Gay is the new black. It appears to be popular, fashionable, trendy, modern, and progressive. It is also the current direction of our society. Everyone wants to support these new and modern ideas surrounding sexual behavior. Hollywood, schools, and multiple media outlets are advancing the idea across America.
A recent news story was pushed to the forefront of many news cycles. The Topeka City Council voted to create a domestic partner registry for same-sex couples.
While the headlines proclaim equality and advancing rights, the story is very alarming. The Topeka City Council has now created the legislative authority to define a “couple” or allow citizens to self identify as partners.
Competing definitions of marriage and relationships erode God’s plan for humanity. Once you abandon the Biblical definition of marriage, any other definition is now fair game for acceptance. Multiple definitions seem legitimate because relationships are now based on any behavior people may want. In short, anything goes.
This won’t be comfortable for everyone reading, but try this on for size. Five council members, a simple majority, can now amend a standing city ordinance to define a “couple” as three people in the city of Topeka. Let that one soak in for a moment. Maybe they would call it a “trouple.” Five council members can now amend an ordinance to allow minors, those under the age of 18, to register their relationship. This is not an old-fashioned marriage where you have to wait until adulthood. It is a new, progressive, and cosmopolitan way to record relationships. Right?
These two scenarios may seem far-fetched. Your immediate default is to say “this will never happen” or “there is no way someone could do that.” Why not? If the traditional standard of marriage is no longer valid any definition can now be used. The proverbial barn door is already open and continues to swing wide.
How can Christians compete with this contemporary message and share the truth of God’s Word? The trend continues to grow, so it is time that Christians take a stand in the marketplace of ideas and share our values. There needs to be a Christian response to the popular arguments out there regarding sexual behavior. People also need to know God’s message for our lives and the message of salvation through Christ. Here are some points that deserve discussion.
1.) People are not born gay.
This is a behavior. There is no gay gene. While several studies try to identify chromosomes for this behavior, nothing can prove genetics solely determine homosexual behavior. The “born-that-way” claim is one from design where people claim that “God made me with these desires, I am only acting on them.” This overlooks the fact that we are all born with a specific gender. Why are you following your desires instead of your gender? Ignoring your desires may be uncomfortable, but ignoring the natural design of your body is unwise and often fatal. Even if desires are not a choice, sexual behavior always is. So even if a person honestly believes that he’s been born with homosexual desires, he is certainly capable of controlling his sexual behavior. If you claim that he is not—that sexual behavior is somehow uncontrollable—then you have made the absurd contention that no one can be morally responsible for any sexual crime, including rape and incest.
2.) Sexual behavior is not a civil right.
The comparison of homosexuality to race is totally off base and absolutely wrong. How can you honestly compare slavery to sodomy? Slavery was human trafficking. Slavery was dividing a family and selling people on an auction block for profit. Slavery was counting a human being as three-fifths of a person. Slavery was forced labor and poor living conditions. Slavery was banning an education. Slavery was banning the right to vote. Slavery was banning the right to own property. There is no comparison! Skin color is benign. Sexual behavior is not benign. There are serious health consequences for this behavior. Furthermore, sexual behavior is always a choice; race never is. You will find former homosexuals, but you will never find a former African, Asian, Caucasian, or Native American. Slavery, segregation, imprisonment, and Jim Crow laws cannot and should not be compared to a ban on blood donations. Trying to equate sexual preferences with skin color is demeaning and insulting to every American.
3.) Agreeing with Scripture does not make you a homophobe.
You have a Constitutional right to religion. Everyone in America is allowed to follow their faith. Don’t allow this slanderous term to silence you in the cause for Christ. This is trumped-up name calling at best. Following Biblical values does not mean you fear or hate gays. The Bible shares that: God is our Creator, we are made in the image of God, we are made male and female, and God wants us to abstain from worldly desires and behaviors. If one believes that immoral behavior is not God’s plan it does not make one phobic, irrational, or hateful. This is God’s standard for holy and chaste living. Strait people can also be immoral. If I preach on immoral behavior does that now mean that I hate traditional families? No, it just means that I support God’s standard established in the Bible. Remember to speak the truth in love and follow the example of Jesus. Do not succumb to their tactics with shouting and hate speech. Demonstrate a loving faith and witness that glorifies the Father. God loves us and wants all of us to turn from our past.
