Godlessness

 “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father – God,” the Jews said to Jesus in John 8:41.

  I. We are ALL born of fornication. You think not? From the beginning when Adam and Eve disobeyed God and sinned, all generations following were cursed.

“So the Lord God said to the serpent, ‘Because you have done this, you will be punished. You are singled out from all the domestic and wild animals of the whole earth to be cursed. You will grovel in the dust as long as you live, crawling along on your belly. From now on, you and the woman will be enemies, and your offspring and her offspring will be enemies. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.’  Then he said to the woman, ‘You will bear children with intense pain and suffering. And though your desire will be for your husband, he will be your master.’ And to Adam he said, ‘Because you listened to your wife and ate the fruit I told you not to eat, I have placed a curse on the ground. All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it. It will grow thorns and thistles for you, though you will eat of its grains. All your life you will sweat to produce food, until your dying day. Then you will return to the ground from which you came. For you were made from dust, and to the dust you will return.’ ”   (Genesis 3:14-19 New Living Translation)

You may be born of parents married to each other, but that fact alone does not make you sinless. Fornication goes beyond sexual immorality. It encompasses all godlessness, physical and spiritual.

“looking diligently lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled; lest there be any fornicator (godless) or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright.” (Hebrews 12:15-16)

“Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.”  (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)

 “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. (Galatians 5:16a – 17)

II. We do not ALL have one Father, that being God. For some, our father is the devil.  

“Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”             (Galatians 5:24-25)

Recently, coming before the spotlight is a clinic (Bachmann & Associates, Minneapolis) owned by Marcus and Michelle Bachmann, who is campaigning for the presidency of the United States.  Reports show the clinic offers a service called “reparative therapy,” which apparently claims gay people can be cured of their homosexuality.

I do not believe any one person can lay claims to curing another. Homosexuality is a sin, not a disease like cancer. Only Jesus can transform a sinner. The goal is not homosexuality to heterosexuality, but homosexuality to the transforming faith of God.

God created us man and woman to unite, to become one (through marriage) in Him, not man and man nor woman and woman. Men and women who think and believe they are something other than what God has created and commanded are fooling themselves, living to themselves, following another.

If we profess to be a believer of Christ, we will give up old ways. For as a believer:
“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

We give up the old, we follow Christ; we have a new life. It is not easy. The path does not instantly become clear and stumble free. It takes work. Work through prayer, through studying His Word, through fellowship with other believers in Christ, through living and being obedient to Him and His commands.

When we are baptized, it is a representation of dying with Christ and being reborn to new life in Him.

If we are unwilling to give up the old, if we prefer to remain fornicators, godless, immoral people, then we will.

Believers in Christ can pray for you, show you the way to righteousness, but it is between you and God the way to go.

“We are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us; we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.”   (2 Corinthians 5:20)

But if you are not One with God, One with Jesus, One with the Holy Spirit, then you are most definitely one with Satan.

Jesus says to us:

 “If God were your Father, you would love Me.” (John 8:42a)

“You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.” (John 8:44)

“He who is of God hears God’s words, therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.” (John 8:47)

 “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  (John 8:31-32)

All Scripture is taken from the New King James version of the Bible except Genesis  3: 14-19 which is taken from the New Living Translation. 

Hip Hip Hooray for Miss California

Those of us who advocate for one man-one woman marriage, who believe in God and what His word says, have rights too. ... a right to be heard, a right to stand up for our Christian beliefs.

Posted today on Baptist Press is the following article written by Michael Foust, BP assistant editor.
Despite pressure, Miss California stays true to Christian beliefs
LAS VEGAS-- It had all the elements of good TV drama, especially in 2009 America: a gay celebrity blogger asking a California beauty queen contestant a question about "gay marriage" during the Miss USA pageant, hosted in anything-goes Las Vegas.

Miss California, though, stood by her Christian beliefs, and some are wondering if it cost her the crown.

Carrie Prejean, 21, told a nationwide TV audience Sunday she believed marriage should be between a man and a woman. She eventually finished runner-up to Miss North Carolina, but she says she has no regrets about her answer.

The fact that Prejean is from California -- where the high court legalized "gay marriage" last year only to have voters reverse that ruling by passing Proposition 8 -- adds to the controversy surrounding her comments.

"By having to answer that question in front of a national audience, God was testing my character and faith," she told Fox News. "I'm glad I stayed true to myself."

She told NBC's "Today" show, "It's not about being politically correct. For me, it was being biblically correct." She added, regarding her missed opportunity to win the crown, "It wasn't what God wanted for my life that night."

