Marriage: Legal or Biblical?

Hello blog. It's been a while. I don't come here often anymore, but when I do it is because I have something to say. I might ruffle some feathers, but please hear me out. I will be up front and say that homosexuality is a sin, not a state of being. People can not be naturally homosexual any more than they can be naturally adulterers, murderers, thieves, or liars. Sure, because of the fall we can be, and ARE born sinners, but that doesn't make it any less sinful, or any less excusable.

I don't hate people who define themselves as homosexual, but I do hate homosexuality. I don't hate people who lie, but I do hate lies. There's a difference. One is a person, one is a sin. I have "gay" friends who I hold in great esteem. I do not hate them. I hate the sin that they participate in, only because it creates a barrier between them and their Creator, just like all sin does. I hate the sin on behalf of the sinner.

The recent Supreme Court ruling on gay "marriage" has us Christians up in social media arms over an issue that, granted is an issue, but isn't a new issue. It hasn't changed the fact that it wasn't against the law to participate in homosexual acts in the first place. All this ruling has done is legalize civic union under the name "marriage".  I get it, marriage as defined in the scriptures defines a union between a man and a woman. Nobody is disputing that. No vote anywhere can change what God defines marriage as, not in a congregational meeting, and certainly not in the Supreme Court. If the true definition of marriage as defined in the Bible remains intact, what are we all so mad about?

 What has really changed with this ruling? Essentially, a definition that allows same-sex couples to share the same legal benefits that Biblically married couples get from our government, namely tax benefits. Do I care if same-sex couples get a tax break? Nope. We're overtaxed anyways. Surely we aren't so petty that we want someone to pay more taxes than we do because they don't yet know God. We haven't lived in a Christian nation for quite some time now folks. This ruling shouldn't surprise us, nor should it infuriate us to the point of alienating the homosexual sinners we should be opening our arms to and showing the love of God.

Nobody changes their belief system by force. Our goal is not to force our religious views down the throats of the infidels. If it is, what makes us any different than radical Muslims like ISIS? No. Our goal is to show the world what it is like to live free of sin, to follow the TRUE God. How do we do that? Through lots of love and patience. Show our non believing fellow men what it is like to know God. Only then will they even begin to care about sin.

My point, Christians - examine your hearts (and your furiously typed social media posts), speak out boldly against sin, but not at the expense of the PEOPLE we are here to witness to.

Desire

I just got back home after listening to a very good sermon about fighting sin (one in a series our church is doing on building a stronger church), and thought I would share something that stuck out to me quite a bit, maybe because I have never thought of sinful desires in this way before. Most of this will be quotes. But they are good quotes so it’s ok.

 We read out of Jeremiah 2

Be appalled, O heavens, at this  be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the Lord, for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water. 

– Jeremiah 2:12-13

At one point in the message, there was a quote by C.S. Lewis that I found particularly good. I could try to rephrase it in my own words but, come on now, it’s C.S. Lewis, why would I do that?

“If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is no part of the Christian faith. Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased”

 – C.S. Lewis

And he is absolutely right, now that I think of it. Our problems with sin are not because we cannot tame our desires, but that we do not have strong enough desires. If we were to see for a moment what infinite joy we can experience in Christ, we would see the objects of our sinful desires for what they are – Muddy water. What a pitiful, disgusting, temporary replacement for the living water we are offered. Why do we continue to drink it?

 “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.  Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good.  So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.  Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being,  but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?  Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.”

 –Romans 7:15-25

“You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you;I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.”

Psalm 63:1

I feel like a mixture of Paul and David. One minute I am one, the next I am the other. Thankfully, we have a Savior that makes up for all of our imperfections with His own perfection. Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.

Why do you choose to believe the Bible?

I choose to believe the Bible because it is a reliable collection of historical documents written down by eyewitnesses during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses. They report  supernatural events that took place in fulfillment of specific prophecies and claimed that their writing are divine rather than human in origin.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZNXMJGYNG8&feature=share

I watched this with my family tonight. Very good answer to a question we should always be able and willing to answer at any time. Definitely worth the time spent.

Only God Moments

I live in Arizona, where it is dry and hot most of the year. I could complain about all of the things I don't like about it but that would be contrary to the point of this post so I must resist. Besides, I really like Arizona most of the time anyways. What I'm getting at is, I live in a valley surrounded by awesome mountains and other great scenery that was created by God. I wake up every day, get in my car, and drive through said valley, next to said mountains, and the vast majority of the time do not stop to appreciate the beauty that God has placed around me. It's because I am used to it. I expect it to be there because it has been there a lot longer than I have and I don't really pay attention to it. None of that means that the mountains are less wonderful. It just means I am less observant.

