How are we to accept the Gays, Lesbians, Bi-Sexuals, Transgenders and other alike as a Christian?

As a society as a whole we are very accepting to the movement of those that choose the lifestyle of being a gay, lesbian, bi, transgender and etc. But as a Christian how are we to accept and treat them?

We are all alike, we are all sinners, whether we are gay, lesbian, bi or straight. No matter who we are we are all sinners. There is the plain simple truth. How is one person different from the other as a sinner. In God’s eyes we are sinners. And we all struggle with sin.

There are numerous references that the Bible makes in regards to homosexuality specifically (they can be found in Genesis 19:1-25; Judges 19:22-30; Leviticus 18:22; Leviticus 20:13; Romans 1:24-28; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; 1 Timothy 1:8-11; 2 Peter 2:6-10; and Jude 7). In Romans 1:24-28, Paul specifically says that homosexual behaviour/relations is unnatural and shameful, he makes it crystal clear. The Bible also has a number of other references that indirectly touch on the topic of homosexuality through comments about the biblical view of marriage and family, promiscuity and sexual purity (the references are Genesis 2:18-25; Proverbs 18:22; Mark 7:21, 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5; Romans 6:13, 13:13; 1 Corinthians 6:13, 18-19; Galatians 5:19-21; Colossians 3:5 and Revelation 21:8, 22:15).

In the Bible, homosexual behaviour is often always discusses as a serious sin, often in the same context as idolatry. Idolatry is seen as the most heinous sin of all. It is the most serious offense against God, and we see the consquences of idolatry throughout the whole Old Testament through God’s people, the Israelites. As this is put into prespective the seriousness of homosexual behaviour. The word that we use today, sodomy, comes from the Bible from the account of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:1-25).

It should be noted that the Bible condemns the act of homosexual sex and not personality traits, such as feminine feelings men may have (or masculine feelings women may have).

Some may take the above Scripture and try and prove that the Bible does not really condemn homosexual behaviour, but upon further investigation it become quite obvious that they are trying to distory the meaning of the Scripture to make it support their views as apposed to the actual meaning of the Scriptures.

Some may says that the Scriptures of the Old Testament do not apply to modern day society, and that applies to the ancient Hebrews and people of that time. The Old Testament condemns a number of things that are commonly accepted in today’s world (eating pork, etc). There are different types of laws that are present in the Old Testament, there is Civil/Ceremonial Laws and Moral Laws. We can see that civil laws can and do change from country to country, but moral law do not because they are part of the nature of man. But the Bible is consistent throughout on moral, and this includes homosexual behaviour.

In the New Testament when Jesus came, he did not give a specific sermon or story specific on homosexual behaviour, but there is also no mention of rape, incest, pedophilia, or other blatant sins. Does this mean that these acts are ok, that they are acceptable? Just because that Jesus do not explicitly mention these acts, does not imply that it is ok to commit these offenses against God and each other. Jesus was very clear about what a proper marriage relationship is (Matthew 19:4-5). Jesus was restating what Moses taught about marriage and family (Genesis 2:24). Therefore anything that is contrary to this; any sexual relationship outside of a committed marriage relationship between one man and one woman; degrades the institution of marriage as it was intended by God and therefore is unbibical.

Jesus states very clearly his contempt for sexual immorality (Mark 7:21). Jesus’ teaching on moral issues when he expanded our understanding of sexual sin, that even lusting in our heart is just as bad as the act itself.

People will say that Jesus accepted all people that he met like the tax collectors and prostitutes, but he did more than accept them as he found them, but he turned their lives around. When Jesus met Zacchaeus the tax collector, he pledged to pay back his debt fourfold (Luke 19). As well as in John 8 when Jesus tells the adulteress to leave her life of sin.

Furthermore, Jesus specifically said that he did not come to abolish the law that was given by Moses and the Prophets in the Old Testaments (Matthew 5:17).