Prejean is a student at San Diego Christian College in El Cajon just outside San Diego and a volunteer at Shadow Mountain Community Church's International Ministry Center, where she helps refugees learn English, the Christian Examiner reported. Shadow Mountain is a Southern Baptist church where popular TV and radio minister David Jeremiah is pastor. The Examiner reported Prejean is studying to become an elementary school special education teacher.

She has received a host of criticism and praise. Celebrity blogger Perez Hilton, who is homosexual and as one of 12 judges was randomly picked to ask the question, posted a video on his website in which he called her a "dumb [expletive]" with "half a brain." He also said she "alienated so many people."

Chris Clark, pastor of East Clairemont Southern Baptist Church in San Diego, applauded Prejean. He helped lead the effort in his area to get Christians behind Prop 8.

"She was extremely courageous, especially considering the venue. You're looking Perez Hilton in the eye and telling him, no offense, but this is what I believe. That is bold," Clark told Baptist Press. "That is exactly what we need more of, and she did it in a kind way and a very respectful way. She was great."

Mitch Fisk, vice president for enrollment and marketing at San Diego Christian College, said he was impressed by Prejean's character after overhearing a conversation she had with her adviser, whose office is just a few doors down from his. The conservation came last year after she had won the Miss California title.

"Keep in mind that this conversation took place with no one else around. The consistent themes were, 'I want to do what I can to have an impact' and 'I want to do what I can to take advantage of the situation that God has placed me in to have an impact,'" he told BP.

During the broadcast Hilton asked: "Vermont recently became the fourth state to legalize same-sex marriage. Do you think every state should follow suit? Why or why not?"

Prejean responded, "I think it's great that Americans are able to choose one or the other. We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite[-sex] marriage. And you know what? I think in my country, in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman -- no offense to anybody out there -- but that's how I was raised and ... I think that it should be between a man and a woman."

The crowd seemed to like her answer, and its applause was louder than the boos.

Keith Lewis, co-executive director of Miss California USA/Teen USA, submitted a statement to Hilton's web site in which he said he was "personally saddened and hurt" that Prejean "believes marriage rights belong only to a man and a woman." Lewis added, "Religious beliefs have no place in politics in the Miss CA family."

Hilton himself was quoted as saying Prejean "lost because of that question." Known for his bombastic statements, he said that if Prejean had won, "I would have gone up on stage, snatched that tiara off her head and run out the door." As one of the 12 TV judges, Hilton's score figured into deciding who won. The scores on the questions and answers, though, are not released publicly.

Ron Prentice, chairman of ProtectMarriage.com -- the official campaign behind Prop 8 -- released a statement thanking Prejean for "speaking her mind in support of traditional marriage."

"She represented the silent majority in America and expressed a point of view that over 7 million California voters also expressed just last November," Prentice said. "... Thank you, Miss California, for knowing the truth about marriage and standing up for it, even when you knew that your honest answer may hinder your chances for the crown of Miss USA."

Prentice further said that the "outcry from some activists in the gay community over Ms. Prejean's comments are indicative of how far they will go to force their same-sex marriage agenda on society."

Prejean told radio host Billy Bush that her sister "is a gay rights activist" who has "been to many, many rallies." But Prejean said her sister was proud of her because she stood up for her beliefs. Matt Lauer of NBC's Today show asked her if she wished she had given a more politically correct middle-of-the-road answer, which Hilton said she should have done.

"That goes against what I stand for," she said of such an answer. "And when I'm asked a specific question, I'm going to give a specific answer. I'm not going to stand in the middle."

Also posted today on SaveCalifornia.com ,
a leading West Coast nonprofit, nonpartisan organization representing children and families, is the article:
Homosexual Activist Judge Displays Intolerance, Hatred
and Retaliation Against Miss California Carrie Prejean

Sacramento, CALIF.-- A leading West Coast pro-family organization is defending Miss California Carrie Prejean, who was unfairly discriminated against and denied the Miss USA crown because of homosexual activist judge Perez Hilton (real name Mario Lavandeira), who targeted Carrie as a contestant and publicly called her “a dumb b****” with “half a brain.”

“Why does an unjust judge get a free pass for retaliating against and openly slurring a beauty pageant contestant?” asked Randy Thomasson, president of SaveCalifornia.com and SaveAmerica.com. “The bad guy here is homosexual activist Perez Hilton, who never should have been allowed to be a judge. Carrie Prejean was unfairly discriminated against and viciously punished just because she knows and believes that marriage is reserved for a man and a woman.”

