Start With the Principle!

It seems to me that many people get into trouble in their Christian lives because they rush to particulars.  “What about this or that?” they ask.  The answer to such questions is to go back and to find a general principle.  The details can never be properly understood except in the light of the whole.  The whole is greater than the parts, and controls our understanding of them.  The particular problems that arise in the Christian life must never be considered in isolation; to do so is to court error and heresy and much trouble in practice.

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Christian Unity: An Exposition of Ephesians 4:1-16, p.23-24

How Humanism Entered the Church

At its core, therefore, the Reformation was the removing of the humanistic distortions which had entered the church.

It is worth reiterating the ways in which the infiltration by humanistic thought--growing over the years but fully developed by 1500--showed itself.  First, the authority of the church was made equal to the authority of the Bible.  Second, a strong element of human work was added to the work of Christ for salvation.  Third, after Thomas Aquinas there had come an increasing synthesis between biblical teaching and pagan thought.  This synthesis was not just a borrowing of words but actually of content.

Francis A. Schaeffer, How Should We Then Live?, p.82

Love Requires Truth

To stifle truth in the name of love is actually quite selfish.  Bruce Frohnen, law professor at Ohio Northern University, observed that, “‘Niceness’ is a rather shallow set of habits and attitudes more concerned with comfort than engagement, ease than excellence, contentment than striving to do one’s best…. Unfortunately, when truth comes to be seen as subjective, toleration becomes the chief virtue, and it comes to mean simply ignoring one’s fellows, in essence not caring what others do.”  To hide from truth to be perceived as “nice” does no one any favors.

Chelsen Vicari, “Distortion: How the New Christian Left is Twisting the Gospel & Damaging the Faith, p.172

The Christian Woman

The fact that I am a woman does not make me a different kind of Christian, but the fact that I am a Christian makes me a different kind of woman.


Elisabeth Elliot, Let Me Be Woman, p.43.  Cited by Chelsen Vicari, “Distortion: How the New Christian Left is Twisting the Gospel & Damaging the Faith, p.90

Random Aberrations, Apostasies, and Heresies

John MacArthur isn’t going to be a bit popular with those churches approving homosexuality and same-sex fake marriage; he says they are “satan’s church.”  I have to agree with him there!

Approving homosexuality is one of the “17 signs that your church is becoming secular.”

Along this line, should Christians ever attend a same-sex fake wedding?  Absolutely not!  On April 14th I posted a link to an article explaining why a wedding is different than anything else, and it was a good discussion as to why a Christian should never, ever attend the “wedding” of homosexual people.

Tony Campolo again proves that he is a false teacher—a wolf among the flocks.  He is asserting that Christians should vote for Hillary Clinton for President of the U.S.A.   First, being a member of the Democrat party, she agrees with their party platform of supporting the homosexual agenda (including same-sex fake marriage), unrestricted abortion, sexual immorality in general, theft (redistribution of wealth), etc.  Other than than, Mrs. Clinton is one of the most corrupt politicians in history, as recent events have demonstrated with the many scandals in which she is involved.  No Christian should give any approval for Mrs. Clinton’s political aspirations.  Campolo is a dangerous wolf in sheep’s clothing; a rank heretic whom I’ve previously exposed.

IHOP’s Mike Bickle is a false teacher, as I have noted several times in the past.  A new site I’ve come across exposes Bickle’s propensity for twisting Scripture to justify his teachings.

Rick Warren teamed up with Dr. Mehmet Oz for his “Daniel Program,” totally ignoring Dr. Oz’s theological beliefs.  Well, now even the secular world has exposed Oz as a quack, yet Warren has remained silent.  Another example as to why Warren is not a teacher anyone should be following.

Lindsay has a good, short commentary on an article by Bill Muehlenberg, which is about the apostate church and “dhimmitude.”  Thought-provoking.

Remember my last report about Creflo Dollar’s seeking money for a $65 million jet?  Well, he isn’t happy with his critics—he thinks he should be able to want it and no one should criticize him for it!

Another Roman Catholic educational institution is violating Catholic teachings by having a “transgender” activist to have a speaking platform.  Will those who approved this be excommunicated?  Don’t hold your breath.  The problem of sexual perversion being promoted among Catholic schools is becoming routine because no disciplinary action is taken.

