Thursday, July 4, 2013

My Views on Same Sex Marriage

When we voiced our concern about homosexuality, we are misunderstood at some point, people call us haters for airing our views against homosexuals, and thereby according to some has quoted the Bible in wrong interpretations, but please understand this one thing, I would like to speak for myself, since this is my opinion, I do not condemn, judge or discriminate gay or lesbian because of their sexual preferences, I do not consider them as hopeless and beyond the grace of God because God’s grace exceeds far, wide and deep a human error can transcend, I do not consider them as beyond the help of God, for His power is limitless.

            I accept and respect every people, whether straight or a member of LGBT community because that is what Jesus did and continues to do, the love and grace of God cares for all kinds of people whether straight or homosexuals. Jesus’ death on the cross applies to all people past, present and future, it has the power to cleanse all forms of sins, whether sins of straight or homosexuals.

            But since we are talking about same sex marriage, I can’t help but wonder, what kind of rights do we, as Bible believing Christians tread on when we oppose to this so-called right of transgender? Practicing homosexuality is something the Bible is against with, it is not us who authored it but the God of the Bible, the God Almighty who created man and woman and fashioned them according to His own image. When God created man and woman, He commanded them to subdue and replenish the earth; this was given to them in order to fill the earth with people that would suppose to give glory to God, people who will reflect God’s image. But since man was tarnished by sin, people decided to follow their own free will, a path that is so far from what God has designed them to be.

            Sin ruined everything; God’s dream for man, His design even for marriage and for sex was ruined because it was perverted by the father of lies and deception: Satan. Homosexuality was first mentioned in the account of Lot in Genesis 19. Followed in Leviticus 18 and 20, if God so warned the house of Israel against such practice: a man lying with man as with a woman and vice-versa is an abomination, we who desired to follow God must live not according to that practice which Apostle Paul called "unnatural" but according to the standard of holiness as defined in the Bible for God condemns all forms of sexual immorality [see Romans 1:25-27, 1st Timothy 1:8-10.]

            People who chose to live by this lifestyle wanted their rights to marry to be heard, they voiced their concern on streets, television, internet and other networking sites, even using the Bible as their means to justify, interpreting the Bible according to what their itching ears want to hear, [2nd Timothy 4:3 “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.]

            I would like to emphasize that God authored marriage between man and woman; this is the original plan and prayerfully will continue before life on earth cease to exist. Offspring is given as a gift to couple, a reminder of God’s love and at the same time of the love of two people joined in holy matrimony. Children will live their life and patterned their growth from the gentleness of their mothers and learn to live from the strength of their fathers. In the absence of role models for growing children will somehow affect their choices. I am not saying that children with the presence of a man and woman as their parents will not experience struggles like this, but should we consider this all the more? If children suffer that kind of apprehension in the presence of man and woman parents, how much more trepidation they will experience in the absence of either the man or the woman as their parents? Now, couple who are childless are an exception to the rule, I myself am childless because of a series of miscarriage but, cases like this will never change how marriage should be and must be even if government supersedes what God intended it to be.

            Though there are cases where homosexual partners successfully brought their children up as a responsible people in the community but it is a rarity. This is not a challenge for homosexual parents but based on Biblical truths. The command to love is given to husbands, to love their wives not to husbands, and the command to respect is given to wives to respect their husbands not to wives. Such wonderful truth of orderliness in the family will motivate their children to obey their parents in order to attain life with a promise.

            The purpose why I am writing this is not to pass judgment to members of LGBT community, but to also voice my concerns about the downside of same sex marriage, it is my prayer that as people, let us not exalt our rights above the One who made us righteous, yes we have human rights but our human rights must not go against the principles and standards of the Word of God, where this nation and its Constitution were founded. The US Supreme court may legalized same sex marriage in its 50 states, but one thing I assure you, there is a much higher court where everyone of us will answer for, the nation who has turned against God and removed Him from His place of sovereignty will suffer great loss as we have witness this in the history of Israel because of their rebellion. Same sex marriage is a direct rebellion against God, His Word, His holiness and His design. I fear for for the nation of America as well as other nations who will legalized and have legalized same sex marriage. 

