Tag Archives: same-sex marriage

A World My Grandparents Would Not Recognize

Posted on by

changeChristianity is the underdog. Times have changed. My grandparents have all past away, but if they were here to see our current state, I believe they would be shocked. How quickly the tides can turn. Biblical Christianity is the minority, yet that does not change our convictions. It just makes it harder to stand up for them. These are the times where individuals, churches, denominations will all be tested in their convictions. Below are some thoughts on Atheism today and the changing definition of Marriage, concluding with a video addressing the key need.

In our day Atheism has a new face. It is the normal face. This is what an Atheist looks like today. The Atlantic published an article where they interviewed college age unbelievers to get an understanding of the new mindset soon to be the primary influencers in our generation. Listening to Young Atheists is a revealing article. Check it out in full at the link but here is a summery.

  1. They had attended church. Most of our participants had not chosen their worldview from ideologically neutral positions at all, but in reaction to Christianity. Not Islam. Not Buddhism. Christianity.
  2. The mission and message of their churches was vague. These students heard plenty of messages encouraging “social justice,” community involvement, and “being good,” but they seldom saw the relationship between that message, Jesus Christ, and the Bible.
  3. They felt their churches offered superficial answers to life’s difficult questions. When our participants were asked what they found unconvincing about the Christian faith, they spoke of evolution vs. creation, sexuality, the reliability of the biblical text, Jesus as the only way, etc. … Serious-minded, they often concluded that church services were largely shallow, harmless, and ultimately irrelevant.
  4. They expressed their respect for those ministers who took the Bible seriously. “I really can’t consider a Christian a good, moral person if he isn’t trying to convert me.” As surprising as it may seem, this sentiment is not as unusual as you might think. It finds resonance in the well-publicized comments of Penn Jillette, the atheist illusionist and comedian: “I don’t respect people who don’t proselytize. I don’t respect that at all. If you believe that there’s a heaven and hell and people could be going to hell or not getting eternal life or whatever, and you think that it’s not really worth telling them this because it would make it socially awkward…. How much do you have to hate somebody to believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell them that?” Comments like these should cause every Christian to examine his conscience to see if he truly believes that Jesus is, as he claimed, “the way, the truth, and the life.”
  5. Ages 14-17 were decisive. One participant told us that she considered herself to be an atheist by the age of eight while another said that it was during his sophomore year of college that he de-converted, but these were the outliers. For most, the high school years were the time when they embraced unbelief.
  6. The decision to embrace unbelief was often an emotional one. With few exceptions, students would begin by telling us that they had become atheists for exclusively rational reasons. But as we listened it became clear that, for most, this was usually connected to a deeply emotional transition as well.
  7. The internet factored heavily into their conversion to atheism. When our participants were asked to cite key influences in their conversion to atheism–people, books, seminars, etc.—we expected to hear frequent references to the names of the “New Atheists.” We did not. Not once. Instead, we heard vague references to videos they had watched on YouTube or website forums.

While belief is under attack, the institution of marriage that has been upheld for thousands of years is being redefined. The recent Supreme Court decision will have ramifications beyond what we can foresee.

Trevin Wax writes a article titled Why Gay Marriage is Good (and bad) for the Church. He shows clearly that things will never be the same, the question is how will the church respond and what foundations do we really have that will guide us in these changing times.

Al Mohler addressed the hypocrisy of the supreme court, and particularly Justice Kennedy, for striking down DOMA with accusations of making “moral judgments”, all the while making an equally moral judgment, just with the opposite conclusion. Read his thoughts in Waiting for the Other Shoe – The Supreme Court Rules on Same Sex Marriage.

Here is an interesting take on the subject. If Jesus were to be interviewed, what might He say about Same-Sex marriage? Joe Dallas takes this imaginative response in this clever article. Check it out – Jesus and Same Sex Marriage.

Above all, the linchpin for how we decide what to do about all these issues, and issues we haven’t even seen yet, are dependent on one thing. Has God Spoken?  If He has, we must heed his words and adjust our lives. If He has not, we live as we wand do the best we can without any real consequences or meaning.  Has God Really Spoken?

This is an interview between three brilliant minds and godly men: Don Carson, John Piper, and Tim Keller. They are addressing the issue of Biblical Authority in an Age of Uncertainty. How will we respond to God’s Word when our culture rejects it?

We live in a world my Grandparents would not recognize. Yet fortunately I believe there is a God who has spoken to us for this day. He has made a plan and given us hope. Above all He has given us Jesus. So no matter what the winds of change bring, there is one who is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Jesus Christ.

Looking to Him,

-Adam

The Response That Was Left Unsaid: This Is How Hate Sounds

Posted on by

This powerful fictional letter written by David Murray, of HeadHeartHand.org and PRT Seminary, is one of the best examples of love communicated to a homosexual son I have seen. Unfortunately, the fictional letter was preceded by an actual letter of father disowning his son. Read all the way to the end and see the differences.

The best line, worthy of being quoted: “I hope you will not call this message hate. This is how love sounds.”

Check out the original article here.

*************************************

Five years ago, Redditor RegBarc ”came out” to his father. Shortly afterwards, his dad disowned him in a handwritten letter which RegBarc shared with the world on Tuesday, adding the comment: “This is how hate sounds.”

James:

This is a difficult but necessary letter to write.

I hope your telephone call was not to receive my blessing for the degrading of your lifestyle. I have fond memories of our times together, but that is all in the past.

Don’t expect any further conversations with me. No communications at all.

I will not come to visit, nor do I want you in my house.

You’ve made your choice, though wrong it may be. God did not intend for this unnatural lifestyle.