Here’s an important alert:  The Berean from Bible Tools teaches heresy.  If you use Bible Tools, cease doing so immediately so as to preserve your spiritual health.

As if  we need more evidence as to why Roma Downey’s TV “Bible” specials should be avoided, you really need to see her latest idea—The Women of the Bible.  Her cast of characters is a regular who’s who of female false teachers.

Here’s a good article explaining the problem with shows like Downey’s “Son of God” series, as well as any depiction of Jesus.

Finally, Neil Simpson has a good article about the horrible abuse of Philippians 4:13.  It is indeed one of the most abused Scriptures.

Strong Lies

By mixing a little truth with it, they made their lie far stronger.

C.S. Lewis, The Last Battle: The Chronicles of Narnia.  Cited by Chelsen Vicari, “Distortion: How the New Christian Left is Twisting the Gospel & Damaging the Faith, p.75

Andy Stanley’s Questionable Teachings

Andy Stanley has often been a subject of the “Random Aberrations, Apostasies, and Heresies” entries because of his eyebrow-raising teachings.  I want to review some of these teachings as a lead-in to today’s commentary on a very recent incident.

Stanley intimated that the sin of homosexuality isn’t really a problem.

When Stanley is challenged on the previous issue, he gets antagonistic.

Stanley thinks President Obama, who is possibly the most ungodly president we’ve ever had, should be known as “Pastor in Chief.”

Stanley has a book with some very questionable teachings.

If Christians do not want to participate in a same-sex fake wedding, Stanley says they should “leave Jesus out of it.”

Stanley endorsed the “Son of God” TV series with its bad teachings.

Stanley’s teachings as to why God became human are very troubling.

Andy thinks pastors should stop using the phrase, “the Bible says,” so as to not put off skeptics.

Stanley’s new book about “love, sex and dating” leaves a lot to be desired.

Stanley had a new sermon series based on half of a verse, and which claims Christianity has been corrupted by “being controlled by sacred places, sacred texts, sacred men, and sincere followers.”

More recently, Stanley says you will live a better life if you just follow Jesus’ teachings, even if you don’t believe Jesus is the Son of God.

So now let’s look at the most recent incident.

According to an article in the Christian Post, Andy Stanley thinks that “Churches Should Be ‘Safest Place on the Planet” for Gay Youth.”

Really?  A “church,” i.e., a Christian assembly, is a place for Christians to meet and NOT a place to aid and abet sinners.  If “gay youth” come into the assembly, they should be told in no uncertain terms that homosexual behavior is a sin, and that one cannot seriously claim to be a Christian while remaining in abject rebellion against God by ignoring what He says about sexual immorality in general and homosexual behavior specifically.   If the “gay youth” has no intention of repenting of their sin, then they are not interested in the Christian faith.  One must change their identity from being “gay” to being “Christian” — they can’t be both.  Besides, it isn’t as if there is a large number of “gay youth” which will even be interested in church — the total population of people claiming to be “gay” is only 2-3%!

The article cites some of Stanley’s talk at a church:  "There is not consensus in this room when it comes to same-sex attraction. There is not consensus in this room when it comes to gay marriage.”  

That’s a major problem in the Church today: EVERY CHRISTIAN should have the same consensus about fake marriage—GOD’S consensus!  

Stanley suggests that churches should “take a break” from the culture wars for a year, but the problem is that the culture war is directed AT Christians and the Christian faith, and we must defend where the battle rages.  This reminds me of a quote often erroneously attributed to Martin Luther:  “If I profess, with the loudest voice and the clearest exposition, every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christianity. Where the battle rages the loyalty of the soldier is proved; and to be steady on all the battlefield besides is mere flight and disgrace to him if he flinches at that one point.”

The last item in the news article notes that Stanley tells the Church to behave more like Christians are called to behave, and I have to agree with him there - to a point.  “If all the Christians for just one year ... would quit looking at porn ... would quit smoking weed, would quit having premarital sex, would quit committing adultery, would pay their taxes and every church just foster one kid; in one year our nation would feel different.”  

