1 Thessalonians is a command, "Give thanks!" It doesn't say, you should give thanks or you may want to think about being thankful some day for whatever circumstance you have been put in today. No... it says to do it, give thanks now!

On the way to the Dr.'s office today I was listening to my favorite Christian radio station and I heard something that goes with that lesson very well. A woman had undergone a major surgery, a hysterectomy, due to some harm that it would have caused her to keep that part of her body, and she was upset with God as first. But she said now she realizes why she went through that. She keeps running across other women who have to go through the same thing and she can be an encouragement to them. What she said reminded me of 2 Corinthians 1: 3-4, which says, "The Lord Jesus Christ comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble." You may not know why you are suffering, but the Bible tells us the answer to that question very clearly. Its so YOU can be a blessing to someone else and make a difference in their LIFE! Amen! What you learn by going through the pain of whatever your circumstance is today, you will be able to use to minister to others in the future. Its a blessing that God wants to use you in such a special way. So, give thanks! And take comfort in the loving arms of your Savior as he holds you against his chest as you suffer through whatever you are going through today, just as I held my baby and kissed her on the head and said, "I love you" while I allowed her to suffer for her betterment.

May God Bless you all!

The Saved and the Unsaved

2009-02-17T23:07:00.000-08:00

When talking about repenting of your sexual immorality or of your "chosen sexual lifestyle" I want to add a few thoughts. There are two categories that I need to address. First those that call them self Christian, saved, followers of Christ, God's children. Second those that are not the former, the unsaved.

To the first category "The Saved":
If once you became a Christian you felt stirred in your heart to repent of your sexually immoral lifestyle then do it. If that means moving out when you have lived with your boyfriend or girlfriend and have been having sex with that person... move out. If that means to stop having sex outside of marriage, to start being abstinent... then abstain from sex for Christ. Honor God with your body. If you have been in a homosexual relationship that you know is not right to be in... then cut it off. If you have been in a heterosexual relationship that is not honoring God... then cut it off.

If you feel no conviction of that type for being who you are and loving who you love, then keep on doing what you are doing. I think that means you aren't having sex outside of marriage. If you are dating someone of the same sex or opposite sex, fine. Just abstain from sex (easier said than done... I know, but God will give you the ability to escape the temptation). If you are in a marriage or a committed same-sex partnership (or married in the cases where that is legalized) then stay with your partner and have sex as a way to express your love and to bond you together in marital union. As long as you believe that God is pleased with you and who you are and you feel no conviction in your heart to change then I see no issue.

To the second category "The Unsaved":
I do not expect you to behave in the same manner as a saved person acts. I expect you to keep living your life as you see fit, not caring about what God's moral standards are that are set forth in the Bible. If you do not believe in God, or if you do not believe in Jesus and that he is who he claimed to be, I do not judge you for your lifestyle or behavior. God is the judge, not me. And the day you come face to face with your maker you will have to give an account for your life and behavior. If you haven't accepted Christ as your Savior then its not going to be good.

I can only tell you what I, as a Christian, would do. I can tell you why I behave the way I do, show you where in the Bible I get my information from. But I cannot expect you to live as I live or expect you to understand. I do not have any expectation from you to live a moral life. If you are living according to a high moral code, good for you. I am glad you are trying your best. But until you accept Christ into your life no amount of doing good is going to get you into Heaven, the presence of God for eternity. And if you don't believe in that stuff anyways, then you have no worries.

My blog is addressed to my fellow Christians. And I will stand firm where the Bible is concerned. I stand firm in my convictions. I expect my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to do the same. We are not always convicted the same way on certain issues. There are areas where there is room for debate. Where there is no room to debate I will not bend to popular mentality. By writing this blog I may not be some people's favorite person, but for others I will be a source of encouragement. If an unbeliever comes across my blog I hope that they feel moved in their heart to give their life to Christ and become saved. Amen! I also welcome feedback at anytime from people with differing points of views. But don't expect me to agree with you, even if I am open to the discussion. And I don't expect everyone to agree with me either. But I love a good honest and open discussion, its very welcome.

God bless you, everyone!

Sexuality

2009-01-26T13:57:00.001-08:00

Something bothered me during the sermon my Pastor gave Sunday. He used the phrase "accepting sexuality" like it was a bad thing. I think that people's sexuality is such a personal issue. We define ourselves by our sexuality, but just because we identify with a certain sexuality within ourselves doesn't mean that in and of itself is sin. To be a heterosexual and identify with that sexuality isn't a sin. How is calling yourself a homosexual or bisexual a sin? I know that our actions, how we choose to express our sexuality, can be sinful. I can behave sinfully as a heterosexual just as easily as a person that is homosexual can behave sinfully. How we all view the act of sex, how we treat our bodies, what purpose sex and what place sex has in our life... these are the issues. Its difficult to be self disciplined when it comes to sex. Its a driving force in many people's life. It can become an idol in our lives if we aren't careful. We all need to ask our self the hard questions. Is sex more important to you or is God? Can you abstain from sex to seek after God? Are you able to say, "No" for the sake of furthering God's Kingdom and be an example? Are you able to wait for marriage, until you find that life partner?

Perhaps that all sounds a bit idealistic. And in some ways, yes it is. We can strive to follow the letter of the law of the Bible, but we are going to fail sometimes. But just because there will be failure to follow through and be obedient doesn't mean we should stop even trying! As a single young woman I was very much tempted to participate in intimate acts that are meant for marriage. Sometimes I flirted with that fine line between my virginity and having sex. Technically its very possible to be a virgin and still be sexual. I figured out many ways, before I was married, how to get close and not cross the line. I was convicted in my heart about my actions, and I repented many times. I could resist for a while and then would allow myself to be in a situation that caused me to slip again. Its hard when you love someone not to slip. It all seems very natural and, well, it is! But I know God wants sex to be saved for marriage for a good reason. There are a lot of emotional connections that are made and there is a spiritual connection that happens that God takes very seriously as well. In the Bible the act of sex is actually what binds two people together as husband and wife. Satan would like us to take this all very lightly and just see it as "natural" and "healthy expressions of our sexuality" and all that. He is right, it is natural and its healthy... but its not healthy and natural to go from partner to partner and to bond ourselves with multiple people. Think about how you feel when you have been intimate with someone and then they break up with you. Or the person you were engaged to and have been having sex with decides you aren't the one after all and breaks it off. It hurts, emotionally and on a spiritual level. I believe our Heavenly Father wants what is best for us and that is why He puts so many restrictions on sex. He disciplines those He loves (Proverbs 3:12).

In I Corinthians sexual immorality is talked about in chapter 6 verses 12-20. It starts with, "Everything is permissible for me - but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible for me - but I will not be mastered by anything." We can have sex with whomever we wish, but it will not be beneficial to you to do so. Just the idea of STD's alone is a reason not to sleep around. You may feel like its your body and its your right to do with it as you please. But if you are a Christian your body has been united as one in Spirit with God! Your body is a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit, therefore you need to be careful with how you treat it. Here is what the end of that section in I Corinthians says:

I Corinthians 6:18-20 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

So the issue isn't your "sexuality" but "sexual immorality" and that is an issue for ALL Christians, not just something the Christian LGBT community needs to think about.

I just think that focusing on a person's sexuality, the label, is wrong. I don't care if someone identifies them self as Straight, Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, or Transgender. I do care about the person and how that label makes them feel. People feel a sense of relief when they are able to embrace who they are and their sexual identity. I cannot assume to understand it all or where it all comes from. Did God make you that way, is it genetics, is it due to outside influences in your childhood. I personally do not believe its a choice... if it IS a choice for someone then they need to repent, but I believe its not a choice for the majority out there. I guess I just choose to believe people when they say, "If I can choose my sexuality, my sexual preference, then why would I choose a life of misery and ridicule?" (Not all people, I understand, feel that being Gay is a life full of misery... some people have great experiences, so please know I am only talking in generalities here.) If people are being treated poorly and want to change then why can't they just "decide" to change? It doesn't make sense to me to think that way, to think its a choice. The focus seems to be in the wrong place, to me. Why focus on those labels so much? For every individual that discovery of self and identifying their sexuality is an important process and the road to acceptance of them self in many cases, even for me to identify myself as a heterosexual woman and embrace that sexuality is important. But for those of us on the outside of the situation why are we so obsessed with what everyone calls them self? Other than needing to know who to hit on and who not to... ha ha.

I guess I just realize something my Pastor doesn't. You can define yourself as a certain sexuality and that doesn't mean you are having sex. If I am a heterosexual, but do not have sex, does that mean I am not a heterosexual anymore? No! Same for any LGBT person. Just because they call them self that "label" doesn't mean they are sexually immoral people. If they are a Christian they do need to honor God with their body, and I as their fellow sister in Christ need to encourage them to do that. If they are not a Christian I cannot expect any person, Gay or Straight, to honor God and not have sex outside of marriage. They aren't a Spirit filled person, so their is no motivation or reason for them to do so. My goal would be to love them and embrace them as friends and tell them about God and what Jesus did on the cross for them, and hope they come to know Christ as their personal Savior. But until a non-believer is saved I cannot expect them to behave with the same moral standards in the sexual realm as a Christian, simple as that. And why be obsessed with their "sexuality" in the mean time? It has no purpose but to keep us all separated and create a homophobic atmosphere in the church. People that aren't saved are looking in at the church and seeing hate. That is what is sad and needs to stop. We need to look beyond labels of sexuality and look at each person as an individual who needs salvation. After salvation we can address the behavior, but not until then! We are putting the cart before the horse!

If you are saved and are behaving in a way that is sexually immoral then you need to stop, I don't care if you call yourself Gay or Straight... it needs to stop! I know its hard, and practically impossible sometimes. But God says he will provide a way out when we are tempted. I Corinthians 10:13 says:

No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

Look for that way out, otherwise you are closing your eyes and just allowing yourself to sin. God will discipline you and call you to purity. If you keep turning your back on Him he will hit you with that "spiritual two-by-four," as I call it. And it won't be pretty! When you do fail, repent of it and start again. He will always forgive you and will be patient with you and He is faithful, He will show you a way out of the situation when you are tempted. Trust in Him and you will see.

