The source of Homosexuality

Why are we a obsessed with where this and originates? Dr. Albert Mohler was grilled for waffling on some strong statements he made on the subject years ago and recently recanted of those views.  AFA's Brian Fisher talked on this and had an exchange on Twitter with Dr. Mahler's spokesman trying to nail down Dr. Mohler's view now. 

I understand Brian Fisher's view on Dr. Mohler, but the greater issue here is what does it matter if people are born with an inclination to people of the same sex or they develop it somehow later. Regardless of the answer, the source is the same, is simple, the sinful Adamic nature of man!  We are born with a sinful Adamic nature.  We are born with an Adamic nature conceived in sin, and are condemned to death for that sin. Rom 3:23  for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God;, Rom 6:23  For the wages of sin is death;  This entire world and everything in it is warped by sin.

 Also homosexuality is no greater sin  than adultery, fornication, murder rape ect. For all separates us from God and condemn us to Hell. Why are we spending our time arguing where this sin comes from instead of fulfilling the Great Commission and telling people that those who commit this and other sins are going to Hell if they don't repent?! If we as Christians fail to tell others about their sins and their only hope for for forgiveness which is only found in Jesus Christ,  nothing else matters. Not the source, not the type of sin, or what someone may or may not have said, it all comes down to when you stand before Jesus on Judgment Day. He will either be your Savior, or He will be your judge! All sins come from our Adamic nature including homosexuality. 

So to say that someone was born that way is true up to a point.

The real point is not that they're tempted by homosexual thoughts and desires, but they make the choice to act them out! That changes from temptation to sin.

We all fight temptation one way or the other. What it comes down to is our response to the temptation. For the Christian this is when we need to bow in prayer and call God's promise in 1Co 10:13  There hath no temptation taken you but such as man can bear: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation make also the way of escape, that ye may be able to endure it.

We do not have any control over  temptation entering our lives, but we have complete control over how we choose to react to the temptation.

The violence of Islam

Any questions about the violence of Islam are answered here. http://rzim.org/global-blog/nabeel-qureshi-in-the-huffington-post-do-the-roots-of-jihad-lie-in-the-quran

Thoughts for Easter week

Holy Week Friday: Behold the Man Upon a Cross

There are many events on Good Friday that are worthy of reflection, but the centerpiece of Good Friday (and the centerpiece of the Christian faith) is the cross. When we gaze upon the cross, what do we see? What should we see? We are confronted by the following four truths when we gaze at the cross:

People Hate God

Jesus said, “If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father.” (John 15:24) Something we often fail to consider when gazing at the cross is the blackness of our own hearts. It is shocking to think that when God the Son took upon himself flesh and drew near to us, we killed him. God crucified at the hands of sinful men proves with unmistakable clarity just how much man, in his fallen state, hates God.

People Love Their Sin

“And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.” (John 3:19) How can people hate God? How could a good, loving, holy, perfect God end up being crucified by an angry mob? The Bible tells us why… We love our sin. Jesus came into the world to make an end of sin, and because we love our sin, we made an end of him.

God Hates Sin

“Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:4-5) When Christ who knew no sin, became sin for us on the cross (see 2 Corinthians 5:21), the Father poured out his wrath on the Son. Isaiah says God was pleased to crush him (see Isaiah 53:10). The cross is the ultimate demonstration of the Father’s righteousness. He does not take sin lightly.

God Loves Sinners

“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.” (Romans 5:8-10) While we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son. This is why Good Friday is called “good.” At the cross, God demonstrated his holy displeasure toward sin while simultaneously lavishing his love on sinners in the process. God’s love saved us!

Respond:

Spend time today praising and thanking God for his amazing love and awesome holiness that was displayed on the cross. Marvel as you consider how God loved you and Christ died for you even while you were a God-hater. Pray for the grace to hate sin like God hates sin and to love people like God loves people. Consider reading or listening to the hymn “How Deep the Father’s Love for Us” to prepare your heart.

Watch and Listen:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKDujmtyAVk

Read:  http://www.stuarttownend.co.uk/song/how-deep-the-fathers-love-for-us/

The problem with the modern day church

I realized here lately that most leaders in the church congregations to be dumber than the congregation.  This applies to a whole lot of things, both on the job and in the church. You are never supposed to know more than they do. If you try or learn anything they look at it as a offense and affront to their authority. All they want is to go through the motions they are not really interested in learning and growing. They just want to go to church and sooth their feelings and go on with their lives. Like Amos 8:11 said the famine in the end time will be lack of hearing the Word of God and that is so true! We are seeing this everyday but wonder why we're not being effective. It's because the church itself will not discipline  itself and read The Word. The Scripture 1 Corinthians 3: 1&2, that says you can only have milk and not meat, you have to go back to the basics when you should be teachers yourself! Applying this to the modern day church, we will never have the effect Christ wanted to have on the world, because they don't know the Word. You cannot share the Word if you don't know the Word. This is from sheer laziness and a lack of love for God. This is unbelievable! This is why Randy and Mack both responded to me like they did. I don't know why this challenges their knowledge and authority? Everybody should know as much about the Bible as I do. I am not a Biblical scholar by any means, but they ought to at least have a layman's working knowledge of the Bible. They want to go to class, set through sermons and go on with their life and act like nothing's changed! There is no true desire for the Word of God in their lives. Without the Word of God, there is no church. You're simply a social organization like the Masons or the Rotary Club or any other you care name. This is not what the church is. If there is not a strong desire to glorify and honor God there, what are we doing then?