Since unbelievers outnumber true Christians to a large degree, the nation wouldn’t feel any different, but the Church might have more credibility. However, then he says,  “So basically, if we would just be better Christians, everything we would like to see changed for the most part would change.”  Oh, really?  IF the people of Christ begin acting like Christians should, then all the bad stuff in the world will change?  Abortion will end?  The homosexualists will stop forcing Christians to approve of their lifestyle? Muslims will stop beheading Christians?  The U.S. government will cease turning socialist? ETC?

The problem is that everyone in the Church could change their behavior to be more “holy,” but behavior is only the working out of correct beliefs.  When most of the Church has false teachings, the behavior will be in accordance with the false teachings.  (For example, when a church teaches that homosexuality and abortion are okay with God, then sexual immorality of all types becomes okay.)

Andy Stanley continues to swing more and more towards affirmation for those practicing homosexual behavior.  Which, really shouldn’t be surprising considering how liberal his teachings are becoming.  The Church should quit pointing to Stanley as a teacher worth following.

Random Aberrations, Apostasies, and Heresies

Today I will start with some links to information about Dallas Willard.  Yesterday I was asked by a retired pastor friend to get him some information about Willard, so I copied articles from some journals in my library, and then started to copy some teaching letters from Gary Gilley when I remembered that THOSE are on line!  So I went on line and printed out the articles much quicker than photocopying.  These articles are not just about Willard, but are about the whole “spiritual formation” movement in which Willard is a top figure.  So will see some other big names, such as Richard Foster, associated with these articles:

Spiritual Formation
Solitude and Silence
Roots of the Spiritual Formation Movement
Fasting and Spiritual Direction
Discernment and Revelation

Finally, a review of Willard’s book, The Spirit of Disciplines, reviewed by Bob DeWaay.

From Lighthouse Trails Research Project we have this caution about a “”New Way’ of Doing Things.”

I was surprised to learn that a very secular source published an article by a pastor exposing the false teachings of Joel Osteen and Joyce Meyer.  He does a good job of explaining some of their worst errors.

Another episode of “A.D.” was reviewed.  The series is definitely poison.

The “7 Unbiblical Statements Christians Believe” seem to be from Joel Osteen and his ilk.

Gee, the Vatican is having trouble keeping up with the demand for exorcisms.  Well, when you invent a problem and then teach it as dangerous to your followers, it should go without saying that there will be an explosion of that problem among your followers!

Spiritual AIDS

The message today, at the church we are visiting, was about getting back to the fundamentals.  The pastor gave many statistics about how many Bibles are in American homes, as well as about how few people actually read their Bibles.  Of course we can expect the lack of reading from unbelievers, but the statistics about how few Christians actually read their Bibles is quite disheartening.

But, then again, it really isn’t surprising when one considers the hundreds of thousands of “Christians” following false teachers.  They don’t read their Bibles so they don’t realize what they are being taught is unbiblical, and therefore they have no idea what real Christian doctrine is.  G. Richard Fisher, a retired pastor who is also a member of the board of directors for Personal Freedom Outreach apologetics ministry, calls this “Spiritual AIDS - Acquired Ignorance of Doctrine Syndrome.”

I couldn’t help but think to myself that one of the problems helping to cause “Spiritual AIDS” is the music brought into the Church.  Where in the past the hymns were rich with Christian doctrine, most of what we have in the Church today is pap.  Oh it leads people to be emotional about Jesus, but I’m not sure the Jesus they are emotional about is the Jesus of the Bible—especially when the songs are of the “Jesus is my boyfriend” genre.  What is really a serious problem, though, is that the songs we sing are no longer a “common language” of the Church—every assembly seems to have their own “flavor” of music, so that the person from New York who travels to Wyoming can no longer recognize the songs of worship!

I have, in many past articles, examined some of the newer songs as well as older hymns; check the articles under the label “Hymns/songs.”  You will see many with rich doctrine, but you will also see how much of the more modern stuff has no, or virtually no, doctrine. 

So even though most Christians attend assemblies on a regular basis, they don’t get into the Word at home and they sing insipid, “feel good” songs and choruses which aren’t a common language.  Most are attending seeker sinner-sensitive or market-driven assemblies where doctrine is also shallow.  Those who choose to read are reading books from popular teachers (Beth Moore, Joyce Meyer, T.D. Jakes, et al) who have more false teachings than any good they may have—and pastors are not warning against these teachers from the pulpit!