If you are not saved, that is what I am concerned about for you, not your sexuality, but your place in eternity. If you want to know how to be saved, become a Child of God, please send me a message and I would be happy to talk to you.

Connections

2009-01-20T13:41:00.000-08:00

The Bible has many metaphors for Christian connections, to each other in the church and to God. We are described as a building in Ephesians 2:22 "And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit." We are described as a body in Romans 12:4-5 "Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others." We are described by Jesus as branches attached to a vine in John 15:4-5 "Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." We are also described as being part of a family in Romans 8:16 "The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children."

All these descriptions of connections give us great insight into how the church is suppose to function and how we are to relate to God, or Jesus Christ. In the metaphor of a building we can imagine that we are all parts of a building, brick, mortar, pipes, electrical wire, the frame etc. and we all have to be connected together to support the structure of the building. As I heard a Pastor say, "A part of a building can be inside it but not be connected." Meaning, if you lay a pipe inside the building, but its not connected to any other plumbing pipes, just because it is laying inside the building doesn't make it a part of that building. This makes me imagine people that arrive to church on Sundays, sit in the pews, sing the songs, listen to the sermon, and then leave without really ever talking to another person or getting involved in the ministry of the church. They aren't connected. They are like an extra piece of pipe laying around a construction site waiting to be used. That's a sad image. But what a powerful image to think of how we are all a part of a structure, inter-connected, supporting each other's weight so the building can keep standing. Brick without mortar is just a pile of bricks, and drywall without a frame has nowhere to attach. Very powerful imagery.

We often hear the metaphor of being a part of the "body of Christ"... well, at least I have heard that one a lot. Its an interesting idea to ponder. Christ is the head of the body, and we are all joined together in Him, and if a part of the body is disconnected from the body it dies. If you remove a hand, then that hand will die. If you remove a nose, that nose will shrivel up and die... but the body can continue to live. And if all the body parts are people of the church, then you can see that we need each other to live. And we all to be connected to Christ (the head) to grow and get spiritually stronger, or we all will die. Are you connected to a body of believers? Are you attending a church? While it may not be necessary for your salvation to attend church, it is necessary for your spiritual growth. I believe that church is there for fellowship and for helping us grow stronger in our Faith, and to support each other. If your church isn't helping you do that, to feel connected, then perhaps you need to find another church... not just stop going all together. That is the temptation when a church fails to meet our spiritual needs, is it not? To stop going all together? But we all need to keep going and keep trying to attend a church for our own health spiritually and emotionally.

Being a branch attached to a vine was a metaphor Jesus used. He said that He is the vine and we are the branches. A branch not connected to its vine bears no fruit. Galatians 5:22-23 lists the fruit of the Spirit, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." If you aren't connected to Jesus, then you will not see yourself growing in those areas of the fruit of the Spirit. So, just as we need to be connected to each other so we don't die spiritually, we need to be connected to Jesus to grow spiritually.

The final metaphor is that we are like a family. This is why I call fellow Christians my brother or my sister. We have all been adopted as children of God, and we are all "born again" into his family once we are saved. Romans 8:16 says "The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children." I heard a pastor say that in Bible times parents were allowed to disown their naturally born children, but if they adopted a child they were not allowed to ever disown them. In Christ we are born again AND adopted as God's children. We can NEVER be disowned by God, Amen! That is such a wonderful and secure feeling. To be a part of the family of God is to never feel unloved. And the rest of us, as brothers and sisters, need to remember to love and accept everybody. This does not mean we need to also approve of everything a person does, but we can always accept them. We are not allowed to hate one another, as Christians. And as a pastor once said, "Giving a person what they need, not what they deserve, that is LOVE."

We may all have our disagreements about things, even if we are Christians, brothers and sisters. I, for example, accept Gays into the church with open arms. I believe that everyone should do the same. As for what we all approve of as behavior from of fellow LGBT siblings may differ greatly. But we can all at least agree that we are to accept, love and support them as being a part of "the building", keep connected with them and take care of them as if they were another part of our own body (because they are), and treat them as a part of the family of God. What I approve of does go as far as marriage between two adults, even if they are of the same sex. But I know some people aren't at this point themself, if they were then Proposition 8 wouldn't have passed as California law in November 2008. What I ask of you, dear brothers and sisters, is to remember that we are to love and accept them, that judgement belongs to the Lord, and that even if you do not approve of certain behaviors doesn't give you the right to treat them with hate. There are behaviors that I don't approve of myself, within the LGBT community (such as sexual promiscuity) but I do not hate those that behave that way. I do expect them, as well as any other Christian, to start to grow in their spiritual life and turn away from sin in their life. Step by step and day by day I do expect them to get stronger and show more fruit of the Spirit. But this may be a gradual process for some people, and I am not to judge them where they are. I am to encourage and support them and the help them grow. And that is what I hope I am able to do with this blog... encourage and support people as they continue on their Spiritual journey, Gay or Straight. And may God bless my efforts to do so.

Take care everbody... until next time, God bless!

P.S. The pastor I was quoting is Rick Warren. I went to his church Saturday, with my Siter-in-law, and wrote my blog using his sermon as inspiration. I know that many LGBT people are upset that he went to Washington D.C. to pray at the inaugaration of Obama, but we who are Christians need to remember to love even him. I know that he loves and accepts all people of all races, creeds, and sexual orientation. He may not accept the idea of same-sex marriage but he still loves you all. I chose not to use him name until the end so you could hear the words he said without judgement. I may not agree with him, or even my own pastor, but I know that what I believe and where my convictions are on the subject of same-sex marriage doesn't effect my salvation or the fact that so many LGBT people are saved and in wonderful partnerships that are as healthy and loving as my own marriage. And I know that I can disagree with a pastor or two and still love them anyway.

The Basics

2009-01-14T22:57:00.001-08:00

Its 2009 and I feel its time to get back to the basics. There are some key verses in the Bible that I think all Christians, Gay, Straight, young and old, all need to start to live by more faithfully. I think many Christians do not focus enough on these basic principles that Jesus himself... God in the flesh... taught and lived by.

Basic principle #1The Greatest Commandment is LOVE Matthew 22:36-40
When Jesus was asked by the Pharisees "What is the greatest commandment in the law?" Jesus replied, "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.

We are so busy judging others and not loving them, we need to focus on the love. God sent his gift of salvation to EVERYONE! John 3:16-18 says, "For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son." Jesus wasn't here on Earth to condemn so what gives you the right to condemn others yourself? If they are condemned because they haven't decided to believe in Jesus then that is a fact, not a reason for you to point fingers. Matthew 7:1-2 says, "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." God will judge everyone, its not your job however to do that. He knows everyone's heart and whether or not they truly believe in His Son Jesus. YOU will never be able to do that. You don't know who is saved and who isn't, even if you think you have it figured out (I speak to myself here as well). YOU are called to LOVE, not to hate or to judge. So stop pointing your finger and beating people over the head with your Bible for being different. God loves them and wants them to be saved. Jesus and salvation is for everyone! Yes... even Gay people, Bi-sexual people, Transgendered people. You cannot judge whether that person is truly saved or not... but what you can do is be loving and supportive and encourage those people to live a godly life as best they can. Who wants to become a Christian anyways if all the Christians they know hate them? Is this the way to show them the way to God? NO!!!

Basic principle #2 Jesus is the ONLY way to God. John 14:6
While talking to his Disciples Jesus said these words, "I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

There is only one way to"the Father" AKA God. There are not "many paths" to God, there is only one, and that is through Jesus. His death on the cross is the way we have access to God and eternity with Him in Heaven. Being a "good person" or trying to be perfect isn't going to work. Romans 3:23 says, "For all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God." That means you and me and EVERYONE. Sin means "missing the mark" and we have all missed the mark. We are all imperfect. The only way to be in His presence after death is to accept the gift of Jesus' death on the cross as a the final and perfect sacrifice to cover all your sins and make you perfect in Christ. This message is vital for every one in the world to hear. The world says, "be nice to others. Think positively and draw good things to yourself. Help those that are needy. Don't judge others. " And so does the Christian. But the difference between us and the world is that we are saved and they aren't and never will be unless they open the gift that has been set before us all... the gift of Jesus Christ. God said it and that's why I believe it... Jesus is the ONLY way! Don't let the lies of the world blind you to this Truth!

I think this is where I will end my "back to the basics" sermonette. If we could do those two things, Love people and accept that Jesus is our only chance of salvation and being in God's prescence after death then we have got this Christian thing down. ;-) There are many other aspects of the Bible I could focus on and point out, but these are the two issues that bother me the most. People that call themself a Christian but don't believe in who Jesus said he was (He claimed to be God incarnate and our only way for salvation) and people that call themself a Christian but hate other people that are different from themself or that they think are sinners.

If you aren't a Christian I don't expect you to behave like one, and you probably think what I just wrote is pretty harsh. But if you are a Christian you know what I wrote is true and should be convicted in your heart if you have been anything but loving. Also if you are a person who claims the name "Christian" but don't believe that Jesus is who he claimed to be then you need to call yourself something else. Many people called Jesus a prophet, a teacher, Rabbi, King of the Jews, but Jesus called himself Messiah, the Christ that was prohesied to come to earth to save us, God in the flesh among us, Emmanuel. Sorry if you think I am being hard on you, I say this because I love you, not to Judge you. I want you to be saved, to be a Christian. I want you to know what being a "Christian" actually means. Its not a way to say you are "religious" or that you believe there is a God. James 2:19 says, "You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that - and shudder." Believing that there is a God doesn't save you or make you a Christian, and neither does simply praying to God for what you want or need on a regular basis. Praying to God and telling him that you believe in Jesus and that you want to accept his death on the cross and make Him your saviour, confessing your sins... that makes you a Christian. Look up Romans 10:9 and I John 1:9. Let God be your judge and guide your conscience. I am not saying these things to be hateful, but to hopefully guide you to God and a life abundant in Him. He wants you to be saved! He loves you! And so do I... MWAH!!!

I Wept

2008-12-14T18:53:00.000-08:00

I sing in the choir at my church. I love music, I love singing, I love playing the piano, I love writing music, I love everything about music. Its wonderful! During Christmas its even more magical. We get to sing a Cantata with a live orchestra! A rare treat, we ususally just have a pianist and a keyboardist.