If you choose not to attend my funeral, my friends and family will understand.

Have a good birthday and good life.

No present exchanges will be accepted.

Good bye, Dad

As I find it hard to believe that a true Christian would ever write such a letter, I’ve drafted a letter that I hope a Christian father would write (although I’m sure we all hope we’ll never have to write it).

My dear James,

I’d rather say this man-to-man and face-to face, and I hope I will have a chance to do so soon. However, to avoid misunderstanding, and to ensure that you have something in black and white you can keep and refer to, I want to make sure you know one thing: I love you, and I always will. I do not hate you, and I never will.

Our relationship will probably change a bit as a result of your chosen lifestyle, but my love for you will never change. I will continue to seek your very best, as I have always done. In fact, I will probably, by prayer and other practical means, seek your good as I’ve never done before.

Maybe you’ve been afraid that I will reject you and throw you out of my life. I want you to know that you will always be welcome in our family home. Text, email, phone regularly. I certainly will. We’d especially love you to come home for birthdays and for other special occasions. I hope we can continue to go fishing together and to share other areas of our lives.

Your male friend may also visit our home with you, but we will need to discuss certain boundaries. For example, I can’t allow you to share a room or a bed together when you are here, and I will not allow open displays of affection for one another, especially in front of the other children. If you stay with us, you will attend family devotions, and if you are with us on a Sunday, you will come to church with us to hear the Gospel.

Perhaps these boundaries are not going to be easy for you to accept, but please try to understand that I have a duty to God to lead my home in a God-glorifying manner. Psalm 101 commands me to prevent sinful behavior in my home. While extremely anxious to preserve a relationship with you, I am especially concerned that your siblings are not influenced into thinking your lifestyle is fine with God or us.

I know that you don’t like me calling your lifestyle and sexual practices a sin. However, remember I’ve always told you that I myself am a great sinner, but I have an even greater Savior. I hope the day will come when you will seek that great Savior for yourself. He can wash us snow-white clean. He is also able to deliver us from the bondage of our lusts and from everlasting damnation.

I will not bring up your sin and the Gospel every time we meet, but I do want you to know where I stand right up front, and also that I’m willing to speak with you about the Gospel of Christ anytime you wish.

I hope you will not call this message hate. This is how love sounds.

I will always be your Dad. And you will always be my son.

As I will never stop loving you, I will never stop praying for you.

With all my love,

Dad (Ps. 103:13).

 

Legalization of Same-Sex Marriage will Impact ALL of Us.

Posted on by

As we have all been aware of President Obama’s recent endorsement of legalizing same-sex marriage, we may not all be aware of the implications of such an action will have on all of us, even those who oppose it.  I’ve already read many versions of “if you don’t like it, then don’t do it”.

Psychologytoday.com posted this article defending gay marriage and ended with this quote:

From my perspective, it comes down to common sense. If it helps some people and it doesn’t hurt anyone, why not let in happen. I think the comedian Wanda Sykes put it best, “It’s real simple. If you don’t believe in same-sex marriage, don’t marry someone of the same sex.” In other words, why not allow gay marriage?

Why not?  There are many negative implications that must be considered!  Marriage is the foundational institution of our nation.  To redefine it changes the foundation and thus the trajectory we are headed as a nation.  Marriage was instituted first by God himself, before sin came into the world, and defined as one man and one woman. To redefine that is to reject God’s design and plan.

If same-sex marriage is legalized will it really effect you and me?  Yes.  We are seeing this already in Massachusetts, the first state to legalize same-sex marriage.

This clip shows how the public schools are teaching same-sex marriage as “normal and acceptable”.  I just registered my daughter for Kindergarten in our town literally last week.  It scares me to think she will be exposed to anti-biblical, morally bankrupt lifestyles as “normal and acceptable”.

From kindergarten to high school, our children will be exposed to “tolerance” and “equality” as a way to impose an unbiblical worldview into their developing value system.

Whenever you hear the counter argument stating that “studies show” same-sex marriages do not have a negative impact on a child’s development, be ready to think rationally and critically.  Do your research to find what “studies” have been done.  We all know statistics can be used in a bias manner to prove anything.

In his blog article Same Sex Marriage: Good for Gays, Bad for Children, Dennis Prager quotes on this topic:

As Professor Don Browning of the University of Chicago recently wrote in the New York Times, “We know next to nothing” about the effects of same-sex parenting on children.” “The body of sociological knowledge about same-sex parenting,” he and his co-author wrote, “is scant at best. … There are no rigorous, large-scale studies on the effect of same-sex marriage on the couples’ children.”

With a sample size as limited and reclusive as practicing same-sex couples with children, even a non-scientific mind as myself sees a flaw in reporting any results as authoritative. Beware what the “studies show”, because the studies are extremely limited at best and conducted with bias at worst.

So lastly, what should Christians do and think about these issues in our day?  It is good to remember that Jesus engaged His culture, not ignored it.  We should take an active role as this is developing.  We are blessed to be able to voice our opinions and vote accordingly. Start there.  Also we need to think rightly about these issues.  Here is a post a good friend of mine, Mark Moore, used to direct Christians to 5 good blog responses to the current debate.  Read over these and know where you stand. There is some valuable wisdom written down here.

We know God is in control and trust Him through the thick and the thin.  Be in prayer for our country and our leaders as we traverse difficult days.  Teach the truth, even when it is not politically correct.  2 Tim 3:12-14 says, “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,  while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it.”

Let us continue in what we have learned, because we know where we have learned it, namely the Word of God.

Your fellow worker in the field,  Adam