tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-324479622024-02-28T02:31:39.102-08:00The Radical WatchmanThe Radical Watchman is designed to voice commentary on 21st century culture, trends, fads, and ideology from a biblical perspective. It further seeks to highlight how the Church at large incorporates questionable and even dangerous aspects of culture into its creeds and practice.The Radical Watchmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11317466632490218450noreply@blogger.comBlogger38125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32447962.post-10559282724811182452021-02-17T02:27:00.002-08:002021-02-17T02:39:00.158-08:00The Insanity of Gender Madness<p> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">By
Pastor Mark Christopher</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Who knew that Congressman
Swalwell was also a great theologian who pontificates about the <a href="https://timesnewsexpress.com/news/politics/eric-swalwell-says-god-is-a-woman-while-discussing-trump-impeachment-trial/">gender of God</a>,
declaring that </span><a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/eric-swalwell-god-woman-trump-impeachment-trial"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">God is
a woman</span></a><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">? This would be the same Eric Swalwell who is accused of
having an affair with Chinese spy and the same Swalwell who doctored a tweet to
help frame Donald Trump in the most recent farce of an impeachment hearing. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">So, how do we know that God is
not a woman? Here are but a few of the primary reasons God is not a woman: </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">1. The Bible, our ultimate
authority on the matter, consistently and exclusively uses only masculine
terminology when describing God. From proper names and titles to the litany of
pronouns — “He”, “Him”, “You” — these terms are always in the masculine. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">2. The ultimate revelation of
God to man was in the incarnation of Jesus Christ who is only and ever
portrayed in the masculine. His names, titles—like “Son”— and pronouns are
solely in the masculine. Thus, both His earthly and heavenly revelations are
exclusively masculine. In His resurrection and ascension at the right of hand
of the Father on high, He is eternally masculine. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">3. In close connection with
number 2, all three members of the triune Godhead are always, only, and ever
presented in the masculine gender. And while God in His infinite magnificence
and splendor transcends gender altogether, yet He has chosen to reveal Himself
exclusively in the masculine to provide an example of the marriage relationship
and roles which find their pinnacle between Christ and the Church — the
Bridegroom and the Bride. This is why the portrayal of God in <i>The Shack</i>
is a complete farce. In fact, the portrayal of God in the <i>The Shack</i> is
nothing short of heresy in its fantasy-land portrayal of the trinity. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">4. Finally, the biblical
revelation of God to man is in complete contrast to the Ancient Near Eastern pagan
religions with their feminized gods and goddesses which found expression in the
fertility cult madness of the day. God’s revelation to man in the Bible is a
stark reminder that the God of the Bible is not anything like the gods and
goddesses of the world. Rather, the biblical God is unique and distinct from
these fictional portrayals of God by fallen man. And present-day insistence
that the God of the Bible is somehow feminine, is nothing more than revival of
the old ancient pagan fertility cults with a 21<sup>st</sup> Century twist. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p>
The Radical Watchmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11317466632490218450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32447962.post-57448318202916131752020-08-24T08:01:00.003-07:002020-08-25T10:28:30.400-07:00Biblical Reflections On The Whole Life Ethic <p> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Message Header"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Salutation"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Date"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Block Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Hyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="FollowedHyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Document Map"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Plain Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="E-mail Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Top of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Bottom of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal (Web)"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Acronym"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Address"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Cite"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Code"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Definition"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Keyboard"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Preformatted"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Sample"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Typewriter"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Variable"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal Table"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="annotation subject"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="No List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Contemporary"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Elegant"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Professional"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Balloon Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Theme"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" QFormat="true"
Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="41" Name="Plain Table 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="42" Name="Plain Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="43" Name="Plain Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="44" Name="Plain Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="45" Name="Plain Table 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="40" Name="Grid Table Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="Grid Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="List Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="List Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="List Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 5"/>
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</p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span face="" style="line-height: 107%;">By
Pastor Mark Christopher</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face="" style="line-height: 107%;">More and more I am
encountering those who are claiming to hold to what is called a “whole life
ethic” or a “consistent ethic of life”. Those in the social justice camp are
especially predisposed to this argument which seeks to dismiss the horrors of abortion
i.e., feticide, by claiming to oppose all intentional taking of human life to
include abortion, capital punishment, and war. Thus, they lump all
life-and-death related issues together under one banner. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face="" style="line-height: 107%;">This is not new. Many years ago,
liberal theologians and ethicists, like Jim Wallis of <i>Sojourners</i> and
David Gushee, were promoting this brand of “pro-life” ethics. The emergent
church gravitated towards this ethic. And now those with social justice
proclivities have revived this seemingly pro-life response. Again, there is
nothing new under the sun. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face="" style="line-height: 107%;">It may sound good to the uninitiated,
so what is wrong with the “whole life ethic” thinking? Here are but a few
considerations for those who use the label, but have not thought the matter
through biblically and logically: </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face="" style="line-height: 107%;">1. The whole life ethic errantly
assumes that all life-related issues are morally equivalent and given the same
outcome in Scripture. In so doing, they confuse issues like abortion and
capital punishment placing them together as though the Bible treats them both
the same. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face="" style="line-height: 107%;">2. The whole life ethic is
vague and uses hasty generalizations to explain life-related issues. This
results in confusing categories into the one-size-fits-all approach to being
“pro-life”. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face="" style="line-height: 107%;">3. Rather than adopting the
vague notions of the whole life ethic, Christians should adopt what Wayne
Grudem calls the “whole Bible ethic” approach. The whole Bible ethic approach
seeks the specific biblical position on each topic i.e., abortion, war, and
capital punishment. This avoids the one-size-fits-all approach of the whole
life ethic and serves as a barrier to confusing issues and categories. </span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span face="">4.
Rather than trying to protect human life in every case, the Bible seeks to
protect the innocent and then punish the guilty in direct proportion to their
crime/sin. Ezekiel 13:19 demonstrates this well: “For handfuls of barley and
fragments of bread, you have profaned Me to My people to put to death some who
should not die and to keep others alive who should not live, by your lying to My
people who listen to lies.” In like manner, the divinely appointed purpose
for government testifies of this same truth: “For rulers are not a cause of
fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority?
Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; for it is a minister of
God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not
bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings
wrath on the one who practices evil” (Romans 13:-3-4).</span><span face=""> In
light of the biblical ethic, the emphasis is on protecting innocent life versus
punishing those who are evil doers. </span>
</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span face="">5.
Finally, the whole life ethic, while sounding good, is simply a sophisticated
way to distill and dismiss the implications of the abortion issue. For some it
serves as a salve for their consciences so they can vote for merchants of death
and the promoters of feticide under the guise of “comprehensive justice”
(another vague and obtuse term). With all the pious talk about “justice” at
present, the whole life ethic enables one to push an issue like feticide to the
periphery and so diminish its importance by lumping it with a host of other
life-related categories. All of which Scripture treats differently. </span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span face="">So
the next time you hear some professing evangelical caution you against being a
“one issue” voter this election season, with reference to abortion, it may be
they have been influenced in some measure by the revival of the “whole life
ethic”. And while it may sound convincing, it is simply a one-size-fits-all
approach that diminishes the importance of the murder of the innocent at the
expense of confusing it with other life-related issues. In the end, the Bible
does not treat all life issues the same, and neither should we. For God places
a premium on the life of the innocent. Perhaps the Christian vote come November 3, 2020
should reflect this same sacredness of innocent life! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face="" style="line-height: 107%;"> </span></p>
The Radical Watchmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11317466632490218450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32447962.post-24204133934103132352020-06-23T03:19:00.000-07:002020-06-23T03:19:07.505-07:00An “Evangelical” Promotion of Same-Sex Marriage: A Case Undemonstrated<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<u><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<u><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"></span></u><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">By
Pastor Mark Christopher</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">A friend of mine recently sent
me </span><a href="https://www.futurechurchnow.com/2016/04/21/the-bible-and-same-sex-relationships-part-14-start-here-a-summary-of-the-bibles-verses-against-same-sex-marriage/?fbclid=IwAR1Se3v_hfTO1Ubv2yrbKOpYka4T5NPt2WrBWXwkyI5BXd8IV5vptYV8tB8"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">a blog
article</span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> biblically endorsing same-sex relationships by Graeme
Codrington and asked me to comment on it. The article in question is a summary
article of a multipart treatment Codrington did on the topic. Rather than
addressing every major assertion made in the article, I will limit my evaluation
to one of Codrington’s primary assumptions. Codrington’s towering
presuppositions is first stated about halfway through the article after he
summarizes key Old Testament passages related to homosexuality. He concludes,
“These are the lessons we learn from the Old Testament. They still apply today.
But they do not apply to loving, same-sex couples who wish to have sex within
the bounds of a lifelong, committed, covenantal relationship.” Then, after
commenting on 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 and 1 Timothy 1:8-10, he reiterates,
“Neither of these passages has anything to do with lifelong, monogamous same
sex relationships.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It is apparent from his
statements that Codrington relies on part of the creation ordinance for
marriage and sexuality while dispensing with a key element of God’s divine
design for the same — namely, gender distinction. This is a common view by
those trying to biblically promote same-sex marriage. The question is, how can
one so easily accept some aspects of God’s creational blueprint for marriage
and sexuality while conveniently eliminating the aspect(s) that contradicts the
thesis, without explicit biblical proof? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Here are a few observations
from the creation context of Genesis 1-2 that ultimately undermine the thesis
that life-long same-sex unions are biblically acceptable as long as they are
monogamous and covenantally committed relationships in keeping with Genesis
1:27-28 and 2:23-24:</span></div>
<ul style="text-align: justify;">
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The creation account offers a precedent setting
paradigm for the divine prerequisites of gender distinction, marriage, and
human sexuality. And while the creation narrative is descriptive, not
prescriptive, it is nevertheless precedent setting with assumed authority
throughout the remainder of the Bible to include creation references to gender
distinction, monogamy, and lifelong commitment by Jesus and Paul (Matt. 19:4-6;
Mk. 10:2-12; 1 Cor. 6:16; Eph. 5:22-32). </span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: justify;">
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">From the “is” of creation (Gen. 1-2) come the
“oughts” for marriage, gender distinction, and sexuality (Exo. 20:14; Lev.
18:6-23; 20:9-21; Matt. 19:4-6; Mk. 7:21-22; 10:2-12; 1 Cor. 6:9-10; 1 Tim.
1:8-10). A strong case can be made for the creation account serving as the
touchstone for the 10 Commandments, which includes the 7<sup>th</sup>
Commandment serving as a category marker for all sexual deviations that depart
from the creation ordinance. </span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: justify;">
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In Genesis 1:27-28, explicit boundaries are
established from the beginning as the creation ordinance clearly differentiates
between the “male and female”. This is in keeping with the rest of creation
order and design. It is here that sexual boundaries are confirmed and evidenced
in the first heterosexual couple who celebrated both their dissimilarity and
similarity as “one flesh” by becoming part of each other through the symbolic
picture of sexual intercourse (Gen. 2:23-24). This is something the uniformity
of same-sex relations, of whatever sort, are never able to duplicate, because
they lack the necessary dissimilarity required. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"></span></div>
<ul style="text-align: justify;">
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Thus, the fulfillment of Adam required a woman
for a compliment. This is by divine design not by individual choice, or
evolutionary happenstance. The Bible is unambiguous on this point.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: justify;">
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Scripture, overall, consistently upholds and
reaffirms the creation ordinance of monogamy, gender distinction, and a
lifelong covenantal commitment. In stark contrast to this, homosexuality
insists that one gender by itself is an accurate representation of God’s divine
plan. Yet, there is not one direct or explicit or implicit statement to substantiate
the claim. It is an argument predicated on complete silence and advanced by
philosophical sleight of hand. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: justify;">
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Gender distinction was a unique characteristic
of ancient Israel. Whereas gender blurring was a trait of many ancient Near
Eastern societies (Cf. Deut. 22:5): a trait which is now enjoying popular
resurgence. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In light of the clear teaching
and emphasis throughout Scripture on God’s blueprint for marriage and
sexuality, it is interesting that some evangelical promoters of same-sex
marriage insist on monogamy and a life-long covenantal commitment, yet, they so
easily disregard the clear teaching on the necessity for gender distinction
with no biblical warrant. With this as a major assumption, Codrington then
seeks to limit all the contexts that reference same-sex distortion by
relegating these variously related textual contexts to nothing more than limited
prohibitions against same-sex activity in the worship precinct of ancient
Israel and the early church. Yet, the unrelenting testimony of Scripture
maintains the necessity of gender distinction from creation to consummation
regardless of the context. This one truth alone undermines the entirety of his
argument. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In the end, any worldview that
falsifies God’s created order, like negating gender distinction, is then prone
to falsifying and distorting God’s created order (Rom. 1:18-32) culminating in the
normalizing of sexual distortion (Rom. 1:24, 26-27) in every sphere, not just
the religious realm. The only way to support such a thesis then requires one
ignore the obvious and argue the ridiculous (Rom. 1:28). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In summary, as Old Testament
scholar Sidney Greidanus concludes, there is, “a universal transcendent
standard for human sexuality which is an extension of creation itself: There is
a norm for sexual morality that finds its origin in creation … it is a norm
based on God-given nature of which all people ought to live by gender
distinction and monogamy.” It is only by ignoring this truth, or part of this
truth, that pro-gay interpreters, like Codrington, can promote what Scripture
never condones. If Codrington is right, and gender distinction in marriage is
no longer a requirement, then who is to say that marriage must be covenantally
committed and or limited to only two people? Such is the terminus his faulty
assumption. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Closing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Message Header"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Salutation"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Date"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Block Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Hyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="FollowedHyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Document Map"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Plain Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="E-mail Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Top of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Bottom of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal (Web)"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Acronym"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Address"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Cite"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Code"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Definition"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Keyboard"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Preformatted"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Sample"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Typewriter"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Variable"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal Table"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="annotation subject"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="No List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Contemporary"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Elegant"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Professional"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Balloon Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Theme"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" QFormat="true"
Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="41" Name="Plain Table 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="42" Name="Plain Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="43" Name="Plain Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="44" Name="Plain Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="45" Name="Plain Table 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="40" Name="Grid Table Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="Grid Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="List Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="List Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="List Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
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The Radical Watchmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11317466632490218450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32447962.post-78257108343520952562019-03-20T00:55:00.001-07:002019-03-20T00:58:39.167-07:00Homosexuality, The Dutch Reformed Church, and Religious Liberty<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">By
Pastor Mark Christopher</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">(The following was written for the congregation of Everglen Baptist Church to inform them about the recent court ruling regarding the Dutch Reformed Church's vacillations on homosexuality and same-sex marriage and the consequence of imperiled religious liberty for all Christians.)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In October 2015, as I prepared
to write the conclusion for a dissertation on homosexuality and biblical
interpretation, the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) General Synod made a landmark
ruling regarding homosexuality and same-sex marriage. Essentially, the DRC
agreed that individual ministers (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">dominees</i>)
could now solemnize same-sex marriages based on conscience. Beyond this, the
General Synod concluded that non-celibate gays and lesbians could now be
ordained as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">dominees</i>. Given its
pertinence, this ruling served as the backdrop for my eight-page conclusion, as
it perfectly illustrated all that I had argued for the prior 230 pages.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But in 2016, due to extreme
backlash from the DRC membership, the DRC reversed its 2015 ruling regarding
homosexuality and same-sex marriage. Unhappy with this reversal, the small, but
very vocal, LGBT minority in the DRC took the DRC to court. This set up the
recent ruling (March 8, 2019) in the North Gauteng High Court, which favored
the DRC LGBT contingent.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The High Court ruled on two
fronts: First, the court ruled that the DRC’s 2016 reversal of the 2015 General
Synod decision failed to follow the church’s own rules of procedure and is,
therefore, invalid. If the High Court’s ruling had only addressed the DRC’s
procedural irregularities, there would be no cause for concern from outside the
DRC. Secondly, and more importantly, the court ruled that the DRC is guilty of
discriminating against homosexuals based on sexual orientation and has,
therefore, violated section 9(3) of the Constitution. With this new judicial
precedent, the rest of Christendom in South Africa is now in jeopardy of losing
precious religious liberties, with sexual orientation now trumping the right to
religious freedom. In Orwellian fashion, all rights are equal, but some rights are
now more equal than others.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Given that my legal expertise
on this very concerning matter is vastly limited, I would like to make a few
random biblical and personal observations that will hopefully help some to think
through this new development more clearly while giving us all something to
seriously pray about: </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">1. It was a fool’s errand for
the DRC to think they could ever appease both sides of the homosexual issue.
This is a very black and white biblical issue with no ambiguity. There is no
third-way position one can take. It is an either-or issue, not both-and. As a
wise man once said, “If you try to walk down both sides of the street and the
same time, you will get hit from both sides.” Once the LGBT camel gets its head
in the ecclesiastical tent, the occupants had better be looking for the nearest
emergency exit. The DRC has learned the hard way that the LGBT camel now owns
their tent. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">2. The DRC’s LGBT demise was a
long time in the making. They did not arrive at their current trajectory
overnight. On the contrary, their accommodation of all thing’s LGBT began the
day their seminaries, like Tukkies and Stellenbosch, abandoned biblical authority
and scriptural sufficiency. All of which promoted a more subjective and
culturally driven method of biblical interpretation. In short, the DRC has long
since exchanged the creed of the Reformation <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sola Scriptura</i> (Scripture alone) for the worldly creed of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sola cultura</i>. Hence, for the DRC,
culture is now supreme, not God’s word. As Jeremiah warned, “… he who has my
word, let him speak it faithfully …” (Jer. 23:28). Churches and denominations
that sellout to the LGBT agenda first abandon biblical authority and scriptural
sufficiency long before they arrive at the LGBT destination. The DRC is no
exception.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">3. The word of God is
unambiguous on the matter of homosexuality and same-sex marriage. It is God, in
His word, who defines gender, marriage, and human sexuality, not man or
man-made institutions. It is simply man’s duty to recognize what is, not
arbitrarily redefine and revise what God ordained. God’s creation ordinance
details three non-negotiables required for marriage and human sexuality: gender
distinction, the numerical requirement of only two people, and life-long
monogamy wrapped in a covenantal commitment between God and the two marriage
partners. God has never amended or appended this divine recipe, even in light
of the fall (Gen. 1;27; 2:23-24; Matt. 19:4-6; 1 Cor. 6:18; Eph. 5:22-32). Any
deviation or distortion of God’s boundaries whether it be fornication,
adultery, incest, bestiality, or homosexuality is a sin that needs to be
repented of (Lev. 18:6-30; 1 Cor. 6:9-11; Heb. 13:4). </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">4. The assumption of “sexual
orientation” figured prominently in the High Court’s decision. Sexual
orientation has become a catchphrase that is commonly used but seldom defined.
Sexual orientation is as philosophical as it is subjective in its meaning,
because it is rooted in fallen human emotions, passions, and desires, not
empirical science. For an expanded treatment of this aspect of the LGBT debate
please go the Everglen Baptist's website (</span><a href="http://everglenchurch.co.za/seminars/homosexuality-the-bible-and-the-cultural-accommodation-of-the-church/"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Here</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">) and
look under seminars for my seven-part series on homosexuality and the church,
which has two sessions on the slippery definition of “sexual orientation” and
its relation to the biblical category of lust. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">5. The Bible, not secular
society, serves as the determiner of who qualifies for church leadership (1
Tim. 3:1-7; Tit. 1:5-11). Church leadership is a privilege, not a human right.
As such, it is a divine privilege that can be easily forfeited through any
number of disqualifying sins and unbiblical attitudes, of which homosexuality
is only one. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">6. Any church or denomination
that embraces the LGBT platform, as the DRC has, is apostate and not worthy of
the name church. Why? Because as stated in the first observation, long before a
church or denomination arrives at the LGBT destination, they first had to
abandon biblical authority and scriptural sufficiency while adopting a new hermeneutic
(method of interpretation). This results in a truncated gospel, redefined
gender, a distortion of marriage, and perverted sexuality that unintentionally
promotes the sexual revolution. In this, the DRC has unwittingly exchanged a theology of
sex for sexualized theology. The centrality of Christ is thus eclipsed by
man-centered concerns instead of a Christ-centered emphasis. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In accordance with the above,
all true believers still in the DRC need to put 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1 into
practice by separating from this apostate denomination (as difficult as this
may be) and find a biblical church that boldly and unashamedly preaches the
whole council of God’s word without compromise or apology. Or, they should breakaway and start a biblical branch of the DRC. They should also
know that the LGBT train does not find its terminus at homosexuality, for it
keeps moving onto the next deviancy — transgenderism and all points beyond. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">7. Finally, in all of this we
must remember that homosexuals are not the enemy, they are the mission field!
Their biggest problem is not their homosexuality, but that they are headed for
a Christ-less eternity (1 Cor. 6:9-11). Therefore, we are called upon reach out
to them with the unadulterated gospel in an equal measure of truth and grace
like our Lord (John 1:14). In so doing, we are to inform them that Jesus is a
much better Savior than they are a sinner!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In conclusion, we must not kid
ourselves into thinking the High Court’s ruling is innocuous. Quite the
contrary, the militants within the LGBT are now emboldened and will seek to
test this new judicial precedent on other churches and denominations. So, we
must pray that this ruling will be appealed and eventually overturned while
asking God to prepare us for intensified persecution. As well, we need to pray
that God might use us to reach those who are enslaved to homosexuality with the
sin-liberating gospel of Jesus Christ. If someone struggling with the sin of
homosexuality should walk through the doors of Everglen Baptist, let us see it
as an opportunity to advance gospel truth and gospel behavior like our Lord
before us, who came seek and save that which is lost! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Note: As a postscript, it was announced yesterday that the DRC will not appeal the High Court's decision. This, though, does not prevent outside parties of interest from seeking an appeal. Let us pray that an appeal is filed! </span></div>
<br /></div>
The Radical Watchmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11317466632490218450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32447962.post-54948657647327501092017-08-17T17:27:00.001-07:002017-08-18T20:16:11.070-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Charlottesville: Parallels Between The White Supremacists
and Antifa </span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">By Rev. Mark Christopher</span></b><br />
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">The
events of Charlottesville last Saturday have weighed heavy on my heart this
week as I reflect on what was, but never should have been. Last Saturday cast a
long dark shadow over the whole of the country, as it sent reverberations
around the world. As if the bellicose actions of the white supremacists, Antifa
(Antifascist), and Black Lives Matter weren’t bad enough, the ongoing
misinterpretations and manipulated narrative of the media is adding further
fuel to the fire. This is just as grievous and shameful as the tragic events of
Saturday past. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">As
various “progressive” entities posture to modulate the storyline for the sake
of political advantage, one aspect of the story has been virtually eclipsed — the
parallels between the two primary warring factions: Antifa and the white
supremacists. There is as much that unites them as divides them. So, as I wade
into these contentious waters it is for the purpose of highlighting some of
these ironic similarities and then recounting the real solution for the racial
disharmony that prevails. Thus, the following is a partial list of the common
ground that these two opposing hate groups share: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Both
groups loath the US Constitution and seek to undermine and flout it whenever it
suits their agenda driven purposes. Antifa demonstrated its utter contempt for
the 1<sup>st</sup> Amendment in Charlottesville by denying the white
supremacists their legal right to march on Saturday, even though the
supremacists had a properly attained permit. In turn, the white supremacists
would be quick to deny people of other races their equal rights as guaranteed
under the constitution. </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Both
evil scourges adhere to the utter mindlessness of identity politics. So, rather
than promoting the unity of Americanism — <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">E
Plurbis Unum</i> (out of many, one), both deranged groups seek to polarize and sow
discord through the error of their satanic doctrines of anarchy and racism.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Both
groups claim membership in the ever-burgeoning club of victimhood. Antifa think
they are “victims” of capitalism, economic inequalities, and draconian
patriarchal structures. Meanwhile, the white supremacists claim that the current
social justice diatribe against “white privilege” has sidelined them because of
their pale pigment. They both sound like a whiny toddler in mom’s grocery cart
at the store, squalling like a brat because mom wouldn’t buy gummy bears. The
real victims here are those in the public who are subjected to their juvenile
rants and murderous intentions. </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Both
groups find their roots and identity in the soil of left-wing thinking and
ideology. The KKK and white supremacists locate their genesis in the Democratic
Party after the civil war. And even up through the civil rights era, many
prominent Democratic US congressmen and senators, like Robert Byrd, were, or
had been, members in good standing with the KKK. The Antifa movement on the
other hand, is lionized by many mainstream left-wing voices today because of
their emphasis on globalism and wealth redistribution. All of which explains
the left’s refusal to place any blame on Antifa and Black Lives Matter for
Saturday’s melee. This despite video footage that clearly shows Antifa charging
the marching supremacists from the sidelines. Of course, a strong police
presence would have done much to prevent the brawl that ensued.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Based
on their common heritage and lineage, both are really two peas of the same
fascist pod. Even though Antifa stands for “Antifascists”, they hold to the
same essential dogma and strategies of the fascists of old. Their tactics
resemble the tactics of the Nazis prior to WW2 in their aggressive attempts to
silence all dissent, by any means necessary. As an anonymous sage from the WW2
era predicted, “The fascists of the future will be called antifascists.” Ironically,
the white supremacists have a similar Nazi-like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">modus oporendi</i>. In fact, the confrontation in Charlottesville was
reminiscent of the street battles between the communists and the fascists of
Hitler, prior to Hitler’s ascension to power. Then, as now, both radical ideologies
were simply a variant of one another resembling an intra-tribal conflict.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">6.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Given
their shared lineage and the close similarities in dogma, it is not surprising
that both groups must rely on Big Government to intervene on behalf of their
respective platforms to ensure full compliance to their half-baked ideas. Whereas
true conservativism and right-wing thinking, ardently promotes a smaller,
decentralized form of government with limited powers that provide liberty and
justice for all.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">7.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Both
miscreant groups are anti-Semitic and have little time for those of Jewish
persuasion. The white supremacists were chanting anti-Semitic epithets as they
marched in Charlottesville. Antifa claims to be the champion of Semitic
bigotry, yet they denigrate the Jewish state of Israel. </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">8.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Both
groups share the same fatally flawed view of sin (hamartiology). They both see
sin as external and structural rather than inherent, individual, and personal.
The social justice mantra of Antifa construes the free market structures of the
west as prime evil. Conversely, the white supremacists view racial equality as
original sin, because it supplants white dominance. Neither group has any sense
of “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">9.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Both
Antifa and the white supremacists have a similar external view of salvation
(soteriology). If sin is structural, then salvation includes replacing said
evil structures with more equitably perceived structures through revolution, to
include anarchy and para-military actions. Antifa illustrates this well with
their new website entitled “Redneck Revolution”, which espouses violent
revolutionary means to accomplish their diabolical ends of ridding the world of
white supremacists and free market values.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">10. In
sum, both Antifa and the white supremacists look pathetically alike in their
goals, methods, ideology, theology, and genealogy. This is not to say there
aren’t any differences between them, or that they are identical in every way,
but the similarities are uncanny and unmistakable. They are like proverbial
birds of a feather. They are like long-lost twins that just haven’t found one
another yet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are so blinded by
hatred and the violence that is bound up in their hearts, that they haven’t
figured out they are actually kissing cousins who are presently estranged. They
probably never will. Each is as bad as the other. For this reason, they deserve
each other more than most realize. </span>
</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">What is doubtlessly clear is that both of these subversive groups exacerbate the problem without having anything to offer in way of a solution. Of course, this applies to many others from the media to academics and politicians as well. There are any number of people who are ready to opportunistically use such a travesty for the furtherance of an agenda or ideology.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">The
haunting events of last Saturday indicate that there is a tremendous amount of
hatred and bitterness about the past, surrounding Charlottesville, and
concerning the way forward from here. And trying to lump one political party
with all the blame will do little to quell the emotionally charged climate. We certainly
can’t erase the past with its dark pastels, nor should we. Let us learn from
the halls of history, but not live in those same halls, as some would have us
do. Further, let us be weary of those, like the media and expedient
politicians, who exploit this tragedy for their own evil purposes and the sake
of personal gain.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead, Bible-believing Christians should
capitalize on this present darkness and point the confused and bewildered to
the light of Christ. Make Christ the object of the rallying cry, not politics
or some secular notion of social justice. After all, this is a spiritual and theological problem before it is a political or social problem. The church of Jesus Christ has an
opportunity in this dark hour to be both light and salt — light that illumines
the way to the only one who broke down that wall of partition that stood
between us; and salt that arrests the creeping decay and rancor that
contentious issues like this emit. It is up to the church, the blood-bought
church, to remind those around us that God has made of all nations one blood,
and that salvation does not come by revolution, legislation, or coercive
polices, but by the blood of the Lamb! Therefore, if there is to be a
revolution, may it be a redemptive revolution that is led by the redeemed on
behalf of the Redeemer — Jesus Christ! </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Note: As a postscript to this <a href="http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/the-alt-right-is-not-truly-right/article/2631747" target="_blank">article</a>, I came across a headline today that highlights the real meaning of the oft used term "alt-right". It is a term coined by Richard Spencer who leads a white nationalist socialist supremacist group. His use of the term means "alternative to the right", which underscores the arguments above that the white supremacists have far more in common with left-wing ideology and thinking than they do with those on the right. Spencer admits that he is a socialist, abortionist, and white supremacist. His goal is to hijack the Republican Party and morph it into his way of thinking. For this reason, he has been reviled and rejected by the right even though he insists on hitching his wagon to the right-wing train. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: .25in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
</div>
The Radical Watchmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11317466632490218450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32447962.post-38404558033077108022016-03-08T08:09:00.005-08:002016-03-08T08:51:12.203-08:00Christianity and Islam — A Mixing of Oil and Water<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">By Pastor Mark Christopher</span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">One
of the great dangers that ancient Israel was repeatedly warned against was to
avoid the pagan pluralism of the day. The ancient Hebrew was often faced with
the temptation to commingle aspects of pagan worship and ritual with their very
distinctive regulations concerning the worship of their covenant-keeping God,
Jehovah. Syncretism, then as now, has always presented a grave danger to God’s
people, because it seeks to merge two heterogeneous belief systems into one
whole new hybrid, seeking to capture the “best” of both creeds. But this always
results in the loss of vital truths.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">One
modern-day example of this, which is getting a great deal of fanfare today,
addresses whether or not Christianity and Islam worship the same God. Here is
the issue phrased as a question: Is Allah the God of both Christianity and
Islam? In recent days, the Pope has given much credence to affirming such an
interrelationship between these two religious systems. In a separate current
event, a political science professor at Wheaton College, an evangelical college
near Chicago, was fired for claiming on her Face-Book page that Islam and
Christianity worship the same God — Allah. These are only two examples, of
many, surrounding this question, but they illustrate the urgency for forming a
biblical response to this popular query. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In
formulating an answer to the question, here are five thought provoking questions
to consider as we work our way through the theological implications of an
interrelated Islam and Christianity:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">1.
Is it really possible for anyone to truly worship the Father (God) while
rejecting the Son, Jesus Christ? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In
John 8:19 it records the interplay between Jesus and the Pharisees regarding
His true identity, “So they were saying to Him, ‘Where is your Father?’ Jesus
answered, ‘You know neither Me nor My Father; if you knew Me, you would know My
Father also.’” On numerous occasions in the Gospel of John, Jesus claimed that
true knowledge of God, the Father, led to recognition of who Jesus was. It is
by believing on the Son that one can truly know the Father. Yet, Islam claims
that Allah does not have a son. And while Islam declares that Jesus was a
prophet of God, they categorically deny that He is the Son of God in human
flesh. This is in direct contradiction to Scripture.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">2.
What kind of God does Christianity worship? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Biblically
and historically, Christianity has worshiped the tri-une (3 in 1) God — Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit, and no other god period. And while the theological
concept of the trinity is complex and difficult to grasp, it is still one of
the cardinal tenants of the Christian faith, apart from which Christianity
ceases to be Christian. The Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20 was in fact
notarized and approved in the name of the triune Godhead. But Islam claims that
Trinitarian language is “blasphemy” and “idolatrous”. On the contrary, it is
absolutely essential to biblical Christianity. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In
close communion with the triune nature of the Christian God, is the personal
way in which Christians can worship the God of the Bible. The Lord’s Prayer in
Matthew 6:9 illustrates this when it begins with “Our Father who art in heaven
…” It is only by God’s grace that Christians can call Him by such an intimate
title of endearment. But Islam does not speak of Allah as their heavenly
father. The deity that Islam knows primarily as Allah is far more remote and
impersonal than the God of the Bible. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The
biblical God has revealed Himself to His people through numerous names in both
the Old and New Testaments. Each name given for God, or Christ, reveals some
aspect of His nature, character, and work in the time-space-matter continuum.
