DEVIANT BEHAVIOR
Some think the Bible has only one word in it: Love. Never mind the commandments. John 14:21 says, "Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me." Some try to make Christians think that they do not have a right to speak out. They do so by making an unjust attempt to verbally whip Christians into submission with a scripture they know would cut us to the quick of it were true: "Judge not, lest ye be judged." II Timothy 3:16 says, "All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness…"
Love is the most important theme in the Bible--not lust, or sex. But love in action calls for truth, responsibility, and obedience, putting others before self rather than self-gratification. One can pick up on a pattern among liberal writers in that they disclaim the Bible when the Bible doesn't agree with them. People can teach false doctrines or distort scriptures, but this can only be accomplished if the audience is spiritually weak and uninformed. We have a responsibility to learn the scriptures so that we are not deceived. The Bible isn't a smorgasbord of do's and don'ts. We can't pick and choose what we like and don't like.
I am concerned for the homosexuals in much the same way I am concerned about alcoholics, drug addicts, habitual gamblers, abusers and any other who has become a slave to a sin which dictates his every thought and move. Though the slave may hate his captor, himself, and his behavior, he cannot seem to break free of the monster that enslaves him. The answer should never be to give the monster a license to practice. There is a wealth of wisdom, hope, and freedom in God's Word that I would love to share with these people, but they're not usually interested. Therefore I must be resolved to defend God's Word so the monsters don't turn on my family.
I am concerned for the homosexuals in much the same way I am concerned about alcoholics, drug addicts, habitual gamblers, abusers and any other who has become a slave to a sin which dictates his every thought and move. Though the slave may hate his captor, himself, and his behavior, he cannot seem to break free of the monster that enslaves him. The answer should never be to give the monster a license to practice. There is a wealth of wisdom, hope, and freedom in God's Word that I would love to share with these people, but they're not usually interested. Therefore I must be resolved to defend God's Word so the monsters don't turn on my family.
We Christians cannot just "mind our own business" while the morals and future go down the tube or, more accurately, down the toilet. Religious fundamentalism, even with its diversity of beliefs, is and always has been, and always will be, a better answer than sexual promiscuity, irresponsibility, self-gratification, self-centeredness, selfishness towards health concerns (AIDS and related diseases), broken families, broken lives, morally corrupt government, social chaos, and all else that goes along with the attitudes and agendas of those within the ranks of the gay and feminist movements. "A man's own folly ruins his life, yet his heart rages against the Lord." Prov. 19:3
We pander to the gays and allow our children to be taught that homosexuality is an "alternative lifestyle," when the reverse should be happening. In consideration of our children, we should "teach" gays to choose an alternative lifestyle to homosexuality. People can learn a new behavior, and the sooner we begin to teach our children a healthy lifestyle, the better. If we validate the homosexual behavior, allowing people alternative lifestyles so that we don't "invade their privacy," where will it all end? Just think of all the deviant sexual behaviors besides homosexuality: sadomasochism, bestiality, bigamy, pedophilia, nudity, incest, prostitution, exhibitionism, or a combination of the above. If we legitimize one, all others with deviant behaviors will want their behaviors legitimized.
What gays do behind closed doors IS their business and their choice of where to spend eternity, but do we have to approve of it? And do we really want our children to be taught these alternative lifestyles? The value of life, the meaning of life, and the morals of life have been reduced to a minimum level, leaving kids to grow up with no sense of normal -- anything goes, and wondering why the long-term consequences of an immoral lifestyle are so painful. People are willing to gamble that God is a pushover or that "He will understand," or that Judgment Day, heaven, and hell do not really exist. I Corinthians 6:9-10 says, "Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men ... will inherit the kingdom of God."
I wish gays were looking for love and not approval from us. They, instead, hate those of us who will not approve. Sounds like an argument Satan whispers in one's ear to help them justify their sexual sins. The Bible doesn't change, but people do change, some for the better, some for the worst. We are each responsible for his or her own spiritual growth. Love, not lust, makes the world go round. The emphasis should be on love, the kind that thinks of others first, not self. The Bible is of no private interpretation; the homosexual issue is not up for theological debate. God's position is stated clearly in both the Old and New Testaments. Christians are sinners, too, but sinners in the process of changing, who at least acknowledge right and wrong, even if they are not always obedient. When one rationalizes and justifies his or her actions, they are, in essence, selling their souls to the devil for the price of whatever small pleasures can be derived from participating in a sinful act. These "quick fixes" may be an escape from a deep hurt they carry, but only more problems can be expected. To be free in the flesh is to become enslaved by sin; vices become masters. "Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey--whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness." Romans 6:16
Homosexuality is an abominable sin because it is not only adultery, but is not natural, and is not according to God's design, which is for a man and a woman to unite as one. Fundamentalists are told we are intolerant but, to the contrary, we are normally very tolerant of the weaknesses of others, knowing we all sin and fall short of the glory of God, and that we are all human, and there would be no need to go to church in the first place if we were perfect, and there was only one perfect one, and that was Jesus. What we are not tolerant of is open, unrepented, continual sin, especially when that sin is being shoved back at us for our approval so the sinners can teach it to our children as acceptable.
"Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful man is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God."
Romans 8:5-8: “Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature." Romans 13:13-14: "So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh."
Gays and their supporters pull a few verses out of context, like "Judge not, lest ye be judged," and "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you," but fundamentalists view the Bible in its totality. The Bible is not a smorgasbord; one cannot pick and choose what he or she likes and refuse the rest. The Bible is more like a well-balanced meal; we must fill our plate and eat everything on it, allowing our bodies a chance to thoroughly digest the food. We may not like everything we eat, but we must do what is best for us in order to be healthy. Some people never get past a diet of milk. Hebrews 5:12: "In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!" 1 Corinthians 2:14 - 3:2 (KJV) says, "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? but we have the mind of Christ. And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able." The question is, do you still settle for the milk or have you matured enough to get into the meat of God's Word? You may not like everything you read in the Bible but if you’ve read it all, you know there are consequences to your choices. Your choices are between you and God/Christ, but in the end, Christ is the judge of your obedience, your relationship with Him, and your choices.
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