Proposition 8 Voted Down

As should be no surprise to anyone, a federal judge has declared California's Proposition 8, the ban on gay marriage, to be unconstitutional (here).  Now, let's be clear about this.  We're not talking about a judge saying that a law was unconstitutional.  No, this judge has said that an amendment to their state constitution is unconstitutional.

Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; 
Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness;
Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!


Isaiah 5:20 (NASB)

Obama and "Don't ask/Don't tell"

David over at A Boomer in the Pew writes:

You see, Mr. President, the most difficult task of all is loving the GLBT community enough to tell them the true truth. Looking at their pain is difficult. Looking at the tangled webs woven by the militant in their midst is very disheartening.

But, Mr. President, these are not "outworn arguments". These "outworn arguments", given a most honest look, with an open mind, and no clear agenda, are the holy words of God:

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

And all God's people said "Amen"

Here Come the Thought Police!!

Last week, the Senate passed Hate Crimes Legislation which, it is claimed, does not prevent pastors or anyone from preaching that homosexuality is sinful. However, as Barrett Duke, the ERLC's vice president for public policy and research notes, "The amendment protects the pastor as long as his speech or other action was not 'intended' to lead to an act of violence. (Who decides if it was "intended" to lead to violence? A liberal judge I bet.) However, it does not protect a pastor from government scrutiny if a member of his congregation engages in an act of violence against someone in one of these protected groups after he has heard a negative statement from the pastor about the group. So, anyone who speaks against homosexuality or other aberrant sexual behaviors may be presumed guilty of inciting violence and be forced to prove his innocence."

Read the whole article in Baptist Press here.

Broadway Baptist No Longer SBC

There have been times I have thought about leaving the SBC. For instance, when I found out Lifeway was going to sell The Shack I considered leaving. However, I have stayed because I believe overall the convention does the right thing when it comes time to do the right thing. Case in point--today the convention voted almost unanimously to disfellowship Broadway Baptist Church for its approval of the homosexual lifestyle.

I am so proud to be a Southern Baptist. Particularly today after this vote.

SBC Executive Committee Does the Right Thing.

The Executive Committee has done the right thing and recommended unanimously to sever ties with Broadway Baptist Church. You can read the whole story here.

When they voted in February to table the decision until June I was worried they were going to lose their nerve and not make this recommendation. I am so proud of them for doing the right thing. I have no doubt this will be voted on positively by the messengers and we can officially say to Broadway Baptist "Buh-Bye".

Momma's, Don't Let Your Boys Grow Up to Be Girls

When I was a kid, I liked to pretend I was a superhero. I would tie a towel around my neck and I'd make believe I was Superman or Batman. However, as much as I would have loved to see if I could fly by jumping off the top of our car I knew my mom wouldn't let me try any of that foolishness. Why? Well, because she loved me and wanted to protect me. She made sure she taught me about what was real and what was make believe.

Too bad the parents mentioned in this Fox News story didn't feel the same way.

A west Omaha couple says their 8-year-old son has asked for years to wear dresses and change his name, so they're enrolling him in a new school where he can live openly as a girl.

The parents say their middle child is transgender, and he's asked to be called girl since age 4.

"One night she said, 'Every night when I go to bed, I pray my inside will match my outside. But it never happens,"' the mother said, recalling a conversation with her child.

Notice, this isn't on the Left Coast. It's right in the middle of America. That's right, folks. The abdication of reason and conscience for the tyranny of political correctedness (is that a word?) is upon us. Instead of parents raising their children and teaching them the difference between right and wrong, they let the child tell them what's right and wrong. Topsy Turvey. Stop this train 'cause I wanna get off.

Taking a Stand for Righteousness

A gentleman over at World News Daily wrote a commentary recently about Rick Warren tip-toeing through the tulips on the issue of gay marriage called "America's wishy-washy pastors" You should really read the whole article because it is a good one. I think the following quote sums up the whole issue pretty nicely for folks who think "Homosexuality is no worse than other sins" or "Well, we don't need to offend people. Let's get to know them first".

There is no middle ground on this issue.

Either you believe the Bible or you don't.