Yesterday we practiced for the first time with the orchestra for our Cantata. During one of the songs I wept. I couldn't help it. The tears just kept coming and wouldn't stop! My lip was quivering so badly that I couldn't sing! Thankfully this wasn't the performance, I was a mess. The song we were singing is called, "Mary Did You Know." After having a baby recently the words to this song hit home even more than they had before. The song was originally popular in the 90's and I thought it was beautiful then. But as I sang words like, "When you kiss your little baby you kiss the face of God" and "This child that you delivered will soon deliver you" I imagined my own sweet baby and the 1,000's of times I have kissed her little face and the pain of delivery, and the joy I had in my heart over this little child in my arms the day she was born. What pain and suffering and sorrow Mary had to endure when her son died on the cross! She knew him in such a personal way, in a way only a Mother can know her child. She was so priviledged, yet she had to see this perfect child die in such a terrible manner.

This Christmas its wonderful to be reminded of the birth of Christ, and how amazing that event was, and still is. I hope that all attending the services today heard the words of every song and that those that don't know Jesus as their personal Savior will be changed forever. I am honored to be a part of that moment that changed them, if they did accept Christ into their heart today. Just thought I share this moment of my life with everyone. Have a very Merry Christmas! God bless!

Thanksgiving

2008-12-02T21:39:00.000-08:00

With Thanksgiving just behind us and Christmas on the horizon I thought it would be appropriate to stop for a moment and say a word of thanks.

I am thankful to God for my family, still alive and recently passed. I am thankful that they have always loved me unconditionally. I am thankful for friends who do the same. And I am thankful for my wonderful husband who has been allowing me to sleep in for the past few weeks now and taking care of the baby in the morning. I am thankful that I am an American, that I have the freedom to practice my religion and openly express my thoughts without fear of being thrown in jail or killed.

And as I await Christmas day I want to remind us all that it is Jesus Christ who is the reason we have the season. It saddens my heart to hear stories about Wal-Mart stampedes and people being killed by hoards of shoppers trying to get a deal and people fighting over the last toy on the shelf. That is so much the opposite direction of where the true meaning of Christmas is that its sick. How have so many people allowed materialism take the place of the Christmas Spirit of love and kindness? At least if you don't believe in Jesus virgin birth and what that all means, you can at least agree that this is the season to spread love and joy and kindness to all mankind. Of course I do believe in the virgin birth of Jesus and I am joyful for the gift of Christ, God in the flesh... Emmanuel. For without him I would be forever separated from God and would not know the blessing it is to be one of His children.

God bless you all during the Holidays, and I hope you all stay focused on the true reason for the season.

Hot Topic

2008-11-11T00:48:00.000-08:00

Let’s talk about sex. I know it’s a touchy subject and makes some of us squirm, but what I want to say needs to be said. And yes, I am still talking about homosexuals and Christianity. Perhaps I should change the label of my blog??? This is addressed mostly towards my Gay brothers and sisters in Christ.

One of my Gay friends asked me, "If there are all these advantages to sex while in a relationship with someone, why can only straight people enjoy these advantages?" That's why I think that asking all homosexual people to remain celibate isn't the answer. Not everybody is born with the ability to be celibate and not have sex (like a monk or a nun). And for us (straight Christians) to assume that one can change from being homosexual to heterosexual is going too far, and ignorant. I realize some Gay people do that sometimes, but not many... from what I have read in my research on Ex-Gay Ministries. It is much better, I think, to not assume a Gay person will stop having sex and be celibate or to turn to heterosexual sex once they are saved/ become a Christian. It seems a bit ignorant to me to go there… actually very ignorant. But I have to leave that door open as an option for those that become saved and feel the conviction to change. More correctly said, to return to their heterosexual innate desires that they had abandoned, if that is the case. As my Pastor encouraged me to ask a Gay person, “Do you want to be freed from this homosexual lifestyle?” I think that is perhaps a good place to start. But if the answer is “NO, I feel that this is the way I have been since I was born and I have never been anything but homosexual, this is not a choice for me.” Then we should accept that as their answer and move on to other ways they can live a Spirit filled life that would be honorable to God.

Those people that "change" after they are saved are probably dealing with some other issues. Issues that caused them to leave their heterosexual instincts, for sex and love, and seek after same-sex encounters or relationships. I am definitely not pointing fingers to any specific person as having this issue or being that type of person. But if someone comes across my path, or any of my Gay Christian friends path, and fits into this category of people we should be supportive as their brother and sister in Christ to encourage them to follow their conscience and do what they feel is right. It would be an injustice to that person to encourage them to seek out same-sex partnerships or to remain celibate if they feel that they need to turn away from their "homosexual lifestyle" after they are saved and receive the Holy Spirit in their heart and feel led to do so. For that person the homosexual act and “lifestyle” would be a lie and be living in bondage to their sin. Even if YOU (my Gay Christian friends) are not that person and are genetically Gay and will never be attracted to the opposite sex none of us should close our mind to the idea that some people out there ARE the person that Paul describes in Romans chapter 1. Those described in Romans had turned away from God and were given over to lustful desires to want to have sex with the same sex, where before they were drawn to people of the opposite sex. I think the key here is if you have Turned To God and Love God and have been saved and still feel the attraction to the same sex that you cannot be expected to change and all of a sudden want heterosexual sex, just like it would be impossible for a black person to change the color of their skin. Don’t get me wrong though, I do not expect this from the majority of people that are Gay (to "change"/ or “return” to their original innate desires of heterosexual love and sex). I think this person would be few and far between. But… as I said, we do not want to count this possibility out. And we need to be there for everyone, no matter what the situation whether we understand or do not understand why they feel that way. There needs to be the conviction of the Holy Spirit in a person to feel led to repent of their wrong doing, if it was wrong for them in the first place. In this case I am supportive of them to repent of their homosexual lifestyle as a choice that they made as some point in their life, and to return to what God intended for them to be and act as they are suppose to act. (Again, I will restate that I do not think this is the majority of the Gay community. I do think that for most of the Gay community that this is genetic and was not a choice. But we need to not allow Satan a foothold on the lives of those that have been sexually confused and need restoration in their life to who they were intended and created to be by God.)

But I feel I need to address this issue of casual sex in the Gay community. To say that we should allow our fellow Christian brothers and sisters to work out whether they want to have a long lasting sexual relationship vs. having casual sex on the weekends is not what God has intended for us as believers “to work out”. That is not a matter of working out your salvation. Truth is still truth and sin is still sin, and we are to be obedient as best we know how. If you do not feel convicted about casual sex or having sex before committing your life and love to a partner then there is something wrong here. Sex is meant to be an act of bonding two souls together, making you “one flesh” as it would be called in the Bible. And as Christians we are to look to the word of God for direction and not discard the Truth it holds. While the Bible does not address the idea of same-sex partnerships, and monogamous sex between two women or two men, it does discuss sex. (Quick note here, the world would have us believe that as long as we are monogamous during a relationship that sex is okay. Not the idea of being monogamous for life with one person. “Serial monogamy” is a worldly value, not a Christian value or moral.) And if we are going to be fair we should be applying the same rules to Gays as is applied to Straight men and women. If God intended sex for Straight men and women to just be between two married people then the same should go for Gay people. Just because you are Gay doesn’t mean the rules no longer apply. And I say this in love to you. I do not intend to be judgmental and hateful, but as the Bible tells us in Galatians 6:1 “Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.” And perhaps I am just the person to call out my fellow Gay Christians on this, because I am not tempted to have casual sex with someone of the same sex, nor of the opposite sex. The Apostle Paul talks a lot about the sinful nature versus the Spirit filled life, it’s a large topic covered in Romans and Galatians and many other books that Paul writes. The two are at war inside us, the sinful nature wants to be gratified and the Spirit filled Christian desires to do what is God’s will. It is difficult to put away the sinful desires and just do what is of the Spirit. But we need to strive and do our best. Yes, there is Grace and forgiveness when we slip up, or if we are unable to control ourselves in a fleshly moment (even though God promises us a way out when we are tempted, I Corinthians 10:13). We will not lose our salvation just because we have sex with some casual stranger or switch partners sexually many times in our life. But sin is still sin, and most of all take head the words in Galatians 6:7-9 “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Once you become a believer, are saved, God will start a work in you to make you more and more like Christ, perfect and holy. It’s a continuous work that will not be complete until we die. So sometimes a new believer is tempted and fails to resist and is still caught up in old habits and patterns. But this does not mean that they should be patted on their back and get a thumbs up either. If they fall God will convict them in their heart and they will slowly start to change their behavior and bad sexual habits will be conquered. Amen! And we who are their friends should be continually loving and supportive in their Spiritual journey and offer them up in prayer for strength to resist temptation.

As I mentioned before, that the Bible doesn’t address sex amongst what we would call “life partnerships” or “civil unions” between same sex people, or marriage between same sex people. And as I have been asked before, why can’t the model for marriage in the Bible be applied to any two people, including Gays, that wish to be married? Here are some new thoughts on that. I think that there is something to the argument from the Straight Christian community… God set up marriage originally to be between a man and a woman, for procreation and for the raising of children. I think that is a correct Biblical viewpoint. Perhaps there is something sacred about the word “marriage” that it should only be applied as a definition of a union of one man and one woman. I am not sure why it is that way, and I am not exactly saying that myself… that marriage should only be between one man and one woman, or I would have voted Yes on Prop 8. But it’s an argument that I must listen to and consider and ask, “Why? Why did God set up marriage that way and why can’t it be applied to same-sex partners?”… and that we should all ponder. I can see there is good in what the Lord has created and ordained to be. And perhaps there are reasons unknown to me why He wanted marriage to be defined that way to begin with. But what I can see is that what was first set up to be for procreation is now more than that. Many married people are unable to conceive, or some choose not to have children, yet that is not an abomination to God. And I see that lesbian couples and gay male couples have children of their own and are great parents. And some choose to adopt and are able to provide a wonderful loving home for those children. I don’t see that as harmful, I suppose only time will show me to be wrong or right on that issue, as studies are done and more children grow up with Gay parents. (I am hoping that I am right, and those children are not harmed by being raised by two people of the same sex. Either way, I am not going to be able to stop that from happening, even if I wanted to. And neither is anyone else in the straight Christian community. So its pointless to argue about it.) So, marriage is NOW less about procreation and raising children (although that is definitely still in place for heterosexual couples having children) and more about relationships.