Is it any wonder that the vast majority of the Church suffers from Spiritual AIDS?  Is it any wonder that it becomes more and more difficult to distinguish between a believer and a non-believer?

The lesson today was an encouragement to get into the Word of God, to remember that the Bible—both Old and New Testament—is for our instruction.  It is also for our salvation.  It is also our protection against false teachings.

Read the Word; peruse it and study it.  And then live it.

The Church Dropped the Ball on Marriage

The church stopped defending marriage when fast-and-loose, no-fault divorces became fashionable in the church.  We did so when adultery, premarital sex, and cohabitation were no longer condemned from the pulpit.  We let go of the family unit when dads walked out on their families and left fifteen million US children fatherless.  That was when the church dropped the ball on marriage.

Chelsen Vicari, “Distortion: How the New Christian Left is Twisting the Gospel & Damaging the Faith, p.65

Jesus Addressed Homosexuality

It is naive and a desperate grasp at straws to argue that Jesus was only supporting one man and one woman in regards to the adultery question.  Jesus was speaking to a Jewish rabbi in front of a Jewish crowd regarding sexual morality.  And the Jews’ context for sexual immorality is found in Leviticus laws which states plain as day that homosexuality was wrong.

Kenneth Erwin III, personal communication with Chelsen Vicari, cited in her book,  “Distortion: How the New Christian Left is Twisting the Gospel & Damaging the Faith, p. 63

Christianity is an Identity to Live

Christianity is not an identity we slip on and off like a pair of shoes when it is comfortable.  Our faith characterizes our recognition of the inerrant authority of Scripture, a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and determination to publicly share the good news without cultural compromise.

Chelsen Vicari, “Distortion: How the New Christian Left is Twisting the Gospel & Damaging the Faith, p.53

Some Links to Good Stuff

I always like to remind people that apologetics is not just “offensive” (i.e., exposing the bad stuff), but it is also defensive (defending the faith).  The defensive aspect needs to include the knowledge necessary to defend your faith against all types of attacks on all parts of doctrine and practice.  For this reason, I like to provide links to articles I come across which I think will be good tools for increasing knowledge of the faith.  

Let’s start today’s collection by pointing out what is needed for spiritual maturity; after all, if you aren’t spiritually mature you will be ineffective at defending your faith and virtually useless for exposing false teachings.  The Cripplegate posted an article in this regard:  “5 Signs of Spiritual Maturity.”

Many cults, including those such as the Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Christadelphians, and others who deny the deity of Christ, tend to claim that the Bible does not teach Jesus is God.  Instead, they claim, this was a late development of man.  The Cripplegate gives some really good examples from Scripture and early church writings which speak of the deity of Christ.  (I also wrote an article using logic to prove the doctrine of the Trinity, which includes the deity of Christ, just by using the Bible.)

This last article from the Cripplegate explains why the story of David and Goliath has been misunderstood.

Why Did Christianity Grow?  Kevin DeYoung gives and excellent answer to that question.

J.Warner Wallace tells us why EVERY Christian needs to be an apologist for the faith, so that EVERY Christian can be a sheepdog protecting the flock from wolves.

An interesting article by Mark Tooley is “Liberal Religion and Easter Victory.”  Quite appropriate for the season.

Are there Biblical grounds for divorce?  There is a lot of debate and disagreement among Christians as to whether there is a biblical reason, as well as whether one who is divorced can remarry.  I personally believer there are two biblical reasons: sexual immorality and abandonment.  I also think that biblical remarriage is possible for Biblical divorces.  While I will not entertain discussions on this topic (because it gets divisive), I think this article by Rick Phillips should give everyone some food for thought.

Now that we’ve come to the topic of marriage, the last two articles are in regards to what marriage is.

Kevin DeYoung explains why for Christians, a wedding is a sacred ceremony unlike any other, which is why it is so important that Christians do not participate in any way in a same-sex fake wedding.

Tim Challies reports on a new commentary on the Song of Solomon.  I read Challies’ citation from the opening chapter to the book and that led me to place an order for it!

When Sin is Called Sickness

Sin is the core issue on which the Church is commissioned to speak.   We can no more have a gospel without sin that we can have a gospel without Jesus Christ.  To evade sin and responsibility is not new, but it is dangerous.  By suggesting there is another explanation for troubles and difficulties, the devil deludes us and sabotages the gospel.