If you don't, there are consequences. If you do, you are obligated to take a stand for righteousness. Of course, there are worldly consequences for that, too – for some apparently too great to accept. Followers of Yeshua have a choice: They can please God or please men. They can accept God's laws, which are not burdensome, and obey them, or they can reject them and try to tickle the ears of men. They can offend God or offend men.

'Nuff said.

Conversation With A Gay Apologist Part III

Below is a comment that was left on my blog in response to a post about the perversion of homosexuality. The commenter’s statements will be in italics while my reply will be in regular typeface. I will post the entire comment over the course of several days. We Christians have a rational, objective basis for our faith. We have truth revealed in the word of God.
Just a quick note, this comment was left in response to other comments on a post from a few days ago. You can read that post here.

The answer is that this text was written for another people in another time, and is not applicable for us today. (If it was, we'd be following all those crazy codes about lobster and linen-cotton.)

You are partially right and partially wrong. The New Testament makes pretty plain what still applies and what doesn’t. Acts 10:9-16, for instance, lets us know that the dietary laws no longer apply. Romans 1 lets us know while the Old Testament laws against sexual perversions such as homosexuality do not apply those acts are still considered perverse.

Instead, this text was written largely by men with a tribal/ethnocentric mentality

Even a lot of liberal Christian scholars would laugh at this statement. I mean, if you would have cats from Duke or Wake Forest telling you “That is just silly” you know you’ve got problems. Even some of those folks acknowledge that Moses was the author of the books of the law. Come on, stay with me here.

who were obsessed with A) keeping their lineage going and B) preserving the purity of Hebrew bloodlines. For those people, then, any sex act that did not lead to procreation, or that mixed up the bloodlines, was forbidden. Hence the bans on m*******tion, homosexuality, and mixing the races. Today, you do not find "Christians" freaking out about m*******tion and race-mixing quite so much.

So the Hebrews were the only people in the land of Canaan who were interested in keeping their lineage going and keeping their bloodlines pure? That doesn’t make sense for them to be the only ones who had those goals. The fact is that one reason God gave those laws because the people in the land of Canaan were doing just those sorts of things in their religious festivals. God wanted to keep the Hebrew people separated from these pagans so they could demonstrate His glory and bring forth the Messiah-Jesus Christ. That is why He prohibited the Hebrew people to intermarry. As far as a ban on m*******tion I’m afraid that isn’t in the law of Moses and is off topic. We’ll leave that for another time.

What's more, these tribal elders *encouraged* sex acts that are taboo in modern America, but which DID facilitate greater procreation and a robust bloodline -- specifically plural marriage, and the practice of men immediately marrying their brothers' widows. Today, you don't find "Christians" promoting this behavior so much.

Nowhere in the Old Testament is having more than one wife encouraged. Not once. Ever. As far as a Levirate marriage, that was not primarily about procreation but rather it had to do with keeping a man’s property in the family.

I will post the last portion of this comment and my reply later this week.

Conversation With A Gay Apologist Part II

Below is a comment that was left on my blog in response to a post about the perversion of homosexuality. The commenter’s statements will be in italics while my reply will be in regular typeface. I will post the entire comment over the course of several days. We Christians have a rational, objective basis for our faith. We have truth revealed in the word of God.
Just a quick note, this comment was left in response to other comments on a post from a few days ago. You can read that post here.

I have yet to meet a "Christian" who can square this bloodthirtsty tribal deity with the "god of love" that they think Jesus represents.

Jesus preached repentance. Further, He preached that those who did not repent would suffer judgment. He also preached that God had sent Him into the world to bring about salvation for those who would repent of their sins and place their faith in Christ. During His time on Earth 2,000 years ago, He did not come to judge. He will come back to judge and execute His enemies. In fact, He proclaimed that those who went to Hell would suffer never ending torment. Finally, those who did not repent and place their faith in the Lord Jesus will be thrown in a lake of fire where they will suffer forever. I don’t know, but I’m kinda getting this funky picture that Jesus did proclaim the judgment of God. Therefore, because God’s justice and His mercy are proclaimed in both the Old and New Testament, there is no discontinuity for anyone to have to “square” as you put it.

Nor have I yet to meet [sic] a "Christian" who can adequately explain how a command to murder the gays is actually good for anyone in society -- good for the gay people (even assuming it is a "sin," there's no chance for "redemption"), or good for the "people of god" who are then forced to cold-bloodedly murder their brothers, sons, friends, and neighbors.