God owns the title deed to each of these unique names that describe Him in some
way, and we have no right to arbitrarily change or modify His name(s) for the
sake of a worldly ecumenical agenda. For this reason, God gave the 3<sup>rd</sup>
Commandment to warn against taking His name in vain — which is to essentially
claim that He is something He is not. God takes His name seriously, and so
should we. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">3.
Do Christianity, Islam, and Judaism all look to Abraham as a model of faith?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It
is true that all three belief systems historically look to Abraham as a
progenitor of their faith. But it was Jesus, in John 8:39-59, who denied,
before the Pharisees, that salvation is gained by merely being Abraham’s
offspring. Instead, salvation is given to those who confess with their mouth
that Jesus Christ is Lord and who believe on Him for the forgiveness of sin,
based on His finished work on the cross. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">4.
What about the link between Christianity and Judaism — do Christianity and Islam
share a similar relationship? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">From
a theological standpoint, there is genetic link between Christianity and
Judaism. It is true that Christianity stands on the shoulders, as it were, of
Judaism, as Paul indicated in Romans 1:2-5, and 16; and 9:2-5. But Christianity
and Islam do not enjoy the same relationship. In terms of both history and
theology, Christianity has absolutely no connection with Islam, which was
conceived 700 years after Christianity. Anyone who studies the early life of
Mohammed knows that he traveled extensively throughout the Christian and
Jewish dominated regions of the Middle East. He would have had heavy exposure
to both Christianity and Judaism. No doubt he borrowed aspects from each, and
then particularized these to fit his contrived belief system. This accounts for
any general similarities between Christianity and Islam. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">5.
So, should Christians use the name Allah to build a bridge to Muslims? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In
non-Arabic speaking countries, the use of Allah by Christians minimizes the
vast chasm of difference between the one true God of the Bible and the generic
use of Allah by Islam. When Christians use the term Allah, it creates ambiguity
and confusion on the part of those who think there is an association between
the two. Therefore, it is unwise to refer to the Christian God of the Bible as
Allah, unless you live in an Arabic-speaking country. But even then, biblical
content would have to be supplied to distinguish the biblical God from the
Islamic god. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In
the end, genuine biblical love demands that Christians tell their neighbor,
Muslim or otherwise, the exclusive truth about Jesus Christ as the only way and
only truth by which one can know the Father. For one cannot deny the Son and
rightly claim to worship the Father! </span></div>
</div>
The Radical Watchmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11317466632490218450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32447962.post-22651145052392523472015-06-24T06:30:00.001-07:002015-06-24T06:48:56.041-07:00Honoring Marriage in an Age of Dishonor: Same-Sex Marriage in the Bible’s Crosshairs <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The following was written for the Australian publication "Evangelical Action" for their next edition--July 2015.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Note: I have been asked
to present a four part series on the issue of homosexuality and same-sex marriage.
This is the first of that four-part series. On the whole, this series is
predicated upon the foundational matters pertaining to biblical authority and
inerrancy. Therefore, I recommend a past article I wrote for Evangelical
Action, “The Ecclesiastical Promotion of Homosexuality and the Demise of
Biblical authority” in the 2010 December issue (pages 35-39). An abridged
update of this article can be read at <a href="http://www.inerrantword.com/180015375/blog/180004060/Mark_Christopher?author_id=220000022">http://www.inerrantword.com/180015375/blog/180004060/Mark_Christopher?author_id=220000022</a>
. In part two, I will address the use of Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 in this
debate, before surveying the key New Testament passages in part three. Finally,
in part four, I will address some of the commonly asked questions. The
following article is adapted from my2009 book “Same-Sex Marriage: Is It Really
The Same?” </span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">I
am often asked how we, as a society, have arrived at the place where same-sex
marriage (hereafter SSM) is approved of, aggressively promoted, and legal in a
number of places around the world? In part, I can answer we have arrived at our
current destination because of the mess the rest of us have made of marriage.
We have not honored marriage as Hebrews 13:4 exhorts us to do: “Marriage is to
be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; for
fornicators and adulterers God will judge.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">So
what is an honored marriage — what does it look like?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l3 level1 lfo3; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">It is
Costly: An honored is a marriage that is both praised and prized. It is
like a precious jewel, not some common-place institution, which is taken
for granted. Sadly, after the vows have been exchanged we so often are
guilty of becoming insensitive to the real meaning of marriage. We easily
forget that the marriage covenant is always between 3 people — a husband,
his wife, and God. </span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l3 level1 lfo3; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">It is
Contrary to the world: The world at large denigrates and diminishes
marriage by promoting loose living devoid of boundaries. Hollywood revels
in taking sex out of marriage and placing it into every sphere of society
while experimenting with every conceivable sexual distortion. So the
boundaries are always being extended.</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> </span>
</li>
</ul>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l3 level1 lfo3; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">It is
the Citadel: Marriage is the basic building of society that adds the
needed form and structure to provide stability and human flourishing. The
demise in marriage and family results in the failure of a nation and the
ensuing judgment of God: The love of many will grow cold … as it was in
the days of Noah … as it was in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah so shall it
be in the coming of the Son of Man (Luke 17:24-28).</span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">So
how do we reverse this trend, or at least stall it? How do we as Believers
pursue God-honoring marriages? We must go back and consult the blueprint — God’s
template as found in Genesis 2:18-25. When in doubt consult the owner’s manual!
What do we find when we consult the owner’s manual? God’s divine building
blocks for marriage. Creation is really where the whole discussion of
homosexuality and SSM should begin — at the very beginning, because this
undeviatingly establishes the divine lines for the architecture of marriage and
sexuality. Here are 5 of the most obvious building blocks of marriage from the
creation account: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">1. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Marriage
is reflective</i>:<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i></span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">According to Genesis 1:26-27, “Then
God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">image</i>,
according to Our <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">likeness</i>; and let
them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the
cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the
earth.’ 27 And God created man in His own <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">image</i>,
in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The
ultimate purpose of marriage is seen in that marriage reflects God and His
image.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_edn1" name="_ednref1" style="mso-endnote-id: edn1;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a>
This is not to imply that singles don’t represent the image of God. Both
genders reflect the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">imago dei</i> (image
of God) in very different and yet complementary ways. The male and female were
distinct and unique, and yet similar. But when united in a covenant commitment
before God, and then brought together in physical intimacy, they mirror
essential aspects of the triune God-head in a way the rest of creation never
could or will.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gender distinction is a
creational reality, not a result of social or cultural constructs.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_edn2" name="_ednref2" style="mso-endnote-id: edn2;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a>
This is one of the reasons God does not endorse transsexuality, transvestism,
and transgenderism. Gender bending is antithetical to the unique distinctions
God implanted in the man and woman, respectively, from the dawn of creation.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Any attempt
to androgynize (merge or blend the sexes together) men and women, as both the
feminist and homosexual lobbies have done, is tantamount to defacing God. It
results in the graffiti of God’s crown jewel of creation. The androgynous ideal
seeks to erase the gender distinctions God intended from creation. No amount of
reconstructive surgery and hormonal treatment can alter the genetic code that
bears the imprimatur of one’s God-given gender. SSM, whether intentionally or
unintentionally, insists on giving God an extreme makeover He neither wants nor
needs. For this reason, this issue is as much about gender distinction as it is
about sex and sexuality. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">2. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Marriage
is meant to be completion</i></span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">:
Genesis 2:18 says, “Then the LORD God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be
alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him’.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">It was not
“good” (not beneficial or fitting) for Adam to be alone, so God created a
“helper” suitable to meet the need of his human solitude. Eve was the missing
ingredient of this creational ordinance. As a helper, Eve made up that which
was lacking in Adam. This was something the rest of creation was unable to do,
because the rest of creation was and is devoid of image-bearing qualities.
Though Eve was very different from Adam, she was still very much like him. In
this way Eve was the perfect corresponding opposite or complement to Adam
because of her essential equality with him. Had God made them exactly alike,
Eve could not have provided the necessary attributes to complement and so
complete Adam. In Eve, Adam found the perfect counterpart that nothing else in
creation could provide. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">It is never
good for man to be alone. The fulfilled life is found only in community life
with other image-bearers. This, in part, is what it means to be an
image-bearer. This is why Bobo the circus chimp can never fill the social void
of humanity. Yet, male and female together, in a covenant oath before God, find
completion and fulfillment.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The point
is simple: men and women are different and yet similar at the same time. The
result of this contrasted correspondence equals completion. SSM seeks to ignore
the differences and redefine the completion. Yet one has to overlook the
obvious to achieve this level of denial. Think of all the biological
differences between the sexes. Last time I checked only women could gestate and
lactate. Then, on the emotional front, think of the many dissimilarities where
a heterosexual couple complement one another. For example:<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_edn3" name="_ednref3" style="mso-endnote-id: edn3;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[3]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo4; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Men are often more physically aggressive; while
women are sometimes more sensitive and understanding. This is why most of
the spousal abuse that takes place in marriages is perpetrated by men.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo4; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Men often find analytical thought easier; while
women are often more intuitive. This is why engineering courses are
crowded with a preponderance of males. On the other hand, how many
husbands have wished they had listened to their wife’s assessment of
another person or situation? </span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo4; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Men are more contemplative; while women are more
communicative. One of the most common complaints from couples I have
counseled over the years is that “he doesn’t communicate”, while he
maintains “she talks too much.”</span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo4; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Men respond sexually more by sight; while women
correspondingly respond more to emotional connections. In all of the
adultery cases I have counseled, the affair began with flirtatious advances
and a strong emotional connection. The men confide they were physically
attracted to the other woman; while the women admit to an attraction based
on an emotional appeal that developed over time.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo4; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Men require immediate justice; while women are more
inclined to compassion. This is, in some measure, why it is often heard
that women should rule the world instead of men, because it is thought
that women would not be as quick to go to war. </span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Just think
of how these distinctions are valuable in child-rearing! Both sides of the
above equation are crucial ingredients in the enterprise of parenting.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_edn4" name="_ednref4" style="mso-endnote-id: edn4;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[4]</span></span></span></span></a>
When temperately demonstrated and modeled before children in the home, these
contrasting characteristics can help produce a healthier and better-rounded
child.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_edn5" name="_ednref5" style="mso-endnote-id: edn5;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[5]</span></span></span></span></a>
Sadly, same-sex couples will never be able to offer these much needed gender
differences to any children they might have.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_edn6" name="_ednref6" style="mso-endnote-id: edn6;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[6]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">This is
precisely why men and women complement each other so well. It is by divine
design!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Adam and Eve were a perfect
corresponding pair. They corresponded physically, mentally, emotionally,
socially, and spiritually:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">“Marriages
don’t bring similar things together. They bring different things together and
help them work for a common good. Same-sex unions are not marriage because they
don’t bring the two different parts of humanity together. They bring similar
things together, thus the word same in ‘same-sex marriage’ … Women complete
men, and men complete women … A man can’t complete another man, nor can a woman
complete another woman.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_edn7" name="_ednref7" style="mso-endnote-id: edn7;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[7]</span></span></span></span></a> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Again, the
authors of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Marriage On Trial</i> make the
crucial point that SSM ultimately robs a family of true dignity:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">“Same-sex
families seeking equality with the natural family devalue humanity because they
proclaim that one part of humanity is unnecessary. Women help men become what
they are created to be, and men help women become what they were created to be.
To deny this is to deny our full, God-given humanity.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_edn8" name="_ednref8" style="mso-endnote-id: edn8;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[8]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Therefore,
SSM is not complementary. Rather it seeks to bypass God’s requirement of making
up that which is lacking in one’s spouse. Perhaps this is one of the reasons
why homosexuals often have such a difficult time with committed, monogamous
relationships.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_edn9" name="_ednref9" style="mso-endnote-id: edn9;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[9]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">3. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Marriage
is meant to be cohesive</i></span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">:
Genesis 2:22-24 says:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">“And
the LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man,
and brought her to the man. 23 And the man 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.’ 24 For this cause a man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall
cleave to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The
“oneness” in verse 24 is a uni-plurality, which is the glue that serves to
merge the distinctions of Adam and Eve together into one cohesive unit. It
requires the man to “leave” his parents, which means he now emotionally
detaches himself from them to form a new priority relationship with his bride.
The conscious act of the “cleaving”, leads to the emphasized result of “one
flesh”, where two are now made into one. The term used for “one” (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">echad</i>) is the same term used for the
unity of God in Deuteronomy 6:4 where Israel’s God is said to be “one”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This active “cleaving” is the glue that binds
the two corresponding parts together into an indissoluble whole. This implies
three interrelated aspects of marriage cohesiveness:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l4 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">This ‘oneness’ speaks of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">companionship
</i></b>— This is closely related to the former element (of being
cohesive) of marriage, marriage unites two opposites into a unit that
produces a distinctive level of companionship that could never be achieved
in a SSM. In ancient Israel, this matrimonial oneness was said to create a
kinship bond so strong that she became a sister to his brothers and a
daughter-in-law to his parents. </span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l4 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">This ‘oneness’ also speaks of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">commitment
</i></b>— This commitment is expressed in a mutual, unconditional covenant
before God and each other as witnessed by our fellow man (cf. Genesis
2:23). Then, and only then, comes the physical bond of intimacy. This
intimate act forms a physical, emotional, mental, volitional, and
spiritual bond that is exceedingly strong, because it involves the total
person. In </span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1 Corinthians, the apostle Paul
underscores this same idea:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">“Or do
you not know that the one who joins himself to a harlot is one body <i>with her</i>?
For He says, ‘THE TWO WILL BECOME ONE FLESH.’ 17 But the one who joins himself
to the Lord is one spirit <i>with Him. </i>18 Flee immorality. Every <i>other </i>sin
that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his
own body.” (1Corinthians 6:15-18) </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Paul’s
argument is that sexual sin of any nature is different from other sins because
it involves the whole person: body, mind, and spirit. The consequences of
violating God’s standards here result in affecting every facet of one’s being.
Sexual sin of any kind is unique among all other sin in that acts like a stain
to the soul. This is why sexual abuse, rape, incest and adultery are so hard to
overcome, because the whole person has been violated and these acts are devoid
of the commitment intended from the beginning. Erwin Lutzer explains, “The
sexual bond can be so powerful that it can even determine the direction of a
person’s orientation.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_edn10" name="_ednref10" style="mso-endnote-id: edn10;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[10]</span></span></span></span></a> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">For
this reason, among others, God’s sequential recipe for marriage is: one man and
one woman in a covenant commitment that subsequently expresses itself in sexual
union. This, to great extent, symbolizes the union of body, mind, and spirit.
This is why physical intimacy apart from the covenant commitment cannot equal
marriage and is not considered marriage in God’s sight (Malachi 2:14; John
4:17-18). Such extra-marital relationships form an alien bond and stain the
soul ( a stain the blood of Christ can cleanse), but they do not equal
marriage. So, it is no coincidence that every successful culture and society
has historically maintained matrimonial rituals and social celebrations of
affirmation. Such indicate the approval for the wedded couple now to live
together as one.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Further,
this ‘oneness’ speaks of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">permanence </i></b>— also known as monogamy.
Marriage is a bond of unity that should not be broken except by death.
Ephesians 5:22-33 clearly records that Christ cannot be severed from His Bride,
the church. Can the unity of the trinity (tri-unity) be severed?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet, SSM unions are seemingly incapable of monogamy.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_edn11" name="_ednref11" style="mso-endnote-id: edn11;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[11]</span></span></span></span></a>
According to the research of Dr. Timothy J. Daily on the issue of monogamy
among homosexuals:</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">“While
the rate of fidelity within marriage (heterosexual) cited by these studies
remains far from ideal, there is a significant difference between the
negligible lifetime fidelity rate for homosexuals and the 75 to 90 percent for
married couples. This indicates that even ‘committed’ homosexual relationships
display a fundamental incapacity for the faithfulness and commitment that is
axiomatic to the institution of marriage.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_edn12" name="_ednref12" style="mso-endnote-id: edn12;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[12]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Dr.
Daily concludes that monogamy in the gay community is not possible because they
see sexual relationships “primarily for pleasure”, and they are taught,
complements of the sexual revolution, that “monogamy in marriage is not the
norm.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_edn13" name="_ednref13" style="mso-endnote-id: edn13;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[13]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Now,
contrast this with heterosexual marriages, where 75% of the married partners
are faithful to their vows in the first 10 years of marriage. Additionally, of
those heterosexuals who do get divorced, they do so after ten years of
marriage. Interestingly, one 70 year longitudinal study found that divorce
takes six years off each of the affected spouses’ lives and four years off the
lives of each of their children.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_edn14" name="_ednref14" style="mso-endnote-id: edn14;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[14]</span></span></span></span></a>
As a side note, smoking takes six years off one’s life. Maybe instead of suing
the tobacco companies for the consequences of smoking, victims of divorce
should sue the government and judicial system for making divorce so easy. Yet,
one local (in Cape Town) SSM advocate, when making his case for SSM in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Cape Times</i>, said:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“In the case of lesbian and gay couples, they
commit to honour, respect, support, and love each other. Such covenants are
intended to be exclusive and permanent, the basis of creating a new family
model that will not only have the stability necessary to rear children (if the
couple wishes to do so) but will also sustain the partners to the end of their
lives.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_edn15" name="_ednref15" style="mso-endnote-id: edn15;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[15]</span></span></span></span></a> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-indent: 3.75pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Such
specious thinking does not intersect with reality. All the statistics I’ve read
indicate a blatant incongruity between the homosexual lifestyle and monogamy.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_edn16" name="_ednref16" style="mso-endnote-id: edn16;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[16]</span></span></span></span></a>
In short, homosexuality is against nature:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">“….
homosexuality is against nature. The plumbing doesn’t work. We weren’t designed
this way. When homosexuals ignore nature, first they invite into their own
bodies all sorts of infectious diseases. Second, there are emotional problems.
Even in every homosexual relationship, there is a male and female role. One of
them plays the male or the dominate partner, and the other plays the female.
This shows by nature God has made us male and female. He has made each sex to
complement each other.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_edn17" name="_ednref17" style="mso-endnote-id: edn17;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[17]</span></span></span></span></a> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">In the
same vein, Dr. Camille Paglia, a lesbian scholar and author, categorically
states: “Homosexuality is not normal. On the contrary it is a challenge to the
norm …. Nature exists whether academics like it or not. And in nature,
procreation is the single relentless rule. That is the norm. Our sexual bodies
were designed for reproduction…. No one is born gay. The idea is ridiculous …
Homosexuality is an adaptation, not an inborn trait.” <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_edn18" name="_ednref18" style="mso-endnote-id: edn18;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[18]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">What a
refreshingly honest admission from the other side of the debate!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">John Piper
offers a nice summary of this cohesive principle, “Eve was like Adam yet very
unlike him … this provides a unique opportunity for profound unity, and
intimacy to exist. In this we see that God created heterosexuality not
homosexuality. God’s first institution was marriage not fraternity.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_edn19" name="_ednref19" style="mso-endnote-id: edn19;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[19]</span></span></span></span></a> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">4. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Marriage
is meant to be productive</i></span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">:
Genesis 1:28 says, “And God blessed them; and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful
and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the
sea and over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on
the earth’.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Now,
granted, procreation is not the only reason for marriage, but it certainly is a
very good reason. Mankind is meant to propagate and to perpetuate this unique
and dynamic image-bearing species. It doesn’t take a Rhodes Scholar to figure
out the obvious fact that it takes a man and woman to procreate naturally.
Consider that males have both X and Y chromosomes, while females have only
pairs of X chromosomes. It is the presence of the Y chromosome that determines
whether the baby is a boy or a girl. Whether feminists like it or not, the
man’s chromosomes determine the gender of the baby. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">In the 2006
constitutional court battle in South Africa over SSM, one of the advocates for
SSM indicated that the focus on procreation in marriage had become socially and
technologically obsolete, “Procreation is not a defining characteristic of
conjugal relations. This would be doubly offensive to those couples who are not
able to procreate.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_edn20" name="_ednref20" style="mso-endnote-id: edn20;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[20]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">SSM
proponents try to divorce sexuality from its procreative aspects. But left to
themselves, homosexuals would soon die out. Evolutionists call this “survival
of the fittest”. The presupposition behind SSM thinking is the notion that
sexuality is a purely biological response for self-gratification. Yet, as one
informed journalist in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">World Magazine</i>
reminds us :</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">“Marriage
is not just about love or sex or companionship. It is about establishing a
nuclear family. Marriage is not for everybody … Nevertheless, what marriage
does is establish a new family. And families are the bricks of which every
society, every culture, every government is built … Families form clans, clans
form tribes, and eventually tribes come together in nations … When the family
falls apart, so does the nation and so does the culture.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_edn21" name="_ednref21" style="mso-endnote-id: edn21;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[21]</span></span></span></span></a> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">It must be
remembered that, as part of the creation mandate, God created Adam and Eve to
serve as His representatives and caretakers of creation. They, as image-bearing
creatures, were meant to subdue and rule the earth. Apart from procreation,
this dominion capacity could never be realized. This is why God repeated the
command to procreate after the global flood (Genesis 9:1-7). </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">5. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Marriage
is meant to be exhilarative</i></span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">:
Genesis 2:23; cf. Proverbs 5:18-19 declares, “Let your fountain be blessed, And
rejoice in the wife of your youth. 19 <i>As </i>a loving hind and a graceful
doe, Let her breasts satisfy you at all times; Be exhilarated always with her
love.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">God is not
a cosmic prude who disapproves of sexual relations. To oppose immorality is not
the same as opposing sex. Yet, promoters of SSM take great delight in trying to
portray the biblical view of sex as anything but pleasurable. In fact, God not
only encourages a healthy and vibrant sex life, He commands it (1 Corinthians
7:3-7)! But God’s proviso is that sex remains within <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">His established boundaries</i> of a heterosexual, covenant commitment.
Marriage regulates our sexual activity and desires. Without marriage you have
the mess spawned by the sexual revolution — unwed mothers, illegitimate
children, fatherless homes, shattered emotions, ruined relationships, and
unchecked desires. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">In summary,
the heterosexual norm of marriage provides many necessary benefits to both
individuals and society at large.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_edn22" name="_ednref22" style="mso-endnote-id: edn22;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[22]</span></span></span></span></a>
This Genesis creational schematic is consistently maintained throughout the
Bible. God never amends nor appends it. Christ himself reaffirmed it as did the
apostle Paul:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">“And <i>some
</i>Pharisees came to Him, testing Him, and saying, ‘Is it lawful <i>for a man </i>to
divorce his wife for any cause at all?’ 4 And He answered and said, ‘Have you
not read, that He who created <i>them </i>from the beginning MADE THEM MALE AND
FEMALE, 5 and said, 'FOR THIS CAUSE A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER,
AND SHALL CLEAVE TO HIS WIFE; AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH'? 6
‘Consequently they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has
joined together, let no man separate’.” (Matthew 19:3-6)<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_edn23" name="_ednref23" style="mso-endnote-id: edn23;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[23]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">“So
husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves
his own wife loves himself; 29 for no one ever hated his own flesh, but
nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also <i>does </i>the church, 30
because we are members of His body. 31 ‘FOR THIS CAUSE A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS
FATHER AND MOTHER, AND SHALL CLEAVE TO HIS WIFE; AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE
FLESH’. 32 This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ
and the church.” (Ephesians 5:28-32)<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_edn24" name="_ednref24" style="mso-endnote-id: edn24;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[24]</span></span></span></span></a> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Even though
Christ never specifically addressed homosexuality, He said all that needed to
be said about marriage and sexuality when he reaffirmed the Genesis 1-2
creational mandate! He didn’t address paedophilia, bestiality or necrophilia,
but He didn’t need to as He underscored and reaffirmed the Genesis 2 paradigm
for marriage.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">It must be
concluded that the purpose and plan for marriage has a multifaceted meaning
attached to it from the moment of creation. It is as complex as it is
unalterable. To modify it arbitrarily to accommodate one’s sin is to invite the
judgment of God.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_edn25" name="_ednref25" style="mso-endnote-id: edn25;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[25]</span></span></span></span></a> The New
Testament clearly reaffirms the Genesis creation mandate for marriage. God has
never altered His plan, even in light of a post-Genesis 3 world. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">It is clear
from the biblical account of marriage that it is a divine institution, not a
mere civil arrangement. As such, civil government should only recognize what
God has clearly ordained. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">In
conclusion then, what is the antidote for the current same-sex marriage craze?
It is, in large measure, for the church to reassume the stewardship mandate it
has been given by God for this divine institution. By asserting the following
practical actions, we can become the salt and light we should be in this area
of marriage. So what does it practically mean to have a God-honored marriage — this
applies to both singles who are considering marriage and those already married?:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">1.
Pursue God’s Creation Pattern, not the World’s: </span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">SSM
is not matrimony but fraternity. It lacks the necessary creational requirements
and gender distinction to make it a marriage.</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Living
together is not marriage but mere convenience — those who don’t think they need
to sign a piece of paper, and so live together, would never dream of buying a
house or car without first signing a “piece of paper”. </span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Common
law marriages are not marriage but an extended living situation.</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">In
the end, Government’s role is to recognize marriage as God intended, not
redefine it out of existence. By redefining marriage, the nature of it is of
necessity drastically changed. </span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">2.
Pursue Purity: Anything beyond the boundaries of God’s blueprint is strictly
forbidden for “fornicators (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">pornos</i>)
and adulterers (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">moixos</i>) God will
judge.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo5; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Sequentially the sexual bond
follows and flows from the covenant commitment that is made. Sexual sin is
uniquely grievous, as it is a triune offense against God, the other
person, and one’s self. </span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">3.
Pursue your marriage Part (or role) Eph. 5:22-33: With wives seeking to submit
to their husbands, while their husbands pursue a Christ-like love that
sacrificially seeks his wife’s best interests.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_edn26" name="_ednref26" style="mso-endnote-id: edn26;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[26]</span></span></span></span></a>
Follow the illustrative model of Christ’s relationship to the Church. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">4.
Pursue the Priority of your Partner (spouse): Sacrificially seek their joy and
satisfaction through thoughtful self-denial.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">5.
Pursue the forgiveness Provision in your marriage: “… and such were some of
you.” (1 Cor. 6:9-11). </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo5; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Live in the light of forgiveness.
If your spouse sinned against you in the past and repented, forgive him or
her. Holding a spouse’s sin against them only engenders the wormwood of
bitterness. </span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo5; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">If you are currently mired in
sexual sin — physical or mental — seek God’s escape route through Jesus
Christ. Remember, He is a better Savior than you are a sinner! </span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Ray Ortland
well summarizes the utter uniqueness of marriage: “At its very heart, marriage
is not a human custom, variable according to changing times; it is a divinely
created institution, defined for all ages and all cultures in our shared,
primeval, perfect existence.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_edn27" name="_ednref27" style="mso-endnote-id: edn27;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[27]</span></span></span></span></a>
In the midst of the cultural onslaught in revolt against marriage uniqueness,
it is the Church of Jesus Christ that is called to both promote and preserve
these marriage distinctives. May God grant us the grace and wisdom we need to
honor this divine institution in face of the cultural tsunami of matrimonial
dishonor. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div style="mso-element: endnote-list;">
<br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<div id="edn1" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_ednref1" name="_edn1" style="mso-endnote-id: edn1;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a>
This is not to imply some physical representation is inherent to the idea of
the image of God in man, for God is Spirit. Rather, what is meant by the image
of God in man has more to do with those divinely communicated factors that
enable man to fulfill the mandate of dominion over creation. Humanity serves as
God’s representative over all of creation. For this reason, man bears the image
of God. This is what uniquely distinguishes us from the rest of creation. Hence,
we can effectively communicate, plan, work, and socialize in ways the rest of
creation cannot. Our dignity stems from our image bearing qualities!</span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn2" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_ednref2" name="_edn2" style="mso-endnote-id: edn2;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a> It
is often maintained by pro-gay activists that the traditional understanding of
the male/female distinction is a result of a “heteropatriarchal” understanding
of the Bible. There are many gays and feminists who see gender distinctions,
biological and otherwise, as a result of social constructs. Therefore, they
surmise, if we can rid ourselves of the traditional understanding by adopting a
new social construct, then society will be free to see there aren’t really any
differences between the sexes. Then true equality will be achieved. This is the
same thinking that has fueled the promotion of Gender Free Restrooms at many
colleges and universities in the USA.</span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn3" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_ednref3" name="_edn3" style="mso-endnote-id: edn3;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[3]</span></span></span></span></a>
These five examples are not meant to stereotype either sex. I realize these are
not absolute, but just pastoral observations with a measure of truth behind
them. I do understand these are not as true as they once were, because of the
feminist movement and more women in the work place. Some of these mindsets are
changing as men become more feminized and women become more masculinized.
Researchers Glenn T. Stanton and Dr. Bill Maier address this issue of the
differing emotional makeup between the sexes in chapter 10 of their excellent
book <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Marriage On Trial</i> (pp.113-120).
Also see Greg Johnson, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“</i>The
Biological Basis for Gender-Specific Behavior,” in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Recovering Biblical Manhood & Womanhood: A Response to Evangelical
Feminism, </i>eds. John Piper and Wayne Grudem (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books,
1991), pp.280-293.</span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn4" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_ednref4" name="_edn4" style="mso-endnote-id: edn4;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[4]</span></span></span></span></a> The following two recent studies underscore the
contention here about the merits of heterosexual child rearing over same-sex
parenting: Mark Regnerus, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Does it really
make no difference if your parents are straight or gay?, </i>Online at:<a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2012/06/gay_parents_are_they_really_no_different_.html">http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2012/06/gay_parents_are_they_really_no_different_.html</a><span class="MsoHyperlink"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>, Accessed 13
October 2012; and Michael Cook, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The ‘no
difference’ theory is dead</i> , Online at:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/the_no_difference_theory_is_dead#sthash.cRvZhVdR.1uNDKFDk.dpuf">http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/the_no_difference_theory_is_dead#sthash.cRvZhVdR.1uNDKFDk.dpuf</a>,
Accessed on 23 May 2015. </span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn5" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_ednref5" name="_edn5" style="mso-endnote-id: edn5;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[5]</span></span></span></span></a> To
illustrate the above needed differences, think of the little boy who falls down
on his bicycle and hurts himself while breaking his bike at the same time. Whom
does the boy run to for comfort and healing? Mom of course. But when it is time
to fix the bike, to whom does he run? Dad! Both a mom and a dad are needed when
raising a child. This helps produce a well-rounded and fulfilled individual. In
light of the breakdown of the family, it is no wonder so many suffer from an
identity crisis and emotional distress. </span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn6" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_ednref6" name="_edn6" style="mso-endnote-id: edn6;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[6]</span></span></span></span></a> A
recent secular article indicates the importance and difference of the father’s
role in parenting: ANON., “Dad’s love is different from mom’s love,” Online at <a href="http://www.iol.co.za/htm/frame_babynet.php?click_id=694">http://www.iol.co.za/htm/frame_babynet.php?click_id=694</a>,
Accessed 19 March 2007. </span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn7" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_ednref7" name="_edn7" style="mso-endnote-id: edn7;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[7]</span></span></span></span></a> Glenn T. Stanton and Dr. Bill Maier, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Marriage On Trial</i>, (Downers Grove, IL: IVP.
2004), p. 126.</span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn8" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_ednref8" name="_edn8" style="mso-endnote-id: edn8;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[8]</span></span></span></span></a>
Ibid. p.173.</span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn9" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_ednref9" name="_edn9" style="mso-endnote-id: edn9;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[9]</span></span></span></span></a>
Authors David P. McWhirter and Andrew M. Mattison in their book <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Male Couple</i> studied 156 homosexual
relationships lasting from one to thirty-seven years. They concluded that “Only
seven couples have a totally exclusive sexual relationship, and these men all
have been together for less than five years. Stated another way, all couples
with a lasting relationship lasting more than five years have incorporated some
provision for outside sexual activity in their relationships.” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Male Couple: How Relationships Develop</i>,
(Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1984), pp. 252-253.</span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn10" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_ednref10" name="_edn10" style="mso-endnote-id: edn10;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[10]</span></span></span></span></a>
Erwin Lutzer in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Truth About Same-Sex
Marriage,</i> ( Chicago, IL: Moody, 2004, p.54).</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn11" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_ednref11" name="_edn11" style="mso-endnote-id: edn11;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[11]</span></span></span></span></a> It is no surprise that many in the LGBT community
have redefined gender, marriage, and family to fit their ideological screed.