The medical model of sin is dangerous because it damns people.  It undercuts social morality.  In a day of high crime and antisocial behavior, calling sin sickness undermines the individual's responsibility to control his behavior.  The disease model actually inflames behaviors.  It legitimizes, reinforces and excuses sinful behaviors and attitudes in believers and unbelievers alike.

David Tyler & Kurt Grady, Deceptive Diagnosis: When SIN is called SICKNESS, p.57

Random Aberrations, Apostasies, and Heresies

Robert Schuller died last week.   With the false gospel he taught, I can’t imagine that he was a true Christian.  Elizabeth Prata had a good report about him.

Christianity Today Astray never cease to support the aberrant, false teachers, and apostate churches.  Their glowing report about the Church of England’s first woman bishop is a prime example as to why this publication cannot be trusted.

I just finished reading Chelsen Vicari’s book, Distortion: How the New Christian Left is Twisting the Gospel & Damaging the Faith.  Aside from her positive comments about some dubious and false teachers, it is a pretty good wake-up call to the Church.  One teacher she did expose for what he is, is Andy Stanley.  On pages 130 and 131, Vicari reports about Stanley’s January 2014 interview with Kirsten Powers of USA Today.  Stanley said that he finds it “offensive that Christians would leverage faith to support the Kansas law” [regarding religious liberty vs homosexuals] and that “Serving people we don’t see eye to eye with is the essence of Christianity.  Jesus died for a world with which he didn’t see eye to eye.”  He also said, “If a bakery doesn’t want to sell its products to a gay couple, it’s their business.  Literally.  But leave Jesus out of it.”  His defense of the homosexual cause has been noted in some of my previous articles, and this just adds “fuel to the fire.”  He worships a different Jesus if he thinks Jesus would be okay with assisting homosexual practitioners with their sin.  “Leave Jesus out of it”?!?  Absolutely NOT!  I think I covered this subject well in the article I posted on Tuesday.

A Benny Hinn “anointed” false prophet, Rebecca Greenwood, is an example of all that is wrong with the charismatic movement.  Can you imagine God giving a person a prophetic ability to predict what will happen next in movies?!?  Being interviewed by false teachers/false prophets Mike and Cindy Jacobs should be evidence enough that anything said will not be from God!

An interesting tid-bit about the New Apostolic Reformation; Ted Haggard was one of the originals in that false belief system.

A couple reports to bring to your attention in regards to the new Roma Downey “A.D.” TV mini-series:  Sunny Shell and Stand Up For the Truth.

This last one should leave you shaking you head.  A perfect example of what happens when one receives poor teachings about the Christian faith is Brittney Cooper, a professor at Rutgers University.  She certainly is worshipping a Jesus of her own imagination, but these beliefs are quite common among liberal so-called “Christians.”

Where Is the Discernment?

In the Des Moines Register news this week (and all over the local TV news) was a story about Dowling High School, a Catholic school, deciding to NOT hire a teacher who is in a same-sex relationship and “engaged” to his partner.  There are some separate issues with this case which I’d like to address from both a general discernment view and an apologetic view.

First, from the discernment view, let’s look at how the media addresses the case:

“Dowling High decision not to hire gay teacher protected by law.”

Just to nit-pick; my first thought was, is the teacher protected by law or is the decision protected by law?  The latter, of course, is what is meant, but no one teaches proper grammar any more, so we get these types of silly headlines.  Notice also that they immediately imply there is something wrong with what the school is doing — by suggesting a legal protection is necessary because otherwise the school couldn’t do it.  They even clarify how they see a wrong when they write, “because Iowa's civil rights law allows religious institutions to discriminate based on sexual orientation.”

Notice how they framed the issue — that the school was discriminating against one’s sexual “orientation” rather than the truth that they were discriminating against sexual behavior.  This is the standard argument from those who want to force Christians to assist people in their sin — they claim it is because of “orientation” (i.e., desires) rather than behavior.  This is how the courts also treat the issue, and it is all one huge LIE!

The truth is that the teacher’s “sexual orientation” had nothing to do with the school’s decision; the school said it was because his same-sex relationship “was at odds with Church teaching.”