Let’s take each one of those points in turn:
good for the gay people—They violated God’s moral law and their own conscience. God has nowhere obligated Himself to give anyone a second chance or a reprieve. See, that’s what makes grace so amazing. When I repent of my sins (for which I should spend eternity in Hell) and place my faith in Christ Jesus, He forgives me NOT because I am good enough and deserve it (I don’t) or because what I did wasn’t that big of a deal (whatever the sin was, it was enough to earn me a one way ticket to hell) but because God is a merciful God who shows grace to undeserving sinners like me.

good for the “people of god"—One point of the law was to keep the people of God “pure” (separated from their pagan neighbors and their religious practices). It also kept them “pure” in the sense that if sin was in their midst they would remove that sin so it would not spread. Therefore, God’s choice to have the sinner killed for a particularly perverted sin would have benefits for the Hebrews. If Billy Bob does something that is perverted and nasty and he’s killed for it, I’m going to think long and hard before I do the same thing.

In the New Testament, we see the same thing played out with the difference being spiritual rather than physical. For example, God will give unrepentant homosexuals over to “depraved minds”. Christians are called to expel people from the church who claim to be Christians but are unrepentant in their sins.

Clearly, God’s command was good then and it’s good now.

I'll continue dissecting the comment next week.

Conversation With A Gay Apologist Part I

Below is a comment that was left on my blog in response to a post about the perversion of homosexuality. The commenter’s statements will be in italics while my reply will be in regular typeface. I will post the entire comment over the course of several days. We Christians have a rational, objective basis for our faith. We have truth revealed in the word of God.
Just a quick note, this comment was left in response to other comments on a post from a few days ago. You can read that post here.

Interesting that you go straight to the issue of the Torah's prescribed punishment for male homosexuality -- death by stoning. (Note: No mention of lesbianism in the OT.)

Actually you suggested that there was no difference between the eating of shellfish being an abomination and homosexuality being an abomination. Therefore, I directed you to look up the difference between the two different Hebrew words translated abomination that are used to describe those two acts.

The one used to describe eating shellfish as an abomination is shequets. The Hebrew word translated abomination when describing same sex perversions is the word to’ebah. The Hebrews used the second to describe the highest degree of abominations that are particularly disgusting because they are contrary to God’s holy nature. I then directed you to look at the different punishments for the two kinds of abominations. For a shequets style abomination, a person might be declared ritually unclean until evening, for example. However, a person guilty of a to’ebah type of abomination suffered the death penalty.

Further, I directed you to look in Acts chapter 10:9-16 and see what it said about eating unclean foods (a shequets type offense). God told Peter, basically, that the dietary laws were no longer in effect. However, in Romans 1 and other places in the New Testament, God clearly tells us through the apostle Paul and other writers that homosexuality is still a perversion.

The penalty which was physical death in the Old Testament becomes God giving the pervert over to their perversions in the New Testament. Further, Christians are no where commanded to kill anyone. For those who do not know Christ, we are called to proclaim the gospel and lovingly call men and women everywhere to repent of their sins and place their faith in Christ. For those who profess to know Christ but live lives contrary to that profession (i.e. a “christian” who is a practicing homosexual), we are directed to call them to repent of their sin. If they don’t, the church is directed to no longer consider them a brother or sister in Christ but rather to treat them as an unbeliever (Matt 18:15-17)—in other words, treat them as someone who needs to be called to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.

I'll continue this discussion tomorrow.

Vermont Legalizes Same Sex Marriage

The elected officials in Vermont voted to override the Governor's veto on legislation that legalized same sex marriage (for the full, sad, disgusting, stomach turning story read here). This, folks, is not the end of the matter either. As Denny Burk notes on his blog:

It’s also important to note this. Not only are we seeing marriage redefined, but we are also witnessing the emergence of a new protected class in our country—one that is based upon sexual preference. In other words, just as discrimination based on race, class, and gender is prohibited in law, so now discrimination based on sexual preference is increasingly being prohibited in law. This is a radical change not least because the new protected status cannot logically be limited to homosexually oriented persons. There are a wide variety of sexual preferences in our culture (polygamy, pederasty, polyamory, etc.). The arguments that are being used now in the same-sex “marriage” debate will be applied to these other kinds sexual preferences as well. Make no mistake. The polygamists will be next in line for recognition.