            On the other hand, I would like to make an appeal to all Christians; I was moved by one of the clips I watched from YouTube about “Why People Don’t Go to Church?” It is because the church who is supposed to love like Jesus’ loves, care like Jesus’ cares and accept like Jesus’ accepts are not seen in the church. The church becomes so legalistic to implement their rules so as to push people away from the grace of God. What I have learned from that video clip is something I want to apply in my life, to love people and to care for them so they too like me will find the truth and the power of God’s grace. I accept people with this kind of orientation as human, worthy to be love, cared and accepted, they have the rights to the forgiveness of God, they have the right to His favor and to His grace, they have their place on Jesus’ cross at the Calvary. They do not need condemning eyes and fingers pointing at them as deprive of God’s love; they need the assurance of God’s love expressed by God’s people. I am so blessed by the ministry of Bro. Vins Santiago, the powerful truth he shared about the life of homosexuals from whence he struggled from the past who now was delivered by the grace and love of God, live and helped people to find the path to freedom from homosexuality. His ministry which aimed to minister to people who were and are in that situation practices the acceptance and care in order to point to them the way of salvation.

            I know I will receive criticisms on this, but I pray that all people will come to know the liberating power of Jesus, not the judgment of the people, my views on same sex marriage is still the same, my prayer is that I will be able to show the love of God to you gays or lesbians, just like I found love in the power of the cross of Jesus!


Monday, April 1, 2013

EVIDENCES OF CHRIST'S RESURRECTION






CONCLUSION:
1ST CORINTHIANS 15
Resurrection is the completeness of the Gospel – Christ’s death is meaningless without resurrection. V. 12-18
Resurrection is the completeness of redemption – verses 12 – 19 
Resurrection established our faith – verse 14
Authenticated our testimony – verse 15
As Christ’s death ransoms us, reconciles us and substituted for us, resurrection completes the step of removing the sins from us – verse 17
Resurrection guaranteed us eternal life - V. 18


Thanks to the blog of Josh McDowell of Josh McDowell Ministry...very helpful references...

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Remembering Jesus


The man, Jesus dragging the heavy cross on His way to Calvary, wounded, battered, rejected and unrecognizable because of the blood that flowed from His head down to His body, blood that was poured due to the crown of thorns on His head and the deep wounds of the whipping that took His skin off from His flesh. He did this, He voluntarily took your place, in your stead, so that you will no longer experience the wrath of God brought about by sin. He died and finished it all on Calvary that is why He cried with a loud voice, “It is finished!” this cry is a sound of victory and completeness. Imagine how He loves you, it took Him to sacrificed and leave His kingdom to be a 100% Man for the sacrifice of sin requires the shedding of blood and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. Christ did this so that you and I can be forgiven and reconciled to the Father, He became the substitute for sins for what He endured on the cross, and He willingly finished the race to complete your ransom from the hands of the devil. No man and no one can do what Jesus did and His sacrificed is so powerful that it can cleanse and purify us from sins of the past, present and future, this is only made available when we gave or surrender our lives to Him.


He has the power to cut off all the generational sins of your family, He can make null and void your deal with the devil, He can destroy the forces of the enemy that has control over you and He has the power to set you free and transfer you from darkness to light. Believe in the power of Jesus to save you from sins and God’s wrath, those who only trusted Jesus will be exempted from this holy wrath of God, do not wait for God’s grace to expired, believe me, no saints, no good deeds apart from faith, no virgin and no church can save you, only Jesus can if you allow Him.

If you want to be save, pray this prayer with me: 

Jesus, I come before You today, I humbly admit that I cannot live on my own and I cannot save myself by my good deeds, my church and my rituals, I need your help, I ask for forgiveness from all my sins, forgive me and cleanse me and I invite You to come into my heart be my Lord and Savior and walk with me all the days of my life.