The letter from the local Bishop explained that their teaching contracts have a moral clause, and that moral clause will not permit the hiring of anyone not in compliance with Roman Catholic teaching on marriage. 

"Our contracts contain specific language that outline the expected code of conduct in accord with long accepted Church teaching," Luvern Gubbels, Des Moines Catholic Schools superintendent, wrote in the letter sent to parents of Dowling students. "The Catholic faith is central to our mission, and in order to deliver on that mission, it is our expectation that staff and teachers support our moral beliefs."

The man could be an adulterer, could be living unmarried with a woman, could be a bigamist, etc; all sexually immoral and not acceptable.  So, was the teacher’s “sexual orientation” the reason?  NO — it was not even mentioned.  The reason was because of sexual immorality  — CONDUCT!  Yet the media lied and said otherwise because they are promoting an agenda.

More from the media:  “Nationwide, clashes between civil rights and religious freedom are becoming more frequent and more fervent.”  Notice how they again wrongly frame the argument — “civil rights” vs “religious freedom,” as if the two are not the same!  (This argument is repeated again in the article.) The 1st Amendment to the Constitution says that the STATE cannot interfere with the free exercise of religion.  It does not permit any government to force religious people (whether Christians, Muslims, etc) to act against the exercise of their religion — and THAT is a “civil right”!

In Iowa, the state's civil rights act prohibits hiring discrimination based on reasons that include sexual orientation. However, the law makes an exception for religious institutions.

"Just in terms of employment discrimination laws, religious institutions can in fact discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation," said Paul Gowder, associate law professor at the University of Iowa. "Whether that's a good idea or not is another question entirely.” . . . 

Gowder, the UI associate professor, predicted there will be "a serious ethical and legal debate as we move in time" over the rights of a religious institution to discriminate against someone because of his or her sexual orientation.

"I'm concerned about the notion that the message that we are sending allows a religious school to discriminate against gays and lesbians," he said.

Here we have an argument that “discrimination” is wrong, yet the media and Gowder are discriminating against the school in this case!!!  And again, notice they bring in the straw man of “sexual orientation” — an issue which is not a reason for the refusal to hire.

"Are we going see more of this? I think we are, undoubtedly," said Mark Kende, director of Drake University's Constitutional Law Center. . . .

Kende, of Drake, agreed that the issue will continue to simmer, particularly as more states allow same-sex marriage.

And, he said, there eventually could be movement by the courts. For instance, years ago, Virginia law prohibited blacks and whites from marrying.

"Over time, that changed," he said. "The Catholic Church changes quite slowly."

This is a favorite red herring of the homosexualists, as well as liberals in general.  Prohibiting people of different cultures and skin colors from marrying was based on nothing but racism (the ideology behind evolutionism) and was totally against everything taught in the Bible.   Skin color is morally neutral and does not affect whether a marriage is a marriage.  However, homosexual behavior is NOT morally neutral, and two of the same sex do not make a marriage.

Here’s the apologetic problem with this issue:  “A walkout in protest of the decision will be held at 1:20 p.m. Wednesday. Dowling Catholic students and alumni are planning to do a walkout and prayer at the northeast entrance of the school.”

This is a Catholic school where Catholic doctrine (which in this case is the same doctrine for all real Christians) is expected to be upheld, yet alumni and students — whom I am assuming are Catholic — are protesting the school’s decision!!  

My first question is, where are the parents of these students; why are the parents allowing their children to protest Catholic teachings all the while using the Catholic school??  If they are not Catholics, then what right do they have to use the school and not support the Catholic doctrines?

My next question is, will the local Catholic leadership excommunicate these alumni and students until they repent of their actions?  I sincerely doubt it; the Catholic Church is very reticent to exercise church discipline, which is why they have within their ranks so many supporters of homosexuality and abortion.

This whole case demonstrates that the public at large is being lied to by the media and the leftists, and they lack the discernment to even notice it.  It also demonstrates what happens when the Church at large refuses to exercise church discipline, which results in sin running rampant in the Church, let alone among unbelievers.

Would Christ Have Us Serve A Same-Sex "Wedding"?