Now they have also redefined what it means to be monogamous, as the following
two links indicate. It was Dan Savage who coined the term “monogamish”, which
means many gay couples commit to open relationships with the freedom to see
others, so long as they stay socially monogamous they can practice sexual
polyandry or sexual polygyny: <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Joe
Carter, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">What You Should Know About
'Monogamish' Relationships</i>, Online at:<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">
</i><b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b></span><a href="http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2013/03/07/what-you-should-know-about-monogamish-relationships/">http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2013/03/07/what-you-should-know-about-monogamish-relationships/</a>
, Accessed 10 December 2014; and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Are
Humans Meant To Be Monogamous?”</i> Online at:<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b><a href="http://www.livescience.com/mysteries/080319-llm-monogamy.html"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">http://www.livescience.com/mysteries/080319-llm-monogamy.html</b></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> , </b>Accessed 08 November 2008. For those
who have wondered about why the LGBT is so willing to abandon the required
gender distinction while still clinging to the numerical requirement of two
people, now you know. It is because they have redefined monogamy into a more
amorphous sum. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn12" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_ednref12" name="_edn12" style="mso-endnote-id: edn12;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[12]</span></span></span></span></a>
Daily’s article is filled with citations from a number of studies that have
been done on this issue of gay monogamy. It makes for very worthwhile reading.
Timothy J. Daily, Ph.D., “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Comparing the
Lifestyle of Homosexual Couples to Married Couples,” </i>Online at
http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?=IS04C02, Accessed 9 August 2007, p. 6.</span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn13" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_ednref13" name="_edn13" style="mso-endnote-id: edn13;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[13]</span></span></span></span></a>
Ibid. p.6.</span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn14" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_ednref14" name="_edn14" style="mso-endnote-id: edn14;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[14]</span></span></span></span></a>
Kathleen M. Clark <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">et al</i>, “A
Longitudinal Study of Religiosity and Mortality Risk,” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Journal of Health Psychology, </i>Vol. 4, No.3 (1999):381-391.</span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn15" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_ednref15" name="_edn15" style="mso-endnote-id: edn15;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[15]</span></span></span></span></a> Pieter Oberholzer, “Gay couples’ covenants with each other
and God exist, regardless of church attitude,” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Cape Times</i>, 17 August 2004, p. 9.</span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn16" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_ednref16" name="_edn16" style="mso-endnote-id: edn16;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[16]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One study
concluded that of the gay men surveyed, 60% had at least 250 sexual partners,
28% had more than 1,000 sexual partners. 79% of those surveyed admitted that
more than half their partners were total strangers!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Joseph P.Gudal. “HOMOSEXUALITY: Fact and
Fiction,” Online at <a href="http://www.equip.org/free/DH055-1.htm">http://www.equip.org/free/DH055-1.htm</a>
, Accessed 17 August 2004. Also see Daily, “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Comparing
the Lifestyle of Homosexual Couple to Married Couples,”</i> who corroborates
these findings and provides a number of other more recent studies that closely
approximate these statistical findings. </span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn17" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_ednref17" name="_edn17" style="mso-endnote-id: edn17;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[17]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>D. James
Kennedy and Jerry Newcomb, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">What’s Wrong With
Same-Sex Marriage?</i> (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2004), p. 55.</span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn18" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_ednref18" name="_edn18" style="mso-endnote-id: edn18;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[18]</span></span></span></span></a>
Stanton and Maier, p. 138.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn19" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="MsoEndnoteReference" style="font-size: small;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[19]</span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"> John Piper, “Marriage: A Matrix of Christian
Hedonism,” Online at <a href="http://www.desiringgod.org/library/sermons/83/101683.html">http://www.desiringgod.org/library/sermons/83/101683.html</a>
, Accessed 7 September 2004. p.2.</span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn20" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_ednref20" name="_edn20" style="mso-endnote-id: edn20;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[20]</span></span></span></span></a> Jenni Evans, “Constitutional Court battle over gay
marriage begins,” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Cape Times</i>, 18
May 2005.</span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn21" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_ednref21" name="_edn21" style="mso-endnote-id: edn21;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[21]</span></span></span></span></a> The Editors, “Nuclear Fission,” Online at <a href="http://www.worldmag.com/printer.cfm?id=7577">http://www.worldmag.com/printer.cfm?id=7577</a>
, Accessed </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">3
May 2005.</span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn22" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_ednref22" name="_edn22" style="mso-endnote-id: edn22;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[22]</span></span></span></span></a>
Stanton and Maier, p. 129.</span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn23" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_ednref23" name="_edn23" style="mso-endnote-id: edn23;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[23]</span></span></span></span></a>
Pro-gay theologians are rather fond of pointing out that Jesus never spoke out
against homosexuality. What they fail to note is that Jesus also never spoke
out directly against incest, rape, bestiality, necrophilia, pedophilia or a
host of other sexually related sins. Yet, when Christ responded to the
Pharisees in Matthew 19, He interestingly quoted from Genesis 1 and 2! By
referring to the creation mandate for marriage, He said all that needed to be
said in one over-arching statement. His reaffirmation of the original marriage
mandate is the final word on the matter! Given the proclivities of pro-gay
advocates to doubt much of what the Bible says, it is odd that they would
attach any authority to what Christ said or did not say.</span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn24" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_ednref24" name="_edn24" style="mso-endnote-id: edn24;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[24]</span></span></span></span></a>
The Ephesians 5:22-32 passage illustrates what marriage symbolizes, the
relationship of Christ as head over His bride the Church! Any form of marriage
other than that promoted in Genesis 1 and 2 fails to illustrate this most
crucial relationship between Christ and the Church. God mandated the marriage
blue-<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>-print to concretely mirror the
relationship that Christ would ultimately have for His bride. SSM fails to
reflect the Ephesians 5:22-32 ideal, because it erases the vital distinctions
God intended.</span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn25" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_ednref25" name="_edn25" style="mso-endnote-id: edn25;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[25]</span></span></span></span></a>
Genesis 6:1-4 recounts some base manner of perversion regarding the Genesis 1
and 2 institution of marriage. The net result was the universal flood. To abandon
God’s plan for marriage by thinking we can somehow improve upon it, is to
abandon God. Romans 1:18-32 makes it clear that God gives individuals and
society over to their perversions when they reject Him and His commands (Romans
1:24, 26 and 28). It is of extreme interest to observe that Matthew 24:36-38
details that the second coming of Jesus is in accordance with the conditions
that existed during the time leading up to the Noahic flood. Could it be that a
gross perversion of the Genesis creation ordinance for marriage is one of the
defining features of the Christ’s second coming?</span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn26" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_ednref26" name="_edn26" style="mso-endnote-id: edn26;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[26]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Ortland further explains, “One measure of
our reconciliation with God is whether His sovereign decrees draw from us a
response for worship, or resentment … Christian redemption does not redefine
creation; it restores creation, so that wives learn godly submission and
husbands learn godly headship.” Raymond Ortland Jr. “Male-Female Equality and
Male Headship Genesis 1-3” in in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Recovering
Biblical Manhood & Womanhood: A Response to Evangelical Feminism, </i>eds.
John Piper and Wayne Grudem (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1991), p102.</span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn27" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_ednref27" name="_edn27" style="mso-endnote-id: edn27;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[27]</span></span></span></span></a> Ibid.
p. 101.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<br /></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
The Radical Watchmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11317466632490218450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32447962.post-86871512492545612542015-06-15T15:16:00.000-07:002015-06-28T22:47:46.614-07:00 A Biblical Tribute To Gay Pride Month<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Every
year at this time the headlines ring with the news related to what is lauded as
“Gay Pride Month”. Given the advances of the gay agenda over the course of the
last few years, gay-pride parades have become a fashionable rage complete with
corporate and political sponsorship. Many retailers are now quick to proudly
advertise their allegiance to gay pride via the multicolored rainbow as a symbol
of their acquiescence. In the midst of this gay-pride panacea, I have always
marveled at the operative word in the title — pride. With that in mind, I did a
quick word search in my digital Bible to trace the theme of pride in all its
forms throughout both testaments. The verses below paint a fairly abysmal
portrait of the general theme of pride, and yet they aren’t exhaustive as I
excluded some 40 verses for the sake of space.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">What
does emerge from a study of this nature is anything but a flatteringly
portrayal of those who pride themselves in being proud. In surveying the
different word groups in the original languages (Hebrew and Greek), that are
translated ‘pride’ or ‘proud’, the following definition is offered: Pride is
defined as an exaggerated sense of one’s own self-importance leading to
self–preeminence. This results in a flagrant defiance of and revolt against God
and His will. So pride then serves as the platform for the sinner’s revolution
against God and His stated standards. In short, pride makes us all enemies of
the one who created us. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">It
must be emphasized that pride is a corruption that taints us all as sinners. It
afflicts us all. It leaves no stone unturned in our lives. It has many
different forms and manifests itself in many different ways — gay pride being
only one such manifestation. In prophetic literature, in the Old Testament,
religious pride is what is showcased with a disobedient people championing
their stated desires and will above God’s. All of which led to the grizzly end
of Assyrian captivity in the north, for the northern kingdom, and Babylonian
captivity in the south for Jerusalem and Judea. It is noteworthy that in their
self-aggrandized rebellion against God, the ancient Hebrews incorporated
licentious fertility rites into the corpus of their worship — their version of
the ancient sexual revolution. Pride leads straight to perversity.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">So
it is telling when those rebelling against God so willingly include “pride” as
they key component of their title. But as the verses here declare, this is
nothing one should so brazenly applaud:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Leviticus
26:19 “‘I will also break down your <u>pride</u> of power; I will also make
your sky like iron and your earth like bronze.’” </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Deuteronomy
8:14 “then your heart will become <u>proud </u>and you will forget the <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span> your God who brought you out from
the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">1
Samuel 2:3 “Boast no more so very <u>proudly</u>, Do not let arrogance come out
of your mouth; For the <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span> is a
God of knowledge, And with Him actions are weighed.” </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">2
Chronicles 32:25 “But Hezekiah gave no return for the benefit he received,
because his heart was <u>proud</u>; therefore wrath came on him and on Judah
and Jerusalem.” </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Job
35:12 “There they cry out, but He does not answer Because of the <u>pride</u>
of evil men.” </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Job
38:11 “And I said, ‘Thus far you shall come, but no farther; And here shall
your <u>proud</u> waves stop’?” </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Job
40:11 “Pour out the overflowings of your anger, And look on everyone who is <u>proud</u>,
and make him low.” </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Job
40:12 “Look on everyone who is <u>proud</u>, <i>and</i> humble him, And tread
down the wicked where they stand.” </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Job
41:34 “He looks on everything that is high; He is king over all the sons of <u>pride</u>.” </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Psalm
10:2 “In <u>pride </u>the wicked hotly pursue the afflicted; Let them be caught
in the plots which they have devised.”</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Psalm
17:10 “They have closed their unfeeling <i>heart,</i> With their mouth they
speak <u>proudly</u>.”</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Psalm
31:18 “Let the lying lips be mute, Which speak arrogantly against the righteous
With <u>pride</u> and contempt.” </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Psalm
40:4 “How blessed is the man who has made the <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span>
his trust, And has not turned to the <u>proud</u>, nor to those who lapse into
falsehood.” </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Psalm
56:2 “My foes have trampled upon me all day long, For they are many who fight <u>proudly</u>
against me.” </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Psalm
59:12 “<i>On account of</i> the sin of their mouth <i>and</i> the words of
their lips, Let them even be caught in their <u>pride</u>, And on account of
curses and lies which they utter.”</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Psalm
73:6 “Therefore <u>pride</u> is their necklace; The garment of violence covers
them.” </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Psalm
75:5 “‘Do not lift up your horn on high, Do not speak with insolent <u>pride</u>.’ ” </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Psalm
94:2 “Rise up, O Judge of the earth, Render recompense to the <u>proud</u>.” </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Proverbs
8:13 “The fear of the <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span> is to
hate evil; <u>Pride</u> and arrogance and the evil way And the perverted mouth,
I hate.” </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Proverbs
11:2 “When <u>pride</u> comes, then comes dishonor, But with the humble is
wisdom.” </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Proverbs
15:25 “The <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span> will tear down the
house of the <u>proud</u>, But He will establish the boundary of the widow.” </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Proverbs
16:5 “Everyone who is <u>proud</u> in heart is an abomination to the <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span>; Assuredly, he will not be
unpunished.” </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Proverbs
16:18 “<u>Pride </u><i>goes</i> before destruction, And a haughty spirit before
stumbling.” </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Proverbs
16:19 “It is better to be humble in spirit with the lowly Than to divide the
spoil with the <u>proud</u>.” </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Proverbs
21:4 “Haughty eyes and a <u>proud</u> heart, The lamp of the wicked, is sin.” </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Proverbs
21:24 “‘<u>Proud,</u>’ ‘Haughty,’ ‘Scoffer,’ are his names, Who acts with
insolent pride.”</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Proverbs
29:23 “A man’s <u>pride</u> will bring him low, But a humble spirit will obtain
honor.” </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Isaiah
2:11 “The <u>proud</u> look of man will be abased And the loftiness of man will
be humbled, And the <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span> alone
will be exalted in that day.” </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Isaiah
2:12 “For the <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span> of hosts will
have a day <i>of reckoning</i> Against everyone who is <u>proud</u> and lofty
And against everyone who is lifted up, That he may be abased.” </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Isaiah
2:17 “The <u>pride</u> of man will be humbled And the loftiness of men will be
abased; And the <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span> alone will be
exalted in that day” </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Isaiah
3:16 “Moreover, the <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span> said,
“Because the daughters of Zion are <u>proud</u> And walk with heads held high
and seductive eyes, And go along with mincing steps And tinkle the bangles on
their feet,”</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Isaiah
5:15 “So the <i>common</i> man will be humbled and the man of <i>importance</i>
abased, The eyes of the <u>proud</u> also will be abased.”</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Isaiah
13:11 “Thus I will punish the world for its evil And the wicked for their
iniquity; I will also put an end to the arrogance of the<u> proud</u> And abase
the haughtiness of the ruthless.”</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Isaiah
13:19 “And Babylon, the beauty of kingdoms, the glory of the Chaldeans’<u>
pride</u>, Will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.” </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Isaiah
16:6 “We have heard of the pride of Moab, an excessive pride; <i>Even</i> of
his arrogance, <u>pride</u>, and fury; His idle boasts are false.” </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Isaiah
28:1 “Woe to the <u>proud </u>crown of the drunkards of Ephraim, And to the
fading flower of its glorious beauty, Which is at the head of the fertile
valley Of those who are overcome with wine!” </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Isaiah
28:3 “The <u>proud</u> crown of the drunkards of Ephraim is trodden under foot.”</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Jeremiah
13:17 “But if you will not listen to it, My soul will sob in secret for <i>such</i>
<u>pride</u>; And my eyes will bitterly weep And flow down with tears, Because
the flock of the <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span> has been
taken captive.” </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Jeremiah
48:29 “We have heard of the <u>pride </u>of Moab—he <i>is</i> very proud— Of
his haughtiness, his pride, his arrogance and his self-exaltation.” </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Ezekiel
16:56 “As <i>the name of</i> your sister Sodom was not heard from your lips in
your day of <u>pride</u> …” </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Ezekiel
33:28 “I will make the land a desolation and a waste, and the <u>pride</u> of
her power will cease; and the mountains of Israel will be desolate so that no
one will pass through.”</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Daniel
4:37 “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt and honor the King of heaven, for
all His works are true and His ways just, and He is able to humble those who
walk in <u>pride</u>.”</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Daniel
5:20 “But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit became so <u>proud </u>that
he behaved arrogantly, he was deposed from his royal throne and <i>his</i>
glory was taken away from him.” </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Hosea
7:10 “Though the <u>pride</u> of Israel testifies against him, Yet they have
not returned to the <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span> their
God, Nor have they sought Him, for all this.” </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Habakkuk
2:4 “Behold, as for the <u>proud </u>one, His soul is not right within him; But
the righteous will live by his faith.” </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Zephaniah
2:10 “This they will have in return for their <u>pride</u>, because they have
taunted and become arrogant against the people of the <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span> of hosts.”</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Zephaniah
3:11 “In that day you will feel no shame Because of all your deeds By which you
have rebelled against Me; For then I will remove from your midst Your <u>proud</u>,
exulting ones, And you will never again be haughty On My holy mountain.” </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Zechariah
10:11 “And they will pass through the sea <i>of</i> distress And He will strike
the waves in the sea, So that all the depths of the Nile will dry up; And the <u>pride</u>
of Assyria will be brought down And the scepter of Egypt will depart.” </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Mark
7:21-22 “<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">For from within, out of the
heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders,
adulteries,</span> deeds of coveting <i>and</i> wickedness, <i>as well as</i>
deceit, sensuality, envy, slander<u>, pride</u> <i>and</i> foolishness.” </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Luke
1:51 “He has done mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered <i>those who were</i>
<u>proud</u> in the thoughts of their heart.” </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">James
4:6 “But He gives a greater grace. Therefore <i>it</i> says, ‘<span style="font-variant: small-caps;">God is opposed to the <u>proud</u></span>, <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">but gives grace to the humble</span>.’” </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">1
Peter 5:5 “You younger men, likewise, be subject to <i>your</i> elders; and all
of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">God is opposed to the <u>proud</u></span>, <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">but gives grace to the humble</span>.” </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">1
John 2:16 “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of
the eyes and the boastful <u>pride of life</u>, is not from the Father, but is
from the world.” </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">In
light of this avalanche of Scripture, 20 statements are derived based on these
verses that help describe the scourge of pride: </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Pride
is state of mind that establishes a mindset.</span></div>
<div style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Pride
produces related actions in accord with its mindset.</span></div>
<div style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Pride
expresses itself aggressively and actively.</span></div>
<div style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Pride
is actively hostile to God: all that He is and all for which He stands.</span></div>
<div style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Pride
serves as its own judgment while it gradually consumes the proud.</span></div>
<div style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Pride
adorns one’s lifestyle and serves as a garment that defines one’s life.</span></div>
<div style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Pride
is closely associated with insolence, ostentation, and arrogance. </span></div>
<div style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Pride
celebrates defiance of established norms.</span></div>
<div style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Pride
does not go unnoticed or unpunished by God.</span></div>
<div style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Sodom
was synonymous with pride.</span></div>
<div style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Pride
is presumptuous as it presumes to favor self at the expense of others.</span></div>
<div style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Pride
flows from a depraved mind and will.</span></div>
<div style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Pride
boasts in what is shallow and hollow.</span></div>
<div style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Pride
distorts and perverts what is sacred.</span></div>
<div style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Pride
corrupts the secular realm and its leaders.</span></div>
<div style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Pride
promotes self-will over God’s divine will.</span></div>
<div style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Pride
is what defines all those who oppose God and His means of salvation.</span></div>
<div style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Humility
is the stark contrast to pride and is the hallmark of all who truly know and love
God.</span></div>
<div style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Pride
is the enemy of God’s grace.</span></div>
<div style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Pride
is nothing to praise or celebrate.</span></div>
<div style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">In
retrospect, the LGBT might want to reconsider the name of their annual festival
of sexual frivolity, even if it is scripturally apropos. For the weight of
God’s Word leaves no ambiguity about God’s verdict on pride of any kind,
including gay pride. And those pastors, churches, and denominations that have
slapped their seal of approval upon gay pride, might want to reconsider in
light of the Lord’s strident disapproval of their pro-gay-pride stance. Such
apostasy is an echo of ancient Israel’s distortion of God’s commands, and will
not lead to happily-ever-after. In short, God hates pride in whatever form it
takes. He opposes the proud, but He will extend grace to the humble — those who
have humbled themselves at foot of His Son’s cross through confession of their
sin while they plead for His saving grace!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So while pride makes us all enemies of the Lord, it is His love and
grace that conquers all, including our sin with its pride: </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">But God demonstrates His own love toward us,
in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us … For if while we were
enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more,
having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.</span>” (Romans 5:8&10) </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">And although you were formerly alienated and
hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His
fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and
blameless and beyond reproach</span>”. (Colossians 1:21–22)</span></div>
</div>
The Radical Watchmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11317466632490218450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32447962.post-27601698060299047562015-04-20T07:42:00.001-07:002015-04-21T05:25:17.881-07:00Paul’s Catalyst For Pastoral Consistency<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">“<i>And
when they had come to him, he said to them, ‘You yourselves know, from the
first day that I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time, serving
the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials which came upon me
through the plots of the Jews;’</i>” (Acts 20:18–19)</span></b><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">One
of the many facets of Paul’s ministry which has often challenged me in my own
ministry is that of his ministerial consistency. He didn’t blow hot and cold,
neither was he erratically up and down, nor off and then on again. Instead, Paul
was the model of consistency regardless of where he was or who he was with at
the time. His message always remained the same. In one of my favorite pastoral
passages in the New Testament, Acts 20:17-38, we get a glimpse of Paul’s
pastoral consistency. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">There
are many reasons for Paul’s even-keel approach to ministry, but in verse 19, in
the first clause, we learn one of the primary reasons Paul was the model of such
consistency. For Paul reminds the Ephesian elders that while he was with them
for those 3 years of ministry, he was actively and consistently “serving the
Lord”. There is much to chew on in just that one sententious statement.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The
motivation for Paul’s consistent ministry, in large measure, stems from the
fact that he was consigned to serve. Paul wasn’t just a servant, but rather he
was a servant of God! His consistency is a direct result of the object of his
service — in this case, notably God. It highlights a very important, but not
often thought about truth: True service for God is first vertical before it is
ever horizontal. It follows the same pattern and sequence that we find in the two
greatest commandments as articulated by the Lord Himself (Matthew 22: 36-40):
Firstly, we are to demonstrate a comprehensive love for the Lord, which is most
certainly of a vertical nature; and then, secondly, we are to love our neighbor
as ourselves. Even in this, the horizontal aspect of loving our neighbor as
ourselves, takes its direct cue and direction from the vertical aspects of having
a circumscribing love for God. Remove the vertical prerequisite here and the
horizontal is secularized, leading to a love that it is at best elliptical,
serving as a very poor facsimile of the love intended in the verse. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Where
Christian service is concerned, the same basic thought applies — our horizontal
service for the Lord is in direct proportion to our vertical mandate of
“serving the Lord in all humility”. If the shepherd’s motivation to serve is
mired in horizontal concerns, then his ministerial consistency will take a
knock, because the object of such service is mere humanity, which is
capricious. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">So
what is the big deal anyway? Why make so much of the issue here? What does it
matter in the long run? The answer is given </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">most pointedly</span> by Paul to the
Galatians, when he exhorted them in Galatians 1: 10:</span> <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">“<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of
God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I
would not be a bond-servant of Christ.</span>” The issue is all important for
it determines whether or not I am going to please God, or man. If the priority
of one’s service is reduced to the human realm, then they should know that
fallen humanity is fickle and feckless, and, that out of necessity, one’s
man-centered service will at best reflect the human object served. The servant
will have to constantly change gears, shift focus, adopt new perspectives, and
trim the message in order to satisfy the ever-changing cravings of human whimsy.
After all, the customer is always right — right? It results in looking more
like a politician trying to please his constituency than a minister serving the
Most High God. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">On
the other hand, if God is the object of my service, I know that He is ever
faithful, perfectly and absolutely reliable within Himself. A God-centered,
God-pleasing ministry will of divine necessity reflect the nature of the High
and Holy One being served. A God-centered service is non-negotiable and an indispensable
precursor to a biblically consistent ministry, like that of the Apostle Paul’s. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Does
this then mean I don’t serve man? On the contrary, the point here is one of
priority, motivation and sequence. It boils down to the catalyst for serving
those in the flock God gives. So I have to ask the question “Is my service to
the flock motivated by God, or man?” “Is it a service that flows from heaven,
or is it one driven solely by earthly concerns?” All this is the difference
between serving those whom I shepherd with delight, or drudgery. Motivation is
everything where my ministerial service concerned. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">A
few years ago a young man excitedly told me he wished to pursue the ministry. I
asked him why he wanted to pursue vocational ministry. To this, he
enthusiastically replied, “Because I want help people.” I kindly looked at him
and suggested, “If you want to help people then join an aid agency, or become
social worker. But, if you want to serve God, and can do no other, then pursue
the ministry.” While my reply surprised him, it was not meant to discourage him
so much as to make him think about the real motivation for shepherding the
flock of God. While a love for humanity is commendable, a love for God is essential, and will necessarily lead to the former. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">In
the end, every Christian needs to ask the penetrating question “Is my service
for God heaven driven, or earth bound?” The answer to this will directly
determine whether, like Paul, we are consistent or not. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
The Radical Watchmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11317466632490218450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32447962.post-25260275380859873802014-06-18T13:55:00.000-07:002014-06-20T03:01:51.654-07:00 Up In Smoke: Exposing the Smog of Pro-Pot Logic Part 2<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">By Pastor Mark Christopher</span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It
should come as no surprise that there are those who claim that Jesus healed </span><span lang="EN-ZA"><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/jan/06/science.religion"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">with
marijuana</span></a></span><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">. Those who assert this, maintain Jesus
healed with oil made from cannabis extract. They further contend Jesus burned
incense made from a similar extract. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So
what verifiable proof do proponents of pot-theology have for making such
outlandish claims? None. It is pure, unbridled speculation blended with a
copious measure of wishful thinking that drives this dagga dogma. Even if there
was some validity to the claim, it is still an astonishingly long leap from
anointing someone with oil to promoting smoking a joint. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">One
can laugh, but given the mass appeal of all things hemp, Christians need to be
able to biblically answer whether or not Scripture endorses the recreational
uses of dagga. After all, there are professing believers who think that Genesis
1:29’s appeal for humanity to eat all seed-bearing plants is somehow tantamount
to a green light for lighting up a joint — Never mind that this context is
pre-fall and pre-curse (Rom. 8:18-23), and that eating, not smoking, is in
view.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Regardless
of whether or not the state sanctions the recreational use of marijuana, the
Christian needs to consult the Bible first and foremost to honestly answer the
questions related to dagga as a liberty issue. If the SA government should ever legalize the drug, does that mean it is permissible, under the guise of a
liberty issue, to imbibe in moderation? </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In
order to answer this, there are host of questions that must be asked and
transparently answered before a categorical answer can be given: </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">1.
What is the motivation for smoking dagga? Scripture is quite clear on
what the ultimate goal of life is about — to glorify God (1 Cor. 10:31). So can
one light up a joint for the glory of God? Well, unlike the person who has the
occasional drink, the motivation for smoking dagga is to get wasted. Even those
who smoke occasionally do so to get stoned and feel the buzz. The motivation is
to escape reality through momentary psychological and physical euphoria. This
hardly agrees with the biblical mandate to find one’s joy, peace, and love by
walking in the Spirit of God (Gal. 5:16, 22-23).</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Given
that today’s THC in a joint is at much higher concentrations than a few years
ago, it only takes about </span><span lang="EN-ZA"><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2668079/pdf/bcp0067-0005.pdf"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">four
puffs</span></a></span><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> of a joint (7mg. of THC) to reach
research-tested levels of intoxication. So the notion that one can exercise
their liberty and enjoy a joint in moderation is quite frankly a pipe dream.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">2.
Will smoking marijuana promote the Ephesians 5:18 command to avoid being
controlled by any external influence beyond the Spirit of God? When one is in
Christ, their life is to be one of being Spirit controlled, Spirit driven, and
Spirit submitted. Since the Spirit of God inspired the Word of God, whatever
else a Spirit-filled life is, it will be in keeping with the very word the
Spirit inspired. All throughout the Bible drunkenness and intoxication is
divinely condemned. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In final analysis,
to be Spirit filled means one walks in the Spirit displaying some measure of
fruit with its whole basket of ripened virtues. On this basis, Paul declared (1 Cor. 6:12c), "... I will not be mastered by anything."</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">3.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Are mind-altering drugs associated with
godliness or ungodliness? In Galatians 5:20 one of the deeds of the flesh
mentioned is “sorcery”, which according the Greek text speaks of witchcraft
that is coupled with mind-altering substances of whatever kind. The Greek word
for “sorcery” is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">pharmakia </i></b>which addresses pagan religious magic practices that
were aided by intoxicants in various magical potions or mutis. These
concoctions were thought to put one into contact with the spirit realm. Interestingly,
the book of Revelation uses the related terms several times (Rev. 9:21; 18:23;
21:8; 22:15), indicating the twin evils of the occult and getting loaded will
increase prior to the return of Christ.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In
the Talmud, the Jewish commentary on the Old Testament, the commentary on
Numbers 22-25 on the story of Balaam and Balak explains that the Moabites used
marijuana-laced pastries to seduce Jewish men into cubicles with young Moabite
maidens. While the story is probably apocryphal, it nevertheless illustrates the
point. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So
rather than tending toward godliness, intoxicating substances, like dagga, lead
one to the threshold of the occult, even if that is not the intended goal. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">4.
Will smoking dagga encourage the disciplined mind required for living out one’s
faith? We have already established that the pot of today is much stronger than
in previous generations. Yet, the New Testament promotes a sober mind. The exhortation
in the epistles is to be “sober minded”: </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In relation to one’s sin and
conduct (1 Cor. 15:34).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> <span style="font-family: Symbol;"> </span>
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In relation to end times and
return of Christ ( 1Thess. 5:6, 8).</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In relation to all things (2
Tim. 4:5).</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In persecution and trials (1
Pet. 1:13; 4:7; 5:8).</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The
term itself, “be sober”, references a self-controlled thinking that approaches
reality reasonably and biblically, rather than responding irrationally and
erratically. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Therefore,
straight thinking and unclouded judgment are requirements for the Christian. If one is
honest, the use of dagga is antithetical to the sobriety being a Christian
demands.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">5.
Will it harm my body? Paul reminds the Corinthians that as blood-bought
believers, the body is a temple (1 Cor. 6:19-20) housing the indwelling Holy
Spirit. As such, the body is reserved for glorifying God, not for doing as one
pleases. Temple maintenance is, therefore, necessary. Given both the negative short
term and long term effects of marijuana, use of the drug violates the temple
principle and destroys that which is meant to be a vessel for God’s glory. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">6.
Is using dagga for medicinal purposes okay? The Bible does record instances where
the use of drugs for medicinal purposes is condoned (Ezekiel 47:12; Rev.
22:2). The balm in Gilead (Jerm. 8:22; cf. 46:16; 51:8) was a drug used because
of its healing properties. In 1 Timothy 5:23 Paul tells Timothy to take some
wine for his stomach’s sake. Thus, when the motivation for using a drug is
palliative (alleviating the ill effects) or curative, it does not pose the same
ethical dilemma as recreational drug usage does. This does not imply care
should not be exercised when legitimately using prescription drugs.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Finally, the Christian must ask himself/herself what the goal of the Christian
life is. As stated in the previous article, we are called to be holy, not high.
The child of God should strive by grace to imitate Christ, not conform to the
drug-laden culture. The believer is to be characterized by the transforming
grace of God rather than conforming to the spirit of the age. For in this is found
the sum of being in the world, but not being of it! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>
The Radical Watchmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11317466632490218450noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32447962.post-72052568229097648742014-05-08T04:09:00.002-07:002014-05-10T05:24:38.688-07:00Up In Smoke: Exposing The Smog of Pro-Pot Logic <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: center;">
By Pastor Mark Christopher</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It
has been said that the first casualty of war is the truth. I was reminded of
this recently when I turned on the TV late one night, and caught a recent <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>episode of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Special Assignment</b> </span><span lang="EN-ZA"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gagZ2J6vQYU"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">singing the laurels</span></a></span><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
of legalizing that whacky weed, known in SA as “dagga”. True to form, the Special
Assignment<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>report was anything but unbiased and objective
as they confused the issue by co-mingling two different aspects of the debate —
homogenizing medical marijuana with its recreational uses. In truth, while
related, these are 2 separate ethical issues that Christians need to approach
differently.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Ever
since the US states of Colorado and Washington legalized the recreational use
of dagga, there has been a full-court press by the world’s media and pro-pot
advocates to push for legalization of the wizard weed for more than medicinal
purposes. In part, the issue came to the fore here in SA when IFP MP </span><span lang="EN-ZA"><a href="http://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/ifp-mp-tables-medical-dagga-bill-1.1650331#.U2sQ3VdafEE"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Mario
Oriano-Ambrosini</span></a></span><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">, who has stage four lung
cancer, told parliament he uses dagga oil for its palliative properties to help
manage the ill-effects of his treatments. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As
the issue of legalizing dagga ramps up, one can already anticipate the
truncated logic and blatant propaganda that will be trotted out in hubbly — bubbly
fashion to portray legalization of dagga as a Peter-Pan panacea. We can expect
the same old worn out arguments that have been in vogue since the 1960s, when
the counter-culture took Timothy Leary’s advice to “turn on, tune in, and drop
out.” Sadly, many who took Leary’s advice failed to ever surface back to
reality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So
what kind of smoke-screen logic will be presented endlessly as the pro-pot
lobby marshals its forces, in effort to convince the public of the benefits of
recreational dagga? What follows is just a sample of what is in store:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">1.