This is sad but not unexpected. The fact is that the Bible tells us there will be a falling away by some who profess faith in Jesus Christ. Too many “christians” have decided that standing up for biblical truth is just too hard and they are weary of the fight. I suspect, however, their willilngness to compromise on the clear teaching of scripture has more to do with their lack of true convictions than anything else.
“…Even so, come Lord Jesus…”

If You Need Motivation for Witnessing....

...here it is.



Ed Stetzer reported on some research by the Pew Forum related to chuches and the acceptance of homosexuality.



Below is a chart of their findings within Mainline Protestant churches.

Now, this is sad but not altogether surprising. However, I have read on more than a few Southern Baptist blog comment threads how we should be accepting of homosexuality and should not lovingly call folks to repent of that sin. In fact, the SBC has yet to disfellowship a church in Texas with openly unrepentant homosexual members. That issue has been tabled until the SBC meeting this summer in Louisville.

We should have two responses to this research, I think:

1) We must be active in sharing our faith with a lost and dying world at every opportunity calling all men and women to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.

2) We must be vigilant to not allow liberals (who now call themselves "Mainstream") to gain control of our denomination so they can shift it leftward a la the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and Mainline Protestants.

The Homosexual Agenda.

This is a very, VERY long video but it's as good as it is long. The acceptance of homosexuality is due primarily to the work of homosexual activists. In view of "christians" who teach that homosexuality is OK, it is imperative that we continue to contend earnestly for the faith. Watch it. Pass it on.

Update--For some reason the embed didn't work. Let's try this dance again and I'll try to get it right this time, 'kay.

Broadway Baptist-An Important Crossroads

Bart Barber, pastor of FBC Farmersville, has written a blog post over at SBC Today titled The Most Important Thing Happening Right Now in the Southern Baptist Convention discussing the SBC Executive Committee's consideration of whether Broadway Baptist Church is considered to be in "friendly cooperation" with the SBC. Very clearly since they have unrepentant homosexual members and the church has obviously not done anything in the way of church discipline related to these individuals there really should be no question. In my opinion, they should be removed, like, yesterday from the SBC.

I would recommend the entire article to you. One quote in particular sums up the situation more clearly than anything I've read on the subject:

I believe that this action, if taken, will be an important milestone in our needed strengthening of biblical ecclesiology within our convention. It will be a clarion call to our churches to remember that membership does matter and that we are indeed responsible for the spiritual health of all of those who are members in our congregation. Particularly this is true for those of us in church leadership “who will give an account” (Hebrews 13:17) for these folks. At least with regard to homosexuality, the message from our convention will be clear: Loving and redemptive discipline toward known practicing homosexuals in the church is the only biblical option for our churches. (Emphasis mine)

Great point, Pastor Barber.

Broadway Baptist--Come on, Executive Committee!!

For those who don't know, Broadway Baptist is in Texas. The SBC Executive Committee met this week and one of the items on their agenda was to try to decide if the church promoted, endorsed, or affirmed homosexual behavior in order to decide if the church was in "friendly cooperation" with the SBC. You can read an article here. The church, according to church representatives,

has about five members who are homosexual, with two of them serving on committees. The five joined Broadway Baptist by letter from other churches, and it only later was discovered they were homosexual, committee members were told.

Um, I'm sorry but I guess I missed the part where a church wasn't expected to deal with sin among its members. I mean, if you found out they were gay and unrepentent doesn't Matthew 18:15-17 come into play. It seems to me the fact that they are allowed to remain members is proof positive to me that the church affirms homosexuality. Maybe I'm just weird that way.

I would just like to call on the Executive Committee to "man up". You shouldn't have to wait til the SBC meeting in June in Louisville to decide this, folks. Dancing around the issue isn't the right thing to do here. The fact that it has taken this long to start the process of disfellowshiping the church is bad enough. To put it off longer to "study" what should be an open and shut case is really sad. Grow a backbone. Stand up for what is right. It's not politically correct and it's not always easy but if it was easy everyone could do it.

