Arguing for Heterosexual Marriages Only

I saw on the news and read about where John McCain recently appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres Show. DeGeneres asked McCain why he did not support same-sex “marriages”. She argued that those who oppose same-sex “marriages” were like those who once opposed giving the vote to women and blacks.

McCain's response? "I just believe in the status of a marriage between a man and a woman . . . We just have a disagreement."

What could have been said in response to DeGeneres’ argument for same-sex “marriages”? Is there a better response? Yes there is.

First, one could argue that societies through out the ages have sought to define marriage as between a woman and a man because in doing so they were protecting the institution of the family. As a society our view of marriage, that it is inherently heterosexual, monogamous, and permanent between one man and one woman is based on a Biblical and a natural law view of creation.

Second, the reason it is defined between a man and a woman is because it is only between a man and a woman that reproduction has the potential to occur. That defines marriage within the natural order as God created it.

One very likely response from those supporting same-sex marriages would be something like this, “Okay, that's your definition of marriage. But why should your views be imposed on everybody else?"

This question gives way to my last point. If marriage is not defined between a man and a woman as understood based on Biblical revelation and natural law as evidenced in creation and the conclusion of reason thoughtful history, then who’s to say that marriage should be limited to just one adult and another adult; how about between a man and a teenage girl or an adult and a teenager; a mother and a son (1 Corinthians 5); a brother and a sister; or a man and two other women? I think you get the point; the list could go on and on from one perversion to another.

If one buys into the argument of “Why should you impose your views of right and wrong upon me or anybody else” then the logical outcome of such thinking is not only limited to marriage but to the breakdown of all moral and ethical bounds. The result will lead to lawlessness and anarchy.

The Bible declares God as the creator of the world we live in. With that creation, not only has God been evidenced naturally in His creation but God’s divine order related to man and woman has been evidenced. But man rejected that divine order as it says in Romans 1:19-32 (please refer to see passage for context).

It is not only those who argue for same-sex marriages who have forsaken God and His order in creation, but people like me and you who are all in need or being restored in our relationship with Holy God. In Romans 1:30, those who are “disobedient to parents” are all in the same circumstance as those who have exchanged God’s natural order for marriage for that which is not natural.

I, we are all in a “heap of trouble”. Our only way of escaping God’s wrath is though faith in Jesus Christ, accepting His substitutionary atonement on the cross for the wrath of God we deserve (Rom 3:21-26; 4:13-25; 5:1, 9-11, 17-21; 10:9-10, 13; 11:32-36).

If you have never availed yourself of the mercy and grace offered through Jesus’ substitutionary death on the cross from God’s wrath, I beg you, repent of your sins and place your faith and hope in Jesus, call upon His name and be saved!

With confident hope in the mercy and grace of God for all who turn to Christ, for the glory of God,
John
P.S. - For a more expanded comment on the primacy of marriage between one man and one woman please refer to the following links:
Full Citizens at Last? Who is Next?

Generational Shift and Denominational Life [Initial comments on marriage during radio program]

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

This morning, my preaching was from Luke 9:23, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me." (NASB) . One of my key objectives was to encourage our people in having a daily walk with Christ in response to Christ' invitation to "come after Him". The key to having a daily walk that denies self and takes up the cross is to focus not on the loss - what we are giving up, but to focus on what we gain - that is Christ.

The reasons Christians for centuries have been able to overcome temptations, persecutions and difficulties is because they have focused on Christ as their greatest gain. Paul said it best when he said, "But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. {8} More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ" (Phil 3:7-8 NASB). Paul focused on the gain, and his gain was Jesus Christ.

Christopher Love was a minister in London, England during the time of the English civil war. He was beheaded on August 22, 1651. The following is an excerpt from a letter to his wife, on the morning of his execution.

My most gracious beloved, I am now going from a prison to a palace! I have finished my work. I am now to receive my wages. I am going to heaven! Rejoice in my joy. The joy of the Lord is my strength. O, let it be yours also! Dear wife, farewell! I will call you wife no more! I shall see your face no more! Yet I am not much troubled; for now I am going to meet the Bridegroom, the Lord Jesus Christ, to whom I shall be eternally married!

Your dying, yet most affectionate friend until death, Christopher Love,
August 22, 1651, the day of my glorification!

That letter along with many other letters evidenced a man who loved his dear wife so well, but oh... he loved Christ oh SO MUCH MORE! Christopher Love was a man who practiced what Jesus called US ALL to. Jesus said, "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple." Luke 14:26 (ESV)

Dear Lord, help us to value you so much that we could say in word and deed, "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." Philippians 1:21 (ESV)

We Know Not The Gospel Of Jesus Christ
I came across this searching the web. This guy is asking the right questions and giving some great answers! The video below is less than 10 minutes and WELL worth it. Click on the play button on the video...