“Public opinion has shifted dramatically in favour of legalizing dagga”: But is
this really a compelling reason to swing the gates wide open and legalize dagga?
If public opinion overwhelmingly decides that laws related to reckless driving
and speeding are “archaic” and “ineffective”, should lawmakers throw up their
hands in defeat and concede to public sentiment? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">2.
“The war on drugs has failed”: This famous dictum is normally the first salvo
fired in the debate. But the premise is flawed because it assumes, without any
empirical data, that legalization will not be attended with any negative
consequences. By the same line of reasoning one could just as easily conclude,
based on current crime stats in SA, that the war on car-jackings, rape, violent
crime, and murder have all catastrophically failed. So why not channel money
used to fight crime into more positive pursuits like social up-liftment? Since
poverty supposedly causes crime, this would reduce criminal activity. Right? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In
the US, the pro-pot forces have been using this rationale to great effect. Yet,
when one looks at the war on poverty that began with President Johnson’s “Great
Society” 50 years ago, it has </span><span lang="EN-ZA"><a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/louiswoodhill/2014/03/19/the-war-on-poverty-wasnt-a-failure-it-was-a-catastrophe/"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">epically
failed</span></a></span><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">. After 50 years, 20 trillion dollars in
welfare distributed, the poverty stats today are comparable to those at the
beginning of poverty alleviation. It has amounted to a zero-sum game — if 20
trillion dollars spent is a zero-sum game. But I don’t hear any liberal-like
voices declaring, “The war on poverty has failed.” Why not?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">3.
“Smoking dagga is no worse than smoking cigarettes or drinking coffee”: Such
logic is stratospherically stupefying. Cannabis is well documented to promote </span><span lang="EN-ZA"><a href="http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2010/09/legalizing-marijuana-why-citizens-should-just-say-no?ac=1"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">numerous
negative side effects</span></a></span><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> — some short term, </span><span lang="EN-ZA"><a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/ondcp/frequently-asked-questions-and-facts-about-marijuana#harmless"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">some
lasting</span></a></span><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">: memory impairment and </span><span lang="EN-ZA"><a href="http://jn.sfn.org/press/April-16-2014-Issue/zns01614005529.pdf"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">cognitive
function</span></a></span><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> for starters as it induces speech impediments,
dulls thinking, limits knowledge retention, affects problem-solving, and
hampers complex motor skills — all of which is hardly the recipe to promote
safe, responsible drivers, innovative thinking, or productive workers. In a
small percentage of cases dagga produces psychotic responses like when 19 year
old </span><span lang="EN-ZA"><a href="http://www.medicaldaily.com/marijuana-cookies-claim-first-victim-colorado-levy-thamba-legalization-january-2014-274442"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Levy
Thamba</span></a></span><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">, who was visiting friends in Colorado,
ate a cookie laced with dagga. He went berserk and leapt off a balcony to his
death. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Dagga
smoke has more cancer-causing toxins than cigarette smoke, damaging both brain
and lung cells. Where is the anti-smoking lobby now? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In
short, let me ask you, would you rather board an airplane knowing that the
pilot just smoked a cigarette and drank two cups of coffee, or that he just
toked two refers? Which scenario would make you feel more comfortable as that
plane barrels down the runway for take-off?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">4.
“People are going to smoke anyway”: In a fallen, sin-cursed world, people are
going to do many things that are harmful to both themselves and those around
them. This is precisely why we need government and law enforcement. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So do we really want to make this rationale
the cornerstone for practical ethics and morality? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">5.
“Prohibition on alcohol didn’t work, so we should legalize dagga for
recreational purposes”: This argument fails to acknowledge the staggering
effects fuelled by </span><span lang="EN-ZA"><a href="http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/drink-fuels-nation-s-health-crisis-1.1627807#.UsMQRLQikgo"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">alcohol
abuse</span></a></span><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">, alcohol related crime, domestic
violence, and deaths on the streets and highways. In effect, pro-pot logic
tacitly endorses, even if unintentionally so, more destruction of lives, the
further demise of the family, the negative fallout on children, and the
economic impacts of all this. In pro-pot logic, two wrongs make it a right.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">6.
“Legalizing dagga will reduce social costs”: No doubt some crime-fighting
related costs could be reduced. But this will be offset by expenses related to
enforcing government regulations legalization will require. Then, when one
calculates the price-tag placed on the social consequences of legal dagga —
dagga related crime, drugged driving, welfare costs associated with familial
breakdown, and the costs on state-sponsored rehab for the legion of new addicts
— the tax revenues harvested from this new cash crop will hardly cover society’s
THC induced coma. Can we really afford the unstated, unintended fallout from
the recreational uses of this drug? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">While
a case can be made for the therapeutic and industrial benefits of dagga, it
must be acknowledged that the pro-pot forces use medicinal marijuana as a
backdoor entrance to recreational legalization. It has become a THC Trojan
horse for dishonest proponents of the weed. My home state of California
legalized medicinal dagga in 1996. According to my many law-enforcement friends
in that state, the laws surrounding the implementation of medical marijuana are
so porous and poorly enforced that California has no need to legalize pot for
recreational purposes. Californians already enjoy recreational use of dagga by
default of medicinal marijuana.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">When
you add it all up, what pro-pot lobbyists advocate will only serve to extend use
of the drug. But if one dares to confuse them with the facts, they will use the
media to take pot-shots, ridiculing their opponents in a haze of
disinformation. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The
sum of pro-pot logic amounts to placing a large, red juicy Washington State
apple in a barrel of rotten apples hoping for the rottenness to be reversed. The
sum of this equation is really quite predictable.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Christians, we must remember we are called
to be holy not high! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">(Note:
In my next submission I will specifically address the biblical response to
pro-pot thinking.) </span></div>
</div>
The Radical Watchmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11317466632490218450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32447962.post-8553328234555631932013-12-06T03:29:00.003-08:002013-12-06T03:31:47.815-08:00Biblical Reflections On The Life and Death of Nelson Mandela<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Pastor Mark Christopher </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Like
so many others in South Africa I awoke to the news of Nelson Mandela’s death.
Understandably this is foremost on the hearts and minds of untold numbers
around the world today, especially here in South Africa. Mr. Mandela’s death
was not wholly unexpected. The 95 year old’s health had been declining over the
last couple of years. Most recently he spent a number of months in the hospital
in ICU under the watchful eyes of his medical caregivers, as he battled a
severe case of pneumonia. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Predictably,
when I turned on my computer this-morning, I already had a couple of requests
to respond to this world-grabbing headline. As a Christian I seek to try and
make sense of Mr. Mandela’s death through the prism of God’s word. As a
believer, while I sorrow with those who sorrow, I do not do so as one who has
no hope. To this end, Mr. Mandela’s death provides the Christian with a number
of opportunities: </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">1.
There is an opportunity to weep with those who weep and sorrow with those who sorrow.
My heart and prayers do go out to Mr. Mandela’s family and to the nation of
South Africa at large. May you sense the comfort and grace that only the
God-of-all-comfort Himself can provide (2 Corinthians 1:4-11). </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">2.
As one reflects on the recent history of South Africa and the momentous
transition that took place only 19 years ago, there is a wonderful opportunity to
thank the Lord for using Mr. Mandela in the way in which He <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>did. When South Africa was on the threshold of
a veritable blood bath and the precipice of civil war, Mr. Mandela served as an
earthly peacemaker to bring needed calm and stability to what was a very tense
situation. Instead of seeking revenge and vengefully ruling, he sought to build
a bridge rather than erecting a barrier. Such a praiseworthy response is certainly
worthy of our reflection, thanks, and gratitude! </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">3.
Much will be said in the next few days and weeks by the media and others
regarding the life and death of Mr. Mandela. In this we should guard against
the two primary extremes that will prevail: On the one hand there will be those
who will lionize the man to the exclusion of God. In so doing they will
venerate a life well lived beyond what is proper as they veer into what only
can be described as idolatry and hero worship. The other extreme will be seen
by those few who will use Mr. Mandela’s death to promote their brand of
politics and ideology in contrast with Mr. Mandela’s Marxist-based views. One
does not have to agree with another’s politics and worldview to mourn the loss
of a life and extend comfort and compassion to those who feel that loss the
most. Nor does one need to be a charter member of the Nelson Mandela Fan Club. In
fact, the true test of one’s faith is evidenced when one can reach out in
compassion in spite of any deep-seated ideological differences that may exist.
It is the mind of Christ that should dominate our thinking as we weigh up the
implications of an incarnational life (Philippines 2:3-11) as it applies to
this situation.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">4.
When a dignitary of Mr. Mandela’s stature dies, it provides us with an
opportunity as well as a reminder that ultimately God is sovereign in the
affairs of this life. In Isaiah 6:1-9 when King Uzziah died after a 52 year
reign, Isaiah was reminded of the glory, majesty, and holiness of the Lord he
loved. Though Isaiah mourned the death of Uzziah, his focus was on the Living
God of all grace and glory. As Isaiah would later record, “It is He who sits
above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who
stretches out the heavens like a curtain and spreads them out like a tent to
dwell in. He it is that reduces rulers to nothing, who makes the judges of the
earth meaningless. Scarcely have they planted, scarcely have they been sown,
scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth, but He merely blows on them
and they wither …” (Isaiah 40:22-24; cf. Daniel 4:34-35; 1 Timothy 6:15-16). In
the end, regardless of the good any earthly leader may do, it is the Lord who
turns the King’s heart like channels of water (Proverbs 21:1).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>May we not lose sight of this exalted
perspective. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">5. As
with everything else in life, the death of Mr. Mandela should be viewed from a cross-centered understanding. In relation to this, there is a tremendous
opportunity for Christians to share the hope of the ages, Jesus Christ and Him
crucified and risen as He said. As the world is confronted once again with the
fragility and brevity of earthly life an occasion is presented to share the
life-giving message of the cross in the backdrop of an empty tomb! This is a
time to point the hopeless and inconsolable toward heaven above and to remind
them of what C.S. Lewis so well said, “Aim at heaven and you will get earth
thrown in[Matthew 6:33]. Aim at earth and you will get neither.” </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">6.
Finally, the death of Mr. Mandela is another opportunity to remind ourselves as
Christians of the vapour of this earthly life (James 4:14). This life will soon
be past, even if we, like Mr. Mandela, should live to the ripe old age of 95.
In light of eternity what is that? This life is meant to be a dress rehearsal
for the life to come. Beyond this life there are no second chances, as the Rich
man of Luke 16 testifies. Only what we do for Christ will last and reflect
eternal worth and value. As such, there is another providential chance ceded to
us to make the changes necessary and realign our priorities with those of a Christ-centered life, so that we can someday we can hear those eternally
gratifying words, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant!” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As
we reflect upon the life and death of Mr. Mandela from the Christian horizon,
the words of John Donne come to mind:</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“No
man is an island, entire of itself. Every man is a piece of the continent, a
part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as
if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friends or of thine own
were. Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind. And
therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for thee.” </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
</div>
The Radical Watchmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11317466632490218450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32447962.post-57598365641246578592013-10-04T07:21:00.000-07:002013-10-08T04:35:51.950-07:00The Christian and the Same-sex Wedding Invitation: When Being A Witness Is A Bad Idea <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Pastor
Mark Christopher</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A
few years ago I was speaking at a conference on the topic of homosexuality and
same-sex marriage. Shortly after my plenary session, I was approached by a
Christian photographer who asked me what the Bible has to say about
photographing a same-sex wedding. This is a timely question, given the frenetic
pace of the moral revolution taking the West by storm. Not long ago a </span><span lang="EN-ZA"><a href="http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/Photogopinion.pdf"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">photographer</span></a></span><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
in the US state of New Mexico was sued by 2 lesbians when she refused to
photograph their lesbian wedding. The photographer reasoned it would violate
her conscience and impinge on her artistic abilities as photographer. The
lesbian plaintiffs countered with a charge of violating their human rights. In </span><span lang="EN-ZA"><a href="http://www.christianpost.com/news/gay-bullies-strike-again-103728/cpf"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">another
incident</span></a></span><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> in Portland, Oregon, a family owned
bakery had to shut its doors as a result of refusing to cater for a gay wedding
in their area. Here in South Africa a </span><span lang="EN-ZA"><a href="http://winetimes.co/2013/04/28/wine-farm-refuses-to-host-gay-wedding/"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">wine
farm</span></a></span><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> outside of Cape Town is currently being
investigated for not allowing a gay couple to rent their venue for their
wedding ceremony. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It
is clear that this one lightening-rod issue is being used like no other to curb
religious liberties in the West. Beyond that it highlights the sacrifice some
are making for the sake of their biblical convictions regarding what
constitutes a marriage. Their actions underscore the sacred nature of this
God-ordained institution called marriage. The related incidents above invite a
closely related query of a Christian’s attendance at a same-sex ceremony. Now
that gay marriage is becoming all the rage, more and more believers will face
the awkward and difficult situation of deciding whether to accept a same-sex
wedding invitation, or kindly decline. Society at large has already sent the
not so subtle message that to reject such an invitation will be met with all
the scorn and ridicule they can muster. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">How
should a Bible-believing Christian respond to a gay wedding invitation? Well,
to answer this question we first need to entertain a few basic questions to
shed more biblical light on what is at stake biblically and theologically. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">1. What, according to the Bible, is marriage? </span></b><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We
live in age that evades definitions because definitions are binding. For that reason
marriage has been radically redefined by our postmodern culture in order to
justify the fruits of the sexual revolution. But the default definition of
marriage extends all the way back to creation in Genesis 1:27-28 and 2:23-24.
It is there the essential elements of marriage are delineated being gender
distinction — male and female, numerical limitation of 2, and monogamy, for the
purpose of comprehensively becoming ‘one flesh’. It is through the one flesh
relationship that procreation is possible ultimately enabling the command to
have dominion over the rest of creation. Even in a post-fall world, the Bible
relentlessly promotes the default setting of the creation paradigm (Matt.
19:4-6; Mark. 10:2-11; Eph. 5:22-33; 1 Cor. 6:15-18). Whenever sinful humanity
deviated from creation’s schematic it met with insoluble problems as evidenced
in the biblical portrayals of polygamy. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In
keeping with the Genesis ideal for marriage, Ray Ortland Jr. describes marriage
as follows:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“At its very heart, marriage
is not a human custom, variable according to changing times; it is a divinely
created institution, defined for all ages and all cultures in our shared,
primeval, perfect existence.”</span><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Since
redemption is a return to creation, Christians of all people should understand
Ortland’s brilliant summation of marriage. In short, marriage is a parable of
the relationship that exists between Christ and His church, the bride (Eph.
5:22-33). When humanity arbitrarily changes the essential God-given
requirements for marriage, what you end up with is a forgery, a cheap
substitute that perverts the sovereign ideal. So the question the Christian
must honestly face is whether or not a same-sex wedding is following the divine
prescription or not. The answer here is patently obvious. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In
the case of polygamy the numerical requirement is exceeded and thus seeks to
extend the one flesh union beyond its ordained purpose. Where mono-gendered
ceremonies are concerned, gender distinction is violated insuring that the
couple will never approximate the one flesh doctrine. This results not in
matrimony, but fraternity. Call it what you will, but it is something less than
marriage, for a same-sex nuptial can never serve as a living illustration of
the unique relationship that exists between Christ and His church.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">2. Is attending a gay ceremony really that big of a deal?</span></b><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This invites another question — what does
one’s presence at a wedding signify? Is a wedding just fun-filled frivolity
with some cake and dancing thrown into the mix? Or, is there a little more to
it? For starters a wedding guest is more than a mere harmless spectator. A
wedding guest is a witness, as </span><span lang="EN-ZA"><a href="http://www.albertmohler.com/2013/10/01/george-and-barbara-witness-a-wedding-when-a-private-act-sends-a-public-message/"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Al
Mohler</span></a></span><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> reminds his readers, who participates
as a “celebrating witness”. As a witness, those in attendance affirm and
approve the union in question. The witness is present to grant the
good-house-keeping seal of approval.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This
means that a wedding is more than just a party and a good time. It is a legal
occasion where both the witnesses, and those officiating over the ceremony,
actually join two people together before both civic and religious authorities.
As other </span><span lang="EN-ZA"><a href="http://truthxchange.com/articles/blog/2013/05/14/to-attend-or-not-to-attend/?utm_source=Sustaining+Partner+2+transformed+minds+holy+bodys&utm_campaign=First+Constant+Contact+Email&utm_medium=email"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">commentators</span></a></span><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
have noted, given the significance of a wedding with the exchange of vows, it
simply isn’t possible to distinguish between one’s mere presence and
endorsement. By attending a gay ceremony the guest is both approving of and
promoting what the Bible clearly calls immoral and sinful. It is a mockery of
the God of creation and redemption. A wedding is not your average social
gathering. It is a social gathering with a spiritual and moral meaning, and
one’s attendance is not incidental of that meaning.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Recently
former US President </span><span lang="EN-ZA"><a href="http://www.iol.co.za/news/world/bush-attends-same-sex-wedding-1.1582803#.UkPuWj9QXbw"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">George
H.W. Bush</span></a></span><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> and his wife, Barbara, presided over a
gay wedding of two lesbian friends. Mr. Bush’s presence was nothing short of a
ringing endorsement of that union and of same-marriage. Pro-gay forces are already
using the Bushes’ presence at that event as validation of the rightness and
efficacy of gay marriage. The sin of same-sex marriage has now gained further
traction as a result of the former president’s moral acquiescence. Rightly, </span><span lang="EN-ZA"><a href="http://www.albertmohler.com/2013/10/01/george-and-barbara-witness-a-wedding-when-a-private-act-sends-a-public-message/"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Mohler</span></a></span><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
reminds us, “Attendance at a wedding is not a neutral act.” </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">3. But wasn’t Jesus a friend of sinners? Didn’t He
associate with tax collectors and sinners? </span></b><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Implied
in this line of reasoning is that failure to accept an invitation to a gay
wedding is fundamentally unloving and legalistic. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In
answer to the question at hand, most certainly our Lord ate with and associated
with those of questionable morals and standing in Jewish society (Matt. 9:11; Mark.
2:16; Luke 5:30; 15:2). So should we. Christ even conscripted a tax collector,
Levi, into His service as a disciple. But this was because these outcasts acknowledged
their sin. At no time did Jesus ever affirm sinners in their sin. He never
dignified nor condoned their immoral deeds in any way. To do so would have been
to glorify their sin and their sinful ways. On the contrary, Christ called them
to repentance, and then encouraged them to make restitution, as in the case
with Zaccheus (Luke 19:1-10). The Lord’s mission was to seek and save that
which is lost. This He could not do if He had ignored their sin. Jesus told the
woman caught in adultery to “Go, and sin no more.” Christians in attendance at
an unbiblical wedding, like a gay ceremony, are sending the opposite message,
“Go, and keep on sinning until death do you part.” Serving as a witness at
mono-gendered celebrations is to revel in and actively extol the sin of
homosexuality, while lending credence to the lie. It is confirming the couple
in their sin while aiding and abetting the promotion of the lie in wider
society. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The
motivation to abstain from celebrating same-sex unions is cosmological, not legalistic.
This means the rationale for such a determination reaches all the way back to
the pre-fall paradigm established by God Himself in the beginning. God never
amended His original design and purpose for marriage even in a post-fall
context, as previously noted. </span><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">If
God has not altered His original blue print, than neither should we. Nor should
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<![endif]--><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In 1
Corinthians 9, Paul recounts how he became all things to all men that he might
win some. This never included participating in or affirming their sin in any way,
shape or form. One would not find Paul frequenting a brothel that he might win
prostitutes to Christ. Nor would you find Paul perched atop a LGBT float at a
Gay Pride Parade — though you might find him outside the venue preaching the
gospel and calling many to repentance while handing out gospel tracts. A true
believer should no more attend a gay wedding than he or she should accompany a
pregnant woman to Planned Parenthood to have an abortion. It is biblically
incongruous with true saving faith. In the end Romans 1:32 warns those who
“although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things
are worthy of death, they not only do the same, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">but also give hearty approval to those who practice them</b>.” </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">4. What if I offend those who invited me?</span></b><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
There is no denying that society’s acceptance of homosexuality and same-sex
marriage has now created an awkward atmosphere for those who take their faith
in Christ seriously. Unquestioningly we will be misunderstood, maligned and
misrepresented for simply taking a stand for the truth of God’s word. The real
question here is what is to guide the decision making process — truth or
experience? Fact or feeling? Faith or fancy? Scripture or subjectivism? Apart
from truth, any professed love will tend toward sloppy sentimentalism. The
decision making process in these difficult situations should be driven by an
equal measure of both truth and grace to keep from erring on either side the
equation. Truth and grace serve as the painted lines on the highway to prevent
one veering off the road or crossing into the lane of oncoming traffic. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Christ
had much to say about the necessity of would-be disciples counting the cost and
taking up their cross daily to follow Him (Matt. 10:26-38; 16:24-28; Mark.
8:34-38; Luke 9:57-62; 14:25-35) because there is one relationship that
pre-empts all others — the believer’s union with Christ! The commandment to
love your neighbor is meaningless if it is not preceded by and rooted in the
commandment to wholly love God in a comprehensive manner. So the logic that
insists that “I must attend this wedding or risk appearing unloving” just
doesn’t wash. That dog just doesn’t hunt because in the hierarchy of divine
priorities the Christian is to please God first and foremost. </span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">While no one
should desire to be unloving to our fellow man, the alternative in this case is
to demonstrate an unloving attitude toward the God we say we love and serve. It
is the love of Christ that should constrain the believer (2 Cor. 5:14) instead
of the appeasement of a culture devoid of moral barriers. It was Christ who
warned His disciples that He came not to bring peace but a sword … “He who
loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me …” </span><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In
other words, Christianity was never meant to be a popularity contest. The same
truth that unites the believer to Christ in heaven will often result in
division on earth. In light of the fall, this should not surprise us. </span><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">When
writing the Galatians, Paul challenged them with an either-or ultimatum, not a
both-and opportunity: “<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">For am I now
seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were
still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ</span>”
(Galatians 1:10). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is the question
every believer in Christ must always keep ever before them. The truth is we are
never more loving than when we obey God’s word. The most unloving thing a
Christian can do is to validate someone in their sin by participating in an
activity that glorifies and elevates that sin to the detriment of God’s established
standard. So in answer to the question “What if I offend them?”, I answer, “Who
would you rather offend, God or man?” </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It
is biblically evident that marriage is to be defined by God, not man. It is for
man to recognize what God ordained, not redefine it. For this reason marriage
is unique and carries great import and meaning whether recognized by humanity
or not. Marriage, as portrayed in Scripture, is an apt illustration for the
sacred and mystical relationship that exists between Christ and His blood-bought
bride, the Church! No other relational combination beyond that outlined in
Genesis 1 and 2 can ever equal or improve upon what God has revealed and
commanded in His word. Given the sacredness and preciousness of God-ordained
marriage, the Church is called to be the earthly steward of this beautiful
parable by protecting it, prizing it, and promoting it, in keeping with His
sovereign directive. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">When
Christians thoughtlessly or callously attend a mockery (like a same-sex
ceremony) of a sacred event, they are unwittingly helping to normalize and
legitimize<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_edn1" name="_ednref1" style="mso-endnote-id: edn1;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-ZA; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[i]</span></span></span></span></a>
someone else’s sin. No doubt this is one of the primary reasons gays desire the
formality of marriage. </span><span lang="EN-ZA"><a href="http://truthxchange.com/articles/blog/2013/05/14/to-attend-or-not-to-attend/?utm_source=Sustaining+Partner+2+transformed+minds+holy+bodys&utm_campaign=First+Constant+Contact+Email&utm_medium=email"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Peter
Jones</span></a></span><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> sagely notes, “It obliges the rest of
society formally to affirm the righteousness of their relationship. As soon as
Christians attend gay weddings as a matter of course, in the name of friendship
and even ‘love,’ we will have lost the public attempt to preserve creational
marriage as society’s norm. If you want gay marriage as part of the law of the
land, supporting individual gay marriage is a sure-fire way to make it happen.”
When a Christian supports a gay wedding it amounts to the tacit promotion of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">matrimonicide</i></b>
— the death of marriage. God will not hold those guiltless who debase what He created
and pronounced good.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Rather,
let us remember we are to be custodians of what God has entrusted to us by pursuing
the admonition of Hebrews 13:4: “Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and
the marriage bed undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge.” So
for those who ask WWJD if He had been invited to a gay wedding? Look no further
than Hebrews 13:4!</span><br />
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></div>
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<![endif]--><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Al Mohler
fittingly <a href="http://www.albertmohler.com/2013/10/01/george-and-barbara-witness-a-wedding-when-a-private-act-sends-a-public-message/">concludes</a>, “Christians cannot affirm what the Bible defines as sin, and yet that is what
is demanded of us in our current cultural context. One of the hardest issues for
every Christian will be the responsibility to relate to everyone we know with both
love and truth.”</span>
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_ednref1" name="_edn1" style="mso-endnote-id: edn1;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-ZA"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-ZA; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[i]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> As a sub-culture in western society the LGBT
community is not naturally predisposed to marriage as an institution. But the
promotion of marriage was necessary to gain acceptance and legitimacy as a marginalized
population. By campaigning for marriage “equality” the LGBT lobby seeks to
first normalize their sinful lifestyle, and then on the basis of new found
legitimacy, begin legislating against all those who disagree with and oppose
same-sex marriage. As partial indication that gays do not really esteem
marriage as an institution, just look at the actual numbers of gays who have
availed themselves to official civil marriage: In the </span><span lang="EN-ZA"><a href="http://christian-apologetics.org/2013/gay-marriage-shunned-by-gays-as-largely-meaningless/"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Netherlands</span></a></span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, the first country to legalize gay marriage in
2001, only 3% of the gay population in Holland has tied the knot. In </span><span lang="EN-ZA"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same-sex_marriage_in_South_Africa"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">South Africa</span></a></span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> the statistics are even more revealing. Since
same-sex marriage became the law of the land in December of 2006 only 3,327
mono-gendered unions have taken place through 2011. Given a gay population of
1.5 million this amounts to less than .45% of the LGBT community taking advantage
of their new found “right”. Based on these figures it is hard to believe the
gay community prizes, cherishes, and desires marriage as a traditional
institution. </span></div>
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The Radical Watchmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11317466632490218450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32447962.post-49624197286131410842013-09-23T06:29:00.000-07:002013-09-28T03:22:32.890-07:00Syria: A Cost-Benefit Analysis of War<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In
light of the flurry of headlines related to recent events surrounding the 30
month civil war in Syria, my thoughts quickly gravitated to Christ’s parable in
Luke 14:31. As Jesus recounted the demands of true discipleship, He illustrated
the realities of following Him with a king’s cost-benefit analysis for going to
war. His point is well taken, no responsible king rushes headlong into battle
without first thoroughly and carefully tabulating the price tag. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Even
though Christ was referencing those who claim to follow Him, His example of a
king comprehensively assessing the potential of war is pertinent. So how
should Christians assess the current sabre rattling related to Syria and
possible US involvement? Better yet, what should guide our thinking as we seek
to make God-informed decisions? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As
one who subscribes to what is known as Just War theory, there are a number of
sober-minded questions that must be posed and honestly answered, before any
determination can be made. Based on the labyrinth that is the Middle East, this
will not be easy or straightforward.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">For
starters, Just War theory is predicated on the divine mandate of government to
punish evil doers and praise those who do right (1 Peter 2:14). Romans 13:4
echoes the same sovereign sentiment when government is authorized “to bear the
sword” and serve as a “terror” to evil which “carries out God’s wrath on wrong
doing.” In a post-fall world this sometimes necessitates the use of deadly
force, though this should never be taken lightly. In short, a nation has divine
sanction and a moral obligation to defend itself from enemies both foreign and
domestic. But this should never be done devoid of sober-minded assessment and
vigorous deliberation.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So
how does this apply to the situation in Syria, where over 100,000 Syrians have
died? In accordance with Just War theory, a series of tough, penetrating,
thought provoking questions must be answered and debated objectively before the
first bullet is ever jacked into the chamber. The following is but a sampling
of such an inquiry: </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">1. Is this war really just?</span></b><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> :
Those contemplating war must first entertain the real reasons they are marching
Johnny off to war. In the case of Syria and Bashar Assad, President Obama views
intervention as a humanitarian effort for freedom fighting, democracy loving
rebels. All of this is lashed to the US assertion that Assad is guilty of using
chemical weapons against his own people. To date it is </span><span lang="EN-ZA"><a href="http://www.globalresearch.ca/did-the-white-house-help-plan-the-syrian-chemical-attack/5347542"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">not
known</span></a></span><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> whether the chemical strike was by
al-Qaeda backed rebels or Assad, as both are known to have access to chemical
agents. There is a great degree of ambiguity surrounding this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the old saying goes “Truth is the first
casualty of war.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As
magnanimous a gesture as a humanitarian war might sound, there is little in the
US Constitution to commend such action on humanitarian grounds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Syria in no way serves as an existential
threat to the national security of the US, which would be a reason for US
action. After all, where does one draw the line where inhumanities are
concerned? What about the 100,000 Syrians killed prior to the chemical strike?