A friend directed me to a blog article a couple days ago, a blog which purports to be by a Christian, Jessica Kantrowitz, all the while preaching that God has no problem with homosexuality.  A person who preaches that cannot be a Christian, because they would be calling God a liar!  Yet this blogger has been to seminary and was supposedly in “full-time ministry” for a period of time.  After reading this particular post, I have to wonder how many people she led astray in her “ministry.”

In this particular post, the author has decided that Christians who do not want to support the sin of homosexuality are all in error, that Christians should show how “loving” they are by fostering homosexual sin.  Now, Eternity Matters has a fairly short rebuttal to the article, but I feel it needs to be examined a wee bit more in depth, especially since the comment string has many people (including those claiming to be pastors) saying what a great article it is, and how much it shows the love of Jesus, etc.  And don’t forget that, according to some of the commenters, homosexuality is something one is born with!  (Of course there is no evidence for such a claim, but all of us are born with desires to sin - we are supposed to overcome such desires!)

Okay, so let’s start examining some of the statements by the author.

First, she cites Matthew 5:41 where Jesus says that if one is forced to go a mile, then we are to go two miles.  She continues with other Biblical examples of turning the other cheek, give to the one who wants to borrow, etc.  The point Jesus is making is that we are to help even our enemies by providing them with personal needs.  Notice Jesus NEVER suggests we help enemies or friends in sexual behavior.  In fact, he told the woman caught in adultery to “go and sin no more” — he did NOT help her back to her adulterous relationship.

Then the author says this:

If you believe gay marriage is immoral (I don’t, myself) and a gay couple comes into your shop and asks you to bake a cake for their wedding, what should you do? If God causes the sun to rise and the rain to fall on the wedding days of straight and gay couples, then what is our responsibility? If it is against the law to discriminate against people based on their sexual orientation, but you believe strongly that their lifestyle is immoral, what should you do?

Christians, our Jesus said, “Go with them two.”

She says she doesn’t believe “gay marriage” is immoral, all the while claiming to be a Christian.  She totally disregards the FACT that God calls homosexual behavior an abomination, and the FACT that God established marriage between a man and a woman.  As far as the author is concerned, God is wrong because SHE doesn’t consider same-sex fake marriage to be immoral.

She then conflates the fact of God’s grace with sun and rain for everyone in the world with the idea that Christ would want us to assist someone in their sin.  She decides that Christ would have us bake TWO cakes for a same-sex fake wedding.  This is what we call a “cult cocktail - Scripture with a twist.”  Nothing anything Jesus ever said even hinted at assisting someone in their sin.  

Of course the author’s stance is founded on HER idea that people just BELIEVE that homosexual behavior is immoral, while she believes that homosexual behavior is objectively as moral as heterosexual behavior.  What is her standard for deciding this?  Her own opinion.  So it is just YOUR opinion when you say homosexual behavior is immoral, even though we point to God’s standard.  But we are just in error according to her.

Lastly, for this paragraph, notice how she points out that the law makes it illegal to discriminate against people because of their “sexual orientation.”  This is a straw man, because NO ONE is discriminating against someone’s sexual desires when they refuse to bake a wedding cake for them, rather they are discriminating against a particular activity - a FAKE wedding!

If you are wondering if it is worth being sued and losing your business to stand up for what you believe is right, if you miss the look of hurt in the couple’s eyes when you refuse them and only see an angry, media-driven, ACLU-led mob attacking the small business owner who is only standing up for what you believe in, what should you do?

Christians, our Jesus said, “Go with them two.”

Is it worth being sued, etc, to stand up for one’s faith in Christ?  What did Peter say in Acts 5:29?  “We must obey God rather than man.”  What did Jesus say in Matthew 10:28?  “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.  Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”  Does it matter that the same-sex couple seeking the cake is “hurt” or that an angry mob is attacking you?  Absolutely not!  Would Jesus tell you to bake two cakes to sanction their sin?  Absolutely not!

Jesus said, not only should you follow the law of the land — the law which in America for the most part prohibits discrimination against people because of their sexual orientation — not only should you do the minimum you have to do, you should go the extra mile. (Yes, that’s where that expression comes from!) Do *twice* what the law requires.

So if the law requires you to turn in your Jewish neighbor to the Nazis, then Jesus would have you turn in two Jewish neighbors?  This is one of the worst abuses of Scripture I have ever encountered!  Again, she discusses a law making discrimination against desires illegal, but no one is doing this — they are discriminating against ACTIVITIES!!  