Convictions About the Sabbath & Traveling

We rarely traveled when I was a child and it was even rarer to be traveling on a Sunday. But I do have some memories passed down to me by my parents concerning travel and honoring the Sabbath.

We often went to see my cousins on weekends, about an hour and a half’s drive from Brewton to Jackson, Alabama. Most of the time we’d go over on a Friday or Saturday but return to Brewton on Saturday evening so we could be back in time for worship on Sundays.

But there were those occasions that we did stay with grandmother and the cousins until Sunday afternoon. Some of my cousins were not regular in Church and others were very regular. My family would get up and go to Sunday School and then to Church. I think the fact that my family was going to Church that Sunday helped encourage some of my cousins to attend Church.

I also remember a few occasions traveling some distance from our home. And on a few of those occasions I do remember going to a “strange” Church on Sundays. What was strange was not the fact that they did anything different from my home Church but the fact that it was a different place and I didn’t know the people.

There were two lessons impressed upon my life by the example of my parents. First, attending Church, during a “family reunion” can make an impression upon others for God’s glory and the good of others. I highly suspect that one of my cousins is walking with God, partly as a result of the influence of my family. Till this day, my immediate family is looked at and to for spiritual influence.

Second, attending Church while traveling and visiting other Churches can make an impression upon others about our true convictions. Worship for many is about convenience. They will gather for worship if they feel like it. They will gather for worship if it is not raining. They will gather for worship if they don’t have anything pressing to do. Seeing my parents keep worship as a priority in their life communicated to me that following Jesus was not about convenience but about convictions.

These convictions witnessed by me and my sisters communicated to us that “God is God and we are created for Him and that God was not created for us”.
Now these are some great lessons but are they based on the truth of God’s Word? I believe that answer is “Yes”.

Where ever the Apostles went in their travels, recorded for us in the Book of Acts, they gathered to worship at the local synagogue on the Sabbath. There they worshipped God, encouraged and were encouraged by other believers and they shared the Gospel.

In Philippi the community of Jews was not even large enough for a synagogue [there had to be at least 10 men to constitute a synagogue]. A group of women met at a place of prayer by the river. Because of Paul’s conviction about worship he went to this place to worship [Acts 16:11-15]. Likewise, we have the same opportunity as we travel and attend worship services at other Churches.

Think about it, what kind of impression does it make when you meet someone at Church who is “just passing through town”? Doesn’t it say something about their convictions and their devotion to Christ?

Also, what does it say about our level of conviction and devotion when we don’t make time to worship the Lord while traveling? I’m not talking about some kind of legalism; I’m talking about worship that is genuinely from our hearts.

But possibly more relevant to our lives on a weekly basis, what does it say about us, when not traveling and we won’t even make the effort to come to Church and worship the Lord? What does it say about our convictions and about what we are devoted to?

Let me encourage you to find a place to gather to worship the Lord [a Bible believing, triune God worshipping Church] from the heart on a weekly basis.

Is the church part of the problem [failure of marriages]?

Absolutely. Three-fourths (76%) of all marriages are blessed by the church, and Gallup reports that in 1999, seven of ten of all adults were members of a church or synagogue, and 43% attended services weekly. Yet for a generation, half of new marriages failed. Clearly the church has access to most couples, but has not used that access to prepare couples for a lifelong marriage, to deepen the marriages of couples in the church, or to save the troubled ones. In fact, few pastors have ever preached a sermon on divorce. Based on my unscientific polling of clergy in dozens of cities, not one pastor in 50 has preached on cohabitation. Sadly, most churches and synagogues are "blessing machines" or "wedding factories" grinding out weddings on Saturday with little thought about whether they would succeed or not. Yet the Wirthin Poll indicates that 55% of Americans believe that churches can do the MOST to promote strong, healthy marriages. Yet sadly, either churches have never considered that to be their role, or have abandoned it.

Sighted from: Marriage Savers

Who's Your Boss & Authority?

I came across an article by Gary Thomas titled Who's Your Boss. It is about our arrogance in thinking that we can somehow discover "truths" that are contrary to the best Christian minds the Church has produced through out her history. Men like Athanasius, Augustine, Aquinas, Erasmus, Luther, Calvin, Pascal, Jonathan Edwards, Wesley, B.B. Warfield, Bonhoeffer, C.S. Lewis, J.I. Packer have affirmed, embraced and defended the basic truths of the faith through out Church history.