Over 5 million people have died in the eastern Congo in the last 18 years of
civil war, but no one is calling for a US response. Why? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">From
the USA’s vantage point, it is not yet clear punitive action is entirely
justified in Syria. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">2. Has a competent authority sanctioned war based on the
most reliable intelligence (Romans 13:1)?</span></b><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> :
President Obama has yet to go to congress to seek approval for a military
strike. Given the unpopularity of such a war by the American people (70% are
against it) it is doubtful congress would approve military intervention. But
Obama can still invoke executive privilege, as he often does, and do an end-run
around congress, especially if this is the “unbelievably small” attack
Secretary of State Kerry said it would be. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Should
President Obama act unilaterally on his own, and it goes horribly wrong, his presidency
would be in peril. Thus, by-passing congress would be an unwise move.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 2008 those who voted for Obama did so on
the basis of ending wars, not starting them. Apparently this has slipped his mind. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">3. Is it clear that the actions of the enemy are morally
wrong, while a response, in turn, is morally justified (Romans 13:3)?</span></b><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
: While Assad is a brute and a beast responsible for 100,000 deaths, it is just
as certain that the al-Qaeda backed rebels — many of whom are from surrounding
Islamic states — are just as reprehensible as they callously slaughter Syrian
Christians and Kurds with impunity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
jihadist fuelled al-Qaeda mercenaries are currently operating under </span><span lang="EN-ZA"><a href="http://victorhanson.com/wordpress/?p=6478#more-6478"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">fatwa</i></span></a></span><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
that allows them to rape non-Sunni women. In one tragic instance a 15 old
Syrian Christian girl, named Mariam, was raped 15 times in 15 days by 15
different men before being executed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>These are the same forces President Obama is currently supplying with
arms and supplies. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The
real question here is which side is more immoral? It would appear to be a coin
toss. Make no mistake, democracy and freedom are not on the menu regardless of
which side one references. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">4. What is the intention of going to war — is it to
protect and promote righteousness and justice (Proverbs 21:2)?</span></b><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
: Recent history indicates that the West, and the US particularly, think that
western–style democracy can easily be exported to the Middle East. This is an
egregiously <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>naïve assumption which
think-tank scholar, </span><span lang="EN-ZA"><a href="http://victorhanson.com/wordpress/?p=6475"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Bruce Thornton</span></a></span><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">,
calls the “fetishizing of democracy”. What the West hasn’t figured out yet is
that Islam, when in the majority, is wholly immune to our notions of democracy
and freedom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The so-called “Arab Spring”
is about a resurgence of Sharia law attended by a swelling jihadism, not
freedom and democracy. There is an innate incompatibility between Sharia and
democracy, something the West has been very slow to learn. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">While
promoting democracy and freedom abroad sounds a noble cause, it should be
apparent by now that the Middle East, save Israel, is constitutionally
incapable of implementing these concepts as the West understands them.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">5. Have all other options for resolution been exhausted
(Matthew 5:9; Romans 12:8)?</span></b><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> : Truthfully, there are not
any good options in this complex situation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Historian, </span><span lang="EN-ZA"><a href="http://victorhanson.com/wordpress/?p=6483#more-6483"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Victor
Davis Hansen</span></a></span><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">, summed it up best: “We are
planning to do all kinds of things by not doing anything.” His point is that
there aren’t any appealing options, only a long list of bad ones to include
doing nothing.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">6. What is the probability of success (Luke 14:31)?</span></b><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
: A limited US strike would leave everything in suspended animation with any
number of undesirable variables possible. US provocation could see Russia and
Iran enter the fray on behalf of Assad, with Turkey, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia
forced to aid the Sunni rebels more than at present. Iran, in response, could
taunt Israel while soliciting Hezbollah and Hamas to the same. In such a
scenario Lebanon would no doubt get swept up in the rapids of violence and
senseless killing of an ever escalating conflagration. Of course doing nothing
might send a telegraph to others in the region that it is alright to use WMDs. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Even
if Assad were eliminated, what then? Who will take his place? A jihadist
desiring to implement Sharia? Will that really be an improvement over the
status quo? Those desiring a more secular government would surely revolt and
plunge the country back into a second round of civil war. Toppling Assad will
only create a dangerous power vacuum, much like that seen in both Egypt and
Libya. In other words, a US victory is highly improbable unless the action is
long term. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">7. Will the good achieved through US military
intervention outweigh the negative consequences of war (Romans 12:21; 13:4)?</span></b><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
: In view of the aforementioned, probably not. If the recent history of US
foreign policy in the Middle East is anything to go by, the US should quit while
they are behind. In 1979 Jimmy Carter supported the overthrow of the Shah of
Iran who was summarily replaced by the theocratic ayatollahs, who are now
knocking on the door of nuclear capabilities — something that is probably more
of threat than Syria. Iraq’s tenuous “democracy” is in serious doubt, while
Afghanistan is hanging by a slender thread. In the aftermath of the eternal dispatchment
of Mummar Qaddafi, Libya is anything but stable as they experience a rising
tide of jihadism, which has now spilled over into northern Mali. Then there is
Egypt. The West applauded the sacking of strongman Hosni Mubarak even though
present instability is the order of the day. In the meantime Coptic Christians
watch their churches being burned down to the ground, their women raped, some
killed, and others persecuted to varying degrees. This hardly sounds like the
work of those thirsty for democracy and hungry for freedom. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Christian
journalist </span><span lang="EN-ZA"><a href="http://www.worldmag.com/2013/08/would_bombing_syria_bring_any_real_change"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Cal
Thomas</span></a></span><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> well concludes, “What makes anyone
think bombing Damascus is going to bring positive change?” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is right.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even though there is a deal in the making
regarding Assad’s surrender of WMDs, it remains to be seen if this permanently </span><span lang="EN-ZA"><a href="http://www.iol.co.za/news/world/assad-slams-america-s-threats-1.1581541#.UkAlKz9QXbw"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">diffuses
the situation</span></a></span><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">. For any real progress to
be made, the rebels would need to surrender their WMDs as well. The unvarnished
truth of this situation is that in all likelihood there will not be a positive
outcome in the near future. The battle will rage on with or without Assad,
regardless of what the US does or does not do. </span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But is there anything Christians can tangibly
do to help in this tragedy? Here are but four suggestions:</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We need to inform ourselves
about Islam and the Middle East, so we can pray more intelligently about the
situation. Likewise we must pray for those, like President Obama, to make sound
decisions based on bi-partisan advice. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> <span style="font-family: Symbol;"> </span></span></span></span><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We need to daily pray for
the growing number of refugees who are fleeing the bloodshed and daily
persecution with nothing other than the clothes on their backs. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 39.75pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Pursue supporting reputable aid agencies
involved in the humanitarian efforts to the disenfranchised, displaced, and
homeless in Syria. Pray that God would rise up some truly Christian relief
workers who take more than food, clothing, and shelter to the refugees, as they
also reach out with grace of the glorious gospel! </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 39.75pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-ZA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Finally, while most of us
cannot go as missionaries to evangelize in an Islamic country, God has
surrounded us with pockets of Islam that still need to be reached with the
gospel of Christ. Let us pray for and support Christ-centered ministries seeking
to reach local Muslims. Even better, let us count the cost and reach out
ourselves to Muslims we know! </span></div>
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The Radical Watchmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11317466632490218450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32447962.post-90234842958414731362012-07-31T09:42:00.000-07:002012-08-01T07:51:44.030-07:00Leaps In Logic: An Evaluation Of Pro-Gay Presuppositions<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/" target="_blank"> </a><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">By
Pastor Mark Christopher</span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">One of my favorite secular quotes is from
George Orwell who said, <span class="bodybold">“In times of universal deceit,
telling the truth will be a revolutionary act.” Orwell certainly was ahead of
his time. We now live in an age and culture where simple disagreement with politically-correct
dogma warrants a trip to the dog box while receiving a public name-and-shame
lashing.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="bodybold"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">The truth of Orwell’s
statement was duly illustrated only two weeks ago, when I came across the local
</span></span><a href="http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/gauteng/church-u-turn-after-homophobia-row-1.1340676#.UA_hG6OsiSo"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">headline</span></a><span class="bodybold"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">
“Church blasted over anti-gay billboard”. It seems as if a Pretoria-based
ministry featured a billboard with a picture of an unclad male torso with
various labels like “drug abuse”, ‘’promiscuity”, “alcoholism”, “porn”, “sex”,
and, yes, “homosexuality”, positioned around the torso. Then read the caption
“Whom the Son sets free, is free indeed.”</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span class="bodybold"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">It all seems harmless
enough, so what was this church’s crime? By including the label of
“homosexuality” on the billboard, it implied that one’s “sexual orientation”
could be changed, or “cured”. This, it is alleged, amounts to “hate” and
incites “violence” against the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender)
community. Immediately the Advertising Standards Authority swung into action to
investigate the billboard for the allusion that homosexuality is deemed a sin.
Two days later, Light of The Nations Church retreated and replaced the
offending billboard with a replacement sign that was entitled, “What the Church
can learn from homosexuals”. </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span class="bodybold"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Incidents like this
have become all too common place in our relativistic culture, illustrating the uncharted waters upon which the Church of Jesus Christ now finds itself.
Whether we like it or not, homosexuality, and the whole LGBT complex, has
become an issue that Bible-believing churches cannot afford to ignore. So as we
think and pray about our role and response of being both salt and light to the
LGBT community, what are some lessons the church should consider from incidents
like the one above? I originally jotted down seven lessons when I read through
the associated article, but, due to space, I will only share the first lesson
with which one should be familiar:</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span class="bodybold"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> Note the
philosophical presuppositions behind all the pro-gay advocacy:</span></b></span><span class="bodybold"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">
To understand the headlines related to this defining issue, it is helpful to
know what drives pro-gay thinking. In short, pro-gay dogma is rooted in
philosophical and moral relativism. Based on this, morality is neither timeless
nor universal. Binding moral absolutes simply do not exist (a
self-contradictory statement in itself). Therefore, morality and ethics are
fluid and in a state of perennial change, being subjectively determined by the
prevailing culture of the day. After all, democracy rules, or so it is thought.</span></span></div>
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<span class="bodybold"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">The practical outcome
of moral relativism has produced what I call moral transvaluationism. A moral
transvaluation is illustrated well by Isaiah 5:20 where it says Israel was
guilty of calling “good evil and evil good”. Another way of saying this is that
deviancy is defined down and normalized. Correspondingly, generally accepted
morals are morphed into the new deviancy, being redefined as the new abnormal.
This explains why Bible-believing Christians are now in the cross-hairs of today’s
new thought police.</span></span></div>
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<span class="bodybold"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">It should not
surprise anyone to learn that relativistically derived transvaluations find
their tap root in German existential thinking. One can almost smell the
after-shave of Nietzsche and his nihilistic disciples as many of their
philosophical meanderings are now employed, and given legs, by those, like the
pro-gay lobby. I doubt seriously that most of the evangelists of same-sex
orthodoxy are even aware of the subterranean thinking that governs their
worldview. But for those who scratch beneath the surface of the popular slogans
and clichés, the cognitive dissonance looms large and serves as the thermostat to the rhetoric and agenda
associated with the pro-gay movement.</span></span></div>
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<span class="bodybold"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">One of the outcomes
of such a relativistic worldview is that pro-gay promoters invoke a number of
logical fallacies when arguing their cause. Such is unavoidable when one’s
script is subjectively derived and situated in experience. While the fallacies
employed are many, the following three fallacies deserve honorable mention,
given the frequency with which they used:</span></span></div>
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<span class="bodybold"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span class="bodybold"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">The first weapon of
choice in the pro-gay arsenal is arguing <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ad
hominem</i>. Reasoning <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ad hominem</i>
relies on emotionally charged salvos which are meant to vilify and demonize
one’s detractors, by tarring them with character assassinations and calling
their credibility into question. It is like walking up to a guy who is married
and saying, “Are you still beating your wife?” It puts one on the immediate
defensive, which is why it is effective. So the flurry of pro-gay <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ad hominem </i>invectives, like “homophobe”,
“bigot”, “heterosexist”, and “intolerant” are used to great effect without ever
having to debate the substance of the issue itself. As Paul Nathanson, himself
a homosexual, writes, “This argument (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ad
hominem</i>) amounts to verbal terrorism … It is easy to trivialize arguments
by attacking the personal integrity of those who make them. That way, you need
not deal with the argument itself.”</span></span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_edn1" name="_ednref1" style="mso-endnote-id: edn1;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">[i]</span></span></span></span></a><span class="bodybold"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">
Yet, with the right line of inquiry, the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ad
hominem </i>bomb can be effectively diffused. </span></span></div>
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<span class="bodybold"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Let it not be said of Christians that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ad hominem</i> arguments are our weapon of
choice.</span></span></div>
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<span class="bodybold"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span class="bodybold"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Arguing <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">non-sequitur</i> is another common pro-gay
fallacy. A <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">non-sequitur </i>argument is
simply a response that does not follow the premise of a former statement, there
is no logical connection between the former and the later statements. The
“then” statement does not mesh with the “If” statement. Pro-gay reasoning well
illustrates this fallacy whenever they conclude that moral disagreement over
the legitimacy of homosexuality is the equivalent of “hatred” and
“discrimination”. </span></span></div>
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<span class="bodybold"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Since when does debate equal hate? Quite
frankly this is absurd. But such absurdity didn’t stop one gay-rights crusader
from </span></span><a href="http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/gauteng/church-u-turn-after-homophobia-row-1.1340676#.UA_hG6OsiSo"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">concluding</span></a><span class="bodybold"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">
that the billboard, cited above, continued to perpetuate “The stigma attached
to homosexuality” and “contributed to the killing of homosexuals in SA and in
Africa”. Really? What empirical proof is there for such an serious allegation? How does one diagnostically substantiate such a specious claim? Just
because one says it does not make it so. No amount of wishful thinking will ever authenticate the claim.</span></span></div>
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<span class="bodybold"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">If the above statement were true, then it would
logically, and necessarily, follow that a pastor’s preaching against adultery,
incest, fornication, and polygamy is equally responsible for inciting “hatred”
and “violence” against adulterers, violators of incest, those who engage in
pre-marital sex, and polygamists. One could even go so far as to maintain that
preaching against polygamy is inviting the assassination of the South African
president, since he is a polygamist. Does teaching against murder and theft
encourage vigilantism and kangaroo courts? To maintain the affirmative is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">non-sequitur</i> logic, and is, therefore,
fallacious. No doubt there are those who do harbor hatred toward the gay
community, but it simply does not follow that proclaiming the biblical position
on gender distinction, marriage, and sexual morality is tantamount to hatred. It
is as unreasonable as it is illogical to insist otherwise.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 39.75pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: justify;">
<span class="bodybold"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">The most over-used <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">non-sequitur</i> script of pro-gay forces is their use (actually abuse)
of the term “sexual orientation”, which is a loaded label, filled with numerous
assumptions that are never defined nor adequately explained. Above all else,
the use of this undefined terminology is meant to imply that there is a proven
biological/genetic link to homosexuality. Therefore, homosexuality is as
immutable and involuntary as skin color, or an uncorrectable disability. It is
for this reason many wish to accord civil rights status to the whole of the LGBT
movement. Thus, disagreement with the same is equal to “racism”, “hatred”, and “bigotry”.
</span></span></div>
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<span class="bodybold"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">The trouble is, upon examination, this
genetic aspect of the “sexual orientation” assumption remains unproven. The
“science” surrounding same-sex desire has not determined any certain genetic
link. The science is all inconclusive. Most of the studies are filled with
sample bias, flawed statistics, most can’t be duplicated, and many studies are
often conducted by homosexuals themselves, who are hardly dispassionate in
their research. There currently exists no truly objective means for determining
whether a person is inherently and congenitally homosexual — there is not one
diagnostic test to validate the claim. Even if a genetic link could be
definitively established, this would in no way negate one’s moral
responsibility, any more than a genetic link to grand-theft auto would excuse a
car thief for hot-wiring and stealing your car.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 39.75pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: justify;">
<span class="bodybold"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Same-sex desires and same-sex orientation
find their source in the broken and disordered sexuality that is a direct
result of original sin and the innate sin nature we all share (Matthew
15:17-20; Mark 7:18-23). The mere presence of same-sex desire does not justify
the act. Otherwise adulterers, </span></span><a href="http://www.b4uact.org/principles.htm"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">pedophiles</span></a><span class="bodybold"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">, the incestuous, and
zoophiles could all justify and legitimize their particular deviancies based on
their subjective desires and urges. To be inclined toward homosexuality is not
the equivalent of being consigned to it. To insist otherwise is a grand
demonstration of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">non-sequitur</i> thought. That the unexamined orthodoxy of
same-sex “sexual orientation” is just assumed by most, cannot be attributed to
empirical evidence. Rather, it is a result of shrewd application of the old
adage that if you repeat something often enough, loud enough, and long enough
then people will believe it. But that doesn’t make it so. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 39.75pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 39.75pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: justify;">
<span class="bodybold"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Pro-gay use of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">non-sequitur</i> thought is a classic example of transvalued logic,
which ignores the obvious while arguing the ridiculous. Under honest scrutiny
such logic is exposed for what it is and ultimately fails.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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<span class="bodybold"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span class="bodybold"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">liar’s paradox</i> is another glaring
fallacy that fuels pro-gay thinking. The gist of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">liar’s paradox</i> is summed up in the statement “The truth is that
there is no truth.” This is a self-contradictory declaration that finally
negates itself. This is at the heart of postmodern thinking, which is strongly
reflected in pro-gay thinking. As one pro-gay advocate told me, “There are no
moral absolutes.” So in an effort to subjectively rationalize his sin, this
chap fell into the jaws of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">liar’s
paradox</i> with his self-contradictory statement. The inference here is that
the only moral absolute is that there are none. Such is a self-defeating
assertion that nullifies itself under the sheer weight of its own absurdity. As Francis Schaeffer would say, "They have escaped from reason."</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.75pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.75pt; text-align: justify;">
<span class="bodybold"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">So
what is the point of this exercise? Why explore the philosophical assumptions
of pro-gay logic? The answer is simple, the above evaluation is needed to
inform fellow believers about the philosophical framework that supports the
same-sex fallacies we hear <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ad nauseam</i>.
In becoming more familiar with the pro-gay presuppositions, it is hoped that
those who encounter such logic will be better prepared to speak the truth in
the love (Ephesians 4:15), as they seek to proclaim the life transforming
gospel of Christ to those mired in sins of this nature. To be forewarned is to
be forearmed when deliberating with one in the LGBT community. So speak the
truth each one you to your neighbor (Ephesians 4:25), but remember that doing
so in a culture of colossal deception often will be misconstrued as a
revolutionary act! </span></span></div>
<div style="mso-element: endnote-list;">
<br />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<div id="edn1" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_ednref1" name="_edn1" style="mso-endnote-id: edn1;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">[i]</span></span></span></a> Quoted
from my book <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Same-sex marriage: Is it
really the same?</i> DayOne Pub. 2009, p. 11.</div>
</div>
</div>
<br /></div>
The Radical Watchmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11317466632490218450noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32447962.post-66930130868241616762012-05-10T02:27:00.000-07:002012-05-10T05:13:07.618-07:00Obama Finally Stumbles Out Of The Closet<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
<b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the
marriage bed is to be undefiled: for fornicators and adulterers God will
judge.”</span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> Hebrews 13:4</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Yesterday US President
Barack Obama finally stumbled out of the same-sex marriage closet he has been
hiding in the last four years. This is hardly a surprise to those of us who
studied candidate Obama’s position on the issue four years ago. To be blunt,
Obama has been blowing pink smoke since his inauguration.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">In the last two years
Obama has indicated on more than one occasion that his views on the matter were
“evolving”. Well, yesterday, in a grand moment of punctuated equilibrium, Obama
transmutated and came of age! Of course he has tacitly endorsed the gay agenda,
to include gay marriage, all along, as his actions well attest. By repealing
the military’s policy of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Don’t Ask, Don’t
Tell</i> , and openly refusing to enforce the federal Defense of Marriage Act
(DOMA), indicate he has been waving the rainbow flag all along. Apparently, President
Obama believes he is imperiously above enforcing the laws of the land while
simultaneously immune from the law of God.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Obama claims he came to
this “new” found enlightenment gradually, subsequent to discussions with
family, friends, advisors, and gay Americans. In other words, his emergence
from the closet is predicated upon an amalgam of both human opinion and
experience, as if these serve as the gold standard for truth and morality.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">It goes without saying
that Obama invoked the Bible, crediting the “Golden Rule” (It is too bad he
doesn’t invoke the Golden Rule where partial birth abortion is concerned!) for
his transvalued take on marriage. But given Obama’s anemic and tortured use of
Scripture on the subject (see excerpt from my book below), it is hard believe
he really cares what the Bible says about anything, let alone same-sex
marriage. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">On the contrary, I am of
the opinion the catalyst for Obama’s sudden about face, on this most
acrimonious issue, has more to do with a combination of experience and political expedience, which
is as subjective as it is relativistic. He is in serious trouble politically
with his reelection bid imperiled. Some democratic-party faithful have been
withholding campaign donations from Obama to force his exit from same-sex
sequestration. Just coincidence?</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Only November 6<sup>th</sup>,
2012 will reveal whether Obama, and his advisers, just committed political
suicide, or not. That 31 states have overwhelmingly voted in favor of marriage
amendments to their respective state constitutions, doesn’t bode well for an
Obama second term. But I won’t hold my breath just yet, for as the saying goes,
a day is a long time in politics.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">In light of Obama’s
renaissance moment, it must be asked if Obama’s view on marriage will continue
to “evolve” into other “equitable” relational combinations, like polyamory
(group marriage) and pedogamy (intergenerational marriage)? After all, if
experience and expedience are the guideposts for morality and truth, why stop
short at gay marriage? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">*(Note: The portion
below is from my book <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Same-Sex Marriage:
Is It Really The Same?</i> It was written nearly four years ago detailing, then
candidate, Obama’s position of the same-sex issue. Also, see my post below on
Jesus’ view of homosexuality to refute the absurd nonsense that Jesus promoted
homosexuality via the Golden Rule): </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">9. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">What is Barack Obama’s (US President Elect) position on gay rights and
same-sex marriage?</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Given that during the US
presidential campaign Barack Obama claimed he did not fully support same-sex
marriage, what are we to make of his position on the issue? In short, his
position on gay rights and SSM is as radical and far reaching as his views on
abortion, which amount to infanticide<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_edn1" name="_ednref1" style="mso-endnote-id: edn1;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">[i]</span></span></span></a>. The
best way to answer the question is to use the words of Obama himself from a
statement he issued to the gay community:</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Equality is a moral imperative</b>. That’s why throughout my career, I
have fought to eliminate discrimination against LGBT Americans. In Illinois, I
co-sponsored a fully inclusive bill that prohibited discrimination on the basis
of both sexual orientation and gender identity, extending protection to the
workplace, housing, and places of public accommodation. In the U.S. Senate, I
have co-sponsored bills that would equalize tax treatment for same-sex couples
and provide benefits to domestic partners of federal employees. And as
president, I will place the weight of my administration behind the enactment of
the Matthew Shepard Act to outlaw hate crimes and<br />
a fully inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act to outlaw workplace
discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_edn2" name="_ednref2" style="mso-endnote-id: edn2;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">[ii]</span></span></span></a>(Emphasis
added)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">The
first sentence says it all, “Equality is a moral imperative.” It is basically
all downhill from there. Though he may have tried to distance himself from gay
marriage during the campaign, it is evident that was only because it was
politically expedient for Obama to do so. He has no moral convictions or
ethical squabbles with homosexuality or its related issues. Essentially, he will try and promote comprehensive gay
rights legislation that will irrevocably empower this tiny minority to enslave
the many who deem homosexuality morally abhorrent.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Once
this wide ranging list of gay friendly legislation is signed into law,
Bible-believing Christians will be in the cross hairs of the ACLU (American
Civil Liberties Union) and gay rights crusaders, who will tar and brand all who
disagree as “right-wing bigots” and “homophobes”. We will see the professed
“tolerance”, gay rights sympathizers preach quickly, morph into tyranny as
these cultural transvaluationists begin applying hate crime laws and hate
speech legislation to Christians and conservative congregations.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">President
elect Obama has also called for the complete repeal of the federal version of
the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Obama is on record saying, “…I believe we
should get rid of that statute altogether. Federal law should not discriminate
in any way against gay and lesbian couples, which is precisely what DOMA does.
I have also called for us to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell …”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_edn3" name="_ednref3" style="mso-endnote-id: edn3;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">[iii]</span></span></span></a></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">The
federal DOMA was enacted by a Republican led congress in 1996 to regulate
matters related to tax status, immigration, and social security as it relates
to SSM. As the basis of the regulation, the DOMA defines marriage as between a
man and a woman. In addition, this DOMA gives all 50 states the autonomy to
reject the same-sex marriages from other states that performed them.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_edn4" name="_ednref4" style="mso-endnote-id: edn4;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">[iv]</span></span></span></a> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">By
completely repealing the DOMA, Obama will jeopardize every state DOMA in the
country—most states have their own individual DOMAs. This will probably require
one state with a DOMA to recognize another state’s same-sex marriage. For
example, a state like Texas would be forced to then recognize the same-sex
marriages of those who were married in the state of Massachusetts, should such
couples relocate to Texas.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">To
further substantiate his extreme position on gay rights, it should not be
surprising Obama uses Scripture to advance his gay rights panacea. In his book <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Audacity of Hope, </i>Obama maintains
that he is not “willing to accept a reading of the Bible that considers an obscure
line in Romans [about homosexual practice] to be more defining of Christianity
than the Sermon on the Mount.”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_edn5" name="_ednref5" style="mso-endnote-id: edn5;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">[v]</span></span></span></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Only
a thorough-going postmodern trained attorney (Harvard Law School) could make
such an outrageous assertion regarding of the following passage:</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Romans 1:24</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> “Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity,
that their bodies might be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth
of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator,
who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them over to degrading
passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is
unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of
the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men
committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of
their error. And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer,
God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not
proper”.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">There is absolutely
nothing obtuse or opaque about Romans’ graphic portrayal of homosexuality. One
must intentionally determine not to understand what Paul is saying, in order to
be so dismissive of what is as plain as the nose on your face. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Obama’s ignorance
regarding both the Romans account and the Sermon of the Mount is glaring given
the subsequent considerations from the sermon:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Where in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) is
homosexuality ever promoted or approved even tacitly? Further, where in the
Sermon on the Mount is Romans 1:24-28 ever contravened or questioned? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">In Matthew 5:17-18 Jesus said He did not come to abolish
the Law, but to fulfill it. Jesus upheld even the lesser laws like those
related to tithing, so it is unreasonable to think that Jesus abrogated the
sexual ethics contained in OT Law. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus used six antitheses to
expand the dictates and demands of the Law by applying it to matters of the
heart (mind, will, and emotions). The sum of these antitheses was to target the
thoughts and motives of any would be follower of Christ. Two of the six
antithesis relate directly to marriage and sexuality:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Matthew 5:27-28:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> "You have heard
that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery'; but I say to you, that everyone who looks on a
woman to lust for her has committed adultery with her already in his heart.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<sup><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></sup><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Matthew 5:31-32:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> "And it was said, 'Whoever sends his wife away, let
him give her a certificate of divorce'; but I say to you that everyone who
divorces his wife, except for <i>the </i>cause of unchastity, makes her commit
adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">These two passages cover the essential terrain of the
seventh and tenth commandments (adultery and covetousness)<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_edn6" name="_ednref6" style="mso-endnote-id: edn6;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">[vi]</span></span></span></a>. If
anything, Jesus is actually increasing the demands of sexual laws to include
one’s thought life. Not only is it a sin to adulterate, fornicate, commit
incest, to rape, and to perform homosexual acts; it is a sin to even ponder
such things in one’s thoughts. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 39.75pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 39.75pt; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">In these two antitheses, Jesus emphasizes the distinct
priority of male-female union only afforded in heterosexual marriage. He never
intimates any other arrangement is acceptable. Jesus also underscores that the
nature of the heterosexual union is to be both a lifelong commitment and
monogamous. </span></div>
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</span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">It is true that the sermon addresses other themes like
loving your enemies (5:43-48) and hypocritically judging others for small
matters when much larger issues loom large in our own life (7:1-6). As Robert
Gagnon concludes, “However, these themes provide no more support for homosexual
unions than they do for loving, committed polyamorous or polygamous unions or
for adult-consensual incestuous unions, both of which Jesus obviously opposed.”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_edn7" name="_ednref7" style="mso-endnote-id: edn7;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">[vii]</span></span></span></a> </span></div>
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</span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Given that Obama uses the Sermon on the Mount as support
for his “moral imperative” for gay rights legislation, it is interesting he
says nothing of the end of that sermon where Jesus sternly warned,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Matthew 7:15, 22-23:</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> "<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Beware of the false prophets,
who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves</b> … Not
everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven; <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">but he who does the will of My Father who
is in heaven.</b> Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not
prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name
perform many miracles?' And then I will declare to them, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice
lawlessness.'”(Emphasis Added)</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">God’s will regarding sexual ethics is straightforward and
obvious throughout Scripture. Jesus considers violation of the Genesis 2:22-24
mandate for marriage (Matthew 19:4-6; Mark 10:2-11) lawlessness, which includes homosexuality and SSM. Just
because Barack Obama passes legislation favoring homosexuality, does not make
it any less lawless in God’s eyes.In the end, Obama’s “moral imperative”
amounts to moral impudence from Christ’s perspective.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Indeed, President Elect Obama needs much prayer regarding
both his views on gay rights, and his eclipsed understanding of what Jesus
really thinks about this issue.</span></div>
<div style="mso-element: endnote-list;">
<br />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<div id="edn1" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_ednref1" name="_edn1" style="mso-endnote-id: edn1;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">[i]</span></span></span></a> Barack
Obama, as Illinois
state senator, voted against the Born Free Act, which would allow babies born
alive during abortion the chance to have access to medical care. </div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div id="edn2" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_ednref2" name="_edn2" style="mso-endnote-id: edn2;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">[ii]</span></span></span></a> See <a href="http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/alexokrent/gGggJS">http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/alexokrent/gGggJS</a><span style="font-size: 10pt;">, Accessed 11 November 2008.</span><br />
<br /></div>
<div id="edn3" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_ednref3" name="_edn3" style="mso-endnote-id: edn3;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">[iii]</span></span></span></a> Ibid, p.2.</div>
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<br /></div>
</div>
<div id="edn4" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_ednref4" name="_edn4" style="mso-endnote-id: edn4;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">[iv]</span></span></span></a> The US
Constitution has a “Full Faith and Credit Clause” which mandates that states
must recognize the “acts, records, and judicial proceedings” of other states.