I'll Stay in my pew!

I go this from AFA.

People are funny when they come to church.  Some sit in the same pew every week and heaven help you if get in “their spot.”  Some will barely let the preacher finish praying before they are out of their seat headed for the door.  Some spend more time looking at their watch than listening to the songs, the Scriptures, or what the preacher has to say.  Sometimes, we spend so much time trying to “play church” that we forget the whole reason we are there in the first place.  I am one of those people.

Recently in worship, God decided to show me the importance of a true relationship with Him.  It was communion Sunday, and I was ushering.  I went row by row, guiding the folks to the front.  When I got close to the end of my section, I noticed a visitor who I had not seen before.  I touched him on the shoulder and said, “You are up next.”  He turned and said, “No thanks, I’ll just stay in my pew.”

Participating in communion requires a personal decision. I obviously couldn’t force him, so I moved on.  His words have stuck with me for a while though.  I don’t want to overlook the fact that there could be some denominational reasons for him not wanting to receive Communion.  However, I got the impression that he didn’t wish to participate.  Something similar happened a few weeks later with someone very close to me.  They visited our church to hear my wife speak but refused communion.  Some will jump to 1 Corinthians 11:27 for the explanation.  To that, my answer is Romans 3:23.  Not some of us, all of us.

I am a sinner.  I am as Paul said, the chief of sinners.  Do you remember when you first accepted Christ as your Savior?  How on fire you were?  The proverbial “charge the gates of Hell with a water pistol” mentality?   That is a key part of salvation, the beginning of a new creature.  However, it’s not the end.  In reality, Christianity is a lifelong journey toward the goal of being more and more “like Christ.”

My sin separated me from God.  Had it not been for Christ, I would still be separated from God.  When I sin now, and believe me, I need a fountain of grace each day, it is covered by the one and only sacrifice that would ever be enough.  God is not ok with my sin, nor will He ever be.  The only trump card that Christians have to play is the sacrifice of Christ in our place.

The person close to me refused communion because he is not a Christian.  He has run from Christianity his entire adult life.  He nervously sat through service that day and left as quickly as he could.  He sees Jesus as a judge, not as a Savior.  Deuteronomy 30:15 is one of my favorite verses to cite with discussing Christianity with anyone.  It is simple and straightforward.  “See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction.”  Jesus is two equal parts:  Savior and Judge.  To the Christian, we will face Him as one or the other.  He is equal parts mercy and justice.  If you do not receive His mercy, you will taste His justice.

The importance of Communion, though, is to remind you that His mercy is free and plentiful to all who seek it.  It’s also to remind you that there is absolutely nothing that you can do to attain salvation yourself.  Outside of the sacrifice of Christ, we are all lost.

In taking the message of Christ to the world, it is that example that we must communicate.  There most definitely is a conviction of one’s sin and repenting.  There must be outward signs of an inward change.  If you bear no fruit, then all you did was eat a little bread and drink a little grape juice.  We cannot lay out a list of rules to a dead person first.  Reason being, the dead don’t know they are dead until they receive the life that Christ provides.  Grace, mercy, and forgiveness of sins must be communicated.  Anything else, and you make yourself a hypocrite because that is the message that Christ communicated to you.

The next time communion is offered, approach it with reverence.  Approach it as what it is:  the sacrifice of One for many.  Invite all who will come.  Encourage, disciple, teach and support even the ones who are different than you.

Christ died so that you could.  When you take of His body and drink of His blood, you take up His mission to the world.  “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, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. (Matthew 28:19-20)”

Tabletalk Magazine Jan. 25 2016

The laws of cause and effect tell us that there must be a self existence cause, a first mover that is not itself an effect but the primary cause of all of the things. Because the heavens declare God's glory Psalm 19:2  a truly rational examination of the universe will never lead to atheism. Tabletalk magazine Jan. 25 2016

Trump 2016? Are we that desperate?

As we are nearing the primary election  I can't help but think to myself, are we so desperate as to put someone like Donald Trump into the president's office?!

I have yet to hear him say anything substantive about any of the problems this nation is facing. How to fix them, how to finance them, or whatever.

What does  his foreign policy look like? What is his answer to the national debt?  How do we stop the deficit? What would he replace the Affordable Care Act with that he wants to abolish so bad? I haven't heard him say anything in the debates, interviews or speeches he has given. He has yet to address any of these issues.

Would somebody please explain to me what makes this man so popular? I know he is saying what a lot of people feel, but it has no practical use as President. He will be dealing with world leaders. We have got to put someone in there who can unite people and not divide them!

We must learn to compromise and move forward as a nation. No one party is right all the time or one person. We have forgotten how to compromise and come to an agreement on something. This nation is at a critical point in its history and if we don't pull out now, we may not be able to! 

This is the only election I can remember that, as a reporter pointed out, where  experience does not matter! You have John Kasich,  a governor and a 18 year member of the U.S. Seanate who worked on the Budget Committee and helped  balance the budget. You have Jeb Bush, governor of Florida, who knows about immigration and dealing with a budget. Yet none of this seems to matter. It has to be about more than a five second sound byte. There has to be substance to what they say and a plan in place and be able to assemble a group of people to execute that plan.

If we don't elect a true leader, this nation will just continue to decline. I love my country and I'm very worried about it, but if we don't repent and turn our hearts and minds back to God and start electing some proper leaders for this country, I fear for the future of this nation!