After Carrie was named first runner-up to Miss North Carolina Kristen Dalton, Hilton recorded a video diatribe in which he said Carrie gave “the worst answer in pageant history," that “she lost because she’s a dumb b****!” and that she has “half a brain.” “Perez Hilton is showing the ugly face of the intolerant homosexual agenda, squashing everyone else who won’t bow down to immorality,” Thomasson said.

On this morning’s Today Show on NBC, Miss USA Judge Claudia Jordan admitted that “a few of the judges were very against her, they were bothered by her answer” because Carrie said “marriage should be for a man and a woman” in answer to Hilton’s question Sunday night.

Donald Trump, who, along with NBC Universal, owns the Miss Universe Organization, which produces the Miss USA pageant, said on The Today Show that Carrie’s answer “probably did cost her the crown.” Also on Today, Hilton said Carrie should have “left her politics and religion out” and said Miss USA is supposed to “make everyone feel welcome,” including homosexuals and atheists. But where is that in the Miss USA rules?

“This was a blatant miscarriage of justice,” said Thomasson. “The Miss USA rules explicitly state that judges should learn about the successes, goals and ambitions of the contestants. It doe not say judges should vote or rally others to vote based on their personal agreement or disagreement with young ladies’ answers to loaded questions.”

“Along with physical beauty, Carrie Prejean displayed character, poise, confidence and personality, which is exactly what the pageant says it’s looking for,” said Thomasson. “It is now suspect whether a homosexual can be a fair judge who puts aside his personal bias. It’s also doubtful that the Miss USA contest is a fair contest. To correct this serious problem, Donald Trump and NBC Universal should announce that Perez Hilton will never again be a Miss USA judge and that pageant judges must abide by the contest rules and not retaliate against contestants based on religion or politics.”

All can be set free in Christ

On Jan. 31 I wrote of my impressions of the true story, "Prayers for Bobby," shown on TV just days earlier. It was about a gay teen who committed suicide.

On March 4, I came across this article on Baptist Press: "Ex-gay 'free indeed' because of Christ" which is posted below in its entirety.

by Brittany N. Howerton
OPELIKA, Ala. (BP)--Meet Kim Cowen. Raised in north Alabama, Cowen has led a life filled with alcohol and drug addictions and has been arrested on three occasions. She has struggled with homosexuality for 43 years.

As Cowen shared her story with pastors and ministry leaders in Alabama's Tuskegee Lee Baptist Association, she recounted that when she was arrested for drug trafficking the third time, she cried out in desperation, "Lord, if You'll help me with this mess I've made of my life, I'll do whatever You want me to do."

When Cowen was released four days later, she knew her life was different. "I knew I had met Jesus Christ that day," she said.

She subsequently met Rick Hagans, a member of First Baptist Church in Opelika, Ala., and founding president of Harvest Evangelism, a nearly 30-year-old ministry dedicated to reaching the hurting with Christ's love.

Cowen immediately enrolled in Harvest Evangelism's women's rehabilitation program, and within a year she knew there was nothing Christ couldn't do.

"It took something that huge in my life to make me believe He could set me free from homosexuality," Cowen said. "Every day, my prayer was 'Take this homosexuality away from me.'" Quoting John 8:36, she added: "and if the Son sets you free, you shall be free indeed."

That was six years ago.

Cowen now leads Hi-way Ministries, a Monday night support group in Opelika for men and women struggling with homosexuality.

"The goal is not for them [just] to be set free from homosexuality but to be free to receive all God has for them, to be holy in Christ," she said. "It's a safe place for them to come -- to keep them from going through struggles alone."

Joe and Marion Allen, members of First Baptist in Opelika, know those struggles well. Eight years ago, their 26-year-old son was killed at a time when he was attempting to retreat from a homosexual lifestyle. Now the Allens are on a mission to share their story with others and help support people going through the same struggles.

The Allens host a family support group the second Thursday night of each month for parents, friends and other relatives of people struggling with homosexuality.

Hagans said it is the church's responsibility to show Christ's love to these individuals.

"We have been silent and we have been self-serving," he said. "And the truth of the matter is there could be 100 Kim Cowens, but instead of their name being written on the Lamb's Book of Life, it is written on some tombstone because the church did not put their money and time and pulpit where it belongs."
--30--
Brittany N. Howerton is a staff writer for The Alabama Baptist (www.thealabamabaptist.com), newsjournal of the Alabama Baptist Convention.

"Prayers for Bobby"

Tuesday night, Jan. 27, I watched the last hour of a Lifetime special, "Prayers for Bobby." It is based on a true story in which a Christian family struggles to come to grips with the death of a son and brother who was gay and had committed suicide.