Anyways, so that is why I only consider there to be a couple options for Gay Christians and why I say it is up to their own conscience to decide which is the right path for them. If God set up marriage originally to be between one man and one woman, and sex outside of marriage in ANY circumstance is sin, then there are only a few conclusions that we can come to on the issue of Gay people having sex. I stated in by blog previous to this post that marriage today isn’t perfect as God originally set it up. Divorce is a good example of this, and thus I also extend the grace and understanding to my fellow believers of Christ who are also Gay that believe its okay for them to be married. (read post below) I think my Gay friends should be under the same parameters as Straight Christians. Therefore there are only a couple options: Either don’t have sex and be celibate (or abstain), or marry and have sex with your spouse. Are there Christians Straight or Gay that are participating in the sex act before marriage? Yes. Does that make it right? No. Am I going to spit at them or kick them out of the church for their behavior? No. But am I going to also correct them when it comes up in conversation? Yes. Although I am not to be judgmental and love you I am also not to turn a blind eye to what I know is sin amongst my friends. I also think that God will tug on their hearts and let them know what is right, once they have the Holy Spirit living inside them. So, that is why it’s up to the individual to come to their own conclusion, because I am not Gay and the Bible doesn’t directly address the issue of Gay partnerships. It’s up to each Gay person to decide for them self, is being celibate is the right choice for them, or if marriage is okay for them as a Gay person. Obviously some have come to the conclusion that being in a life-partnership/ marriage is okay, even after being saved. And I do not argue against that, I feel if their conscience is clear and they feel that it’s okay for them to do that then they should have the blessing of God on them and from the church. As I stated before, that type of relationship is not mentioned in the Bible. But is silence support? Just because the word of God doesn’t address something does that mean acceptance? I don’t think we can assume that the answer is “Yes” to those questions. And consider this, others after being saved feel that the act of sex is wrong outside of marriage (speaking strictly about a Gay person this time) and that being married is also not the right thing for them to participate in as a Gay person (because God set up marriage originally to be between one man and one woman), so they are led to stay celibate by their convictions of their own conscience. They think that the act is sinful, and if they are so convicted I say we should support them. You could encourage them to not feel shame in the fact that they desire sex, that is fine. I don’t want anyone to do something merely out of the feeling of shame and guilt. (I think conviction of the Truth is a different feeling than shame of who we are truly created to be.) And if they do desire sex we should not add further pressure on them to be celibate. But if they are happy and feel blessed by God in their decision we should not persuade them otherwise. That is their conscience and to be the work of the leading of the Holy Spirit, I believe. Just as some people are called to a single life in ministry and they then choose to be celibate to serve the Lord. What someone “believes” to be true must be checked. We cannot all just start to write our own version of the Bible. If it is taught against then we should support the Biblical view. And I believe that sex outside of marriage is very adamantly taught against in the Bible.

Jesus hung out with the outcasts and dodgy people, and I think that if He was walking the earth today that he would be hanging out with people that are Gay, no doubt about it. But Jesus also spoke the Truth in LOVE. He spoke the truth to the woman at the well, and to Mary Magdalene, he told them to repent and leave prostitution or stop having sex with multiple men or sex with married men. They were sinning and he called them out on it. So too I believe the Holy Spirit within each believer will call out the sin that is being committed. For you, he may be saying its great to desire that long-lasting relationship with one partner and be totally 100% behind your effort to find that person. For others he may call them to be celibate, perhaps even only for a little while, to seek after Him more fully and to be cleansed of lustful thoughts or some other sexual problems they may be plagued with, such as addiction to porn. But I think God calls all believers to abstain from sex before marriage, not a doubt in my mind about that.

So, in conclusion, where I do have a problem is for any Christian, Gay or Straight, to “believe in” casual sex on the weekends, as if that’s a part of “working out our salvation” and to think its okay and blessed by God. That is not the actions of a Spirit filled person, in my opinion. What I believe is appropriate is to allow Gay Christians to work out on their own whether #1 marriage is okay for them, #2 if marriage is not okay then to be celibate, #3 if marriage is okay then to abstain from sex until married, #4 if they believe only the sex act is wrong but wish to remain in their partnership to be supportive of their endeavor to do so. (But I don’t think #4 is such a great option and not really realistic. Nor would I really be supportive of this for straight people either. If you live with someone and you are attracted to them, but you think that sex with them would be a sin and that being married to them is not an option, then its better to be living separately to keep temptation far away from you. I think this would be the indication of a new believer who has yet to be fully changed and yet to be living according to the Spirit within them. It’s hard to get out of a relationship you have been in for years as an unbeliever after you are saved. But once conviction sets in anyone, Gay or Straight, should take action to correct what is not aligning with God’s word and the convictions within their heart.)

If you want to see Scripture that backs my approach to this subject of homosexuality read Romans chapter 14. You can apply the words about food and drinking to homosexuality. For some it will be a sin, for others it will not be. And for those that it is a sin we need to be wary in how we act around them and what we expose them to. For those who are fully convinced in their own mind that being homosexual is an innate part of them, its genetic and nothing that is wrong, that they have been created by God this way… its not a sin. Their conscience is clean. Each of us will give an account of our actions to God. And we need to stop passing judgment on one another on this subject. Whether you are Gay or Straight and wherever you land in your view about homosexuality being innate or a choice or a little of both, we need to have less judgment and more love towards our Gay brothers and sister in Christ.

Side note to all Christians: I mentioned it before, in a previous post… but the words used in the Bible, 1 Corinthians 6:9, that reads “homosexual offenders” is not talking about Gay people, genetically born-that-way Gay people. That word is not the correct translation of the original Greek anyways. The Greek word is Arsenokites, and in 1 Timothy 1:10 the same word is translated as “sodomite,” which in the Bible is referring to a male prostitute. And that I can stand behind in agreement, prostitution is definitely a sin. But being Gay in and of itself is not. And again, this supports my statement that any sex act outside the bounds of marriage is considered a sin in the Bible. Also, the word "homosexual" wasn't a word until the 19th century and therefore could not be the specific word that Paul intended. And I define a "homosexual" not as a sexual act but as a person who is Gay, to further clarify things. I guess the use of the phrase "homosexual offenders" as referring to a sexual act that is of a male prostitute then I am okay with the translation. But a male prostitute would be someone who has sex with both men and women for money. So, in that sense it is still an incomplete and inaccurate translation.

Making Peace

2008-11-05T23:21:00.000-08:00

You may wonder how a person such as myself; a straight, Christian, married, mother of a one year old, can be okay with the idea of Gay people being Christians and coming to church with the rest of us. How, you may ask, would that even be possible? Well, I think we need to make peace with the idea within our own hearts and to do that we need to look at the Bible and see what it says, and talk to people who are Gay, and look at the research that is out there, and put it all together while prayerfully considering all you have read and heard.

I made Peace with the idea of a person being both Gay and a Christian when I realized that the people I knew did not CHOOSE to be gay but had definitely shown signs throughout their life that they were gay. They eventually embraced the fact that God made them this way and He loved them as He created them. Then they realized they should embrace that part of themselves instead of denying who they were and feel free to love God back and accept the gift of salvation He offers. I also read the verses that are so often used against homosexuals and realized it was describing people who turned away from God and were given over to their lusts to lust after both men and women and just go crazy in their sexual sins. And the verses that actually have the word "homosexual" in it are mis-translated as that word (very sad because its used by many Christians to tell Gays they are going to Hell). It isn't the person who describes themself as homosexual that is a sin, it is the actions of a person that is sinful. Just as a heterosexual person is still a heterosexual, even if they aren't actively having sex with anoyone.

So what is sin described in all those verses? Basically it boils down to this, sex outside of marriage in ANY context is considered sin, so therefore everyone Straight or Gay is in the same sinful boat together. One group has no right to point at the other as being more depraved or less deserving or less capable of salvation. As far as when the sex act between two same-sex people is okay? Well, the Bible doesn't talk about what we know today as same-sex partnerships, so its hard to just make a definate statement that in the case of any two people (Gay or Straight) as long as they are married its okay to have sex. But think about this, even if same-sex partnerships aren't the "ideal" Biblical model neither is divorce. And those that remarry after their divorce Jesus himself called adulteres, and the church accepts those people into their pews. God doesn't consider what they have done as the unforgivable sin, and neither is being a homosexual the unforgivable sin. I ask then, "Why not?" Why not accept Gay partners in the church, even if we see that its not the "Biblical Model" of marriage?

Is it better to be celibate if you are not heterosexual? Perhaps, I am not sure what God would say about that, since that isn't a subject even talked about in the Bible. But also, I am not Gay... this is what I say to my Gay brothers and sisters in Christ: I think only you can answer the question as you listen to the Holy Spirit within your heart. Is He calling you to celibacy? Its definitely not a gift everyone has (Jesus and the Apostle Paul both recognized that). Is God okay with you being with a life partner as long as you don't have sex (if its just the act that is "abominable")? Or is sex okay as long as you are only participating in that act with your life partner? The answer lies within you, as it is up to each of us to work out our own salvation and listen to the small quiet voice of the Holy Spirit within our hearts and to be obedient to Him.

I cannot judge my Gay brothers and sisters for their answer to that question. I will support them all as they work it out and find the answer for them self. That is what I know for sure... that I am to Love my neighbor as myself and to Love God with all my heart, mind, and strength. So I will always love my fellow Christian brothers and sisters, Gay or Straight... no matter what, just at Jesus himself called us to do.

Bottom line of the debate...

2008-10-30T22:36:00.002-07:00

I realized after talking to my Pastor today about Prop 8 and my Gay friends that it comes down to the bottom line of wether or not you believe being homosexual is a genetic issue, like being black or having blue eye etc., or if its a genetic pre-disposition towards being something that a person is able to control and has free-will over. If you believe that its genetic then Prop 8 is about civil rights, if you believe that its not then Prop 8 is about preserving the Biblical definition of marriage and sheltering our children from sinful practices. Quite a different perspective depending on what you think.