I thought I'd pass on this quote below. You can find the entire article by clicking here.

Up until relatively recently (the past century or so), hardly any serious believers suggested that the numerous verses in Scripture talking about a husband's authority at home, and the ones assuming that elders in the church are male, with Paul tracing their authority back to creation, were anything less than clear. The church has spoken, without significant exception, and with overwhelming consensus, for 1,900 years on this very topic.

How this authority was exercised, many times maliciously and without the corresponding call to male sacrifice and even martyr-like selflessness (Eph. 5:26), led us to be quite embarrassed at such an "antiquated" thought, so we have spent a generation trying to show how Scripture simply can't mean what it seems to say, and what the church has said it says, for almost two thousand years.

In light of this, when one pastor, with three years of Bible school beneath his belt, and four months of personal study, comes to a conclusion that differs from this, perhaps you'll understand why it doesn't carry much weight with me.

Should it with anyone?

Matthew 7:1-5

“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. Matthew 7:1-5 (ESV)

I was "burning up mad". I was so disappointed. I wanted to confront my brother and give him a peace of what I thought was God's mind.

Another good brother told me to basically "cool-it". I told him that there was "fire in my bones".

I arrived home still steaming with anger. But as I opened my heart to converse with God, I was reminded of my need to examine my own life. Maybe I was guilty of the same sin; maybe not in degree but still guilty.

As I examined my life, I believe God brought it to mind that I was "just as guilty". I had wanted to basically do the same thing just weeks ago, but because of (gracious and divine) circumstances, I was prevented from doing so.

So often it is so much easier to see the errors and sins of others than to see our own sins. But if we will take time to apply Matthew 7:1-5 to our own lives, God will give us the ability to see our own sins and to repent of them. Just as King David was blind to his sin with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah, God used the story of the sin of another man to help David see the magnitude of his own sin (2 Samuel 11:1-12:14).

Prayer: Lord, in measuring others, may we grant to others the grace you have so freely measured (given) to us. In Jesus' name. Amen.

We Are Stones in the Same Building (1 Peter 2:4-8)

From the Bible Exposition Commentary - New Testament by Warren W. Wiersbe...
There is only one Saviour, Jesus Christ, and only one spiritual building, the church. Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone of the church (Eph. 2:20), binding the building together. Whether we agree with each other or not, all true Christians belong to each other as stones in God's building.

Peter gave a full description of Jesus Christ, the stone. He is a living stone because He was raised from the dead in victory. He is the chosen stone of the Father, and He is precious. Peter quoted Isaiah 28:16 and Psalm 118:22 in his description and pointed out that Jesus Christ, though chosen by God, was rejected by men. He was not the kind of Messiah they were expecting, so they stumbled over Him. Jesus referred to this same Scripture when He debated with the Jewish leaders (Matt. 21:42ff; see Ps. 118:22). Though rejected by men, Jesus Christ was exalted by God!

The real cause of this Jewish stumbling was their refusal to submit to the Word (1 Peter 2:8). Had they believed and obeyed the Word, they would have received their Messiah and been saved. Of course, people today still stumble over Christ and His cross (1 Cor. l:18ff).Those who believe on Christ "shall not be confounded [ashamed].

"In His first mention of the church, Jesus compared it to a building: "I will build My church" (Matt. 16:18). Believers are living stones in His building. Each time someone trusts Christ, another stone is quarried out of the pit of sin and cemented by grace into the building. It may look to us that the church on earth is a pile of rubble and ruins, but God sees the total structure as it grows (Eph. 2:19-22). What a privilege we have to be a part of His church, "an habitation of God through the Spirit."

Peter wrote this letter to believers living in five different provinces, yet he said that they all belonged to one "spiritual house." There is a unity of God's people that transcends all local and individual assemblies and fellowships. We belong to each other because we belong to Christ. This does not mean that doctrinal and denominational distinctives are wrong, because each local church must be fully persuaded by the Spirit. But it does mean that we must not permit our differences to destroy the spiritual unity we have in Christ. We ought to be mature enough to disagree without in any sense becoming disagreeable.

A contractor in Michigan was building a house and the construction of the first floor went smoothly. But when they started on the second floor, they had nothing but trouble. None of the materials from the lumberyard would fit properly. Then they discovered the reason: they were working with two different sets of blueprints! Once they got rid of the old set, everything went well and they built a lovely house.

Too often, Christians hinder the building of the church because they are following the wrong plans. When Solomon built his temple, his workmen followed the plans so carefully that everything fit together on the construction site (1 Kings 6:7). If all of us would follow God's blueprints given in His Word, we would be able to work together without discord and build His church for His glory.