4.) Our God of love is also a God of justice.
If you love someone and see him ruining his life with poor choices (stealing, lying, adultery, homosexuality, promiscuity) you get concerned, worried, and maybe even angry. If a family member is an alcoholic wouldn’t you address the issue somehow? You speak out because of your love for him, not out of hatred. Anger isn’t the opposite of love, hate is and the final form of hate is indifference. So the most loving thing Christians can do is warn people that they are living a life contrary to God and that jeopardizes where they will spend eternity. God does not hate people. Our worldly behaviors and actions displease God. We are all sinners and are in need of a Savior. The challenge is for us to repent and live. Accepting Jesus as Lord reconciles us with God, for all past wrongs. That means any sin, conducted for any length of time can be forgiven. Love and justice can coexist through faith in Christ. Scripture shares in Romans 10:9, “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
These points can help to form a Christian response to sexual behavior in our world. It may not be popular, trendy, or fashionable, but it is faithful to our Heavenly Father. While the world wants Christians to look like fools, remember to take a stand for Christ, speak the truth in love, and share how God’s Word can transform everyone into a new person.
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God Squad 
Dry Summers Make Strong Trees and Better Christians
Posted in Christian Living, News & Commentary, Spiritual Practices, tagged chaplain, christian, faith, hardship, kansas, pastor, post traumatic growth, post traumatic stress disorder, resilience, resiliency, trials on August 22, 2014|
A Kansas summer can feel horrible. It often has searing heat, strong wind, and humidity that makes us all crave air conditioning or an ice-cold lemonade. Our conditions are harsh and demanding every year. These challenging elements try us and yet there are old trees standing in every community.
The heat, wind, and drought like conditions allow certain trees to develop a strong root system. One where they dig down into fertile soil and become an anchor when storms, tornadoes, and gales unleash their worst across Kansas. The trials, torment, and tough times produce strong trees that can survive truly horrible conditions.
People are the same way. No one desires a season of pain, anguish, or torment in life, but it often finds us. This tough season of life is often seen in the death of a loved one, the loss of a job, a serious illness, financial difficulty, a broken relationship, terrorist attacks, war, and other traumatic events. These are all examples of very challenging life experiences that hurt when they happen, but can produce stronger roots.
James writes to the Jerusalem church in verses 2-4 sharing:
While it does not feel good when it happens, trials can ultimately yield endurance and strength to our faith and our life. When life seems dark and difficult, be like David and pray to God for strength. When you are scared, reach for your Bible and take comfort knowing that God will not forsake you. When you grieve, know that Christ also wept with hurt and loss as He consoled a community of mourners. Endure. Stay strong. Keep your faith. Maintain your trust in the Lord and you will find a new season of life through Christ.
Science and psychology has finally caught up with this lesson from James. Study after study now document resilience and post traumatic growth for people who have weathered trauma and a hard season of life.
While trauma can impair people in many ways, it turns out that there is routinely a higher percentage of people who demonstrate the ability to bounce back and learn from a hard season of life. And yes, they are often people of faith who rely on their religion, faith, or spiritual practice for healing and recovery. Today, faith is often embraced as a central and beneficial means of coping with tragedy.
Consider how trees survive in England. The climate is wet, damp, and dreary. Spend a week there and you will pray to see the sun. The soil is often moist because of the frequent rain showers. This climate prevents trees from establishing deep roots in the soil. The root system instead stays near the topsoil, hardly ever going deep into the ground. A strong wind storm will often topple multiple trees in England provoking a community clean up in villages across the country. Trees that have not been tested with hardship do not produce deep roots. They are instead the first to fall when the storms of life come their way.
While summer conditions feel bad now they make deep roots, bring hope for tomorrow, and deliver a new season of life.
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