There is no argument to be had with someone when they don't believe that a person is "locked in" to being homosexual by their genetic make up. My Pastor said that genetics don't mandate what we choose to do, such as participate in homosexual activity. But he also said that if a person doesn't participate in the homosexual act then they aren't gay. I thought that was almost comical, but chose not to laugh but to try and take him seriously, he was being serious after all. I thought later what I should have said to that is... "I am heterosexual, so if I never had sex what would that mean? I am a-sexual? Just because a heterosexual doesn't have sex doesn't mean he or she isn't still heterosexual. Take the sex act away and they are still the same person with the same sexual orientation."

I truly believe that the men and women I know who are Gay and Lesbian have not decided to be that way nor do I think if they don't have sex that they are any less of a homosexual person. And they truly LOVE the person they are with. Sex or no sex they are in love with a person of the same gender. So because I believe that this is genetic it is diffucult for me to say to them that they can be "freed" from their homosexual lifestyle. I don't know what they need to be freed from? My Pastor did not see how anyone could be happy living their life as a homosexual, but I think there are many homosexual people in monogamous partnerships that are happy, or just as happy as two people married can be expected to be. I see people in love and happy to be Gay and with each other, so that is hard for me to tell them that they can be "set free" when they are content.

I also asked my Pastor about his thoughts on the marriage model in the Bible and if it can be applied to same-sex partners. He said that God made marriage to be a sacred bond between a man and a woman because children need the stability of a home with a Mom and a Dad. Okay. I can see that is important. But I really don't think that children in homes with two moms or two dads are lacking in their development as human beings. I don't think the motives of the Gay or Lesbian couples out there are as devious as he thinks they are. If children are simply a "prize" to be won, in this debate over wether or not a same-sex couple can raise kids just as well as a heterosexual couple, then that is wrong. But I am not buying that either. If I agreed with him I would agree to stopping the movement of homosexuals to have the right to marry. I didn't get into the debate that much further when the idea of children were brought into the discussion. I think it would have been much too emotional of a debate and not a debate of the mind and logic.

I was thinking, but did not say it... I am not afraid for my children to know Gay people. I don't think that any of the Gay couples I know will be rubbing it in my children's faces that they are Gay. I also don't think that we need to be teaching kids about what it means to be gay in school or about marriage in general in elementary school. I just think that Gay people should be themselves and we shouldn't worry about our children "becoming Gay" just because they know someone who is Gay. I think we should give kids more credit than we do. Many Christians, including my Pastor are worried about "What's next?" what will happen if we allow the gay community to have what they want and validate that they are genetically that way and call their partnerships marriage? I think only time will really tell. And I think that as time progresses that they will see that Gay people can be moral and will stand against other things that we are against as straight people. Pedophiles won't be allowed to be married to children, I don't see anybody supporting that Propostion at the polls. And I don't think that having people "out" in society and the rest of us in society treating them as equals among us will be leading our younger generations into gender confusion or homosexuality. I think it takes more than a suggestion of, "Perhaps you are Gay." to lead a person to a decision to start acting Gay. Besides, I think that a person is born heterosexual or homosexual, so that's why I don't think that is going to happen.

And I can read reports that support genetics and don't support it for homosexuals. But knowing someone who would never in their right mind choose to be Gay and is still Gay is what makes me a believer that its genetic. Knowing people personally is what makes the difference. If you meet someone who is a Christian and is Gay and get to know them, you may find yourself changing your mind too. There will always be support on both sides of this debate, but making it personal and putting a face to it is when your theories get tested and you see what works in reality and what doesn't.

California Code information

2008-10-25T22:23:00.000-07:00

Hi everybody, I just wanted to add this information to by blog where everyone can see it.

Look to the right to click on links to my other many blog posts regarding Prop 8. VOTE NO ON PROP 8!

CALIFORNIA CODES http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/
Read for yourself EDUCATION CODE SECTION 51937-51939

Here is part of 51937. "It is the intent of the Legislature to encourage pupils tocommunicate with their parents or guardians about human sexuality andHIV/AIDS and to respect the rights of parents or guardians tosupervise their children's education on these subjects. TheLegislature intends to create a streamlined process to make it easier for parents and guardians to review materials and evaluation toolsrelated to comprehensive sexual health education and HIV/AIDSprevention education, and, if they wish, to excuse their childrenfrom participation in all or part of that instruction or evaluation.The Legislature recognizes that while parents and support medically accurate, comprehensive sex education, parents and guardians have the ultimate responsibility for imparting values regarding human sexuality to their children."

Credoratio (an Apostle's Creed & Prayer)

2008-10-24T22:57:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine who is a missionary in China wrote this out as his version of the Apostle's Creed, and I liked it. I posted the Nicene Creed in an earlier post to describe what a Christian is, but I would like to add these words to further explain and define what a Chrisitan believes.

Credoratio
~Alpha~
Dear GOD, hear our Prayer,
We believe in the Holy Trinity:
Inspired by nothing, received by everything,
The fountain of Truth, Goodness and Beauty for all.
Therefore .......
We confess to You oh GOD,
Our Heavenly Father, the Maker of the universe,
Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the Incarnation of GOD,
Our perfect Communion, The Holy Spirit - FIRE and Water.
The Trinity: One most Perfect Being, three most Perfect Persons.
You are infinitely higher than our thoughts can fly,
Proved by Reason, followed by Faith, and silenced by Mystery,
We worship You Who is Spirit, with our bodies, our souls and our spirits.
Furthermore .......
We believe in the His-Story of GOD:
Namely Creation, Fall and Redemption,
Paradise, Paradise Lost and Paradise Found.
We believe in Creation:
Inspired by GOD, received by Man,
The fountain of Life and Law for all.
We believe in the Fall:
Inspired by Satan, received by Man,
The fountain of Vice and Vanity for all.
We believe in Redemption:
Inspired by GOD, received by Man,
The fountain of Repentance and Reward for all.
Meditation .......
How is His-Story accomplished?
It is most profoundly accomplished because of our Messiah,
For He is the Center of our Faith:
His Humble Incarnation,
Through the virgin Mary, securing Love.
His Holy Sanctification,
Through perfecting Virtue, securing Righteousness.
His Happy Crucifixion,
Through vicarious Atonement, securing Forgiveness.
His Historical Resurrection,
Through Hell victorious, securing Immortality.
His Heavenly Ascension,
Through visionary Kingship, securing Missions.
His Hopeful Consummation,
Through invincible Justice, securing Paradise.
Furthermore .......
We believe in the Revelation of GOD:
Namely His Bible, His Church and His Kingdom,
Truth known, Truth lived and Truth consummated.
We believe in the Holy Bible:
Inspired by GOD, received by Man,
The fountain of Wisdom and Wealth for all.
We believe in the Holy Church:
Inspired by GOD, received by Man,
The fountain of Doctrine and Discipleship for all.
We believe in the Holy Kingdom:
Inspired by GOD, received by Man.
The fountain of Heaven and Hell for all.
Therefore .......
We confess the Christian Religion to be the Religion of GOD:
We hereby publish to the world that she put her Faith, Hope and Love in this GOD and in His Religion, which is the One Way she can receive Infinite Salvation, but without which are the Many Ways she will receive Infinite Damnation.
Furthermore .......
We confess that our Hope is a Christian World! So we cry out for You to bless. Bless our souls, bless our families, bless our Kings and bless our Lands. With blessed souls we shall bless our families, with blessed families we shall bless our Kings, with blessed Kings we shall bless our Lands. And with blessed Lands, Your Heavenly Kingdom will meet with this earthly kingdom with the true Kiss of Paradise!
Lastly .......
We believe and confess that the chief end of Man lies in this: To glorify GOD and enjoy Him forever. With Your Grace for our power, we henceforth commit to fulfill this Command with Holiness and Happiness, both now and forevermore.
Most importantly .......
We Love You!
Help us now, we Pray,
For we confess it in the mighty Name of Jesus,
In Who's Presence the Light shines and darkness shutters,
Amen, Amen and Amen.
~Omega~

*Coda: A Prayer for the Prayer:
Holy and Blessed Trinity,
GOD, we pray to Thee:
Help this Credoratio to be,
In light of Your Eternity,
All our eyes will see,
And evermore our praises be.
Amen .......

Same-sex marriage

2008-10-23T00:13:00.000-07:00

For those of you who may be wondering, this is what caused the four judges to allow same-sex marriage (this is from the Wikipedia website) :

The Equal Protection Clause, part of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, provides that "no state shall… deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.[1]" The Equal Protection Clause can be seen as an attempt to secure the promise of the United States' professed commitment to the proposition that "all men are created equal [2]" by empowering the judiciary to enforce that principle against the states. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal_Protection_Clause

I believe that we, as Americans, should allow the equal right of any two consenting adults to get married. For some people marriage is for religious reasons. Like me, for example. It was more important to me to have a religious ceremony and say the oath before God, led by a pastor, than it was to get that piece of paper from the state that says I am married. Its an important piece of paper, and a good thing for us to have, but the reason for me getting married wasn't to gain that piece of paper. And I take that oath of marriage before God as a VERY serious thing, and I don't take my vows very lightly. For others it is about legal rights and getting that piece of paper, and the religious ceremony is not important at all. That's why many gay and lesbian couples (as well as straight) will just get a civil ceremony performed by a judge. (I am not denying that there are Christian Gay people out there as well that will want both the validation of a religious ceremony and the piece of paper from the state) but for my purposes here I want to focus on the legal rights of people, and as a church or as Christians why we should allow that. I want Christians to see how this is an equal rights issue, an American citizen issue. I want you to see why the Gay community is calling it an equal rights issue.

God's view of whether a person is married or not is not dependant on a piece of paper issued from the state. However, the state does require a piece of paper to recognize a marriage performed by a pastor. For God it is simple, a person becomes "One Flesh" when they consummate their relationship with someone. They are already married in his eyes. That is why in the Bible it says that if a man were to sleep with a prostitute that they are as "One Flesh" (I Corinthians 6:16). Even if they are not the ideal joining of two bodies, they ARE joined in God's eyes. But in the state's eyes a man that has sex with a prostitute is not recognized as being her husband... that would be messy, wouldn't it? Could you imagine? My point here is this... we should give everyone the legal right to marry if they are two consenting adults, 18 or older, even if they are both of the same sex. To deny marriage to any two people is to deny "equal protection under the law" as the clause states above. That is their 14Th amendment right! We can continue the debate within the church as to whether or not same-sex marriage would be honored by God, blessed by God etc. But this is a state issue, not a church issue. And that is why I agreed with the man I quoted in my previous post that this should be considered one of those "separation of church and state" issues and not voted on as a moral issue. I know, some of you still have a problem with it, even after reading this. But I thought I would share the thinking behind the judges decision to make it legal for same-sex couples to marry.