In the case of the federal DOMA, this clause is suspended and not in force. </div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div id="edn5" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_ednref5" name="_edn5" style="mso-endnote-id: edn5;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">[v]</span></span></span></a> Online: <a href="http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=27532">http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=27532</a>
, Accessed 11 November 2008. </div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div id="edn6" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_ednref6" name="_edn6" style="mso-endnote-id: edn6;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">[vi]</span></span></span></a> The Ten
Commandments serve as paradigmatic law, which means these laws are more
extensively explained and expounded in the rest of the law, where specific
applications are given. For example, Leviticus 18 is an application of the both
the seventh and tenth commands. </div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div id="edn7" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32447962#_ednref7" name="_edn7" style="mso-endnote-id: edn7;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">[vii]</span></span></span></a> Robert
Gagnon, “Barack Obama’s Disturbing Misreading of the Sermon on the Mount as
Support for Homosexual Sex,” Online at: <a href="http://www.robgagnon.net/">www.robgagnon.net</a>
, Accessed 11 November 2008, p.3. Also see Robert Gagnon, “Obama’s Coming War
on Historic Christianity over Homosexual Practice and Abortion,” Online at: <a href="http://www.robgagnon.net/">www.robgagnon.net</a> , Accessed 11 November
2008.</div>
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</div>The Radical Watchmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11317466632490218450noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32447962.post-51936216192182511932012-04-07T11:53:00.001-07:002012-04-14T06:06:18.791-07:00Revelational Potpourri: The Bible Versus Multi-Sourced Revelation<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></b></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></b></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">By Pastor Mark Christopher</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> I was recently asked by a friend to comment on the Bible as the only source of divine revelation for Christianity. Put another way, are there differing sources of revelation that Christians have myopically overlooked? Such a question is not uncommon in our postmodern age — an age which prides itself on the perceived virtues of “tolerance” and pluralism. The implication of the question itself often intimates that Christians should inclusively consider that other religious writings might have something to offer today’s postmodern Christian. Naturally, the converse is equally implied, that Christianity’s promotion of the Bible to the exclusion of other sacred writings, smacks of dreaded exclusivism. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">So how should a Bible-believing Christian respond to the assertion that the Bible should not be deemed the sole source of authority for one’s faith and practice? While not an exhaustive treatment of the pluralist’s creed, the following six considerations serve as an introduction to the topic.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> To begin responding appropriately to the dilemma presented by multiple sources of revelation, one must examine the following: the purpose of the Bible, the biblical warnings related to amending the word of God, Jesus’ own usage and emphasis of the OT Scriptures, the significance of biblical sufficiency, then one must assess the process that determined the canonicity of the various books of the Bible, and finally the utter uniqueness of the biblical message must be evaluated in light of other proposals.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">1. The Bible’s Purpose</span></u></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">: So what is the primary purpose of the Bible? It certainly isn’t to tell us all that we want to know, but, rather, it is meant to tell us what we need to know. In short, the Bible is God’s verbal self-discloser to a sinful humanity. Scripture progressively details and divulges the God of creation and redemption to a fallen race that otherwise would remain in the dark. Like a picture postcard from some exotic port of call, the Bible verbally and propositionally defines the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and ultimately the New Covenant. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Apart from God choosing to reveal Himself in written form, how would we learn of Him? How does a fallen, finite creature discover the indiscoverable and inscrutable God, unless He chooses to unveil Himself in some tangible and objective way? Psalm 19:1-14 bears testament to two ways in which God delights in disclosing His person to humanity — first, through the marvel of God’s sovereign work via creation itself, as the brilliance of God’s handiwork reflects something of the power and splendor of God (19:1-6), but creation is limited in what is disclosed; then, secondly, and more specifically, the word of God details the goodness and greatness of God (19:7-14), as the psalmist evaluates himself against this more detailed codified backdrop of divine revelation.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">In keeping with God’s self-discloser to man, Hebrews 1:1-3 declares that God’s ultimate revelation to cursed creatures is Jesus Christ Himself (1:2-3), with the Old Testament paving the way for God’s pinnacle of revelation: “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets (i.e. Old Testament) in many portions and many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son …” (Hebrews 1:1-2a). There is no mention or allusion to any other written source serving as a record of God’s exposition to man, for there was no other ancient literature that could conceive of such a God giving such a gift! Doubtless, false prophets made extravagant claims about speaking on God’s behalf, but these claims were immediately measured by the written standard that was already in existence — the Old Testament.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Beyond the thoughtful reflection of the Bible’s purpose, one must further contemplate the warnings of the Bible not to amend what God has already disclosed.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">2. The Bible’s Warnings</span></u></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">: How does one reconcile proposed claims of additional sources of revelation with the biblical passages that strongly exhort against tampering with what was previously recorded? If, as those with postmodern proclivities assert, divine revelation is to be had from a number of cisterns, how does one safeguard the Scriptures when one is going beyond what has already been revealed? </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">In Deuteronomy 4:2 Moses warned ancient Israel “You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span> your God which I command you.” Other similar warnings are demarcated in Deuteronomy 12:32; Proverbs 30:5-6; Daniel 12:4 concerning the sealing up of Daniel’s prophecy; and Revelation 22:18-19. One thing is certain, God does not endorse any form biblical math-a-magics, which seeks to add, or subtract, amend, or append the revelation already recorded. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Here it must be duly noted that after every warning above, save Revelation 22:18 and 19, subsequent books were added to the biblical canon. But this subsequent revelation met the strict criteria surveyed under the fifth consideration of this essay — namely, these books all achieved the standards of biblical quality assurance, so do not in any way contravene the issued warnings. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">If one entertains alternative springs of divine revelation, of whatever sort, there is no way to avoid altering the written word of God. Thus, it is then only a matter of time before the doctrine of God is rearranged to accommodate that altered word. The above passages exude an air of certainty and absoluteness about the biblical message. The nature of God’s discloser is fixed and not to be corrupted with competing claims of divine revelation. These passages serve as no trespassing signs to warn the would-be vandal to peddle his pluralism elsewhere, but not here. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">This internal attestation to the Bible’s uniqueness is not to be fiddled with. As the no trespassing sign continues, after the initial warning, “Violators will be prosecuted”. In like manner, God’s word issues a similar caution.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">3. The Bible and Jesus</span></u></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">: Did Jesus reference any other texts beyond the Old Testament to validate His extraordinary claims, and authenticate His redemptive message? </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">On the contrary, Jesus, when He was tempted by the Devil after 40 days of fasting in the wilderness, combated the Devil’s cabal with recitations from the Old Testament (Matthew 4:1-11). When contesting with the Pharisees, Jesus informed them “You search the Scriptures (Old Testament) because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me” (John 5:39 cf. 5:46 & 47). The Old Testament serves as a herald of the coming king, from Genesis to Malachi. The overriding implication being that it is only in the Bible that one can receive this heaven sent revelation. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">In a post-resurrection appearance to some of the disciples on the Emmaus road, Jesus expounded the significance of what had just happened with His crucifixion and resurrection, reasoning exclusively from the Old Testament: “Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained (exposited) to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures … Now when He said to them ‘These are my words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the <u>Law of Moses</u> and the <u>Prophets </u>and the <u>Psalms</u> must be fulfilled’” (Luke 24:27 & 44). </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">It is no wonder, in John 10:35, Jesus said that “Scripture cannot be broken”. In other words, the Old Testament witness cannot be annulled, or repealed. The weight of this Old Testament authority cannot be invalidated from within or without. In this there is a clear suggestion of sufficient preservation of the Old Testament text, which was to serve as a lone beacon pointing to Christ.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Jesus’ strong and constant reliance on the Old Testament Scriptures signifies their unparalleled uniqueness and importance in paving the way for the Messiah. No other writings are accorded such pride of place. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">When preparing His disciples for His departure, Jesus informs them that though He is leaving, yet, He will send another comforter (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">parakletos</i>) who will guide them into all truth concerning Himself (John 15:26-16:11). Upon Christ’s ascension, the Holy Spirit guided the apostles in divinely recording what they remembered about Christ, as they penned the New Testament Scriptures under the influence of the Holy Spirit. There is not even the slightest inference that any other literature will be granted this level of divinely bestowed authority and fidelity. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">The example that Christ established during His earthly ministry was that the word of God was and is completely reliable and authoritative. Jesus upheld the veracity of the Bible. Further, Christ promoted and conveyed absolute truths on a variety of subjects using the medium of human language to do so. Jesus obviously thought human language sufficient enough to convey God’s discloser of Himself. Thus, the testimony of Jesus Himself is unequivocal, God’s word, in both the testaments, is the sole arbiter of God’s written record concerning Himself. No rivals or viable alternatives are entertained.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">4<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>. The Bible’s Sufficiency</u></b>: Does the Bible need to be supplemented? The query that seeks to promote multiple sourced revelation evidences a high degree of suspicion regarding the integrity of the biblical record, by implying the Scriptures need “complemented” from various streams of thought beyond Christianity. But the crux of this logic nullifies the complete sufficiency of God’s word. The doctrine of sufficiency maintains that the Bible is a finished and comprehensive revelation, and is entirely sufficient for its divinely intended purpose. Therefore, it requires no additional supplementation from other external informants.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">For one to claim that other books, or literary extracts, are of equal value and import to the Bible is a tacit denial of biblical inspiration (God-breathed word), infallibility (indefectible authority), and inerrancy (accuracy). The whole issue of biblical authority is eroded by such an assumption, as this contention shifts the locus of divine authority from the Bible to various tributaries alien to Scripture. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">In turn the burden of proof for demonstrating the existence of other reliable sources of revelation is on the multi-source advocates. Certainly Jesus put full faith and confidence in the Bible alone without even a hint of entertaining any other possibility. Jesus assuredly believed the Old Testament was entirely sufficient as a guidance system for pointing to Himself. Postmodern detractors would do well to emulate Jesus in this!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">5. The Bible Test:</span></u></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> What criteria was used to determine whether a book was canonical, or not? In other words, why was one book incorporated into the biblical corpus while another was omitted? This question must be asked for it addresses the contention that there might be various sources of divine revelation beyond the Bible. If true, do these other sources meet the same criteria used to govern the biblical text itself? If these proposed sources do not meet with the established criteria that decided the 66 biblical books, then the multi-sourced proposal comes short and falls flat.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">So what was the litmus test the ancients used for deciding whether or not a book was to be included in the Bible? While this list is certainly not exhaustive, nor detailed in any way, it nevertheless represents the basic paradigm that was used to evaluate a book to ascertain if it should be included as Scripture:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">5.1 Authorship: In the instance of the Old Testament the Jews asked whether a particular book was written by a verified prophet, or an established designated leader of ancient Israel. Hence, by 400 B.C. the Old Testament was well established and has never been in question. By the New Testament era, the early church first verified whether the human author of the book or epistle was an apostle or a close associate of an apostle — In the case of Luke, he was a bonafide colleague the apostle Paul. In like manner, Jude and James were both the half-brothers of Jesus, with established reputations amongst the early church. So human authorship was one of the preliminary requirements considered before a book was deemed canonical.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">5.2 Universal Christian acceptance: Put another way, how did the early church view a specific piece of literature or letter from an apostle? Did they read it in public, or not? Did they later teach from it? All of which were indications that a book or epistle was inspired.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">5.3 Test of inspiration: Was the book thought to be inspired, that is to say God-breathed? It is crucial to note that inspiration only extends to the writing itself, not to the human author. So how was the matter of inspiration settled? In the following way:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">5.3.1 To verify if a specific book was inspired by God, the internal integrity of the writing was scrutinized and examined carefully, evaluating how a book presented both the person and work of Christ. The message about Christ had to be wholly unique in its portrayal of the Lord and His ministry. The book’s depiction of Christ and God had to be consistent with what was already recorded in the Bible. Much of what is written in both the Apocrypha and Pseudopigrapha, often presents Christ in a trite and shallow way, sometimes bordering on the sensational and mystical. Christ was not some side-show freak who put on a grand demonstration as a child for the neighbors by turning clay pigeons into the real thing. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">5.3.2 Further, a book’s moral and spiritual effect was considered: Did the said book transform thought and aid in amended behavior on the part of the recipients? In contrast, many of the Christian books written today produce spurious responses that border on the novel and faddish, without lasting effect. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Prayer of Jabez</i> is a good illustration. A whole industry sprung up around this book. It was the toast of the town, and on the lips of many believers. A few years later on and many have never even heard of the book. Such a book would not be considered for the biblical canon in antiquity because its effect was short lived. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Of course <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Prayer of Jabez</i> never claimed revelational status, but it does illustrate the point.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">5.3.3 Finally, the inspiration of book was discerned through the historical testimony of the early church. As the early church weighed up all the various criteria, there had to be universal agreement that a New Testament book was Scripture, or not. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">It is critical to understand that biblical canonicity was a process, not a single event. Through providential means God led the early church through the prolonged procedure of finalizing which books would comprise the New Testament, and which would be omitted. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Many books were thought unbiblical because of false teaching, like the sale of indulgences, or prayers for the dead. Other stories were viewed as extra-biblical because they were farfetched, more closely resembling ancient folklore and myth, like the Christ child bringing clay pigeons to life. Some teaching from the Apocrypha fell short of the established standards because it condoned lying in places, much like the Koran does today. This promotion of sub-biblical thought was a disqualification from the canon.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Thus, the canon is closed and has been for 2000 years, so no new Scripture is being added today (Revelation 22:18 & 19). We have all the special, divine revelation God is going to give us. The church’s problem is not that we don’t have enough revelation, but that we are not rightly dividing and passionately proclaiming the revelation we already have. What is needed is more Spirit-filled illumination (1 Corinthians 2:14-16), not more divine revelation. One wonders if those desiring multi-sourced revelation just aren’t satisfied with what God has graciously revealed to us in His word? Or maybe the multi-source proponents are embarrassed by the Bible and are seeking to distill the offending portions with additional revelation? </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">The contention that the church has been wrong for not sipping from other revelational streams for over 2000 years, insinuates that for two millennia the church has gotten it all wrong. This is a claim one would expect from Mormonism, or some other cult, but not from the redeemed. So even if the canon were not already closed, any claims of divine revelation from other quarters would have to be in accord with the established paradigm, as outlined above. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">6. The Bible’s Message: </span></u></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">If alternative forms of revelation exist, then that proposed revelation would have to conform to the inimitable and peerless message of the Bible. The Bible’s message is quite distinguished from any other plot-line known to man. Unlike any other piece of religious literature, the Bible exclusively portraits a very unflattering picture of the depth and extent of human depravity. A depravity so comprehensive in scope, that it renders man constitutionally incapable of meriting any favor with the aggrieved God. Man’s sinful estate is such that attempts at self-reformation are like a one trying to perform one’s own heart transplant without aid from a cardiologist and thoracic surgeon — this is as ill-advised as it is ill fated. Similarly, the word of God declares that, given man’s perverse plight and estrangement from God, the only remedy for sin is a salvation that is utterly by grace through faith alone! </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">In concert with the above thought, Ephesians 2:1-10 stencils the same scenario — one who is dead in their trespasses and sin cannot earn approval from God by self-righteous acts. On the contrary, Ephesians 2:8 & 9 records this supremely distinctive truth: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">The Bible chronicles what no other religion in the history of the world has, that one does not work <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">for</b> their salvation, rather, one works <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">from </b>their salvation (Ephesians 2:10), which is circumscribed entirely by grace. Indeed, Scripture affirms that there is only one Lord, one faith, one body, and one baptism. Further, it is only the Scriptures that mediate these truths accurately, clearly, and effectively. All multi-sourced proposals to the contrary are fallacious and fraudulent.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">It was Jesus Himself who made exclusive claims regarding His work in John 14:6, which was/is predicated on His irrepressible person. In similar vein, Luke restricts the way of salvation to no other than Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12): “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under that has been given among men by which we must be saved.” Hence, salvation is landlocked by a single Savior offering an exclusive sacrifice. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">In final analysis, if faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:14), where does this leave the proposal of multi-sourced revelation? Simple, lodged on the shoals of faulty assumptions and wishful thinking. While other ancient literature often has valuable historical and informational value, it is not divinely revealed and, therefore, cannot address issues of eternity, the soul, and salvation with the precision Scripture demands. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Given the inimitable purpose of the Bible, the stern biblical admonitions against altering God’s written record, the undeniable reliance of Jesus on the Old Testament, the magnitude of biblical sufficiency, the established methodology for determining biblical canonicity, and the superlative uniqueness of the Bible’s message, the believer can confidently assert that the Bible is the supreme standard for Christianity. The Bible stands peerless and unrivaled in relation to the petition for multi-sourced revelation.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">For this reason, like Jude of old, the believer should “earnestly contend for <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the faith </b>(the revealed word of God), which was once delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). The Christian’s call to arms is precisely in relationship to the warning to defend the objective faith — the written word of God — from any counter claims. As Maxwell Coder rightly explains Jude 3: “The faith set before us in the word of God was once delivered to the saints. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Therefore any claim to further revelation in these last days is, in itself, an evidence of apostasy</b>.” (Emphasis added)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">The Christian’s posture regarding the Bible (the faith), according to Jude, is one in which the believer ardently strives to uphold, and tirelessly defend the word of God, and ultimately the God of the word, from the numerous assaults of apostates. All with the confident acknowledgement that (Isaiah 40:8), “The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever”! </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div></div>The Radical Watchmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11317466632490218450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32447962.post-36579427325947421032011-07-15T09:56:00.001-07:002012-04-14T06:12:25.356-07:00DID JESUS ADVOCATE HOMOSEXUALITY?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit; margin-left: 0.25in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">This-morning as I was cruising through the headlines, I immediately came across a story detailing California’s new inclusion of “gay” history in the state’s public school curriculum. After reading the article, I scrolled down through the comment thread, which was rapidly expanding, and found the taunt of a pro-gay promoter who was challenging Christians with the fact that Jesus never said anything about homosexuality. The responses to the challenge were anemic at best, and prove the difficulty most Christians have responding biblically to this question. To this end, the following is a brief summary that sets the record straight by answering the common misconceptions about Jesus and homosexuality:</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit; margin-left: 0.25in; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit; margin-left: 0.25in; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Did Jesus advocate homosexuality?</span></b></div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit; margin-left: 0.25in; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit; margin-left: 0.25in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The prevailing pro-gay opinion is that silence, on the part of Jesus concerning homosexuality, is golden. Pro-gay interpreters argue that since Jesus did not explicitly single out homosexuality with some defining statement, then homosexuality is no longer taboo. Erroneously, pro-gay advocates interpret silence on the part of Jesus as approval and a ringing endorsement for everything gay. On the contrary, the silence of Jesus on this matter needs to be considered in light of what we do know. Here are a few defining considerations about Jesus based on what is known. These shed an incriminating light on the stock pro-gay argument from silence: </span></div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"></div><ul style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><li><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Jesus was an active agent involved in the act of creation itself (Colossians 1:15-17). As creator, Jesus came to fulfill the creation order, which the first Adam squandered. He did not come to violate creation order (Romans 1:18-32), which would be the case had He endorsed homosexuality or any other sexual sin. Jesus came in keeping with the order (Genesis 1 and 2) He helped establish in the beginning.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span> </li>
</ul><ul style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><li><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Rather than abolishing the Law—to include Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13—Jesus came to perfectly fulfill the Law (Matthew 5:17-19). The whole of the Law is now reinterpreted and filtered through the divine person and finished work of Christ upon the cross. That Christ fulfilled the dictates and demands of the Law does not nullify the moral principles derived from the law. On judgment day unbelievers will be judged in accordance with the Law’s just demands (Revelation 21:8).</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span> </li>
</ul><ul style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><li><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">There are many sins that Christ never mentioned or focused on. Rather than concentrating on specific acts of sin, Jesus focused on the nature and origin of sin in the heart of man. Jesus taught that because man is constitutionally a sinner by nature, individual acts of sin are the external result—whatever those individual acts of sin might be. Note the emphasis Jesus placed on the internal condition of man:</span></li>
</ul><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit; margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">“there is nothing outside the man which going into him can defile him; but the things which proceed out of the man are what defile the man.” (Mark 7:15)</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit; margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">"But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. <sup>19</sup>For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">adulteries, fornications</i></b>, thefts, false witness, slanders. <sup>20</sup> These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man." (Matt. 15:18-20)</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit; margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit; margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">In other words, homosexuality is one of a multitude of expressions of the sin nature. So rather than listing thousands of sins by name and filling up volumes of books doing so, Jesus dealt with the root of these external acts of sin. That Jesus mentioned “adulteries” and “fornications” covers the wide array of sexual sins that violate the seventh commandment. Just because Jesus did not mention a specific sin by name does not mean that it is acceptable in God’s eyes. Clearly, Jesus placed a significant emphasis on the internal matters of the heart.</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"></div><ul style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><li><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">As a result of Christ’s first advent, the OT Law took on universal dimensions as it was applied to the gentile nations through the New Covenant provisions of redemption found in Christ. This means the Christian is to love God and then to love his neighbor as himself, which, given the extreme demands of this, is ultimately an impossibility apart from both saving grace and then enabling grace.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span> </li>
</ul><ul style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><li><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The whole purpose of Christ’s coming was to do what the Law could not do—to save (Mark 10:45 and Luke 19:10). The Law of God is schoolmaster that shows the sinner his need for Christ. The Law only makes the diagnosis of sin. Christ is the only prescription for that sin!</span></li>
</ul><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"></div><ul style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><li><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Finally, Jesus upheld and reaffirmed the creation mandate of gender distinction and monogamous marriage when He was queried about divorce and remarriage (Matthew 19:4-6; Mark 10:2-11). Jesus strongly regarded the priority and prerequisite of male-female requirement for marriage as an absolute necessity. He did not alter nor amend the Genesis 1 and 2 ideal one bit. He underscored it along with the necessity of the two cardinal principles of monogamy and a lifelong commitment. </span></li>
</ul><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit; margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">When Jesus made this marriage/divorce pronouncement He said all that ever needed to be said. As earlier noted, Jesus did not speak out on other sexual sins like incest, bestiality, or polygamy, but He did not need to when He reasserted the creation mandate. Jesus’ statement on marriage is one-size-fits-all ruling on all sexual deviations that depart from the marriage ideal. </span></div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">So in answer to the question, "Did Jesus advocate homosexuality?" the pro-gay advocate is very hard pressed to substantiate that Jesus condoned homosexuality. If He condoned homosexuality, then we might conclude He condoned bestiality, necrophilia, and incest as well. After all, Jesus never uttered a word about these things either.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><b>NOTE: The preceding is an excerpt from my book <i>Same-Sex Marriage: </i><i>Is It Really The Same? </i></b></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></div>The Radical Watchmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11317466632490218450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32447962.post-30067781101307223922011-02-02T10:58:00.001-08:002012-04-14T06:09:46.071-07:00The Ecclesiastical Promotion of Homosexuality and the Demise of Biblical Authority<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">By Mark Christopher</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Forte;">“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17)</span></b></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">One would be very hard pressed to find a more contentious issue confronting the church and secular culture than that of homosexuality and its correlate same-sex marriage. To prove the point, the next time you read some internet headline related to a gay issue scroll through the comments section! Recently, when the controversial <i>Don’t Ask Don’t Tell</i> policy in the US military was repealed by the US Congress, I archived a related article only to find the comment thread had over 2500 comments and that number was rapidly rising. Most of the comments were emotionally charged and resembled a slander-fest as each side took aim at the other. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Many mainline denominations are splitting down the middle as this one issue reveals the polar opposite views on homosexuality and its promotion through the institution of marriage. The Anglican community has been hobbled by the gay debate, which has led some congregations and dioceses to withdraw from Canterbury. The Anglicans are certainly not alone in this. Some churches have become strident promoters of homosexuality as long as it is qualified by the relativistic parameters of a “loving and consensual” relationship. Other churches have sought a more centrist position by not speaking out against homosexuality as a sin while simultaneously withholding any direct approval of the same. Yet, this vow of silence on the matter usually gravitates to carte blanche approval later on. Then, of course, there are those who have held the line of biblical authority on the issue refusing to concede to popular sentiment and transvalued culture.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">What led to this? How did we get to the place where homosexuality has become one of the defining issues of the church of Jesus Christ? We didn’t arrive at this juncture in church history overnight. Incrementally, over time, certain critical assumptions, primarily philosophical in nature, were adopted and given credence under the guise of biblical scholarship. The advances of pro-gay biblical interpreters were relentless and many in the evangelical world were caught off guard and simply didn’t know how to respond to the onslaught of sophistries proffered by the pro-gay interpreters. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Of all the “progressive” assumptions that comprise the pro-gay methodology, the most notable is the pro-gay slant on biblical authority. The pro-gay variant on biblical authority forms the basis from which the pro-gay hermeneutic is derived. To understand the pro-gay method of biblical interpretation demands an understanding of how the pro-gay lobby within the professing church approaches the authority of God’s word. For this crucial presupposition of bibliology is both formative and determinative in the debate. Elizabeth Moreau, in the book <i>Staying The Course,</i> underscores the crucial link between biblical authority and pro-gay interpretations, “…the disagreement over homosexuality is fundamentally a disagreement about what or how much authority the Scripture is to have in the contemporary church … How do we understand and interpret the Bible depends upon how we understand the authority of Scripture.”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=32447962#_edn1" name="_ednref1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt;">[1]</span></span></span></a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">It is true that all of us entertain certain presuppositions related to biblical authority and the subsequent interpretation of Scripture. But not all assumptions are equally valid. This is well illustrated by Millard Erickson<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=32447962#_edn2" name="_ednref2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt;">[2]</span></span></span></a> who underscores the vital interplay between the “nature of presuppositions” in relationship to the “nature” of the hermeneutical enterprise in an essay he wrote for the <i>International Council for Biblical Inerrancy Summit 2</i>: Imagine an airline pilot wrongly assuming the weight of his plane, the fuel load, wind speed, altitude, and air speed while relying on a very unreliable compass. Such a pilot would terminate his flight in a rather unexpected way in an unknown destination! Hence, the importance of beginning the hermeneutical process with valid assumptions, like a commitment to biblical authority, is critical to arriving at the right interpretational destination.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">To highlight the importance of a high view of biblical authority in the homosexual debate, we want to briefly examine five considerations related to the demise of biblical authority and the corresponding acceptance of homosexuality in certain quarters of the church:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">First, we need to consider the jaundiced view of biblical authority by pro-gay interpreters. The assumption of differing authorities is common to pro-gay scholars. Among pro-gay interpreters there is a good deal of suspicion about the issue of biblical authority. If the Bible is not the ultimate source of authority, than where is the authority located? William Countryman maintains that “Immediate practical authority is located in the ongoing Christian community”.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=32447962#_edn3" name="_ednref3" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt;">[3]</span></span></span></a> Feminist theologian, Phyllis Bird echoes the same sentiment when she concedes that the Bible is a “product of tradition and a part of the church’s ongoing tradition”.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=32447962#_edn4" name="_ednref4" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt;">[4]</span></span></span></a> Bird’s “ongoing tradition” necessitates a continual communal interpretational dialogue. In this scenario the weight of authority is shifted away from the past author (authorial intention) to the present community, as the community “continues redefining boundaries”.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=32447962#_edn5" name="_ednref5" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt;">[5]</span></span></span></a> In two different treatise, Bird further declares that <b>“The word of God cannot be contained in any document”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=32447962#_edn6" name="_ednref6" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt;">[6]</span></b></span></span></a></b> and in keeping with communal authority, <b>the Bible is “a conversation partner not an oracle”.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=32447962#_edn7" name="_ednref7" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt;">[7]</span></b></span></span></a></b> In other words, authority shifts away from the Bible to the interpreter(s) and is predicated on present day realities as the group democratically decides what the Bible means in the present day context. In this, interpretation is substituted for application.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Pro-gay interpreters Daniel Helminiak and Jack Rogers find agreement with the above assertions. Helminiak <i>ad homenizes</i> those who hold to a literal hermeneutic saying, “it is outrageous for any educated person to quote the Bible to condemn homosexuality”.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=32447962#_edn8" name="_ednref8" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt;">[8]</span></span></span></a> Helminiak casts further aspersion on biblical authority claiming it “does not provide the last word on sexual ethics”.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=32447962#_edn9" name="_ednref9" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt;">[9]</span></span></span></a> In Helminiak’s estimation, the authority of science has trumped the Bible on this issue.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=32447962#_edn10" name="_ednref10" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt;">[10]</span></span></span></a> Never mind that this so-called science is inconclusive. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">For his part, Rogers rejects an inerrancy of the Bible which extends beyond religious matters and “addresses … science and history”.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=32447962#_edn11" name="_ednref11" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt;">[11]</span></span></span></a> Why? Because “It encourages a literal reading of Scripture”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=32447962#_edn12" name="_ednref12" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt;">[12]</span></span></span></a>, which is unthinkable to the pro-gay theologians. To this chorus-line of pro-gay voices, George Edwards adds, “Biblical interpretation can never be divorced from other domains of human reflection and discovery”.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=32447962#_edn13" name="_ednref13" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt;">[13]</span></span></span></a> Edward’s claim equates the revealed truth of the Bible with the incomplete discoveries of humanity. The implication here is that the discovered knowledge of humanity trumps the revealed knowledge of God though His word. Clearly, pro-gay interpreters have an anemic view of biblical authority which has a pronounced influence on the trajectory of their subsequent hermeneutic.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Given this impoverished view of biblical authority, it is fair to ask what has contributed to the pro-gay denouncements of a high view of Scripture? This leads us to our second consideration, which is to summarize the bromides (corrosive agents) of biblical authority. Much could be said here, but for the sake of space only four primary streams of thought will be succinctly entertained:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.75pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18.75pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">1.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Undoubtedly the Historical Critical method (JEPD) has eroded the confidence of many in any notion of biblical authority, as the Historical Critical approach has sought to emancipate reason from divine revelation. The biblical fallout from this conveniently eliminates any thought of the miraculous and supernatural. The by-product of the Historical Critical methodology so complicated Scripture with the scholarly accretions of man, that any thought of the average Christian being a good Berean has been banished as the primary authority has become the Historical-Critical scholars.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.75pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18.75pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">2.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Another briefly mentioned bromide to biblical authority is Naturalistic-uniformitarian science which is wed to the concept of Darwinian evolution. By deferring solely to the scientific method, propositional truth could now be abandoned because truth is not revealed but discovered through the process of scientific method. This means that what is axiomatic today can be amended or overturned by tomorrow’s discovery, like the “gay gene”. So when “science” proves one is born gay, then the Bible must give way to such pronouncements of <i>excathedra</i>. But what if science could prove that no one is born gay? I don’t hear of many entertaining that notion.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.75pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18.75pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">3.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">A third bromide that permeates western culture today is pluralism, which claims that all truth claims are of equal value. Therefore, value is found in a divergence of voices. We just all need to sit down, dialogue, and learn from each other. Dialogue can be beneficial, but when it is approached with the notion that there are no absolutes it can only lead to nonsense. From a theological perspective it tends toward a buffet approach to truth which, in effect, nullifies any claim to biblical authority.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.75pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18.75pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">4.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">This fourth bromide is the most germane to the thesis of this article, existentialism and the corresponding rise of moral relativism. William Larkin Jr. defines relativism as the “view that beliefs and principles, particularly evaluative ones, have no universal or timeless validity but are only for the age in which, or the social group or individual person which, they are held.”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=32447962#_edn14" name="_ednref14" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt;">[14]</span></span></span></a> Thus, there are no binding absolutes. The moral and ethical goal post is fluid and always on the move. One might say that morally and spiritually, the relativist has his or her feet firmly planted in mid-air!