Is Your Sexuality a Choice?

We, the church of Jesus Christ, need to begin our dialogue with an apology to the gay and lesbian community. As believers, we have a very poor track record for handling the issue of homosexuality. The church, by and large, has reacted to the matter in two different extremes, and neither is healthy or helpful.

At one end there are the condemning Christians, those who hold up a big, black Bible, yell slurs and accusations, and coldly present the truth of God—minus his love. At the other extreme, there are members of the church of Jesus Christ who not only condone the homosexual lifestyle, but also ordain gay clergy. These Christians propose that God approves of the gay lifestyle and that because of His love for all people, there should be no condemnation. By not presenting a well-reasoned, loving and biblical response, we, the community of believers, have done a profound disservice to all those in the gay community, including their families and friends. We have either been all truth with no love, or we have been all love with no truth. Both are extremely destructive errors for which we owe a sincere apology.

Our goal, then, should be to speak the truth, based on facts, with and through an attitude of love. We must think clearly through this issue, examining the findings of both medical and social science. We must see what God has to say through the Bible and listen to what the homosexual community believes. Our dialogue must begin with honesty and mutual respect. To take this step we must first understand the position taken by the pro-homosexual community and the presuppositions that support that position. We will then lovingly present the biblical position.

The previous three paragraphs were written by Chip Ingram in his booklet called: “Homosexuality: A Thoughtful Analysis”. I couldn’t agree more with his thoughts.

About two months ago, I had the privilege of having lunch with an amazing woman named Pam Ousley. Pam shared with me how Jesus changed her life and delivered her out of a twenty-two year lifestyle of lesbianism. It was fascinating to hear her testimony and it was a great reminder of the power of God to set someone free with His truth.

Pam helped me understand the perspectives and presuppositions of those in the gay community. Her ministry, Bold Appeals, is bringing the love and truth to many who are confused or deceived about their sexuality.

The Gay perspective is that homosexuality is a moral, alternative sexual orientation. People who promote and approve of the homosexual lifestyle begin with this premise. Homosexuality, for them, is not wrong in any moral sense; it is just different.

Some presuppositions of the gay community are: (1) Being gay is not a choice. (2) Homosexuality is a matter of genetics—“It’s not what I do, it’s who I am.” (3) God makes a person homosexual; therefore, it is normal and natural, and simply an alternative sexual lifestyle. (4) Since it is a lifestyle that is not chosen, it is a lifestyle that should be protected. (5) Therefore, homosexuality is a civil rights issue.

The Christian perspective is homosexuality is an immoral sexual orientation prohibited by God.

Leviticus 18:22 says, “Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable.”

Leviticus 20:13 says, "And again, “If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.”

Romans 1:26-27 says, “Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.”

In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul writes in graphic, clear-cut form that homosexuality is actually an evidence that we have turned away from God to follow our own desires.

1 Corinthians 6:9-10 says, “Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”

Christianity’s presuppositions are: (1) Being gay is a choice; therefore, it is not an identity. (2) This choice is abnormal, unnatural and it is a destructive lifestyle that brings pain, premature death and broken relationships. (3) Therefore, homosexuality is a moral issue instead of a civil issue.

Because these two sets of presuppositions are the antithesis of one another, there is tremendous tension and conflict over the issue of homosexuality.

Please stay tuned for part 2 of “Is Your Sexuality a Choice”?

Pro-Life or Pro-Choice?

During the June 5th, 2007 CNN debates, former Governor Mike Huckabee was asked, “What is the most pressing moral issue of our day?” He responded by saying, “If you define in a moral issue, it is our respect, our value and our understanding of the value of every single human life.” I concur.

In Deuteronomy 30:19 the Lord says, “This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.”

It’s shocking to think that in the 21st century we live in a nation that kills innocent babies. To put it in perspective, more babies have been murdered by abortion in America than soldiers killed in all the wars we have fought in. People in our country express outrage concerning the death of American soldiers, they express outrage over dog fighting, and people can go to jail for breaking an eagle’s egg. Where is the indignation over the murdering of human babies?

How can we allow this atrocity to continue in America? In this blog, I will focus on the deceptive thinking that leads to what I believe are the two main reasons we choose to abort babies instead of birth them.

First, we have bought into the lie that life does not begin until the baby is outside the womb. When, where and with whom does life begin? Jeremiah 1:4-5 says, “The word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.’” According to this passage of scripture, all life begins in the heart and mind of our Creator—God.

With the advancement of modern day technology, ultrasound machines produce sonogram images that show the reality of life in the womb. These machines have literally been a life saver. Ninety percent of ladies considering an abortion choose life after viewing their baby in their womb and hearing its little heart beat. They are also fascinated to see their babies moving in the womb as the respond to different stimuli.

Even in the scientific community, life has been defined as beginning at the moment of conception. Dr. Hymie Gordon, Chairman of the Department of Genetics at the Mayo Clinic, states, “By all the criteria of modern molecular biology, life is present from the moment of conception.”

A common response from people after touring the concentration camps of Nazi Germany where millions of Jews were brutally murdered is, “Why didn’t somebody do something?” One of the ways the Nazi’s justified their evil actions was by dehumanizing the Jewish people. They deluded the public conscience by disseminating propaganda that said people of Jewish descent were less than human.

Today, the same trend is happening in regard to the description of the embryo. Embryo, which literally means “that which grows” or “newly born” is no longer referred to as a human baby by abortionists. Like Nazi Germany, proponents of abortion dehumanize, and therefore promote abortion, by describing the embryo as a parasite.