Here is a brief story of why the Supreme Court made their decision, if you wish to read it (This is also from the Wikipedia website):
On May 15, 2008 the Supreme Court struck down California's existing statutes limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples in a 4-3 ruling.[29] The judicial ruling overturned the one-man, one-woman marriage law which the California Legislature had passed in 1977 and Proposition 22. After the ruling, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger issued a statement repeating his pledge to oppose Proposition 8, the ballot initiative that would override the ruling. The opinion, written by Chief Justice Ronald M. George, cited the Court's 1948 decision in Perez v. Sharp where the state's interracial marriage ban was held unconstitutional. It found that "equal respect and dignity" of marriage is a "basic civil right" that cannot be withheld from same-sex couples, that sexual orientation is a protected class like race and gender, and that any classification or discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is subject to strict scrutiny under the Equal Protection Clause of the California State Constitution. Associate Justices Joyce L. Kennard, Kathryn Werdegar, and Carlos R. Moreno concurred.[3] It is the first state high court in the country to do so.[30] The Massachusetts State Supreme Court, by contrast, did not find sexual orientation to be a protected class, and instead voided its gay-marriage ban on rational basis review.[31]

Sad Story.. Vote NO on Prop 8

2008-10-19T23:07:00.001-07:00

I know Christians and conservatives have their reasons for not wanting same-sex marriage to be legal. But is it worth it to stop people from getting married that legitimately love each other for the few that would abuse the law? I would hope that there wouldn't be abuse of the law, but it happens all the time, and we can't allow Prop 8 to pass just because of fear. I read a story by a gentleman that was a sad true story, and he said I could pass it on. It shows us the reason why they want to be allowed to marry so badly.

I wanted to share my reason for wanting this proposition to fail.A little over 4 years ago, my life partner became very ill and my role quickly shifted to a role as a caregiver. In January 05, during one of many stays in the hospital, I asked him to marry me. This was something we had planned for awhile and I sensed this couldn't wait any longer. His brilliant blue eyes lit up and with the most gorgeous smile you could ever imaging, he whispered yes.
On March 3, 2005 I held him in my arms as his life slowly faded away and my life as I knew it was to dramatically change. Now a little over 3 years later, I continue to be in battle over his estate. I lost everything. Our home, our things, my things due to the greed of his family members and the fact that our relationship, our partnership
our love and commitment was not...is not recognized by our government. I don't want anyone to go through this ever again
No [marriage] is not the same as domestic partnerships. That would only guarantee 50% of personal property.
Other things that are painful: being listed as durable power of attorney on his death certificate (under his parents who had nothing to do with his life) because I am not a legal spouse. And being listed as a friend on the legal paperwork for the estate, because I am not a legal spouse.

Here is another person that I totally connected with on opinion, I have said this myself, but it was said so clearly here that I just copied and pasted his words into my blog:

Marriage has several different meanings. For example, it has a state level meaning and it has a religious level meaning. I totally respect you if your religion dictates against two same-sex couples engaging in marriage on a religious level, but that doesn’t mean it should dictate marriage on a state level. Getting married doesn’t make you Christian. Two Muslims / two Wiccans / two Atheist / two what-evers can get married under state law and that doesn’t make them married under any religious law. This great country called the United States of America has a great thing called "Separation of Church and State,” and although our country’s ideology was based upon Christian beliefs, our founding fathers knew that religion was something you practiced at home and NOT at the Capital Building. Saying two same-sex people cannot get married is a stones throw away from having “the gays” use separate restrooms.

I totally agree with him, and I AM a Christian, and I am not Gay either! That may seem terrible to some of you who are Christians. But it makes sense to me. We are allowing anybody else who doesn't believe as we believe to get married, why stop same-sex marriage? I know we will have to draw the moral line in the sand somewhere, and we can't just keep allowing things to snow ball. But why are we so firm with the line here? I will stand against minors marrying and an older person marrying a minor... I will help protect our children. I will vote against kindergartners getting sex education. I will support family units to be able to teach their children what they believe is morally right and wrong and have religious freedoms. But this is about two adults making an adult decision, that you or I may or may not agree with, and that is what I think should be allowed. Treat all adults equally for the opportunity to get married. I don't think God will smite us over this one... I just don't. Sorry if you disagree.

I am not afraid... to vote NO on Prop 8

2008-10-17T20:21:00.000-07:00

Those that say to vote "Yes" on Prop 8 want me to be afraid. They want me to be afraid to "affirm and embrace" a gay couple's lifestyle. But what is there to be afraid of? They are in love like I am in love, they are good people and are Christians, like I am. I know, there are some crazy scary Gay people out there... with their bums hanging out of their chaps or dressing up like Cher(ha ha, had to chuckle at that image)... and you may be thinking of those people when I say "Gay." You may have that image of the people on the floats at the Gay Pride Parade, but the Gay community knows that is just all part of the entertainment. And it has shock value and gets the media attention. But have you considered all the "normal" Gay people in the world? How about Doctors, Lawyers, Businessmen, etc. or the Depot employee that goes home to their small apartment and lives a simple "normal" life? What if they were walking down the street during the Gay Pride Parade? Would the media even pay attention? Would we just think, "That's boring." and change the channel? And there are plenty of crazy scary perverted heterosexual people in the world too! So lets not be biased here. There is perverted stuff happening on both sides of the fence. And God doesn't like it on either side. He isn't biased either. And I am NOT afraid of a Gay couple!

They want me to be afraid that Gay people will be raising children, that adoption agencies will be forced to place kids with Gay couples. Oh no! Anything but that! Anything but a couple of loving individuals, that are of the same sex, making a decent living, raising kids! (Yes... I was being sarcastic, sorry I get that way sometimes.) I want to meet the adult that was raised as a kid by a couple of Lesbians or Gay men and who is "messed" up because of it. Its not like they are going to be in a little bubble, surrounded only by Gay couples and not know what a heterosexual couple looks like. They will most likely have heterosexual Grandparents, and Aunts and Uncles that are straight and married. They will see both sides of the proverbial "marriage coin" and they won't be scarred by it. They won't think its a big deal. And perhaps that is a big deal to some of you, but its not to me. It doesn't make me afraid to think of that happening. Those kids need a loving home, and whether it be two heterosexual people or two homosexual people, as long as they are kind and care about that child, they are better there than in a group or foster home wondering if anybody is going to love them and take them home to have a family some day. And I am NOT afraid of a Gay couple adopting a child!

They want me to be afraid that children will go to school and have a book read to them and that they will know that there are Gay couples in the world, and think its OK. Well, I think it IS okay. They DO exist. My daughter will be raised knowing these types of couples. She will meet them and know them before she goes to school. So I don't think she will be shocked one day when she is read a story about two kings getting married. I am NOT afraid of her knowing Gay couples exist and that they should be allowed to love each other and get married!

They want me to think that California law, section 297.5, is enough for Gay couples to have the rights that I have with my husband. But after talking to my Gay friends in partnerships I realize that they have to go through a lot with lawyers and paperwork to protect their assets they own together and to have the right to make decisions in a hospital emergency for each other. Its not that easy for them to gain equal rights as it is for me and my husband, and protect their partnership like a marriage would. So I am NOT afraid of that either... that they would would be treated equally!

They want me to be afraid that a Pastor or a church would be forced to perform a marriage ceremony between same-sex partners when they do not think it is moral. But who of you who are Gay are going to do that? (I know the You Tube video states some things happened like that, but if a Gay person in California can't find a church that accepts Gay people and who will perform their ceremony, I will be shocked. And we don't know the circumstances of that case and why that happened. Perhaps the Pastor was saying horrible hurtful things from the pulpit and they should have been silenced. Its not right for conservative Christians to spue hateful words towards Gays or any other group of people from the pulpit.) Who wants to get married by someone who doesn't support them or in front of a group of people that don't support them? Who wants that? Don't you think they would rather go to a Pastor that supports Gay marriage and attend a church that loves them and is not against them? Or they would go to the courts for their ceremony if they aren't religious. (Just like there are straight people that aren't religious or Christians that would do the same.) I am NOT afraid of Gay couples forcing churches to perform marriage ceremonies for them.

So there you have it people, I am NOT afraid to vote "NO" on Prop 8. And I hope you aren't either.

Choice or Genetics/ Prop 8

2008-10-15T00:49:00.000-07:00

I don't know how straight people can even think that Gay people have CHOSEN to be gay, because (as they say themselves) no one in their right mind would choose to be ridiculed and hurt like they are during their lifetime "out of the closet." They are intelligent people and they know that its hard to be openly Gay or to choose to live their life that way. But for them to be open about it is more freeing than to keep it to them self and live a lie. In history there have been many Gay people that have commited suicide because they either had to keep it to them self or because once they were open about it people were hateful toward them. Some have even been beaten to death because the "came out of the closet." Do you think this makes it appealing to people to "decide" to be Gay? Doesn't make sense to me.