"Is suicide a sin? Is being homosexual the unpardonable sin? Is the Bible valid? Is it my fault? He was always different, even at birth. These were among the questions and comments presented during the movie.

In the movie, the mother visits the pastor of a gay church. She talks about Old Testament laws. He says the Bible is not valid in today's society. It was written yesterday, it was written by mere men. Never do I hear about the cleansing blood of Jesus, who died for the sins of all.

Some of the comments I read on online forums purported the word "homosexual" was not even used during Biblical times. Homosexual - the idea that same word must have been used in Biblical times to mean anything today is preposterous. A homosexual is one who has a sexual relationship with another of the same sex. And it is in the Bible - read 1 Corinthians 6:9. God's laws are just as valid today as they were long ago.

Men nor women are born to be intimate with their own kind. God created man from the dust of the ground. He created woman from man's rib to be his mate.

"And the Lord God said, 'It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.' "And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. And Adam said: 'This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; She shall be called woman; Because she was taken out of man.' Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed." (Genesis 2: 18, 21-25)

The book of Leviticus details God's laws and instructions and offerings. Chapters 18 and 20 deal specifically with sexual relationships.

Leviticus 18:4 says, "You shall observe my judgments and keep my ordinances, to walk in them: I am the Lord your God." God's people were to obey, live by His standards for them, not the practices of other peoples.

"You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination." (Leviticus 18:22)

"If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them." (Leviticus 20: 13)

"For whoever commits any of these abominations, the persons who commit them shall be cut off from among their people." (Leviticus 18:29) For the complete list, read Chapter 18. "Cut off" in Biblical time meant put to death.

The standards remained. Then and now, those committing these abominations are "cut off" - separated from their loved ones. They were put to death then; but with Jesus' birth, death, burial and resurrection, came the opportunity for new life.

The standards - God's standards. God's laws are meant for His children, His followers. But to disobey even one of His commands, made the person guilty of all.

Through Jesus Christ, His blood, His death on the cross so we many all live, God's law was fulfilled. Jesus took ALL of our sin upon Himself. He died for YOU. He died for ME. The laws of the Old Testament were valid, are valid, but the punishment is no longer. Jesus became the punishment for us.

When we continue to sin, it is our personal choice. It is a conscious choice we make because of our own understanding.

It is not God's desire, not His will for us to be separated from Him. When we rebel against Him, His laws, His standards for us, we have made ourselves more important than God. When we remain steadfast in our (sinning) ways, God removes Himself from us. He abandons us.

"Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth f God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting: being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful, who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, not only do the same but approve of those who practice them." (Romans 1: 24-32)

"But in accordance with your hardness and your unrepentant heart you are storing up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who 'will render to each one according to his deeds.' " (Romans 2: 5-6)

When you accept Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, and then at some point afterward you go back to your sinning ways, IF you were truly saved, you do not lose your salvation. BUT, you do not also gain any rewards in Heaven.

Jesus laid the foundation "and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. ... each one's work will become manifest; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is. If anyone's work which he had built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire." (1 Corinthians 3:10, 13-15)

"Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Do not be deceived.
Neither fornicators,
Nor idolaters,
Nor adulterers,
Nor homosexuals,
Nor sodomites,
Nor thieves,
Nor covetous,
Nor drunkards,
No revilers,
Nor extortioners
will inherit the Kingdom of God." (1 Corinthians 6: 9)

The words fornicators, homosexuals and sodomites are described in other terms in different versions of the Bible. The King James refers to homosexuals as effeminate and sodomites as abusers of themselves with mankind. The New International refers to fornicators as sexually immoral, homosexuals as male prostitutes and sodomites as homosexual offenders.

"... But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot {or any unrighteous act}? Certainly not! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For 'the two,' He says, 'shall become one flesh.' But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. Flee sexual immorality. ... he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body." (1 Corinthians 6: 10-16)

The unpardonable sin is blaspheming God, never believing, never accepting that Jesus Christ is the son of God, that HE died for you.

To read more about "Prayers for Bobby":

• http://www.mylifetime.com/on-tv/movies/prayers-bobby
  
• http://www.oasisjournals.com/Issues/9512/fea0795-prayers.html
  
• http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/2009/01/24/2009-01-24_prayers_for_bobby_story_is_too_simplisti.html
  
• http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/22/DDA415DO2H.DTL
  
• http://www.collegenet.com/elect/app/app?service=external/Forum&sp=18126
  
• http://forums.wpitam.com/m_4140622/mpage_1/key_/tm.htm#4143254

God loves you. It is the sin that is hated.