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.75pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">There are two pertinent components to relativism that are helpful in understanding the erosion of biblical authority in the last generation: The first component is historical relativism. In historical relativism the value of the text is limited to the time and culture in which it was originally written. A good example of this is seen in the current debate over the US Constitution. There are those who claim the constitution is a living document to be reinterpreted by each successive generation. While originalists maintain one must study the founding fathers and framers (authorial intention) of the constitution in order to uncover the original meaning and then apply it to present day realities. Those who see the constitution as a living document will always seek to interpret it through the lens of current context. By clipping the constitution free from the anchor of the past, they can then let present culture decide the meaning. In this, primary authority is in the here and now. One can easily see how this is applied to the Bible and homosexuality today.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.75pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.75pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The second component of relativism is cultural relativism. In this, to paraphrase Larkin, values and morals are relative to their socio-cultural context and are never thought superior to other value systems. This dictates that values and morals are culturally conditioned.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=32447962#_edn15" name="_ednref15" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt;">[15]</span></span></span></a> Here democracy reigns supreme as the majority arbitrarily determine what is right and wrong. Yet, this is an ever changing value. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.75pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.75pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Putting it all together, when historical and cultural relativism are embraced Larkin warns that “…the interpreter’s context is determinative … Scripture can never be viewed as absolute, universal, or binding.”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=32447962#_edn16" name="_ednref16" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt;">[16]</span></span></span></a> In short, everything is arbitrary and ambiguous as this relativistic atmosphere gives way to situational ethics and its dubious consequences. This is the essence of postmodernism and the cherished value of tolerance. So if two people of the same sex want marry, what is to stop them? Relativism dictates that as long as they “love” each other and their relationship is “consensual”, then it is nobody else’s business. Such is unavoidable when absolutes become obsolete. In this relativistic scheme of things where does one draw a distinct line? Are there any relationship combinations that are out of bounds? If so, how do you know? Who are you to judge?: Such questions represent but a few of the conundrums of moral relativism. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.75pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">All four of these corrosive agents have simultaneously converged on the Bible in an unrelenting manner. It has produced a changing of the guard where authority is concerned as biblical authority has given way to cultural authority and the emotional whims and subjective fancies of the majority. Human reason has become the ultimate authority so the concept of truth can only be understood in a relativistic way. This is the recipe that results in the irrational fury that is now so prevalent.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The outcome of the four mentioned bromides to biblical authority is fleshed out in our third consideration of this topic — the creed of diminished biblical authority. How do those who subscribe to a watered down variant of biblical authority phrase their skepticism? Well, Francis Schaffer in his classic on this topic, <i>The Great Evangelical Disaster</i>, gave some good examples of the weasel words that are employed by skeptics. Here is but one example from the 1974 Lausanne Covenant which illustrates the creed of diminished biblical authority:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 36pt 0.0001pt 18pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">“We affirm the divine inspiration, truthfulness and authority of both Old and New Testament Scriptures in their entirety as the only written Word of God, <u>without error in all that it affirms</u>, and the only infallible rule of faith and practice.”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=32447962#_edn17" name="_ednref17" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt;">[17]</span></span></span></a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 36pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The question must be asked, what exactly does the Bible affirm and what doesn’t it affirm? In the minds of biblical skeptics and pro-gay interpreters, the Bible only affirms that which is directly related to salvation while other matters related history, science, cosmology, and geography are deemed susceptible to errancy. The loophole here is found in the clause “without error in all it affirms”. This one statement gives many skeptics the latitude they need to justify the latest secular findings without having to suffer the academic embarrassment often associated with maintaining a high view of Scripture.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">An example of this creed of diminished biblical authority was advanced by the Roger’s and McKim proposal. In 1981 Jack Rogers, a pro-gay interpreter, and Donald McKim published a tome entitled <i>The Authority and Interpretation of The Bible: An Historical Approach. </i>The thesis of the authors was to prove that the historically central tradition of the church emphasized a biblical infallibility that was <b><u>limited to matters of faith and practice</u></b>. Restated, biblical infallibility is confined to redemptive issues not to other areas the Bible mentions in passing like history, science, geography <i>et. al</i>. This means the Bible carries little to no authority in matters outside the circle of salvation. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">In close connection to this new creed on biblical authority, the fourth consideration summarizes the roots of diminished biblical authority by surveying one of the key contributors to this thinking: G.C. Berkouwer, of whom Rogers, above, is a disciple. Berkouwer was bothered by the dual authorship approach (human and divine) to inspiration. He held that human involvement necessitated partial annulment of the divine aspects of inspiration. So instead of talking about a God-breathed word, he substituted the word “witness” or “testimony” for the idea of inspiration.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=32447962#_edn18" name="_ednref18" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt;">[18]</span></span></span></a> Thus, the Bible is only the word of God by virtue of its witness concerning Christ. Scripture is witness to Christ crucified and risen — one can almost hear the echoes of neo-orthodoxy here. Regarding the cosmology and history of the Bible, Berkouwer would maintain there are unintentional errors. This begs the question of how one can be certain there are no unintentional errors in the realm of salvation. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">This all leads us to the final consideration which culminates in the fruit of diminished biblical authority. The applications of this skeptical creed of Scriptural authority are multitudinous. Schaeffer rightly notes that “… compromising the full authority of Scripture eventually affects what it means to be a Christian and how we live in the full spectrum of human life.”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=32447962#_edn19" name="_ednref19" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt;">[19]</span></span></span></a> When the standard of biblical authority is lowered it leads to the general worldview of the world infiltrating the church, to include the approval of ethical issues like homosexuality and its corollary same-sex marriage. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">If anyone doubts that the abandonment of biblical authority leads to gross moral relativism just weigh the words of leading pro-gay interpreters Walter Wink and William Countryman: </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 27pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">“The crux of the matter, it seems to me, is simply that the Bible has no sexual ethic. Instead, it exhibits a variety of sexual mores, some of which changed over the thousand-year span of biblical history … The Bible knows only the love ethic, which is constantly being brought to bear on whatever sexual mores are dominate in any given country, or culture, or period.”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=32447962#_edn20" name="_ednref20" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt;">[20]</span></span></span></a> (Walter Wink)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 27pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">So, according to Wink, the moral bubble in the level is always fluctuating as the ever-shifting consensus of society morally mutates.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 27pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">“To be specific, the gospel allows no rule against the following, in of themselves: masturbation, nonvaginal heterosexual intercourse, bestiality, polygamy, homosexual acts, or erotic art and literature. The Christian is free to be repelled by any of these and may continue to practice her or his own purity code in relation to them. What we are not free to do is impose our codes on others …Bestiality, where it is casual recourse of the young or of people isolated over long periods of time from other humans, should occasion little concern.”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=32447962#_edn21" name="_ednref21" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt;">[21]</span></span></span></a> (William Countryman)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">In essence, Countryman is waving the green flag for Christians to pursue all that the sexual revolution has on offer, so long as you do not impose your dogma on others. But wait, isn’t that exactly what gay activists are doing (imposing their view) by legislating acceptance of their lifestyle and criminalizing all opposing views? </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Another pro-gay advocate, Marvin Ellison, goes so far as to champion polyamory<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=32447962#_edn22" name="_ednref22" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt;">[22]</span></span></span></a> (group marriage) in his “Christian” treatment on sexual ethics. In light of his callow view of biblical authority, Rogers pushes his creed to its logical terminus in his 2006 book <i>Jesus, The Bible, and Homosexuality</i>.<i> </i>Making use of his own Roger’s and McKim proposal, Rogers promotes the acceptance of same-sex relationships and unions inside the Presbyterian Church USA. It proves that when culture is supreme and the Bible is thought to be in error in non-redemptive texts, then any interpretation is not only possible, but is unavoidable. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The depreciation of biblical authority morphs <i>Sola Scriptura</i> into <i>Sola Cultura</i>. As Schaeffer put it, “The Bible is bent to the culture instead of the Bible judging our society and culture.”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=32447962#_edn23" name="_ednref23" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt;">[23]</span></span></span></a> Practically speaking this means that personal relationships are no longer governed by moral absolutes, so holiness is replaced with happiness as the chief goal and virtue of life. When relational happiness is the sum of life one can expect abortion on demand, easy divorce and remarriage, gender role reversal, homosexuality with its whole LGBT parade of pride, and euthanasia all marching right down the aisle of the church on the way to the altar. Those who disparage biblical authority and who then board the train of relativism, must ride that train all the way to its morally abhorrent end.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Unquestionably the deconstruction of biblical authority by professing evangelicals has swung the door wide open for the aggressive promotion of homosexuality within the church. In response to this, all confessing evangelicals need to ponder and act on Schaeffer’s poignant reminder: “We must say most lovingly but clearly: evangelicalism is not consistently evangelical unless there is a line drawn between those who take the full view of Scripture and those who do not.”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=32447962#_edn24" name="_ednref24" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt;">[24]</span></span></span></a> Schaeffer would say this is to include not only the belief, but the accompanying practice (obedience) as well.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">In order for concerned evangelicals to begin reclaiming some of the valuable territory lost in the same-sex debate, it is first necessary to unapologetically reassert a high view of Scripture while striving to consistently model the holy demands of <i>Sola Scripture</i>!</span></div><div><br />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /><div id="edn1"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 27pt; text-indent: -27pt;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=32447962#_ednref1" name="_edn1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> MOREAU, E. 2003. The real disagreement. (<i>In </i>Dunnam, M. D. & Malony, H. N., <i>eds. </i> Staying the course: supporting the church’s position on homosexuality. Nashville, TN : Abingdon Press. p. 97-98.)</span></div><div class="MsoEndnoteText"><br />
</div></div><div id="edn2"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 27pt; text-indent: -27pt;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=32447962#_ednref2" name="_edn2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> ERICKSON, M. J. 1984. Presuppositions of non-evangelical hermeneutics. (<i>In </i>Radmacher, E. D. & Preus, R. D., <i>eds. </i>Hermeneutics, inerrancy, and the Bible. Grand Rapids, MI : Zondervan Publishing. p. 593-612.) </span></div><div class="MsoEndnoteText"><br />
</div></div><div id="edn3"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 27pt; text-indent: -27pt;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=32447962#_ednref3" name="_edn3" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt;">[3]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> COUNTRYMAN, W. L. 1990. Dirt, Greed, & Sex. Philadelphia, PA : Fortress Press. p. 3.</span></div><div class="MsoEndnoteText"><br />
</div></div><div id="edn4"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 27pt; text-indent: -27pt;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=32447962#_ednref4" name="_edn4" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt;">[4]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> BIRD, P. A. 1994. The authority of the Bible. (<i>In </i>The new interpreter’s Bible, Volume 1. Nashville, TN : Abingdon Press. p. 63.)</span></div><div class="MsoEndnoteText"><br />
</div></div><div id="edn5"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 27pt; text-indent: -27pt;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=32447962#_ednref5" name="_edn5" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt;">[5]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> BIRD, P. A. 2000. The Bible in Christian ethical deliberation concerning homosexuality: Old Testament contributions. (<i>In</i> Balch, D. L., <i>ed</i>. Homosexuality, science, and the plain sense of Scripture. <i>ed</i>. Grand Rapids, MI : Eerdmans. p. 146.)</span></div><div class="MsoEndnoteText"><br />
</div></div><div id="edn6"><div class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=32447962#_ednref6" name="_edn6" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt;">[6]</span></span></span></a> BIRD, 1994: p. 63.</div><div class="MsoEndnoteText"><br />
</div></div><div id="edn7"><div class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=32447962#_ednref7" name="_edn7" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt;">[7]</span></span></span></a> BIRD, 2001: p. 144.</div><div class="MsoEndnoteText"><br />
</div></div><div id="edn8"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 27pt; text-indent: -27pt;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=32447962#_ednref8" name="_edn8" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt;">[8]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> HELMINIAK, D. A. 2000. What the Bible really says about homosexuality. New Mexico : Alamo Square Press. p. 13.</span></div><div class="MsoEndnoteText"><br />
</div></div><div id="edn9"><div class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=32447962#_ednref9" name="_edn9" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt;">[9]</span></span></span></a> Ibid. p. 19.</div><div class="MsoEndnoteText"><br />
</div></div><div id="edn10"><div class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=32447962#_ednref10" name="_edn10" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt;">[10]</span></span></span></a> Ibid. p. 26.</div><div class="MsoEndnoteText"><br />
</div></div><div id="edn11"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 27pt; text-indent: -27pt;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=32447962#_ednref11" name="_edn11" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt;">[11]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> ROGERS, J. 2006. Jesus, the Bible, and homosexuality. Louisville, KY : Westminster John Knox Press. p. 7.</span></div><div class="MsoEndnoteText"><br />
</div></div><div id="edn12"><div class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=32447962#_ednref12" name="_edn12" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt;">[12]</span></span></span></a> Ibid. p. 7.</div><div class="MsoEndnoteText"><br />
</div></div><div id="edn13"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 27pt; text-indent: -27pt;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=32447962#_ednref13" name="_edn13" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt;">[13]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> EDWARDS, G. R. 1984. Gay/lesbian liberation: a biblical perspective. New York : The Pilgrim Press. p. 13. </span></div><div class="MsoEndnoteText"><br />
</div></div><div id="edn14"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 27pt; text-indent: -27pt;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=32447962#_ednref14" name="_edn14" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt;">[14]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> LARKIN, W. J.,JR. 1988. Culture and biblical hermeneutics. Eugene, OR : Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 18-19.</span></div><div class="MsoEndnoteText"><br />
</div></div><div id="edn15"><div class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=32447962#_ednref15" name="_edn15" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt;">[15]</span></span></span></a> Ibid. p.21.</div><div class="MsoEndnoteText"><br />
</div></div><div id="edn16"><div class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=32447962#_ednref16" name="_edn16" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt;">[16]</span></span></span></a> Ibid. p. 23</div><div class="MsoEndnoteText"><br />
</div></div><div id="edn17"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 27pt; text-indent: -27pt;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=32447962#_ednref17" name="_edn17" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt;">[17]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> SCHAEFFER, F. A. 1984. The great evangelical disaster. Westchester, IL : Crossway Books. p. 56.</span></div><div class="MsoEndnoteText"><br />
</div></div><div id="edn18"><div class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=32447962#_ednref18" name="_edn18" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt;">[18]</span></span></span></a> KRABBENDAM, H. 1980. B. B. Warfield vs. G.C. Berkouwer on Scripture. (<i>In</i> Geisler, N. L., <i>ed.</i> Inerrancy. Grand Rapids, MI : Zondervan. p. 413-446.)</div><div class="MsoEndnoteText"><br />
</div></div><div id="edn19"><div class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=32447962#_ednref19" name="_edn19" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt;">[19]</span></span></span></a> SCHAEFFER, 1984 : p. 44-45.</div><div class="MsoEndnoteText"><br />
</div></div><div id="edn20"><div class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=32447962#_ednref20" name="_edn20" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt;">[20]</span></span></span></a> WINK, W. 1999. Homosexuality and the Bible. (In Wink, W. ed. Homosexuality and Christian faith : questions of conscience for the churches. Minneapolis, MN : Fortress Press. p. 44.)</div><div class="MsoEndnoteText"><br />
</div></div><div id="edn21"><div class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=32447962#_ednref21" name="_edn21" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt;">[21]</span></span></span></a> COUNTRYMAN, 1990 : p. 243-244.</div><div class="MsoEndnoteText"><br />
</div></div><div id="edn22"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 27pt; text-indent: -27pt;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=32447962#_ednref22" name="_edn22" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt;">[22]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> ELLISON, M. M. 2004. Same Sex Marriage? : a Christian ethical analysis. Cleveland, OH : The Pilgrim Press. p. 155.</span></div><div class="MsoEndnoteText"><br />
</div></div><div id="edn23"><div class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=32447962#_ednref23" name="_edn23" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt;">[23]</span></span></span></a> SCHAEFFER, 1984 : p. 60. </div><div class="MsoEndnoteText"><br />
</div></div><div id="edn24"><div class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=32447962#_ednref24" name="_edn24" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt;">[24]</span></span></span></a> Ibid. p. 64.</div></div></div></div>The Radical Watchmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11317466632490218450noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32447962.post-18823123536311515822011-01-20T01:58:00.001-08:002012-04-14T06:16:02.114-07:00The Anatomy of a Nazi<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">I am intrigued with those pundits who are quick to reach into their ammo pouch and pull out the “Nazi” label and apply it to those with whom they vigorously disagree. In recent days it has become all too fashionable to tar-and-feather one’s ideological opponents with the “Nazi” brand. If one doesn’t buy the popular promotions of climate change then one is branded a “climate Nazi”. If one disagrees with Obamacare and nationalized health care, then according to one US congressman you are a “Nazi” propagating Hitler’s Big Lie. If you oppose same-sex marriage and homosexuality then not only are you a <span style="font-style: italic;">homophobe</span>, but a “Nazi” to boot. But all of this labeling begs that all essential question: What is a Nazi and what did they really believe?<br />
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Here is a short summary and assessment of who the Nazis really were and what they believed: <br />
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1. Nazis believed in socialism--hence The National Socialist Party of Hitler. Do conservatives believe in socialism? Hardly.<br />
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2. The Nazis were committed to existential philosophy and its correlate nihilism i.e. “God is dead” (Nietzsche). Does this sound like a mainstream conservative belief? Hardly. Rather, postmodernism is closely wed to this thinking. Postmodern thought can be directly traced back to the very philosophers who had a very pronounced influence on Hitler. Who is it that subscribes to postmodern deconstructive thought today? Certainly not those who believe in absolutes and the authority of God’s word.<br />
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3. The Nazis were obsessed with Darwinian evolution and especially the tenant of the survival of the fittest. This belief led Hitler on the eugenics crusade along with "progressives" around the world. While some conservatives might hold to a belief in evolution, many deny it. But who are the main cheerleaders for this ideology? <br />
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4. The Nazis and Hitler were morbidly infatuated with the occult. In fact the swastika, along with many other Nazi symbols, was an ancient occult symbol from Hinduism and Buddhism. The whole notion of the Aryan race stems from this and was then coupled to the dogma of survival of the fittest. Hitler was a disciple of occult practitioner Guido Von List, an Austrian German. So when you hear someone say Hitler was a Christian, they are ignorant of the facts. Again, does this sound like the belief of someone who would classify themselves as a conservative? Hardly.<br />
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5. When you add up all of the above, what does the sum of this equation equal? A transvaluationist: a transvaluationsit is someone who calls good evil and evil good ... black is white and white is black. Though the Bible does not use the term, it does perfectly describe what a transvaluationist believes and does: “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20). Interestingly, Isaiah’s depiction of a transvaluationist is clearly set in the context of spiritual and moral apostasy. As absolutes are abandoned and replaced with the sweet-nothings of relativism, transvaluations become the norm. Those who really stand for truth and righteousness will be recast as unrighteous obstacles to the truth and to progress itself. One need only to look at the issue of homosexuality and how the transvaluations have been applied to legitimize what God clearly calls sin. Those who disagree with the PC screed on this issue are readily demonized and vilified as hate-filled rubes.<br />
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Hitler was a master transvaluationist often guilty of the very things he accused others of. This is what enabled him to deceive millions with the Big Lie. Even a majority of the churches in Germany bought into the transvalutionist creed, as 100 years of higher critical thinking foisted on the Bible prepared the way. As the German church kicked God’s word to the curb with Redaction Criticism, they replaced the vacuum it left with Hitler’s lies and transvalued assessments. It is no wonder that many German churches replaced their crosses with swastikas. The transvaulation was complete.<br />
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Does any of this sound familiar? A liberal media can scream about "civility" while calling others names and using incendiary rhetoric. Under the guise of “free speech”, they try to censor the speech of those with whom they disagree. They have even gone to the extreme of criminalizing metaphors, as if they have never made use of the same! They liberally accuse others of crimes which they didn’t commit. This is the hallmark of a transvalutionist. <br />
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How many churches have replaced God’s word with so-called “science” to justify homosexuality, abortion, and left-wing politics to include socialism? How many pulpits have jettisoned the cross of Christ in favor of mainstream culture? How many churches and denominations have marginalized the gospel with recycling, curbing carbon emissions, and pursuing everything “green”? It is all a direct result of substituting God’s word for the lie and succumbing to the transvalued version of the gospel, devoid of sin and repentance. No doubt they have worshiped the creature rather than Creator (Romans 1:18-32).<br />
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Based on the above summary, whom does this really describe? Not conservatives that is for sure! Not those who classify themselves as Bible-believing Christians. Maybe those invoking the “Nazi” label need to go take a good, long, hard look in the mirror and ask "Is it I?"</div>The Radical Watchmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11317466632490218450noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32447962.post-38512983046173739132010-09-10T00:12:00.000-07:002010-09-10T02:09:15.638-07:00The Koran: To Burn, Or Not To Burn?In light of the present flap over a small church’s burning of some 200 copies of the Koran, those who know Christ would do well to reflect on the following words of Paul to the Corinthians:<br /><br />“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.” (2 Corinthians 10:3-4)!<br /><br />Just because we live in the flesh does not mean we battle in accordance with it. We must correctly identify the real enemy here, which in this case is spiritual, "We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but ... against spiritual wickedness in high places." (Ephesians 6:12). Rightly identifying the enemy is critical to mounting an effective assault. When engaged in a spiritual battle, Chuck-Norris-type tactics are inconsequential on the battlefield and will make about as much of an impression as a water pistol on a forest fire, or a meat tenderizer on an aircraft carrier!<br /><br />By burning the Koran--or wanting to burn the Koran--this pastor evidences that he is fighting on the wrong battlefield using an outdated, antiquated arsenal. The Believer's weaponry is divinely provided and energized by the God of all grace. The best way to engage the enemy here is not through arson-rage, but through the collective of prayer and proclaiming the gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation to the Jew first and then to the Greek--not to mention the Muslim! <br /><br />In quoting Acts 19:19, Pastor Terry misquotes. As pagans came to Christ they in turn burned their own books and relics. It was not the Apostle Paul who started the conflagration of consecration here. It would be a bit different if Muslims who came to Christ were instigating such--though given the modern-day media it might not be wise to publicize such an event because of how it might affect others.<br /><br />In the end, Pastor Terry, and all who agree with him, would do well to ponder the words of our Lord Himself who said just prior to His crucifixion, "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting, that I might not be delivered<br />up to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm." (John 18:36). Neither is ours!The Radical Watchmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11317466632490218450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32447962.post-82895865125094902252009-10-28T06:37:00.000-07:002009-10-28T06:45:11.816-07:00Hermeneutical Devolution: A Mutated Approach To Genesis<span style="font-style:italic;">The following is a response to an article in <span style="font-weight:bold;">Joy Magazine</span> here in South Africa. The pastor I am responding to was trying to make a case for a figurative interpretation of the Genesis creation account. His point was that it is theological and poetic in nature, therefore one does not need to interpret it literally. This was in the context of whether or nor children should be taught evolution in school. Here is my response:<br /></span><br />After reading Pastor Howard Wylie’s letter in favor of evolution, I would like to respond primarily to Wylie’s contention that not “…every part of the Bible should be interpreted literally.” This unsubstantiated statement is as disturbing as it is dangerous because it leads to an arbitrary hermeneutic (interpretation). <br /><br />My question for Wylie is how does he know where to draw the line between a literal approach verses a figurative approach, unless the Bible itself gives us direct warrant for such an approach? If Genesis 1 is taken figuratively, then what about Genesis 2 or 3? Then, what about Genesis 1-11, is it all non-literal? How does Wylie know, especially when this whole section of Scripture is written in normal Hebrew prose, not Hebrew poetry.<br /><br />If Genesis 1 is to be taken theologically, as Wylie insists, does that necessarily mitigate against any scientific implication the passage might unintentionally allude to concerning creation? In the end, isn’t the whole Bible theological in one way or another? <br /><br />If the Genesis account of creation is not to be taken literally, than what about the many passages throughout the Bible that view the Genesis 1-11 account as real historical events and actual people? The following four examples illustrate the literality of the creation account:<br /><br />• In Exodus 20:8-11, when dealing with the 4th commandment, Moses declares that our 7 day week is predicated upon God’s creation week. The Hebrew word used for ‘day’in both Genesis 1 and Exodus 20 is yom and clearly indicates a 24 hour diurnal day is meant. Moses certainly did not see billions of years in Genesis 1, and yet, he was under the same inspiration Wylie professes to believe.<br /><br />• Jesus referenced the creation account in Matthew 19:4-6 and Mark 10:6-8 when he answered the Pharisees concerning divorce. In so doing Jesus cites both Genesis 1:27 and 2:24 as literal and authoritative, just as He articulated the veracity of Noah and the flood (Matthew 24:37-38), as well as the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Luke 17:28-29). If Jesus, who was a participant in creation, regards Genesis 1 and 2 as a literal account, who are we say otherwise? Who is the authority on the subject, Christ or Darwin?<br /><br />• The Apostle Paul verified the reality of the first Adam in contrast to the second Adam—Jesus Christ (Romans 5:12-21), he promoted a literal approach to creation (Ephesians 5:31; 1 Timothy 2:13-14), as well as the certainty of the fall (Genesis 3 cf. 2 Corinthians 11:3). No one was ever more theological than Paul, yet his theology did not dismiss his literal belief in the Genesis 1 account.<br /><br />• The writer of Hebrews believed the whole Old Testament was historically accurate, even the statements regarding creation (Hebrews 11:3-7). How can we believe the people and events of Hebrews 11:8-32 are literal, but not those of 11:3-7? To make such a distinction would evidence an arbitrary method of interpretation that lacks hermeneutical brakes.<br /><br />The real question that confronts Wylie is, if the ‘days’ of Genesis are figurative, then why not God? Why not the fall of man? For, if the fall is figurative, then there is no need for redemption i.e. Christ. To dismiss the authority and literality of Genesis 1 in such a subjective fashion runs perilously close to denying the miracles and the bodily resurrection of Christ. It is but a step or two from denying the one to denying the other.<br /><br />As for the H1N1 virus being an example of evolution, as Wylie maintains, it is not. Rather the H1N1 virus is a classic example of a mutation. Mutations never result in the addition of new information, which would be needed for evolution to be true. Instead, mutations always result in the loss of and rearrangement of existing information, which is often harmful, sometimes static, and at other times beneficial. But this illustrates the adaptation of kind that the Bible speaks of, not evolution.<br /><br />Even though I believe evolution has more in common with a man-made religion than true science, I certainly do not mind if my children learn evolution as long as the horrific social and moral consequences of this dogma are fairly and honestly taught. Young people need to be reminded that the logical outcomes of evolution made the 20th Century the bloodiest and most immoral century in the history of civilization. Let us learn from this sad saga of history. Let us teach our children that evolutionary theory, combined with German existentialism, led to the nefarious deeds of a Hitler and World War 2. Then let us prepare them to answer the critics they will encounter in their tertiary education.<br /><br />To depart from the plain sense of God’s authoritative word, as Wylie has done, will only lead to further concessions down the line. To oscillate between a figurative and the literal approach ultimately turns the plain sense of God’s word into nonsense.<br /><br /> Pastor MarkThe Radical Watchmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11317466632490218450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32447962.post-42421585449841234352009-08-18T07:28:00.000-07:002009-09-07T01:46:37.888-07:00Climate Craze—Making Biblical Sense of the Man-Made Global Warming Debate!The headlines in the media have been relentless and extreme in their pursuit to convince us all that a climate apocalypse is just around the next corner. We have been told that unless we “act now”, by curbing our carbon emissions, catastrophic doom awaits us all. So what are Bible-believing Christians to make of all the scaremongering rhetoric? Further, in light of the Bible, what should Christians think about the whole man-made climate change debate? Is the sky really falling this time around? If so, how should we respond? <br /><br />In formulating a response to this very important issue Christians need to remember the Wisdom of Solomon who said, “He who gives an answer before he hears, It is folly and shame to him.” (Proverbs 18:13). In other words, there is usually more than one side to a story. It would be foolish only to listen to one person’s take on an issue, or circumstances related to an accident, or crime scene, and then make a final determination based on that lopsided knowledge. Yet, when it comes to the issue of man-made climate change, most people have uncritically embraced what the headlines declare without giving it another thought. I know I did until I began researching the issue for myself. What I learned was that there is a whole other side to the global warming debate that the media refuses to consider for a variety of reasons. Beyond that, I learned that there is no “consensus” amongst scientist on this issue. <br /><br />In order to gain a better understanding of man-made global warming and the issues surrounding it, we first want to consider a few of the scientific assumptions taught as infallible fact. Then we will summarize the philosophical assumptions that serve as the launching pad for this contentious issue. Finally, we want to survey some of the biblical assumptions that will help you to piece together a wise and measured response to the headlines. <br /><br />Here are but a few of the highly speculative scientific assumptions that have been used to convince the public that mankind is responsible for climate change:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Assumption #1: Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is a pollutant that drives the temperature ever upward. </span>If this is true, then by simply reducing the amount of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere the current trend of rising temperature should be reversed. But is CO2 really the bogey man in climate change? Consider the following observations from climatologists who disagree with the popular promotions of this issue:<br /><br />• Historically increases in atmospheric CO2 have always lagged behind rising temperatures. Examples of this are cited during both the Roman Warming Period (200 BC—AD 400) and the Medieval Warming Period (AD1000-1400), which was 2 to 3 degrees Celsius warmer than it is today. Ice core samples and other proxies, like tree rings, bear witness to this fact.<br /><br />• CO2 is but a colorless and odorless trace element in the atmosphere. In fact, the primary Green House Gas (GHG) is water vapor which accounts for at least 94% of GHG’s. Because CO2 is a trace element it is measured in parts per million (ppm). Most of the atmospheric CO2 is a result of water evaporation and is not due to man-made causes. <br /><br />• To put the above thought into perspective, only 3% of the atmosphere is made up of GHG’s. Then, less than 4% of GHG’s is comprised of CO2. Of That 4% of CO2, less than 4% of it is man-made. That means 96% of the atmospheric CO2 is naturally occurring. <br /><br />• CO2 concentrations are logarithmic, which means we could double the current amounts of CO2 (386 ppm to 772 ppm) without doubling the supposed negative effects of CO2, as increasing levels of CO2 would have a negligible effect. As Dr. Harold Ohlmeyer notes, “Yes, atmospheric CO2 is increasing, but most of it is due to the warming of oceans which releases some of the CO2 they contain. (Our oceans contain 50 times more CO2 than the atmosphere.) In other words CO2 increases did not produce much global warming; warming produced most increases in CO2.” <br /><br />• One fact you will never hear the media or politicians talk about is that CO2 is a natural fertilizer for plants, without CO2 we could not survive because plants could not photosynthesize and produce the oxygen we need to breath. For this reason, greenhouses normally operate with CO2 concentrations between 800-1200 ppm, which allows the plants to thrive.<br /><br />• It is a myth that CO2 is a pollutant. It can hardly be compared with other man-made emissions like sulfur dioxide, which, when it rains, returns as sulfuric acid. <br /><br />• In the end, one must not confuse correlation (rising temperatures with rising levels of CO2) with causation. If CO2 is a catalyst for temperature increases, then why has the global temperature dropped in recent years while, correspondingly, atmospheric levels of CO2 have gradually increased? If correlation equals causation, then is the recent decline in atmospheric oxygen, since 2003, directly attributable to the rise in the use of biofuels, which began in earnest in 2003? In the words of one climate realist, to say that CO2 is the primary driver of temperature is a lot like saying lung cancer causes smoking.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Assumption #2: Computer Generated Climate Models are accurate in forecasting the future of climate.</span> This crass assumption is the Holy Grail of the man-made climate change debate. Robbed of this presupposition, the whole foundation of the climate change debate falls flat. Yet, there are some climatologists who seem to have an almost infallible faith in their climate models. But is this an ill-founded faith? Are climate models really that reliable? Here are but a couple of important thoughts that must be factored into climate model equation:<br /><br />•Climate is an extremely complex system and as such there are a multitude of unaccounted variables which drastically affect the outcome of the predictions. In order to accurately gauge the future of climate change, the current models would need to factor in all of the following variables into their equation: solar variation, gravity, pressure, temperature, cosmic wind, density, humidity, clouds, topography, rotation of the Earth, the sea’s changing currents, greenhouse gases, and CO2 dissolved in the oceans — to name a few of the needed variables. The current models are unable to include all of these vital factors, because they are either unknown or ever-changing.<br /><br />•There are a variety of different climate models used, none of which completely agree with the others. Even in ‘hindcasting’ the past weather, which we do know, these models have proved imprecise.<br /><br />•The following comments on climate models represent the assessment of many climatologists:<br /><br />Dr. Patrick Michaels concludes that reliance on climate models amounts to “… scientific malpractice … If a physician prescribed medication that demonstrably did not work he would lose his license.” <br /><br />A recent headline in the New Scientist warned, “Climate is too complex for accurate predictions.” <br /><br />More to the point, Howard C. Hayden, in his book <span style="font-style:italic;">A Primer on CO2 and Climate </span>(pg.33), claims “…it is impossible to perform the well established procedures for laboratory science on the climate system. Nobody has done it. Nobody can do it. Nobody will do it … All climate models are based on unperformed experiments for which the modelers presume to know the answer.” <br /><br />Dr. Reid Bryson, considered by many to be the godfather of modern day climatology in the USA, concludes that data fed into the climate models overemphasizes CO2 and accounts poorly for the effects of clouds — water vapor. So when asked about the long-range predictive ability of climate models, Dr. Reid answers with another question, “Do you believe the five-day forecast?”! <br /><br />Such an evaluation of climate models is hardly the stuff of “irrefutable science.” Some have gone so far as to call reliance on these models “climate astrology”.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Assumption #3: Sea levels are rising at an alarming rate.</span> How often has this been used like a hammer to convince us all of the urgency of curbing our CO2 emissions? The images of melting icecaps and the corresponding rise of the world’s oceans, while polar bears struggle to swim to land to keep from drowning are emotionally effective. But are the world’s seas really rising? If so, how much are they rising? To answer that question one would need to consult a true sea-level-rise expert like Dr. Nils-Axel Morner from Sweden. Dr. Morner makes the following observations based on nearly 40 years of actual field studies. It is important to note that the UN IPCC makes its sea level rise predictions based on the notoriously faulty computer generated climate models:<br /><br />• The actual data, via tide-gauges and satellite altimetry, indicates there isn’t any significant sea level rise — a uniform 1.8 mm per annum over the last 100 years, about 7 inches in the 20th century. At this rate it will take several millennia to reach Al Gore’s fictional 23 foot rise in sea level by 2100. Recent data suggests that sea level rise has temporarily halted.<br /><br />• Dr. Morner discovered that in the early 1970’s the Maldives saw the Indian Ocean recede by 30 cm, a loss that has yet to be recovered.<br /><br />• In the case of the South Pacific Islands like Vanuatu and Tuvalu, which are the poster children for sea level rise, local conditions like subsidence, erosion, tectonic uplift and the like are simple explanations for the seeming rise in local relative sea level.<br /><br />• In order to fulfill the doomsday forecasts of rising seas, a substantial amount of land-based ice would have to melt at a rapid rate. Even if the arctic completely melted it wouldn’t affect sea levels, except for some expansion, as the arctic ice sits over open water.