I also don't know why conservative Christians are so concerned about keeping Gay people from getting married, even if they do think its a sin. Why don't we keep saved people from marrying someone that isn't saved? Do we stop young teens from getting married or abusive people from marrying? Why get involved in this area? I know the ads supporting Prop 8 in California are saying that if we don't stop it we will have to support Gay marriage even if we disagree on moral grounds and that children will be taught in school that its okay for two people of the same sex to be married. First of all why would you "have to support" it after it was legal? You can still complain and waive around your anti-gay signs. How is legalizing it going to change your opinion and support? You don't have to go to a Gay wedding, your church doesn't have to hold Gay weddings, its still America. You will still have the freedom of speech (no matter how wrong I think it is to tell Gay people they are going to Hell just based on the fact that they are Gay.) And secondly, perhaps if we took the "taboo" out of same-sex marriage then kids wouldn't think its a big deal. Then you wouldn't have to worry about them being Gay just to be cool or different (as if it was "cool" to put yourself out there as a Gay person and be ridiculed and tormented all your life). And its always been up to each family to be the moral compass for their children. Its not up to the school to teach your kids what is morally right according to the Bible, that's the parent's job. We live in a secular world, Jesus told us we would be persecuted and misunderstood by the world. We can't expect them to act like Christians if they aren't (and again, I am just saying this as an argument... I don't think that same-sex marriages would be immoral myself, and I plan on doing more research into that view based on Biblical principles). I can't expect my non-Christian friends to stop sleeping around and to think its wrong to have sex before they are married if they aren't saved. You are putting the cart before the horse, don't you think? Salvation and repentance first, then behavior changes come in due time after that. It takes time for a new Christian to start to conform to the teachings of the Bible when they are not familiar with it. It takes love and patience and prayer and the working of the Holy Spirit to change people in miraculous ways. A person without the Holy Spirit dwelling inside them cannot be expected to behave like a Christian.

Here are some other examples of things that are legal that the church doesn't support. Drinking, we all agree that being drunk is a sin, yet drinking is legal. And its a good thing too because we know what happened in the 20's during Prohibition. People drank illegally anyways and it actually made it worse because it was taboo and secretive. People are drawn to that sometimes. And I don't think Roe v. Wade needs to be overturned due to the fact that when it was illegal to get an abortion women did "back alley" abortions anyway and some died or were permanently scarred and unable to have children again because of unsafe practices. I would rather it be legal and someone not die over it and we as Christians reach out to women considering abortion and show them other options (in a loving, kind, non-judgemental manner), such as adoption. And to be there for women who end up regretting their decision. America is the land of freedom of choice and freedom of speech. While as Christians we are happy to be able to worship God freely and believe what we believe I think that we need to be more worried about equal rights in our constitution, just as we want the right to worship God as we see fit. People see the church blocking Gay marriage the same as if we were racist. I think I would rather see Gay marriage allowed and people to view the church as anything but racist or homophobic, and each church can then individually choose to support Gays in their congregation or to run them out. (I would HOPE that we wouldn't run them out... that is my goal by talking about this subject openly.) I don't think things are going to be as bad as the ads are making it out to be. I think Christians may be surprised how things may turn out if same-sex marriage is allowed.

I personally don't think that talking about same-sex marriage or any sex education topic should be taught in school before a child is 12 or 13, around the time of puberty. And I will tell my congressman and Govenor that I don't want that to be allowed when necessary, and you can be active in that way too. If my child wants to know about sex or same-sex marriages before they are 12 I would like to be the one to inform them. If they get the education in school after that then that's okay, as long as they know where I stand on the topics. Plus I think it should be mandatory for kids to get their parent's permission to watch any sex-ed videos etc., like in my day. But by the time your child is in high school I would only hope that they have already had the "birds and the bees" discussion with you. And if they are told that same-sex marriage is okay, well if its legal then it is technically okay. But you can explain to your child why you don't think its morally okay (even if I don't share that view I know its your right to have that view and tell your child what you think.) Eventually we all grow up and make up our own minds anyway.

What is a Chrstian?

2008-10-12T12:26:00.000-07:00

I feel at this point in time necessary to define what it means to be a Christian. I have read the opinions of many people that claim to be a Christian and what their idea of that is. But a Christian must share certain beliefs to be able to embrace Christ as their Savior and the Bible as the Word of God. I found a copy of the Nicene Creed, which is a universally accepted definition of Christian faith by all denominations.

The Nicene Creed:
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.

Who, for us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets.

And I believe one holy catholic and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

I may not call myself a Catholic, but in this case the word "catholic" refers not to the Roman Catholic Church, but to the universal church of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I agree with everything that creed says. If there are parts of that statement you don't agree with I think you may have a few things to work out between you and God, because that is what a Christian believes.

Also the Christian should be a person who loves their neighbor as them self and loves the Lord their God with all their heart, mind, and soul (Matthew 22:37-40). And a person who does not judge, for in the same way you judge someone you will be judged yourself. We need to look at our own sin and take care of that before we start pointing out the wrong doings of others (Matthew 7:1-5). We also know that "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." (2 Timothy 3:16-17) So we should be looking to the Word of God for help when instructing others in the way they should live... just remember that the final judgement of a man's heart is up to God. You do not know the condition of another person's heart, only God does, as the Lord told Samuel... he does not look at the outward appearance of man, as we do, but looks at his heart (1 Samuel 16:7). And the final judgement is not up to you, but up to God (Romans 2:16) We should be thankful that we do not have to decide who is truly repentant and saved and who isn't, because many times we would be wrong! You may be surprised who you will see again in Heaven and who you won't see.

As a Christian we also realize that "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23) And our only hope is the salvation provided to us through Jesus Christ death and resurrection on the cross. This is because he did not sin (Romans 8:3 and 1 Peter 2:22) and kept the law of God in every way. We needed Jesus to be the ultimate sacrifice to cover our sins. And there is only one way to be saved, repent of your sins and receive Jesus as your Saviour by believing in Him (Acts 4:12 and Acts 16:31)... not by living a "good" life or by doing your best. Our best won't cut it. And being a "good person" won't do it either.

No one is saved by being "religious" (that is why I don't like that word very much), we are only saved by knowing the One True God! Ephesians 2:8 says, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast." Also, Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life: no man comes to the Father but by me." (John 14:6) And remember, if you think that you cannot reach out to God for your salvation, "The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth." (Psalm 145:18) And you are not "too sinful" to be saved, Jesus said "... whoever comes to me I will never drive away." (John 6:37)

If you are not a Christian and would like to be saved then pray to God. Confess your sins to Him, acknowledge that your sins are evil in His sight and acknowledge that you do not have the power to save yourself. Ask Jesus to help you repent and believe. Ask him to save you, and ask him to be the Lord of your life. Then trust God that He hears your prayers because of Jesus Christ and according to the promises He makes in the Bible, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." (Romans 10:13) Once you have prayed for your salvation tell someone that you know who is a Christian that you have prayed to God to be saved or find a church and tell someone there what you have done.

A sad and heavy heart

2008-10-10T01:28:00.000-07:00

This is dedicated to all the straight Christians in the world, I can only hope that everyone of you would read this:

I was just on-line reading what someone, who claims to be a Christian, said on a group site that supports Gay equal rights. It wasn't very nice. It makes me sick to my stomach that people write hateful things and say hateful things to Gay people in the name of Christianity/ God. I know that I should not be ashamed to call myself a Christian, but its people like that that makes me want to disassociate myself from that label. I don't mind being associated with Jesus Christ and being labeled a follower of his, but that is not what that label seems to mean anymore. Its sad.

If Jesus walked the earth today he would be hanging out with the gays and lesbians and shocking the rest of the pious Christians out there. He wouldn't be slamming Gays and causing them emotional (or even physical) pain, he would be their friend and show them love and want them to have salvation to be in Heaven with him some day. It makes me sad... just sad.

I want to take the opportunity to quote some words from a website: Being A Gay Christian. What does the Bible really say?

http://www.agallia.co.za/Afrikaans/A_being_a_gay_christian.htm#Introduction

Many gay woman and men spend most of their lives trying, with no success, to persuade God to change them. It is like trying to get God to change your eye color. We are taught from the Bible that when God gives us victory over any affliction, sin or trial, His victory is complete and full. Many gay woman and men who have been persuaded by ‘healing the gay” ministries that God heals them, however, they never totally obtain victory over their homosexuality. All of these people will tell of their life-long battle against it. Is this then the perfect Victory that the Bible teaches?

What option then is left to these persons? They have been told that they can’t be gay and be Christians; and since all efforts have failed in their struggle not to be gay, then their only recourse, according to the Church, is that they can’t be Christian. So the Church has discounted or discarded as much as 10% of the population.

If they are excluded from the life of the Christian community, who then will tell them of God’s inclusive love and of Jesus’ reconciling death? Are they left to assume that God is so narrow-minded as to exclude them for something over which they have no control and for a choice they did not make? When will the Church finally be brave enough to say with Paul, “in Christ there is neither Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female,” gay or straight. God has enough love for all.

As I was telling a friend of mine, that is really what is all boils down to for me... after all the arguments are made about the interpretation of the scripture, definitions of certain words, the context of the culture it was written in, what Jesus said or didn't say... the church is discounting 10% (or perhaps more) of the population. These people are being excluded from Churches and fellowship with Christians. And out of those 10% some may be saved but most probably aren't, and who is going to tell them that God actually does love them and wants them to be saved and that salvation is for them? Even if they are gay and can't change it and have prayed for God to change them and aren't changed. Even Paul had a thorn in his side that God would not take away. What if for some people being gay is their thorn to bear? (just for arguments sake) I don't know why God would allow people to remain gay or why some people may be born that way (if it is actually a gene that causes people to be gay/ which some argue is a fact and others don't accept)... but the fact is that they do exist and most will not be able to change. And someone needs to bring them into the fold and accept them into the family of God as brothers and sisters in Christ, and show them love.

That is my heart, and perhaps my call into ministry. And I cannot answer the question who is gay from choice and who is gay through genetics or who is gay due to circumstance (after all, I am not gay myself and cannot assume to even understand what it feels like to be gay and struggle with that... I can only be empathetic). Only the person who is gay may be able to give insight into those questions of "how" they came to be gay. But I can answer the question on how we should treat them, and its not to shove them away and to scare them away by calling them an "abomination", that is horrible! The person is not an abomination, but that is what they are hearing from most Christians they meet. It just saddens my heart and makes me want to reach out to them and show them that God loves them. IF they are to change their behavior or renounce being gay then I believe that would come AFTER they are saved and have the Holy Spirit living inside them. But I have met plenty of gay Christians who are not feeling led out of homosexuality but feel that they have been accepted by God and are made to be who they are by God and that they are not going to be able to change who they are because if they could have decided not to be gay anymore they would have done so a long time ago.