God is more than just a God of love and forgiveness. God has characteristics of love and justice, and we are warned time and time again throughout the whole Bible about the reality of hell. Therefore we must definitely not underestimate the holiness of God, who demands perfection (Matthew 5:48). We see examples of the wrath and judgement of God in Genesis 2:17; 2 Kings 17:18; Psalm 74:1, 79:5, 90:11; Proverbs 10:16; Micah 7:9; Zephaniah 3:8; Matthew 5:29, 7:13, 25:46; Romans 1:32, 2:8, 6:23; Acts 3:19; 1 Corinthians 6:9; Galatians 6:7-8; Philippians 3:19; 2 Thessalonians 1:9; James 1:15; and Revelation 20:12-15. But because of our sin we are not perfect, this is why God demands our repentance so that we may be with Him in Heaven. Therefore we must not create a God to suit ourselves, as this is idolatry.

So to the original question asked, how do we accept the gays, lesbians, bis, transgenders, etc? As Christians we are to accept them with open arms as Jesus did with the tax collectors, prostitutes and other sinners. But if they are wanting to follow the way of the Lord, we have to guide them and support them, and help them back onto the straight and narrow. But saying that they won’t get into heaven because they are homosexual, does that mean that we are judging them?

If we read 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 it states “9Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders 10nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” So it is explicited stated that those that are homosexual will not inherit the kingdom of God, translation, they will not be accepted into heaven. So we need to be loving and supportive to those that do want to know about God and are struggling in their sin, as we are all struggling with sin.

Posted: September 7th, 2009 under Christian - 3 Comments. Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Do all men need to be SNAGS??

I was dicussing with a friend and my fiance about how men have a tendency to always sweep their problems and emotions under the rug, until one day it sneaks out from under the rug to bite them in the butt and then they just sweep it right back under the rug.

It reminds me of the movie “I Love You Man”. For those who haven’t seen the movie, and this may be a spoiler, so you have been warned, the basic plot of the story is a guy gets engaged, and he doesn’t have many guy friends and needs a best man, so he goes in search of a man friend.

Ok, so you may be wondering what a SNAG is, well for those that don’t know it stands for Sensitive New Age Guy. So would the world be better if all men were SNAGs, or are they just fine the way they are, or would they be better just being a little SNAG-ish?? I guess for those that are violent, it may mean that they might be be violent, but they again maybe not. As for your average Joe Blogs just a little more SNAG-ish might do them some good. So they wouldn’t blow of their top when they are finally pushed to bursting point because of all the pent up emotions and issues that have been swept under the rug.

If all men were SNAGs, we might end up with a world full of women in the sense that you would have everyone gossipping,  having cat fights and becoming a blithering mess when they broke up with someone. Would relationships improve or worsen? Or would it just be better if men had someone that they could open up to, and someone that they could vent with, and take a time out from life.

“I Love You Man” can teach us all something…that we need that one friend that we can talk openly to, that we can share our problems with, whether it is to get another perspective, another opinion, or just a pair of ears to listen. We all need that one friend that we are able to share with.

Posted: September 6th, 2009 under Random - No Comments. Tags: , ,

Should energy drinks be taken off the market??

Should energy drinks be taken off the market?

Visit here for SMH article

It was reported that yesterday Year 7 kids suffered side effects of drinking energy drinks on their way to school. The issue that I see here is, why are year 7 kids drinking energy drinks at such a young age, why is there a need for them to be drinking such drinks with such a high content of caffeine. I can understand if they are in Senior year and need it to stay awake because they were up late the night before doing assessments and whatever. But is it the Government’s responsibility to completely take energy off the market because of 5 really stupid kids??

As adults we drink caffeinated drinks for a number of reasons, typically because of the caffeine to stay awake and for the energy boost that they give you, for the taste and because it has become a habit. It is the same thing with smoking and drinking alcohol. It is a choice whether or not we take it up. Though the reality of things, kids do smoke cigarettes and they also drink alcohol. But we don’t see the Government stepping up to try and take those products off the market, yet they want to do it for energy drinks.

And why is Red Bull and V the particular ones that are being targeted, when there are other energy drinks out there in which have a lot higher content of caffeine than Red Bull and V like No Name (formerly known as Cocaine) and Monster.

Should the consumption of energy drinks by children be the responsibility of the Government or parents or shopkeepers?

Posted: September 3rd, 2009 under News - 2 Comments. Tags: , , , , ,

Hello

I am starting up my blog again…

Posted: August 28th, 2009 under Random - No Comments.