<br /><br />• The embellished hype surrounding glacial melt in Greenland fades into the clear light of reason when one considers that while some of Greenland’s western glaciers are receding, others — sometimes a few kilometers away — are advancing. Dr. Morner believes this is a result of oscillating ocean currents rather than temperature increase.<br /><br />• Even if the Arctic is experiencing a bit of melting at present, Antarctica’s massive amounts of land-based ice seem secure as current ice mass has advanced by 33% above recent norms. For that ice to melt the temperature would have to exponentially increase above the normal mean of -37C to facilitate such a scenario.<br /><br />• In studies just released, it has now been determined that the world’s seas may actually be experiencing a cooling because of unanticipated shifts in ocean currents, which will produce cooler air temperatures in the days ahead. This is something the climate models did not anticipate. <br /><br />• Even the UN IPCC has drastically altered its predictions of sea level rise in its most recent 4th assessment report (2007). In 1990 the IPCC forecasted a maximum sea rise of 367 cm by 2100. In 2007 they significantly revised their maximum prediction for 2100 to 59 cm, which is much closer to reality. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Assumption #4: The Polar Bears are in danger of drowning, and becoming extinct.</span> We are told if the ice melts, then the Polar Bears won’t be able to hunt. This piece of propaganda has been a great marketing tool for the promoters of man-made climate change. It is especially effective when used on children who do not know any better. The thought of these seemingly lovable and huggable creatures vanishing really tugs on the heart strings. But do the Hollywood-type promotions of the vanishing polar bear mesh with reality? :<br /><br />• I wonder how many people know that the images of the polar bear in Al Gore’s <span style="font-style:italic;">An Inconvenient Truth</span> were computer generated? Indeed, such a truth is inconvenient!<br /><br />• The polar bear’s name <span style="font-style:italic;">Ursus maritimus</span>, which means ‘marine bear’, or ‘sea bear’, indicates these bears can swim vast distances in search of food. Given their God-given aquatic abilities, drowning is very rare! <br /><br />• In 1969 the number of polar bears was estimated at 5,400 bears. Today, I am happy to report, the number is five times what it was just 40 years ago. Presently there are an estimated 25,000 bears in the arctic region. The greatest threat to these wonderful creatures is not climate change, but man. <br /><br />• If a warming climate is so catastrophic to polar bears, then why did they survive the Medieval Warming Period a thousand years ago, when temperatures were 2 to 3 degrees Celsius warmer than today? Undoubtedly the bears adapted.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Assumption #5: All true scientists agree that climate change is primarily man-made, ergo there is a scientific consensus.</span> Based on this bold assertion, climate alarmists claim “The debate is over, so we won’t even discuss any dissenting views.” Any one who questions this democratically-determined science is classified as “a denier”, a “flat-earther”, even a “climate Nazi” who doesn’t believe in real science. But is this “consensus” contrived or real? Here are a few thoughts to consider:<br /><br />• Since when is science determined by the majority-rules approach? Even if all scientists, save one, were in agreement on this, it would only take a Copernicus or a Galileo to cast a question mark over the consensus. <br /><br />• Dr. Michael Crichton responds to the idea of a consensus saying, “Consensus is the business of politics … There is no such thing as consensus science. If it’s consensus, it isn’t science. If it’s science, it isn’t consensus … Consensus is invoked only in situations where the science is not solid enough. Nobody says the consensus of scientists agree that E=mc2. Nobody says the consensus is that the Sun is 93 million miles away. It would never occur to anyone to speak that way.” <br /><br />• If there is such an overwhelming consensus that believes man is the culprit in climate change, than why have over 31,000 scientists — 10,000 of them PhD’s and 3800 of them in the climate sciences — signed <span style="font-style:italic;">The Petition Project</span> (www.petitionproject.org), which is a statement that rejects man’s responsibility for the change in climate? <br /><br />Why have nearly 1,000 dissenting climatologists, atmospheric scientists, and economists joined the Non-governmental International Panel for Climate Change (NIPCC) if there is such an irrefutable mountain of evidence pointing to man as the reason for rising temperatures? The NIPCC serves to critique all the climate assertions of the UN IPCC. To this end the NIPCC is the unofficial watchdog of the UN IPCC.<br /><br />• The truth is that every day more and more scientists are declaring their skepticism for man-made global warming, but they are ignored by the media and politicians who are on a mission to promote their green agenda regardless of evidence to the contrary.<br /><br />The above are but a few examples that illustrate how lopsided the man-made climate change debate is. Those who disagree with the headlines are not saying the earth hasn’t warmed in the past 120 years, because it has experienced modest warming as we came of out the Little Ice Age (AD 1400-1850). In the 20th century the earth warmed .67 a degree Celsius. What is being argued here is who or what is responsible for the warming. There is a growing and substantial body of evidence that exonerates human activity as the cause of climate change. Many scientists now contend the recent rise in temperature has more to do with natural climate variation than CO2 produced by man. This is not to say that man doesn’t pollute, because he does, but that is a separate issue from climate change.<br /><br />So why has this one issue of climate change received so much attention? Why all the hysteria and emotionally charged headlines? What is driving this issue? Why the adamant insistence that man is responsible? Essentially there are three primary reasons (philosophical assumptions) why some have become so rabid on this issue. These, whether taken individually or collectively, serve as the motivating force behind the headlines on this issue:<br /><br />1. The first is <span style="font-weight:bold;">politics</span>. The first clue that this is a political issue is evidenced in the United Nation’s involvement—hence the UN IPCC. Here we have a political body doing science. True, there are a number of scientists they have assembled to gather some expert advice, but few know that the UN’s policy assessments on this issue are written by bureaucrats, not the scientists themselves. Consequently, much is left out of these documents. Any observations that conflict with UN dogma on the topic are conveniently omitted. The UN is hardly a dispassionate and objective scientific body. They are a political entity with the objective of promoting globalization. I can’t think of a better issue to achieve one world governance and a one world economy than the issue of human-induced climate change. As H.L. Mencken astutely remarked, “The urge to save humanity is always a false front for the urge to rule.”! <br /><br />2. The second contributing factor to the popularity of the global warming craze is <span style="font-weight:bold;">postmodernism</span>. Postmodernism is basically a philosophy for interpreting life from the vantage point of the interpreter. In the postmodern scheme absolutes are banished while relativism is extolled. At the heart of postmodernism is deconstructive thinking. Deconstructionists vacuum meaning from words, history, religion, and even science. There are a number of scientists today who are concerned about postmodern deconstructive influence in the realm of science. It would be naïve to think that postmodern interpretation of scientific observation does not take place, especially in a highly emotive issue like climate change. Doubtless, the relativistic influences in postmodernism can and do lead to junk science. <br /><br />3. The third major premise fueling this global warming debate is <span style="font-weight:bold;">pantheism</span>. Pantheism is the belief that “God is all and all is God”. In other words, God is not transcendent, but is in all that exists. This way of thinking leads to an impersonal view of God where all distinctions are erased to achieve some mystical union between ourselves and the universe. The creed of pantheism deifies humanity while doing the same for thistles and pigs. The result is that humanity loses all God-ordained uniqueness, which leads to the denigration of man. This is why many environmentalists are willing to sacrifice humanity for the sake of nature. Ultimately saving the environment becomes a religion in which salvation is found through the sacraments of recycling, vegan diets, hybrid cars, and compact fluorescent bulbs. It should be no surprise that Al Gore has pronounced pantheistic tendencies. In his book Earth In The Balance, Gore nails his pantheistic flag to the mast. <br /><br />So what is a Christian to make of all this? Though the Bible doesn’t mention global warming, it does give some timeless principles which can be used as a guide for making a determination about how to both view and respond to the issue:<br /><br />1. <span style="font-weight:bold;">The Glory Principle </span>(Psalm 33:6; 19:1-6; 8:1-2, & 9; Psalm 104; Jeremiah 10:12-14; John 1:1-3). As the Psalmist looked at the splendor of creation it produced his exuberant praise of Psalm 8:1 “O Lord, our Lord, How majestic is Thy name in all the earth …” Creation is primarily meant to be a testimony to man of God’s glory and wisdom. As one gazes at the awesome beauty of all God made, it should evoke praise to His name. This is a strong inducement on the part of humanity to preserve and care for that which reflects the greatness of the one who made it. So the Believer’s motivation for maintaining the environment is first theo-centric before it is ever man-centered. <br /><br />2. <span style="font-weight:bold;">The Stewardship Principle</span> (Genesis 1:26-28; Psalm 8:3-8; 115:16). While God holds the title deed to earth, man is to be the custodian and manager of all that God has made. Humanity does not own the earth, but is granted the authority by God to adequately care for creation. This God-ordained stewardship has three prongs to it:<br /><br />• Stewardship requires that we protect and preserve creation within the tension of the following two stewardship considerations.<br /><br />• Stewardship includes wisely using the resources of creation for the provision of humanity. Simple examples of this include replacing trees used for building, requiring permits for hunting, and restocking fish from fisheries. <br /><br />• Stewardship also includes the component of counting the financial cost of the above. Luke 14:28-32 reminds us that no king goes off to war before carefully counting the cost!<br /><br />In light of these three prongs of stewardship, it is clear that what is being proposed concerning man-made climate change is poor stewardship. Given that most of the recent warming is part of a natural, varying climate cycle, the astronomical price tag for cap-and-trade schemes and carbon offsets is not equal to the supposed benefits gained. One Danish economist calculated that the annual cost of a climate initiative, like the Kyoto Protocol, would cost the participating countries one trillion dollars per annum. Even then, carbon-belching countries like China, India, and Brazil are exempt from such treaties, because they are developing nations. All of the proposed climate legislation is based on the faulty assumption that CO2 is the primary driver of temperature. <br /><br />It remains to be seen how any of this will help the poor. What man-made climate promoters are loath to publicize is the stratospheric price tag of their “green” policies. This will result in much higher energy costs, which in turn will affect everyone, especially the poor. It is nothing but wishful thinking to promote wind and solar as viable alternatives. The present cost, effectiveness, reliability, and efficiency of wind and solar energy make them poor substitutes for fossil fuels. Given time and more research this may change, but we aren’t there yet — it is dishonest to imply that we are. <br /><br />Our stewardship responsibilities certainly include investigating and pursuing technologies that are safer, cleaner, more efficient, and cost effective. But until those new technologies are proven, stewardship mandates we must continue to refine the current technology framework presently in use. <br /><br />3. <span style="font-weight:bold;">The Uniqueness Principle—</span>humans are distinct from the rest of creation because we are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-28; 2:19-20; Psalm 8:5-8). The image bearing qualities refer not to the physical characteristics of man (i.e. men and women) or to our human essence, but rather to those intangible qualities that aid us in the fulfillment of the mandate to ‘rule’ and ‘subdue’ the creation in which God has placed us. The ‘who’ of mankind as an image bearer is directly related to the ‘what’ of man, which is to ‘rule’ and ‘subdue’ the rest of creation. <br /><br />This derived stewardship to ‘rule’ and ‘subdue’ is well illustrated in Genesis 2:19-20 where Adam is commanded to name all the animals. To name something or someone was to exercise dominion and authority over the thing named. Admittedly exercising such dominion in a post-fall world is a lot like trying to push start a vehicle uphill with the handbrake on. <br /><br />As an image bearing creation of God, mankind is meant to preside over creation, not the other way around. Sadly, many of the policies and legislation sought by modern day environmentalism are designed to ‘rule’ and ‘subdue’ humanity by allowing non-rational creation to preside over man. The sum of this equation is idolatry. <br /><br />4. <span style="font-weight:bold;">The Priority Principle</span>—People are not a pathogen (Genesis 1:26; 2:15): This is alluded to in the previous point, yet it bears repeating that misanthropic (hatred for humanity) attitudes toward man are tightly wedded to the environmentalist movement. I have read outlandish and bizarre stories about young women in their prime getting sterilized so they don’t add to the world’s “carbon footprint” by bringing another human life into the world. In Australia, in a recent medical journal article, Dr. Barry Walters called for a “baby tax”, which would amount to an initial tax of 4,000 Australian dollars at birth, and then an annual tax of 800 dollars until the child is of age. Thus, it is no wonder that the vast majority of environmentalists are pro-abortion. After all, in the New Age scheme of things a rock is a tree, is a pig, is a boy. Only the credulous could deny the link between this misanthropic attitude and the solutions and policies proposed by many of the promoters of everything-green.<br /><br />To illustrate the point, radical environmentalist David Forman said, “A human life has no more intrinsic value than an individual grizzly bear life. If it came down to a confrontation between a grizzly and a friend, I’m not sure whose side I would be on. But I do know humans are a disease, a cancer on nature.” With friends like that who needs enemies?<br /><br />5. <span style="font-weight:bold;">The Imposition Principle</span> (Genesis 3:14&17; Romans 8:18-23). All of non-rational creation ‘groans’ and ‘suffers’ and is imposed upon as a result of the fall of man in Genesis 3. The fallout of human sin resulted in a cursed earth. This curse on the rest of creation is a lot like a world class marathoner, running a full length marathon with both legs shackled by leg irons. <br /><br />As a result of the curse tsunamis arrive unannounced, volcanoes spew cinder and ash into the atmosphere, earthquakes rumble, tornadoes ravage homes, violent storms scar the landscape, heat waves blister the earth, and cold snaps silently kill man and beast alike. Where temperature is concerned, the Sun’s solar variables will change without notice. Why? Not because of man-made causes, but because of the curse.<br /><br />Due to the curse, the balance of nature sought by many does not exist. There is no balance of GHG’s that is known to be optimum, so how do we know that current concentrations of GHG’s, like CO2, are not within an acceptable range? Because the earth ‘groans’ and ‘suffers’, natural disasters and altered weather patterns are the norm, not the exception. Someday the curse will be reversed when Christ returns, until then weather happens whether we like it or not!<br /><br />Still, the curse does in no way abrogate our God-given mandate to act as God’s custodians for His creation. It just presents more of a challenge. <br /><br />6. <span style="font-weight:bold;">The Preservation Principle</span> (Genesis 8:22-9:17; Colossians 1:17; Hebrews 1:3). Even given the fall of man and the resulting curse on the earth, God still preserves and sovereignly sustains His creation. Man may harm the environment, but God promises in Genesis 8:22 that “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” He will uphold all things by the word of His power. This is not an excuse for inactivity on our part, but it is a promise that the earth will never be completely destroyed by man. God’s providential care for His creation ensures the earth is more resilient than is often acknowledged by man. <br /><br />How many times have we heard some headline declaring “This is it … we are all doomed for sure this time.”? In 1989 the UN predicted that we must act with immediate effect on climate change initiatives or we would only have another 10 years at best. That was 20 years ago, so they keep moving the goal post to save face. Likewise, all of the eco-apocalyptic predictions made at the first Earth Day in 1970 have come to naught 40 years later. God is in charge here, not the UN.<br /><br />7. <span style="font-weight:bold;">The Future-Promise Principle</span> (Roman 8:18-23). God’s promise to non-rational creation is that the ‘anxious longing’ will give way to a future emancipation. The redeeming work of Christ on the cross for sinful humanity has far reaching implications for the rest of creation at the Second Coming of Christ, when the curse will be reversed. Then the wolf will lay with the lamb (Isaiah 11:1-10). Any damage done to earth by man will then be completely reversed. (Again, this is not license to do as we please with God’s real estate in the meantime. His command to act as stewards is clear and irrevocable.)<br /><br />8. <span style="font-weight:bold;">The Superiority Principle</span> (Hebrews 2:5-9). The New Testament book of Hebrews portrays Jesus Christ as superior and supreme as the savior and redeemer. The superiority of Christ is amply demonstrated in a series contrasts with angels (2:5), man (2:6-8a), creation (2:8b), and even death itself (2:9). During His 3 year ministry Jesus tamed the colt, calmed the angry seas, stayed the wild winds, transformed water into wine, walked where most would swim or sail, healed the sick, and raised the dead. In His own death He demonstrated, through His bodily resurrection, superiority over the final enemy of the grave.<br /><br />Because the wages of sin is death (both physical and spiritual), Christ tasted death, so that a fallen humanity might have a way of salvation. Christ, by virtue of His sinless sacrifice on the cross, provides eternal life for those will acknowledge their sin, repent of and confess their sin, while believing in Him as Lord and Savior. <br /><br />Hebrews makes it patently clear that salvation is not by works of righteousness, whether they include saving the whales, cleaning up oil slicks, or curbing one’s carbon emissions. Good works, or sacraments of whatever kind, cannot undo what sin has done. Christ alone is the antidote for wages of sin. The risen Jesus is the sole agent of saving grace. Eco-philanthropy, no matter how noble and just, ultimately comes to naught in light of eternity. Saving the earth will not save the soul, but a saved soul should do all it can do to protect, provide, and care for the earth in a biblically prudent way, because God’s glory is at stake. <br /><br />In the end we must “…examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good.” (1 Thessalonians 5:21). For the Christian this includes examining the issue of man-made climate change from a biblically informed mindset and then pursuing the most prudent course of action. While we pursue our God-given stewardship, we must also ensure that Christ the Savior does not become Christ the eco-activist! <br /><br />Pastor Mark ChristopherThe Radical Watchmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11317466632490218450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32447962.post-69622280987389139452009-05-18T04:17:00.000-07:002009-05-18T06:05:30.008-07:00Free Love or Free Fall?<meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CMark%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="PersonName"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="country-region"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="City"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="PlaceType"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="PlaceName"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14;"><span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">The following was written in response to the recent sex-carnival called Sexpo, which came to town hocking its wares and plying the mantra of “free love”. The media reports praised Sexpo, while the event’s organizers glamorized Sexpo’s licentious creed. Local letter-page pundits took aim at any Christian group that criticized the event using the standard pejoratives like “fundamentalists” and “narrow minded”.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style=""> </span>Oddly no one took aim at Islam. The local Muslims take a vow of silence on such issues. I think primarily for two primary reasons: First, they really don’t care and speaking out would prevent them from being invited to the postmodern table of dialogue. Secondly, Islam knows that lewd and licentious behavior will be the ruin of the west to include <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">South Africa</st1:place></st1:country-region>. Thus, they are content to let this postmodern culture self-destruct, so they can then advance their agenda when the moment is ripe.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">Below is the letter I fired off to the local papers in response to Sexpo:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">Dear Editor;</span></p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">Is God a cosmic prude who disapproves of sex? Listening to the media, the organizers of Sexpo, and letter-page pundits could easily lead one to such a conclusion. But nothing could be further from the truth.
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">In fact, in Proverbs 5:17-18 husbands are admonished to “…rejoice in the wife of your youth … Let her breasts satisfy you at all times; Be exhilarated always with her love.” As the sovereign designer of sex, God reserves the right to establish the boundaries of sexuality, which is heterosexual monogamous marriage. Inside of God’s prescribed framework sex is not only encouraged it is commanded. These boundaries are for our own benefit and the good of society at large.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">The organizers and promoters of Sexpo paint a facade that encourages sex without limits, sex without norms, sex without accountability, sex without goals, sex without love and commitment, harmless sex, and sex without unintended consequences. But as British sociologist, J.D. Unwin, discovered 90 years ago, free love isn’t so free.
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">Unwin set out to test Sigmund Freud’s theory about sexual repression harming societies and culture the world over. In response, Unwin analyzed 86 civilizations large and small over a 5000 year period to determine the effects monogamous matrimony on society. In every instance all 86 societies were at their peak morally, economically, militarily, and socially when sex was confined to marriage!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">Then, Unwin observed as each society “…extended its sexual opportunity [lowered standards]; its energy decreased, and faded away. The one outstanding feature of the whole story is its unrelieved monotony.”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">Unwin concluded that a society is free to build, innovate, and grow or to enjoy sexual emancipation, but it cannot do both for more than a generation. Restricting sex to marriage makes a nation strong, while removing sexual borders weakens a nation as it incrementally progresses to collapse. What does this say about <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">South Africa</st1:country-region></st1:place>?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">Though a microcosm of Unwin’s findings, my own counseling experience underscores the pain and trauma produced by the creed of free love : illegitimate births, abortions, single parent homes that struggle in every way, fragmented families, depression, and the increased incidence of drug and alcohol abuse. These all testify that Unwin, like the Bible before him, was right.
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">
<br /></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">Going to Sexpo to learn about sex and relationships is a lot like trying to find a gourmet meal in the rubbish bin. One is free to do as one wants, but today’s liberated pansexuals are not free to choose the terminus of all things sexual. As the sage of Proverbs (5:22) warns us, the price tag of free love results in each one being “held with the cords of their own sin.” Is this really a price tag <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">South Africa</st1:country-region></st1:place> can afford?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">Pastor <st1:personname st="on">Mark Christopher</st1:personname></span></p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><st1:personname st="on"></st1:personname><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">Note: It is of extreme interest that end time’s prophecy mentions that one of the defining characteristics of the Great Tribulation to come is that of sexual immorality—among a whole range of immoralities:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size:130%;"><o:p> </o:p><b>Revelation 14:8</b></span><span style="font-size:130%;"> “And another angel, a second one, followed, saying, ‘Fallen, fallen is <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Babylon</st1:place></st1:city> the great, she who has made all the nations drink of the wine of the passion of her immorality.’"
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size:130%;">
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size:130%;">The perversion of God-ordained sexuality is so entrenched within the psyche of the one world system that they even coerce compliance with those who do not follow suit. While the term “immorality” stands for a host of other sins as well, it most certainly includes the promotion of the sexual revolution during the tribulation period, as the verse below again indicates,</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="">
<br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size:130%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size:130%;"><b>Revelation 17:2</b></span><span style="font-size:130%;"> “…with whom the kings of the earth committed <i>acts of </i>immorality, and those who dwell on the earth were made drunk with the wine of her immorality."</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="">
<br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size:130%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size:130%;">The result of this politically inspired and propagated perversion will target those who disagree. The Christians during that time will receive more than a few verbal attacks, many will lose their lives as they stand as a righteous indictment against all that Anti-Christ stands for:
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="">
<br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size:130%;"><o:p> </o:p><sup><span style=""> </span></sup><b>Revelation 17:6</b></span><span style="font-size:130%;"> And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. And when I saw her, I wondered greatly.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size:130%;"><o:p> </o:p><b>
<br /></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size:130%;"><b>Revelation 18:24</b></span><span style="font-size:130%;"> "And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints and of all who have been slain on the earth."</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="">
<br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size:130%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size:130%;">The prelude to all this is the sexual apostasy of the <st1:place st="on"><st1:placetype st="on">church</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename st="on">Jesus Christ</st1:placename></st1:place>, which is well underway as I pen these words. 2 Peter 2:1-22 and Jude 6-8 stand as a warning to all who would abandon God’s holy standards for sex and sexuality. One of the over-arching features of an apostate church is that God’s sexual standards for the same are deconstructed and reconstructed to more closely resemble the culture of the world around us. It usually begins with churches that refuse address the sexual sins in both the pew and the pulpit. Any shepherd that can wink at sin in the front row is well on the road to apostasy, because he (or she) has to ignore the clear commands of Scripture. Ignoring eventually leads to deconstructing, and then assimilating the world’s omni-sexual creed into the life-blood of the church.
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="">
<br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size:130%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size:130%;">Therefore, it should not surprise us to see such blatant and brazen promotions of pornographic perversion as main-stream. The mandate of the true Bible-believing church is to boldly proclaim God’s truth on the subject and then practice God’s truth on the subject. In this may we not grow weary in the well doing as we simultaneously seek to guard our own hearts!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="">
<br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size:130%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size:14;"><span style="font-size:130%;">To God Be The Glory! </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> The Radical Watchmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11317466632490218450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32447962.post-16942659773882579812009-03-20T01:32:00.000-07:002009-04-01T06:30:33.852-07:00The Gospel According To The Green BibleI just became the proud owner of the recently released Green Bible. Thanks to Amazon.com and a recent trip to the USA, I was able to procure my very own copy of this latest study Bible. After thumbing through it, I can only conclude that the Green Bible is a tragic statement on where some segments of the church are today. Now every mom who has ever told her kids to eat their green vegetables, can now also rally the family around the Green Bible for family devotions, as the family contemplates everything green—including a green God.<br /><br />Now I need to preface what I am about to say with a couple of qualifiers: First, I certainly support and believe that every Bible-believing Christian should exercise diligent stewardship over the creation God made and then entrusted to man (Genesis 1:26-28; 9:1-7; Psalm 8:1-9). Admittedly, there are many things advocated by the eco-evangelists of our age that are not necessarily wrong, like recycling for instance. On the contrary, what I am about to disagree with is the underlying eco-apocalyptic ideology that so-called evangelical environmentalist have bought into. In short, what the Green Bible proves is that today’s eco-evangelists have just borrowed the world’s radical categories for everything green and have baptized them with some Christian labels while sprinkling in a few Bible verses, emancipated from context, for good measure. In this, the proponents of evangelical environmentalism show little originality.<br /><br />Here are but a few of the soul-warming features of the Green Bible which are suppose to give rise to a more eco-friendly devotion:<br /><br />• For starters, the Green Bible (GB) is constructed of eco-friendly materials: The cover is made from cotton/linen, the pages are recycled paper, and the ink is soy-based with a water based coating. All of which should lead to many hours of guilt free Bible study and devotion! Does this mean that once the GB is no longer usable as a Bible you can throw it into the compost pile instead of the trash?<br /><br />• The translation the promoters of the GB chose was the New Revised Standard Version. The NRSV is not one of the strongest translations on the market. NRSV translators relied on aspects of dynamic equivalency, this, in turn, led to the gender-neutral tone of the final product. It is noteworthy that the NRSV is renowned for being theologically deficient in the areas of Bibliology and Christology, which makes the NRSV a good purveyor for the eco-gospel.<br /><br />• One of the unique features of the GB is that, instead of the standard red letter edition most Christians have come accustomed to, the GB highlights in green all passages that are some how related to the environment. There are over 1000 passages that are highlighted in this manner. As I looked at many of the green verses it was not apparent what any of this had to do with all the doom-and-gloom scenarios seen in the popular promotions of modern day environmentalism. In fact, there are many green passages that are actually prophetic in nature and relate to God’s judgment on Israel due to their disobedience to His direct commands for them as a people and a nation (Deuteronomy 28). In accordance with Deuteronomy 28, God either blessed the promised land and all that was in it, or cursed it. The blessing and the cursing in the Old Testament were always in proportion to Israel’s obedience or lack thereof. It is never asserted that Israel was punished because they failed to take care of the environment. The destruction of the land God had promised and provided the Jews was always a result of their failure to love and obey Him.<br /><br />• Another feature of the GB is the green topical index at the back, which is a lot like a green concordance. Then there is a Green Trail Guide, so the green disciple can lead his or her own Bible study exclusively centered around environmental issues. There are even guidelines on how to become a “Deep Green Family”.<br /><br />• In the front of the GB, there are a number “inspirational” essays written by several of scholars, most liberal and some quasi-evangelicals. More popular names like N.T. Wright, Calvin De Witt (a professor of environmental studies at the University of Wisconsin at Madison), and emerging church guru Brian Mclaren headline these green essays. Therefore, it is not surprising that the GB is a truly ecumenical enterprise which includes liberal protestants, professed evangelicals, Roman Catholics including the Pope, and Jewish clergy.<br /><br />• The forward to the GB pretty much says it all. Fresh from his recent save-the-whales campaign, the former Arch-bishop of the Anglican Church in South Africa, Desmond Tutu, regales GB readers with his save the earth serenade. Tutu is a noted liberation theologian who denies the deity of Jesus Christ as well as the inerrancy of scripture. In other words, he doesn’t really need the Bible, or the God of the Bible. It is all downhill from there. Here is one Tutu excerpt based on John 12:32 "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself." From this passage, Tutu enthuses, “As if in this cosmic embrace, Jesus would wish to enfold all that God has created, the entire universe, into unity. His supreme work is to reconcile us to God and to one another, and to reconcile us to all God’s creation.” To be blunt, this esoteric drivel sounds like something Deepak Chopra or the Dalai Lama might say. Christ is making a statement about the cross and His subsequent resurrection, which will pave the way of salvation for those who follow Him! Jesus was not making a statement about the environment, but about the sinful estate of man and the remedy for that sin, which is found exclusively in the cross. Only through the cross is fallen humanity reconciled and restored to a holy God. <br /><br />• Then there are the secular endorsements from the God-fearing Sierra Club and the Bible-thumping Human Society of the United States. When the world approves of your message you must be doing something right? Right?<br /><br />• Interestingly, not one climatologist endorsed the GB. The closest to expert testimony they could get were a couple of medical doctors. While physicians might know quite a bit about the human body, most MDs know about as much about climatology, and the issues surrounding climate change, as a Jack Rabbit knows about playing ping-pong. In some cases the Jack Rabbit has a better grasp on ping-pong. Even the UN Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change was able to round up a dietician and an herbalist as part of their expert panel on climate excathedra!<br /><br />• Some of the titles to the essays in the GB are a good indication of what the real agenda of the GB is all about:<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The Power of The Green God</span> by J. Matthew Sleeth, M.D. <br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Reading the Bible through a Green Lens</span> by Calvin De Witt. So we also have another hermeneutic to consider when interpreting the Bible—the green hermeneutic. I wonder if one’s hermeneutical abilities are enhanced when studying under the luminescence of a compact florescent bulb? <br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Jesus Is Coming—Plant a Tree</span>! By Dr. N.T. Wright, Anglican Bishop of Durham. Maybe I am just old fashioned, but my title would probably look something like Jesus Is Coming—Confess Your Sin! <br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Loving the Earth Is Loving The Poor</span> by Gordon Aeschliman, editor of the publication Green Cross. And all the time I thought that loving God led to loving my neighbor, which includes the poor <br /><br />• In the back of the GB there is a section entitled <span style="font-style:italic;">Action Ideas for Churches </span>which includes suggestions ranging from hosting green Bible studies to setting up a booth at a local Earth Day Rally. Then there is a section detailing <span style="font-style:italic;">50 Practical Tips to Get Started</span>, which covers a variety of common sense ideas that many people already practice as good stewards, like turning off the lights or an appliance when you leave the room, or insulating both your attic and your hot-water heater. <br /><br /> Some of their ideas, however, are just plain silly, like cutting back on soft drinks by drinking tap water, or no longer eating at fast food outlets. On page 1237, the GB advises readers to “Consider vegetarian alternatives, which cause less pollution.” This, despite the green light given by God in Genesis 9:3 to eat meat! <br /><br />Well, once the green machine gets all the climate change legislation passed, the eco-food-patrol won’t have to worry about my soda-drinking ways or my occasional visitations to McDonalds, as most of us won’t be able to afford soft drinks, fast food, or meat. Why? Because of the tax burden placed upon us by Fabian socialists, who are using this issue to float Big Government and exert Big Brother like control over us. Exorbitant taxation and penalties for those who use too much energy will be the result of draconian governmental eco-laws imposed by the new eco-imperialists. All of this will be enforced by the eco-Gestapo, of course.<br /><br />One potential GB suggestion conspicuous by its absence is “the need” for churches to own a church building. Think of the money and resources a church could save by forgoing ownership of their own building! Instead, what if churches rented or leased an existing property? Our church has been in a rental facility for 8 years now and functions quite well without owning a building that would only get used a couple of times per week. It would be nice to have our own building, but where is it written that it is an absolute necessity? Why didn’t the GB editors include this suggestion? One wonders how the architects of the GB could miss something so patently obvious?<br /><br />So, what, in summary, are the egregious errors of the GB?<br /><br />1. The GB is driven by the same basic liberal ideologies and crass assumptions that the drive the secular environmentalists. At times, many evangelical environmentalists border on pantheistic tendencies—God is all, and all is God--as Desmond Tutu’s quote above demonstrates. This whole approach makes God a convenient means to an agenda driven end—eco-topia! As if mere man can usher in the Kingdom age apart from the coming of the King by merely curbing CO2 emissions. In this whole scheme God is incidental to the plot and plays a support role that aids the agenda driven end. <br /><br />2. The brand of environmentalism used in the GB plays fast and loose with scripture. Sound exegesis of passages is often replaced with eisegetically (reading ones assumptions into the text) derived meanings as real meaning is substituted for desired meaning. A classic example of this is John 3:16, which is highlighted in the verdant green hues of the GB. This familiar passage reads, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” The question is to what or to whom does the term “world” (<span style="font-style:italic;">kosmos</span>) refer? Evangelical environmentalists will see in this the inclusion of the material universe. But sound exegesis and a literal hermeneutic, not the deconstructed postmodern hermeneutic of the eco-interpreters, clearly indicates that all of humanity, not just the Jews, is included in the redemption that only Christ provides. <br /><br />3. The promoters of evangelical environmentalism have a very hard time believing in the sovereignty of God. Oh, they will quote with great redundancy Psalm 24:1 “The earth is the LORD's, and all it contains, The world, and those who dwell in it.” But by their desperate rhetoric and radical emphasis they deny what they profess with their lips. They really think the polar icecaps will melt and the seas will rise submerging vast tracks of land while the rest of the earth bakes into a drought saturated wasteland. They have believed the lie that CO2 drives temperature, when it is actually the other way around; temperature drives up the volumes of atmospheric CO2 through water evaporation. <br /><br />Obviously, many eco-evangelicals have no confidence in the preservational power of their God to keep His creation from being utterly destroyed. Though man can significantly harm the environment, we can’t completely and irreversibly destroy it (Though I must add, this is no justification to wantonly abuse creation). Colossians 1:16-17 is wonderful testament to this fact, “For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-- all things have been created by Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” <br /><br />The sky is not falling and the earth is not coming apart at the seams. In the end, when the Lord returns, He will fully restore the earth as He reverses the curse. Until then, we must maintain it as best we can for God’s glory, without becoming too indifferent, or wildly irresponsible like those behind all the warm-mongering rhetoric of the man-made global warming cult. Sadly, the proponents of the GB fall right in line with all the climate-change drama queens of the day, believing all the pseudo science that masquerades as fact. Where is their faith? Is it in God, or man? What is their authority, the Bible, or some research project that finds its grant funds dependent upon proving man is responsible for climate change?<br /><br />4. Finally, because of the undue emphasis of the GB on environmentalism, it demeans and devalues the gospel of Jesus Christ, which is the primary message of God’s word. The priority of the gospel gets sidelined by an important, but lesser issue. One can host all the environmental friendly Bible studies one wants, but apart from the gospel, no one will ever come to Christ. You might impress some secular warm-monger with your eco-emphasis, but he will leave your eco-study seven fold more a child of hell. Clearly the GB marginalizes the gospel message. An unsaved person who picks up the GB could easily conclude that they are well on their way to glory because of their recycling ways, which amount to works righteousness. This is nothing less than another gospel, which Paul so vividly and forcefully addressed in Galatians 1:8-10:<br /><br />“But even though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to that which you received, let him be accursed. 10 For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.”<br /><br />The gospel of the eco-evangelist is an entirely different gospel whereby one merits favor with God through the sacraments of creation care, whether it is forgoing soft drinks, eating a carbon neutral diet, or insulating your hot-water heater. The over-arching message of the Green Bible is just another in a long-line of distractions and diversions that detract from keeping the main thing (the gospel) the main thing. To slight the gospel, as the GB does, is to slight Christ, because Christ epitomizes the gospel! The color of the cross is blood red, not green.<br /><br />Before coming to Christ I never had the slightest interest in preserving God’s creation. Once saved, I realized God was and is the sovereign maker and owner of all that is. It then dawned on me that I had an awesome responsibility to take care of that which reflects His glory, power, and majesty. But my reasons and motivations for creation conservation are entirely different than those being offered by the eco-shamans of evangelical environmentalism. It isn’t the scare-mongering tactics of radical-secular greens that is driving me to pick up after myself. It is my desire to please God that gives rise to my motivation to properly care for His creation in a balanced and reasonable way. <br /><br />In the end, scripture asserts in 1 Thessalonians 5:21 “But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good.” Upon close scrutiny, the Green Bible fails that test. It does not teach things which become sound doctrine. Therefore, be a good steward of what the Lord has entrusted to you and don’t waste your hard earned cash on the Green Bible. You would be better off using your money to buy a soda. Better yet, buy a Happy Meal for some hungry child!The Radical Watchmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11317466632490218450noreply@blogger.com2