Perhaps some of you only have met one person that you believe has chosen to be gay or a lesbian and that has chosen to reject God, or haven't actually met a gay person. But if you met more gay people that are saved/ claim to be Christians and who have decided that God loves them the way they are, and were created that way, then you would have less of a problem with the idea of a Christian gay person who is either in a monogamous relationship or has decided to be celibate but will never "stop being gay", as far as who they are attracted to. It actually doesn't seem strange to me when I am around those people. I think they are normal and wonderful and loving people. And if its possible for them to be saved and be gay I think that others who aren't saved, and are rejecting Christianity and God because they are gay, should be told that its possible and not to be afraid to approach God as a gay person and accept salvation, because it is there for them too. And the church in general needs to stop being so homophobic, I mean really that is what I think most of them are. They don't even know a gay person and they are afraid of them and what they might do to their children. I have no fear that my gay friends are going to "influence" or "change" my daughter to be a lesbian, but I hope by knowing them that she is not afraid to be a gay person's friend and is loving towards them, that she sees them just as people... not gay or straight.

The great debate

2008-10-06T17:42:00.000-07:00

One thing that really bothers me is the fact that when some Christians hear that a person has admitted to being gay they no longer like that person. A perfect example right now is Clay Aiken. There are many Christians who followed his career closely and loved his music and were his "#1 fan" until they heard he was gay. Now they no longer like him or want to listen to his music. This irritates me sooooo much! It reminds me of a similar experience in high school when Amy Grant came out with the song "Baby Baby" and it was played on secular radio... "Oh no!" (insert sarcastic tone).

You see, I had grown up being an Amy Grant fan, since the first time I heard "El Shadai" I was hooked. She was the first artist that I purchased an album from, and the first artist that I religiously purchased each and every album that she ever made (except now I don't buy her "greatest hits" albums, I have that mix on my iPod already), and the first one I wanted to go see in concert. I was known as a Christian at my high school, this was not hidden. People often called me the "God-girl", which I am sure was intended to be a put down, but I was glad that people associated me with God. Just as the early church in Acts was first called Christians as a derogatory term and then they kept the label and wore it proudly. Anyways... back on track. I remember a boy in school, that was also a "die hard" Amy Grant fan and a Christian, coming up to me during P.E. one day and mentioning Amy Grant going secular and that he was no longer a fan and ASSUMED that I must feel the same way. I basically yelled at him and thought he was an absolute moron! Needless to say he never shared his thoughts with me again about Amy Grant or any other Christian topic. And I was happy to not be associated with him.

I thought then (and still think now) that it was stupid to just drop your fan status based on a song going secular. Its not like she was writing graphic songs about having sex with multiple partners or something, I mean the song was inspired by having her baby girl folks! Lets get things in perspective here. I thought that her "crossing over" was great. Perhaps people would like her song and then check out some of her older albums and find she sang about God too, and perhaps at a concert they would find out she is a Christian and that would be a way to plant the seed in their heart and get them one step closer to knowing God them self. I guess that is why some people coined the phrase "taking the cross over" instead of saying "crossing over."

Back to Clay Aiken... so I think its silly in the same way to one day be a fan of Clay Aiken and then magically you don't like anything he has ever done in the past because of who he says he is in the present. Its ignorance, in my opinion. Just plain ignorance. I don't even think that you need to be a supporter of the gay community to be able to still like Clay Aiken. His music is still the same, he is not singing about gay sex, he is not rubbing it in your face, he is the same person today as he was yesterday... you just know something new about him that you didn't before. And I think that if you don't support someone being gay that you can still be loving towards that person. As a Christian I would think that is exactly what this situation calls for... to love Clay Aiken and pray for him instead of all of a sudden hating him. God still loves him. God died for the WHOLE world, even the gay community. Its just so close minded it makes me boil! I can't handle it. That's why I even wrote my thoughts down in an earlier post about Christians and gay marriage. I had to say my piece.

So I talked to some of my Christian girl friends about my blog entry on gay marriage. It was a good conversation. Though they may not agree that being gay is genetic and not always about choice, they do agree that we need to be loving towards them and are glad I am praying about this and researching it from all sides. My main point to them is that in Romans Paul may be talking about homosexual behavior but he is also saying that God is offering salvation to everyone (even the gay community), see Romans 1:16-17, and that the second chapter in Romans (after that famous first chapter) talks about not judging. The end of chapter one in Romans sums up all the evilness of the people that chose not to worship God or give him the glory due to Him or to thank Him. Then chapter two starts with, "Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgement, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things." Those "therefores" in the Bible are very powerful, don't you think? Leave that out and its very easy to stop at the end of chapter one and start walking around wagging your little finger at every one around you. Keep reading Romans chapter two and you will see that the judgement of God is a serious thing, and we are not going to escape it... none of us are! Chapter two even says that we are practicing the same things as what was listed in the chapter previously. Jesus did say that if you lust in your heart that it is the same as committing adultery, after all (see Matthew 5:27-28). We are ALL sinners, so stop looking at the spec in the other person's eye and start looking at your own sin and deal with that first (and that should take a life time and be a daily process).

Bottom line, none of us has all the answers, and no one should presume they have all the answers. Even I admit that, although I have a strong opinion at this point on gays and same-sex marriage, I don't know for sure if I am right or wrong. I am confident that what God intended to be abundantly clear He did so in His Holy Word, such as Jesus Christ being the son of God and our only hope for salvation. What was not as important was not made clear and we are left with that leap required called "faith" on many subjects and left to follow our convictions on many issues. And although the issue of homosexuality seemed to be a clear issue, obviously its not, or we wouldn't be debating it. I just pray that the Holy Spirit leads me in my convictions and that the Devil will not get a foot hold on me. I pray that for all my gay friends as well, that the Holy Spirit will do the convicting where needed and/ or release them of the guilt that lays heavy on their hearts. And I will continue to love my gay friends regardless of their convictions or my convictions. Above all else I KNOW that I am to love everyone and to be careful to be a judge of anybody, because as I judge others I will also be held to that standard by God. And I encourage you, my straight Christian brothers and sisters in Christ, to focus on that part, loving your neighbor as yourself and not being quick to judge and allow God to do that part. Even if you don't share my opinions on the subject you can still do that and be friends, even sit next to a gay person in church. That day seems to be far off for the majority of the churches at this point, and I don't know how to change that. But one day I would like to feel that I can invite my Christian gay friends to church and know that people will not be judging them or pointing fingers and instead approaching them in love and with humility. And I would like to be able to invite my un-saved gay friends and feel the same way.

And here are some tough questions to consider: is being gay a choice or genetics or perhaps a bit of both? And where you come down on that issue definitely colors your opinion and the way you read the Bible and view gays. And if same-sex marriage was not even a concept that was conceived by people in Biblical times does that mean it is possible that it is okay today? Are the verses that cover marriage applicable only to a man and a woman or applicable to same-sex marriages as well? Is sex within marriage, mentioned in the Bible, just about procreation or about a suitable helpmate or both? Your thoughts on the answers to those questions will land you in all kinds of places on the issue of gay marriage. I guess what I am saying is that there is plenty to talk about and think about. There is more than one side to the story to consider. And perhaps we will never agree on the answers (actually I can guarantee that) but then what do we do about how we approach the gay community and our witness to them to bring them to salvation? And what should we expect from them once they do become a Christian? Are we holding them to different standards than ourselves? Can't the rules of Christian Discipleship apply to them even if they are gay? Yet another question that, when answered, will land you on different sides of the fence. Do you really know the answer to that question? Are you sure? I know I have my convictions about the answers to those questions, but I am sure you have yours too, and they probably aren't the same.

As a freind so eloquetly put it (and she said I could use her analogy if I wanted)... the Christian community is like being an American citizen. We are all Americans and live in the USA, but we are made of Democrats, Republicans, Independants and everything in between. We all have different opinions on many issues and yet we are all still called an American. Think of all the differnces that exist between you and your neighbor, your friends, your co-workers, yet you don't begrudge the title of "American" to them just because you may disagree with where they stand in politics or Roe v. Wade or whatever... Perhaps we can apply that same principle to the idea of being a Christian. We all have salvation through Jesus Christ, the son of God, and have the Holy Spirit dwelling within in our hearts, but we may also disagree on hundreds or even thousands of issues that divide the churches into the many denominations that exist. Lets not withold the title of Christian to a person based on their sexual orientation or to a person with an opinion on wether being gay is due to genetics or choice. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ, and we need to treat each other with love. That is the commandment that fulfills all others, and perhaps one of the hardest to follow.

Welcome to my "religious" blog

2008-10-06T00:46:00.002-07:00

I don't like the word "religious" that much, that is why its in quotes. But all my life that is what people ask me, "So you are religious?" after I tell them I go to church. But being a Christian is more than just going to church and doing that "religiously" or regularly. So I don't really like the word. But I think for most people it is actually an accurate observation of who I am, in their minds.

Being a Christian, however, is about a relationship. Its about my belief in who Jesus Christ was and what he did and that I believe I have salvation by believing that he was who he claimed to be, God in the flesh. So... that is why I don't like the word "religious"... but I don't think anyone who isn't a Christian would understand me if I said, "No. I am not religious, I just happen to go to church (pretty much) every Sunday."

Below is a posting from my "regular blog"... I guess you can call it that. And I have more to discuss and thoughts to post on the subject of being a Christian and gay marriage... but didn't want my other blog to become a forum for a pro-gay vs. anti-gay debate. And I didn't want my "regular" readers to have to navigate their way around my Christian, religious, and otherwise spiritual postings if they did not desire to read them.

Although I believe in being bold about my beliefs and not hiding the fact that I am a Christian, I also am not one to force my opinions on others. Nor do I expect people to want to read about me being a Christian if they are not a Christian, or to be able to relate to that part of who I am if they are not one them self. Therefore, I have started this new blog to be able to go "wild!" And post all my thoughts freely without feeling like I am shoving religion down any body's throat.

Hope you enjoy reading my future posts about whatever happens to be on my mind in the religious realm of things. And feel free to go back and visit my regular ramblings on my other blog http://ramblingpilotwife.blogspot.com/

Christians and gay marriage

2008-10-06T00:46:00.001-07:00

I bet you expect me to get on my soap box at this point and say how awful it is that California has allowed gay marriage and to vote YES on prop 8 yadda yadda... but I am not. Surprised?

To read the rest of this blog entry go to the original blog that I wrote it on:
http://ramblingpilotwife.blogspot.com/2008/09/christians-and-gay-marriage.html