So would the author tell the black Christian baker to make cakes for KKK rallies?  Would she tell a “gay” baker to make cakes which say, “Same-sex marriage is fake?”  (Of course that law she loves so much, which in Colorado punished a Christian baker for refusing to bake for a fake wedding, refused to punish a “gay” baker for denying a Christian a requested cake!  This proves the law is against Christians disagreeing with homosexuality and not against discrimination by “gays.”)

If someone forces you to bake a cake for a gay wedding, bake for them two.

Acts 5:29 says otherwise!

Christians, our Jesus said to not only follow the law, but to rise to a higher standard of love. Christians should be the FIRST people baking cakes — for everyone who asks us. We should be known for our cake baking. People should be saying, “There go those crazy Christians again, baking cakes for everyone. They just won’t quit!” Then, when we share the reason for our wild, all-inclusive love, people will want to hear it. “Let your light shine before others,” said Jesus, “that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

Again, I point to Acts 5:29, and the FACT that God (including Christ) has stated plainly that homosexual behavior is an abominable sin.  If a Christian really wants to show love to those who practice homosexuality, they won’t participate in their sin, will not sanction their sin, will not help them in their sin — they will tell them the truth about homosexual behavior being abominable to God, let alone being an extremely dangerous practice medically and psychologically!  THAT is how we make our light shine - by speaking the TRUTH!

Christians, when we dig our heels in and insist on our right to discriminate, we are hurting people — we are hurting so many people, so deeply. Behind the ACLU and the liberal media are real people, who have been hurt again and again in the name of Christ. Christians, you and I have hurt them. I know most of us have really good intentions, but we are making Jesus the last thing they want to hear about.

The author makes out that discrimination is always wrong, and yet everyone discriminates in everything on a daily basis.  To discriminate means to determine right from wrong, worst from best, etc.  SHE is discriminating against true Christianity!  These people who she claims are “hurt…in the name of Christ” are indeed not hurt by that Name, but they can be HELPED by that Name if they repent and place their faith in His work!  The reason “Jesus is the last thing they want to hear about” is because the truth points to their sin, and they don’t want to give up the sin.  So they blame the Christian for “offending” them.

If we “snatch one person from the fire” by refusing to condone behavior we believe is immoral, but send hundreds and thousands of others fleeing churches and Christianity entirely, what have we really accomplished? Someone else will make that cake and fewer and fewer people will look to Christianity for love and hope. We will have won a battle that we were never called to fight in the first place, but lost the war.

Notice how she keeps talking about “behavior we believe is immoral,” rather than the objective truth of what God says is immoral.  The foundation of the article is based on the lie that homosexual behavior is not immoral.  If people flee “churches and Christianity entirely” because of the Christian teaching against homosexuality, then these people aren’t interested in what God has to say, rather they want to continue in their sinful lifestyles with no condemnation of it.  The battle we have been called to fight is the battle for the truth, and one will never lose that battle because Christ Himself is truth.

There are hundreds of comments posted on this string; I only spent time looking at a few dozen but found nothing but deception and brainwashing among people who claim to follow Christ and yet think it is loving to support homosexual behavior.  These people are listening to the lies of the devil and his minion wolves in the pulpits across this nation, as well as around the world.

The Bible is very plain: homosexual behavior is a serious sin.  It does not lose its sinful status just because the people practicing it “love” each other.  God does not recognize as “marriage” anything other than that which is between members of the opposite sex.  Any Christian who thinks otherwise is ignoring the teachings of God and/or just plain calling God a liar.  A person cannot be a true Christian while worshipping a God or Christ of their own imagination — a God or Christ who condones homosexual behavior.  Such a god is an idol.  Such a christ is an idol, and unable to save anyone from their sins.

What would Christ REALLY have us do if we are asked to bake a cake for a same-sex fake wedding?  He would have us refuse to do so as we explain that we cannot assist people to celebrate their sin without rebelling against God, and that we cannot and will not rebel against God.

The author of the article is a false teacher in abject rebellion against God.  Do not listen to her.

4/8/15 UPDATE:  Read this excellent article about the situation by Douglas Wilson.