Second, we have murdered innocent babies as a cover-up for our immorality, selfishness and lack of self-control. Motivated by convenience, abortion is the cruelest form of birth control. 95-98% of abortions are performed because we are a culture that wants our sexual rights without responsibility. When we act irresponsibly with our sexual behavior, it is blameless babies who suffer. Even if a woman was raped and became pregnant (which is rare and less than 1% of the cases), should the baby suffer for the father’s crime? Two wrongs do not make a right.

Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood, is perhaps the best 20th century example of somebody influenced by the destructive power of spiritual deception. An admirer of Sanger wrote, “She had tried to dispel depression by sex, travel, Rosicrucianism (a cult), numerology – now she tried a new panacea, astrology,”

A confirmed adulteress who consistently and publicly supported “A woman’s right to destroy”, she become deeply involved with this man, Havelock Ellis. He was a modern-day false prophet who advocated a variety of bizarre sex practices supposing them to be keys to spiritual enlightment and power. For Margaret Sanger and her militantly, even religiously, promiscuous lifestyle, abortion became a necessary back-up for contraceptive failure.

It is my passion to witness the shedding of innocent blood stop in America. Proverbs 6:16 says, “There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to Him.” The next verse (Proverbs 6:17) tells us that one of those things the Lord hates is the shedding of innocent blood. Nothing is more innocent than a baby in the womb of its mother.

Abraham Lincoln was president of our nation when America had a civil war over its number one moral issue of the day—slavery. He understood that God’s judgment would visit a nation that shed blood of innocent people. Lincoln’s second inaugural address, a month before his assassination in 1865, most clearly exhibits his belief in the justice of God.

“Fondly do we hope—fervently do we pray—that this mighty scourge of war might speedily pass away,” Lincoln said. “Yet if God wills that it continue, until all the wealth piled by the bond-man’s two hundred years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid with another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago so still it must be said, ‘the judgments of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether.’”

I am tired of our kids shooting one another in our schools. I am tired of our news channels reporting on brutal murders nightly. I am tired of the fear that resonates in so many American’s hearts over the threat of terrorism on our own soil.

Let’s learn from history and reverse the curse on a nation that results from the shedding of innocent blood. It is my prayer that no more blood in America would have to be shed because of abortion. It is my prayer that America would be a peaceful and prosperous nation again.

It is also my prayer that America’s massacre of innocence will not result in future generations asking the question, “Why didn’t somebody do something?”

If you or someone you know is considering an abortion, please contact the Pregnancy Help and Information Center (222-7177). They are wonderful people who will treat you like family and help you make the best decision of your life by choosing life. Also, please consider attending Every Nation Tallahassee. We would love to help you raise your child in God's will for their life. God bless.

Proud to be a Prude!

It is God’s will that you should be sanctified (free from sin): that you should avoid sexual immorality; (4) that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, (5) not in passionate lust like the heathen (person lacking moral principles), who do not know God. 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5

As I watched the news channels last week report on the erratic behavior of Britney Spears, and the sudden and shocking death of Heath Ledger, I found myself pondering how people with everything externally can be so miserable internally. It also got me thinking about one of the books, which is titled “Prude”, I am currently reading to prepare for our “Choices” series. The book, by Carol Platt Liebau, documents how our nation has become a sex obsessed culture, and how this fixation is destroying girls (and America, too).

When you think of the word prude, do you attach a negative connotation to the term? Liebau writes, “Prude derives from the old French prude-femme, meaning ‘a good and virtuous woman,’ but perhaps it’s no surprise that its connotation is no longer positive. Today, as almost every girl knows, the term is often used to judge someone as sexually conservative and no fun.”

She also writes, “Like the concept of chastity itself, it seems that prude—derived from a term that used to denote honor and virtue—has almost become a badge of shame. Apparently, scarlet letters still exist in American life. But ironically, it’s now the chaste who must wear them.”

It’s unfortunate and destructive to our society when many girls would rather be labeled a slut than a prude.

Today, according to “Prude”, statistics disclose that 50% of teenage girls engage in sexual intercourse. As our teenagers use their liberty as a “right” for licentiousness, the consequences of their promiscuous lifestyle are resulting in unprepared pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases, emotional instability, depression and every kind of imaginable social pathology.

Unfortunately, Britney Spears has become the paparazzi poster girl for many of these symptoms. She has salaciously flaunted her body while promulgating songs full of wanton lyrics. Now, she is in the hospital being treated for a mental illness.

I wonder if she has gained the world, but forfeited her soul (Matthew 16:26)?

Heath Ledger was a great looking guy and an actor with remarkable talent. Fame, fortune, and sex outside of the marriage covenant proved to be deadly bedfellows for this beloved celebrity.

I wonder how negatively he was impacted by the separation from his former cohabiting partner, and mother of their baby girl, Michelle Williams.

According to a January 24, 2008 article in “The Sydney Morning Herald”, the Perth model Sophie Ward, whose supermodel sister Gemma was romantically linked with Ledger during his trip home to spend Christmas with his family said, “He was anxious and distressed about his relationship breakdown and separation from Williams, but she did not believe claims he was battling drug problems.”

She believed his recent problems stemmed from those relationship issues. "He said he was going to London but was quite upset because he couldn't see his daughter as much as he'd like to," she said.

I wonder if the circumstances would be different for both Ledger and Williams if they cherished prudish attributes in their relationship.

Sarah E. Hinlicky, “Subversive Virginity”, states, “So-called sexual freedom is really just proclaiming oneself to be available for free, and therefore without value. To “choose” such freedom is tantamount to saying that one is worth nothing.”

By the recent heartbreaking and neurotic actions of Ledger and Spears, it would be prudent for girls (and America, too) to heed Hinlicky’s judiciousness.

I hate to witness people in pain. I pray for Britney to value herself and become a prude, and I pray for Ledger’s family and the relational future of every girl (and American, too).