Gay "christians" Frequently Asked Questions

Blogger Fred over at Hip and Thigh has written a post called Gay "Christian" FAQS [1]. I know I've posted links to his stuff recently but this article is just too good. Among the questions he answers are:

Why do you put the word "Christian" in quotes when you describe gay "Christian" apologetics?

What about a gay person's desires? How can you deny the homosexual attraction and feelings many of them claim has been a part of their life since childhood? (In my opinion, this is the best of all the ones he answers).

Isn't the reaction by the evangelical Church of condemning homosexual feelings and forbidding loving, consensual marriage both anti-Christian and cruel?

As Christians, having an answer to questions like this is no longer optional. It is paramount for us to be able to not only answer these questions but to answer them biblically--particularly now in this country.

A Must Read for Gay "christians"

Fellow blogger Fred over at Hip and Thigh has written another in a series of articles called Debunking Gay Christian Apologetics [pt. 5]. You can read the entire series of articles here. I wish the entire "Gay is OK" crowd would read this. Fred does a great job of taking their unbiblical position and giving it a good old fashioned thrashing. His approach to this issue with gay "christians" is much better than the one I'd use--challenging them to a few rounds of Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots.

I call the red one.

J.L Packer on Homosexuality

I don't know what more I could add to what is said in this article but I think it is paramount that Christians stand firm and proclaim the truth of the Bible in spite of attacks from INSIDE of the church. I can think of at least two or three seminaries that need to take some wise counsel from this giant of the faith. Read this link. You'll be encouraged.

FIDE-O: Tolerance of Homosexuality among Christians is Heretical

Homosexuality and the Bible: Misunderstanding Sodom

This is part three of a series refuting the best defenses of the “Gay is Ok” crowd in the church (notice the “c” is lower case). You can read part one here and part two here. These people have no Biblical case whatsoever. Nevertheless, they do some impressive hermeneutical gymnastics to try to distort, ignore, or misinterpret the clear teaching of God’s word so they can make a case that homosexuality is not immoral. We will deal with another of their favorite passages where they attempt to show that we who hold to a Biblical understanding of sex being between one man and one woman only within the bonds of matrimony are just short sighted, ignorant bigots. Let’s take a look at the story of Sodom and Gomorrah and see what the Bible has to say.

In Genesis 19, we read that God has sent two angels to Sodom to destroy both Sodom and Gomorrah if they cannot find 5 (?) righteous people within the city. Lot, upon seeing these men in the city, invites them to his house. At first, they refuse saying they will spend the night in the open city. Lot insists that they come to his home and spend the night. Later that night, a mob of men from the city crowd around Lot’s door. In verse 5, they say they want Lot to bring these men out so that they can “know” them.

Now, here’s where the homosexual revisionists try to make like Mary Lou Retton. They say the Hebrew word used here for “know” (yada) can mean to have sexual relations with someone but it can also mean simply to know someone in the sense of a relationship. In other words, these men merely wanted to get to know these strangers. Also, this may have indicated that these men from Sodom were simply suspicious and did not want strangers in their town. Traveling was difficult back then and these men were not guilty of the sin of homosexuality but rather were inhospitable to strangers. That is the sin God punished them for in Sodom. We Christians who claim homosexuality is immoral at all times, you see, have totally missed the point due to our prejudice. For shame.

However, we who are students of the Bible should continue reading. In verse 8, Lot offers to placate the crowd by offering his two virgin daughters so that the crowd of men “could do to them whatever [they] like[d]”. There is nothing in the text to suggest that his daughters did not live in the town. It seems reasonable to assume, then, that Lot knew they intended to have sex with the two men (angels). Therefore, we know that they were not interested in running a couple of strangers out of town but were looking to satisfy their lust through homosexual sin.

It’s really sad that some people just don’t want to take God’s word as meaning what it means or saying what it says. We have seen clearly in these three examples that the arguments of the “Gay is OK” crowd just don’t stand up to the weight of clear scriptural evidence against them. We, as Christians, should continue to proclaim the truth of God’s word about sin and the remedy for sin—a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Elementary Field Trip to Gay Wedding

No, I'm not making this up. If you have a strong stomach, you can read about it here. I am at a loss for words, and that's saying something.