It's like when us Christian folks say things like "It was an only God moment". That sounds kind of silly to me after thinking about it. Don't get me wrong, I'm not denying the fact that God does AWESOME things in our lives at all. I'm doing the exact opposite. I am pointing out/realizing/re-realizing that every moment is an "only God" moment. We just don't stop to recognize it often enough. At least I don't, and I would like that to change. I want to be thankful more often for more things. I tend to laugh at the prayers of children when they are thankful for seemingly insignificant things.

 God, please make me more aware of the significance of those things and increase my thankfulness for them.

I just had an "only God" moment-- I took a breath. Thank you God!

Wibbly Wobbly, Time-y Wimey

"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but *actually* from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint - it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly... time-y wimey... stuff." - The Doctor 

 So I have recently (not really recently, but in relation to my last post, fairly recently) discovered the BBC series "Doctor Who". I have been thoroughly enjoying it. It makes you think about time in weird ways.

 I was thinking a few days ago (more like two weeks ago), about the fact that God is not restricted by time. At the same time, I was wondering if each individual sin had a quantifiable amount of suffering required in order to pay for it (not that it would be measurable by any human standard). And then the question struck me, if God is outside of time, and Christ is God incarnate, and Christ suffered for the sins of the world, what if I could actually lessen the suffering that my savior had to endure all those years ago, by choosing righteousness instead of sinfulness? We are no longer slaves to sin, so we have the option not to sin. Can I remove a thorn from Christ's crown by not acting on a sinful thought that I have tomorrow? I mean, He is outside of time after all. Not that it would diminish the significance of the sacrifice at all! But can I actively decrease the pain that Christ had to endure for my sake? Food for thought to say the least.

 See, Doctor Who is good for me after all...

God, the all powerful genie

It saddens me when God is treated like some cosmic genie that is only there to grant our wishes. I know I sometimes treat Him that way. We so often pray for things that we want to happen, and then get upset with God for not answering our prayers, when the truth is, God knows so much more than you can imagine, you don't even realize that He is giving you bigger and better gifts than you could think up in a million years. God IS answering our prayers. Every single one of them. Whether we like or understand the answers is a different story. But remember this.

"... we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28

You can't see it, you can't understand it, but what God does in your life is for your good and His glory. Period. Life is not about what you want in the here and now. It is about God and His eternal kingdom.

Besides all of that, what is honestly the purpose of prayer? Is it only to ask for things we want? To petition our King to bend to our wishes? No. A huge part of what prayer should be is praise! If we only find ourselves praying when we want something, there is a serious problem. We need to be thanking Him for the prayers that He constantly is answering, and Praising Him JUST for who He is. That is the kind of God we serve. A God who hears prayers, answers them, and requires (and deserves) our worship. Nothing less than constant praise and adoration is acceptable, for we serve the King and Creator of the universe, who cares down to the ant.

Thank you Lord that you are a God who hears and answers prayers. You are worthy of my praise, much more than I can give. But I give all I have to you.

Busy, Busy Bee

Well it sure has been awhile since I have written anything here. We have been busy. Im sure after you read this you will understand why.

I have had a lot on my mind the past few days. As Danielle and I are gravitating slowly towards making the leap and purchasing our own home, again I am forced to get perspective on many things. My income is low. I make roughly $18,000 a year. Which isn't terrible, but it isnt enough to live anywhere near comfortably in our own house. We spoke with a financial advisor last night, and he said a few things that I knew, but never really acknowledged. I am working for a decent company, but I am a temporary agent. That needs to change. I could lose my job at the drop of a hat. That is not safe for my family at all. My first step, then would be to get hired on at Pace permanantly. That's all well and good, but that doesn't increase my salary at all.

This is where the struggle really comes in. I am interested in the IT industry. I think its great and it probably is going to be viable income for a long time. However, I have a passion for music. Until recently I had been ignoring it, and then a good friend of mine started looking for work as a worship leader. I haven't stopped thinking about doing that myself ever since. I dont know how stable the income would be, I dont know what it would provide for our family, I DO know that God will always provide for His people, but where do I start? I have no career path in mind at all. I am just going one step at a time. That is hardly a good plan.

All I can say is, I have no idea what the future will bring. I am praying about it alot. Will I stay in the IT industry? If so where will i go from where I am? Will I make a change and go into full time ministry? Or is there yet some other path the Lord has yet to reveal to me? Lord, guide my steps.